Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Shadows of Vengeance
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"What?!"
For Blood Wind, it was enough to make him keel over in shock.
Just moments ago, the man had been right in front of him—and now he had vanished without a trace.
Not that Blood Wind had taken his eyes off him. In an instant, the figure had concealed itself completely.
As if the morning dew had evaporated into the sky under the sun's rays.
Startled, he whipped his head around frantically, scanning the surroundings. But the dense bamboo grove remained silent, revealing no sign of any human presence.
Gulp.
Swallowing dryly, he entered a state of hyper-alertness, focusing entirely on sensing the qi around him.
Drawing on every ounce of experience from a lifetime as an assassin—up to his rise as deputy leader of the Black Darkness Hall—he searched for his opponent.
Yet...
'Why can't I find him?'
Blood boiling and head pounding from the intense concentration, he still detected no presence whatsoever.
After a moment of focus, Blood Wind opened his eyes with conviction.
"He must have fled."
He had likely bolted far away the moment he vanished.
Otherwise, there was no way Blood Wind wouldn't sense even a hint of him.
With that thought, Blood Wind let out a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, the instant he laid eyes on the man, he knew victory was a slim chance.
So he had staked everything on his first move, and when it missed, avoiding another clash was for the best.
'Now, only that one remains.'
Turning his gaze to Black Night, Blood Wind stepped toward him.
But the very moment one foot moved forward...
Thud.
Something touched his back.
At the same instant, chills raced up Blood Wind's spine.
Still, no presence came from behind him.
Yet what had touched his back was unmistakably a human hand.
It was enough to make ghosts weep and his hair stand on end, but like a mantis trapped in a spiderweb, he couldn't move a muscle.
"W-Wait a moment!"
He desperately tried to speak, but it was futile.
Krraaack!
As Hyeok Mulin unleashed the Freezing Soul Severing Palm, thorns of ice jutted out sharply, encasing Blood Wind and everything within a zhang in an instant.
Hyeok Mulin calmly withdrew his hand and crossed over to Black Night.
Black Night had already dispatched the other assassins and was waiting while watching Hyeok Mulin.
He stared at the ice block and clicked his tongue in admiration.
"Impressive ice arts."
"He had decent internal energy."
Of course, the Freezing Soul Severing Palm had ended him in one strike, but compared to the other assassins, his skill was exceptional.
Not quite the hall leader—probably the deputy or a squad captain.
"Then, the only one left is..."
Pushing through the bamboo grove, a massive pavilion came into view before them.
Sensing the presence inside, Hyeok Mulin nodded.
"Just one."
Black Darkness, the leader of the Black Darkness Hall, was in there.
"Hold on."
Before entering, Black Night stopped Hyeok Mulin.
Hyeok Mulin met his gaze for a moment and said,
"I know."
"Thank you."
The finale of this lifelong vendetta had to be his alone.
Yielding the first move to him, Hyeok Mulin watched as Black Night opened the door and stepped inside.
Click.
Hyeok Mulin followed and closed the door behind him, plunging the pavilion into pitch-black darkness.
Even straining his eyes, he couldn't see an inch ahead in the deep void that swallowed the space.
But at that moment...
Fwoooosh—!
Candles along both sides of the long corridor ignited in a rapid cascade.
Wax dripped down, and their shadows stretched long.
At the far end of the corridor, opposite them, a figure emerged.
His hair was long, deep wrinkles under his eyes giving a gloomy impression, and bizarrely, needles pierced his face—a man who looked utterly sinister.
"It's been a while. Have you been well?"
"...You."
"I've been far from well. Sleepless nights haunted by thoughts of our late master and fallen junior brothers."
Black Night's pupils blazed with fury at that loathsome voice.
"Traitor, still got a long tongue on you."
"Heh, I discarded it."
Black Darkness continued with mock pity.
"The shadow illusions our master taught had their limits. So I cast aside obsolete arts and forged my own path."
"Still as shameless as ever."
Black Darkness smirked, lifting the corner of his mouth as if granting a favor.
"You've come far. I prepared this stage for my hardworking junior brother."
The corridor in the flickering pavilion, alive with countless shadows—a place clearly advantageous to Black Night.
But he would never trust a word from Black Darkness.
There was undoubtedly a trap inside, without question.
That was the kind of man he was—Black Darkness.
As Black Night glared, Black Darkness glanced behind him and said,
"But you brought an intruder."
Black Night shot a quick look at Hyeok Mulin behind him and replied firmly.
"He won't join the fight."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Shing.
Black Night drew his dagger, his face reflecting on the blade.
"Killing you is my duty."
Black Darkness let out a derisive chuckle.
"Hahaha. If my junior brother says so, then as your senior, I shall believe it."
