Chapter: 06
Every hair on his body stood on end.
It was a strange yet familiar sensation.
Unhyun knew this feeling.
It was the instinct he had long forgotten ever since he had risen to become the greatest martial artist in the Central Plains—the instinct of prey whose life had been seized by a predator.
I couldn’t sense his presence… at all.
No—even while looking directly at him, he still couldn’t detect the man’s presence.
The man was clearly standing right before his eyes.
And yet…
“Why did you spare them? You could’ve killed them so easily.”
The masked man stroked his chin as if genuinely puzzled.
Unhyun lowered his gaze.
He knew the sword in his hand could not protect his life, yet he refused to lower the blade pointed at the stranger.
“Who are you?”
“The Shadow Demon Lord. That’s what they call me in our cult.”
“Our cult…?”
A faint smile curved beneath the man’s white mask.
Unhyun’s tension eased ever so slightly.
The masked assassins had never revealed who they were. They had concealed who had sent them, and certainly never gave their names or titles.
But this man had disclosed his identity without the slightest hesitation.
“So you’re from the Demonic Cult.”
Between someone who hid his identity and someone who openly revealed it…
The latter was obviously more dangerous.
The man belonged to the Demonic Cult.
And Unhyun had a rough idea why the Demonic Cult had sent someone this deep into the mountains.
No…
Perhaps he had expected this ever since the moment the cult learned he had been living within the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
“So you’ve come to kill me.”
He had never believed the Demonic Cult would spare his life.
After all, he had led the Martial Alliance’s crusade against the Demonic Cult all the way to this place.
Had it not been for the betrayal of his younger brother and the warriors of the Martial Alliance, they would already have been waging the great war between righteousness and evil in the name of justice.
And now…
The commander of their enemy lay dying, completely at their mercy.
With both the opportunity and justification laid before them, why would they leave the enemy leader alive?
“Yeah. That’s right.”
The Shadow Demon Lord admitted it without the slightest intention of hiding it.
Then he glanced toward the unconscious assassins.
“But I didn’t expect we’d have guests.”
“They didn’t come to kill me.”
“Ah…”
The Shadow Demon Lord turned his gaze toward the cabin.
He had already noticed Yeonwoo hiding inside.
“So that’s why you spared them? Because they weren’t after you? Or was it some pathetic sense of chivalry?”
“Neither.”
The only reason Unhyun had knocked them unconscious instead of killing them…
Was for Yeonwoo’s sake.
The child had an exceptionally keen nose.
If he had slaughtered the assassins, Yeonwoo would surely smell the blood.
Without having explained anything to him, Unhyun simply didn’t want to frighten the child.
“I merely intended to deal with them somewhere else.”
“Hmm…”
The Shadow Demon Lord nodded in understanding.
Then the corners of his lips lifted.
“So I just have to do my job, then?”
His hand reached for the sword hanging at his waist.
In response…
Unhyun slowly lowered his own sword.
An opponent whose presence he couldn’t detect at all.
With a body that struggled even against first-rate martial artists…
There was absolutely no chance he could defeat the Shadow Demon Lord.
“Aren’t you giving up a little too easily? I expected more from the Emperor’s Sword. Honestly… I’m disappointed.”
“I have one request.”
“They say people lose all shame when they’re about to die.”
“Take the child to the Gwan Family. Tell them assassins came for me, and they’ll understand.”
“Why should I—”
At that moment…
A thick violet aura began to seep from the Shadow Demon Lord’s body.
The energy wrapped around him before spreading outward in every direction.
It was demonic energy so dense and overwhelming that it became almost tangible.
Within moments, it engulfed the entire clearing surrounding the cabin.
Then it swallowed Unhyun.
The energy seeped in through his feet, surged up his legs, and coiled tightly around his throat.
“Ghk…”
A painful groan escaped him as the suffocating aura constricted his breathing.
But the demonic energy did not stop.
It spread throughout his body like a ravenous beast devouring its prey.
Why should I grant your request?
As his consciousness slowly sank into the endless swamp of demonic energy, the Shadow Demon Lord’s voice thundered directly inside his mind.
At that same instant—
“Cough!”
Something surged violently from within.
A mouthful of blood burst from Unhyun’s lips.
The internal injuries that had already reached their limit finally worsened beyond recovery.
Yet the Shadow Demon Lord did not withdraw his aura.
His original mission…
The Cult Leader’s command…
Was to kill Namgung Unhyun, the Emperor’s Sword.
He watched with cold, emotionless eyes as Unhyun slowly died beneath the corruption of his demonic energy.
Then—
“Don’t bully Grandpa!”
Whoosh—Thunk!
