Chapter 29. The Skilled One and the Man with a Knack for It (4)
“He is carrying the child!”
“Attack from every direction!”
“He barely survived falling from a cliff!”
“There is nothing to fear!”
It was strange.
Terrible pain attacked every part of my body.
Skilled assassins approached from every direction.
My breathing had already become heavy.
My injured bones and muscles creaked whenever I moved.
Yet strangely, my mind remained perfectly clear.
Was time slowing?
Or had my concentration exceeded its limits?
The assassins seemed to move extremely slowly.
“People pushed into extreme situations sometimes display abnormal abilities.”
“Some call it the State of No Self.”
Was this what Master had called the State of No Self?
I did not know.
But it did not matter.
No matter how damaged my body was, if I remained in this state, I could kill every one of them.
Clink.
I pulled the chain-sickle from my waist.
The familiar sound of metal reached my ears.
“Die!”
I swung the chain.
Considering my condition, the power and speed were better than expected.
Was it thanks to the Demon Transformation Pill the Deputy Leader gave me?
I did not know.
But the sensation traveling through my fingertips gave me one certainty.
Right now, I was sharper than I had ever been in my life.
“...Good.”
Pleasure surged through my mind like a violent wave.
It created a strange sense of omnipotence.
That feeling erased the pain throughout my body.
Even in this hopeless situation, the corners of my lips naturally rose.
“Good!!”
The two ends of the chain-sickle carried a blade and a heavy weight.
I swung the chain with a shout.
The sickle cut an enemy's throat.
The weight crushed another man's skull.
The strength and speed behind my chain-sickle were far below normal.
Yet every path of the weapon was twice as deadly as usual.
“Damn it!”
“Do not lower your guard!”
“He is a master comparable to the Unit Leader!”
“He is still a half-dead corpse!”
“Keep pushing!”
Hahaha.
The enemies never seemed to stop.
Where had I seen this before?
Ah.
I remembered.
Fourteen years ago.
When I was trapped in the Martial Alliance's Heavenly Net.
Supreme masters appeared one after another.
Nameless martial artists came like endless ants.
Bloody chunks of flesh had scattered like flower petals.
My nose became numb from the overwhelming smell of blood.
Fourteen years.
It had been fourteen years since enemies came in endless waves to kill me.
“Waaaaah!”
Won Kang cried loudly on my back.
His crying continuously revealed my location to the enemies.
It did not matter.
Surviving a Heavenly Net happened to be one of my specialties.
“Keep crying, Young Master!”
“Let more enemies find us!”
“That way I can kill them all!”
My feet moved forward.
My hands continuously swung the chain-sickle.
With every step, the weapon repeatedly occupied the space ahead of me as though shaving it away.
Blood and organs sprayed through the air.
I did not know how many I had killed.
At some point, the assassins who had attacked without hesitation began showing fear.
One called me a monster and fell backward.
Another seemed to lose his mind from terror and began crying while begging for his life.
“Look, Young Master!”
“They are crying too!”
Even those terrible assassins could not help but cry inside this hell where the chain-sickle scattered blood and flesh like flower petals.
So you should not be ashamed.
Cry as much as you want.
“S, spare...”
Slice.
Crack!
The sickle cut through the throat of the man begging for his life.
The weight smashed his skull immediately afterward.
Excitement rose through my brain.
“Hahahahaha!”
Laughter erupted like a volcano.
What would those bastards think if they saw my face in this bloody battlefield?
I did not know.
Honestly, I no longer cared much whether my face was exposed.
“M, monster!”
“He is a monster!”
“Run!”
“We cannot defeat him!”
The assassins began running.
Where would they go?
A frightened pack of animals would naturally gather around its leader.
Should I chase them and find the leader?
...No.
My goal was survival.
I first needed to confirm Hyeonri's safety.
“Hold tightly, Young Master.”
“We are climbing the cliff.”
For now, I could only hope this awakened state that erased my pain would last as long as possible.
The cliff was lower than expected.
Thanks to that, I climbed back without too much difficulty.
However, the one waiting for us above was not Hyeonri.
It was a man in black.
“Drop your weapon.”
“We have captured Madam Hyeon.”
They captured Hyeonri?
Why?
Their goal should have been to kill both Hyeonri and Won Kang.
Why take her hostage?
Was capturing her alive the goal?
No.
If that were true, they would not have dropped the carriage from the cliff in the first place.
“Drop the chain-sickle and follow me.”
“If you refuse, Madam Hyeon dies.”
They were trying to lure me.
They did not only want Hyeonri and Won Kang.
They wanted to kill me too.
My ninety-percent certainty became one hundred percent.
The archer who dropped our carriage was definitely connected to the rebel mastermind who had interfered with me in the Great Desert.
“Are you deaf?!”
“Drop your weapon, or Madam Hyeon dies immediately!”
Crack!
I swung the weighted end of the chain-sickle.
The man's head exploded.
Idiot.
If you wanted to threaten someone with a hostage, at least show the hostage.
These bastards clearly did not have a knack for threats.
