Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Assault on Black Rock Hall
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Chirp— chirp— chirp—
A bright daytime filled with the cries of birds flitting through the mountains.
Deep in the secluded woods, a vast bamboo grove dominated the landscape, and at its heart stood a massive pavilion the size of a manor.
But while sunlight poured down outside, the interior of the pavilion was shrouded in pitch-black darkness, not a single ray penetrating within.
If someone stumbled upon it by chance, they would think it an abandoned ruin with no sign of human life—but at the far end, people were indeed present.
Not just one, but two.
"Still no word from them?"
The voice of Heukam, master of Black Rock Hall and known as the Merciless Flying Knife, echoed hollowly through the void.
In response, from some unseen spot across from him, Vice Master Blood Wind— the Crimson Poison Slayer—replied immediately.
"Yes. No carrier pigeons have arrived at the main hall yet."
"They haven't botched the job, have they?"
"No need to worry. With three elite assassins and fifty first-rate ones, he can't possibly survive. Even if he's a bit stronger, he's still just one man. This isn't a fight we can lose."
Blood Wind calmly laid out the explanation in the face of Heukam's irritated tone.
He was right.
This was a war between assassin groups, but the weight classes were worlds apart.
He was alone, while they had over a hundred killers on their side.
Yet even with Blood Wind's firm assurance, Heukam still looked uneasy, a foreboding shadow crossing his face.
"Still, it's too late. Half a day has passed since the last report, and not even one pigeon in all that time?"
"Hm, that part does raise some questions..."
Just as the master and vice master swallowed their doubts in unison—
Tadadak!
The rapid sound of footsteps pounded down the corridor.
The door flew open, and an urgent voice burst forth.
"Master! Disaster has struck!"
Blood Wind snarled back ferociously.
"Breaking the hall's rules? What is this disgrace in the master's presence!"
"S-sorry!"
Black Rock Hall's pavilion had one ironclad rule: no matter the circumstance, never make a sound with your footsteps.
As everyone coming and going was an assassin, they all had the skill to manage it.
But the subordinate looked genuinely frantic, so Heukam held back his vice master and cut straight to the point.
"Enough. There must be good reason for such haste. Speak."
The moment he asked—
Kwagwagwang!
A deafening roar shook the earth from outside.
Judging by the volume and intensity, it was quite close.
As Heukam puzzled over the unidentified noise, the subordinate spoke up.
"The main base is under attack!"
"...What?"
"Two intruders have breached the hall and are pushing forward. One of them is...!"
He gulped and finished.
"The master of Kill Room!"
"Is this really the way?"
"Just follow me. You'll reach your goal."
Black Night, trailing behind Hyeok Mulin as he moved at breakneck speed, voiced his doubts.
He had good reason—the path they were charging down wasn't some ordinary mountain trail.
Sheer cliffs towered on both sides like they pierced the heavens, squeezing the way into a narrow passage barely wide enough for one or two people, stretching on endlessly.
And it was so long that even after running for half a gak, the end was still nowhere in sight.
"No...!"
Then Black Night's eyes widened as he spotted something swarming ahead.
The path was completely blocked by thorny poison plants and swarms of venomous insects of all sizes.
Spotting them, he glanced at Hyeok Mulin, asking how to proceed.
"The way's fully obstructed. Better find another route. What now?"
"What else? Only one option."
Hyeok Mulin channeled internal energy into his palms and swept through the air.
With each motion, the obstacles blocking the path were neatly cleared away.
Yet the procession of bugs and plants stretched on.
Now poison needles and darts rained from hidden mechanisms amid the toxins, while iron chains and heavy spear blades sprang from the sides.
But Hyeok Mulin demolished every trap with ease, barreling straight ahead in a single line.
Black Night, following the man brute-forcing his way through, stared in disbelief and asked.
"Who the hell are you?"
"That curious about me? You just need to succeed in avenging your master, right?"
He had a point.
Black Night fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"How do you know about my master?"
Kill Room had always operated with minimal members, its core techniques passed down solely to the master in a one-on-one lineage.
The previous Kill Room master was the legendary assassin Black Ghost, the first in martial history to complete ten thousand kills, known as the Peerless Slayer.
Black Night was his most favored disciple and the top candidate for next master.
Perhaps that was the seed of tragedy. One day, with the sect's shrinking domain making transmission impossible, his eldest senior brother made a fateful decision.
If he couldn't have it, no one would.
At a gathering of all the master's disciples, he unleashed a vicious poison that ravaged the lungs, slaughtering his master and juniors alike.
The sole survivor was Black Night, who had been recovering from a mission wound at an outside clinic.
After wiping out Kill Room's assassins, he promptly left and founded a new group.
That was Black Rock Hall, the pinnacle of the shadow paths and one of the current Three Great Assassin Halls.
Thus, Black Night shared both brotherhood and irreconcilable blood feud with Heukam, Black Rock Hall's master, under the same sun no more.
"Can't reveal my source."
"No idea where it leaked from. It was top secret, and I handled the commissions the same way—no one should've noticed anything off."
He was right.
Black Night had faked his master's death and handled every Kill Room commission solo afterward.
Even after the master's "change," Kill Room racked up hundreds of hits, and no one suspected a lone operator.
