The True Meaning of Assassination
Wrath's round eyes went wide as he stared at Raon.
- Gold...
- Light?
Raon's eyes, which had always burned a ruby red, were washed in gold. Wrath rubbed his eyes and looked again. In that fleeting instant, the brilliant gold had already vanished, returning to their original crimson.
"Gold?"
Raon tilted his head, looking down at his own hands.
- Just now, those peepers of yours flashed gold.
"Gold, huh."
The First Patriarch's flames weren't red like his own — they were a radiant gold. It had only been an image in his mind, but perhaps sharing the same blood had left its mark.
"Well, I suppose that's possible. But..."
Raon clicked his tongue, shooting Wrath a sideways glance.
"For someone who calls himself a king, 'peepers' is pretty crude."
- Ahem. This King said your eyeballs shone gold.
"'Peepers' or 'eyeballs'..."
It wasn't just when he was drooling over food. Even the vulgar words Wrath used made it hard to see him as a Demon King. His speech patterns were lofty enough, but the vocabulary was cheap as dirt.
- This King's manner of speech is none of your concern!
Wrath waved a dismissive hand, as if the whole topic were a waste of time.
- You greedy little hog who gobbled it all up yourself. Did you get anything?
"No. I didn't get all that much."
Raon let out a short breath and shook his head.
- Ohh!
Wrath's crumpled face unfurled like a sheet of paper being pressed flat. He seemed delighted that Raon hadn't gotten much.
- See? See?! You torture This King with nothing but Nadin Bread every single day — of course things wouldn't go well! It's not too late! Offer This King tribute, and This King shall cast a spell to ease your entire life...
"I wasn't finished talking."
- ...Huh?
"It's true I didn't get much. But I figured out where to get the rest."
Raon ran his fingers along the sword traces of Flame Sea Flawless that the First Patriarch had left behind, a faint smile on his lips.
- What is that supposed to mean?
"This wasn't the end of it."
The Flame Sea Flawless the First Patriarch had left behind didn't end here. The enemy's sword strike had cut the technique short midway, which was why such a thick, heavy trace remained.
That's actually what made it useful.
The First Patriarch's swordsmanship reached the heavens. If Raon had witnessed the technique in its complete form, he might not have gained anything at all. It was precisely because he'd seen a technique that had been interrupted that his martial comprehension could rise.
The time he'd spent in the State of Self-Absorption had been far too brief for a major breakthrough, but his swordsmanship, the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames, and the Ring of Fire had all advanced — bringing him to the very edge of Mid-rank Master.
If I just had a little more of a catalyst...
He could open that door and step into Upper Master.
And he already knew where the key to breaking that wall was.
- A key?
"Yeah. I know where the fully executed traces of Flame Sea Flawless are carved. And that's not all..."
Raon pushed the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames into the gaps of the sword traces the First Patriarch had left behind. Heat bloomed from the fissures, linking with the other traces and spreading throughout the entire dungeon.
"I can now sense the geography of this dungeon — and the positions of everyone inside it."
This dungeon had been created by the battle between the First Patriarch and his enemy. That meant their sword traces were carved from beginning to end. By circulating the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and the Ring of Fire, he could tell where to go and who was where.
"Simply put, it feels like I've become a living magical map."
- Hah!
Wrath's jaw dropped so wide it looked ready to tear. Raon could see straight down his throat.
- How is something that insane even...
"I just got lucky with my ancestor."
Thank you, First Patriarch.
Raon bowed his head toward the sword traces, offering his thanks to the First Patriarch, then took in the information flowing through the Ring of Fire.
Two massive auras at the very bottom.
Those weren't human. One was a monster that had reached the level of a spiritual beast, and the other felt like an artifact that monster was guarding.
And right above that are the traces of Flame Sea Flawless.
Just above where the monster and artifact auras could be felt, he sensed the completed traces of Flame Sea Flawless. In the end, that was where he needed to go — to claim the treasure and raise his martial realm.
And...
Quite a bit above the artifact, he could feel the auras of Matio, Cosini, and the Shadows he'd sensed on the beach.
Fewer of them.
There were fewer Shadows than he'd seen on the beach, which meant they'd stationed assassins as sentries along the way.
This actually works in my favor.
He was going to have to deal with all of them anyway. Splitting them up like this was a gift.
- Th-this is absurd! Call your ancestor here! This King will kick him in the ribs!
