novelraw Chapter 215 : Descent
Chapter 215 : Descent
Chapter 215: Descent
‘……What in the world is that?’
Showing no emotion on one’s face was a virtue of an assassin.
Hyeong Eyang maintained a blank expression, yet the nausea surging up from within was not easy to suppress.
That was how horrific the scene unfolding before his eyes was—something even he had never encountered in his entire life.
Hyeong Eyang was the master of the Gate of Assassins, the greatest assassination organization in the Central Plains.
He had witnessed countless deaths across countless battlefields, carrying them out with his own hands and earning the name Assassination Sovereign, yet even so, this spectacle was something he was seeing for the first time.
“Keu… keoeo… uh.”
It looked like the very end of the most brutal and wretched death a human could suffer.
Lee Jamyeong.
A towering magnate who had led one of the Four Great Trading Companies of the world, a man who once held the lives and livelihoods of thousands of martial artists in his hands.
Now, he was crumpled on the ground in a form that no one could possibly call human.
His hair, once white, had completely drained of color and stuck out stiffly like dried grass. His skin clung tightly to bone, and his waist was bent like a withered tree branch.
It was impossible to imagine that this was the same man who, until just moments ago, had been overflowing with malice toward Sewoon, pouring out a horrifying killing intent.
Sssss!
At that moment, the demonic aura—seemingly formed from nothing but pure malice—that had enveloped Lee Jamyeong’s entire body began to subside.
The murky haze in his eyes slowly cleared, and his original light returned.
“Kill… kill me… please….”
The voice that barely escaped Lee Jamyeong’s lips was hollow and parched.
Like Gongsun Beon, he too spoke with the tone of someone who had completely abandoned life itself.
“Only now do your eyes finally suit the state you’re in.”
Yet Sewoon still looked down at him with cruel eyes as he replied.
There was not the slightest trace of compassion in his voice.
Sewoon stepped closer and whispered into the man’s ear.
“Go on ahead and burn in the fires of hell. I’ll be sending your bastard of a son right after you soon enough.”
“……!”
For the last time, clarity returned to Lee Jamyeong’s eyes.
“Uu— ugh!”
Fear, despair, curses, and belated rage flashed all at once.
Shhk!
Slice!
And that was the end.
From Sewoon’s fingertips, the Heavenly Net scattered as a streak of light flashed, and Lee Jamyeong’s head was cleanly severed from his neck.
Thud.
His body collapsed limply onto the ground.
Such was the miserable end of a being that had tried to devour all of Sichuan.
Ssshh.
With Lee Jamyeong’s death, a chilling silence descended upon the battlefield.
In that place, where only cold tension lingered—
“Now then—.”
Sewoon slowly turned his head and opened his mouth.
The end of his gaze was, naturally, fixed on Hyeong Eyang.
“Gate of Assassins Leader, it seems it’s time for you and me to have a conversation.”
“…….”
At Sewoon’s words, Hyeong Eyang remained silent.
Countless pieces of information about his opponent flashed through his mind.
Blood-Thread Tyrant, Tang Sewoon.
Contrary to what had been investigated, his realm was the Extreme of the Manifestation Realm.
He stood on equal footing with the Sword Emperor, the greatest expert under heaven.
Meanwhile, his own martial attainment was clearly lower, only the Mature Stage of the Manifestation Realm.
The surrounding terrain was wide open—unsuitable for assassination.
Probability of a successful kill: less than ten percent.
As only negative data was being filtered through his mind—
Sewoon twisted the corner of his mouth.
“Heh heh, I can practically hear your brain grinding away from here.”
Despite Sewoon’s mockery, Hyeong Eyang maintained the same blank expression without the slightest agitation.
“I have no personal grudge against you, nor anything to say. An assassin merely carries out the contract he is given.”
“No, no. That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Sewoon slowly approached.
Stepping over Lee Jamyeong’s corpse, he drew close as though trying to seize Hyeong Eyang’s shadow itself.
“What I’m talking about isn’t this job. It’s the trouble your bastard of a son caused me.”
“……!!”
For the first time, Hyeong Eyang’s eyes trembled, if only faintly.
Only one of his children was still alive.
Nameless.
