Every step the assassins took were calculated as they moved in the dark desolate streets of Goryeo with stealth movements towards the castle, blending with the darkness as they invaded the kingdom.
Only the heavy gust of wind could be heard as they moved with immense speed toward the castle after getting rid of the guards in the four cardinal regions of the fortress.
Their shadows reflected on the walls and ground as the dim moonlight shone down on them.
They arrived at the castle with their bloody blades extended midair before leaping and throwing a back flip to intersect over the high gates.
"Intruders!!"The guards cried out in alarm and more of them trooped in from different locations in the palace, determined to not let them take a step forward into the palace.
The guards unsheathed their swords in alert as they caught sight of the dark figures with a heavy cloak of melancholy weighing heavily on them.
The Hwarangs eyes glinted with malignance and dreary excitement as their blades fiercely slashed the guards, bisecting and decapitating them in a heartbeat with effortless precise movements done with grace but also dismal brutality.
Sparks flew as swords collided against each other in the darkness, bloods sprayed in the air like shimmering crimson diamonds as they spilled on the floor, forming a rivulets of crimson river with decapitated bodies dropping in every second as the assassins poured their wrath on them.
Hwarang spun to the left as a guard lunged his blade at him. He parried the attack effortlessly and swiftly slashed him in his abdomen in a horizontal deep gash dividing his body into two, blood gushed out before his decapitated body dropped to the floor, adding to the pile of bodies and the ground streamed with more blood.
Hwarang's black pupils dilated with dark thrill swirling into them as he wielded his sword in a polished and lethal manner, plunging and slashing the guards.
More guards trooped in but they seemed more skilled than the first batch they had effortlessly killed and their magic seemed more powerful too unlike the weak magic emanating from the first batch they had killed off, as he could sense the disparity between the energies.
The second batch stood at the entrance of the palace after they had laid waste to the first troops in a strategy of defence.
"Who are you and why are you attacking the palace?!" One of the guards inquired in a sharp tone with an air of authority, although they were already aware of who the lethal warriors were.
"We are the Hwarangs and it is our inevitable mission to lay waste to your king for threatening the existence of our ally. Death is the penalty and he shall not evade it." A Hwarang spoke out with a gruff voice and darkness coating every word that reverberated beneath his lips in a daunting tone.
They could feel the fear emanating from the guards when they spoke even as they tried to appear stoic, but their resolve broke when they looked into their eyes encompassed with darkness shallower than the deepest depth of an infinite abyss.
"We order you to retreat!" The guard growled but the assassins didn't flinch at his threat.
"gods don't take orders from humans." An assassin hissed darkly beneath his breath in a menacing whisper floating in the wind.
The assassins had their fill of the conversation and resorted to action instead. They extended their swords horizontally as they charged towards the guards ready to spill blood and suffice their sadistic urge to fill their nose with the replenishing smell of blood and feel the thrilling tang of death coating their tongue.
The guards hovered their hands in front of them and a green mist of cloud encompassed their hands before extending it toward them, making the ball of green mist blast from their hands toward them, but the assassins swiftly evaded the attack, dodging and hurling over it with graceful stunts and flips while they parried the attack with their swords.
Before they could process what had transpired, in a blink of an eye, the assassins hovered in front of them as they viciously slashed across their abdomen and decapitated them making blood spray on the wooden double doors leading into the palace.
No one could stand in their way and prevent them from carrying out their mission.
The assassins moved stealthily through the dimly hit labyrinth of hallways with hanji screened door situated at each sides. The map of the palace's interior were already imprinted on their minds as they prepared for the invasion before it commenced.
The king's chambers was situated at the west wing of the palace. More than half of the assassins stayed behind to fight off the guards trooping in from different intersections of the palace.
Hwarang moved nonchalantly toward the west wing where the king's chambers was situated to take the kill. The assassins could easily take out the guards even though they surpassed them in numerical strength. The assassins didn't fight with numbers but with the remarkable resilience and the lethal skills they harnessed.
The heavy grunts of pain inflicted on the guards by the assassins and the clangor of metals colliding against each other gradually faded as he took a turn toward the intersection of the west wing swinging his blade that dripped with blood from the tip.
He finally arrived at the king's chambers. Two guards stood arms crossed behind their backs at the corner of the west wing.
The guards brows creased in alert as they unsheathed their blades from their scabbards and pointed it toward him.
"W-who are you?" One of the guards queried with quivering lips as their eyes met his raven black ones with melancholy brewing underneath it. His aura was a daunting one emanating malevolence like a veil over him which made goosebumps stem on their skin.
He could smell their raw fear from the distance and it stirred a dark entity within him which craved for blood.
"I'm Hwarang." He replied in a clipped tone before moving toward them with daunting steps.
His sword swerved ready to slash them and they quickly parried the incoming attack from him while swinging their swords aiming for his head and midriff.
But he was too fast for them, his movements occurred rapidly like a gust of wind brushing past them, making it slightly unnoticeable for their humane eyes.
His sword swung horizontally towards one of the guards neck, metal slicing through flesh could be heard before the head dropped to the floor and half rolled.
The second guard lunged his sword at him with petrification but Hwarang clashed his sword against his with brute force making the guard's hold break and the sword fell.
Hwarang plunged his sword fiercely into the guard's abdomen till it poked out of his back and with a brutal movement, he plowed the sword upward to slice through his ribcage, making blood spurt out of the deep laceration he inflicted before pulling it out for blood to spray on the hanji screened door.
The white paper in the hanji screened door dripped with streaks of blood.
He moved mechanically toward the hanji screened door and slid it open with immense force making splinters run down from it.
Blood dripped from his sword to the floor as he occupied the insides of the king's chambers that was dimly lit with a few lanterns visible. His black soulless eyes narrowed darkly to the king asleep on his bed with the queen beside him.
He strode towards his bedside with stealth undetected movement and hovered above them.
He coiled his fists tightly on the hilt of his sword and extended the sharp tip of his sword upward before driving it into the mid section of the king.
A hoarse grunt of pain escaped from the king's lips as he shot his eyes open in pain staring into the soulless black eyes of Hwarang that made him gasp in petrification as he looked at the terror wrapped up in full sheet of human flesh.
The queen jolted up awake screaming as she caught sight of the monstrosity before her before averting it to her husband slowly soiling the sheets with blood oozing from his wound.
She scurried out of the bed as her hands flew to her mouth with widened eyes in dread.
She scampered toward the corner of the room where some swords lay and with shaky hands, grasped one in her hands for defense which she pointed at him while sobbing heavily.
"Who are you?! What do you want??" The queen screamed hysterically while she watched the life fade from the king's eyes.
Without a response, Hwarang pulled the sword out of the king's abdomen causing blood to ooze out more before lunging the sword against his neck in a vicious manner. His head rolled off the bed before falling to the floor with a soft thud, soiling the white sheets with blood and spraying blood on the wooden floor.
The queen's hands trembled visibly as she stared at the decapitated corpse of her husband.
She charged toward him ready to avenge her husband who was murdered in cold blood by a mysterious blood thirsty monster in human form.
Hwarang effortlessly blocked her attack and her sword fell from her hold as he collided his sword against hers before plunging his sword into her chest and pulling it out viciously.
She fell to the floor on her knees as she vomited blood.
"Mother!" A shrill voice echoed from the entrance of the hanji door and they both whipped their heads toward the little girl. Her barefeet was soaked in blood as well as the hem of her robe which was obviously as a result of the blood oozing from the corpses on the floor.
"Run! Okgyeong run!" The queen screamed hysterically with a hoarse voice as blood soiled her chest area and dripped on the floor.
The little girl did not heed her mother's warning but rather stood frozen at the doorway with a petrified look as her eyes narrowed to her decapitated father and back to her mother whose chest was soiled with blood and then it stopped at the midnight black eyes of Hwarang which was void of emotion and held a gaping disparity to a human's.
"Close your eyes." Hwarang's cold voice rolled off his lips as it reverberated with not a hint of emotion beneath his breath.