The Hell Path
Biwol and I looked down at the Shadow Pavilion Leader of the Red Fang Gang, who had been run through the stomach by San Dogang and turned into a wretched Blood Jiangshi.
"I heard he committed countless atrocities, but his end is miserably pathetic," I said with a mocking chuckle.
Standing beside me, Biwol replied with a bright expression I had never seen on her face before. "I cannot express how overjoyed I am that you are finally looking into our desires, Lord Blood God."
"Why put it so grandly? I merely played around a bit with the stories of some game NPCs."
I had decided to just enjoy myself now. I couldn't bear any more of this immense shock and trauma. What was the point of racking my brain over everything? It was much easier on my mind to just treat this as a game. Getting overly immersed had only brought me pain and misery. Besides, I didn't even know if a player actually existed in this world. I couldn't see a status window, nor did I have any special perks.
"A game?"
"It just means a plaything. A game."
"A plaything... I see. Indeed. A god may do as he pleases. Even if it means playing with humans."
I had no idea what part of my answer pleased Biwol, but she looked thoroughly satisfied.
...This is a game. Right?
Just a few days ago, I didn't think like this... How did things turn out this way? Is it really all my fault? Where did it all go wrong... No, this is a game. So I...
I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
To check on San Ireong's reaction, I immediately dissolved my body into blood energy and moved toward San Suhwa, whom he was controlling.
Whoosh!
My body dispersed into a crimson mist and coalesced once more, riding the blood energy. Spotting me, San Suhwa stared at me with the black-red eye on her right side.
I asked him, genuinely intrigued, "So you put the eye in? Are you sharing her vision? I didn't know that was possible. Truly fascinating."
"...This... isn't... what... I wanted."
San Suhwa's eerie, cracked voice leaked out.
I put on a slightly pitying expression and replied, "Oh dear. You said you wanted to see your family move again, so I helped you. What a shame."
Sorry. I thought they'd be resurrected normally too. I didn't expect them to turn into Jiangshi.
Hearing my shameless response, San Ireong spoke in a voice thick with revulsion. "You... really are... a demon. And I... sold my soul... to such... a demon."
"Why speak of it so dramatically? Just think of it as revenge. Honestly, didn't the villagers go too far?"
Hearing his story, I couldn't help but feel how incredibly pitiful San Ireong's family was. To think that people who had spent their entire lives offering helping hands could be reduced to such a wretched state. I felt genuine pity for them.
"Cheer up. At least you have the power to take your revenge now, so let us hasten toward the end of the story."
"The end... of the story... Yes."
San Suhwa's face contorted into a bizarre grimace as she spoke to me. "My miserable... life... was nothing... but a mere game... to you... wasn't it?"
Why is he being so cynical? Seriously, I didn't know either.
"It is quite disappointing that you think of it that way. I am sincerely rooting for you, you know."
"Ha... haha... I truly... met... a demon."
Leaving those words behind, San Suhwa and San Dogang slowly walked down the hill.
Watching their retreating figures, I asked, "Unorthodox scoundrels aside, what do you plan to do with the villagers?"
At my question, San Suhwa's body came to a sudden halt. She slowly opened her mouth.
"Every... single... one... by my own hands."
With those final words, San Suhwa and San Dogang vanished into the crimson blood mist.
Having finished my conversation with the Blood Demon, I led the newly created Blood Jiangshi using my sister's and father's bodies down to the village.
As I took slow, deliberate steps, I recalled the conversation I had just shared with that demon.
A chilling shiver ran down my spine.
That gaze, which looked down on me as if I were not even an equal existence.
I could not forget the feeling of being viewed as nothing more than a chess piece on a game board.
From the very beginning, I had been dancing in the palm of that demon's hand.
Deceived by a cruel twist of fate, I lost everything and became his minion.
Yet, there was one thing I was grateful to him for.
He had granted me the absolute power to judge these wretched villagers.
Those parasite-like bastards who had greedily sucked up our help while knowing nothing of our struggles.
If the Blood Demon had not appeared, we would have continued pouring unrequited kindness into a bottomless vessel, receiving nothing in return.
"You... filthy... insects... You must... have enjoyed... yourselves... until now."
San Suhwa's face twisted as her eerie voice carried over the crimson blood energy.
I still remembered it vividly—the cold, indifferent gazes of those who turned away when my family was in mortal danger.
If even a single person had stepped forward, I would not have gone this far.
But how could not a single soul among so many stand up for us?
The Red Fang Gang, the Black Summit Sect, and those disgusting villagers.
In the end, I would finish them all alongside my family.
In the heart of Gangwan Village in Wuyuan County, the executives of the Red Fang Gang were holding a meeting late into the night.
This was because the damage they were sustaining from their rapidly escalating clashes with the Black Summit Sect was far from negligible.
While listening to the advice of his executives, the leader of the Red Fang Gang, Jeok-un, was deeply bothered by the absence of Gakgwi.
"That bastard said he found a lead on the demon. When on earth is he planning to return?" Jeok-un asked irritably.
Naturally, none of the executives knew the answer. Among them, Gakgwi was notorious for acting on his own accord, and since he held the highest rank among the subordinates, none of them dared to pry into his affairs.
"Tsk, useless fools, the lot of you."
Just then, a low-ranking member of the Red Fang Gang burst through the doors, panting heavily.
"L-Leader! You need to come outside immediately!"
Seeing this, one of the executives barked a reprimand at the martial artist. "How dare you cause such a racket during an executive meeting?!"
