The Twelve Sons of the Celestial Demon.
Having survived at the bottom of life, they were always tested for their talents simply because they were the children of the Celestial Demon.
"Baek Jung-hyuk. From now on, you will live as a Dark Ghost for one year."
The assassination unit of the Demon Sect had set the stage to test Baek Jung-hyuk.
The other brothers also took on their respective roles, and Baek Jung-hyuk received assassination orders as a member of the Dark Ghosts.
At first, the target was not particularly difficult.
It was to hunt down a low-level demon who had caused trouble in the Demon Sect and fled.
Just three days after taking on the mission, he succeeded in killing the demon.
The second mission was a tougher opponent.
The target was a notorious master of the rival faction, and Baek Jung-hyuk immediately sought him out to challenge him to a duel.
The fight was fierce.
The rival master pressed Baek Jung-hyuk without retreat, but with just one mistake, he lost his head.
Baek Jung-hyuk returned to the Demon Sect faster than after his first mission, and people began to say that he might have been born with talent as a Dark Ghost.
However, the third mission was different.
The opponent was a righteous master with no chance of winning in a direct confrontation.
Unlike when he faced the rival master, he could not approach openly, and under the order to produce results within a week, Baek Jung-hyuk chose a different method.
From that moment, he began to use darkness.
He followed the righteous master to observe how he lived, waiting for the moment he would be most vulnerable to attempt the assassination.
The plan was perfect.
The master never imagined that an assassin would be hiding beneath the toilet, and he met a pitiful end while in the act of relieving himself.
As the missions continued, Baek Jung-hyuk remained true to reality to survive.
Time passed, and after being called the best in the world, he preferred to confront enemies head-on, but when he was weak, he learned to crouch and maximize his abilities.
This was a matter separate from pride.
If Baek Jung-hyuk had been someone who clung to pride at the bottom of life, he would have met his end in a dark cave without achieving anything.
Time flowed.
Baek Jung-hyuk killed many people.
In the process, he mastered assassination techniques and spared no means or methods to carry out his missions.
And one year later, people spoke of the Dark Ghost of the Demon Sect who had killed thirty-eight masters.
The moment one saw the shadow of a ghost, death was inevitable.
This was a secret of Roman Dmitri that the people of the present could not comprehend.
In this operation, when Roman first said he would face the Hector Kingdom alone, his subordinates all reacted against it.
"Absolutely not. It’s not that we doubt your abilities, my lord. If it were you, you could certainly achieve meaningful results alone, but the number of enemies is too great. The Hector Kingdom has made full preparations for this attack. If anything were to happen to you during the confrontation, we would have to worry about the worst-case scenario."
It was Chris.
Unlike Kevin, who showed a calm reaction, he spoke with a slightly agitated voice, trying to dissuade Roman from his plan.
Others felt the same way.
The newly joined McBurney shared Chris's opinion.
"This operation is impossible. The Southern Mountains are very rugged. At first glance, it may seem possible to use the terrain to face many enemies with fewer numbers, but the limited terrain makes it difficult to maintain mobility. Moreover, there are very few paths that allow human passage, making it very easy to be pursued by the enemy. Please reconsider."
There was fierce opposition.
They could not accept Roman's plan.
In fact, it was absurd to think of facing the Hector Kingdom with barely two hundred troops.
However, Roman did not try to persuade them with lengthy explanations.
His plan was beyond common sense.
What was needed now was not rational persuasion but blind faith that would perfectly follow his plan.
"If you trust me, follow the plan."
That was all.
With those short words, Chris fell silent.
New figures like McBurney still showed reactions of disbelief, but those who had followed Roman since the Dmitri family were different.
Who was Roman Dmitri? He had always acted outside of common sense.
Starting with Blood Fang, there were many parts of his actions that did not make sense during the process of annihilating the Barko family.
And now, Roman appeared alone before the enemies.
As he saw the flames rushing from all directions, Roman surrendered his body to the pitch-black darkness.
Flames erupted.
The soldiers of Hector searched for Roman, waving their torches here and there, but Roman was nowhere to be seen.
"The Dark King's martial arts begin with becoming one with the darkness."
During his time as a Dark Ghost, Baek Jung-hyuk had encountered the martial arts of the Dark King in the reports of the Demon Sect.
The Dark King was a figure who left a mark in the history of the martial world.
Initially a simple thief, he became a major figure known as the Great Thief after mastering the use of darkness.
From that point on, his level of thievery changed.
It was no longer just about picking the pockets of wealthy merchants; he targeted the sects of the martial world.
He even dared to set foot in the Demon Sect's stronghold, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, aiming at the righteous sects like the Namgung and the Jeonggak families.
If he had stopped there, the Dark King would have remained a legend.
