Chapter 272
Chapter 272
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 272
Chapter Title: One Moment
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"Just one moment is all it takes."
Ye-ryeong said.
"If you can create that, it doesn't matter where we are."
She exuded confidence.
Wherever it was. Whoever the opponent was. No matter how many there were.
If she could create just one moment of carelessness, the likes of the Poison King were nothing.
"Probably. The problem is that it's not easy..."
Creating even a single moment of carelessness against someone of the Poison King's caliber was never simple. Especially now, when he was on high alert.
"Won't the Immortal Herb lure him in?"
Soo-hyuk shook his head at Ye-ryeong's question.
"Doubt it."
"Why? Isn't that what the old man's been craving?"
"Of course he'll think it's suspicious. Right when you're gunning for him, some unavoidable situation forces him to leave the Tang Clan."
A bait that was far too tempting.
But the shinier the gold plating, the easier it was to spot the trap.
"What? Then this intel's useless."
No matter how real the Immortal Herb was, if it couldn't draw Dang Paegun out of the Tang Clan, it was pointless.
"It still has its uses."
"Like what?"
"To create a misconception."
"A misconception?"
Soo-hyuk's eyes gleamed as he reread the intel from Dark Map several times.
"You said one moment is all it takes, right?"
One moment.
It was the exact instant when everyone's attention focused on Choi Moo-gyul.
Just moments ago, Dang Yun-do's face had been taut with tension. Now, every trace of expression vanished.
A dagger slipped from his sleeve. Daggers thinner than fingers—ten in one hand, twenty in total—hurtled through the air.
Pa-at—.
It was a single motion.
In that one motion, the twenty daggers flew in different directions.
No matter how skilled Ye-ryeong was, she couldn't wipe out over twenty high-rankers in one go. Especially not with Dang Paegun among them.
But this was the moment they'd waited for.
The moment when everyone mistook Choi Moo-gyul for the Dark King.
The outcome would be different.
"...!"
Though their eyes had been drawn to Choi Moo-gyul, they were high-rankers who had made their names at the top.
The instant Ye-ryeong launched the daggers, Dang Paegun and the other rankers in the guest hall reacted.
But that alone couldn't block the daggers flying from behind.
Pu-hwaak—!
Thirteen daggers pierced vital points.
The remaining seven missed their marks.
The rankers who barely fended off the ambush charged at Ye-ryeong in unison.
It was enough to shake anyone, but their movements showed no hesitation, proving their skill.
Pu-buk—.
Spears and blades stabbed into flesh, piercing throats.
The moment they thought their counterattack had landed, what spilled out was thick groans of agony.
"Keuruk—."
"...What?!"
It was Dang Yu-seong whose body was pierced.
No time to protest his innocence—he was dead before he knew what hit him.
"I'm a bit rusty myself."
Ye-ryeong stretched from the side, loosening up her stiff body after pretending to be Dang Yun-do for so long.
"Seven left? Hmm... familiar faces."
Her face was half-covered by a mask, but no one failed to recognize her.
Dang Paegun and the surviving seven rankers froze upon spotting her.
"...So it was real. You're alive."
"Don't let your guard down."
"Who'd relax with the Dark King right here?"
No one in the murim's upper ranks would lower their guard against the Dark King.
Unlike Kim Si-woo, who could freeze an entire castle, or Lee Soo-hyuk, raining lightning from the skies—
Her skills weren't flashy or intimidating.
But that's precisely why she was so deadly.
Who else in the world could silently kill thirteen high-rankers like this?
For an assassin, silence was the flashiest and most powerful weapon.
'This is... the Dark King.'
Gulp.
Iron Lion Sword Mu-rin, who had just slain Choi Moo-gyul, felt a rare grip of tension, his palms sweating.
Even right in front of him, he sensed nothing from Ye-ryeong.
Suddenly, the thick scent of blood filled the air.
The thirteen high-rankers who'd lost their lives in an instant—the wounds piercing their bodies finally began to bleed.
Clean work, impossibly precise.
If they hadn't known she was coming and stayed on high alert, most here wouldn't have even noticed the deaths beside them.
'Heavy losses.'
Thirteen, no less.
Ye-ryeong complained that seven remained after killing thirteen, but these rankers had gathered precisely to capture her.
Yet more than half were already dead. Things had gone wrong from the start.
All from exploiting one insignificant murim fighter named Choi Moo-gyul.
"Rusted a bit yourself?"
But one among them remained calm.
"Seeing my neck still intact despite this golden opportunity."
Dang Paegun's eyes flashed as he glared at Ye-ryeong.
He understood her position better than anyone here. The moment all focus had been on Choi Moo-gyul was worth its weight in gold to her.
If she'd wanted, his head could've rolled.
"But..."
Poison qi seeped from his fingertips. His lips twisted in disdain.
"Do you know where this is?"
This was the Sacheon Tang Clan.
A place saturated with poison qi on all sides. If he willed it, the entire area would drown in toxins.
Kkaduk—.
