Chapter 219: East, Hwaseong (7)

Chapter 219: East, Hwaseong (7)

Arriving at the gate Zetto had passed through earlier, the three women read the words on the sign.

“A ninja must not be deceived by the tempting fruits in front of him... Perhaps this place was meant to be a training ground for ninja, not just a grave?”

After reading the sentence, Yuri summarized the situation.

“But we’re not ninjas, and neither is Cadet Zetto.”

“Did Zetto want to be a ninja?”

“Zetto...?”

Aizel raised an eyebrow at Yuri’s question.

“Because he’s cool...?”

“I’m surprisingly fond of being cool, but...”

“Well, let’s just open the door.”

“Wait.”

Yuri grabbed Kaen’s wrist as she opened the door.

“Why?”

“I think there’s something up ahead.”

“I’m sure there is.”

“Focus on the word deception. Are you sure you won’t panic if something jumps out from behind this door?”

“I don’t think it would faze me.”

“Me neither.”

“...Aren’t you guys underestimating the Great Ninja, the first ninja?”

“Well, we do know that the strongest ninja we’ve seen wasn’t exactly a hotshot.”

Kaen was referring to the Happo they’d seen before.

At least the Happo they’d known had been rude, unable to react to Zetto’s speed, and ridiculously outmatched.

“I was thinking something similar.”

“The First Ninja...Could it be different...?”

Yuri stammered.

She was doing this for a reason.

It was because of a warning from Benno, the dragon trapped in the orb in her arms.

Benno spoke to Yuri.

‘You were right, this is a test so don’t panic if something appears behind the door.’

The sudden seriousness of Benno’s warning was a bit alarming for Yuri, who had always been prone to bullshit and obscenities.

“Cadet Yuri, if you’re only doing this because you’re scared, you can take it easy and come slowly, but if you do, we’ll meet Cadet Zetto first.”

“I’ll go first.”

“We’ll go with you...!”

Aizel and Kaen found Yuri’s hesitation frustrating, and eventually she followed them to the door without much choice.

Contrary to Yuri’s fears, however, there was nothing special to see. Except that it was a bit dark, making it difficult to see the entire passage.

“Hmm...”

Kaen murmured, looking around.

“...There’s nothing.”

Aizel grumbled, staring at Yuri.

‘Benno...Did you play a trick on me to scare me?’

Yuri frowned, seemingly annoyed by this.

“We should probably find an exit.”

“I’ll go this way.”

“I’ll go this way.”

“...”

The three women split up for a moment to find their own exits, and ended up walking off in different directions.

“Benno, answer me.”

[But, master...]

“What the hell is in here?”

Yuri asked in an irritated voice as Benno walked through the darkened passageway, fireball in hand.

[Didn’t the master feel it?]

“What?”

[Pfft... You can’t be serious, you can’t feel the smell.]

“What smell? Could you even smell yourself?”

[Just saying.]

“So what’s here...?”

Yuri trailed off and turned her head.

-Bam...

She didn’t miss the small sound from across the aisle. It was a feint.

“...Hey, who’s there?”

Immediately, Yuri raised the fireball she was holding in the air to identify the face, then slowly moved it to light up the dark passage.

His face was finally revealed.

Hanzo could share a drink with him and hear many stories.

‘You know, Hanzo, it’s true. This king reincarnates.’

‘Reincarnation? You mean like reincarnation?’

‘No one knows about this but you and my wife. You’d better keep your mouth shut.’

‘This man has been drinking too much.’

At the time, Hanzo thought this was drunken rambling.

Until Dao Hua, his wife and Queen of the Moon Kingdom, came to him with a request.

‘You do know that my husband can reincarnate, right?’

‘You mean to tell me that he told the Empress that as well?’

“If he dies in this life and is reincarnated, if he has another woman in his arms besides me...please kill him...by any means necessary.’

‘...Your Majesty?’

‘It’s a thought that’s been running through my mind lately, and I don’t have much time left before I have to start the slaughter.’

‘Even if that means reincarnation...’

‘I’ve heard that ninjas complete their missions even after death.’

‘That’s...’

The words were merely propaganda to ensure the ninja’s loyalty.

‘I know, even the greatest ninja, Hanzo, can’t escape death, so you’ll probably close your eyes at some point. I was just throwing that out there half-heartedly, so don’t pay too much attention, hehe...’

Dao Hua held out something on the desk with a smile on her face.

‘This is...’

‘It’s a gift. I don’t think we’ll be seeing you much anymore.’

Dao Hua handed over a small piece of jewelry.

A jeweler later confirmed that it was too precious to be a simple gift.

Indeed, it was the last time she saw him alive, and as she feared, it didn’t take long for the glorious moon to shatter.

The Conquering King of the Moon Kingdom, who had embarked on a massive crusade, and his wife, Dao Hua, had met their end while battling demons.

Without an heir, the only unified state in the East throughout history, the Moon state naturally fell into chaos and weakened, and the nations rose up and returned to the way things were before.

The moon that once dazzled all the lands of the East was no more.

“A ninja completes his mission even in death...”

Looking at Zetto, Hanzo pondered the words.

He was clearly dead.

There was nothing left of his body.

His body was now merely a spirit body to watch the next great ninja.

“Let’s see... Did she ask me to kill him if he was carrying another woman after his reincarnation...? One of them seems to be her reincarnation...”

Of the three women who followed him, one had the same aura as Dao Hua, but the others were exceptions.

“The king, the queen...I don’t think I remember either of them, but a mission is a mission... I’ll at least try to fulfill it.”

Although his body was incapable of handling any physical force, he could still manipulate the inside of the tomb he had prepared for him in life with his will.

‘Don’t be too angry because I’m only halfway there.’

***

-Crack!

The sound of a wooden doll cracking echoed in his ears.

‘Now there’s only one left.’

He quickly passed through the second gate and was on his way to the third, the Gate of Anomalies.

A ninja must be able to face whatever comes his way without panicking.

That must have been the sentence.

The content of the gate was all about defeating a bunch of guards with all sorts of weaponry strapped to their bodies.

However, they were quite good, so I practiced my swordsmanship while sealing up my Reverse Heaven for the first time in a long time.

‘A demon who used reverse grip...’ Keraph said my swordsmanship is similar.’

He firmly believed that if I continued like this, I would gain the swordsmanship he had practiced as a demon.

He was right, because this time, when the King’s progress reached 10%, I was rewarded with a skill.

What was unusual was the name of the skill.

“Ordered by the King of Conquest” appeared in my status bar, in the skills section.

How to use it was really simple.

When I give an order to someone, they receive a beneficial effect, a “buff”.

I hadn’t quite figured out what the buffs would be like yet, but it sounded like it could be very useful.

‘I can’t wait to try it out.’

I thought to myself as I slit the throat of the last remaining guard.

-Boom!

Something fell from the ceiling.

-Thud!

It made a heavy sound as it fell from the ceiling.

-Thud!

There were quite a few guards.

The test for the gateway was supposed to be over after dealing with five guards, but the number of guards that suddenly fell seemed to be over twenty.

‘No matter how you slice it... It’s going to be hard to do it without the use of Reverse Heaven...’

This was the first variable I encountered in the Gate of Anomalies.