Chapter 100

Chapter 100
Myeol Ji-ryun, Pa-jeong, and Rap-sa stepped out of the central hall belonging to the Alliance Lord.

The leader of the alliance had invited the three visitors specifically to share a meal.

In order to delay them for roughly an hour, the counter-scheme had required the active participation of not just Je-gal Hyeon, but also On Byeok-hwa and Pung-geuk-an, who commanded the clandestine guard contingent.

On Byeok-hwa took charge of drawing Myeol Ji-ryun into conversation, while the aged Rap-sa was occupied by Je-gal Hyeon. The youthful Pa-jeong was left in the hands of Pung-geuk-an, who kept him entertained with talk of martial skills and bodyguard duties.

An hour was hardly an unbearable stretch of time, and the encounter flowed with easy naturalness.

Once the brief banquet came to an end, the trio walked back from the pavilion toward their assigned quarters.

Rap-sa entered the residence first. With only Myeol Ji-ryun and Pa-jeong remaining outside, the young man offered her a knowing look.

“I plan to wander out for some fresh air.”

Those words were an unspoken signal that he intended to continue constructing the ritual formation.

“Take great care.”

“Understood.”

Right as he turned his back, Pa-jeong sent a silent message into her mind.

—Hold out for merely a couple more days. We are near completion.

A faint, self-assured smirk touched Myeol Ji-ryun’s lips.

Before this day ended, she would secure an unmatched contribution toward the grand design of the Blood Cult.

Following their exit, Baek So-cheon made his way into the Alliance Lord’s audience chamber.

He delivered a full account to Ak So-gun and Je-gal Hyeon concerning the events that had unfolded—clarifying the nature of the array the intruders were assembling and uncovering its true objective.

A chilling calm settled over Ak So-gun’s gaze. Baek So-cheon understood that such frozen stillness was the hallmark of the lord’s most profound, simmering wrath.

Their thoughts aligned so perfectly that neither man required further clarification.

Ak So-gun gave a heavy, resolute order.

“Make sure they pay the ultimate price for making a mockery of our headquarters. Whatever measures you take, I will shoulder every consequence that follows.”

Pa-jeong reached an isolated martial practice courtyard.

This location sat directly to the southwest on the strategic layout, a barren patch of dirt where a prior structure had stood before being dismantled.

Pa-jeong spread his perception wide to inspect the surrounding territory. Having verified that the area was entirely deserted, he discarded any pretense of merely wandering about.

He set to work immediately. Chanting sacred phrases while weaving complex hand seals, a solitary droplet of scarlet liquid rose to the surface of his finger.

He allowed it to splash down onto the dirt.

A low hissing sound rose as the scarlet drop sank straight into the soil.

Pa-jeong paced along a preset circuit, his lips continuing to shape the arcane phrases.

Under the influence of his sorcerous chants, the lone droplet that had seeped into the earth began to spread into sinister, spectral sigils.

Naturally, these markings remained completely invisible to the sight of ordinary mortals.

He maintained his rhythm for a long while. Suddenly—

A figure strode into view.

Under ordinary circumstances, he would have merely acknowledged a passerby with a casual nod and carried through with the ritual unbothered. Yet Pa-jeong abruptly severed his chant.

Halting the flow meant he would be forced to rebuild the sequence from scratch, but the approaching traveler was not someone he could treat lightly. The newcomer was Baek So-cheon.

Baek So-cheon initiated the greeting with an easy, pleasant tone.

Had it been anyone else, Pa-jeong would have felt no concern, but the sight of Baek So-cheon caused a sharp knot of anxiety to seize his chest.

‘Why would he appear here of all places?’

Pa-jeong inclined his head in a courteous gesture. He wished the young man would simply continue along his path, yet Baek So-cheon broke the silence.

“What brings you out to these grounds?”

“Just taking a stroll.”

“In such a desolate yard?”

