Chapter 45: What Shouldn't Be Known
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 45: What Shouldn't Be Known
In his previous life, Ki Mu-hyeok wasn't called by the alias Lone Noble from the start.
"-You say you're a rookie, but you're pretty good, aren't you?"
"-His swordsmanship is absolutely ghostly, like a ghost. Give him a few years, and they'll call him Sword Ghost."
"-But there aren't many guys in this business who last those few years."
"-Don't jinx it... Anyway, let's be friends. Can I just call you 'one-eyed little brother'?"
Even in the harsh world of Vagrants, there was a certain kind of camaraderie.
Anyone who drifted into the Underworld was bound to carry a bitter story, and it was common for them to start calling each other 'brother' after finishing a job and sharing a drink or two.
Even if their lives were fleeting, often hearing news of a brother's demise just days later.
"-...You go alone."
"-Haha, I'm not going to make it anyway. You go."
"-Boss! If you survive, please avenge us!"
Ki Mu-hyeok might have avoided dirty work, but he never shied away from dangerous tasks.
He hadn't become the proud Orthodox Faction hero he'd dreamed of as a child, but he still wanted to live as a Martial Artist.
Even though he seemed to live life as it came, the flame in his heart had never died out.
'I want to become stronger. I want to prove that I can become strong enough, even with an Artificial Dantian.'
The battlefield was his teacher, and the scars on his body were his enlightenment.
In the world of Vagrants, where, as some said, very few lasted more than a few years, Ki Mu-hyeok gradually became a legend.
Returning alone from seemingly impossible missions time and again, his reputation naturally grew, and before long, he began to be called the Lone Noble (獨孤鬼).
In his previous life, Ki Mu-hyeok wasn't called by the alias Lone Noble from the start.
"-You say you're a rookie, but you're pretty good, aren't you?"
"-His swordsmanship is absolutely ghostly, like a ghost. Give him a few years, and they'll call him Sword Ghost."
"-But there aren't many guys in this business who last those few years."
"-Don't jinx it... Anyway, let's be friends. Can I just call you 'one-eyed little brother'?"
Even in the harsh world of Vagrants, there was a certain kind of camaraderie.
Anyone who drifted into the Underworld was bound to carry a bitter story, and it was common for them to start calling each other 'brother' after finishing a job and sharing a drink or two.
Even if their lives were fleeting, often hearing news of a brother's demise just days later.
"-...You go alone."
"-Haha, I'm not going to make it anyway. You go."
"-Boss! If you survive, please avenge us!"
Ki Mu-hyeok might have avoided dirty work, but he never shied away from dangerous tasks.
He hadn't become the proud Orthodox Faction hero he'd dreamed of as a child, but he still wanted to live as a Martial Artist.
Even though he seemed to live life as it came, the flame in his heart had never died out.
'I want to become stronger. I want to prove that I can become strong enough, even with an Artificial Dantian.'
The battlefield was his teacher, and the scars on his body were his enlightenment.
In the world of Vagrants, where, as some said, very few lasted more than a few years, Ki Mu-hyeok gradually became a legend.
Returning alone from seemingly impossible missions time and again, his reputation naturally grew, and before long, he began to be called the Lone Noble (獨孤鬼).
"-...They say he came back half-dead again this time. Stubborn, truly stubborn."
"-There's a rumor he used his comrades as shields and escaped alone..."
"-They say he kills everyone so he doesn't have to share the reward?"
A ghost who, no matter the task, always returned alive, even if alone.
In other words, most of the comrades who accompanied Ki Mu-hyeok never returned.
'Because they were only at that level. Just barely skilled enough to protect themselves.'
His few friends used to tease him, saying he had strong bad luck, but even those guys eventually died.
Naturally, Ki Mu-hyeok began to work alone.
He no longer made friends, and dangerous jobs increased in proportion to his skill.
'…Survive and return, no matter the means or methods.'
That was the vow Lone Noble Ki Mu-hyeok made every time he embarked on a mission.
At first, it was to survive, and later, it was to prove himself.
But now.
"I tend to get lonely easily. I don't really like going around alone, you see."
To avoid returning alone anymore, Ki Mu-hyeok decided to become the Lone Noble for a while.
"What touching friendship. The Extreme Yin Constitution certainly picked a good partner, didn't she?"
The Assassin Leader clicked his tongue and stepped forward.
A troubled look flickered in his eyes as he gazed at the Assassins sprawled dead on the ground, especially the Spellcaster, who had been their only one.
"…You'd best not think of dying peacefully."
A terrifying Killing Intent began to emanate from him, a grinding sound escaping between his teeth.
