Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Have You Seen Me Before?
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The sight of Gu Min-chae's head, twisted like a ferocious evil spirit, rolling across the ground felt utterly devoid of reality.
"Even so, he was a man once counted among those who would lead the next generation of the Divine Cult as one of the Ten Demon Lords."
"Such a pathetic end."
"It's the result of a father driving his own son into such a corner."
The lingering spirits clicked their tongues.
Whish, whish, whish!
Just then, a bleak wind blew through.
At the same moment, the Hell of Malevolent Ghosts Formation vanished.
As the Malevolent Ghost Battle Flags and the White-Haired Blade returned to normal, the real landscape reappeared.
Ah, I'm exhausted...
Absorbing the Millennium Ice Crystal, awakening the Black Dragon Qi Art, facing off against Gu Min-chae...
My head felt like it was about to burst into flames.
My body felt impossibly heavy, too.
I just wanted to rest now.
"U-Unhwi, young master?"
I turned my head to see Sima Seon-i staring at me with wide, shocked eyes.
Dang Gyujin and Yu Sumyeong were the same.
Judging by the corpses of the blade ghosts on the ground, a rescue operation had been in full swing.
I must have startled them by popping up out of nowhere.
The lingering poison and ghostly energy that hadn't fully dissipated would feel eerie and ominous.
For those from the Qingcheng and Emei sects, it had to be a bit— no, extremely— overwhelming.
Even Sima Seon-i, who could sense sword auras or whatever, was no different.
I wondered how the now thoroughly savage flesh of Mara would feel to her, but her eyes were bulging like saucers, meaning it hit her even harder than the other two.
"Ah...!"
It was then, as Sima Seon-i opened her mouth to say something while looking at me.
"D-Demon King!! The real Demon King himself! Eeeeek!"
Dang Gyujin suddenly let out a shrill scream and leaped away from me.
What was that about?
"He sees me! He sees meeee! He's gonna eat me! Gonna eat meeeee! No good! Gotta run! Run! Runrunruuuun!"
Dang Gyujin spouted nonsense before collapsing unconscious to the ground.
Yu Sumyeong rushed over to support her.
The Azure-Faced Ghost, was it?
Anyway, Demon King, huh.
Where the hell did that ridiculous nickname come from?
"Little Cult Leader! Congratulations on your enlightenment!"
At that moment, Onma swooped down with a thud, slamming its head into the ground.
The massive falcon, as big as a man's torso, presenting itself in perfect discipline felt somehow off.
"And please punish this lowly demon for failing to properly carry out the Little Cult Leader's orders! I should have guarded your sister properly, but I got caught in the formation and failed to protect her—"
From the looks of it, while chasing Gu Min-chae's group, it had gotten ensnared in the manor's formation and lost track of Dang Gyujin.
That must have forced it to search desperately for her, making Yu Sumyeong and Sima Seon-i suffer quite a bit too.
Dang Gyujin, Yu Sumyeong, Sima Seon-i.
Without this trio's help, I couldn't have captured Gu Min-chae without massive losses.
They were truly grateful allies.
So I offered each of them my separate thanks.
I even promised that if they ever needed me, I'd roll up my sleeves and help as if it were my own affair.
Yu Sumyeong and Sima Seon-i humbly replied that as orthodox sect members, it was only natural, but that didn't mean I'd retract my promise.
In the end, they nodded in agreement.
Just then, Dang Gon joined us with his agents.
"All cleanup is complete. The anchor points have been safely destroyed as well. However—"
"No prisoners taken, right?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"I knew the North Sea Sect's lot were like that. We have to account for it."
Blade ghosts weren't human.
They were a type of jiangshi, combat weapons that moved solely on the commands imprinted by the North Sea Sect.
They had no free will to begin with.
Dang Gon knew that full well.
"Still, it's a shame. We're certain those bastards are hiding somewhere nearby—"
"Ah, don't worry about that. We'll find out soon enough."
"Hm? How so, sir?"
