<The Demon Lord of the Swordsmanship Family Chapter 166>
The assassins, wearing turbans, run across the walls.
They were the protective unit of the Yalta family, gathering abandoned children from the slums, clothing them, feeding them, and even personally naming them.
‘The target is…’
‘The enemy threatening My Lord.’
‘Will protect with our lives.’
At the corner, they confirm their target.
Walking slowly approaches Park Ki-hyuk.
The assassin leading the charge locks eyes with Park Ki-hyuk.
“…….”
“……!”
Eyes devoid of emotions that should naturally exist in a human being. If there were a God observing the world, those eyes might belong to him.
So, are we fighting against a God?
The assassin’s instincts rang loud and clear.
This is wrong.
We shouldn’t fight.
The scent of d*ath was unmistakable.
However, humans sometimes sacrifice their lives for the righteous cause. They were doing just that.
‘For My Lord.’
‘For the Yalta family.’
The assassins, having made their resolution, rushed in like lightning.
Zipping back and forth between both walls, they approached their target. They displayed movements akin to defying gravity.
But if asked whether this dazzling movement was suitable for assassins, the answer would be no.
Assassins are beings who live in shadows. For these assassins to charge head-on…
This was madness.
Unsurprisingly, the consequence was definite.
Kwaang-!!
An explosion of flames accompanied by a deafening sound.
Limbs of those who’ve lost their masters were scattered. And as their bl**d obscured Park Ki-hyuk’s vision,
Kradaang!
The wall shattered.
Right? Left?
No, the floor. The assassins surged upwards, breaking through the floor where Park Ki-hyuk stood.
It was a gap created by the sacrifice of their comrades. They had to remove the enemy before them at all costs. A fierce glint of intent flickered through the eyes visible beneath the turbans.
All of them swiftly drew their swords.
The first rank held daggers and long swords.
The second rank had throwing daggers.
This sword was laced with “Basilisk venom,” a single drop of which could k*ll an elephant.
Sseokjeok-!
Shimmering blades converged from all directions.
The distance was too ambiguous to use magic.
Truly, it was a beautiful combination. If their opponent was an average Sorcerer, some of those blades might have achieved their purpose, piercing the enemy’s torso.
But their opponent was Park Ki-hyuk.
Kang-!!
“……?!”
The shadow enveloping Park Ki-hyuk momentarily filled with kinetic energy, effortlessly repelling the oncoming blades.
The broken blades rendered their poison meaningless.
The assassins’ bodies visibly tensed, their confusion evident. The fate of assassins who fail a surprise attack is already determined.
Kwaang-!!
Assassins engulfed in a powerful explosion.
……
…
Kwaang-!!
Inside Yalta Castle.
The guard captain who had witnessed the d*ath of the protection squad through the CCTV closed his eyes tightly.
So it came to this, it seems.
The strange attacker that had arrived without warning.
When questioned about his purpose by the guards, his response was simple.
“I’ll give you exactly five minutes.”
“Bring your master here.”
At this point, the captain realized who this was.
Park Ki-hyuk, who had come as a guest of Shade Merhem, the second daughter of Queen Fatima.
Who was Park Ki-hyuk? Wasn’t he the youngest of the Sword Master family, regarded as one of the world’s most promising figures.
With such formidable opposition, underestimation was not an option.
The guard captain promptly informed the master.
But then,
“Absolutely stop him no matter what!”
The master of the Yalta family reacted with visible terror. Acting as if possessed, he gathered his family and valuables. It was clearly a preparation for escape, disappearing through a secret passage while the security captain instinctively realized something was wrong.
As a result of this.
The security captain took a deep breath to regain his composure.
Regardless, he was still the security captain. Having grown up benefiting from the Yalta family’s goodwill since his youth, like the protective unit, he could not betray his trust, regardless of the master’s error.
He had to stop this.
“Buy time! Just until our master is able to move!”
The security captain rallied his subordinates while moving quickly himself.
He headed towards the deepest part of the castle where the core of ‘Alah’s Barrier,’ a great magical seal, was located.
