Chapter 34: Belial House

The Master of the Arena was dead, and a knife was pressed to the neck of every VIP present.

The same applied to those assigned as their guards.

In the blink of an eye, the entire arena had been subdued.

“Well done.”

Nam Taehoo appeared as if from nowhere and praised Taehoo at the scene before him.

He was standing right beside Taehoo.

“Effective immediately, the Arena is now under the control of the Belial House.”

He placed a hand on Taehoo’s shoulder.

By placing his hand there, he expressed that the monster they had witnessed all this time was now his subordinate.

“No one is allowed to leave or enter this place without our permission.”

By asserting this chain of command, even the will to resist among those captured was thoroughly crushed.

Everyone watching knew Taehoo’s skill well. No one was ignorant of the fact that the energy he wielded with his sword was mana.

“I see a few faces here who’ve entrusted tasks to me before. I believe you know my personality well.”

A smirk curled at the corner of Jin Tae’s mouth.

The coldness radiating from that smile seemed to spread even to those standing beside him.

‘He’s definitely someone you can’t let your guard down around.’

Even as Taehoo thought this, Jin Tae continued speaking.

“Alright then. The servants who understand these words, go outside and bring back the head money for the owners captured by our hands.”

Jin Tae’s announcement left no room for misunderstanding.

The phrase “not allowed without permission” meant it was allowed once permission was granted.

“Ah, contact the Main Family quickly!”

“Money? Bring as much as you can, no matter the amount!”

“I’ll make sure you live comfortably for the rest of your life if you handle this well without running away!”

Those who only just realized the situation shouted at their servants—some barked orders, others tried to calm them down.

Their methods varied widely.

The servants, having escaped the immediate threat to their lives, fled outside in utter panic.

Almost simultaneously, a terrifying explosion echoed.

Boom!

A huge hole was blasted through the arena’s ceiling.

Fortunately, the debris fell away from where people were gathered.

“What’s going on?”

Naturally, this was not the work of Jin Tae.

Along with Jin Tae’s startled voice came another’s.

“An arena subdued by kids—what a ridiculous sight!”

Dantalion.

They had joined the chaos.

Jed, who had been controlling the members in the Sewer, was dead.

The news of Kuro’s betrayal among the Stray Dogs had come only a day before this.

Dantalion had, naturally, dispatched a pursuit team to punish the traitor, but instead, they only lost more people.

They hadn’t even uncovered the reason or purpose behind the betrayal.

“These bugs living in the Sewer clearly don’t know their place.”

A low voice burned with rage.

Khan knew well that Jeju natives became calm when pushed to their breaking point.

“We need to make them understand who gets crushed when stepped on. Khan, you’re going.”

Khan’s master was the Dantalion branch chief.

There was no room for refusal.

He merely knelt on one knee and obeyed the order.

Khan arrived at the Sewer.

Without a hierarchy, Dantalion in the Sewer was practically blind.

‘No matter how reckless they get, how can they send people without any preparation? Do they want me to do all the legwork?’

Khan sighed.

At least, they had released the people brought from the family into the Sewer.

However,

‘How effective that will be is another question…’

They had only been given a few weeks to clean up the mess.

Failing to do so would mean losing their own heads to their master.

“This situation is turning out pretty damn messy.”

Khan preferred to solve problems with brute force.

His simple personality despised having to think things through.

Using his rarely employed brain left him feeling like cramps were forming around his temples.

Still, his efforts weren’t entirely fruitless.

“Hey, didn’t you say there were some of our guys working with informants here?”

He recalled a piece of usable information.

The informants in the Sewer.

The member assisting Khan nodded in agreement.

“Is that so? Then let’s start there.”

Khan had no curiosity about what had happened in the Sewer.

Bugs were just bugs.

According to his master, they were insects that didn’t know their place.

In Khan’s terms, he simply wanted to fight these bug-like creatures.

Taehan knew how to play with such simplicity, and Khan was hooked.

He never doubted the information Taehan provided.

After verifying the truth of the information once or twice, he came to trust it absolutely.

So this time, too, he moved based on what the informant said.

And then,

Crash!

At the exact time he was told, the ceiling of the arena was shattered, revealing the interior subdued by the intruders.

With such reliable information, how could there be any suspicion?

The members following Khan attempted to enter, their eyes fixed on Jin Tae standing on the arena stage.

Masked figures in crimson uniforms poured in through the hole in the ceiling—at least fifty of them, by a rough count.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen those uniforms…’

Taehoo raised his head and looked up.

Lower-ranked Dantalion Hunters—the rank-and-file operational unit.

The plain uniforms marked them unmistakably.

Of course, only Taehoo could identify that symbol.

In his previous life, these were the ones who were a rank below him.

Damn it.

Damn it all.

‘They tormented and discriminated against us Stray Dogs relentlessly.’

When Taehoo said “us,” he meant the Stray Dogs.

Individuals tend to tear each other apart more viciously when standing on roughly the same level.

Just like Jiho.

‘I hope quite a few of them die this time.’

Taehoo thought grimly.

[Whoever these kids are, it seems Taehan handled things exceptionally well.]

Better than well—beyond expectations.

Even Taehoo himself hadn’t expected the perfect timing of this intervention.

‘They all received Belial’s power, so a standoff with those guys should be possible. No, we might even be able to suppress them.’

