Chapter 213 : Jaseung, Silences
Chapter 213: Jaseung, Silences
The man who appeared suddenly was wearing a mask, and he was none other than Lee Jaseung.
“Dammit! I am one step late.”
Those words carried a heavy meaning.
“Are you perhaps one of Young Master Yeo’s men?”
Lee Jaseung spoke while radiating a chilling killing intent.
“You should not have come here.”
Those words were more definitive than saying he was one of Yeo Su-in’s men.
As Lee Jaseung took a few steps closer, Killing Shadows began to reveal themselves behind the Shadow Master. Their number reached as many as seventy.
“Is it not you who should not have come here?”
Despite the appearance of such a massive number of experts, Lee Jaseung was not intimidated at all.
“Not at all.”
This time, masked men revealed themselves behind Lee Jaseung. With Mujin and Ma Young-gi at the lead, they were the warriors of the Divine Sword Regiment.
Their momentum was not inferior to that of the Killing Shadows at all.
Their number was a full one hundred. There were many more available, but this was the limit of the number that could be secretly and discretely mobilized within the Murim Alliance’s territory.
Lee Jaseung intended to eliminate all of them.
Since he would kill them all anyway, it did not matter if he revealed his identity, but one could never be too sure in this world. He kept in mind the possibility that someone might escape or watch the scene from the outside.
In this world, even a flying crow could become someone’s eyes.
As the Divine Sword Regiment appeared, the Shadow Master’s expression sank. The skills of those they had dealt with in the mountains were not ordinary. Had it not been for the surprise attack, the sacrifices on his side would have been enormous.
Yet the men before his eyes were radiating an even more powerful aura than those people.
“Yeo Su-in truly dreamed of rebellion.”
From the Shadow Master’s perspective, further doubt was meaningless. He felt regret that when he sent the report earlier, he should have written it as a conviction rather than a presumption.
Killing intent erupted from the Shadow Master’s body. He was someone with immense loyalty toward Yao Hong. His anger was directed at Yeo Su-in, who dared to dream of rebellion and even tried to silence witnesses through murder.
“You filthy traitors! I shall wipe out every single one of you!”
The Shadow Master flew toward Lee Jaseung.
Swish!
The sword of the Shadow Master, who used Rapid Sword techniques, was truly fast. It was as fast as a lightning bolt. If nothing else, he was someone who would not lose to anyone in terms of speed.
However, Lee Jaseung was faster.
Asura sliced through the air.
Slash!
Blood splattered from the Shadow Master’s forearm.
Seeing blood in just a single exchange of moves, the Shadow Master’s eyes widened.
One who used a fast sword was not just fast with the sword. To succeed in an attack, the eyes must be fast and the movements must also be fast. Naturally, such a person could avoid the opponent’s attacks better.
However, he missed Lee Jaseung’s movement just now.
‘He is faster than me!’
The Shadow Master ground his teeth and thrust his sword. It was the maximum speed he could produce.
Lee Jaseung did not retreat and clashed with him.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sword and the dagger collided, creating sparks.
Lee Jaseung was testing the limits of his speed this time.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two quickly exchanged offense and defense. It was a fight so fast that no one other than the parties involved could track it.
While testing his speed, Lee Jaseung naturally tested his new inner Qi as well.
His new inner Qi, worth one hundred and eighty years.
Lee Jaseung’s new inner Qi displayed truly great power. Techniques that were much faster and cleaner than when he had five hundred forty years worth in the past came forth.
Whether it was a technique or inner Qi, one could only know its true value when experiencing actual combat.
In that regard, the Shadow Master was a truly excellent opponent. He was not just fast. He was a slaughterer among slaughterers who had gone through all sorts of hardships. He quickly recovered from the shock that the opponent was faster than himself.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
The Shadow Master’s sword embroidered the air with insane speed.
His attacks were fast yet seasoned.
If someone had seen their dazzling fight, they would have truly been in awe, but no one had the luxury for that. Everyone there was engaged in a life and death struggle.
The Divine Sword Regiment and the Killing Shadows.
There was no great difference in the skills of the warriors on both sides.
However, there were beings who caused the scale of the balanced battle to tip over completely.
They were Mujin and Ma Young-gi.
The two moved through the battlefield while displaying all their skills.
Thwack! Thwack!
Two Killing Shadows fell simultaneously to Mujin’s twin swords.
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
On the other side, Ma Young-gi’s spear was continuously piercing the chests of the Killing Shadows.
The number of people the two killed personally was substantial, but their presence greatly boosted the morale of the Divine Sword Regiment. Naturally, the tide of battle favored the Divine Sword Regiment.
The fight between Lee Jaseung and the Shadow Master was also reaching its end.
As the fight continued, the Shadow Master grew more gloomy.
No matter what move he used, his attacks did not work. He used all the secret techniques he possessed, but they did not work against Lee Jaseung.
He felt despair when he performed a secret move only to see a result no different from a regular attack.
All of his attacks simply vanished.
It felt like watching his own sword melt away after dropping it into boiling lava.
Now only one final move remained. If even this did not work, he would surely die.
The Shadow Master’s form wavered, and he suddenly disappeared into the ground.
Swish.
Lee Jaseung’s form rotated.
Slash! Slash!
Asura and the Dream Phantom sliced through the air in succession.
Blood splattered in the air.
The Shadow Master, with long cuts on his chest and thigh, revealed himself once more. His secret move had been exposed so easily that the term was embarrassing.
