Chapter 82: Actually, Just Close Your Eyes

Chapter 82: Actually, Just Close Your Eyes

Poison! Shadow held her breath the moment she felt the poisonous gas filling the room, but it was too late. Some of it had already seeped into her body. Despite her resistance to most poisons, beads of cold sweat formed on her forehead and her fingers began to tremble.

Shadowless watched her coolly. “Quite potent, isn’t it? Even you won’t last long without the antidote.”

“Why...?” Shadow forced out a whisper.

Shadowless grinned. “As I said, you’ve become careless. The old you would have noticed and acted before the poison spread. Were you that glad to see me?”Alll latest novels at novelhall.com

“......” Shadow struggled to regain her composure. As Shadowless had once taught her, an assassin must never show emotion. First, I need time to assess the situation and purge the poison from my body. Luckily, since he hasn’t killed me yet, he must want to negotiate.

“Treason... is it?” she asked.

It’s so obvious that she’s trying to stall for time. Shadowless laughed, “Treason? Why use such a blasphemous word? Murdering the Prime Minister is not treason.”

“Elder Gongson is His Majesty’s mentor, and His Majesty considers him akin to a father,” Shadow argued.

“That is precisely the problem,” Shadowless said, sipping his tea leisurely.

His relaxed demeanor seemed full of openings, but Shadow knew better than to attack him recklessly.

“Prime Minister Gongson has wielded immense power since His Majesty’s childhood, serving as his eyes and ears. He’s even killed countless virtuous officials to secure his own power,” he continued.

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“Why are you spouting such nonsense?” Shadow shot back. Gongson Su had dedicated his life to the country and the Emperor. If he were truly power hungry, he wouldn’t have chosen to retire to his hometown after years of dominating the Imperial Palace.

“Nonsense?”

“Elder Gongson has never ordered the execution of an innocent person! You of all people should know that!” Shadow shouted.

The Royal Guard’s intelligence network, Skyshadow, knew all of the palace’s dirty secrets, including the power struggles and unspeakable incidents that were never brought to light. There was no way Shadowless didn’t know the truth.

“Shadow, the Prime Minister may be fearsome, but he deserves respect.”

Years ago, Shadowless had expressed his admiration for Gongson Su, but now he was portraying the Prime Minister as a corrupt official.

Shadow couldn’t make any sense of it.

“Hahahaha!” Shadowless burst out laughing. “Well, if he had just spent his last days in peace and quiet, none of this would be happening.”

A shiver ran down Shadow’s spine. This was the first time she had ever seen her former master laugh for real. “What do you mean...?” she blurted out.

Shadowless set down his teacup with a decisive clink. “When Prime Minister Gongson retired due to illness, His Majesty finally came to his senses. However, as soon as the news of the Prime Minister’s recovery spread, His Majesty acted quickly to recall him, alarming his most loyal subjects.”

“No way...” Shadow’s eyes widened, sensing the intense lust for power in Shadowless’s gaze.

Shadowless narrowed his eyes and a wicked smile formed on his lips. “Fearing that His Majesty would once again become the Prime Minister’s puppet, the royalists begged me to take action.”

“As the Emperor’s shadow, how dare you ally yourself with traitors to seize power? If that’s not treason, then what is?” Shadow growled through gritted teeth as she secretly concentrated the poison in her body. It was a temporary solution, but at least she could move more freely now.

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Shadowless grinned wickedly. “I’ve been a puppet of power all my life. Why shouldn’t I enjoy that power?”

He’s gone mad, Shadow shuddered. She had always thought of Shadowless as the perfect, emotionless assassin. Now she realized how wrong she had been.

Suddenly, a frightening thought crossed her mind. Wait, if the entire Royal Guard is involved in this...

She chose her words carefully, trying to extract the information she needed. “Did Sir Skykiller approve?”

Shadowless’ smile faltered slightly, and a wave of killing intent swept over her.

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“Approve? Do you think Skykiller is above me?” he snarled.

Shadow inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. Phew, so Skykiller doesn’t know about this. The Royal Guard hasn’t been compromised.

Watching from afar, Shadowless commanded, “Do not kill her. I want to try ‘persuading’ her again.”

Of course, this second persuasion would involve torture and drugs.

“Keuk...” Shadow coughed. She was still fighting hard, but the increasing blood loss was making her dizzy, and the poison had begun to spread again. Still, she gritted her teeth and scanned the battlefield for a way out. Not yet. I’m not finished yet!

“...So stubborn,” Shadowless complained, frowning. Shadow had killed three of the six assassins, and the rest were still fearless and relentless, but she still showed no signs of relenting. He’d thought she’d grown complacent since becoming the Prime Minister’s bodyguard, but she was definitely stronger than she was five years ago.

If she hadn’t been caught off guard... Shadowless shivered at the haunting thought, then dismissed it. A possibility was a possibility, nothing more. “This is the end,” he said.

CRASH!

Shadow’s knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Her body had reached its limit. For every assassin she killed, a new one appeared to replace them. It was never-ending.

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Still, her mind remained sharp. My right arm is useless and their numbers are overwhelming. Rather than continue to fight, I should...

Shadow went limp to save the last of her strength. She had only one chance to succeed. The moment Shadowless dropped his guard and entered her attack range, she would sacrifice her right arm to deliver a fatal blow to his neck.

I don’t know if this will work, but... No, it has to work!

If she could at least kill Shadowless, the traitors’ plan would be disrupted, and the Elder’s chances of survival would increase.

“You haven’t given up yet, have you?” Shadowless said, standing just out of reach. His assassin’s instincts had warned him of the danger she posed, and he wasn’t about to take any risks. “Seal her acupuncture points,” he said.

At his command, the assassins immediately fired qi needles at Shadow from all directions, completely paralyzing her. One of the assassins then approached her and restrained her from behind.

Damn it, Elder... Unable to even open her mouth, she glared at Shadowless through clenched teeth. She wasn’t afraid of death, but she regretted not being able to protect the Elder, who had just begun to find happiness. She also hated the fact that she would never know more about the emotions she had just begun to feel.

“Hohoho, I’m going to be very sad when you get married.”

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Perhaps such a day would have come. She had thought to ask him to play the role of a father on that day.

“Are you crying, Shadow? It’s a good thing I decided to follow you,” a man said.

That’s not Shadowless’s voice. Who...? Shadow looked in the direction of the speaker, but she couldn’t see his face clearly through the haze of tears in her eyes.

”!!” At the unfamiliar voice, all the assassins turned their heads simultaneously, but before they could react, the man attacked.

SLASH!

A powerful wave of sword qi sliced the assassin holding Shadow in half and scattered the other assassins.

“Are you okay?” the man asked.

Shadow stared blankly at the back of the man standing before her.

“Who are you?” Shadowless shouted. The man had a handsome face, pale skin, and wore extravagant bright blue robes, but his frigid aura and the blood dripping from his sword stood in disturbing contrast to his clean appearance.

The man sneered, “Would you know if I told you?”

“...There were guards outside. How did you get in?”

Baek Suryong casually pointed his sword at Shadowless as if he was taking a leisurely stroll. “How else? Obviously, I killed them all.”

The scattered assassins regrouped and began to close in on him, but Baek Suryong was unfazed. Instead, he turned around and said to Shadow behind him, “Whatever you’re about to see, pretend you didn’t see it. Actually, just close your eyes.”

“......” Shadow squeezed her eyes shut, feeling it was the right thing to do.

At that moment, a blood-red sword qi enveloped Baek Suryong’s sword.

Translator’s Note: I swear, these codenames are driving me nuts.