The one he had thought was still lying low, enjoying a carefree life in hiding—yet that name came from his opponent’s mouth.
‘No. When he took on the assassination of Tang Sewoon, that man absolutely wasn’t at this level.’
“What nonsense are you spouting.”
Hyeong Eyang brushed it off, pretending ignorance.
From what he had observed so far, the Blood-Thread Tyrant was not only formidable in martial arts, but his schemes were also anything but ordinary.
It was as though he had lived several lifetimes beyond his actual age, barely past his early twenties.
With just a fragment of information obtained through sorcery used on Lee Jamyeong, he might be probing him.
“Tch. I went through the trouble of subduing that rampaging butcher, and now you think you can spout nonsense at me as some kind of insult?”
“…….”
“Do you have any idea how important the item your Nameless brat destroyed was to me?”
“……!”
“I can forgive someone trying to take my life. But I will not tolerate anyone laying a hand on my belongings.”
Sewoon’s voice was lower and colder than ever.
They said he had defected from the Orthodox Path to the Unorthodox, and indeed—there was not a trace of a chivalrous hero left in his tone.
Only the cold calculation of profit and loss belonging to a leader of the Unorthodox Path remained.
“What are you hesitating over, Gate of Assassins Leader?”
Sewoon took his final step forward and continued.
“No—Assassination Sovereign Hyeong Eyang?”
“……!”
At that moment, Hyeong Eyang’s eyes quivered.
As if his very flesh had been set ablaze, his once-calm face finally began to twist.
The fact that the opponent had learned his name was not something to take lightly.
The assassins of the Gate of Assassins would rather die than ever reveal its secrets.
Especially his name—only his bloodline, Nameless, and his closest aide, the Vice Leader, knew it.
Which meant that, whether through sorcery or some other power, Sewoon had undeniably obtained information about the Gate of Assassins by unknown means.
‘……Just how much does that bastard know?’
Hyeong Eyang glared at Sewoon with eyes full of killing intent.
But Sewoon merely grinned, looking amused.
“Looks like you finally believe me. I was worried you might not.”
“…….”
“I almost went back and told the Subduing Tiger Divine Physician everything, you know.”
“!!”
It was a chilling threat that sent a shiver down his spine.
Up until now, the Gate of Assassins had accumulated countless grudges, regardless of Orthodox or Unorthodox.
If, under the pretext of having aided in the use of the forbidden artifact Thunder Pellet, Sewoon were to expose the Gate of Assassins’ base and the identities of its members—
It could very well escalate into an alliance of Orthodox and Unorthodox forces uniting to exterminate them entirely.
In the end, there was only one choice left.
“……What do you want?”
Hyeong Eyang asked, his voice utterly different from before.
The dignified bearing of the world’s greatest assassin was nowhere to be found.
Instead, his voice was steeped in the desperation of someone who had been seized by the throat and taken hostage.
But Sewoon only looked at him with even greater mockery.
“Why ask me that?”
“……W-what?”
Sewoon took a step back.
Then, spreading both hands lightly, he declared—
“I’ll give you ten days.”
“……What?”
At the sudden mention of ten days, Hyeong Eyang blinked in confusion.
“Within those ten days, come find me with conditions that I might find satisfactory—on your own.”
“!!”
“If the proposal fails to interest me at all…….”
Sewoon’s gaze sharpened.
“Then on that very day, the roots of the Gate of Assassins will be exposed to the Martial Forest.”
“!!”
Kwarururur……!
Right on cue, thunder struck down from beyond the heavens, pouring out a deafening peal.
Hyeong Eyang pressed his lips tightly together.
Watching the man who could not easily open his mouth, Sewoon sneered inwardly.
‘Yes, it must be troubling. Figuring out how to clean up this mess, that is.’
Though his deliberation dragged on, Sewoon already knew what choice the man would ultimately make.
Hyeong Eyang would surely inform the Blood Cult of this matter.
And somehow, he would scheme a way to escape the crisis.
In truth, if one considered efficiency alone, killing Hyeong Eyang on the spot would have been the correct choice.
After all, the man was a pawn of the Blood Cult.
But—
‘If I use this bastard as bait instead, I can move the Blood Cult exactly how I want.’
