Chapter 92
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Demon Immortal's Gratitude
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Han Suyo.
Dokgo brushed the blood and dust from his soiled uniform and spoke in a low voice.
"I suppose I have to go."
Byeok Cheonwi, standing beside him, nodded silently. Deep fatigue was etched across the faces of the two who had waged a desperate struggle against the monster known as Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang. They looked like they could collapse and fall asleep at any moment. And yet, they were heading to another battlefield in that condition?
If their departure was for our sake, then providing at least minimal support was only natural.
"Recovery."
My intent reached both men simultaneously. It was less like healing and more like a deep suggestion—an awakening agent that forcibly erased accumulated fatigue and temporarily boosted their physical vitality.
"Uwatt…!"
The backlash from layering deep suggestions on two absolute masters hit me instantly. My vision went pure white, and the world spun dizzily. The mental power I had just replenished in Soso's arms evaporated in an instant, plummeting back to the brink of exhaustion.
Stagger—
My legs buckled, and my body tilted. In that moment, a firm, strong arm wrapped gently around my waist, steadying me. It was Rabbit.
A flicker of surprise briefly crossed Dokgo's impassive eyes. He tested his noticeably lighter body with a few movements, then turned to me.
"Thanks. You all rest."
With those words, he and Byeok Cheonwi leaped without a hint of hesitation toward somewhere beneath the blood-red sky. Their figures shrank to tiny dots in an instant, vanishing from sight.
"……."
They should have at least said where they were going.
I let out a short sigh and turned to the new presence standing beside me: Paeng Dogeok.
"Patrol a radius of several hundred li and ensure no one approaches this place."
"Yes!"
"Ah. And do not look at where we are with your eyes or sense us with your ki perception. Completely erase our presence from your senses."
It was an essential measure.
Paeng Dogeok responded loyally without a trace of doubt.
"Yes!"
He kicked off the ground and vanished. His presence swept outward in a massive circle, fading in an instant.
Only after Paeng Dogeok's presence had completely disappeared did I lead the women toward a nearby thicket of dense grass. The surest and fastest way to recover my mental power was already decided.
Some time passed, and I finally straightened my clothes as I emerged from the bushes. Ha-eun and Soso, Je-gal Seo, and Rabbit followed behind me, their faces slightly flushed. My once-empty mind was now crystal clear, and my depleted mental power brimmed like a surging river once more. Perfect condition.
Time to assess the situation.
This world, where common sense was upended, had thrown yet more questions my way.
Gucheonseong...
A mysterious force that hadn't even registered on the Murim Alliance's intelligence network. And the enigmatic white-haired woman they followed.
Paeng Daesan and Blood Guest plummeting from the sky, along with Soso, Ha-eun, and Rabbit.
Above all, what did this blood-red sky signify?
My head throbbed. I wanted to stop thinking, but something inside me strongly warned against it. This was likely my instinct.
'Dongyoung called himself Gucheon.'
He had definitely been weaker than Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang before their fusion. Following the cliché, the name likely indicated rank. Gucheon—the ninth of nine heavens. The weakest existence.
'Then Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang were roughly Palcheon and Chilcheon. Zuo Zhang, the 'elder brother,' was probably Chilcheon.'
As I sorted through it step by step, my tangled thoughts began to clear. Being able to gauge the enemy's scale and power was a major gain.
It was then, as I organized my thoughts—
Far away, Paeng Dogeok's energy on guard duty weakened ever so slightly. His presence was fluctuating wildly.
'Told him to stand watch, and he's getting beaten by someone.'
Paeng Dogeok, the fusion of two swordless men, might lack attack power, but his defense—his tanking ability—was rock-solid. No one was better at taking hits. Yet if even his energy was waning, the opponent was no pushover.
Should I go help?
The moment I started to rise—
Ssssss—
An unpleasant, alien noise, like a sharp blade slicing through wet paper. A black line etched itself into the empty air before my eyes, then split left and right, forming a rift large enough for a person to pass through.
From that pitch-black darkness, a single white figure slowly stepped out.
White hair, white beard. An elder clad in a white robe, gripping a weathered staff as long as his torso. His bearing was such that one could believe he was a transcendent immortal detached from the mortal world. No one fit the term "dao bone immortal wind" better.
But I wasn't fooled by the appearance in the slightest. Every nerve in my body screamed, sending danger signals.
