Chapter 404: Chapter 404

Skykiller's broken nose hung at an unnatural angle. One eyeball had burst completely, and more than half his teeth lay shattered in his mouth. His limbs twisted at impossible angles, making it utterly impossible for him to stand.

He was a gruesome sight, utterly pathetic and unrecognizable, like an insect that had been stomped on and left half-crushed.

Nevertheless, he somehow managed a bizarre grin as he continued rambling, "Hahaha... my, my... you've really done a number on me. Even during my assassin training, my face was never mashed up this badly..."

His words came out slurred. Blood trickled from his mouth with every syllable, but this wasn't enough to silence him.

He looked up at Baek Suryong, asking, "Has your anger subsided a bit?"

Baek Suryong gazed down at the broken man without a shred of pity. "Not yet," he said nonchalantly, even as he pressed his foot down on a shin bone protruding from torn flesh.

Veins bulged along Skykiller's neck, yet he didn't so much as grimace. It wasn't that the world's number one assassin couldn't feel pain, but that he simply endured it to a degree that surpassed mortal imagination.

"You're quite skilled at controlling pain. As expected, you and I have a lot in common," he gasped.

"Haha, not at all. You could jump back into active duty right now."

"For someone putting on such a brave face, you've been gasping for breath for a while now. Is it that painful?"

"Well, it's still bearable."

"......" Baek Suryong couldn't understand why a master of Skykiller's caliber was satisfied with being a mere assassin. He possessed incredible strength. As a martial artist, he rivaled the Blood Cult elders. As a sorcerer, he had inherited the Blood Demon's magic. He sighed, "You know, you're so damn cautious, I figured I couldn't lure you in without putting on an act."

"Haha, well done. I completely fell for it, didn't I?" Skykiller giggled. If Baek Suryong hadn't grabbed his wrist at that crucial moment and paralyzed him with the Heaven Defying Divine Art, he would have severed his own wrist to escape. Unfortunately, Baek Suryong had anticipated even that desperate move.

"I told you. I won't let you die an easy death." Baek Suryong shrugged, his crimson eyes remaining calm, though a cold fury settled deep within their depths. "Rather, I've been thinking a lot about how I should kill you slowly."

He had first crushed Skykiller's face, then methodically shattered the assassin's bones joint by joint to completely immobilize him. However, through it all, Skykiller hadn't screamed at all. Instead, he wore only a sneer on his lips, as if mocking him.

"I'm very much looking forward to it. Surely you won't disappoint me, will you?"

Baek Suryong stared blankly at Skykiller for a moment, then looked toward the sky. "Want to hear an interesting story?"

Baek Suryong's blood-red hair fluttered in the night breeze. The crescent moon bathed the scene in faint light as it repeatedly disappeared and reappeared behind drifting clouds.

"...One day, I remembered my previous life."

Skykiller's eyes curved into crescents. "Now this is quite the interesting start!"

Baek Suryong ignored him and continued gazing at the clouds drifting across the night sky. "In my previous life, I was a Blood Cult martial arts instructor. I mastered countless martial arts and demonic arts belonging to the Cult. My insight was so exceptional that I could grasp the essence of any martial art after seeing it just once, and I was incredibly tenacious. It didn't take long for me to rise to the top of the teaching world."

"Heheh..." Skykiller chuckled softly.

"However, my qi center was damaged in an accident, so I couldn't use inner arts. I was an excellent instructor, but as a martial artist, I was crippled and doomed. Unseen contempt and disdain was a daily occurrence."

"!" Skykiller's pupils wavered slightly.

"Then one day, the Demonic Strategist summoned me and gave me a mission."

Skykiller's eyes widened, and his expression hardened seriously. "The Demonic Strategist..."

"The mission was this: Learn the martial arts of several masters kidnapped by the Blood Cult, then teach them to some children the cult prepared. The Demonic Strategist then took me to a prison where four peerless masters were being held captive..." Baek Suryong paused for a moment.

