Chapter 45 – Lead the Way
We had reached the bottom of the underground.
Even if I craned my neck, I couldn’t see the top. That’s how far sunlight had faded away.
The only thing that lit our path now were the torches embedded into the walls, flickering faintly.
A stray thought crossed my mind—how many times have I ended up in a cave that most people would never see in their lives?
As much as caves are inseparable from martial arts…
Anyway.
The first thing that caught my eye was the remains of waste—leftover scraps of food scattered around, with small creatures like rats skulking through the cracks, looking for their chance.
The chamber split into dozens of passageways. It was impossible not to compare it to a labyrinth.
A place that simultaneously inspired awe in nature and disgust at humanity—grotesque and surreal.
“They say if you take the wrong path here, you’ll be lost forever…”
Tak Horak spoke with a slightly trembling voice.
“I feel heavy all over, Commander. Must be catching a cold from how damp it is down here… maybe I could go back up and come back later after I recover?”
I didn’t even need to respond. Saweol shot him a cold look, and that was enough to make him shut up.
Even a martial artist standing at the cusp of the Peak realm would lose confidence here. That’s the kind of place the Disciplinary Cell was.
“Where should we go?”
“Hmm…”
I’d assumed the warden would come find us by now, but there was no sign of him.
Sado Gwang wouldn’t have left this place unattended.
The Disciplinary Cell was within his domain. A calculating guy like him wouldn’t let it run wild. He could very well be watching from the shadows, using his familiarity with the terrain.
“What should we do?”
Tak Horak asked again.
Though this place served as a prison, it wasn’t structured like a traditional one with cells or iron bars. As the food scraps suggested, the Cult didn’t really care about this place.
That’s why the prisoners just lived scattered throughout the endless labyrinthine cave. You could even call it a kind of miniature society.
I need to find Do Il-gwang.
If it’s him, there’s no way he’d stay completely hidden.
Skybreaker.
[What is it?]
Can you sense energy anywhere?
[I can.]
Since Skybreaker absorbed energy, he was naturally sensitive to it. He wasn’t quite at the level of a real Transcendent Peak master, but if he focused, he could detect presences. I just couldn’t sense it myself.
“Where’s the strongest concentration of energy?”
Do Il-gwang was the previous Heavenly Demon.
Someone like that wouldn’t be alone. Just as people gather around wealth in the real world, people gather around martial might in this one.
[Hmm. Southwest passage.]
Say it in terms I can actually follow…
Fortunately, I had my reliable subordinates.
“We’re heading down the southwest passage.”
“Understood.”
Tak Horak took the lead, with Saweol and I following behind.
The passage was so narrow that only two people could barely walk through it side by side, so we ended up walking in a single line. Tak Horak in front, then Saweol, then me.
Normally I’d be in the middle with Saweol guarding the rear, but I still couldn’t trust her completely. That’s why I brought the loudmouth Tak Horak in the first place.
“According to rumors, the prisoners of the Disciplinary Cell are like hungry ghosts. When a newcomer enters, they try to eat them… Though thankfully, martial power is sealed with restrictions.”
“Restrictions, huh?”
“Yes. They say there’s a restriction placed not only on their martial arts but also their dantian, causing intense pain just from trying to draw internal energy. Forcing it out will rupture the meridians and kill you by vomiting blood.”
Tak Horak rambled on. Surprisingly, his chatter contained a fair amount of useful info.
“If they’re elite criminals, they must have been powerful. If I had a spear, I’d feel a bit safer…”
Unlike Saweol and me, who brought weapons, Tak Horak had come empty-handed. Despite all his fussing, he was a surprisingly straightforward and earnest guy.
“Saweol.”
“Yes.”
Saweol rummaged through her pouch and handed him something. Tak Horak’s eyes lit up when he saw it.
“This is…! A segmented spear!”
It was a collapsible spear, made of three parts that connected into one.
Fwish! Fwik!
Tak Horak spun it flamboyantly, then gave me a thumbs-up.
“As expected of you, Commander!”
That… didn’t quite match the Tak Horak I remembered.
Anyway, we moved forward again.
The narrow passage gradually widened. There must’ve been an underground spring nearby—faint sounds of flowing water could be heard.
The path split into three again.
[Middle.]
“We go down the middle.”
As we proceeded, a space resembling a base camp came into view—along with a bonfire—
“Newcomers!”
“Newcomers, you say?!”
“They’re new! Fresh meat!”
“There’s a woman too!!”
A little over ten people were gathered there.
They were dressed in tattered rags, barely covering their bodies.
“Fresh! So fresh!”
“Dinner’s here!”
Their eyes were clouded, and you could feel the madness radiating off them. They looked less like humans and more like zombies. But—
“Silence—!”
Tak Horak’s shout, imbued with internal energy, echoed throughout the space.
The prisoners flinched in surprise.
“H-he used inner strength?!”
“He’s got a weapon!”
“Is he a warden?”
“But… he’s not wearing a mask…”
“He’s not?”
“He really isn’t?”
Their initial frenzy quickly cooled. The ones who looked ready to pounce instead pulled back with suspicious smiles.
