Chapter 1 : The Seventh Young Master
Chapter 1: The Seventh Young Master
A night when the blue moon rose.
A man was running fiercely through the forest.
He was drenched in blood, but he moved his legs diligently.
“The Blood Ghost, Am Yeong, no, the Death God, must have reached his limit! Pursue him!”
“Understood!”
The name of the man being hunted was Am Yeong.
A man called the Death God for killing the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult and breaking through a Heaven and Earth Net.
His profession was an assassin.
‘The assassination was a success.’
Am Yeong glanced behind him.
The word ‘Demonic’ was clearly engraved on the black martial uniforms of the people chasing him.
He had killed and killed, yet they still followed. They were persistent bastards.
‘Now, if I just return… it will be over.’
Ten years.
It had been a full ten years.
In his childhood, he was raised as a common disciple of the Nine Sect Alliance, learning various righteous martial arts alongside assassination techniques before becoming a spy for the Demonic Cult.
The mission he was given was only one.
— Kill the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
At first glance, it seemed like an easy task.
It was a mission where he only had to kill the Young Cult Leader.
However, there was no such thing as an easy assassination.
‘To think there were as many as seven candidates for the position.’
Since he did not know who would become the Young Cult Leader, he had no choice but to spend time watching their every move.
During that time, Am Yeong became the Vice Captain of the Black Shadow Army.
Starting as the youngest member, it took ten years to become the Vice Captain.
It took ten years for one of the Cult Leader’s seven children to survive and be appointed as the Young Cult Leader.
And today.
‘I killed the Second Young Master, who had become the Young Cult Leader, with these hands.’
— Am Yeong… why did you…
Killing the Second Young Master, with whom he had shared joys and sorrows for ten years, required a great resolution.
“Didn’t you also remove your siblings to become the successor, Young Cult Leader?”
— Heh, it was unavoidable. If they were alive, they would have aimed for my seat.
At the fact that death had arrived, the Second Young Master wore a bitter smile.
— I became the Young Cult Leader with such difficulty, yet I never imagined an assassin aiming for me was hiding like a rat.
The seven children of the Cult Leader were talents who could have secured seats among the Seven Great Demon Sects if only they had not fought over the position of successor.
For Am Yeong, it was truly fortunate.
If the Second Young Master had recruited all the other siblings, the assassination might not have succeeded.
It took twenty years to complete the mission.
Now, all that remained was,
‘Breaking through the Heaven and Earth Net and returning to the Murim Alliance.’
Everything had been smooth so far.
He had crossed Xinjiang, passed through Qinghai and Sichuan, and reached the outskirts of Hubei.
He was covered in blood, but he survived.
Am Yeong moved with the sole goal of survival.
If he survived, he could draw a future.
Am Yeong’s time had stopped at the moment he became a common disciple and was raised as an assassin.
During the period the Blood Ghost grew into the Death God, he survived.
There was only one reason he obsessed over survival like this.
‘I wonder if he grew up well.’
His only younger brother, Wooje, was said to have been adopted into the Namgung Clan and grown into the Sword Emperor.
He heard the name had been changed as well.
To the name Namgung Je.
A promise that he could gain freedom once he returned to the Alliance and reported the completion of his mission.
Believing only in that promise, Am Yeong was returning to the Murim Alliance.
“So you were here!”
The Black Shadow Army of the Demonic Cult, wearing black martial uniforms, appeared before Am Yeong as he moved forward while thinking of the future he would draw.
“Captain. You followed me all the way to Hubei?”
Am Yeong stared with bitter eyes at Gu Won, the Captain of the Black Shadow Army and the practitioner of the Nine Yin Demonic Way.
“Vice Captain, did you really have to kill them all?”
“I am sorry.”
At Am Yeong’s apology.
“Why!”
The Black Shadow Captain’s saber swung.
Nine Yin Under Heaven.
The dark colored powerful Qi unfolding from the blade dyed the whole world in darkness.
The moment the Captain’s saber flashed, Am Yeong’s figure also vanished.
“……”
For now… no matter what he said, the man would not understand.
“If you continue to block me, I have no choice but to kill you as well, Captain.”
In a situation where only a voice was heard from the empty void.