Something flew through the air, struck the Shadow Demon Lord’s mask, and bounced to the ground.
He had deliberately made no attempt to block it.
Looking down…
He saw a stone no larger than a child’s fist.
His eyes flickered with surprise as he looked toward the one who had thrown it.
Standing on the wooden porch with a tiny axe clenched in both hands, panting angrily…
Was the bold little brat he had met earlier that day.
The Shadow Demon Lord broke into a bright smile and waved cheerfully.
“Hi! Fancy seeing you again! Did you enjoy what I gave you earlier?”
“Don’t act friendly, you old geezer!”
Old… geezer…
Still smiling with his hand raised…
The Shadow Demon Lord froze.
The child’s words pierced straight through his heart like a dagger.
Again.
Just like earlier today.
Meanwhile, Yeonwoo picked up another stone.
And during that brief moment…
The Emperor’s Sword, Unhyun, continued dying beneath the demonic energy.
The stone flew.
“Stop it! I said stop!”
This time, the Shadow Demon Lord casually raised a hand toward the incoming rock.
The stone, thrown with all of the child’s strength…
Stopped dead in midair before it could even reach him.
“I’m sorry, but something like this can’t hurt me.”
His eyebrows drooped with what seemed like genuine regret.
At the same time…
The suspended stone dropped helplessly onto the ground.
Yeonwoo’s mouth fell open in astonishment.
But only for a moment.
His expression quickly hardened with determination.
He tightened his grip around the axe.
Realizing what Yeonwoo intended to do, Unhyun desperately stretched out a trembling hand.
“Yeon… woo… don’t…”
But before he could finish—
“YAAAAAAAH!”
Yeonwoo raised the axe high overhead and leaped from the porch.
He wasn’t even wearing shoes.
His small bare feet flashed white against the ground.
The Shadow Demon Lord let out a weary sigh as he watched the charging child.
“I told you.”
“YAAAAAAAH!”
Whoosh!
Yeonwoo swung the axe down with all his might.
The Shadow Demon Lord casually extended the same hand that had stopped the stone and effortlessly blocked the strike.
“An attack this weak can’t even leave a scratch on m—”
The playful expression vanished from his face.
He slowly lowered his gaze toward his hand.
A faint tingling sensation spread from the tip of the index finger that had blocked the axe blade.
As if proving the sensation wasn’t an illusion…
A thin crimson line appeared where the blade had struck.
Blood slowly seeped out.
Unbelievably…
“Hah…”
The Shadow Demon Lord let out a hollow laugh.
He…
Had been injured?
By nothing more than that tiny hand axe?
He stared at the child, who barely reached his waist, with an unreadable expression.
Yeonwoo raised the axe once more.
“I said stop…!”
Because the child was about to swing an exceedingly dangerous weapon—
Tap. Tap.
“Sleep…”
The Shadow Demon Lord touched Yeonwoo’s sleeping acupoint.
The child’s eyes closed instantly.
Still clutching the axe over his head…
He simply went limp, hanging from the Shadow Demon Lord’s arm.
Even asleep, he showed no intention of letting go of the axe.
The sight was so unmistakably childlike that the Shadow Demon Lord couldn’t help smiling.
The dense demonic energy that had blanketed the entire clearing rapidly receded.
Holding the sleeping Yeonwoo in his arms, the Shadow Demon Lord approached Unhyun.
Having vomited large amounts of blood, Unhyun barely managed to cling to consciousness as he struggled for breath.
The Shadow Demon Lord knelt to meet his gaze.
Clutching his chest, Unhyun slowly looked up.
His eyes immediately searched Yeonwoo.
Fortunately, the child appeared merely asleep.
There wasn’t a single injury on him.
Why…?
Why did he stop?
The Shadow Demon Lord had clearly intended to kill him.
There had not been the slightest hesitation in his murderous intent.
Then why…
Unhyun looked at him.
Beyond the white mask…
A pair of deep, crystal-clear violet eyes, as profound as the night sky, quietly met his own.
Those eyes curved into a smile.
“I’ll give you a choice.”
Unhyun took a slow, painful breath.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
“One choice is to die here today… together with this child.”
Unhyun frowned.
He wanted to ask why the child was being dragged into this.
But his throat had been damaged so badly that he couldn’t even speak.
He could only glare silently.
“The other choice…”
The Shadow Demon Lord looked down at the sleeping Yeonwoo in his arms.
For a brief moment, something unreadable flickered in his eyes.
“Teach this child.”
“…?”
“For the next five years… until the Martial Dragon Hall opens.”
The Shadow Demon Lord looked back at Unhyun.
“I’m telling you to become this child’s master, Emperor’s Sword.”
