Chapter 12

Chapter 12

'It's white. And......'

Slow.

The whole world was white, and the whole world was slow.

'Upper left and center right, one each. And two at three steps behind.'

FWIP—! SHWING—! SLASH—! SHUCK—!

The four Plum Blossom Swords that had sliced sharply through the milky haze surrounding him struck nothing but empty air.

The single step Yul Hwi had taken at their center was exactly that — a single step.

'......An astonishingly slow world.'

Half surrendering his consciousness to some inexplicable, dreamlike haze —

'Lumbar spine.'

CRACK—!

"GRAKH!"

"Senior Broth—!"

'Back of the knee, then the left eye.'

SLICE—!

SQUELCH—!

"AAAGH! AAAAAAGH!"

Having chosen to intervene against his original plan, Yul Hwi now drifted through the battlefield as if he had become part of the steam itself, methodically disabling the disoriented Plum Blossom Swordsmen one by one with swift precision.

"Damn it!"

"Where are you?! You coward! Come out and fight fair!"

"Hak-gyeong! H-Hak-gyeong! AAAAAAGH!"

Not a single one of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen — proper pinnacle masters, every one — managed to get a proper read on Yul Hwi's presence.

The reason was simple.

"Inhaaale...... inhale......"

The thick steam — made impenetrable to the naked eye by the chaotic mingling of yin-cold qi and plum blossom sword qi —

As he ceaselessly absorbed the yin-cold qi permeating it through his breathing, the very human presence of Yul Hwi — the one doing the absorbing — had gradually assimilated into the surrounding environment.

And as if that were not enough, the quiet stealth of a lifetime spent as an assassin had been layered on top.

"I'll carve you into a thousand pieces and still not be satis— GUH!"

"Hak-su?! Is it you, you bastard?!"

"......"

'Truly easy. And...... truly wondrous.'

The level he had attained as an assassin during his days as Annihilation had been no small thing.

Yet the extreme yin energy he now wielded with this new body was delivering a breathtakingly unfamiliar sense of wonder with every passing moment.

Not with Soul Severance — his former cherished weapon and divine armament — but with nothing more than a cheap short blade purchased from a Seoan blacksmith, he had already sent over ten Plum Blossom Swordsmen to the grave.

And except for the very first one, the rest had been killed not through ambush but in direct, face-to-face confrontation.

Not that he had forgotten his signature clean brevity and relentlessly exacting efficiency, of course.

"Hak—!"

SLASH—!

SPLATTER—!

"Kh— guh!"

The ones who kept raising their voices to rally their fellow disciples nearby — he crept up on them in silence and drew a long gash across their throats.

"Form up! Don't spread out — draw a circular formation and put your backs together!"

"......"

And those who had grasped that he was deliberately operating only in the areas where the steam was thickest — he simply left them be, unmolested.

SHWING—! SHWING—!

SHLAAAASH—!

'A shame.'

When the Plum Blossom Swordsmen rallied from their panic and began furiously projecting sword wind in every direction to clear the steam, Yul Hwi clicked his tongue softly and slipped into the shadowed edge of the battlefield.

In his current state, he felt as though he could continue pressing the attack head-on and fell every last one of Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Swordsmen.

But the ruthless rationality of an assassin, etched into his very bones, forcefully restrained that needless impulse — there was no reason to take on a burden he did not have to bear.

Having confirmed that extreme yin qi — or yin-cold qi in general — paired exceptionally well with the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art was already an unplanned achievement in its own right.

"Where are you?! Where did you disappear to?!"

"AAAAAAGH! Sun and Moon Gate! I will never forgive you! NEVER!"

Plum Blossom Swordsmen driven to frenzy by the futile deaths of their fellow disciples.

Watching them from not very far away, Yul Hwi — who had suppressed his own presence to its absolute minimum — took a belated moment of reflection.

'That wasn't like me.'

A rash, impulsive action that had deviated from his own carefully laid plans.

The outcome had been decidedly positive, true — but that did not constitute justification for the rashness and impulse.

Yet on the other hand, a different kind of doubt was also rising within him.

'Am I Annihilation of the Phantom Slaughter Sect? Or am I Yul Hwi of the Taewon Yul Family?'

A confusion of identity.

He had not, of course, forgotten the absolute imperative of avenging his family.

But the rational question of whether he truly needed to slavishly replicate the behavioral patterns of his previous life followed close behind.

Perhaps breaking free from the assassin's methods ingrained in his body was itself the key reversal that could topple the Phantom Slaughter Sect — the world's mightiest assassin organization — and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult behind it?

At that moment, the savage battle before his eyes seized his attention once more.

CRACKLE—! CRACK—!

Hissssss!

"GRAKH!"

"You wicked old crones!"

Under a merciless offensive pouring out cold qi even more intense than before, the Plum Blossom Swordsmen — who had been frantically searching for him with wild, darting eyes — were being driven back in a mass.

'The Sun and Moon Gate is strong. Immensely strong.'

Far beyond what he had vaguely assumed.

Watching the three old women at the front pummeling Mount Hua's elite with that staggering onslaught, even the Martial World Registry he had memorized began to seem laughable.

Every master inscribed in the Martial World Registry belonged to either the Orthodox or Unorthodox martial world.

Not a single figure from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult or the Sun and Moon Gate — whose activity in the martial world was vanishingly rare — was included.