The Black Shadow Captain looked around his surroundings.
Clearly, he was the one who had initiated the attack, yet he was the one facing a crisis.
“Steps of the Killing Soul.”
Footsteps that killed the soul.
It was Am Yeong’s signature footwork.
At the sight of the vanished Am Yeong, Gu Won, the Black Shadow Captain, recalled the reason he had brought Am Yeong to the Heavenly Demon Cult.
“You said you fled while receiving assassin training in a killing sect.”
The Black Shadow Army was a shadow army, just like its name.
Nevertheless, it was filled with guys who were all like tyrants, so he brought Am Yeong to the cult because he thought it would be good to have an assassin like him.
Gu Won simply could not believe that even the desperate appearance Am Yeong showed back then was part of a plan to infiltrate the cult.
“If only I had not brought you to the cult back then.”
The Young Cult Leader would not have died.
The subordinates who moved to chase Am Yeong would not have died.
To sever the future of the Demonic Cult,
To kill the Young Cult Leader,
He really never imagined the man would deceive them for ten years.
The sense of betrayal turned into rage.
However, though he was angry to the top of his head, he had to maintain a cool mind.
It was because he had to find Am Yeong, who had seeped into the darkness.
But he could not find Am Yeong, who was stepping through the Steps of the Killing Soul.
“If I cannot find you,”
Swish!
The Nine Yin Demonic Way unleashed again.
He intended to find Am Yeong by swinging his saber in all directions.
The moment Gu Won’s saber tore the surroundings to pieces.
Thunk.
A gruesome sound of piercing flesh was heard.
Am Yeong, who had appeared behind Gu Won at some point, pierced Gu Won’s chest with a flying dagger.
“Heaven Slaying Thunder…”
It was Am Yeong’s signature killing technique.
Gu Won was not unaware that the number of subordinates who had lost their lives to that flying dagger exceeded a thousand.
“Why were you unable to prepare even though you knew?”
“…I just wanted to defeat you with my saber.”
The Captain was always pressured by Am Yeong, who grew strong at a rapid pace despite being the Vice Captain.
“I thought as much.”
Am Yeong’s innate senses predicted Gu Won’s movements until the very end.
Being able to predict the movements of an assassination target.
That was the talent that allowed Am Yeong to become the Death God.
“I don't think your appearance all this time was entirely a lie.”
With the flying dagger piercing his chest, the Black Shadow Captain spoke.
At those words from Gu Won, Am Yeong clenched his fists.
“From the beginning… I was merely a spy.”
“Are you saying you want to call ten years of camaraderie a lie?”
“I am sorry.”
There were no… lies.
He had simply prioritized his family over the Black Shadow Army, with whom he had shared joys and sorrows for ten years.
“The surviving members… Let them live.”
With those words as his last, Gu Won closed his eyes.
“I am sorry, but I don't think I can keep that promise, Captain.”
“Captain!!”
At the sound of the Black Shadow Army members, who had pursued Am Yeong, shouting as they saw the fallen Captain, Am Yeong looked at those who were once his subordinates.
The Death God, with dry eyes, merely looked at them as prey.
Several hours later, Am Yeong was able to reach the Murim Alliance after breaking through the Demonic Cult’s Heaven and Earth Net.
Drip. Drip.
The blood flowing from his entire body did not stop.
Blood was dripping down and leaving traces, but the current Am Yeong was in a state of exhaustion so great that he could not even think of erasing those traces.
He had already called Zhuge Taek, the strategist of the Murim Alliance, to come out to a safe house in front of the Alliance.
[I have returned after successfully performing a twenty year mission. I have something urgent to discuss, so I hope to see you at the safe house in front of the Murim Alliance. -Number 1.]
If he saw the message, Zhuge Taek would have no choice but to come to the safe house.
It was because Zhuge Taek was the one who gave him the mission twenty years ago.
A mansion in Hubei.
Am Yeong arrived at the Murim Alliance's safe house where he had summoned Zhuge Taek.
A presence was already felt inside.
“It has been twenty years.”
As soon as Am Yeong opened the door and entered, Zhuge Taek muttered as if he were deeply moved.
“Do you still remember me?”
“Of course.”
