Chapter 404: Goodbye!?

My vision was still dark. My blurred five senses hadn’t returned.

How much time had passed? Since my five senses were shattered, it was hard to even perceive it.

All I knew was.

Thwump-!

“Guhk!”

This was the ninth time.

Exactly nine times.

That was how many times I had been killed.

Stumbling from the oncoming dizziness, I collapsed onto the ground.

Blood began to gush from my pierced throat, and for a moment, feeling faint, I lost consciousness.

Just a few seconds like that.

“Hahk…!”

I came to my senses and jolted upright.

What was it just before? It felt like my neck had been stabbed.

Carefully checking my neck with my hand, I felt no pain, nor any wound.

‘…Damn it.’

This sensation was already the ninth time.

Meaning, I had been killed by the hand of the Dark King.

Frowning deeply, I scanned my surroundings.

The surroundings hadn’t changed at all from the plains where I was with the Esteemed Elder earlier.

‘What in the world is this?’

I wondered if perhaps I was experiencing an illusion, but the sensation of my neck being severed and my heart pierced felt too real.

The feeling of my neck being pierced by something sharp just now was the same.

Seeing that, I could be sure. I had definitely died nine times.

The problem was.

‘But how am I alive?’

How on earth am I still alive?

‘Fuck.’

The curse slipped out involuntarily.

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand what the hell was going on.

Esteemed Elder, that damn old geezer… What did he expect me to do, throwing me into a situation like this?

After he disappeared, telling me to just endure it, I had been continuously meeting my death at the hands of the Dark King.

It’s a fucked-up feeling in many ways.

Whether it’s a formation, an illusion, or whatever bullshit, having to endure this shitty situation in the dead of night.

“I really want to quit everything.”

Should I just quit everything, including the Heavenly Demon stuff, and lock myself away in the mountains?

The thought crossed my mind that maybe that would be better.

Grind.

I clenched my teeth.

I knew I couldn’t do that, so it was just a passing thought.

Taking a breath, I turned my gaze.

Tension lingered in my dim vision.

There was something I had to do before I could even assess the situation.

‘Where am I?’

I raised my internal energy sense.

Whether it was residual backlash or something blocking it, my internal energy sense wasn’t spreading properly, but it was still better than doing nothing.

‘Where are you?’

Spreading my senses across every area I could reach, I focused.

Esteemed Elder had said.

This was also part of the training.

And to end this training, I just needed to grab the Dark King even once.

‘Although I don’t know what this training is even for.’

I knew it wasn’t a situation where I could choose not to do it just because I didn’t understand.

I just had to grit my teeth and push through.

“Hooooo….”

I exhaled, filled with heat.

The Dark King kept attacking me, so I was trying to seize the moment to grab him, but…

Crackle-

“…!”

I turned my head towards the direction of the sound. Just as I was about to reach out instinctively.

My vision registered that no one was there.

It was a mistake…

Thwip-!

“Guhk!?”

The pain of a blade digging into my thigh made me scream involuntarily.

Where did it stab from?

It was from behind.

So, was the presence I sensed earlier meant to make me lower my guard?

Even though it was just my thigh pierced, the pain felt unusually intense.

Could this also be the power of the Dark King’s martial arts? I thought I had become quite accustomed to pain thanks to practicing the Two-Winged Heaven Annihilation technique, but…

This was a level that made even me scream.

‘Where are you?’

Still, I judged that moving to capture the Dark King was more important than the immediate pain.

Ignoring the pain in my leg, I tried to turn around and find the Dark King, but…

Crack-!

“…!”

Before that, I felt the tip of the Dark King’s sword pierce my abdomen.

Blood surged up to my throat.

The pain of it digging into my bones made my eyes strain.

Thanks to my dim vision, I couldn’t properly see the Dark King right in front of me.

But.

I still reached out. Because I couldn’t avoid it.

