Chapter 128: The Blood Assassins of the Ma Clan (1)

I knew information from the future.

That was why I could stay ahead of everyone and lay out the board more advantageous than anyone else.

But—

‘As expected, this won’t be easy.’

Demonic Gentleman, Cheon Jumyeong.

The demonic mind of this generation was manipulating everything happening behind the scenes, in ways I couldn’t see.

No, it wasn’t just Cheon Jumyeong.

There were those who had set the board before me, who wielded far greater power and influence than I did.

Those people could twist the board however they pleased, regardless of the situation, and thus, the advantage I held with future knowledge could easily be rendered meaningless.

The only thing I had over them was information.

But that didn’t mean my advantage disappeared entirely.

As long as I knew what they were after, as long as I knew what they wanted, I could position myself to come out on top depending on how I played my hand.

The moment I realized the truth about Ma Jinyoon, I also realized what Cheon Jumyeong wanted.

‘He’s likely after future power. With that in mind, the existence of Heaven-Slaying Star, which could strengthen the future power of the Ma Clan, would have been unacceptable to him.’

Most likely, Ma Jinyoon didn’t meet a good end in my previous life either.

‘Once Cheon Jumyeong finds out that the elders of the Cheon Clan have interfered, he’ll show up at the very end of the board to claim everything for himself.’

He didn’t even need to intervene directly.

The Ma Clan’s situation was already a mess—he just needed to tug at a few strings.

‘And I said I’d show up and clean up the board myself, so from Cheon Jumyeong’s perspective, a fat fish had practically thrown itself into his lap.’

How delighted must he have been when I appeared before him?

Just imagining it made my internal organs twist with rage, and killing intent surged within me.

But then—

Squirm!

For some reason, something dark and shadowy gushed up from inside my Dantian.

It wasn’t intentional.

It felt like something dormant had awakened, as if reacting to my murderous intent.

No, more precisely, the moment I uttered the word ‘Heaven-Slaying Star’, it was as if something inside had responded directly to that.

I could have suppressed it if I wanted to, but for some reason, this ‘something’ bursting out of my Dantian carried no malice—though it was clearly dark in nature.

It only began to go berserk when I started to harbor killing intent toward Cheon Jumyeong.

‘What is this?’

This mysterious energy that burst out from my Dantian began rampaging through my entire network of Qi meridians, flooding my body with vitality.

And at the same time—

—“The Way of Tyranny and the Demonic Path are not such things.”

A voice, like a whisper directly into my ear, flowed into my mind.

—“Just because it’s the Demonic Path doesn’t mean one has to drench the world in blood. However, if one wishes to stand at the pinnacle, one must not fear blood.”

—“A practitioner of the Demonic Path must follow a way befitting of the Demonic Path. If you are my descendant, then you must do exactly that.”

Flash!

In that moment, a shiver I couldn’t explain ran down my spine.

I didn’t know who had spoken to me, but I could tell that the one behind this voice had once stood at the absolute peak of the world.

“Ah…”

I trembled as omnipotence rushed through my entire being.

At the same time, I realized something crucial—I had been moving the wrong way.

‘I’ve been trying to operate too much from beneath the surface.’

There was nothing inherently wrong with acting from the shadows.

But I was in the world of the Heavenly Demon Cult, a brutal place ruled by strength. I’d been moving too cautiously, trying to avoid collateral damage.

All for the future reign of Cheon Yura—hoping to eliminate external threats and hand her the future of the cult with minimal bloodshed.

However—

‘If I keep moving like that, there’s no way I can overcome the giants ahead.’

Those who already knew me.

Those who were watching me.

As long as they existed, moving only in the shadows had its limits.

‘Acting quietly isn’t always the answer. This time, I need to move more boldly—more ruthlessly.’

I had no intention of breaking my promise to Ma Chulsoo.

But I had completely redesigned the process leading up to that conclusion from the ground up.

‘Even if some blood must be shed, if it leads to a better path for her—’

Then I would gladly walk that path.

***

“Ggh! Kkggk!”

Blood vessels burst in the eyes of the Blood Flow Squad Leader, whose heart had just been pierced.

“H-How…?”

Ma Chulsoo looked at me, jaw dropped.