“Then it is a relief. I have completed the mission… and returned.”
Although he had become a body with not a single spot intact, he returned.
To the place where Am Yeong was originally supposed to be.
Am Yeong stared at Zhuge Taek, whom he met again after twenty years.
Zhuge Taek, the strategist of the Murim Alliance, looked very aged.
He could feel with his skin that twenty years had passed.
The brilliance of the past was not visible, but his eyes were still shining coldly.
“Number 1.”
“…I am Am Yeong.”
“To me, you are merely Number 1.”
“Yes, what does a name matter, the fact that I completed the mission is all that is important.”
He completed the mission to kill the Young Cult Leader and returned after breaking through the Demonic Cult’s Heaven and Earth Net alone.
This was an incredible achievement.
“So then, why did you return?”
However, it seemed this achievement would not be recognized.
With a tone that felt freezing cold, Zhuge Taek was asking.
“Did you not promise? You said that if I completed the mission, you would let me meet my younger brother.”
Now he could meet his brother.
He could make the time that had stopped for twenty years flow again.
“Hmm, I wondered why you were returning, and it was for that reason I see. I had forgotten.”
Forgotten?
When he had lived his whole life for this moment alone?
Am Yeong’s eyebrows twitched.
“It is quite a shame.”
“Pardon?”
The moment he expressed doubt at Zhuge Taek’s words.
Thunk.
Once again, the sound of piercing flesh was heard.
Am Yeong’s eyes trembled as he checked the sword that had come out through his chest.
It was because he had not felt someone approaching behind him at all.
“A spy of the Demonic Cult has truly appeared.”
As he turned around.
He saw a face he could not forget even though twenty years had passed.
“Y-You…”
“Good work, Namgung Je. It could have been dangerous if not for you.”
“No, protecting the key figures of the Alliance is my job.”
Am Yeong looked at his brother’s face with trembling eyes.
“Why…”
Why was Wooje following Zhuge Taek’s orders?
“Well… that’s because we obtained information that the Death God, who killed the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, was moving to kill the Murim Alliance Leader, yes?”
Zhuge Taek approached Am Yeong with a cold gaze.
Then he whispered in Am Yeong’s ear.
— You should not have returned. If you wanted to live, you should have hidden instead of returning to the Alliance. Did you intend to openly advertise that we were the ones who killed the Young Cult Leader?
At Zhuge Taek’s transmission, Am Yeong’s pupils shook.
Cunning Rabbit Dies, Hunting Dog is Cooked.
The hunting dog that achieved its mission was discarded like a worn out shoe.
From the beginning… this was the intention.
“Strategist…”
No, what power would Zhuge Taek have.
The command to discard Am Yeong must have been the will of the master who ruled the Alliance.
The Orthodox Murim, the Master of the Murim Alliance.
“Alliance Leader…”
— Why do you look for the Alliance Leader? The fact that you could live until now, and that your brother became the Sword Emperor, is all thanks to the Alliance Leader.
It was a tragedy.
If only he had not met the Alliance Leader in his childhood, such a tragedy would not have occurred.
“…I will get revenge.”
“Haha, with that body?”
Blood was flowing crazily from his chest.
Even though he felt the strength leaving his entire body.
“Even if I die… I will get revenge.”
Am Yeong stared at Zhuge Taek with bloodshot eyes.
“Get rid of him now.”
— Anyway, I have to thank you, for the lineage of the Demonic Cult has been severed thanks to you.
At those words from Zhuge Taek, the last faces Am Yeong recalled were the Black Shadow Army and the Young Cult Leader candidates of the Demonic Cult, with whom he had shared joys and sorrows for twenty years.
If they were alive, Zhuge Taek would not have been able to be this relieved.
‘Damn it…’
To die like this.
For what exactly had he survived and struggled until now.
‘If there is a next life,’
I will devote my entire life to killing the Alliance Leader and the Strategist.
Thus, Am Yeong, the Death God, met his end at the hands of the younger brother he had missed all his life.
.
.
.
“At least that was clearly how the story was supposed to end.”
“Seventh Young Master, are you alright?”
“I’m not.”
When he opened his eyes again, Am Yeong was able to realize the fact that he had opened his eyes in another person’s body.