Light Novel: Volume 21 Episode 15
Manhwa: N/A
The first time Hong Ye-seol killed a person was when she was thirteen years old.
It couldn’t have been voluntary for a thirteen-year-old girl to kill someone. It was inevitable, as she was raised to be an assassin and had to practice killing people out of necessity.
She couldn’t remember the face or even the name of her first victim.
She couldn’t even recall if they were a man or a woman.
However, she vividly remembered the sensation of stabbing them in the stomach with her sword.
The grisly sensation of the blade cutting through their flesh and muscle, and the feel of their blood on her hands.
The memory was so traumatizing that she could still vividly recall the scene now if she closed her eyes. But the murders she committed afterward felt nothing like that.
She just followed orders and killed mechanically, without ever feeling any real guilt.
Perhaps it was because she killed out of necessity due to other’s orders, not of her own volition, that she could justify it to herself.
She never missed a target and completed every assignment perfectly.
As she continued to kill, she rose to become the top assassin of the Hundred Wraith Union and eventually joined the ranks of the Ten Blood Assassins.
If she hadn’t met Pyo-wol, she would have continued living that way forever. But her life changed dramatically after meeting and getting deeply entangled with Pyo-wol.
She developed ambition and began to act on her own initiative.
It was the same now.
The old her would have ignored the Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms and let them boss her around, no matter how arrogant they were in front of her. But now, it was different.
She had her sights set a little higher, and the Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms were a hindrance to her path.
“How dare you!”
“Die!”
The Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms launched an attack with their unique martial arts.
Jang Hwa-young executed the Yang energy’s strong arts, and Bing Ha-ran displayed the Heavenly Yin Hand, which possesses the nature of extreme Yin.
Their hand speed and technique were worthy of their nickname, Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms.
As hot and cold energies surged like a tidal wave, Hong Ye-seol’s body wriggled like an eel.
In her eyes, she could see a line of demarcation.
A narrow space where the Yang energy and the extreme Yin energy were pushing against each other.
As Hong Ye-seol detected the minute space that ordinary people couldn’t see, she pushed her body into it.
Slipping between the two energies like an eel, she quickly arrived in front of Bing Ha-ran.
“You?”
Bing Ha-ran’s eyes widened in surprise.
Hong Ye-seol smirked.
‘Amateur!’
How could she have made the mistake of exposing her emotions and being flustered to this extent?
This was how most martial artists who had risen from the bottom to the top in a short period of time would react.
Because of their inexperience, even the slightest deviation from their expectations would make them reveal their true feelings.
Moreover, Bing Ha-ran had been injured quite badly by Ko Mu-jin causing her reaction to be slow.
Seeing Bing Ha-ran’s slow reaction, Hong Ye-seol realized that she had sustained some injuries, so she set her sights on her as her first target.
Swish!
She drew a dagger across Bing Ha-ran’s calf.
It wasn’t a severe injury.
It was just a slight cut to the tendon. But that was enough to immobilize Bing Ha-ran.
“Argh!”
Bing Ha-ran staggered with a scream.
“Ha-ran!”
Jang Hwa-young shouted loudly upon seeing this.
Jang Hwa-young executed a martial arts move to save Bing Ha-ran.
At that moment, a broad smile appeared on Hong Ye-seol’s lips.
‘Martial art techniques should not be performed recklessly.’
The more powerful the technique, the more time it would take to execute it.
The time it took for Jang Hwa-young to deploy her move was only a very short time in reality, but to an assassin of Hong Ye-seol’s caliber, it felt like an eternity.
Hong Ye-seol didn’t miss the opportunity and circled behind Jang Hwa-young.
Bang!
Jang Hwa-young’s attack missed Hong Ye-seol and ended up shattering an innocent table inside the inn into pieces instead.
In the meantime, Hong Ye-seol had gone behind Jang Hwa-young’s back and drew her dagger.
There was no need to inflict a deep wound.
Slash!
A slight cut on the heel was enough.
“Ugh!”
Jang Hwa-young let out a low groan.
A considerable amount of blood flowed from her heel. However, it wasn’t enough to immobilize her, so Jang Hwa-young, enduring the pain, forced herself to attack Hong Ye-seol.
