novelraw Chapter 236 : How much is on your neck?
Chapter 236 : How much is on your neck?
The history of the Wolya Faction is deep.
It has been two hundred years since the name of the Wolya Faction became known in the martial world.
And if you consider the predecessor of the Wolya Faction, it is over five hundred years.
The predecessor of the Wolya Faction was the Black Night.
At that time, the name Black Night had a more chilling notoriety than the current Wolya Faction.
It was a name that made one's face turn pale just by hearing it.
There was a story passed down like a legend about the reason why the Black Night disappeared and the Wolya Faction rose from its ashes.
'To a single swordsman...'
The Black Night, which at that time had a history of 300 years and was notorious as the absolute assassin sect of the martial world.
It had collapsed to a single person.
Of course, the current assassins of the Wolya Faction scoffed.
They believed it was a lie spread by the Orthodox Path to belittle the past of the Wolya Faction.
The story that the Black Night, which had the fame of being the number one assassin sect in the martial world, had collapsed to just one person was clearly unbelievable.
It was a time when it was secretly said that even the number one in the world had to flee if the Black Night stepped forward. To destroy such a Black Night, not the number one in the world, but the number one in all of history would have to step forward.
And if the number one in all of history had truly existed, they did not think that the Black Night would be foolish enough to attempt an assassination on the number one in all of history.
Because the absolute proposition of an assassin sect was to only accept assassination requests that were possible.
'But...'
Perhaps the assassins thought that they were doing the same foolish thing right now.
"Ch-keok!"
The throat of the shouting assassin was slit. Cheon Mubaeck's hand was faster.
As a starting point, the assassins rushed in mercilessly.
Judging that there was no answer if they came out one by one as before, all sorts of hidden weapons poured out.
Shweek! Shweek!
Hidden weapons that all dug into the gaps. The hidden weapons glinted as if they were coated with poison.
Kagagagang!
The hidden weapons that flew at a fierce speed unfortunately could not penetrate Cheon Mubaeck's defense.
Dodging, or deflecting. Cheon Mubaeck, who had nullified all the pouring hidden weapons, immediately moved strangely.
His sword drew a curve as if it were dancing.
At a glance, it looked like a sword dance under the setting sun.
It was slow, and its trajectory was large. For a professional assassin, the space to dodge, block, and counterattack seemed ridiculously large.
"Heok!"
Puk!
It was strange. The assassins could not dodge. The moment they clashed with Cheon Mubaeck's sword, they died one after another.
As if a strange power was acting on the sword, the assassins were sucked into the trajectory of the sword.
It was as if they were not being cut by the sword, but as if the assassins were stretching their necks and putting them on the swinging sword.
At the unbelievable sight, the assassins' complexions turned pale.
'No way...?'
'He's predicting all our movements?'
Their pupils trembled violently.
At a glance, it seemed as if an attractive force was generated from the sword and was pulling the assassins, but in reality, it was not.
How could such an attractive force flow from a sword in the first place?
There was only one answer.
'He's predicting our movements and swinging his sword!'
The trajectory that felt so strange was because he had grasped the movements and paths of the rushing assassins one step ahead and had swung first.
As a result, it looked as if the assassins were being sucked into the trajectory of the sword.
Fear spread across the faces of the assassins who had realized the terrible fact.
But even if they had realized it, Cheon Mubaeck's sword was still dancing a red dance.
The assassins' bodies trembled at the clear smile that was revealed under the occasionally flashing light of the setting sun.
Even to the assassins who had taken countless lives, Cheon Mubaeck's clear smile was truly frightening.
The smile that grew deeper as their fellow assassins died without being able to do anything was chilling just to look at.
Cheon Mubaeck was truly pleased.
'I can use it this way too.'
At this very moment, Cheon Mubaeck had revealed all the abilities he had accumulated so far.
'Emotions are bound to be contained in a weapon.'
First was the immortal eye.
The immortal eye was not only valuable in reading the opponent's emotions.
Emotions were a kind of indicator that allowed one to predict the trajectory of the sword and the path of the body.
The more urgent the emotion revealed through the immortal eye, the higher the probability that the opponent's sword would aim quickly and in a straight line.
The more serious and heavy the emotion, the higher the probability that they would just keep checking and then stab when they found a weakness.
Cheon Mubaeck, who had accumulated numerous experiences, was very skilled at connecting emotions to the opponent's movements.
