Chapter 102
Chapter 102
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Shadow Ghost and the Dance of Extreme Poison
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Darkness fell, and only the moonlight illuminated the silent night. In a quiet forest, two assassins silently faced each other.
Their gazes exchanged the promise of a fierce battle. A clash of wills, of intent. A fight where killing intent intertwined. An unseen, intense struggle had begun.
The direction of their pupils, the angle of the objects reflected within them.
The angle of their shoulders, the movement of their waists, the placement of their legs—they continuously predicted each other's moves. Neither had taken a single step, yet they had already exchanged dozens of blows in their minds.
Gu Yang-baek, a promising talent from the Killing Palace, and Hwang Ja-hang, the Shadow Ghost of the Sichuan Tang Clan, were assassins renowned even in the world of killers.
Among those who killed in the dark, they were both men of considerable renown. They knew that tonight, only one shadow could survive.
Soon, one of their prestigious names would be erased, and only the one who survived here would carry on their legacy.
The Shadow Ghost whispered softly, his black cloak fluttering.
“Tonight, one shadow will surely disappear.”
The Shadow Ghost's voice was cold and resolute. As if a decision had been made, a suffocating killing intent flew toward Gu Yang-baek. With his words, a sharp dagger began to gleam in his hand.
However, Gu Yang-baek, who had learned the art of killing from Cho Seon-neung, the Palace Lord of the Killing Palace, remained unshaken even in the face of the Shadow Ghost, a man at the pinnacle of the transcendent realm.
No, he calmly met his opponent's gaze and replied.
“Let’s find out which shadow disappears before the sun rises.”
Gu Yang-baek also began to exude the subtle killing intent unique to an assassin.
In that instant, with tension filling the air, the two assassins moved simultaneously.
The Shadow Ghost agilely launched himself, swinging his dagger at Yang-baek. At the same moment he swung the blade, he threw a hidden weapon, devoid of killing intent. The weapon, without a trace of its presence, curved around to fly at Yang-baek's back.
However, Yang-baek sensed the subtle shift in the air disturbed by the approaching weapon.
‘So the killing intent was a feint to hide the weapon from the start.’
Gu Yang-baek slid past the dagger, contorting his body unnaturally to evade all the hidden weapons coming at his back.
“What… what was that movement…?”
“You don’t need to know.”
‘The principles of disguise I learned from the Dragon Demon are proving this useful.’
Yang-baek immediately counterattacked.
Clang!
Sparks flew as the sword and dagger clashed.
The battle instantly intensified. The Shadow Ghost's dagger moved like a shadow swimming through the darkness, without sound or presence. If not for the moonlight reflecting off objects, its form would have been imperceptible.
Gu Yang-baek's sword was as sharp and precise as an arrow hitting the center of a target. The Shadow Ghost's dagger parried all of Yang-baek's attacks.
As the two exchanged stealthy blows, other Tang Clan warriors arrived nearby. However, the invisible exchange was like the shadow of death, allowing no room for mediocre fighters to intervene.
Though invisible to the eye, the space where Gu Yang-baek and the Shadow Ghost fought was filled with the sounds of a fierce battle.
Under the moonlight, their shadows moved fiercely yet invisibly, as if in a dance.
Clang! Clang!
As time passed, the battle grew more intense, and sweat and blood began to soak the ground.
Then, the Shadow Ghost was the first to speak.
“I see now that we’ve fought. You’re from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s Killing Palace. Truly a worthy disciple of the Palace Lord. You don’t look that old, yet your skills are remarkable.”
Yang-baek disliked the Shadow Ghost's casual demeanor.
“You seem relaxed.”
“Kekeke, of course! Do you know the crucial difference between you and me?”
“……”
“It’s poison! I am the Shadow Ghost of the Sichuan Tang Clan, and you are an assassin from the Killing Palace. Even if our killing techniques are similar, I have already injected you with poison. You cannot escape me.”
“Kekekeke. You know nothing.”
“What did you say?”
“Shut your mouth and come at me!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The fight resumed.
Under the moonlight, the incorporeal shadows invisibly flaunted their hidden weapons to each other. Something they could only boast of because they were both assassins, both shadows.
Who could better conceal their presence?
Who could more invisibly aim for vital points?
The less flashy, the more invisible, and yet the more lethal, the better.
To these shadows, such dark principles were stronger and more brilliant than any powerful sword, swift sword, or phantom sword.
