Chapter 426: Blood is Thicker Than Wine
Chapter 426: Blood is Thicker Than Wine
A purple haze shimmered around the Drunken Demon’s form.
He was well and truly drunk. Normally, seeing a martial artist in such a state would make one think, 'Now is my chance!'
Yet, as he staggered with half-lidded eyes, no one dared to rush him.
That was the terror of the Drunken Demon.
When he truly began to sway, who would have the courage to strike? Moreover, the languid gaze beneath his heavy eyelids felt more suffocating than a look filled with raw murderous intent.
When the bottle in the Drunken Demon’s hand ran dry, he simply plucked another from the ground. He drank with a voracity that made one wonder if it was even physically possible for a human to consume that much.
"Ah, I’m getting a good buzz going."
The Drunken Demon stumbled forward, squinting up at the North Blood Sect Leader and the Blood King.
"Why don't you two come down? My neck is starting to cramp from looking up at you."
At those words, the Blood King sat down. He settled into a comfortable posture, looking for all the world like a spectator preparing to enjoy a show.
It was a silent command, a heavy weight pressing down on the North Blood Sect Leader: I will watch from here. You go and kill him.
‘Damn it.’
The North Blood Sect Leader could not fathom the Blood King’s mind. With Elder Seo of the Ice Palace dead, he had assumed the Blood King would need the North Blood Sect to rule the North Sea. Instead, the man was treating him like a disposable tool. The Blood King seemed volatile and emotional at times, yet he hadn't even blinked at the Drunken Demon’s blatant provocation.
The North Blood Sect Leader glanced at the smoke rising in the distance.
‘He even summoned his own subordinates.’
What was the plan? If the Blood King scaled the conflict up this much, there would be no way to handle the aftermath.
Regardless, the time for hesitation had passed. Provoking the mercurial Blood King was far more terrifying than facing the Drunken Demon. Besides, if he emerged victorious alongside the Blood King, he could finally achieve his long-held dream of becoming the absolute power in the North Sea.
"Kill him!"
At the North Blood Sect Leader’s command, seven warriors leaped from the wall in unison.
Their opponent was the Drunken Demon; they were terrified. Still, they pinned their desperate hopes on their numbers.
Sssssss.
The Liquor Qi bloomed in an instant, swallowing that hope whole.
The Drunken Demon’s voice drifted through the rising mist.
"When the mist rises, run to the west. Do that, and you might live."
But no one fled through the path he offered.
These were no ordinary warriors of the North Blood Sect. They were the Sect Leader’s personal enforcers—men who had committed every imaginable atrocity in his name. They were a single unit, bound in life and death.
The Liquor Qi rising now carried a much more potent intoxication than before. Just a brief exposure to the mist made their heads spin. Attempting to circulate their internal energy to expel the Liquor Qi while still inside the mist was a futile effort.
If it were poison, they could have taken an antidote. The fact that it wasn't poison—and therefore couldn't be blocked—was the most terrifying part.
Whoosh!
One warrior swung his hand to scatter the vapor. The mist around him vanished for a heartbeat before surging back.
The moment the warrior swung again...
The Drunken Demon was standing right there, in the brief clearing.
The startled warrior desperately thrust his sword, but he was already too late. The Drunken Demon’s palm met the warrior’s forehead with a light, almost casual tap.
With a dull thud, the warrior collapsed.
By the time his body hit the ground, the Drunken Demon had already vanished back into the haze.
"I told you to run west if you want to live!"
Instead of fleeing, the warriors unleashed Sword Qi toward the source of the voice.
Swish! Sh-sh-sh! Swish!
Sword Qi rained down, but no cry of pain followed.
"West is that way. No... wait, is it this way?"
The slurred voice echoed again. This time, a warrior threw himself in the opposite direction of the sound and thrust his blade with everything he had.
‘It’s a trick to lure us, but I won't fall for it!’
It was a calculated choice, but his logic was no match for the Drunken Demon’s intoxicated movements.
His sword cut through empty air. Simultaneously, as if the man had been waiting for him, an arm wrapped around his neck from behind.
‘How did he read me?’
Crack.
With that final thought, the warrior’s neck snapped, and he slumped into the mist.
"Ah, I’m drunk."
Swish! Swish!
Blades whistled toward the spot from two directions, but the Drunken Demon was already gone. He was clearly intoxicated, yet his movements were faster than anyone's. This was his world—a domain where even the Blood King hesitated to tread.
"Your subordinates are all dying. Are you really just going to watch?"
The Drunken Demon’s voice drifted through the mist.
However, the North Blood Sect Leader remained motionless atop the wall.