The reason why not revealing emotions in a fight was an important factor was clear.
Moreover, weren't they assassins? Since they were assassins who did not reveal their emotions on their faces, they were now astonished at Cheon Mubaeck's movements, which seemed to see right through them.
'And even telekinesis.'
Even if you grasped all the emotions, it didn't mean you could perfectly predict the path.
Occasionally, among the assassins, there were outstanding ones who meticulously controlled their emotions and whose sword tips did not waver.
To such people, what Cheon Mubaeck had unknowingly used was telekinesis.
The immortal energy that continuously flowed out as his heart vibrated fiercely was emitted in the form of telekinesis.
Cheon Mubaeck used this telekinesis meticulously.
'I lead the opponent's movements.'
When a sword is swung, numerous external forces act on it.
From the natural wind to the natural qi that boils in response to internal energy.
And telekinesis cleverly interfered with that.
Even if the opponent tried to deviate from the predicted path, the cleverly acting telekinesis guided the tip of the sword to the desired position.
Even if he just slightly shook and twisted it to guide it, they could not escape Cheon Mubaeck's trajectory.
As a result, it was as if Cheon Mubaeck was just standing still and swinging his sword, and the assassins were offering their necks.
"It's good that so many of you have come!"
The assassins' bodies flinched at Cheon Mubaeck's sudden burst of laughter.
He was sincere.
Assassins, who were secretive and cautious.
Since there were so many of them, Cheon Mubaeck was able to freely test and hone the new abilities he had acquired.
To the assassins, it was a life-and-death struggle, but to Cheon Mubaeck, it was just a test of a new martial art.
The assassins' offensive stopped at the smile that flowed from Cheon Mubaeck's lips.
The assassins retreated with pale complexions, as if they had seen a ghost.
Already, more than seventy percent of them had died at Cheon Mubaeck's hands.
Three of the seven special-grade assassins in the Wolya Faction were included, and two of them were already dead.
The rest were also elites who had never failed an assassination they had undertaken.
But they all failed.
No, they couldn't even touch a single hair on Cheon Mubaeck.
No matter how much it was a head-on clash and not in the darkness, did this make any sense?
A single sentence clearly came to mind.
'Assassination failed!'
The assassins' meaningful gazes clashed in the air.
Tat!
At the same time, one of them threw himself at Cheon Mubaeck.
The rest fled in all directions like crazy.
"You're trying to escape by sacrificing one as a scapegoat?"
Cheon Mubaeck snorted.
At the same time, cold qi flowed from Cheon Mubaeck's hand.
The supreme yin energy that poured out from the extreme application of the Ice Soul Divine Art of the North Sea froze the assassin's feet.
"...Iik!"
The assassin's face turned pale as his lower body froze solid.
"You'll be lonely being left alone, but don't worry. Your friends will be back."
It was as Cheon Mubaeck had said.
"......!"
"What is this..."
The assassins who had scattered in all directions returned with dazed expressions.
They soon realized that they had been going in circles and had eventually gathered in one place, and they let out a cry of astonishment.
"A formation!"
Cheon Mubaeck glanced at Zhuge Seola.
While all the assassins' attention and gazes were focused on Cheon Mubaeck, Zhuge Seola had secretly set up a formation.
"Hoo. I paid for my tea, right?"
Cheon Mubaeck nodded at Zhuge Seola's proud smile as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.
"Very excellent."
At the same time, Cheon Mubaeck poured out his supreme yin energy indiscriminately.
The assassins flinched at the intense cold qi that seemed to cut through their flesh.
It was an incomprehensible sight for them.
A person who had shown completely different martial arts until now was suddenly showing ice techniques?
In the first place, there were few martial arts as difficult to use as ice techniques.
That's how much one had to focus and hone only on ice techniques to get proper skills.
Moreover, the nature of the internal energy was completely different.
But Cheon Mubaeck's intense cold qi was purer and denser than any cold qi the assassins had ever felt.
That meant...
"......!"
"How is it? You're not lonely now that your friends are all standing together, right?"
The eyes of the assassin who had been left alone to face Cheon Mubaeck were squeezed shut.
Not a single one had escaped, and the assassins were frozen from the knees down, fixed to the ground as if they had been planted.
Looking at their pale complexions, Cheon Mubaeck suddenly asked.
