Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Gaslighting
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Oh. We can actually talk.
A ridiculous number like 530,000 gapja had nearly blown my mind, but a fresh spark of curiosity ignited at the fact that this colossal being could communicate after all. Dodging lightning by a hair's breadth, I sent another thought his way.
The most important fact.
-Are you a guy?
-Male.
Fuck. It's a dude.
A deflating answer.
-...But you're answering my questions pretty nicely.
A brief silence followed, then the Black Dragon's majestic voice resounded in my mind once more.
-Not many people talk to me.
I see. Must get pretty lonely. No one would dare approach with that massive bulk and overwhelming power. It might have spent hundreds, even thousands of years in solitude.
-Hey, big guy. So why are you throwing a tantrum here?
His response might hold the key to resolving this mess.
-I can't say.
Blunt.
-Why not.
-It's a secret.
Ah.
I let out a short sigh. This brief exchange told me everything.
-You don't have any friends, do you.
-......
The Black Dragon fell silent. Nailed it. Dealing with mental cases was my specialty.
I sent a thought laced with the benevolence of a life mentor.
-Friends don't keep secrets from each other. They open up.
-......
The Black Dragon stayed quiet. But in that silence, I sensed a faint ripple of emotion. Time to drive it home.
-Wanna be friends with me?
At that instant, the lightning pouring from the sky stopped as if it had been a lie.
A voice exploded in my head—vast beyond compare, brimming with hope and excitement.
-...For real?
And then.
Flash—!
A streak of light sliced through the heavens without a sound, plunging straight into the Black Dragon's enormous body.
Krraaaack—!
An unreal sight. The mountain-like body of the Black Dragon split in two as easily as tofu, pathetically hollow.
Jet-black blood erupted like a fountain into the sky.
The fading thought of the dying Black Dragon seeped into my mind.
-Ahh... I finally... got a friend...
It worked.
Chicken skin rippled across my body as I looked up at the sky. That strike was unmistakably the 'Nosey Guy's' doing. Just like the flash that bisected him in Dongyoung's memories.
The Nosey Guy was deathly afraid of being exposed.
...No idea why yet. But I had a vague hunch that his fear ultimately pointed toward me.
With the Black Dragon dead, the storm clouds blanketing the sky cleared in an instant, revealing the original blue expanse. The red-sky formation Zhuge Jin had deployed was utterly wrecked by the Black Dragon's rampage.
Byeok Cheonwi and Duggo, who had been flashy with their footwork until now, sat cross-legged on the spot to regulate their disrupted qi. Zhuge Jin, completely drained, lay sprawled on the ground in a grand 大, not twitching a muscle.
Ignoring the blank stares from Black Elder and Cheonha Young, I slowly approached the bisected Black Dragon corpse.
As I drew near, my senses latched onto something distinct.
What the hell is this.
Didn't want to get blood on me.
-Go in there and grab that glowing thing.
I shot a thought at Paeng Dogeok. Obeying silently, he strode into the severed cross-section of the Black Dragon. Soon, with a squelching sound, he emerged.
In his hand was a massive orb the size of a human head.
Perfect.
An iridescent, mystical glow that could pass for the legendary He Shi Bi, the treasure of the world.
I took the orb from Paeng Dogeok.
A bizarre sensation—cold yet hot—transferred through my palm. The moment I touched it, I knew.
This was the orb of an imugi aspiring to become a dragon.
A Yeouiju.
Pure mental power beyond imagination emanated from within the orb. This must have been the spiritual core holding the lifelong wish of that imugi to become a true dragon. How much grueling effort had it poured into clutching this Yeouiju until ascending?
And even after becoming a full Black Dragon, it had cherished this treasure.
I smiled faintly.
Your internal energy scattered into the void with your death, but that lonely spirit of yours becomes my nourishment.
Crunch—!
I crushed the massive Yeouiju between both hands with all my strength. Cracks spiderwebbed across the sturdy orb, then it shattered with a clang.
Shoooooo—!
