Darkness Within Darkness (3)
After much deliberation, Chaseokdu gave his permission. But with the condition that since he couldn't provide any assistance, the investigation would have to be conducted through Damak's own efforts.
Damak reacted with fierce opposition.
"If the Black Flame Dragon, a member of the Murim Alliance, goes stirring up the already chaotic interior of the Sahyeokryeon, the repercussions won't be minor."
No, he wasn't wrong, but that was a bit harsh. Stirring up? I'd even volunteered to play the bait, considering both sides' situations.
Damak went so far as to point his finger straight at me. Should I just snap that off...?
"Moreover, the Black Flame Dragon is one of the Baekdo's elites among elites. He might try to resolve things in a way that only benefits the Murim Alliance."
Whoa... It was the first time in my life I'd heard a black path martial artist call me one of the Baekdo elites—and in this awkward situation, no less. Did these guys really get that upset seeing me comfortable?
His sharp gaze burned with unwavering resolve.
"As I said before, I don't trust the Murim Alliance."
What the hell had happened in this lifetime to make him distrust the Alliance so deeply?
In any case, Chaseokdu clearly placed great trust in Damak right now. If I couldn't convince him, nothing would get done. And the easiest way to persuade smart people like him was...
"If we just sit here doing nothing, everything will unfold exactly as the conspirators intended."
...to subtly stroke their pride.
"While those bastards laugh at us fighting to the death, is that okay with you?"
"......"
People who think they're smart hate being deceived more than anything.
"They'll look down on us, thinking everything's going according to their plan and that the heads on our shoulders are just decorations."
"......"
I leaned in closer to Damak.
"It's natural for me, an elite of the Baekdo, to prioritize the Murim Alliance's interests. But those interests include the agreement with the Sahyeokryeon. You might not like it..."
A shadow of doubt crossed Damak's face. I drove in the final point.
"At the very least, right now, the Murim Alliance and Sahyeokryeon's interests align."
As long as it's within tolerable limits. People like Damak would never commit the 'stupidity' of getting swept up in the enemy's schemes, even if it meant taking a loss.
Now, time for him to bite...
After a moment of thought, Damak nodded.
"Very well."
Success.
"But you won't object to assigning a watcher, right?"
"What are you talking about? You've already got one."
As I glanced at Hyeoltu, Damak started to say something but clamped his mouth shut.
Chaseokdu, who had been watching from the side, burst into laughter.
"Chief Strategist, no need to worry. That guy's not really one of the Baekdo elites from the start, nor does he put the Alliance's interests first."
Then he looked at me with warm eyes. What the hell? That gaze was seriously unsettling...
"Why else would the jianghu call him the Black Flame Dragon? Hahaha."
You gave me that nickname!
After Jin Sowoon and Hyeoltu left the dark room, Chaseokdu couldn't hide his bitter smile.
"What a shame, such a shame."
Damak looked at Chaseokdu, who seemed to be murmuring to himself.
"What do you mean?"
Chaseokdu shook his head as if it was nothing.
"No."
"......"
"Hmm..."
He swallowed the words, 'I thought they could become friends...' and gazed at Damak with complex emotions.
'Not sure if this is good or bad.'
In the end, Damak's resentment toward the Murim Alliance had luckily allowed Chaseokdu to pull him into the role of Sahyeokryeon's Chief Strategist. But since he wasn't truly from the black path at heart, he couldn't easily blend into the alliance.
His brilliant mind had let him serve as Chief Strategist at such a young age without issue. On the flip side, it made him like an isolated island in the vast sea.
That's why Chaseokdu had held some hope. That meeting someone in a similar position, like Jin Sowoon, might help them understand each other and become friends. It pained him a bit to see Damak, who was like his own son, living so lonely without a single friend.
"What do you think of him?"
So he probed subtly instead.
Damak, interpreting the words on multiple levels, gave a curt assessment.
"A dangerous man."
An unexpected response. Curiosity stirred in Chaseokdu.
"Why?"
"What other way is there to describe a man who stakes even his own life for his goals?"
"But that's exactly why the jianghu praises the Black Flame Dragon."