My fingertips reached out, hoping to touch him even slightly, but before my fingers could touch anything, I saw something approaching right before my eyes.

It was the tip of a sword.

Just as I recognized it and tried to move my head.

Stop.

Before the tip of the Dark King’s dagger could pierce my brow. It suddenly stopped dead in mid-air.

It was really just before the tip made contact.

Why?

As my mind was engulfed in questions.

“It’s over.”

The Dark King retrieved the dagger he was holding and took a step back.

I tried to ask him what was over, wondering what he meant.

Swoooooosh-

As if answering for him, the surroundings suddenly began to brighten.

The sky, which had been pitch black until just moments ago, instantly lit up, and I could see the sun rising in the distance.

Seeing that, I thought.

…Day has broken?

‘Then what was that just now?’

It was a space where I couldn’t even see an inch ahead due to the darkness until just moments ago.

To become bright so suddenly… No matter how I looked at it, it was an absurd situation.

‘Could it be….’

Only then did I realize that, aside from the deaths so far, the darkness blanketing the surroundings was also the Dark King’s power.

Thinking that far, goosebumps prickled my skin.

‘What a crazy bastard.’

They said no one could defeat the Dark King once night fell, but this guy could go beyond that and even create night.

Assassins wait for the right time and seek out suitable environments to attempt their kills, they say.

Being able to create the time and place to suit oneself is just too much, isn’t it?

‘…Besides.’

My thigh, which had just been pierced, was perfectly fine, without a single scratch.

It was the same with the previous deaths, but this phenomenon was utterly baffling.

‘Should I even call this martial arts?’

I thought it was closer to a formation technique than martial arts.

Because the pain was too vivid to dismiss it as a mere hallucination.

Could this really be called training?

It seemed more like torture than training.

‘Though, it’s a bit too clean to be called torture.’

The method of leading to death was so clean that it was hard to call it torture.

I swallowed hard and looked at the Dark King.

“That’s all for today.”

The Dark King said so and disappeared, scattering like mist before my eyes.

He seemed to indicate that no further conversation was necessary.

Only after confirming that could I let out a sigh of relief.

“…Is it really over?”

They said this training only proceeds at night.

Is that why the Dark King disappeared as soon as morning arrived?

This means.

“So, I have to do this every night?”

I have to be killed like this by the Dark King until every morning comes?

“…”

Thinking that far, I pondered.

‘Should I really just quit everything and run away?’

I had to seriously consider that.

---

While Gu Yangcheon was seriously contemplating desertion.

The Dark King had arrived somewhere in the forest with light steps.

As he revealed himself, upon arriving at his destination.

“You’ve arrived.”

Esteemed Elder was sitting casually on a rock, drinking alone.

Seeing that there were two cups, it seemed he already knew the Dark King would come here.

Esteemed Elder tossed a cup towards the arrived Dark King.

The cup flying through the air suddenly changed direction, slowed down, and landed right into the Dark King’s palm.

Seeing that, Esteemed Elder chuckled wryly and said to the Dark King.

“You could have just caught it, why exert effort there.”

“This is more comfortable.”

“Tsk tsk.”

The Dark King, having received the cup, slowly approached and plopped down next to Esteemed Elder.

Gulp gulp-

Esteemed Elder, without a word, poured wine into the Dark King’s empty cup and looked at him, asking.

“How was it?”

There was no need to ask what he was asking.

The conversation they needed to have was already decided.

Esteemed Elder was asking about the time Gu Yangcheon and the Dark King had spent together.

Hearing the question, the Dark King took a sip of wine and gave his answer to Esteemed Elder.

“He’s a strange one.”

“Oh?”

At the Dark King’s answer, Esteemed Elder’s eyes sharpened.

It was an answer rarely seen from the Dark King, who usually only spoke in terms of good or bad.

“Strangely calm, that’s what he is.”

The Dark King recalled Gu Yangcheon.

Esteemed Elder might not know, but Gu Yangcheon was already a young man the Dark King had taken an interest in.

