I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 19.
The Sword Saint family is a dogshit family.
The father is indifferent to his children, not caring whether they kill or spare each other.
If someone dies, he’d just say it’s the survival of the fittest, and that the weak perish while the strong survive.
—Kuaaack!
When I first tried this game, I thought it might be better to just leave this family.
But the benefits this family offers are far too tempting to walk away from.
And that benefit is…
‘Overwhelming power.’
Yoo Baek-jun walked down the hallway of the building.
Blood was splattered everywhere, and the corpses of dead mages littered the area. It was the work of the swordsmen from the Sword Saint family who were escorting him.
‘Swordsmen with immense power serve the Sword Saint family, and even the political and business worlds tread carefully around them.’
Whether or not you could seize control of the Sword Saint family drastically altered the game’s difficulty.
For the upcoming main events—
Especially the ‘major event’ that would arrive soon, taking over the Sword Saint family was absolutely necessary.
“Young Master. We’ve secured the first basement floor. It seems there are three floors in total.”
“The mages of the Stagglers have set up a defensive line on the second floor.”
“You’re not saying you can’t break through, are you?”
“Of course not.”
The swordsman who approached, Lee Jun-woo, smirked.
The Sword Saint family resolves everything with a single sword. Because of that, the Heavenly Destruction Sword Technique contains numerous stances prepared for various situations.
There are even stances to counter magic.
“Handle it.”
“Yes.”
Lee Jun-woo disappeared.
Yoo Baek-jun slowly made his way to the second basement floor.
As he got closer, the screams of people and the explosions of magic grew louder.
“Th-Those insane bastards!”
“Why the hell are they here?!”
The second basement floor had a wide hallway.
At the end of the hallway, mages had set up a defensive line and were indiscriminately firing magic.
On the opposite side were the swordsmen.
Crackle!
Magic surged toward them.
Lee Jun-woo, who had been watching, shouted loudly.
“Deploy the Sword Barrier!”
The swordsmen simultaneously raised the flat sides of their blades.
Mana flowed from them, coating the swords, which began to glow blue.
And moments later…
Whoooosh!
“What the hell…?!”
A blue sword barrier unfolded in the air.
The magic collided and exploded, but the barrier didn’t even budge. It stood firm like an impenetrable wall.
“Charge while maintaining the barrier!”
Lee Jun-woo and the swordsmen began advancing with the barrier still active. The mages desperately poured out magic in resistance, but—
It was meaningless.
Swaaack!
“Aaaaargh!”
In an instant, the swordsmen closed the distance, dispelled the barrier, and plunged into the midst of the mages.
What followed needed no explanation.
A one-sided massacre. There was no way a mage could stop a swordsman who had gotten this close.
“Search the second floor! Keep the one with the appearance we discussed earlier alive. It’s the Young Master’s order, so make sure you follow it!”
The swordsmen scattered in all directions.
‘Ah, the taste of power.’
If I had tried to raid this hideout alone, things would’ve been a pain.
But with the power of authority, everything could be resolved easily.
‘I really need to take over the Sword Saint family.’
No matter what it takes—even if I have to deal with my dear siblings.
Yoo Baek-jun steeled his resolve once more.
“Young Master, we’ve finished searching the second basement floor. There’s a single presence detected on the third basement floor.”
“Must be Javen. Capture him.”
“We’ll apprehend him without fail.”
Lee Jun-woo and the swordsmen descended.
By the time Yoo Baek-jun leisurely made his way to the third basement floor, the situation was already over.
“Ugh, uuuugh…!”
Javen was on his knees.
He must’ve resisted fiercely—traces of magic were everywhere, and both of Javen’s arms were completely shattered.
“Kuaaack! Wh-What the hell is this…?!”
Javen writhed in pain. Yoo Baek-jun walked up to him calmly.
Javen looked up at him.
“Wh-Who the hell are you…? How are you commanding the Sword Saint family like they’re your limbs?!”
“The successor of the Sword Saint family.”
At those cold words, Javen’s eyes widened.
He had suspected it, but hearing it confirmed still shocked him.
“You bastards were supposed to be holed up in Seoraksan! Why the hell are you out here causing trouble?!”
“Your mouth is filthy.”
Lee Jun-woo stepped forward and stomped on one of Javen’s feet.
Crunch!
The sound of bones shattering echoed.
“Kyaaaaack!”
“Choose your words carefully when speaking to the Young Master. Next time, who knows what might break.”
“Hah, haaah…!”
Yoo Baek-jun raised a hand to stop Lee Jun-woo.
“This is the last one, right?”
“Yes, there are no other survivors.”
“Good. Now, what should we do with this bastard? Just kill him, or…”
“Sp-Spare me! Just let me live! I won’t do it again! I’ll live right from now on!”
Javen trembled violently.
Truthfully, Yoo Baek-jun had no intention of killing him from the start. This guy was far too useful.
“Come here.”
“Huh? Wh-What?”
“I said come here, you bastard.”
Yoo Baek-jun grabbed Javen’s head and dragged him inside.
“Aaaack! M-My head! It’s gonna crack…!”
Javen had a buzz cut.
Naturally, there was no hair to grab. So, Yoo Baek-jun was gripping his head like an iron claw, squeezing tightly as he dragged him.
With his skull being crushed, the pain was unavoidable.
“You deserve a little pain, you bastard. If you hadn’t won the bid, you should’ve just left, right?
