Chapter 479: I Tried to Handle It as Quietly as Possible

TL: FoodieMonster007

The intruders were assassins. I had faced many assassins before my regression, so I knew their unique presence.

A killing intent devoid of emotion.

Was it because they weren't killing out of resentment or hatred for their target? Or was it because assassins undergo training to eliminate their emotions from the very beginning?

Their killing intent is subtly different.

If I noticed it, then Hwi would have noticed it too. No, since it was a matter of detecting intruders, he probably noticed it even faster than I did.

Since I had stepped forward, he would be watching the situation while concealed near our father's residence.

Of course, if I and Hwi had noticed, then Father would naturally be aware of the intruders' presence as well. The Heavenly Demon Defense Art, having reached complete mastery, would have naturally alerted him to the danger.

Just trust me and go back to sleep. Getting blood on those pajamas wouldn't suit you, would it?

I quietly opened the door and went out into the courtyard. Standing there, I stared into the darkness, made a shushing gesture again, and whispered.

"Father's sleeping, so let's fight quietly."

However, as if no one was there, no one revealed their presence. The only sound was the chirping of insects. If Father were awake, he would have surely said this.

You're the loudest one here!

A smile formed on my lips as I thought of that.

Just then, as if in response to my words, someone hiding in the darkness ahead revealed a faint presence.

It wasn't a mistake.

Once I realized they were hiding, he revealed his position, making himself the bait. The other assassins around would be holding their breath, waiting for me to attack him.

This is what makes assassins so terrifying.

Assassins are trained with the mindset that as long as one succeeds, it doesn't matter if everyone else dies. Therefore, while they are many, they are also a single assassin.

Since the enemy has thrown out bait, it's only polite to take it.

I launched myself toward the assassin who had revealed his presence. I moved swiftly, but there was no sound of wind. Like movement in a world where sound had vanished, my movement arts were smooth and silent.

The opponent did not evade, revealing himself from the darkness. A black mask, black clothes, and even black shoes. He was camouflaged in black from head to toe.

The saying that an assassin whose cover is blown is as good as dead didn't seem to apply to this one.

He was bait, but he was also not bait.

His movements were exceptionally fast and precise. He was skilled enough to kill even a decent expert in a direct confrontation. He was a man who had properly learned martial arts, to the point that it felt like a waste for someone of his skill to be an assassin.

That was probably why he was the one to reveal his presence. To allow the other assassins a chance to strike during the fight, he had to be able to hold his own in a direct clash.

Of course, I didn't give him that chance. To avoid the sound of swords clashing, I settled the fight in a single blow.

The moment his sword flew toward my face, my form vanished from that spot.

Using the Shadow Step, I was behind him.

SHUNK!

Even though the sword pierced through his back and protruded from his chest, he desperately suppressed a scream. He was a man trained to make no sound under any circumstances. This alone made it clear. They were truly well-trained assassins.

They must have spent a fortune to hire these guys.

With the first assassin dead so quickly, no one else dared to step forward. They hadn't gotten a chance to launch a surprise attack.

They'll be waiting for the next opportunity, won't they? The moment I let my guard down, thinking there was only this one intruder. If I were to search the corpse's clothes to identify him, a fatal barrage of attacks would pour down.

Of course, I didn't move as they wanted.

I caught the body of the falling assassin to prevent any sound and laid him down quietly. Then, I looked into the darkness ahead and made a shushing gesture.

It wasn't aimed at just anywhere. A web-like energy extending from my body had already taken control of the area. This shush was directed toward the spot where the vibrations of that web were the strongest.

The assassin, realizing his position had been discovered, immediately shot out and flew toward me. It was a one-hit-kill attack filled with killing intent, disregarding all defense for the sole purpose of killing the opponent.

SWISH.

The incoming sword grazed past my face. My eyes, reflected in the blade, held no emotion.

SWISH! SLICE!

The Black Demon Sword created a single straight line as it slashed his chest. The opponent instinctively twisted his body to dodge, but two-thirds of his chest, along with his heart, had already been sliced away.

I had cut him so quickly and sharply that he met his death without even a moment to feel the pain.

I was once again moving through the air without a sound.

SHUNK!

My sword pierced through a tree, as smoothly as if it were sinking into tofu, but faster than any swift sword.

The assassin hiding behind the tree was impaled, but again, there was no scream. Instead, as he was dying, he grabbed the blade with both hands.

