Chapter 73
Chapter 73
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 73
Chapter Title: The Assassin's Rebirth
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The rock where Yong-un had been sitting split open, and Myung-su stepped out from within.
His clothes were in tatters, proof of the fierce battle they'd waged, stained deep with blood.
"Well done."
Myung-su was an exceptional assassin.
So skilled, in fact, that he had surpassed his master—the former Moon Assassin and current Night Assassins Guild leader, Kim Myung-ik—in the art of killing.
Yet the more perfectly Myung-su carried out his commissions and missions as an assassin, the more he felt the emotions he had long suppressed begin to resurface.
He had started to empathize with the dying targets and those who commissioned their deaths—feelings an assassin should never have.
And with that, Myung-su began to grow weary of his duties as an assassin.
In other words, he had started to question this life where people had to die for absurd reasons, where he had to kill for others.
'Help me become the Guild Leader. You can do it.'
Then came the offer from his master, Myung-ik.
To kill the Night Assassins Guild Leader.
It was the revelation of Myung-ik's long-buried ambition, thwarted by brainwashing that prevented him from slaying the leader.
Myung-su tried to refuse, but Myung-ik made an additional proposal he couldn't ignore.
'I'll tell you how to break the brainwashing.'
As a Night Assassins Guild killer, Myung-su had endured various layers of brainwashing throughout his life.
It was a safeguard devised by the founding Guild Leader to prevent betrayal among the assassins.
Elite assassins received powerful brainwashing, while the rest were subjected to ongoing, cumulative layers.
The idea that this brainwashing could be undone was unthinkable—no one had ever escaped it.
Yet Myung-ik had discovered a way.
'When you become an Elite Assassin and receive the brainwashing, use the method I teach you. All your existing brainwashing will vanish.'
But this method could only be used upon becoming an Elite Assassin—those who already were could not employ it.
Even so, Myung-su shook his head upon hearing it.
Because he knew Myung-ik's nature all too well.
'You've learned well. It's wise not to trust fellow assassins. But! If I draw up a blood oath, witnessed by a spirit sorcerer, commanding me to forcibly release it through sorcery should the method fail... what do you say?'
A blood oath.
A binding contract made in the presence of a spirit sorcerer.
No Guild Leader, no matter who, could break the Night Assassins Guild's unbreakable rule.
Still, knowing Myung-ik's cunning, Myung-su prepared to refuse again.
But then, to earn his trust without tricks, Myung-ik wrote the blood oath right there and handed it over.
Witnessed by the spirit sorcerer of the Moon Assassin himself.
'Do you believe me now?'
Only then did Myung-su realize it was no joke. He carefully tucked the blood oath away and set the plan in motion.
Myung-su's dagger, at the peak of its lethal prowess, pierced the withered heart of the aged, frail Night Assassins Guild Leader.
As the leader smiled even in the throes of death, Myung-su shed tears for the first time.
And in that moment, he realized it.
That ending lives for others' greed clashed with the convictions he had come to hold.
There was no greater torment than when one's beliefs and actions did not align.
No matter how skilled or noble the work.
If it shattered his emotions and brought him pain, what reason was there to betray his beliefs for it?
With the leader dead, Myung-ik—who had already seized control of the Night Assassins Guild—naturally ascended as the next Guild Leader.
And following Myung-ik's instructions, Myung-su underwent the chief spirit sorcerer's brainwashing, shedding all prior layers. The moment he rose to the Elite Assassin rank of Moon Assassin,
he set down the daggers he had gripped his entire life and left the Night Assassins Guild.
"You're not going to kill me...?"
The Night Assassins Guild Leader's voice echoed from behind Myung-su as he emerged from the rock.
The leader lay collapsed, his injuries far graver than those of the ragged Myung-su.
Myung-su took in the sight, gripping the daggers in both hands tightly.
"I killed him. I killed the me you created. The killing machine that murdered without reason, lost to commissions— that version of me is gone."
With those words, Myung-su turned his gaze from the Guild Leader.
Then, flashing a bright smile at Yong-un, who beamed down from atop the rock.
"I... upheld my convictions."
Even if it meant hating him, it was Myung-su's choice.
Killing the Guild Leader would have been mere greed on his part.
He had stopped himself from that petty desire.
