Chapter 246 The Most Desired Thing – 2

Chapter 246: The Most Desired Thing – 2

Over three days, Seonwoo Jin had spared no time in teaching Jin So-eun three things.

They were the art of concealment, the art of insight, and the art of hand-to-hand combat.

Having already promised to do whatever he asked, Jin So-eun learned them with great diligence.

But a thought lingered in the back of her mind.

‘Why is he teaching me this?’

The reason Samhwanbo taught me before—that someone with weak power must outpace their opponent to avoid being pushed back—was very easy to understand.

But…

‘Isn’t hand-to-hand combat a bit excessive for someone like me who uses the Gon technique? And stealth techniques, which are assassin skills?’

Jin So-eun found it hard to accept, yet true to her nature, she diligently learned it anyway.

But no matter how gifted she was, three days was simply too short.

It was simply impossible to achieve any meaningful results in that time with unarmed combat and stealth techniques, which weren’t her specialties.

It was only through the mind’s eye that I achieved any measure of success, not through mere physical technique.

And at this very moment.

Jin So-eun felt it in her bones why Seon Woo-jin had taught her those things.

Boom!

T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-

She spun her staff to block the barrage of daggers pouring in from the front like a circular shield.

Then, she immediately swung her spinning long spear backward, striking the assassins lunging at her with their daggers.

Puff-puff-puff!

The long spear, imbued with martial energy, lightly shattered the enemies’ heads. At that instant, Jin So-eun swiftly shifted her position by stepping on the Samhwanbo, then stomped hard on the ground beneath her feet.

POW!

Then, with a sensation of something bursting, blood seeped out from within the earth.

It was the water spirit hiding beneath the ground.

I had sensed it was pushing me to one side since earlier, and this seemed to be the reason.

It was at that very moment.

Suddenly, daggers poured down from all directions.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

From lightning-fast strikes to spinning blades cutting through the air, the entire area was swallowed by a black cloud of weapons.

“Hmph!”

Jin So-eun whirled her long spear around her body without a moment’s hesitation, spinning herself along with it.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Tee-tee-tee-tee-ting!

The iron-clad shield formed by the spinning long staff deflected every attack.

It looked as if a divine beast possessed of its own will was guarding her entire body.

It was a magnificent sight, brilliantly defending against an immensely threatening attack, but for Jin So-eun, it was a situation she had already repeated dozens of times throughout the day’s battle.

Therefore, the fact that they were doing this again meant there was a high probability they had another intention.

And Jin So-eun could pinpoint exactly what that was.

‘Six people beneath the ground ahead!’

He had pinpointed the location of the assassins hiding underground with his inner vision.

At that moment.

POW!

The ground erupted violently as six assassins burst forth like snakes from their underground tunnels.

While Jin So-eun’s long staff blocked the daggers, they aimed for her lower body.

But unfortunately for them, her lower body was not exposed at all.

“Huff!”

The moment they burst from the ground, Jin So-eun had already used the Three-Step Step to move directly in front of them.

“!”

“!”

Emerging from the ground, their vision met Jin So-eun’s feet, now right before their eyes.

Puff!

The powerful kick linked to the Samhwang-gak and Samhwang-bo sent all three heads flying off simultaneously.

What he had failed to master in three days of training with Seonwoojin, he had perfected in a single day of combat.

But there was no time for celebration.

The remaining three Xie Feng swords were piercing toward her legs like lightning.

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Puuuuk!

Just as the daggers were about to pierce her legs clean through, a look of triumph flashed in the three assassins’ eyes.

Blocking the darts with her long spear, she had dealt with the three assailants’ surprise attack with kicks, creating an opening that allowed her to finally land her strike.

But the moment their blades pierced her legs, the assassins were utterly horrified.

“?!”

“?!

Because they felt absolutely no resistance as the blades sank into something.

Swish!

The next instant, her figure vanished as if erased.

Only then did the assassins realize.

‘An afterimage?!’

Simultaneously, Jin So-eun’s long staff whizzed past their heads.

Thwack!

She had created the afterimage with the Samhwanbo and moved to their rear.

“Haah, haah, haah!”

Jin So-eun gasped for breath.