Someone with talent worthy of history?

That wasn’t the kind of story that particularly interested the Dark King.

The reason the Dark King was interested in Gu Yangcheon was…

He possessed something similar yet different from himself, and moreover…

He might hold the key to unraveling the curse of the Yeon family that was entangled with him.

Most importantly.

‘Taechon is interested.’

He was certain that the being the Dark King was pursuing so relentlessly had taken an interest in Gu Yangcheon.

Not only that.

The reason the Dark King was telling Esteemed Elder that Gu Yangcheon was strange wasn’t anything else.

‘He doesn’t change at all.’

Around the third time he died by my hand.

Gu Yangcheon’s action was surprisingly an attempt to capture me.

Up to this point, it was understandable.

Since the training was said to end the moment he captured me, that must have been why.

However.

‘He tried until the very end.’

Until the sun rose and the training ended, Gu Yangcheon continuously attempted to capture the Dark King.

If you ask what the problem was.

During the nearly ten deaths he suffered.

From beginning to end, Gu Yangcheon showed no fear of death whatsoever.

The Dark King could feel it.

Gu Yangcheon tried his best to sense the Dark King’s presence.

And repeatedly attempted to capture him, showing no signs of fear or exhaustion.

An ordinary person would be terrified or beg for their life in such a situation.

Even if one were to die and come back to life repeatedly.

Gu Yangcheon’s attitude was something rarely seen.

Even for the Dark King, the King of Assassins.

It was strange.

One might say warriors have a high threshold for endurance.

But Gu Yangcheon felt slightly different.

He was completely unfazed by death and pain. Disturbingly so.

‘And.’

The Dark King’s gaze, which had been on Gu Yangcheon, shifted towards Esteemed Elder.

“You already knew, didn’t you?”

“Hm?”

Esteemed Elder looked at the Dark King as if asking what he meant.

But the Dark King was already certain.

That Esteemed Elder already knew everything about Gu Yangcheon’s strangeness.

‘Is that why he asked me for this favor?’

Did Esteemed Elder truly know his disciple was in such a state, and therefore decided this kind of training was acceptable?

If that were truly the case.

‘You are still wicked.’

He knew that when it came to achieving martial arts, Esteemed Elder also fell outside the normal range.

A master who entrusts his disciple to the Dark King’s hands, employing such brutal training methods from the start.

Or a disciple who calmly endures it and seeks a breakthrough instead of complaining.

In the Dark King’s eyes, both were peculiar individuals.

Thinking thus, the Dark King shifted his gaze from Esteemed Elder to his wine cup.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

Whatever their circumstances, the Dark King didn’t care.

Just as they had their own goals, the Dark King only needed to achieve his.

This was no different from acting merely because he received a request.

Having thought that far, the Dark King spoke to Esteemed Elder.

“Just don’t forget about the favor.”

“Yeah, I won’t forget, so don’t worry.”

Esteemed Elder replied to the Dark King with a look of exasperation and stood up.

There wasn’t much wine left, and he had watched the situation all night, so now he had to go train himself.

“Ah, right.”

Just before leaving, Esteemed Elder looked at the Dark King and asked.

“How long do you think it will take? Until that kid succeeds.”

“…”

To Esteemed Elder’s question, the Dark King looked at him with a peculiar gaze.

How long would it take for Gu Yangcheon’s hand to reach the Dark King?

To this question, the Dark King seemed about to ponder for a moment, then…

“In his current state, it’s impossible.”

He answered in a very firm voice.

“So decisive.”

“You’d be better off finding another way.”

It might be too soon to judge based on just one day.

With Gu Yangcheon’s current approach, even if he died and came back to life, he wouldn’t reach the Dark King.

He didn’t know what intention Esteemed Elder had in preparing this training, but at least that’s how it seemed to the Dark King.

However, despite the Dark King’s firm denial, Esteemed Elder just kept smiling.

