Chapter 55: Assassin Nameless (1)

For an assassin, composure was an essential virtue.

But at this very moment, Nameless could not hide his bewilderment.

It was because words had spilled from Sewoon’s mouth that far surpassed his expectations.

Suddenly, the bloodline of the Sichuan Tang Clan was proposing to contest with him over the rightful succession of the Gate of Assassins.

If it had been someone else, Nameless would have scoffed and ignored it.

“……What kind of nonsense are you spouting?”

Nameless’s voice, answering Sewoon, sank low.

From what he had experienced earlier, the opponent before him was not someone who uttered meaningless falsehoods.

‘Your head must feel like it’s about to burst. Well, that’s exactly what I intended.’

Watching Nameless’s mind race endlessly, Sewoon barely suppressed a laugh from escaping.

Then his gaze shifted to the restraints that bound both their hands together, and he spoke.

“This thing we’re doing right now. The form looks a little different, but you can’t say you don’t recognize it.”

“……!”

Only then did Nameless realize why Sewoon had bound his hands together with his own.

Gyeolja Haeji (結者害肢).

Both parties bound one of their hands together, and a vicious battle ensued until one lost an arm.

It was not Gyeolja Haeji (結者解之), meaning “one must resolve what one has caused.”

It was Gyeolja Haeji (結者害肢), meaning “those who bind together shall harm each other’s limbs.”

Moreover, this was the final trial to decide the successor of the Gate of Assassins.

Years ago, Nameless had become the rightful heir of the Gate by severing the arm of the Vice Sect Leader’s son through this very Gyeolja Haeji.

‘But how does this brat know about Gyeolja Haeji?’

The heir selection duel of Gyeolja Haeji had never once leaked outside.

But Nameless showed no trace of his agitation on the surface.

“I don’t know where you picked up that information, but don’t think to bewilder me with such drivel—”

“Guihogu (鬼喉谷).”

“!!”

“Yes, you should know that place.”

Nameless could no longer speak when Sewoon uttered that name.

A bottomless cliff that seemed like the throat of a ghost.

Located at Mount Heng in Shanxi Province, it was a place Nameless could never forget.

It was where Wuyoung, his only brother, who had become the sole person to ever succeed in escaping the Gate after completing missions harsher than death itself, was ambushed by unknown assailants and went missing.

Nameless had pursued those unknown enemies who attacked his hard-earned free brother with his very life on the line.

“That was the place where your people stabbed my master in the back.”

“……What?”

Sewoon’s words were unbelievable.

Despite his relentless pursuit, Nameless had never found the slightest trace of the assailants.

And yet Sewoon, with unwavering certainty, claimed that the perpetrators were none other than his own Gate of Assassins.

Just as before, there was not a shred of falsehood in Sewoon’s eyes.

“……You’re saying it was the Gate that ambushed my brother?”

“Playing ignorant, how despicable.”

“Shut up and answer me!!”

Kwaaa-roooom!

With Nameless’s roar, a thunderous boom resounded as if the heavens were splitting apart.

A violent aura raged wildly from his entire body.

At barely twenty years of age, to have already stepped into the entrance of the Transformation Realm—he was truly a monster.

But watching that perilous aura erupt, Sewoon simply thought:

‘Good, he’s taken the bait.’

He exhaled a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, in his mind surfaced the words Nameless had often repeated while drunk before his regression.

—Hic, my only regret is one.

—Not realizing sooner the traitorous bastards rooted within the Gate.

—Never thought the insides would rot so far as to sell out their own kin.

—Damn it. If I had only realized sooner, I could’ve wiped out those vermin who killed my brother in one stroke.

Of course, Sewoon was not truly the disciple of Wuyoung, the Life-Taking Assassin.

He was merely weaving together fragments of secret history that Nameless himself had revealed in his previous life.

Yet, it was not falsehood either.

For in the future, the truth revealed that the culprits who killed Wuyoung were indeed the Blood Cult—

And the ones who aided them were none other than traitors entrenched within the Gate itself.

Ssssshhh!

Even as Nameless released torrents of murderous qi, Sewoon calmly endured it all without flinching.

Then it happened.

Srrrng!

Sewoon raised the edge of his dagger blade, shifting into battle stance.

“I shall fulfill my master’s dying will.”

“……!!”

Nameless felt his head grow cold.

For a “dying will” meant that his brother had indeed perished.

Suppressing his agitation, with icy eyes, he glared at Sewoon.

“Very well, I understand.”

Chuk.

Nameless also stepped back, gripping the hilt of his blade so tightly it looked ready to snap.

“I’ll make you beg for a chance to speak.”

Fwoosh!

In an instant, the dagger’s blade blazed with intense flames as his qi converged upon it.

He had condensed the Extreme Flame Radiance he usually emanated into the dagger itself.

Swiiishhh!

With a chilling sound that tore through the air, the battle resumed.

The dagger rained down like a torrential storm, leaving countless blazing trails across the sky.

But with their hands bound by Gyeolja Haeji, both of their movements were limited—making it the worst situation.

Whish! Whoosh!

Yet Sewoon evaded Nameless’s fierce onslaught with elegant movements, like fluttering willow leaves.

At the same time, he began preparing his counterattack.

Whirr!

Suddenly, the Heavenly Net thread connected to Sewoon’s fingers entwined around Nameless’s dagger blade.