Then, without so much as a glance at the three assassins whose heads had been shattered, he turned his head to survey the assassins surrounding him from a distance, waiting to strike.

It was sickening.

He fought the ones who had attacked at night until the sun rose, and then again until the sun that had set rose once more.

He killed and killed and killed again, yet their numbers showed no sign of diminishing.

It felt like watching cockroaches crawl out from everywhere.

And the problem wasn’t just their numbers.

“Haah, haah, haah.”

With a body heavy as if soaked in water, Jin So-eun exhaled in short gasps and thought.

‘I’m so tired. I feel like I’m going to collapse. No, I just want to collapse.’

She felt her body was already at its limit.

Her breath came in gasps, her head already numb.

It felt like she could collapse at any moment.

‘Come to think of it, I think I had this same thought earlier. No, not earlier—was it around sunset yesterday?’

It didn’t matter.

The concept of time had long since vanished, and Seon Woo-jin had been gone even longer.

That was when it happened.

As her stream of consciousness suddenly reached Seon Woo-jin, Jin So-eun’s dazed eyes instantly sharpened.

Then, gritting her teeth inwardly, she called out his name.

‘Seonwoo, you bastard!’

She now felt it in her bones why he had taught her things like hand-to-hand combat and stealth techniques.

Even if she couldn’t use the stealth technique herself, knowing how it worked had allowed her to face them until now. And to kill them as they swarmed like cockroaches, she had to use her entire body, not just the long staff.

As for his spiritual vision, that went without saying.

Once again, Seon Woo-jin’s foresight was nothing short of astonishing.

He had anticipated the Blood Brotherhood’s attack and prepared himself accordingly.

He himself might have been marveling at it all this time.

If only he hadn’t slipped away on his own.

A day prior, Sunwoo Jin, who had carved out time to intensively teach Jin So-eun three things, suddenly seemed to sense something and gazed into the distance.

Then, with a faint smile, he said to Jin So-eun.

‘Good luck, Miss Jin.’

“…Huh?”

At that very moment, the assassins of the Blood Lotus attacked.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Jin So-eun frantically blocked the flying daggers and struck down the assassins rushing at her.

Then she suddenly realized.

Seon Woo-jin, who had been standing beside her, was nowhere to be seen.

He had vanished without a trace.

Jin So-eun couldn’t help but be shocked.

‘Did he just leave me behind and escape alone?’

But Jin So-eun wanted to believe in him.

So for the next two hours, she clung to the hope that he wouldn’t have done such a thing.

But when the number of assassins she had killed surpassed three digits, she finally had to admit it.

That she had been abandoned by him.

“Seonwoo-iiiiin!”

Gritting her teeth in rage, Jin So-eun charged toward the assassins who were once again closing in, her gaze sharpening.

Her enraged long staff whirled like a dragon’s whirlwind.

***

As Jin So-eun repelled the Blood Lotus assassins’ assault, a white-haired old man stood before a cave halfway up the mountain overlooking her position.

He suddenly frowned and asked quietly.

“Is it true there are seven who wield the Jidun?”

Then, from behind the old man, one of the black-clad, masked figures kneeling there appeared ghostlike and answered.

“Until just moments ago, eighteen were preparing.”

At that answer, the old man asked again with a stern expression.

“I suppose so. But why are there only seven now?”

The kneeling, black-clad masked figure bowed his head even lower and answered.

“I… I apologize. That is…”

The white-haired elder with a refined appearance, Blood Lotus Sect’s leader, Blood Lotus Guest Mak Jong-gi, muttered to himself when his subordinate failed to answer.

“When we launched our assault, that man Inparang vanished from the scene immediately. The only one left was that girl Jin So-eun, the daughter of the Jin family. But that child, who seemed on the verge of death at first, has gradually grown stronger. Now she’s withstanding the attacks of our elite forces for over a day. And strangely, the attacks we prepared properly have been scaled down in scope. What do you think this means?”

His subordinate paused briefly before answering.

“…It seems that child, Jin So-eun, is using our attacks as nourishment to grow stronger.”

It was an undeniable fact.

But the Blood Guest, Mak Jong-gi, shook his head at his subordinate’s answer.

