A Promise of Agony
A wind blowing from Hamga Lake swept down the painted roof tiles of Seungguanru, swaying the red and blue lanterns.
The top floor of Seungguanru, which would normally be filled with the coquettish laughter of courtesans at this hour, was now enveloped in a chilling silence.
"..."
Everyone present held their breath, careful not to make even the slightest sound.
Seated at the head of the room, Ya-ju, Ji Dong-tak, stared down at the floor with an expressionless face.
Prostrated below him were the warriors of the Black Ghost Squad.
They trembled like frogs before a snake. Indeed, Ji Dong-tak's gaze was as cold and piercing as a serpent's eyes.
"Chief."
"Y-yes, Master."
"Have I suffered a heatstroke, or is my mind playing tricks on me?"
"..."
The chief steward swallowed hard.
Even the most oblivious fool would have sensed the suffocating tension in the room.
A single slip of the tongue could cost him his head.
"I am quite certain that the one I ordered to be brought here was..."
Ya-ju's gaze shifted to the space in front of the kneeling Black Ghost Squad members.
A white cloth covered a lumpy shape.
Dark red stains seeped through the fabric in various places.
Bloodstains.
Yes, it was the corpse of U-dun, the sub-leader of the Black Ghost Squad.
"...that wench Hae-yeon, not this piece of garbage."
Ya-ju glared at U-dun's corpse.
The emotions swirling in his eyes were irritation and rage.
Was he angry because he had lost a favored subordinate?
No, the nature of his anger was different.
Ya-ju was furious simply because his orders had not been carried out.
"...It seems the sub-leader and his men clashed with the White Night Squad Leader before they could execute your command, Master."
The moment the chief steward finished his explanation, the kneeling Black Ghost Squad members cried out in apology.
They knew all too well how precarious their lives were at this very moment.
"W-we beg for your forgiveness!"
"P-please spare us! We were only following the sub-leader's orders..."
Step.
Ya-ju rose from his seat and took a step forward.
One of the kneeling warriors, keeping his head pressed against the floor, gasped in terror as Ya-ju's shadow fell over him.
"Hieek!"
This was the expected reaction.
Trembling like leaves, unable to lift their heads, begging for mercy.
Ji Dong-tak stood before the Black Ghost Squad and asked,
"I hear the bastard left a message for me?"
"T-that is..."
The warrior at the very front stammered, unable to finish his sentence.
Knowing Ya-ju's temperament, there was no way he would react well to Jeok-un's message.
But Ji Dong-tak only grew angrier as the man hesitated and mumbled.
Thud.
Ya-ju placed his foot on the subordinate's head and barked coldly,
"Speak. Speak, or die."
"Hieek!"
The warrior trembled pitifully before finally squeezing out the words in a barely audible whisper.
"H-he said he would arrive soon... so you should w-wash your neck and wait—"
Crack!
Before he could even finish, a sickening crunch echoed through the top floor.
Ya-ju's foot was now resting on the floor.
He had crushed his subordinate's head as if squashing a bug.
"Oops. I applied a bit too much pressure without realizing it."
Ji Dong-tak muttered casually, despite having just pulverized a human skull.
He brushed off his boots and the hem of his robes as if they had merely been splattered with dirt.
Covered in bone fragments, brain matter, and blood, the remaining Black Ghost Squad members finally woke up to reality.
If they stayed like this, they would all die.
"Aaaah!"
The warriors shrieked in panic and scrambled to their feet.
Were they trying to attack Ya-ju?
No. With their sanity shattered, they acted purely on instinct—and instinct screamed at them to run as far away from Ya-ju as possible.
"Where do you think you insects are going?"
But before they could even take three steps, the Black Ghost Squad members were turned into lifeless corpses by Ya-ju's hands.
In the room that had instantly become a bloodbath, Ya-ju turned to the chief steward.
"Chief."
"Y-yes?"
"Should I just kill that bastard?"
"?!"
Driven by bloodlust, anger, and irritation, Ya-ju's eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
The chief steward dared not meet his gaze. He bowed his head low and tried to placate him.
"M-Master, you mustn't do that."
"I mustn't?"
"Y-yes... That reckless fool is only acting wild because he doesn't know your true power, Master. But you must endure it just this once. Please, think of the Vice Lord..."
The chief steward desperately tried to hold Ya-ju back.
Regardless of how he appeared to the outside world, Ya-ju was ultimately a subordinate of the Vice Lord, Do Ye-cheon.
The Vice Lord had recently ordered them to recruit Jeok-un.
If the temperamental Ya-ju killed Jeok-un without the Vice Lord's approval, he would undoubtedly incur Do Ye-cheon's wrath.
If that happened, not only would Ya-ju be in trouble, but the chief steward himself would likely lose his life for failing to guide his master properly.
He would be held responsible for failing to restrain Ya-ju.
"Whew..."
At the chief steward's repeated pleas, Ya-ju let out a long sigh.
No matter how impulsive he was, he could not ignore a direct order from the Vice Lord.
"Fine. I will meet him once. Once I report to the Vice Lord that the boy is useless, my chance will come."
"Y-yes, indeed. I do not know what stroke of luck allowed him to defeat the sub-leader, but comparing him to you, Master, is like comparing a firefly to the sun...!"
Just as the chief steward was pouring out flattery to soothe Ya-ju's temper—
Boom!
A massive explosion shook the first floor of Seungguanru, followed by a sudden uproar.
What is that?
