Chapter 290 : Entry into the Blood Palace (3)
Chapter 290: Entry into the Blood Palace (3)
‘…It was similar.’
As he looked at the horrific space filled with an overpowering stench of blood, cruel memories surfaced in Nameless’s mind.
Back when he was still a child who had not even hardened yet.
The hellish days when he received assassin training inside the Gate of Assassins together with his brother.
A dreadful trial that resembled the process of creating Gu—forcing dozens of children into a small room and making them kill one another.
Unlike now, Nameless had been unable to swing the short dagger clutched in his hand, his body trembling like an aspen tree.
He had been unable to overcome the terror of committing murder for the first time, his body completely frozen.
-Anyone who tries to lay a hand on my little brother will die by my hands first.
In those memories, the only thing that sustained Nameless was the back of his brother—someone who, like himself, was nothing more than a lump of flesh and blood, yet desperately tried to protect him.
A presence he could no longer see.
A presence he missed beyond words.
“You’re late.”
At that moment, a low, heavy voice reverberated through the space.
It was a voice he had not heard in a long time, yet was all too familiar.
The Killing Venerable, Hyeong Yeyang.
Nameless’s biological father, and the irreconcilable enemy who had brutally slaughtered his brothers, was gazing quietly at him.
However, he looked completely different from the image left in Nameless’s memories.
Hyeong Yeyang’s eyes were stained blood-red, and from his physical body poured forth the horrifying demonic qi of the Blood Demon.
Just like the Blood Cult’s dogs he had seen on countless battlefields, Hyeong Yeyang had already lost his human form and transformed into a servant of the Blood Demon.
“The promised ten days have long since passed.”
Sewoon’s calm voice echoed through the blood-soaked detention chamber.
The ten days Sewoon mentioned referred to the deadline he had given him during their last meeting.
The words spoken after the battle with the Lee Trading Company in Gansu.
If he did not come to him within ten days—
“If you broke the promise, what you’d receive was your life. So it should be fine for me to take it now, right?”
At Sewoon’s words, Hyeong Yeyang frowned.
Annoyance surfaced in his eyes.
Grinding his teeth as he endured it, Hyeong Yeyang spoke in a cold tone.
“…He is waiting. You go up. The rest of them cannot go up.”
“Hah, a Blood Demon’s dog dares to tell us who can go up and who can’t?”
“!!”
At that moment, it was not Sewoon but Yelü Seung who mocked Hyeong Yeyang with a faint smile.
A deeper, darker fury flared in Hyeong Yeyang’s eyes.
Saaaah!
The demonic qi erupting from his body surged even more violently.
But seeing that, Yelü Seung only sneered as if it were amusing.
“Hehe, looks like even the great Killing Venerable got down on his knees, begging that Blood Demon bastard for power. How impressive.”
“You dare—!”
As Hyeong Yeyang shouted in a maddened voice, Nameless spoke instead.
“What did you give in exchange for that power.”
“……”
Hyeong Yeyang did not answer.
Snap!
He merely flicked his fingers.
Shaaah!
At once, countless anomalies surged up from the bloodstained walls and floor.
Seeing their forms, Nameless frowned.
“So you finally went all the way. You even sold out all your subordinates.”
Though grotesque in appearance, every anomaly still bore a human shape—they were assassins of the Gate of Assassins who had been forcibly altered.
Their eyes were hollow, their bodies grotesquely twisted.
Having lost all reason, they merely growled like beasts.
Hyeong Yeyang had offered up all the assassins of his sect as sacrifices.
Solely for his own desire.
Yet Hyeong Yeyang showed not the slightest trace of guilt.
Instead, he continued speaking shamelessly.
“They were swords made for my sake anyway. As long as the price is properly paid, how I use them doesn’t matter.”
“…!”
There was no sorrow in Nameless’s eyes upon hearing those words.
Only cold fury settled within them.
“Senior Brother, I’ll take responsibility for this one.”
Nameless’s voice was low, but it carried boiling rage and unshakable resolve.
The gazes of the two men crossed in midair.
Nameless’s voice was firm, and his eyes did not waver.
Seeing Nameless’s eyes, Sewoon nodded.
He could guess what kind of storm was raging inside Nameless’s heart.
“Don’t be too late.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll deal with this bastard quickly and follow.”
Pababat!
The moment those words ended, Sewoon led the rest of the group and dashed toward the stairs leading upward.
Dudududud!
To block them, countless anomalies charged madly forward—
“Get lost.”
Puh-puh-puh-pung!
Kwa-ga-ga-ga!
With a casual swing of Sewoon’s sword, the anomalies exploded into fragments and vanished without a trace.
“The only one permitted to enter is Tang Sewoon!”
Sreeng!
In response, Hyeong Yeyang also drew and gripped two daggers, charging toward the group.
It was an attempt to prevent the Poison Demon and the Ferocious Divine Corpse from escaping.
But—
“You’re my prey.”
“…!”
Kwa-ka-ga-ga!
Cha-cha-chaeng!
Nameless stepped forward to block him, swinging the same dual daggers.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of slashes were exchanged.
Like lightning striking down in rapid succession from the sky, sword radiance burst forth.
As he looked at Nameless, Hyeong Yeyang’s gaze was no longer that of a father toward a son.
It was cold, as if Nameless were nothing more than an irritating obstacle.
“You dare…!”
Hyeong Yeyang was enraged.
Having obtained the Blood Demon’s power and cast off all restraints and shackles, Nameless no longer looked like a son to him.
He was merely one of the countless assassins sacrificed for his ambition.
Wooooong!
The daggers in his hands emitted jet-black demonic qi and let out a menacing hum.
The blades were aiming straight to pierce Nameless’s heart.