"You, what are you doing?!"
Yang Ha-yun stared at Ki Mu-hyeok in surprise.
She saw his broad back, which had somehow returned to stand before her.
Honestly, she had been in despair.
No matter what she tried, she saw no way to escape alone.
She believed her Master would come to rescue her if her abduction became known, but she also thought she might be killed once she was no longer useful.
"I told you to just tell my Master!"
Feeling tears welling up, she lashed out at Ki Mu-hyeok for no reason.
Ki Mu-hyeok glanced at her, then offered an enigmatic smile.
"Have you ever fought with the resolve to die?"
"I'm going to now!"
Yang Ha-yun shouted, pressing her back against Ki Mu-hyeok's.
As if pleased with her answer, Ki Mu-hyeok nodded.
Then he provoked the Assassins closing in and their leader behind them.
"Aren't you going to attack? The longer this drags on, the more anxious you'll get."
"…Clear them out."
As the Assassin Leader gave a chilling command, the Assassins charged, intent on killing Ki Mu-hyeok.
Daggers and hidden weapons flew, and sleeping powder was scattered.
SHATTERING CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!
Yang Ha-yun unleashed her Extreme Yin Energy with all her might.
Frozen moisture in the air altered the trajectories of the daggers and hidden weapons, and the sleeping powder froze and fell to the ground.
'Now that I see it, her martial arts are optimized for defense.'
When suppressing her Extreme Yin Energy, Yang Ha-yun's speech was clumsy and her movements slow, but when she unleashed her martial arts freely, her mind worked quickly and her judgment was sharp, as if she were a different person.
"Use me as a shield! They said they'd capture me alive, so they won't be able to use lethal moves carelessly!"
Ki Mu-hyeok agreed. With their backs pressed together, he said to Yang Ha-yun,
"Then, your body. I'm going to use it a bit, okay?"
Yang Ha-yun's face instantly flushed crimson. Of course, he didn't mean anything strange, but for a moment, there was room for misunderstanding.
"Do whatever you want! You idiot!"
"…?"
Does her personality get worse when she unleashes Extreme Yin Energy?
He briefly wondered, but pushed the thought aside, grabbing Yang Ha-yun's shoulder and turning left.
"Left!"
As the two switched positions, the Assassin charging with a sword abruptly changed his trajectory. Ki Mu-hyeok parried the noticeably slowed attack upwards.
CLANG!
The sword bounced away, throwing the Assassin off balance. Ki Mu-hyeok didn't miss the opening and lunged in.
THWACK!
Without overextending, he gave the Assassin a quick stab to the thigh, then immediately retreated. Just then, a dagger thrown by another Assassin grazed the space where Ki Mu-hyeok had been.
"Right!"
With the shout, the two, backs pressed together, rotated to the right this time.
The Assassins, who had been about to throw hidden weapons at Ki Mu-hyeok, hesitated at the sudden change in their target's height, and Yang Ha-yun unleashed Extreme Yin Energy into a double palm strike.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
It was Extreme Yin Energy she had never before unleashed so freely.
A pure white vortex poured forth in a straight line, freezing the air.
Ki Mu-hyeok's eyebrows, now frosted white, twitched as he spoke.
"Just for a moment, lift."
"What? Eek!"
Yang Ha-yun's feet lifted into the air.
Ki Mu-hyeok hoisted Yang Ha-yun up with one arm and charged at the enemies, and Yang Ha-yun wildly swung her double palms.
"Dieee!"
The Assassins scattered left and right at his reckless charge.
Discomfiture flickered in their eyes, trained as they were to suppress emotion.
This was because both Ki Mu-hyeok, who swung Yang Ha-yun around like a hostage, and Yang Ha-yun, who fought in sync with him, seemed utterly insane.
"…We've provoked a madman."
The Assassin Leader watched the scene with a bitter smile.
Yang Ha-yun, a Grade 1 Constitution possessing Extreme Yin Energy.
And Ki Mu-hyeok, who had shown extraordinary prowess from his very first License Exam.
When the two decided to fight as a team, even the trained Assassin squad couldn't approach them carelessly.
'I expected the Extreme Yin Constitution to be troublesome... but to think he would be even harder to deal with.'
Ki Mu-hyeok's body, enduring the Extreme Yin Energy at such close range, was covered in white frost.
It must have been agonizing pain, yet he didn't even twitch an eyebrow.
Even with thick clothes and Internal Energy protecting his body, it shouldn't have been a bearable level of pain.
At that moment, the Assassin Leader, a cruel smile playing on his lips, gave orders to his subordinates.
