Chapter 29

‘He was clearly in front of me, but in an instant, he got behind me.’

A chill ran down his spine.

Siyoon’s presence had vanished for barely five seconds.

The fact that he had completely erased his presence was baffling enough, but being caught from behind was downright appalling.

“…What did you do?”

“Who knows.”

The man glared at Siyoon.

Siyoon met that gaze with effortless composure.

“I don’t particularly feel the need to answer you.”

Kkadeuk.

The man ground his teeth.

What he had believed to be a flawless tail had been exposed.

This should have been a commission resolved quietly.

The unexpected situation had spiraled into a standoff in the blink of an eye.

* * *

Siyoon glared at the men.

He hadn’t known from the start that he was being tailed.

But as he grew stronger, Siyoon’s senses had become far more acute.

Ever since leaving home, he had felt a peculiar sense of wrongness.

The old Siyoon might have simply brushed it off.

But things were different now.

He had developed a habit of thoroughly investigating anything that felt even slightly off or unsettling.

Siyoon immediately enhanced his body to heighten his sensory perception.

‘…A tail.’

The moment he enhanced his body, he could feel it.

A group of men had been following close behind him the entire time.

They had even suppressed their presence, maintaining an exact distance.

These were by no means ordinary people.

So he deliberately lured them into an alley.

A single path with no other exit.

Anyone following would have no choice but to reveal themselves.

And just as he had anticipated, his prediction proved correct.

“……”

“……”

They didn’t answer Siyoon’s question.

In that silence, Siyoon quickly observed them.

Faces concealed by masks and hoods pulled low.

Cloaks covered their bodies, but their physiques were those of trained fighters.

‘Who sent them?’

There were too many possible suspects, which was itself the problem.

Min Seolah, or perhaps the corporations and guilds connected to her.

How many of those could there be?

Those who suffered losses from Min Seolah’s death could have sent these men.

Not for any gain, but simply to vent their anger.

Just then, the man who appeared to be their leader flicked his hand.

His subordinates responded accordingly.

Sensing danger, Siyoon immediately launched a fist toward the man.

Jjeoeoeong!

“Ugh…!”

In a split second, the man reacted and blocked with the flat of his dagger.

Even though he struck first, this level of reaction speed.

Formidable and swift.

Kkeudeudeuk.

Tendons bulged across the fist pressed against the dagger’s surface.

As the force suddenly intensified, the arm gripping the dagger was gradually forced down.

Swaeaek!

In that instant, the assassins scattered and swung their daggers.

Siyoon withdrew his fist and pulled his body back.

‘They’re numerous, but I can handle this many.’

Siyoon was alone against ten of them.

Of course, that was precisely why he had lured them into a confined space.

Fighting ten men in an open area would have been far more difficult.

[ Enhancing ‘Eyes’. ]

[ Enhancing ‘Arm’. ]

[ Enhancing ‘Legs’. ]

Siyoon rapidly enhanced his body.

These men had clearly come to kill him.

Whoever sent them, he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

Swiik!

Siyoon dodged a dagger aimed at his lower back from behind.

The moment he evaded, a blade thrust in from the front as if they had been waiting for it.

A rhythm so perfectly synchronized, it was as if they had rehearsed killing a single target countless times.

Attack flowed into attack like water.

‘There’s almost no gap between the rhythm of their attacks.’

Siyoon deflected their strikes through close combat, gauging their skill level.

As he had suspected, they were no ordinary hunters.

If anything, they were more precise and sharper than the assassins Min Seolah had sent.

Swaeaek!

Just then, a hidden weapon flew toward Siyoon from the side.

Amid the chaotic combat, their skill was impressive enough to precisely target their mark.

Not that it worked on Siyoon, of course.

Hwik.

“Huh?”

The hidden weapon that had been rushing toward his neck suddenly changed direction.

Suspended in midair, the weapon impaled the assassin beside him.

“Keugh!”

“What happened?”

“The weapon’s direction suddenly—!”

The assassins panicked.

From their perspective, the hidden weapon had moved on its own in midair and killed their comrade.

Meanwhile, Siyoon watched and quietly nodded.

‘Snatching a hidden weapon is effortless enough.’

This was the equipment Siyoon had acquired.

A counterattack utilizing the Wind of Horus.

Being able to manipulate wind at will was a considerable advantage.

It allowed him to shift the flow of battle in unexpected directions like this.

And with a bit more concentration, other things were possible too.

Hwioo.

A small gust of wind surged from his hand.