However, Hong Ye-seol exquisitely dodged Jang Hwa-young’s attacks while inflicting small wounds all over her body.
The wounds themselves were not large. However, they were difficult to stop bleeding and directly affected the muscles necessary for movement.
“Keuh!”
Jang Hwa-young’s face contorted.
Her body was gradually losing strength.
Even though she tried to stop the bleeding, Hong Ye-seol wouldn’t let her.
“Sister!”
Bing Ha-ran tried to help Jang Hwa-young, but her intervention only made matters worse.
Hong Ye-seol inflicted a wound on Bing Ha-ran’s elbow.
“Heuk!”
Bing Ha-ran, unable to endure the pain any longer, collapsed.
“Stop!”
Bing Ha-ran shouted for her to stop, but there was no reason for Hong Ye-seol to listen.
In real combat, where lives were on the line, there was no such thing as fighting while considering the opponent’s situation.
Up until now, Jang Hwa-young and Bing Ha-ran had always fought in situations where they had an overwhelming advantage.
The notorious reputation of Lee Chu-soo, the backing of the Golden Heaven Society, and the power of the Blood Rakshasa combined had inevitably placed pressure on their opponents, leaving them helpless and exhausted.
Having won like this, they mistook all these advantages as their true strength.
That’s why they accepted the embarrassing nickname Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms as a matter of course.
But to Hong Ye-seol, they were nothing but overrated amateurs.
They might have strong martial arts techniques, but they didn’t know how to use them properly.
Their lack of experience was glaringly obvious.
So Hong Ye-seol relentlessly poked at their weaknesses.
No matter how much they pleaded, she kept inflicting wound after wound.
Like clothes getting wet in a drizzle, the Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms became bloodied from the numerous small cuts.
The problem was that there was no telling when Hong Ye-seol’s onslaught would end.
Squeak, squeak, squeak!
Like a mouse gnawing on wood, Hong Ye-seol gradually inflicted wounds all over their bodies.
Her movements were like a squirrel’s.
So nimble and fast that the two couldn’t catch her movements with their eyes.
Only then did they realize.
Hong Ye-seol was toying with them.
Instead of killing them outright, she was causing them to bleed excessively by inflicting small wounds.
If they lost any more blood, they couldn’t guarantee their lives.
No matter how strong one’s internal energy is, if a person bleeds beyond a certain limit, they would certainly die– such was the way of the world.
Just as their faces were colored with despair—
“AAHH!”
Someone suddenly tumbled to the ground with a sharp scream.
Lying on the ground in a pitiful state was Lee Chu-soo, the leader of Blood Rakshasa.
There was a large hole in Lee Chu-soo’s side.
“Sister!”
“Leader!”
Jang Hwa-young and Bing Ha-ran called out to her at the same time. But Lee Chu-soo couldn’t answer them because of the pain in her mind.
Blood was pouring out of the gaping hole.
Feeling as if her intestines were spilling out, Lee Chu-soo clutched her wound with her hands.
“Ugh!”
A stifled groan escaped her lips.
Fear was evident in Lee Chu-soo’s face.
The Elder Assassin walked towards her, step by step.
His face, full of age spots, could not have been more frightening. The staff in his hand was stained red.
It was the weapon that had pierced a hole in Lee Chu-soo’s side. The staff was red because it had absorbed her blood.
“Just, wait!”
Lee Chu-soo raised her hand to stop the Elder Assassin from approaching, but he paid her no heed and came even closer.
The closer the Elder Assassin got, the greater the fear etched on her face.
In her eyes, the Elder Assassin looked like the Grim Reaper.
Lee Chu-soo quickly looked around.
The Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms, who should have been helping her, were on the brink of death after being toyed around by Hong Ye-seol, and more than half of the Blood Rakshasa had fallen to Do Yeonsan and others.
There was no one in sight to help her.
Lee Chu-soo’s price usually soared to the heavens. She was so arrogant that she dared look down on everyone beneath her feet. But now, there was no trace of her haughtiness on her face.
“Just, wait! Let’s talk. Let’s solve this through conversation.”
“You’re the one who started trouble first, and now you want to talk?”