Damak shook his head firmly.
"That's why he's dangerous. You can't predict what he'll do if he becomes an enemy."
Then, as if uneasy, he let out a small sigh.
Did this kid have this side to him? Chaseokdu felt a fresh sensation.
"He created an opportunity to meet the League Lord through Hyeoltu-nim in what was essentially imprisonment. Considering Hyeoltu-nim isn't one to be trifled with... his scheming runs deep."
"True enough."
Chaseokdu himself had been shocked inside when Hyeoltu brought up the meeting with Jin Sowoon. He'd felt fondness for Jin Sowoon's unpredictable nature from the start, but to Damak, it seemed like a threat.
Well, peers around the same age are rivals too.
Damak was still too young to realize that in the jianghu, enemies could become friends.
"Still, with a common enemy right now, shouldn't that put you at ease?"
Damak met Chaseokdu's eyes with a calm gaze.
"I know well how much you value the Black Flame Dragon, League Lord."
"Huhu, he'd faint if he heard that."
Damak, well aware of the relationship between Chaseokdu and Jin Sowoon, smiled faintly before continuing.
"But this matter won't be easy to resolve. Even we..."
He looked down at his own hands.
"...are struggling with it."
Chaseokdu nodded unwittingly. They'd even summoned Hyeoltu and Yeom Gwi-bi for this unsolvable problem. Yet the invisible enemies were now brazenly making their moves.
It was truly a demon-infested maze where not even an inch ahead was visible.
And yet...
"I'm expecting great things from him."
"......"
Damak had no reply. Chaseokdu grinned at him.
"He's always exceeded our expectations."
Was it because he couldn't accept Chaseokdu's words? Or jealousy at the acknowledgment of Jin Sowoon? Damak's glare sharpened beyond usual.
Chaseokdu patted his shoulder.
"So, help him out. He'll probably need your assistance too."
"I'll help... to the extent it doesn't harm the Sahyeokryeon."
Damak's reluctant response was obvious, his dissatisfaction plain even without words. That immaturity was the symbol and privilege of youth.
But...
"That guy doesn't show any of that... which makes him no fun."
Damak tilted his head at the cryptic remark.
Chaseokdu waved it off.
"Just mumbling to myself. Don't mind it."
Delegation inner chamber.
The warriors who had been circling the hall under the pretext of guarding had vanished. But Hyeoltu and Yeom Gwi-bi still held their positions.
We studiously ignored the two as we talked.
"Benefactor Jin... Do you really think there's a separate ominous force at work?"
"Yes."
Ilmyeong and Dang Seohui frowned at my immediate reply. I explained step by step.
"First, the commonality at both incident scenes."
"There's a commonality?"
"Yes. Blood from Gu Gyeak and Ak Byeongbi was splattered all over the inner chamber, yet not a single piece of furniture was broken."
Especially at Ak Byeongbi's scene, the blood had trailed long.
"If one ambushed the other, leading to a counterattack and mutual severe wounds, the aftermath should have spread to the surroundings, right?"
Both Gu Gyeak and Ak Byeongbi were top-tier masters. Even if ambushed unawares, they would have counterattacked, and the shockwaves would have rippled outward. Yet the room's furnishings were intact.
"Second, Gu Gyeak's corpse."
Gu Gyeak had died with such a vivid look of shock it was hard to believe he was dead.
"What does that matter?"
"If ambushed by the Squad Leader, he wouldn't have died with such an unforeseen expression."
"......Anyone ambushed would react that way."
"That's not the only reason."
I turned the puzzled Ilmyeong around to face away from the door, then stepped out with Dang Seohui. Even Hyeoltu and Yeom Gwi-bi, who had shown little interest, now watched us.
Outside, Dang Seohui and I entered the room one after another. I asked Ilmyeong,
"Who entered first just now?"
"Benefactor Jin, what are you talking about?"
"Answer me. Who entered first?"
Ilmyeong, still facing the wall, shrugged in confusion.
"Obviously, Benefactor Dang entered first."
"Without looking, how did you know?"
"From the footsteps, presence..."
I nodded emphatically.
"Now do you get it?"
