Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: The Assassin Who Protects
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Tanggrang.
"Kuh...."
Myung-su's body crumpled, and the sword he held clattered to the ground.
Blood streamed from his side, and his pain-twisted lips were smeared red from biting down hard to endure the agony.
Looking down at him, Su-sal halted his attack and let out a small sigh of admiration.
"Impressive. You twisted your body just enough to dodge a fatal wound."
He had driven his dagger straight into Myung-su's side with lethal intent.
Yet despite Su-sal's full-powered killing strike, Myung-su had evaded a deadly injury and clung to life.
Sring.
With complete dominance secured, Su-sal drew another dagger.
Tsking regretfully, he prepared to unleash his killing arts once more.
"It's a pity there's no time."
Myung-su had even dropped his sword.
Su-sal's killing prowess, which he couldn't block even with a blade in hand.
The daggers in both of Su-sal's hands blurred, and his form shot forward once again to end Myung-su's life.
".....?!"
Just before Su-sal's dagger could swing down at Myung-su.
Su-sal forcibly halted his charging body and raised both daggers upward.
Thud!
A sword-gray hand dropped from the sky, batting away Su-sal's daggers and sending him flying backward.
The immense force drove both daggers into the ground and slammed Su-sal into a streetlamp.
Bam!
"Su, Su-sal-nim!"
At the sudden reversal, the spirit sorcerer ran toward him with a shocked expression.
But from the dust cloud, a hand swept out to block the sorcerer's approach.
"Don't worry."
The impact had bent the streetlamp.
Yet Su-sal emerged with an unfazed expression, fixing his gaze on his attacker.
Black eyes and sword-gray skin.
And bat-like wings sprouting from his back.
"A demon?"
Su-sal showed a flicker of surprise at the unexpected new foe's identity.
But it was only for a moment.
Observing the demon that had emerged without a gate overflow, Su-sal smirked.
"No. A child contracted with a demon."
Unlike the massive demons radiating terrifying bloodlust, this one looked different.
The opponent was small in stature, and the intensity of its bloodlust was far too weak to compare with a true demon.
It was even less than a proper assassin's— an oddity with meager killing intent.
In his long career as an assassin, he'd encountered such types before.
"And those ended up with their throats slit by my daggers, returning to dust."
Su-sal's expression remained utterly unchanged even before Cheon-il's demon transformation.
Cheon-il had just confirmed his power advantage with that attack.
But strangely, his instincts told him this wouldn't be an easy win.
"Il-gwi-hon hyung, you okay?"
Keeping his eyes locked on Su-sal, he checked on Myung-su.
But for some reason, Myung-su didn't respond.
Was his condition that dire?
Worried, Cheon-il turned to look at him.
"Hyung...?"
Had the assassins used some other skill?
Myung-su's eyes were fixed on the daggers embedded in the ground, frozen in place.
Just as Cheon-il took a step toward him.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Su-sal blocked his path, his daggers dripping with poison.
"Get lost!"
The clash of energies couldn't stop demon-transformed Cheon-il.
The swiftly swung poison blade was blocked by Cheon-il's arms, now dozens of times stronger from the transformation.
His pitch-black eyes widened, and sword-gray demonic energy erupted from his body, blasting Su-sal far back.
But only for a moment.
"What are you looking at?"
"....?!"
Cheon-il's eyes widened as he glanced to the side.
There stood Su-sal, arms casually crossed, as if nothing had happened.
"H-How...."
He'd clearly seen him fly away. How was this possible?
Slash!
In the brief opening during combat.
That was all assassins needed to strike.
When had he swung?
Blood sprayed from both of Cheon-il's hands, long gashes appearing.
"Kuuk...."
Cheon-il hurriedly summoned more demonic energy to shove Su-sal away again.
He succeeded in creating distance, but the deep wounds made blood pour relentlessly.
'Stop the bleeding....'
Demon-transformed Cheon-il possessed monstrous natural regeneration like a true demon.
Yet for some reason, his arms, struck by Su-sal's poison, refused to heal properly.
As he stared at Su-sal in confusion, the assassin lowered his daggers and stepped forward once more.
"A hunter contracted with a demon, after all. I aimed for the tendons, but your arms still move fine."
Tap.
"This time, I'll sever them for sure."
Su-sal's form and daggers blurred again.
The elite assassin's signature killing art, once used on Myung-su, was about to unleash anew.
Thick bloodlust and a deadly serious assault.
Myung-su knew assassins well and had barely dodged a fatal blow, but Cheon-il was different.
He was just a hunter with enhanced physical abilities.
Slash!
He raised both arms to block the dagger aimed at his throat, but it was a feint.
"Farewell."
Su-sal had slipped behind him unnoticed, driving his dagger precisely into his heart.
= = =
"Well done. Proceed straight to the leader's seat."
"Don't hesitate. Drive it in. If you don't kill him, you'll be the one to die."