“I, I was too hasty. I’m sorry!”
“You weren’t hasty. You were arrogant.”
“I’m apologizing like this, so please forgive me.”
“Tch! Aren’t you just apologizing because your attempt to stab me with a sword didn’t go in?”
“The sword didn’t go in, so there wasn’t much harm done, right?”
Lee Chu-soo desperately made excuses. But the more she continued, the more intense the murderous intent on the Elder Assassin’s face became.
“You’re beyond redemption.”
“Do you really think the Golden Heaven Society will let you off the hook if you touch me? Let’s not escalate this problem any further and patch things up here. I won’t make a fuss about it.”
“The Golden Heaven Society must be something special.”
“Don’t you see? In the end, the Golden Heaven Society will become the ruler of the world.”
“What a pity!”
“What do you mean?”
“Because you won’t be able to see the Golden Heaven Society ruling the world.”
“A, Are you really planning to kill me?”
“Is there such a thing as pretending to kill someone?”
The Elder Assassin laughed, baring his teeth.
At that moment, Lee Chu-soo felt her consciousness slipping away.
The natural murderous aura emitted by the Elder Assassin had affected her spirit.
Suddenly, yellow liquid flowed from between her legs.
Terrified by the murderous intent, she had unwittingly wet herself.
“Tch, tch!”
The Elder Assassin clicked his tongue at the sight of Lee Chu-soo’s condition.
He couldn’t understand how someone who couldn’t withstand even this level of murderous intent had been so arrogant and overbearing.
Just as the Elder Assassin was about to finish Lee Chu-soo with his staff—
“Stop.”
Pyo-wol, who had been silent until now, spoke for the first time. Then as if by magic, everyone’s actions came to a halt.
Hong Ye-seol, who had been toying with Ice and Flame Twin Blossoms, Do Yeonsan, who had been mercilessly attacking Blood Rakshasa, and even the Elder Assassin, who was about to cut off Lee Chu-soo’s breathing— all of them stopped midway in their actions.
There were no objections or questions.
Everyone naturally followed Pyo-wol’s words as if it were the most obvious thing to do.
Lee Chu-soo was so stunned that she couldn’t even breathe properly.
Seeing these terrifying and formidable figures acting and obeying in unison at the mere word of Pyo-wol was enough to take her breath away.
‘What on earth?’
Her pupils fluttered frantically.
As Pyo-wol approached, the Elder Assassin withdrew his staff and cautiously stepped back.
Pyo-wol crouched down to meet Lee Chu-soo’s gaze.
The moment she looked into Pyo-wol’s eyes, Lee Chu-soo involuntarily shivered.
The emotionless gaze of Pyo-wol felt like a dagger stirring her mind.
“Ugh!”
Lee Chu-soo groaned without realizing it.
She tried to grit her teeth and control her fear, but it was no use.
The longer she made eye contact with Pyo-wol, the more her fear amplified.
Pyo-wol stared at Lee Chu-soo wordlessly.
Though it wasn’t a long time, to Lee Chu-soo, it felt like an eternity.
Lee Chu-soo wished for Pyo-wol to say something, anything quickly, but alas, he didn’t grant her wish so easily.
It wasn’t until Lee Chu-soo’s entire body was drenched in sweat that Pyo-wol finally spoke.
“Give me the names of those who have joined the Golden Heaven Society.”
“What?”
“I want the names of the people who joined the Golden Heaven Society after the Jianghu conflict.”
“Why should I— Aaah!”
Just as Lee Chu-soo foolishly began to question back, she suddenly screamed.
A dagger had been embedded in the back of her hand.
Pyo-wol had planted the dagger without her even noticing.
“Every time you ask me a question, I’ll stick a dagger into your body.”
“Ugh!”
“So answer wisely.”
“Yes!”
Lee Chu-soo nodded frantically.
The excruciating pain and terror drove her out of her mind.
Her mind became completely blank, incapable of forming any coherent thoughts.
The only thing on her mind right now was the urgent desire to get out of this situation as soon as possible.
And the best way to achieve that was to give him the answer he sought.
“The newest members are…”
A string of unfamiliar names flowed from her mouth.
LUNACAVE
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