Chapter 33
"... What a bland guy."
Feeling somewhat unsettled, Jaseong hoisted the unconscious number five youth over his shoulders and exited the cave.
Then, he carelessly tossed him into a nearby thicket.
"... The supervisors can take care of the rest."
After that, Jaseong returned to the cave and ventured to its deepest part. He focused on restoring the internal energy he had depleted with the Celestial Gate Opening Art by operating the Heaven Evading Breathing Technique.
He didn't know when enemies might come again. So he had to restore his dantian's energy as much as possible before that time.
But only half a 2 hours had passed since Jaseong began circulating his ki when—
Footsteps—crunch, crunch—
Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the cave's entrance.
'... Another intruder.'
True to its infamy, the Dark Path Duel Banquet was a relentless succession of battles where one could never let their guard down.
Sensing the presence, Jaseong hurriedly gathered his ki and finished his breathing exercises.
Meanwhile, the footsteps of the intruder drew much closer.
Sriiing!!
Jaseong's eyes snapped open and he instantly sprang up, drawing his sword.
But at that moment, an unexpected scene played out.
"... Hm? There was already someone here...?"
A delicate voice suddenly rang out.
When Jaseong raised his head to locate the source, he saw a girl standing before him—her skin white as dumpling wrappers, with large, gently shimmering eyes.
Her appearance seemed as delicate as a willow branch swaying in the spring breeze.
But the instant he saw her, Jaseong remembered Hyang-I's warning.
'... The strongest opponent I've encountered so far has appeared.'
The badge that the girl received from the chief supervisor, Wolryong, bore the number: [二]. Among the eighty-eight participants, it signified that her internal power was the second highest.
There was another clue to her strength.
When she accepted her number two badge, the people around her had muttered things like:
'Isn't she the famed descendant of the North Sea Ice Palace Lord?'
'They say the North Sea Ice Palace is full of mystical elixirs—maybe that's why her internal power is so overwhelming...'
'But why would the young mistress of the North Sea Ice Palace come all the way here from the distant north?'
North Sea Ice Palace.
One of the four outer powers, the lord of the northern seas.
She was one of the strongest candidates for victory, as Hyang-I had warned.
But Hyang-I had added one more thing about the young mistress of North Sea Ice Palace:
'The young mistress of the North Sea Ice Palace is definitely the one the leader should be most wary of. However...'
'Why are you hesitating like that?'
'If you were to form an alliance with her during the Dark Path Duel Banquet, what do you think would happen?'
'... Forming an alliance?'
'It's almost impossible, but I mention it just in case. The North Sea Ice Palace maintains close ties with various branches of our Hao Sect. Hao Sect the only ones who can quickly deliver news from the Central Plains to the distant north. And every branch of Hao Sect that made an alliance with the Ice Palace has rapidly grown in power.
A prime example is the Black Blood Hall. Its lord formed a deep bond with a North Sea Ice Palace elder, and thanks to that, elevated his branch to the rank of a 'Hall'.'
When he first heard this from Hyang-I, Jaseong was certainly intrigued.
But after actually participating in the Dark Path Duel Banquet, he realized just how difficult that would be.
In this brutal survival duel where everyone was an enemy, forming an alliance with a competitor was impossible.
Unless a very unlikely situation came about.
So Jaseong simply raised his sword.
'If she's number two, she's certainly stronger than the number five I just defeated. I haven't yet recovered enough internal energy to use the Celestial Gate Opening Art again... Maybe I should stall for time.'
Jaseong muttered inwardly and began calculating his strategy.
But in the next moment, something unexpected happened.
Gurgle!
Suddenly, the young mistress of the North Sea Ice Palace vomited a mouthful of black blood.
It was clear at a glance that she had suffered internal injuries.
Jaseong's tension suddenly seemed needless.
With such severe injuries, he could capture her without even needing to use the Celestial Gate Opening Art.
But just as Jaseong raised his sword, an unexpected remark came from the young mistress's lips.
"I'll tell you an interesting story."
"......?"
"If you cut me down with that sword right now, you'll die too."
"?"
"Not by my hand—by that monster outside."
* * *
Monster.
This was the very word the number five youth—whom Jaseong had just defeated—had also mentioned.
'Could the monster that terrified the number five really be outside right now?'
The young mistress spoke again.
"If we make a commotion fighting each other now, that 'thing' outside will surely notice and come running."
"Who is it?"
"Who do you think? Number One."
"......"
"If that monster comes into this cave, both you and I are as good as dead. So... how about an alliance?"
"... An alliance?"
"With your position at the very end, there's no way you could beat me. Even with my injuries, I'm still number two."
"......"
"But if we form an alliance, I'll recover from my wounds within three days and become your ally, helping you safely collect the remaining badges."
... She really thinks I'm a pushover.
Suppressing a wry smile, Jaseong continued the conversation.
"An alliance? How am I supposed to trust that? You might recover and stab me in the back."
"I'll give you this."
