Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 78 - Team Leader (4)

Chapter 78 – Team Leader (4)

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

-Grip!

Mo Ha-rang of Mo Hwa House’s eyes trembled.

The blurry chains wrapped around her body looked almost like an illusion, yet when she tried to move, they tightened further and restrained her.

She tried to draw up her internal power, but Mok Gyeong-un came toward her and said,

“The price for seeing what you wanted is going to be rather high. Is that all right?”

He was smiling.

But that smile was truly full of malice.

How could someone smile like that without even carrying murderous aura?

At that moment, something she had heard long ago came back to her.

[Among several thousand, or even several tens of thousands, there is one person born with killing nature.]

[What is that?]

[A disposition that feels joy, pleasure, and the reason for existence in death and annihilation.]

[……..Isn’t that dangerous?]

[Dangerous, yes. But if one can properly tame it, then that person can be called the finest material for an assassin.]

[The finest?]

[Yes. Someone with killing nature does not waver when killing another. That is why they are not swayed emotionally.]

[So something like that can become talent.]

That had been back when Mo Hwa House was still called one of the fourth-generation assassin groups.

She thought that perhaps Mok Gyeong-un might be the very killing nature her father had spoken of back then.

If that was true, then she might have touched something dangerous.

But that did not matter.

Mo Ha-rang looked straight into Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes and said,

“I will pay any price.”

“Any price?”

“If it is because I uncovered your secret, then I am prepared.”

“Prepared…..but you only have one life. Can that really count as any price?”

Mok Gyeong-un still wore a smile.

But the words coming out of his mouth were savage beyond measure.

-Master. Please give that human’s body to me.

Gyu So-ha, the Green Spirit, spoke with greedy eyes.

Perhaps she could hear that voice, because Mo Ha-rang flinched and looked at Gyu So-ha.

At that, Gyu So-ha tilted her head and muttered,

-Human. Can you hear my voice too?

-Hooh.

At those words, Blue Spirit also showed interest.

That was understandable, since she had deliberately revealed her form, but had not allowed even her voice to be heard.

And yet, if this girl could hear it, then that meant,

-It seems your Spirit Eye has opened.

“Spirit Eye?”

-Yes. Unlike you, who have opened the Ghost Eyes that see the hidden essence behind things, she has not awakened that far, but it seems she has gained eyes that can see souls at the boundary between life and death.

Blue Spirit called it a Spirit Eye.

Since she apparently could not hear Blue Spirit’s voice, Mo Ha-rang could not take her eyes off Gyu So-ha.

Mo Ha-rang cautiously parted her lips.

“You……are you really a ghost?”

-Why? Do I look like nothing more than a mere human to you?

The corners of Gyu So-ha’s mouth rose.

For a vengeful soul, the fear of a living human was no different from nourishment.

But Mo Ha-rang showed an emotion different from fear.

“Ahhh.”

Something seemed to rise within her.

It was closer to the feeling one had when at last seeing what one had long wanted to find.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un said to her,

“That is an interesting reaction. Was seeing the dead your wish or something?”

“No. No. It isn’t that.”

Mo Ha-rang’s voice trembled.

She turned her head and looked at Mok Gyeong-un, then spoke with her throat tightened as if making some decision.

“I will pay whatever price you want. Even if that price is my life.”

“………”

At those words, the interest in Mok Gyeong-un’s gaze faded away.

Because he had seen so many deaths, he had become able to distinguish to a certain extent between those truly prepared to die and those who were not, and she was closer to the former.

She was prepared to risk her life whenever needed.

To Mok Gyeong-un, she continued,

“In return, help me.”

“………Hmm. Help you?”

Mok Gyeong-un muttered as though the matter was troublesome.

Then he brought his finger toward her throat and said,

“Why should I do that? It sounds nothing but bothersome.”

-Press!

His finger pressed into the place where her Adam’s apple lay.

At that, she met him with unwavering eyes and said,

“A body…….that ghost over there said it wanted a body. If you grant my request, you can have this body as much as you want.”

“It ruins the mood a little, but even without doing that, I could take your body right now if I wanted to.”

At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Mo Ha-rang’s gaze sharpened.

At that instant, a sharp force spread from her body.

-Clang! Clang!