In that instant, the deep darkness rooted in Myung-su's heart fell away, replaced by a refreshing clarity that filled his nostrils and lungs.
"The killing machine I was is dead. From now on, I am of the Ghost Demon Soul Extermination..."
He clenched his trembling hands.
Looking at Yong-un's smiling face, he declared proudly.
"Il-gwi-hon!"
From this day, Myung-su was no longer the Moon Assassin, no Night Assassins Guild killer, no Elite Examiner.
He was Il-gwi-hon of the Ghost Demon Soul Extermination.
Under the Supreme One who had enabled him to live pursuing his true calling,
he would serve Yong-un for the remainder of his days.
Yong-un rose at the tremor in Myung-su's voice and eyes.
He approached and embraced him tightly.
Bloodied, covered in dirt and dust, yet Yong-un hesitated not a moment, pulling him close.
"You are mine. From the moment you first became mine, you have been perfectly my Il-gwi-hon."
A teardrop, like morning dew, fell, washing a streak through the grime on Myung-su's cheek.
"Yes, Supreme One!"
Click.
Myung-su dropped to one knee before Yong-un, pressing the hand holding his dagger near his heart.
With a bowed head, Myung-su was reborn completely.
Shedding every burden he had buried deep within. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "So the bastard knows how to smile, huh."
Myung-ik let out a hollow smile.
Exhausted beyond the point of movement, he shook his head at the rock walls surrounding him.
"Must be because I rested too long."
His disciple had always progressed by leaps and bounds.
He had expected him to surpass him someday, but not this quickly.
The dagger strikes, too swift to evade, had left the Night Assassins Guild Leader stunned, as if beholding a ghost.
A perfect defeat.
"Now I just want to rest."
He reached toward the crack in the rock where the only light seeped in.
"Heh, now I can finally rest."
Even as death loomed, Myung-ik smiled unwittingly.
Just like the previous Night Assassins Guild Leader, who had died with a smile.
'I'm going to become the Night Assassins Guild Leader.'
'Once I do, I can have anything, do anything.'
When had it started?
This ambition to become the Guild Leader.
'Finally, I've become the Night Assassins Guild Leader! Kuhahaha!'
But that ambition had not brought Myung-ik joy—it was a cliff at the world's edge.
'Guild Leader!'
'Guild Leader...'
'Guild Leader, about this...'
'Guild Leader!'
'Guild Leader...?'
The seat he thought would grant him everything.
But sitting there, he understood why the previous leader had withered and weakened so young.
And why the corpse had borne a smile in death.
'This isn't a new world... it's the mouth of an abyss...'
The freedom he imagined was the start of endless duties, a one-sided theft of liberty.
Elite Assassins sought only the leader; the chief spirit sorcerer dumped all management issues from the sorcerers onto him for advice.
Those decisions sparked big and small crises in the guild, multiplying the workload exponentially.
'I shouldn't have done it. Shouldn't have become Guild Leader...'
Regret came too late.
Once Guild Leader, he could never leave.
The Night Assassins Guild could not exist without one.
"Hahaha."
But now, he could leave it behind.
"Hahahahaha!"
How could he not laugh?
Blood flowed, his body screamed in agony.
Yet Myung-ik's laughter wouldn't stop.
This stillness felt so peaceful, so happy.
And soon, all pain would end.
"I've seen many emotions on those facing death."
As laughter burst forth,
Yong-un appeared before the fallen Guild Leader.
Looking down at the man laughing freely, he said,
"Those who laugh this heartily are usually glad that death frees them from something."
The Guild Leader paused his laughter, smiling as he replied to Yong-un's words, spoken as if he knew all of life.
"You're right. I'm looking forward to death."
"Death as happiness... Was the Guild Leader's seat that horrific?"
"It is. The pinnacle for an assassin is always lonely and perilous."
Gazing at the dark rock ceiling, the leader turned to Yong-un.
"It'll be fun. Once I die, the Night Assassins Guild will descend into pure chaos."
If the Guild Leader died suddenly, leaving the seat vacant, the guild would erupt in endless war.
A gruesome struggle among assassins for the throne.
Not limited to them—ordinary people would suffer too.
Some assassins would borrow outside power to claim it.
"Don't worry."
But who was Yong-un?
And who was Jin-cheol, the architect of this plan?
Yong-un snorted at the Guild Leader's words.
"You'll be the last Night Assassins Guild Leader."