“Dammit!”
Instead, it was a move that only left deep wounds.
The Shadow Master could not understand. He could not figure out how Lee Jaseung found the place where he was hidden. It was not something that could be figured out just by having excellent sensory perception.
However, Lee Jaseung found the place where he had vanished as if he had been waiting for it.
There was only one conclusion that could be drawn.
An overwhelming difference in skill.
‘This man is not someone I can face.’
At the moment his will broke.
Lee Jaseung dodged a flying sword and dug into the Shadow Master’s embrace.
Slash!
Asura sliced the Shadow Master’s flank.
Bone was cut and blood splattered, but there was no time to check the wound. This time, the Dream Phantom was stabbing toward his opposite shoulder.
The Shadow Master threw his body and rolled on the ground. His heart had fallen into deep despair, but his body was reacting instinctively.
However, that struggle to survive ended with those few evasions.
Stab! Stab! Stab! Stab!
Asura and the Dream Phantom stabbed his chest in succession. At the moment he bounced off the ground to stand up, he failed to dodge Lee Jaseung’s incoming attack.
The Shadow Master spit out the words he had wanted to say throughout the fight in his final moment.
“...How did he obtain someone like you?”
Before the fight, when he was certain that Yeo Su-in had committed treason, he had this thought.
How could anyone dream of treason unless they were insane?
He could be killed here. However, he never thought Yeo Su-in could kill Yao Hong.
But now his thoughts had changed slightly.
He could somewhat understand why Yeo Su-in attempted a rebellion. If he had obtained such an expert, he might have become greedy at least once.
It was because he had never seen an expert of this level.
Thud.
The Shadow Master collapsed. He was already dead before he hit the ground.
Lee Jaseung immediately joined the fight between the Divine Sword Regiment and the Killing Shadows.
When Lee Jaseung joined the already tilted battle, all the Killing Shadows were wiped out in an instant.
Before even fifteen minutes had passed, the Killing Shadows were annihilated.
There were sacrifices within the Divine Sword Regiment as well. Six died and nine suffered major or minor injuries.
“Dispose of all the bodies.”
At Lee Jaseung’s command, the warriors of the Divine Sword Regiment began to dispose of all the bodies of the Killing Shadows by pouring bone melting powder over them. Of course, they recovered the bodies of their comrades separately.
Sizzle.
The foul smell of melting bone and flesh permeated the area.
* * *
“To think he even sent the Shadow Master. Great Demon, that old man must be pestering the Cult Leader quite a bit.”
Yeo Su-in thought the reason the Shadow Master came here was because of the Great Demon. He thought the Great Demon was pressuring the Cult Leader using the failure of the headquarters’ assault on the Black Way Alliance as an excuse.
Because of that, he was still at ease. He did not consider the Great Demon to be a true enemy.
On the other hand, the First King had a restless expression.
“What is it?”
“That is... I just received word from my fellow brother at the headquarters... I was not going to mention it because the words were so absurd.”
After hesitating for a moment, the First King spoke cautiously.
“He says rumors are circulating that the Young Cult Leader has plotted a rebellion.”
Yeo Su-in was startled.
“Rebellion?”
Yeo Su-in’s expression, which was about to break into an absurd laugh, suddenly hardened.
“Could it be? Is that why he sent the Shadow Master?”
The First King was having the same thought.
“Otherwise, would there be any reason for the Cult Leader to specifically send the Shadow Master?”
Yeo Su-in frowned deeply.
“Great Demon, this man must be truly desperate to die. Framing me for treason?”
However, Yeo Su-in soon snorted.
“Even after serving the Cult Leader for so long, he still does not know him well.”
There was no way such an unreasonable move would work.
“There is no way he would not know that. Has this old man gone senile?”
Yeo Su-in gave a quick command.
“Go and call Do Cheolgi.”
“He is not at the inn.”
“He’s not? Where did he go?”
“He went out a few hours ago and has not returned yet.”
“What? For several hours?”
Finally, Yeo Su-in’s expression hardened noticeably.
Previously, Do Cheolgi had once stayed out all night. Since Yeo Su-in had not looked for him during the night, he did not need to mention it, but Do Cheolgi specifically revealed that fact and apologized, saying it would never happen again. He was a man of such deep loyalty.
Yet he went out without permission again and had not returned?
He did not have a good feeling about this.
Yeo Su-in spoke quickly.
“Go immediately and tell the Shadow Master that I wish to see him.”
“Yes, understood.”
The First King left the room.
Two hours later, the First King returned with unexpected news.
“I cannot get in contact with the Shadow Master.”
“You cannot get in contact? Are you saying he has already left?”
“I do not know about that, but at the very least, his traces have vanished from the vicinity.”
“Mobilize the emergency network and contact him!”
“This is the result after already mobilizing the emergency network.”
It was an incomprehensible matter. The Shadow Master had clearly come here with the mission to take him back. Even if there was a brief conflict, he was not the type of person to just leave.
“Could it be?”
Suddenly, he felt as if something blunt had struck the back of his head with full force.
At the same time, his mind cleared, and the fragments of the minor events that had occurred to him recently began to be pieced together one by one.
Why Baek Seolyoung made such a proposal, why rumors of rebellion had spread, why the Shadow Master had visited, and why he could not get in contact with Do Cheolgi and the Shadow Master.
The tattoo on Yeo Su-in’s face began to grow darker than ever before.
“So these people have been playing with me, have they?”