Secret Branch Infiltration Operation 6
At that very moment, in Jamma Cave.
With every candidate gone for the third trial, the place was empty — and a bleak, oppressive air hung over it alone.
Chief Instructor Lee Hyeong-seop was working late in the chief instructor's office. The workload had lightened since he'd come to Jamma Cave, but he was still, in the end, the leader of the Heavenly Net Black Death Squad. He had left most of the busywork to his deputy, yet any intelligence the deputy could not handle still passed through his hands.
Then, in the middle of it, he sensed a suspicious presence.
"Who the hell are you?"
"The plan has gone wrong, Ninth Apostle. Return to the palace."
"…The plan has gone wrong? Explain. In detail."
"The Thousand Transformations Ghost has moved. All of them are returning safely — all but one."
Lee Hyeong-seop's brow twitched. This third trial at Jamma Cave had been a trap. Shin Gi-woon and Cheon Se-hwa. Beyond them, the promising young talents who stood with them — all of them were meant to die.
Had things gone as planned, they would already be dead. He had even eliminated every variable that might have interfered beforehand.
And yet Shindogun had caught the scent. Once an Extreme Demon–level expert like him was in motion, the plan was finished. There was not much time left before word of it reached the Cult Leader's ears.
"This is pissing me off. Can I just kill them all?"
"Calm yourself. Have you forgotten that we must not yet be exposed to the Demonic Cult's eyes?"
Lee Hyeong-seop carefully banked his rage. Curses rose unbidden to his tongue. All the trust he had spent so long cultivating had just gone up in smoke.
If this one operation had succeeded, he would have risen properly in the great war between the Orthodox and Demonic factions. It had failed.
"I'll kill one of them, then return."
"I already told you no."
"Shut up. I make the decisions. Tell the Palace Lord I'll be late."
"…Understood."
The black-clad figure vanished as suddenly as he had appeared. Lee Hyeong-seop let out a long breath and rose from his seat. Where had it all gone wrong?
Had he been too greedy? No.
They were only children. He had sealed off the Cult Leader's eyes completely and committed the mission at a moment when intervention was supposed to be impossible.
There had been a plant on the other side as well — someone who should have been watching with eyes wide open, ready for Shin Gi-woon's party to come crashing in.
And still it had failed. Was this something to blame on heaven? Or had the problem been underestimating them as mere brats?
"I never grew particularly fond of them, but this still doesn't sit well."
Leader of the Heavenly Net Black Death Squad. Of all the squad leaders under Guangming Palace, his was the position least likely to draw suspicion. How hard Lee Hyeong-seop had worked to claim that seat.
Within the Demonic Cult, almost anyone on the street knew it. That was how much blood and sweat he had poured into winning this place.
Now he would have to cast it all aside.
Shin Gi-woon. You, at least — I want to kill you myself.
Truthfully, the one he wanted dead was Cheon Se-hwa. She was the Cult Leader's daughter, after all.
But considering the Cult Leader's temperament… no. The aftermath would be too terrifying to risk. That left only one way to deal the Demonic Cult the heaviest possible blow.
Kill the youngest ever to reach Peak. Candidate 295. Shin Gi-woon.
Once the leader of the Heavenly Net Black Death Squad, now a man forced to return to his true place — Lee Hyeong-seop's final act within the Demonic Cult would be the murder of Shin Gi-woon.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
In a chain of successive explosions, human flesh sprayed indiscriminately through the air.
The encirclement the pursuers had formed was already falling apart — and all of it from the martial power of a single person.
At that age, how can he possibly—!
Is the Demonic Cult truly breeding monsters?!
The Kunlun disciples were sweating blood just trying to hold Shin Gi-woon. Because he refused to come down from the sky, they could not even properly use their numbers.
Worse, the fire pouring from his spear tip was enough to call to mind a cannon. Already two-thirds of the pursuit force had been blown apart.
Of course, Shin Gi-woon was far from fine himself.
This was the first time he had ever unleashed the All-Power Realm in real combat. That he had lasted this long at all was already absurd.
Ryu-jin. How much longer can you hold?
I want to drop everything and just lie down.
…We're pulling out. Hold on as long as you can.
Got it.
Shin Gi-woon abandoned any lingering attachment and turned. Once the casting time on the Fire Wings ran out, he would have to drop to the ground — and fight them while already surrounded.
Better to have bought all the time he could and withdraw. That was the right call.
"He's running!!"
"After him! He's got to be exhausted!"
"Don't let this chance slip!!"
Naturally, the pursuit force was relentless. These were the comrades of the dead — and they clung to Shin Gi-woon's heels without pause.
Shin Gi-woon wrenched up even internal energy he did not have, forcing the Fire Wings to stay aloft. The backlash tearing through his body could wait. For now, he had to live.
The problem was where to go. He had broken off alone in the first place because of Lee Hyeong-seop.
There was no telling what scheme the man might spring. If he simply returned to Jamma Cave as he was…
He could not predict how Lee Hyeong-seop would respond. Leaving the mission zone entirely was no more sensible.
Damned if I do, damned if I don't.
