Chapter 248

Chapter 248
Chapter 248. The Black Flame Dragon Collects the Stakes

“Uaaaaaak!”

Je Geum-hak clawed at his chest frantically, behaving like someone driven entirely mad.

The Formless Flying Demon Unit warriors, who had been standing beside him like a wall of sentries, also fell into sudden, violent motions. They thrashed about in a desperate attempt to put out the Holy flames clinging to their heads.

The scent of burning hair and scorched skin filled the surroundings with a greasy stench, though the actual agony was likely minimized.

The sheer volume of crimson fluid pouring from my own nose completely overwhelmed the rank smell in the air.

Even so, the drain this had placed on my internal energy was utterly ridiculous.

Unleashing it just a single time had brought my qi center to the absolute brink of emptiness.

It was incomparably more severe than the exhaustion of inner arts I experienced during my very first attempt with the Radiant Heaven Divine Palm.

How on earth did that old master Murong Gang manage to employ such a ruthlessly demanding martial art?

Regardless, with the long robes that had pinned my limbs now loosening their grip, I attempted to shift my weight, but my physical form refused to respond to my will.

Damn it, this was the exact moment I needed to launch a counterattack.

“Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo.”

Je Geum-hak, with white vapor huffing from his countenance and chest, glared back at me with a look of pure dread.

“You bastard…….”

He ground his darkened lips together, evidently calculating what his next move with me should be.

“If I want to prevent future calamities, I cannot allow you to walk away from this alive.”

He spoke with grand malice, yet Je Geum-hak was trapped in an identical state, unable to force his body forward.

The bastard bellowed at the absolute limit of his lungs while remaining dropped upon the ground.

“That miserable wretch is going to be the absolute greatest barrier to our cult!”

The Formless Flying Demon Unit members, who had been actively thrashing to subdue the persistent Holy flames, began pulling themselves upward one by one.

Yet, not a single one among them advanced with ease.

Was the exact outcome I had calculated finally about to take place?

“……”

“……”

Je Geum-hak willed his shaking legs to stand, attempting to bridge the gap between us.

“Execute that bastard this instant!”

Instead of obeying, the Formless Flying Demon Unit merely held up the buckling form of Je Geum-hak, refusing to advance a single step from where they stood.

Observing that behavior, I caught a distinct hint of something entirely unnatural.

‘Does that idiot truly not understand?’

Je Geum-hak grew visibly frantic when the Formless Flying Demon Unit failed to move out.

“What is the meaning of this?! Did my words not reach you to execute that bastard this instant?!”

The Formless Flying Demon Unit stared in my direction through the abyss of black shadows hiding their countenances, traded silent nods, and then began hoisting Je Geum-hak upward.

The bastard, completely stripped of any leverage, tried to thrash against them.

“Not me! That bastard! I commanded you to execute that bastard!”

Srrrk—

The Formless Flying Demon Unit paid no heed, lifting Je Geum-hak up and forming a defensive cocoon around his body.

So, the scales had tipped precisely this way.

Now fully reading the room, I let loose a torrent of mockery at the miserable wretch.

“Are you genuinely planning to just walk away?”

“You mindless puppet bastards! Release me! I will tear that wretch’s throat apart this very second……!”

The absolute primary directive of the Formless Flying Demon Unit was ensuring the survival of their designated ward.

When that survival hung in the balance, the Formless Flying Demon Unit would occasionally value the ward’s safety far above any direct commands he issued.

They had undoubtedly recognized the existential peril of the Void-Annihilation Fist and concluded that safeguarding Je Geum-hak was the absolute priority, fearing my hand might claim his life if they risked an offensive.

It seemed Je Geum-hak remained blind to this operational reality, given how desperately he fought to rip the Flying Demon Unit’s hands from his frame, but they were hardly the sort to break their grip.

“Release me! I said release me……! This is an explicit command!”

As I watched Je Geum-hak being hauled away, I willed my arm to rise through sheer stubbornness.

With all sensation entirely gone, I bit down hard on the inner lining of my cheek, forcing the limb to move by absolute brute intent.

“……”

“……”

“……”

The moment my frame showed signs of a suspicious action, the Formless Flying Demon Unit shifted into a defensive stance, presenting their blades.

Catching that reaction, I summoned every last drop of remaining vitality for a final strike and extended a mocking gesture directly toward Je Geum-hak.

