Reaper of the Drifting Moon Chapter 594

October 3, 2023 • 11 min read • 969 views

Go Il-won’s brow furrowed.

Fewer wall bombs had exploded than he had expected.

By now, the entire city should have been destroyed, but the area of devastation wasn’t as extensive as he thought.

“What’s this?”

Go Il-won heightened his senses, and the situation in the vicinity flowed clearly into his mind.

The sounds of people breathing, screaming, wailing, and even the sight of his soldiers fighting each other were all conjured up in his mind.

An alien presence then disrupted this visualization.

It was the kind of feeling that makes you feel uncomfortable, like dirt under your fingernails.

Go Il-won concentrated on his senses, and he could sense the foreign presence a little more clearly.

“Assassins?”

And it wasn’t just one or two.

Hundreds of assassins were scattered throughout Sea Gate city, ambushing his followers.

“Kuk!”

“Keok!”

Caught off guard, they crumbled helplessly under the assassins’ surprise attacks.

He had never anticipated that assassins would interfere at this point. Most of the soldiers didn’t even know the assassins were involved.

Their movements were both stealthy and swift.

They swooped in, giving the Ghost Fleet warriors no time to react, no time to contact each other.

“How dare they!”

Go Il-won’s face lit up with rage.

Everything was going according to his plan.

The Martial Sword Alliance had attacked the Sea Gate Manor, and in the meantime, he had kept
Pyo Wol in check, while destroying Sea Gate City.

Given a little more time, he could have driven Sea Gate city into a state of irreparable damage, and the chaos in the world would have been even greater, allowing the Ghost Fleet to take advantage of the gap to expand its power.

But now his entire plan was shaken by mere assassins.

“The assassins are the problem.”

As if losing his father and grandmother to Pyo Wol wasn’t enough, now his whole scheme was being threatened.

This was something Go Il-won had never experienced before.

He turned around.

From a distance, he saw Pyo Wol running towards his location.

Despite his careful efforts to hide his tracks, Pyo Wol had pinpointed his exact location.

Was it because he was an assassin, or did Pyo Wol possess such an ability? He did not know.

Suddenly, he realized that he was fed up.

The desire to end his relationship with Pyo Wol right then and there overwhelmed him.

“Fine! If you wish to die so badly, I will grant your wish.”

Go Il-won’s killing intent flared.

If he could only kill Pyo Wol, killing the rest of the assassins would be easier than flipping his palm.

But then, it happened.

Pop!

Detecting Go Il-won’s killing intent, Pyo Wol’s presence vanished without a trace.

“Assassinating me? How ridiculous!”

It was so ridiculous that he couldn’t even laugh.

He possessed the Sura’s Eye.

This mystical eye, created in the Western Regions, enabled him to see as clearly in the dark as
in broad daylight and to perceive even the stealthiest of movements.

It was the perfect counter to an assassin, making an ambush utterly ineffective against him.

He had already experienced this once, so Pyo Wol’s foolish choice irritated him even more. The frustration doubled as he realized how foolish he had been to consider Pyo Wol a lifelong enemy.

“Fine! Die. It’s better to kill you quickly and take control of this situation.”

Focusing his energy, Go Il-won’s eyes radiated a fierce light even in the darkness.

This was a phenomenon that occurred when the Sura’s Eye was utilized to its fullest extent.

Go Il-won looked around with the power of the Sura’s Eye. He didn’t see any movement.

And he expected nothing less.

An assassin of Pyo Wol’s caliber wouldn’t recklessly reveal his presence.

He must be hiding somewhere, watching.

‘It’s like a game of hide-and-seek.’

The hider and the seeker.

Pyo Wol was hiding, targeting him, while he was straining his eyes to find Pyo Wol.

‘But it’s surprising. The Four Great Devil Monks were taken down so easily.’

The Four Great Devil Monks were not to be trifled with.

Even Go Il-won could not underestimate their martial arts skills. However, Pyo Wol had defeated them in the blink of an eye.

This was evidence that Pyo Wol’s martial prowess was stronger than Go Il-won had anticipated.

‘Still, he’s nothing but a mere assassin.’

Go Il-won had no respect for assassins.

A true martial artist must face his enemies head-on, regardless of the circumstances. He couldn’t recognize those who hid and attacked stealthily.

He would kill Pyo Wol in an instant, wipe out Sea Gate City, and then find and punish his insolent younger half-sister.

That was the thought that dominated his mind at that moment.

It had been a long time since he had felt such intense desire.

He hadn’t felt this way since he first took charge of the Ghost fleet.

Zzzzz!

Qi, like threads, emanated from his entire body, spreading across the area.

The threads of qi were invisible to the human eye. They spread out and took over the area like a spider’s web.

They possessed no lethal force, but no subtle movement could escape the web of Qi.

The Sura’s Eye and the web-like Qi thread spread out.

With this, even if the Reaper’s grandfather came in person, it would be impossible to sneak up on him.

He had done everything to detect Pyo Wol’s approach.

Now, it was a battle of patience.

Would Pyo Wol’s patience wear thin first, or would he himself be unable to wait and move?
Go Il-won was confident in this kind of battle.

At least in the battle of patience, he had never lost.

Time passed in a blur.

Meanwhile, there were three or four more explosions.

Despite deploying the assassins, it was difficult to retrieve all the wall bombs.

Boom!

Of all places, one of the missed charges exploded right near Go Il-won.

A storm of fire rushed toward him. The searing heat was palpable.