Skykiller could no longer contain his curiosity. "Who were they?"

Baek Suryong's lips curled into a bitter smile as he gazed at the countless stars scattered across the night sky. "The Bandit King, the Crazy Demon, the Sword Saint, and the Ice Moon Goddess."

"...!!" Skykiller couldn't decipher the complex emotions crossing Baek Suryong's face, but the words alone painted astonishment on his ruined features. The existence of the four masters that Baek Suryong had just mentioned was information that only high-ranking Blood Cult officials were privy to.

"I persuaded the four masters, learned their martial arts, and taught the students the cult had prepared. I had to do it since it was an order, but I knew the truth. I knew that once the job was finished, the Blood Cult would dispose of me."

"No way, don't tell me you're..."

Baek Suryong revealed his past life's secrets to a Blood Cult assassin who sought to kill him, a secret he could never tell anyone else. Of course, he didn't tell the whole truth, but still...

"...And so, I died along with the four peerless masters." He finished the story with quiet finality, then lowered his head and looked at Skykiller again. "Is my story passed down in the Blood Cult too?"

The reaction proved more intense than he'd expected.

"To think that you were the one who brought down the Blood Cult over fifty years ago...!" Skykiller trembled, unable to hide his intense emotions. He seemed to have completely forgotten the pain wracking his entire body.

Baek Suryong tilted his head. "You seriously believe such an absurd story?"

"Why shouldn't I? This explains everything. Your martial arts, the reason you were able to crush the Blood Cult's plans so many times. Ha! With a man who knows the Cult better than anyone as our enemy, of course everything would be exposed...!"

Skykiller was flooded with ecstasy. He couldn't hide his excitement over the realization that the story Baek Suryong was telling him was true. Even the fact that he had learned the Blood Demon's martial arts was something the instructor couldn't carelessly tell his family, because of the potential danger it would pose to everyone around him.

"Why are you telling me this? Are you showing me pity before you kill me?"

Baek Suryong clicked his tongue. "I'm disappointed. I thought you'd be a little more imaginative."

"......" Skykiller's eyes narrowed as he studied the man towering over him. This person was even more interesting than he'd initially thought.

Baek Suryong continued, "I failed in my last life, but this time, I will completely destroy the Blood Cult. I'll annihilate it without a trace, to the point where people will hardly believe it ever existed."

Skykiller shuddered. This red-haired, red-eyed man was looking down at him, the world's finest assassin, and smiling, but the killing intent radiating from him was real. It was thick and chilling, the likes of which even he had rarely encountered in his lifetime.

"So, about that..." Baek Suryong whispered enticingly, "...Instead of killing you, I'm thinking of taking you under my wing."

"Haha, hahaha... What did you just say?" Skykiller laughed until his shoulders shook. His broken bones throbbed because of the movement, but he paid no mind to the fresh waves of pain. He simply listened to Baek Suryong with a half-dazed expression.

Baek Suryong grinned. "I could just kill you here, but that would be nothing more than venting my anger. On the other hand, if I take you in, I'll have the sharpest dagger in the world in my hands. It's obvious which choice is more beneficial, isn't it?"

"Are you telling me to become your subordinate?"

"Doesn't it sound fun?" Baek Suryong chuckled, using telekinesis to lift Skykiller to eye level.

Their gazes met, and the Blood Demon Eyes gleamed with an eerie light. They couldn't strike terror into a psychopath like Skykiller, but that wasn't their only ability. He could also bewitch people with a single look, like a mythical yokai. Moreover, the Blood Demon Finger's influence amplified that power even further.

"You'll hunt down the high-ranking officials of the Blood Cult who have been using you all this time and kill them one by one."

Skykiller wavered. He was truly tempted to accept the offer of this red-haired, red-eyed man with a languid smile.

"If they you ask why you betrayed them, tell them this..."

Just as Baek Suryong had once been tempted by the Blood Demon's voice and nearly succumbed to its power, his own voice now teased Skykiller's ears.