History was already flowing in a direction completely different from the past Sewoon had known.
From this point onward, almost nothing would move according to the future he remembered.
In such circumstances, Hyeong Eyang was a perfect trap—one that could manipulate the Blood Cult’s movements to Sewoon’s own will.
If the man moved, the Blood Cult would respond without fail.
And when that happened, it would be the moment Sewoon drew his blade.
“……Ten days.”
It was then.
Having finished his agonizing deliberation, Hyeong Eyang left a single sentence behind.
“I will personally visit the Tang Clan.”
‘Good.’
At those words, Sewoon cheered inwardly.
“Very well. I’ll make sure the gates are wide open.”
Paat.
Before Sewoon had even finished speaking, Hyeong Eyang’s figure scattered and vanished like a wraith.
Yet clearly, a grinding sound of clenched teeth reached Sewoon’s ears.
Kururur!
Sewoon slowly lifted his head to look at the sky.
Pitch-black storm clouds were still draped across the entire heavens.
‘Now my deeds are fully known to the Blood Cult.’
He had conquered Guizhou and subdued the Heaven-Piercing Sect.
He had killed the Golden Wave Dignitary and turned Lee Jamyeong into a Lonely Soul.
The Sichuan Tang Clan had swallowed half of the Demonic Alliance.
And yet, at this moment, Sewoon’s expression was anything but bright.
‘……Now he will reveal himself.’
Sewoon sensed it instinctively.
Very soon.
Without fail.
‘That bastard’ would move personally.
Only a handful of people in the Martial Forest are ever granted the name of a ‘Star’.
Sword Star, Blade Star, Bow Star.
And the one who inherited the title of the Spear Star of the current age was Yang Taekyeong, Clan Head of the Divine Spear Yang Clan.
He was a colossal pillar of the flawless Orthodox Martial Forest.
A former member of the Imperial Palace’s Royal Guards, he was a straight-backed martial artist who had devoted his entire life to great righteousness, living without shame.
The glorious epithet he earned from countless martial artists was—
Great Annihilating Spear Star.
That name had never once been stained by disgrace.
……At least, until today.
“Ugh, uuaaaah……!!”
That famed Spear Star—
At this very moment—
Was crawling across the plains of Shanxi on his knees, urine soaking his trousers.
The sticky trail he left behind was unspeakably ugly and filthy.
“Clan Head Yang! Get a hold of yourself!!”
Moyong Bin, the Clan Head of the Moyong Clan, shouted as he cut through the air, watching the scene unfold.
Yet no answer came in return.
“Aah, aaagh!!”
Yang Taekyeong’s eyes had already lost focus, and his arms—having let go of his spear—floundered helplessly in the air.
But in truth, even Moyong Bin, who was witnessing the horror, was not in his right mind.
‘Damn it! Damn it—how in the world! What is this!?’
He was too busy trying to steady his own mind as it slipped further into confusion.
And then, at that moment—
“That is enough.”
Saaaah!
There was a figure who stepped down through the air as though treading upon solid ground.
His steps were slow, yet with each one, the energies of heaven and earth surged like waves of a vast sea.
He revealed not a single wisp of his own aura, nor did he brandish any bizarre, otherworldly object.
And yet—
Saaaah!
Chwaaaah!
The instant they beheld the mysterious man draped loosely in a jet-black robe,
No one dared to move.
‘……Ghk!!’
As Moyong Bin stood frozen, as though crushed beneath tens of millions of catties—
The mysterious man spoke.
“No matter how much you shout, it will not reach him.”
His voice was low and calm.
Yet it was sharper and more ferocious than tens of thousands of blades wrapped in Qi.
“Those who dare to look up at a god are split in two—either losing themselves to fear and terror,”
The man slowly turned his gaze toward Moyong Bin.
“Or bowing in reverence and worship.”
“……!!”
When the blood-soaked gaze turned toward him, Moyong Bin’s body trembled like an aspen.
Only a strangled sound leaked from his throat.
‘A mon…… monster…….’
Saaaah.
At that moment, every wind in Shanxi ceased.
Beneath a sky stained with grotesque dark clouds—
“Child. What choice will you make?”
At last, the master of ten thousand demons, the Blood Demon, descended.