But you ambushed someone trying to take their item and run?”
“I-I’m sorry! I’m sorr…. Aaaack!”
“Think of my hand as the Golden Hoop. And you’re the Monkey King. Even if your head’s just a buzz cut.”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Yoo Baek-jun dragged Javen deep into the third basement floor.
‘Damn it, damn it! If I can just survive… If I can just protect what’s here, I’ll gain power and make this bastard pay!’
Javen cursed inwardly, swearing revenge.
The place where Yoo Baek-jun stopped was a library filled with books. Javen visibly panicked.
“Wh-Why here?”
“Hmm. It should be around here somewhere.”
Yoo Baek-jun roughly threw the books on one side of the study. Javen, who was hit by them, screamed in pain.
“I found it.”
There was a button-like object on the shelf hidden behind the books. When he pressed it, the study opened with a loud rumble.
Then, a door appeared.
“Hey, wake up.”
“Guh—!”
Yoo Baek-jun shoved Javen’s face into a small device next to the door.
And forced his eyes open.
‘N-no way! How does he know about this place?’
Bzzzt!
The device recognized Javen’s eyes, and shortly after, the door opened.
Yoo Baek-jun stepped inside as if familiar with the place.
‘H-how does he know about this?’
Javen was astonished by what he saw.
This was Stagglers hideout—a place where items obtained during their operations were initially stored before being sent to the main base.
‘No! The treasures are here!’
If those treasures were taken, he would have no future. He had to protect them at all costs.
But,
“Stay still, you brat.”
“Guh—!”
There was nothing he could do.
The pain prevented him from conjuring magic, and his broken arm made it impossible to struggle.
Instead, Javen could only think.
‘How does this bastard know about this place?’
Even within the hideout, only a handful of people knew of its existence. How did he—?
‘Is there a traitor?’
It was only natural for Javen’s thoughts to go there. Perhaps someone had leaked the information.
“…….”
The more he thought, the more his head spun.
Meanwhile, Yoo Baek-jun reached the end of the passage and found the warehouse he had been searching for.
“Wow.”
The warehouse was filled with all sorts of items.
Materials that could aid in magic training, as well as various magical artifacts, were packed inside.
‘Magic nerds, as expected.’
They had collected every kind of magical item.
A quick scan revealed no A-grade artifacts. Disappointing, but that wasn’t his goal this time.
He ventured deeper into the warehouse.
“It should be around here…”
Sure enough, he found what he was looking for.
A scroll inscribed with an incredibly intricate magic circle. Yoo Baek-jun unfurled the aged paper.
[Training Magic Circle (A)]
A magic circle used by an otherworldly magic family for mana training. Complex and worn.
―Options: Magical power Training, Concentration Boost
*Magical Power Training: Allows the gathering of more magical power than usual while standing on the circle.
*Concentration Boost: Makes it easier to focus while standing on the circle.
Yoo Baek-jun nodded in satisfaction.
An A-grade magic circle. Its effects were relatively weak for its rank, but it was still valuable.
The mere ability to help gather hard-to-collect mana justified its A-grade status.
“Y-you can’t take that! Give it back!”
“Give it back? You wanna die?”
Yoo Baek-jun kicked Javen as he lunged. Then, he called for the people waiting outside.
“Yes, young master.”
“Collect everything here and take it to my estate.”
“Understood.”
The inspectors gathered the items from the warehouse and carried them out.
Watching this, Javen let out a scream.
“AAAAAH! No! You can’t do this!”
His desperate cries fell on deaf ears.
Lee Jun-woo approached Yoo Baek-jun.
“Young master, what should we do with this guy?”
Sshing! Drawing his sword, he spoke as if ready to kill Javen on the spot.
Javen, who had been screaming, shut his mouth.
“Take him to the family.”
“Huh? The… family?”
“Yeah. Soon, people from the Magic Tower will come looking. He’ll make a good gift.”
“I see.”
Lee Jun-woo smiled in understanding.
Staggler was an organization that had split from the Magic Tower. Their extreme tendencies made the Tower desperate to eliminate them.
‘He might not know much, but they’ll be happy to have him.’
It was a good opportunity to build trust.
Lee Jun-woo inwardly admired the move.
‘To even consider relations with the Magic Tower… He’s more astute than the rumors suggest.’
News of Yoo Baek-jun’s change had even reached the Seoul branch of the Sword Saint family.
When Yoo Baek-jun announced his move to Seoul, it became clear. The Sword Saint family had gone out of their way to accommodate him.
‘If it were the young master of old, the Sword Saint family wouldn’t have cared.’
This was tantamount to recognizing him as a legitimate heir.
Lee Jun-woo let out a long breath.
‘And to even know the location of a hidden warehouse like this… Did he plant a spy within Staggler? Unbelievable.’
Perhaps even refusing their offered support and attending the auction had all been part of this plan.
‘Hah… The family’s succession battle might get interesting.’
For followers like him, it was better if the heir dispute ended quickly.
Lee Jun-woo sighed and began moving the items.
“Well, then…”
Yoo Baek-jun hummed a tune.
He had taken everything worth taking from here.
―Quest completed! You have been awarded 200P.
And even a quest reward.
His total points now amounted to 400P. What trait should he learn next?
‘Should I learn something immediately useful, or something that could trigger an event?’
With pleasant thoughts to ponder, Yoo Baek-jun left the warehouse.
It was time to return to the family.
