Screeeee—.
A huge hawk circled over the Ghost-Slaying Corps headquarters, crying with a mournful wail.
“That... isn’t that Remnant-Flame Ghost’s hawk?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“If that hawk is crying like that...”
“That means Remnant-Flame Ghost got taken down.”
“No way. If someone can take down Remnant-Flame Ghost, that means a Ghost-King rank job came in. If that happened, there’s no way things would be this quiet.”
“His hawk crying like that means the mission failed. Which means he went out on a mission and never came back.”
The Ghost-Slaying Corps assassins fell into chaos.
That news soon reached the Five Ghost Generals.
“What the hell are you saying— Remnant-Flame Ghost got taken down?”
“When did he go out on a commission?”
“Did he walk into a trap?”
“Obviously. He went alone to hog the credit and got trapped.”
“Who the hell did it?”
The Five Ghost Generals received a report from the commission desk.
“A commission came in from the Gu Yang Family?”
“Y-yes. We sent Black-Ghosts and they were wiped out. Remnant-Flame Ghost said he’d cover the failure and went himself.”
“Where was it?”
“The Mok family forge.”
“The Mok family forge?”
They checked the commission again.
“If someone can kill Remnant-Flame Ghost, he isn’t Top-Peak level. He’s a step above us.”
“Or far above. We don’t know which.”
“Does the Ghost Lord already know this?”
“With this kind of uproar, there’s no way he wouldn’t kno—”
One of them spotted someone and shut his mouth.
The hall froze at that presence.
“G-Ghost Lord! You’ve come out!”
A man in a black mask.
“I heard Remnant-Flame Ghost failed the mission.”
“Y-yes.”
The moment the black mask held out his hand, they rushed the commission letter into it.
He read it, then walked out and stared into the air.
Remnant-Flame Ghost’s hawk was still circling, crying pitifully.
As the Ghost Lord reached out, the hawk dove and landed on his forearm.
The Ghost Lord’s eyes reddened as he met the hawk’s gaze.
A short silence passed.
“He was killed by Blood-Dance Death God.”
Everyone went rigid.
“Why would Blood-Dance Death God be there?”
“Did he just happen to have business at that forge?”
“Is he tied to the True Martial Sect somehow?”
They were all busy trying to guess.
The Ghost Lord lifted a hand, and the noisy hall went dead quiet in an instant.
“True Martial Sect?”
“Yes. A small-to-mid sect in Jin Family County, Hunan Province. The Sect Master is Jeok Rihyeon. He’s also the youngest son of the Heavenly Martial Castle Lord, Jeok Mugun.”
“Heavenly Martial Castle Lord?”
“Y-yes.”
“Why is the Heavenly Martial Castle Lord’s son running a sect there?”
They explained everything they knew.
“I see.”
The Ghost Lord sank into thought for a moment.
Then he smiled and said,
“I was bored. This works out. I’ll go catch and kill every last one of those bastards, and I’ll wipe out that True Martial Sect too.”
“W-what? If you do that, Heavenly Martial Castle won’t just sit—”
THUD—!
The man’s head burst where he stood, and his blood-soaked body crumpled to the floor.
“Heavenly Martial Castle what? Are you telling me to be afraid of Heavenly Martial Castle?”
“N-no!”
“Never say another scared word about Heavenly Martial Castle in front of me.”
“Y-yes!”
“Show me where the Mok family forge is.”
“We’ll go with you.”
The Ghost Lord grinned at that.
“If all of you follow me, who runs this place?”
He looked over the Five Ghost Generals and pointed at one man.
“Soul-Slicing Ghost. You come with me.”
“Yes!”
****
“Is that the place?”
“Yes. Should I go in and drag them out?”
Heh.
“No need. Looks like they’re coming out.”
Right as the Ghost Lord finished speaking, one man stepped into view.
“Come all at once. I’m sick of this. How many days has it been now.”
Chu Sowon came out wearing an annoyed expression.
He turned his head toward where the Ghost Lord and Soul-Slicing Ghost stood.
“Not even hiding anymore, huh?”
Chu Sowon smiled at the two of them standing there openly.
The Ghost Lord stepped forward.
“Don’t interfere.”
“Yes!”
As the Ghost Lord moved up, Chu Sowon said with a grin,
“Why don’t you both just rush me? Don’t waste time.”
The Ghost Lord smiled back.
“I came expecting something from one of the Three Great Assassins of the Central Plains. This is disappointing.”
“What?”
“You couldn’t even gauge your opponent’s strength... You’re a greenhorn.”
“Trying to provoke me? You think I’d fall for that?”
“Think whatever you want.”
Before the words even settled, Chu Sowon pulled out his dagger and thrust it into the air.
CLANG—
Brrrrrr—.
If he’d been a hair slower, it would’ve been bad.
Chu Sowon closed the distance in a blink and struck.
The Ghost Lord looked unarmed.
No—he had a weapon.
His fingernails.
They grew and moved as if alive, and their hardness was stronger than most famous swords.
Chu Sowon leapt back, tense, and spoke with an admiring voice.
“That dagger... divine-sword class? It didn’t break even after hitting my nails.”
That relaxed voice.
He was my equal.
No—probably above.
Because Chu Sowon couldn’t read his full strength at all.
He’d only let out enough aura to invite carelessness.
Chu Sowon clenched his dagger and vanished in an instant.
Fwoom—.
The dagger shot forward.
The Ghost Lord tilted his head slightly to dodge—yet Chu Sowon’s blade was already thrusting in, right in front of his nose.
PAPAT—!
“Kgh!”
The dagger stopped an inch from his face.
It was pinned between the Ghost Lord’s index and middle fingers, unable to move.
“Looks like your reputation isn’t fake.”
Strong.
Much stronger than Chu Sowon had expected.
