Joseph and Hana advanced slowly through the cave's corridors, the darkness looming despite the faint rays of light that slipped through the small cracks in the stone ceiling. The air felt heavier here, as if the walls themselves were breathing. Their steps were cautious, their eyes scanning the ground, anticipating any unusual movement.
Suddenly, Hana stopped and pointed to a group of small corpses scattered on the ground.
"Look… these are the corpses of small snakes," she murmured in a low voice, almost whispering.
Joseph bent down slightly, examining the torn bodies and the way they were ripped… precise, deep stabs.
"They passed through here," he said with confidence.
Hana nodded, and they continued forward. Behind them, only silence, and ahead of them, endless possibilities. With each step, Joseph's heart pounded harder—not from fear, but from longing for confrontation.
Not far away, Si Hon and Sook Won were moving forward with measured steps. Si Hon held his spear cautiously, his eyes darting constantly. As for Sook Won, he gripped his bow tightly, an arrow already nocked and ready.
Si Hon suddenly glanced behind, then muttered:
"Strange… why is Lee Lian late?"
Sook Won replied coldly:
"I don't know… he was supposed to kill her and catch up with us."
They exchanged a brief glance, one that carried a hint of suspicion. It wasn't like Lee Lian to be late without reason, and his absence now, in a maze like this, was cause for concern.
Only moments passed… before they caught sight of movement in the distance.
Two figures were approaching from within the shadows.
Si Hon tightened his grip on the spear and squinted as their features began to come into view.
"Is that… Lee Lian?" he asked in a low voice.
But something didn't make sense.
"Why is the girl still with him?" Sook Won asked, his face growing sterner.
The approaching figures came closer… until all doubt vanished.
Si Hon froze in place, his eyes widening with a mix of shock and disbelief.
"Joseph?!"
As for Sook Won, he unconsciously took a step back, staring at the young man walking toward them with a look they had never seen before. This wasn't the weak Joseph they once knew… this was someone else. Someone calmer. Darker.
Si Hon turned his gaze to Hana, who walked beside him—not afraid, but determined. He realized then that there was something they hadn't yet understood.
And as silence filled the space, and glances were exchanged, the tension thickened, as if the air itself had become dense.
But the unspoken question screamed in all their eyes:
Where is Lee Lian?
Joseph advanced more slowly, his steps steady as if trapped in a dream he couldn't escape. Each step added pressure to the growing tension in the atmosphere. His eyes never left Si Hon and Sook Won, and he didn't seem worried. He kept getting closer and closer, as if time had stopped, and even the air seemed to press down on them.
And when he reached a close distance, he suddenly stopped several meters away, lifting his head slightly to face them with a cold, deadly gaze. His voice, as it left his lips, was filled with dark confidence, as if he didn't care what would happen next.
"Are you here to kill me?" he said calmly, as if asking about the weather.
Si Hon stared at him for a moment, not responding right away, while a sense of unease slowly crept into his heart. As for Sook Won, he felt something unfamiliar in the air. That was no longer Joseph's old gaze—he was no longer the weak one they once knew.
Then, Sook Won chose to break the silence first:
"Where is Lee Lian?"
Hana flinched when she heard him say Lee Lian's name.
Joseph sighed mockingly, his head tilting back slightly as if recalling a bitter memory, then said coldly:
"Haah… Lee Lian? That arrogant swordsman? I cut off his head."
Silence fell, as if the words he had just spoken had stunned everyone. The atmosphere grew tense, their gazes heavy—no one knew what to say next.
Si Hon was the first to regain himself. He spoke with anger and force:
"Impossible! Lee Lian couldn't have died at the hands of a weakling like you! You speak as if you don't understand the weight of what you've done."
Joseph responded with a mocking smile that never left his lips:
"Do you truly not realize it?" Then he added, "He was just someone who couldn't survive."
But Sook Won had already started to feel the change in Joseph. Not just his appearance, but his very essence. He was certain that the man standing before him was not the same person. In a low voice, he said:
"It seems you've changed from before, but that doesn't mean you have the power to defeat us. Accept your fate this time at least, and we'll make sure the girl here lives."
Joseph laughed a mocking laugh, then slowly drew his daggers, holding each one between his fingers. The daggers gleamed in the dim light, and caution filled his face.
"Are you asking me to let you kill me?" he asked, directing the question to Sook Won.
Sook Won responded in a mocking tone as well:
"Don't do something foolish like you did in the Black Maze. Your foolishness cost Min Hae's soul."
Joseph's face was completely stern, as if all the facades that surrounded him had shattered. But his voice came with a cold, killer calm, without a hint of hesitation or fear.
"My foolishness?" he said in a quiet voice, but the meaning was deadly.
The air shifted between them, and the moment that followed was filled with caution. Si Hon and Sook Won, who were confident in their ability to overcome him, began to feel something strange. Joseph had changed before their eyes, becoming more dangerous.
