What is this?

Agwang looked around.

CHIRP, CHIRP.

Here and there, mountain birds chirped, and the sound of water trickling along already tickled his ears.

In that peaceful atmosphere, a faint, hidden killing intent flashed in his sharp eyes.

This feeling...

It was strange.

It was as if a tiger stalking its prey were watching him from that side.

Of course, it was only a feeling. There was no basis, no reason.

Is someone watching us?

Impossible.

This was the southernmost edge of Henan Province, the tail end of the Mount Dabae range. It was so remote that you wouldn’t even find a hunter here, let alone someone from the Alliance of the Martial World.

It wasn’t because the terrain was particularly rough. This valley was a hidden base that couldn’t be seen even from the mountaintop. It wasn’t the sort of place you could find just by searching, unless by sheer coincidence.

......

Agwang let out a breath.

“What’s wrong, Hall Lord?”

“It’s nothing.”

His nerves were just on edge, that was all.

One hundred elite soldiers of Gloom-Death Hall were ghosting their eyes over the surroundings.

He trusted his subordinates. Though they usually operated deep in the heart of cities, the men of Gloom-Death Hall were also skilled at mountain warfare. The reason was simple: most of the hall’s men were former bandits.

The world looked down on bandits, but in mountain warfare, there were no enemies more dangerous than bandits. Once bandits gained strength and opened their eyes, they became an army.

Thus, the men of Gloom-Death Hall were an army.

“Hall Lord.”

“What is it?”

“That fellow... will he be all right?”

Agwang glanced back.

There, a single middle-aged man rode an especially sturdy horse. His upper body, arms folded, was bound all around with iron chain.

He was enormous. His matted hair hung down to cover his face, hiding his expression.

But the strange pressure he exuded put him far beyond anyone in Gloom-Death Hall.

“He’s no ordinary dangerous man.”

The face of Sangyo, the number two of Gloom-Death Hall, was more serious than ever.

“His qi is excessively savage. I don’t know what kind of power he’s carrying, but... it feels like there’s a tiger prowling right behind my back.”

A tiger, huh.

Agwang shook his head.

“He is a tiger. Half out of his mind, but still.”

Sangyo’s face hardened.

“I’ve wanted to ask ever since he showed up. Just who is that man?”

“He’s ‘that man’s’ disciple.”

“Pardon? That man’s?”

“That’s right.”

“If it’s that man then... huh! D-don’t tell me—?!”

A subtle fear crept into Agwang’s face.

“They say he went mad, fell into Qi Deviation while training his martial arts. But he’s not completely insane. I don’t know what kind of life he’s lived, but I was told he carries out the commands of whoever calls his name with absolute obedience.”

“Is such a thing even possible?”

“It was a message personally sent by that man. There’s no reason not to believe it.”

“Ha...”

“They said the chance of him ever regaining his senses was zero. It’s unfortunate, but since he’s convenient to use, we should give him a try.”

If that was true, then they had gained a loyal tiger for the price of a word.

“That man is not someone who utters empty words. He said all we had to do was feed him on time, so manage him well from now on.”

“Y-yes, understood.”

A gloomy killing intent slid over Agwang’s face.

We’re at the very bottom among the Thirty-Six Dark Gates. And that man has handed a dangerous bomb to the likes of us. If we pull this off, I can take it to mean he intends to back this hall himself.

When he thought of that man, Agwang felt his palms grow damp.

That man was a legend of the dark-path martial world. Among dark-path figures, he was the first master in three hundred years whose name was counted among the very top under heaven.

Everyone in the dark-path martial world should have rejoiced. But they couldn’t simply rejoice.

That man is merciless. We absolutely cannot make a mistake.

On the other hand, it was rare enough for that man to even hand out a mission. And whenever a dark-path hall carried out his mission successfully, he had poured enormous strength into that hall.

One misstep, and they would die. But if they succeeded, they stood to gain immense wealth and fame.

We only have to hold out for a few months.

Who knew how long they walked like that.

By the time they passed the mouth of the valley and reached the brush near their destination—

......?!

Agwang’s eyes changed.

What is this?

He sensed restrained strands of qi from within their destination.

