Chapter 169: A Predetermined Conclusion-2
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 169: A Predetermined Conclusion-2
It feels like I’m swimming in a dream.
My vision is blurred, and I’m not quite sure what I’m doing.
I flail my arms desperately.
Ah, I’ve touched something.
Before I can even think about what to do, I open my hand and seize it.
Heat surges through my palm for a moment, and I feel something crumble. I swing my arms again.
Hoping to catch anything at all.
The fire rising from my dantian has surpassed mere warmth; it is a searing heat incinerating my entire body.
Like a crumbling wooden dummy, I lose my balance and stagger with every step I take.
"Haah...."
Sensing no presence nearby, I pull myself upright and look around.
My hazy consciousness feels like it’s slowly returning.
I can’t open my right eye because of the blood streaming into it.
I survey the situation with my one good eye.
"This... this isn't what I was told...."
Yun-seok’s face had turned ashen.
I had a mountain of questions for him, but the flames consuming my body allowed me no such luxury.
I forced strength into my failing legs and snatched Yun-seok by the face like a lunging hound.
—Sizzle
The sickening sensation of melting flesh traveled up my hand, and the stench of burning protein stung my nostrils.
His professional composure was gone; terror was etched into the cross-section of Yun-seok’s melting face.
I shook off the bits of flesh stuck to my hand and gauged my direction.
I have to go back.
To Master.
"I have to go... to Master."
They said I was the target, but I can't believe that's the truth.
Even this entire situation happened because I believed the person who brought news of the Grandmaster was from the Murim Alliance.
I focus all my senses on my muffled ears.
The faint sounds of combat, the vibrations traveling through the air.
Gritting my teeth, I take one step at a time toward that direction.
With every step, flames billow out.
It was something Master never told me, so I hadn't known, but it seems the flames fueled by one's own life do not stop.
Not until I die.
*
The fight between So-yu and the mysterious assassin was one-sided.
Though her martial arts achievements were nothing to be scoffed at, she was being overwhelmed to a degree that surprised even herself.
She kept darting across the ground, trying desperately to break the deadlock, but it wasn't easy.
Whenever she tried to attack the assassin, her strikes missed. Whenever she tried to shake him off to get to In-ho, he would suddenly appear and block her path.
Caught in this stalemate, So-yu’s reason was gradually being consumed by rage.
"You bastard!!"
As the assassin launched quick, prodding attacks from close range, So-yu scattered sparks created from her fingertips like she was sowing seeds.
The sparks merely flew through the air, failing to land a meaningful blow on her enemy.
"I was tense because you inherited the title of the Flame Wheel Master. But as I thought, you’re a far cry from your master."
When the assassin mentioned Yeom-jin, So-yu’s body erupted in fierce flames.
"Don't you dare mention my Master with that filthy mouth of yours!"
So-yu leaped into the air, throwing herself at the assassin.
However, the assassin stepped aside and drove a straight punch into her abdomen.
"Gah!!"
With a sharp cry of pain, So-yu collapsed, clutching her stomach.
The blow must have been effective; she knelt on the ground, unable to stand up easily.
—Shring
With the ring of a blade, cold steel touched her neck.
"Flame Wheel Master. Die along with that hollow name."
So-yu squeezed her eyes shut.
She wasn't afraid of death.
Killing and being killed was a daily occurrence in the Murim.
If one receives grace in one place, it is only natural to earn resentment in another.
That was why her master, Yeom-jin, had died, and why she, the disciple, was dying now.
But she was afraid.
She was afraid because there was someone she would never see again if she died.
"In... ho...."
She whispered the name that made her heart flutter just by saying it.
I don't want to die.
Her heart ached at the thought that she would never see her disciple’s foolishly grinning face again.
She felt the sword trace an arc, falling toward her neck.
"Hey, you son of a bitch!!"
Startled by the sudden outburst, she snapped her eyes open and looked around.
The cat-masked assassin had also turned toward the source of the voice.
A man burning with brilliant flames was charging toward the assassin.
It was In-ho. He was battered and broken, but it was unmistakably In-ho.
"I see you managed to survive."
The assassin spoke, leaping backward to avoid In-ho’s kick.
Normally, In-ho would have had some sort of retort, but he remained silent.
In-ho regained his stance and lunged at the assassin again.
The assassin parried In-ho’s attacks with fluid movements, but he couldn't escape the heat he radiated.
The flames were so hot they made So-yu gasp for breath.
The heat was dozens of times more powerful than what In-ho usually produced; the assassin’s clothes began to char, and his skin started to blister from burns.
"You're a nuisance!"
The assassin, who had been retreating, kicked In-ho down and then threw himself toward So-yu.
He thrust his sword straight at So-yu’s face.
Blood sprayed across So-yu’s face.
A blood-stained blade loomed right before her eyes.
A fraction closer, and it would have pierced her eye.
But the sword stopped dead in its tracks. Something had blocked it.
So-yu’s pupils began to tremble violently.
She realized instantly what had stopped the blade.
"...In, ho...?"
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, In-ho gripped the assassin’s arm.
"Urgh... such a cheap trick!"
"Yeah... you just got your ass handed to you... by a 'cheap trick,' didn't you?"
The assassin, his arm caught, groaned at the searing sensation. Despite being on the verge of death, In-ho smirked.
Before long, the assassin’s right arm began to burn beyond any hope of recovery.
The assassin’s choice was swift; he raised his left hand and struck his own right arm.
—Squelch
The assassin’s right arm was severed cleanly. Sensing the tide had turned against him, he fled without a single backward glance.
"Haha, he's gone."
In-ho muttered as he watched the retreating assassin.
As if someone had turned a dial to shut off a gas stove, the flames consuming In-ho’s body began to fade.
Once the fire died out, he collapsed backward.
"In-ho!!"
Seeing In-ho’s face turn pale from blood loss, So-yu screamed.
"I'm glad... you're safe."
In-ho spoke in a strained voice. Seeing his eyes gradually lose focus, So-yu patted his cheeks.
"Open your eyes! Open them!"
At So-yu’s cry, the muscles around In-ho’s eyes twitched.
He seemed to be struggling to open them, but it made little difference.
His hand moved toward his own dantian.
Blood was beginning to soak the spot where the sword had passed through.
"Ah, it hurts. I thought I’d gotten used to it."
Seeing him speak in such a casual tone made tears burst from So-yu’s eyes.
"No... no...."
While So-yu clutched his collar and sobbed, In-ho breathed heavily.
"Master. Ah, Master."
In-ho called out to her weakly, a gentle smile playing on his lips.
Seeing his face, which looked as though he had let go of everything, So-yu shouted.
"Don't speak! Steady your breath and gather your internal energy! Hurry!"
"It's too late. My dantian is already destroyed."
"Ah... ah...."
Fumbling, she placed her hand over his dantian, but she felt nothing but a void.
A shattered dantian, and internal organs turned to mush.
They were deep in the mountains, where no help could reach them.
"No... NO!!!"
So-yu wailed like a wounded animal.
The only jewel she had left in the world was losing its light.
In-ho, watching So-yu weep sorrowfully with her face buried in his chest, opened his mouth.
"Don't cry, Master."
When So-yu lifted her head, his blood-stained hand rose slowly.
Wiping away So-yu’s tears with his fingertips, In-ho smiled brightly.
"Master, we’ll meet again someday."
"So..."
"So, you have to be kind to me then, okay?"
With those final words of request, In-ho closed his eyes.
That was his last memory of this dimension.