Wrath ground his teeth, apparently offended by how smoothly everything was going.
"The faster I finish and get out of here, the sooner you get something delicious to eat. Or would you rather have Nadin Bread?"
Raon pulled out a piece of Nadin Bread and waved it in Wrath's face.
- Hieeek...
Wrath's eyes trembled and his shoulders slumped, like a child who'd just been shown a cane.
- F-fine. This King understands.
He seemed to have figured out what he needed to do. He shuffled aside and straightened his back. Whether that round blob even had a waist was another question.
- W-well? Is there anything This King can... help with?
Wrath's voice had gone suspiciously bright and ingratiating.
Just stay still.
Raon snorted a laugh and opened his Subspace Pouch. He pulled out Dorian's disguise kit, dyed his eyes and hair black, painted his skin a deathly pale, and finally added a fake scar beneath his eye.
He formed a disc of ice with a breath of frost and held it up as a mirror. The face looking back was nothing like Raon Zieghart.
Perfect.
Has it been twenty years?
The face he wore now was the assassin Raon — the one who'd lived as Derus's Shadow in his previous life.
Killing him the ordinary way would be far too merciful.
Matio was one of the ringleaders behind everything — his kidnapping, his brainwashing, his training. How many times had Matio's blade found his vital points? How many times had the wild dogs Matio unleashed torn the flesh from his bones? There had even been a month when they'd starved him, and he'd survived by chewing on dirt-caked weeds.
I will not let him go easily.
He had no intention of giving Matio a clean death like Lisbon. He would inflict not only physical agony, but a psychological shock so profound that Matio would regret the very fact of being alive.
A chilling smile crossed Raon's lips as he fastened the Heavenly Sky Sword and the Requiem Sword at his waist.
Through the gaps in the walls, he pinpointed the nearest Shadows.
About twenty minutes away.
If he took a shortcut, he could be there in five.
Raon chose his direction and sprinted through the passages the First Patriarch had carved.
Easy.
Thanks to the senses flowing through the Ring of Fire, he arrived at the Shadows' sentry post without a single wrong turn, as if he'd walked this path a thousand times.
Raon circulated the Cultivation of Ten Thousand Flames and opened the wall behind where the Shadows stood.
"Wh—"
"Intr—"
The Shadows tried to react in that split second, backing away — but the Heavenly Sky Sword was faster.
A glittering silver arc carved through their throats.
"Ghk..."
"Aagh..."
The Shadows let out the briefest of groans, clutching their throats as they toppled backward.
Raon caught both corpses before they could trigger Cosini's alarm magic and propped them against the wall.
- Tsk tsk.
Wrath clicked his tongue and lifted his chin.
- You idiot. They heard everything.
He frowned, pointing at the corpses.
- In This King's estimation, you have no talent for assassination whatsoever. Just swing your sword out in the open.
"Pfft!"
A genuine laugh burst out of Raon for the first time in a while.
- What's so funny?
"Sorry, but I let them hear it on purpose."
- On purpose?
"That's right."
Raon smiled faintly and flicked the blood from the Heavenly Sky Sword. How many years had he lived as an assassin? As if he'd make a mistake like that. Killing them before they could even react would have been trivial.
- Why?
"To let them know I'm here."
Letting the groans be heard, then instantly erasing his presence — it was a signal. A signal that a reasonably skilled martial artist had cut down the Shadows.
- ...
This King truly cannot fathom how that head of yours works.
Wrath shook his head, utterly lost.
Raon licked his lips, looking down toward the ground where he could sense Matio's presence.
"Watch closely."
Because from here on, I'll show you the real thing.
Matio quietly looked up. His eyes had gone as cold and still as a sheet of ice.
"Don't react. Just listen."
"What now?"
Cosini turned around, her face twisting in irritation.
"I'm already exhausted. Why do you keep—"
"There's an intruder."
"An intruder?"
She looked up, narrowing her eyes.
"Nothing triggered the alarm magic. I already told you, infiltrating this place is impossible—"
"The presence of the Shadows I stationed at point four just vanished. I heard a faint groan, too."
Matio's jaw set as he looked at Cosini.
"Those two wouldn't leave their post even if their arms and legs were cut off — not without my order. It means the intruder got them."
Even with Cosini's certainty that there were no enemies, he hadn't been able to relax. He'd been concentrating his senses upward — and then he'd felt two Shadows collapse, accompanied by a faint groan.
