Book 12: Chapter 1: Eternity

Institution Headquarters, front yard.

Yeon So-hyeon's side.

Temporary field headquarters.

“We have captured those attempting to escape from the secret passage we were monitoring…!”

“A report on the battle results from the 4th detached force…!”

The temporary field headquarters was running frantically.

The uncorrupted Institution warriors were running around frantically in all directions.

The surroundings were filled with their voices and the noise generated by their heavy armor. "……."

In stark contrast to the busy scene, there was a middle-aged man sitting in a corner, leaning leisurely against the wall.

The reason why the people around him did not look at him askance even in this busy situation was.

Because everyone knew all too well who he was.

Life-Snatching Ghost Sword.

“Haaam.”

At the sight of him not only slouching but even yawning.

In the end, Myeong, a command warrior of the Institution, approached and spoke.

“…Senior Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, although it is temporary, are you not the commander of the Special Duty Unit?”

“You are doing well.”

Myeong wore a puzzled expression at Life-Snatching Ghost Sword's incomprehensible, off-topic remark.

“Yes?”

“I have been watching what you have been doing since earlier, and you are doing well. To the point that it is hard to believe you are a field agent.”

Command Warrior Myeong of the Institution.

The very person who had informed Yeon So-hyeon of the Institution's corruption wore a bitter smile.

“…Is that so? Under normal circumstances, I would have considered it an honor, but.”

Command Warrior Myeong took off his mask.

The look of exhaustion was clear on the face of the young man who appeared to be in his thirties.

“Right now, not just me, but everyone is simply trying desperately to clean up what my brothers, my organization, have done.”

He continued in a bitter tone.

“…Fortunately, those who evacuated from the enemies' surprise attack are also joining us, and the number of defectors is increasing, so things are being resolved somehow, but.”

Life-Snatching Ghost Sword nodded slowly.

“I see.”

He could understand the minds of the Institution warriors who were running in all directions, wearing heavy armor and gasping for breath.

“It is a fine sense of responsibility.”

Toward such a Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, Command Warrior Myeong asked again.

“Then, Senior Life-Snatching Ghost Sword—” life-Snatching Ghost Sword shook his head as if it were a hassle.

“I told you to drop that 'Sir' part.”

“Is it alright for Senior Life-Snatching Ghost Sword to be acting like this?”

“Everyone, the leaders of each squad are doing well on their own. Did some problem occur?”

“No, it is not that. Since Senior Life-Snatching Ghost Sword is the commander—” life-Snatching Ghost Sword grumbled.

“Everyone simply loathes the position of manager, so I just put on the armband.”

“I also detest troublesome positions.”

At those words, Command Warrior Myeong wore an exasperated expression.

“No, but still—” life-Snatching Ghost Sword turned his back and lay down at full length as if it were completely annoying.

“The Special Duty Unit is crawling with bastards who have held all kinds of positions and broken through all kinds of messes. If I run around just because I put on the armband, it will only interfere with the field.”

Contrary to his annoyed attitude, Life-Snatching Ghost Sword's words were gentle, as if explaining.

“Right person in the right place. A person in charge should act like a person in charge. I just need to keep my place, and when a request comes, I just need to quickly grant that request.”

“Ah…!”

Command Warrior Myeong marvelled without realizing it.

Because those words made Life-Snatching Ghost Sword's behavior understandable in an instant.

“Command Warrior, a report!”

At that moment, an Institution warrior rushed in hurriedly.

“A report has come in that the noise coming from inside the headquarters has ceased!”

Command Warrior Myeong's eyebrows twitched.

“…Understood. Continue the surveillance.”

After the warrior rushed out again, Myeong spoke heavily.

“The external surveillance team can no longer hear the noise means…”

Unlike Command Warrior Myeong's heavy tone, Life-Snatching Ghost Sword's light voice picked up those words.

“It means the battles in the areas monitorable by hearing are all over.”

Life-Snatching Ghost Sword yawned once more and continued.

“It seems they have gone completely inside now.”

“If it is the inside, then what remains is the headquarters' situation room…”

Command Warrior Myeong raised his trembling gaze and looked at the main building of the Institution Headquarters.

Although the Institution Headquarters, built in the shape of a fortress, usually felt reassuring.

Now, conversely, that scenery felt so terrible.

“…Even now, would it not be better to send support?”

