Chapter 68
Chapter 68
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Interruption
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A short distance from the clearing where the fight was raging.
In the shade cast by a thick tangle of branches, a figure in black, their face hidden by a deeply drawn bamboo hat, watched the battle through a gap in the foliage.
But he was not alone.
Ten figures in total were positioned in the surrounding shadows.
They were the Black Sand, assassins who had been tracking Neung Un-bi under the orders of the Divine Blood House.
After finding his trail at Akwa Marsh, they had split into two groups to pursue him.
Sa Il-hwa, a special-grade assassin, had grown suspicious of the suddenly appearing Okcheong Escort Agency and investigated the Heavenly Pillar Gate in Jucheon, while Cheon-bo had barely managed to pick up the trail at an outpost near the Great Snow Mountain.
A completely different identity. It was entirely unrelated to the cover story the Demonic Cult was said to have prepared.
Yet both his appearance and the information pointed to the Third Young Master, Neung Un-bi, and the Sakwol Unit.
How was it possible?
The identity they had assumed was so cunning, so meticulous, that one would have missed it without investigating with prior suspicion.
How could the Third Young Master, on his first trip to the Central Plains, be so shrewd?
And to think he would hide within the territory of the Orthodox Faction.
Sa Il-hwa, leading the assassins, couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration as he tracked Neung Un-bi. It was clear to anyone that he must have had help.
The Snow Mountain Manor, or perhaps the Cult Leader.
[It’s a difficult task with only two guards, but the Third Young Master’s martial prowess is beyond our expectations.]
[Hmm…]
Sa Il-hwa nodded grimly at Team Leader Cheon-bo’s telepathic message.
He was right. It was impressive.
Then again, he was said to have defeated the First Young Master, the one who was supposed to be their master.
But seeing it firsthand, he was even more formidable than the rumors suggested. It must have meant he had been hiding his true strength.
In truth, very little was known about Neung Un-bi.
He was a disciple with no backing, one who had been removed from the competition due to qi deviation.
Furthermore, the Lunar Eclipse he used was a unique martial art practiced by the Cult Leader's disciples.
But what he was seeing was different from what he knew. No, none of the other disciples could wield the Lunar Eclipse with such freedom.
Not even the First Young Master.
Perhaps it was because, unlike the other disciples who learned their family's inherited martial arts, this was all he had. By digging one well, he had reached a much higher state.
Moreover, didn't he have a history of practicing a forbidden demonic art?
The one that no one but the Cult Leader was allowed to approach.
Although it had led him to suffer from qi deviation, now that he had recovered, it could be said that he had instead glimpsed a higher realm of martial arts.
The longer he watched, the more complicated his thoughts became. He even began to worry that they might fail.
[Cheon-bo, prepare the men. The fight is ending. Whatever the Third Young Master has been hiding is none of our concern. We will succeed in this assassination.]
[Yes.]
As two piercing blue eyes were revealed beneath the black bamboo hat, Cheon-bo replied calmly and withdrew.
Yes, that was all that mattered.
They had received an order, so they would carry it out.
When a target was designated, their duty was to deliver death, no matter the sacrifice.
That was the duty of the Black Sand.
However, to ensure a certain death, they needed to wait.
Like a tiger stalking its prey, they had to conceal their presence, wait patiently, and strike at the opportune moment.
The moment the fight with the Heavenly Pillar Gate concluded.
In that state of exhaustion, in that single moment of carelessness, death would come for him.
*Grip.*
Sa Il-hwa carefully drew the sword he held tightly.
A dull blade that not even moonlight could penetrate, its edge blunted to conceal its killing intent.
It was the ultimate assassination weapon forged by the master craftsmen of the Divine Blood House for the Black Sand's missions: the Life Ender.
It lacked the sharpness of a saber, but as its name suggested, it ended a life in a single blow.
“Put it away. It’s unsightly.”
“…!”
In that instant, Sa Il-hwa froze like a statue, his sword not even fully drawn.
A languid voice, whispering right next to his ear.
A… a woman?
Her gender was irrelevant.
A chill ran down his spine at the fact that he hadn't sensed her, even though her voice was right beside him.