"I've got someone to interrogate."
"Huh? You captured someone already?"
"Something like that."
"Where? I don't see them."
Dang Gon looked around.
Go ahead and search all you want. Good luck.
"You're not talking about the Golden Sword Sect branch leader, are you?"
"Squeezing some low-level pawn like that? What would we even get? The other sect disciples didn't know a thing."
"Th-then where did you—"
"Trade secret."
"!?"
"Just wait a bit. I'll bring good news."
Dang Gon grumbled, 'That's not fair. Keeping all the fun to yourself,' but I didn't even pretend to hear.
And how could I show him the lingering spirits I'd bound with the Golden Chains?
Even if I did, he couldn't see them.
I teased Dang Gon by hinting at it, then ordered the other agents to collect any remaining traces or evidence.
Once the cleanup was mostly done, we prepared to head back.
I planned to eat the meal Ilno had prepared while toying with the lingering spirits of the dead Gu Min-chae and blade ghosts.
'I need to inspect the Black Dragon Qi Art once more.'
I'd patched up the Black Dragon Qi Art too hastily, so there were plenty of areas needing refinement.
I hadn't fully absorbed the Extreme Yin Energy either.
I intended to use what remained for developing my upper dantian.
"Let's head back."
We loaded Gu Min-chae's head and the blade ghost corpses—our hard-earned trophies—onto the cart and were about to move out.
『Sorry, but could you hold your steps for a moment—』
A thunderous voice suddenly echoed from the empty air, resonating through heaven and earth.
"!!"
"!!"
"Young master!"
"Everyone, battle formation."
The agents swiftly reformed their lines with perfect discipline.
Yu Sumyeong and Sima Seon-i, who had just hoped for a break, drew their swords again.
"Little Cult Leader, could that voice be—"
'Yeah. It is.'
I fixed my coldly chilled gaze on the roof of the central pavilion at the heart of the manor.
The voice was coming from right there.
'It's him.'
『No matter how tangled with grudges a battlefield may be, isn't it customary to let parents retrieve their child's corpse?』
Whoosh!
A cold wind blew.
Frost swirled on the pavilion roof in a vortex before taking human form.
He was a lanky middle-aged man a full head taller than Gu Min-chae, with an even more emaciated, scarecrow-like frame.
His deeply sunken eyes and corpse-pale complexion made him look like a patient who'd suffered a chronic illness for decades.
Yet the overwhelming chill in the air and his razor-sharp presence were utterly demonic.
North Sea Sect Leader, North Sea Blade Demon Gu Rakseong.
One of the nine sect leaders boasted by the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had revealed himself!
Clang, clang!
Sima Seon-i and Yu Sumyeong drew their swords with grim, tense faces.
"Wind Patrol Pavilion, full Return-to-Slaughter Crossbow formation!!"
The North Sea Sect Leader's appearance was completely unexpected.
At Dang Gon's urgent shout, the agents lined up in front, aiming the crossbows slung on their backs at the North Sea Sect Leader.
An indescribable tension hung in the air.
Yet not a hint of hesitation showed in the agents' movements as they placed fingers on the triggers.
"The yin energy emanating from the North Sea Sect Leader feels far denser than it was six years ago."
"Did he receive some profound opportunity at the council? That level of pressure puts him on par with the Ten Great Masters—"
"Doesn't that mean he's already reached the Saint Realm? Hah!"
The reason the North Sea Sect Leader had appeared here so suddenly.
'...Gu Min-chae was bait from the start. To probe the Nine Dragons Branch Family's defenses.'
Before launching a full assault on the Dark Venerable, they wanted to test how much the Nine Dragons Branch Family knew of their plot and the state of its defenses.
Gu Min-chae happened to be infiltrated at the time, making him perfect for the role.
What a mad bastard.
Even if he half-discarded the boy, using his own son as mere bait and letting him die?
The North Sea Sect Leader's pitch-black gaze swept over us with keen interest.
