Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Onma (Demon)
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Right after being devoured by the aquatic cadavers.
The giant spider simply accepted its fate.
'Ah! So in the end, I'm going to vanish like this.'
The thought of wanting to live crossed its mind briefly, but it was already a dead body anyway. It didn't seem like anything would change even if it dispersed like this.
If it had any lingering attachment, it was that it hadn't seen its daughter's face, trapped in the Assembly.
It had left without seeing her before departing for the Young Sect Master's residence, fearing its resolve might waver, so their last argument had been their final meeting.
If Unhwi could read its lingering thoughts, it would be grateful if he passed on the message instead.
But that might be difficult.
"...Don't think about having me do anything weird. You should say it yourself."
As it thought that, its eyes suddenly flashed open.
Unhwi was looking down at it with a sullen expression.
What had happened?
The giant spider—no, the old elder who had now become the beast—stupidly blinked its two eyes.
* * *
I looked down at the beast, which was still staring blankly, with a sullen expression.
Truth be told, I hadn't planned on preserving the giant spider's personality.
What was cute about it?
It was true that among the lingering spirits, it had been the most active so far, but that was just karma from its lifetime.
However, this fellow's lingering thoughts had mixed into the clump of thoughts forming the beast's core.
I pondered it for a very brief moment upon seeing that.
Should I revive this old man? Or not?
And the decision I made was this one.
Revive him.
No matter how much an auspicious sign the beast was for the Divine Cult, it was ultimately just a beast driven by instinct.
In that case, overlaying it with the personality of an obedient lingering spirit would make it far more useful.
More than that.
While coincidentally restoring this fellow's lingering thoughts, I learned that his daughter was being held hostage in the Assembly.
「Elder Huan, you've been promoted!」
「Should I envy this, or not? Anyway, welcome back.」
「A fate of being exploited even in death...」
The lingering spirits swirled around the beast's head, chattering away.
「Young Sect Master... Lady.」
"Why?"
「May I ask the reason?」
The giant spider's personality gazed at me with a solemn face, unlike its previous flustered demeanor.
It wanted to know why I had revived it.
"There are two reasons."
「If I may be so bold as to ask?」
"First, because you were commendable."
"Com... mendable?"
"Right before being eaten, you faithfully sent your final message, didn't you? Most people curse me out viciously when they think it's the end."
The beast scratched its cheek with a wing, looking a bit embarrassed.
Its final message had been filled only with urgency, with no resentment toward me to be found. It was unexpected.
It had even calmly accepted its own fate.
To the point where I wondered if this was really one of those guys from the Young Sect Master's residence.
At the very least, it meant he was reflecting on his own sins.
Rewards for merits, punishments for crimes.
I was the type to judge them precisely.
"Second, because of your story."
「...」
The beast's body stiffened rigidly for a moment.
"I didn't particularly try to read it, you know?"
「...I know. Once you fall to being a lingering spirit, there's nothing you can hide from the Ghost King.」
"There's a six-year gap. Because of that, your daughter's whereabouts have been left up in the air."
It was obvious how the Assembly would have treated this fellow's daughter once he lost his value as a hostage.
Naturally, this old man would harbor immense anger and resentment toward the Assembly.
「I suppose I will faithfully follow the Young Sect Master's orders.」
"Is that so?"
"No. You're right."
At the very least, until he uncovered the Assembly's true nature and learned his daughter's grave location (or where she had been discarded if she was still alive), wouldn't he devote himself fully to me?
Even if it was a lingering spirit bound to obey my commands, there was a vast difference in results between actively following out of motivation and passively obeying.
「...It seems I am fated to be thoroughly exploited even in death. This must all be karma too.」
The beast let out a deep sigh, then calmly lowered its posture and bowed its head.
「Onma formally greets the Young Sect Master. Henceforth, this Huan Mo's soul shall exist solely for the Young Sect Master's use, and its fate shall follow whatever the Young Sect Master decrees without hesitation.」
Ah, now I remembered.
Onma.
He had lived so unremarkably among the elders and executives that he left no impression, but before devoting himself to the Divine Cult, he had quite the reputation in Qinghai, or so I'd heard.
Qinghai Fighting Ghost.
Right, that was his nickname.
Originally, he was a battle fiend who roamed the deep mountains and valleys, picking fights with hidden masters indiscriminately.
Then he met the woman he loved, gave up his wandering life, drifted to the Heavenly Mountains, and settled down.
But his beloved wife died in childbirth giving birth to their daughter, and he had lived cherishing that daughter like his own flesh and blood.
So his lingering attachment to her must run deep.
In a way, I had received this man's pledge of loyalty.
"Now then, you know what to do next, right?"
"Of course. Just give the order."
I curled up one corner of my mouth.
"Eat them all."
「Understood!!」
The beast flapped its wings vigorously.
