Chapter 389
Chapter 389
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 102
>Chapter Title: Return (2)
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At the same time,
In the estate of Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang, the Inner Fortress's leading heir of the Heaven-Earth Society.
Leaning back comfortably in the seat of honor, Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang downed his cup of liquor in one gulp before smashing it against the floor.
-Clang!
As the cup shattered, the corners of Na Yul-ryang's mouth curled up.
Seeing this, his trusted subordinate Mo Yak chuckled softly and said,
"Are you that pleased, Young Master?"
"Of course I am."
After emerging from seclusion, he had searched for the man, but he had vanished suddenly, dampening his enthusiasm for a time.
With his innate murderous intent and parched emotions, he had lived a life without obstacles, blessed with heavenly martial talent.
Thus, aside from his master, the Heaven-Earth Society Lord, and the two Five Kings bearing the Eight Stars title, no one had ever piqued his interest.
Even his fellow disciples vying for the successor position were mere greenhorns, stirring no emotion whatsoever.
But then, he appeared.
'Mok Kyung-un.'
The monster he met for the first time in his life.
He grew stronger mid-battle, surpassing walls before even reaching thirty.
And not content with that, with the Poison Isle King's aid, he even defeated Na Yul-ryang himself.
From that moment, Na Yul-ryang found interest in life for the first time.
Because he had developed a genuine desire to kill someone.
It was a clear emotion.
-Tight!
Na Yul-ryang clenched his fist and then released it.
How long had he waited for that bastard to appear?
[It's a confidential mission, so I cannot disclose.]
[Inside or outside?]
[I cannot tell you that either.]
The only information he gleaned from the Vice Society Lord was one thing.
The man was carrying out the Society Lord's confidential mission.
Amid this, the Society Lord's condition had worsened dramatically, and he was mulling over a single proposal relayed to him from the Elder Hall.
But now, Mok Kyung-un had finally appeared.
-Thud!
Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang rose from his seat.
Mo Yak furrowed his brow and said,
"Young Master. You're not thinking of going to kill him right now, are you?"
"Is there any reason to wait longer?"
"Not at this moment."
At those words, Na Yul-ryang fixed Mo Yak with a cold glare and said,
"What do you mean, not now?"
How long had he anticipated the day he would clash with him again?
And now this man was trying to dissuade him?
Mo Yak, reading his displeasure, cautiously ventured,
"He returned after completing the Society Lord's confidential mission. But doesn't something seem off?"
Na Yul-ryang raised one eyebrow and soon replied,
"......He went to the Shadow Clan instead of visiting Master?"
"Yes. And unlike when he vanished, he appeared through the main gates of the headquarters."
At Mo Yak's words, Na Yul-ryang's eyes narrowed, and his lips curled up.
"He fears being discarded like a worn-out shoe."
"That's the only conclusion for now. He doesn't yet know the Society Lord's condition, yet he heads straight to the Shadow Clan, which could be considered allies."
Na Yul-ryang clicked his tongue at his subordinate's assessment.
He had thought the bastard, from a righteous faction hostage background, caught the master's eye due to his extraordinary talent and received the confidential mission.
But in the end, he was just a disposable pawn.
To be hindered by something as trivial as his origins.
"His luck has run out."
"That's not for us to worry about. But we don't know for sure yet. It could be fear of discard, but what if he was ordered by the Society Lord to go straight to the Shadow Clan?"
"......Is that it?"
"Yes."
What Mo Yak meant they should be wary of was the latter.
If it was merely the former, killing him would cause no issue.
But if the latter, it would mean touching someone executing the Society Lord's confidential mission.
"So what do you propose?"
"There's no need for you to move personally or reveal our hand."
"You're saying to leave him be?"
"No. Don't we have the perfect piece for this?"
"The perfect piece? ......Ho, you mean him?"
At Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang's words, Mo Yak nodded with a sly smile and replied,
"Yes. Weren't you planning to test that one anyway? To see if he's truly broken ties with Lady Wi So-yeon or the Myeongdo King's side."
"Your cunning schemes are as sharp as ever......"
"Why keep calling it cunning when we have fine words like 'stratagem' or 'tactic'?"
