Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: The Hydra's Fang
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Thud-.
The door swung open, and Hwang Gyu-seong strode toward the center of the room.
The room was filled with a large number of rankers. All of them were elite members of Blue Eyes, the kind worthy of being called top-tier.
"Who's that?"
"Never seen his face before."
"Isn't that the vice guild master behind him?"
"We've got a lot of guests today."
They showed their displeasure at Hwang Gyu-seong barging in without knocking, but they also glanced warily at Lee Won-jae, who had followed right behind him.
No matter how rude he seemed, they couldn't treat Lee Won-jae's guest lightly.
The room was noisy. And chaotic.
There were dozens of rankers, but to Hwang Gyu-seong, they were as good as nonexistent.
To him, right now, there were only two people in this room.
'Il-su.'
He murmured the name softly in his mind. Same name, but the tone was worlds apart from the old days.
Over twenty years had passed. His old friend had become his worst enemy, sitting right there before his eyes.
Thud-.
Hwang Gyu-seong walked toward him.
One of the rankers, sensing something off, stepped forward to block him.
But immediately, Kim Il-su raised a hand to halt the man's actions.
Just like Hwang Gyu-seong, to him as well, there were only two people here.
"Long time no see."
"Yeah. Long time. Fucking way too long."
The greeting, laced with curses and hostility, made the surrounding rankers flinch.
Who the hell is this guy that he can talk to Kim Il-su like that? The question popped into their heads.
Yet no one dared step forward.
Kim Il-su had stopped them, and the two clearly shared a deep history.
"You've aged a lot. Almost didn't recognize you."
"Everyone else can fail to recognize me, but not you."
"Is that so? Well, we were friends once."
"Yeah. Once upon a time."
It was strange. He'd thought that the moment they met, he'd lose control and lunge at the man's throat.
But strangely, he felt calmer now than when they were apart.
'What's this?'
A subtle sense of dissonance.
It didn't take long to figure out what it was.
Shiiik-.
A dagger stabbed from behind. Hwang Gyu-seong, on guard, grabbed the blade with his hand.
Lee Won-jae.
He had been trying to plunge a ornate green dagger into Hwang Gyu-seong's back.
If it had just been one, he could have handled it somehow.
No matter if it was a sneak attack from behind—Hwang Gyu-seong trusted no one.
"You fucking son of a—."
But there was more than one opponent.
Puuk-.
Kim Il-su.
He wielded an identical dagger and stabbed into Hwang Gyu-seong's side.
Drdddk-.
"Quick reflexes, just like they say."
The dagger tore into flesh and twisted bone. Hwang Gyu-seong grimaced at the burning sensation.
This heat couldn't be explained as mere metal piercing skin. It was more like—.
Buwoong-.
Craaack-!
Hwang Gyu-seong's fist slammed into Kim Il-su's face. The impact shook the vast room violently, and Kim Il-su's head tore clean off his neck and flew away.
"Guild master—!"
"H-his head…."
"That crazy bastard—!"
Shocked outbursts.
They seemed pretty rattled. A little thought would tell them Kim Il-su wouldn't die so pathetically.
"Bullshit. All this fuss…."
Hwang Gyu-seong turned away from Kim Il-su's slumped corpse and faced Lee Won-jae. Having failed his ambush, the man had put some distance between them.
Then, the door opened again, and uninvited guests arrived.
"Already started? A bit ahead of schedule."
"His senses were too sharp; we had no choice."
The leader, a man in a bamboo hat, lifted the brim with a finger. Hwang Gyu-seong's brow furrowed upon seeing his face.
"Uncheon Geuk?"
"Don't you see me?"
With those words, Uncheon Geuk stepped aside. At that moment, Hwang Gyu-seong's eyes trembled fiercely, just like when they met Kim Il-su's gaze again.
"Alliance Leader…."
"I'm retired now, so call me by name. Alliance Leader's a title over ten years old."
Neat white beard. Kind eyes. A gaze as steely as iron, contrasting the rest.
The old man in azure martial robes with a single sword at his waist was one of the few Uncheon Geuk deferred to.
There was a tale in the vast Murim World.
The top martial artist was the retired Jin Do-ha, second was Sinryeon Castle Lord, and the Murim Alliance Leader was merely third.
And the man before them was none other than Jin Do-ha.
Moreover.
"Right. You were here too."
Twenty years ago.
He was one of the key figures who had aided Kim Il-su in stabbing him in the back.
He hadn't forgotten. He'd just put it off.
Dealing with him came after securing Kim Il-su, his top priority.
"Did you come in place of that fake?"
Hwang Gyu-seong pointed at the headless corpse of Kim Il-su.
"Strictly speaking, not entirely fake."
"I figured. The one I just talked to was real."
It was a trap.
Using Kim Il-su as massive bait to lure him in.
And hidden within were needles: Jin Do-ha, Sinryeon Castle Lord Uncheon Geuk, and Lee Won-jae.
"Planning to catch me from the start?"
"…."
Lee Won-jae said nothing.
Hwang Gyu-seong lost interest in the silent man. Whether from the beginning or a change of heart later—what did it matter?
Once changed, he was just an enemy to kill.