Baek So-cheon swept his eyes over the barren dirt. The clearing was far too forsaken to serve as a pleasant walk.

“My wandering merely brought me here. Does that present an issue?”

“Not at all.”

“Then allow me to pose a query of my own.”

“Speak freely.”

At that very moment, Pa-jeong’s irises flared with a crimson light. Without wasting time on verbal sparring, he instantly cast his Seop-hon-sul—the Soul Subjugation Art.

In truth, hardly anyone across the martial realm could execute such an art, for it demanded boundless inner reserve and extraordinary mental dominance.

“For what reason did you come here?”

“I came to seek you out.”

Pa-jeong felt his initial wariness instantly validated.

‘Just as I suspected! Something felt entirely unnatural.’

He had never believed that encountering Baek So-cheon in this empty courtyard was a mere twist of fate.

“And why did you track me down?”

A staggering confession fell from the other man’s lips.

“To end your life.”

“What?”

Pa-jeong stiffened, immediately pressing further.

“In what manner do you intend to strike me down?”

“I shall unsheathe my blade and sever your head from your shoulders.”

The youth had previously cut down the scion of the Black Heaven Alliance; thus, despite rumors of his crippled inner reserves, he could never be treated lightly. Pa-jeong pressed on with his interrogation.

“What drives you to kill me?”

“Because your hidden plot is laid bare to me.”

“And precisely what plot is that?”

“You are erecting the Pal-bang Gwi-hyeol Jin.”

A wave of dread hit Pa-jeong. He could never have imagined those exact words dropping from Baek So-cheon’s mouth. Yet the true terror had only just begun.

“Who exposed this to you?”

“The Alliance Lord of the Black Heaven Alliance revealed it to me.”

“What? The supreme ruler of Black Heaven?”

“He shared the truth with me during his visit to observe the ongoing contests.”

“How could he have discovered our clandestine designs?”

“Through Rap-sa. He serves as the Black Heaven Lord’s closest confidant.”

Pa-jeong’s expression warped into pure fury and disbelief.

Absurd though it sounded, a victim trapped under the power of the Seop-hon-sul was incapable of uttering falsehoods. Every declaration resonated with absolute authenticity. Without such knowledge, Baek So-cheon could never have arrived here, nor could he have uttered the name of that demonic formation.

“What do you intend to do with Lady Myeol?”

“Once you are dead, I will execute her as well. Thereafter, the blame will be cast entirely upon the Black Heaven Alliance.”

The color completely drained from Pa-jeong’s face.

“Turn back this instant and disband the ring of sentries surrounding Lady Myeol. Do it at once!”

“I will obey.”

Wearing a vacant, unblinking stare, Baek So-cheon pivoted on his heel and walked away in the direction he had arrived.

Pa-jeong wobbled on his feet as the lingering mental strain hit him. Merely dragging the truth out of someone tore through his inner energy, but forcing instructions onto another mind multiplied that exhaustion several times over.

There was no leisure for recuperation, however.

Pa-jeong sprinted with all his might toward the quarters where Myeol Ji-ryun resided.

A sickening crunch resounded.

The crimson edge of a blade jutted straight out through Rap-sa’s chest.

Myeol Ji-ryun froze in such horror that she felt her heart might rupture.

The old expert was not the kind of warrior who could be dispatched so easily by an underhanded ambush.

Yet the strike had come from an ally he trusted without hesitation—one whose martial capability surpassed his own.

Holding his half-emptied tea cup, Rap-sa collapsed to the floor without managing a single word, the life draining out of him instantly.

“Pa-jeong!”

Myeol Ji-ryun leaped to her feet, her voice trembling in shock.

“What madness is this?!”

“The man was an informant.”

“An informant?!”

“He was an operative answering directly to the Black Heaven Lord.”

“That is impossible! He spent his entire existence serving our sacred order.”