It was certain now. Someone else had entered this dungeon besides them.
"And they're strong."
They must have appeared from behind, yet the Shadows had fallen without even reacting, and the alarm magic hadn't triggered. This was no ordinary opponent. If he hadn't been concentrating, even he wouldn't have noticed.
"You're sure?"
"I am."
"Hnn. You're better at that than I am."
Cosini bit her lip and nodded. When it came to picking up human presence and sound, Matio was several levels above her. If he was this certain, someone was definitely there.
"So what do we do? Stop and wait?"
"No."
Matio shook his head and pointed at the ground.
"Keep digging like you don't know a thing. Maintain the speed, but cut the noise."
"Got it."
Cosini nodded and twirled her fingers. The earth continued to be excavated and packed at the same rate, but the sound radiating from it dropped by more than half.
"Hnn..."
Matio followed Cosini downward, his brow furrowing.
"Two more just went down. The sound was even quieter than before. This is a master skilled in assassination."
"And nothing's triggering the alarm magic. That confirms it."
Cosini glanced back, twisting her lips.
"So we're just going to keep going like this? The casualties are going to pile up."
"They're expendable anyway. Better to draw the enemy in like this."
"Draw them in?"
"The intruder already knows our numbers. If we keep tossing them bait two at a time as we descend, they'll follow, thinking they have the advantage."
Matio gave a low nod.
"The moment they strike at you and me will be right before they claim the treasure. As long as they're human, that's when their guard will drop."
"Hnn..."
"Until then, we keep digging like we know nothing. The moment they attack, we counter."
"Wouldn't it be better to go after them now and finish it?"
"The distance is too great. If they run, we'll have a hard time catching them. This is someone we absolutely cannot let escape."
Matio clenched his fist until his knuckles cracked.
I have to catch them. No matter what.
This was the one who'd tried to sabotage Derus's great cause. Who they were, who was behind them, who they belonged to — he'd find out everything, even if it took torture.
Two more just died.
They were fast. Bold, yet cold-blooded. He'd made the right call not to chase and to lure them instead.
But...
The more they were like that, the easier they were to catch. Whether assassin or martial artist, the more they overestimated their own skill, the easier they were to kill. The one behind them was exactly that type.
Matio pictured the events to come, a chilling light rising in his eyes.
You'll spit out even the things you don't know you know.
Come as I please, huh. That's what he's thinking.
Raon smiled coldly, sensing Matio and Cosini's auras drawing steadily closer.
Exactly as I predicted.
Matio thought Raon was following from behind, pretending ignorance as he pressed forward, wagging his tail and daring Raon to come catch him. He wasn't simply trying to kill — he clearly wanted to capture and extract information.
A good plan.
If it weren't me.
He knew exactly what kind of man Matio was, what he was thinking, how he would move — and he had the entire structure of this dungeon mapped out.
Matio might think he held the advantage, but this was a fight where Raon's side held an overwhelming upper hand.
Raon smiled faintly and loosely flexed his fingers.
What I need to do now...
was erase his presence.
He had to suppress it far more thoroughly than he had during those four days spent behind the Shadows.
Raon resonated every Ring of Fire. Instead of amplifying his presence as he usually did, he crushed it to the extreme, concealing himself completely.
Like a pebble lying on the floor. Like a droplet falling from the ceiling. He substituted himself for a single fragment of the mana that permeated this dungeon.
The vibration of Cosini digging through the earth reached him. Her mana felt like it was brushing his shoulder.
Raon pressed his lips together.
Not yet.
They were close, that much was certain — but even an injured Matio could still dodge at this range. He needed to wait a little longer.
Huuu.
He sank everything — not just his body, but his emotions. He erased the resentment of his previous life, the rage, even the killing intent. He painted his body and mind white, as blank as a newborn child.
The vibrations from Cosini's magic, from Matio's footsteps, from the Shadows' strides — they tickled the soles of his feet. Through those currents, every movement of Matio and the Shadows painted itself in his mind. All of their senses were directed behind and above.
Now!
Raon clenched his molars and kicked off the ground. He didn't emerge from the front or the rear, but from the left-hand wall.
Grown sharper still, the footwork shoved the wall itself aside — and in a single breath, he stood at Matio's back.
In a moment that was a blind spot for the Shadows, for Cosini, and for Matio alike — Raon's sword erupted with a chilling light.