“Show me, Mister.”
If Hwi had been agitated, he would have been stopped, but he was calm as ever. This fight was neither impromptu nor emotional.
It was a solemn warning from a loyal man who had lived his entire life as a bodyguard to an assassin, and an inevitable clash born of two opposing destinies.
“Please show them that assassins have only hell to go to, Mister.”
The moment Geom Mugeuk’s words ended, Hwi leaped forward without hesitation.
Hwi rushed toward his enemy.
It was a new side of him. Until now, he had only ever been seen blocking his opponent’s attacks.
Salwang likewise met him head-on, swinging his dagger without dodging. His eyes grew even more transparent, and within that transparency, an unknowable emotion flickered.
Though it was impossible to tell what that emotion was, at least one thing could be felt with certainty.
He was acknowledging his opponent.
Clang!
The clear metallic sound of sword and dagger clashing signaled the start of the fight.
Both were martial artists unknown to the world.
They were people who moved in secret to accomplish their goals. This fight was between two such individuals.
Hwi’s swordsmanship was a supreme martial art passed down to the bodyguard commanders of the Cheonma.
Maryeong Suho Geombeop.
Maryeong Suho Geombeop was based on swift sword techniques. By nature, a bodyguard had to possess quick reactions, for the first move a bodyguard ever faced was always a surprise attack.
On the other hand, the martial art Salwang had mastered was the secret unique art of Saryeongje, the Emperor of Death Spirits, who had been the king of assassins three hundred years ago.
Amsal Bigyeoksul.
He had mastered a martial art known as a legend in the assassin world.
Hwi fiercely pressed Salwang.
Geom Mugeuk had never known until today that Hwi, who always showed only a peaceful demeanor, possessed such a rough side. Today, Hwi was like a reckless fighter who knew no retreat.
Sword and dagger clashed in midair, sending sparks flying.
Amsal Bigyeoksul was also a martial art based on speed.
Because of this, their clash was so fast they could barely be seen. In these exchanges, a moment’s carelessness led straight to death.
Swoosh.
The sword line created by Hwi drew a semicircle, attempting to cut Salwang down.
Clang!
Having blocked the attack, Salwang thrust his dagger in rapid succession. The three moves unleashed in an instant targeted his opponent’s vital points.
Hwi, having blocked with his sword, leaped into the air and stabbed down at Salwang continuously from above.
Salwang slid backward, avoiding the strikes. He too displayed incredible footwork befitting the martial art he wielded.
Salwang relentlessly targeted Hwi’s life.
Hwi sought to slice through Salwang’s torso.
Sword and dagger, filled with their wielders’ killing intent, met and produced a sound like a musical instrument playing a rapid melody.
Chaeng! Chaeng-chaeng! Chae-chae-chae-chae-chaeng!
Each time, sparks flew. Their exchange was so fast that sparks burst from all directions like fireworks.
A grand spectacle of swiftly unfolding defensive sword techniques and assassination arts.
They grazed past each other, leaped over each other, advanced and retreated, clashed and separated. Their bodies moved as fast as their sword and dagger. Blades scraped each other’s skin, spilling blood.
To the point that one wondered how he had lived quietly with such martial arts, Hwi was displaying a magnificent and splendid technique.
Pressed by Hwi’s fierce momentum, Salwang was being pushed back.
Hwi’s martial art, which had never attacked first in its entire existence, now seemed to be saying:
*“We simply did not kill.”*
A flustered expression flashed across Salwang’s face. He had known his opponent was strong, but he could not have known he was this strong.
Watching that scene, Myeongsin felt anew that he had survived against Salwang earlier entirely because of Hwi.
Because Hwi was such a strong person.
Sensing that, Salwang had not acted rashly.
But Salwang was no ordinary opponent either.
He was blocking all of Hwi’s incredible attacks.
It was truly a battle of evenly matched skill.
Though he wished and believed Hwi would win, Geom Mugeuk was inwardly tense.
“Mister!”
If the enemy had not been Salwang, he would not have been this nervous.