"Qingcheng and Emei swords gathered in one place is strange enough, but the Blue Heaven's Blaze Sword is here too? What an odd combination. And even the old Stormwind Squad's Return-to-Slaughter Crossbows—"
The North Sea Sect Leader stepped forward with hands clasped behind his back.
The Return-to-Slaughter Crossbows shifted to match—
Flash!
In an instant, his figure had bypassed the agents' line and stood right behind them.
"But the Stormwind Squad disbanded after that old 'armistice,' didn't it? And yet this level of training?"
"!!"
"!!"
"!!"
Dang Gon and the agents paled in shock, hurriedly turning around.
Some even tried to fire.
『Everyone, stop!!』
I urgently transmitted to the agents.
We couldn't provoke the North Sea Sect Leader further.
He possessed skill far beyond any of us here; he could slaughter us all without breaking a sweat.
If combat broke out, it would mean instant annihilation.
Moreover, the North Sea Sect Leader's interest wasn't in them.
"As expected, the rumors that the Dark Venerable is rebuilding the Stormwind Squad are true. That sly old coot. Still nibbling on pumpkin seeds in the background."
The North Sea Sect Leader's eyes curved slightly at the corners.
But with his deathly visage, it was hard to tell if he was smiling or furious.
"What do you think, young master of the Nine Dragons and Stormwind?"
From start to finish, the North Sea Sect Leader's gaze had been fixed solely on me.
His interest was me.
I offered a formal bow.
"Heir of the Tang Family's Nine Dragons Branch, Dang Unhwi, pays respects to Senior Gu Rakseong, Sect Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's North Sea Blade Demon Sect. It is an honor to meet your true self."
The North Sea Sect Leader narrowed his eyes thinly and stared straight at me before speaking.
"You're lying."
"!"
"On the surface, you seem perfectly calm and composed, but inside, you're boiling with rage and resentment. Like a volcano."
The North Sea Sect Leader tilted his head.
"Have you... ever seen me before?"
"This is our first meeting."
"Then why harbor such fury?"
"I am of the Tang Family. How could any Tang clansman not feel anger when the Sect Leader sets foot in our territory?"
The North Sea Sect Leader casually shook his head.
"No, that's not it."
"!"
"The anger you hold isn't that. It's something more primal, more pure."
"......"
His movements and speech were like a broken doll.
"Have you ever lost family to me?"
...Family.
Yes. I have.
My feelings toward you can't help but be primal.
Because of you, my master went missing, my executives died, and my followers were driven into the wilderness.
There are those wandering the Nine Heavens in vain, screaming for you to be killed, and voices begging to revive our sect.
"Little Cult Leader—"
"Please, stay calm...!"
Just having you right before my eyes is driving me mad.
This moment, forcing myself not to charge at you, fills me with nothing but injustice and resentment.
Yet I hold back and endure for the sake of my followers' worries and concerns that I must one day gather from the wilderness, for the obsession and lingering thoughts that I must save them.
The future of a hundred thousand demonic warriors and the hope of the Divine Cult rest heavily on my shoulders.
How could a traitor like you ever understand my heart?
A cold-blooded monster who discards even his own flesh and blood like tools for his goals would never comprehend.
He couldn't even imagine.
Yet here he was, with that nonchalant face, reading the fury I barely suppressed and throwing questions, only stoking my killing intent further.
So I thought of it as donning a mask.
A smiling mask.
A forced smile.
"Not yet..."
A glint flashed in my eyes.
"But who knows about the future."
"Hmm—"
It was then, as the North Sea Sect Leader was about to add something.
"What's an outsider so curious about our family matters? If you have business, wrap it up quick and be on your way."
A low voice sounded.
My gaze and the North Sea Sect Leader's turned simultaneously to the opposite side.
Atop the wall.
An elderly man with a smaller build than the North Sea Sect Leader stood with hands behind his back.
Though a face I'd never seen, the aura he exuded made his identity clear at once.
An aura like boundless darkness compressed within.
'The Dark Venerable!!'