160

Chapter 160 - Inevitability - 4

It was all a first.

The birth of a poison master, witnessing a poison master's abilities, even facing one in combat. For the men in black, everything was unprecedented, and they had no choice but to proceed with caution.

As long as they weren't caught, that was enough. The martial artist before them was nothing more than a transient fighter who wielded dangerous poisonous techniques. Like driving a wild beast to a corner, if they were careful, they could hunt without sustaining serious injuries.

Just as the men in black were starting to feel confident in their approach to dealing with Dang Hwa Rin, wings unfolded from the poison master.

"Wings?"

Powdered poison spewed from all over Dang Hwa Rin's body, but it came in the strongest jet from her back.

Humans were creatures that could never possess wings, yet Dang Hwa Rin's figure was akin to that of a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, spreading its wings slowly.

The poison dust poured out from Dang Hwa Rin, already starting to fill the battlefield.

At first glance, the powdered poison didn't seem threatening. It almost looked like light sleet in early winter or like morning fog, or even like a rainbow spreading as the light scattered in the dawn.

The men in black quickly stepped back, momentarily entranced by the spectacle, which was both awe-inspiring and menacing.

That was, until Dang Hwa Rin announced the name of her martial art.

"Poison Assassination Technique?"

"Poison Assassination Technique?"

"Since when did the Sacheon Dang Clan have a martial art called Poison Assassination Technique?"

It was true that martial art techniques often contained characters like 'kill' (殺) or 'death' (死). But such names were usually favored by the demonic or dark sects.

Righteous factions preferred more metaphorical names. Poison Assassination Technique was unusual for them.

Upon Dang Hwa Rin proudly announcing the name of her martial art, the men in black exchanged glances, wondering if any of them recognized it, but only found mutual confusion.

"Eeeeek! For real!"

Dang Hwa Rin, seeing their reaction, made a peculiar gesture with a slightly roused expression towards the sky.

"Arghh!"

"Urk!"

"Blood from the Qi orifices (七竅)?"

At the flick of Dang Hwa Rin's wrist, the poison dust bypassed the ankles of the men in black, dominating the area.

"How did the powder reach our ankles already? Retreat, all of you!"

"Adjust your masks and fall back!"

Fortunately, the poison from the poison master wasn't the kind that would cause immediate combustion upon contact like her previous fighting style had suggested.

The true nature of the powdered poison seemed to be of the kind where inhalation would lead to poisoning. The men in black fortunately had specialized masks that could filter out most poisons, even though they weren't impervious to the poison master's level.

The men in black pressed their hands against their masks to ensure a tight seal over their noses and mouths. However, if that was enough to solve the problem, Dang Hwa Rin wouldn't have even named this martial art.

"Do you really think that's going to work?"

Dang Hwa Rin taunted the men in black and gestured with her hand again.

"Ho-, hold your breath!"

"Cough!"

With one deep breath, those who blindly trusted in their masks and inhaled, suddenly felt a surge of the poison powder rush to their faces and collapsed.

Dang Hwa Rin looked indifferently at the bodies falling before her.

-----------------

"To think a third of them would die in an instant."

A man in black, unable to escape the poison master's domain, looked over the other collapsed men in black. Such immense power. Indeed, a capability worth the risks and sacrifices that the sect would offer support for.

If the power of one poison master was this formidable, what if they could produce more like her? It was clear how beneficial it would be for the sect's grand schemes.

"Advance together and subdue her!"

The men in black, eyes glinting with rage and greed, gazed at the poison master. They needed to apprehend her.

"Hold your breath! A single stroke with the sword each is enough to subdue her!"

"Charge!"

The weakness of the poison master's martial art seemed to have been discerned. If breathing was the issue, simply not breathing would solve it. They planned to swiftly strike with their swords and retreat.

The men in black reorganized their ranks and charged toward the poison master at once.

The remaining two thirds of their force should have been enough to subdue the poison master. Even with some casualties, it was impossible for the poison master to kill them all.

At that moment, as they all shared the same thought, one of the leading men in black noticed something odd.

'She's smiling?'

Something was off. She wasn't dodging. She wasn't moving. The poison master stood there, relaxed, despite so many charging at her at once.

Like an experienced fisherman.

Just as a seasoned fisherman doesn't react to a fish's tentative nibble, waiting patiently for it to swallow the hook completely.

"Run away!"

The man in black, realizing something was terribly wrong, swiftly turned his body.

The fisherman.

"Did you really think that would be enough?"

Lifted the fishing rod.

"Arghhh! I'm burning!"

"It's hot! It's cold!"

Half of those who had charged in were instantly charred black.

"Blood? How, why?"

Half of those who had charged in now fell, blood streaming from their Qi orifices.

Those still alive turned their eyes to Dang Hwa Rin in unison. Why are we dying? What did we do wrong?

Dang Hwa Rin opened her mouth to give them an answer they wouldn't regret in the afterlife.

"There are other openings besides the ones for breathing."

Like an angler proud of a big catch, Dang Hwa Rin smiled at the men in black. 

Openings. What did she mean? A sudden twinge of pain crossed a healthy man in black's hand. Was it an injury from battle?

An injury?

"Injuries! The poison comes through injuries! It's a trap! Fall back!"

The realization came too late.

Thinking that breathing was the only way to get poisoned in the Poison Assassination Technique was a trap set by Dang Hwa Rin.

Their actions were equivalent to someone with wounds plunging into lethal poison. From the moment they reentered Dang Hwa Rin's domain, their fate had been sealed.

"Ahhaaack!"

Those who realized and those who did not died equally within this domain.

They had thrown themselves into a sea of poison.

