Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: An Escape, A Promise
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It was a nameless mountain, an hour's carriage ride from Magit.
Militarily, it was named Erlin, but it was unknown to the public.
It was far from the main road used by merchants and armies, and with no villages nearby, no one paid the mountain any mind.
This made it the perfect place for those who wished to remain hidden.
Two men were walking up the mountainside.
They were Shadow and Dreil.
Moving faster than any carriage, they stopped when they reached a valley with a clear stream.
"Clear."
A man hidden behind a tree spoke curtly.
After another three minutes of walking, their view opened up to reveal a mansion.
A grand mansion, perpetually shaded by towering trees.
It gave off a gloomy atmosphere.
The secret headquarters of Dark Moon.
As they crossed the wide courtyard and entered the one-story building at the front, a man was waiting for them, apparently having already received a report.
Leoted, the master of Dark Moon.
Those who met with him face-to-face were few, even within the headquarters.
Seeing Leoted seated on an ornate chair carved from dark wood, Dreil was the first to bow his head.
"The job is done."
"Understood."
Leoted, who replied curtly, looked to be in his late fifties with an unremarkable appearance.
However, his eyes were devoid of emotion.
"Shadow. Rest until you have your next target."
Shadow Sa Seon-gi turned without any visible reaction.
Dreil watched Sa Seon-gi with displeasure but did not stop him from leaving.
Sa Seon-gi arrived at an annex in the most secluded corner of the secret headquarters.
The annex was a single open space, and a young girl was lying on a large bed.
The girl clearly saw Sa Seon-gi enter, but she didn't look at him.
Nevertheless, Sa Seon-gi approached her and stroked her hair.
"Seon-yeong, are you in pain?"
At his words, the girl retorted sharply.
"I told you not to talk to me!"
She spat the words venomously, but her voice was weak. Sa Seon-gi found her state heartbreaking.
She had always been his adorable little sister. But now, she looked painfully thin, like skin stretched over bones.
Seeing her frail form, as if she might break at the slightest touch, Sa Seon-gi's gaze wavered.
Seeing this, Sa Seon-yeong's face contorted, and tears soon began to fall.
"Just leave me. You have to live, at least. Please..."
"What meaning would my life have if I abandoned you?"
Sa Seon-gi gently smoothed his sister's disheveled hair.
"Do you really think I'm living right now?"
"Yes. You're alive. I'm so grateful that you're even talking to me. You can be angry, you can cry. Just please, don't die."
It was a conversation they had repeated for a long time. The tragedy was that they both meant every word.
But today, Sa Seon-gi said something different.
"Seon-yeong, what do you want to do when we go back to Korea?"
He had never asked such a question before.
He hadn't wanted to hurt her further with false hope.
As expected, his sister didn't answer. Sa Seon-gi asked again.
"I want to know. Will you tell me?"
As Sa Seon-gi asked again, his sister's voice trembled.
"Brother, what's wrong? Why are you suddenly like this?"
"I just wanted to hear it."
His sister stopped being difficult and spoke honestly.
"Just that is enough."
"Enough?"
"Going back to Korea is my wish. I don't care what happens after that. If I can just go back to Korea, I'd be happy to die. No, if I have to die anyway, I want to die in Korea. Dying here is just too miserable."
As Sa Seon-gi nodded, she added one more thing.
"But I'll go with you, brother. I won't go alone."
Sa Seon-gi smiled.
It was a smile reserved only for his sister.
"Then let's go."
At those words, Sa Seon-yeong's eyes wavered.
He wasn't the type to joke about something like this.
"C-can we really go?"
"Someone has come to help us. Wang-sik. Do you remember him?"
"Wang-sik? Brother Wang-sik?"
Of course, she remembered.
He was the boy who always approached the siblings first, while they could only watch other kids play.
"Seon-yeong, can you hold on?"
"Don't worry. I'll hold on, no matter what. You don't have to worry about a thing. But..."
Sa Seon-yeong gripped her brother's hand as if squeezing out her last bit of strength.
"Even if something happens to me, you have to go. Just promise me that."
"No. I can't promise that. If you die, I'll come back and kill every last one of them here. And after I've killed everyone here, I'll kill everyone in this world. I'll do it without fail."
They were terrifying words. But to Sa Seon-yeong, they sounded sad.
"It's your life, brother."
"If you endure until we get to Korea, then I'll live my own life too."
"Is that a promise?"
"Yes."
"Okay. I'll hold on no matter what."
The two made a promise, staking their lives on it.
"I really want to go."
As Sa Seon-yeong said this, tears streamed down her face once more.
Late at night, Wang-sik climbed a deserted mountain.
*The night is dangerous.*
Night was the time of assassins. But Wang-sik chose the night.
It was because of an option on his ring.
"Darkvision."
The skill brightened his dark surroundings.
"Alright. Shall we have some fun?"
*Ch-ch-chak!*
Wang-sik's chains shot toward an assassin in a tree near the entrance. The startled assassin tried to twist away, but another chain bound his body.
As the Multi-Chain tightened around him like a snake, the assassin screamed.
"Argh!"
"So you know how to scream."
The chains constricting his body crushed his bones as they dug in; the pain must have been unbearable.
After he dealt with one, countless assassins swarmed him.
"Now it begins."
A demonic-looking helmet appeared on Wang-sik's face, and a golden shield enveloped his body.
*Thud. Thud.*
Fully armed, Wang-sik strode confidently toward the Dark Moon headquarters.
At the same time.
Another man was in the annex where Sa Seon-gi was staying.
The old man, moving with a hand on his hunched back, placed a fingernail-sized pill on the lips of the bedridden Sa Seon-yeong.
As she opened her mouth, the pill dissolved naturally, and a flicker of vitality returned to Sa Seon-yeong's frail face.
"Have a good dream, then. Heh heh."
The old man turned and left the room.
Watching him leave, Sa Seon-gi's eyes were filled with killing intent.
*You die if you take it, and you die if you don't.*
Those were the old man's words from long ago.
*But if you take this, you might live a little longer. The pain will be less, too.*
The medicine the old man provided temporarily eased the pain and restored vitality, but long-term use would lead to a more gruesome death.
He knew this, but there was no other way.
Without it, the pain was too great, and there was no other method to prolong her life.
"Seon-yeong. I think it's started. We'll slip out once Wang-sik creates a diversion."
Sa Seon-gi said, erasing the murderous glint from his eyes.
"Okay."
Sa Seon-yeong tried to sit up, but Sa Seon-gi stopped her.
"Not yet. And I have something to do. Wait just a little longer."
"Where are you going?"
"I'll be right back."
Sa Seon-gi left the room and returned to Sa Seon-yeong's side ten minutes later. In his hand was a bloodstained, rectangular wooden box. Inside was the same medicine Sa Seon-yeong had just taken.
Confirming there were seven pills in the box, Sa Seon-gi tucked it away and went to the door, listening to the sounds from outside.
'They're leaving the headquarters.'
Many assassins were heading out to stop the intruder. But someone was approaching the annex.
*Knock. Knock.*
The one who knocked was Dreil.
When Sa Seon-gi opened the door, Dreil stated his business immediately.
"An intruder has appeared. Deal with them immediately."
"Wait."
Sa Seon-gi turned and walked slowly back into the room.
"What are you doing? Move now. It's an order from the Guild Leader."
Dreil followed him into the room, frowning.
In that instant, Sa Seon-gi's body dissolved into shadow and swept past Dreil like the wind.
"Guhk..."
A red line appeared on Dreil's throat, and he collapsed, spraying blood.
"Seon-yeong, let's go."
At that moment, a massive roar erupted, loud enough to shake the entire mountain.
A giant heart rose above the crashing trees, and seeing it made Sa Seon-gi's own heart race.
But Sa Seon-gi quickly calmed himself, lifted his sister into his arms, and left the annex.
*Go to the Veil of the Northern Border. Give them the name 'Sik,' and they'll give you a room. I'll follow soon, so wait for me there.*
It was the name of a guard post on the ramparts facing the Decartes Mountains.
Carrying his sister, Sa Seon-gi left without hesitation. All the while, the mountain-shaking roars continued.
*BOOM!*
An explosion occurred in front of Wang-sik. A dagger, thrown from a distance, had detonated upon contact with his shield.
But when the smoke cleared, Wang-sik stood unshaken.
Dozens of daggers flew at him, along with arrows and even poison powder, but Wang-sik continued to walk forward in silence.
"You shouldn't get too close."
An assassin approaching from behind was caught in Wang-sik's grip, his neck snapping from the sheer force.
As he dealt with another one and advanced, the assassins' movements grew frantic.
"Why isn't Shadow coming?"
With none of their attacks working, the assassins thought of one name.
But the one who should have appeared was still nowhere to be seen.
'He must have gotten away safely.'
Shadow's appearance was also important to Wang-sik. The fact that he hadn't shown up yet meant he was no longer here.
'Good. I just need to buy some time.'
Wang-sik started walking again but felt a slight sense of disharmony.
There was a strange distortion between what his eyes saw and what his body felt.
*There's a magic circle near the headquarters. It alters the environment, so don't approach it.*
Sa Seon-gi had said that even the assassins who frequented the headquarters followed a specific path with measured steps.
Recalling Sa Seon-gi's advice, Wang-sik stopped and extended his chains toward the assassins.
'No reason to go in there.'
Not stopping there, he changed tactics and rushed a nearby assassin, unleashing an Unholy Strike.
Another assassin, unable to dodge in time, fell, and dozens more attacks flew his way.
But once again, none of the attacks were strong enough to pierce Wang-sik's defense.
The sight of Wang-sik, holding his shield with confidence, was like an impenetrable fortress wall to the assassins.
But what if that fortress wall could also attack?
The assassins began to think that something terrible might happen today.
"Guild Leader, we've received a report that Shadow has disappeared."
The Vice Leader urgently reported to Guild Leader Leoted, who was observing Wang-sik.
"Shadow?"
"His sister is gone, too."
"His sister can't last a day without her medicine."
An unpleasant thought crossed the Guild Leader's mind.
"Where is Volkein?"
"He's dead. The medicine he made is also missing."
Hearing that, he could piece together the day's events.
"So he was in league with that bastard."
"What are your orders?"
The Guild Leader's decision was swift.
"Pursue Shadow."
"What? Are we abandoning the headquarters?"
"If we catch Shadow, we can catch that one too. They must be deeply connected in some way."
It was a decision befitting an assassin.
"I'll deal with this one. Bring Shadow back before dawn. He couldn't have gotten far while carrying his dying sister."
"Understood."
The Vice Leader quickly gave the orders. Instantly, the assassins surrounding Wang-sik vanished.
'What?'
Just as Wang-sik felt something was off, a man appeared.
"Did you think Dark Moon was such a pushover?"
Seeing the Guild Leader reveal himself, Wang-sik felt that this man was on a completely different level from the assassins he had faced so far.
'Time is tight.'
His opponent had reacted faster than Wang-sik had anticipated. And the man before him didn't look like someone he could easily shake off.
'First, I'll deal with this.'
Wang-sik raised his shield and charged toward the man.