Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 41

The Three Kings’ Disciple (42)

041

The Silver World is a destroyed world.

A world that has been destroyed and sealed off.

How could they possibly cultivate new martial artists?

Mostly, they nurtured children born within their world, but now that the gates were open, other methods were possible.

‘W-what on earth is this!’

Destroying a world and absorbing its inhabitants.

And another way.

‘What…’

The wanderers who had lost their world.

The losers who had been abandoned by their world.

The criminals who had been excommunicated for their sins.

They were called ronin [masterless samurai].

‘Where… where am I?’

It was a way to accept them.

However, it was rare for the Silver World to accept ronin.

They were people who had lived in a closed world for up to hundreds of years.

It was absolutely not easy to reveal their base and accept an unknown outsider.

‘The time in the destroyed world made them even more insular.’

The sects that made up the Silver World were fundamentally closed off.

The martial arts they possessed were only passed down to those they considered family, and among them, the most outstanding martial arts were passed down only to the most exceptional.

For them to accept wanderers, losers, and criminals and teach them martial arts was, in fact, absurd.

That’s why the ronin just wandered.

They were inhabitants of the Silver World, so they looked down on players, but they couldn’t survive without mingling with them.

‘Tsk. Vermin.’

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, the ronin’s faces turned crimson.

‘What kind of outrage is this! Even though we are ronin, we are still martial artists!’

‘Martial artists?’

Lee Ro-woon’s lips curled up as if amused.

Nearly two hundred ronin were recruited by the Eunha Guild through the Black Market.

‘Losers?’

‘That mouth…!’

‘Shut up.’

At Lee Ro-woon’s cold rebuke, the ronin shut their mouths.

The subtle aura emanating from him forced their mouths shut.

‘Losers who lost their world and their families but can’t even take revenge.’

‘Kuh…’

‘Those who cling to life and barely survive despite being abandoned.’

‘S-stop…’

‘Those who committed crimes and were excommunicated? Martial artists?’

‘Stop it!’

It wasn’t wrong.

Martial artists say.

They call themselves martial artists who have devoted everything to martial arts.

But look at these people.

They were fallen ones who had devoted everything to survival, not martial arts.

‘Did you gather us here just to humiliate us like this?’

Among them, an old man with white hair spoke in a low voice.

‘This place is clearly your world.’

The old man’s eyes narrowed.

‘I thought there would be another reason for gathering us here.’

They had lost consciousness during a banquet they had joined after contracting with the Eunha Guild, and when they opened their eyes, they had arrived at the Blood King Fortress.

There was no permission or consent from them.

‘Yeah. That’s right.’

Lee Ro-woon smiled faintly as if he had finally heard the right answer.

‘Why did you lose your world?’

Lee Ro-woon asked.

‘Why were you abandoned?’

As the questions continued, the ronin’s eyes sank.

‘Why did you become guilty of crimes you didn’t commit?’

Most of the ronin were like that.

False accusations.

They were excommunicated for crimes they didn’t commit.

Moreover, these were people whose identities had been verified through the Black Market King.

There were no truly guilty people.

‘Answer me.’

Lee Ro-woon quietly half-opened his eyes, waiting for an answer.

‘…Because we were weak.’

It was the old man.

‘Because we didn’t have the strength to be called martial artists. That’s why we lost our homes, that’s why we were abandoned, and that’s why we had to take the blame for crimes we didn’t commit.’

Clap.

Lee Ro-woon clapped his hands lightly.

‘That’s the right answer.’

Lee Ro-woon’s eyes were fixed on the ronin.

Some of the ronin were trembling, some were biting their lips until they bled, and some had their fingernails digging into their palms until they bled.

‘That power.’

Lee Ro-woon said with a smile.

‘I will give it to you.’

***

‘You… you’re going to accept us?’

The old man said.

He was an old martial artist who had survived among the ronin for a long time.

Although his martial arts were lacking, he had survived to this age with his wit and experience.

He was still looking around.

‘A fortress.’

Not many forces in the Silver World maintained the size of a fortress.

Even so….

The old man closed his eyes and thought.

‘I don’t know where this place is, or who they are.’

What the name Eunha symbolized.

And he didn’t know where this place was.

‘The Dark Realm.’

A world that was hidden and not revealed.

And such people were likely to be enemies of the martial world.

Swoosh.

Before they knew it, a smaller number of people had surrounded the two hundred ronin.

If they were soldiers, they would have intimidated them with the sound of their boots, but they were martial artists.

‘I didn’t even feel their presence.’

He knew that being surrounded silently was more frightening.

‘M-Master…’

The ronin called out to the old man.

The old man, called Master, meaning old teacher, was the one who had led the ronin for a long time, the one who had saved them, and the ronin’s spiritual pillar.

‘Do we have a choice?’

The Master, who had opened his eyes again, said.

‘Do we even have a chance to ask questions?’

Lee Ro-woon shook his head.

‘That’s only possible for those with power.’

That was the right answer.

‘All we can do is accept the offer or die.’

No answer came.

That’s how he knew that was the right answer.

‘But it won’t be that easy.’

The old man opened his mouth.

‘I have a friend in the association.’

As if pulling out a trump card, the old man spoke slowly.

‘A friend who delivers the news every time I make a contract.’

‘That means.’

Lee Ro-woon interrupted the old man.