After a certain number of exchanges, the Shadow Ghost created distance and voiced his doubt.
“Strange…”
Gu Yang-baek asked in return.
“What is?”
“By now, you should have been coughing up blood from your lungs, unable to move, your limbs rotting away, and your eyes melting as you died.”
“……”
“And yet, you haven't changed since we started. No, you’re actually getting faster and stronger. What’s going on?”
“Perhaps your poison is weak.”
“……Could you be immune to all poisons?”
“As I said, you know nothing.”
“Know nothing? What are you talking about?”
“I believe I said questions are useless.”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
At first, the Shadow Ghost had the upper hand.
He had landed more attacks and even injected poison into Gu Yang-baek's body. That was what made it so strange. Normally, Gu Yang-baek should have been dead from the poison by now. Or, if not dead, he should have at least collapsed while vomiting blood.
And yet… how was he getting stronger?
As time passed, the exchange between the Shadow Ghost and Gu Yang-baek became evenly matched.
‘Is this man growing stronger by the second? Even so, how can his growth be this fast? Especially while my poison is in his system? Is he a monster?’
While the Shadow Ghost was lost in such thoughts, Yang-baek simply smiled.
The Shadow Ghost was undoubtedly a skilled assassin.
He could control his killing intent at will and was adept at fighting while concealing his presence. His dagger and hidden weapon techniques, which cleverly mixed feints and killing blows with false killing intent, truly showed why he was called the ghost of assassination.
The attacks that weren't fatal, the ones he couldn't completely deflect, were laced with poison.
‘If I had fought him normally, I would have surely died. Dragon Demon…! Who in the world are you?’
* * *
Before Gu Yang-baek went to fight the Shadow Ghost.
Mu-heun had given Yang-baek an antidote.
“Master Yang-baek, take this before you go. It will neutralize the Shadow Ghost’s poison.”
“Neutralize his poison? How do you have something like this…?”
“Let’s just say an old acquaintance told me. Trust me and take this. Also, apply this poison to your sword before you engage in battle. Your opponent will have a hard time noticing it.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
* * *
Because Gu Yang-baek had taken the antidote from Mu-heun beforehand, he could fight on, unaffected by the Shadow Ghost’s poison.
Conversely, the Shadow Ghost was not unaffected. Gu Yang-baek's sword was coated with the poison Mu-heun had provided. He had been struck by that sword and was now poisoned.
As time passed, the Shadow Ghost's energy began to wane.
However, Mu-heun's poison was colorless, odorless, and slow-acting, so he didn't notice it. He simply thought that Gu Yang-baek's skills were improving, or that he had been hiding his true strength.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
During another rapid exchange, Gu Yang-baek's hidden blade slashed deeply across the Shadow Ghost's thigh.
“Gah!”
The Shadow Ghost immediately tried to stop the bleeding. But the wound wouldn't close properly.
Come to think of it, blood was still seeping from his minor cuts as well. The Shadow Ghost himself hadn't realized it, but his complexion had already turned pale.
‘The blood…! It’s thin… It won’t clot… So that’s what happened.’
“You weren’t getting stronger. I was getting weaker.”
“An assassin doesn’t necessarily need to be stronger than his opponent.”
“Kekeke! Right, right. An assassin just needs to kill his target. Worthy of a disciple of the Killing Palace's Lord. You’ve learned well.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“Is that so… Is this damn life of killing finally over?”
“Any last words?”
“It wasn’t that I enjoyed killing. It’s just that this was the only thing I knew how to do… Still, it wasn’t all bad.”
“Are you finished?”
“Yes. I’m tired of it.”
Swish.
The Shadow Ghost’s head fell to the ground. The eyes on the severed head were already closed, as if he had accepted his fate before death arrived.
Having defeated one of the Sichuan Tang Clan’s Three Hidden Demons, Gu Yang-baek followed Cheon-hyang's instructions and headed to the next location.
* * *
The night under the waxing moon was the same for others as well.
As if ink were spilled across the night sky and then painted with a brush, silent ice and poison met and danced upon the roof of a pavilion. The scene of their fight, like a dance, was worthy of being called art.
Seol Ha-ryeong and Bang Sa-sa, two women, were the protagonists of this scene. Seol Ha-ryeong wielded the Ice Arts, imbued with a chilling energy. Bang Sa-sa used the Poison Arts, filled with a deadly toxic energy.
