C 372
The blood spat out by So Geoksan stained Lee Ho-gwan's face red.
With his eyes wide open, Lee Ho-gwan glared at So Geoksan.
"Kheu! You demon... like..."
"I'm not the real demon. Compared to him, I'm just a bat wandering aimlessly in the dark."
"Him?"
Lee Ho-gwan's gaze shifted to Pyo Wol, who was approaching from behind So Geoksan.
So Geoksan showed his blood-stained teeth and laughed.
"Yes, him! He's the very embodiment of terror."
"K...heuheu!"
Lee Ho-gwan tried to say something, but only the sound of deflating air came out.
For a long time, Geoksan stared into Lee Ho-gwan's dying eyes. Madness filled his own eyes.
Finally, Lee Ho-gwan's breathing stopped and he collapsed.
At the same time, So Geoksan also collapsed.
"Heuk! Heuk!"
He lay down on Lee Ho-gwan's body, gasping for breath.
Having pushed his imperfect body to its limits, it felt like it was breaking apart.
Hate and madness drove him on.
He had nothing left, having used up all his physical and mental strength in a single explosion.
He didn't even have the strength to move a finger.
He would be helpless and die if an enemy appeared at this moment. But So Geoksan wasn't worried.
The real demon, Pyo Wol, appeared above his head.
Pyo Wol looked down at him and said,
"How long are you going to lie there?"
"Can't you see that I'm about to die?"
"If you're going to whine so much, just keep lying there."
"You bastard!"
Geoksan cursed as he stood up.
The mere act of raising his upper body made every muscle in his body scream in pain. Nevertheless, So Geoksan endured and stood up.
He hated showing weakness to Pyo Wol more than death itself.
Hong Yushin supported the staggering So Geoksan.
Normally, So Geoksan would have coldly pushed him away, but he didn't even have the strength to refuse help.
Leaning on Hong Yushin's shoulder, So Geoksan spoke.
"It was you. The one who followed me from Yeonam..."
He couldn't see Hong Yushin's face. But he remembered his presence clearly.
"Thanks to you, I went through a hellish experience."
"Hehe! It really was a hellish place."
Both men had been imprisoned in the Unreturnable Prison, so they had something in common.
These two, who were like oil and water, would never have recognised each other if it hadn't been for their time here.
Yoo Soo-hwan understood the feelings of the two men.
Although their positions were different, the fact that they had been imprisoned in this hellish place allowed them to acknowledge and understand each other.
That's when it happened.
Kwang!
Suddenly, the iron door leading to the underground chamber shattered with a loud noise.
The shattered door revealed a tall, stocky man standing outside.
The man, wearing gauntlets on both fists, was none other than Gu Ja-hwang, the warden of the Unreturnable Prison.
Gu Ja-hwang's gaze fell on Lee Ho-gwan as he lay on the ground.
Despite seeing Lee Ho-gwan's lifeless body, Gu Ja-hwang's expression did not change.
Lee Ho-gwan was just bait to lure out the hidden rat.
The enemy was skilled enough to infiltrate and neutralise their tight security. If such a skilled person decided to hide, it would not be easy to find him. That's why Gu Ja-hwang didn't stop Lee Ho-gwan when he offered to help.
Lee Ho-gwan had a sense of rivalry with Gu Ja-hwang, but on the contrary, Gu Ja-hwang had never considered Lee Ho-gwan a comparable opponent.
The rivalry was only felt by Lee Ho-gwan because Gu Ja-hwang's martial arts skills were far superior.
It was no coincidence that he became the warden of the unreturnable prison.
He had the martial arts skills and abilities to rule as the warden of the prison.
His eyes turned to Pyo Wol.
"So it was you! The hidden rat."
"..."
"I don't know how you managed to sneak in here, but you will never see the sunlight again."
Whoosh!
At that moment, Gu Ja-hwang's subordinates threw torches into the cave where Pyo Wol and the others were, illuminating it like daylight.