Thus, Heukam's betrayal stayed hidden, with rumors persisting of over a dozen assassins in Kill Room.
'You're spot on. I knew what was coming, so I came to you.'
There were no holes in his handling of affairs.
Hyeok Mulin simply knew the future, allowing him to seek out Black Night.
The war between Kill Room and Black Rock Hall.
The bone-deep grudge between masters erupted into a bloodbath that ended only with one side's death.
One man versus over a hundred assassins.
The victor was, predictably, Black Rock Hall.
Black Night had failed in his revenge.
He'd burned every strand of his innate energy, taking most of Black Rock Hall's killers down with him in mutual destruction—but he couldn't kill Heukam.
This life, though, Hyeok Mulin planned to show him a new path.
"But why help me?"
"Didn't I say when we met? Become my subordinate."
Black Night's lips twitched in absurdity at the words.
"Are you insane?"
Turning Black Rock Hall into enemies just for one assassin?
Once they were after him, he'd never sleep soundly day or night again.
"Relax. Wipe them off the map, and no grudges left."
"Hah..."
A hollow laugh escaped Black Night at the straightforward solution.
Yet somehow, the man's baseless confidence rang true.
'In the end, his word is all I've got.'
For years, Black Night had scoured the world for Black Rock Hall's base but come up empty.
Now he was at this stranger's mercy, following him blindly.
Not even sure if his words were true.
'But... why do I trust him?'
His assassin instincts, which had saved his skin dozens of times, screamed to believe the mysterious man he'd met just yesterday.
As he fixated on Hyeok Mulin's back amid the inexplicable feeling—
Whoosh!
Light flooded their vision.
The long, narrow passage had finally ended.
And beyond it spread a dense, lush bamboo forest.
Sasasasak—
A cool breeze rustled the bamboo and leaves.
Hyeok Mulin took a few steps forward and halted.
"Poison plants, bugs, toxins, traps... and now people."
Hyeok Mulin's gaze lifted upward.
In that instant, dozens of assassins hidden among the bamboo burst out, charging with ferocious momentum.
Hyeok Mulin's form blurred, Black Night's shadow deepened.
The assassins' blades aiming for them struck empty ground instead.
Hyeok Mulin and Black Night split off, engaging the killers in separate battles.
Hyeok Mulin darted between bamboos, staring down the circling assassins.
'So that's why Ji Wolhon said assassins are tricky.'
They fought in environments they controlled.
This was no different.
Surrounded by thick bamboo that hampered movement, Hyeok Mulin was at a disadvantage compared to the assassins lurking behind stalks, waiting for ambush chances.
'Doesn't matter. If picking them off is a hassle, clear them all at once.'
Hyeok Mulin swept his palm horizontally to the left.
Srrek— dozens of bamboo stalks sliced clean through simultaneously.
"...!"
The startled assassins leaped toward bamboo on the opposite side.
Hyeok Mulin didn't miss the opening.
Spreading his senses, he pinpointed the upper assassins, split bamboo chunks with his hand blade, and hurled them skyward like daggers.
With that one move, splinters pierced faces, throats, hearts, and solar plexuses—the killers crumpled lifelessly.
He dispatched the rest similarly with ease, then glanced at Black Night battling amid the fallen.
'No worries there.'
The bamboo forest favored the assassins' maneuvers.
But Black Rock Hall had overlooked one thing in this fight.
Black Night was an assassin too—and far beyond these elite and first-rate mixes.
He flitted from bamboo shadow to shadow like a child frolicking in his yard, effortlessly cutting down the killers with ruthless precision.
As Seven Blood Darts flew from his grip, seven hidden weapons painted the sky, streaking in different directions.
Shashasak!
Flesh and blood sprayed mercilessly with each motion.
Watching, Hyeok Mulin slowly walked toward him.
But then—
Whoosh!
Near the passage entrance, an assassin burst from a hollow bamboo, hurling projectiles at Hyeok Mulin.
Simultaneously, another erupted from the ground, short sword thrusting for his vitals.
Yet Hyeok Mulin's form faded, their strikes hitting nothing.
Kwaduk!
Reappearing before their stunned eyes, Hyeok Mulin pierced one's heart with a finger strike, then stomped the head of the buried one with a true step.
Brains splattered as both assassins died instantly.
"Persistent."
Glancing down briefly, Hyeok Mulin resumed walking.
But before he could take ten steps, a figure closed in from behind.
'What the hell is that guy?!'
Blood Wind, Black Rock Hall's vice master fixated on Hyeok Mulin's back, grimaced.
How were his hall's assassins failing to even graze the man's clothes despite their desperation?
Blood Wind ground his teeth, eyes flashing.
Black Night was fine.
He'd die to the master anyway if he got through.
But this man was too dangerous.
'I have to kill him here.'
Blood Wind masked his killing intent and shadowed him.
'Good—he can't sense me yet.'
He'd worried about the man's detection skills, but apparently not up to his level.
Swiik—
Closing to point-blank, Blood Wind silently drew a dagger.
'Die!'
His blade shot like lightning toward the back of Hyeok Mulin's head.
But the instant it neared—
Hyeok Mulin's form vanished from the world.