Chapter 21
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: Dark Emperor Supreme Heaven Art
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Hwang Tae-seong, who had quietly approached, retrieved the embedded throwing knife.
But the knife, firmly lodged in the skull, showed no sign of coming out easily.
'Damn, it's really stuck in there.'
Stepping on the dead bandit's face, he applied force, and the knife came out with a squelch.
Having recovered the knife, Tae-seong peered through the crack in the door to survey the interior.
Inside the building, a heated discussion was underway about reprimands for the failed operation that day and plans for the next one.
Among them was someone Tae-seong knew very well.
'So they were involved after all.'
Visible inside was a Demonic Cultist handling managerial duties at the Gold Flower Gambling House.
His name was Baek-gwi. The name he used among the merchants was Hong Gi-ryeon.
The Demonic Cult, aggressively expanding its influence across the Central Plains martial world.
To the Demonic Cult, the Thousand Gold Merchant Group was like a thorn in their side.
That's why they had commissioned the Green Forest bandits.
To target the Thousand Gold Merchant Group's escorted shipments.
Tae-seong had witnessed their secret dealings with his own eyes.
'As expected, it was the Demonic Cult's scheme to erode the Thousand Gold Merchant Group's credibility by manipulating the Green Forest bandits.'
Tae-seong had anticipated that the Demonic Cult was lurking behind their suspicious behavior.
The Green Forest breaking with tradition to target a major merchant group like the Thousand Gold, and the fact that the Gold Flower Gambling House had long been eyeing the Thousand Gold Merchant Group—it all added up.
And that prediction had proven spot-on, as if thrust right in his face.
'A perfect chance to test the martial art my master passed down to me.'
A cold smile crept across Tae-seong's lips.
Hong Gi-ryeon, in the midst of conversing with the stronghold leader, wrinkled his nose a few times before speaking.
"Why does it suddenly reek of blood so strongly?"
"With dozens injured today, you think it wouldn't smell like blood?"
"No, that's not it..."
Hong Gi-ryeon, unusually sensitive to the scent of blood, found it odd that the smell seemed to be wafting from all directions.
But he decided to let it slide, figuring it was just from the many wounded.
He turned back to the stronghold leader.
"Didn't you guarantee success? What the hell happened?"
"My apologies. A mysterious master appeared out of nowhere..."
"Is that what someone who took 500 taels in advance payment should be saying?"
"Th-that was to rally the nearby strongholds..."
"Enough. What now?"
"W-well, it seems we'll need some help from the Demonic Cult."
Hong Gi-ryeon let out a mocking chuckle at the stronghold leader's words.
"Heh heh heh... That's rich. If we were going to handle it ourselves, we would've. Why shell out a fortune to hire you?"
"B-but..."
Screeeeech—
The door suddenly creaked open amid their conversation.
All eyes turned toward it.
There, standing in the doorway, was Tae-seong.
Tae-seong scanned the faces of everyone gathered inside, murmuring lowly.
"All you rat bastards holed up in here."
"R-rat bastards? Who the hell are you?"
"You dare waltz into a place like this?"
Clang! Clang!
As everyone drew their weapons, Hong Gi-ryeon and the stronghold leader's faces twisted in shock and horror.
"Y-you're...? Number 108?"
"108? You know this guy?"
"All too well..."
Hong Gi-ryeon gave a curt reply to the leader before addressing Tae-seong.
"Lucky to still be breathing, aren't you, 108."
"Yeah, imagine that. Long time no see, Baek-gwi."
"If you scraped by with your life, you should've stayed hidden. Why show your face here? You didn't bring anyone with you, did you?"
"Came alone."
"Oh? Then what's your business here?"
At his words, the stronghold leader bristled with killing intent.
"You know he's the one who botched today's job, right?"
"......"
The leader's words made Hong Gi-ryeon's face stiffen.
Growling, he turned to Tae-seong.
"Your handiwork? You're not seriously doing all this for revenge against the Demonic Cult, are you?"
"Wasn't my plan from the start, but if the Demonic Cult's pulling strings, ashes it is."
"Ashes? With your skills?"
"Whether I can or not's my call. First up, your head, Baek-gwi."
"You're delusional. You see how many experts are here? Think you can take us with your level? Laughable."
Hong Gi-ryeon was judging based on Tae-seong's old abilities.
The barely second-class Demonic Cult assassin.
A sinister smile spread across Tae-seong's face.
"Is that so?"
Tae-seong rapidly surged his inner energy.
An unprecedented aura erupted from his body.
It whipped around wildly, hurling the room's furnishings in all directions.
Stunned by the sheer control of that immense inner power, Hong Gi-ryeon stammered in panic.
"H-how...? Such tremendous inner energy?"
"No need to wander far. Rest easy."
Tae-seong slammed down his fist, unleashing the Dark Emperor Supreme Heaven Art's ultimate technique.
Dark Emperor Supreme Heaven Art
Final Ultimate: Supreme Heaven Chapter
One Wave, Ten Thousand Waves
A flash of light suddenly blazed through the stronghold, followed by a massive explosion.
Debris from the building soared into the night sky.
A few seconds later, unable to resist gravity, the rubble plummeted back to earth, smashing into other stronghold buildings.
But no screams rose from the crushed structures.
Everyone inside had already perished by Tae-seong's hand.
Tae-seong stood amid the spot where the building had completely vanished.
