Hong Ryu-yeon pulled himself upright and shaped his right hand into a claw as sharp as an eagle's talon.
"Die!!"
No words needed.
A single strike meant to kill Un-hyeok in one blow.
But Un-hyeok could see exactly where Ryu-yeon was aiming.
However.
'This damned body of mine.'
SCRAPE—!
Fingernails grazed his cheek, and blood ran down.
His body refused to keep pace with his mind.
SWISH! SLASH! SWISH!
Hong Ryu-yeon's brow furrowed deeply.
"You slippery rat!"
Ryu-yeon's claw technique grew more ferocious.
Strikes tore through the air in rapid succession.
'My stamina is just as pathetic.'
He had not even thrown a single proper counterattack.
Yet Un-hyeok was already gasping for breath.
'Damn it. Once this is over, the very first thing I'm doing is rebuilding this body from scratch.'
Meanwhile, Hong Ryu-yeon was growing anxious.
'This is absurd. How can a wretch like him keep dodging my attacks?'
The Flying Eagle Claws.
A technique taught to him by U Mun-so himself — once it caught its prey, it could crush even steel like tofu.
Granted, the art-scattering poison prevented him from channeling inner strength right now.
But the raw forms alone were devastating.
CRUNCH—!
A chunk of a stone pillar was gouged out.
SWISH—! SLASH—! SWSH-SWSH-SLASH—!
Despite the furious barrage, Un-hyeok's eyes did not so much as blink.
From start to finish, they tracked Ryu-yeon's fingertips.
'How......!'
A fragile man who could not bear the grief of his mother's death and drove himself to ruin.
That was the Dok Un-hyeok Ryu-yeon knew.
But the man before him now seemed utterly fearless.
'Why is he not afraid?!'
A graze meant serious injury at the very least.
Death was entirely possible.
Any ordinary person's body would have frozen stiff.
But Un-hyeok had already been forged in the crucible of the martial world.
Compared to the countless battlefields he had crossed, the razor's edge between life and death he had walked — this felt like child's play.
'Damn it!'
Just as Ryu-yeon's frustration peaked.
His foot caught.
Un-hyeok's back met the wall behind him.
At last, Hong Ryu-yeon could smile in triumph.
"Heh heh heh! You scurried around well enough, but there's nowhere left to run!"
"......"
Ryu-yeon's fingertips trembled.
He gathered every remaining ounce of strength for one final strike.
"This ends now!"
In that instant, Un-hyeok's eyes flashed.
'His motion got bigger.'
An opening!
Un-hyeok had been saving his counterattack for precisely this moment.
Un-hyeok's head snapped to the side as a few strands of hair were sheared off.
In the same motion, he surged into Ryu-yeon's guard.
"Wh-what are you—!"
Un-hyeok clamped down hard on his arm.
"Hup!"
Pivoting his body, he pulled with everything he had.
Ryu-yeon's body rose into the air — then slammed straight into the floor.
CRASH—!
"GAAAAKH......!"
A dizzying shock rippled up through his spine.
But Un-hyeok's counterattack had only just begun.
CRACK—!
He stomped Ryu-yeon's face into the ground.
THUD! THUD!
The bridge of his nose crumbled.
Teeth shattered. Blood sprayed.
Ryu-yeon desperately raised his arms to shield his face.
But Un-hyeok only sneered at the gesture.
"Canvas this wide, and you think the face is the only place to paint?"
Un-hyeok snatched up the nearest chair and brought it crashing down.
CRUNCH—!
"Gkh!"
Splinters of the chair scattered.
Blood seeped from the corners of Ryu-yeon's mouth.
Without inner strength to protect himself, internal injuries were certain.
Yet even through it all, Ryu-yeon scrambled for an escape.
'I can't get swept up in his rhythm. First, get back on my feet and reset my stance.'
Ryu-yeon rolled sideways to dodge Un-hyeok's next attack.
But even that fell within Un-hyeok's palm.
Un-hyeok swung the broken chair leg and struck Ryu-yeon square on the kneecap.
"Ngh— GAAAAH......!"
The pain was excruciating.
Enough to bring tears to his eyes.
CLATTER—!
Un-hyeok tossed the chair leg aside and dusted off his hands.
"Tch. Tools just don't have the right feel."
Now Ryu-yeon could not so much as crawl away.
A shadow fell over his face.
Un-hyeok looked down at him with a grin.
"Now then, shall we take our time and enjoy this?"
***
'What in the world is happening......?'
Meanwhile.
So-ye watched the spectacle before her, utterly dumbstruck.
The Flying Eagle Claws was one of the Underworld Gate's supreme martial arts, and she had never dreamed Hong Ryu-yeon could wield it with such skill.