“I’ll tear you to pieces!”
Hyeong Yeyang’s voice was cold and brutal. His blade surged toward Nameless like a flash of light.
Using the power bestowed by the Blood Demon, Hyeong Yeyang began to overwhelm Nameless.
Shaaah!
Sssreeeek!
The sound of air being ripped apart rang out.
His slashes were no longer the refined assassination techniques of the Gate of Assassins.
They were filled only with madness—overwhelming demonic qi that destroyed everything in its path.
Saaaah!
Hyeong Yeyang’s blade descended toward Nameless like a bolt of light.
Nameless threw his body aside to evade the slash, but—
Kiiiiik!
What struck from behind him was the spatial distortion created by the blade itself.
It was power similar to the Spatial Flash Kill once used by Jo Yangpung.
The severed space itself pressed down on Nameless once more.
Crack!
A horrifying sound of space shattering echoed.
If he failed to evade, his physical body would be crushed and folded apart.
However—
Sssreeeek!!
The sound of air tearing rang out again.
This time, Nameless swung his blade with one hand to cut apart the space itself, while his other hand tore through the twisted spatial distortion, perfectly twisting his body to evade the strike.
‘What?!’
Hyeong Yeyang, unable to believe it, launched a frenzied barrage of attacks.
His blade moved with an almost elegant, dancing grace.
Yet Nameless dismissed every single attack with absurd ease.
Hyeong Yeyang had grown incomparably stronger after inheriting the Blood Demon’s power—but Nameless had also grown far stronger thanks to Sewoon.
“Do you really think tricks like this can defeat ‘us’?”
Pa-aat!
In that instant, Nameless’s blade surged toward Hyeong Yeyang’s neck like a flash of light.
Hyeong Yeyang panicked.
‘What kind of nonsense is this?!’
Just before his blade could touch Nameless’s body, it vanished into nothingness.
Nameless read every one of his attacks, while making his own completely unreadable.
The One Point Kill he had personally watched from training to completion was unfolding in an entirely different form.
‘Reverse…!’
Nameless’s martial art was the Reverse One Point Kill—created by his brother while he was still alive.
A martial art born solely to protect his younger brother and kill Hyeong Yeyang.
Slash!
At last, Nameless’s twin daggers flashed like two streaks of light, severing both of Hyeong Yeyang’s legs.
“Kuaaaargh!”
Thud! Thud!
The severed legs collapsed separately, spilling blood across the floor.
Hyeong Yeyang screamed in agony.
With both legs gone, he could not even stand, collapsing onto the ground like a writhing insect.
Nameless approached the shocked man with an utterly indifferent expression.
“Tell me. Why did you kill my brother?”
“Impossible—khk! No!! This makes no sense!!”
Hyeong Yeyang could not continue speaking.
Only dreadful screams escaped his mouth.
“Tell me. Why did you kill my brother.”
“Ghk—kh! It was all for the Gate of Assassins!!”
How long was he supposed to live a life like a shadow?
As the Killing Venerable leading the Gate of Assassins, Hyeong Yeyang had grown increasingly weary.
Deep within him festered resentment toward that shadowed life, along with a horrifying desire to become the master of the world.
And the Blood Demon fulfilled the deepest desires lurking at the very bottom of a person’s soul, creating servants of its own.
“The Blood Demon promised to raise us to the surface. If you had waited just a little longer, even he would’ve received that blessing!”
“So my brother discovered that you were selling out the assassins of the Gate of Assassins.”
“How could those worthless insects be a reason?! It was merely the sacrifice of the few for the greater whole!! Khk!”
“To cover up abandoning your subordinates for your own desires, those words are nothing but disgusting.”
Puh-thk!
As if there were nothing more worth hearing, Nameless hurled a dagger, piercing straight through the man’s mouth.
At that moment, the image of his brother surfaced in Nameless’s mind.
-Anyone who tries to lay a hand on my little brother will die by my hands first.
To him, his brother had been the only light and hope.
And Hyeong Yeyang had trampled that light and snuffed it out entirely.
Nameless tightened his grip on the blade in his hand.
“Spending any more time on someone like you would make my Senior Brother wait.”
“…Se, Senior Brother?”
With his mouth mangled, Hyeong Yeyang asked back.
Doubt filled his eyes at Nameless’s words.
“That’s right.”
Nameless answered calmly. There was not the slightest tremor in his voice.
With the Gate of Assassins already erased, he must have wanted to ask what he meant.
“Well, he’s not really my Senior Brother. He might not know it himself, but he’s terrible at lying. I knew it was an outright lie the moment I heard it.”
“Ghk, what the—! Khk!”
“But even if it’s a lie, what does it matter. Even without words, sincerity always gets through. Anyway, hurry up and die. I have somewhere to be.”
Nameless looked straight into Hyeong Yeyang’s eyes.
Reflected within them was the shadow of his own past self.
Pa-bat!
Nameless then delivered the final blow.
Slash!
Along with a cold, singular slicing sound—
“To my only friend, and my new brother.”
Hyeong Yeyang’s head rolled limply across the floor.
Nameless silently gazed at the corpse of his father, Hyeong Yeyang.
There was no pity.
Not everyone who gives birth is a parent.
How could someone who sold his own child for greater wealth ever be called one?
“Hoo… that took longer than I expected.”
Nameless turned his head and looked toward where Sewoon had disappeared.
His gaze hardened once more.
There was no longer any need to be bound by the past. He had to walk a new path.
Together with Sewoon.
Holding his blade, Nameless quickened his steps toward the upper floor where Sewoon had gone.
‘The grudge is repaid. Rest in peace there now, Brother.’
His steps were light, and his heart was calm.
Nameless had finally broken free from the shackles of the past.