Chapter 40 Shadow Realm – Part 1

Chapter 40: Shadow Realm – Part 1

“Haah! This is the air of the mortal world! How wonderfully fragrant! Kwahahaha!”

Yuk Jang-won, a warrior of the Flying Dragon Eleven, took a deep breath and burst into hearty laughter.

He hadn’t even left Yunnan Province yet, and the path through the dense jungle was exactly the same as he’d always seen, but somehow, everything felt completely new.

It was all because he had left the Dragon Squadron.

And not just a leave of absence, but a full discharge.

He had completed his five years of service alive and was now leaving the Dragon Squadron for good.

Of course, some did return to the front lines after their five years of service.

But Yook Jang-won absolutely did not want to live like them.

Most of them were like the members of the Jomchangpa sect, driven mad by the desire for revenge.

Shaking his head vigorously, Yuk Jang-won thought to himself.

“That’s madness. Proper, full-blown madness.”

Why on earth would anyone endure five more years in such a dreadful place, where death lurks at every turn and no glory is to be gained?

If there was one mistake Yook Jang-won made in his life, it was volunteering for the Boryongdae out of misguided loyalty. If there was one thing he did right, it was surviving five years and escaping that place. That’s what he believed.

Of course, he hadn’t gained nothing on the front lines.

He had entered the battlefield as a second-rate warrior in his early thirties, and now, in his mid-to-late thirties, he was returning to the martial world as a top-tier, first-class warrior.

Now, if he could just find a good source of elixirs to fill his internal energy to the level of a full cycle, he felt he could easily reach the pinnacle.

The Eleventh Grand Master, who had been at the pinnacle, had confidently assured him that just one more step would take him there, so he was certain it was true.

Thus, Yook Jang-won was confident that only a path strewn with flowers lay before him now.

‘If I push a little harder and become a peak master, I’ll seize some remote region and become its absolute ruler.’

He would grasp wealth and honor, and he would marry.

Yuk Jangwon firmly resolved to reclaim the five years he had lost, with interest.

That was when it happened.

Psssh!

A faint whistling sound reached his ears.

It was a hidden blade.

“Hap!”

Thud!

Yuk Jang-won, who had been walking carelessly, suddenly launched his body in an instant, easily dodging the dagger.

His sharp gaze scanned the area where the dagger had come from and its surroundings, as if questioning when it had been thrown.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The very next moment, darts flew again toward the spot he had just leaped from.

But his momentary pause after leaping was a feint. Accelerating, he identified the projectiles’ origin and circled around the trees, charging straight toward them.

Judging by the darts’ speed, the opponent’s skill level appeared to be roughly upper-tier first-class or higher.

Perhaps even a peerless top-tier expert, equal to himself.

But it didn’t matter.

He was absolutely certain he wouldn’t lose unless he was at his peak.

He was curious why he was being attacked, but figuring that out later wouldn’t be too late.

Pushush! Ting! Ting!

Moving through the trees to conceal his body and evade the hidden weapons, he closed the distance to his opponent in an instant. From close range, he slipped behind a tree and instantly flung his discarded clothes out from behind it.

Sure enough, dozens of projectiles pierced his discarded clothes as if they had been waiting for him.

Pushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushushush

It was a move designed to confuse his opponent’s eyes.

The black-clad masked figure who had thrown the projectiles at Yook Jang-won only realized a moment later that they had struck empty clothing.

He then hurriedly turned to guard against Yook Jang-won, who might emerge from the opposite side of the tree.

But the attack came from a place he never imagined.

Whoosh!

In the brief moment he was out of the masked man’s sight, Yuk Jang-won, who had secretly climbed the tree, pounced down from above his head.

“!”

The startled masked man looked up.

But it was already too late to react.

Yuk Jang-won’s triumphant laugh and the descending blade filled his eyes.

“Haah!”

Shwaaah!

Yuk Jang-won had not the slightest doubt he had won.

Even if his opponent’s realm was similar to his own, the experience of crossing the line of life and death meant he was no match.

He intended to sever one arm first and then torture him.

But then it happened.

From the shadow of the masked man staring at him with a dazed expression, someone suddenly leaped out.

It was a completely unexpected attack.

“Gah?!”

Yuk Jang-won was so shocked his eyes nearly popped out.

But he was, after all, a battle-hardened veteran who had endured five years on the front lines.

He immediately spun around to evade, having detected the perfect concealment in the shadows and witnessed the blue glow of the sword descending upon him.

That blue light was a sword aura.

His opponent was a peak-level master.

Shu-hak!

“Guh!”

But his effort proved futile. Along with the sword he had blocked with, one of Yujangwon’s arms was severed.