“The victory belongs to me, you bastard!”

Predictably, his temper flared to a boiling point.

“……Kuaak! Release me, release me! I ordered you to release me, you bastards!”

I launched the Flying Dragon Claw directly at Je Geum-hak as he was being hauled away amidst his frantic struggling.

Ping—

The Formless Flying Demon Unit crossed the threshold into the Mystic Gate Formation.

That absolute piece of trash.

……Did he truly believe he could simply walk away after dealing with me, a man driven by extreme profit-seeking?

I forced the gears of my qi center to turn once more.

An agonizing sensation tore through my lower abdomen as if a rusted iron rake were ripping it open, but I ground my teeth together until they threatened to shatter, refusing to yield.

“If you lose your shirt at the tables…… you don’t get to leave without surrendering the stakes!!”

Wooong…….

The very fabric of space enveloping the Formless Flying Demon Unit and Je Geum-hak as they sought flight began to warp wildly.

Sensing the distortion, the Formless Flying Demon Unit scrambled to hurl themselves deeper into the Mystic Gate Formation, but…….

On this occasion as well, my timing was a fraction quicker.

Whoosh—

Achieving a swift breakthrough, the Minor Heaven Sword Art manifested cleanly, severing Je Geum-hak’s arm from his body.

In an instant, an agonizing howl tore from the bastard’s throat.

“Guhk!”

“……!”

Confirming that his head remained attached to his shoulders, the Formless Flying Demon Unit immediately secured the heavily bleeding Je Geum-hak, preparing to vanish entirely within the Mystic Gate Formation.

I could not allow Je Geum-hak to slip away cleanly.

‘He has successfully unmasked me.’

Yet, if Je Geum-hak perished here, the vengeful steel of the remaining Formless Flying Demon Unit would target my neck without hesitation.

This was a sliver of survival I had only just managed to secure.

No matter what, I had to ensure I walked away from this breathing.

‘If that is the reality…….’

Even if taking his life was out of the question, I had to reduce him to a complete vegetable.

I bided my time until the absolute final fraction of a second.

And the precise moment every last shadow of the Formless Flying Demon Unit stepped past the boundary of the Mystic Gate Formation.

I marshaled my internal energy and unleashed the Void-Annihilation Fist once more.

Wooong.

Within the warping boundaries of space, the long-robed entities who had crossed into the Mystic Gate Formation froze in alarm, flaring their dark robes wide.

Yet the window for them to alter the outcome had already slammed shut.

Thud.

Though it comprised only a single strike, the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist landed with absolute precision squarely upon Je Geum-hak’s Hundred Convergences Acupoint.

“Gwek!”

Je Geum-hak, who had been writhing in agonizing pain, rolled his eyes back into his skull, sprayed a torrent of blood, and his head slumped forward entirely lifeless as the Mystic Gate Formation swallowed him whole.

“Haa, it is done. Haa, haa, bleeergh…….”

My internal organs wrenched violently, forcing me to spit out the fluid pooling in my throat, though the action offered zero relief.

Instead, my midsection burned with an agonizing sensation as if an inferno had been lit within my belly.

I forced my gaze upward with immense difficulty, scanning the precise area where those bastards had just vanished.

“Damn it…… damn it…… damn it…….”

Je Geum-hak’s severed arm remained hooked by the tip of the Flying Dragon Claw, but I lacked the internal energy required to reel it back, nor could I command my legs to cover the distance.

Thud, thud, thud.

I struck my own thighs with clenched fists, but my lower limbs remained entirely unresponsive.

Abandoning my frozen qi center and useless feet, I relied solely on my two arms to drag myself across the floor toward the spot where Je Geum-hak’s detached arm rested.

After a grueling effort to pry the Devouring Gauntlet from his dead fingers……

Click—

I secured it firmly onto my own forearm.

By taking possession of it now, I would eliminate any future conflicts or tense standoffs regarding who truly owned the prize.

Having forced my near-lifeless frame through that sequence of movements, I collapsed flat on my back, completely spent from the overwhelming exhaustion.

“Haa, haa, haa.”

The physical toll was so severe that merely drawing breath felt like an agonizing trial.

Even so, a faint grin slowly spread across my face.

“Fuck……. the victory is mine…….”

I could not say what lay ahead for Je Geum-hak, but from this night forward, the Formless Flying Demon Unit would find their sleep haunted by my shadow.