"Seeing as you all came rushing at me like this just to catch me... the treatment from the Blood Demon Valley must not have been bad."
Although the name of the Blood Demon Valley was mentioned, no particular fragment of emotion flowed from the assassins' faces.
It was a viciousness that did not show any trace that could be used to guess the client even in this situation.
It was just a pity that they didn't know about Cheon Mubaeck's immortal eye.
Cheon Mubaeck had witnessed the light beyond their faces change brilliantly when he mentioned the Blood Demon Valley.
'It was almost a given, but well, it's certain.'
He wondered why the Blood Demon Valley had even used assassins.
'Since every demon they fight dies...'
He could somewhat understand the Blood Demon Valley's position.
Since they couldn't stand to see their own forces being consumed anymore, they must have thought it was better to use the hands of assassins.
Cheon Mubaeck smiled as he stared at the assassins.
"How much is on your neck?"
At that, one of the assassins said as if he were chewing and swallowing through his teeth.
"Even if you torture us, we will not say anything about the request. It is the will of the Wolya Faction."
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Cheon Mubaeck's expression contorted. The tip of the Iron God Ancient Sword was aimed at them.
"Not me, your necks."
In an instant, the air grew cold.
* * *
"The price on the entire Wolya Faction's necks."
"Spit!"
The assassin in the monk's attire, who had been the most defiant, spat out blood-mixed saliva.
He was the only surviving special-grade assassin.
"Arrogant, truly arrogant! Heavenly Dragon Sword Hero!"
"Arrogance is you guys who came chasing me with just that number."
"......!"
"How much do you think the price on all your necks is?"
There was no answer.
Cheon Mubaeck kicked a stone at his feet.
It seemed like a light kick, but the result was not light.
Pow!
The head of one of the assassins was miserably shattered.
"......!"
"It's hard to talk alone. If Neung-heo were here, he would chime in, tsk tsk. Well, answer me. How much do you think the price on all your necks is?"
"..."
There was no answer this time either.
Pow!
Another head was shattered.
"How much?"
"..."
Pow!
One more.
As the heads of the renowned assassins were shattered in vain each time he kicked a stone, fear slowly spread across the assassins' faces.
Helplessness, anger, fear, contempt... all sorts of emotions raged, but in the end, it was common for them all to look at Cheon Mubaeck with fearful eyes.
And so, one by one, their heads continued to be shattered. Cheon Mubaeck didn't even ask anymore.
"Do I have to go to Gwanghyeon for this?"
"......!"
In an instant, the assassins' complexions wavered noticeably.
Gwanghyeon.
The place where the headquarters of the Wolya Faction was located.
Everyone was astonished at the fact that he had mentioned that place. Because there was no one in the martial world who knew the location of the Wolya Faction's headquarters.
If there were, there were plenty of sects that held a grudge against the Wolya Faction, enough to have been wiped out long ago.
But Cheon Mubaeck had mentioned the name of that place.
Cheon Mubaeck chuckled as he looked at their expressions.
"What, it's the same as 40 years ago? You still haven't moved?"
"..."
"I just threw a line, and I caught a big one. Then I'll ask again. How much is the price on the entire Wolya Faction's necks?"
Now, they could no longer not answer.
The special-grade assassin squeezed his eyes shut.
'A formidable skilled person.'
The level of Cheon Mubaeck's martial arts was formidable. Was it just his level? Each and every martial art he showed was a peerless martial art. He was skilled in various martial arts, to the point where one wondered if he was a prodigy created by all the Orthodox Path sects gathering together, as someone had said.
Moreover, his magnanimity of smiling in front of the assassins.
The meaning that he could kill the entire Wolya Faction was by no means a bluff.
In the end, he opened his mouth.
"At least, an assassin belonging to the Wolya Faction is worth more than ten taels of gold."
"Then what about you? It seems you're a special-grade."
"A hundred taels."
"Hmm, a hundred taels. That's quite a lot."
Cheon Mubaeck smiled.
It was a somehow ominous smile.
"Then the price is enough to take down the head of the Blood Demon Valley, right? If it's the necks of the entire Wolya Faction."
"......!"
"Accept the request. The target is the leader of the Blood Demon Valley, the one called the One-Star. The price of the request is all your lives. How about it, isn't it reasonable?"
A suffocating silence fell.
Cheon Mubaeck smiled as if he were amused.
"Now, kill each other."
(End of Chapter)