Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Pantheon
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Pantheon
A corridor lit by glaring red lights reminiscent of a butcher shop.
The worn hallway creaked unpleasantly with every step, and from the gaps in the doors of the rooms lined up in a row came even louder creaks and mechanical moans.
“...”
This was one of the red pavilions scattered around the outer sector of Pantheon, a business under Hao Gate's management.
“Yuri.”
Amid the mix of creaks and moans, Ha-ryeong spoke up. She glanced back at Yuri as she walked ahead.
“A strapping man coming to a place like this alone is bound to raise suspicions.”
“...”
“Do you know how flustered I was when I first stood in front of this place? What on earth had you been through in those two years, what change of heart made you come to a spot like this in broad daylight? That's what I thought.”
Ha-ryeong said this while staring straight at Yuri's face. Yuri let out a deep sigh and grumbled.
“You already knew all about it, didn't you?”
“Knew what?”
“That this place is a Hao Gate operation.”
“I knew that much, but I never imagined you'd be meeting a one-eyed, ugly old man instead of some cheap whore.”
Not all brothels in this world belonged to Hao Gate, but the rundown ones that looked shabby from the outside were most likely theirs.
“I was too embarrassed to go inside, so I climbed the wall, and when I saw you from the window, you can't imagine my shock. I thought those two years had twisted your tastes.”
“Th-that aside, can we keep walking?”
From the moment she'd turned her head, Ha-ryeong had stopped in the middle of the corridor. Even now, the creaks and moans echoed around them. She stared at Yuri's embarrassed face, then slowly shrugged.
“I thought you wanted to hear more.”
“Cut the nonsense. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
“Then let's go get some food.”
“Suddenly? Hearing this endless mating racket has you suddenly hungry?”
“I said cut the nonsense.”
Grumbling, Yuri brushed past Ha-ryeong. She stared at his back as he went ahead, then clapped her hands.
“You've bulked up even more in those two years? Taller, broader shoulders, and that back—wow.”
“Wow what...”
“I don't make up lies.”
For two years, Yuri hadn't neglected his internal or external cultivation. As a result, he hadn't become a hulking brute like Becker, but he was far more built than he'd been in Lutran.
The corner of the restaurant they arrived at after leaving the rundown brothel naturally had a bloodied man sprawled out. He seemed to be the source of the screams they'd heard earlier. A quick glance showed he wasn't dead, but most of his teeth were smashed, blood streaming from his mouth.
“Your taste in restaurants is utterly deplorable.”
“Want to pick one, Ha-ryeong?”
“All the eateries around here are probably about the same. I'm not the type of assassin to nitpick a free meal.”
Her response contained two things he wanted to ask about. Yuri sat down at a table without waiting to be shown to one and let out a deep sigh, holding up two fingers.
“First one. Do I have to pay for this?”
“You brought us to the restaurant.”
“I got no money.”
“You look it.”
Ha-ryeong sat naturally across from him, propping her chin on her hand as she eyed him.
“Were you so broke you couldn't even afford a new robe for two whole years?”
“What bullshit is that.”
“The robe you're wearing now—you bought it in Lutran two years ago.”
Back then, it had gleamed new, shiny with luster, but now it wasn't quite rags, though worn enough to call shabby.
“This one's comfortable, that's why.”
“Fair enough. You must change your other clothes often. No smell on the robe either, so you wash well. Hmm, or no? Does that robe have a cleanliness maintenance spell?”
“Second one.”
Yuri cut her off and raised another finger.
“Are you still an assassin, Ha-ryeong?”
He wondered what she'd say. She quickly placed their order with the approaching server, then turned to Yuri.
“Once an assassin, always an assassin.”
“What is this, the marines...”
“Marines? What's that?”
“It's a thing.”
“Wow, now that you're outed as a possessor, you're just saying whatever.”
“You here to kill me or something?”
Answering Ha-ryeong's nonsense one by one always led the conversation way off track. Yuri had known that since two years ago.
So he forcibly steered it back.
“Hmm.”
Ha-ryeong's blank expression twitched an eyebrow. She fixed Yuri with eyes slightly wider than usual.
“Why do you think that?”
“Plenty of reasons come to mind.”
“Well, sure. But if I were here to kill you as an assassin, I wouldn't be sitting across from you right now waiting for food.”
Ha-ryeong said this, then tilted her head.
“Hmm, scratch that. If I were here alone to assassinate you, I'd probably go with something like this instead.”
“To let my guard down?”
“Exactly. Be proud, Yuri. Choosing this method means I've judged a simple assassination wouldn't work on you.”