Besides, now wasn't the time to worry about that.
The green sword that pierced his body was coated in deadly poison.
Feeling his vision blur bit by bit, Hwang Gyu-seong eyed the dagger in Lee Won-jae's hand.
"Not your average item."
"It's a divine-grade item."
Lee Won-jae continued, showing the flat side of the dagger.
"Something meaningful to you as well."
"Bullshit. I don't know shit about th—."
Mid-sentence.
Something clicked, and Hwang Gyu-seong's eyes flashed.
The next moment.
Buwoong-.
Hwang Gyu-seong's body shot toward Lee Won-jae.
Craaack-!
Krunch-.
Hwang Gyu-seong's fist didn't reach Lee Won-jae—it was blocked. Uncheon Geuk's scabbard had intercepted it midway.
The ground beneath Uncheon Geuk cracked precariously under the force. Beside him, Jin Do-ha drew his sword, aiming for Hwang Gyu-seong's neck.
"No way… Hydra's, isn't it?"
"Knew you'd recognize it."
Hydra.
The boss and guardian of the 8th floor—the monster that had driven Lee Soo-hyuk to death.
A massive serpent with nine heads that spewed poison.
Back then, it seemed impossible to kill, but Lee Soo-hyuk had ultimately succeeded in hunting it.
Lee Soo-hyuk had faced the poison from all nine heads alone. Protecting his comrades from poisoning, handling both offense and defense by himself.
"The poison that killed your closest friend."
That was the reward from the hunted Hydra.
The divine-grade item right before his eyes.
Grit-.
Hwang Gyu-seong ground his teeth, glaring at Lee Won-jae.
This trap was deeper than expected. Not content with Jin Do-ha, they'd even mobilized a divine-grade item.
"Your death will be the first step toward stability and peace in the Tower."
He saw Jin Do-ha's sword moving slowly.
Piiit-.
He'd thought it slow, but his body didn't respond as expected.
The sword grazed his head, and instinctively, he leaped back several steps.
"Me? Peace and stability? No idea. But I do have a promise to keep."
Uncheon Geuk shook out his wrist, which had held the sword until moments ago—likely the aftermath of blocking the punch. No matter how much he downplayed it, he was Murim's second strongest.
"A bit cramped in here, isn't it?"
Swish-.
Lee Won-jae pulled a pocket watch from his pocket, its second hand stopped.
"Remember this? Five minutes."
Click-.
The moment he adjusted the second hand.
Tick-tock-.
Countless second hands appeared throughout the room. They ticked erratically, sometimes backward, without pattern.
Complete isolation from the outside.
This item was originally prepared for a fight with Kim Il-su.
With the counter-invasion in full swing, this was the only way to quietly target him.
But now, it was being used against Hwang Gyu-seong instead.
'Worst case.'
Jin Do-ha alone would be tough. Excluding the transcendent Cheonma, he was universally acknowledged as Murim's top martial artist.
But now, Uncheon Geuk and Lee Won-jae were there too.
And above all, he was poisoned by Hydra's venom.
'Can't run.'
This fight would be hard. Unfortunately, escape wasn't an option.
Five minutes.
Impossible to leave during this time. And Jin Do-ha wouldn't let him go anyway.
Sneer-.
Hwang Gyu-seong grinned whitely.
Cornered on the edge of a cliff, his mind cleared instead. The lingering unease vanished.
Hwang Gyu-seong looked at Lee Won-jae.
"Remember where they found me?"
Hwang Gyu-seong had been discovered in the demon forest.
For over twenty years since his supposed death, he'd hidden there.
"I'll tell you now."
And Lee Won-jae didn't know.
Why he, of all people, had been so close to the demons.
"What I've been doing for twenty years."
The plan went awry starting the day before.
"I won't be there."
Kim Il-su, who had descended to the 7th floor for the counter-invasion.
He had come to Lee Won-jae and said that.
"So think carefully. Won-jae."
A thorn hidden in friendly tones. That thorn was pressed right up to Lee Won-jae's throat.
He'd been found out.
How had the information leaked?
He'd guarded every possible leak. But as far as he knew, there were no breaches.
"Here, take this."
That was when Kim Il-su handed over the item.
One of a pair of twin blades. An all-too-familiar weapon.
"Stab him in the back with it. And I'll forgive everything."
In that moment, Lee Won-jae realized.
'I've been used.'
From thinking of betrayal. Learning about Hwang Gyu-seong. Finding him. All of it.
It was Kim Il-su's board, set for this exact moment.
"Jin Do-ha will come. Uncheon Geuk too. Murim and Blue Eyes rankers will set a trap to catch him."
Jin Do-ha and Uncheon Geuk.
They were the two pillars leading Murim. Jin Do-ha even outranked the Kim Il-su before him.
"Choose now."
There was only one choice.
Lee Won-jae gripped the dagger. No choice but to poison him with Hydra's venom and subdue him quickly.
It should be easy.
Even if the ambush failed, with Jin Do-ha there, capturing Hwang Gyu-seong wouldn't be hard.
…It should have been.
'What the hell?'
Craaang-!
Watching the battle unfold before him, Lee Won-jae sensed something was wrong.
'Is that monster.'