'He was hiding his true abilities?'
So-ye compared his skill to her own.
In a fair fight, could she defeat Ryu-yeon?
Judging objectively — she would lose seven times out of ten.
That was how formidable his claw technique was.
Which was why she could not understand what she was seeing.
'How on earth is the Poison Young Master overpowering Ryu-yeon?'
His movements themselves were nothing extraordinary.
But it was as if Ryu-yeon were Sun Wukong dancing on the Buddha's palm.
Before Ryu-yeon could do anything, Un-hyeok moved half a beat faster.
And the result.
CRACK—!
CRUNCH—!
Only bone-chilling sounds of impact filled the room.
"Ngghhk......!"
"This is it."
Un-hyeok targeted only vital pressure points with ruthless precision.
Ryu-yeon fought back to the very end, but his counterattacks were blocked with humiliating ease.
Ryu-yeon's movements grew sluggish.
THWACK—!
THWACK, THWACK, THWACK—!
The brow ridge, the philtrum, the inner corners of the eyes, and more.
He beat Ryu-yeon to an absolute pulp.
Already battered beyond recognition, Ryu-yeon still thrashed and screamed.
"GAAAAAH! Die, die, die!"
"God, you're loud."
THWACK—!
A heavy blow struck the base of the skull.
With that final impact, Hong Ryu-yeon convulsed once and went limp.
"Grrkkkk......"
Yi So-ye swallowed hard.
She had seen it with her own two eyes, yet she could scarcely believe it.
"Phew......"
Un-hyeok wiped the sweat from his brow, his face looking oddly refreshed.
So-ye asked.
"......Who are you, really?"
"What do you mean?"
"Knowing that Ryu-yeon was a spy wasn't enough — you toyed with a fighter of his caliber like he was a child. You......"
So-ye's question struck at the heart of it.
"Are you truly the Dok Un-hyeok I know?"
The Shadow Eye Specter, indeed.
A sharp question.
Proof that her eye for people was anything but ordinary.
"Then how do I look to you? Not like Dok Un-hyeok?"
"That's not it, but......"
"I am Dok Un-hyeok of the Poison Demon Sect."
The contents may differ, but the shell was the same.
"With abilities like these, why did you hide yourself?"
"Who knows? Figure that one out on your own."
In truth, Un-hyeok had said that simply because he had no excuse ready.
But So-ye's mind was already spinning at breakneck speed.
Information on Dok Un-hyeok.
The current state of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Combining several pieces together, a single hypothesis emerged.
'Could it be...... because of the Demon Cultivation Grotto?!'
What was the Demon Cultivation Grotto?
A proving ground held to select disciples for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's Sacred God — the Heavenly Demon.
A place where countless talents gathered to wage a fierce battle for survival.
'The Poison Demon Sect was expected to send Dok Mu-won, naturally.'
Dok Un-hyeok had been called the disgrace of the Poison Demon Sect.
His younger brother Dok Mu-won, on the other hand, was hailed as a prodigy among prodigies.
'But if even this was something Dok Un-hyeok orchestrated deliberately?'
Had So-ye herself not learned that lesson firsthand?
That underestimating Un-hyeok could cost one's life.
Others would surely make the same mistake.
'I'm certain of it. The Poison Young Master hid his abilities to make everyone lower their guard.'
Cold sweat ran down So-ye's spine.
'A terrifying man.'
How many years had he spent, how much effort had he poured into achieving a single goal?
That tenacity, and the schemes he harbored within —
Perhaps they were the true poison Dok Un-hyeok carried.
And now such a man had extended his hand to So-ye.
'As an enemy, he'd be a nightmare to face. But as an ally, there's no one I'd rather have.'
The calculation in So-ye's mind was already complete.
An alliance was more or less a foregone conclusion.
Then Un-hyeok spoke.
"That aside — I was right, wasn't I?"
"Ah......"
Having confronted the bitter reality, a look of sorrow washed over So-ye's face.
"......Yes."
To think Ryu-yeon had been U Mun-so's spy.
"Whatever his orders from U Mun-so...... why did Ryu-yeon go this far?"
"Listen. None of this is your fault. He was simply......"
Un-hyeok nudged the fallen Hong Ryu-yeon with his foot.
"A hideous monster born of a twisted mind."
This was something Un-hyeok had learned later.
Hong Ryu-yeon had been born in a man's body but dreamed of living as a woman.
Yet that was an impossible wish.
Cursed by what felt like heaven's punishment, he lived in self-loathing — until he encountered Yi So-ye.
The face Hong Ryu-yeon wanted, the life he wanted, everything — Yi So-ye had it all.
Admiration became envy, and envy twisted into hatred.