Earlier, Ha-ryeong had said she didn't make up lies, but that wasn't always true. When needed, she skillfully wove in falsehoods.
But not this time. Without deception or exaggeration, Ha-ryeong had concluded a straightforward kill wouldn't take down the current Yuri.
She'd been observing him since outside the brothel window. No unnecessary killing intent leaked from him, and while she'd considered the possibility of assassinating him here—honestly, the odds weren't great.
High-tier martial artists were harder to kill than those of the same tier, but Yuri showed no openings. She didn't know the details of his two years, but it was clear he'd lived a life wary of 'assassination.'
“Coming from someone saying this to lure you into dropping your guard for a kill attempt might sound less credible, but I'm not here to kill you.”
“You said once an assassin, always an assassin.”
“Do you think every assassin is out to get you? You're paranoid.”
Ha-ryeong tilted her head again.
“I've answered two questions in a row, so now it's my turn. Why weren't you more surprised to see me, Yuri?”
“I was surprised.”
“Not that much. Your reaction to me popping up out of nowhere was way too underwhelming.”
“I figured you'd show up eventually. Didn't think it'd be today.”
“Why'd you think that?”
There's a saying: Seeing is worth a thousand words. Instead of answering, Yuri drew Blackie from his waist and stabbed it into the table.
“...”
Just then, the server arrived with the food and alternated glares between the dagger in the table and Yuri.
“What're you staring at.”
Yuri glared right back. Losing the brief staring contest, the server grumbled as he set down the food and left.
“Why take it out on an innocent server. You're the one who stabbed a knife into the dinner table.”
“Looking at this food, I can guess how it'll taste. That guy might be innocent now, but the moment I eat it, he'll be guilty.”
Ha-ryeong poked a slice of meat with her fork and took a bite.
“Death sentence.”
She swiftly passed judgment, then flicked her finger at the server's retreating ankle. A tiny bead—too small and fast to track—flew out from somewhere and struck it.
“Argh!”
The server collapsed screaming. Ha-ryeong ignored him and glared at Yuri.
“Dragging me to a dump like this to eat is a crime too.”
“A broke guy who couldn't afford a new robe in two years is treating you, so take it graciously.”
Despite complaining about the taste, Ha-ryeong popped another piece into her mouth and chewed.
“But why'd you suddenly pull out Blackie? Gonna slice the meat with it?”
Yuri didn't reply, just stared at her. Undeterred, Ha-ryeong chewed and swallowed, then took one more bite.
Gulp. After swallowing and elegantly dabbing her mouth with a handkerchief, Ha-ryeong finally spoke.
“So that's how you knew. Impressive.”
A miscalculation on her part, she thought inwardly as she set down the handkerchief.
“Does that game have the black-white twin blades too?”
“Nope, doesn't.”
“What? Then how'd you know?”
“I figured it out from looking at the magic on Blackie.”
Ha-ryeong's eyes went wide at the answer. She stared at the still-embedded Blackie, then slowly tilted her head.
“Magic isn't something you can just see, is it?”
“In my case, if I focus, I can see it.”
Maybe because it was an assassination dagger, the magic on Blackie was so subtle it hadn't been visible at first.
But after using it repeatedly, he'd grown familiar with the spells infused in it. As Ha-ryeong had said two years ago, Blackie was a convenient dagger. Sharp enough to slice paper without qi infusion, no maintenance needed.
Especially handy was how it always hit when thrown roughly. He'd doubted it at first, but testing confirmed it: Visualize the target spot and toss it nearby, and Blackie adjusted to pierce exactly there.
Using it so much sparked interest in its embedded magic.
If he could properly analyze the incantations and extract them, maybe he could enchant other daggers?
It failed. The spells were custom-made for Blackie, hard to replicate even as magic, and Yuri—without formal training—couldn't enchant items anyway.
But in analyzing, he discovered one spell he couldn't decipher.
“You couldn't analyze the spell itself?”
“Yeah.”
“Unbelievable. Falling for such an obvious leading question.”
“But I was pretty sure. You stressed not to throw it away.”
Grumbling, Yuri pulled Blackie from the table.
“I even thought maybe you wanted me to keep it so you could track me down as an assassin later.”
“Why didn't you toss it?”
Ha-ryeong's eyes narrowed.
“If you suspected that, you should've ditched Blackie. Why keep it and let me find you?”
“You're the one who told me not to.”
“I did say that, but...”
“It was useful, and tossing it might cause problems if you found out.”
“You thought you could handle an assassin like me?”
“I'm not that arrogant.”
“Well, it worked out. If you'd discarded something I begged you to keep, I'd have come after you as a ruthless assassin. Might've even asked for help tracking you down.”
