Encounter with the Blood-Sucking Demon
When we entered the building, it was surprisingly quiet compared with the outside.
Then, somewhere in the distance, we heard a creaking sound.
We immediately rushed toward it and kicked the door open.
The room looked like a place used to create jiangshi.
There was a strong smell of all kinds of chemicals, and several corpses that had been left behind before they could be cleaned up.
But there was no sign of the Blood-Sucking Demon.
“I’m sure I heard something from in here...”
We began searching the room thoroughly.
Just like at Mount Gongga, I was certain there had to be a hidden passage somewhere.
Then Shin Yu-eun found something.
“Would you come take a look here?”
What Shin Yu-eun pointed to was the lower part of a bookshelf.
When I examined the spot closely, I saw marks where something had been dragged.
I immediately followed the scrape marks and pulled at the bookshelf.
The shelf slowly slid aside, revealing a secret passage behind it.
“Amazing! You’ve got incredible eyes.”
When I praised Shin Yu-eun’s sharpness, her face turned a little red with embarrassment.
We moved into the secret passage at once.
Once inside behind the bookshelf, we found a spiral staircase leading down underground.
We kept descending the stairs until a huge tunnel finally appeared.
“Looks like he escaped this way.”
Shin Yu-eun and Geumgang agreed with me.
We quickly began the chase.
Fortunately, the tunnel wasn’t complicated; it was a straight passage.
It looked like an escape route.
As we pursued him down the passage, a massive silhouette appeared ahead of us.
When we drew closer, a burly man with a vicious face stepped in our way.
“I can’t let you go any farther than this.”
He seemed to be the leader of the bandits we had seen at the building’s entrance.
He swung a massive flail to threaten us.
It was hard to force our way through when he was wildly swinging it in a narrow chokepoint.
I calmly drew my sword, narrowly avoided the flail, and cut at him.
But no matter how many times I cut him down, he regenerated almost instantly and kept swinging his flail like a madman.
“This won’t be easy.”
Then Geumgang stepped forward.
“Please go ahead while this humble monk holds him down.”
One Technique of the Tathagata Divine Art: Diamond Indestructible Body.
Geumgang’s body was suddenly covered in gold, and he blocked the man’s flail with his bare body before seizing it outright.
Then he grabbed the man with his bare hands and began a test of strength.
The bandit leader was much bigger, but Geumgang overpowered him with ease and shoved him back against the wall.
“Now!”
At Geumgang’s shout, Shin Yu-eun and I slipped through the opening created behind him.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
Shin Yu-eun and I immediately started running down the passage, while Geumgang held the leader in place.
Heavy thuds echoed from behind us, but we didn’t stop.
After running for a while, I spotted the back of a man walking ahead, muttering to himself.
That’s him. It has to be the Blood-Sucking Demon we ran into before!
Seeing that familiar build from behind, I was certain he was the Blood-Sucking Demon.
“Damn it, they’ve already caught up? What’s that bastard doing!”
The Blood-Sucking Demon noticed us chasing him from behind and started running.
As we pursued him, bright light began to show ahead.
“Looks like an exit!” Shin Yu-eun said.
Since it would be easier to catch him if we went outside and signaled the others, I told Shin Yu-eun to prepare a signal flare.
Shin Yu-eun nodded and fumbled with the flare inside her robe.
The Blood-Sucking Demon rushed out of the passage, and just as we were about to follow him, he suddenly looked back and threw something from his chest.
“Eat this!”
What he threw was a round object about the size of a fist.
It didn’t reach us, but it landed inside the passage.
I looked closely at what he had thrown.
“Damn it! It’s a bomb!”
On closer inspection, I could see the fuse burning.
The Blood-Sucking Demon sneered as he looked at us.
I quickly drew the dagger from my waist and threw it at him.
The dagger flew fast and sank straight into his leg.
“Gaaah!”
He screamed in pain, grabbed his leg, and fell.
Once we got out of the passage, it would be easy to catch him.
But by then, the bomb’s fuse was nearly invisible.
The moment I escaped the passage and Shin Yu-eun followed behind me—
“KWAANG!!”
The bomb exploded behind Shin Yu-eun.
With a thunderous blast, the tunnel collapsed and a shockwave roared out.
“Kyah!”
Shin Yu-eun was blown out with the debris by the force of the explosion.
I wrapped my arms around Shin Yu-eun and threw myself outside with her.
I quickly assessed the situation.
Shin Yu-eun had been affected by the blast, but she didn’t seem to have suffered any major injuries.
Fortunately, she looked as though she had only been knocked unconscious for a moment.
The problem was me.
While shielding Shin Yu-eun as we fell, my left arm had been injured.
I can’t feel my left arm.