The flames, almost lifelike, seemed to engulf Go Il-won at any moment. In fact, his face was burning red from the intense heat.

Still, Go Il-won neither blinked nor moved.

He stood still, as though he had turned to stone.

Moments later, the flames that had reached him died down. He had escaped the crisis, but Go Il-won’s expression did not change at all.

His face was as impassive as if it had been covered with iron armor, but inside his head, countless thoughts flickered.

‘It was the perfect opportunity, yet he did not move. Why?’

In truth, he thought that Pyo Wol would strike when the explosion occurred.

The storm of fire, shockwave, and shrapnel from the explosive charges had provided the optimal moment for an assassination.

So he was ready to react at any time. But contrary to his expectation, Pyo Wol made no move.

‘Could he not be here?’

Suddenly, he had a doubt.

If, contrary to his expectations, Pyo Wol was not there, he would be making a fool of himself.

If he were tied down here, restraining the non-existent Pyo Wol, he would become a laughingstock.

Go Il-won shook his head to deny his doubts.

“No! He must be here.”

Although he had not confirmed the presence of Pyo Wol, he was sure that he was lurking nearby, targeting him.

He didn’t have to see with his eyes to know.

His intuition told him so.

“Trust in myself.”

They say suspicion gives rise to dark demons.

The moment you doubt, a demon grows in your heart.

The demon that grows quickly takes over the mind and makes you mistrust yourself.

Go Il-won had seen countless warriors and people fall apart like this.

He knew all too well how wretched their ends were.

“If it is a battle of patience, I will endure as long as it takes.

Go Il-won retracted his Sura’s eye.

If the opponent did not move, Sura’s eye was useless.

Rather, reinforcing his qi sense, spread like a spider web, was a hundred times more useful.

He closed his eyes and focused more on his qi sense.

Time passed.

Go Il-won lost track of time itself, concentrating on Pyo Wol’s movement.

There was no movement at all.

“Did I think wrong? Is he not here?”

Once again, doubt reared its ugly head.

That’s when it happened.

Thump!

Something caught his qi sense.

For a moment, a faint smile appeared on Go Il-won’s lips.

He judged that Pyo Wol couldn’t resist and had moved.

A movement faintly registered in his qi sense.

It was a ghost-like movement, so subtle that if Go Il-won had not heightened his senses, he wouldn’t have noticed it.

Pyo Wol was slowly approaching, bit by bit.

Go Il-won remained motionless, ensuring that Pyo Wol didn’t realize he had been detected.

Pyo Wol was the world’s greatest assassin.

Even with a slight change in breath or body temperature, Pyo Wol would realize he had sensed him.

To prevent Pyo Wol from noticing, he had to keep all his vital signs exactly the same.

It was a very difficult task, but it was not too difficult for Go Il-won.

That’s when it happened.

Kwaaang!

Again, not far away, a wall bomb exploded.

Unlike before, he was well out of range of the explosion’s force.

But unexpectedly, Pyo Wol seemed to be disturbed, and his movement changed abruptly.
Siiiing!

A sharp sound of piercing was captured in Go Il-won’s ears.

With a flash, Go Il-won opened his eyes and hurled a fist toward the source of the sound.

Kwaaaa!

A tremendous energy erupted from his fist.

“My victory, Pyo Wol!”

Thump!

With Go Il-won’s shout, his fist exploded on the creature that had been attacking in the shadows.

The ambushing opponent was transformed into a splash of blood, and was flung backward.

A heavy sensation in his hand.

The attack had landed perfectly.

But Go Il-won’s expression turned dark.

The resistance felt from his fist was utterly inadequate compared to his expectations.

If it was the Pyo Wol he knew, even if he allowed the hit, there should have been a stronger reaction force.

Swoosh!

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, a black shadow rose from behind Go Il-won’s back.

Without a sound or a trace, the shadow that appeared was Pyo Wol.

Whoosh!

He thrust two Ghost Blades into Go Il-won’s waist and back.

“Kuk!”

Feeling the blades digging into his muscles, Go Il-won quickly activated his qi shield.

Thump!

Pyo Wol was thrown back by the qi shield, but since he had already prepared himself, he did not suffer a great shock.

He retreated about five steps and looked at Go Il-won.

Go Il-won looked back at Pyo Wol, his brow furrowed.

The Ghost Blades were still embedded in his back. But only a little blood flowed.

He had contracted his muscles the moment the Ghost Blades entered, preventing any bleeding.

Go Il-won’s face was a mixture of shame, anger and curiosity.

The fact that he had allowed Pyo Wol to ambush him wounded his pride.

On the other hand, he was curious about the individual he had turned into a splash of blood earlier.

Since he had believed it to be Pyo Wol, and attacked with all his might, he couldn’t even recognize the form.

The answer came from Pyo Wol.

“It was an assassin under my command. He must have come here without knowing I was hiding.”

The assassin who had been searching for the wall bomb had come here without knowing.

He didn’t know Go Il-won’s identity; he had simply seen someone to kill and attempted to ambush him.

Pyo Wol had been watching the whole scene clearly.

But he couldn’t stop him.

If he had sent a warning or a signal, it would have exposed not only him but also his hiding place.

Thanks to the unexpected intervention of the assassin, Go Il-won revealed a weakness, and
Pyo Wol was able to inflict considerable damage.

That was more than enough.

Go Il-won, who now understood the situation, was furious.

“You cowardly…!”