Precisely the way our Sojeong Squad used to suffer after our encounters with the Demonic Cult in my previous existence.

They would spend their nights tossing and turning, consumed by bitter rage, a thirst for vengeance, and the weight of their own inadequacy.

Incapable of resolving their tangled fury, they would do nothing but spit out bitter curses.

“Hoo-ha.”

To think I managed to strip those monsters of their peaceful rest. The bastards of the Sojeong Squad would be absolutely roaring with laughter.

“I…… I came out on top! You miserable bastards!”

As I surrendered the full weight of my body to the cold ground, my eyelids grew heavy and closed.

My insides felt entirely ruined, as if death were knocking at the door, but my spirit was completely at peace.

Was it due to the reassuring weight now resting on my wrist?

No, that probably wasn’t it…….

The single greatest prize I had walked away with from this high-stakes gamble was.

‘……The long-standing wish of the Sojeong Squad bastards.’

For some reason, it felt as though the grinning countenances of those insufferable fools were shifting just past my closed eyes.

“What in the world has taken place here……?”

Shadowless, who had managed to slip inside by posing as a simple Cart Hand moving goods for the Black Thought Alliance, stood frozen with his jaw completely dropped.

“An ambush! We are under ambush!”

“The perpetrator is still among us!”

“Jin So-un! Locate Jin So-un immediately! We require his Mind-Reading Art(?)!”

“Hold your positions! Whosoever moves shall be deemed the assassin! Verify if anyone is hiding behind a Human-Skin Mask!”

The Black Thought Alliance ought to have been bursting with celebration due to the Founding Ceremony, yet instead, a frantic wave of panic and absolute mayhem had taken over.

He attempted to brush past the chaos and continue on his path, but this madness was not isolated to a single courtyard.

From every nearby structure and hall, frantic shouts echoed that more figures had been put to the sword.

Furthermore, those who stumbled upon the bodies were, for some bizarre reason, casting suspicious looks at everyone in their immediate vicinity.

The cover maintained by Shadowless and his companions, who had taken pains to look like ordinary Cart Hands, was on the verge of shattering at any second.

“Shadowless, what is our course of action?”

Hearing the prompt from Mu-il, who had slipped inside alongside him, Shadowless clamped a tight lock on his rising anxiety.

“We abandon the infiltration. We shift our focus entirely to securing the target above all else.”

“Understood.”

The moment the command was uttered, they shed the clumsy, deliberate strides of ordinary laborers and unleashed their specialized Footwork Art.

They scaled the rooftops seamlessly, staying far away from the searching eyes below.

It was highly atypical for the elite guard of the Alliance Leader’s Hall to venture away from the Murim Alliance under these circumstances.

In truth, when Shadowless had initially been handed the directive by Jegal So-myeong, he had been the very first to voice his opposition.

Yet, once the Alliance Leader himself, Hyeok Mu-gang, voiced deep anxieties regarding the volatility within the Black Thought Alliance, he had no choice but to make the journey.

The current unrest paralyzing the Black Thought Alliance was directly tied to the unfolding situation down in Sichuan as well.

If they failed to read the political landscape here, there was no telling what catastrophe might overtake the martial artists currently operating in Sichuan.

“Hmm…….”

At this juncture, Shadowless viewed it as an immense stroke of fortune that they had chosen to investigate in person.

……Because ever since they crossed into Shanxi Province, absolutely nothing had gone according to their calculations.

Even right now, had the very operation they launched to monitor the movements of the Black Thought Alliance not been blown almost from the word go?

At any rate, their primary obligation at this moment was to secure their target.

Unraveling the mystery of what had transprinted within the Black Thought Alliance would simply have to wait until that was resolved.

They pushed forward, fully committed to their critical directive.

Right at that split second.

Whoosh—

“Hup!”

Sensing a sudden, ferocious wave of Qi cutting through the air toward them, the elite guards leaped backward in perfect unison.

Following that.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

The very tiles where the guards had been perched erupted violently, collapsing inward as if crushed by an invisible weight.

An incredibly potent yet flawlessly controlled execution of energy.

It was clear evidence that whoever faced them commanded terrifying martial prowess.

Shadowless braced himself for an immediate, high-stakes clash.

However.

“Well now, if it isn’t a rat from the Orthodox Path?”

The words drifted from the space right behind him.