‘If I enter that mist without a plan, I’m a dead man.’
Even from this distance, the mere scent was enough to make his head swim. Inside that mist, his subordinates were likely losing their senses. Their bodies and judgment would be slowed—a fatal disadvantage against a master of the Drunken Demon's caliber.
Truly, if it weren't for the Blood King’s presence, this was an opponent he would never have dared to fight. He had to find a weakness before his men were wiped out.
A scream erupted from the mist. Another subordinate gone.
One warrior, unable to bear the mounting terror, leaped upward to escape the shroud. He chose to abandon the fight just to breathe clear air.
Screeeeeech!
Something blurred through the mist with lightning speed and shattered his jaw.
The dead warrior likely never knew what hit him, but the North Blood Sect Leader saw it clearly. It was a pebble from the ground. In the Drunken Demon’s hands, anything became a lethal weapon.
Another sound of impact burst from the haze.
Thwack!
A warrior was sent flying out of the mist, slamming into the wall beneath the Blood King and the North Blood Sect Leader. He was dead before he hit the stone, his life extinguished by a single fist to the solar plexus.
Then, one warrior burst out from the western side of the mist. He was actually trying to flee, just as the demon had suggested.
Shiiiiiing!
Boom!
A streak of Gang Qi flew out and pulverized him instantly.
The one who had fired the strike was the North Blood Sect Leader. He couldn't allow word of this battle to spread, nor could he permit anyone to flee against his orders.
The mist scattered to the left and right, and the Drunken Demon revealed himself at the center. The vapor receded only from the small circle where he stood.
The Drunken Demon looked up at the North Blood Sect Leader with bleary eyes. The emotion held in that languid gaze was pure contempt.
The North Blood Sect Leader glared back and shouted, "He died because of you!"
At that moment, the seventh and final warrior walked toward the Drunken Demon with his head bowed, as if in total despair.
"West isn't this way," the Drunken Demon muttered.
The moment the warrior raised his head, the Drunken Demon’s eyes widened. He hurriedly manifested his Body Protection Qi and crossed his arms to shield his face.
The warrior had already activated a Self-Destruction Art; his face and body were glowing a deep, burning red.
KABOOM!
The Blood Energy erupting from the warrior's chest slammed into the Drunken Demon. The force of the explosion sent him tumbling backward through the dirt.
The Drunken Demon rolled across the ground and lay still. As he fell, the thick Liquor Qi surrounding the area finally dissipated.
"The Drunken Demon has been dealt with!" the North Blood Sect Leader shouted in delight. The Blood King hadn't sent those men to their deaths for nothing. "So this was what my Lord had arranged!"
Though he was displeased that he hadn't been told of the suicide bomber in advance, the fact that he no longer had to face the Drunken Demon was enough to soothe his ego.
"Let us leave before the Young Cult Leader returns," he suggested.
However, the Blood King remained seated, staring intently at the fallen man.
When the North Blood Sect Leader’s gaze followed his...
"Ugh... that actually hurt."
To his horror, the Drunken Demon was slowly pushing himself up.
The Drunken Demon rubbed his chest and immediately took a long swig of wine. It was an explosion that had gone off at point-blank range; normally, he should have been shredded.
However, the Supreme Heavenly Silkworm Thread he wore beneath his robes had blunted the blast, preventing the Blood Energy from piercing his vitals.
‘Little brother, you saved my life.’
Geom Mu-geuk had been right to insist. He had been so persistent about making him wear that Supreme Heavenly Silkworm Thread.
A strange light flickered in the Blood King’s eyes as he watched the Drunken Demon. He couldn't believe the man was so unscathed after taking a direct hit from a Self-Destruction Art.
"He is wearing protective armor," the Blood King said with certainty.
When the gaze that had been fixed on the Drunken Demon turned toward him, the North Blood Sect Leader felt his heart sink. He understood that look perfectly.
‘You want me to go out and fight now?’
In the end, he was being sent to his death just like the others. The Blood King’s eyes said as much: Will you die by my hand here, or die fighting him?
There are moments in life when one suddenly wakes from a dream.
Oh? Was this it? Was he this kind of person? This is all I am to him?
It is that moment when the heart sinks and the skin crawls. That moment when you can't control your expression, when you stammer, and your face flushes with the heat of shame.
That was the North Blood Sect Leader’s reality. He had thought that, at the very least, he was more than a pawn. But he could see now that the Blood King viewed him no differently than the corpses littering the ground.
"Give me a drink as well."
The North Blood Sect Leader leaped down. Even so, the Blood King was more terrifying than the Drunken Demon. He couldn't simply wait to be executed atop the wall.