Drip—.
Blood slid down from the Ghost Lord’s fingers.
He stared in surprise.
“Oho. A divine-sword sharp enough to cut my fingers. I want it. I’m taking that dagger.”
“You’re the master of the Ghost-Slaying Corps?”
“Yeah. Now you understand why you have to die.”
“I finally found the lord I should serve, and...”
At Chu Sowon’s words, the Ghost Lord’s nails stopped right in front of Chu Sowon’s neck.
“Lord?”
Blood-Dance Death God had a lord?
Curiosity flared.
If nothing else, he wanted to see who could be Blood-Dance Death God’s lord.
“Is your lord stronger than you?”
Chu Sowon gave a small laugh.
“He is. Stronger than anyone in this world.”
“Stronger than [N O V E L I G H T] the Heavenly Martial Castle Lord?”
“Probably.”
“That’s nonsense.”
The Ghost Lord looked toward the Mok family forge.
“Is your lord in there?”
“He is.”
“Call him out. If you don’t want to die.”
“Are you sure?”
The Ghost Lord nodded.
Chu Sowon shouted as if he’d been waiting for permission.
“My lord! Please save me!”
The Ghost Lord looked at him like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
“Do you have no pride?”
“What pride matters in front of death? You live first.”
“Did it not occur to you that what you just did put your lord in danger?”
“Danger?”
“You just shoved your lord into a pit of death.”
“Me? No. I found a way out. You’re the one who messed up. My lord is truly terrifying.”
The Ghost Lord didn’t buy it.
Stronger than the Heavenly Martial Castle Lord?
Impossible.
The Heavenly Martial Castle Lord was the strongest in the Central Plains.
No one was above him.
Then, a single figure flashed through the Ghost Lord’s mind.
‘Damn it. Why does that monster come to mind right now?’
He shook his head hard.
That monster wouldn’t be here.
He hated showing his face in the world like an illness.
‘Bad luck...’
The last thing he wanted was to remember someone like that.
The Ghost Lord decided right then that he would kill Blood-Dance Death God and his lord in the cruelest, most miserable way possible.
And then someone stepped out of the forge.
“My lord!”
Watching Chu Sowon shout with obvious excitement, the Ghost Lord figured that had to be the one.
Heh.
A greenhorn.
The forge light spilled out and slowly revealed the young man’s face.
A face he’d seen somewhere.
Familiar.
The kind of face that pissed you off for no reason.
The more he saw, the more it felt like a face he didn’t want to remember.
The young man looked this way.
“Have we met before?”
No, we haven’t.
“Why do you feel so familiar?”
He kept tilting his head, then—
Sniff— sniff sniff—.
He smelled the air.
Huh?
That look...
“Ghk!”
He remembered.
Not the old look—scraggly beard, a mess of hair, worn hemp clothes.
Now he was neat, in high-grade silk, so it threw him.
‘N-no way... why the hell is that monster here?’
This is bad.
Shit.
Why did I step out myself?
I should’ve sent the others.
Calm down.
He doesn’t seem to realize who I am yet.
Sniff all you want.
That old smell isn’t here anymore.
Act normal.
Act normal.
“Are you sick? Why are you sweating so much?”
As I tilted my head and walked closer, the Ghost Lord flinched and backed up.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You... know me, don’t you?”
Flinch—.
He looked caught to anyone with eyes.
“N-no. Today’s the first time we’ve met.”
“First time?”
“Y-yes.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Look me in the eyes and say it.”
“I said really! Have you been getting fooled your whole life?!”
Chu Sowon stared at the Ghost Lord like he was ridiculous.
If they’d never met, why was he that tense, and why was he speaking to me with honorific politeness when I was clearly much younger?
Like he’d done it a thousand times.
And he didn’t even realize he was doing it.
“Seriously? You don’t know me? About... twenty years ago? Feels like we knew each other.”
“...!”
The Ghost Lord twitched again.
“What are you talking about? Twenty years ago, you would’ve been a baby.”
“Huh? I didn’t tell you my age. How do you know I was a baby then?”
“You don’t look like someone under the coming-of-age age.”
“My face could just be young. Right?”
“I-is that so?”
“I had a few little brothers around twenty years ago.”
“Haha. D-did you?”
“Yeah. They gave me liquor and an elixir, I fell asleep, and when I woke up I was a baby.”
The Ghost Lord’s face went paper-white.
‘Damn it. That elixir was real.’
Guess it kicked in late.
“When I came to, I was alone and the little bastards had all run. You know how hurt I was?”
“T-that must’ve been truly hurtful.”
“Right?”
He kept watching me, and the Ghost Lord edged backward little by little.
“I... I think I came to the wrong place. Th-this isn’t it.”
“Is that so? Looked like you were trying to kill my subordinate earlier.”
“I... I misunderstood. S-sorry.”
“Sorry fixes it?”
“I’ll compensate you.”
“How?”
“Th-that is...”
While he panicked, someone dropped down behind him.
“Ghost Lord! What’s going on? Why are you like this? Did you get bewitched?”
“Huh?”
“Leave it to me! I’ll break it!”
“No! Don’t step in!”
“You used evil art on the Ghost Lord?!”
“Hey! I said no!”
“You bastards!”
Clink-clink-clink-.
Soul-Slicing Ghost shook the ritual bells like a madman, trying to dispel the evil art that supposedly had the Ghost Lord under control.
THUD—
SPLAAASH—
Thump—.
With one punch, I sent Soul-Slicing Ghost flying far away, and he dropped unconscious.
“Showing up out of nowhere and shaking bells like a lunatic in the middle of the night—what the hell is wrong with you.”
One of the Five Ghost Generals of the Ghost-Slaying Corps—someone who could slaughter the head or elder of a decent sect—had just been knocked out with a single punch.