Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Friend
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Blood Demons all live with their own personal hells in their hearts.
And this trait is especially prominent in none other than the Six Paths Blood Demons.
Each of them holds a vividly colored hell within their hearts.
The moment they reveal their true power, the hell within their hearts takes form.
Those who witness it with their own eyes can never escape.
Despair, terror, chaos, greed, calamity...
One cannot know what threats lie in wait until they face it directly.
If you step into the hell they create, all you can do is quietly accept your death.
This is because, within their domains, they possess an authority that can be called godlike.
Unless, of course, a peculiar object like a sentient demonic sword is involved.
***
"What in the world have you done?!"
Jinseon cried out not as a Blood Demon hunter, but as Wi-ak's former lover.
In response to her question, Wi-ak grinned, his eyes stained crimson, and replied.
"Now that you're here, it's over for you."
As Preta Path, one of the Six Paths Blood Demons, not Wi-ak, he boldly revealed his cruelty.
"Now, struggle all you like."
-Thud. Thump. Thud.
The corpses hanging from the sky began to fall one by one before Jinseon and Gwiyeong.
They slowly rose to their feet, letting out bizarre cries.
Strangely, their teeth were sharp as saws, their arms were long and slender, and their bodies were horribly emaciated.
There was a large hole in each of their throats, preventing them from ever feeling full no matter what they ate.
Upon seeing Jinseon and Gwiyeong, these Blood Pretas drooled and charged.
"Kuaaaargh!"
"Hun... gry...!"
"Grrrk, krrk!"
As the frenzied Blood Pretas attacked, swinging their sharp, rough claws, Jinseon and Gwiyeong cut them down without mercy.
"You said your name was Jinseon? What in the world are these things?!"
Gwiyeong asked, killing the Blood Pretas with blade energy wrapped around her Gale Blade.
Jinseon, looking just as bewildered as Gwiyeong, replied.
"I don't know! I've never seen an ability like this before!"
"Kuaaaargh!"
"Grrrrrk!"
Cutting down the Blood Pretas swarming from all directions, Gwiyeong spoke.
"Dammit, there's no end to them! And this floor of blood is so annoying!"
-Splash.
Just as she said, the sea of blood came up to their knees, making it difficult to move.
-Squelch!
The bisected Blood Pretas fell into the blood, only to heal in an instant and rise again.
No matter how many times they cut them down and killed them, they did not disappear, and the number of Blood Pretas falling from the sky only increased, putting Gwiyeong and Jinseon in ever greater peril.
Watching them, Wi-ak let out a sinister laugh and opened his mouth.
"Kekekek, you cannot escape from this place. Everything that exists in this domain is under my control."
True to his words, the Blood Pretas were endlessly generated and resurrected, swarming Gwiyeong and Jinseon.
[There's no end to this. We probably have to defeat the caster, Preta Path. We must break through and attack him.]
"Ugh, I know that! But how are we supposed to get over there...?!"
Gwiyeong had a rough idea, but there was no obvious solution.
The sheer numbers, combined with the considerable strength of the Blood Pretas, made it difficult to simply force their way through.
It was then that Jinseon, fighting beside her, shouted.
"I will clear a path! You must go to Wi-ak!"
The moment she said this, she leaped into the air and landed gracefully on the surface of the blood.
-Plip.
A gentle ripple spread out as her feet touched down. Surrounded by the swarming Blood Pretas, she closed her eyes and focused.
A moment later, a blue aura bloomed around her body. She snapped her eyes open and declared.
"Southern Sea's Torrential Ghost Sword."
In that instant, a storm of sword strikes infused with sword energy raged around her.
-Slice, slice, slice, slice, slice, slice.
The bodies of the Blood Pretas were shredded at an incredible speed.
Within the vortex of immense sword strikes, Jinseon wielded her sword in unpredictable ways, switching it to her left hand or holding it in a reverse grip.
Her speed was so great that even Gwiyeong, who had reached the Absolute Peak, found it difficult to follow the path of the sword completely.
However, the backlash from the incredible speed and the use of internal energy was draining Jinseon's strength at a considerable rate.
"I can't use this technique for long! I will break through in one go, so follow me!"
She advanced toward Wi-ak, unleashing slashes in every direction.
The charging Blood Pretas were instantly shredded into blood and flesh the moment they entered the range of her attacks.
Gwiyeong, who had been momentarily mesmerized by the sight of Jinseon gracefully and swiftly wielding her sword upon the sea of blood, quickly regained her senses and followed.