Even that was only because he had desperately twisted his body to evade; otherwise, his entire body would have been cleaved in two.

Even in agony, Yook Jang-won coldly assessed his opponent.

Even at the peak of one’s power, severing both his sword, imbued with spiritual energy, and his arm in one stroke was no easy feat.

The enemy was clearly not just entering the peak stage; they were a master with at least seventy years of cultivation.

With his arm severed, Yuk Jang-won fell to the ground and rolled around.

Realizing victory was impossible, he had to escape from here somehow.

But as he rolled across the ground, ready to burst into the forest, Yook Jang-won halted abruptly and had to look around.

Swish!

Masked figures concealed in all directions revealed themselves.

There were eight of them. The realization that he hadn’t noticed such a large group hiding sent a chill down his spine.

Behind Yook Jang-won, the masked assassin who had severed his arm was now strolling toward him with leisurely ease.

Gritting his teeth, Yuk Jang-won quickly scanned his surroundings.

But there was no escape route anywhere.

He was trapped.

A hollow laugh escaped him.

He had been prepared to die for five years now, but absurdly, it wasn’t on the battlefield. He never imagined he would die just as he was finally trying to live a proper life…

Sensing his end, Yook Jang-won glared at the masked man and demanded.

“Are you the Blood Sect’s executioners?!”

The approaching masked figure paused briefly, then looked at Yuk Jang-won with a strangely heavy gaze.

Then, with a short sigh, he said.

“You’ve endured much hardship.”

All this time, you’ve been suffering?

Yuk Jang-won’s mind went blank at the unexpected reply.

What does that mean?

Could it be that these weren’t the Blood Sect’s assassins?

Then…

Suddenly, the face of a senior he had been close to, who had left the front lines before him, flashed through Yook Jang-won’s mind.

The face of that senior who had sworn up and down that he would come visit immediately once he settled down outside, having shared such close bonds they had sworn brotherhood, yet never once showed up.

He had been disappointed and resentful, thinking the man was all talk and no loyalty. Could that be the reason?

Yuk Jang-won’s eyes widened as he shouted.

“No way! You’re the Myeong…?!

In that instant, the blue energy gathered at the masked man’s sword brushed past his throat.

Shwaaak!

Moments later, the sharp line gouged into his throat split open, and blood spurted out like a blade.

Pishishik!

Yuk Jang-won’s consciousness vanished like that.

And the masked man who ended his life, the Fourth Leader of the Shadow Division of the Martial Alliance, Sak Muheun, silently prayed for his soul.

‘You should have never come to the front lines.’

Yuk Jang-won died because he was a ronin warrior without allegiance.

The Martial Alliance would annihilate an entire faction if its affiliated warriors broke their secret oath.

Therefore, martial artists belonging to factions under the Martial Alliance had no choice but to keep the secret oath, if only for the survival of their faction.

No, they even went so far as to denounce other sects that broke their secret oaths.

By doing so, they could inherit the rights and interests of the eliminated faction.

However, warriors like the Six Masters, who belonged to no faction, or those affiliated with the Heretical Sect, could not guarantee secrecy.

Thus, the Alliance decided to eliminate them entirely, as they posed a potential threat.

It was an act so insidious it was hard to believe it came from the Martial Alliance, the pillar of the righteous factions.

Sak Muheun, who had joined the Alliance in his late twenties and had been repeating this for nine years now, could neither understand nor grow accustomed to assassinating righteous faction members who had fought on the front lines against the Blood Sect’s invasion in this manner.

This wasn’t why he had joined the Alliance.

But he had no choice.

For ordinary warriors like him, not disciples of prestigious schools, serving ten years in this shadowy unit was mandatory to earn a place in the Alliance’s proper military forces as honorable warriors.

The only consolation was that in just one more year, he could return to the Myeong with his head held high.

Turning his head, he saw the other squad members teasing the new recruit he had ambushed alone earlier.

“What? You think you can handle it alone just because you’re top-tier elite? You’re not the one getting handled?”

“See? I told you not to underestimate frontline veterans, you idiot.”

It was common for new recruits to be brimming with confidence.

After all, being skilled enough to join the Martial Alliance often led them to underestimate the warriors on the front lines.

Therefore, having new recruits attempt solo ambushes on frontline veterans was practically a tradition of the Shadow Brigade.

It was meant to give them experience against frontline warriors and strip away their arrogance.

Sak Muhyun watched the team members berating the new recruit for a moment, then suddenly looked up at the sky.

A messenger pigeon was flying down from the sky.

As Sak Muhyun read the letter delivered by it with a grave expression, the other squad members asked.

“Another veteran returning? It seems unusually high this month.”

