Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: Ambush in the Hidden Chamber
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Whoosh-.
The scenery whipped by in a blur.
It was fast, but not full speed. He could push it harder, but that would require ramping up Lightning's output even more.
He needed to conserve as much stamina as possible and keep running for a long time.
A mark he'd carved into a tree earlier came into Lee Soo-hyuk's view as he charged ahead.
"This way."
Pop-.
Kim Si-woo twisted direction right behind him.
The paths had grown convoluted. The demons had rigged the forest to keep just anyone from escaping.
Without those pre-marked signs, they probably would've been lost for hours.
Sizzle-.
A bead of sweat trickled down Soo-hyuk's forehead as he raced toward the Blue House.
Amid the frantic sprint, he mulled over the intel Si-woo had relayed.
"They seemed dead serious about it."
The demons Si-woo had scouted numbered well over ten thousand—two full legions.
'Two legion commanders.'
Demon legion commanders.
The highest ranks among demons, excluding the three Demon Kings.
The appearance of even one would put major guilds on high alert. Two showing up meant this was no ordinary threat.
Hold out against those bastards?
'No chance.'
Blue Zone didn't have Kim Il-su. They wouldn't last. They'd be wiped out soon enough.
So he had to move first.
Hyo-min might be among those swept away and killed in the wave.
Which was why...
'Please find her.'
As they bolted toward the house, the same thought filled both Soo-hyuk's and Si-woo's minds.
'Ye-ryeong.'
Adolf led his aides through several rooms.
Passing corridors in the massive guild house, they entered an empty room with no one around. Then into another connected room, out to a corridor again.
Like a man lost, he crisscrossed rooms and halls.
"This looks like the place we passed earlier."
"I know."
"Pardon?"
"Quit yapping and follow."
Adolf offered no further explanation.
They'd figure it out soon enough. Where they were headed.
How long had it been?
"Huh?"
The eyes of the man who'd just spoken widened in surprise.
He'd sworn they were looping the same spots, but the room was different. Instead of a reception area, opening the door revealed stairs stretching downward.
"Stick close. Fall behind, and you'll get lost."
"Understood."
First-timers here were tense as hell. Even long-time guild house regulars had no clue this place existed.
Only a handful in Blue Zone knew—Kim Il-su, Adolf, and a few others.
'Doesn't matter anymore.'
Hyo-min's hiding spot could be moved anytime, anywhere. What mattered now was dealing with the immediate crisis.
This might be a mistake.
But he had to do it anyway.
'If it's I Won-jae, he'll definitely find this place.'
The guild would plunge into chaos.
They could try blocking him with full force, but...
'Can't ignore the demons either.'
That was never an option. Letting those devils rampage unchecked was like knowing disaster loomed and doing nothing.
So this was the only way to handle both.
Thud, thud-.
The stairs dragged on.
Even Adolf had never returned here so quickly.
No.
More precisely, this was his first time coming alone, without Kim Il-su.
Up, down. Up again.
The stairs split into forks like a maze. Trudging through the labyrinthine paths, they reached an old wooden door at the end.
Fwoosh-.
Adolf ignited a flame at his fingertip before the door.
"Open it."
"Yes, sir."
The guild members flung the wooden door wide.
Adolf stepped inside. Without hesitation, he threw open the lid of the slanted coffin.
"Ah..."
"She's here..."
The guild members sighed at the sight of Hyo-min trapped within.
She was still the living legend of the blue eyes. They knew she lived, but few had seen her like this.
"Keep this secret. Absolutely."
"Understood."
"If word leaks, everyone here dies."
The guild members nodded at Adolf's chilling warning.
They knew how dangerous a secret like this was.
A loose tongue could strangle its owner. No fool would think these men would blab.
But the problem came from an unexpected quarter.
"Even if it doesn't leak, it's the same."
Stab, stab-.
"...!"
"Or maybe it just can't leak?"
The dagger from behind pierced the heart of the rearmost guild member. His eyes bulged wide.
No scream. His comrades near Adolf sprang into action at the sight of the instant kill.
Tight space. Plus Hyo-min's sleeping body nearby.
Under multiple constraints, they unleashed their peak skills—honed instincts from years of play.
But the foe wasn't one instincts alone could handle.
Stabstabstab-.
From above, behind, ahead. Threads shot from multiple angles, skewering necks, hearts, heads.
"Gurk-."
"Guh..."