Their battle resembled the mystical dance of celestial maidens descending from the sky under the moonlight…
Ice crystals, originating from Seol Ha-ryeong's fingertips, gathered all the moisture in the air and flew toward Bang Sa-sa. In response, Bang Sa-sa manipulated her poison energy, shaping it into living serpents that pursued Seol Ha-ryeong.
Under the moonlight, their movements were so beautiful they made any onlooker hold their breath.
Seol Ha-ryeong soared into the air, unfurling wings of shimmering ice. Her Ice Arts drastically lowered the surrounding temperature, slowing Bang Sa-sa's poison energy.
Countless snowflakes fell around the pavilion roof. Wherever a snowflake touched, sharp ice crystals shot out, shattering the surroundings.
Bang Sa-sa did not yield, using her poison energy to melt the ice as she closed in on Seol Ha-ryeong. Their fight held a sense of wonder, as if defying the laws of nature.
The dazzling light and energy created by the clash of poison and ice transformed the surroundings into a fantastical landscape.
Finally, Seol Ha-ryeong and Bang Sa-sa both took a step back and spoke simultaneously.
““You’re strong.””
They exchanged looks of mutual respect.
But this fight had to have an end, and what determined that end was the environment.
Normally, Bang Sa-sa’s poison would corrode and melt its surroundings. The poison would then vaporize, maintaining a high concentration in the air. This was how she defeated opponents who were her equal, or even stronger.
But her poison didn't vaporize after melting things. It either solidified and froze, or became part of a frozen sword along with the moisture in the air.
“What is this…”
“That’s what it means to face the Ice Arts.”
Bang Sa-sa was deeply flustered.
Somehow, the body of the woman using the Ice Arts was shrouded in a cold chill that prevented any poison from penetrating. She had dodged all direct poison attacks, and any poison in the air froze the moment it came near her.
“You bitch…”
“I told you I would grant you death, didn't I?”
“D-death… W-who do you think you are…?”
“Enough with the rambling. Let’s fight. Neither of us has time to waste, do we?”
Realizing that dragging out the fight was disadvantageous, Bang Sa-sa pushed her poison energy to its absolute limit.
“This… Extreme Poison Nine Snakes.”
A powerful roar echoed from Bang Sa-sa's body, and her hands exploded. From her ruined hands, poison energy flowed out with her blood, soon forming nine massive serpents.
“K-k-kill…”
Hiss!
The nine serpents radiated a horrifyingly toxic energy as they approached Seol Ha-ryeong. The poison arts of a master who had reached complete ascension, the realm of the Transcendent Demon, and a ultimate technique pushed to its limit—a mere graze would mean instant death or permanent disability.
“How terrifying…”
But Seol Ha-ryeong had been waiting for this moment. If the fight until now had merely been challenging, these nine serpents were a true life-or-death crisis.
“Twenty Snowflakes.”
The yin energy of the Kunlun Snow Ginseng, still undigested in Seol Ha-ryeong's core, began to run wild, reacting to her emotions and heart rate as she sensed the threat to her life.
“White Blossom of Snowflakes. Snow Mountain.”
It was a moment of growth, a leap forward for her ice. Snowflakes piled up and flowed. A single small snowflake would not have been a threat, but what Seol Ha-ryeong had unleashed was unmistakably an avalanche.
The energy of the Kunlun Snow Ginseng had completely synchronized with Seol Ha-ryeong's immortal arts. In an instant, a storm-like chill erupted, and massive shards of ice shot up from the ground.
Before long, an endless stream of snowflakes flowed from behind Seol Ha-ryeong.
Craaaack-BOOM!
A chill so intense it could instantly freeze and shatter even boiling water. Snowflakes imbued with that chill swirled and stormed toward the nine serpents.
“N-n-no… way.”
Craaaack-BOOM!
Bang Sa-sa and her nine serpents were swept up in the avalanche, frozen solid in an instant.
Seol Ha-ryeong approached the frozen Bang Sa-sa with her fan and slit her throat.
Shatter!
Bang Sa-sa shattered as her neck was severed.
Her deep green eyes were not yet closed.
Seol Ha-ryeong gently closed them and said,
“May you find a better world.”
Seol Ha-ryeong, victorious over Bang Sa-sa, one of the Three Hidden Demons.
She, too, received the next location from Cheon-hyang.
Under the bright moonlight, Seol Ha-ryeong and Gu Yang-baek headed to their next destination, while the Shadow Ghost and the Dance of Extreme Poison faded into the darkness.