Chapter 66: Special-Class Assassin
Sa Ryeong-geuk racked his brain until it felt like it might explode. Anyone would, when their life was on the line.
And at last, Sa Ryeong-geuk came to a conclusion.
‘I have no choice but to fight.’
There were moments in life within the murim where one had to fight, even without certainty—and for Sa Ryeong-geuk, that moment was now.
Retreating was impossible. The Poison Lord clearly had no intention of letting him leave. And even if he somehow managed to slip away, the Heavenly Poison Alliance Leader would hold him responsible for this incident.
There was only one way out.
Kill the monsters in the inn and return with something in hand.
Sa Ryeong-geuk spoke to the Poison Lord.
“You say you’ll serve as witness?”
“That’s what I said.”
The Poison Lord wore a beaming smile.
Wasn’t this situation just getting more entertaining?
He believed Jin Seong-un would win. It was a great opportunity to witness the skills of the young genius rumored to have killed the Food Butcher.
And even if he lost, it didn’t matter. He could just intervene and rip Sa Ryeong-geuk apart.
“How am I supposed to trust you won’t interfere?”
Sa Ryeong-geuk saw right through the Poison Lord’s intentions. The Poison Lord responded in a nonchalant tone.
“What if you don’t?”
“……”
Sa Ryeong-geuk fell silent for a moment.
The Poison Lord was right. He had no real choice in the matter.
Of course, the Poison Lord genuinely wanted to see Jin Seong-un fight, so he offered some reassurances.
“I swear on the name of the Poison Lord—I will not interfere in your duel, no matter what happens. If I break that promise, not only will my honor be in tatters, but it would also be an insult to Seong-un.”
Sa Ryeong-geuk eyed him with suspicion.
The Poison Lord merely shrugged.
Of course, he had no intention of keeping that promise. He swore to himself—if Jin Seong-un was ever in danger, he would step in. For a member of the Tang Clan, grudges outweighed honor.
Still, perhaps the placation had worked somewhat, as Sa Ryeong-geuk let out a small sigh and said,
“Very well. Keep that promise.”
Naturally, Sa Ryeong-geuk had a trick up his sleeve. If the Poison Lord tried to interfere, he planned to take Jin Seong-un hostage and escape.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Sa Ryeong-geuk continued.
“Master of Twilight Pavilion. Valley Leader of Azure Wilderness Valley.”
“...Y-Yes?”
The Master of Twilight Pavilion responded, startled.
What the hell did that bastard want with him all of a sudden?
Indeed, the Poison Lord’s gaze turned toward him. Being locked in eye contact with those green eyes made his knees tremble.
Sa Ryeong-geuk went on.
“You two, kill that assassin. I’ll take care of this one.”
At his suggestion, the Valley Leader of Azure Wilderness Valley gripped his dagger with grim resolve.
He was someone who aspired to surpass the Deathshroud, so fighting someone possibly from there was actually a good experience for him.
In contrast, the Master of Twilight Pavilion hesitated.
Sa Ryeong-geuk narrowed his eyes at that sight.
“Luju, what are you doing?”
The Master of Twilight Pavilion looked back at him.
If only he had the strength, he’d love to tear that bastard’s mouth apart.
From the start, Sa Ryeong-geuk had brought nothing but trouble. He’d dragged a major figure of the Tang Clan all the way to Deyang and left chaos in his wake.
And it wasn’t like Sa Ryeong-geuk truly regarded the Deyang Black Path as his subordinates. He’d always wanted to bring in martial artists from the Heavenly Poison Alliance.
They were disposable tools. Even now, wasn’t he doing the same?
Bitterness flashed in the Master of Twilight Pavilion’s eyes. At last, he spoke.
“You want me to go die?”
“W-What did you say?”
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s face turned bright red.
But the Master of Twilight Pavilion ignored him and resolutely walked toward the Poison Lord.
The Poison Lord, who had been watching with a smile, began to release a thick, ominous green energy.
“You want to fight me? So there’s still a real man left in this backwater Deyang!”
Soon, the Master of Twilight Pavilion was right in front of him. Just as sinister green force began to form in the Poison Lord’s palm—
“Please spare me!”
The Master of Twilight Pavilion dropped to his knees.
The Poison Lord looked deflated.
His hand, still charged with energy, hung in midair as he hesitated. A light swing would burst the Master of Twilight Pavilion’s head like a ripe gourd.
