Chapter 354: Dark King (4)

Night Assassination Corps.

It was famous as the most dangerous and cruel assassination unit among the countless assassination corps existing in the Central Plains.

Moreover, it was also famous for being separate from official affairs and belonging nowhere.

The assassination corps of the Central Plains are akin to tacit permission.

What this means is.

Although they are clearly groups that take others’ lives for money.

The fact that the Alliance, knowing of such existences, doesn’t bother to apprehend them serves as a kind of proof.

Furthermore.

The fact that the Noble Families, known as the ‘Myungga’, raise assassins and create and use such groups internally.

Is a fact known to everyone in secret.

It’s something that can be seen even among the pillars of the orthodox sects called the Four Great Families.

For example, the Sachedang Family, known as the ruler and master of Sichuan.

The Dangmun family, which primarily deals with poison and iron, wasn’t an orthodox sect even centuries ago.

During the time after the Blood Calamity ended and the Blood Demon disappeared.

Those who considered the achievements of Tang Jemun, the head of the Dangmun family and one of the heroes.

Decided to bring the Dangmun into the orthodox sects.

There was the recommendation of Yeon Ilcheon, who founded the Martial Alliance for the first time and became its leader.

And it was also thanks to Tang Jemun himself agreeing to do so.

After this, the Dangmun operated as an orthodox sect belonging to the Martial Alliance, becoming one of the Noble Families known as the Four Great Families, but.

It hasn’t been that long since they abandoned their unique characteristics.

Martial arts specialized in torture and assassination.

And physical traits honed over long years to match them.

The Dangmun still has many shady aspects, making it questionable as an orthodox sect.

Moreover, even if they stopped such activities and completely turned towards weapon crafting.

There are widespread rumors that their insides might be different despite the outward appearance.

Is that truly just a rumor?

I know.

How the Dangmun operates internally.

Anyway, it means the Dangmun, one of the Four Great Families, isn’t the only one like this.

Not to mention Namgung, and while I don’t know about Moyong Seaga, at least the Peng family is probably using them too.

The Hwangbo Seaga, ranked below them, would likely do the same.

I don’t know about the Gu family.

I believe they aren’t using them, but I wish I knew anything about this damn family.

Even the Martial Alliance, the center of the orthodox sects, is applying assassination units.

This meant that the figure known as the Dark King of the Night Assassination Corps was deified among them.

The King of Assassins.

A flawless being, so perfect that no one would dare object to calling him the ruler of the night.

That is the Dark King (Am Wang).

‘Why would someone like that be here?’

It’s known that no one in the entire Central Plains knows the Dark King’s identity.

How old he is.

Whether he’s male or female.

His height, what his face looks like, what his voice sounds like.

He’s someone whose martial arts aren’t even properly known.

‘I’ve figured it all out.’

It was absurd.

No, it wasn’t quite ‘figuring it out’ when nothing was properly confirmed.

Gender, face, voice – he could hide all of it if he wanted to.

The only thing vaguely known about the Dark King.

Considering his activity period spans decades, it’s estimated he wouldn’t be young.

That’s all that could be known.

Not only is the Dark King here.

Finding me through the Sword Empress was completely unexpected.

Furthermore…

‘The one who intervened at that moment must have been the Dark King too.’

The warrior called the Black Dragon Sword, undergoing an unknown transformation.

The moment he turned into a monster.

The being who appeared momentarily, cut through everything, and saved me was also the Dark King.

Did he come here with a separate objective?

The moment I realized the Dark King’s identity.

The Dark King spoke to me.

-I’ve seen your face, so that’s enough. You may leave now.

Perhaps satisfied that I had figured out his identity, the Dark King said so.

To which I.

-…You’re telling me to leave just because you saw my face? Then why did you call me?

Ah, this damn mouth.

My mouth, unable to shed its old habits, acted recklessly on its own.

It would have been fine if it went through the brain once before speaking, but why can’t I do that?

Only after spitting it out do I realize I’ve caused trouble.

It was dizzying.