“You’re only half right. To be precise, it seems that girl, In Parang, is nurturing that girl, Jin So-eun. Using us, and even adjusting things appropriately when our attacks seem excessive.”

“What?!”

Startled by Mak Jong-gi’s words, the subordinate looked up in shock.

It sounded as if they were completely under Inparang’s control.

But he quickly shook his head inwardly.

To think he was skillfully controlling and utilizing the attacks of the world’s foremost assassin group—even for someone as rare as Inparang, it couldn’t be dismissed as mere speculation.

His subordinate cautiously countered Mak Jong-gi’s words.

“But Lianju, isn’t Inparang merely a youngster barely in his twenties? How could he possibly achieve such feats, let alone become the absolute master of fifteen men, or even rank among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars?”

But Mak Jong-gi did not respond to his words.

He merely muttered to himself, as if his conclusion were already a foregone conclusion.

None of the assassins deployed to the scene found any trace of him. It seems his concealment skills far surpass those of our assassins. Perhaps his concealment alone could be considered on par with the Dark Cave Sect.

Hearing this, the subordinate grew even more bewildered.

The name Amhyulhyang, the sole assassin among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Sages, held immense significance for the assassins of the Blood Lotus Sect.

The Blood Lotus was truly the world’s foremost assassin group.

Yet, despite being the world’s foremost assassin group, they were perpetually plagued by an inferiority complex—they had never produced the world’s greatest assassin.

Thus, for them, the Dark Blood Sect was always a name that became the goal itself.

The goal of every Blood Demon Alliance assassin was to surpass the Dark Blood Sect, and thus all members of the Blood Demon Alliance had strived relentlessly to achieve that goal.

Yet now, the Blood Demon Sect’s leader, Blood Demon Guest Mak Jong-gi, had stated that In Pa-rang’s concealment technique might be on par with the Dark Blood Sect’s.

This was about In Parang, a mere youngster still in his twenties.

For the Blood Lotus assassins, this was an utterly unacceptable notion.

But whether he accepted it or not didn’t really matter.

After all, the decision rested with the Blood-Stained Guest, Mak Jong-gi.

Mak Jong-gi finally turned to his subordinates and said.

“Authorize the use of the thunder bomb. And… prepare the three-pronged spear.”

At his command, the subordinate swallowed hard and asked in surprise.

“You mean… the Three Elders?”

The Blood Three Elders.

They were the supreme masters of the Blood Lotus Sect, the very ones Blood Lotus Guest Mak Jong-gi had prepared for so long to capture the Dark Blood Sect.

Each was an ultimate master: First Elder Chak Hwasup in stealth, Second Elder Gokmusang in dark arts, Third Elder Nusan-tu in poison techniques—all had reached the pinnacle of their respective fields.

But the crucial point was not that they were supreme masters.

The truly crucial point was that even after reaching the pinnacle of their craft, they were individuals who had relentlessly honed only their own specialties.

They had dedicated themselves solely to honing their one particular skill, aiming for the Amhyulhyang.

Thus, they had each become individuals who could confidently claim to surpass the Blood Demon Clan within their respective fields.

Thus, Blood Guest Mak Jong-gi was now declaring he would deploy them—the strongest assassins of the Blood Guest Alliance—to capture Inpa-rang.

To his startled subordinate who questioned him, Mak Jong-gi replied thus.

“If that bastard is a Dark Blood Fragrance-level opponent, then preparing a sword capable of defeating Dark Blood Fragrance should suffice. Don’t you agree?”

At those words, the subordinate finally bowed his head.

While Inparang couldn’t agree that he was a Dark Blood Clan-level opponent, he couldn’t continue playing the role of nurturing Jin So-eun’s growth like this.

“Your Excellency! I will relay your orders to the Third Lord immediately!”

***

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

He deflected the relentless barrage of flying weapons by whirling his staff.

Boom! Ting! Ting! Ting!

Taking advantage of a brief lull in the projectiles after a concentrated attack, he charged toward the enemies.

Boom! Thud!

Bodies with their heads blown apart fell around Jin So-eun.

They would be replaced anyway, but she still had to keep reducing their numbers.