[She's quite skilled. At this rate, there's a chance. I'll start using my power more actively, so wield me to your heart's content! Let's crush that despicable Blood Demon!]
Hearing this, Gwiyeong gave a small smile and advanced, channeling a significant amount of energy into her Gale Blade.
A moment later, as Jinseon cleared a path to Wi-ak's throne, Gwiyeong kicked off the ground in a single bound and used her technique.
"Ghost Shadow Soul-Chasing Blade!"
A black energy rapidly spread from her body, encroaching upon the surrounding terrain.
In that moment, as a new domain tried to unfold within the existing one.
"The Ghost's Shadow. A fine technique, but didn't I tell you earlier? Within this hell, everything is under my control."
As Wi-ak extended his hand, the black energy that had been spreading out was instantly sucked away.
"How is that even possible...?!"
Gwiyeong was utterly stunned. While her attacks within the Ghost Shadow Soul-Chasing Blade had been blocked before, the deployment of the domain itself had never once been stopped.
As she hung suspended and defenseless in the air, Wi-ak gripped his glaive and fired a blast of blood energy.
-Fwoosh!
Seeing the crimson slash approaching at incredible speed, Gwiyeong hastily deployed a blade screen to block it.
The impact sent her flying backward, once again distancing her from Wi-ak's throne.
"You cannot reach me. You will fight the pretas below until you die."
"Shut up!"
Gwiyeong launched herself forward again, this time using her ultimate technique, one purely focused on offense.
"Soul-Shattering Blade!"
It was Gwiyeong's blade art, a destructive technique meant to shatter the soul, based on a linear trajectory and a simple sword path.
The attack was simple, but the power it contained was overwhelming.
She believed that if it landed squarely, not even one of the Six Paths Blood Demons could emerge unscathed.
Wi-ak also recognized it as a formidable attack and deployed a blade screen made of blood energy to block it.
-Kwaang!
As Gwiyeong's Gale Blade met Wi-ak's glaive, a tremendous shockwave spread out, sending the surrounding blood flying.
With Wi-ak pinned down by the destructive force, Gwiyeong launched a series of follow-up attacks.
The hallmark of the Soul-Shattering Blade was its ability to unleash such powerful attacks repeatedly over several strikes.
-Boom! Boom! Kwaang! Kwaang! Boom!
A total of six more attacks followed, but Wi-ak was only pushed back from his position, suffering no significant damage.
Astonished that her ultimate technique had been completely blocked, Gwiyeong couldn't hide the shock on her face.
"Why can't I break through?!"
"I have defeated even masters of the Transcendent Realm. Did you, a mere Absolute Peak master, truly think you could win against me? Foolish!"
Wi-ak swung his glaive wide, knocking Gwiyeong away.
Tumbling down the steps below the throne and falling into the sea of blood, Gwiyeong slowly looked up at Wi-ak, with Jinseon still holding back the Blood Pretas behind her.
He stood there, his red eyes gleaming, flanked by the corpses of his parents.
Hanging by their necks, Wi-ak's parents had become Blood Pretas, yet they continued to whisper to their son.
"Become rich. In this world, money and power are everything."
"Without strength, you can't protect anything."
"The one you love will see your pathetic side and leave you."
"To gain something, you must pay a price, my son."
"The world doesn't just give you what you want. It always takes something in return."
As Wi-ak listened to their whispers, powerlessness, confusion, and greed burned fiercely in his eyes.
""What did you sacrifice to become a preta?""
The human desire for control stems from a sense of powerlessness.
Wi-ak wanted to obtain and control everything, and at the root of that desire lay the powerlessness his parents had instilled in him.
And those words resonated with Gwiyeong as well.
Comrades, friends, parents. She had paid the price of her precious connections to become the Ghost's Shadow.
And in this moment, Gwiyeong felt as if she were looking at her future self.
An enemy in a similar predicament.
Like Wi-ak, she had failed to protect those precious to her due to her own incompetence and inadequacy, forced to face the cruelty of the world.
If she hadn't met Gale Blade, would she have refused Wi-ak's offer?
If she had become a Blood Demon like him, would she have harbored such a cruel hell in her heart?
Amidst her confusion, Gale Blade spoke to Gwiyeong.
[Chaos is clouding your mind.]
True to his words, she was being consumed by the thickening blood energy, falling into despair.
Overwhelmed by the power and aura of Preta Path, with his crushing greed and aggression, she despaired.