The chains formed from Gyu So-ha’s spirit power were cut apart.

At some point, sharp daggers had appeared in both of Mo Ha-rang’s hands.

The daggers carried a wavering edge qi, and it had been honed far more sharply than that of Yeom Ga of Crimson Kill Valley.

-Step back.

Blue Spirit warned.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un stepped back about half a pace and tilted his head slightly to the side.

At that moment, several trajectories drew lines before his eyes and barely brushed past him.

Had he been even a little slower, his jaw and parts of his body would have been cut away.

No, they had in fact been lightly cut.

-Drip!

A drop of blood ran down from the place the trajectories had passed.

‘Thread?’

It was far thinner than thread, but it had elasticity.

This thing like a thread, tied behind the hilts of the daggers embedded in the floor, had surrounded the area so that he could not move.

Mo Ha-rang said in a cold voice,

“Do not look down on me too much.”

Her voice was giving off murderous intent in waves.

At that, Mok Gyeong-un’s lips twitched as he said,

“So you had a hidden card after all.”

At that moment, Blue Spirit’s voice sounded out.

-I thought it was a dagger art I had seen often before. So you inherited the lineage of the King of Slaughter.

“The lineage of the King of Slaughter?”

No sooner had Mok Gyeong-un’s question ended than a strange light appeared in Mo Ha-rang’s eyes.

She spoke in a tone that said she could not understand,

“What are you?”

Mo Ha-rang was genuinely astonished.

She had never expected the words lineage of the King of Slaughter to come out of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth.

-Seeing chain killing and the Slashing Shadow Flying Blade Art and not thinking of the King of Slaughter would be stranger.

At Blue Spirit’s words, Mok Gyeong-un repeated them aloud.

“Seeing chain killing and the Slashing Shadow Flying Blade Art and not thinking of the King of Slaughter would be stranger.”

‘!?’

At those words, Mo Ha-rang’s eyes widened.

Many people already knew of chain killing, so it was rare to find someone ignorant of it.

But the Slashing Shadow Flying Blade Art was different.

This was a secret art that only the mistress of Mo Hwa House could learn.

It was secret in the truest sense, and unless the opponent absolutely had to die or was too difficult to handle, it was never brought out, so it was almost unknown.

And,

‘The King of Slaughter is the predecessor of our house. Even in our house, it is passed down only orally, and only the house mistress and her successors know of it, so how does this man know?’

It was at the very moment she was confused.

Mok Gyeong-un stomped hard on the floor.

The floorboard pressed downward, and the section where the daggers had been embedded sprang upward.

At the same time, the thin threads stretched taut all around loosened.

-Flash!

In that instant, Mok Gyeong-un launched himself at her in one bound and grabbed her by the throat.

Of course, Mo Ha-rang had not stood still either.

The instant Mok Gyeong-un rushed in, she immediately snapped back to herself and, exactly as she had practiced thousands upon thousands of times, thrust her dagger toward his heart.

Or rather, to be precise, only the tip of the dagger managed to dig in slightly.

‘Fast.’

-Grip!

If Mok Gyeong-un had not caught her wrist with his left hand, it would have dug much deeper.

Her movement was that fast, to the point that even seeing it with the eyes did not make it easy to respond.

Mo Ha-rang was definitely far stronger than Yeom Ga of Crimson Kill Valley.

-Craaak!

-Tremble!

When Mok Gyeong-un put more force into his hand, her brow furrowed with pain so intense it felt as if her wrist would break.

Even amid that, seeing that she did not let out a single groan, Mok Gyeong-un gave a faint laugh.

“You’re quite strong. When did you loop this around my neck?”

-Slide!

At some point, a silver thread had wrapped around Mok Gyeong-un’s neck.

One of the daggers that had been embedded in the floor and then bounced upward was now caught in the ceiling, and had Mo Ha-rang merely pulled the thread, his neck would have tightened.

“Why aren’t you pulling it?”

“Y-you’re….not….crushing….my throat….either.”

Just as she said, Mok Gyeong-un was gripping Mo Ha-rang’s throat with his right hand, but he was not applying force.

That was why she too had not pulled the thread.

To be honest, she had also endured because if she pulled it, Mok Gyeong-un’s neck would be severed.