How in the world…
He couldn't draw his sword. No, his instincts screamed at him not to.
An eerie feeling, as if death would find him the moment he did, made the hairs on his neck stand on end.
Who was she?
Who could be so formidable as to make him, a special-grade assassin of the Black Sand, this tense?
He was certain they had checked the entire area around the clearing.
*Creeak.*
His eyes rolled to their absolute limit.
Even so, he couldn't get a clear look at her.
The person crouching beside him had a very small frame.
But he was curious about her face.
*Crack, creak.*
As he forced his stiff neck to turn, he thought he could hear the sound of bones grinding.
Carefully, ever so carefully.
*Thwack!*
“…!?”
Suddenly, the person grabbed his face with both hands.
*Crrrack!*
And with a sharp twist, forced him to face her.
“It’s not like you’ve hurt your neck. Why are you peeking so sneakily?”
“…”
The one holding his face and meeting his gaze was a broadly smiling woman.
She looked to be about sixteen… a mere brat?
“There, see? Happy now that you’ve had a look?”
“…”
Sa Il-hwa’s face flushed at the sight of her smiling, revealing a set of even teeth.
He was being toyed with. The smile on her lips felt like a sneer.
“My, my. Getting all shy just from looking at a pretty face. You’re blushing beet red.”
“…”
Sa Il-hwa gulped as he watched her grin.
He didn't understand.
He couldn't sense any killing intent, not even hostility. And yet, even though she wasn't actively suppressing him with her energy, he couldn't draw his sword.
And why weren't his subordinates reacting at all?
Could it be that they couldn't sense this woman?
“Those eyes of yours… you seem to have a lot on your mind, don’t you?”
“Umm.”
“Don’t glare at me so cutely. It makes me want to gently twist your head off.”
“…”
“But my situation is a bit complicated right now. I’d love to kill all ten of you, but I have something I need to do. It’d be a problem if what I’m worried about happens while I’m busy slitting your throats, you see?”
“…”
“So just go quietly. I’ll let you live today, so come back and die later. Got it? Or if you want to live, you can just never come back.”
Though she spoke with a bright smile, her words were a warning of death.
In truth, she couldn't care less about their pursuit.
All that mattered was that they didn't interfere with her protecting Neung Un-bi.
Besides, just because she sensed hidden people nearby didn't mean she could recklessly attack them and demand to know who they were.
Especially not when she herself was in hiding.
But this was different.
These lurkers weren't just watching the fight from the shadows; they were preparing to attack.
They were clearly enemies, so of course, she would kill them.
Just not now, as she had told them.
It would be troublesome if the Heavenly Pillar Gate Master escaped while she was focused on them.
“I said go. What? Too shocked to move?”
“…”
Sa Il-hwa’s face hardened at the blatant disregard.
She was openly mocking him.
This brat, who still had milk on her lips, was mocking him, who had successfully carried out countless assassinations over many long years to rise to the rank of special-grade assassin of the Black Sand…
*Grit!*
The moment he clenched his jaw, all emotion vanished from Sa Il-hwa’s eyes, leaving only a dull darkness.
*Shwaaak!*
Simultaneously, the Life Ender sword shot out, drawing a swift semicircle.
*Crack!*
The blade sliced the woman's body in half.
But Sa Il-hwa’s expression was grim.
There was no sensation of cutting through flesh, no spray of blood.
He had cut a tree.
Sa Il-hwa quickly kicked off the tree, leaped back, and swiftly flung the hand he had thrust into his robes.
*Swiiish!*
Four large darts held in his hand transformed into flashes of light and shot forward.
Another marvel of assassination created by the Divine Blood House, the Annihilation Darts.
There was no need to check behind him. The terror of the Annihilation Darts lay in their ability to explode after embedding themselves in a target.
*Boom! Ka-boom!*
He had thrown four, but there were only three sounds.
But what was the point of counting?
Even for the Divine Blood House, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be a single defective product.
It was just his luck that one of those defective ones had ended up in his hands.
“Retreat!”
Sa Il-hwa shouted urgently and ran to escape the forest clearing.
The current assassination was off.