Gulping down the saliva, he inserted a magic gem into the core.
A high-grade magic gem spat out by the boss of a Level 7 Gate. Its power was enough to run a large factory, and the immense magical seal blazed with light.
The Great Seal
Alah’s Barrier
The barrier appeared in a semi-spherical form.
As a defense mechanism created to withstand the enemy’s bombardment during war situations, it boasted nearly indestructible defense abilities.
“…….”
Tuk Tuk.
Park Ki-hyuk pressed against the Alah’s Barrier with his fingertips.
Jijil-
The pungent electrical current of divine power traveled to his fingertips. The characters floating on its surface must be divine texts.
“Not bad.”
His appreciation ended there.
The giant’s hand clenched into a fist.
An enormous shadowy hand began to gather Mana.
Absorbing all the nearby Mana wasn’t enough—it began expanding its range, sucking in Mana from everything around it.
An excessive amount of Mana congregated, and the air froze instantly.
This was the Mana Drain phenomenon.
The sphere swirling in the giant’s hand expanded like a snowball and began to alternately expand and contract.
Goooaoo-!
With one swift motion, it concentrated Mana at its core.
And then, it disappeared, sucked into the giant’s hand.
The once translucent giant hand darkened, revealing a hexagram magic circle inscribed on it like a tattoo.
Afterward, the giant slammed its fist down.
Kked-!
First came a small noise.
Dde Dde Dde Dde Dde-!
Afterwards, a vibration followed.
Kwzing- Kwzing- Kwzing-!
Then cracks appeared.
Deeg!
The Alah’s Barrier shattered, the shattered fragments glittered like powdered glass catching the light.
The security captain, along with the guards, blankly looked at the shimmering fragments in the air and then up.
There was the shadowy giant breaking through the ceiling and looking down.
Park Ki-hyuk’s giant.
“I’ll give you one more chance.”
The giant’s hand easily cut through the defensive barrier he had created and calmly stepped forward at the same original pace, coming to stand in front of the security captain.
“Where’s your master?”
Needless to say, I am not a killer.
I’m not the type who enjoys looking at bl**d or killing people unrelated to my business—for me, it isn’t pleasant either.
Of course, the Triad sc*m who were directly involved deserve nothing less than to be obliterated. There isn’t any need for them to go to hell, because I am their hell.
But for those who have no connection to this incident, I have made efforts to spare them. For example, the assassins and security personnel who blocked my path on the way here.
They knew nothing except for their duty to protect their master from me.
How much could they have known? Killing these people would have left an uncomfortable feeling, so I settled for breaking just one arm or leg each.
Simple examples, right?
Because it’s pretty clear: guilty if involved, innocent if not.
“The problem is you people…”
I looked down at the mustachioed middle-aged men trembling before me.
“We… We have only supported Prince Sal!”
“We knew nothing of the Triad. We merely followed the request of the Fourth Queen.”
“We wouldn’t have dared to harm your daughter. There is no gain in doing so. Please believe us, we knew nothing.”
These are the noble families of this nation.
The common factor is their support of Queen Fatima and the Sal faction.
Ah, let’s exclude the Yalta family’s head of house here.
He has been confirmed as an active participant. And that’s why he’s currently dangling on the thigh of the Abomination behind me.
And that noble who informed Yalta about our movements, he’s stuck on the thigh.
The noble who brought the Triad to Spring is screaming near the Abomination’s feet.
Therefore, these people begging at my feet are ones confirmed not to be directly involved, cross-examined through the recollections extracted from the heads of active participants.
“Though not directly involved… I can’t exactly say you’re not related.”
I don’t have time for this, how should I handle these people?
In the face of my cold eyes, these guys shrink.
“Please, spare us!”
“I want to negotiate. I will give you anything!”
“Y-Yes, what do you desire? We own very much!”
Is it because they witnessed the preceding nobles being digested by the Abomination? They’re struggling desperately.
Certainly, the sight of becoming one with the Abomination does terrify anyone.
The signal arrives right then.