Siyoon sharpened it into a blade and fired it at an assassin.

Spat.

“―?!”

The wind grazed past, and blood sprayed from the assassin’s throat.

The moment their attention was drawn, Siyoon closed in and shattered the man’s jaw with his fist.

‘That makes two.’

Wound them with the Wind of Horus, then close the distance in the opening.

This strategy proved remarkably effective.

There was no tell whatsoever when Siyoon manipulated the wind.

It was excellent for surprise attacks, perfect for stealing their visual focus.

‘Not bad at all.’

The assassins’ formation and coordination were better than expected.

Their well-timed exploitation of openings was also threatening.

But Siyoon had grown far too much in the span of a few months.

Enough to shatter a gap of this magnitude.

Jjik.

Planting his feet firmly in the space he had secured, he loaded power into his stance.

Pushing off the solid ground from the tips of his toes, he launched forward.

‘Their advantages are twofold. Numbers, and coordination between attacks.’

Elements that could never be overlooked in a normal situation.

In an open field, they would have given him considerable trouble.

But this was an alley.

Their numbers, conversely, became obstacles that blocked their own attack routes.

Udeudeuk.

Siyoon drove his fist toward the man’s upper body.

He hastily blocked with his arm, but the bone fractured and the fist went through.

His solar plexus crushed, the man vomited blood and collapsed for good.

‘Three down for now.’

Despite three of them being taken out in an instant, their momentum didn’t falter.

Assassins lowered their stances and launched off walls and ground, surging forward.

Three daggers flew in from different directions.

Pak.

The back of his hand deflected the dagger aimed at his throat first.

Simultaneously, he accelerated in a flash to block the low strike and the one targeting his abdomen.

This too was the result of using the Wind of Horus.

His already swift speed was further augmented by wrapping it in wind.

“What the—!”

For just a brief moment, it created the illusion that his hands had multiplied.

Siyoon paid it no mind, grabbed two men by their faces, and slammed them into the walls on either side.

Kwaaaaang!!

With a deafening crash, the two men’s bodies went limp, their heads deeply embedded in the walls.

Of course, Siyoon hadn’t emerged entirely unscathed.

The last strike had torn his side.

But this was hardly a problem.

Chiik.

The wound he had just sustained began to close.

The effect of the Patience of Nature.

As long as it wasn’t a fatal wound, most injuries healed rapidly.

Which was why he could afford to fight with some recklessness.

Siyoon immediately steadied his stance and launched forward.

Pak, ppeogek!

Each time his fist connected, a gruesome sound like a bursting drum rang out.

The assassin who had thrown the hidden weapon was shot dead with a sniper rifle.

Neither long-range nor close-range attacks availed them.

“You insane—!”

An assassin’s head burst like a watermelon.

Someone cursed at the clean, seamless attacks without a single stumble.

What Siyoon did after that was the same.

Incoming attacks were deflected and parried with the gun barrel.

The assassins who charged at Siyoon were mowed down helplessly.

The ten men were reduced to bloody masses rolling on the ground in an instant.

Eventually, only the leader-like man remained.

* * *

“You’re… insane…”

The man lay sprawled on the ground, letting out a hollow laugh.

Siyoon had already broken his limbs.

Escape was impossible.

“I thought it was an easy commission… but it was poison.”

“That’s hardly what matters right now.”

Siyoon pressed his foot firmly down on the man’s throat.

“Who’s the client?”

“Ha, haha.”

The man burst into a hollow laugh at the question.

“Are you asking because you actually think I’d know that?”

“An assassin has no obligation to show loyalty, does he?”

“Unfortunately, I truly don’t know.”

Siyoon narrowed his eyes.

Judging by his expression, it didn’t seem like a lie.

‘True. A corporation or guild wouldn’t directly reveal their identity when commissioning a hit.’

Then his claim of ignorance made sense.

There was no more information to extract.

Siyoon applied pressure with his foot.

Udeuk.

The neck bone snapped, and the man’s eyes rolled back.

He was dead for sure.

It was disappointing that he hadn’t gathered much information, but there was still something to gain.

‘The overall skill level of the assassins has risen compared to before.’

Which meant that whoever sent them had a certain degree of information about Siyoon.

This fact alone wasn’t enough to narrow down the suspects.

But it was undeniably a clear clue.

‘I’ll have to figure out the rest on my own.’

Siyoon looked at the assassins who were still breathing.

Fortunately, there were plenty of them left to extract information from.