Chapter 859: I Have Come to Eat You, Un-seol
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 859: I Have Come to Eat You, Un-seol
'He was an incredibly powerful man.'
Mu-yang fell into thought as he gazed down at the slumped form of Ouyang Ping.
Ouyang Ping had been a monstrously strong human being. With his endless, blazing heat and a threatening saber style backed by immense physical strength, he was a man who truly embodied the word "strong."
'I must give my thanks to the Grandmaster.'
If the Grandmaster hadn't passed down his enlightenment, the one lying on the ground would have been Mu-yang himself, not his opponent.
Grip.
Mu-yang tightened his hold on his sword.
Whoosh!
With a swift motion, he severed the neck of the limp Ouyang Ping.
The head and torso were completely separated. Mu-yang reached out, grabbed the severed head by the hair, and hoisted it high. He held it as high as possible so that everyone could see it clearly.
"Behold! Your leader, Ouyang Ping, has been defeated by my hand and beheaded! He displayed powerful fire arts, but in the end, his life was extinguished by the sword of Kunlun! Throw down your weapons and surrender immediately! If you do not, I shall take all your heads just as I took Ouyang Ping's!"
He infused his voice with internal energy, letting it explode outward. His voice thundered across the battlefield, ringing in everyone's ears.
"What?! The Vice Palace Master?!"
"Impossible! To think the Vice Palace Master is dead!"
The disciples of the Sun Divine Palace were struck with bewilderment. Ouyang Ping was the greatest master in their sect after the Palace Master, Ouyang Jin; the fact that he had been defeated was utterly unbelievable.
However, they had no choice but to accept it. They were witnessing the gruesome sight of Ouyang Ping’s severed head with their own eyes.
"H-how..."
"This can't be..."
The expressions of the Sun Divine Palace disciples turned grim. