Back when Dang Soyeol could still count her own deaths.
The Dark King spoke to Dang Soyeol, who was drenched in cold sweat.
“Do you know what it is you fear most?”
The Lord of Night.
King of Assassins.
To the question of the man who stood closest to death, Dang Soyeol raised her head.
The thing she feared most?
“…Is it death?”
Death.
Meeting the end of life.
When she spoke those words, thinking that might be it, the Dark King maintained his characteristic expressionlessness and said,
“Wrong.”
The penalty for a wrong answer was cruel.
Shhk—!
The Dark King’s dagger swung, and Dang Soyeol’s neck was severed.
Thud—!
The moment her severed head touched the ground.
“Hurk…!”
She awoke again, as if everything had been an illusion.
“Hurk… hah. Hnngh…!”
Watching Dang Soyeol sob in terror, the Dark King spoke.
“Still not enough.”
“Wai…!”
From that moment, she died another hundred times.
Afterward, Dang Soyeol’s expression vanished.
She no longer trembled or sobbed in fear.
But.
“I will ask again. What do you think it is that you fear most?”
Still, she could not know the answer.
Death was not frightening. Which meant death was not the answer.
Then what on earth could it be?
Even then, Dang Soyeol could not answer.
“Not yet.”
The Dark King nodded.
Shhk—.
Death repeated once more.
How many more times had she died?
Now, she could no longer even count.
She thought she had counted up to five hundred. After that, she stopped counting.
It was simply a repetition of question and answer.
“Do you know?”
She answered no.
Again, she experienced death.
“Do you know?”
She thought she faintly understood.
But because it was incomplete, she continued to meet death.
“Do you know?”
She did not know the answer, but she came to know many other things.
Where to stab a person for instant death.
Conversely, where to stab to inflict only pain without killing.
She had not studied.
Through countless repetitions, she had simply memorized them.
Yet, she still could not answer the Dark King’s question.
The number of times became uncountable.
Around the time death dulled and became trivial.
“How disappointing.”
With the same voice as always, the Dark King spoke different words to Dang Soyeol.
“You are slower than expected.”
“…”
Was he saying her answers were slow?
Dang Soyeol, her eyes vacant, looked at the Dark King.
The Dark King wore an expressionless face, yet strangely, she could sense disappointment within it.
“Will you give up?”
“…No… no… I… can do it….”
The Dark King often urged Dang Soyeol to give up.
Each time, Dang Soyeol answered that she could. She could not give up on this either.
This was the only opportunity left to her.
If she lost even this, she would rather be truly dead.
“Hm.”
Hearing her answer, the Dark King seemed to fall into thought for a moment, then spoke.
“Very well.”
Nodding slightly, he said.
“From now, exactly ten times. If you cannot find the answer within that.”
The Dark King’s dagger pierced Dang Soyeol’s heart.
Pain no longer mattered, so Dang Soyeol began to slowly lose consciousness again.
“I shall kill Ouyang Tian, whom you hold so dear.”
“…!”
At the voice that burrowed into her ears amidst it all, Dang Soyeol clung to her senses.
“Krrk…”
Blood flowed.
Within death, she forced her eyes open.
“What… did you just say….”
“It would be best to find the answer. You haven’t many chances left.”
Despite Dang Soyeol’s words, the Dark King wore an expression that said he would not listen.
And so, hell began.
“Do you know?”
She had already tried every answer she could think of.
What else remained?
In this situation, there was little Dang Soyeol could do.
“Young Master Ouyang is an unrelated person…! Why!”
“That is not the answer.”
A dagger pierced her head, and she met death.
“Please… please… don’t harm him. I, I’ll find the answer somehow… or I’ll do anything. Please…!”
She tried coaxing him and grabbing his legs to beg.
Each time, his answer was the same.
“I’ll kill you…! If you touch him, I’ll kill you!”
She swung her dagger frantically and rushed at the Dark King, but as expected, the result was the same.
“I’m telling you this is it—! I, I said this is what I fear—!!”
Nothing worked. In this way, she used eight chances.
Then came the ninth.
“…Hngh… hnngh…”
She tried desperately to think of the answer. It was not death. Not despair. Not poverty. Not sacrifice.
Then what on earth was it?
She grew desperate.
It didn’t matter if she herself died dozens or hundreds of times.
But he could not.
He must not be involved in this.
Squelch!
Blood dripped from Dang Soyeol’s clenched fist.
She had clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh.
‘Please, please, please… please!’
She felt no pain.
With bloodshot eyes, Dang Soyeol looked at the Dark King.
She had to find the answer.
What was the answer?
What answer would satisfy the Dark King?
What on earth did she fear most?
Dang Soyeol muttered ceaselessly.
Even amid this, the Dark King slowly approached Dang Soyeol.
He knelt on one knee.
Then he met her gaze.
“Do you know.”
A question she had heard thousands of times.
And the same question once more.
Dang Soyeol’s pupils shook madly.
Once again, she could not answer in the end.
No matter what answer she spat out, it felt as though it would not reach him.
“So, it seems you do not know.”
Once again, the Dark King slowly moved his dagger.
Watching the dagger slowly stretch toward her, Dang Soyeol thought.
What was she afraid of now?
It was not death or pain.
Was she afraid of losing Ouyang Tian?
Yes.
She was afraid.
Then, was what she feared losing someone precious?
If not that.
‘Is it that I fear myself, who can do nothing while losing him?’
Herself, unable to offer any help as he faded.
Herself, unable to do anything as she lost him.
Could that be what she feared?
The moment that thought suddenly crossed her mind.
Clack—!
The Dark King’s dagger, poised to sever Dang Soyeol’s neck, stopped as well.
“I shall ask again.”
The question rang out.
Dang Soyeol, whose body had been trembling, looked at him.
“Do you know?”
The same voice, the same question.
Fear of loss.
Crushed beneath it, Dang Soyeol unwittingly blurted out upon hearing that question.
“Powerlessness….”
Powerlessness to do anything.
As she spoke, tears streamed from one eye that had not yet turned green.
Yes, what she feared was powerlessness.
Not death, not pain.
Just a sordid emotion buried within.
That was all.
“Hm.”
Hearing that, the Dark King withdrew the dagger he held.
“Is that your fear?”
At the Dark King’s words, Dang Soyeol’s eyes widened.
“Is this… is this the correct answer?”
It was a situation she could not understand.
She had already uttered the word “powerlessness” thousands of deaths ago.
She had said it countless times.
She had tried similar meanings and said it verbatim.
Yet back then, the Dark King had killed her, saying it was not the answer.
Why did he back down now?
To her question, the Dark King spoke.
“Speaking without understanding and truly recognizing are different.”
Recognizing versus failing to do so.
What difference could that make?
Dang Soyeol did not know then.
By the time she understood the Dark King’s words, both her eyes had turned green.
Only then did the Dark King finally permit Dang Soyeol to descend the mountain.
******************
“What the… what is it?”
“What is that?”
The crowd murmured at what was unfolding on the stage.
Only a few seconds since Dokbong of the Tang Clan and Yutangeom had begun their duel.
Everyone was bewildered by the black shroud that suddenly filled the air above.
What is that? Some kind of martial art?
Because its nature was unknown, even the referee repeatedly agonized over whether to intervene.
Then.
Saaaa—!!
The black shroud that had lasted for over a minute vanished.
The figures of the two inside were revealed once more.
“Huh.”
“Hm?”
Those who witnessed it reacted in surprise.
The two on the stage remained as they were.
Astonishingly, not a single scratch on either of them.
Had they not fought at all?
Just as that question arose.
“Kuheok—!”
Suddenly, Yutangeom fell to his knees, blood pouring from him.
“What—!?”
“Yutangeom fell?”
“Good heavens…?”
Everyone was shocked.
It was an unexpected situation.
Naturally, everyone had expected Dokbong to lose, but instead, Dokbong simply watched Yutangeom in silence.
“Khuh… kulk… kulk!”
Coughing up blood repeatedly, Yutangeom vomited blood.
Though he had no external wounds whatsoever, Yutangeom furrowed his face in agony for some reason.
Toward such a Yutangeom, Dang Soyeol opened her mouth.
“Barely four times.”
“…!”
At Dang Soyeol’s words, Yutangeom’s face turned pale with fright.
“At best, you could only endure four times.”
“You… you wench!”
“Don’t make a fuss. You grabbed me and begged, so I took pity and let you go, didn’t I?”
“What sorcery did you use!”
“Who knows.”
At Yutangeom’s screams, Dang Soyeol let out a smirk.
Seeing that smile, Yutangeom’s body stiffened.
What had he experienced until just now?
Trying to recall it, his body trembled uncontrollably.
It should have been something he just experienced, yet his memory was strangely hazy.
What remained was only a tingling fear.
Yutangeom was unable to properly comprehend his own condition.
In that situation.
“Come to your senses, Senior.”
Dang Soyeol spoke to him.
“It wouldn’t be fun to end it just like that. Since I have something to show you, I let you off. Be on your guard.”
The smile was beautiful, but Yutangeom could no longer feel that she was merely pretty.
His wariness shot up.
Rather than fighting spirit, fear began to envelop his body.
“…You… monster of a girl.”
A curse he had spat out unwittingly.
But Dang Soyeol seemed unmoved.
“Thank you for the compliment. So, are you not going to do more?”
Grrr—!
At her taunting words, Yutangeom channeled energy into his sword.
An inexplicable fear seized his head for a moment, but still, Yutangeom was a martial artist of the Transformation Realm.
He could suppress such emotions as much as needed.
Barely gathering his senses, he spoke to her.
“I do not know what trick you pulled, but if it did not work, you are finished.”
If it had worked, she should have finished him then and there.
Since she did not, this girl had no hope.
Thinking so, Yutangeom released a powerful burst of energy.
“Hup!”
A clear, refreshing sword qi suffused his sword.
Yutangeom immediately swung it at Dang Soyeol.
Paaaaaah—!!!
Tanzan Hiei… no, wait. The technique name: Tan Xing Fei Ying Zhan.
A beautiful streak formed of sword gang rapidly flew toward Dang Soyeol.
The technique that had earned him the epithet Yutangeom.
Unlike its beautiful appearance like a flying crescent moon, the destructive power contained within was on a different level.
Kwagagagak—!
The slash swept across the stage and flew in.
Seeing this, Dang Soyeol tilted her head.
It was an action reminiscent of someone.
And.
Hwaaak—!
“…!”
Before the slash could reach her, Dang Soyeol’s figure vanished from Yutangeom’s sight in an instant.
‘What…?’
In this wide-open space, where on earth could she have vanished?
As Yutangeom hastily tried to find her presence.
“Really.”
Dang Soyeol’s elegant voice was heard right before his nose.
No, slightly lower than directly ahead.
At his lower body.
Yutangeom immediately lowered his gaze and tried to move his sword again.
“I still need to fight the next person. What am I going to do if you wreck the stage like this?”
Before that, Dang Soyeol was faster.
After speaking, she swung her arm and planted her fist in Yutangeom’s side.
Kuwoong—!
“Kup!?”
Even though he was surrounded by protective astral qi, the attack dug deep into his waist.
Pwaang—!
Unable to block all the impact, it burst forth, and Yutangeom’s body flew.
Kwaaang—!
With a tremendous noise, Yutangeom rolled across the floor.
Tung—! Tung—!
His posture collapsed.
Forgetting even the pain, Yutangeom tried desperately to correct his posture.
But a small foot was already flying before his eyes.
Ppak—!
Along with excruciating pain, Yutangeom’s head snapped up.
“Kuhk!”
Along with his teeth, his protective astral qi shattered.
It was a power far too strong to come from such a frail body.
His vision shook.
Beyond it, he saw Dang Soyeol’s movements.
Kung—! Kungkung—! Kungkung—!
Small fists pounded Yutangeom’s body.
Fast, rapid movements.
Astral qi suffused her fists, and tremendous sounds rang out in succession.
When Yutangeom moved his legs to flee, she struck his thighs to stop him.
When he tried to swing his sword, she struck his shoulder, sealing the movement.
She was not predicting his path and striking preemptively.
Clearly, Dang Soyeol started moving after Yutangeom.
Then how was this possible?
‘Th… this… such…’
As he realized the reason, Yutangeom’s world crumbled.
The principle was simple.
Truly, simply because Dang Soyeol was faster than Yutangeom.
By a wide margin.
There was no need to predict his actions or plan anything.
Simply responding faster was enough.
Because of that, Yutangeom had to take a beating all over like a scarecrow.
Kungkungkung—! Kungkung—!
What was even more frightening was that Dang Soyeol was controlling her astral qi.
“Kuhuk!”
So that Yutangeom would not easily collapse.
She was using just enough force to keep him from losing consciousness.
To the onlookers, it looked as though she were toying with him.
Yutangeom, a master ranked among the Central Plains’ top hundred experts, was being used like a toy by Dokbong, a mere late-stage disciple.
At that sight, no one in the stands could react properly.
“…Do… Dokbong… how….”
“I cannot believe it… what in the world is that?”
It was a dreamlike sight.
And if it were a dream, surely a nightmare.
After a long while.
Yutangeom’s screams, which had burst out without rest, and the sounds of his body being pounded stopped.
In the ensuing silence.
On the stage, Yutangeom, now nearly a bloody pulp, was barely held upright by Dang Soyeol gripping his hair.
“Krr… hnngh…”
Drip. Drop.
The blood flowing from Yutangeom soaked the stage floor.
Dang Soyeol watched quietly, then soon let go of his hair.
Thud—! Crumple—!
Yutangeom, who had barely been holding on, collapsed to the floor.
And Dang Soyeol trampled his face.
“…Blood splashed everywhere. Disgusting.”
Blood was on the back of her hand.
Dang Soyeol nonchalantly pulled a cloth from her sleeve and wiped it clean.
“Hurk… krrk… hnngh…”
Yutangeom groaning beneath her foot.
Seeing that, Dang Soyeol smirked.
“Now that suits you.”
Crawling on the floor suited him particularly well.
She had found Yutangeom’s face utterly displeasing from the start, but now it had finally become somewhat worth looking at.
He was exhausted and barely breathing.
Dang Soyeol removed the foot that had been stepping on him and lowered her posture.
She crouched, closing the distance to Yutangeom, and whispered in his ear.
“From now on… live exactly according to your station. Don’t reach for things that don’t match your class. Understood?”
As she spoke, she lightly caressed his face with pale fingertips.
At that touch, Yutangeom’s body trembled as if in convulsions.
“…”
“…”
Anyone could tell the duel was over.
But there were no cheers.
All that could be heard was the faint sound of Yutangeom’s breathing.
Dang Soyeol soon moved away from him and walked off.
Only then did the referee flinch and react.
“U-uh.”
At that, Dang Soyeol didn’t even wait for the result.
Right now, she had somewhere else to be.
A young man was watching her from the entrance.
She turned and waved her hand eagerly.
“Young masterrr! I won!! Please praise me! Hehehe!”
It was a pure, bright smile, completely unlike the figure that had ruthlessly pounded her opponent moments ago.