"I don't know what nonsense you're spouting, but do you really think I'll just stand still?"
"Don't worry. You'll have no choice but to comply, whether you like it or not."
"No, before you even try anything, your eyes will pop out first. If you go blind, maybe you'll learn your place."
The guy was seriously aiming for my eyes.
Huh, his taste is quite unique.
It didn't seem like he was just trying to intimidate . You could tell by looking into his eyes.
"But—"
Il-young's gaze shifted to the distant scenery.
He was staring intently at a boy in a school uniform holding a hand axe.
"—Before that, I'll have to kill all the witnesses."
Even if they weren't witnesses, he'd probably kill them anyway.
As I listened to his words, I grabbed the back of my neck.
This guy is worse than I thought.
There wasn't an ounce of falsehood in the assassin's words, filled with killing intent.
He was willing to kill innocent, young students just because they might interfere with his mission.
"For soone who's supposed to be a shadow of the Elder Council, you're quite low and petty, aren't you?"
In my lifeti, I've seen countless assassins, but this is the first ti I've seen one who couldn't suppress his emotions.
An assassin must first kill their own humanity and morality to truly take the first step.
In that sense, the guy in front of —
No, the three shadows dispatched here were utterly pathetic.
From the Elder Council's perspective, they were probably disposable.
"...."
"Why so quiet all of a sudden? Just a mont ago, you were targeting a kid, oozing killing intent. Oh, maybe—"
A sneer ford on my face.
I looked down at him with a gaze that seed to pity sothing pitiful.
"Did you not know who your master is?"
"...."
At my words, the shadow dressed in black closed his mouth.
Doesn't he know that silence in this situation is tantamount to agreent?
It seems he hasn't received extensive assassin training.
If he had, he wouldn't be reacting like this.
He should at least pretend to stab my weak point with a dagger.
This is neither here nor there.
'Well, I'm feeling threatened by this neither-here-nor-there guy.'
My body hasn't fully recovered yet.
Thanks to the elixir, all my external wounds have healed, but my internal injuries still need ti.
Especially my leg joints.
In other words, running away is completely out of the question.
Then I'll have to fight, but I'm not sure how much firepower I can muster with my already weak body now injured internally.
If I make a mistake and get injured again, there won't be any elixir this ti.
'I'll buy as much ti as I can with words and focus on long-range combat.'
I'm not sure how long I can fight in this state, with both my stamina and mana depleted.
Well, I'll just have to do my best.
"Hey, Il-young. Let's not be so petty as to target a kid."
"Petty?"
The man's eyes glinted with murderous intent.
Though Lee Ji hesitated under the intense pressure, I calmly continued.
"Yeah, petty. He's just a kid, not even twenty yet."
"...Then what about you?"
"I'm an adult. Sa goes for you guys."
"You're talking nonsense."
Whoosh!
A dagger flew through the air, cutting through the wind.
It wasn't aid at but at where Lee Ji was standing.
I raised my hand and erected a wall of fire.
[Pyrokinesis]
Clang!
There was a loud tallic sound, as if the dagger had collided with the flas.
Especially since the dagger was so fast, the sound was loud.
He really threw that dagger with the intent to kill Lee Ji.
"Really petty."
"That's what being an adult is!"
"From where I stand, you're just a kid too."
Sizzle!
Il-young, holding two shadow daggers in his hands, swung his arms wide.
Observing his movents carefully, I scattered two sparks into the air.
The sparks quickly grew and ignited.
The flas obscured Il-young's vision and bound his hands.
If he has no counterasure against flas, he won't be able to approach recklessly.
That's what I thought, but—
Whoosh!
Il-young's arm cut through the flas and reached .
Burns or whatever, it seems he's targeting first.
This guy is completely insane.
Clank!
The sound of tal clashing against tal.
But this ti, the sound was heavier than before.
"A shield made of flas. And quite durable too."