"...You were simply carrying out the Blood Demon's orders."

"Ah, ahhhhh...!" A thrilling euphoria ran down Skykiller's spine, causing his entire body to convulse.

Baek Suryong took another step closer and whispered in Skykiller's ear, "You are the most fearsome opponent I've ever fought. If we were at war, you would probably have assassinated countless masters under the Blood Cult's orders. However, you no longer need to be a mere tool of the Blood Cult. Become my sword."

In Skykiller's eyes, Baek Suryong no longer appeared human.

He's the Blood Demon.

He had never seen the previous Blood Demon in person, but if the man before him wasn't the Blood Demon, who else would dare call themselves that?

"Despite being the Blood Demon, you intend to destroy your own creation...!" Skykiller gasped with growing excitement.

Baek Suryong smiled and nodded approvingly. "I didn't destroy your qi center, so someone like you should be able to recover completely in less than a year."

Skykiller didn't hesitate for long. The life of a Deathshroud assassin no longer held any interest for him, not compared to the offer from the man standing before him.

"Half a year is enough... I've never heard such an interesting proposal. Just imagining it makes my body tremble. Very well."

Skykiller knelt down and bowed his head. Although doing so was incredibly difficult with most of his bones shattered, such pain was nothing compared to the surging ecstasy coursing through him.

With a trembling voice, he pledged his loyalty to his new master. "I pledge my loyalty to you. From this moment on, this assassin will serve you."

Skykiller lifted his head once more, his heart swelling with emotion, only to find a mocking smile playing across Baek Suryong's lips. The man was barely holding back his laughter.

"What a splendid expression!"

Baek Suryong released the telekinesis supporting Skykiller and let him collapse pathetically to the side.

"Still don't get the situation?"

Skykiller's bewildered expression slowly hardened into a scowl. "Did you... deceive me right from the very beginning?"

Did he say all that just to mock me?

Baek Suryong had revealed his identity by bringing up the story of his past life, then acted as if he was indispensable. All to make him submit of his own free will.

"An assassin who serves only me. I was almost moved, you know?" Baek Suryong crouched in front of the fallen Skykiller, a cruel sneer spreading across his lips. "I was just messing with you a bit, but I didn't think you'd kneel so easily."

Skykiller's face, which had remained composed through great pain, now distorted with shame and humiliation. His massive ego had been grievously wounded.

Grinding his teeth, he choked desperately, "Please reconsider. I can bring you the heads of several Blood Cult elders. I'm far more useful than your students, who are nothing but little brats!"

His voice rose to a near-scream by the end of his sentence.

However, Baek Suryong only continued to mock him. "No, you're of no use to me at all."

"Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense...!"

Baek Suryong shook his head. While he acknowledged Skykiller's abilities, the man was just a psychopath drunk on murder. His pledge of loyalty was only for the moment, and he would betray him the instant he lost interest. Above all else...

"I never had any intention of working with a bastard who tried to kill everyone I care for."

"You will definitely regret this. O, Blood Demon. Reconsider, even now. If I become your sword, everyone in the world will..."

Baek Suryong kicked Skykiller, sending him flying into the wall. He then sauntered over to the writhing man and stared down at him with complete indifference. "Since you want it so badly, as your master, I'll give you your first and final command."

He delivered a final, devastating stomp and destroyed Skykiller's qi center. Immediately, the assassin's inner qi started dissipating, and his condition began to deteriorate rapidly.

"Die slowly while writhing like a bug."

Baek Suryong's interest in Skykiller evaporated, and he turned his back on the slowly dying man without another glance.

"Aah... Aaaaaargh...!"

Unable to contain his rage, Skykiller thrashed violently and howled. Unfortunately, he could no longer scream properly due to his damaged vocal cords.

Without a doubt, it was a far more insignificant death than he could ever have imagined for himself.

Translator's Note: Who died more pathetically? Skykiller or Seol Suryeon?