Assassins of the Dark Emperor
The carriage rolled onward.
I sat inside and watched the scenery beyond the window. The tree-filled landscape swayed. More precisely, the carriage itself was shaking. In this world, properly paved roads existed only within city walls; no one bothered to maintain them out beyond the gates. The carriage rattled, yet I felt none of the vibration—only comfort. That was the work of magic.
This carriage was headed for the main house.
Of course I was not traveling alone. Yuria rode with me. She sat at my side, eyes closed, her head resting against my shoulder. She was exhausted, no doubt from the way we had just mixed our bodies.
Even after becoming a Grand Master, Yuria still loses to me in bed.
Physically she was fine. The continuous pleasure had simply worn her down mentally. Or rather, loosened her. I stroked the curve of her waist while my gaze stayed on the world outside.
The carriage was not alone. Female knights on horseback rode escort around us. Floy—Aura Master and knight commander—was among them. Monsters or bandits, none of them would stand a chance.
In the carriage behind us rode Kyle. Even excluding Yuria, that made three Aura Masters. Enough force to topple and occupy an entire city in a single day.
The racing carriage finally halted toward evening. Knights and the maids who had accompanied us set up camp with practiced ease.
“Master. Enemies. Assassins, from the look of them. Thirty-five in number. Approaching slowly from roughly two kilometers out. Their caution marks them as first-rate. Give the order and I will deal with them.”
Sensing assassins from two kilometers away—so this was the power of a Grand Master. I looked around in quiet admiration. Neither I, nor Floy, nor Kyle had noticed a thing.
Who had sent them?
Obvious. Zent. In the original story, once cornered he never hesitated to use any means necessary.
He must have read the letter I sent to Ention—whether he intercepted it or simply peeked at the contents. Nothing else would have driven him to act this quickly.
Zent probably believed everything would be finished the moment I reached the main house.
The remaining distance was short. Two hours would have brought us there, yet we had decided to arrive tomorrow morning. That timing had been Yuria’s idea. The plan was to strike at first light and settle the succession question in one decisive blow.
Hiring thirty-five first-rate assassins overnight is impossible. He prepared them in advance—almost certainly a contingency meant for Kyle, not me.
Aura Masters were called transcendent, yet they remained human. History books were full of cases where they died to assassins. Most often right after they first reached the rank.
Does Zent intend to kill both Kyle and me at once? Two Aura Masters?
Yuria’s true strength was still unknown, and Floy had not officially returned. Had Zent known Floy was escorting me, even he would never have sent assassins. Her experience was legendary.
You must have been desperate, Zent. This level of thrashing is disappointing.
I summoned Hwaryeonbido into my hand.
“Do you intend to handle this yourself?”
“I haven’t had a proper real battle since becoming an Aura Master. Time to feel what that power actually means.”
“Understood.”
I asked Yuria for the direction and set off. I told Floy and the other knights to rest easy.
Thirty-five first-rate assassins. Now that I know they are coming, their greatest advantage—the surprise attack—is gone.
Most would be mid-level Aura Experts or higher.
Manageable. I’ll show them exactly why Aura Masters are called Aura Masters.
At some point Yuria’s figure vanished. Shadow magic had swallowed her completely. She was still nearby—that much was certain. I focused and spread my senses. Not a trace of her presence remained. Only when I opened the Heavenly Eye did her outline appear, faint and blurred, roughly five meters away.
I crossed my arms and waited. Fifteen minutes later the assassins arrived.
Twelve were visible. The remaining twenty-three stayed hidden. All wore masks and carried weapons, as assassins should. True to their craft, their footsteps made no sound; they moved like ghosts.
“Were you waiting for us?”
One of them spoke. His voice was low and thick—forty at the youngest. Their leader, no doubt.
“I’ll skip the small talk. Did Zent send you?”
“We do not speak of our clients.”
Definitely Zent.
Only Zent did stupid things when cornered. Princess Aileen was a rival of sorts, yet that woman only grew calmer the tighter the noose became.
“Who are you?”
“Asking an assassin for his identity?”
“I don’t want a real answer. I’m asking which organization you belong to.”
This world held several assassin groups, often called assassin guilds. They might hide personal names, but they always announced the name of their order. Assassination was still a living, after all. Reputation—even notoriety—was essential if one wanted higher fees.
“Haha. Calm, aren’t you. Young as you are, having reached Aura Master, you have spirit. Fine. I’ll tell you. We are the Dark Emperor.”
“…The Dark Emperor?”
“Haha. Surprised, as expected. Of course you are. Even sniveling children know our name.”
Dark Emperor.
The legendary assassin who had massacred the Helbrit Ducal family and set the world talking. That tragedy was so infamous that the name still carried weight. Even now the Dark Emperor occasionally struck, and it was said no one targeted by him ever survived.
The true identity of that legendary assassin was Yuria.
“You’re claiming the real Dark Emperor is all of you?”
“That’s right.”
