Master of Nightmares (2)
Illusion arts were, by nature, nothing more than sleight of hand.
Whether in the righteous sects or the demonic factions, they were generally dismissed as cheap tricks only useful in scuffles between low-level fighters.
Seomun Hwan was the one who had utterly shattered that preconception.
The Phantom Demon Art seeped into the depths of the soul, shaking the mind and collapsing the boundary between reality and illusion.
Even with eyes wide open, one could not see the truth. Even with ears unblocked, one could not hear reality.
And if someone tried to overwhelm it with sheer numbers?
That was impossible too.
He could plunge tens of thousands of soldiers into hallucinations in an instant and make them destroy themselves.
Of course, I can't use that level of power right now…
The lazy Seomun Hwan possessed internal qi that wasn't even at the level of a Peak expert—barely better than a Second-Class martial artist.
With that much, taking down tens of thousands of the Heavenly Demon Cult's elite was out of the question.
Even so, he could still toy with three Peak experts this easily.
Snap!
Seomun Hwan flicked his fingers lightly.
The ropes scattered carelessly around the room suddenly slithered like living snakes.
“Hup!”
The startled attackers tried to flee, but it was futile.
Their feet were glued to the ground as if coated in adhesive, refusing to budge.
In that moment, the writhing ropes coiled around them and bound the three men tightly.
“Ugh!”
Normally, Peak experts could snap ordinary ropes with raw strength alone.
Yet for some reason, their bodies felt completely drained, as if they could barely lift a finger.
And so, three Peak experts were captured without being able to put up any resistance.
The ones who found this hardest to believe were the captives themselves.
They had believed that working together, they could even take on a Superlative master… yet they had been rendered utterly helpless by mere sorcery.
“W-what kind of demonic art is this? What did you do to us?”
“You’re not very good at reading the room. Is that really what’s important right now?”
Seomun Hwan glanced around before his eyes met those of Dongjeongwi, who was standing there awkwardly.
“Hey, you.”
“Y-yes?! You mean me?”
“Chair.”
When Seomun Hwan jerked his chin toward a nearby chair, Dongjeongwi shouted in a fluster.
“Y-yes!”
Dongjeongwi immediately picked up the chair and brought it over.
Despite the considerable internal injuries he had suffered earlier, he moved with surprising speed.
“Not bad. You’re sharper than you look.”
“Th-thank you!”
Seomun Hwan crossed his legs as he sat down. He habitually reached up to stroke his chin, then realized—unlike in his previous life—there was no beard there, and folded his arms instead.
“Right, then. Shall we have a little chat? Who ordered you to attack this place? What’s your objective?”
But the attackers simply pressed their lips shut and lowered their eyes.
Their attitude was stubborn. They clearly had no intention of speaking.
Seomun Hwan tilted his head and flicked his finger.
“Knife.”
At his words, Dongjeongwi quickly offered up the blade he was carrying.
The man really did have excellent instincts.
Seomun Hwan tapped the flat of the blade against his palm a few times before extending it forward.
He pressed the tip right against one man’s throat. The cold sensation slid down the attacker’s skin.
“Not afraid of death, are you? Or do you have someone watching your back who’ll protect you as long as you keep your mouth shut?”
Even with a sharp blade at his throat, the attacker only glared silently at Seomun Hwan.
“I see. Well, that’s fine.”
Having said that, Seomun Hwan thrust the blade forward without hesitation.
Crunch!
He drove it deep into the man’s chest.
“Guhk!”
The knife had pierced straight through the center of his heart.
The man thrashed in agony for a moment before going limp.
It was instant death, of course.
The remaining two, having witnessed their comrade’s death, trembled with shock and terror.
“Two left.”
A languid voice drifted through the air.
One would think he had simply killed a rat in the courtyard, judging by how calm he sounded.
The two survivors swallowed dryly without realizing it.
Gulp!
“Speak quickly. I’ll spare whoever talks first.”
“Ugh!”
Even after watching one of their own die, the two remained stubbornly silent.
Seomun Hwan swung the blade again, as if it made no difference to him.
Thud!
“Gahk!”
Once again, the heart was pierced cleanly.
Two Peak experts had now died meaningless deaths.
“Now it’s just you.”
Seomun Hwan lifted the blood-dripping blade and began slowly wiping it across the last man’s cheek.
As his comrades’ blood smeared across his face, the man shook violently from head to toe in fear.
No matter how strong a master who looked down upon the world, no one could remain indifferent in the face of death.
“Speak. Why did you attack the Black Dragon Sect? Was it also you people who messed with the Seomun Clan?”
When the sharp blade lightly grazed his neck, the man finally began to spill the truth.
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know anything. We just do what we’re told from above.”
“You don’t know? That’s hard to believe. A high-level expert like you only does what he’s told?”
“Yes. We’re nothing but tools. We’ve been raised that way since the beginning.”
“Raised?”
A ominous feeling flickered through him.
“What organization do you belong to?”
