Creating one doesn't mean I'll put down my sword.
Myeong Shin had placed a contract on himself.
To avenge his deceased parents.
It was the first contract he had ever made for himself in his life, and it would be his last.
With this single coin, he had accepted his own contract, so now he must accept a contract from another for a single coin.
If he survived this fight.
And in this moment, Myeong Shin savored a sense of relief he had never felt before in his life.
He was finally looking his life, which he had never been able to face, straight in the eye.
Even in this situation, the King of Assassins merely stared at him, revealing no emotion.
‘Even in this moment when I am abandoning you, is that look all you have to give me?’
He remembered what Geom Mugeuk had said.
-Do not place meaning in it.
Until now, he had believed that behind those transparent eyes lay a deep heart he did not know.
Geom Mugeuk’s words came to mind again.
—Even if there was a meaning, what great meaning could it possibly have?
That’s right, there was nothing in those eyes.
He had only desperately tried to find meaning out of fear that if there was truly nothing, his own life would also be nothing.
It wasn't that he was special to him, but that his special self had survived.
Once he cleared his mind, Myeong Shin did not look back.
He was the head of the organization that had annihilated his family, and he had raised him as an assassin while hiding that fact.
This alone was reason enough to see things to the end with him.
Before that, he informed Geom Mugeuk.
“Among the guests, five assassins are mixed in.”
At those words, the guests, who were already frozen stiff from the preceding events, turned pale.
Not only had a fight broken out, but assassins were mixed in, pretending to be guests?
They truly wanted to run outside, but they couldn't.
The shop owner, whose identity had been revealed, stood by the entrance, and moving in this situation would surely mean meeting death first.
Some shed tears in fear, some collapsed to the floor, and others watched the situation unfold, their bodies trembling.
Geom Mugeuk didn't bother to mention their safety.
He didn't warn them not to touch them, nor did he bluff that he wouldn't bat an eye if the hostages were killed.
If they had investigated him, they would know well that he was a person who would try to save them.
They would actively use them as hostages.
But that also had its good side.
They wouldn't kill them carelessly.
Myeong Shin pointed out the five precisely.
“The assassins are the third, fourth, fifth, eighth, and ninth from the left.”
On that side were the King of Assassins and the five revealed assassins.
On this side were Geom Mugeuk, Hwi, and Myeong Shin.
In that tense standoff, the gazes of Geom Mugeuk and the King of Assassins met in mid-air.
The King of Assassins was not anxious.
His expression was as if this situation was just one of the many things he had predicted.
“Why did you join hands with them?”
What desire of the King of Assassins had been stimulated to make him join hands with them?
The King of Assassins answered impassively.
“I cannot speak about the client. It is the principle of assassins.”
Since they were the clients for this mission.
Geom Mugeuk slowly drew his Black Demon Sword and said.
“I have a principle too. My Demonic Path does not break the tables of a tavern. But today, I must break that principle.”
Just as a great fight was about to break out, Hwi spoke.
“There are not five assassins, but six. Including that person over there.”
The person Hwi pointed to was a guest who had come alone and was sitting in a corner.
He was someone even Myeong Shin didn't know.
Hwi, with his unique instinct as an Escort Martial Artist, had found the assassin who was hiding his identity.
“As expected! The old man's eyes cannot be deceived.”
As Geom Mugeuk rejoiced, Hwi’s telepathic message arrived.
—There is still one I am unsure about.
Do not let your guard down.
If that was true, it meant they had prepared a great deal.
It meant they had hidden an assassin among the guests who could even deceive Hwi's eyes.
Meanwhile, Myeong Shin realized one thing from the existence of an assassin he didn't know about.
'You didn't trust me.'
Normally, he would have helped him in this fight to kill Geom Mugeuk.
In such a situation, an assassin he didn't know about should absolutely not have existed.
Perhaps that person had been prepared to kill him.
He suddenly recalled what the King of Assassins had said.
-If we weren't friends, you would have been dead long ago.
His relationship with him became even clearer.
Now, even the slightest possibility that he might have misjudged had vanished.
'I didn't survive because we were friends.'
Now he could clearly see.
He was just amazed and curious that a child he picked up out of curiosity had become his second-in-command.
He just needed the assassination mission that second-in-command carried out for the sake of the Underworld.
That was the reason he had kept him alive.
He had only denied it, not wanting to feel miserable.
He had only painstakingly given it meaning, even going so far as to create an ice cliff.