The man’s desperate plea continued.
“I only acted under the pressure of the Heavenly Poison Alliance! If you spare me, the Twilight Pavilion of Deyang will become your dog!”
“The Tang Clan doesn’t keep dogs.”
Because the snakes kept biting the dogs to death, the Tang Clan didn’t raise any animals except serpents and poisonous insects.
“I’ll be a cow, a chicken, a pig—whatever you wish. Just please let me live. Look at my arm! Sa Ryeong-geuk forced me and my men into a death trap! Better to serve the Tang Clan, the rulers of Sichuan, than to be loyal to a bastard like him…”
His desperate groveling was quite earnest.
He belittled his enemy and elevated the other. He prostrated himself on the ground in the most pathetic way possible.
He stressed that it had been against his will and showed the price he had paid—his severed arm.
A typical martial artist might have softened.
But his opponent wasn’t a typical martial artist. He was an elder of the Tang Clan.
Sa Ryeong-geuk clicked his tongue from behind.
“Is there actually a fool who begs the Tang Clan for mercy?”
The Master of Twilight Pavilion felt a chill down his spine.
Then Tang Tae-san grinned and brought his palm down.
BBOOOOOM—!
A huge, vivid green force crushed the Master of Twilight Pavilion. Dark smoke quickly rose from his corpse.
“You should’ve said you’d be a snake.”
The Poison Lord muttered quietly, then turned to Jin Seong-un and gave him a nod. This side was taken care of—now it was his turn to act freely.
Jin Seong-un gave a light nod in gratitude, then paused to consider which martial art to use.
The most reliable choice was the Blood Demon Art. However, using it in front of a skilled orthodox faction member felt a bit off.
He glanced around and saw swords scattered around—left behind by the Twilight Pavilion martial artists.
Jin Seong-un picked up a straight sword. No particular reason. It was simply the closest.
“You sure that’ll do?”
The Poison Lord asked, and Jin Seong-un casually replied,
“Yes, probably.”
Then, Jin Seong-un stood face-to-face with Sa Ryeong-geuk.
Sa Ryeong-geuk’s face turned red. This young punk was blatantly looking down on him.
“Seo So-hyeop, are you sure about this?”
Jin Seong-un asked, still staring at Sa Ryeong-geuk.
It was a question filled with concern. Seo Yu-gyeom would likely have to face the assassins of Azure Wilderness Valley alone.
He wasn’t worried about skill, but about his condition. Seo Yu-gyeom had recently been struggling to suppress the urges of bloodlust.
In battles between assassins, staying calm was essential.
As always, a breezy response came.
“Just taking a stroll around the neighborhood, that’s all.”
After saying that, Seo Yu-gyeom briefly scanned the area and then vanished in an instant. With the Poison Lord present, there was no need to worry about Hwa Yeon-seol.
As Seo Yu-gyeom disappeared, the Valley Leader of Azure Wilderness Valley gave a slight nod. Soon after, the assassins of Azure Wilderness Valley also melted into the bluish darkness.
Night had fully fallen over Deyang.
Outwardly, it appeared peaceful, but beneath the surface, one of the most covert battles in the world was underway.
Assassins rarely fought each other.
Assassins were, by nature, those who acted on commission.
It was uncommon for one assassin to be commissioned to kill another, and even if a member of a group was killed, it rarely escalated into full-blown war.
However, rare did not mean never. Around two years after Seo Yu-gyeom entered the Deathshroud, it went to war with another assassin group.
The group was called Demon Killing Valley, based in Qinghai. Formed by assassins from the Demonic Cult, they had provoked the conflict by posing as the Deathshroud when expanding into the Central Plains.
When assassins go to war, it doesn’t end until one side is completely wiped out. Neither side knows how many the other has, so they just keep killing.
In the end, the Deathshroud remained the greatest assassin organization under heaven, and the name Demon Killing Valley was erased.
Seo Yu-gyeom had learned much on that battlefield.
For example——
Whoosh—!
Seo Yu-gyeom tossed his black robe forward. A straight sword shot out from the alley and pierced through it.
Seo Yu-gyeom immediately dashed forward and pressed the enemy’s sword downward. Any martial artist who had their weapon suppressed would instinctively try to retrieve it. The fear of one’s weapon being controlled by another was deeply rooted.
