Chilsal asked with an expression of interest, "Did you know I would come?" Most assassins die if they fail their first attack.
This is because the majority of the skills they learn are stealth techniques, memorization skills, lethal strikes to cut off a target's breath, and lightness skills for escape.
What makes assassins terrifying is that you never know when they will target your life; an assassin whose identity is revealed is not that frightening.
An old saying in the martial world.
However, the opponent before him was an assassin from the Death Mask.
Baeksuryong answered without taking his eyes off the opponent.
"You wouldn't give up so easily, would you? So I set up this little meeting."
"Oh dear. I seem to have taken the bait."
Despite failing his first attack and revealing his identity, Chilsal's tone and actions showed no signs of impatience.
"I thought it might be possible, but..."
Chilsal muttered to himself while touching his face.
"I thought I was exposed because of my face. Was there a subtle difference because I resisted too much when my skin was being cut...?"
Chilsal's muttering, wearing the face of Hyeonwon-gang.
Gongson-su, who had a chilling imagination, shouted angrily, "You! What have you done to Gang? Could it be that face...?"
"Elder."
Baeksuryong calmed Gongson-su, who looked ready to draw his sword and rush out.
"That guy hasn't done anything to Hyeonwon-gang."
"How can you be so sure?" Chilsal tilted his head and asked.
Baeksuryong scoffed at the opponent's psychological tactics that were not even worth considering.
"The more skilled the assassin, the less likely they are to use crude masks made from human skin. It’s much more efficient to master reverse bone techniques."
"Even so, that doesn't give me a reason to spare Hyeonwon-gang, does it?" Chilsal asked with a smile, and Baeksuryong returned the same smile.
"You have no choice but to spare him. Hyeonwon-gang must be alive so that after killing the elder, you can pin the crime on him, right?"
"Oh..."
Chilsal was slightly impressed that Baeksuryong had deduced the plan after the assassination.
"Were you perhaps an assassin in the past?"
"Anyone can figure this out with a little thought."
"You are quite clever."
"I hear that often."
Chilsal quietly laughed at Baeksuryong's unwavering response.
It was a smile filled with mockery, not admiration.
"It seems that someone as smart as you has overlooked one thing."
The reason Chilsal remained so relaxed after failing his first attack was simple.
"I was just fulfilling the duties of an assassin; I could kill you here even without a surprise attack."
Chilsal's body exuded a black mist-like energy that quickly enveloped him.
"Huh...!" Gongson-su was horrified by the dreadful energy emanating from Chilsal.
"Do you know why the assassins of the Death Mask are called the Kings of Assassins?"
From the center of Chilsal's body, completely shrouded in darkness, two eyes shone with a deep green light.
"Because we possess martial arts that can kill anyone, even without ambush."
"..."
Chilsal's presence weighed heavily on the surrounding space.
The darkness flowing from his body soon enveloped the two like fog.
"Assassination is just one method of killing a target."
Step by step, as Chilsal walked through the fog, the mist scattered in all directions.
Baeksuryong scoffed, "What a show-off. You’re only coming out now because you’re scared of Namgung Jehak."
"Haha. I will admit that."
On the day the assassins of the Black Forest rampaged to kill Gongson-su, Chilsal had not moved at all.
The reason was the presence of the Heavenly Sword King, Namgung Jehak.
"I am not ashamed of that fact. The Ten Lords are monsters that even all the assassins of the Death Mask cannot be sure to kill. But you, Baeksuryong, are not one of them."
Chilsal continued with a smile.
The momentum flowing from his body was growing stronger.
"I have been watching you for the past few days. You have remarkable skills in teaching your disciples, but your own martial arts do not measure up."
"…You’ve been observing me."
"On the day the assassins of the Black Heart rampaged, I saw you fighting against them. You are at the entry level of a peak master. If you were hiding your skills, you might be slightly better, but..."
"..."
Baeksuryong's expression hardened.
Sensing his tension, a smile appeared on Chilsal's lips.
"But you must be feeling the vast difference between you and me by now."
Chilsal's enveloping darkness grew denser and heavier.
The Seven Kills of the Death Mask.
That name meant he was the seventh most outstanding assassin in the martial world.
"Huh, huh..."
Gongson-su's face turned pale as he struggled to breathe.
His breathing became rough, and his knees buckled.
He looked like he could hardly stand.
Chilsal watched this with delight and said, "It will take a moment for the Heavenly Sword to arrive. Before that, I plan to kill Gongson-su, frame you, and erase your corpse without a trace."
"You bastard..."
Baeksuryong's face twisted as he gritted his teeth, and Chilsal felt a thrilling pleasure running down his spine.
It was a taste he could never experience in the usual quiet assassinations.
The leader of the Death Mask, Il-sal, would hate it, but sometimes he thought it might be nice to handle contracts like this secretly.
"Teacher Baek... just you... escape..."
Plop.
In the end, Gongson-su could not withstand the pressure and fainted.
A master capable of knocking someone out with mere momentum.
Just that fact alone showed that Chilsal was a peak master, one who had nearly reached the pinnacle of power.
"Now, if you have the ability, try to stop me."
Chilsal's green light burst forth as he swung his dagger toward Gongson-su.
Whoosh! The black sword energy elongated and aimed for Gongson-su's neck.
And in that moment, Baeksuryong's previously tense expression changed in an instant.
With one corner of his mouth curling up, he mockingly said to Chilsal, "The Black Demon Sword Technique. It's been a while since I've seen it."