They wanted to cut off Pyo Wol's hiding place in advance.
Gu Ja-hwang released his murderous aura and said,
"Try to hide again, you rat!"
The air in the underground room trembled from his aura.
"Ugh!"
"Kuh!"
Yoo Soo-hwan and Hong Yushin groaned.
They might have been able to handle the murderous aura under normal circumstances, but now they were extremely weak.
Their faces turned pale, and So Geoksan even vomited blood. Their lives were in danger if the situation continued.
At that moment, Pyo Wol stepped forward and blocked Gu Ja-hwang's murderous aura from the others.
"You're as pretty as a girl, you rat. It would be interesting to see you thrown to the children."
"Are you the warden of Unreturnable Prison?"
"Who told you to open your mouth? Don't even breathe until I give you permission."
"An inflated sense of self? It seems you've only learned bad things from Guryongsalmak."
"What?"
For a moment, Gu Ja-hwang's expression hardened.
It was the face of one who had been unexpectedly struck.
The word that came out of Pyo Wol's mouth stunned him for a moment.
Soon, his face twisted like a demon.
"Where did you hear that name?"
"Sure, it was Guryongsalmak."
"Where did you hear it?"
Roar!
Gu Ja-hwang's lion roar resounded in the cave.
The amplified roar echoing off the cave walls was too much for the three of them, and they fell to their knees.
"Kuh!"
Blood spurted from their ears. Their eardrums had burst from the lion's roar.
The fact that Guryongsalmak was running the prison was top secret.
Even Gu Ja-hwang's subordinates had heard the name Guryongsalmak for the first time today.
It was unbelievable that Pyo Wol would openly discuss such a secret.
Gu Ja-hwang stared at Pyo Wol with terrifying eyes.
The more he stared, the more Pyo Wol's pale white face stood out.
An unnatural face that stood out even in the dense darkness.
At that moment, Gu Ja-hwang remembered a name he had heard before.
"Pyo Wol! You're Pyo Wol."
His murderous intent intensified.
Pyo Wol was the greatest rival of the Guryongsalmak.
Because of him, their plan in the south was dealt a heavy blow, and Lee Yul, a renowned strategist, experienced a great failure.
It was the first time they had suffered such a blow since they had united under the name of Guryong.
The unreturnable prison was one of the bases that Guryongsalmak had established in Kangho.
The Unreturnable Prison was doing the dirty work that the powerful people of Kangho were not willing to do for themselves. Although it didn't pay much and you could easily become a public enemy of Kangho, it did give them a glimpse into the secrets of the powerful.
As more and more information was gathered, they would eventually be able to manipulate the powers that be.
The Unreturnable Prison was a place operated with such a purpose.
The moment their secrets were revealed, they would lose their right to exist and become public enemies of Kangho.
They had to prevent such a situation at all costs.
Seeing Gu Ja-hwang's panicked expression, Pyo Wol was sure that his guess was right.
No matter how he thought about it, the only group capable of secretly running a place like the Unreturnable Prison in Kangho was the Guryongsalmak.
They were steadily expanding their influence in the shadows, out of sight of the humans.
It was impossible to know how far their influence extended.
Pyo Wol muttered to himself as he looked at Gu Ja-hwang.
"It must be fate."
"What?"
"Considering the fact that we keep clashing like this, it seems like it's our destiny to fight each other."
"What nonsense are you talking about..."
Kwaah!
Gu Ja-hwang unleashed a blow with a roar.
Whirlwind Punch
.
A powerful martial art that maximises the destructive power by rotating the internal energy.
As if to prove its power, the cave seemed to shake and crumble at any moment.
Kwaah!
The Whirlwind Strike hit the ground, creating a huge pit, and the stalactites fell with a thud.
It was truly a terrifying power.
However, Gu Ja-hwang's expression was not good.
It was because he couldn't feel anything in his hand.
At some point, Pyo Wol had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen.
Despite dozens of torches illuminating every corner of the cave, there was no trace of Pyo Wol, not even a shadow.