The young mistress of the North Sea Ice Palace tossed her badge to Jaseong.
"You see the [二] written on it? That's my badge."
"What am I supposed to do with this?"
"If you don't have your own badge, no matter how many others you collect, you can't win anything, right? So hide my badge somewhere only you know. That way, I'd never dare break our alliance."
Jaseong paused to think.
Entrusting her own badge to someone else.
That much was certainly trustworthy.
'The number five youth did the same, and now this woman too—they're both being chased by that monster outside.
If things go as she says, and if that thing really barges in while we're fighting, that would be trouble indeed.
Right now, I haven't recovered my internal power spent on the Celestial Gate Opening Art...'
And Hyang-I had said it:
That it would be better to form ties with the young mistress of the North Sea Ice Palace than to fight her.
If the Ice Palace became Jaseong's patron, his Hao Sect branch would skyrocket in influence.
As Jaseong continued to mull this over, the young mistress suddenly spoke.
"I'll say this again: if you let me recover, you'll gain a powerful ally. There's no one in this tournament stronger than me except number one, that monster. But if you reject my offer... then I have no choice but to fight you to the very end."
She spoke, slowly raising a chilling killing intent.
Watching her, Jaseong finally concluded his thoughts.
'First, I need to fix that arrogant attitude of hers.'
* * *
Ruler of the North Sea, North Sea Ice Palace.
The girl facing Jaseong, Lee Rin, was indeed the young mistress of that place.
Blessed with both martial talent and beauty from the palace lord, she had received much love since childhood.
She had a compelling reason for coming to the Dark Path Duel Banquet, but regardless of circumstances, with her original skills, she could easily take a prize here.
But right as the tournament began, she ran into an unexpected madman, threatening to shatter all her plans up to now.
'... If only not for that monster...'
Number one, who was stealing everyone's badges with insane might.
Having exchanged sword strikes with him and suffering a severe internal injury, Lee Rin eventually drifted to Jaseong's cave.
Now, her only survival task was to coax the boy before her, buying time to heal.
'... He has no choice but to accept my offer. He's number eighty-eight, the very last. There's no way he'd dare challenge me, number two....'
But right as Lee Rin muttered inwardly, Jaseong suddenly spoke unexpected words.
"You're completely mistaken."
"... Mistaken?"
"Even if you come at me with everything you've got, you still won't beat me."
Jaseong spoke, letting the badges he'd collected spill onto the ground with a rattling sound.
The sight made Lee Rin's eyes widen.
'... He's collected six badges in only two days? Number eighty-eight...?'
That was simply impossible for someone of the lowest might.
And among those badges were the ones belonging to skilled contenders: specifically, numbers twenty-four and twenty-five.
Those were undoubtedly the badges of the Haesa Clan siblings.
Known for their irritating double-team formation, Lee Rin remembered their badges well—yet Jaseong, the supposed weakest, had dealt with them!
"That's not all."
"?"
"I also took down number five. Just now."
"Wh-what...? Number five—the chief disciple of Biweol Gate? You beat him?"
Chief disciple of Biweol Gate.
A name on the list of experts Hyang-I had warned about.
"So that guy was the chief disciple of Biweol Gate. Whatever—by now you should get it. In your current state, you can never beat me."
"......"
Sweat ran cold down Lee Rin's back.
This was wholly unexpected.
'Did he hide his internal power in front of the supervisors...?
But how? At his age he couldn't possibly have reached Mother's level of perfect ki concealment!'
Lee Rin even considered that the man in front of her might be lying.
Her other did say the Central Plains was full of all sorts of con artists.
But when her eyes met Jaseong's, that thought vanished completely.
Whooom—
An indescribable pressure emanated from Jaseong.
It was by no means the aura of a weakling.
Rather, it was predatory—akin to the spirit she'd felt from the white tiger, a mystical beast in the North.
Gulp!
'I can't win... Not in this state....'
Because of that, in that moment, Lee Rin understood perfectly.
Whatever was going on, Jaseong's might was by no means the lowest.
If he wished, he could eliminate her—wounded as she was—on the spot.
"Do you finally understand?"
"......"
"You're in no position to make me any proposals."
"......!"
"Alliance or whatever—it's all up to me now."
"... You're saying I have no choice, then."
"Glad you catch on quickly."
"Then what does the young hero want?"
Lee Rin forced herself to hide her trembling eyes and asked.
But in that moment, Jaseong spoke a word she hadn't imagined.
"A master-servant relationship."
"... What?"
"I'm saying, become my subordinate."
"... Young hero. Do you even know who you're talking to?"
"I know you're from the North Sea Ice Palace. But isn't the Dark Path Duel Banquet a place where neither background nor origins matter—only strength?"
"......!"
"Accept my offer and I'll spare you. If you refuse, I'll have no choice but to eliminate you here and now."
Jaseong spoke, radiating a chilling aura.
At that moment, a "North Sea Ice Palace Subjugation Plan" was taking shape in his head—one that would have Hyang-I shrieking if she heard it.