‘How did he get there…….?’

The moment he snapped his head around, a massive Great Saber clad in heavy iron was already hovering right before his brow.

Shadowless recognized the figure instantly.

‘Giant Shield Hwang Bu-sik of the Four Emperors Peak!’

A level of agility that seemed utterly impossible for a frame that massive.

There was a damn good reason his name carried such weight across the Black Path Murim.

“Hey there.”

Hwang Bu-sik cast a downward glance at Shadowless’s blade, which had somehow found its way to his own throat, and remarked.

“It appears neither of us is hunting the other today, so how about we lower the steel? Or did you come here specifically for my head?”

“……We do not operate as simple killers.”

Only then did Shadowless ease the blade he had pressed tightly against Hwang Bu-sik’s neck.

Hwang Bu-sik mirrored the gesture, pulling his Great Saber back while muttering under his breath.

“Then what possessed you lot to dress up as Cart Hands and creep through the shadows? Highly suspicious.”

Shadowless fired right back without giving an inch of ground.

“And what possessed you to lash out with a weapon before verifying your target? Highly foolish.”

“What? Foolish?”

“Why, do you mean to argue the point?”

“Tch.”

Recognizing he had been bested in the exchange, Hwang Bu-sik clicked his tongue and gave a sharp nod toward the courtyard below.

“Can you honestly mouth off like that after taking one look at the state of this place?”

Hwang Bu-sik’s demeanor struck Shadowless as entirely unexpected.

Despite clearly identifying him as a high-ranking operative of the Murim Alliance, the man was not displaying any real signs of hostility.

Keeping his defenses fully alert, Shadowless inquired,

“What took place here?”

“What do you think? Exactly what that fellow Jin So-un warned us about came to pass.”

“What?”

Hwang Bu-sik supplied the answer in an surprisingly casual manner.

“I am in the dark as well. He dropped a warning that an assault was on the horizon, so we ought to lock down. But can you honestly call this a mere assault? This is a full-scale war.”

Shadowless found himself entirely unable to process the logic behind Hwang Bu-sik’s words.

To begin with, he couldn’t fathom why a seasoned Black Path warrior like Hwang Bu-sik was so casually laying bare the inner workings of their situation to a member of the Murim Alliance.

“They appear to be highly trained Assassin types, slipping from one hall to the next executing people. I ventured out here to hunt them down.”

“……Jin So-un was the one who foresaw this?”

“Indeed. In any case, did your lot not journey here looking to intercept them?”

“…… Rank-and-file.”

Shadowless found himself weighing exactly how much truth he ought to reveal.

After sorting through his options for a brief moment, Shadowless spoke up.

“We have completely lost all communication with the Murim Alliance Envoy Delegation that crossed into the Black Thought Alliance. Do you possess any knowledge regarding their whereabouts?”

“……Ah, I see. So they truly were cutting the lines.”

Shadowless’s brow knotted tightly at a statement whose meaning eluded him.

“What are you implying by that?”

“There are wheels within wheels. If you truly belong to the Murim Alliance…… make your way to that structure over there.”

With his piece said, Hwang Bu-sik immediately vaulted off the roof tiles and vanished into the distance.

A fellow guard turned to Shadowless, who remained fixed on the spot where the man had been standing.

“Shadowless, what is our next move?”

“……”

Shadowless tracked the empty space where Hwang Bu-sik had gone, then offered a firm nod.

“We proceed to the building.”

While placing faith in a practitioner of the Black Path was inherently risky, there was something about Hwang Bu-sik’s recent conduct that felt distinct from a true adversary.

“Haa, haa, haa.”

Ak Byeong-bi, who had just reduced the final long-robed adversary to a melting wreck through a coordinated assault with Dang Seo-hui, sucked in ragged breaths.

Those bastards were truly terrifying.

Much like the dreaded Poison Humans of the Tang Clan, they exuded an aura akin to a toxic vapor, and with every clash of steel, a heavy dizziness settled over his mind as if ensnared by dark Witchcraft.

Their long robes, crafted from some unknowable material, possessed the ability to completely neutralize or redirect incoming force, leaving no clear avenue for a decisive blow.

It was an immense stroke of luck that practitioners on the level of Blood Battle and the Flame Ghost Consort were fighting alongside them. Had they been absent, they likely would have perished long before they ever had a chance to worry over the fates of Jin So-un and Il-myeong.