"I... I... what should I do? I'm... I'm sorry. I don't think I can beat that monster..."
Jinseon, who had been fighting fiercely against the Blood Pretas, also fell to her knees, overwhelmed by the vicious blood energy that filled the domain.
The black moon emits an ominous light, overwhelming and suppressing the space made of blood.
Gwiyeong, Jinseon, and even the master of the domain, Wi-ak.
This place was a direct manifestation of Wi-ak's psyche.
People often mistakenly believe they can fully control their own minds, but that is not the case at all.
One can perceive the inner self, but one cannot fully control it.
And so, in the end, everyone was eroded by the blood energy, succumbing to frustration and despair.
"Yes, as you wished, Father and Mother, I have obtained power. So please, do not be disappointed in me. I am living according to your will."
Wi-ak was completely consumed by the blood energy, his eyes turning a deep crimson.
He was trapped in a miserable and inescapable illusion.
Gwiyeong's and Jinseon's eyes also began to turn red.
As they were being corroded by the blood energy, Gale Blade spoke to his contractor.
[Gwiyeong, get a hold of yourself.]
But she couldn't hear him.
"Because I was weak, because I was weak, my parents died. Because I was born, my father..."
She berated herself, revealing her innermost thoughts.
Jinseon also clutched her head and muttered.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I should have taken you with me back then. I'm sorry, Wi-ak... I was the only one, the only one who ran away. Because I couldn't take you, this happened..."
Gale Blade looked up at the black moon in the sky.
The ominous light emanating from it seemed to amplify human's dark emotions, instill a sense of powerlessness, and nurture the greed in their hearts.
Because humans are so weak and powerless alone, they desire to possess strength and power, to control situations.
That black moon was stimulating the fundamental human desire to protect oneself and those around them.
However, this only worked on humans; it had no effect on Gale Blade, a being made of cold steel and sinister demonic energy.
With a seemingly bitter voice, Gale Blade spoke to Gwiyeong.
[It seems I have no choice but to step in.]
He spoke to Gwiyeong, his contractor and friend.
[Can you hear me?]
"Mom, Dad, because of me... I'm sorry. If only I wasn't here... if only I wasn't here..."
[Pull yourself together. Your one and only friend is here.]
"Gale Blade...? No... you too, because of me! Everyone, because of me..."
Her reason was already consumed by a terrible sense of powerlessness and terror.
Nothing more could be done.
Hope and motivation were brutally crushed, leaving only a flow of despair and negativity.
Even the surrounding Blood Pretas began to retch, tearing at their own bodies.
"Guaaaargh!"
"Kah-heuk!"
[This will not do.]
Gale Blade decided to consume his own life force.
Normally, he could only transform into a human when he received Gwiyeong's energy.
And his true form was that of a corrupted Taoist wearing the black wolf mask that symbolized cruelty.
But now, casting aside his madness and cruelty for the sake of another, for his one and only friend, he abandoned his own desires.
He reappeared in the form of the brilliant Taoist he had been during his time with the Orthodox Faction.
Gale Blade revealed himself in a pure white martial uniform, with subdued black hair and deep, calm eyes.
Even the crimson-stained plum blossom petals turned white again, circling his body.
White plum blossom petals gently fell and decorated the surface of the red blood, which had now risen to his waist.
The sinister light and energy from the black moon were blocked by the white plum blossom petals, unable to reach Gwiyeong.
As she gradually regained her senses, Gwiyeong's eyes returned to normal, and she stared at Gale Blade before her.
"You, you are..."
[Have you opened your eyes at last, my friend?]
-Rustle.
A white plum blossom petal brushed against Gwiyeong's cheek.
In a world stained black with cruelty, a pure white Taoist stood before Gwiyeong.
With trembling eyes, she slowly opened her mouth.
"You, could you be... Gale Blade..."
[Yes. You've finally come to your senses.]
With a warm smile and a gentle face, there was no longer any trace of corruption to be found in Gale Blade.
It is other humans who wound the human heart, but it is also other humans who heal it.
Gale Blade had overcome the sickness in his heart—the betrayal of being abandoned by his comrades—through his one and only friend.
He caressed Gwiyeong's cheek and opened his mouth.
[You have walked such a difficult and lonely path, Gwiyeong.]
His voice soothed Gwiyeong's fearful heart.
It was as if she were seeing her father from her childhood, and Gwiyeong found herself at a loss for words.
[It is a cruel and arduous world, but you have endured it well enough. Fear no more. For I am by your side.]