The chief steward rushed out to investigate, and Ya-ju followed close behind.
The moment they opened the door to the top floor and stepped onto the balcony corridor, frantic voices drifted up from below.
"Stop him!"
"He's heading for the Master!"
"T-that madman!"
Amidst the chaotic shouting, a clear, distinct voice pierced through the noise and reached Ya-ju's ears.
"I told you to get out of the way. Are you all deaf?"
Standing on the top floor corridor, Ya-ju looked down.
His eyes locked with Jeok-un, who was standing right in the middle of the first floor.
"Oh, there you are."
Recognizing Ya-ju, Jeok-un curled his lips into a smirk.
He was smiling.
A bright, clear, mocking smile.
The commotion was quickly settled.
Defying everyone's expectations, Ya-ju had summoned Jeok-un up to the top floor.
Though dozens of warriors gathered on every landing like a pack of wolves, ready to pounce at any moment, Jeok-un ignored them and climbed the stairs with calm confidence.
Having dismissed even the chief steward, Ya-ju sat alone with Jeok-un.
Drip.
Blood trickled toward Jeok-un's feet.
It was the blood spilled by the dying Black Ghost Squad members.
They had been slaughtered so recently that the blood had not yet congealed.
There had been plenty of time to clean it up before their meeting, but Ya-ju had ordered it left untouched.
It was a deliberate attempt to pressure Jeok-un with the sight of the fresh corpses.
Sure enough, when Jeok-un's brow furrowed, Ji Dong-tak smirked and spoke.
"My apologies for the mess. I was just punishing some fools who were rude to the White Night Squad Leader. But what brings you all the way here—"
"Tsk. It's filthy."
"...?"
Jeok-un merely muttered something completely out of context.
While Ji Dong-tak blinked in confusion,
Jeok-un pointed a finger at his collar.
"Didn't you hear me tell you to wash your neck and wait? It's caked in grime."
"...!"
"You have no manners whatsoever. If I cut off a neck that rotten, it will only dirty my blade."
"You son of a bitch—!"
Rumble!
Unable to contain his rage any longer, Ji Dong-tak roared.
He leaped up from his seat, his entire body surging with violent energy.
He no longer cared about the Vice Lord's orders.
"I don't know why you're running wild like a rabid dog all of a sudden! But what you've done today gives me more than enough justification to take your life!"
Ji Dong-tak was about to lung forward and crush Jeok-un's skull with a single palm strike, but—
"Is your plot to overthrow the Lord going well?"
"!!"
Jeok-un's next words froze him in place like a stone statue.
"What sudden nonsense is—"
"Nonsense? It is exactly what you, the Vice Lord's loyal dog, have been doing all this time."
"...!!"
Jeok-un sneered coldly.
When caught completely off guard by an unexpected truth, even the most composed opponent would betray a hint of reality.
As I thought. Dok-go Cheon's sudden poisoning and qi deviation before my regression... it was all Do Ye-cheon's doing.
The wild agitation in Ji Dong-tak's eyes confirmed that the plot against Dok-go Cheon was already underway.
"Do I need to mention the curse masters of Yukhonbang whom you commissioned for you to believe me?"
"Shut up—!"
Jeok-un had merely been testing his suspicions, but to Ji Dong-tak, it felt as if his blood had run cold.
Did the Murim Alliance intelligence he stole from the Jegal Family Manor contain even that?
Secrets that absolutely no one in the world should know were spilling from the boy's mouth.
This bastard is dangerous.
Cold sweat poured down Ji Dong-tak's back.
The Vice Lord wanted to recruit this boy, but Ji Dong-tak felt it in his bones.
This was not a beast that could be leashed.
He was a wild predator, raw and untamable.
He could never be broken.
In that case, the only option was to kill him and silence him forever.
"...Speak. Just how much do you know?"
Even if he was going to kill him, he needed to find out the source and extent of the boy's knowledge.
That was the intent behind Ya-ju's question, but—
"Why did you do it?"
"...What?"
The response was completely out of left field.
Jeok-un had already obtained all the information he needed from Ji Dong-tak.
Now, it was time to hand down the punishment.
"Why did you torment her like that?"
"Her? What the hell are you talking about!"
As he barked back,
...Wait.
Hae-yeon's face suddenly flashed in Ya-ju's mind.
Could the reason for this entire mess be...
"...Are you doing all this over that worthless girl?"
"I've heard enough."
Whoosh!
Jeok-un unleashed his energy as he spoke.
The aura that cut off Ya-ju's words was as ferocious as a tiger and as cruel as a wolf.
Filling the top floor, Jeok-un's energy closed in on Ya-ju from all sides.
Meanwhile, Jeok-un struggled to control his rage.
To forgive Ya-ju and spare him?
Far from it.
It was the exact opposite.
In his current state of mind, he feared he might accidentally beat Ya-ju to death in a single blow, just like U-dun.
I can't let that happen.
He had to die in the most agonizing, painful, and brutal way possible.
Giving a quick death to a bastard like this was nothing short of mercy.
He remembered how Hae-yeon had suffered from her horrific memories before his regression.
I will pay you back.
Ten thousand times the pain she felt.
Jeok-un made his decision.
He regulated his breathing and half-closed his eyes.
When he opened them fully once more,
Jeok-un's eyes gleamed with pure, unadulterated bloodlust.
"I'm going to chop your manhood into tiny pieces and shove it down your throat."
"...!!"
Flash!
Having declared his sentence, Jeok-un kicked off the ground.