The Demonic Gyoryong and the Crow
It was far more destructive, yet thoroughly controlled. Moreover, it wasn't just the Yanghu Mountain Range that was burning. What was this shroud of blazing clouds blotting out the sky? It was almost like...
"Kuaaaaa!"
A horrific shriek echoed, and the flames of heaven and earth merged. Dozens, hundreds of massive pillars of fire rose like beasts rearing their heads.
The three Foundation Establishment cultivators froze in shock, hastily activating their protective talismans while drawing their Dharma Treasures.
Kwang!
Several peaks of the Yanghu Mountain Range collapsed, and a massive figure burst forth from the swaying flames. It looked like a serpent but had four legs, each with three hook-like claws. On its elongated head grew a pair of horns like iron spikes, and its entire body, wrapped in flames, was tightly covered in dark scales.
"A dragon?"
The moment Gye Muyang stared in utter bewilderment, the creature raised its head and locked eyes with him. In the center of its pitch-black eyes, a faint red glow flickered, like an ember on the verge of dying out.
"Kuaaaaak!"
With a deafening roar, another peak crumbled. At the same time, the creature—larger than the mountain peak itself, a dragon wrapped in roaring flames—soared into the sky.
"Run!"
Gye Muyang felt a suffocating malice constrict his mind. His will to fight withered before it could even bloom, leaving nothing but endless terror.
Kwang!
One of the Heavenly Fire Sect elders, who was awkwardly turning around to flee, coughed up blood and was blown away. What shattered his protective talisman was a single streak of fire. Large and small flames extending from hundreds of fire pillars surged like tentacles, whipping and burning everything in their path.
Faced with this surreal, apocalyptic sight, Gye Muyang was seized by a helplessness far greater than fear. At this moment, it felt as if the entire world was directing its malice toward them.
A boy wearing loose black robes floated up, holding a fan larger than himself. The boy, Cheongo, who had been swimming through the air for a while, wiped cold sweat from his chubby face and rolled his eyes cautiously.
"Mmmph."
Cheongo, hesitating with a face full of reluctance, slowly descended. No matter where he looked, it was a sea of fire. Illusion-like heat haze filled the surroundings, and just breathing made his throat and lungs feel like they were burning. Even though he had wrapped his entire body in Monster Power, the heat was still this oppressive; if exposed bare, even a Great Demon would not escape unscathed.
Kwang!
A roaring sound erupted from somewhere below. Like a volcanic eruption, countless fireballs soared high into the sky. Cheongo wiped his sweat repeatedly and flew slowly toward the source.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
As he drew closer, the sound of shattering and exploding was endless. In the crimson sea of fire, flames rising and falling like waves could be clearly seen with the naked eye.
Cheongo stopped above the surging sea of fire. Then, holding the fan larger than himself with both hands, he vigorously fanned up and down. Cheongo's fan, the Summer-Chasing Fan, was not a typical Dharma Treasure, but it was still a spiritual item nonetheless. Its durability was second to none, so there was no risk of it breaking even if Cheongo channeled his Monster Power to swing it with all his might.
A fierce wind shook the flames. Instantly, the massive entity half-asleep at the bottom of the sea of fire sensed the anomaly and rose.
Thump!
As the sea of fire surged violently, Cheongo held his breath and put all his strength into fanning. By now, the wind whipped up by the Summer-Chasing Fan was powerful enough to be called a small gale.
"Kuaaa!"
The sea of fire split in half, and a colossal dragon's head burst forth. At that moment, a wild, world-tearing killing intent swept through like a typhoon. The wind whipped up by Cheongo's Summer-Chasing Fan was not even a gentle breeze compared to it.
"Eek!"
Even facing such vicious killing intent, Cheongo did not back down. Far from it, he swung the Summer-Chasing Fan even more vigorously.
In the blink of an eye, the dragon's head loomed right in front of Cheongo's nose. Before the dragon's maw, which could easily swallow a house whole, Cheongo looked incredibly small and precarious.
As the dragon's head closed the distance and a scorching wind clawed at his body, Cheongo finally couldn't take it and squeezed his eyes shut. Even so, he kept fanning with all his might—it was the only thing he could do.
"Ugh."
When the expected pain did not come, Cheongo cautiously opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was his own reflection in the creature's pitch-black pupils, still vigorously swinging the fan.
What was familiar became strange, and what was strange became familiar. The moment he surrendered himself to that ferocious, destructive power and mindset, Jekyeong felt that he was finally free. He had reveled in the sensation of becoming a true dragon, destroying and burning everything in sight.