"Inflict as many shallow wounds as possible on his comrade. So that the Extreme Yin Energy can seep in and cause the wounds to necrotize."
The one surprised by those words wasn't Ki Mu-hyeok, but Yang Ha-yun.
"You, you cowardly bastards!"
"Don't hold back your power because of me. That's what he intends."
"…Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not. So we need to finish them off as quickly as possible and rest!"
Ki Mu-hyeok, eyes blazing fiercely, swung his sword furiously at the Assassins.
Yang Ha-yun also bit her lip tightly and unleashed a torrent of Extreme Yin Energy.
However, the Assassins responded defensively, beginning to inflict numerous wounds on Ki Mu-hyeok's body, and each time the Extreme Yin Energy seeped into those wounds, Ki Mu-hyeok felt a bone-chilling pain.
"Kugh..."
Even if he was lucky enough to survive the Assassins' hands, the Extreme Yin Energy could seep into his bones and internal organs, potentially leaving him a cripple.
Nevertheless, Ki Mu-hyeok did not separate from Yang Ha-yun.
Moving as one body with their backs pressed together, they blocked the Assassins' attacks, sometimes using each other as shields to escape danger.
The number of Assassins dwindled one by one. Seven enemies became five, then three, and soon only two remained.
But that number excluded the Leader, who had yet to join the fight.
"Huuuh..."
Each breath he took released a white mist from his mouth.
The Extreme Yin Energy, having penetrated to his very bones, was making it difficult to breathe.
He felt Yang Ha-yun hesitate behind him, but Ki Mu-hyeok merely patted her shoulder, telling her to focus.
'Is he waiting for us to get exhausted?'
Ki Mu-hyeok, still keeping a close eye on the Assassin Leader who hadn't fully engaged, opened his mouth.
"...Your subordinates are dying, yet you intend to just watch, Leader?"
"A skilled Assassin always waits for that one perfect opportunity."
It was impossible to tell if his smooth reply was the composure of confidence or mere bluff.
Ki Mu-hyeok wiped the frozen blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and spoke.
"The longer you drag this out, the more disadvantaged you'll be, won't you?"
"Well, there's also the saying, 'Haste makes waste.' Though I suppose it's getting difficult to delay any further..."
The Assassin Leader glanced up at the sky once, then took a step forward.
"…!"
"…!"
Even with just that, the pressure they felt made Ki Mu-hyeok and Yang Ha-yun simultaneously heighten their senses to the maximum.
Tremble, tremble, tremble...
Ki Mu-hyeok's body, continuously exposed to Extreme Yin Energy, was trembling like an aspen leaf.
Haa, haaa...
Yang Ha-yun, too, had never unleashed Extreme Yin Energy so relentlessly before, and her breathing was ragged.
Both of them looked to be at their limits.
"You."
To the approaching opponent, whose eyes seemed to regard them as mere playthings, Ki Mu-hyeok pulled out his trump card.
"You're Black-White, aren't you?"
The opponent showed no reaction, but Ki Mu-hyeok felt the two Assassins to his left and right flinch.
As expected of highly trained individuals, their reaction was extremely subtle.
So subtle that if it weren't for Ki Mu-hyeok, it would have gone unnoticed.
But upon confirming that reaction, a triumphant smile formed on Ki Mu-hyeok's lips.
"Black-White 13. That was the number of the examiner who oversaw me during the Third-Rate License Exam. You seemed to quite like me, didn't you? Even pretending we were 'kindred spirits' and all that."
"..."
"I don't know what your true identity is... but someone in the Martial Alliance would know. Whether you're a traitor, or if you killed someone and secretly donned that mask."
As Ki Mu-hyeok grinned, the opponent reached for the sword at his waist.
Ki Mu-hyeok thought Black-White 13 would attack to silence him.
An attack fueled by panic and rage would create an opening unbefitting an Assassin, and that would be enough for him to stake everything on his reserved move.
"...I suppose I'll have to kill you."
As the opponent calmly uttered those words, gazing at his own sword, Ki Mu-hyeok's eyes also turned cold.
SPLURT!
Blood spurted from the necks of the Assassins to Black-White 13's left and right.
"Wh-what...? His own men!"
Yang Ha-yun's mouth fell open at the unimaginable situation.
The collapsing subordinates' eyes, filled with bewilderment, stared at their leader, but he paid no mind to his dead men, only looking at Ki Mu-hyeok.
"Haha. My true identity is a secret that even my subordinates shouldn't know, you see."
His tone, as he spoke with a faint smile, had reverted to that of the examiner who had been with Ki Mu-hyeok during his Third-Rate License Exam.