Shouldn’t he leave it to Hwi until the end, since it was Hwi’s fight?
Absolutely not. If Hwi was in even the slightest danger, he would intervene immediately.
Even if Hwi resented him later, he would jump in without a moment’s hesitation.
Hwi and Salwang.
From the beginning, Hwi’s life and Salwang’s life were not comparable. Even a thousand Salwangs—no, all the assassins in the Central Plains—could not be traded for Hwi.
Suddenly, his father’s words came to mind.
“If you put Hwi forward, you take responsibility.”
At this moment, he truly was putting Hwi forward.
“I will take responsibility, Father.”
It was right then.
Shhhk!
Someone launched a surprise attack from behind Geom Mugeuk.
Chaeng!
Turning around and swinging his sword to block the ambush, Geom Mugeuk gestured for his opponent to be quiet.
“Wait! It’s an important moment right now.”
Geom Mugeuk turned his head back toward Hwi and Salwang.
Indeed, it was a critical moment in the fight between Hwi and Salwang.
Something burst from Salwang’s hand.
Papapak!
A finger-thick small cylinder concealed in his left hand fired steel needles.
Chaeng-chaeng-chaeng!
Blocking the flying hidden weapons with his sword, Hwi soared upward. He had predicted this ambush would connect to the next attack, so while leaping up, he attacked first. He had replaced defense with offense.
Papapapak!
Even against the unexpected counterattack, Salwang avoided the strikes without panicking.
Hwi had been prepared for Salwang’s surprise attacks.
He was fighting while thinking it was rather strange for an assassin to engage in such a frontal confrontation.
Only after Hwi had safely overcome the surprise attack did Geom Mugeuk look at the assassin behind him.
Geom Mugeuk’s sword was already lodged in the assassin’s heart. There was no way the assassin would have stayed still just because Geom Mugeuk had shushed him.
Right when he was about to attack again, Geom Mugeuk had killed him by piercing his heart without even looking back.
Geom Mugeuk turned his head and looked at the street. People were poking their heads out everywhere, watching the fight. Many of them were likely assassins waiting for an opportunity.
Geom Mugeuk spoke to Myeongsin.
“Come, let’s go too!”
It was a call to eliminate all the assassins. Since there was no telling how they might interfere in the two’s fight, it was better to eliminate them as soon as possible.
Of course, even in the midst of this, Geom Mugeuk’s attention was on Hwi’s fight.
Outwardly, he seemed focused solely on this side, yet he was attentive to both—a display of movement possible only for a true master who had reached the pinnacle.
“Very well.”
Myeongsin couldn’t quite believe it. The fact that he was on the same side as the Young Cult Leader of the Magyo and facing Salwang. It was a life he couldn’t have imagined just a few days ago.
*Yes, I must carry out the commission I accepted.*
The two strode down the street.
There were those who were clearly assassins pretending to be onlookers.
But that was a foolish choice that underestimated Myeongsin’s memory.
Shhhk-shhhk-shhhk-shhhk!
He dodged the throwing knives Myeongsin sent flying in succession, but—
Puuk!
—he couldn’t dodge Geom Mugeuk’s sword that rushed in right after.
“Root them all out!”
Myeongsin nodded. It was a gesture signaling his severance from Myeongbu, and further, from all assassin organizations.
Then, something poured down from a building on this block.
Swoooosh.
What spilled onto the street were star-shaped hidden weapons.
Sharp blades protruded from where they fell to the ground.
They were not hidden weapons meant to kill by hitting the opponent, but rather meant to be scattered on the ground to impede movement. Stepping on those sharp points would result in immediate poisoning.
But these hidden weapons were not that kind.
“Be careful when you walk!”
At Geom Mugeuk’s warning, Myeongsin shouted.
“Get down now!”
The moment Myeongsin’s shout ended, the hidden weapons on the ground exploded and launched upward.
Pak-pak-pak-pak-pak-pak-pak-pak!
Blades shot out in all directions as they exploded.
Usually, upon seeing such hidden weapons, one would be careful not to step on them; this attack targeted the fact that one would never expect them to launch like this.
Geom Mugeuk was not someone who couldn’t dodge, especially with a warning.
“Don’t tell me you made this too?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Use this technique for me later too!”
“If we survive here.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk said as he leaped.
“We will definitely survive!”
Geom Mugeuk flew up to the building. It was the very place from which the hidden weapons had just been scattered.
Crash.
Smashing through the window, Geom Mugeuk flew straight into the room.
Shhhk!
The dagger of an assassin waiting beside the window grazed past Geom Mugeuk’s face.
It must have been a precious moment for the assassin, but in that fleeting instant of crashing through the window, Geom Mugeuk had already sensed his presence.
The moment he killed him, a hidden weapon flew from beneath the bed, targeting Geom Mugeuk’s ankle. This too was an ambush that would not have been easy to avoid.
Thud! Thud!
But Geom Mugeuk was already standing on the bed, driving his sword into it.
The attacks designed for this room were not limited to that.
A wardrobe burst open, and the assassin’s attack continued.
Shhhk-shhhk-shhhk-shhhk-shhhk-shhhk!
In his hand was a very small crossbow. It was a crossbow capable of continuous fire, and its power was truly formidable.
Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!
Holes were riddled in the wall where Geom Mugeuk had been standing.
But at the same time, the assassin collapsed backward. A throwing knife was lodged in his forehead. It was the knife Myeongsin had given him as a gift.
When he looked out the window again, two assassins were attacking Myeongsin.
They had targeted the gap while Geom Mugeuk briefly flew up to the building.
They were no ordinary assassins.
They were special-grade assassins hidden among the first-class assassins.
They were the Heukyeong Ssangsal, who had been disguised as the owner and clerk of the fabric store.
They attacked Myeongsin from left and right with swords. Whether owner or clerk, the disguise was meaningless since their opponent was Myeongsin. Their disguise would only prove effective if they eliminated Myeongsin as quickly as possible.
A bloody battle against two special-grade assassins.
Though Myeongsin was injured in the arm, he was showing that he had not won this position in Myeongbu by a coin toss.
The sight of Hwi and Salwang fighting on the roof was no longer visible. The sounds of their battle came from beyond the building.
Geom Mugeuk’s figure cut through the air. He was not headed toward where Hwi was fighting, nor where Myeongsin was fighting. He had spotted someone aiming at Myeongsin from a window of another building.
He was Eopwa, a special-grade assassin of Salcheon.
As Geom Mugeuk rushed toward him, the hidden weapon aimed at Myeongsin was fired at Geom Mugeuk instead.
Chararararang!
The hidden weapon that flew in with a sharp slicing sound was a secret hidden weapon used by the assassin organization Salcheon.
Mabi Yeonhwan.
An absolute hidden weapon with the highest kill rate.
The weapon possessed terrifying power that could rip apart a martial artist’s flesh and bone with just a graze. But the true nature of this hidden weapon lay elsewhere.
Swoosh!
The moment Geom Mugeuk cut the flying weapon with his sword.
Pung!
Paralysis powder burst from the severed weapon. It was not poison, but a drug that rendered the muscles unusable for a moment.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been flying through the air, fell downward.
Instead, Eopwa leaped from the window. This brief moment of paralysis was exactly what he had aimed for.
Sswaekaek!
In that instant when Eopwa tried to split the paralyzed Geom Mugeuk’s head in two with his falling momentum.
Shhhk! Swoosh!
Geom Mugeuk’s Heukmageom was drawn in an instant and severed his neck.
Eopwa died with his eyes wide and an expression of incomprehension.
It had never failed until now?
But the paralysis powder hadn’t worked on Geom Mugeuk. Since Eopwa had never experienced such a case, the special-grade assassin fell in a single move.
Geom Mugeuk turned and threw a knife.
Shhhk-shhhk-shhhk!
The three throwing knives flew toward one of the Heukyeong Ssangsal.
The opponent turned and deflected the knives, but it was enough to break the deadlock of the fight.
Puuk!
Not missing that opportunity, Myeongsin continuously stabbed the opponent’s arm and thigh. With one injured, the tightly balanced fight tilted.
“So make me plenty of gifts from now on! They come back to you like this when you need them, don’t they?”
A joke even in the midst of this?
Myeongsin wanted to retort, but he didn’t have the leisure.
Leaving him to fight the remaining Heukyeong Ssangsal after taking one down, Geom Mugeuk’s figure landed on the roof of the building across the street.
Hwi and Salwang were fighting in the vacant lot behind.
Sword and dagger clashed to the point they could not even be seen.
Geom Mugeuk did not look at their weapons, but at their eyes.
‘I can win.’
Hwi’s skill was solid. Like a massive fortress wall that would not collapse before any wind. The Assassin King had probably felt that even more keenly.
The Assassin King launched his hidden weapons all at once to create distance.
At that very moment!
The Assassin King’s dagger shone white.
‘Dangerous!’
He could tell the man was about to use a major technique.
Just as Geom Mugeuk was about to step in, he saw Hwi’s face. His calm expression showed not the slightest tension.
From the tip of the Assassin King’s dagger, a silver radiance burst forth.
The next instant!
Swaaaaaaaaaang!
Dozens of silver streams of qi poured toward Hwi.
Flying Sword Light Rain (飛劍光雨).
One of the secret techniques of the Assassination Flying Strike Art.
Against the silver qi raining down like rain—no, like light—Hwi’s sword began to embroider the air.
Chachachachachachachak!
Geom Mugeuk saw them. The sword lines swiftly being drawn before Hwi. If one were to watch a spider weaving its web at tremendous speed, would it look like that? Sword lines formed in an instant.
A consummate technique of the Demon Spirit Guardian Sword Art, imbued with the will to block any attack without fail.
Guardian Sword Wall (守護劍壁).
It was the first time Geom Mugeuk had seen it. The sword wall Hwi had created.
Bang! Kwaang! Bangbangbang! Bangbang!
The qi and the sword wall collided. The silver radiance shattered into fragments and scattered as clusters of light. The Assassin King’s attack had been blocked.
Because he had never imagined that Flying Sword Light Rain would be blocked, the Assassin King was genuinely shocked.
“The Cult Leader’s guard.”
And he was sincerely impressed.
“You surpass the rumors.”
Hwi stood without a word, his sword lowered.
It was then.
Whishwhishwhishwhishwhishwhishwhishwhish!
A dozen assassins dropped down on either side of the Assassin King. One glance at their movements was enough to know their skill was far from ordinary.
As if his only purpose was to kill his opponent, the Assassin King charged toward Hwi together with the assassins.
Even facing the Assassin King alone had been a fight on a razor’s edge.
But Hwi neither cowered nor dodged. The more the situation was like this, the calmer a guard warrior had to be.
Hwi thought of the Cult Leader standing behind him. He thought of the Young Cult Leader standing behind him. Because that was the kind of man he was—one who could draw out twice, three times his strength that way.
“Assassins belong in hell!”
He repeated the words Geom Mugeuk had spoken at the start of the battle. Coming from Hwi’s mouth, they carried a different weight.
Hwi tightened his grip on his sword and charged forward with force. He did not retreat. Behind him stood the Cult Leader, the Young Cult Leader, and the pride of being the one responsible for guarding the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It was then that Geom Mugeuk’s voice came from behind.
“Don’t feel lonely, ajeossi! We have allies here!”
The next instant.
Ssssssseut.
The assassins charging toward Hwi were horrified.
Something had unfurled wide on either side of Hwi, who had been charging straight at them.
What made their eyes bulge wide was—
They were terrifying-looking evil spirits.
Geom Mugeuk had unleashed the Great Annihilation Form of the Nine-Flame Demonic Art.
Excluding only the evil spirit at Hwi’s position, the rest split apart and spread out like wings on either side of him.
Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwakwa!
The evil spirits charged together with Hwi.
Absolute Regression, Chapter 491