The Dark King did not like that smile of Esteemed Elder’s.

Usually, when Esteemed Elder wore that kind of smile, unexpected accidents were bound to happen.

“Well, let’s leave it at that. Anyway, please continue to take care of him.”

“…”

The Dark King then ignored Esteemed Elder’s words and disappeared.

Confirming that, Esteemed Elder also moved his feet.

As he walked, he thought.

‘Impossible.’

The Dark King had said it was impossible for Gu Yangcheon to reach him, but Esteemed Elder thought slightly differently.

‘I don’t think it’s entirely impossible.’

Although he hadn’t watched him for very long, Gu Yangcheon was a kid who always showed more than expected.

Wouldn’t this time be any different? Esteemed Elder harbored such expectations.

---

Time was around noon, approaching from morning.

Just before the carriage was set to depart again, after a quick breakfast, I was training.

The fatigue from the hellish night hadn’t completely worn off, but I couldn’t skip training because of it.

Thud.

Amidst that, upon hearing the news of Pae Woo-cheol’s arrival, I decided to take a short break.

I put down the huge boulder I was holding and asked Pae Woo-cheol again.

“Who arrived?”

“Someone from the Moyong family has arrived.”

“Ah, so they’re finally here.”

Hearing that, I nodded.

It seemed they arrived from Moyong Hi-ah’s side.

They were supposed to join us in a few days. Did they arrive in just one day?

It had been a while, so I thought I should go see them first.

“Ghhhuuuu…”

I saw Cheol Ji-seon lying on the ground, exhaling tiredly.

Pae Woo-cheol, seeing that, looked at me with a strange expression and asked.

“Um… Brother Ji-seon, how did he end up…”

“He just looked so frail, so I thought I’d give him some training, and look at him now. Tsk tsk, what a weakling for a guy.”

“Ah, yes…”

“If you want to train too, you can do it here. You’d be a good match for him.”

At my words, Pae Woo-cheol glanced somewhere. There.

Hooook-! Hooook!

There was Woo Hyuk, moving relentlessly while holding something slightly smaller than the boulder I was holding.

Despite sweating profusely, he moved steadily as if there was no need for rest.

Even that appearance looked cool, perhaps because of his handsome face.

Meanwhile, I looked like a drowned rat covered in sweat. The world is truly unfair.

He even trains diligently; except for the fact that he’s a Daoist who eats meat and has a damn annoying personality, there’s nothing lacking about him.

Ah, maybe those first two things are major flaws.

But since he said he has a fiancée anyway, maybe it doesn’t matter much.

Even if I looked for things to criticize, his looks seemed to cover most of it. I really, disgustingly disliked him.

“Damn it.”

“Yes?”

“I wasn’t talking to you. So, can I go now?”

“Ah, yes… But, um…”

Pae Woo-cheol looked at me with an unreadable expression, as if he had something more to say.

“Besides Miss Moyong, it seems another person has arrived.”

“One person? Who?”

At Pae Woo-cheol’s words, I tilted my head.

Who else came besides Moyong Hi-ah?

Judging by Pae Woo-cheol’s tone, it probably wasn’t a servant, so could it possibly be the White Heaven Sword Master?

‘No, no matter how irresponsible that old man is… he wouldn’t come all the way here.’

I reasoned that the head of a prestigious family, a famous clan at that, wouldn’t follow his daughter here.

Of course… considering that old man’s personality, I wasn’t entirely sure.

As I looked at Pae Woo-cheol with a slightly worried expression.

Pae Woo-cheol told me the identity of the companion.

Ah, thankfully, it wasn’t the White Heaven Sword Master.

It was just someone far more unexpected.

“Senior White Lotus Sword has arrived.”

“Huh…?”

At the unexpected name that came from Pae Woo-cheol’s mouth, I had to wear a dumbfounded expression.

…Why is that lady’s sobriquet showing up here?