"It's all the same."
Mo Yak smacked his lips at Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang's retort.
Then, rising from his seat, he said,
"I'll take that as permission and move him, then."
Great Young Master Na Yul-ryang stared fixedly at Mo Yak.
He preferred acting directly over this method, but circumstances made hasty action unwise now.
Testing through that man wouldn't hurt.
"Do as you like."
Na Yul-ryang shrugged and sat back down.
With his approval, Mo Yak's lips twisted into a wicked grin as he said,
"Heh heh heh. Even if he deploys a self-harm ploy, unlike with Wi So-yeon's faction or Woo Ho-rang, the Myeongdo King's chief disciple, he'll have to go all out, at least for appearances. If his luck is bad, he might end up half-crippled."
Na Yul-ryang snorted at the words.
The opponent was the worst-case scenario, but if he ended up half-crippled from this, the guy had no qualification to face him now.
* * *
Meanwhile,
Shadow Clan Lord Hwan Ya-seon's expression hardened.
Byok, his guard warrior and trusted aide, was practically his right arm.
For such a man to suddenly aim his sword at his back—it was bewildering.
Having personally selected the orphan, taught him martial arts, and raised him, Hwan Ya-seon had believed his loyalty was beyond doubt.
Yet this man had betrayed him?
As the head of the Shadow Clan, which handled intelligence and spies, even he found this hard to believe.
"......Byok. Have you truly betrayed me?"
"I serve only Master Mok Kyung-un."
"How dare you!"
Hwan Ya-seon's composure shattered, his voice rising slightly.
Disappointment gripped him, flushing the exposed skin of his neck red beneath his human-skin mask.
It was a natural reaction, believing himself betrayed by one he trusted.
But in truth, it was no betrayal.
Byok had simply been possessed by Ma-seung, Mok Kyung-un's loyal demonic servant.
Hwan Ya-seon, ignorant of possession arts, vengeful spirits, or illusions, couldn't comprehend it, but one thing was clear:
'......This is bad.'
He judged that everything had gone wrong.
Cautiously, Hwan Ya-seon pressed his left middle finger against the Laogong acupoint in his palm.
With it, he let out his signature laugh and spoke.
"Oh ho ho. They say you don't raise black-haired beasts."
"......"
As befitted the leader of a spy-handling sect, he was adept at controlling his emotions.
If his disciple Mok Kyung-un and aide Byok had truly betrayed him, he couldn't remain mired in disappointment forever.
For now, he needed to find a way out of this disadvantageous situation.
The Shadow Clan Lord, his mind racing, glared at Mok Kyung-un and continued,
"What a pity."
"What is?"
"If your grand protector, Chief Dharma Protector Jang, learns you've defected from the church, he might lament it even in the afterlife."
At those words, interest flickered in Mok Kyung-un's eyes.
When he first learned Shadow Clan Lord Hwan Ya-seon was from the Blazing Flower Church, to deceive him, he had fabricated a backstory, calling his grandfather an nameless old master to pose as a church member.
Coincidentally, Grandfather truly was from the Blazing Flower Church.
Back then, Hwan Ya-seon had spoken as if he knew who it was.
[Since that one told you to keep silent to the end, it's hard to reveal now. But he's certainly a high-ranking figure in our church.]
And astonishingly, it was true.
He had come surprisingly close to the truth.
"Interesting."
"Interesting? You say that in this situation?"
"Yes, I didn't expect it was really the person Master had in mind."
Shadow Clan Lord Hwan Ya-seon furrowed his brow at Mok Kyung-un's response.
Sharp as he was, inferring much from small clues, he couldn't grasp Mok Kyung-un's intent in these words.
But escaping took precedence over conversing with Mok Kyung-un.
Releasing pressure from the Laogong acupoint in his left palm, Hwan Ya-seon relaxed his arm.
In that instant,
-Pop pop pop pop!
Something fell from the flesh of his left arm to the floor.
Upon hitting the ground,
-Boom boom boom boom boom!
Gray smoke billowed out.
Ma-seung, possessing Byok who had his back to Hwan Ya-seon with sword drawn, hurriedly tried to subdue him with the Capturing Hand technique.