As the Black Threads sealed it tightly, the blade appeared to darken in an instant.

Ssshhh!

‘……!!’

The moment Nameless confirmed the enemy’s dagger, his eyes wavered.

From Sewoon, in contrast, a chilling frost qi poured out.

The Yin-Cold Qi that raged like a northern wind was not inferior at all to his Extreme Flame Radiance.

To think he had mastered not only One Point Kill, but even Yin-Cold Arts as well?

No, rather than martial arts, the qi he felt was closer to something like sorcery...

But Nameless’s thoughts cut short.

Swaeak!

Instead of only evading, Sewoon now drove his blade straight toward him.

Chae-chaeng!

Cha-cha-chaeng!

Countless exchanges of attack and defense crossed in a single instant.

With a fierce rumble, waves of force spread out in all directions.

Heat and frost clashed violently—freezing the ground one moment, melting it in blazing heat the next.

Thud, thud.

Even the black bamboo, which had remained unbroken under the Hundred Lotus Steel Sword, withered and toppled, unable to withstand the drastic changes in temperature.

And yet, in the midst of such a fierce clash—

Nameless’s face once again showed a strange, subtle expression.

His eyes caught Sewoon pulling his elbow back.

A dagger filled with cold qi would soon be unleashed.

‘……Upper right.’

Chaeng!

Nameless’s prediction was perfect.

Failing to land a strike, Sewoon’s arm drew back again, and the follow-up came.

‘……Lower left.’

Chaeng!

Once again, perfectly read.

Nameless was reading every single trajectory of Sewoon’s dagger as they came.

Swaeak!

This time, Nameless launched his counterattack.

But shockingly—

Cha-cha-chaeng!

Sewoon too, read every trajectory with precision and blocked.

Nameless’s face stiffened.

The reason was simple.

The dagger arts they wielded—were identical martial arts.

Even more crucial was that the essence of the techniques was the same.

Which meant, they had learned from the same master.

And the one who had taught Nameless dagger arts was none other than—

‘This brat… was truly Brother’s…?’

His brother, Wuyoung.

As certainty solidified in Nameless’s mind—

Jjeojeojeok!

Jjaeng-gang!

“?!”

Suddenly, the bindings on their arms came undone.

His surprise was brief.

Pabat!

Realizing his release, Nameless seized the moment, leaping back to widen the distance from Sewoon.

Then, another change entered his sight.

“……!”

Sss.

Not only the restraints, but the frost aura also faded from Sewoon’s dagger.

It seemed there was a time limit to how long he could maintain the Yin-Cold Arts.

‘Hoo, right now, a minute or so must be the limit.’

Just as Nameless guessed, Sewoon had lost the Yin-Cold Qi regardless of his will.

Ssshh!

But Sewoon replaced the void within the dagger with Innate True Qi.

Their gazes met once again in midair.

Saaa—

Silence descended over the Black Bamboo Forest.

Though neither spoke, their intent was the same.

Chuchuk!

Nameless picked up another dagger from the ground with his foot.

Whiik!

And Sewoon also drew another dagger from his robes.

At the same time, both switched to dual daggers as their main weapons.

They lowered their stances, adopting the same starting form.

It was One Point Kill.

Pababat!

Neither yielding an instant, they both lunged forward like bolts of lightning.

Ssss!

And then, they vanished at the same time.

Once again, it was because they both used Dark King Steps simultaneously.

Hiding within separate shadows, they sensed for each other’s presence.

Then, at the instant the clouds veiled the clear moonlight—

Paaat!

Two figures surfaced from the darkness, surging closer.

Kigigig! Kigigig!

Bone-chilling wails reverberated all around.

Like two beasts, their fangs clashed as they lunged at each other.

Kwa-ga-ga!

Four blades collided in the shape of an X.

The shockwave dwarfed anything that came before, shaking the surroundings.

Kwaaang!

Without pause, both unleashed One Point Kill again.

It was a perfect stalemate.

Each had strengths over the other.

Compared to Sewoon, whose cultivation had already reached the Supreme Peak Master Level, Nameless had long since stepped into the early stage of the Transformation Realm.

But Sewoon’s mastery of dagger arts had reached Eight-Tenths Completion, one step beyond Nameless.

Yet neither had enough superiority to overwhelm the other, and so no conclusion came.

Still, as they used One Point Kill repeatedly in such rapid succession, the difference in bodily burden due to cultivation level would surely show.

‘If this drags on, I’ll be the one to win!’

That thought flashed across Nameless’s mind—

Pabat!

Sewoon seized the opening, pressing forward once more.

Nameless also unleashed his daggers with full force.

Just as their One Point Kill was about to collide again—

“……!”

Nameless’s eyes shook violently.

For the first time in his life, he saw One Point Kill executed in a completely different form.

Reversing his dual daggers in his grip, Sewoon unleashed another One Point Kill—

One from the future that no assassin of this time could know.

The Ultimate Technique.

Reversed One Point Kill.

Jjaeng-geong!

The moment the four blades crossed, a violent shattering sound erupted.

Fragments of blades shot high into the air, eclipsing the full moon before scattering to the ground.

Both pairs of daggers had been split clean in half.

And the owner of those broken blades was—

“Looks like you’re the one who should start begging.”

Not Sewoon, but Nameless.

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