The elder slowly opened his squinted eyes.
And what was revealed were not human eyes, but the vertically slit pupils of a reptile, blazing scarlet. Snake eyes.
Obviously not normal.
This guy was surely another from Gucheonseong. I vaguely recalled seeing him in Dongyoung's memories. An intensely dense aura swirled around him, incomparable to the likes of Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang.
He's gotta be insanely strong. Without a shred of carelessness, I lowered my center of gravity and prepared to move at any moment.
The elder swept his gaze over the surroundings before fixing it on me. A faint smile played on his lips.
"Did you kill Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang?"
His voice was clear and pure. But the eerie dissonance hidden within that purity could not be concealed.
"Yep. And who might you be, gramps?"
I answered curtly. The finishing blows had come from Byeok Cheonwi and Dokgo, but it was I—and the Paeng Dogeok I had created—who had halted and overwhelmed them. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I'd done it all myself.
The elder nodded in satisfaction at my response.
"Ah. I wanted to say thank you."
He lightly tapped the ground with his staff and continued.
"I am the Demon Immortal. Eighth Heaven of Gucheonseong. Or rather..."
He paused, glancing up at the blood-red sky. His snake eyes gleamed unpleasantly.
"Now, Sixth Heaven."
Ah.
The situation clicked. Thanks to me, he'd jumped two ranks and come to express his gratitude. That meant Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang had been Chilcheon and Yukcheon, not Palcheon and Chilcheon as I'd guessed. And this elder had originally been Palcheon; with those two gone by my hand, he'd naturally risen to Yukcheon.
"What, you came all this way just to say that?"
The Demon Immortal smiled kindly.
"Ah, yes. But is that all?"
His eyes turned icy in an instant.
"To you, whom I am grateful for... I came to teach a single move."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than he lightly swung the staff in his hand.
Shiiik—!
No preliminary motions, no precursor ki. But I, with every nerve on edge, reacted the instant his shoulder twitched ever so slightly.
I sprang backward and rolled across the ground.
Kwaduk!
The space where I had stood moments ago was sliced clean like tofu. Beyond the severed plane of space, a glimpse of pitch-black void flickered before vanishing.
That goddamned cheat ability I'd seen overused in countless comics. Space Slash.
Cold sweat trickled down my back. The Demon Immortal was originally Palcheon-level. Naturally stronger than Dongyoung, the ninth-ranked Gucheon. Plus, Zuo Zhang and Wu Zhang were halves who only shone when fused. As a single entity, this Demon Immortal was far superior.
Could I, who had gotten utterly thrashed by Dongyoung, defeat this monster?
The answer was set. Impossible.
I immediately shot my intent toward the women frozen behind me.
'Run!'
At my urgent cry, Soso burst into tears.
"No, Senior Brother! Waaang—!"
Far from fleeing, she tried to rush toward me. Even the supposedly sharp Ha-eun and Je-gal Seo stood pale-faced and hesitant, at a loss. In this situation, refusing to run wasn't courage—it was pigheadedness.
I swallowed a curse inside and sent a stronger intent to Rabbit.
'Rabbit! Grab all three and run! Right now!'
Rabbit didn't hesitate. Without a word, she extended both arms to scoop up Soso and Ha-eun, then hooked her remaining hand around Je-gal Seo's waist. She spun and bolted at full speed.
Paat—!
Rabbit's figure vanished dozens of zhang away in an instant.
"Hoo...?"
The Demon Immortal let out an intrigued sound and aimed his staff in the direction they fled.
As if he'd just let them go.
In the split second as he swung, I gathered every ounce of dormant power within me. That familiar yet alien energy of pure malice and destruction.
The pure Demonic Energy inside me took form in my hand.
"Go."
Whiiiieeeek—!
Darker than darkness itself, a pitch-black spear—the Demon Spear—launched from my hand toward the Demon Immortal.
The Demon Immortal didn't change expression even as the Demon Spear flew at him. He smoothly altered the trajectory of his staff, which had been swinging toward the women, to deflect it.
Kaang—!
With a sharp metallic clang, the Demon Spear bounced harmlessly away and dispersed into the air.
And then, the Demon Immortal's red eyes—those emotionless snake pupils—stared straight at me.
A pressure that made every hair on my body stand on end.
Fucking terrifying.
I swallowed dryly and forced the corners of my mouth upward.
"Han Suyo."