Like fish trapped in a net after being lured by enticing bait, none could escape.

----------

"So this is the poison master's poisonous martial technique."

The last man in black. The man who had slain the most warriors of their order gazed at Dang Hwa Rin from outside her domain and spoke.

"This isn't the poison master's poisonous martial technique. It's my poisonous martial technique."

Dang Hwa Rin, with overflowing confidence, pointed to her chest with a proud expression.

"Poison Assassination Technique, you called it? It seems there could not be a more fitting name indeed."

Dang Hwa Rin's face oddly shifted upon the man in black's recognition. Her brows furrowed, but the corners of her lips quivered strangely.

Was it pleasure or dissatisfaction?

If Kang Yoonho had seen her, he might have thought it was the complicated expression one makes upon reading a comment praising the embarrassing result of one's past actions, but the man in black could only wonder at the enigmatic expression.

'Does she have a weakness?'

That her reaction was peculiar even after being complimented on her impressive martial art might indicate a vulnerability.

Could she be running out of strength? Or perhaps the technique consumes a considerable amount of internal energy? Maybe she's used too much of her own bodily toxins.

'No weaknesses are apparent.'

It was mere conjecture at best. The man in black felt frustration at the insurmountability of the poison master's technique.

Breathing leads to death.

Having wounds means death.

Being caught in an attack results in death.

If trapped in a formation technique of the Jegal Clan, there would at least be a life gate (生門), but the moment one steps into that space, all that awaits are death gates (死門).

Should I flee and report this to the sect? The man in black hesitated for a moment.

'Letting this wench go could ruin the sect's grand designs.'

She was too much of a threat. Letting her live now might mean they would never get another chance to kill her. Worse, she could grow even stronger and obstruct the path of the sect.

'I stake my life.'

Maybe they had unwittingly created the greatest enemy to their sect. What would their legacy be in the annals of the sect's history?

They could not go down in history as the fools who doomed their sect's future.

"You are more powerful than any warrior I've faced."

The man in black acknowledged, as he pressed on his body's pressure points, addressing Dang Hwa Rin.

"What are you saying?"

"But! You are not the only strong enemy I've faced!"

A demonic energy exploded from within the man in black. A flame that burns internal energy and drains the life force, a flame that consumes everything before burning out.

"What, what is that?"

"If I can't capture you alive, I'll take your blood essence at least!"

He couldn't last long in the space of the poison master. But being dominated by the space wouldn't have left the man in black among the living till now.

Carving a path through someone else's domain was something the man in black had always done.

'Aim for the shortest distance.'

It was a desperate measure of mutual destruction, disregarding defense. The man in black, from a distance, unleashed his all with a stab towards Dang Hwa Rin.

"Tch!"

Too late to avoid. The man in black saw Dang Hwa Rin, in search of the best response, had thrown a small dagger from her hand.

'A touch is death.'

Truly, a technique of the Tang family. The small dagger thrown by Dang Hwa Rin was imbued with formidable energy. A graze by the dagger would mean instant death.

The demonic energy wildly consumed both the invading toxins and the man in black's vitality.

Avoid the dagger, and the attack fails. Once the demonic energy is unleashed, there is no time left. He would die before making another attack.

'I will strike it down!'

Infused with demonic energy, the man in black struck the small dagger aside. Merely deflecting the dagger, filled with formidable energy, caused his wrist to throb with pain.

What remained was the poison master's neck. The man in black redirected his attention, previously on the dagger, back towards Dang Hwa Rin.

Or, rather, he tried to.

"What?"

Obscuring the man's vision was the palm of the poison master.

"It's over."

Dang Hwa Rin declared flatly as she smashed the man in black's head into the ground.

-----------------

The poisonous mist cleared.

All the spreading toxins were swiftly absorbed by one woman.

"Ku-, kuh!"

The man in black, not yet dead, watched the scene unfold. The demonic energy was holding back the toxins that invaded his body. But whether the demonic energy won or the toxins won, the man in black was fated to die soon.

"There is some use in you after all…"

Dang Hwa Rin seemed aware of the man in black's impending fate and, without paying him much heed, picked up the small dagger that had fallen to the ground while speaking in a somewhat bitter and displeased tone.

"Jus-, just now. What is the name of that technique."

The man in black asked for the name of the martial art that had dispatched him to the afterlife. The Poison Assassination Technique had been wielded by the poison master, but the move she had just used on him was surely something different.

"The ultimate technique... No, it's nothing. Just a minor trick (雜技)."

"Krkhr! A trifling technique? Do I appear to be someone who'd be defeated by mere tricks?"

"There is no name for it."

Strictly speaking, it was different from what she had said before. So, it was a different technique. Dang Hwa Rin tried to rationalize, but couldn't hide the embarrassment on her face.

"Then let me give a name to the martial art that killed me. As dark as the pitch-black night. As death approaches. Name it thus: Chilya's Ultimate Technique – Cough!"

"Gaak! Just diee already!"

Overwhelmed by embarrassment, Dang Hwa Rin failed to hold back.

---------------------

The battlefield fell silent.

"Why do men like these kinds of names? Really…"

In the midst of numerous corpses of the men in black, the woman who had created all this looked on with a face flushed with what seemed like embarrassment.

A man was cautiously observing her while grabbing his burned arm, trying to secretly slip away from the scene.

But Dang Hwa Rin was not one to just watch.

"Kkrkk!"

The small dagger she threw lodged into the burnt arm of the man.

The end of it all.

"Dang Geo Ho. We need to... settle things, don't we?"

With grief and fury in her steps, Dang Hwa Rin made her way slowly towards the man who had ruined her life, preparing for his last moments.