How could a dying man possibly hold onto my Black Demon Sword?

I pulled the sword out and shot up the tree. The fingers of the assassin gripping the sword were severed and scattered in all directions.

A flash of sword light glinted in the darkness.

SHUNK! SHUNK!

There had been three assassins on the tree from the start. Who would think that three would be clinging to a single tree? It was a tactic of feint and reality, but they couldn't escape my energy, which had spread out like a spider's web.

By the time the two assassins, who had been clinging to the tree like cicadas, fell and landed on top of the first corpse, I was already landing in front of the wall a dozen paces away.

As expected, the Black Demon Sword sank smoothly into the wall.

SHIIIIIIING!

With the sword embedded, I slid along the wall. As if gliding on ice, my body moved swiftly along the wall. Simultaneously, the Black Demon Sword sliced horizontally through the wall.

The bodies of the assassins who had been holding their breath while leaning against the other side of the wall were bisected and collapsed.

I could feel the assassins' shock and bewilderment.

Judging by their skill in concealment, they must have been assassins who had earned their reputation by killing countless people. They would have returned from every commission without failure, having killed their target.

But today, they were falling one after another without being able to put up a proper fight.

There's a traitor!

Since their positions were being pinpointed so accurately, wouldn't they be thinking something like that?

I finished them off with swift efficiency. These were people who came with the intent to kill me, my father, and Hwi. They were people who killed for money. There was no reason for me to hesitate.

As I landed on the roof, hidden weapons came flying.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

I ran, weaving through the hidden weapons. There was no sound of footsteps as I ran across the rooftop. In the blink of an eye, I reached the other end of the roof, and the assassins who had thrown the hidden weapons fell to the ground.

Despite the fall from a high place, there was no thud. Just before the bodies hit the ground, I used telekinesis to prevent any sound.

As I continued to find them in their hiding spots, the assassins could no longer hold out. They attacked first. From a treetop and from the darkness to my left, two assassins attacked simultaneously.

This time, I used the Hell Step. My target was the assassin charging from the left.

The assassin, who had driven so many to their deaths, could not stop this deathly footwork, just like the many who had died by his hand.

As he collapsed, spewing blood from his neck, the assassin who had dropped from the tree was throwing hidden weapons.

WHIZ! SHUNK!

A hidden weapon and a dagger missed each other in the air. The hidden weapon vanished into the distant darkness, and the dagger I threw disappeared into black clothes.

An assassin appeared from behind a stone lantern, a hidden weapon in his hand. It wasn't a hidden weapon meant to be thrown like a dagger. It was a cylindrical device that fired poison needles with great force.

FLASH!

I rushed toward him with the Vanishing Step.

SLICE! SLICE!

Before he could fire the hidden weapon, his wrist and neck were severed in succession.

"I thought we agreed to fight quietly?"

If the hidden weapon had been fired, there would have been an explosive sound. Assassins of this caliber rarely use such loud hidden weapons, which meant the situation was that desperate.

One assassin spread a net and lunged at me.

It was the Wire Net used by assassins. This dense wire mesh was a special net that couldn't be easily cut by swords, not even with sword qi. If it were fixed somewhere, it could be cut with sword qi, but being caught in it during a real fight would cause a moment of panic and flailing.

At that moment, another assassin flew past overhead, cutting through the darkness.

SHIIIIIIING!

What he scattered was Bone Dissolving Acid. It was a vicious move, intending to trap me in the net and melt me. Their coordination was so perfect that the two assassins moved as one.

With two slashes, the net was split into four pieces, and by the time the Bone Dissolving Acid poured down, I was no longer there.

SHIIINK!

The moment I slit the throat of the assassin who threw the net, the one who had passed overhead fell to the ground far away. A dagger I had thrown was already embedded in his neck. Of course, he too fell silently thanks to my telekinesis.

It was right then.

SWOOOOOSH!

A sword shot up from the ground, grazing past my face.

It was the masterstroke of a hidden assassin. This very assassin had dug a tunnel and had been waiting at this exact spot.

This powerful strike told me everything. Among all the assassins I had faced so far, his skill was the greatest. This attack was the core of tonight's ambush.

But that was their problem.

To me, he was just an assassin who had failed to kill me, and probably the one who had killed the most people. My sword was already buried deep in him, from his shoulder downwards.

At the last moment, he tried to scream. I couldn't tell if he intended to ruin the end of this quiet battle, or if he truly couldn't bear the pain of being stabbed from shoulder to viscera.

