Chapter 157

Hastings immediately quickened his steps and approached the group that had been following the party. Prepared to kill them all if things went awry, Hastings stepped to the front from the very beginning.

“Who are you…? Why are you following us?”

Not a single one of them noticed Hastings approaching until he came right up to their noses and deliberately revealed his presence. Only then did they finally realize he was there.

“Uh—! Th-This person is…! Fifth Prince’s close aide! The Shadow in Black!”

“So we finally found you!”

But their reaction was strange. The Shadow in Black—a subtle and unfamiliar title. It was the first time he had heard it, yet Hastings instantly realized they were referring to him.

“…?”

As Hastings paused in brief confusion, they urged their camels forward and approached to greet him.

“It’s an honor to meet you like this! We are the sons of the Southern territories.”

They said one could not spit on a smiling face—but Hastings was the exception. He still did not lower his guard, eyeing them with open suspicion.

“The sons of the Southern territories, huh…? You seemed to know me. Why did you come looking for me?”

“Ah, as expected…! Those cold eyes that never let go of suspicion…! We understand completely. Given that you must already know all about the recent news from the South, it couldn’t be otherwise. Our proper greeting came late. Allow us to formally introduce ourselves.”

A man who seemed to represent the group spoke on behalf of them all.

“I, and everyone behind me, are people who ran away from our families with the hope of being of even the slightest help to Prince Yurion. We originally intended to go to Valaris, but the security there had already tightened. After hearing rumors about you, Shadow, we followed you blindly.”

Their true identity was that of youths who had thrown everything away and fled into the wilderness in pursuit of Yuwon, the Fifth Prince. At the unexpected answer, even Hastings—who had been speaking casually the entire time—found himself responding politely.

“…What did you say? Are you telling me that people who would one day become lords just ran away from their families? What on earth are you trusting in…?”

Even his tone, once filled with suspicion, had softened. In response to Hastings’s question, they answered with pride.

“Half of us would have already lost our lives during the last Southern Subjugation Mission if not for the life-saving grace bestowed by His Highness the Fifth Prince.”

“Hoo… I understand those feelings. But if you do this, your families and territories could be put in danger. Did you come here fully aware of the choice you made—and the weight of that choice?”

“Of course we did. We all came prepared to be struck from the family registry at the very least. They claim His Highness assassinated the late Emperor? That’s nonsense. From the start, the fact that that bastard Gion was appointed Acting Head of Public Order or whatever already felt wrong. Those traitors synchronized their stories so well—we had circumstantial suspicion but no hard evidence. Then Count Valaris stepped forward. That’s why we gathered like this.”

Their voices were filled with unwavering conviction, without a trace of doubt. Voices of agreement rose from beside him as well.

“Ever since the late Emperor passed away, we’ve been waiting for this day. Please, allow us to join you!”

“We’ve long heard that to His Highness’s right stands Sir Terrien, the White Dragon’s knight, and to his left, the Third Prince. To behold the Shadow of His Highness, spoken of only in rumors, is a great honor…!”

Among them were those who gazed at Hastings with shining eyes. Having directly encountered the ruthless assassin who would not shy away from dirty work for the sake of the Fifth Prince, their emotion was genuine.

Once the floodgates opened, all forty of them poured out the words they had long held in their hearts. Before he knew it, Hastings was being showered with nauseating flattery he had never heard in his life.

He was grateful for the sentiment, but more burdens that could not become real fighting power had been added to the pile. Caught in an awkward position, Hastings let out a deep sigh.

“Ha….”

Without speaking, Hastings examined the faces of the group standing before him. Untainted sincerity. Though it had been only a short time, those who had once been with Yuwon had thrown everything away and gathered at his side.

‘Your Highness… what am I supposed to do in moments like this….’

After a brief moment of contemplation, Hastings finally gave in and allowed them to accompany him.

“Very well. We’ll go together. However, maintain about the same distance you have now while following us. I understand your feelings, but I also have a duty to protect the party ahead. I apologize for being unable to trust you fully due to my suspicions.”

That alone was enough. At Hastings’s response—known as Yuwon’s closest aide—the group erupted into cheers as if they had received recognition directly from Yuwon himself.

In the wastelands of the South, Hastings encountered reinforcements he had never expected. Of course, personally, he could not shake the feeling that the number of burdens he carried was only increasing.

When rivers meet, one must inevitably yield. On the brink of unifying the Great Jungle, the meeting with Mukwiam that Yuwon had ambitiously prepared ultimately spiraled into ruin.

“Grrr….”

Mukwiam’s viciously grown fangs trembled violently. From between his twisted teeth leaked a monstrous howl, as if dragged up from the deepest abyss.

The voice that once carried clear intent like human speech now held nothing at all. It was no more than the senseless roar of a beast.

“This is your last chance, Mukwiam. You can’t defeat me. Stop now.”

With indifferent eyes, Yuwon attempted to calm Mukwiam. Of course, it had no effect. Rather, it seemed only to stoke his rage.

“Kuooo!”

Instead of replying, Mukwiam hurled a massive fist forward with a terrifying battle cry. The target was, of course, Yuwon.

Whooong—!