Jin So-eun performed all these actions mechanically, her mind numb.

She wasn’t even sure if this was reality or if she was dreaming.

Then it happened.

Something different from before began flying toward Jin So-eun.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

They were small spherical objects that looked like black balls.

But Jin So-eun couldn’t tell the difference now.

She tried to simply swing her long staff to deflect them, just as she had done before.

Then a voice suddenly reached her ears.

– You mustn’t break that, young lady! Get away from it!

She snapped back to her senses in an instant.

Jin So-eun hastily deployed the Samhwanbo and distanced herself from them.

Whoosh!

It was at that very moment.

Black spheres slammed into the ground where she had been, triggering an explosion.

Kwaaaaang!

BOOM!

Boom!

Though not a massive explosion, if struck by the rod, damage would have been inevitable.

Jin So-eun snapped to attention as if cold water had been poured over her head.

‘…Gunpowder?!’

Not long ago, Jin Jang had been bombarded by cannon fire, so she too had gained some knowledge of gunpowder and artillery.

She had thought they were only used to fire cannonballs, but apparently they could also be thrown in such small quantities.

But there was no time to observe that.

Another black sphere was hurtling toward them.

This time, darts were scattered among them.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

“Damn it!”

Jin So-eun was flustered.

She couldn’t block that.

If she tried to block the projectiles by spinning the staff like before, it was obvious she’d end up detonating those thunderbolts too.

“Yikes!”

Jin So-eun gritted her teeth and threw herself forward with all her might.

She had resolved to avoid the daggers and thunderclaps as much as possible.

POW!

Fortunately, her footwork, diligently honed through the Samhwanbo technique, had improved by leaps and bounds compared to before.

Explosions continued to erupt behind Jin So-eun, who had instantly escaped the range of the daggers and thunder bombs.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Aaargh!”

Jin So-eun felt like she was dying.

Until now, she only had to spin the staff in place, but now she had to run with all her might.

It was more surprising that she still had the stamina left to run.

“Haah! Haah! Haah!”

But I couldn’t keep going like this.

If this continued, she would truly collapse in a moment.

Jin So-eun dodged the torrent of thunderbolts and daggers as she ran, then suddenly thrust her long spear toward a thunderbolt hurtling toward her path.

Thwack!

But the thunderbolt didn’t explode.

Her long staff pushed it back softly, absorbing it like a plush quilt.

It was an astonishing result achieved through the softness of the living-like natural force and the energy barrier created by her inner strength.

‘Got it!’

Jin So-eun, having successfully absorbed the thunderbolt, now looked at the assassin who had hurled it at her.

It was time for revenge.

“Haah!”

Boom!

The long spear swung with a resounding crack as the thunderbolt flew toward the assassin.

Its speed was incomparable to when it had first come flying.

CRASH!

“Kwaaah!”

It had struck true.

The shockwave from the thunderbolt must have been immense, for even the usually silent Blood Lotus assassin couldn’t hold back a scream.

Jin So-eun leapt forward again, shouting.

“How does that taste?!”

It wasn’t perfect, but it seemed she’d found another solution.

If we send the enemy’s own thunderclaps back at them at the right moment, wouldn’t that reduce their numbers even faster?

Having come up with a solution and regained a little breathing room, Jin So-eun suddenly recalled the voice that had warned her about the explosive charge earlier.

‘Come to think of it, that voice earlier was definitely…’

That was when it happened.

The ground suddenly erupted before her as she charged forward.

Whoosh!

“!”

Jin So-eun froze in horror, unable to move.

For what had erupted from the ground was a massive iron net.

The iron net that shot out from the front fully unfurled, darkening the sky as it closed in on her.

Moreover, Jin So-eun’s eyes could make out black spheres attached at intervals throughout the iron net.

They were explosive charges.

They had attached explosive charges to the net.

If she tried to parry it with her staff like before, she’d have no choice but to endure the full force of that explosion right before her eyes.

At that moment, the surrounding assassins began unleashing a hail of hidden weapons.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Projectiles flew in from all directions, while an iron net covered the front and sky above.

This time, there was absolutely nowhere to hide.

It was the end.