I watched it shoot up into the dizzying sky like a dot in an instant, then turned my body the other way.
* * *
The beast soared through the skies for a good while.
For someone who had originally been human, the sensation of flying was hard to put into words.
Moreover, as a monster bird, its speed and stamina were incomparable to ordinary birds.
It could cover several li in the blink of an eye.
'There it is!'
Before long, it reached its first destination.
Paradise.
A place where massive mountain ranges branching toward the Western Front were located; the Blackbone Ghost Valley had secretly set up a production site in one of those gorges.
'They called that thing a ranch in the Ghost Valley, right?'
A place where they released the produced aquatic cadavers to roam freely, with flying cadavers patrolling the perimeter.
To them, the cadavers were nothing more than livestock to be raised.
Keeeaaak!
The beast let out a monstrous screech based on memories from its prime.
The camouflage formation, which had shown nothing but sheer cliffs, shook violently.
As it dove in, the surrounding view suddenly changed.
Spacious highland plateaus stretched out, lined with grand halls boasting massive sizes, and inside the fences, aquatic cadavers lounged idly.
"That's... the beast!? Did we ever raise something like that?"
"Really...?"
The soldiers managing the ranch, along with a few private guards, spotted the beast and tilted their heads.
The beast was a high-grade monster bird.
Unlike the mechanically obedient aquatic cadavers, it possessed intellect rivaling a human's and could move with free will.
It could even be considered a spirit beast.
Because of that, even the Valley Lord only kept a few of such creatures at most, or so it knew.
No—even the Valley Lord didn't possess a spirit beast of the beast's caliber!
"Judging by its spiritual energy, it seems like one of our original primes? Did it evolve or something?"
"What? Then it's the one that went with Elder Whitebone Net Sect?"
"That thing left the elder behind... and came back after evolving on its own? S-something feels off."
"Hurry and call the ranch master!"
"Y-yeah!"
The Blackbone Ghost Valley was currently executing a desperate grand scheme.
Sensing something amiss, the private guards rushed toward where the ranch manager was.
At that moment, the beast's eyes flashed coldly as it plummeted vertically onto the head of a private guard mid-run.
"Why is this happening all of a sudden... Aaaak!"
The private guard, startled by the sudden massive shadow lunging at him while running, spun around and screamed.
The beast's sharp talons covered his face.
Kwachik!
The ambush was too swift for any resistance.
Its talons, powerful enough to snap a bull's thick neck with ease, effortlessly crushed the private guard's skull.
It then thrust its beak into the brain.
Right there lay the demon core.
'It's here, as expected! Heh heh heh heh!'
Private guards were implanted with the forcibly extracted souls of dead experts to plunder their memories and experience.
Naturally, the crude method didn't yield great results, but it was enough to forge first-rate soldiers.
The demon core in the private guard's brain acted as the prison holding that soul.
It contained all the spells and sorcery techniques controlling the private guard.
The core of its control mechanism, so to speak.
What if it devoured this?
The private guard would die.
And it could absorb all the spells and knowledge contained within.
Gulp!
The beast unhesitatingly swallowed the black orb caught in its beak.
Yoki stirred within its body.
The amount had increased by a fair bit, if only slightly.
The beast felt great.
Before joining the Divine Cult, it had been a battle ghost known to all in Qinghai.
Countless hidden masters and expert wanderers had bowed or had their necks snapped under its blade.
It loved the thrill of defeating the strong.
And the ecstasy of gradually growing stronger was even better.
Even living its second life (or beast life? Demon life?) as a monster bird, that disposition remained unchanged.
Especially against the Blackbone Ghost Valley, which had humiliated it!
'Time to raise hell!'
Swaaaaak!
The beast veered sharply and pounced on another private guard standing there dumbfounded.
"Wh-what's going on... Aaak!"
The private guard couldn't comprehend why their thoroughly brainwashed aquatic cadaver was suddenly doing this, but survival came first, so it attempted to resist.
However, even sword strikes enhanced by ghostly reinforcement arts couldn't leave so much as a scratch on the beast.
The beast merely tilted its head as if wondering what was happening.
That was the last sight the private guard beheld in life.
Kwachik!
Its skull shattered.
A demon core spurted into the air.
'This one's decent. Guess the soul implanted as a familiar was pretty good?'
The beast swallowed it in one gulp. Fortunately, it was a bit more substantial than the previous one.
'Next!'
It spread its two wings to their maximum span.
Gliding low over the ground in a wide arc, it flew toward where the other aquatic cadavers were.
Keeak! Keeeaak!
Grrrr—
The aquatic cadavers all instinctively sensed the danger and bristled aggressively.
Wild beasts bristle their fur; birds take to the skies to flee.
'Pathetic!!'
But in the beast's eyes, they were merely a banquet hall.
The shadow of a colossal calamity engulfed the Blackbone Ghost Valley's ranch.