"Who the hell is your junior brother?"
"Heh."
Black Darkness smirked and vanished in an instant.
Immediately after, his voice echoed from all directions, like in a cave.
"Welcome, junior brother!"
Whoosh!
The words barely ended when a sword shot from the door crack like a bolt toward Black Night.
At the same time, the pavilion's mechanisms activated—sharp daggers rained down on his position, and the floor gave way.
Instinctively leaning back to dodge, Black Night leaped just before the floor collapsed, floating in midair.
Lightning-fast, he charged down the corridor.
Opposing him, Black Darkness clung upside-down to the ceiling, his form blurring as he moved.
Hyeok Mulin, arms crossed at the entrance, watched the battle unfold.
Exactly one zhang separated them before collision.
Their figures vanished in a flash.
On one side, something indistinct flickered too fast for the eye, disrupting the corridor; on the other, candle shadows danced wildly.
Pew-pew-pew!
Black Darkness released his internal energy, and needles from his body rained toward Black Night.
The crimson poison at their tips guaranteed instant death within three steps on a mere graze.
Papapak!
But the needles lagged behind Black Night's speed.
Now hidden in another shadow, Black Night hurled daggers from his sleeve as the needles embedded in the wall behind him.
It was the ultimate technique: Five Daggers in a Line.
The flickering blur met it head-on, sliding from ceiling to wall.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Five daggers struck in sequence along its path.
But it didn't end there.
Five became Ten Daggers in a Line, then Thirty Daggers in a Line, daggers relentlessly chasing Black Darkness's heels.
"Not bad growth."
Black Darkness faintly smirked, shifting from ceiling to wall while unleashing his full arsenal.
Over a hundred hidden weapons erupted from his body, swarming Black Night like predators.
Black Darkness's Hundred Hidden Weapons Advance assaulted from all sides.
It pierced his blind spots perfectly—no room to evade.
"It's over."
Sensing victory, Black Darkness closed his eyes.
Yet...
Papapapapak!
No sound of weapons piercing flesh.
Opening his eyes, Black Night was gone.
But his presence lingered.
Somewhere in this corridor.
"...No way."
Staring ahead, Black Darkness trailed off.
"You've mastered the Shadow Spirit Phantom Body Art...?"
The supreme secret art coveted by every assassin under heaven.
The Shadow Spirit Phantom Body Art held a simple yet tremendous power: projecting and merging one's body with shadows.
The candle shadows on the corridor walls danced wildly in unison.
As Black Darkness focused his gaze amid the eerie scene...
Swish.
Black Night burst from a ceiling shadow and said,
"That's right."
Falling, he slashed Black Darkness's face diagonally with his dagger.
Slash!
A diagonal gash across Black Darkness's face, blood droplets trailing down.
Instinctively jerking back, he barely saved his life.
One might freeze in peril, but ignoring the facial wound, he spun for a counterattack.
Shuu-shuu-shuu!
Black Darkness and Black Night scaled the walls, hurling hidden weapons and needles.
Attacks clashed chaotically until Black Night's dagger pierced Black Darkness's shoulder.
But as an assassin hardened by brutal training, he felt no pain.
Blood poured from his shoulder, yet with a serene face, he drove a palm into Black Night's side.
"...!"
Black Night halted his assault, twisting his waist back, then tried to move again.
But a searing pain from below made him glance down—his pupils widened.
A bear paw-like gash marred his flesh.
The distance shouldn't have allowed it.
Puzzled, Black Night looked at Black Darkness.
And understood.
Black Darkness had severed all fingers on his right hand, embedding a long blade into the stump.
Frowning at the grotesque sight, Black Night clicked his tongue.
"You've gone all the way."
Sighing, Black Night melted into his own shadow.
Then erupted from Black Darkness's shadow, targeting the back of his head.
But then...
Whoosh!
Black Darkness faced forward, head twisted backward grotesquely, and blew.
Poison mist spewed from his mouth, filling the pavilion.
The sealed space offered no escape for the mist.
Black Night narrowed his eyes, holding his breath, glancing toward the entrance.
'He won't die, surely.'
The poison was potent—enough to kill an ordinary warrior in half a ke.
"Hold on a bit. I'll end this quick and get you out."
Unaware his companion had reached poison immunity, Black Night refocused on the foe.
Black Darkness couldn't open his eyes fully in the mist.
But for assassins, sight was secondary.
The essentials were qi sense and intuition.
These defined an assassin's peak, and Black Night trusted his.
Opening his senses fully, Black Night stuck to the ceiling, closing in rapidly.
Crossing his daggers in an X, he slashed wildly.
Black Darkness didn't sit idle.
His body a weapon, he stabbed with needles while attacking relentlessly.