In other words, the enemy would be unable to counterattack for a moment.
The instant the enemy tried to pull the sword free, Seo Yu-gyeom slipped around into the alley and slashed with his dagger.
In the dark alley, the Heaven-Slaying Dagger painted a pale, erratic arc.
Right side flank, left ribs, heart, throat.
He stabbed all four points in succession. There was no hesitation, no wasted motion.
As he slashed with his right hand, his left hand had already clamped over the enemy’s mouth.
Thanks to the sharpness of the Heaven-Slaying Dagger and Seo Yu-gyeom’s dagger skills, not a sound was made.
And just like that, the assassin who made a single mistake died in the silent darkness.
Seo Yu-gyeom gave the Heaven-Slaying Dagger a light flick, scattering the blood. Letting the blood flow down the blade could cause thick drops to hit the ground, making noise.
Having killed one in an instant, Seo Yu-gyeom put his robe back on and strolled through the alley.
.
.
.
Shortly after the battle began.
The Valley Leader of Azure Wilderness Valley was quite excited.
To him, the Deathshroud had always been an object of admiration, an unscalable wall.
Killing an assassin from the Deathshroud would be a symbolic victory.
But that anticipation slowly turned into anxiety.
Every time he moved from alley to alley, or roof to roof—
He saw the corpses of his subordinates.
What was truly astounding was that over twenty assassins had been killed without a single sound or trace.
Then it happened.
“Over here…!”
A subordinate’s cry echoed from an alley.
The Valley Leader of Azure Wilderness Valley instinctively started to run—then froze. He climbed onto a nearby roof to locate the source.
Five assassins from Azure Wilderness Valley were rushing toward that location.
‘No!’
There was no way someone who had silently killed over twenty assassins would suddenly make a mistake.
But it was too far to send a telepathic message.
Suddenly, the five assassins dropped into the alley—and for a while, not a sound was heard.
Then, a lone figure emerged from the alley and vanished into the distance. His relaxed demeanor sent a chill down the Valley Leader’s spine.
‘…What is he?’
He had thought the man might be a Second-Class Assassin if he truly was from the Deathshroud.
The Deathshroud ranked assassins from Third-Class to First-Class. And, very rarely, there were those called Special-Class Assassins.
Comparable to elders of a sect or clan—those who had proven their skill over decades as assassins.
Given that man’s age, he couldn’t possibly be Special-Class. Even Second-Class had been a generous estimate.
But after witnessing his skill——
‘He’s definitely a First-Class Assassin.’
The Valley Leader’s gaze turned cold.
His opponent was clearly an extraordinary assassin. A First-Class Assassin from the Deathshroud could easily surpass the leaders of other assassin groups.
Within Azure Wilderness Valley, only he could be considered First-Class by Deathshroud standards—and that was by his own estimation.
‘This might actually work out better.’
It would be a tougher fight than expected, but if he could hang the man’s head at the entrance of Azure Wilderness Valley, the effect would be immense.
Such was the weight of a First-Class Assassin of the Deathshroud.
With that thought, the Valley Leader began to move stealthily in the direction Seo Yu-gyeom had vanished.
As expected, five more subordinates lay dead in another alley. He wanted to close their eyes, but touching the corpses risked poison.
Trying not to meet the lifeless gazes, he continued onward.
“A heartless assassin, aren’t you?”
He felt the hairs on his body stand on end. He spun around and thrust his straight sword.
Whoosh—!
The blackened straight sword shot forward—but suddenly stopped in place, as if something had blocked it.
The Valley Leader gulped.
Seo Yu-gyeom, now standing atop the alley wall, remarked with admiration,
“Good instincts. If you’d followed through, you’d have lost your wrist.”
The Valley Leader remained frozen, arm outstretched, unable to move.
As clouds drifted, the moonlight slowly illuminated the alley.
In that moment, silver threads crisscrossing like spiderwebs throughout the alley shimmered in the moonlight.
Threads sharp enough to slice even a martial artist’s skin touched his limbs, chest, and throat.
“…Tired of this assassin work.”
Seo Yu-gyeom gave a small tug with his finger, and the threads gently sank into the Valley Leader’s flesh, soaking in blood.
The pain was excruciating, but he could not move.
Cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
He realized, too late, that the assassin he had dared to hunt was a Special-Class Assassin of the Deathshroud.