Chapter 161: King of the Assassins
Chapter 161: King of the Assassins
"I will go and return, Father."
Not even a full year had passed since I left home to go to the frontline, and I was once again setting my steps toward the frontline.
In terms of time, not much had passed, but so many things had changed compared to back then.
"Go and come back safely, Jin-ah."
"Young Family Head, you absolutely must take care of yourself!"
"Young Family Head, you must never overexert yourself. Never forget that the future of the Seonwoo family rests upon your shoulders."
"Young Family Head...."
"Young Family Head...."
For one thing, the number of people who had come to see me off was drastically different.
The elders, the great lords, and of course the ordinary warriors had all gathered in droves to watch me depart.
Back then, it had only been Father and Yeon-ha.
Moreover, all of them were standing around with regretful expressions, fretting over me and telling me to take care of myself.
The voices ringing out from all directions were enough to make my ears go numb.
I smiled awkwardly and responded to their send-off with as much sincerity as I could manage.
Having received such fervent support for the first time across two lifetimes, my heart should have been soaring, yet for some reason, I simply felt dazed.
'My head feels dizzy. I just want to leave already.'
At any rate, no matter how coldly I reflected on it, the fact that this return home had been a great success seemed undeniable.
I had set the Seonwoo family straight, driven out the Blood Cult's forces from Guizhou City, and even gained a transcendent peak master like the Chaos Soul Witch So Nan-so as an ally.
Of course, it did weigh on my mind a little that I had not been able to see Miss Jegal Seoyul's face again even up to this moment of departure, but if she still hadn't forgiven me after I apologized that much, then wasn't that something beyond my power?
"Well then, I shall take my leave. Everyone, stay in good health."
Finally, I finished my farewells and lightly launched my body into the air.
My baggage was light, and since I had sent Jeok Ma-hyeok and Gyeon-jung straight to Master Gwanggeom right after Hwa Sa-yu died, my current state was very simple.
Only my heart was not so simple.
Because inside my baggage was a letter personally written by Father.
It was a letter addressed to Dang Jeong-hu, the Poison Rock Sovereign and head of the Sichuan Dang Clan.
The letter stated that I was unmistakably the Young Family Head of the Seonwoo family, and that I would formally send a marriage proposal to the Sichuan Dang Clan at a later date.
So in reality, this was no different from the Seonwoo family sending a marriage proposal to the Sichuan Dang Clan.
'A formal marriage proposal, huh....'
For some reason, I felt restless.
Of course, I had to return to the frontline right away to see Lady Dang, so even if I had such a letter, there was no way I could do anything with it immediately.
Coldly speaking, it was nothing more than a means to buy time so that Lady Dang could not marry that bastard On Je-ung.
I knew that fact extremely well.
I knew it all too well, but....
For some reason, my heart remained restless.
I had absolutely no idea why.
'Strange. And why are my footsteps so light? Shall I run a little?'
Thinking that, I decided to pick up speed.
After all, I had to train my movement technique anyway.
'Well, running is good. I have to train hard anyway to crush that bastard Bi Sa-yeong with my movement technique.'
That was it.
So absolutely, I was not running because I wanted to see Lady Dang quickly.
It was simply because I wanted to crush that bastard Bi Sa-yeong.
Paaang!
Using the Explosive Step, I accelerated my body sharply.
Perhaps because my body felt light, I kept breaking into laughter.
It was probably because the weather was nice today.
It was absolutely not because Lady Dang's face kept floating up in my mind.
'Of course! That's right! Hehehe!'
Leaking strange laughter from my mouth, my body was gliding forward like the wind, light and ethereal.
***
At the same time.
A place some distance away from the Seonwoo family.
Within the shadow of a large tree, two eyes suddenly and slowly opened.
They were faint, but they were eyes glinting with tremendous internal energy.
Soon, a low voice muttered.
"He's come out."
It was Am Hyeol-hyang.
Am Hyeol-hyang, whose real name was Jou Woo-saeng, the greatest assassin under heaven and one of only two assassins counted among the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, had already arrived near the Seonwoo family two days ago.
He had infiltrated the Sichuan Dang Clan like a ghost when he met On Je-ung, the Hongsa Sword Dragon. For him to sneak into the Seonwoo family and find his target, Seonwoo Jin, would not have been difficult.
But Am Hyeol-hyang had waited.
It was because of the rumor that the Seductive Ghost Son Eun-sang was staying at the Seonwoo family.