He couldn’t pin down the exact number. But it was clear they were fewer than his own men.

This qi...

Agwang furrowed his brow.

What the hell? What are these lukewarm brats?

The fact that anyone at all was present at the objective was shocking enough. On top of that, most of them seemed to have martial arts on par with Sangyo’s.

But why was that? It was surprising, but he didn’t feel threatened. They wielded considerable martial arts, yet their skill felt as though it fell short of that level.

Greenhorns?

Sangyo must have sensed something as well; he spoke to Agwang.

“Hall Lord. Over there...”

“I feel it too.”

The advance of Gloom-Death Hall halted for a moment.

A look of surprise crossed Sangyo’s face.

“There are people there. Could it be we’ve been discovered by the Alliance of the Martial World?”

Agwang’s eyes turned cold.

They had been here only twice before. No matter how capable the Alliance was, the chances of them noticing the existence of this hidden base were minuscule.

However...

“Let’s go.”

“Hall Lord!”

“We’ve come this far. They will have sensed our presence as well. First we confirm who they are. Everyone, cover your faces.”

The Hall Lord’s order was absolute. Every man of Gloom-Death Hall pulled up a black mask to cover his face from below the eyes.

Under Agwang’s command, the forces of Gloom-Death Hall advanced.

FWOOOOSH!

At last, some fifty young men and women gathered together came into Agwang’s view.

Agwang, and indeed every man of Gloom-Death Hall, recognized what they were at a glance.

The Nine Sects and One Union!

At that moment, Yeon Hojeong’s cold voice rang through the valley.

“Annihilate the enemy.”

Though the order had fallen, the late-generation experts only stared at one another in confusion.

Then, one man moved first.

FWAAAK!

The one who shot forward at terrifying speed was Cheok Gang. The posture with which he deployed AZURE MOUNTAIN SECT’s proud Splitting-Light Body Method already brimmed with readiness for battle.

Agwang’s eyes flashed.

His hand swept across his waist like lightning.

CLAAAANG!

“Kh!”

Power superiority was decided in a single exchange. Cheok Gang’s body was hurled backward at frightening speed.

Pointing his pudao at Cheok Gang, Agwang spoke.

“So you’re the dregs of the Nine Sects.”

It was a shocking statement.

Most who walked the dark path feared the Nine Sects and One Union regardless of relative strength. Because they knew how formidable that power was.

But Agwang was different. No—Gloom-Death Hall was different.

When they accepted this mission, every one of them had already staked his life. They would never have taken it on without that much resolve.

It doesn’t matter.

He was surprised—but quickly maintained his composure.

Agwang grasped their combat strength at a glance. There were a few who were worth something, but the majority were raw when it came to real combat.

He would teach them, thoroughly, that learning a brilliant martial art did not make you strong.

“Don’t let a single one get away.”

FWAAAASH!

Their movement was on a different level.

Unlike the late-generation experts of the Nine Sects who were flustered and only watching one another, the men of Gloom-Death Hall began to encircle them the instant Agwang’s command fell.

A hundred hall men scattered in a flash to seal every route of retreat. As if they were intimately familiar with this sort of work, they took up their positions and glared at the late-generation experts, their eyes flashing with thick killing intent.

Yeon Hojeong’s eyes gleamed.

As expected.

Individually, their martial level fell beneath that of the late-generation experts, but their ability to form a battle formation was outstanding. They were no match for the elite of the Black Emperor’s Citadel, but for people who had never experienced real combat, they were more than dangerous enough.

“You bastard!”

TADADAK!

Cheok Gang, who had been pushed back, lunged straight at Agwang. As if trying to make up for his earlier mistake, the true qi loaded into his sword was formidable.

Agwang shouted,

“Bury them all!”

CLAAAANG, CLAAAANG, CLAAAANG!

The men of Gloom-Death Hall each drew their weapons and rapidly tightened the noose.

“Damn it!”

“W-who are these people?!”

The late-generation experts panicked.

Then Song Yeongyeong shouted,

“Attack! They mean to kill us!”

At that single shout, everyone came to their senses.

“Emei disciples, respond with Buddha-Light Zen Spear, all of you!”