"Right? It's a useful spell, even if I do say so myself."
"Yeah, a useful spell. Too bad the caster is so weak."
Crash!
A giant shadow rose from the ground like a hand.
The massive hand easily crushed the fla shield.
If I get caught by that hand, I won't even have bones left.
Of course, I don't have to worry about that.
The Elder Council, especially the 5th Elder, who oversees the family's military and the Nine-Tail Guild's guild master, hates troubleso situations.
'If I die now, the succession will be a complete ss.'
Even without real power, I'm still the family head.
If I die, the power struggle between my sisters and the elders will begin, leading to the family's collapse.
At least until the succession is clear, they won't dare kill .
'Though I'm not sure how long that will last.'
I don't know much about the 5th Elder.
Eve never explained the elders of the Cheonho Family in detail.
From the perspective of the novel's protagonist, Kyle, the Cheonho Family is just a side story.
But one thing's for sure—he doesn't seem like the patient type.
If he gets annoyed, he won't hesitate to kill , even if I'm the family head.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have sent such a nasty shadow.
Whoosh!
The shadow on the ground rippled.
Dozens of hands stretched out, writhing to grab my legs.
If I get caught by those hands, I'm done for.
[Demon Eye—Future Sight]
My eyes, tinged with purple, saw the future.
Though it was only a short glimpse into the future, it was enough to shake off those hands.
If anything's lacking, it's my mana.
After using various techniques, including [Heat Yang Finger], my body has reached its limit.
I'm in a state where I could collapse at any mont.
In that brief mont of opening—
Il-young didn't miss it.
Creating shadow daggers in both hands, he imdiately closed the distance to .
Caught off guard by the sudden approach, I instinctively used [Heat Yang Finger] with both hands to deflect him.
My hands stung.
"Ah, that really hurts...."
"Idiot! What can you do with those fingers?"
"...Yeah, my fingers got a little burned."
Il-young pointed at my hands.
Even at a glance, my hands were in bad shape.
From overusing [Heat Yang Finger], my fingers were severely burned.
It's not as bad as a third-degree burn, but I'll have scars for life.
No big deal.
But close combat is out of the question for now.
No choice.
I scooped up the liquid pooled on the ground into my palm.
Wait, can I even call this a liquid?
As I held the thick, viscous liquid, my gloves began to corrode.
I can't fight while holding this.
I'll have to lure him over.
I plan to use this as a substitute for my hands in close combat.
Just then—
The sensation in my palm made laugh involuntarily.
This should work.
"Puhaha!"
"Are you laughing in this situation?"
"Well, it's just too funny."
Crash!
A massive pressure weighed down on my body.
Il-young knew the tide had turned in my favour.
Seeing laugh in this situation must have made him feel uneasy.
I provoked him to distract him from my palm.
"Hey, if I don't laugh now, when will I? I didn't expect a shadow to be so bad at hiding their true intentions."
"True intentions?"
"Yeah, true intentions."
"What nonsense are you spouting? Are you delirious from the pain of the burns?"
"No, it's just too obvious. You never planned to save your comrades here, did you?"
Il-young flinched at my words.
Seems my guess was right.
Il-young's reaction was too honest.
At that mont, Il-young's shadow shot towards my back like a thorn.
I flicked my fingers and responded with a wall of fire.
But in that instant, he had already closed the distance to my face.
"I can tolerate you mocking , but I can't stand you insulting my fallen comrades."
At a distance where the slightest movent could an death—
He threatened , exuding thick killing intent.
It was ridiculous.
"That's not possible."
"Then...."
"You couldn't even save your comrades. Aren't you putting on too much of a show?"
"You bastard!"
Il-young's killing intent grew even more intense.
He swung his arm wide, aiming for mine.
Following his hand, the shadow revealed a sharp blade, vibrating like a chainsaw.
But the shadow never reached .
Because I had spread my mana like a sturdy, wide shield.