'What if I could maneuver the Sun and Moon Gate more closely and directly...?'

Even with the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art at Grand Mastery and extreme yin qi added on top —

Could that truly be enough to finish off the Phantom Slaughter Sect, sheltered under the wing of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?

When the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art itself had its roots in that very place?

Would it not be better, then, to learn martial arts that utilized extreme yin energy using this new body?

Adding a new discipline on top of an already cultivated mental art would sound as absurd as trying to create a second qi center beside the first.

'But with this body's Nine Yin Severed Meridians, there's more than enough possibility.'

From the Sun and Moon Gate's perspective, it would not be a bad deal either.

After all, this entire debacle had been caused by their attempt to seize the Nine Yin Severed Meridians in the first place.

If the very person they sought offered to join the Gate of his own volition, the odds were high they would leap at the chance.

Moreover, the sickly second son of the Taewon Yul Family was no longer a bedridden boy counting the days until death.

Having vanished without a trace only to reappear a mere five years later as a master who could kill Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Swordsmen with ease.

The present situation had already made the Sun and Moon Gate irreconcilable mortal enemies of the Orthodox Martial Alliance, so if they could at least obtain the Nine Yin Severed Meridians they had so coveted, they would count it a mercy amid misfortune.

'It wouldn't be a bad deal for me, either.'

His plan to irrevocably bind the Sun and Moon Gate and the Martial Alliance as enemies had already succeeded. If he went further and entered the Gate himself, there would be something to gain.

The Nine Yin Severed Meridians were already Five Yin Severed Meridians at this point, so killing him to extract whatever lay within would not be so straightforward anymore.

As for the deaths of the Blossom Sword Dragon and Fallen Petals on Flowing Water, the blame could be shifted to Mount Hua — framing it as their scheme to seize the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.

'And if I learn the Moon Vein's martial arts first and then carry out killings with the Phantom Slaughter Demonic Art afterward, the link between the Sun and Moon Gate and the Demonic Cult becomes undeniable.'

With that, every calculation was complete.

All that remained was whether the three old women — now only three — would willingly accept his proposal.

He was mulling over how to make contact, wondering whether to simply send a qi transmission, when —

"We mean you no harm!"

"...?"

Suddenly, the old woman at the center — the one radiating the most ferocious cold qi of the three — cried out with an urgent expression.

"Child! We only wish to keep you alive!"

"Judging by the fact that you helped us, surely you do not harbor only ill will toward our sect!"

"The annihilation of your family was an arbitrary blunder by those imbeciles in the Infernal King Unit!"

"We believe you are still nearby! So come to us before it is too late!"

Voices that rang out in sharp, clear tones, as if competing with one another.

"What does that mean...?"

"Nine Yin Severed Meridians! The Nine Yin Severed Meridians that disappeared from the Taewon Yul Family — alive?!"

"But then why did he attack us...?"

Mount Hua's Plum Blossom Swordsmen likewise exchanged bewildered opinions, their faces etched with confusion.

"Nonsense! A sickly boy with the worst of all severed meridians — who fled — reaching the pinnacle in a mere few years? You believe that horseshit?"

"It's a ploy by those she-devils! Pay it no mind and focus on offense and defense!"

At the thundering warnings from several who served as the group's leadership, the swordsmen shook their heads and forced their attention back to the battle.

'......Is that so?'

None of that concerned Yul Hwi in the slightest. His interest lay solely in the words the Moon Vein's old women had just proclaimed.

The moment he released his concealment and allowed his presence to be felt, two presences that had been circling the battlefield in restless search converged on him at speed.

'As expected. They were looking for me.'

Two women who had abandoned the fight entirely to search for him, wherever he might have hidden.

"Here — he was right here!"

"Just as the Elders said! Our Vein has absolutely no intention of harming you!"

Perhaps wary of the martial prowess he had briefly displayed, they did not presume to rush in and subdue him — opting instead to talk first.

As Yul Hwi took in the two middle-aged women at a glance, he cut straight to business.

"Four of the nine ice walls have been broken, and someday the remaining five will all crumble as well."

"What do you...?"

"W-wait! Nine ice walls — could you mean...?!"

Unlike the Vice Captain, who could not readily grasp his meaning, the Ice Jade Unit Captain understood his metaphor in an instant.

"I have already learned martial arts, but I have no master and no sect. And I need an elemental martial art capable of wielding extreme yin qi — a superb one at that."

"What?!"

"N-no, surely...!"

"If the annihilation of my family was truly the independent doing of those called the Infernal King Unit, then the Moon Vein will be excluded from the targets of my vengeance."

"Hah?!"

"......"

The words grew more outrageous by the moment.

As the two women stood gaping in disbelief — a fierce battle raging at their backs — Yul Hwi delivered the most important condition last.

"Neither the Gate Master nor anyone else in the Sun and Moon Gate shall oppress, restrain, or endanger my life. Swear this here and now upon the founding ancestor and the forebears of the Ancestral Hall."

"?!"

"...!"

"Do that, and I will go with you to the Sun and Moon Gate this very day and formally enter as a disciple."

"......"

"......"

A mere five years ago, he had been nothing but a living medicinal elixir in human form.

But now — having wrought a transformation bordering on the cataclysmic in that short span — Yul Hwi had risen unmistakably to the dominant position.