"That's how this world works...."
"You have exceptional talent. Steel your heart, and you'll become the greatest assassin."
"Just put me in the leader's seat. Then I'll ensure you live comfortably forever, without killing another soul."
"So kill him."
Thump.
Whoosh! Clang!
Starting from Cheon-il's back, Su-sal's twin daggers—too fast even for his demon-enhanced form—soared into the air.
The attack was dismantled in an instant.
And that wasn't all.
"An assassin who protects people...."
The recoil from the powerful block sent Su-sal's arms flying upward.
Slash! Slash slash slash!
Then came the bloodbath.
Both arms, both legs, chest, side, abdomen.
His black mask tore, blood spraying everywhere.
Thud.
Su-sal's sturdy legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.
The fierce focus in the hardened assassin's eyes began to fade.
Overwhelmed by impossible killing power, he slowly raised his head to look at his vanquisher.
"What in the world.... are you....?"
Myung-su stood over him with cold eyes, gripping twin daggers instead of a sword, just like Su-sal.
"You've become a completely different person."
Only his eyes and weapons had changed.
Yet Myung-su was now utterly transformed.
The righteous, innocent gaze was gone.
In its place sat a perfect assassin, shrouded in deeper darkness than Su-sal himself.
"Or perhaps this is your true self."
Su-sal smirked.
Myung-su's hands moved.
Slash!
Su-sal's head flew into the sky, his body crumpling sideways.
One of the Wild Night Society's mere seven elite assassins had met his end.
In just a single exchange.
"N-No way...."
The spirit sorcerer, who had been utterly convinced of their victory, was swallowed by terror and stumbled back.
"Il-gwi-hon hyung...?"
Cheon-il stared at Myung-su in shock.
An assassin he couldn't even scratch in demon form.
Yet Myung-su had neutralized and slain him in one go.
"Hyung...?"
He seemed like a total stranger.
Looking into Myung-su's eyes, the brotherly figure felt distant, alien.
"Hyung.... you okay?"
Cheon-il's demon-enhanced instincts screamed at him while gazing at Myung-su.
Flee. Danger.
But spotting the daggers in Myung-su's hands, he released his transformation and rushed forward, hugging him tightly.
"Hyung.... it's okay. Everything's okay."
His instincts screamed danger, but Cheon-il had seen it.
The faint tremble in Myung-su's grip on the daggers.
The fear from the monster lurking within himself.
How could Cheon-il not understand?
"It's okay. Hyung protected me. Everything's fine."
Myung-su was afraid too.
Just like Cheon-il, harboring a demon inside.
Afraid the other monster within might slaughter everyone.
Now it's my turn.
When he had saved demon-transformed Cheon-il before.
Now it was time for Cheon-il to save Myung-su.
"Hyung, it's okay. You can let go."
His transformation faded, and pale arms stained with blood wrapped around Myung-su.
Frail-looking arms covered in wounds, yet they had slain even Su-sal in a breath.
"Ah...."
In that moment, a miracle occurred for Myung-su.
The daggers slipped from his hands, and his eyes took in the slender arms embracing him.
The cold gaze laced with deep darkness and thick bloodlust vanished.
Righteous, pure light returned to Myung-su's eyes.
"Hyung.... I'm sleepy."
Cheon-il, having lost much blood, collapsed sideways with a pallid face.
The pale arms released him, slowly falling limp.
Thump.
Before his senses fully returned, Myung-su's hands shot out, grasping the pale wrists.
He turned to face Cheon-il, and inexplicable tears streamed from his eyes.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat!"
The spirit sorcerer's voice echoed from afar.
The presences of the surrounding assassins began to withdraw.
"If I let them go...."
His master Yong-un's home would be exposed.
His mind screamed to capture and kill them all.
But he couldn't leave Cheon-il alone. Biting his bloodied lips, Myung-su agonized.
"What... what should I do...."
A situation where he couldn't choose either path.
Myung-su clutched his head in torment.
Swish.
Then, a hand rested on his shoulder.
And in that instant, the voice of the man he'd desperately sought in prayer resounded.
"Well done. I'll handle the rest."
Myung-su's true master.
Yong-un's voice.
"M-Master...."
Pent-up tears poured out.
His body heaved, long-forgotten tears tracing down his cheeks, turning him into a sobbing child.
"Hic, hick...."
Yong-un embraced him with a smile.
"Well done. That's it. That's the assassin who protects people. You saved Cheon-il. You're the Ghost Soul Annihilation Assassin."
Ghost Soul Annihilation Assassin.
The assassin who protects people.
A paradoxical term that erased the very meaning of being an assassin—it struck Myung-su's heart once more.
"Rest easy, no worries. Good work."
With those words, Yong-un's warmth faded from Myung-su's side, vanishing without a trace.
"Ghost Soul Annihilation.... Assassin."
Leaving profound warmth in Myung-su's heart, he was gone.