In fact, some of the children’s abilities were deliberately omitted from the information leaked to Taehan for this very reason.

That meant Dantalion had sent their members assuming no one in the Belial House had received the power of the Holy Relic.

The proof lay in the lower-ranked Dantalion members visible to Taehoo.

‘Now, it’s important to find out who came to stop Jin Tae.’

Just as he thought that,

“An arena subdued by kids—what a ridiculous sight!”

The voice boasting presence came from above the broken ceiling.

With each syllable, the sound drew closer.

He was currently falling toward them!

Kaang!

Jin Tae hurriedly drew his black dagger and the red-tipped spear.

The two weapons clashed with a roar as if to devour each other.

The friction between the two blades sparked embers.

It was a clear draw.

That alone was enough to tell Taehoo that this was the person Dantalion had sent to face Jin Tae.

‘Don’t know this guy…’

Taehoo thought as he looked at the man clashing swords with Jin Tae.

Of course, it would be strange if only people he knew appeared before him.

Taehoo checked the man’s chest.

Underneath the Dantalion insignia was a thick stripe.

It marked the rank of the Dantalion Hunter.

As an outsider, Taehoo was one of the few who could identify such details.

‘Intermediate-High Grade Hunter. Not lacking to hold Jin Tae back.’

Taehoo studied the symbol on the clothes of the man who had fallen from the ceiling—Khan.

He had confirmed everything that needed to be understood here.

The situation was unfolding well.

Jin Tae’s attention was focused on Khan, who had just fallen from the ceiling.

Now was the time to act.

Taehoo stepped forward, followed by Muncheol and Juhyeok.

“I’ll follow.”

“I’ve taken care of those attached to me.”

The two spoke in turn.

“Good. Now it’s time to kill even more.”

Taehoo headed to the arena’s underground.

It was the waiting room he had used just before stepping onto the stage.

“As expected…”

Before Taehoo’s eyes, the instigators of the fighting dogs huddled together.

They were quick-witted creatures.

Damn it.

“Everyone was hiding here?”

His voice was chillingly sharp.

The instigators seemed to smell death closing in and rolled their eyes, flaring their nostrils like fattened pigs waiting for the slaughter outside the abattoir.

“None of you hiding here have any friends outside to pay your ransom, right?”

Taehoo’s words fell like a death sentence.

“Wait, I—I have savings…”

A ringleader with iron fists stepped forward.

Trying to reason, to buy time.

But,

Slash!

As he reached out, the ringleader’s head flew through the air, blood spraying.

Tumbling to the ground, the head didn’t even react to Taehoo’s sword.

Its expression was exactly the same as before it fell.

“Eek!”

The instigators all swallowed the air in their lungs.

You should have lived a good life.

None who hid here would ever see the light outside again.

Since childhood, Jin Tae rarely panicked.

He had no dreams, so no anxieties about the future.

He had no attachment to life, so he felt no sense of crisis.

But now,

‘I’ve only just gained a purpose…’

Jin Tae was more flustered than ever.

The first step in reviving his family.

Yet, just as he took that step, a tackle came from the side.

Still, the fluster didn’t last long.

“The crimson uniforms and matching weapons—definitely those guys Joseph mentioned.”

The identity was easy to deduce.

What he couldn’t understand was why they had broken through the ceiling at this exact moment.

‘How could they time it so perfectly?’

Unless the information had leaked, it was impossible.

‘It was Kuro, right? I thought all his followers lurking nearby were taken care of when he was killed…’

It was a miscalculation.

‘Still, they didn’t attack knowing our full strength.’

The masked intruders were clearly of a level the kids could handle or even suppress.

‘In this kind of ambush, overwhelming the opponent and suppressing them immediately is key…’

Especially after signaling with such a flashy explosion in the ceiling.

Because of that signal, unexpected variables could intervene.

For example, the involvement of the Absolute Good Star’s family.

In other words, the fact they sent a force of similar or slightly inferior strength meant they hadn’t fully grasped the opponent’s strength.

At this level, the battle would drag on rather than be suppressed quickly.

Had they sent a precise force, they would have suspected the children accepted into the family.

Just as he was about to feel reassured,

“An arena subdued by kids—what a ridiculous sight!”

The shrill voice drew closer.

Kaaaang!

Someone thrust a lethal weapon toward him.

A blood-red spear tip.

‘They said those guys wield blood as a weapon.’

He could tell easily that the spear flooding toward him was created by that ability.

‘I have to go all out.’

There was nothing good about news of trouble inside reaching them now.

Moreover, if this continued, the progress of their plan would be disrupted.

Joseph would take care of the kids, since he was quick-witted.

The priority was to subdue this guy first.

“You’re standing arrogantly—so you must be the kids’ leader? You think you can block my attack?”

The man scowled as if his pride was hurt by being ambushed.

Jin Tae showed no particular reaction.

Simply,

[Skill ‘Shadow Swordsmanship’ activated!]

The daggers that had been tucked inside Jin Tae stirred as if alive and slipped from his pocket, aiming at Khan.

It looked like something out of a martial arts novel—the legendary sword ‘Ki-eo Geom.’

‘Joseph did his part. I can’t back down now.’

Jin Tae steeled himself and prepared to fight.

“Who does a lackey running errands think he is, underestimating the head of a family?”

The daggers flew through the air toward Khan’s limbs.