“Wasn’t the Dark Emperor a single person?”
A derisive snort escaped him.
“Many make that mistake. Think about it with common sense. Could one assassin alone wipe out the Helbrit Ducal family? Of course not. But if it was never one person, the story changes.”
“So you’re saying your group massacred them?”
“Correct. Our assassin order is the Dark Emperor. Consider it an honor to die by our hands.”
They were scamming with absolute confidence.
The claim that “Dark Emperor” was not a single person but the name of an entire order sounded almost plausible. Had I not known the truth, I might have believed it.
“How terrifying.”
I raised Hwaryeonbido. Mana stirred at my core and coated the blade. The blue sword energy that had been blazing condensed, tightening into sword aura.
Sword aura.
Aura Blade.
I had already used it in the worlds of God’s Atlantis and Radiant Ascension, yet employing it here in the Baekhwan world somehow felt new. The sensation itself differed slightly from world to world.
“…Do you truly believe you can survive against us? Give up. I’ll at least grant you time to write a will.”
“Why is the tongue of the great Dark Emperor so long? Scared you’ll lose to me?”
“Ha… Getting cocky just because you became an Aura Master young. I’ll end that life of yours. …Before that, one last question. How did you know we were coming? Only we and the client know of this job. Did the client leak it?”
“I predicted it. Tomorrow is a very important day. If your client is the man I think he is, he would strike before I reached the main house.”
“…Prediction, is it. Impressive.”
He murmured a small note of admiration.
The next instant five assassins burst from the darkness and charged.
Accelerate. Charna.
In the slowed world I moved mana. Even without conscious effort, Yeongcheon-gigong answered my will.
Crackle.
Lightning energy gathered in my lower body. Using it, I launched myself upward.
My vision changed. The world opened wide. Below me the startled assassins and the tops of trees came into view. I had soared nearly twenty meters into the night sky. I was a little startled—I had jumped roughly four times higher than expected.
When I trained after becoming an Aura Master it was never this much…
Perhaps real combat simply brought out a better condition today.
While falling I drew a deep breath. Cold night air flooded my lungs. As if stimulated by it, the lightning energy inside me writhed.
Crackle-crackle-crackle.
Blue current raced across my entire body. I gripped Hwaryeonbido tightly. The lightning poured into the dagger and turned crimson. I reversed my grip so the tip pointed straight at the earth.
Wrapped in crimson lightning, the body becomes the bolt itself and plummets from the heavens.
I fell, red lightning coiling around every limb.
BOOOOM!
The moment I struck the ground, crimson current swept through the assassins. Those hit by it collapsed without even a chance to resist.
“That lightning is dangerous! Spread out! Fight from range!”
They instantly widened the distance. Twenty now stood revealed. Roughly ten still hid in the dark.
Missed a few.
In the heat of battle it was hard to track every single one at once.
I’ll just cut them down one by one.
RUMBLE!
Wrapped in red lightning I sprinted toward the nearest assassin. My body felt unnaturally light—as if I had become true lightning and mass itself had vanished.
I swung at the lead assassin’s neck. His head flew free. Only then did his eyes widen in belated recognition of death. At the same instant hidden weapons poured in from every direction—daggers, blades smaller than fingernails, poison-coated shuriken.
I reacted on instinct.
Lightning exploded outward in every direction. The weapons that touched it dropped straight into the earth, pulled down by magnetism.
I raced across the ground, killing intent bare. The sword in my hand felt lighter than a feather. Every swing claimed another life. Crimson lightning roared in the blade’s wake.
Slow…! Too slow!
I had not even activated Charna, yet the world looked sluggish. A little faster than when Charna was active, true—Charna made everything far slower—but still far better. Charna snapped back the moment I moved even slightly. Here I was moving freely inside the slowed world, and the world remained slow.
RUMBLE!
After cutting down seven, something went wrong. Real time might have been only a few seconds; subjectively it felt less than ten. Heat flooded my body. Arms, legs, and organs screamed. A headache throbbed behind my eyes.
I would rather die than lose this moment. Ignoring every protest of flesh, I kept moving.
RUMBLE-RUMBLE!
I chased the assassin fleeing through poison smoke. My slash clawed the earth and tore trees apart. The scorched trails left behind were pure lightning.
Twenty-six assassins fell.
Then the limit arrived.
The true limit. The slowed world snapped back to normal speed. Yet somehow everything had turned gray.
…My body is wrecked. Hard to tell colors apart. The organs already feel dead…. Is my heart even beating?
It did not seem to be.
I looked at the assassin standing before me. The one who looked like their leader stared as though he were facing a monster.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve faced an Aura Master. What is this… what the hell is this…!”
Yeongcheon-ryu and lightning.
I had simply abandoned the shadow aspect of the style completely. That alone had produced this much power.
…Honestly I don’t fully understand it either. Wi-yu. Your words were right.
Strength drained from my limbs. Yuria appeared at my side.
“Well done. I will handle the rest. Rest now, Master.”