"What?"
"The Night Assassins Guild will be dismantled."
The leader's expression was priceless.
"You think that's possible? The Night Assassins Guild has ruled Korea's assassins for decades. You think they'll just go, 'Okay, fine, we'll disband'?"
Even as he spoke, unease flickered across his face.
"Why not? Just kill them all."
Kill them all...?
Everything tied to the Night Assassins Guild?
He wanted to call it impossible, but the words stuck.
Yong-un's absurd divine power, combined with Myung-su's intimate knowledge—chipping away methodically, they could eventually expose the guild's foundations.
"I heard you were far away... So I came myself... How did it end up like this?"
"You underestimated me. No intel on how I went to Washington and back?"
The Bupyeong Station demon gate incident must have been well-hidden by Minister Baek Myeong-hee and GHO elites.
Even the Night Assassins Guild lacked that info.
'In a way, the minister's foresight helped.'
Yong-un smiled faintly, eyeing the leader's hollow resignation.
Then, he drew up his demonic energy.
"Farewell."
"Hahahahaha!"
Kim Myung-ik, the Night Assassins Guild Leader himself.
Thus he closed his eyes.
Buried beneath the rock, laughing heartily with mingled emotions, slowly. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Ugh..."
To-sal, felled by Sword Tiger's blade, clutched his head.
"Kyaaak!"
Il-sal, who had overwhelmed Jeong-won with thrown daggers, screamed.
"Damn it!"
Geum-sal dropped his massive dagger, leaning against a tree as he gripped his head and cursed.
The Guild Leader's death had forcibly severed the brainwashing binding them.
A pain like neural circuits snapping dropped every Elite Assassin to their knees.
Then Yong-un's voice resounded in every mind present.
"All Ghost Demon Soul Extermination members except Il-gwi-hon, and the Demon Dragon Squad—return to your posts."
"Yes, Master!"
"Yes, Supreme One!"
Sword Tiger and Jeong-won of the Demon Dragon Squad, Yi-gwi-hon Cheon-il and Sam-gwi-hon Poison Witch of the Ghost Demon Soul Extermination bowed.
The Elite Assassins they had fought were then yanked toward Yong-un like they were being sucked in.
Tsssizzle.
Dragging across the ground, soaring through the air, they gathered before him.
Yet the agony of severed brainwashing lingered; they groaned in pain.
"Il-gwi-hon."
"Yes, Master."
Myung-su approached Yong-un.
Together, they regarded the suffering Elite Assassins before them.
"What should we do? Many options. We could scramble their brains and have me destroy all their bases myself."
The Elite Assassins' minds held troves of base locations.
Extracting info via soul-searching one by one, they could dismantle the guild entirely within a week at latest.
The fastest, most effective way.
Yet he asked Myung-su because, as a former Night Assassins Guild assassin, he might know better.
No matter how much intel Yong-un gathered,
few knew more about the guild or Korea than Myung-su.
Myung-su answered gravely.
"Dismantling the Night Assassins Guild immediately could cause issues."
"What kind?"
"It's a force that rules Korea through fear, but it also suppresses larger criminal groups from emerging."
Like lesser evil before greater.
"Then what's the best approach?"
"Did Unwoo Guild Leader predict the Guild Leader would come to me?"
"Why think that?"
"If Master foresaw it, you'd have been nearby before it happened."
Yong-un chuckled and nodded.
"Unwoo Guild Leader informed me."
"Then why not discuss with him?"
"Why?"
"He might offer a better choice. Knowing the Guild Leader's approach means he's exceptional."
Not a famed strategist for nothing.
Yong-un nodded again at Myung-su's endorsement.
"Very well, let's do that."
"For now, I'll report to the Minister that the Night Assassins Guild was dismantled by the Supreme One."
"Is that necessary?"
"It avoids scrutiny from the inspection team. Frees us to plan without watching eyes—advantageous for the next move."
This is why smart subordinates are essential.
Yong-un patted Myung-su's shoulder.
"Do as you see fit. Their fate is yours to decide."
He gestured to the Elite Assassins writhing on the dirt.
Understanding, Myung-su smiled faintly and bowed deeply.
"Thank you."
"Come when done. I'll wait."
With that, Yong-un vanished from the spot.
Leaving only the Elite Assassins and Myung-su behind.