“He lived that entire existence acting as a deep spy for Black Heaven. We have no time to debate the matter—the Murim Alliance has uncovered the reality of the Pal-bang Gwi-hyeol Jin.”

“What? How could they?”

“Have you not heard me? Rap-sa was the leak! We must abandon this place immediately. Baek So-cheon attempted to take my life; I barely fought him off before rushing back here.”

Rap-sa’s unexpected demise weighed heavily, but getting Myeol Ji-ryun to safety remained the absolute priority.

Even if the grand scheme of the Pal-bang Gwi-hyeol Jin fell to ruin, Myeol Ji-ryun had to remain alive.

She hurried behind Pa-jeong as they abandoned the building. Just as Baek So-cheon had been commanded under the trance, the surrounding perimeter guards were nowhere to be found.

The two slipped beyond the boundary walls of the alliance stronghold without raising an alarm.

Fleeing past the perimeter of Wuhan at breakneck speed, they took temporary shelter at a designated outpost established to the west.

Within that hideout, they tied an urgent message to a homing bird, directing it toward the Blood Cult to petition for backup.

The scroll laid out Rap-sa’s treachery and exposed the hostile interference of the Black Heaven Alliance.

After releasing the bird, they pushed forward along a predetermined contingency path.

The winter chill caused darkness to fall far earlier than usual.

Pa-jeong and Myeol Ji-ryun eventually halted their retreat along the banks of a flowing creek to catch their breath.

To prevent their pursuers from locating them, they dared not spark a fire.

“We rest for a fraction of an hour, then resume running.”

“Pa-jeong.”

“Yes?”

“Can you say with utter certainty that Rap-sa was indeed an enemy spy?”

“Without question. Do you harbor mistrust against me?”

“Could this not be a scheme orchestrated by the Murim Alliance to pit us against one another?”

“Out of the question!”

“Be that as it may, you should have conferred with me before striking him down.”

“There was no opportunity. The alliance warriors were already closing in upon our position.”

Myeol Ji-ryun let out a weary breath.

The crisis had developed with such dizzying speed that suspicion and unease clawed at her thoughts. Rap-sa was, after all, the most loyal aide her father possessed.

‘Could he truly be an informant?’

The concept defied reason. In fact, Pa-jeong’s own conduct had begun to feel unsettling. Yet he was undeniably the direct pupil of Jeok Pa-rap.

Pa-jeong sensed the turbulent doubts warring within her mind, for the situation felt scarcely believable to him as well.

Her preceding statement sent a sudden, piercing shudder through his spine.

—Could this not be a scheme orchestrated by the Murim Alliance to pit us against one another?

Could he genuinely stake his life on it? He had acted purely on primal instinct, casting aside all other considerations in his panic.

“Place your faith in my judgment.”

Myeol Ji-ryun offered no reply.

When Pa-jeong shifted his eyes toward her, he noticed that her frame had slumped into stillness, her vital pressure points sealed while she sat upright.

Standing right behind her back was Baek So-cheon.

Pa-jeong sprang to his feet, terror seizing his entire body.

“You—how can you be here?!”

His irises flashed with eerie scarlet radiance once again, his reflexes driving him to invoke the Seop-hon-sul without thinking.

“Did you come alone?”

“Yes.”

Pa-jeong felt a wave of relief wash over him. Though he remained ignorant of how Baek So-cheon had shadowed them, he possessed absolute confidence that he could slaughter him in single combat.

“How did you manage to trace our trail?”

“I have been tracking your footsteps from the very start.”

Pa-jeong pulled his steel free, resolving to execute Baek So-cheon with an overwhelming initial blow before making his escape.

“Is Rap-sa’s betrayal truly a certainty?”

“Was it really?”

“What did you say?”

Pa-jeong’s eyes flared wide in disbelief. A freezing sensation of total failure engulfed his soul.

“You… you are entirely unaffected by my Seop-hon-sul?!”

“That is correct.”