The power of Mukwiam, the Orc Great Chieftain who commanded tens of thousands of orcs in the Great Jungle! A fist befitting a body that could pass for an ogre rather than an orc tore through the air with tremendous force.

Swish—!

Without any notable preparatory movement, Yuwon lightly shifted his body and evaded the attack. Having lost its target, Mukwiam’s fist struck empty air and was withdrawn.

“I put off meeting you the longest precisely because I knew things would turn out like this.”

Mukwiam showed no interest in Yuwon’s words. Yuwon, too, gave up on continuing the conversation.

‘It’s the law of strength. That’s the only way to subdue him. If it’s come to this, there’s no halfway… I’ll break him completely.’

Since he had to do it anyway, he intended to do it properly. Yuwon raised his momentum and assumed a combat stance. Within his dantian, which had lain dormant like a tranquil lake, a violent vortex began to form.

The vortex became waves, the waves became a tidal surge, and that flow, born in the dantian, soon burst forth and coursed through every meridian in Yuwon’s body.

Boom—!

And when that tidal surge struck the pitch-black heart filled with venomous energy—

Flash—!

In the blink of an eye, eerie green light flickered like will-o’-the-wisps at the corners of Yuwon’s eyes as he entered full combat readiness. In the twin daggers he held—drawn at some unknown moment—settled a chilling, ink-dark sword aura.

With eyes devoid of emotion, Yuwon fixed his gaze on Mukwiam.

“…Don’t die.”

Swish—!

With those words, Yuwon vanished, leaving behind a long trailing arc. His long hair, once more turned black through rebirth via bone cleansing, traced a dark trajectory alongside the ink-colored sword aura.

Slash—!

At the end of the black arc Yuwon drew, green blood burst forth violently.

“Grrk—!”

A searing pain shot through his arm! After being struck full-on by Yuwon’s gaze, Mukwiam had been seized by a thrilling terror that raised goosebumps all over his body, but the pain finally snapped him back to his senses.

‘What was that just now…!’

Mukwiam’s blood-red eyes traced the afterimage of Yuwon, who had vanished in an instant. Yet Yuwon himself stood exactly where he had been before, as if he had never moved at all. Mukwiam could not comprehend what had happened.

‘There was a flash, and then suddenly….’

The only evidence left to Mukwiam was the long, gaping wound on his left arm, which was boiling as it fought against the venomous energy. Had even that not remained, he would have thought he had fallen victim to some bizarre sorcery. At that moment, Yuwon’s voice reached him.

“If it had gone just a bit deeper, your arm would have been severed. Still, that’s fortunate. With this level of strength, you won’t die easily.”

Mukwiam was driven nearly mad from not even seeing how he had been struck, yet Yuwon remained utterly relaxed, as if he had already calculated exactly how much force Mukwiam could endure. That arrogance in both tone and behavior only fueled Mukwiam’s rage.

‘You damn human…!’

Hiss—!

Thinking things through for long periods was never Mukwiam’s way. No matter who the enemy was, overwhelming them with even greater strength—that was Mukwiam’s way.

Snorting fiercely like an enraged beast, Mukwiam grabbed the massive axe he had planted beside him and aimed it at Yuwon.

The axe was so heavily rusted that its edge was all but gone, but Mukwiam did not care. As long as even the slightest cutting power remained, his monstrous strength would compensate for any lack of sharpness.

“What are you planning to do with an axe rusted that badly? You couldn’t even cut firewo—”

Before Yuwon could finish speaking, Mukwiam swung the axe like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Yuwon’s throat. The crimson blade, accompanied by a violent tearing sound, flew in with the force to crush his neck. Yuwon raised a dagger at a not particularly fast speed to block the attack. The dagger moved ahead of the axe’s trajectory, waiting for it.

Kwang—!

When axe and dagger collided, sparks flew with a thunderous crash. The shockwave was so great that all vegetation within roughly twenty meters of where Yuwon and Mukwiam stood trembled violently.

“That axe… it’s certainly no ordinary item. Under normal circumstances, it should’ve shattered the moment it met my sword aura… But then again, nothing in the Great Jungle is ordinary.”

After Yuwon’s brief assessment, Mukwiam’s ferocious assault continued. As if competing to see whether his arm or Yuwon’s neck would fall first, Mukwiam pressed on without rest.

Bang—!

‘How are you blocking this?!’

Crash—!

‘Why won’t it work?!’

Kraaang—!

‘Why aren’t you attacking back?!’

No matter how much strength Mukwiam poured into his attacks, it was not enough.

As every strike came to nothing, Mukwiam glared at Yuwon as if he wanted to kill him with his eyes alone. Yet despite that murderous intent, Yuwon’s indifferent expression never changed. His calm gaze seemed to ask Mukwiam whether he still had not given up.

A battle between two monsters who could kill someone with a single second of opportunity dragged on for over ten minutes. And at the end of it, Mukwiam finally stopped attacking.

“…Is that the end?”

“…Human. You’re stronger than me. I acknowledge that.”

Just as Yuwon’s expression was about to brighten, thinking they could finally resume dialogue, Mukwiam’s next words were firm—chillingly so.

“But don’t think that means you can command me as you please. I would… rather die than become a slave.”

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