“Support?”

To Life-Snatching Ghost Sword, who chuckled, Command Warrior Myeong quickly added.

“Did you not tell me that the Eldest Young Master himself broke in?”

Myeong's voice was full of worry.

“I have also heard the rumors about his martial prowess, and I even heard that the 'Sword Venerable' is with him. However…”

He trailed off.

No matter how much the Sword Venerable had dominated an era, he was too old now.

No matter how great the martial prowess the Eldest Young Master possessed, he was still too young.

“Not just me, but all the warriors of the Institution are worried—” hearing up to that point, Life-Snatching Ghost Sword could not contain himself and burst into laughter.

“Pfft…!”

“Pahahahaha!”

“Senior…?”

At Life-Snatching Ghost Sword's grand laughter.

Not only Command Warrior Myeong but also puzzled stares poured from all directions, but.

“Pheeheeheehee…!”

Life-Snatching Ghost Sword laughed so hard that he fell backward onto the ground and still could not stop laughing.

* * *

Institution Headquarters main building, situation room.

A sticky silence dominated the space. "……."

Those who remained in the situation room until now were all individuals holding statuses worthy of being called the core personnel of the Institution, but. "……."

As if they had all agreed beforehand, not a single person opened their mouth.

Anxious eyes, lacking even the courage to meet each other's gazes, wandered through the empty air.

Because of those who opened and closed their mouths, the silence became heavier and heavier.

“Dammit!”

Bang!

Unable to bear the atmosphere, the deputy head of the Institution slammed his fist on the table and shouted.

“Just when on earth is the report coming in?!”

He screamed with a flushed face as if breathing fire.

“It has been ages since the battle noise stopped…! Did we block them? Did the enemies retreat?!”

He beat his chest in frustration.

“Did you not say the enemies are at most only two people?! Why is there still no news from the scout team that went to check the defensive line—!”

“Right now…!”

The Institution warrior in charge of communicating with the scout team sprang to his feet and shouted.

“A report transmission is coming in from the scout team!”

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

A sliver of hope hung tenuously in those gazes. "……."

As the received transmission grew longer, the face of the Institution warrior turned darker by the second.

The deputy head of the Institution's patience snapped.

“Tell us what they are saying—!”

“The result of the defensive line reconnaissance…”

The lips of the Institution warrior receiving the transmission trembled as he barely squeezed out his voice.

“We found only the deceased and numerous severely wounded who are unable to move…”

Sounds of gasping for breath leaked out here and there.

“The collapse of the defensive lines on all floors has been confirmed, and in fact, all the warriors defending the lines have been annihilated.”

The Institution warrior delivering the report slumped down in his seat.

“And we have confirmed two individuals who appear to be the enemies.”

The Institution warrior covered his face with his hands.

“…The transmission from the scout team was cut off with that report as the last.”

One by one.

The personnel in the situation room dropped their heads.

“N-No. That makes no sense…”

The deputy head of the Institution shook his head with a dazed face.

“There is no way. There is no way.”

He could not comprehend the current situation through common sense.

“To think all the defensive lines were breached by just two people! There is no way such a thing is possible!”

Those numerous warriors of the Institution.

The commander warriors who had crossed the wall.

“…You are saying they were all annihilated by just two people?”

Had the Grand Patriarch, who lay unconscious like a corpse, returned?

He kept shaking his head with a dazed expression, denying the incomprehensible reality.

“I-It is a lie! It is a false report! S-So form another scout team! Check once more—!”

What cut off his gibberish was the voice of the head of the Institution, who was gritting his teeth.

“…They have arrived!”

They have arrived?

The moment the deputy head of the Institution turned to look at the head of the Institution with a stupid face.

Bang—!

Along with a roar as if a thunder bomb had exploded, the thick iron door of the situation room was shattered. "……."

Crunch—!

At the shards of the iron door that tore apart and flew in all directions, those standing near the entrance could not even leave behind a scream.

“Cough, cough…!”

After the phenomenon akin to an explosion in a closed space, visibility disappeared due to the dust filling the situation room.

“Argh…!”

“S-Someone, h-help…!”

Although the room was filled with the coughing and screaming of those who had no or little internal energy.

Ringing—.

Due to the tinnitus that arrived along with the ear-splitting pain after the explosion.