If a monster like that was lurking by Neung Un-bi’s side, they had to reformulate their plan.
As Sa Il-hwa ran, his subordinates began to follow without a word.
Curiosity? Questions?
Did any of that matter?
What mattered to them was their superior’s command. When an order was given, their duty was simply to obey.
And at the spot where the Annihilation Darts had exploded.
Amidst the scattered debris of the hideously blasted tree, the woman, Hyang-i, revealed herself.
“Egh, ptui, ptui.”
Spitting out splinters and dust, Hyang-i stared down at the large dart in her hand.
“So they were brats sent by the Divine Blood House.”
She knew from the dart. In the Demonic Cult, only that place could create such an item.
“…Still, I did warn them to leave quietly.”
Caught in the unexpected explosion, her clothes were in tatters.
Parts were singed, and there were ugly tears here and there.
“Haa, and this was my favorite outfit…”
Her lips pressed into a tight line, and demonic energy swirled in her pupils like a vortex.
*Gnash!*
Gritting her teeth and wrinkling her nose, Hyang-i glared at the backs of the fleeing Black Sand.
“This means… you want to play rough, right?”
She had tried to resolve things amicably, worried that the Heavenly Pillar Gate Master might escape and complicate matters.
But demonic energy is dangerous for anyone. It makes one forget about consequences.
*Fwoosh!*
The ground tore apart under her feet as her figure shot forward like a beam of light.
“Lord Sa! What is happening? Why the sudden retreat?”
“An expert! One so strong we can't even hope to compare! We retreat for now and prepare for the next opportunity!”
“What? An expert?”
“Don’t ask! For now, focus all your strength on escaping… huh?”
“…”
Sa Il-hwa, who had turned his head toward Cheon-bo to belatedly grasp the situation, widened his eyes.
Next to Cheon-bo.
A black shadow that had appeared out of nowhere bared its teeth in a wide smile.
“What’s wrong?”
“…Che-Cheon.”
*Rrrrrrip!*
“…”
He couldn't even finish saying the name.
He had already been torn apart.
By the hands of the eerily smiling woman.
“You. I warned you, didn't I? To just piss off quietly.”
“…”
“You’re the one who ignored me!”
In an instant, darkness covered his vision like a net thrown into the air.
He couldn't see anything.
Not the torn Cheon-bo, nor his other subordinates.
And in that moment, Sa Il-hwa suddenly recalled a similar martial art.
Heavenly Mountain.
Before the Demonic Cult established its base, there were monsters living there.
The Demonic Cult had been at odds with them for a long time, and it was only under the Cult Leader of that era that they were driven far to the north of Heavenly Mountain.
And there was a martial art used by an individual who reigned as the king of assassins among those monsters.
Rain of the Dark Sky. A name given because it approached silently like rain in the dark of night, drenching every place the sword touched with blood.
“D-Don’t tell me… the Heavenly Mountain Witch?”
“Oh? So there’s still someone who knows that name?”
“…!”
An admission, accompanied by a laugh.
Then this woman was…?
“That was my grandmother.”
“…”
“But don’t worry. I might not be as good as my grandma, but I’m strong enough. You can look forward to it.”
Hyang-i smiled, a cruelly wide smile, and Sa Il-hwa knew his fate.
This… damn it all…
*Swoooosh!*
The rain began to fall.
Not a drizzle, but a downpour.
And countless sharp energies pierced Sa Il-hwa’s entire body.
That was the end.
Torn to shreds, Sa Il-hwa plummeted to the ground along with his subordinates.
*Thud, thud-thud-thud!*
Watching the corpses, riddled with holes, slam into the ground, Hyang-i calmed her demonic energy and turned her head toward the clearing.
“Ah, damn it… I came too far chasing those bastards.”
I hope nothing happened.
The Third Young Master didn't let the Heavenly Pillar Gate Master escape, did he?
No matter how she thought about it, she was worried.
If they let the Gate Master escape here, next time they wouldn't be fighting fifty men, but the entire Heavenly Pillar Gate.
“Damn it. It would have been so much better if you’d just listened to my warning.”
*Scratch, fwoosh!*
Scratching her head, Hyang-i shot back the way she came.