Pa-jeong could not bring his mind to accept such a reality. Ever since his youth, having been taken under the tutelage of Jeok Pa-rap, his life had been a continuous string of unblemished triumphs. His absolute self-assurance had been forged by decades of never meeting a superior challenge.

“I demand to know how you broke my art!”

“I received instruction from a master far beyond your meager level.”

It was all owed to the esoteric methods taught by Na-sa-rin. At this moment, he felt an immense reverence for her unfathomable skill—she had provided the means to completely negate the secret technique passed down by Jeok Pa-rap.

“I may have fed you a fabrication earlier, but one truth remained within my words.”

“And what truth is that?”

“That my sole purpose in coming here was to slaughter you.”

The moment the final syllable echoed, Baek So-cheon’s Gui-yeong Geom cleared its scabbard with a blinding flash.

A radiant streak of sword light cleaved through the surrounding air.

A soft thud sounded.

Pa-jeong’s figure vanished into thin air from that very patch of ground.

Having prepared himself for the strike, he had melted instantly into the covering shadows.

The legacy he had inherited from Jeok Pa-rap was the Am-heuk Je-ryeong-sul—the Dark Spirit Control Technique. Cloaked within the shroud of night, his presence became utterly undetectable.

From the deep blackness, his wrathful snarl assaulted Baek So-cheon’s senses.

“Miserable worm! To dare trick me! I will rip your flesh to ribbons!”

He had murdered Rap-sa solely based on the deception fed by Baek So-cheon. If he failed to butcher Baek and dared to return to his superiors, the punishment awaiting him would be catastrophic.

“In what manner should I end your life? Heh heh heh.”

His mocking laughter resonated from every angle at once, making it impossible to pin down his physical location. A suffocating, malevolent pressure bore down onto Baek So-cheon.

“Arrogant scum—hiding the recovery of your inner strength just to deceive us.”

“Those words carry little weight coming from a wretch who sneaks through corners to weave an abhorrent formation.”

“Even if your power has returned, your life ends on this ground. Though our plot stumbled today, we shall eventually turn your Alliance Lord into our mindless puppet. What a pity you will not survive to witness it.”

Baek So-cheon cast his gaze across the dark perimeter. The voice brushed against his left side, only to instantly shift above his right shoulder. This movement was completely distinct from Cheon-geuk’s style.

“It is utterly pointless! You will never lay eyes on me.”

Pa-jeong’s voice whispered directly into Baek So-cheon’s ear.

“The pitch-black dark is my greatest ally.”

“Did you bother seeking the darkness’s consent?”

“What?”

In that split second, the Gui-yeong Geom in Baek So-cheon’s hand tore through the veil of night.

A high-pitched shriek resounded.

Dozens of searing sword beams erupted across the blackness in the space of a single breath.

It was the full release of the Cheon-su Yeo-rae A-su-ra Shin-geom—surging seamlessly from its initial stance straight through to the fifth. Before the luminescence of the opening form could diminish, the subsequent strike was already blazing to life.

Having completely mastered the fifth stance, the entire sequence uncoiled as a single, uninterrupted tide of devastation.

Concealed inside the gloom, Pa-jeong watched in sheer horror as the very shadows that shielded him were shredded apart by the incoming barrage of blades.

—No…!!

Only in his final heartbeat did the dreadful truth dawn upon him: Baek So-cheon was an adversary he could never afford to treat with contempt. Even had he unleashed his absolute ultimate techniques with abandon, his survival would have remained uncertain.

From the afternoon up until this fatal moment, his boundless arrogance had led him straight into his grave.

With a wet, splintering crash, Pa-jeong’s ruined body plummeted from empty air, severed into bloody fragments.

Baek So-cheon methodically buried the remains without leaving a trace, lifted the unconscious Myeol Ji-ryun onto his shoulder, and melted away from the clearing.

Uncaring and blind to the affairs of men, the profound darkness merely watched on as it swallowed the deserted clearing whole.