Almost no one could properly hear those coughs and screams.

Splat—, splat—.

The pieces of the corpses of those whose bodies were torn by the shattered iron door pieces stuck to the ceiling and walls before falling to the floor.

Step—, step—.

Even amidst that chaos.

The footsteps of two people approaching from beyond the dust-obscured view resounded clearly. "……!"

The deputy head of the Institution, who had barely managed to raise his inner strength thanks to the head of the Institution's warning, clutched his spinning head and barely got up from his seat.

“…It is an astonishing power.”

“It is a martial art called the Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon.”

The voices of two people drifted into his ears.

“I brought what the previous patriarch of the Yang family used, and now I have completely finished modifying it.”

“As expected, you are amazing. But perhaps…”

“I will deliver the secret manual to your Martial Arts Academy through someone as usual.”

“Thank you.”

Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon?

The previous patriarch of the Yang family?

Just what kind of conversation were they having?

Before the deputy head of the Institution, who was still swaying and unable to regain his senses.

Through the dense dust, two people revealed themselves.

One was a boy, one was an old man.

However, the appearance of the old man who seemed to assist the boy from behind.

Was clearly not a grandfather-grandson relationship, but a distinct superior-subordinate relationship.

“Who is this?”

“He is the deputy head of the Institution.”

The moment the blood-splattered face of the boy, Eldest Young Master Yeon So-hyeon, flickered slightly in the deputy head of the Institution's field of vision.

Thud. "……!"

A shockwave exploded to the extent that it felt as if his abdomen had literally burst open.

“Kegh…!”

The moment the deputy head of the Institution vomited gastric juice and bent his back like a shrimp.

Bang.

At the second fist that followed without any presence or preparatory movement, the deputy head of the Institution's jawbone shattered to pieces.

Thud.

With only two punches, the deputy head of the Institution lost consciousness with his eyes rolled back and fell down.

“The Thunderous Sky-Piercing Cannon is a highly flexible martial art, and its characteristic is that it can also be used in the form of hidden force like this.”

“Hooh.”

The Sword Venerable admired in that way and looked around.

As Yeon So-hyeon beat the deputy head of the Institution, a significant portion of the thick dust cleared.

Those who had been neutralized were still squirming on the floor.

“It seems my business is finished now.”

The Sword Venerable, looking around, met the gaze of the head of the Institution, but.

He turned around as if the head of the Institution were invisible.

“Well then.”

Although the old man's body was covered in wounds large and small, and he was filled with an air of exhaustion that exceeded his limits.

His steps alone were light.

“I shall excuse myself now, Eldest Young Master.”

As the sound of the old man's footsteps gradually faded, the head of the Institution swallowed dry saliva and forced himself to sit up straight.

“…This is all your responsibility, Eldest Young Master.”

He tried to speak confidently, but for some reason, the voice that came out was so hoarse.

“You ruined this Sword Family! If only you had not gone into seclusion back then—!”

“Is that all you have to say?”

A smile hung on the lips of Yeon So-hyeon, who walked toward him with heavy steps.

“I have many things to hear from you, though.”

At that moment.

“Cough…!”

The head of the Institution's sudden coughing up of blood.

Seeing him vomit dark, dead blood, Yeon So-hyeon's eyebrows twitched.

“…Did you take poison?”

The head of the Institution glared at Yeon So-hyeon with wide eyes, even while pouring black blood from his mouth.

“I will neither repent nor beg for forgiveness…!”

“Is that so?”

Was it the effect of the poison?

An uncontrollable chill made his body shiver.

And the surroundings were too dark.

“Whatever you wanted from me that brought you all the way here…!”

Fitting for the head of the Institution.

Although he did not know precisely, he had noticed at least that there was a reason Yeon So-hyeon had personally taken the trouble.

“Now you will absolutely never be able to hear anything…!”

“Do you think so?”

In his dimming eyes, the smile of the Eldest Young Master.

The mouth drawing that smile appeared to be ripped excessively wide.

“But you are wrong.”

For some reason, the Eldest Young Master's voice sounded like boiling metal.

“Death shall not be a sanctuary.”

“……!”

Around the mouth of the Eldest Young Master, which yawned open with a tear, sharp teeth were packed tightly, just like those of a shark.

“To you, an eternity of time to confess the truth and beg for your sins shall be given from now on.”