‘If you don’t return, the association will suspect the Eunha Guild that contracted with you, and you’re threatening us that we’ll be exposed?’

‘It’s too much to call it a threat. I’d just call it insurance.’

Indeed.

The ronin were looking at the old man as if they had found a way to survive.

‘The world is too dangerous to do something without any preparation.’

‘Yeah. That’s right.’

But the old man realized something was wrong.

He was smiling.

‘Then I’ll tell you.’

Lee Ro-woon’s gaze swept around.

‘This world has been maintained until now. Did you think that I would call you here to the Blood King Fortress without any preparation?’

‘B-Blood King Fortress…!’

‘Oh my god…’

Only now did they realize where this place was.

‘I’ll let you choose. Since you pride yourselves as martial artists, I’ll let you choose whether to die or accept.’

It was a choice they couldn’t refuse.

‘Kuh…’

The Master also knew that there was no other way.

‘Wang Yeo-il.’

‘……!’

At the name called, the old man’s eyes widened.

It was a name he had abandoned long ago.

A name that was even faint in his memory.

‘The head of the Wangbang Clan, but he lost most of his family and disciples in a one-sided war with Hainan and barely survived as a wandering ronin.’

‘H-how…’

‘Cheon So-jin.’

Another person called out widened their eyes.

‘A descendant of the Cheoljeol Clan, a branch of the Hwasan Sect, but was excommunicated due to a conflict with Hwasan and was said to have died, right?’

‘T-that’s…!’

‘Yoo Pyo-sang.’

Another person.

‘How does it feel to be a public enemy, wandering around for a crime you didn’t commit?’

All of their information was already in Lee Ro-woon’s hands.

No, he had only gathered such people from the start.

‘I said I would give you power.’

Lee Ro-woon was no longer smiling, as if he had no more emotions.

‘Whether you accept it or not. You should decide for yourselves whether you are martial artists or not.’

With those words, Lee Ro-woon turned around without hesitation.

Murmuring.

The ronin began to talk about what they should do during the given time.

At the center of it was Wang Yeo-il, called the Master.

* * *

In the end, all the ronin chose to become Blood Cultists.

It was a natural thing to happen.

They had only brought those who would do so.

‘You’ve worked hard.’

‘How can you say that, Master? I have only bestowed the grace of being embraced by the Blood Demon.’

Wang Yeo-il.

The one who was called Master knelt down and bowed his head to Lee Ro-woon.

Lower school.

He was not yet a Blood Cultist who had mastered the Blood Arts, but he lowered his posture, thinking of himself as a Blood Cultist.

No.

‘I will never disappoint you for giving me this opportunity, Master.’

He was already a Blood Cultist who had mastered the Blood Arts.

In the end, there was a limit to how the Silver World could grow.

Moreover, as the Blood Cult, which should not be revealed, the methods were even more limited.

Accepting ronin was something that had already been decided long ago.

That’s why Lee Ro-woon paid attention to those who led the ronin.

‘Wang Yeo-il.’

This man had led the ronin group for a long time.

What he liked most about him was that he had decent people under his command, not vermin.

And that he had a cause.

As he was old and experienced, he knew what was important in the Silver World.

That’s why the ronin he had gathered all had stories, and they were all people who didn’t have the power to solve those stories.

Lee Ro-woon had met him separately before.

-I will give you power. The power to take revenge on Hainan.

Wang Yeo-il accepted the offer as if he had been waiting for it.

‘Continue to gather ronin. That’s your role.’

‘I will keep that in mind, again and again.’

He had become a Blood Cultist and participated in this farce.

It was a farce, but it was important.

Although those who learned the Blood Arts had absolute loyalty through the blood bond, that loyalty was just madness when it came to persuading others.

A valid reason and process were needed.

The ronin who chose to become Blood Cultists today would tell other ronin about today’s events when needed.

That way, those who were powerless would gather, seeking power.

‘The Blood Cult will become a home for the powerless and those with stories.’

However, those stories would be used in a different way.

Wang Yeo-il, who was bowing, moved with the cultists, and Lee Ro-woon walked with Jung Chi-soo, who had approached him.

The place they arrived at was the underground prison of the Blood King Fortress.

‘…….’

There were the guards of Do Sang-mok who had been captured there.

‘They look quite comfortable, don’t they?’

At Lee Ro-woon’s words, the martial artists of the Docheon Clan twisted their mouths.

Lee Ro-woon’s words were not just a simple joke.

They had been captured, and they had done nothing.

They had not been beaten or tortured.

‘No matter what you want to hear… you won’t be able to hear it.’

They closed their eyes and mouths.

‘Why, do you think I’m going to ask where the entrance to the Docheon Clan is?’

‘…….’

‘Or do you think I’m going to make you talk about the sins Do Sang-mok committed?’

They had no answer.

‘I already know everything.’

‘……!’

‘The entrance to the Docheon Clan.’

Smirk.

‘It’s in Goyang.’

‘Th-that…!’

A guard who was about to say something quickly covered his mouth.

‘There are so many sins that Do Sang-mok committed, so it doesn’t matter. I only have one thing to say to you.’

Lee Ro-woon’s eyes narrowed.

‘Docheon will be erased. If not, you will become one with us.’

It was an incomprehensible statement.

‘Since you’re going to become one anyway, wouldn’t it be better to help us accept them from the beginning? Think about it carefully.’