The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1485

Nae Shin looked around warily, worried that someone might overhear but when he caught sight of the two guards his body froze.

Their faces looked different from just a few minutes ago.

"That's not...who are you?!" he shouted and jumped back to his half-brother's side.

He was still facing the guards trying to understand what was going on but-

"Hyung, something happened to the-"

*Squelch*

His feet left the ground as the Ancestral Blade pierced through his chest, lifting him into the air. He looked back with some effort, blood flowing down his robe.

"H-Hyung....why?" he asked in a raspy voice, holding onto the blade so it wouldn't cut him in half.

Tae Shin shook his head in disappointment.

"Oh come on, don't be so stupid even in your last moments Nae Shin, you know exactly why. If you want to blame someone then blame father, he knew how much I wanted the seat of the clan head and still sent me out with you. Only one of us was coming back and he knew that. This was a test, a test that I passed. It is nothing personal."

But Nae Shin was infuriated by that response, so much so in fact that he gathered all his remaining energy to shout back at him without fear.

"Nothing...per-personal?! WE'RE BROTHERS! HOW COULD YOU!"

Tae Shin could only sigh in response.

"Tsk, and to think this was even a question. How could they let a child with no ambition come to power?! Those damn fogeys! When I return the first thing I will do is clean house."

His blank expression was slowly replaced by a wicked grin when his thoughts reached that point.

"Oh and worry not little brother, I will make sure your mother and her family join you soon. Can't have father making more bastards, can we?"

"YOU MONSTER!" Nae Shin screamed at the top of his lungs, reaching back with one hand to claw at him which only made Tae Shin and the guards laugh.

"Hahaha! Alright, enough chatter. Get rid of his body," he ordered the guards while trying to pull the Ancestral Blade out but Nae Shin was holding on to it from the other side.

"Enough playing around, let go of the blade," Tae Shin dropped him back down and even placed a foot on his back to exert more pressure but strangely enough, the blade would not budge.

Nae Shin was holding onto it with such force that it could not be pulled out of his body.

"Huh? Were you always this strong, little brother? Were you hiding something from me?" he joked.

Both of the guards were already standing next to him by now, swords drawn.

"No matter, nothing would have changed in the end," Tae Shin gave the go-ahead, "Make sure the blood doesn't get on me, there's a party I have to go to."

The guards raised the swords above their heads ready to behead him when a voice rang through Nae Shin's ears.

'Are you going to give up just like that? Going to let him kill your mother and everyone she loves?'

With what little strength he had left Nae Shin raised his head halfway to glimpse a shadowy figure a dozen or so meters away.

He met the beastly gaze of the shadow but could not respond.

'You don't have to say anything, I will help you. All you need to do is distract them for but an instant, that will be enough.'

Through gritted teeth, Nae Shin growled and punched the guard on the left while still holding onto the Ancestral Blade piercing his chest, "NOOO!" and then forcefully turned around to spit blood at Tae Shin, dirtying his clothes.

"!!!"

"This damn bastard- KILL HIM! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Tae Shin screamed.

That was all the energy he had left. Nae Shin's vision darkened and he fell forward.

*Slice*

*Crack*

*Squelch*

The sound of bones breaking and flesh ripping was the last thing he heard before losing consciousness.

Hao Xuan stood before Tae Shin, disfigured and in the nude. He was holding him by the neck while the headless corpses of the two guards fell to the ground behind him, without even realizing what had happened.

Most of the skin on his arms, chest, and legs was completely burnt off.

Tae Shin's right arm with which he was holding onto the Ancestral Blade was now flopping around in the socket, the bone shattered into a hundred pieces.

He was looking at Hao Xuan up and down, trying to find a clue about his identity.

"Kuek! Who...sent you!?"

"No one. Call it a coincidence? Fate put you in my path just when I needed some replenishment," Hao Xuan responded in a low voice.

"I can give you-"

"Save it. I will take what I need regardless," he mimicked Tae Shin's earlier grin in some macabre gesture, "If you want to blame someone then blame yourselves. Had you been a little more careful you could have easily defended against me, but here you are."