"......Pardon?"
Not just Ilmyeong and Dang Seohui—Hyeoltu and Yeom Gwi-bi also tilted their heads at me.
"The Squad Leader said that on the day of the attack, he thought we had entered and was drinking."
"......Yes."
"No matter how much of a drunk the Squad Leader is, could he mistake someone else for us?"
"......!"
All four pairs of eyes widened simultaneously, including Hyeoltu's.
"Moreover, he said 'you bastards.' The assassins deliberately moved in a group of three, not alone."
"......"
The group gaped like crucian carp begging for food.
"They probably approached Gu Gyeak the same way."
"......But isn't that speculation? The wounds on both clearly bore traces of the Ak family's martial arts and Hwangsa Gate's sword."
Hwangsa Gate's sword could be overlooked. Sawsword blades were common in the black path martial world. But the Ak family's Blazing Spear traces were unique.
"That's true."
I nodded readily. No one could easily imitate the Blazing Spear method's marks. Anyone seeing Gu Gyeak's corpse would immediately think of the Ak family from those wounds.
But in my previous life, I'd seen the real Ak family's Blazing Spear kill—marks left by genuine practitioners.
I turned to Yeom Gwi-bi.
"Senior Yeom. I heard you use a hand technique involving fire energy..."
But then—
"Yeom Sojeo!"
A shrill voice pierced my ears.
"......"
As I stared in bewilderment, Yeom Gwi-bi puffed her cheeks and shook her head vigorously.
Then she yelled again.
"Yeom Sojeo!"
What the...? Couldn't she see the serious atmosphere?
Even as a black path leader, this was too much...
"I'm not answering unless you say it!"
I sighed and opened my mouth.
"Yeom Sojeo..."
At my reluctant call, she blushed for no reason and blinked.
"Yes!"
What was with that quick switch? ...Anyway, it wasn't important, so I moved on swiftly.
"......What's the most effective way to transmit heat with a hand technique?"
"Burn the internals and leave heat inside to fester like poison."
Yeom Gwi-bi mimed stabbing with the edge of her hand.
"The fire clings inside, burning flesh and blood, eventually even nerves. The victim writhes in agony and takes their own life."
We all clamped our mouths shut at her casual, grinning description of the horror.
I nodded to her once and continued.
"The heat from the so-called Blazing Spear gathers at the spear tip. For beginners, the whole blade glows red-hot, but as skill advances, it concentrates at the very tip."
Simple principle. Sword aura novices flaunt broad, crude auras proudly, but masters refine them denser and thinner. Sword rays, needless to say.
"Considering the Squad Leader's attainment, the energy should have gathered at least at the tip, or near it."
I pressed my throat lightly, as if pinching flesh inward.
"The residual heat would then scorch inside the wound, not just around it."
During the Upright-Demonic War, Ak family warriors didn't pierce deeply. They burned organs with intense heat and left lingering fire to kill—no need for through-and-through wounds.
Ilmyeong grimaced, scalp twitching.
"Then... why such wounds?"
"Because that's the Sandong Ak family's Blazing Spear method."
When the Ak family publicly demonstrated it, they pierced solid stone slabs. The stone wouldn't shatter—just a round hole in the center with soot around it, the signature of the Blazing Spear.
The piercing wound on Gu Gyeak's torso was crafted so people would clearly recognize the Ak family's publicly known spear style.
So this assassin bastard was kindly pointing out the culprit as Ak Byeongbi more than anyone.
Gu Gyeak's pivotal position as the main faction leader. His backstory warranting death. The clear wound on his body.
Everything steered the narrative one way.
"The culprit's finger is deliberately pointing at Ak Byeongbi."
I drew a line in the air with my finger.
"And all of us in the Sahyeokryeon, including me, have turned our gaze that way as intended."
I didn't know the conspiracy or scheme. Factions involved countless shadow wars to rise—that was natural.
But.
Using us in their scheme? Unforgivable.
"Follow that gaze, and the ominous force lies at its end."
So I had no intention of letting the bastard achieve his goal unchallenged. At minimum, I'd sprinkle ashes on his perfectly cooked meal to ease my mind.