“H-He’s clearly a swordsman who reached peak Master Level! How could you take him down so easily?”

“Ma Chulsoo.”

I ignored his question and asked another.

“Are these men ones who might side with you?”

Even though I had brushed off his question, Ma Chulsoo stammered out an answer.

“N-No way. Ma Ga-woon, that elder, is someone I need to get rid of first if I ever become clan head.”

“I see.”

Shlick!

I ripped the sword out roughly, and the Blood Flow Squad Leader’s body collapsed forward.

“L-Leader!”

“You bastard, how dare you!”

Even though their leader had fallen in a single blow, the Blood Flow Sword Squad surged toward me with a menacing aura.

I grinned, releasing my own killing intent to meet them head-on.

“Then I suppose there’s no need to worry about consequences if I kill all of them, is there?”

“O-Of course not, but… these guys are the main force of the Blood Flow Sword Squad! What the hell are you going to do against those killing ghosts?!”

Being directly under one of the Elders of the Six Great Demonic Clans, they were undoubtedly elite.

Which meant that if I killed them all, the Ma Clan’s main house would be turned on its head.

“Ma Chulsoo. We’re going with a three-part strategy.”

“Three parts…?”

“First, we slaughter every last Ma Clan bastard crawling toward us.”

Since Ma Jeongcheon was the one who crossed the line first, I had nothing to hesitate about.

“Second, we track Ma Jinyoon as originally planned.”

After all, the core of this incident was still Ma Jinyoon—this was only natural.

“Third, we sniff out the Cheon Clan rats likely lurking near Ma Jinyoon.”

No doubt, if I understood Cheon Jumyeong correctly, he would have orchestrated everything this way to harvest the final prize for himself.

Upon hearing my plan, one of the Blood-Robed Swordsman sneered with a sinister grin, leaking killing intent.

“Hehehe… You assassinate the Squad Leader with a cowardly ambush and now you’ve lost your damn mind.”

“Vice-Leader, what should we do?”

The Blood-Robed Swordsman, called Vice-Leader, shouted to his subordinates.

“The plan hasn’t changed! Kill them all!”

At his order, the Blood Flow Sword Squad members all charged at us simultaneously.

Among the ones they pointed their swords at—was Cheon Yujeong.

Cheon Yujeong let out a dry laugh.

“How absurd. You dare raise your sword even against me?”

Of course, even Ma Jeongcheon, who sent these men, likely didn’t anticipate that Cheon Yujeong would be here. But even if he had known, nothing would’ve changed.

Just then, a snow-white little girl appeared at Cheon Yujeong’s side.

“What will you do, Master?”

It was Baekryeong, the loyal servant she always kept close and cherished.

“There’s no need to interfere here. My objective is securing Ma Jinyoon, nothing else.”

“……”

“Still, I am curious. That Blood Flow Squad Leader didn’t seem ordinary… and now there’s this man, killing someone like that and suddenly blowing up the board like this…”

Baekryeong listened to her words with eyes devoid of emotion.

“I wonder if he’ll even be able to manage the mess he’s made, let alone achieve anything.”

A murmured thought, closer to talking to herself than expecting an answer.

But then—

To her surprise, Baekryeong, who she assumed would stay silent, gave an unexpected reply.

“I believe… it might be possible.”

Cheon Yujeong widened her eyes in surprise at her usually expressionless subordinate’s comment.

“…That’s unexpected. I didn’t think you’d say something like that.”

“……”

“Why do you say that?”

“Just…”

“Just?”

“It’s a simple intuition.”

With that, Baekryeong closed her mouth again.

It was a pretty half-hearted answer, but Cheon Yujeong didn’t pursue it further.

She was merely surprised that someone who had spoken fewer than ten times in the past year suddenly chose to voice an opinion.

“Hmph, then let’s watch. Let’s see if that man can really make good on his bold words.”

Dodging the incoming attacks from the Blood Flow Sword Squad with agile steps, Cheon Yujeong’s eyes gleamed.

“Let’s see if what I’ve only heard about in rumors is actually real.”

***

My body surged with power.

Ever since I received that fateful encounter from Yoo So—or perhaps, across all of this life and the previous ones—this was the most vitality I’d ever felt coursing through my entire body.

