Chapter 329: The Abyss (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 329: The Abyss (4)
The air hung thick with the cloying stench of burnt matter.
Though little smoke remained, the smell was foul enough to cling to the back of the throat.
Crackle, crackle.
The sound grew clearer, more distinct.
It was the sound of wood being consumed by fire.
"Lame," I muttered under my breath, watching the flames dance.
Tap, tap.
My fingers brushed against discarded clothing, coming away stained with a dark smear.
An unsettling feeling crept over me. I wiped my hand clean; the rags were worthless.
I nudged the object on the ground with the tip of my boot.
The body that had once twisted and screamed was now silent, its agony a memory.
He was gone.
"Your mouth was stubborn, but your body wasn't nearly as resilient."
I spoke to the corpse, knowing no answer would come.
I stared at what was left of the man, then extinguished my flames.
Swoosh!
As the fire receded, the charred, blackened figure was revealed.
It looked brittle, as if it would turn to dust at the slightest touch.
I crouched down, staring quietly at the remains.
I had given him the slow, painful death I'd craved.
"And yet… I feel nothing. How unexpected."
It wasn't as satisfying as I had imagined.
This was a bastard I'd wanted to kill for a long, long time.
He was the first target since my regression, a task left unfinished in my past life.
I had wanted to hear him scream, to see him crumble in despair beneath my feet. But the reality left me hollow, devoid of the anticipated joy.
Tap.
I nudged the remains of Jang Seonyeon with my foot, and they crumbled into ash.
He had been dead for a while now.
I'd planned to drag out his death over three distinct stages, but he'd expired before I even reached the second. A disappointment.
A cold emptiness settled inside me as I stood motionless.
"It wasn't satisfying. It wasn't even amusing."
This was all Jang Seonyeon's death had given me.
But why?
Shouldn't I feel some sense of triumph? I'd wanted this for so long.
Is it because you weren't the Meteor Sword from back then?
The Jang Seonyeon I just killed wasn't the legendary Meteor Sword I remembered from my past life. The man in my memory was a different beast entirely.
I had killed him now merely to eliminate a future threat. That explained the lack of satisfaction, leaving only a vague unease. I clicked my tongue in frustration.
And I didn't even get the information I wanted.
There was much I had hoped to learn from him, but I got less than I'd expected.
I knew he'd be protected by a Shackle, and there was little I could do to break it, but it still left a bitter taste.
Perhaps it would have been smarter to turn him into a Demonic Human and exploit him that way.
But the very thought is disgusting.
Given how uneasy Namgung Cheonjun made me, there was no way I could do the same to Jang Seonyeon. Useful or not, I didn't want that bastard breathing the same air as me in this world.
One thing did catch my attention, though.
Amidst the torture, Jang Seonyeon had said something that stood out.
-Aghhhh…! Ughhhh!
-How were you going to kill me with all those instructors around?
-Hughhh!
Even as I slowly burned his body, he never answered my questions. Not that I expected him to. The Shackles in this era were too advanced; extracting information through torture was nearly impossible. The Tang Clan and a few others specialized in breaking them, but even their methods were flawed.
Back in my days as a Demonic Human, the Heavenly Demon could shatter a mere Shackle with a gesture. A different world indeed.
In the end, if I wanted information, I'd either need to learn to break Shackles myself or resort to creating Demonic Humans. I lacked the refined Qi control for the former, and the latter was repulsive. So, I settled for inflicting pain.
-Ugh… he… he…
Amidst his screams, Jang Seonyeon suddenly started giggling.
-Are you insane? What's so funny?
-He… hehe… Why did I do such a thing…?
-Oh? Are you finally going to talk?
-Even if… you escape this place by some miracle… it will be too late. In the end, you won't be able to… Urgh!
I narrowed my eyes at his cursed words. It seemed he never acted without a plan. He must have prepared something.
-What did you do?
-Do you think… I'd die in a place like this…
-I said, what did you do?
He kept spouting nonsense, so I twisted the part of his body already engulfed in flames.
Squeeze.
-Ufgh…!
His eyes bulged as he resumed screaming. I spoke over him.
-Keep this up, and your last words will be you begging for death. Shall we speed this along, unless that's what you want?
I intensified the flames as I spoke, but in the end, I couldn't follow through. The bastard screamed until the very end, but he never begged. I wouldn't have pushed so far if he had. I couldn't tell if it was the Shackle that silenced him or his own damned pride.
With that thought, I stood up.
It seems he did something behind the scenes.
But there was something the bastard didn't know. I was going to return, and I would not be late.
By the time I returned to the real world, only a few days would have passed. That's how it worked in my past life.
When hundreds of Young Prodigies vanished into the Abyss, the clans panicked, but they all returned a few days later as if nothing happened, reappearing exactly where they'd disappeared.
I once claimed to be the Abyss's sole survivor, but in truth, everyone returned. Every last one of them. They all died here, yet they all came back alive. We spent years in this place, but everyone returned without aging a day and with no memory of what transpired. It was a mystery that led me to name this place.
A world of lies.
A false world.
The name said it all.
I didn't know why, but time here didn't sync with the real world. It wasn't precise, but I estimated a few years here equaled a day in the Central Plains. Maybe even longer. I'd stopped counting the days after seven years. It felt pointless.
Even though countless events and memories were forged here, I was the only one who remembered them. That's why I wanted to forget—holding onto them was too painful. My damned memory was a shackle in itself, never letting me forget a soul.
Under the perpetual red sky, a wind blew, carrying the faint, ever-present scent of blood. A characteristic of this world. Nothing here was normal—not the sights, the sounds, or the smells.
I turned away, the foul stench still in my nostrils.
"But since I'm here, I must do what I came for."
I had a purpose, using both Jang Seonyeon and Cheol Jiseon to get here. Killing Jang Seonyeon and extracting information was part of it, but not the main goal. That was merely a step in the process. My true objective was to find the damned tree I saw in my past life, the one that led me to the Heavenly Demon.
It's probably watching me, yet it hasn't shown itself.
As far as I knew, this entire world was that bastard tree's creation. Or so it claimed; it could have been lying. I was sure it was watching me now, but considering it wasn't appearing…
Is it expecting me to come to it?
It was the same back then. The tree only revealed itself after most of the Young Prodigies had been devoured by Demons, just as I was about to be eaten, used as bait by my own group.
"So, you're not going to make it easy, huh?"
Fine. Let's see who wins. We have all the time in the world.
I brushed the lingering ashes from my clothes and began to move.
Suddenly, I glanced back to where Jang Seonyeon's body had lain.
His remains were still on the ground, utterly motionless.
Of course they were. I'd burned him to ash. And I'd even held back.
I had tried to weaken the flames as much as possible, but it was still too much. After one last look at the ashes, I turned away.
Meeting you was a filthy experience. Let's hope it never happens again.
Twice was more than enough. I could only hope this was truly the end.
With that final thought, I moved forward.
Step.
I glanced around after taking a step, needing to get my bearings.
I took another step, enveloping myself in Qi, considering a swift leap forward. Demons roamed everywhere in this Abyss, but fear was not an emotion I felt.
Just as I prepared to leap after my final step…
Step.
Woong…
"...!"
An uneasy sensation crept up behind me, an instinct screaming at me to look.
All that remained were Jang Seonyeon's charred remains.
However…
Woong-
A strange resonance reached my ears. Was it even a sound? It felt odd to call it that. I identified the source from the vibrations.
It was his Dantian. A deep part of it.
…Blood Qi?
That was where he stored his Blood Qi. Suddenly, it began to boil, reacting to some invisible force. I thought Blood Qi was unusable here, yet it was resonating with a will of its own.
Then…
Rustle…
"...What?"
Jang Seonyeon's blackened, burnt body, barely recognizable as human, began to move slowly. Ashes crumbled away with every stiff, jerky motion. Yet it kept moving.
Sss… Sss…
The body slowly pushed itself upright.
There was no life left in it, no possibility of movement. Yet, it stood.
How was this possible? And what was this unsettling feeling washing over me?
Just as I considered reducing the body to nothingness, Jang Seonyeon fully stood and slowly turned his head. His face was completely burnt away, leaving him blind, yet he seemed to be scanning his surroundings. His movements were stiff, robotic.
Then, his head snapped in my direction. I flinched instinctively. Though he had no face left to form an expression, I had the unsettling certainty that he was smiling at me.
[ Ah… ]
A voice began to form in my mind, more a telepathic intrusion than a sound.
[ I wondered why the connection was severed. Now I see the problem. ]
I recognized the voice instantly. But from where?
Then, I remembered. The final day of the Dragons and Phoenixes Tournament. This voice had spoken to me before, using that bastard's body as a vessel.
Jang Seonyeon's lifeless form nodded, staring directly at me. No, I couldn't call it Jang Seonyeon anymore. It had a different name.
[ It has been a while. Do you remember me? ]
Upon hearing the question, I quietly muttered the name.