Time for one blink, maybe two.
Drip-.
Blood trickled from Adolf's forehead. A dagger had fallen toward his head too, but he'd barely blocked it.
His eyes shook violently as he watched his men wiped out.
"You..."
Ye-ryeong had appeared, standing before Hyo-min's coffin.
'Kim Ye-ryeong.'
Her face half-masked, hair tied tight. He'd seen her a few times long ago, but never forgotten.
Kim Il-su had actually feared her more than Kim Si-woo. With stealth, disguise, assassination skills, she could dismantle a guild alone.
His blood ran cold.
An assassin revealing herself meant confidence in the kill.
Chaos erupted in his mind too.
'How the hell did she get here?!'
Ye-ryeong shouldn't be here.
She'd gone to the forest ages ago.
Even if they'd lost her trail after, popping up like this was bizarre. They'd monitored external infiltration tightly since the trial began.
If she'd breached all that to reach here?
'Impossible.'
Not even Kim Ye-ryeong could pull that off.
If she could, Kim Il-su would've been assassinated ages ago. No such stealth assassin existed.
'Unless...'
Only one explanation for this.
'Jeong Chan-young wasn't the traitor?'
"Hyo-min."
Ignoring Adolf entirely, Ye-ryeong reached for Hyo-min.
"I... came."
Stroke-.
Her hand caressing the sleeping Hyo-min's cheek was heartbreaking.
Trembling fingers, a face on the verge of tears—it screamed vulnerabilities.
Now was the chance.
Zzt-.
Adolf's mana stirred.
Momentary opening, confined space. He selected the perfect skill from his arsenal.
Rattle-.
Tiny orbs the size of fingernails spawned around Ye-ryeong.
Hundreds, thousands of them.
Even surrounded, she didn't twitch.
Convinced of victory, Adolf clapped his hands.
Clap-!
Babababam-!
Thousands of orbs tore through Ye-ryeong's body.
"...They passed through?"
Adolf's face twisted in shock. The dark orbs weren't meant to pass through—they should cling to flesh.
Even if they did, no blood? That defied logic.
"You fell for what your eyes saw."
Stab-.
Only then did he see the dagger piercing his chest.
No pain. Not even watching a blade sink into someone else would feel this numb.
His expression was pure bewilderment.
Ye-ryeong's voice whispered in his ear.
"Still, you're no pushover."
"Cough."
Blood finally surged from his twisted guts, spilling from his mouth.
Shunk-.
The dagger pulled free from his back. Staggering, Adolf distanced himself from Ye-ryeong.
Consciousness blurred. The wound was deep, but her blade seemed poisoned too.
He clutched the injury.
'Missed the heart slightly.'
Fatal, but not instant death.
'Why?'
Not a mistake.
He'd fully exposed his back to her. Even a novice assassin could've nailed the heart.
She'd missed on purpose.
"Talk. What did you do to Hyo-min?"
That was it.
Adolf finally understood why she hadn't killed him outright.
"Kuh, kuhehe."
"What?"
"Too bad. Your long-lost friend looks like that."
"Ugh, should I just kill you?"
"Can't do that, can you?"
Adolf's gaze shifted to Hyo-min in the coffin.
"With your friend like that..."
His words cut off.
Ye-ryeong's dagger hovered before his eye. A twitch, and it'd blind him.
No.
She didn't stop.
"Yah."
Stab-.
"...!!!"
Adolf screamed belatedly.
"Gaaaaahhh!"
He collapsed backward, blood streaming from his eye.
She'd paused not from hesitation.
Pain unrecognized doesn't hurt much. True agony hits when you realize the danger.
Ye-ryeong knew that well.
"Eye first. I'd love to rip your mouth too, but then you couldn't talk."
Oddly, not a drop of blood on her dagger.
"I've got patience. Waited twenty years. Could torment you even longer."
"Guhhh..."
"So spit it out. Before I gouge the other eye."
Killing intent filled the space.
Fear of death and pain took form, crashing over him. The fury in those blue eyes dwarfed his imaginings.
That must be why.
"Poi... son... King..."
The words slipped out unbidden.
"Poison King?"
Ye-ryeong's eyes flashed.
As she pressed for details...
Weeeeng-.
A device in Adolf's pocket blared. Instinct told her he'd triggered something.
"You..."
His lips twisted into a bloody grin, red-stained teeth bared.
"You won't... leave here alive..."