The resonance I feel resembles the Dragon Armor ‘Warrior’. Skeletons seem to have found another clue.
Time is limited, so I must quickly make a decision.
“I will spare you as far as possible.”
Their faces immediately brighten with hope.
But they quickly plummet at my next words.
“Just too bad that I’m extremely angry.”
Apocalypse unfolds, and a black fog engulfs them.
Then,
The fog ‘entered’ through every opening.
“Ugh!”
“Cough! Cough!”
Black Magic Curse
100th d*ath
“You will d*e every time you sleep, experiencing 100 different deaths.”
If they don’t break through these 100 deaths, they survive. If they do, well, they d*e.
“I won’t k*ll you.”
Instead, survive.
By your own means.
The swirling cape around my smiling figure faded,
And I was gone.
To the next target.
Not much more to go.
Hotel, Suite Room.
Bom sat in Jin Yoo-ri’s arms, looking out somberly at the city below.
With a deeply furrowed brow, Bom’s face was filled with seriousness.
Seemingly concerned, Jin Yoo-ri gently smoothed out Bom’s tense forehead.
“Our Bom, why are you looking so worried?”
“Nnnng…”
“Why? Are you still thinking about it?”
“Uhmm…”
This event had left Bom with a lot on her mind.
“Spring, do you think you did anything wrong?”
At Bom’s words, Jin Yoo-ri, who had been peeling a tangerine, dropped it.
Was she brooding on this?
While Jin Yoo-ri expected Bom to be affected by what happened, she hadn’t guessed the depth of this thoughtful concern.
“What… What are you talking about? What did our Bom do wrong?”
“Dad was angry, right?”
“That’s because Bom was in danger.”
“See, Bom being in danger made Dad angry.”
“No… Why do you think like that? It was because of the bad adults. Bom did nothing wrong.”
“No, Bom could have prevented it.”
The bad adults tried to hit Bom.
Of course, Bom had Berrie by her side. Tiger the stuffed toy gifted by Dad was there, and even though she was still not adept at using it, the wings Dad gave her were present.
To be honest, she wasn’t scared at all. She just hid because Berrie told her to.
But she sort of regrets that now.
Dad was angry, after all.
Maybe it’s because I am weak, isn’t it?
“Consider this. Nobody dared to attack Dad, but they directly targeted Bom. That’s because Bom is seen as easy prey. That’s right.”
Because I am the older sister.
As the older sister, I was seen as weak.
It’s just as bad as them finding my younger sibling easy prey.
It’s all because of me!
Bom was disappointed in herself.
Bom’s cheeks puffed up dejectedly, and hearing this, Jin Yoo-ri thought,
“How do both father and daughter share the same train of thought like this?”
I thought Park Ki-hyuk was the one who simplistically thought this way, yet it seems Park Bom shows the same tendencies.
I secretly miss my mother. Mother, what exactly was the fight you were involved in?
“This won’t do, Sister!”
“Uh… what?”
“Bom has made a decision!”
Park Bom looked earnestly at Jin Yoo-ri with shiny eyes.
“I’m going to get stronger.”
For real!
This was the moment when eight-year-old Park Bom awakened.
*
Meanwhile, another person awoke much like Park Bom.
Ismail walked with a resolute, hardened face.
‘I couldn’t do anything.’
What good was being a prince? What value was there in being loved when faced with an attack?
‘I just made my first friend.’
It was a hard-earned friendship. Yet instead of protecting him, he had to be protected.
‘I failed to protect him.’
Languages, mathematics, sciences, royal arts, and more.
Since his childhood, he had been praised for his knowledge in countless areas. But they were useless when faced with sharp blades. He proved to be powerless and without value when confronted with violence.
‘To protect oneself, one must protect oneself.’
Ismail, standing before the door, firmly resolved and grabbed the doorknob.
“I will protect myself from now on.”
With great strength, the door opened.
Squeak!
Before Ismail as he opened the door lay a sword.
A single sword.
A light began to emanate from Ismail’s forehead as he gazed at the blade.