Full-force assaults unfolded.
Sworn enemies driven by rage, they neglected defense for offense.
Red lines etched their bodies, blood dripping to stain the corridor crimson.
The battle's gusts had dispersed the surrounding mist.
Silver threads extended from Black Night's fingertips as he hurled daggers.
Kuduk.
Clenching his fists, the threads ensnared Black Darkness.
But Black Darkness thrust needles outward, severing the threads effortlessly.
In that instant, Black Darkness grinned ear to ear.
Pursing his lips, he spat thick needles in all directions like saliva.
Thudududu!
Black Night dodged easily, but they weren't for him.
The silver needles extinguished the candle flames.
The corridor plunged back into darkness.
No light, no shadows.
This was his true final plan from the start.
"Now you're trapped!"
With all shadows eliminated, Black Darkness smirked viciously and fired a small, sharp needle.
Too swift for any human to evade, it rocketed toward Black Night's heart.
Following it, Black Darkness charged, converging his blade-fingers into Phoenix Claws, aiming for the heart.
"Farewell."
Sensing his junior brother's end, he offered final words.
But...
Thud!
The needle embedded flatly in the wall; Black Darkness's hand sliced empty air.
Bewildered in that moment, chills crawled up his spine.
Presences multiplied suddenly.
Right.
Left.
Above.
Below.
Front.
Rear.
Black Night's presence filled every direction.
Cold sweat trickled down his sideburns as Black Darkness trembled.
"H-How is this... possible..."
"One thing you don't know."
Black Night's voice echoed vast through the corridor.
"Shadows were born of darkness."
Gripping his dagger reverse, Black Night unleashed Revolving Void Reverse Grip Sword, crossing like thunder.
"This can't..."
Black Darkness's throat slit at an angle.
"This can't be hap...pening..."
Thud.
His upside-down head from the ceiling dropped to the floor.
His torso followed, crunching with a krraack.
Black Night landed and stared at the corpse.
Then slumped nearby, pulling items from his bosom.
"This was Master's."
A dragon-scale hidden weapon with mist patterns stabbed the floor.
"This was Second Senior Brother's."
A petal-shaped slender weapon.
"This was Fourth Senior Brother's."
A fierce tiger-claw mimic.
"This was Seventh Senior Brother's."
A thorny weapon studded with silver needles.
"This was Fifth Senior Brother's."
A three-pronged fork.
"This was Eighth Junior Brother's."
A gull-beak shaped one.
"This was Third Junior Brother's."
A stiff peacock-feather form.
"This was Ninth Junior Brother's."
A half-moon with one razor edge.
"This was Sixth Junior Brother's."
A diamond of layered oak thorns.
Thus, he embedded every assassin's weapon from the Shadow Hall before Black Darkness.
"Now... it's truly over."
Signaling the end of his long vendetta, Black Night exhaled held breath.
Creeeak.
Watching silently, Hyeok Mulin slowly opened the entrance door.
Mist escaped, and light poured in from outside.
Black Night's body was a battered mess of wounds.
Yet his shadow in the sunlight was sharper than ever.
"You really took down Black Darkness alone."
Approaching, Hyeok Mulin marveled.
Even as hall leader, Black Darkness had turned his own Black Darkness Hall into a den of triple ghosts—a testament to his prowess.
Victory in his lair was peak assassin mastery.
"Thank you. Without you, my revenge would have failed."
It was true.
In the original past, he—not Black Darkness—had died.
But Hyeok Mulin hadn't merely done charity.
"Then, time to keep your promise."
"I don't recall any formal promise."
"So, will you follow me?"
Hyeok Mulin didn't force it.
He simply asked and waited.
Black Night gazed at the light streaming in from outside.
Master's vengeance complete—joy was inevitable.
Yet emptiness followed.
What now?
Return to the Shadow Hall for contracts, train disciples?
No.
Witnessing senior brother Black Darkness's dark heart, he wanted no part of that path.
Black Night recalled his earlier words to Hyeok Mulin.
—The Shadow Hall bows to no one. Especially not the weak.
"Heh."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
Traveling together had shown him.
"I can't beat you."
He could erase shadows at will.
Beyond levels, a counter to Shadow Spirit Phantom Body Art—Black Night knew he could never win.
"So, I'll become your shadow."
Rising, Black Night removed his mask and hood.
His bare face, revealed to another for the first time since becoming an assassin.
Meeting his eyes, Hyeok Mulin grinned.
"You won't regret this choice."
Hyeok Mulin and Black Night clasped hands.
"By the way, what's your name?"
"You'll see when we get there."
"Big name, big price. Guess I'll look forward to it."
Finishing, Black Night limped out of the pavilion.
The pouring light warmly enveloped him.