But my hand was faster. I clamped my left hand over his mouth and then pulled out my sword.

As the sword was withdrawn, he spewed blood and died. Half of his body was still in the pit in the ground.

I released my energy to survey the surroundings. There were no more living or hiding assassins in the courtyard.

I slowly walked back and entered the building.

An assassin crawled along the ceiling. There weren't many rooms left to the target's location. The situation outside was not good.

Even below the ceiling he was currently crawling on, he could hear the sounds of swords slashing and flesh tearing. He couldn't see it, but he knew instinctively. His comrades were dying.

He sensed that the success or failure of today's commission rested on him.

This is actually better.

He would get to keep all that money for himself.

I'll be the one to kill him.

He moved little by little, very, very slowly. The true skill of an assassin was to infiltrate without a trace, to endure for a few hours without being detected, and to decide the precise moment to eliminate the enemy.

In that respect, he was the most patient among all the assassins who had come today. All he had to do was get right above the target's head.

No one could block a poison needle fired silently from the ceiling in their sleep.

Moreover, it wasn't just any poison needle. This needle, as fine as a strand of hair, was a special hidden weapon that could kill without the victim even knowing they had been struck. It was a needle so thin that even a later autopsy wouldn't be able to determine where the victim was hit to be poisoned.

To check how far he had come, he made a small hole in the ceiling.

The moment he looked down through the hole.

He was utterly startled.

Someone from below was looking up at the hole.

The next moment.

SHUNK!

A sharp sword pierced upwards, running through the assassin's neck.

The one who killed him was Hwi.

Blood trickled down from the hole in the ceiling. Just then, a voice came from behind.

"It's raining quite a bit in here."

Geom Mugeuk, who had stepped inside, looked at the blood dripping from the ceiling. There were corpses lying in the hallway as well. All the assassins who had approached from the rear, as well as those inside the house, had been eliminated.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm fine as well."

I was certain that even if I hadn't been here, Hwi could have handled today's intrusion all by himself.

Assassin and bodyguard.

In that predator-prey relationship, Hwi was at the very pinnacle of predators to assassins.

A martial artist might be able to kill me, but an assassin never will.

Hwi had that kind of pride.

Just then, a presence was felt from the room.

"Father is awake. Let's go in."

Geom Mugeuk and Hwi entered the room. Geom Woojin had risen from his bed and was pouring cold tea from a kettle on the table.

"I tried to handle it as quietly as possible. I apologize."

At Geom Mugeuk's words, Geom Woojin turned his head to look at his son.

"All I heard was your voice."

Geom Mugeuk smiled. This is what I wanted to hear.

"That was me holding my tongue as much as I could."

A faint smile appeared on his father's lips.

Hwi reported to his father.

"The intruders are assassins."

The faint smile on his father's lips vanished. He was a man who disliked the Poison King and the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme, so how could he possibly like assassins?

Geom Mugeuk asked Hwi.

"Have you identified where they're from?"

The Heavenly Demon bodyguard captain Hwi was the person most knowledgeable about the assassins of murim. The more famous they were, the better he knew them.

As expected, Hwi knew who the opponents were.

"Based on their attack patterns, they are assassins from the Hell Mansion."

The Hell Mansion.

It was one of the three great assassin organizations of murim, a symbol of infamy and terror.

The moment Geom Mugeuk heard the words 'the Hell Mansion', one person came to mind.

He had many titles.

The ultimate assassin, born with a natural talent for murder.

The ruthless assassin who killed his own father, the head of the Hell Mansion, and took it over.

The man who would later unify the world of assassins and become the king of all assassins.

The god of death, said to be able to bring back the head of Yama himself.

But the most meaningful title to Geom Mugeuk was this one.

The Fourth King of the Twelve Zodiac Kings, the Death King.

He didn't know the current situation, but he had a gut feeling that he was behind this incident with the Golden Dragon Clan. Where there is money, a blade is sure to follow.

The Death King.

He couldn't let his guard down. None of the Twelve Zodiac Kings were easy opponents, but the Death King, in particular, had to be handled with caution. He was a man born with the greatest talent for killing, a man who would use any means necessary.

The wind blowing in from the window carried the hot stench of the dead assassins' blood.

With a deepened gaze, Geom Mugeuk said calmly.

"It seems a lot of blood will have to be shed this time."