“I, it is... fine...”
Won Kang suddenly spoke in a trembling voice.
“Young Master.”
“What do you mean?”
“You do not... have to save Mother...”
“I will not blame you!”
Won Kang continued while sobbing.
“You do not need to throw away your life for us!”
“S, so...”
“Even if you abandon Mother, I will not blame you!”
“Leave me here too!”
“I will somehow save Mother by myself!”
What a good child.
Even in this situation, he was worried about my life first.
Only a child could say something so reckless.
But those bastards were targeting me too.
Even if I abandoned Hyeonri and Won Kang, they would continue chasing me.
And in my current condition, a long pursuit was the worst possible option.
“Young Master.”
“I am sorry, but I cannot promise my body will survive long enough to escape their encirclement.”
“W, what?”
“If I run now, there is a chance I escape alone.”
“But what if I collapse before leaving Layered Bone Gorge?”
“Then we will be like animals trapped in a snare, struggling until we die.”
A path to life always exists at the end of a road of death.
I needed to kill every enemy while my body could still move.
That was the only way to survive.
Divine Art of Painlessness.
Damn.
Master had told me never to use this technique during battle.
But there was no choice.
If I wanted to kill every enemy in this condition, I would have to risk my life too.
“Leader.”
“Will that man really come to save this woman?”
The black-clothed men guarding Hyeonri asked Silent Arrow in confusion.
By their understanding, abandoning Hyeonri was obviously the correct choice.
But Silent Arrow was certain.
Bi Anso would come.
“He knows.”
“His only path to survival is not running away.”
“It is killing every one of us.”
“Do you truly think so?”
“He is an excellent assassin.”
“He thinks similarly to me.”
“I would bet on it.”
“He will come to kill every one of us.”
Silent Arrow smiled while checking his weapons.
A bow.
Throwing knives.
A sword.
If we fought while both at full strength, I would not be confident of victory.
But he was injured while protecting the child.
The fact that he still annihilated Group Three is impressive.
People pushed into extreme situations occasionally entered abnormal states.
They produced impossible strength.
Defeated enemies they should never be able to defeat.
Some entered something similar to the State of No Self in real combat.
Bi Anso was one of those people.
That was certainly a dangerous natural talent.
But such an awakened state could never last long.
By the time Bi Anso arrived, the forgotten pain would definitely have returned.
Capturing one madman writhing in pain will not be difficult.
Silent Arrow was about to wipe oil across his blade.
Then whistles sounded from the scouts outside.
He immediately knew Bi Anso had arrived.
“Hehe.”
“See?”
“Did I not tell you he would come?”
“As expected of the Leader's insight!”
“Groups One and Two, move out immediately.”
“The man cannot display the same power he showed below the cliff.”
“Treat him like one enraged wild boar.”
“Remain calm.”
“Yes!”
Silent Arrow's subordinates ran toward the location of the whistles.
Soon, faint sounds of metal striking metal began coming from beyond the canyon.
What an unusual bastard.
He moves like an assassin, yet behaves like some hero of the Orthodox Path.
Silent Arrow acknowledged Bi Anso as an excellent assassin.
Poisoning Jang Gal and his two hundred subordinates in the desert.
Threatening Mo Eon to extract information.
Trying to shake Silent Arrow off inside Layered Bone Gorge.
Considering all those movements, Bi Anso was worthy of respect as someone from the same profession.
However, he had forgotten the foundation of being an assassin.
An assassin had to remain colder than anyone.
Everything around them had to be treated as a tool.
Silent Arrow hummed while slowly cleaning his sword.
The sound of metal gradually came closer.
The dying screams of his subordinates became clearer.
Adding those screams to his humming created a surprisingly pleasant song.
By the time he finished cleaning the blade, something round rolled near his feet.
It was the head of Group One's leader.
“Where is Madam Hyeon?”
Silent Arrow looked up.
A man stood before him with a child tied to his back.
Sticky blood covered his entire body as though he had bathed in it.
He looked like a yaksha.
“I knocked her unconscious.”
“She is alive, so do not worry.”
“Unexpected.”
“I thought you would use her as a hostage, keep distance until I collapsed from exhaustion, or do both.”
“I prefer killing lively targets while feeling the struggle in my hands.”
“It is an old habit.”
“A bad habit.”
“Is it worse than fighting with a child on your back?”
Silent Arrow picked up his sword and stood.
“Did you kill all my subordinates?”
“I was too busy to count.”
“If no one ran away, they should all be dead.”
“Excellent.”
“Truly excellent.”
“At least put down the child.”
“Surely you do not intend to fight me in that condition while carrying extra weight.”
“Does he look like weight to you?”
“Third-rate.”
Silent Arrow frowned.
A mocking smile spread across Bi Anso's face.
“For some reason, having the young master on my back makes me feel stronger.”
“...You must have struck your head hard when you fell from the cliff.”
Both assassins raised their weapons toward each other as though they had planned it.
Then one identical thought appeared in both their minds.
The most skilled killer standing here was himself.