He did not fully believe the rumor, but he did not wish to create variables by carelessly approaching too hastily.
So Am Hyeol-hyang had been waiting for Seonwoo Jin to come outside, waiting for a quiet opportunity to deal with him.
And that was nothing special.
As an assassin, waiting a few weeks to target his mark was a very common thing for him.
'But for him to come out in just two days, I'm quite lucky with this commission.'
Am Hyeol-hyang became a shadow and slowly began to pursue Seonwoo Jin.
Just in case, he planned to make his move after they were completely away from the Seonwoo family.
Seonwoo Jin, perhaps because something good had happened, was running with a bright expression, picking up speed like the wind.
But it was not at all difficult for Am Hyeol-hyang, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, to follow him.
And he did so without making even the slightest presence known, just like a ghost.
Seuseuseuk!
With a stealthy movement that even Seonwoo Jin's Mind's Eye could not detect, Am Hyeol-hyang began to chase him while maintaining a constant distance behind.
Seonwoo Jin, utterly unaware of being tailed, simply kept grinning from ear to ear.
Running like the wind, they swiftly left Gwiyang behind and began heading toward the Geumsa area where the Un Clan was located.
And before entering Geumsa, Am Hyeol-hyang finally initiated action.
'Around here, I can deal with him quietly.'
Am Hyeol-hyang, who had maintained a ghost-like movement, suddenly grabbed the handle of the nine-section whip coiled around his waist.
Then the nine-section whip wrapped around his waist uncoiled itself naturally, as if it were alive.
It was a nine-section whip that looked just like a crustacean with many joints.
It moved smoothly, like a living thing, extending its head section out in front of Am Hyeol-hyang.
He then fitted a small metal ball into the groove located at the tip of the nine-section whip.
It was his unique weapon: the Black Five-hole Whip.
The next moment, his body, which had been gliding forward, rotated powerfully. With that rotational force, the Black Five-hole Whip was also swung fiercely, and at last, the head of the whip, loaded with Am Hyeol-hyang's speed, internal energy, and centrifugal force, spat out the metal ball.
Tuwoong!
It was an ultra-high-speed projectile utilizing the internal energy of Am Hyeol-hyang, one of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World, as well as the centrifugal force of a long tool.
Kwaaaaaak!
The metal ball tore through the air as it flew ferociously.
But because its speed was faster than sound, Seonwoo Jin could not hear the noise of the metal ball flying toward him.
Puk!
It was an instant.
The time it took for the metal ball to pierce through Seonwoo Jin's chest was nothing more than a mere instant.
Seonwoo Jin, who had been unfolding his movement technique perfectly fine, suddenly had his chest penetrated.
"Hurk!"
At that sudden event, he had no choice but to lose his balance and plummet.
Blood was gushing out from his pierced chest.
It was a direct hit.
However, Am Hyeol-hyang, who had succeeded in dealing with Seonwoo Jin with just a single metal ball, muttered with a slightly annoyed expression.
"It went off course. Luck? Or instinct?"
At a glance, it seemed like a perfect hit, but Am Hyeol-hyang could tell.
That at the very last moment, Seonwoo Jin's body had tilted slightly, causing the metal ball, which should have pierced the dead center, to veer into the right side of his chest....
In the past ten-plus years of sniping with the Black Five-hole Whip, he had never failed to kill with a single shot. It seemed he would have to use his hands a second time for the first time in a long while.
***
Puhwak!
Along with a sudden pain, I felt the strength draining completely from my entire body.
My chest had been pierced through.
As I collapsed, my body, which had been moving forward, lost its balance and was crashing toward the ground.
If I slammed into the ground at this speed, it seemed like I could definitely die this time.
'Kuk!'
I moved my body with all my might, twisting to minimize the impact of hitting the ground.
Soon, I felt a dull shock.
Tung! Teoteotung! Tung! Tung! Tung!
My body, which had struck the ground, bounced and tumbled over a dozen times like a skipping stone.
I felt pain all over my body.
But I knew very well that that was not what mattered right now.
And that the fact I was still alive was heaven-sent luck.
'I was running at that speed, and a silent throwing weapon pierced through my chest from behind?'
Simply recognizing the situation from moments before made my skin crawl.
I had been in a good mood just now, but I certainly hadn't been neglecting my surroundings.
For a frontline worker like me, that was practically second nature.
