“Chaeng!”
Amon’s sword clashed with the swords of the Geomgye.
Feeling the tingling sensation travel through his hand from the impact, he instinctively frowned.
‘Something’s definitely off.’
There was too much force behind the swords.
Of course, it’s natural for swords to carry force when they collide.
However, the way that force was applied wasn’t the technique of a skilled swordsman.
A sword is a weapon meant for precise thrusts and slashes, not something to be swung with brute force like a mace.
Unless someone was like Amon, who wielded multiple swords, swinging a sword in such a manner would usually result in the blade chipping or breaking after just a few exchanges.
Yet, the Geomgye’s swords carried an abnormal amount of force.
Because of that force, dodging threw off his stance slightly, and if he timed his strikes correctly, he could even make them drop their swords.
Watching this, Amon became certain.
‘It’s not a cursed sword or a ghost controlling them.’
A ghost or a cursed sword possessing a human body would be able to read all of its host’s memories, including their subconscious.
On the other hand, an AI infection only controlled the brain and could read only surface memories, never delving deep into the unconscious.
‘Of course, distinguishing between the two is usually difficult, but…’
As a swordsman facing another swordsman, he was sure of it.
The Geomgye had been infected by AI.
‘If Sunhwa hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t have realized it.’
Finding proof when you already know the truth is one thing.
Catching onto it from nothing is an entirely different level of difficulty.
This time, Sunhwa’s insight had truly shone.
‘The cause is most likely the PIP, just as she said.’
Amon decided to target it.
After reaching his conclusion, he contacted the Crown Prince via radio.
***
“Crown Prince.”
[Who is this…?]
“It’s Amon. I’ve found a way to stop the rampaging Geomgye.”
[Oh? And what would that be?]
“What the hell, you bastard!? How dare you insult my mother—cough, ahem. My apologies, Your Majesty.”
[…I will pretend I did not hear that. Now, what is your method?]
“If we destroy the PIP installed on the back of their necks, they’ll regain their senses!”
Amon would have liked to explain the entire theory behind ghosts and AI infections, but there was no time.
He had to get straight to the point.
“Please grant permission to destroy them!”
Since the PIPs were a tool used by the royal family to maintain power, it was best to get approval before breaking them.
Fortunately, the Crown Prince was a highly rational person.
[I grant you permission.]
***
The moment permission was given, Amon immediately put his plan into action.
There was nothing elaborate about it.
Instead of using his sword, he borrowed a hexagonal club and shattered their arms and legs before striking the back of their necks with just the right amount of force to destroy the PIP embedded inside.
The club was soon stained red, and though the fallen Geomgye convulsed, they regained their senses sooner than expected.
‘Hmm. They’re tougher than I thought.’
If one hit wasn’t enough, he could just swing again.
After a few repetitions, he got a sense of exactly how much force was needed to break the PIP.
Since they were still breathing, he was technically following the Crown Prince’s orders.
There might be minor injuries, but they could be treated with surgery, so he wasn’t too concerned.
And so, Amon “cured” the infected Geomgye by smashing their heads one by one.
***
“Aaahhh! It’s a demon!!”
“What did you just say, you little—?!”
The sight of him going around cracking skulls with a club understandably caused some misunderstandings among the soldiers.
However, Amon paid no attention to them.
By the time Amon had finished dyeing his club with the blood of all the Geomgye in Geumgang, someone suddenly remembered an important detail.
“Wait! The youngest prince!”
The Geomgye had originally been accompanying the youngest prince as his escorts.
But with them in this state, it was only natural to worry about his safety.
Amon immediately began searching for the missing prince.
Luckily, finding him wasn’t difficult.
[Use the PIP’s tracking function.]
The PIP tracking system also applied to the royal family.
At first, Amon had found this practice questionable.
But he soon realized it was simply a difference in values.
Unlike the West, where freedom was the top priority, Joseon placed order above all else.
To them, freedom was something that could be sacrificed for the sake of maintaining order—even those in power willingly accepted that trade-off.
‘Well, this is Joseon’s way of doing things. It’s not my place to judge.’
Convincing himself of this, Amon checked the GPS.
According to the Crown Prince’s information, the youngest prince was moving quickly.
An untrained child shouldn’t be able to escape at that speed.
That could only mean one thing.
‘He’s been kidnapped.’
‘By who? And why?’
There were countless questions, but there was no time to think.
Amon immediately began pursuing, leaping through the trees.
Just then, Sunwoo and Sunhwa followed closely behind him.
“I may be a carefree swordsman, but I’m not so irresponsible that I would abandon my duty. Losing the prince was my failure. At the very least, let me make up for it.”
Sunwoo spoke with the pride of a true Geomgye.
Amon didn’t fully understand why a private military group held such strong convictions, But to Sunwoo, being a member of the Geomgye seemed to carry a deep personal meaning.
And Sunhwa had followed, worried about her younger brother.
Amon allowed them to join.
“I’ll go ahead first. Try not to fall behind.”
With that, Amon leapt across trees and rocks, cutting straight through the mountain.
Surprisingly, Sunwoo and Sunhwa managed to keep up well.
While they couldn’t move through the trees as he did, they sprinted along the mountain paths as if they were flat roads, effortlessly leaping over hills and obstacles.
‘Come to think of it, they were an assassin group that scaled walls every night.’
It was no wonder their parkour skills were exceptional.