Then, at some point, everything changed once again. Doubts arose about the pleasure he had been mindlessly indulging in. What was familiar became strange again, and something so unfamiliar that he had completely forgotten it took root in his heart once more.
"Pant... pant...!"
A shallow, rapid breathing broke the silence. Wondering what it was, he turned his head and saw a fly-like kid sweating profusely while fanning.
"You."
Out of habit, he naturally tried to brush away the fly-like fellow, but stopped his hand as something suddenly came to mind.
Hand?
Another realization struck him. A hand? Since when did I have hands? Surely I...
It felt like wandering in a thick fog. Something seemed about to come to mind, but didn't. That frustration made him annoyed, and that ticklish yet unpleasant feeling brought back the destructive desire that had briefly subsided.
"Grrr."
When he growled lowly, the fly in front of him turned pale and fanned even harder. Then, strangely, his boiling heart calmed down bit by bit. That feeling... was hard to understand, but it was quite nice.
"Wake up quickly! I'm dying of exhaustion!"
The fly shouted, but he didn't understand. Wake up? What does that mean? Am I not in my right mind? Surely this small fellow isn't swearing at me? By the way, why does this fellow's voice sound so familiar?
"I can't do this anymore!"
The fly shrieked. With that, he swung the fan and smacked his head. Jekyeong thought this fly had finally gone mad.
"If you're awake, put out the fire quickly! Can't you see this sweat? I'm dying of heat!"
Looking at the pouting fly who seemed furious, he shut his mouth. The thought of destroying this small fellow had long disappeared. Because this fellow was...
"You."
He frowned. He was still in the fog, but the fog was not so thick that he couldn't see an inch ahead like before. Now, he could see through the fog and even walk beyond it.
"You worked hard."
Now he remembered. This fellow was not a fly. Fortunately, he hadn't said it out loud; if he had made a slip of the tongue, he couldn't imagine how much he would have been nagged.
Kwang!
With the hind leg he unconsciously extended, the ground collapsed and the mountain peak shook. He, Jekyeong, carefully put strength into his strange yet familiar new body parts. Then, his body, larger than a mountain, lightly floated into the air. Before, it wasn't difficult but felt like using some strength, but now there was no such feeling at all. It was like instinct.
Jekyeong glanced at the limp Cheongo and took a deep breath. The fire energy filling heaven and earth was drawn in according to his will. It felt as if all the fire in the world was being sucked into his mouth.
"Wow."
Cheongo watched the scene, wiping sweat with his damp sleeve. Then, as if some thought occurred to him, he snorted disapprovingly and lay flat in the air.
"I had a really, really hard time!"
"I know."
"You have to compensate me."
"Mmh."
"That means yes, right?"
"Mmh."
Jekyeong acknowledged Cheongo's hard work. If the fellow hadn't fanned so hard, when would he have come to his senses? Perhaps he would have fallen into a demonic dragon forever, spreading his infamous name across the Yanghu Mountain Range.
However, acknowledging the hard work was one thing, and promising compensation was another. Of course, to soothe the pouting bird, he would have to give a considerable reward, but not now. If he promised compensation now, he might have to give ten or twenty for what could be resolved with five.
He knew very well how simple this crow fellow was. He was very grumpy now, but later, if he stuffed some Spirit Stones in his mouth, he would quickly feel better and grin.
"Are you going back right away?"
"No."
Jekyeong first gave all the Spirit Stones he had to Cheongo and asked him to keep fanning. Although what he had brought from Yangseo Lake was not much, the Spirit Stones collected while sorting out the Heavenly Fire Sect were considerable, so Cheongo satisfactorily took up the Summer-Chasing Fan again.
"Why? Are you still not feeling well?"
"I don't know."
Now Jekyeong felt strange to himself. The power overflowing through his body and the sense of omnipotence that made him feel like he could do anything intoxicated him, but precisely because of that, he had to be more vigilant. For the demonic path approaches silently, wearing such a sweet and seemingly harmless mask.
Jekyeong had some awareness of Fire Demons from seeing quite a few of them, but only after directly entering the demonic state did he realize the true horror of it. At first, Jekyeong looked for the cause in the Blood Bead, and indeed, the Blood Bead was undoubtedly the trigger. But thinking about it calmly again, the Blood Bead was merely a trigger. It was true that the minute residual thoughts remaining in the Blood Bead had contaminated his soul, but that was only possible because there was a crack in his Dao Heart.
Thanks to the Summer-Chasing Fan, I have shaken off the Demonic Obsession for now, but I cannot let my guard down yet.