"Blood Demon."
[ Hehehe. ]
As if satisfied, the entity within the corpse began to giggle.
The Qinghai Sword, one of the world's Five Great Swordsmen and a leader of the Ten Sect Alliance, gazed out his window at the forest beyond.
"Hmm…"
He let out a sigh, his expression a mix of contemplation and curiosity.
This was where Gu Yangcheon had allegedly discovered a secret vault, yet the Qinghai Sword could detect nothing out of the ordinary. The Sleeping Dragon had claimed a door appeared after breaking a surrounding formation, but not a single trace remained.
"I don't understand."
If someone of his caliber couldn't find a clue, it meant one of two things: the Sleeping Dragon and Gu Yangcheon had lied to him, or the vault had vanished without leaving a single trace. The former seemed more likely, yet the Qinghai Sword doubted those youngsters would dare deceive him.
"A secret vault… But why here, of all places?"
The Murim Alliance might have more details, but he doubted they'd share the full story.
"Even if it did exist, I can't believe it was that child who found it."
Gu Yangcheon was a youth who had been on the Qinghai Sword's mind frequently. His talent was extraordinary, but that wasn't the sole reason.
He claimed the Beggar’s Sect provided the information. Could they be involved?
That part was difficult to believe. The Qinghai Sword knew the Leader of the Beggar’s Sect well, which made it even harder to credit.
But then… what about the First-Class Beggar's Pass he had?
The Qinghai Sword was aware that Gu Yangcheon was shrouded in secrets, none of them easy to unravel.
Like father, like son, it seemed.
"...I told him I'd call on him again. I'll have to be more direct next time."
The Qinghai Sword sighed once more, stroking his beard. It seemed he sighed more with each passing year.
With the instructors away proctoring the test, the academy was quiet. A walk might clear his mind.
Just as he considered it…
Cggkkk-!
"Huh…?"
The Qinghai Sword's senses, stretched over the entire academy, caught something. He instantly drew his sword, Qi surging along the blade. The sensation alone made him uneasy. He detected the unmistakable stench of Unorthodox Arts, the kind wielded by the Unorthodox Faction. Sensing it, he let out a disbelieving chuckle.
"I must really be getting old."
He was standing guard personally, yet these nobodies from the Unorthodox Faction dared to barge in, brazenly revealing their intent. In his younger days, no one would have dared such insolence.
Just as the Qinghai Sword prepared to leap toward the disturbance…
"Pardon me."
A voice sounded from nearby.
"Are you perhaps the Qinghai Sword?"
At the question, the Qinghai Sword's sharp Qi flared out around him. He hadn't sensed a presence until the speaker was right behind him.
How?
His senses covered the entire Heavenly Dragon Academy, yet this intruder had slipped past them.
With Combat Qi swirling around him, the Qinghai Sword addressed the voice. "Who are you?"
He sized up his opponent. The man was a giant, clad in black with a strange beast-leather garment. A deep scar ran down his neck. Just looking at him sent a chill down the Qinghai Sword's spine. He knew instantly: he wasn't sure if he could win.
Just who is this?
His power was undeniable, yet his identity was a mystery. Cold sweat trickled down the Qinghai Sword's back.
As tension gripped him…
"I thought so. Nice to meet you."
The giant smiled, staring directly at him, revealing yellowed teeth. The Qinghai Sword watched warily. His only thought was escape. Martial pride didn't matter. If someone of this caliber had infiltrated the academy, it could only mean one thing.
The students are in danger.
Their lives were at risk. Rather than finding a way to win, he had to find a way out. He had to protect the students.
Then…
"You seem distracted, Qinghai Sword. Your eyes are trembling."
"...!"
"I'm glad. It means that I'm still dangerous to you. I'll take that as a compliment."
"I will ask again… who are you?"
"Me?"
The giant smiled, clearly satisfied by the question.
"Ah, it's pretty exciting. It's been a while."
Swooosh-!
A rough, ominous aura began to pour from his massive frame.
"I hope you remember who I am."
As the sinister aura engulfed the area, the giant drew a greatsword and drove it into the ground.
"I am the Black Dragon."
"...!"
"It seems you know the name, judging by your expression."
The Qinghai Sword's eyes widened. It was a name he knew all too well. Yet, the man who bore that title was said to have died long ago.
The giant chuckled, savoring the shock, before pointing his greatsword at the Qinghai Sword.
"Shall we have a dance of swords?"
The Black Dragon's ominous smile widened, eager for his first sword dance in ages.