The room felt unusually dark.
That was likely because I hadn’t left a light on before falling asleep.
I drew on my inner energy to brighten my vision, and the room finally ca into focus, albeit faintly.
Simultaneously, cold sweat began to trickle down my back.
Thump… thump…
My startled heart refused to calm down, pounding heavily in my chest.
It was only natural.
How could I not be shocked to wake up and find an assassin standing before ?
And not just any assassin—the figure before was none other than the King of Assassins, the Amwang (Shadow King).
Honestly, if he had rely dropped by for a visit, I might not have been so alard. But the problem was…
“…What exactly are you doing there?”
The Amwang was kneeling before .
When I opened my eyes, there he was, directly in front of .
Kneeling stiffly as if performing so solemn rite. His head was slightly bowed, and his gaze lowered.
The posture was so ticulous that it almost seed perfect—an impeccable show of respect.
If this had been so noble youth from a prestigious family, I might have thought, Wow, what excellent manners.
But no.
‘This is insane.’
The fact that the one kneeling in such a position was the Amwang, the master of assassins, was what made it a problem.
‘What the hell is he doing here now?’
Lately, I had thought things had been unusually quiet. I had almost forgotten.
‘Right… there’s the Amwang too.’
Yes, this man was still around.
I had montarily overlooked the fact that he had joined my group, disguised under Paejon’s orders.
‘Is this place even safe anymore?’
Looking at the Amwang, a thought crossed my mind.
The value of a single martial artist at the level of Hwagyeong was imnse.
Even those at the Jeoljeong stage were sought after by prestigious martial sects. If soone reached Hwagyeong, their worth beca imasurable.
Just look at the elders of the major martial clans—all of them were Hwagyeong.
To have reached Hwagyeong was to hold a position of unparalleled value.
‘And how many of them are here right now?’
How many Hwagyeong-level martial artists were currently gathered in the Tang Clan?
Even excluding those belonging to the Tang Clan itself…
Baekryun Sword, the Hermit, and others. Just counting them, there were five.
‘This place is practically a nest of living weapons.’
While it felt like I had sohow drawn all of them here, that wasn’t the issue.
Of all these elites, if I were to evaluate the Amwang standing before …
‘He’s soone who could kill anyone.’
That was the simplest way to put it.
He was the King of Assassins, renowned for being capable of killing even the Samjonja if he wished.
The master of the infamous Cheolya Assassination Squad, whose identity was entirely unknown.
Well… almost unknown.
‘I do know a bit, though.’
While few, if any, had survived an encounter with the Amwang, I knew sothing others likely didn’t.
‘A descendant of Yeon Ilcheon.’
The Amwang was, in fact, a descendant of that accursed Yeon Ilcheon.
I didn’t know if anyone else was aware of this, but considering I hadn’t known in my previous life, it seed to be a well-kept secret.
‘Is that why he’s here?’
Could he be here to silence for knowing that?
Though I doubted it, the re thought crossed my mind.
What dismissed that notion, however, was the Amwang’s behavior.
‘Why?’
Why was he kneeling in my room?
Even my groggy, half-awake mind grew cold at the sight.
There was no killing intent.
But given his level, hiding such intent would be trivial, so that didn’t an much.
Then I considered sothing else.
‘Since when?’
When had the Amwang entered this room?
I had set up a barrier to awaken if anyone approached while I slept.
Oh.
‘That doesn’t matter either.’
If it was the Amwang, that barrier was useless.
What a ridiculous situation.
‘Living like this is exhausting.’
No matter how many precautions I took, there were always people capable of breaking through them.
The reality was absurd. Yet perhaps that absurdity was what brought my thoughts into focus.
‘This must be a reminder not to get complacent.’
It was fortunate that I had been reminded of that fact, albeit in this unsettling way.
As I worked to piece together the situation, Shin Noya spoke from within.
[It’s been about an hour.]
‘Since when the Amwang entered the room?’
[Yes. I tried everything to wake you up, but you wouldn’t stir even if you were dying.]
An hour.
The Amwang had been here for that long.
And judging by the timing, it seed he had waited for to fall asleep before entering.
Realizing this, I addressed him directly.
“…Do you have business with ?”
Thankfully, my voice didn’t tremble.
That alone was a small victory. If it had, I’d have looked utterly pathetic.
At my question, the Amwang finally raised his head to look at .
Silver-white hair glinted in the faint light.
Even in the dim room, his hair seed to shimr unnaturally.
Though he typically wore a mask or disguised himself, I had the impression that this was his true form.
And his eyes…
White eyes that, despite their color, felt dark—like a void pulling you in.
The first ti I saw those eyes, they had terrified .
‘What’s this?’
But now, strangely enough, they didn’t scare as much.
Just as I continued to look into his eyes…
Whoosh!
“…!”
Suddenly, his eyes changed.
The pupils narrowed vertically, like slits.
The sight sent chills down my spine.
Not because it was grotesque, but because it was familiar.
I had seen those eyes before.
It didn’t take long to recall.
‘The Blood Demon’s eyes.’
Those were the sa crimson pupils I had seen during the faction eting. The sa ones that stared at through Jang Seon-yeon’s body.
And the changes didn’t stop there.
Buzz…
A strange vibration spread through the room.
Heat surged through my blood.
Was my body reacting?
Unbidden, an intense warmth filled , rising until it reached my eyes.
I didn’t need a mirror to know.
My own pupils had likely transford to match the Amwang’s.
And then…
—Shhh!
From a drawer, Doldol leaped out, coiling his body in azure flas.
The flas flared up briefly before revealing not the small, wiry snake I knew but a massive beast.
His colossal form curled protectively around in the cramped room, baring his fangs at the Amwang.
—Grrrrrr…
Doldol trembled with rage, exuding hostility toward the Amwang.