An image of himself climbing the ice cliff in his heart and reaching the summit was drawn in Myeong Shin's mind.
“Now that we are no longer friends, go ahead and try to kill me!”
The will to kill the King of Assassins blazed in Myeong Shin’s eyes.
Geom Mugeuk looked at Hwi.
Though he didn't speak, Hwi could understand Geom Mugeuk’s intention.
It meant to watch Myeong Shin’s back.
This fight was Geom Mugeuk's own fight, but it was also Myeong Shin's fight, and at the same time, Hwi's fight.
While the three of them fought, Geom Mugeuk planned to finish off all the assassins here.
‘I’ll finish them off as quickly as possible and help those two.’
Geom Mugeuk shouted.
“Those who were not identified as assassins, everyone get down on the floor!”
Then, everyone except the assassins prostrated themselves.
Simultaneously, Myeong Shin charged towards the King of Assassins.
Clang, clang, clang!
The daggers of the two men clashed in mid-air.
They knew each other better than anyone.
Their martial arts, their skills.
Pushed back by the fiercely driving momentum, the King of Assassins shot out of the tavern.
Geom Mugeuk could tell.
He had deliberately taken Myeong Shin outside.
Because of his confidence that the remaining assassins here could kill him.
So they could freely use what they had prepared in this space of death.
Hwi looked at Geom Mugeuk, and Geom Mugeuk nodded silently.
Normally, he would never leave this place, but Geom Mugeuk spoke with his eyes.
Trust me, and protect him.
I'll be out right away.
Hwi’s hesitation was not long.
The reason he had volunteered to be Geom Mugeuk's escort this time was not just to protect his life.
He wanted to protect the people Geom Mugeuk sought to protect, and by extension, even his beliefs.
Master.
Hwi disappeared without a sound.
At the same time, the assassins in the hall all extended their hands toward Geom Mugeuk.
A special hidden weapon was concealed within their sleeves.
Soul-Killing Thunder.
An assassination weapon created in the Underworld.
The Soul-Killing Thunder was a hidden weapon so powerful that if the user's inner energy was even slightly lacking, their arm would be torn off.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The hidden weapons burst out as if exploding.
Geom Mugeuk flipped a table and infused it with inner energy.
At that moment, as he tried to block with the table.
Shuk, shuk, shuk!
From small holes in the bottom of the table, steel needles shot towards Geom Mugeuk.
It was a device that anticipated the opponent would try to block the attack by flipping a table.
This hidden move was so powerful that it was fair to say the six assassins' Soul-Killing Thunder was a feint for this surprise attack.
Fortunately, Geom Mugeuk's instinctive evasion was faster than the attack.
If he had been just a little bit late, he would have fallen for this surprise attack.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pak!
Even so, the hidden weapons flew and embedded themselves in the table.
The Soul-Killing Thunder was no ordinary hidden weapon.
Each shot had the powerful force to break an iron sword and pierce a stone wall.
But it couldn't break the table infused with Geom Mugeuk's inner energy.
Geom Mugeuk threw the table and flew towards an assassin.
The moment the assassin swung his sword down and struck the table!
Geom Mugeuk was no longer behind it.
Swish.
Geom Mugeuk's sword, which had rushed forward as if sliding on the floor, sliced through the assassin's stomach as it passed.
The assassin, his torso severed, collapsed.
The pungent smell of blood filled the air, and screams escaped from the mouths of the guests lying on the floor.
The attack of the Soul-Killing Thunder poured down on Geom Mugeuk.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pak!
The hidden weapons pierced the floor.
But Geom Mugeuk was already crossing the air, rushing towards the second assassin.
It was then.
Another assassin struck the abacus on the counter.
At that moment!
Peo-peo-peo-peong!
The abacus beads all poured forward at once.
They looked ordinary, but when they separated and flew, they were anything but.
The hidden weapon known to surely kill any enemy within its range was none other than!
The Demon Abacus Beads.
Dozens of abacus beads flew at a terrifying speed.
The beads of the Demon Abacus Beads were no ordinary hidden weapon.
Rumor had it that they could even pierce the protective energy of masters.
Geom Mugeuk threw his body.
It seemed like an unavoidable attack, but Geom Mugeuk found a space of life among those lines of death.
He twisted and bent his waist, arms, and body greatly to dodge the flying attack.
His form was bizarre, but not a single shot hit Geom Mugeuk's body.
The beads of the Demon Abacus Beads grazed past his entire body.