Beyond this point, it would truly enter the realm of killing one another.

‘If I kill him, it violates the restriction of this gate.’

And she still had something she wanted from Mok Gyeong-un.

That was why she could not kill him…

-Slide!

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un released the neck he had been holding and lightly touched her thread with a fingertip.

In that instant, the taut thread turned limp and slack.

‘!?’

Mo Ha-rang’s eyes widened.

She was clearly sending true qi into the thread, but it was as if it were scattering, and the thread no longer obeyed her.

‘What on earth is this?’

She could not understand it.

While that was happening, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“I think you’ll be quite useful.”

“What?”

“I was planning to give your body to So-ha, but I think it might not be bad to simply make use of you instead.”

“What are you talking about right now……”

“You said you would pay any price for what you wanted, didn’t you?”

At those words from Mok Gyeong-un, Mo Ha-rang hesitated for a moment.

She certainly had said that, but because of Mok Gyeong-un’s suddenly changed attitude, she faltered for an instant.

Then Mok Gyeong-un suddenly grabbed her by the collar and yanked her forward.

“Ah!”

-Craaak!

Then, forcibly moving the wrist of the hand with which she had stabbed with the dagger, he bent it toward his own side.

She wanted to raise her power and resist, but the true qi sent to her wrist kept scattering, and her strength drained away, leaving her unable to do anything.

-Craaak!

Before she knew it, the dagger she was holding was pointed toward her own face.

Was he really trying to kill her?

At that moment, something fell and touched her lips.

It was none other than a drop of blood.

-Drip drip!

Blood from Mok Gyeong-un, which had gathered at the tip of the blade, was about to fall into her mouth.

When she tried to close her lips, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Open.”

‘!?’

What was he saying?

She could not understand what he was doing.

But judging that he was not trying to kill her, she did not question him and opened her mouth.

At that, the drop of blood gathered at the tip of the dagger fell into her mouth.

“Swallow.”

She did as he said.

The moment she swallowed the drop of blood that had entered her mouth,

“Haaak!”

Her chest burned fiercely.

The pain, like being on fire, began consuming her body, and it was so dreadful that she forced away the hand Mok Gyeong-un was holding and immediately tried to sit down cross-legged.

‘Poison…..it’s poison.’

Pain so intense it felt as though her five viscera and six bowels were twisting.

She was certain this was poison.

As a descendant of Mo Hwa House, called one of the fourth-generation assassin groups, she also had a fair knowledge of poison and had even consumed certain deadly poisons to build resistance.

But Mok Gyeong-un’s blood could not even be compared to those.

‘How can blood contain a poison like this……’

Its toxicity was so intense, as if countless poisons had been condensed together.

The term deadly poison was not enough.

‘If I do not begin circulating my qi quickly…’

-Pak!

As she tried to sit cross-legged, Mok Gyeong-un kicked her in the stomach.

“Kuh!”

She was already suffering terribly from the pain of her five viscera and six bowels twisting, and when she was kicked in the abdomen on top of that, she became so wretched that she nearly wanted to kill Mok Gyeong-un from sheer rage.

“You!”

-Pak!

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un pressed down on the area of her collarbone with his foot and said,

“You said you would pay any price. Then from this moment onward, I’d like you to become a faithful dog.”

“Y-you don’t have to go this far…..”

“Ahhh. No, I do. I never trust people.”

Mo Ha-rang’s eyes trembled.

She had the feeling she had made an enormous mistake.

This man was more twisted than she had imagined.

It was not something that could be defined as killing nature or anything of the sort. This was truly evil itself.

* * *

The boys who had abandoned even meditation and rest in order to gather teammates were going around the rooms.

They could not hide their surprise when they saw one group walking down the corridor.

‘Huh?’

‘…….Is that real?’

‘What? No way.’

They doubted their own eyes.

The young man and woman following behind Mok Gyeong-un on either side.

They were the successors of Crimson Kill Valley and Mo Hwa House, who were called the greatest prospects in this Corpse Blood Valley gate.

Now that the restriction on internal power had been lifted, everyone had naturally expected each of those two to become a team leader and lead others.

But what was this?

Surely those two, at the level of team leaders, had not both gone under that bastard?