“Yes!”

The fifteen Emei spearwomen thrust their seven-foot spears powerfully toward the approaching men of Gloom-Death Hall.

Blades and sabers brimming with killing intent collided head-on with Emei Sect’s Buddha-Light Zen Spear.

CLASH-CLASH-CLAAAASH!

“Aaahhh!”

“Kill them all!”

In an instant, the battle grew fierce.

Yun Ho shouted,

“Dongho! Mount Hua Two-Polarity Formation!”

“Y-yes?!”

“Move, now— damn it!”

CLAAANG!

Yun Ho swung his sword with lightning speed.

This can’t be!

Mount Hua Six-Harmony Sword was the most basic of basics, but it was a sword art so concise and flexible that you could deploy it at any time, in any situation.

Yet his very first strike had been blocked. Three men of Gloom-Death Hall had blocked his sword simultaneously.

Even seeing it, he could hardly believe they had managed to block that sword strike with three blades at once.

“Damn you!”

CLANG! CLAAAANG! THUD!

Yun Ho leapt into the middle of the Gloom-Death Hall men and swung his sword.

“S-senior!”

SLASH!

“Argh!”

A line of sword wound opened across Dongho’s shoulder.

He survived by twisting his body on instinct. Had he not moved, his entire shoulder would have been skewered through. He hadn’t even seen when or how the attack had come.

Dongho’s sword moved reflexively.

FWOOOOSH!

Amazingly, the first to kill a man of Gloom-Death Hall was Dongho. In a single stroke, he slashed a throat. His sword was stained red.

“Gasp!”

Dongho’s face went pale. In the one stroke he had lashed out with just to avoid dying, a man had died.

His first real battle, sudden and without warning. His first experience of the horror of killing.

Staggering, Dongho dropped where he stood. The shock was so great he was out of his mind.

The men of Gloom-Death Hall did not miss prey that had lost its will to fight.

FWAAAASH!

In the chaos, four hall men closed in on Dongho and brought their blades down at once.

Dongho was still staring blankly at his own sword. His shaking eyes were clouded with extreme confusion and shock.

Then, a single flexible sword pattern blocked the hall men’s strikes.

CHIRIRIRING!

The sword force of the Pine-Grain Ancient Sword drew a Supreme Polarity circle, deflecting the attacks of three of the hall men.

THUD!

“Kh...!”

Dongho’s eyes flew wide.

“M-Master Okcheong!”

A blade from a man of Gloom-Death Hall was buried in Okcheong’s thigh as he stood blocking Dongho’s front.

Given the realm Okcheong had reached, it was absurd.

The brutal intensity of life-and-death battle made his shoulders carry too much force, and the desperate sword swing he’d launched just to somehow save Dongho had grotesquely warped his usual sword form.

Gritting his teeth, Okcheong thrust out his hand.

BOOOM!

Charged with Primordial Unity Qi, a Supreme Polarity Mountain-and-River Strike sent one man of Gloom-Death Hall flying, blood spraying from his mouth.

But he didn’t die. At the last moment, Okcheong had instinctively pulled back his strength.

He had the ability to kill, yet he did not kill. In real combat, the most fatal weakness: the leniency that leaves room for mercy in your hand.

And he wasn’t the only one.

Yeo Guk, Song Yeongyeong, not a single disciple of the Nine Sects here was responding properly. Thanks to the fundamental difference in raw strength, they were barely holding out, but the killing-intent-soaked offensive of Gloom-Death Hall was throwing them into confusion at every moment.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they were overwhelmed. In a real battle soaked in killing intent, faced without any preparation, only a tiny few could hope to survive.

Dongho, still trembling, shouted,

“Y-Yeon! What in the world is happening here?! Do something, anything...!”

In that instant, Dongho’s face turned chalk white.

Yeon Hojeong was standing right where he had been, arms folded. Around him, three men of Gloom-Death Hall with their skulls smashed lay strewn about like rubbish.

The gaze he turned on Dongho was still ice-cold.

Slowly, he opened his mouth.

“If you don’t want to die, kill.”

FWOOOOSH!

Dark-red blood sprayed up, covering the sky.