The Death Forest did not live up to its name; usually, it was silent.
Tonight, it screamed.
Moyong Ha-jun lurched through the undergrowth, his breath coming in ragged, wet rattles. Every organ in his body felt like a cold, iron fist was squeezing it.
The "Internal Rupture Poison" that was slipped into his tea by his own disciple was doing its work. Every time his heart hammered against his ribs, a fresh spurt of blood rose in his throat.
Swish.
He didn't see the blade; he felt the displacement of air. Ha-jun leaned back, the tip of a black-coated wakizashi grazing his Adam's apple.
"Seventy-two," Ha-jun hissed, his voice a gravelly ruin.
He didn't wait for the assassin to respond. He stepped into the killer's guard, his palm glowing with a faint, flickering blue light.
[Moyong Secret Art: Shattering Palm of the Azure Tide]
His hand connected with the assassin's chest. There was a sickening crunch as the ribs didn't just break; they pulverized. The man was launched backward, his chest cavity caving in like a fallen tent, but three more shadows took his place instantly.
The assassins of the Hidden Crow Pavilion were relentless. They didn't speak. They didn't boast. They simply moved as ink spilled across a canvas.
"You repaid my protection with steel?" Ha-jun roared, swinging his heavy broadsword in a desperate arc. The blade, notched and stained, sang a mournful note.
[Sword Technique: Whirlwind of the Damned].
The air pressure alone severed the heads of the two closest attackers, spraying hot crimson across the white bark of the trees. But for every one he felled, two more appeared.
They weren't fighting to win quickly; they were fighting to drain him. They sliced at his Achilles tendons, poked at his liver, and retreated before he could counter. They were butchering a lion with a thousand small cuts.
Ha-jun burst through a thicket of thorns, expecting more dense forest. Instead, he stumbled into a perfect circle of grey earth.
He stopped. His boots skidded in the dirt.
The clearing was too perfect. No grass grew here.
The moonlight hit the center of the circle like a spotlight on a stage. It was a "Kill Zone", a place where the terrain offered no cover, no escape, and no hope.
"So," Ha-jun coughed, spitting out a thick clot of gore. "The Great Elder planned even my grave. How thoughtful of him."
From the shadows of the trees, the assassins emerged. Not jumping, not rushing, just walking. They knew he was done. His left arm hung uselessly by his side, the tendons severed. His vision was a hazy, red-tinted blur.
A man stepped forward, pulling back his hood. It was Moyong Chen, the Head of the Shadow Guard, and Ha-jun's cousin.
"The Clan Head sends his regards, Ha-jun," Chen said, his voice devoid of emotion. "He said your service was... exemplary. But a dog that grows stronger than its master eventually needs to be put down. Your existence makes the Elders nervous."
"I gave... everything," Ha-jun whispered, leaning heavily on his sword. "I conquered the Northern Wastes for the Moyong. I killed the Ghost King for the Moyong. I am the reason our flag flies over the Iron Valley!"
"And that is why you must die," Chen replied, drawing a long, jagged rapier. "People follow you, not the Clan Head. You are a shadow that has grown too long. It's time to trim it."
Ha-jun laughed. It was a horrible, wet sound. "Then come! Let us see if the 'Shadow' has enough teeth left to take your throats to hell with me!"
He ignited his remaining dantians. It was a suicidal move, [Art of the Burning Soul]. He was literally turning his life force into raw, explosive kinetic energy.
The Battle of the Clearing began.
It was a blur of silver and red. Ha-jun moved like a flickering flame.
Flash: He used a footwork technique, [Ghost-Step Flicker], appearing behind Chen.
Impact: He drove his elbow into an assassin's throat, the force shattering the man's spine.
The Slash: He swung his sword with a one-handed grip, a horizontal line of pure killing intent that severed three torsos at the waist.
But his body was failing. A spear pierced his thigh. A dagger sank into his shoulder. Another blade found his kidney.
He didn't stop. He bit the ear off an assassin who got too close. He used his broken arm as a club. He was no longer a martial artist; he was a demon.
"Die! Die! Die!" he screamed, his eyes turning entirely red as the capillaries burst.
Chen watched from the edge, waiting. When Ha-jun finally dropped to one knee, gasping for air that his lungs could no longer hold, Chen moved.
It was a single, elegant stroke. The rapier didn't meet resistance. Ha-jun was too weak to lift his sword.
Shing.
Ha-jun's world tilted. He saw the grey ground coming toward him. He saw his own headless body, still kneeling, blood geysering from the neck like a macabre fountain.
So... this is it, he thought as his head rolled into the dirt. The reward for loyalty... is forever being silent.
The assassins didn't leave immediately. They followed the Clan Head's "Purification Protocol."
They gathered the pieces of Ha-jun, his torso, his severed limbs, and his head. They piled them in the center of the clearing. Chen produced a flask of Black Alchemist's Oil, pouring it over the remains.
"He was a monster until the end," one assassin whispered, nursing a shattered jaw.
"He was a fool," Chen corrected, striking a flint.
The fire roared to life, an unnatural green-and-orange flame. They watched as the man who had been the "Shield of the Moyong" turned into a blackened husk.
They waited until the bones turned to brittle white ash, and the wind began to scatter those ashes into the dark corners of the Death Forest.
"Mission complete," Chen said, turning his back on the embers. "He no longer exists in this world."