On top of that, I had been sprinting at full speed in the Flying Moon state of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance...
And yet, the projectile had flown at me without a single sound, without my Mind's Eye detecting anything at all.
I couldn't even begin to imagine just how fast a throwing weapon would have to be to make that possible.
In that desperate, life-or-death moment, I had suddenly felt an ominous sensation and urgently changed direction.
I survived only because I didn't ignore that faint feeling—had I done otherwise, I would certainly no longer be among the living.
'Who the hell is it?!'
Clutching my pierced right chest, I first turned my gaze behind me. There, I spotted a single black-clad figure approaching with truly ghost-like movements.
His form was visible to my eyes, yet I felt nothing at all through my Mind's Eye—movements truly like those of an actual ghost.
'Don't tell me he's an actual ghost?'
There was no way that was the case.
Whoever had just hurled the steel ball that pierced my chest could not possibly be a ghost.
He was most likely a master beyond my ability to detect.
And I already knew of an assassin who could silently kill a person with a single steel ball, leaving neither mouse nor bird aware of his presence.
'Am Hyeol-hyang!'
I bit my lip hard.
I had thought that erasing the Sichuan Assassination Gate would put an end to the assassination attempts, but apparently that wasn't the case.
I had been far too careless in dealing with that Hongsa bastard.
But right now, I had no time to regret that.
I had to survive first before I could afford to have regrets.
'And besides, if that guy really is Am Hyeol-hyang, there wouldn't have been any way to prepare for it anyway. The only possible method would've been to stick right next to Senior Son Eun-sang.'
I briefly hesitated over whether to flee, but ultimately decided to give up on that idea.
If I turned my back and ran again and something like before came flying at me, the odds were high that this time I wouldn't be able to dodge it for real.
In that case, there was only one option left.
Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, Second Form.
Activate Hyeon Moon.
In an instant, a dizzying sensation came over me, and expanded senses enveloped my body.
At the same time, I entered a state where I could observe the pain in my chest as if it belonged to someone else.
In that moment, something whip-like—barely visible to the eye—shot toward me from the black-clad figure who was approaching like a ghost.
Shwaaaak!
It was moving at a terrifying speed.
A thrust faster than even One Strike, the fastest technique I could execute, was stabbing toward me not in a straight line, but in a curve.
'Kuk!'
I immediately deployed Heavenly Wind Flower Petals.
Pashshshk!
But even so, I couldn't completely evade it.
The bastard's weapon, which shot forward like a living snake, grazed my left arm hard as it passed.
Tssssss!
"Kughk!"
I felt the pain, but I had no time to confirm the wound.
The bastard's weapon, as if it were truly alive, immediately changed direction and came at my back.
The afterimages I had created with Heavenly Wind Flower Petals seemed to have no effect at all.
Pang!
My body shot to the right, deploying Explosive Advance, and just barely avoided the bastard's weapon again.
Shweeek!
But I still couldn't catch my breath.
The bastard immediately stuck to my back like a ghost.
Even compared to me while I was using Explosive Advance, his speed was similar.
'Dammit!'
It was unbelievable.
If I had to pick the single greatest among all my abilities, it would be my movement technique—and yet, even while using Explosive Advance, there was almost no difference between his speed and mine.
It was obvious without even looking how great the gap in our other abilities would be.
So there was no need to hesitate any further.
If I could just survive, I had to try anything.
'Let's go!'
Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance, Third Form.
Activate Hyeonmangwol!
This was the highest form of the Moonlight Illusion Sword Dance that I could currently use.
And then, in a single moment, my vision shifted once more.
Hwaaaaak!
It was a strange sensation, as if my soul had left my body and was piloting my flesh from outside, though that could not possibly be what was actually happening.
Suddenly, I found the pain in my body bothersome and shut off my senses.
In that instant, the pain itself vanished entirely.
But in the meantime, the bastard's weapon had coiled once around my surroundings like a snake and was now thrusting toward me.
I could also now clearly perceive that it was a Nine-Section Whip, shaped like a centipede.
And I could tell this much as well.
Even if I dodged the spear tip at the end of the Nine-Section Whip which was now stabbing at me, my body would be torn apart by the whip segments coiling in from my periphery.
Therefore, I couldn't dodge it.
But at the same time, I couldn't block it either.
The gap in our internal energy was far too great—any attempt to defend would simply be pierced through.
A situation where I could neither block nor meaningfully dodge.
