The Fugitives' End
Jeonpyeong gasped violently, "Huff... Huff...!" His body was already a broken ruin. It would have been perfectly normal for him to collapse from exhaustion where he stood. No one understood that better than he did.
"Are you alright, Jeonpyeong?"
"Ah... my lady..."
When Hwa Seoyeon asked from directly beside him, Jeonpyeong could only grit his teeth and nod that he was fine. He refused to show any sign of weakness to the woman who was both his master and his entire world.
"I'm fine, my lady."
"...Don't push yourself."
At Hwa Seoyeon's soft sigh, Jeonpyeong forced his exhausted legs to keep moving. I have to get out of here somehow. If we can just reach the Hwa Clan, I can repay this humiliation one way or another.
Jeonpyeong bit down on his lower lip. He simply could not accept it. The martial prowess displayed by Mu Yeong, the senior disciple of Mount Hua, and Eun Haseong had been shocking, yes, but they should not have been capable of annihilating dozens of elite assassins. Jeonpyeong had been certain of that. Yet the combination technique the two had unleashed was now burned into his mind with terrifying clarity, a power worthy of being called divine punishment.
......
Fresh dark blood spurted from the stump of Jeonpyeong's severed arm. The martial display Eun Haseong had shown in that last battle had far exceeded anything he could have predicted. Before he realized it, terror toward Eun Haseong had been seared deep into his soul. Of course, he refused to acknowledge it.
Twenty first-class assassins, plus Hwandogwi, a Peak realm master, all dead... Does this even make sense?
Jeonpyeong writhed within the suffocating darkness filling his mind. If he could, he would have screamed until his throat tore. But as the clear loser, he could not even allow himself to show despair.
It was then that Hwa Seoyeon, walking quickly beside him, took a deep breath and spoke.
"We'll soon leave the sphere of Mount Hua's influence."
"...My lady."
"Just a little further. Hold on."
Her words were meant to raise his spirits. Jeonpyeong forced a bitter smile and nodded. Just as she said, if they kept going, they would soon leave the vicinity of Mount Hua and enter Hwa Clan territory. That small hope, faint as a dying ember, flickered back to life inside him.
As long as they survived, there was still a chance for revenge.
If I can just stay alive... If I can only survive...!
Jeonpyeong bit his lower lip so hard that blood welled up.
It was at that exact moment that footsteps echoed through the forest.
Step. Step.
"......!"
The sound sent ice crawling down his spine. Pure terror flashed through his mind. An unfamiliar presence. It was something that should have been impossible for him to sense after fleeing so deep into the woods.
In the next instant, a man's calm voice reached his ears.
"...You must have struggled with everything you had. But this is the end of the road."
"Y-you...!"
"The fact that you thought you could cause such a disturbance and still escape Soyang County and Mount Hua's domain is extremely irritating."
Jeonpyeong felt his heart drop. The identity of the person standing before them struck him like an unavoidable catastrophe.
A violent tremor ran through him. That man hasn't moved a single inch, yet why does this pressure feel so crushing? Jeonpyeong's eyelids quivered. The agitation was not his alone. Hwa Seoyeon, standing beside him, spoke in a voice thick with shock.
"How did you... follow us all the way here?"
The middle-aged man remained silent for a moment, stroking his beard, before he finally answered.
"It would not do to simply allow criminals who caused a disturbance in another's territory and even attempted massacre to walk free. You are the daughter of the Hwa Clan, yes? Then allow me a brief introduction. I am Hyeonmu Jin-in, Sect Leader of Mount Hua, one of the Nine Great Sects."
Hwa Seoyeon's shoulders flinched as though she had been struck by those words. At the same time, Jeonpyeong's mind spun desperately. If I can buy even a little time... perhaps I can let my lady escape.
Hyeonmu Jin-in gazed at him with eyes that never wavered, then let out a quiet sigh.
"Your devotion as a guard is admirable, but..."
"......!"
"Your fatal mistake was not knowing your place."
In that instant, Jeonpyeong's eyes widened as he sensed something wrong. But it was already too late.
A single flicker of movement. A strike refined to the pinnacle of speed, delivered without the slightest warning.
There was no time to react. Jeonpyeong realized it in a single heartbeat. Could that even be called a sword strike? It was a blow that left no opening whatsoever.
In that fleeting instant...
"Ah...?"
Slash!
Hwa Seoyeon, who had been glaring at Hyeonmu Jin-in, slowly lowered her gaze to her own midsection. The single cut that sought to bisect her completely signaled her end.
Dark blood surged from her mouth as she stared in disbelief.
"Wh... what...?"
"My lady...!"
Hwa Seoyeon stared blankly at Jeonpyeong for one final moment before her strength gave out and she collapsed.
With a dull thud, it was over.
Jeonpyeong, who had witnessed the entire scene with perfect clarity, let out a wail of pure despair.
"NO—!"
His eyes, fixed on Hwa Seoyeon's fallen form, turned blood-red. Bloody tears streamed down his cheeks as every capillary seemed to burst at once. Rage ignited inside his mind like wildfire.
"You bastard—!"
Fueled by fury, Jeonpyeong charged at Hyeonmu Jin-in, sword gripped in his remaining hand. The sect leader looked down at him with eyes as cold as ice and spoke softly.
"You loved her, didn't you."
In the same breath, a razor-sharp blade of sword qi flew in from behind the charging Jeonpyeong. It was a perfect blind-spot strike that left him no chance to respond.
Slash!
Jeonpyeong's final gasp echoed through the trees.
A wet thud followed as his severed head flew into the air and his body crumpled to the ground. Hyeonmu Jin-in glanced at the corpse, shook his head, and spoke.
"Mugyeong Gakju. You've finally arrived."
"...I was slightly delayed. The remaining assassin squads scattered in every direction. Cleanup took longer than expected."
"Hm. I wasn't scolding you."
At Hyeonmu Jin-in's words, the expressionless middle-aged man, Mugyeong Gakju, gave a small nod. He glanced sideways at Jeonpyeong's severed head and muttered.
"...In perfect condition, he might have lasted a few exchanges. A shame."
"Don't mourn him too deeply. We'll have plenty of opportunities to face high-level experts from the heretical path in the days to come."
After a brief silence, Mugyeong Gakju spoke again, hands clasped behind his back.
"...Discarded pawns?"
"Hmm..."
The words carried heavy implications. Hyeonmu Jin-in narrowed his eyes slightly.
"I would say seventy percent or higher."
"As expected."
"It appears the Hwa Clan itself has incurred that person's displeasure for some unknown reason."
"...Still, that woman was essentially Tuma's concubine. I didn't expect him to cast her aside so ruthlessly."
"The same happened with the Jongri Clan. Rumors suggest the Hwa Clan, despite pretending to be part of the righteous path, may have offended Tuma. Those who sit in ambiguous positions as turncoats often meet such fates."
"With things as they are, another storm of blood will sweep through the demonic path..."
"That much is inevitable."
Hyeonmu Jin-in continued, his voice tinged with bitterness.
"What truly irritates me about this whole affair is that even after mobilizing dozens of elite fighters, Tuma still considers them nothing more than disposable pieces. His true strength hasn't even been revealed yet."
"...!"
"Given his formidable martial prowess, a loss of this scale must seem trivial to him. That fact displeases me greatly."
"......"
"For someone who merely earned the title of one of the Four Demons within the demonic path to commit such atrocities in the front yard of the Nine Great Sects... it is truly infuriating."
Hyeonmu Jin-in clicked his tongue in contempt. Mugyeong Gakju could only nod in silent agreement.