From the broken Yeouiju, an immense quantity of condensed pure white mental power billowed like mist, then surged into my body all at once.
Ah.
My mental power is filling up.
A sensation like a massive waterfall crashing onto parched mental plains. All depletion filled, overflowing fullness dominating my entire being.
My mental power had multiplied dozens—no, hundreds of times.
The endlessly surging wellspring of spirit was power inflation incarnate. With this much force, it could devour balance and spit out the bones.
Someone might call it a bullshit cheat.
Screw that.
I was extremely satisfied.
That was when it happened.
Shhwick—
The air split open quietly. Not a crude tear like the Demon Immortal's portal, but a smooth, pristine cross-section, like a polished mirror. A sub-space unfolded.
And from beyond it, a man slowly emerged.
Dazzling golden hair, with a pair of jet-black horns sprouting from his head.
Horns on a woman are handles; on a man, they're just ugly.
Black Elder eyed the golden-haired man warily. Proof he was a powerhouse.
But I wasn't scared at all.
I sent a thought to Black Elder.
-You protect the young lady.
"...!"
Black Elder's shoulders twitched for the first time. Staring at me in shock, he soon replied lowly.
-...Got it.
He never imagined my thought piercing his mental barrier like tissue paper.
"Hehe... This is a big problem."
Cheonha Young murmured with a troubled smile. But her eyes still sparkled with interest.
The golden-haired man spoke. His voice was metallic, devoid of any emotion.
"You killed Icheon."
I shrugged.
"Yeah. Pretty much."
Not me, but Nosey Guy—but no need to correct him.
Mental power exploding like this? Black Elder's emotions, and this guy's too, read crystal clear.
This one clearly looked down on the freshly dead Icheon—the Black Dragon. Scorned and despised him.
So this guy was Ilcheon.
"Hey. Ilcheon."
At my call, the golden-haired man's brow furrowed faintly.
"I am Jincheon."
True Heaven, huh. Quite the grandiose name.
"Fine. Jincheon, then."
"Not a name for a mortal worm like you."
Crazy bastard. Calls himself True Heaven but tells me not to use it.
"Then what."
"Kneel."
In that instant, crushing pressure like the world itself bore down on me. Dragon Word. A coercive force arbitrarily setting ranks and forcing submission. Behind him flickered the scrawny golden dragon's something like a pathetic honeybee buzz.
But the pressure had zero effect on me.
"You kneel."
Rumble—!
Jincheon's two knees slammed into the ground. The earth around them cracked like a spiderweb, cratering inward centered on his knees.
"Wh-what is this... power...!"
Jincheon groaned amid shock and pain.
I approached, squatted to meet his eyes.
"You bastard. You gaslit the Black Dragon."
This guy was weaker than the Black Dragon. This small fry Jincheon had manipulated the mentally fragile one to steal Ilcheon's seat. Used the naive dragon with 530,000 gapja of power while play-acting True Heaven himself.
I lightly placed a hand on his forehead.
"This is between you and me—"
Krraaaack—!
White lightning devoured everything once more.
Jincheon's body split silently in two and collapsed. Dead.
Not even hiding anymore, Nosey Guy. What, you got a death wish or something.
That was when it happened.
Shrrr—
Another sub-space opened in the air. But this wasn't pitch-black darkness.
Beyond it gleamed a blindingly white space.
And from there, a familiar figure stepped out.
Seok Jin. Muyeongbi's bodyguard knight.
Why the hell is this guy here?
Seok Jin approached me and politely clasped his hands in greeting.
"I am Sacheon Sagwang."
Ah. So he's the alliance leader of the Orthodox Demonic Alliance. Come to think of it, did Seok Jin ever tell me his name?
...Not surprising anymore.
I asked dryly.
"What."
Seok Jin, still bowing his head, replied.
"He's waiting for you."
"Who."
Seok Jin didn't answer. He fell silent, staring at a point in the air. As if listening to someone.
Soon, Seok Jin spoke again.
"Nosey Guy."