In that situation, I poured all my strength into thrusting my sword forward.
Four Suns Sword Technique, First Form.
One Strike.
Shweeeeek!
Taeng!
In that instant, I could see Am Hyeol-hyang's eyes—which had been ever-calm from the very first moment I saw him—slightly furrow for the very first time.
It was because I had succeeded in thrusting my own sword at the tip of the incoming Nine-Section Whip and clashing blade-tip to blade-tip.
It was an improvisation akin to a miraculous feat, striking the spear tip with the tip of my sword.
Having created a slight opening with that maneuver, I was just barely able to throw my body aside again with Explosive Advance.
Pang!
Then, the bastard, who had paused in place to stare at me for a moment, soon smiled faintly and came charging at me again.
He was accompanied by his Nine-Section Whip, which swirled around his body like a living centipede.
In that moment, I realized it immediately.
The bastard, who up until just moments ago had simply been swinging his Nine-Section Whip around roughly, was now unfurling what looked like genuine, formal techniques.
His Nine-Section Whip whirled in an instant like a tornado, then came swinging at me as if to slice me in half.
Chwahaaaaaak!
I realized immediately that this too was something I absolutely must not dodge.
Though it looked as if he had swung the Nine-Section Whip like a blade, its movement was fundamentally circular.
If I dodged it, I would end up trapped inside the range of his Nine-Section Whip.
I had to somehow block it or strike it aside.
Euk!
Clenching my teeth, I unfurled the ultimate technique of the Four Suns Sword Technique—one I had not yet deployed even once in real combat.
Four Suns Sword Technique, Ninth Form.
Houyi Shooting the Sun.
It was the supreme ultimate technique of the Four Suns Sword Technique: just as Houyi was said to have shot down nine suns, one could, at the extreme, thrust nine One Strikes in a single sword stroke.
It was a technique I could not yet unfold at my current level, but in my present state using the third form, Hyeonmangwol, it seemed possible.
Shwishwishwishwit!
Five stabs, extending from my arm like the teeth of a comb, collided with the bastard's Nine-Section Whip.
It was an improvisation, once again precisely striking the corners of the whip's segments with the tip of my sword.
Jeojeong!
That impact made the Nine-Section Whip's movement falter for a moment.
It was the first opening I had discovered since the fight against him had begun.
Clenching my teeth, I immediately unfolded the next technique.
I couldn't waste even a single moment of time.
Seonwoo Thirteen Swords, Thirteenth Form.
Illusion Sword Mirror.
Shwaaaaaa!
Hundreds, thousands of illusion swords surrounded the bastard.
And naturally, I immediately chained it into Linked Chain Grass.
Seonwoo Thirteen Swords, Fifteenth Form.
Emptiness is Form.
Hwaaaaaaak!
Thousands of sword shadows assailed the bastard from all directions.
It was the mightiest ultimate technique I could deploy.
But I could see it.
Am Hyeol-hyang's eyes, trapped within thousands of sword shadows, still looked serene...
At some point, he had retracted his Nine-Section Whip and was coiling it inward, just as a snake coils itself into a sphere.
And then, in a single instant, he released it explosively.
Chwaaaaaaak!
It was just like an explosively expanding Dragon Whirlwind.
The Nine-Section Whip, now brandished, rotated fiercely and ripped my Emptiness is Form to shreds.
The thousands of sword shadows I had created took merely a single moment to be extinguished entirely.
The bastard, having simply neutralized the ultimate technique into which I had poured all my strength, immediately and naturally transitioned into an offensive.
The bastard's Nine-Section Whip was now shooting toward me like a ray of light, a dragon leaping forth from within the Dragon Whirlwind.
It was an attack launched at the very moment my own offensive had just concluded—a moment where I could not even strike it aside.
Chwaak!
Blood burst forth.
The spear tip had grazed my thigh hard as it passed.
He was most likely aiming to anchor my feet.
Thanks to the effects of Hyeonmangwol, I felt absolutely no pain, and so I could analyze the situation with complete, cold clarity.
I understood that my legs would no longer move properly now.
A thought abruptly surfaced in my mind.
'Is this the end?'
In that very instant, the bastard's Nine-Section Whip—which had just torn through my thigh and passed by—immediately changed direction and stabbed toward my back.
I tried to twist my body around, but my legs wouldn't obey.
It seemed this truly was the end.
'Kughk!'