Yongmyeong looked anxious for the safety of Blood Night Palace.

To be honest, if it were anyone else, maybe not, but since it was Yongmyeong, I could’ve just handed over the One-Kill Sword.

Yongmyeong seemed to insist that we had to fight properly, but I didn’t have enough evidence at the moment to determine what was true.

Wouldn’t it be simpler if we just settled it with an arm-wrestling match?

I couldn’t bring myself to say that out loud because of Yongmyeong’s expression.

I sat on the bench for a moment and sorted through my thoughts. Why does the Cult Leader keep giving these kinds of trials to the people around him? I looked at Eldest Brother, then glanced at Yongmyeong again.

Could I win against this guy properly without killing him?

He had learned martial arts from Elder Heo, so if I had to guess, it was probably a style that focused on one-kill assassination.

To be precise, once I countered one of Yongmyeong’s attacks—

It would be extremely difficult not to kill him. I could tell just from the energy and aura radiating off Yongmyeong.

Martial artists and assassins are similar yet different. Assassins don’t often appear in rankings compiled by sects like the Murim Alliance. That’s because they don’t engage in open matches.

For some reason, I felt like if I killed Yongmyeong with my own hands, the Cult Leader would find that amusing, and I didn’t want to indulge him.

After reviewing the possible flow of the duel multiple times, I stood up.

"Let’s head out first."

"Yes."

I deliberately picked up the grotesque greatsword. Yongmyeong looked at it and asked,

"Do you really need to use that?"

"It’s better against assassins. And you’re an assassin, aren’t you?"

"Yes."

In any case, the cultists had to witness this duel, so we stepped outside. The Black Forest vanguard Eldest Brother had mentioned stood waiting at a distance.

When I stopped first, Yongmyeong widened the distance even further. Unlike typical duels, he moved quite far before turning around to face me again.

"Are you ready?"

"And you?"

"I’m ready."

"I’m not."

"Yes."

Yongmyeong’s gaze remained fixed on me, but I shifted mine and looked up at the clear sky.

"I’m not ready to die yet. The sky is clear, the air is clean, the clouds are white, and here I am about to engage in a life-or-death match with Elder Heo’s disciple, who probably doesn’t even want to kill me. This doesn’t feel right."

Yongmyeong replied,

"Still, do your best. My martial arts aren’t suited for friendly duels."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

I finally found the answer in Yongmyeong’s reply. Yongmyeong is a dumb bastard who only knows life-or-death combat, but I’m not. I’m a man who’s good at both life-or-death battles and friendly duels. That’s why.

If I don’t want to kill someone, I have to be ready to risk my own life. That’s one of life’s mysteries.

As a disciple of Elder Heo, Yongmyeong was worth that kind of risk.

Yongmyeong shifted his sword slightly forward in his left hand and spoke.

"Here I come."

There weren’t any particular openings in Yongmyeong’s stance. Of course, he was just standing still, but the overall vibe clearly showed the focus of someone who had trained for years as an assassin.

He moved forward with short steps—three or four of them—and then suddenly burst forward with light footwork, quickly closing the distance.

It looked like he was going to draw his sword while airborne...

And it felt like even the follow-up attack was already prepared. I was lucky to be holding the grotesque greatsword with its wide blade.

I blocked Yongmyeong’s thrust with the greatsword.

Thud— With that sound, Yongmyeong’s swinging sword appeared again, circling around the greatsword and slicing through the hem of my robe. At close range, I unleashed Shadow Throwing Darts and swung the greatsword.

Yongmyeong’s sword swings were fast too.

I kept changing the angle of the massive sword just slightly to block his blade. If I’d drawn One-Kill, I could’ve swung just as fast as Yongmyeong, but right now, I was just a little slower—only by the difference in weapon weight.

Still, it wasn’t such a gap that I couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t a fatal difference, so I continued to parry Yongmyeong’s attacks with the greatsword.

It seemed that Yongmyeong hadn’t only learned from Elder Heo.

His movements resembled those of Blood Night Palace Mistress, the Cult Leader’s junior. His hit-and-run tactics were smooth, and his sword kept flying at me from unexpected angles.

Relying on experience, speed, instinct, the sound of the wind, the movement of his shoulders, and the positioning of his arms, I was able to block quite a few of his strikes. With Yongmyeong having seized the initiative, he gave me no chance to counterattack.

After his first strike failed, Yongmyeong switched tactics and used rapid swordplay.

If I kept blocking like this, eventually one of the blows would break through...

I tried using the absorption technique of Heavenly Pearl to catch his sword, but Yongmyeong noticed immediately and changed to a chopping style, easily withdrawing his blade.

Thanks to that, I had to keep moving busily.

