Chapter 359
Chapter 359
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 359
Chapter Title: It's Him
-----------------------------------------------------------------
'It's him.'
His crisis-detection instinct, honed over a lifetime as a bodyguard, was blaring like an alarm.
The man had knocked out the elite assassins prepared to kill the Alliance Leader and was leisurely playing Go by himself. More than that, he hadn't lost his composure even with the Alliance Leader and her escorts appearing.
And what demanded even more caution than his skill was the situation unfolding right now.
'How the hell did he know?'
The plan had clearly leaked.
A guy with that kind of ability wouldn't just drop out of the sky by coincidence.
"Got tired of waiting."
With those words, the man who lifted his head after placing his last black stone was Jin Un.
"Played three full games of Go here all by myself."
That meant he'd been waiting for a long time.
Sure enough. He had been waiting for them.
No.
"Just as I thought. A rat who betrayed his master."
...He had been waiting for him.
Im Mu-gwang turned around with a face full of disbelief. At the same moment, a chilling sensation crept up on him.
Namgung Hwa-young had already drawn her sword and was holding it to his throat.
"Alliance Leader!"
"What is the meaning of this...?"
The escorts were stunned.
The protectee threatening her own bodyguard with a blade? And the protectee was the Murim Alliance Leader, while the bodyguard was the head of the escort unit, Im Mu-gwang.
For a brief moment, confusion gripped them amid the sudden turn of events.
"...How did you know?"
Im Mu-gwang, having resigned himself to the unfolding situation, asked in a tone of utter defeat.
"What business would the head of the escorts have sneaking off to meet the enemy in the dead of night?"
"You were clearly in your chambers at that hour."
"That's right. I didn't see it myself."
"Do you trust the one who relayed the message more than me?"
"I was half-doubting until I confirmed they were hiding here. I was certain when I saw your expression upon seeing them collapsed."
For the briefest instant, Im Mu-gwang's face had shown utter dismay. Namgung Hwa-young hadn't missed it.
"Why did you do it?"
Namgung Hwa-young slowly lowered the sword from Im Mu-gwang's throat.
"What could have driven you to..."
In that instant.
Flash-.
Seizing the opening as her sword descended, Im Mu-gwang's blade whipped out.
A swift strike aimed straight for her throat in one breath. As the head of the escorts, he had mastered the fast draw to protect someone. Now, he swung it at his charge.
The nearby escorts, shocked, reacted too late.
Whoosh-.
Namgung Hwa-young's head was severed, her body scattering like a mirage. Startled, Im Mu-gwang hesitated.
'An illusion?'
He realized white mist was already enveloping him.
Im Mu-gwang's gaze shifted to Jin Un. The man who had been playing Go was gone. In truth, from the moment they entered this place, he had been trapped in Jin Un's formation.
"You are a disgrace to all escorts."
Namgung Hwa-young's voice echoed from within the mist.
Im Mu-gwang whipped his head around. Through the white fog, her faint silhouette appeared.
The Murim Alliance Leader's sword moved. Slowly, with dignity.
And in that moment.
Rooooar-.
"...!"
A crushing gravitational pressure bore down on Im Mu-gwang's body.
His knees buckled, forcing him to the ground, hands bracing against the floor.
But that was not the end.
Slice, snick, snick-snick-.
Sword pressure infused with energy sliced into his body, again and again. No fatal wounds, but the cuts multiplied rapidly into dozens.
"Gahhhh!"
Im Mu-gwang screamed as the wounds tore into him. More than the pain of the sword pressure pinning him down was the overwhelming terror of death.
The Namgung Clan's ultimate technique, Emperor's Sword Form.
In one decisive move, she had unleashed her pinnacle strike to subdue Im Mu-gwang.
Thud-.
Im Mu-gwang finally collapsed fully to the floor.
The mist surrounding him cleared. Namgung Hwa-young and Jin Un stood beside the fallen man.
Im Mu-gwang expected the Alliance Leader to interrogate him. Why did you betray me? How could you do this? Something like that.
But what came instead was utter disregard, no questions asked.
"Thank you for your help."
Ignoring Im Mu-gwang completely, Namgung Hwa-young expressed her gratitude to Jin Un.
Jin Un, hands clasped behind his back, wore an impassive expression. Even after sending the Serim Clan into dreamland, he didn't boast a single word.
"No need for thanks. It wasn't even on the Alliance Leader's orders."
"Still, I'm the one who benefited."
"That guy's just moving because he wants something. No need to keep it in mind."
"Too late. It's already etched here."
She patted her chest lightly.
"If you insist on feeling indebted, weigh it on the scales for now. Settle the accounts later."
At Jin Un's persistent deflection, Namgung Hwa-young smiled. How could she not know he hadn't helped her expecting payment?
Concerned that continuing to offer thanks would burden him, she changed the subject.
"Are these ones asleep?"
"They're probably gleefully killing the Alliance Leader in their dreams right about now."
"At least they achieved their goal in their sleep."
Namgung Hwa-young then turned to the other escorts.
"I know some among you have turned as well."
A few escorts flinched, their shoulders trembling slightly.
"Kneel now."
At her words, some dropped to their knees. As one by one they knelt, the others who had been watching followed suit.
The loyal escorts who hadn't joined the rebellion sighed at the sight.
They were the ones closest to Im Mu-gwang. Their betrayal showed just how lax the Murim Alliance's discipline had become.
"Forgive us."
"We've committed a grave sin deserving death!"
