Chapter 149 – Competition for the Succession (6)

“Shouldn’t we help?”

As Yu-jin asked with a smile, Eun Seol-rin shook her head.

“Let’s watch the situation a bit longer. It will be more helpful for that child’s growth.”

“The emergence of a new assassin who hunts assassins? Let’s see how she fares.”

Thinking this, Yu-jin extended his senses even further. Just then, Eun Seol-rin muttered.

“It’s a severed connection, anyway…”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

When Yu-jin asked, puzzled, Eun Seol-rin shook her head as if it were nothing and opened her mouth.

“They will probably move individually to get here. When they do, I’ll take care of them.”

“Go ahead.”

Unaware of what she was thinking, Yu-jin gave a light nod. He was a kind master who would grant his women’s wishes for the most part.

* * *

“Haa…”

Ran wore a troubled expression as she watched Seol-rin and Yu-jin making love. She was busy as hell, yet her master was enjoying such a pleasant time with the master she loved. It was only natural for her to feel disturbed.

“If I can just finish this quickly, I can also…”

At that moment, the sound of movement reached her ears. It was so faint that she would never have detected it if her nerves hadn’t been on edge.

She instantly recognized it as the sound of people moving. And that they carried killing intent.

However, it wasn’t the kind of killing intent that an ordinary warrior could sense, but a clandestine aura that only an assassin could possess.

‘How dare they!’

This was a space where only Yu-jin and his women could reside. Though she herself had become an assassin, she couldn’t allow other assassins to enter.

With that thought, she drew the short sword from her waist. It was a sharp blade, well-honed.

She knew Yu-jin and Eun Seol-rin wouldn’t fail to notice their presence, but wanting to calm her current agitation, she slipped into the shadows.

It was the ultimate technique Eun Seol-rin had taught her, and she was already proficient enough to use it in real combat.

*Shhhh.*

Just as she completely concealed her presence, a dozen assassins appeared on the roof of the building where Yu-jin was staying.

“I heard he was fond of women, and it seems to be true.”

When the assassin who appeared to be the leader spoke, the others nodded. Eun Seol-rin and Yu-jin were exploring each other so intensely that the sounds reached their ears.

And that was exactly what the assassins wanted. After all, a person is most vulnerable when engaged in such union. That was true even for the greatest masters.

“First, kill everyone inside. Then, after everyone inside is dead, we all converge and attack the target.”

The number of assassins targeting Yu-jin was twelve in total. They began to split up and move.

But they didn’t know. The moment they moved individually was precisely what Ran desired most.

Ran first entered the shadow of the weakest-looking assassin and followed them.

*Shhh.*

Her upper body emerged from an assassin’s shadow, but he, failing to sense her presence, kept his eyes fixed only on Yu-jin’s room.

With death itself right behind him, the assassin was completely oblivious.

Ran immediately swung her short sword at the assassin’s neck. His throat slit, the assassin collapsed without even a scream. Ran once again hid her body in the shadows and moved.

‘They’re all elite assassins.’

Their martial arts might be inferior, but their killing techniques were at their peak. However, compared to Ran, who had learned numerous arts from the legendary King of Assassins, they were still lacking.

Ran moved, erasing her presence, and spotted an assassin snooping around the now-empty maids’ room. The moment she found her prey, Ran moved without hesitation.

*Swish!*

Appearing without a sound and slitting his throat, Ran caused the assassin who was about to enter the room to fall.

Assassins, by nature, possess a stronger sense of vigilance than anyone. Therefore, they never let even their comrades get behind them. This tendency was especially strong among elite assassins.

The assassins targeting Yu-jin were also aware of this fact. But they were no match for Ran. They were far too inadequate to stop the woman who would one day become the new King of Assassins.

“Keuk!”

“Keuk!”

Ran was hunting the assassins silently. Yet, the other assassins had not noticed this fact. That was how stealthy her movements were.

But Ran wore a puzzled expression. The movements of the elite assassins felt very familiar to her. But that was only for a moment; she resumed hunting them down.

The assassins realized their comrades had disappeared only when they arrived in front of Yu-jin’s room, where he was still making love. There had been twelve when they entered, but when they gathered at the back, only seven remained.

‘What in the world…’

Shin Do-yeong, the leader of the Blood Shadow Brigade, looked bewildered. The dead assassins were, like him, excellent assassins who had been taught the art of assassination by the King of Assassins. For such assassins to die so silently was an impossible feat.

‘This is just like… just like that person, isn’t it?’

After the Blood Wolf Society was completely shattered by the True Dragon Sword Clan and he thought the King of Assassins had been killed by them, Shin Do-yeong had vowed revenge and gone into hiding with a few other assassins.

That was why he had accepted the assassination of Yu-jin as his first mission, unaware that she had secretly rebuilt the Blood Wolf Society. But for such a mishap to occur before they had even begun, Shin Do-yeong couldn’t help but be flustered.