Sometimes I stomped the ground hard enough to shake it, or made it sink to create disruption, but Yongmyeong maintained his rapid strikes with perfect balance, like a man walking a tightrope.

The grotesque greatsword was made of overlapping blades, so it had great durability, but the surface was uneven, with ridges and dents.

After clashing with Yongmyeong several times, I lost balance and rotated halfway. In that moment, I twisted the vertical sword like a lever and blocked Yongmyeong’s thrust.

Clang!

As the tip of the sword lodged between two of the greatsword’s overlapping blades, I combined internal and external energy to snap it sideways.

As the blade bent, Yongmyeong struck at my shoulder with a palm strike.

I twisted my shoulder to deflect it, then activated Heavenly Pearl Absorption to pull in Yongmyeong’s sword and break his balance, continuing the exchange.

Yongmyeong launched another palm strike.

I was going to counter with a left-hand strike, but as soon as I saw a glint in Yongmyeong’s palm, I rotated my wrist and grabbed his wrist from below. In that instant, Yongmyeong released his internal energy and a tiny silver needle shot toward my face.

At that moment, my body moved on its own.

I deflected the needle that had almost reached my eyes with a finger flick...

And brought up my left leg, which had been resting in an easy stance, to strike Yongmyeong’s side. He raised his right leg to block the kick but ended up losing his grip on his sword and staggered.

I threw the entangled greatsword behind me and began attacking Yongmyeong barehanded.

It’s easier to end a duel barehanded than with weapons.

Even by my standards, Yongmyeong was quite strong, but he only moved according to what he’d been taught.

He seemed surprisingly inexperienced in real combat.

Though he learned martial arts from Elder Heo, the way he fought felt more like a noble from a prestigious family practicing assassin techniques—it lacked the sinister edge. I combined palm techniques and joint-locking techniques, and when I obscured Yongmyeong’s vision with cold energy from my left hand, I suddenly struck with twin palms.

I met his twin palms directly and grabbed them.

Unexpectedly, extreme yang energy came from one hand, while the other hand emitted chilling force.

Looking at Yongmyeong, I dissolved the cold with Flame Art of the Salty Sea and canceled the yang force with Moonlight Emotionless Energy.

‘He mastered both sun and moon styles equally.’

When Yongmyeong’s foot twitched, I stepped first and pinned his foot with mine.

Whack!

It was an unintentional life lesson, but I had no choice. I could see right through his intentions.

In that instant, I added external energy and forced him to his knees...

Yongmyeong, straining with all his might, tried to bring both hands together.

What the hell is he trying to do?

Was this the result of studying yin and yang and forming some kind of dual-energy technique?

Maybe he had trained external energy longer than I had, because stopping his hands from meeting in the middle was the hardest part of this duel.

In the end, I coiled the lightning energy of Hundred-Battle Tenfold Technique around my arms. As I manifested three different energies at once, Yongmyeong turned pale like he’d taken a direct hit.

He looked shocked, probably because he didn’t understand what was happening.

But I had no intention of showing mercy yet. When I intensified the lightning energy, the scream Yongmyeong had been suppressing trembled out of his mouth.

And I wanted the cultists to hear that scream.

As I finally unleashed the full force of the Hundred-Battle Tenfold Technique’s lightning, Yongmyeong let out a long, deflating scream and fainted.

Still kneeling, he collapsed to the ground like a straw doll.

The surrounding area grew silent.

‘One win, add it to the record.’

I looked around Zaha Inn and the cultists who had been watching.

Yongmyeong wasn’t even my match to begin with.

And I certainly had no intention of killing him.

I sat quietly beside the unconscious Yongmyeong’s head and watched the cultists. Then, a voice came from somewhere.

"...Inn Master, why aren’t you finishing him off?"

I answered in a flat tone.

"His master once taught me. By that, Yongmyeong is technically my elder martial brother. Shut up."

Another guy threw out a question.

"This was a duel over the One-Kill Sword between assassins. There’s no room for sentiment."

"Even if it’s sentiment, I need it. You shut up too. Open your mouth again and I’ll take it as a challenge. Come say it to my face."

These bastards had the nerve to talk back to me. All of them were wearing black masks, so I # Nоvеlight # couldn’t even tell who was speaking.

Another voice spoke up like this:

"If there was sentiment involved in the fight, or if it looked staged like a prearranged duel, or if deception was intended, then Blood Night Palace may be in danger. Inn Master."

"Who said that? Who are you? Don’t tell me that was the Cult Leader talking? Are you the Cult Leader? Your voice sounds too damn frivolous for that. Don’t cross the line."

I looked toward where the voice had come from, but the speaker didn’t say anything else.