— Why must I suffer so, while you get to have it all?
— Why is what's a luxury for me a given for you?!
— My reality is a gutter, so why is it only you, only you......!!
If he could not have it, then no one else could either.
And so Ryu-yeon had resolved himself.
— I will destroy you, Yi So-ye.
— I'll drag you down to the same hell I live in.
Ryu-yeon's madness had been beyond imagination.
To earn So-ye's trust, he had even sacrificed his own face.
"He's a lunatic who slashed his own face to pieces just to get rid of you. Don't waste your time trying to understand him. You'll only wear yourself out."
"......"
"Tch, cheer up."
The betrayal of someone as close as family.
So-ye looked like a cat caught in the rain.
"I still...... can't believe it."
"At least you found out now. Let's count that as a blessing."
He had prevented one more tragedy that was yet to come.
In the past, So-ye had crafted human skin masks to hide the face Ryu-yeon had mutilated.
Each one molded after her own original appearance.
'Whenever someone complimented her masks, she'd light up — but there was always a trace of bitterness underneath.'
But that sight would never come to pass now.
'All that's left is to seal the deal.'
But the world had a habit of not going according to plan.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Angry footsteps suddenly thundered through the corridor, accompanied by two voices.
"W-well, he did ask me to make it, so I did, but...... just in case, I thought I should tell you."
"Hyeok, that wretch has gone and done it......!"
Un-hyeok's heart sank.
'Oh no......!'
General Manager Seok, that snitch.
He couldn't even wait and had to go running to Father?
There was not a moment to lose.
Un-hyeok spoke urgently to So-ye.
"You should get out of here. Can you use your movement arts?"
"......Pardon?"
"Try channeling your inner arts."
Following Un-hyeok's words, So-ye focused on her lower qi center.
'Huh......? My inner strength isn't scattering.'
"The art-scattering poison I gave you wasn't the real thing. It was a makeshift version, so it naturally wears off after about a quarter-hour."
The tradeoff for using easily obtained herbs — it came with a slight drawback.
That was why he had not bothered making a separate antidote.
Meanwhile.
The footsteps were drawing closer.
Un-hyeok pressed her.
"Leave this to me. Go, now!"
Dok Ryeon-hwi would certainly demand an explanation upon seeing the wreckage of the guest hall.
If Un-hyeok tried to explain without having coordinated with So-ye, there was a strong chance that every secret — including the truth about U Mun-so — would spill out.
So-ye reached the same conclusion and did not argue.
But before she left, Un-hyeok had one request.
"When you get back, could you send me all the materials the Golden Dragon Chamber has compiled on the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?"
"Why?"
He had both Tang Un-hyeok's memories and Dok Un-hyeok's — but these were mere fragments.
They could be distorted, and there might be unforeseen variables.
'First, I need to verify whether the current state of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult matches the information I already have.'
But he could not explain that outright.
Un-hyeok offered a plausible reason instead.
"I want to see just how capable the Golden Dragon Chamber's intelligence is. I've shown you what I can do, so it's only fair the Golden Dragon Chamber shows me something in return, wouldn't you say?"
A reasonable enough explanation.
So-ye nodded.
"Understood. If I make it back to the Golden Dragon Chamber, I'll send word. Then......"
So-ye dipped her head in a quick bow.
In a flash, her figure vanished into the distance.
That was when it happened.
Dok Ryeon-hwi and Seok In-gu burst through the door.
Ryeon-hwi roared without preamble.
"Hyeok, you wretch! What were you thinking, asking General Manager Seok to make art-scattering poison......?"
Huh?
Ryeon-hwi was struck speechless.
Un-hyeok, perfectly fine.
The room, an utter disaster.
And in the middle of it, an unconscious figure beaten to a bloody pulp — impossible to tell if they were man or woman.
"Who is that......?"
"Th-that's......!"
Seok In-gu recognized the fallen Hong Ryu-yeon.
"It's the Golden Dragon Chamber's general manager!"
"Wh-what?!"
But why...... was he lying here looking like this?
Ryeon-hwi's gaze naturally shifted to Un-hyeok.
"Don't...... tell me?"
No.
Please, let it not be true.
But Un-hyeok, as always, shattered Ryeon-hwi's hopes to pieces.
"I did it."
"What?!"
"But don't worry. Everything has been resolved."
"Ah...... ahh......"
This reckless disaster of a son!
Resolved? He had turned a manageable situation into an uncontrollable catastrophe, and what?
Everything has been resolved?
A stiffness crept up the back of his neck, and Ryeon-hwi's face flushed scarlet.
"Get...... out......"
His voice shook the Poison Demon Sect to its foundations.
"GET OOOOOUT!!"