Without changing his expression, Seomun Hwan pressed the blade deeper against the man’s throat.
As blood trickled down the sharp edge, the man answered in a hurry.
“H-Heukyeongdan.”
Seomun Hwan frowned.
“Are you joking with me? I told you to name the sect, not some unit. Who do you belong to? The demonic path? The righteous path? Or… the Heavenly Demon Cult?”
“I don’t know any of that. I just do what I’m ordered to do.”
“If you keep spouting nonsense, I won’t go easy on you. Do you want a hole in your heart like the others?”
A faint amount of strength entered the hand gripping the blade.
As the sword dug into his neck, the man’s eyebrows trembled violently.
It was then.
Boom!
With a thunderous noise, the wall shattered.
Through the collapsed gap, dozens of men in the same black uniforms as the bound captive rushed in.
“There he is! Kill him and rescue our comrade!”
Caught off guard by the sudden development, Seomun Hwan stumbled backward in confusion.
“W-what? Who are you people?”
He thrust his hand forward as if to cast another illusion, but he was a step too late this time.
The enemies had already closed in and swung their swords swiftly.
Swish!
Three blades sliced simultaneously, cutting Seomun Hwan’s arms and legs.
“Ugh!”
Clutching his wounds, Seomun Hwan staggered back.
He tried to flee desperately, but another attacker was already waiting behind him with a sword raised.
“Damn it!”
By the time Seomun Hwan noticed, the attacker’s blade had already pierced his back.
Shunk!
The sword that ran him through protruded from his chest.
“Guhk!”
Seomun Hwan clutched his chest and collapsed.
The fallen Seomun Hwan no longer moved.
The attackers kicked his corpse a few times and laughed viciously.
“Khehehe! Did you really think such cheap tricks would work on us?”
After shoving Seomun Hwan’s body aside with their feet, they freed the bound man.
“Are you alright? Sorry we were late.”
“Th-thank you. I really thought I was going to die.”
The rescued man caught his breath and barely stood up. The man who had saved them narrowed his eyes and asked.
“They were interrogating you. What did you tell him?”
The man shook his head.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Nonsense! Then why are you the only one alive? The other two were killed horribly!”
The rescuer pressed sharply. The man protested as if wronged.
“Even if I wanted to talk, I don’t know anything!”
“Is that really all?”
“I did tell him I belonged to the Heukyeongdan, but that’s all…”
The man, who had been desperately making excuses, suddenly sensed something. His eyes shook.
A spine-chilling, bizarre sensation crawled across his entire body.
“Wait! Something’s wrong. There’s no way someone would come all the way here to rescue us…”
It was then.
The man who had rescued him suddenly smiled brightly.
“Well, I guess that’s as far as it goes?”
The man’s face began to ripple like water, then transformed into a completely different appearance.
“Y-you…!”
The person standing before them was Seomun Hwan.
The Seomun Hwan they had thought was already dead was smiling leisurely.
“Did you have sweet dreams?”
Seomun Hwan snapped his fingers.
Snap!
In that instant, everything visible returned to its original state.
The group that had come to rescue them, the shattered wall, the scattered blood—none of it existed.
It was the same scene as when they had first arrived.
Even the two comrades they thought had died were perfectly fine.
The three attackers were still sitting on the floor, bound by ropes, while Seomun Hwan sat comfortably in his chair with his legs crossed, looking down at them.
The attackers’ faces turned deathly pale. One of them asked in a trembling voice.
“I-illusion arts? Since when?”
Seomun Hwan ignored him and muttered to himself.
“So it really is true that you know nothing. All three of you were sold by your parents as children, thrown into a cave-like place, and only taught martial arts? What kind of insane bastards would do something like this? Even the Heavenly Demon Cult never went this far.”
He had already finished cross-verifying their stories.
These three truly knew nothing and had simply followed orders from above.
“Using high-level martial artists like this in a cell-based organization… They’re more dangerous than I thought.”
Seomun Hwan stroked his chin in thought.
If it had been him in his previous life, he would have dragged out everyone involved no matter who was behind it and made them pay.
Unfortunately, his current self didn’t possess that kind of power yet.
It had only been a few days since he had recovered his memories from his past life.
“Can’t be helped.”
Snap!
When Seomun Hwan flicked his fingers again, the three men suddenly rolled their eyes back and slumped forward.
They had all fainted.
Seomun Hwan took the sword Dongjeongwi had given him and approached them.
He hesitated for a moment, fiddling with the hilt.
“I wanted to avoid getting my hands dirty if possible…”
But now wasn’t the time for such leisurely thoughts.
After taking a short breath, Seomun Hwan swung the blade.
Swish!
* * *
Bang!
The window frame of the Black Dragon Sect’s base shattered completely as a black shadow burst out.
It was a blood-soaked man.
One of the masked figures who had come to eliminate the Black Dragon Sect members.
All his comrades were dead; he alone had barely escaped.
He ran straight into the forest without looking back.
“Damn it! I have to get away somehow…”
The masked man ran for a long time before cautiously checking behind him in case of pursuit.
Fortunately, no one was following.
“Huff! Huff! Did I lose them?”
There was no pursuit, but his condition was terrible.
His body was covered in large and small wounds. His abdomen, in particular, was so badly injured that his intestines would spill out if he didn’t hold it closed with his hands.
“…I have to report this.”
The masked man moved his feet even faster.
He needed to report that the mission had failed.
Some unknown figure had interfered and ruined all their plans.
A short while later, he arrived at an abandoned shrine on the outskirts.
Dim candlelight flickered, illuminating five shadowy figures sitting in the darkness.
At the center sat an elderly man with a long white beard.
His aura was distinctly different from that of an ordinary human—it carried a heavy pressure, as if one were facing a massive mountain range.
The old man slowly opened his eyes and spoke in a low, deep voice.
“Someone is coming.”
The other four shadows also sensed the approaching presence a moment later.
“It’s one of the Heukyeong.”
“What happened to make his aura so panicked?”
“Don’t tell me… they failed? On a mission to deal with a few worthless gangsters?”
The moment those words left his mouth, the shrine door burst open and urgent footsteps echoed.
The masked man clutching his stomach collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
“Huff! Huff!”
The old man’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“What happened? What is this state you’re in?”
The masked man continued in a trembling voice.
“Th-the mission has failed. We were supposed to take control of Pungsan’s back alleys as planned… but an unexpected figure intervened.”
“An unexpected figure? Who?”
“He was… he was…”
A shocking title emerged from the masked man’s lips.
“It was definitely the Profound Sword of the Wudang Sect. Guhk!”
Having said that, the man went limp as if all his strength had left him.
The old man hurriedly approached and examined him, but…
“He’s dead.”
The wounds were too severe. There had been no hope from the start.
It was practically a miracle that he had made it this far in such a condition.
Frowning, the old man stripped off the dead man’s outer robe.
A clear mark running across his chest and abdomen was revealed.
“The Taecheong Sword Art?”
The wound still carried a mysterious energy.
Only an elder-level figure from Wudang could leave such a scar.
Having confirmed the cause of death, the old man shouted irritably.
“Why is that Wudang mutt getting involved in this matter?”
One of the men beside him answered in a trembling voice.
“The Profound Sword is currently staying at the Seomun Clan as a guest. He probably… obtained information from the Seomun Clan.”
“From the Seomun Clan?”
“Yes. We had to eliminate the spy we planted inside because he got greedy. We made sure no one would notice, but…”
“You fool!”
At the old man’s chilling voice, the surroundings froze instantly.
He made no effort to hide his rage.
“To leave traces while dealing with a single insignificant pawn! If Wudang has gotten involved, we can no longer treat this lightly.”
“I’m sorry. It was our mistake for being too complacent.”
The subordinate quickly lowered his head.
The old man let out a long sigh.
It was disappointing. For their long-prepared plan to encounter problems right at the first step.
“Wudang has definitely caught the scent.”
“Then what should we do now…”
After pondering for a moment, the old man spoke through gritted teeth.
“Can’t be helped. We’re scrapping this plan.”
Fortunately, it was still in the early stages.
They could pull out now without suffering too much loss.
Just as the old man was thinking this, he suddenly shouted.
“Who’s there?!”
The old man, who had already turned around, unleashed a powerful surge of energy from his hand.
A palm strike burning with crimson flames.
The rapidly flying strike struck something atop a tree.
Bang!
Whatever it was exploded upon impact.
While everyone was startled by the sudden event, the old man spoke.
“Check it.”
At his command, one of the men rushed over to examine what the palm strike had hit.
What he brought back a moment later was…
“It appears to be a bird.”
Though shattered by the powerful energy, its bird-like shape was still somewhat recognizable.
The bird with jet-black feathers resembling darkness was…
“A crow?”
After examining the dead crow, the old man narrowed his eyes.
He was certain he had sensed someone watching them.
Was it because of the unexpected failure that his nerves were on edge?
“We’re retreating. Erase all traces.”
“Understood!”
* * *
“As expected… he’s no ordinary man.”
Blood streamed from his eyes.
It was the backlash from the crow he had been controlling with the Soul Beast Ghost Dance.
Seomun Hwan took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped away the blood, and fell into thought.
“I’ve never seen that face before… Who is he?”
That old man was at least a Transcendent, possibly even a Profound master.
Someone of that caliber would have been famous thirty years ago, yet his face was unfamiliar.
“At the very least, it means he isn’t affiliated with the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
He couldn’t tell yet whether this was fortunate or if the situation had grown even more dangerous.
But it was clear those people were plotting something in this area.
Fortunately, by making it seem like Wudang had intervened, they probably wouldn’t dare approach Pungsan for a while…
“What peaceful era? This place is crawling with suspicious bastards. This is such a pain in the ass.”
It seemed he would have to move a little if he wanted a tranquil future after all.