At least if I had known who it was, I should have been more careful with my words.

-…

Hearing my words, the Dark King looked at me with eyes that widened, albeit slightly.

What should I say?

Just as I was wondering if I should apologize first.

-Ha.

The Dark King burst into laughter.

-Your way of speaking is just like my grandfather’s.

-…?

Hearing that, I reacted briefly.

Grandfather? Most people who speak to me like that usually think of the same person.

-…Do you know Elder Il-nim?

Elder Il, people associated with that old man usually said things like that.

Does that mean the Dark King is connected to Elder Il?

What on earth was he doing in the Central Plains during his prime to be friends with people like this, that old man…

-Elder Il? Who are you talking about?

-Huh? Aren’t you referring to Elder Gurun…?

-Gurun isn’t your grandfather.

-No, people usually said that…

Wait a minute…?

If the person the Dark King says I resemble isn’t Elder Il…

-…If not Elder Il, then who do you say I resemble now?

To my question, the Dark King replied as if unable to comprehend.

-Naturally, I mean your grandfather. What are you thinking?

He was referring to the previous head of the Gu family, who was known to have died before I was even born.

‘That means… the Dark King knew my grandfather.’

Judging by how casually he said it, it meant he was active in the same era.

Although Elder Il was also from that era.

I hadn’t heard much about my grandfather, so it was novel.

Perhaps finding my subtly changed expression amusing.

The Dark King smiled slightly and said to me.

-I will visit you in the near future.

The Dark King saying he would visit me.

Hearing it, it felt quite strange.

The King of Assassins wants to find me; should I just wait for it?

Just imagining it makes my head spin…

The situation is already a mess, what more could possibly happen here, but…

Ttududuk.

In the quiet night, I stretched alone in the center of the training ground, which was cracked and sunken in various places.

Woooong.

As I focused my will, my internal energy quickly surged up to my upper dantian.

The speed was quite fast.

Vitality bloomed in my tired body.

More accurately, it was erasing fatigue with internal energy and forcibly boosting vitality.

‘It’s definitely increased.’

The efficiency was considerable.

It wasn’t just the five senses that developed upon reaching the Hwagyeong realm.

As the upper dantian was opened and became usable, the efficiency of using martial arts was maximized.

It was the realm I had reached in my past life, the place I had stayed the longest.

Not only did my internal energy increase.

Being able to achieve better efficiency with less internal energy.

And the realm where one can do more is precisely the Hwagyeong.

For a sword cultivator, it means being able to levitate and use a sword detached from the hand in mid-air.

This is called Sword Control Technique (Eogeom Sul), and.

Apart from the sect leader of the Wudang sect, hardly anyone else uses this.

Even if one reaches the Hwagyeong realm, it’s probably because the efficiency is extremely poor.

Hwagyeong is like that.

A realm where things that were impossible become possible.

A few years after regressing.

I had reached a realm that I could only attain using the power of demonic arts in my past life.

‘It’s still incomplete.’

Although it’s the Hwagyeong realm I had reached beforehand in the demonic path.

Because I lost everything I achieved upon returning to this life.

It was lacking compared to back then.

The discrepancy between the realm achieved and the current state could be considered the problem.

This won’t be a major problem anyway.

‘That discrepancy existed from the beginning.’

My body after regression, having lost everything gained in my past life.

I had already experienced the nonsensical emptiness felt back then.

Things like this weren’t a problem.

What’s important is.

‘What I need to do from now on.’

I’ve reached Hwagyeong.

While it’s something that would surprise others.

‘It’s not enough.’

From my perspective, I’m still far from enough.

It’s even more so when I recall the Heavenly Demon I faced.

The Heavenly Demon is an overwhelming existence.

I already knew it from my past life’s memories, but experiencing it again in this life made me even more certain.

I cannot defeat the Heavenly Demon in my current state.

If the Heavenly Demon decided to, I wouldn’t be able to hold on even for a moment.

‘Then what should I do?’

It becomes distant/vague.