This ti, I based it on [Double Helix], so it wouldn't break easily.
Hiding behind the shield, I smirked and said,
"Honestly, you don't care about your comrades at all. What you really want is not to be a shadow of the guild, but to be recognized by the guild master as a hunter. That's why you stood by while your comrades died and attacked alone."
"...!!!"
The more we talked, the more Il-young's expression hardened.
In such a short conversation, I had completely seen through his true intentions.
Even his comrades, who had lived with him, didn't know his true feelings.
So how does this guy know?
I wondered.
"But hey, don't you see this around you?"
Splash!
I scattered the liquid in my hand.
As I threw the green liquid, it spread like a mist.
Il-young, montarily panicked, used a shadow dagger to disperse the mist.
As he waved the dagger, his vision cleared slightly.
The first thing that entered his sight was a green swamp.
No, this isn't a swamp.
'...Internal organs? And fresh blood?'
It was clearly what the giant centipede had been dripping.
Il-young gagged, disgusted by the filth.
But sothing was off.
"Ugh, ughhh! What is this...?"
He was drooling sothing from his mouth.
At first, I thought it was just vomit, but when I saw the dark red drops falling to the ground, I changed my mind.
It was blood.
To be precise, blackened, dead blood.
Just then—
Fizzle!
The sound of sothing collapsing.
The sound of the sword that had dispersed the mist corroding.
'!!!'
Only then did he realize.
That green liquid was poison.
A deadly, potent poison.
Even as a trained assassin who had endured all sorts of assassination training, he had no way to resist this fatal poison.
His brief mont of anguish at being poisoned was interrupted.
It suddenly occurred to him that Baek Seung-woo was nowhere to be seen.
'Where is he? Did he hide in this mist...?'
"Looking for ? I'm right here."
I smirked as I spoke.
He was frantically looking around, so I figured he was searching for .
That's why I announced my location with my mouth.
With both hands full of Gu Poison.
This ti, it filled my palms.
"You, what's in your hands...!"
"Ah, this is better than I thought, right?"
The poison in my hands and the one I just sprayed were creations of Gu.
The dissolving liquid still dripping from the corpse.
Its true nature is a deadly poison concocted by mixing all the poisons in this dungeon within Gu's body.
A poison matured within Gu's intestines, mixed with his lingering resentnt upon death.
This is Gu Poison.
"My skin lted a little, but it's not too bad, right?"
Splash!
As I sprayed the Gu Poison in my hands, it spread like fog.
The mist grew wider.
Seeing this, Il-young thought,
'This guy is insane.'
Spraying such deadly poison like it's water, even though he's within the range of poisoning himself.
There's definitely sothing wrong with him.
"You crazy bastard...!"
"This is hard-to-get poison, you know?"
"Stop it!!!"
"Why? You should enjoy it while you can."
I stomped my feet, spreading the poison wider.
With every movent, the mist thickened, enveloping both and Il-young.
There's no escaping now.
After all, I spread it too wide.
"Now, it's not a fight anymore, but a battle of endurance, right?"
The corner of my mouth lifted at his reaction.
A really good idea had co to .
"From your reaction earlier, it seems there's no Shim-young in this world, right?"
"What the hell is this Shim-young you keep talking about!!"
So that's what you're curious about. I should've explained earlier.
But no need to be too curious.
You'll find out what it ans soon enough.
Now, it's a competition.
Let's see if the poison resistance training taught by the Nine-Tail Guild is superior.
Or if the [Ten Poisons Immunity] I obtained is better.
Let's bet my eyes and your manhood on this test.
As I swallowed my laughter and smirked at the sudden competition, Il-young's expression gradually filled with fear.
We haven't even started yet. To the one who's already scared, I spoke in a gentle tone.
"Don't worry too much."
You don't need to worry about a thing.
After all—
"Even if sothing goes wrong, I'll be your doctor."
You won't die.
Though it might be more painful than death.
***
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