I looked around at the cultists and said,

"Why would Blood Night Palace fear death? If they die fighting, then that’s that. If you attack Blood Night Palace, I’ll coordinate with Baekdo and surround your forces from outside. When that happens, let’s go at it for real. Anyone else got something to say? You have Elder Heo, an old hero, on your side. You going to go kill a respected elder just because you didn’t get a damn sword? Know when to shut your mouths. It’s not even worth arguing. Next."

"......."

When no one responded for a while, I looked at Yongmyeong and noticed his breathing seemed unstable. There’s no real miracle cure when someone’s breathing like that, so I slapped his cheek with the back of my hand.

Smack— His head turned with the sound, and soon after, Yongmyeong came to his senses. Then, with a brief spasm, a trembling exhale escaped from his mouth.

Maybe he thought he had died—he looked at me with startled eyes.

"Inn Master?"

"What."

"Please finish it. I must die..."

I looked at Yongmyeong.

"Planning to die? Sounds like you need to come to your senses a bit more. Show me your other cheek too. Maybe a slap will help you think straight."

"......."

"Yongmyeong, if you're really ready to die, then go to Blood Night Palace and prepare for a proper battle with them. What’s the point of dying at my hands?"

"I made a promise with the Cult Leader."

"That was your promise. Not mine. I’m not the Cult Leader’s subordinate."

Yongmyeong spoke with a face that looked like it was shrouded in darkness.

"I know that. But still..."

"But still what."

"You may not know this, but the Cult Leader visited Illyang Prefecture. Disobeying his command isn’t as easy as it sounds."

I nodded.

"If the Cult Leader met with people in Illyang and didn’t kill them, then I just have to make sure I don’t recklessly kill cultists in the future."

"You’ve already killed quite a few, haven’t you?"

"The Cult Leader also killed a bunch of cultists. Just now, the Inner Hall guys killed the Outer Hall guys. What’s done is done. I’m saying I’ll consider it from now on. And it’s not like I’ve killed every cultist I’ve come across. Even the Third Young Master, who tried to kill me, I let live. He’s probably hiding out somewhere."

Then a slightly familiar voice came from somewhere.

"The Third Young Master is alive?"

I answered the man who was hidden beyond the crowd.

"Duke Yang, it’s been a while. After meeting you a few times, your voice is starting to sound nostalgic. I thought that bastard Blood Cult Leader might’ve gotten you, but you’re still alive somehow. Did your second son come too? Or is he still too injured to travel? Duke Yang, where are you? Can’t see you—are you too short? Speak up on tiptoe. Come on, answer."

"......."

I looked at Yongmyeong.

"Who am I even talking to? Such rude bastards."

Yongmyeong sat up and responded to my words.

"Inn Master, what should I do now? I will not commit suicide."

I nodded.

"Good. If you think of it as having already died once, that should ease your mind a little. Don’t you think?"

"Yes."

I gave Yongmyeong some options. Even though I didn’t know what he would choose, I opened my mouth anyway.

"You can stay at Zaha Inn and fight alongside me. Or you can return to the Cult Leader and give an honest report. Say you gave it your all and still lost. If you’re not planning to die right now, then ask him to teach you some martial arts that can beat the Hao Clan Leader."

"Excuse me?"

I looked at Yongmyeong.

"Do you even understand why you lost to me? Just so you know, there are a lot of reasons. I’m not in a position to teach you. It’s better to learn from someone stronger than me."

"Is there a third option?"

"You can just return to Blood Night Palace and prepare for a battle. Whatever you choose, just don’t start thinking you should die. What, are you so scared of the Cult Leader that you’ve lost your mind? If the Cult Leader loses, do you think he’ll order you to commit suicide? No. He’s not that kind of guy. He’s not the type to micromanage. As long as your decisions and actions show clear conviction, that’s enough. No matter what happens, don’t give up easily or think about dying."

Yongmyeong looked at Zaha Inn once, then turned around and faced the cultists.

He could switch sides right here, or if that didn’t sit well with him, he could just return to Blood Night Palace.

I said to Yongmyeong,

"Yongmyeong."

"Yes."

"I can’t entrust anything to a guy who thinks about dying just because he failed a few times. When it comes to failure and defeat, I’ve experienced more than you."

Yongmyeong answered,

"I heard you’ve never lost before."

I replied in a serious tone,

"No. When I was young, I got beat up a lot in the alley."

"......."

"One time, someone punched me just because they didn’t like the look in my eyes. That was the most ridiculous beating. Look into my eyes. Even back then, I guess I didn’t have the face of a polite little server boy, huh?"

The guy who’d been acting like he was possessed by a ghost finally let his expression ease up a little. Whether the cultists were watching or not, I met Yongmyeong’s gaze and grinned at the same time.