But then,
-Pah!
Hwan Ya-seon evaded Ma-seung's hand in an instant with a willow-shaking lightness skill, seized his wrist, snapped it clean,
-Crack!
-Thud!
And kicked him squarely in the chest.
Even caught off-guard, Shadow Clan Lord Hwan Ya-seon was a transcendent master.
Byok's body, at peak mastery, couldn't easily overpower him.
And,
-Whoosh!
The smoke was already spreading in all directions.
Byok, inhaling it, grimaced.
The moment he breathed it in, strength drained from his body, stiffness creeping through his limbs.
It seemed to be poison mist.
Gazing at Byok convulsing and rigid, Hwan Ya-seon clicked his tongue and said,
"You brought this on yourself. I cherished you so."
This poison mist was Hwan Ya-seon's trump card.
A blend of paralyzing and various poisons, surgically implanted in his left arm.
Made for dire straits, its smoke spread nearly twenty paces.
A high-level expert could block it with breath control, but it would cost precious time.
'I wonder if it works on one beyond the wall.'
His concern was Mok Kyung-un being a Transformation Realm master.
Having witnessed him clash with the Society Lord, he knew his skill surpassed his own—that's why he resorted to this ace.
Unsure if it would work on Mok Kyung-un, he planned to flee with the Holy Fire Command Lord in the gap.
-Flinch!
Hwan Ya-seon, darting toward the carriage, involuntarily halted.
It was due to the vast true energy filling the surroundings.
'What true energy?'
Its intensity raised goosebumps across his skin.
Right then.
-Whoosh!
The gray fog, thick enough to obscure vision, suddenly surged.
It was forming a current.
That current,
'No way?'
Shadow Clan Lord Hwan Ya-seon looked up.
The widely spread fog narrowed upward, swirling into a vortex.
Hwan Ya-seon couldn't hide his shock.
The vast true energy enveloping the area confined the fog, whipping it into a vortex and lifting it skyward.
Soon, the gray fog vanished completely as the vortex soared.
'Unbelievable......'
To disperse poison mist with pure true energy alone.
This was utterly unforeseen.
Who could it be?
Even among the Five Kings, only Eight Stars rank or higher could wield such energy.
No, perhaps only the Society Lord himself.
In his view, Mok Kyung-un extended a hand, lightly raising his index finger.
True energy flowing from his fingertip was sheer terror incarnate.
'!?'
Shadow Clan Lord Hwan Ya-seon's eyes widened.
That boy Mok Kyung-un did this?
Unknowingly, his mouth went dry, and he swallowed hard.
He knew Mok Kyung-un's martial progress was astonishingly swift, beyond expectations.
But this exceeded all bounds.
What happened during those months on the confidential mission?
-Crack! Crack!
Startled into speechlessness, Hwan Ya-seon turned at a sound beside him.
His aide and guard Byok wasn't just moving his stiffened body—
-Psh!
Black liquid, presumably poison, dripped from his ten fingertips.
'No? Expelling the poison......outside his body?'
In this brief moment?
Byok was skilled, trained by him personally, but ambushed by the mist, he couldn't respond this fast.
What in the world was happening?
As bewilderment set in—
-Creeeak!
The carriage door opened.
Someone emerged, leaning on a staff. Seeing him, complex emotions swirled in Hwan Ya-seon's eyes.
'Holy Fire Command Lord.'
He had wondered if he'd ever see her again, imprisoned in the imperial palace's underground Golden Prison.
Yet here she was.
Even in crisis, gratitude welled up uncontrollably.
-Grind!
What to do?
No matter the joyous reunion, he couldn't hand her to the Heaven-Earth Society.
Even at the cost of his life, he had to get her outside......
Then.
"Ya-seon, Church Protector."
She called him.
He longed to bow and pay respects immediately, but fearing spies or ears from the Society Lord's side, he hesitated.
Shaking his head to signal silence, the Holy Fire Command Lord said something utterly unexpected.
"Bow to that one at once and show proper respect."
"What are you......"
"The one before your eyes is the true master of the Holy Fire."
'!!!!!!'
< 102화 복귀 (2) > End