As if on cue, the surviving rankers pulled antidotes from their robes and swallowed them. Pills distributed by Dang Paegun beforehand to block poison qi.
"That move was your one chance. You'll regret missing it soon enough."
"God, I hate murim guys."
Ye-ryeong scratched her ear amid their killing intent.
"Acting all prim and proper, spouting clichés with filthy mouths. Hey, poison toad."
"P-Poison toad?"
Dang Paegun's eyes bulged at the unheard insult. The heavy atmosphere lightened instantly under her nonchalance and bizarre nickname.
"Yeah, poison toad. That's exactly what you look like. You're seriously deluded about something."
Ye-ryeong blew the earwax off her finger. Curiously, it rode a breeze straight to Dang Paegun's face.
"Of course I know where this is. I didn't fail to kill you—I chose not to."
"......"
Only then did Dang Paegun realize: of all here, he alone hadn't been targeted by her daggers.
"Yeah, kinda disappointing. Thirteen. Maybe too greedy to aim for all. Should've gone for a solid fifteen."
A chill ran through the rankers surrounding her.
If she'd aimed for fifteen, at least two more here would've been gone. And it didn't feel like bravado.
Kkadeuk—Dang Paegun ground his teeth.
"Bluffing now?"
"You know better than anyone it's no bluff. You get why I'm here for you."
It was then.
Hwoouk—.
All light in the guest hall vanished, centered on Ye-ryeong. In the pitch black without a single gleam, only the living—Dang Paegun and the others—remained visible.
Ye-ryeong, who had been right in front of them, disappeared in an instant.
"Where's the antidote?"
Her voice echoed from everywhere in the darkness.
"Hand it over, and I might leave quietly. For real."
They'd fought and survived countless foes, but battling Ye-ryeong was different.
No overwhelming force, no vast aura like an ocean. Nothing overt.
The opposite.
She emitted nothing. Even now, she lurked in the shadows, hunting their lives.
The Dark King incarnate.
But the Poison King, Dang Paegun, had no intention of yielding.
"In your dreams!"
[Four Poisons Dominion]
Sacheon Tang Clan's ultimate poison art—fills the world with deadly toxins.
Pu-hwaa—!
The poison qi from Dang Paegun's fingertips was the trigger.
The entire area engulfed in dark-green poison qi. Poisons pre-placed throughout the Tang Clan erupted at once.
Four Poisons Dominion.
A technique exclusive to the Poison King within the Sacheon Tang Clan, meaning to fill the world with poison.
The corpses on the floor melted away in seconds. Even the survivors, who'd taken antidotes, hastily regulated their breathing.
The volume of poison qi was immense. The technique's intent was clear: no room to breathe.
Four Poisons Dominion devoured the utter darkness Ye-ryeong had conjured.
"...Guess that's a no."
Ye-ryeong's voice carried regret.
After killing thirteen, she thought they'd panic and hand over the antidote. But unleashing Four Poisons Dominion showed no retreat.
Fine then.
"Can't be helped. I'll take you out one by one. Speak up if you get scared."
In the darkness, Ye-ryeong eyed the remaining rankers one by one.
"Say it quick—maybe I'll let you live."
Ossok—.
Mu-rin unconsciously clutched his throat. For a split second, her words made him feel a dagger piercing it.
They had to stay sharper than ever. Hone their focus endlessly to block silent blades and find her.
Meanwhile.
One figure rose in everyone's minds: someone essential here, perhaps even more vital than Poison King Dang Paegun.
'Un Cheon-geuk.'
He'd left before Ye-ryeong arrived, saying he'd see Sophie.
No way it'd take this long unless he fell in a latrine.
'Where the hell is he?'
Step—.
Soo-hyuk followed behind Un Cheon-geuk.
Honestly, he was surprised. To meet him here of all places.
He and Un Cheon-geuk had crossed paths before, long ago. Like most rankers, it was during a great battle.
He'd been decent then. Far better than Reinhardt, who boasted he could take down Lee Soo-hyuk in one strike.
No special ties since, yet here they were again.
'In a way... he's more dangerous than Dang Paegun.'
Soo-hyuk's gaze darkened as he watched him.
Unlike before, they now had a connection. Unhyang's real father was the Heavenly Demon, but Un Cheon-geuk had raised her.
"Why'd you help me?"
Soo-hyuk asked quietly, keeping his distance as he trailed Un Cheon-geuk.
Un Cheon-geuk didn't break stride. He led Soo-hyuk winding through the estate.
As if genuinely guiding a guest.
"Why do you think?"
"I'm no real guest."
"No, you're my guest."
Un Cheon-geuk glanced back with a sly smile.
"Did Unhyang come with you?"
Blood-red eyes gleamed in his smiling face like they held murder.
A probe. But the moment her name slithered from his snake-like lips, Soo-hyuk's suspicions solidified into certainty.
'...As I thought.'
With what he knew of Unhyang and the Heavenly Demon's relation—and theirs to Un Cheon-geuk—it was obvious.
Those greedy eyes hid nothing.
'He wants the Heavenly Demon's Soul.'