Sook Won and Si Hon began to sense something strange emanating from Joseph… something heavy, suffocating, and terrifying. A desire to kill rose from his body like black mist, surrounding him like a living nightmare. They exchanged quick glances and found that what they were feeling was not an illusion—Joseph stood before them, but he was not the same as they had known him before. He was more stern, more dark, as if the shadows had consumed his heart.
Joseph finally spoke, his tone cold and without a hint of hesitation:
"But… why does the deputy director want to kill me?"
His words were not a normal question, but more of a mysterious affirmation, as if he already knew the answer and only wanted to hear it confessed.
But before either of them could speak, and before the echo reached the end of the corridor, a glowing arrow split the air with terrifying speed, heading straight for Joseph.
It was Sook Won who had fired it, his eyes devoid of any emotion, as cold as ice. There was no warning, no hesitation.
But the shock wasn't in the arrow… it was in Joseph's reaction.
He calmly raised his hand and deflected the arrow at the last moment with incredible strength and confidence. The arrow ricocheted upward, leaving a sharp sound as it pierced the ceiling, as if the very air had split apart.
Joseph's expression didn't change… no anger, no astonishment, just cold deadly calm, as if what had happened wasn't worthy of taking seriously.
At that moment… Si Hon and Sook Won knew the truth.
Joseph… was no longer the same.
He had changed.
Si Hon thought to himself, his eyes still fixed on Joseph:
"Is this… really Joseph? How does he possess such power? His strength rivals ours… even surpasses it."
It wasn't just a simple change in his demeanor; it was a radical transformation. The aura surrounding him, that deadly coldness in his eyes, and his reaction that broke the laws of expectation—all pointed to one thing: Joseph was no longer the person they had known.
As for Sook Won, while his expression remained stoic, a storm raged within him. Anger gripped him for a moment, but he soon felt a cold current running through his veins… fear.
This was not the opponent he was used to, this was something else.
And yet, he didn't retreat. Quickly, he nocked another arrow and fired it toward Joseph without hesitation. But the arrow barely covered two meters before Joseph vanished from sight.
In a flash, he was right in front of him.
Joseph's hand caught the arrow lightly, as if it were a feather that posed no threat, then he calmly raised it and placed the sharp tip against Sook Won's neck.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
They couldn't comprehend how he moved with such speed, nor how he was able to catch the arrow so easily.
Sook Won hadn't expected that… neither had Si Hon.
Both of them knew now, without a doubt—Joseph had become something entirely different.
Si Hon stammered, his face pale, his eyes filled with fear and regret, then he spoke in a trembling voice:
"It was Tae-joon. He was the one who wanted you on the team."
Joseph paused for a moment, his eyes staring at Si Hon's confused features, while Si Hon continued speaking as though trying to save himself with his words:
"It was… it was tea-joon, quick to anger, who hated being questioned. He often argued with us… most of the team thought about leaving him. So, instead of venting his anger on us… he decided to bring you in… to be the outlet for it."
Joseph closed his eyes for a moment, as if something had broken inside him, then whispered, his voice low and filled with bitterness:
"So… I was just a tool…"
He opened his eyes, his gaze becoming colder, harsher:
"A tool to vent his anger… not just his, but all of your anger."
He was silent for a few seconds, then spoke in a killer calm:
"Do you know? I pity myself more than I ever have."
Then he raised his dagger and continued in a tone devoid of emotion:
"And just as you used me to vent your anger… I will now use you to vent mine."
Si Hon began to beg, his voice broken, clinging to whatever might keep him alive:
"Joseph… please… we were… we didn't mean—"
But Joseph didn't wait for him to finish.
With one decisive, cold motion, he slit his throat with the dagger.
Si Hon's body collapsed motionless, while Joseph remained standing, staring into the emptiness, his breath echoing through the cave… no joy, no regret, only the calm of a man who had learned how to break as he had been broken.
After the two bodies fell to the ground, silence spread through the cave like a curtain of dense shadows, but it was not a comforting silence; it was heavy, suffocating… as if the walls themselves had begun to whisper with ancient regret, and the murmur of spilled blood didn't cease, flowing as if it were telling an unfinished story.
Joseph stood in the midst of that stillness, his eyes distant, staring into the void, his body covered in dark bloodstains. He felt a mild headache, as if his mind were trying to rearrange the memories and images that had suddenly piled up inside him, but he didn't show it… he remained standing silently, like a statue sculpted by betrayal and pain.
At that moment, Hana entered quietly. Her steps were hesitant, her eyes trembling at the sight of the blood that covered the place… and Joseph. His face seemed rigid, but there was something broken behind that rigidity, something she couldn't name.
She felt a sense of awe, fear of this shadow that no longer resembled the friend she had known. Yet, she approached, her voice soft and shaky:
"Is… is it over?"
He didn't answer immediately. He turned toward her slowly, his eyes still carrying that distant vacancy, as if hearing a sound she couldn't hear, seeing something unseen.
Then he spoke calmly, his voice carrying a deep fracture, an unspoken pain:
"No… it has just begun."
And silence reigned once again…
But this time, it was not the silence of the end.
It was the silence before the storm.