When I staggered to my feet, my left shoulder had apparently dislocated, because there was no sensation at all.
In front of me, the Blood-Sucking Demon was pulling out the dagger I’d thrown and regenerating his wound.
“You’re a tough one. I should’ve finished you off right then.”
The Blood-Sucking Demon seemed to recognize me.
“I should’ve caught you then, too.”
I calmly gripped the White Moon Blade at my waist.
Fortunately, it was my left arm that had been injured, so I could still fight to some extent.
“I’ll end this now!”
Drawing Slash.
Something about it felt different from usual.
Maybe because my left hand wasn’t there to steady the scabbard, or because my balance was off, but the draw didn’t have its usual force behind it.
Still, the good thing was that I had cleanly cut into the Blood-Sucking Demon’s abdomen.
“That’s all?”
At his voice, I looked behind me and saw that the Blood-Sucking Demon was already regenerating himself.
“This is the grace of that great one! I’ve become a new human—different from the likes of you!”
Blood-Sucking Demon Art, Second Form: Blood Flying Dart.
From the Blood-Sucking Demon’s wound, droplets of blood rose into the air and flew toward me.
I hurriedly poured inner power into the White Moon Blade and deflected the blood droplets as they came.
Trying to block them with one hand made it hard to absorb the impact, and I was driven back before toppling over.
“You’re a sorry sight!”
Blood-Sucking Demon Art, Second Form: Blood Flying Dart.
As the blood droplets kept flying at me, I rolled aside to evade them.
I couldn’t avoid every single one, but I managed to dodge all the vital points, so it didn’t interfere with the fight.
Once again, I sheathed the White Moon Blade and charged at the Blood-Sucking Demon.
Drawing Slash.
This time too, the force was weaker than usual, but it still cleanly severed one of the Blood-Sucking Demon’s arms.
Thunk.
The Blood-Sucking Demon’s right arm fell to the ground.
But the Blood-Sucking Demon acted as though it were nothing, picked up the severed arm, and pressed it back to his shoulder.
Then, just as before, the cut surface writhed and reattached naturally as though nothing had happened.
“Do you really think a mere human can overcome the grace of that great one?”
But I didn’t give up. I rushed him at once and swung the White Moon Blade in a frenzy.
Ice Dragon Sword Dance, Third Form: Blizzard of Ice Blossoms.
The sword infused with inner power turned blue, and the air along its path froze over.
Since the power and speed were both clearly diminished, the Blood-Sucking Demon easily blocked Blizzard of Ice Blossoms with the dagger he kept inside his robe.
Still, he couldn’t completely deflect it, so he took a wound and stumbled back.
“Not bad. If you join our Blood Sect now, I’ll bestow that grace upon you as well.”
“Blood Sect? Grace?”
“Everything follows his will. If you receive his grace, you too can become a new human.”
The Blood-Sucking Demon spoke with absolute confidence.
But in that moment, I noticed something.
The speed at which he was regenerating had dropped sharply.
The difference from before was that, thanks to Blizzard of Ice Blossoms, the cut surface of his current wounds had frozen over slightly.
If even a severed arm regenerates that fast, then the reason these smaller wounds are healing slowly must be that.
The Blood-Sucking Demon kept yammering about accepting that great one’s grace, but I no longer heard a word of it.
I sheathed the White Moon Blade again and lowered my stance.
Just like when I used Blizzard of Ice Blossoms, I poured inner power into the sword.
I could feel cold energy surging within the scabbard, spilling outward.
This might still not be enough.
I sent inner power flowing into the scabbard itself.
Then the chill began to ripple and leak out even from beyond the scabbard.
The White Moon Blade started trembling, as if begging to be drawn at once.
Everything around me was quieter than ever, and time seemed to be flowing more slowly.
Instinctively, sensing that this was the moment, I drew the blade.
Ice Dragon Sword Dance, First Form: Ice Dragon Emerges from the Water.
The moment I drew the White Moon Blade, the shape of a dragon seemed to burst forth from the scabbard.
It was a draw unlike anything I’d done before.
Along with a final cry, I heard the Blood-Sucking Demon collapse to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Hah...”
I let out a ragged breath and looked back.
Everything along the sword’s path had frozen solid, and the Blood-Sucking Demon had been cut from his right shoulder all the way down to his flank as if a dragon had bitten through him.
Not only the cut surface, but even the flesh around the wound had frozen.
Perhaps from the overwhelming pain, the Blood-Sucking Demon had lost consciousness.
“Haah... this is really tough...”
I collapsed onto the ground.
A numb pain began to spread through my left arm.
Far away, I thought I could hear the voices of Paeng Hoyeon and Cheongpung.
“Hurry up and come here... I’m exhausted...”