Catching an opponent from behind from within the shadows and killing them silently was Eun Seol-rin’s specialty. The opponent was clearly hunting them in a manner similar to hers.

But Shin Do-yeong couldn’t continue his thoughts. The moans of Yu-jin and the woman seemed to diminish before disappearing completely, and the light in the room went out.

Shin Do-yeong forgot everything and focused on assassinating Yu-jin.

‘Now.’

Having concealed their presence, they decided to move after about two hours had passed and quietly opened the door.

However, they didn’t know. That the door was a gate to hell.

The moment the door opened, two women emerged from the shadows and began to attack the assassins.

*Shwaaak!*

Caught in the sudden ambush, two assassins collapsed, spewing blood. Shin Do-yeong, startled, threw a dagger, but the women slipped back into the shadows, evading his attack.

Then, the two women once again swung their short swords at the other assassins, who once again fell, gushing blood.

In a time so short it could be called an instant, the seven assassins were reduced to three, and Shin Do-yeong was at a loss for words.

In the midst of it all, Shin Do-yeong did not miss one of the women. It was only for a brief moment, but he had clearly caught sight of her.

“Leader!”

Shin Do-yeong shouted and dropped to his knees. And the moment he did, a sharp short sword touched his neck, and a small amount of blood trickled down.

But Shin Do-yeong felt no pain and raised his head. He saw that his guess had been correct and removed his mask.

“Leader!”

The leader of the Blood Wolf Society, the King of Assassins, Eun Seol-rin, stood before him. The other assassins then all removed their masks and knelt.

Even for Eun Seol-rin, as ruthless as she was to be called the King of Assassins, it was impossible not to be shaken. Though they had targeted her master, they were once her followers.

It was then.

“Oh, what an interesting development this is.”

Yu-jin, walking out from the darkness, was smiling brightly. It was a chilling smile that would make anyone who saw it tremble in fear.

Eun Seol-rin knew well that when Yu-jin smiled like that, blood was bound to be shed.

“By the way, you shouldn’t kill your own subordinates with your own hands, Seol-rin. That’s too cruel.”

Yu-jin spoke as he approached Shin Do-yeong, who glared at him. After all, Yu-jin was the cause of their separation.

But he should have known. The moment Yu-jin appeared, he should have run away, Seol-rin or not. It was already too late.

With an ominous smile, Yu-jin looked at the three surviving elite assassins, then turned his head to look at Ran and Eun Seol-rin, and the two women stepped back.

Yu-jin turned his head back to face Shin Do-yeong and the other elite assassins.

“To think assassins connected to Seol-rin would come for my life. This is quite amusing. By the way, do you know that the Blood Wolf Society has been rebuilt?”

“That’s…”

Shin Do-yeong was flustered by Yu-jin’s words. Hearing that the Blood Wolf Society, which he thought had been brutally annihilated and had completely disappeared, had been rebuilt, he couldn’t help but be shocked.

“You’d want to rejoin, right? Though many of your comrades are gone, the skills you’ve mastered will be a great help to the new Blood Wolf Society. What a shame. If I’d known you were connected to Seol-rin, I would have let the others live.”

“Keuk!”

Only then remembering the deaths of his comrades, Shin Do-yeong’s face contorted greatly. But Yu-jin didn’t care. Whatever expressions men made, whatever feelings they harbored, was of no interest to him.

“Well, they died because they were unlucky, so it can’t be helped. Anyway, join the new Blood Wolf Society. Seol-rin will be happy too.”

“What is your relationship with the Leader? And who is that woman who used the Leader’s techniques?”

Shin Do-yeong asked, hiding all his emotions and looking at Yu-jin with an expressionless face.

“Seol-rin, as you can see, is my woman, and that woman is her direct disciple. Ask your questions later. Will you join?”

Shin Do-yeong looked at Eun Seol-rin standing behind Yu-jin. She was looking at Yu-jin with an anxious face. He couldn’t believe that the once-proud Eun Seol-rin would show such an expression to a man.

‘Did this man change her like this?’

To think that Eun Seol-rin, whom he respected and admired most, had fallen for the very man who had driven the Blood Wolf Society to ruin. Shin Do-yeong could feel hostility toward Yu-jin enveloping him, but he did not resist it.

It was the worst mindset for an assassin, but strangely, he had no desire to reject that intense emotion.

And a strange thought occurred to him. The thought that if he killed Yu-jin here and now, he could free Eun Seol-rin.

‘Is it possible?’

Right now, Yu-jin was completely off guard. Though other warriors couldn’t do it, as an elite assassin, he could charge straight ahead and take down an unguarded opponent right in front of him. Even if that opponent was a master of the Transformation Realm.

‘It’s possible.’

Thinking so, Shin Do-yeong pretended to bow his head, showing his intention to follow Yu-jin. And as Yu-jin smiled at his reaction, Shin Do-yeong immediately launched himself forward, thrusting out his hand.