But Sakmuhun shook his head briefly and replied.

“This time it’s not a discharge. They want us to go to the front lines and kill one of the personnel. A woman, no less.”

The team members’ faces twisted at those words.

“Why? Kill a woman serving perfectly well on the front lines? That’s never happened before, has it?”

But Sakmuhun looked at the questioning team member with a cold gaze and said.

“We only follow orders. Have you forgotten?”

The hesitant team member immediately shut his mouth.

Sak Muhun, who had been gazing at the squad member with a cold stare for a moment, soon took the lead and leaped forward.

“Let’s go!”

Behind him, nine members of the Shadow Squad leapt forward.

Comprising two peak masters and seven elite top-tier warriors besides their leader, Sak Muheun, the Four Shadows began their advance toward the Thirteenth Generation.

***

Mayu Gyeom left his lodgings and wandered aimlessly.

Passersby asked him several times if he was all right, but he was so out of it he couldn’t even respond, let alone register their questions.

His mind was a chaotic mess, filled only with the telepathic message sent by the Blood Demon and the contents of the letter left on his bed, swirling chaotically.

– Thankfully, she resembles Heegum, not that bastard Ma Wonil.

That was the message the Blood Demon had sent when he tried to draw his sword but was pinned down by the Blood Demon’s intangible force, unable to move.

At first, he hadn’t even understood what it meant.

He wanted to shout, “What kind of trick is this?”

Heegum? Who the hell is that…!

Thinking this, Mayu Gyeom suddenly remembered his mother’s name was Jeon Heegum.

Unlike his perpetually cold father, his mother had always warmly embraced him since childhood.

The moment he realized this, Mayu Gyeom stared blankly at Blood Demon. Then, somehow, a scene was conveyed to him through Blood Demon’s gaze.

It was the image of his mother, one he could never forget, even in his dreams.

His mother stood beside Blood Demon, her eyes brimming with tears as she spoke.

“Yugyeom, my precious son. This is your maternal grandfather.”

…What?

Mayu Gyeom felt all the strength drain from his body in that instant.

He thought it must be an illusion, a trick of the Blood Demon, yet he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the all-too-vivid image of his mother.

Instead, it was the Blood Demon who looked away.

After showing him only that much and withdrawing his mother’s image, the Blood Demon spoke telepathically.

– I’ll leave the letter Heegum sent at the lodging.

That was all.

But Mayugyeom’s confusion only began then.

A letter sent by Heegum? Mother sending him a letter? Could it be…

Could she still be alive?!

His mother?!

Mayugyeom was completely oblivious to how the summit was proceeding or how time was passing.

He just wanted to rush back to his room and check.

Two conflicting thoughts battled within him.

The desire to confirm if his mother’s letter had truly arrived, and the rational thought that this was absurd, that it was clearly the Blood Demon’s trickery.

He desperately wanted to see the letter, yet he was equally terrified it might actually be from his mother.

But when he returned, the letter lay on his bed as if by magic.

And when he read that letter…

It was unmistakably his mother’s handwriting, the one he remembered clearly.

He could never forget that handwriting.

After all, it was his mother who had taught him to write.

Moreover, its contents were even more shocking.

The first part of the letter expressed his mother’s heartfelt longing for Mayugyeom.

Such heartfelt longing that it brought tears to the eyes of Mayu Gyeom, who prided himself on his coldness.

But the latter part contained the reason why the Blood Demon had to be his maternal grandfather.

It was about the secret history between the Zhen family and the Ma family long ago.

It was the story of the Zhen family, brought down by the greed of the Ma family and the Zhanchang Sect, and of Zhen Wuguang, the head of the Zhen family, who had his daughter stolen and was forced to wander the martial world.

Ma Yugyeom’s mother was none other than the daughter of that very Zhen Wuguang.

It was said that Ma Yuan-weng, the son of the Ma family head and a disciple of the Jianchang Sect, not only brought down the Zhen family but also abducted Zhen Wugang’s daughter, Zhen Xijin, and made her his wife.

Only then did Ma Yugyeom understand the hateful glare his mother always directed at his father, and the sorrowful look she showed whenever he asked about his maternal family.

And he had no choice but to admit it.

This was the truth…

Suddenly, the question Saguun-il had posed to him came to mind.

‘Does Jeomchang deserve to rise again?’

I thought it was a ridiculous question.

I could understand that sentiment, but I thought it was a trivial concern that couldn’t compare to the greater cause of Jipchang’s resurrection.

But then…

“Ehehehe, hehehe, hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

Deep in the jungle he’d wandered into aimlessly, Mayu Gyeom burst into maniacal laughter.

Two streams of tears were streaming down his eyes.