Pok-pok-pok-pok-pok-pok-pok!
The abacus beads pierced the surrounding walls and flew away.
Sunlight entered the room from the surrounding walls, creating dozens of lines.
A feast of light created in an instant.
At a glance, the sight seemed fantastical.
Amidst the lines created by the sunlight, hidden weapons flashed their blades as they flew.
The most skilled assassins had no hesitation.
Their judgment was quick, and their actions were without fear.
If their opponent hadn't been Geom Mugeuk, they would have been exchanging greetings, saying they had worked hard.
Dodging the flying hidden weapons, Geom Mugeuk jumped over the counter.
Pow!
The jaw of the assassin who had launched the Demon Abacus Beads shattered, and he was sent flying backward.
Then, another assassin was pulling on the beaded curtain hanging in the kitchen.
The moment the curtain was pulled.
Chwa-ah-ah-ah-ah-ak!
From above the counter, Bone Melting Powder poured down on Geom Mugeuk's head.
Chii-i-i-i-i-ik.
A terrible smell arose with the smoke.
The previous abacus attack and this poison liquid attack were a linked ambush.
The plan was to pour down the Bone Melting Powder as soon as someone tried to eliminate the person who launched the abacus attack.
But Geom Mugeuk's form instantly crossed the space and escaped.
The Four Divine Wind Steps showed truly great Divine Might in this narrow space.
Another assassin rushed forward, kicking a table as he charged.
The moment he kicked the table, it shattered, and the objects on it flew up.
The bowls, wine bottles, and dishes on the table flew into the air.
Among them was a chopstick holder that contained chopsticks.
Pong!
What exploded in front of Geom Mugeuk was the chopstick holder.
It was a device where if the chopstick holder received a shock and the chopsticks flew out, the holder would burst and release poisonous smoke.
When an opponent shatters or flips a table, who would pay attention to a chopstick holder? This, too, was created by Myeong Shin.
This was why the King of Assassins had taken Myeong Shin outside.
Because most of what was prepared today was developed by Myeong Shin.
Hoo-uk.
Geom Mugeuk, hit in the face by the poisonous smoke, collapsed.
The man who had attacked while flipping the table also collapsed with him, his chest slashed by Geom Mugeuk's sword.
Even as he died, he wore a satisfied expression, having completed his mission.
Two assassins cautiously approached to confirm the death of the collapsed Geom Mugeuk.
The moment they were examining Geom Mugeuk and about to finish him off for certain by thrusting their daggers into his neck from both sides!
Shweek.
Their daggers stopped in mid-air.
Geom Mugeuk, who had opened his eyes at some point, had grabbed their wrists with both hands.
Geom Mugeuk's hands were holding their wrists.
Just as they were about to quickly strike with their other hands.
Hwoosh!
Geom Mugeuk blew out the poisonous smoke he had been holding in his mouth.
The poison was so potent that the two assassins let out screams of agony as they met their deaths.
Then, this time, the last remaining assassin grabbed a hostage who was lying on the floor and pulled him up.
"Aaaah!”
The assassin, holding a woman hostage, put a dagger to her neck.
“Drop your sword. Or this wench dies.”
“Looks like you didn’t investigate me properly. I'm not the kind of person who puts down his sword just because you start a hostage situation.”
The moment his words ended, Geom Mugeuk charged towards him.
Shwiiiiik.
He used the Flickering Step to rush toward the assassin holding the hostage.
The moment the assassin pushed the hostage woman he was using as a shield forward and thrust his sword from behind.
Swish!
Puk!
The sound of flesh being torn was heard in succession.
Unfortunately, both the hostage and the assassin collapsed.
Blood flowed from the hostage woman’s severed neck, and blood flowed from the assassin’s heart.
One might think the assassin killed the hostage woman, but surprisingly, Geom Mugeuk had killed them both.
The dying assassin asked with a surprised face.
“... How did you know?”
A dagger was held in the dead hostage woman’s hand.
Surprisingly, she too was an assassin.
Pushed forward, she had launched a surprise attack at the critical moment.
In fact, her martial arts skill was stronger than the assassin who had taken her hostage.
The core of the assassins prepared here today was her.
It was an unexpected and fatal attack that even Geom Mugeuk might not have been able to dodge if he hadn't known beforehand.
But Geom Mugeuk, as if he already knew, had cut her down and then the assassin behind her.
Geom Mugeuk left words to the dying assassin that he would never know even in death.
“Because my old man said there was still one he was unsure about.”