"... What?!" The moment Chilsal showed a surprised expression, a red energy exploded from Baeksuryong's body.
Boom! His hair shot up into the sky, and his blue robe flapped violently as if it would tear.
The red energy flowing from Baeksuryong began to push back the darkness that had engulfed the area.
The sword energy Chilsal had swung vanished without a trace.
"What...!" Chilsal instinctively took a step back, and Baeksuryong stepped forward with a grin.
"I thought you were the only one who couldn't show your true power because of Namgung Jehak?"
"Impossible..."
That day, Baeksuryong had not revealed even a fraction of his power.
"As you said, the Ten Lords are monsters. That's why I can't show this kind of appearance in front of them yet."
Swoosh...
Baeksuryong's black hair, fluttering in the wind, began to turn red from the tips, transforming into a vivid crimson.
At the same time, his pupils turned red, and he began to exude a bloodthirsty aura.
The moment Chilsal met those red eyes, he felt like a small beast standing before a predator.
Gulp. 'What kind of martial arts is this...?' Chilsal knew many martial arts that existed in the martial world, but he had never heard of any that changed hair and eye color to red.
Baeksuryong clicked his tongue and said, "If you can't recognize this, you must not be a member of the Blood Cult."
"Blood...!" Chilsal, who had stopped speaking, tried to manage his expression, but it was already too late.
Hehe.
The smile on Baeksuryong's lips deepened.
"That doesn't mean you don't know anything, right? It seems we need a more in-depth conversation."
"Who... are you?" Chilsal's attitude completely changed.
Just from the aura Baeksuryong was revealing, it was clear he was not beneath him.
Cold sweat formed on Chilsal's forehead as he gritted his teeth.
Something felt off. 'Why...?'
Every time that red energy touched the darkness created by his Black Demon Sword Technique, why did the darkness shrink back in fear? Why was his heart, which he thought had become steel after decades of training, racing like a wild animal that had met its natural enemy?
That feeling of fear, as if he had already lost without even fighting... what was it?
"Shall I tell you an interesting story?" Baeksuryong said with a grin as he raised his sword toward Chilsal.
Just that movement made Chilsal flinch and step back.
In that moment, the bloodthirst in Baeksuryong's eyes intensified.
Flash! Blood Demon Eye.
A trait that manifests only when the achievement of the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique reaches at least five stars, classified as an illusion technique in itself.
The Blood Demon Eye could instill fear in an opponent just by making eye contact, and as its achievement increased, it could induce suggestion, hallucination, and even brainwashing.
It was the effect of the Blood Demon Eye that had shattered the minds of the assassins of the Black Forest a few days ago.
"Who do you think has become the strongest in martial arts at the Baekryong Hall over the past month?"
"Could it be...?" Over the past month, Baeksuryong had absorbed the immense amount of stagnant energy and medicinal energy that had accumulated in Gongson-su's body.
As a result, he had successfully raised the achievement of the Reverse Heaven Divine Technique to the intermediate level.
The red hair fluttering in the wind and the Blood Demon Eye were proof of that.
Tremble...
Chilsal could not control the trembling of his body, which was growing worse.
It was partly because he was directly exposed to the Blood Demon Eye, but there was something more fundamentally wrong.
"Is that martial art... from the Blood Cult?"
"Never heard of it?" At that moment, something seemed to click in Chilsal's mind, and he trembled.
"Could it be, could it be...!"
Chilsal looked at Baeksuryong with an expression of disbelief.
The blood-red hair and eyes.
And that overwhelming presence that seemed to look down on all.
The name of a being that was now only spoken of in legends came to mind.
"The martial arts of the Blood Demon?"
Baeksuryong nodded his sword at the dumbfounded Chilsal.
"How long are you going to stay dumbfounded? We only have a moment. The same goes for me."
In a moment, another Ten Lord would arrive here.
Baeksuryong intended to extract as much information as possible from Chilsal before that happened.
"Now that we've introduced ourselves, let's get started."
"Wait...!" Like lightning, Baeksuryong unleashed his sword.
The blood-red sword energy poured forth, tearing apart the darkness of the Black Demon Sword Technique.
"They will arrive soon."
The Heavenly Sword was a very taciturn man.
Throughout the journey from the Imperial Palace to this place, he had spoken only twice, including the words he had just said.
The first was, "We are departing."
Knowing that the Heavenly Sword was taciturn, the procession to escort Gongson-su was also quite quiet.
"Hmm?" The Heavenly Sword, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes.
"What is it?" Heukyeong approached to ask.
The Heavenly Sword did not even glance at her and focused on his senses.
His senses, which far surpassed human limits, detected a clash of energies occurring in the distance.
Not far away, two energies, presumed to belong to considerable masters, were colliding.
The expression of the Heavenly Sword slightly hardened as he confirmed the direction.
"I will go ahead; follow closely."
"Yes?" There was no time to ask further.
The next moment, what Heukyeong saw was only the words of the Heavenly Sword left behind.
Whoosh! In an instant, the expression of the Heavenly Sword, crossing the landscape, darkened with worry. 'There must not be anything wrong with the Prime Minister...'
A moment later, the Heavenly Sword arrived at the scene of the energy clash.
It was a place where thick darkness lay like fog, but there was no problem with his vision.
He stopped for a different reason.
"Huh!" A heartfelt sigh escaped the lips of this taciturn man.
His gaze was directed toward a place where...
Boom! A blood dragon soared into the sky, tearing through the darkness.