I don’t know the realms beyond Hwagyeong in detail.

Although records mention their existence, it’s uncertain how many have reached them.

‘The Three Venerables… did they reach it?’

They are the ones who might have reached it, but recalling that even they were ultimately killed by the Heavenly Demon.

It means I need to at least reach the level of the Divine Sword from my past life.

It was a headache.

Because it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Kuuung.

While lost in thought, I suddenly drew up the demonic energy within my body.

Simultaneously, I felt my heart start beating rapidly, thump-thump.

I felt a hot energy surge from within.

As I felt the demonic energy tie a loop around my heart, I opened my closed eyes.

“…This still seems to work.”

Although I couldn’t see myself, my pupils must have been dyed purple.

I was currently in a state of having activated Demonic Transformation (Mainhwa).

I could feel it without needing to use martial arts.

That I was much stronger now than in my original state.

I checked my physical condition one by one.

Since I couldn’t properly assess it after the battle, I had to check now.

Not just my body, but how it was being applied internally.

And also my mental state, checking each aspect.

‘My body seems strengthened, my internal energy is surprisingly calm. My mind is fine too.’

Furthermore, the biggest gain from becoming a demon now was the ability to return to human form.

That would be the biggest thing, wouldn’t it? I had so many regrets after becoming a demon.

‘If there’s something bothering me…’

I immediately rolled up my sleeves.

There was the anomaly I was experiencing.

The light red bandage tied around my left arm was stained black.

My right arm, which had been bare, now bore an unknown mark.

‘What on earth is this?’

It wasn’t large. At most, about two finger-widths.

The problem was its strange appearance.

It looked like…

‘…reptilian skin.’

That unpleasant texture found on lizards or snakes.

This was definitely a change that didn’t exist in my past life.

‘Why did something like this appear?’

It seemed like a change that occurred upon becoming a demon in this life.

Why did this happen?

‘Do you know anything?’

I asked inwardly. Of course, I was asking the beast.

Wondering if it knew anything.

[Grrr…]

But it only responded in a tired voice, saying it didn’t know.

One more thing I could discern from this.

When I activate Demonic Transformation, the beast inexplicably starts showing signs of fatigue.

[Grrr…]

‘Alright. I’ll observe a bit longer.’

It must be practically begging me to release it quickly.

Although its whining bothered me, I still had more to observe.

Looking at the bandage on my left arm, I spoke again.

“Noya.”

[…]

I tried calling out, but Noya still didn’t answer.

I needed to ask what this bandage was doing tied to my arm… but Shin Noya wasn’t showing any signs of waking up.

“Tsk…”

Clicking my tongue in displeasure, I released the Demonic Transformation.

The heat boiling in my body subsided, and my body felt slightly heavier.

Along with that, I felt a faint, unknown pain in my dantian and heart area.

It wasn’t strong, but… this means.

‘I can’t keep using it indefinitely.’

I’d need more time to see how it was being applied.

‘What’s left…’

There was still much to check.

The most important thing came to mind first.

“…She still hasn’t woken up.”

I thought of Wi Seol-ah, who was unconscious.

Thinking of her, saliva involuntarily pooled in my mouth.

It was due to nervousness.

I acted like a fool even in front of the Dark King, yet thinking of her makes me nervous.

‘What could she have done…’

How did she end up here?

Did she regress like me?

When? Perhaps from the very beginning?

That couldn’t be it; if so, she would have stabbed me before asking if I wanted potatoes.

Since when?

I didn’t know.

And I wanted to know.

The most frustrating thing right now was that there was nothing else to do but wait for her to wake up.

I looked up at the sky.

The pitch-black sky was still the same.

It’s natural for the sky to be dark at night, but the problem was that this sky wasn’t just dark for that reason.

‘Why isn’t it disappearing?’

The Black Dragon Sword had been subdued and confined.

Most of its associates had also been captured.

Of course, there weren’t many survivors.

More than half were killed by me personally.

It seemed like the barrier was preventing support from the Alliance…

“You really know how unfair this is, right?”