However, intoxicated by his own abilities, he coveted the treasures of the Celestial Demon and met a tragic end as a result.
Rustle.
The martial arts of the Dark King.
He blended into the darkness.
Even when right in front of him, it was difficult to identify with the eyes, and even stepping on leaves made no sound.
It was perfect concealment.
As the area that had just been illuminated by torches turned dark, Roman appeared and moved through the shadows.
And then, thud! "…Cough?!" He launched a surprise attack on the enemy.
The black figure that sprang from the darkness could not react in time, and the soldier of Hector spat blood with wide eyes.
"What the."
"The enemy! The enemy has appeared!" The horn blared loudly.
Even though they had clearly sensed the enemy's presence and tightened their formation, a moment of carelessness immediately led to a comrade's death.
The soldiers of Hector moved busily.
They formed a tight formation, trying to surround the fallen soldier, but Roman had already slipped away the moment the horn sounded.
"Krah!" "Cough!" Screams echoed from all directions.
If they surrounded the right, he would appear from the left.
If they surrounded the left, he would show himself from the right.
They thought they had reacted quickly, but Roman appeared mockingly from the opposite side, as if to toy with the soldiers of Hector.
His movements were ghostly.
The soldiers of Hector were frantic, checking their surroundings.
They tried to close the gaps to protect each other, but that only gave Roman more openings.
"Slowly. One by one."
The Hector Kingdom.
They stepped into the mountains shrouded in darkness.
They must have thought that the darkness would not pose a significant problem, but the pitiful abilities of humans, who could only rely on light, left them unable to react even when Roman moved right before their eyes.
The martial arts of the Dark King did not make the body invisible.
It was a skill that allowed one to blend into the darkness by utilizing the surrounding energy, but the experiences from his time as a Dark Ghost taught him well how to use such abilities.
The knights of Hector struggled.
Those who could use aura stepped forward, but Roman relentlessly targeted their blind spots.
He did not move hastily.
The moment they strayed even slightly from the formation, Roman would undoubtedly bring death.
By blocking out noise with mana, even when a comrade died right next to them, the soldiers did not immediately realize it.
The Hector Kingdom did not know.
The fact that the being they were facing, the enemy moving through the darkness, was just one person.
"This plan is not about the annihilation of the enemy. It is about killing as many enemies as possible so that they cannot overlook my existence. They will regret stepping into the mountains shrouded in darkness."
The night is long.
Perhaps, before long, they would desperately wish for the sun to rise.
Thompson, a knight of Hector, swallowed hard.
His hands and legs trembled at the unfolding situation around him.
"What on earth is happening?" The scene before his eyes was completely incomprehensible.
It seemed that the enemy had appeared, but no matter how he looked around, he could not see a trace of them.
"Over there!" "Move quickly!" He heard the frantic voices of the soldiers.
The formation had already become meaningless.
With the sounds of death echoing from all directions, the soldiers of Hector rushed toward the source of the noise whenever they heard it.
The commanders could not control the chaos among the soldiers.
As comrades who had just been on guard together fell one after another, anger and fear intertwined, clouding their judgment.
Yet, thud! "Cough."
Victims continued to emerge.
Countless soldiers searched with fiery eyes, but the moment they let their guard down, the shadow of death would inevitably come.
It was truly a fear that could not be expressed in words.
Not knowing how many enemies lurked in the space shrouded in darkness, Thompson held his sword with a tense expression.
Cold sweat dripped down.
He absolutely did not stray from the formation.
Moving slowly with the soldiers, he prioritized his own safety over finding the enemy.
At the rear of the formation, Thompson saw it.
The soldiers moving ahead of him were disappearing one by one.
Crackle.
A light went out.
He did not see the soldier die; he inferred that a soldier had died from the extinguished light.
Just as expected, a soldier next to him blew the horn loudly, and the light flickered as everyone rushed toward it.
Then, crackle.
Once again, the light on the opposite side went out.
A light disappearing just a step ahead caught his eye.
Only then did he realize.
Something was wrong.
They had thought the Hector Kingdom was at an advantage, but this was definitely not a favorable situation.
At that moment, "Captain!" "The first company commander is dead!" The death of the first company commander set Thompson's heart racing.
Despite the presence of several soldiers near the first company commander, he and the commander were found dead.
It felt as if human senses had been completely denied.
Even though he was wide-eyed, checking his surroundings, the moment he blinked, an incomprehensible situation unfolded.
"This is nonsense."
He ran frantically.
Instead of retrieving the body of the company commander, he grabbed the communication device the commander had and hurriedly connected it.
Then, "Commander! A ghost has appeared here! Please help us! If this continues, we will all die!"
That was a voice that plunged those on the other end of the communication into confusion.
No, it was a scream.