The Amwang turned his gaze to Doldol.
Watching this unfold, I braced myself for the worst, but…
“It seems I was right,” the Amwang finally said.
Instead of reacting with violence to Doldol’s aggression, he nodded as though everything had fallen into place.
What the hell does that an?
The Amwang’s gaze shifted back to .
And then, he moved.
His sudden motion made instinctively prepare for an attack.
"Hmm...?"
I instinctively tensed as the Amwang moved.
He abruptly bowed his head, offering a respectful salute toward .
Startled, I opened my mouth to ask why, but before I could utter a word…
“…A guardian born of Yeon Ga’s lineage greets the great Dragon.”
His words froze in place.
Dragon .
That single word knocked the breath out of my lungs.
For a mont, I hesitated, struggling to process what he had just said.
Then, pushing past the confusion, I asked:
“…Senior, what are you doing?”
What was going on?
Was I cursed by so celestial misfortune lately? Or had every old man around suddenly decided to lose their minds?
This was far scarier than anything else. Watching the Amwang—of all people—act like this was unnerving.
‘Am I already dead?’
The ridiculous thought crossed my mind, though I quickly dismissed it.
Even as I tried to lift the Amwang from his kneeling position, his words lingered in my head.
Dragon
The word sent a chill down my spine.
A term used to describe legendary creatures, or as a collective term for White-Rank beasts.
It was also the image that had flashed through my mind during my battle with the manifestation of blood energy—the sa form I’d seen when Doldol transford after my rebirth.
‘…A dragon, huh.’
It was no longer a foreign concept, though it still felt surreal.
Am I a dragon?
Was this strange body of mine truly that of a dragon?
The scales on my arms, the altered state of my body—were these signs of a dragon’s form?
Even if that were true…
Dragon or not, that’s not the issue right now.
Whatever I had turned into, that could be dealt with later.
For now, I needed to understand why this terrifying man was acting this way.
The sheer dread I had managed to suppress was threatening to rise again, especially with his drastic change in tone.
“Please, Senior… Get up first…”
“I beg before a being so great as you.”
I tried to pull the Amwang away from Doldol, but he simply continued speaking.
“Please take pity on this wretched bloodline.”
When my hand touched his shoulder…
Ssssss…
“…!”
The mont I made contact, his flesh began to change.
Startled, I withdrew my hand.
Even as I stepped back to distance myself, the changes continued, spreading further across his body.
His skin transford.
Just as his pupils had earlier, his flesh began to morph.
It beca rough and textured, resembling the scales on my right arm.
The difference was that while my scales were blue, his were golden.
I stared at him with wide eyes.
And then, sothing changed in .
My heart began to pound violently.
The heat coursing through my veins beca unbearable, far beyond what I had felt earlier.
What was this?
As I struggled to find a word to describe it, a voice from my past echoed in my mind.
—Instinct.
It was what the Blood Demon had once said to .
Back then, when I had lost control of myself amidst the frenzy of blood energy, the Blood Demon had remarked on it.
—That’s simply the way it is.
—Arrogant creatures that cannot bear the existence of an equal under the sa sky.
He had said this while looking directly at .
Then, was this emotion I felt toward the Amwang hostility?
No.
It wasn’t hostility.
It was sothing colder, more disdainful.
If I had to put it into words…
Inferiority?
Yes, inferiority.
I was looking at soone far stronger than myself, yet all I could feel was a sense of their insignificance.
Why was I feeling this?
It was a disgusting emotion, one I wanted to rip out of myself.
As I recalled the Blood Demon’s words, another thought occurred to .
He must have known from the start.
The Blood Demon must have realized what I would beco.
Even before I had fully shed my mortal shell, he had understood that I was destined to beco a dragon.
Which ant…
Is this about the blood energy?
It made sense. My flas had transford into blue fire, born of blood energy.
But the Blood Demon’s earlier words stuck in my mind:
—You are not my fragnt, so how did you begin to awaken?
Those words implied that my transformation had not been his intention.
Though I couldn’t fully trust the Blood Demon, his words suggested sothing important.
Was the Blood Demon also… a dragon?
If he was part of this unknown species, then his remarks about being the “seed of the Dragon Emperor” also made sense.
The Blood Demon’s claim wasn’t just a taphor—it was literal.
Wait… If that’s true…
A realization struck as I began to connect the dots.
From the beginning, creatures associated with the term dragon were always…
White-Rank beasts.
In the past, people called them dragons based on their form and imnse power.
But as of now, no White-Rank beasts had appeared in Zhongyuan since the Blood Demon’s disappearance.
Even in my previous life, while Red-Rank beasts had started to erge, I had never seen a single White-Rank beast until my death.
While this absence had brought peace, was it truly just a coincidence?
Why, then, were Red-Rank beasts appearing now?
What was causing this shift?
The more I thought about it, the rougher my breathing beca.
The blurry outlines of these events were starting to take shape.
But the clearer the picture beca, the larger and more daunting it seed.
As my mind raced to piece everything together, the Amwang spoke again in his dry voice.
“…Please…”
His words snapped back to the present, and I turned my gaze toward him.
My brow furrowed instinctively—not because of his grotesque appearance, but because I couldn’t understand him.
Heroes were said to have saved the world.
They hadn’t been able to kill the Blood Demon, but they had managed to seal him, preserving peace.
Despite seeing as a disaster, I had respected their achievents.
They were the ones who had turned back ti to save this world.
That was how I had viewed Yeon Ilcheon.
But why…
Why was this descendant of Yeon Ilcheon in such a state?
Why was he now kneeling before , begging:
“Release the curse bound to my bloodline…”
How had the foremost defender of the world ended up like this?
For so reason, that realization left feeling deeply unsettled.
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