When he glanced to his side, he noted that Blood Battle and the Flame Ghost Consort appeared to be in a similarly battered state.

Watching the remains of the long-robed adversaries dissolve into nothingness the moment life left them, as if doused in potent Bone-Melting Powder, even those hardened figures of the Black Path looked visibly shaken.

“Are you holding together?”

In response to Ak Byeong-bi’s inquiry, Blood Battle, whose left foot had been torn to shreds, whipped the fluid from his fingers as if utterly revolted by the entire affair.

“I am completely spent. If your heart is set on extracting them, you will have to make the trip without me.”

To be fair, the man had gone toe-to-toe with three of those long-robed figures simultaneously…….

In truth, it was a minor miracle he was standing there with all his limbs attached.

The Flame Ghost Consort had tied down one, while Dang Seo-hui and Ak Byeong-bi had combined forces to suppress another, meaning Blood Battle had shouldered far more than his fair share of the burden.

“……”

The pressing issue, however, was that not a single person among their remaining number possessed the strength to advance.

Right at that moment.

Tap-tap-tap.

Witnessing the figure that dropped lightly onto the stones right before him, Ak Byeong-bi’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

“……How on earth did you manage to get here?”

An individual who by all rights should have been securely stationed back in the Alliance Leader’s Hall was now showing his face within the Black Thought Alliance, thousands of li away.

“Third Hall Master. I trust you have been keeping well?”

Receiving a casual greeting that felt entirely divorced from the surrounding carnage, Ak Byeong-bi demanded,

“What is the meaning of this appearance?”

“We made a forced march to this location the moment our communications with your unit fell completely silent.”

For a brief second, Ak Byeong-bi’s brow darkened.

“Communications fell silent……? We have been meticulous about dispatching regular updates.”

alienation.

“……”

Capturing the silence of Shadowless, Ak Byeong-bi suddenly grasped the grim reality: the messages sent out by the Envoy Delegation had been intercepted long before they ever reached the Murim Alliance.

Shadowless, who had been observing the heavy shift in Ak Byeong-bi’s expression, gave a sharp shake of his head.

“Let us leave the post-mortem for a quieter hour. Give me the coordinates for Jin So-un and Il-myeong.”

At that prompt, Ak Byeong-bi gestured toward the massive structure past the threshold, where a sinister crimson aura was actively pulsing.

“They are deep within that pavilion.”

“What did you say? Are you telling me they walked right into a Mystic Gate Formation?”

To be caught inside a Mystic Gate Formation brought to bear by the Black Thought Alliance was a death sentence.

This was a catastrophe of the highest order.

Yet, the clarification that followed left Shadowless completely stunned.

“They didn’t get caught. They chose to step inside to pull someone out.”

“To pull someone out? Who could possibly warrant that risk?”

“The Grand Strategist of the Black Thought Alliance.”

“……”

The entire narrative seemed utterly disconnected from reality.

What possible motive could compel Jin So-un and Il-myeong to deliberately cross into a Mystic Gate Formation to preserve the life of the Grand Strategist of the Black Thought Alliance, a figure who represented their literal opposition?

Now that he took a moment to look closely, the companions who had been holding the line here appeared highly irregular as well.

An elderly practitioner who relied solely on kicking techniques, alongside a woman who commanded pure Yang Qi.

As Shadowless scanned the gathering with deeply distrustful eyes, Ak Byeong-bi closed the distance to where Blood Battle and the Flame Ghost Consort were treating their wounds and spoke up,

“Regardless of how it looks, there were compounding factors.”

“……In that case, shouldn’t we be forcing our way inside?”

Ak Byeong-bi had harbored a similar hope, thinking that with Shadowless’s sudden arrival, they might actually possess the strength to turn the tide for Jin So-un.

“We were precisely on the verge of doing so……. Kish.”

However, just as the words were leaving Ak Byeong-bi’s lips, Dang Seo-hui smoothly drew several mother-of-pearl flasks from the folds of her garments.

“Movement at the threshold.”

Gurgle.

The crimson barrier rippled violently, before violently vomiting forth the long-robed figures who had originally vanished into the Mystic Gate Formation.

And right at the center of their formation was Gun Yu-hyeon, with half of his facial features completely melted away and dark fluid spraying from every single orifice.

“Those miserable bastards……!”