"I-I apologize! But you truly must come outside right away!"
Jeok-un's face contorted in annoyance. "Has something happened outside?"
"Yes! A strange, unidentified crimson mist has suddenly blanketed the entire village!"
"A crimson mist?"
Filled with doubt, Jeok-un rose from his grand armchair and stepped out of the pavilion.
As he looked down the stairs, he saw a thick, rolling crimson energy completely blanketing the ground.
This mist, flowing like heavy smoke, was a phenomenon Jeok-un had never witnessed in his entire life, leaving him thoroughly bewildered.
"What in the world is this?"
Just then, he spotted someone entering the courtyard from afar.
Seeing the scar across the bridge of his nose and the red robes of the Red Fang Gang, Jeok-un instantly recognized him as Gakgwi.
Jeok-un marched down the steps, bellowing in anger, "Gakgwi, you bastard! Where have you been all this time?!"
However, Gakgwi showed no reaction whatsoever, merely walking forward with silent, mechanical steps.
Normally, Gakgwi would have rushed over to explain himself, but today, his demeanor was chillingly different.
"...You."
Sensing that something was deeply amiss, Jeok-un watched him with growing tension. Suddenly, Gakgwi swung his sword at a Red Fang martial artist standing right in front of him.
Slash!
"Aaargh!"
"Shadow Pavilion Leader?!"
"Leader! What is the meaning of this?!"
The other Red Fang martial artists gasped in shock and scrambled backward.
Witnessing this, Jeok-un's face flushed with pure rage.
"You bastard! You've betrayed us! Who is it?! Have you aligned yourself with the Black Summit Sect?! You foolish wretch!"
Jeok-un instantly drew the heavy broadsword from his waist and leaped down the stairs in a single bound.
Thud!
A powerful gust of wind erupted from his landing, momentarily pushing back the rolling crimson energy.
Gakgwi continued to swing his sword at the Red Fang martial artists in the courtyard.
However, there was a bizarre pattern to his movements—he never delivered a fatal blow.
He would simply slash them once, leaving a wound, and then immediately move on to a different target without attacking the same person twice.
Just then, from behind Gakgwi, the martial artists of the Shadow Pavilion charged in, their eyes glowing a sinister red.
Following Gakgwi's lead, they began indiscriminately attacking the other Red Fang members.
"You Shadow Pavilion bastards! Have you all lost your minds?!"
Jeok-un quickly barked orders to the other executives to prepare for battle.
"Listen, all martial artists of the Red Fang Gang! The Shadow Pavilion are no longer our brothers! Draw your weapons and cut them down immediately!"
At Jeok-un's roaring command, the executives and warriors of the Red Fang Gang finally shook off their confusion, drawing their weapons to fight back.
Clang!
Screeech!
Slash!
The courtyard of the Red Fang Gang erupted into a chaotic symphony of clashing steel and tearing flesh.
Jeok-un carved his way through the Shadow Pavilion warriors with terrifying momentum, his heavy broadsword cleaving flesh as he closed the distance to Gakgwi.
His eyes stained a deep crimson, Gakgwi coated his blade in sword qi, preparing to face Jeok-un.
"You foolish fool!"
Clang!
Jeok-un's broadsword, infused with heavy blade qi, collided with Gakgwi's sword, unleashing a violent shockwave.
Dust kicked up into the air, and the crimson mist was blown backward by the sheer force of the impact.
As their blades locked, Jeok-un felt a profound sense of wrongness.
Not a single shred of emotion registered on Gakgwi's face.
Furthermore, his eyes were completely blood-red.
Suspecting that this had something to do with the strange crimson mist, Jeok-un shouted at Gakgwi, hoping to coax a response.
"Gakgwi, you bastard! Have you lost your mind?! Say something!"
Though Jeok-un had always treated him harshly, he secretly considered Gakgwi his most capable subordinate. It was with a sliver of hope that he addressed him.
It was bizarre enough that his most loyal follower would betray him, but to do so with such complete, hollow apathy was utterly unnatural.
It was only when he saw Gakgwi's sword qi dye a deep, ominous crimson—completely different from his usual energy—that Jeok-un realized the situation was far worse than he had imagined.
"Dammit!"
What on earth is this?! It has to be connected to this crimson mist... What is happening here?!
Even amidst the chaos, Jeok-un scanned his surroundings, trying to analyze the battlefield.
He watched in horror as more and more Red Fang martial artists' eyes turned crimson, turning their blades upon their own comrades.
Damn it! They aren't fighting us of their own free will! They must be under some sort of sorcery! Is it the Black Summit Sect? No, none of them possess this kind of power. Then... is it the work of those demons Gakgwi was hunting?
Indeed, if they were demons who practiced the forbidden Absorption Demon Art, they were more than capable of committing such a chilling atrocity.
Clang!
Screeech!
As Jeok-un locked blades with Gakgwi, he felt more and more red-eyed warriors closing in on him.
Shit! If I delay any longer, I'll be completely overwhelmed.
Jeok-un swung his heavy broadsword in a massive arc, forcing the red-eyed warriors back to buy himself some breathing room.
Just then, a figure emerged from beyond the rolling crimson mist.
Jeok-un narrowed his eyes, peering through the haze. It was the daughter of the pharmacy owner who lived over the hill.
Then, her mouth slowly parted, and an eerie, disjointed voice echoed in all directions.
"So... you are... the leader... of the Red Fang Gang."
The black-red ghoul eye on her right side flared with a sinister light, locking its gaze onto Jeok-un.