Blocked front and back. The Heavenly Net the Martial Alliance had once woven rose unbidden in his mind — and with it, fighting spirit surged up of its own accord.
I'm not dying like this!
He would go to Jamma Cave. His friends were there — people who would stand with him.
The moment he thought that and tried to push his speed higher—
KRAAAAAANG!
"Guh—!"
Shin Gi-woon was sniped by a bolt of black flame from somewhere out of nowhere. In the shockwave, the Fire Wings collapsed. The forced cancellation sent a violent backlash crashing through his entire body.
"Uweeeegh!"
Black blood poured from his mouth like a waterfall. The world shook around him. He could not even keep his body upright.
What had even just happened—
Shin Gi-woon! Snap out of it!
"Hah!"
Ryu-jin's voice dragged his mind back. No — more precisely, she was thrashing inside his upper dantian.
The backlash from the severed Fire Wings had clearly hit her as well, not only him.
And still, Ryu-jin was looking after Shin Gi-woon first.
Pick up the spear! They're coming!
"Ugh…"
With arms that would not stop trembling, Shin Gi-woon clenched the White Fang Spear. Both demonic energy and internal energy were scraped to the bottom. His body was in the worst possible state.
If this kept up, the odds of dying were ninety-nine out of a hundred.
"Candidate 295. You look like you're in a great deal of pain."
"You—!"
"I meant to kill you, but I've changed my mind. That technique you just used — what was it?"
"Lee Hyeong-seop…!"
Shin Gi-woon ground his teeth. The black flame that had struck him had been Lee Hyeong-seop's work.
Of course. He had not even sensed the energy until it hit him. He had half-suspected it — but to think the man would truly try to kill him.
He was trapped between a rock and a hard place.
"He's here!"
"The bastard's half-dead! Surround him, all of you!"
"You vermin. This one is my prey."
Right on cue, the pursuit force closed in behind Shin Gi-woon — and Lee Hyeong-seop revealed his energy, turning to face them head-on.
Ryu-jin… what do you make of this mess?
Whatever it is, it's a chance for us.
Lee Hyeong-seop had put his back fully to Shin Gi-woon and was baring killing intent at the pursuit force. What was he after?
Shin Gi-woon replayed the man's words. He had said he changed his mind. Apparently the All-Power Realm had caught his interest.
The faction that bastard belongs to… doesn't seem like any ordinary group.
Watch the situation and run full speed when you get the opening. I can make you forget the pain for a little while.
"For the record — don't even think about running. If you do, I really will kill you."
"…"
Shin Gi-woon clenched his jaw. Even in good condition, the odds of escaping would have been slim. With this wreck of a body, there was no method at all that would get him free of the man.
Lee Hyeong-seop slaughtered every pursuer who charged him — and never once properly took his eyes off Shin Gi-woon.
A rat in a jar. Had he ever felt this powerless? It was a humiliation he had never tasted even in his previous life.
Having no strength, and so being able to do nothing. How wretched that truly was carved itself into his mind all over again.
If he could get out of this place… no. He would get out. He had to. Even if it cost him an arm.
"KRAAAAGH!"
"Insects who don't even measure up to bugs, getting cocky… Ah. Have I kept you waiting long?"
"Lee Hyeong-seop, leader of the Heavenly Net Black Death Squad… what the hell are you really?"
"Hahaha! So you really did consume Gang Cheol's inner core. Did you pick up even a faint scrap of memory from it?"
"Answer me!"
Shin Gi-woon raised his spear with arms that would not stop shaking. At a mere flick of Lee Hyeong-seop's hand, the strength in his grip went completely slack.
He could not even manage the barest resistance.
"There's a saying — a man's word weighs a thousand gold."
"You've got a real talent for dancing around the words 'shut up'—"
THUD!
Lee Hyeong-seop's form blurred. In an instant he seized Shin Gi-woon by the scruff of the neck and slammed him into the ground.
"Guh—!"
"A little brat like you has things he's allowed to say and things he isn't. Did no one ever teach you properly?"
"Fuck… off… I don't owe trash like you any manners."
"Is that so? A pity."
Lee Hyeong-seop rose. For a heartbeat it seemed he might let it go — then he drew a thin dagger from his robes.
"I was only curious. A junior this insolent is better off killed right here."
"Heh… heh. You pathetic bastard."
"What did you say?"
"Look behind you… you idiot."
"…!"
SHUNK!
In the split second Lee Hyeong-seop spun around, sharp metal drove into his heart.
It was one of the Kunlun pursuit members he had thought already dead.
No.
"Cough! How— how is this possible!!"
The one who had stabbed Lee Hyeong-seop was not a Kunlun pursuer at all. With a chilling smile, the pursuer's face slowly shifted and changed — and Lee Hyeong-seop's eyes shook violently, as if he had seen something that should never exist.
"Forgot what my specialty is, did you? Leader of the Heavenly Net Black Death Squad."
"Th-Thousand Transformations Ghost!"
Shindogun, leader of the Thousand Transformations Soul Chasing Squad.
Disguised among the Kunlun pursuit force all along — he had just dragged Gi-woon back from the brink of death.