Around him lingered only a massive whirlpool-shaped scar of utter devastation, carved deep into the ground.
Nothing lived.
Scattered everywhere were merely chunks of flesh from what had once been human.
"Whew, so that's about its power level."
Tae-seong flashed a satisfied smile.
He was thoroughly pleased with the Dark Emperor Supreme Heaven Art's might in actual combat.
Tae-seong stretched languidly.
"Ahhh! Alright, time to head back?"
As he turned to leave, something glittering caught his eye beneath where the building had stood.
"No way, is that...?"
Upon closer inspection, it was the Red Tiger Stronghold's war chest, painstakingly amassed over time.
Piles of gold, silver, treasures, medicinal herbs, porcelain, silk—anything of value.
Greed lit up Tae-seong's eyes.
No way he'd hand over such treasures to anyone else.
With considerable effort, he hauled it all to a secluded spot far from the stronghold and buried it deep underground.
Worried he might forget the location, he sketched the surrounding landmarks in detail.
'Hmm, that should do it.'
Tae-seong tucked the treasure map into his bosom and hurried back to camp.
Dawn was still distant; if he hustled, he could snag a bit more sleep.
Upon return, Yang Cho-gun was still lost in deep slumber.
Tae-seong quietly lay down and drifted into sweet dreams.
The next day.
Yang Cho-gun awoke with puffy eyes and eyed Tae-seong.
"Where'd you disappear to last night?"
"Uh, last night? Just stepped out to the bathroom."
"Bathroom? You were gone a good long while."
"Hahaha, bit of constipation on my end."
"I see. Must be rough. Drink plenty of water."
"Will do. Thanks for the concern. Come on, let's pack up and grab some breakfast."
"Sure, stomach's rumbling."
Tae-seong and Yang Cho-gun swiftly broke down the tent and bedding, blending into the porters preparing breakfast.
Two days after the Thousand Gold Merchant Group's shipment was raided.
Countless imperial soldiers had Red Tiger Mountain surrounded airtight.
The Imperial Guard, mobilized to suppress the Red Tiger Stronghold.
"Don't leave a single one alive!"
General Won Dong-gi's elite troops launched a fully armed raid on the stronghold.
But absurdly, it was empty inside.
Everyone stood dumbfounded.
"What? They already bolted?"
They searched the stronghold.
And soon realized they hadn't fled.
"G-General! Bodies here!"
"The collapsed building's full of corpses!"
"Here too—all dead."
"Heh... What in the world happened?"
General Won Dong-gi was overcome with bewilderment as corpse after corpse turned up.
Who had butchered them?
Consulting experts dispatched from the Murim Alliance, they said the victims hadn't even mounted a proper resistance before being slain.
Judging by the methods, it was the work of an assassin professionally trained in killing techniques.
Moreover, those inside the buildings had been killed before the structures collapsed.
Sliced into pieces, dozens at a time, by sword energy.
"Looks like they were all wounded."
"Bandits or not, slaughtering the bedridden wounded this cruelly... Makes you wonder who the fiend is."
Finally, examining the most severely destroyed building, they all recoiled in horror.
"Gasp!"
"Th-this is...?!"
They couldn't tear their eyes from the massive whirlpool-shaped scar of destruction etched into the ground.
"Traces of sword energy."
"The fiend was an immense master."
"Is that so?"
At their words, General Won Dong-gi inspected the traces himself.
But no matter how he looked, he couldn't recognize it as sword energy.
"How is this sword energy?"
"Look here, General."
The spot a Murim Alliance expert pointed to showed stone and sand melted from intense heat, hardened like glass.
"Marks of melting from extreme temperatures. And over there, those weapons..."
The heavy armaments—axes and clubs held by the slain bandits—were severed clean through.
"Nothing but sword energy could slice heavy weapons that neatly."
"Adjutant, gather a few of those severed weapons."
"Yes, General!"
As General Won Dong-gi's attention fixed on the cut weapons, the Murim Alliance warriors scrutinized the whirlpool scar even more closely.
And they inferred the martial art used.
"Isn't this... that one?"
"Hmm... Doesn't quite match what he used before, but it sure seems like Dark Emperor Supreme Heaven Art."
"Quiet for nearly ten years, and now he's pulled something like this again?"
"Who is this guy?"
"The one called Shadow."
"Shadow?"
"That's right."
"A top expert?"
"An absolute monster. One of the top ten across righteous and evil factions combined..."
"Heh, incredible. He took them down?"
"We're wondering the same."
"Then why the grim faces? Exterminating bandits sounds like good news."
"He's the worst kind of murderous demon."
"M-murderous demon?"
The wizened expert spoke as if reminiscing about the past.
"In all my years, I've never seen a killer like him. He slays people so effortlessly... And without regard for righteous or evil—he butchered indiscriminately. That's why he's a public enemy now, hunted by both sides of the martial world."
"Hmm, so why would a brute like that..."
"Simple grudge, or needed quick cash."
"Cash feels more plausible. I've heard tales of supreme experts raiding strongholds when they're short on funds."
"I've heard that too."
Sure enough, all that remained in the stronghold were pocket change coins and bulky, hard-to-transport items like porcelain.
"Needing money's one thing, but massacring this many... Truly Shadow."
"Him resurfacing in the martial world means another storm of bloodshed's coming."
"Hurry and report this to the Alliance Leader."
"Yes, Elder."
Moments later, flocks of messenger pigeons took flight toward the Murim Alliance.