The North Blood Sect Leader walked slowly toward the Drunken Demon. He intended to attempt a surprise attack the moment the man reached for his wine.
‘There is only one chance.’
He knew he would lose if he allowed the Liquor Qi to rise again.
The Drunken Demon welcomed him with open arms. "Finally, I have a drinking buddy. Is it really this hard to share a single cup?"
The North Blood Sect Leader approached step by step. He desperately tried to calm his racing heart, waiting for the perfect distance. The two were now within arm's reach.
"We don't have cups, so let's just drink from the bottle."
The Drunken Demon was about to hand over the bottle when he asked, as if suddenly remembering something, "By the way, Sect Leader, are you really that afraid of that man?"
It was an unexpected question.
"I respect my Lord," the Sect Leader replied stiffly.
"What is there to respect about a man who pushes his subordinates into a death trap because he's afraid of his opponent?"
The North Blood Sect Leader felt a bitter sting. He was the subordinate being pushed. He had believed he was above such treatment.
"Does he have some kind of leverage over you?"
The North Blood Sect Leader did not answer.
Leverage? He was bound by two things: the Blood Arts that could make his veins burst at a whim, and his own ambition to dismantle the North Sea Ice Palace. Which leverage had dragged him to this pathetic end?
"Why not join hands with me and fight that guy instead? Wouldn't you have fewer regrets, even if you died?"
The moment those words were spoken, a cold, mocking smile appeared on the lips of the Blood King sitting on the wall.
"Look at how that man over there is laughing," the Drunken Demon noted.
The moment the North Blood Sect Leader instinctively looked back...
Swish! Stab!
The sound of tearing flesh echoed.
When the North Blood Sect Leader turned back to the Drunken Demon, his face was a mask of shock. A blood-stained dagger was buried in his throat, held by the hand that wasn't holding the wine.
‘What...?’
Spurt!
Blood erupted from the wound. The moment his gaze had wavered toward the Blood King, the Drunken Demon had launched a lightning-fast strike.
The North Blood Sect Leader had only thought of his own surprise attack; he never imagined the Drunken Demon would stoop to an ambush. It was even more unexpected because the Drunken Demon had shown such overwhelming skill and leisure until now.
"I'm sorry," the Drunken Demon whispered. "A drunkard's fight is inherently filthy."
The Sect Leader tried to speak, but the wound was too deep. He clutched his throat, but he couldn't stem the tide.
The North Blood Sect Leader collapsed. He died with his eyes wide open, as if protesting the hollow nature of his death.
The Drunken Demon knelt and gently closed the man's eyes.
He was a man who had to die anyway. The Drunken Demon knew everything the North Blood Sect had done while searching for the Extreme Cold Body. It had only been a matter of when to clean him up.
He had sensed that the North Blood Sect Leader would never truly betray the Blood King. He had also felt that the man’s request for a drink was merely a setup for an ambush.
"Standing next to a man like that never ends well."
Using the thick scent of blood as a side dish, the Drunken Demon took another drink. Even while drinking, he never took his eyes off the Blood King for a single second.
Coldness and heat, heat and cold, intertwined in the air.
The Blood King spoke to the Drunken Demon for the first time. "And yet, there isn't even anyone watching by your side, is there?"
The mockery directed at his solitude did not move the Drunken Demon.
"One shouldn't come to a place as filthy and dangerous as this."
In fact, the Drunken Demon went a step further.
"I'm actually quite grateful to you for that—for keeping the Young Cult Leader away from here. He isn't the type of person who belongs in a place reeking of wine and blood. Humans like you and me are the ones who should be rolling around in the dirt, grabbing each other's throats."
The Blood King looked down at the Drunken Demon with a peculiar gaze. "You are a strange man."
"It's because I'm drunk. No... it's because you're sober."
Rambling incoherently, the Drunken Demon took another drink. He drank to an almost excessive degree. But the Blood King saw the truth: the more he drank, the more the Drunken Demon’s eyelids drooped, yet his pupils shone with a terrifying clarity.
The Drunken Demon beckoned the Blood King to come down.
Finally, the Blood King stood up and leaped from the wall.
As he stepped forward into the area filled with intoxication, the Blood King’s Blood Energy began to surge, thick and oppressive.
"Blood is thicker than wine," the Blood King declared.
The Blood Energy and the Liquor Qi clashed, neither yielding an inch.
"How can you compare lowly blood to fine wine?" the Drunken Demon countered.
Wine and blood—the primal, violent scents mingled as the two energies began to grind against each other with equal, devastating intensity.