“…!”

I was startled by a voice from behind as I looked at the sky.

It was because I hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence at all.

“How could you not come see me even once?”

I wondered how thoughtful she was, that I didn’t even notice her arrival.

“…Ah.”

At my brief reaction, the beautiful woman approaching me frowned sharply.

“Ah? Did you just say ‘Ah’?”

“No, I was busy… I was just about to come see you.”

“Are you calling that an excuse right now?”

The woman firing back, seemingly furious, was Moyong Hi-ah.

Right… I didn’t go see her.

‘I figured she’d handle things well on her own, so I didn’t go.’

I heard news that she was alive.

I also heard she wasn’t injured anywhere, and when I heard she was mingling among the physicians.

‘Her?’

I wondered why that calculating girl was there, but I also felt proud.

The problem was that I didn’t visit her after all that.

“…You’re really too much.”

Seeing my reaction, Moyong Hi-ah put on a sad face and started to whimper.

Wow, I’m screwed. She’s crying…

That cold and aloof ‘Snow Phoenix’ is whimpering before me.

It seems I’ve committed a sin.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“…I suppose so. You didn’t forget me on purpose, did you? If you really did, you wouldn’t be human.”

“…”

“From now on, could you answer with ‘Woof’?”

At those words, I almost blurted something out involuntarily.

“Sorry…”

“…”

Moyong Hi-ah chewed her lips at my continued apologies.

“…I wasn’t usually like this?”

“Huh?”

“My feelings, which were about to melt away at that foolish and trivial apology, seem so insignificant.”

“…”

“I came here intending to curse you out… and I even sought you out first to do it.”

“…Ah… Sor-“

“Don’t apologize. It’s annoying…”

“Okay.”

Is this the first time since my regression?

Moyong Hi-ah getting angry like that.

In my past life, I felt like I saw it every day, every second.

It feels quite nostalgic, in a way.

“Are you laughing now?”

“It’s dark, you must have seen wrong.”

“How could I mistake Young Master Gu’s face?”

“…”

“Ah, this is so annoying.”

As if displeased with her own words, she repeatedly kicked the ground.

It looked like reason and emotion were battling it out.

“…Ha, forget it… I didn’t come here for this…”

“Then, to curse me out?”

“That, but…”

Ah, right.

Moyong Hi-ah, mid-sentence, looked me up and down and asked.

“…Are you injured?”

“No.”

“…I see.”

Was that what she wanted to ask?

“What about you?”

“You ask that awfully quickly. Can’t you tell by looking?”

“…”

This approach was wrong, it seemed.

Moyong Hi-ah, seeing my dumbfounded expression, let out a deep sigh.

“How did I end up fixated on such a loser…”

“Loser…”

“Young Master Gu, you know, right? What will happen from now on.”

“…”

My mouth, about to open at Moyong Hi-ah’s words, shut tightly.

“That doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“To some extent… I am anticipating it.”

“It’s not an anticipation, it’s a certainty, given that something of this magnitude has happened.”

Only then did I vaguely understand what Moyong Hi-ah was trying to say.

“…If we manage to survive this intact, they will definitely hold one. It’s that big of an incident.”

“Mm.”

“An Orthodox Sect Summit. They will surely try to convene one.”

The Nine Orthodox Schools and the Four Great Families.

And the meeting of the Sang clans influencing the Martial Alliance.

A summit that hadn’t been held for decades might be convened due to this incident.

“In that case… will my father come too?”

“He probably will.”

Since the Moyong family is undeniably one of the Four Great Families, the Hundred Skies Sword Master, known as the Hundred Skies Sword Master, will also come.

“Before that happens.”

Moyong Hi-ah gently grabbed my sleeve and said.

I wondered what she was about to say, looking so pitiful.

Just as that question arose.

“Let’s run away.”

“Huh?”

At Moyong Hi-ah’s words, I involuntarily let out a foolish sound.

“Otherwise, Young Master Gu will die…!”

I thought, ‘What kind of bullshit is this?’