“Help? From who? Got a lot of friends?”
“I've got few friends, but I know experts at finding and grabbing people. Not friends, though.”
Ha-ryeong grumbled and set down her fork.
“So. Why are you in Pantheon, Yuri? It's no tourist spot.”
“I'm not here sightseeing.”
“I heard you need entry to Zone 4, but why risk that dangerous place?”
“Do I have to spill my guts to you?”
“How hurtful. Your words wound me.”
“Why?”
“Didn't I say earlier? I have few friends.”
“So?”
“I thought you were one of them, but was that just my delusion again?”
“I still haven't heard why you're here.”
Yuri tilted his head.
“Did someone send you?”
“Paranoid.”
Ha-ryeong's lips twitched.
“No one's orders. I came on my own. So drop any hopes that Elena sent me.”
Yuri frowned and glared at her. The twisted curve of Ha-ryeong's smile deepened.
“You really were hoping, huh?”
“So why are you here?”
“No real reason.”
Maintaining her smirk, Ha-ryeong continued.
“After we parted two years ago, I got curious what you were up to. Thought maybe you'd changed your name, but no.”
“I considered it at first, but figured it'd draw more attention.”
Discarding his name was something he'd pondered since possession, but he hadn't.
He valued the name 'Yuri.'
“A no-name guy suddenly popping up and making waves? Everyone'd suspect a possessor.”
“Good call. If you'd made a fake identity and buzzed around, you might not have met me today.”
“Because of the War Temple?”
Ha-ryeong nodded at his immediate response.
“You've gained some knowledge in two years?”
The War Temple was hostile to possessors. Unless they were top dogs like Ox God Head or other Wardens, most possessors hid their identity out of fear of the War Temple's hunts.
Decades ago, they'd led the charge destroying the Order Temple's buildings when it was exiled from the Union for sheltering possessors. They still scoured the continent hunting the secluded Order Temple, that hostile to possessors.
The War Temple didn't execute possessors on the spot or publicly, but countless had been caught over decades, and no one knew what happened to those dragged to the temple.
“Your ties to Kwon Rang. Martial talent vouched by Heavenly Thunder and Full Moon Night Dance themselves. And the potential of Namgung Yuri.”
“You just had to slip in some bullshit.”
“Prefer 'Thunder Cloud' over Yuri?”
“Call me by name.”
“Thunder Cloud, huh. To think our Yuri's grown enough for a moniker— even this cold, merciless assassin feels misty-eyed.”
“So why are you here, like I said.”
“No big reason. Just wanted to get closer to you.”
Was it sincere? Or her usual empty banter? Yuri peered into Ha-ryeong's eyes but, as always, couldn't read her.
“Closer for what?”
“Let's be real friends.”
“What do you want from me?”
“What kind of talk is that between friends? Just help each other in tough times. I'll help you too—no loss. Hell, earlier I saved you from getting reamed by that Hao Gate raccoon bastard.”
“Ugh.”
A deep sigh escaped. He was determined to hear her reason. It wasn't something he needed to hide desperately anyway.
“I'm looking for something.”
“What?”
“Heretics.”
Yuri's voice dropped. Ha-ryeong leaned in close to the table.
Pantheon's outer sector was a lawless zone where city laws didn't apply, teeming with wanted criminals, ronin, and shady types from everywhere.
Not even empty words could call it moral. Even in the backwater Oldor where Yuri had lived, petty quarrels often turned deadly—this place was worse.
The most wretched, chaotic spot was Zone 4. Heretics worshiping evil gods nested there. True to their gods' names, they fanned chaos across the world.
“Hmm, heretics.”
Like attracts like? Ha-ryeong thought, arms crossed.
“Gonna nab some bounties on the side.”
“For the money?”
“To get stronger.”
“Your wallet?”
“Your martial arts.”
“What tier are you now?”
“Secret.”
“When'd you hit 5th Tier?”
“About half a year ago.”
Their back-and-forth finally connected. Ha-ryeong let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.
The heaven-sent genius in martial arts, Sword Dragon Estor Orsia, reached 5th Tier at 21. Half a year meant just a tad behind—even rivaling the prodigy born of Orsia blood.
“Yuri. Truth is, I've got a secret I planned to take to the grave.”
“What now.”
“Never told another soul. Even if someone ripped off my limbs and tortured me, no way I'd spill. I'm no weak assassin broken by torment.”
“What is this all of a sudden.”
“But I think I can tell you. Keeping it bottled up as a 'secret' might ruin trust between us.”
“No, wait...”
[Is Yuri perhaps the Young Leader of the Demonic Cult?]