Surrounded tightly by nearly fifty members of the Blood Flow Sword Squad.

The Vice-Leader, who had taken over after my ambush killed the leader, sneered at me.

“What are you gonna do with fewer than ten little brats?”

“They don’t need to do anything.”

I slowly raised my sword and continued.

“I can handle the likes of you all by myself.”

“…What?”

His lips twitched beneath the mask.

I looked him dead in the eye and jeered coldly.

“What’s wrong? Think I can’t do it? Come on, I’ll send you to join your Squad Leader.”

“……”

Even after all that provocation, he didn’t make the first move.

Of course. No matter how much bravado he showed, the fact remained that his superior had been taken out in a single surprise attack. His words might have been fierce, but his heart was trembling.

“Kill them!”

In the end, he chose to move his subordinates instead.

As dozens of Blood-Robed Swordsmen swarmed us, Baek Sang-ah—who stood with her back to mine—asked me,

“Should I help?”

“No need. Just cover their escape route, just in case.”

By “escape route,” I didn’t mean our own—I meant theirs.

Baek Sang-ah looked stunned.

“Are you serious? You’re going to take on all of them by yourself? That Vice-Leader too—even if he looks like a coward…”

“Yes, I know. He’s at peak Master Level.”

If the unit rivaled the Thirty-Four Demon Squads, it would be strange if the Vice-Leader wasn’t at peak Master Level.

And just look at their numbers. Not a single one among them lacked the skill to manifest Sword Qi.

But even so—

“Don’t worry, Lady Baek. Right now…”

With unprecedented confidence, I unleashed my internal energy.

“I think I can kill every last one of them by myself.”

***

Blood Dragon Demonic Clan — Residence of First Young Master, Ma Jeongcheon.

“The Blood Flow Sword Squad has been annihilated.”

“…What did you say?”

“Squad Leader of the squad, ‘Shore-Breaking Venom Sword’ Ha Jinchung, and Vice-Leader ‘Bloodthirsty Sword’ Woo Mansang, along with the entire fifty-man main unit, are all dead.”

“Nonsense!”

Bang!

Ma Jeongcheon slammed the table, furious, trying to confirm whether what he heard was real.

“Unless a transcendent-level martial master joined in, how the hell could that happen?!”

The Blood Flow Sword Squad had been one of his trump cards.

The Clan Head had told him to use any means necessary—but not to accept losses this severe.

To lose the Blood Flow Sword Squad—one of the main combat forces of the clan—was an unthinkable blow.

“Who… Who the hell did this?!”

“We’re still investigating… but according to the subordinates dispatched to the site, it appears to have been done by a single person.”

“…!”

“A-And it seems highly likely the person is a sword master… at peak Master Level.”

Ma Jeongcheon’s face contorted into something monstrous.

A sword master capable of annihilating the Blood Flow Sword Squad.

Even if he included the Clan Head, the Sword Demon, there were fewer people than he could count on ten fingers who matched that description.

“Could it be… one of the clan elders has sided with that bastard?”

Nearly half of those rare individuals resided within the Blood Dragon Demonic Clan itself.

“What are your orders?”

His subordinate pressed him to decide.

Ma Jeongcheon deliberated.

‘I need to move boldly.’

He had to gather what forces he could and attack without hesitation.

‘But if I fail…?’

Even after deciding to kill his own blood brothers, Ma Jeongcheon still hesitated.

Indecisiveness.

A habit born of jealousy and lack of talent, nurtured over the years as he compared himself to his more gifted siblings.

Even though this was a mission he *had* to succeed in, Ma Jeongcheon ultimately chose to take a step back.

“Contact Elder Ma Ga-woon. Send in the White Horse Sword Squad.”

The White Horse Sword Squad was evaluated as slightly superior to the Blood Flow Sword Squad, though their combat strength wasn’t vastly different.

“Yes, First Young Master.”

Normally, any decent advisor should have talked him out of that decision—but all he had were empty sycophants of the Demon Dragon Hall, men chosen only to make him look good.

Unlike Ma Chulsoo, he had no tacticians of his own age around him.

Thus, Ma Jeongcheon made the worst mistake possible.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep