The Madman’s Pact
Once the pact was sealed, we returned from the sanctuary of covenants and curses straight back to the very spot where we had been wrestling moments earlier.
Thud. Thud.
I felt something foul slithering inside me as the body of Won-rip’s borrowed vessel moved.
The pact with Won-rip has been formed. Internal energy and mental resonance are now linked. All future commands will be transmitted instantly.
[Understood. You may command me as long as you wish.]
“Leave Won-rip’s blood body intact. Rip out every last scrap of Takhonmancheon and disappear.”
[Haha… Very well. But we must still maintain contact. Please leave me with the mark, Seo Doo.]
“Fine.”
I felt Won-rip’s Takhonmancheon withdrawal from my body.
‘…Remarkable.’
Against all odds, Won-rip had actually carved Takhonmancheon out of my flesh.
I examined my own shadow as well, but not a trace of the technique remained. Given my realm of Wol-do-ip-cheon, Takhonmancheon should have been instantly visible.
Forming an alliance with Hyun-go had clearly paid off.
I felt an inexplicable sense of solidity and began communicating with him through the illusory clone I had implanted inside his mind.
“So. Do you have a plan, Won-rip?”
[Haha… Blood-eum is already overreaching and beginning to corrode the Gwanghan realm. He mentioned speaking with Baek-woon, but I suspect he provoked her wrath.]
His explanation continued.
[Overreaching into the Gwanghan realm has created a fissure. The normal respite period should have been centuries, but Baek-woon’s hasty descent from the saintess realm created the gap. We only need to do the one thing he fears most.]
“What is that?”
I sensed Won-rip smiling in the darkness beyond.
Clear mockery.
[He fears most that the dead will rise. In other words… Gwang-han will return.]
“Gwang-han returning…? You want us to do it? That’s impossible.”
[Of course my kind cannot revive Gwang-han. But we can stir the aura and make his reincarnated flesh respond.]
“What…? How…?”
[The madman.]
“!!”
My surprise must have shown, because Won-rip added more.
[I heard it directly from Blood-eum. The Black Dragon King Hyun-eum was broken by the madman and his Wondrous Castle absorbed Gwang-han’s power during the process. I know why the madman would do such a thing. Trigger the Wondrous Castle according to that purpose and the power will erupt. Release it in the very place Blood-eum’s corrosion has begun and we can stall his plan.]
“Stall the plan…? Can’t we cancel it outright?”
[As long as Blood-eum is not mortally wounded, it’s impossible. Fifty years in the Gwanghan realm is the limit.]
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Feeling the crushing weight of responsibility, I rocketed toward the Wondrous Castle.
Far in the distance, the fortress came into view.
“Understood. So where does the corrosion have begun…?”
[You already know. Cheonlyeon Mountain. Where the Saintess resides.]
It seemed Baek-woon had been the one who suffered at Blood-eum’s hands.
“Then let’s take the Wondrous Castle to Cheonlyeon Mountain….”
The instant I thought it, a thundering boom erupted from the soul realm.
“!!”
From the soul realm, an unknown dread rose.
Through the soul realm, I sensed something far beyond—dangerous existences from the very edge of the Gwanghan realm descending into the realm.
‘This is….’
[Ah… So that’s it.]
I heard Won-rip click his tongue.
Whoosh!
Space warped. Giant projections materialized near the Wondrous Castle.
Shael Sovereign. Gehal Sovereign. Wion Sovereign. Yuknyeong Sovereign. Goeryuk Sovereign. Hilkji Sovereign. Gyecheon Sovereign.
The projections of the seven senior sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm had arrived to suppress the power of Gwang-han.
Kugugugugu!
A giant covered in red coral. Shael Sovereign approached the Wondrous Castle, chanting in a language I could barely understand.
“Hey, Won-rip. We have to stop them, but is there any way?”
[…] I told you I would handle it. Did you doubt me? Hmph… what now…]
Won-rip seemed to ponder for a moment, then spoke.
“Even if you think about it, there’s no answer, right?”
[…] Haha… just wait a little longer. I have a good plan…]
“Done.”
I ignored Won-rip and, right before his eyes, tore blood essence from my body for all to see.
[Grrrrraaaah!!!]
As I ripped the blood essence free and roared, every sovereign’s gaze snapped toward me.
‘They’re clearly underestimating me. They think I’m still too weak to exert real power.’
Then there was a simple way.
“Punch through the sovereigns, carry the Wondrous Castle to Cheonlyeon Mountain, and make the madman trigger Yeon-ui Yeon inside it.”
[…] Do you truly believe that is possible?
I answered shortly.
“Yes.”
Kuuung!
I became a star-glow giant.
When the twenty-one-headed star-glow giant appeared before them, the sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm stared in confusion.
I walked calmly through their midst.
I could shrug off even the pressure of Star Shattering sovereigns.
I seized the Wondrous Castle and continued walking.
Kuuung!
After that, I casually lifted the Wondrous Castle with one arm and began walking toward Cheonlyeon Mountain.
The Blood-eum sovereigns, unable to grasp the situation, finally attacked.
Shael Sovereign opened his mouth.
[-!]
He unleashed a lion roar accompanied by Blood-eum’s mysterious chant. Red coral sprouted from the ground, trying to cage me.
Gehal Sovereign’s eyes, filled with eyeballs, locked onto me. My body stiffened.
Wion Sovereign’s body, made of flesh and bone that twitched like a dying creature, shattered and formed an imprisonment around us.
Goe-ryuk Sovereign, a giant of red mud, lifted the ground beneath my feet.
Go-ryuk Sovereign, a worm-like creature covered in black-red scales, spat vicious shadows from each scale. Hilkji Sovereign swung his forelegs, sending a slashing strike.
Kuuuurrrung!
The entire area was annihilated.
The ripples of their authority powers spread in every direction.
Kuuuurlung!
The place we stood was the fragmented mountain region northwest of the Gwanghan realm, adjacent to the Heavenly Clan territory.
The combined assault from the sovereigns began shaking the entire Heavenly Clan territory.
The blood light faded and I smiled.
[You’ve underestimated me and thrown around your power so carelessly.]
Shwa!
All the attacks from moments ago were dodged.
Because they had been thrown carelessly in an attempt to kill me with a Unity technique, they were easy to evade.
I laughed bitterly and asked toward the inside of the Wondrous Castle.
[Is everyone all right?]
Taaat!
No one answered except Hong-beom, who rose on top of the Wondrous Castle.
“Everyone else is unconscious! The puppets inside have strange coral sprouting from their bodies and can’t move!”
[Oh no… everyone’s unconscious?]
Kugugugugu!
I felt the seven senior sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm pouring out overwhelming pressure from behind.
They were treating me as an equal opponent and about to strike properly.
I ignored them and asked Hong-beom.
“Young-hoon and Kim Yeon are still holding on. But there is no one left who is completely fine.”
I released my consciousness and quickly scanned the inside of the Wondrous Castle.
As expected, Kim Yeon’s consciousness was present but she sat in lotus posture without moving.
Kim Young-hoon was barely holding on while concentrating on his dao. Goe-gun’s mind was there but his condition looked dire.
[Grrrrraaaah! Kraaaah! Hic! Whew! Kraaak!]
Countless negative spirits poured out from Goe-gun’s body.
Negative auras that temporarily grant personality were called negative spirits.
They were not living beings but fictional characters or long-term memory projections.
They could be created endlessly as long as there was an object to receive the personality.
Goe-gun, surrounded by countless negative spirits, was the perfect vessel for them.
‘Damn it… the subject that must trigger Yeon-ui Yeon is in this situation…’
I approached Goe-gun through my illusory clone.
As my clone got close, the negative spirits that had already “emerged” fled in terror, but those still being generated inside could not escape.
I saw the negative spirits torturing Goe-gun’s soul endlessly.
‘Simple purification with a simple incantation won’t solve this.’
I could buy time for a while, but it would not last.
‘What now…?’
Just as I was lost in thought.
“…Seo… Eun-hyun…?”
“!!”
I stepped closer to Goe-gun through my illusory clone.
“Are you conscious?”
“…It’s… hard…”
Goe-gun rose from the ground, tormented by countless negative spirits.
Thud. Thud thud…
“What… disaster… has occurred…?”
“…The Gwanghan realm is about to perish.”
“Is that so….”
Goe-gun was shedding blood-like tears.
“It seems there is a way….”
“Yes. Bring the Wondrous Castle all the way to Cheonlyeon Mountain and have you achieve enlightenment.”
Goe-gun’s eyes lit up as if he immediately understood what I meant.
“Understood… I will do it….”
Stomp. Stomp stomp…
Goe-gun, carrying countless negative spirits, barely grabbed the control lever of the Wondrous Castle and spoke.
“That means… my disciples… have… completed… it…?”
I looked at Goe-gun.
And at Kim Yeon, who was sitting in lotus posture below.
And I spoke honestly.
“I don’t know.”
“You… don’t… know…?”
“Yes. I have no right to judge whether Yeon-ui Yeon has completed or not. If she did her best, it should have completed. If she didn’t, it should not have. If she gave it her all, it must have completed.”
Kugugugugu!
The Wondrous Castle began moving.
I shrank my main body and climbed onto the top of the Wondrous Castle.
Goe-gun, his hands trembling, asked while gripping the control lever.
“Even under the torture of the negative spirits, only your spirit power keeps me moving…”
“…For now…”
Kugugugu!
The Space-Falling Annihilation Tremor activated.
I looked at Kim Yeon.
Inside her original soul, the Gwang-han Heavenly King was rotating at full speed.
Giving meaning to life was the essence of the Gwang-han Heavenly King.
Her rotating meant she was desperately searching for meaning.
“There is no way it wasn’t her true intention.”
After saying that,
I moved my illusory clone to the floor where Kim Young-hoon and Kim Yeon were.
I approached Kim Young-hoon and sent him a look.
Kim Young-hoon, concentrating on his dao, barely nodded.
A fleeting moment.
I reached toward Kim Young-hoon’s mind.
The green box dao that was embedded in his mind came into my hand.
I recalled my illusory clone.
Whoosh!
My illusory clone, carrying the green box dao, reached the top of the Wondrous Castle where I was.
The fleeting moment before the Space-Falling Annihilation Tremor activated.
I saw the seven senior sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm trying to exert power.
Leading the seven sovereigns who had gone astray, Gyecheon at the front, they gathered their strength to exterminate us.
If their authority was that strong, even with Space-Falling Annihilation Tremor we would be followed and the Wondrous Castle annihilated.
So.
If they could follow…
Whoosh—
I raised the box dao.
It felt like Jang Ik was shouting beside me.
“Trap Immortal and Annihilate the Heavens!”
Kuuuurrrung!
The green dao light blocked the combined attack of the sovereigns and the Space-Falling Annihilation Tremor activated.
Target: Cheonlyeon Great Mountain.
The corrosion site of Blood-eum!
Flash!
The Wondrous Castle jumped through space, and the seven sovereigns leaped after it.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang!
I recalled the dead Gyeong-chang, Yu-yeon, Ryeo-hwa, Dok-yeong, and Jae-hoo in my hand.
The box daos Jang Ik had given them before they died.
And the box daos given to all members of the Supreme Council of the Small Person Clan before the Goe-gun enlightenment operation.
A total of twenty-two green box daos pierced the area around me.
“Trap Immortal!”
Kugugugugu!
I pulled out one box dao and shouted.
“Annihilate the Heavens!”
* * *
Finally, the Wondrous Castle reached Cheonlyeon Great Mountain.
I looked at the remaining sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm.
The seven senior sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm had become the two great sovereigns of the Blood-eum realm.