The words had barely cleared Ak Byeong-bi’s lips when Blood Battle, who had just been declaring himself entirely unfit for further combat, unleashed a savage burst of Force Qi straight from his heel.

BANG—

Simultaneously, the Flame Ghost Consort’s inferno roared to life, while Dang Seo-hui instantly deployed a dense wall of toxic mist, sealing off every conceivable escape route for the targets.

“Wh-What is the meaning of this……!”

Even as Shadowless, completely blind to the underlying context, fell into a state of confusion, a brutal exchange of killing blows erupted around them.

Whoosh—

The four adversaries, using the fluid motion of their long robes, systematically deflected and neutralized the incoming torrent of violence over and over.

“Where have you hidden Jin So-un?”

Dang Seo-hui’s eyes stretched wide in absolute denial of what she was witnessing.

At that exact instant, her fingers began moving with such blinding velocity that it appeared as though a dozen arms had sprouted from her shoulders.

However.

Whoosh—

The long-robed figures, whom she fully expected to hunker down and shield themselves behind their garments as before, instead vaulted straight into the open air without a hint of hesitation.

Thud— thud— thud— thud—

The concussive Force Qi from Blood Battle tore through the air like heavy artillery, tracking their ascent, but despite taking direct, shattering damage from the impacts, the bastards focused entirely on absolute flight.

“Damn it all, their velocity is absurd.”

In short order, the silhouettes of the long-robed entities melted away into the surroundings, leaving a heavy, suffocating quiet over the courtyard.

Right at that moment.

The crimson barrier rippled a second time.

Bracing for the inevitable arrival of another long-robed monstrous foe, every warrior present locked their grips onto their steel, utterly resolved to cut down whoever stepped through.

“Il-myeong?”

……Yet the killing intent evaporated the instant a smooth, shaven head came into view.

“Huff, huff, huff. P-Please, someone secure this individual. I must return to provide aid to Benefactor Jin.”

“What are you saying? Were you two not fighting side-by-side?”

Il-myeong, drenched from head to toe in sweat with his bare crown reflecting the dim light, gasped heavily for air.

“Benefactor Jin gave me strict orders to extract this person to safety first…….”

“Are you implying Jin So-un was locked in combat with Gun Yu-hyeon?”

Faced with Ak Byeong-bi’s sharp inquiry, Il-myeong confirmed it without a second’s delay.

“How did you come by that knowledge? It caught me completely off guard as well.”

“……”

As a sudden, heavy quiet gripped the assembled group, Il-myeong looked around with a deeply bewildered expression.

Before long, Dang Seo-hui’s voice, thick with pure agony, broke the silence of the courtyard.

“This cannot be real……. Jin So-un is the undisputed Master of the Black Dragon Stronghold and the standing Vice Alliance Leader of the Black Thought Alliance. He is simply not the type of man who allowed himself to perish in such a place…….!”

Ignoring Dang Seo-hui, who had dropped to her knees under the weight of her grief, Ak Byeong-bi kept his composure and pressed further,

“Are you absolutely certain that Jin So-un and Gun Yu-hyeon were trading blows within the formation?”

“Yes. He explicitly thrust this individual into my arms and…….”

Ak Byeong-bi cut across Il-myeong’s explanation cleanly.

“Gun Yu-hyeon literally just forced his way out of there alongside a contingent that appeared to be his personal vanguard.”

“What did you say? Then Benefactor Jin must be…….”

Every eye in the courtyard turned slowly toward the pulsing edge of the Mystic Gate Formation.

The reality of what had transpired within those crimson walls dawned on everyone present, yet no one possessed the heart to put it into words.

“That absolute fool…… in the end…….”

Ak Byeong-bi sank onto a single knee, his features contorted in deep emotional pain.

Shadowless, who had remained a silent observer to the unfolding tragedy, felt a wave of profound bitterness coat his tongue.

For those who carved out a living within the wild borders of the Jianghu, meeting an untimely end was an everyday reality that surprised no one, yet the sudden extinguishing of a generational talent like Jin So-un left behind a hollow, empty sensation.

‘What a tragic waste. I had fully intended to share another drink and a long talk with him down the road……. To think a light that bright was snuffed out so carelessly.’

For reasons he couldn’t quite name, Shadowless found his mind drifting back to the very first day their paths had crossed, when the young man had effortlessly pierced right through his disguise and offered that clever, mocking grin.