“We’ll wait then—”
“Kehak!”
“Wait, wait!”
I couldn’t understand what they were saying.
“You bastards!”
“Stand down.”
Now’s not the time to yell like Tak Horak. There’s a better way.
I drew up internal energy and channeled it to my eyes. Then I fixed my gaze on the prisoners.
Looking down on them, radiating disdain—as if to say, You are beneath even inanimate objects.
“?!”
The prisoners flinched like they’d been struck by lightning.
Outside the Cell, even Peak masters were affected by this “eye pressure” technique. For prisoners under restriction, it must’ve been devastating.
“Who…”
I continued, projecting authority in my voice.
“Is your leader?”
All their heads turned at once. A shabby middle-aged man jumped up.
“N-no! It’s not me!”
“You liar!”
The other prisoners shoved him forward, and he fell flat on his face in front of me.
“I’ll ask questions now. You answer.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Where is Do Il-gwang?”
Not just the prisoners—but even Tak Horak and Saweol behind me reacted in shock.
Do Il-gwang was a traitor. Speaking a traitor’s name was taboo in any society—even here in an underground prison.
“T-that…”
The man’s eyes darted wildly. He definitely knew. But something was stopping him from answering.
So his influence reaches even the entrance of the Cell.
This was still near the beginning of the Disciplinary Cell, and yet Do Il-gwang’s power was already at work. Even if his energy was sealed, he was the former Heavenly Demon.
I spoke softly. There was no need for threats.
“Answer, and you live. Don’t answer, and you die. That’s all.”
“T-that… I mean…”
“There are plenty of others who can answer.”
I rested my hand on Skybreaker’s hilt as if to draw it.
“W-wait! I’ll talk—!”
But just then—
Skybreaker shouted urgently.
[Presence! From the right passage!]
I didn’t know much, but I recognized that term—right passage. I turned my head just in time—
Fwish—
A gust of wind passed by.
Thud.
The prisoner at my feet collapsed forward. His head had separated from his body.
It wasn’t over.
Thud! Thud!
The other prisoners in the back all fell, blood spraying from their necks.
In front of me, Saweol had already drawn her dagger and taken position. Tak Horak followed a beat later with his spear raised.
There stood a man in a mask, covering the lower half of his face.
I didn’t mean to—but as I turned my head, our eyes met.
A brief stare-down. And then—
“Y-you’ve arrived, sir.”
The masked man bowed to me. His mask bore a strange emblem.
“You’re the warden?”
“Yes. I—I’m Sangtak, the Warden of the Disciplinary Cell.”
As expected of Sado Clan territory, the Cell’s warden seemed to recognize me. He was… quite the stammerer.
“I see.”
“Y-you mustn’t talk to the prisoners. Th-they’re demons who beguile the soul.”
Sangtak shook blood off his hands, splattering it on the ground.
Claw technique?
“T-this is for you.”
He handed me a mask with the same symbol.
“What is this?”
“This mask negates the effects of the Disciplinary Cell’s special formation. It’s a treasured artifact for dispelling the curse.”
“What kind of formation?”
“It d-drains one’s strength and makes internal energy flow difficult. It constantly saps your energy into the air. Prolonged exposure… r-renders one a mindless husk.”
Not me though. I’d used internal energy earlier and felt nothing.
To sap internal energy from a person, a channel between body and outside must be open. But mine was sealed off.
In other words, my Heavenly Curse makes me immune to the formation.
“Ah… no wonder I felt sluggish.”
Tak Horak covered his mouth in shock.
“U-unfortunately, we only have two spare masks available.”
Sangtak held out the two masks.
“I’ll pass.”
“B-but even a Peak master can’t endure the formation—”
“I said I’ll pass.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Give them to these two.”
Sangtak handed the masks to Saweol and Tak Horak. Saweol silently put hers on.
“Um… Warden?”
Tak Horak raised his hand.
“There’s something sticky on this one. Looks like dried blood…? It’s damp too…”
“S-sometimes… a-a few accidents happen, that’s all.”
Tak Horak made a disgusted face, then quickly put it on.
“O-oh! I can feel my energy circulating now!”
His expression brightened right away.
A guy in the Black Shadow Corps who worked in assassination and recon, but he sure was dramatic.
“L-let me guide you now.”
Sangtak motioned to a passage.
“Alright. Then…”
At my next words, Sangtak froze stiff.
“Take me to Do Il-gwang.”
“…Pardon?”
“The Disciplinary Cell is under our Sado Clan’s jurisdiction.”
I recalled the power map I studied. The warden of this place was Sangtak—but his personal weapon was a sword.
“My brother never keeps flawed people at his side.”
Perhaps because he himself has a disability, Sado Gwang never allows anyone with impairments near him. That includes stutterers.
“Also, there’s no warden in the Cell who uses claw techniques.”
“Ha-ha… s-sometimes I just m-move fast with my hands, that’s all…”
“Is that so? But to me, you seem more like—”
I narrowed my eyes.
“A rat from the Baek family, using claw techniques like a filthy rodent.”