Gu Ja-hwang's eyes sank even deeper.
It was then that he remembered that his opponent was an assassin.
Fighting in the dark like this was undoubtedly what Pyo Wol was best at.
Even though the torches lit every corner of the cave, there were still shadows. Pyo Wol used those shadows to hide.
He shouted.
"Everyone be careful behind you. He'll definitely try to ambush us."
"Yes!"
His subordinates responded, quickly forming a defensive line. They stood back to back to protect themselves from a surprise attack.
Their movements alone showed how well trained they were.
Ordinary warriors would not even dare to get between them.
The only problem was that their opponent was Pyo Wol.
"Argh!"
Suddenly, one of the warriors forming the barricade was lifted into the air with a scream.
Pyo Wol had used a soul reaping thread around his neck. The eyes of a comrade standing nearby trembled as he watched the warrior being reeled in like a fish.
The warriors' eyes turned to the empty space where their comrade had disappeared.
The torches illuminated the floor and walls, but could not fully illuminate the subterranean ceiling. The stalactites cast long shadows in the dim light.
The problem was that these shadows were extremely wide.
Their spines chilled as they thought that Pyo Wol might be hiding somewhere, waiting to strike.
Then it happened.
Splatter!
Suddenly, a sticky liquid was sprayed like rain from the empty room.
"What?"
"What is that...?"
The warriors unconsciously touched the liquid that was wetting their faces and were startled.
"Blood?"
The liquid that smelled of blood was unmistakably blood.
There was no need to say whose blood it was.
Thud!
A body with its throat slit fell from the empty space.
The corpse, with its tongue hanging out of the long gash in its neck, was the comrade who had been captured by Pyo Wol only a few moments before.
"Damn you!"
"Scum!"
Enraged by the death of their comrade, the warriors swung their weapons at the ceiling.
The swords, wrapped in their power, slashed fiercely through the air, but did not reach the ceiling.
"Take this!"
Unable to stand it any longer, Gu Ja-hwang sent a powerful gust towards the ceiling where the corpse had fallen.
Crash!
With a loud crash, the stalactites collapsed, but Pyo Wol was nowhere to be seen.
"Gah!"
Instead, another warrior disappeared.
He was far away from where Gu Ja-hwang had attacked.
"Chai Hong!"
"Get him!"
The warriors called out the name of their missing comrade and rushed to his aid. But he had already disappeared into the darkness.
"Give Chai Hong back!"
Gu Ja-hwang roared and threw a punch.
Thud!
Fortunately, this time the sound was that of flesh being struck.
The sound came from hitting flesh instead of the mineral stalactites.
It worked.
The moment Gu Ja-hwang felt triumphant,
Splatter!
Blood and flesh fell from the sky.
As soon as Gu Ja-hwang and the warriors identified the shattered remains of the corpse, they froze.
"Chai Hong!"
The corpse shattered by Gu Ja-hwang's blow was the very warrior Pyo Wol had captured.
Horrifyingly, Pyo Wol had used the captured warrior as a human shield.
"Damn it!"
Enraged, Gu Ja-hwang unleashed all of his internal energy into a deafening roar.
Whooosh!
The enclosed space amplified the roar.
"Argh!"
"Oh, Master!"
Gu Ja-hwang's subordinates covered their ears in pain, but he did not stop the roar.
He knew instinctively that the situation would get out of control if he allowed Pyo Wol to have his way any longer.
His judgement was excellent.
Unfortunately, his opponent was Pyo Wol.
Pyo Wol used his internal energy to protect his ears from the effects of the roar.
Gu Ja-hwang and his subordinates could not see him. But Pyo Wol's eyes clearly saw them staggering in confusion.
They didn't know.
This place was a battlefield for Pyo Wol.
Now he would show them.
Ten strands of soul reaping threads were released from Pyo Wol's fingers.
Plop, plop, plop!
Side Note:- Mwahaha, the Reaper reaps the soul with soul reaping threads.