Amon was pleased as he saw the siblings keeping up with his speed, so he increased his pace slightly.
Compared to him, the siblings…
“What the hell is that guy?”
“What exactly is the Vatican raising?”
They couldn’t help but be astonished as they watched Amon dart across the mountain with dazzling parkour skills that even the head of the Sword Clan couldn’t match.
At first, they thought he was just an ordinary swordsman, but seeing him traverse the mountain so effortlessly, he looked every bit the professional assassin.
‘If they took their eyes off him for even a moment while he was in the shade of the trees, they would often lose sight of him.’
‘If Amon hadn’t deliberately made noise to reveal his presence, the two of them would have ended up lost by now.’
***
While each of them harbored different thoughts about the other, the group finally caught up to the youngest prince.
“Hm?”
The moment Amon spotted the youngest prince, he immediately sensed that the situation was about to become complicated.
The prince had been gagged and was being kidnapped by a man dressed in black combat robes.
“That’s the Sword Clan…”
“No.”
Amon instinctively associated the black robes with the Sword Clan, but Sunwoo denied it with a serious expression.
“That’s not the Sword Clan. That’s the Assassination Order.”
“They’re different?”
“We’re an official private military force. Those guys are terrorists and anarchists.”
“Oh.”
To be precise, the history of the Assassination Order was too complex to sum up with just those two words, but there was no time to explain, and Amon wasn’t particularly interested anyway.
The only thing that mattered was that the man before them was someone they could attack without hesitation.
And since he had kidnapped a prince, that made him a traitor.
***
The moment their eyes met, Amon lunged at the man.
“No way! I definitely used an EMP…!”
The man was in shock, but Amon only scoffed.
‘Pips aren’t electronic devices, you idiot. EMPs don’t work on them.’
Pips were chips made from a combination of magic, chemistry, and biological tissue, meaning they were unaffected by EMPs.
Judging by his ignorance, the man was either a fool or someone who had done absolutely no research.
That careless fool was swiftly disarmed—both of his arms severed by Amon’s blade.
With that, Amon cleanly rescued the youngest prince.
“Ugh…!”
Drenched in the man’s blood, the prince turned pale, but there was no time to comfort him.
After neutralizing the enemy, Amon handed the prince over to Sunwoo and began his interrogation.
“Name and affiliation.”
No response came.
Amon tilted his head.
Then, realizing the man was dead, he clicked his tongue.
“He killed himself?”
Sunwoo, who had been listening, denied Amon’s assumption.
“No, you killed him.”
“Huh? Can you die just from losing your arms?”
“If both arms are cut off, people usually die from excessive blood loss.”
“…I mean, I know that much.”
But that was only true for normal people.
‘If someone had undergone even a moderate level of augmentation, they wouldn’t die so easily from losing a limb…’
“Wait, are you saying this guy wasn’t augmented at all?”
“The Assassination Order doesn’t use augmentations.”
“…Are they eco-terrorists?”
“They’re communists. They go on and on about how implants are bourgeois nonsense.”
“Can you tell me a bit more about the Assassination Order?”
“You sure ask quickly.”
Sunwoo sighed deeply and nudged the corpse with his foot before giving a brief explanation about the organization.
“The Assassination Order is a splinter group that broke away from the Sword Clan—formed by those who were poor and held extreme ideologies.”
Both groups revered the way of the sword and martial prowess.
However, while the Sword Clan served as private soldiers for the Neo-Nobility to earn a living, the Assassination Order purely worshiped combat itself and opposed the royal family for using power to oppress.
As an extension of that ideology, they also assassinated the Neo-Nobility, who used swords not for pure combat but as tools in their power struggles.
They even believed that under the sword, all people should be equal—except for their leader, of course.
They rejected personal wealth, advocating for equal distribution of resources.
“So, in short…”
“They’re terrorists, communists, and anarchists. Your summary was spot on.”
Amon had to admit it was an accurate description.
The only unfortunate thing was that the situation was unfolding too quickly for him to process all this information properly.
He prodded the corpse of the Assassination Order member, who had died of shock from losing both arms.
“I understand that this organization exists. But I have a question.”
“What? Ask away.”
“How did unaugmented people manage to carry out a scheme against the royal family? And what was their reason for kidnapping the youngest prince?”
At Amon’s question, Sunwoo shook his head.
“I have no idea. We usually eliminate the Assassination Order members on sight, so they’re not even a real threat. They may claim to oppose the royal family, but in all of history, they’ve only managed to attack them once.”
“That one time…?”
“It was when our family orchestrated things from the shadows.”
“Oh.”
The Assassination Order had been used as a pawn in a scheme to divert attention before the Zhu family’s rebellion.
They had received anonymous support and managed to strike at the royal family—only to later discover that their benefactors were the very Neo-Nobility they despised.
‘What a mess…’
Amon let out a bitter smile as he continued his conversation with Sunwoo.
“Then what do you think the chances are that someone is backing them again this time?”
“I’d say it’s highly likely. The way you’re asking… You must have an idea already.”
Amon nodded.
“This will take too long to explain here. Let’s return to the Crown Prince.”
Lifting the unconscious Prince Ihyun, who had fainted from shock after being drenched in blood, Amon began moving.
“Be careful. The Hunt Legion isn’t finished yet.”
The ghost army was still on the march.
From the direction of the forest leading to the Crown Prince, a chilling wind blew.