Namgung Hwa-young's gaze turned icy. She pointed at one of the kneeling escorts.
"Song Hwi."
"Yes!"
He was the vice-head of the escort unit, Song Hwi.
"Listen carefully to what I say from now on."
A few days after the Alliance Leader departed for the Serim Clan.
Lee Soo-hyuk remained in the guest hall, eyes closed the entire time since arriving.
Unhyang and Ye-ryeong, watching from the side, whispered to each other.
"He's definitely sleeping."
"No way. He's probably deep in some intense training."
"You've been around him so long, and you're still simping like that?"
"Sis! I told you not to call me a simp!"
"What're you gonna do about it, simp?"
As the two chattered away, Soo-hyuk spoke without opening his eyes.
"You're both too loud."
"Oh, you're awake?"
"You're up?"
Treated like someone who just woke from a nap, Soo-hyuk finally opened his eyes. He sighed deeply at Ye-ryeong's playful expression.
"Why are you even here?"
"You think stealth is easy? My legs hurt, my back hurts. Ugh, I'm dying."
"Didn't you say stealth was more comfortable?"
"Did I? Hmm."
Ye-ryeong grinned teasingly at him. Soo-hyuk, who had looked baffled, soon chuckled along.
"Quit fooling around and stay alert. It's about to start."
Despite her playfulness, Ye-ryeong was worried about Soo-hyuk.
Of course, Soo-hyuk felt the same.
"You okay?"
"About what?"
"Gyu-seong's revenge is coming up for you too. And right now, you're closer to Jin Do-ha than I am."
What had Ye-ryeong been doing while the two were at the Murim Alliance?
She had been constantly monitoring Jin Do-ha's movements. Soo-hyuk had encountered him twice, but she had dozens of times.
"Must've wanted to kill him every single time, right?"
"..."
Ye-ryeong didn't deny it.
When she first learned Gyu-seong had been killed by Jin Do-ha, she had wanted to hunt him down immediately. And now she had to watch him right under her nose? It must have been torture.
Amazed that Ye-ryeong had acted unfazed, Unhyang asked.
"Did you hold back? Or couldn't you?"
"Both."
Ye-ryeong pouted.
"I can avoid detection, but killing him? No way. Getting within a certain distance is risky, and stabbing him would weaken my stealth even more."
Even among all high-rankers, the targets Ye-ryeong couldn't assassinate were few and far between. Jin Do-ha was one of them. He wasn't called the War God for nothing.
"Perfect timing. Here he comes."
Before "comes" fully left her mouth, Ye-ryeong's body vanished into the shadows.
Unhyang fastened her sword sheath to her waist. She donned her usual facemask and bamboo hat.
Soon, people gathered outside the guest hall where the two had been.
"Both of you, come out."
Jin Do-ha's voice.
His tone carried a sharpened edge. Usually tightly wrapped and hidden, today it felt like the blade was fully unsheathed.
The two rose silently and stepped outside. Around the guest hall, key figures of the Murim Alliance, led by Jin Do-ha, had assembled.
Hundreds of people filled the wide courtyard in front of the hall.
They all seemed strangely excited, radiating thick hostility.
"What's going on? Everyone crowding in like this."
"The Alliance Leader is dead."
Some who heard the news for the first time here let out sighs and cries of shock.
"The Alliance Leader?"
"Who dares!"
"Whose doing is this?"
"Is it confirmed?"
The voices of those who usually revered and followed the Leader were the loudest. Of course, some might be acting.
Jin Do-ha nodded and raised his voice so all could hear.
"The news came straight from the vice-head of her escort unit."
Coming from the vice-head of the escorts, the information's reliability was beyond doubt. Now the only question was who the culprit was.
The Chief Strategist's death followed by the Alliance Leader's.
This was tantamount to a declaration of war on the Murim world. And Jin Do-ha pointed the finger at the two standing before him.
"I believe those two are behind the Chief Strategist and Alliance Leader's deaths."
Everyone's eyes filled with the question: Who?
"Surely you've all heard of them. The new guild called Blue Eyes."
Jin Do-ha didn't hesitate to reveal Soo-hyuk and Unhyang's identities right there in front of everyone.
Unhyang glanced at Soo-hyuk. She tapped her bamboo hat, silently asking with her eyes: Can I take this off?
Swish-.
Soo-hyuk removed his bamboo hat and facemask first. Unhyang followed, revealing her face.
Then.
"Hah-."
"That girl..."
They might not recognize Soo-hyuk's face, but everyone knew Unhyang's. She was the daughter of Un Cheon-geuk, who was present right there.
And the man beside Unhyang—the daughter of Un Cheon-geuk—had become famous enough that no one didn't know him.
"Lee Soo-hyuk!"
The streamer who once rocked the Tower. The player who turned the Sacheon Tang Clan and Divine Lotus Castle into wastelands.
Naturally, the Murim Alliance members' gazes toward him were far from friendly.
"Targeting the Murim Alliance this time?"
"After the Tang Clan head, now the Chief Strategist and Alliance Leader!"
Some seemed convinced of their guilt just from seeing their faces.
Soo-hyuk looked at the Murim Alliance warriors crowding in. As expected, Jin Do-ha had mobilized the entire Alliance to capture him for sure.
It was the only way to minimize the risk of facing Soo-hyuk while securing justification.
Unhyang glanced sideways at Soo-hyuk's profile. She mouthed:
You said it'd blow up, and look, it really did.
As expected, Soo-hyuk asked with an intrigued expression.
"Ever seen a dead person come back to life?"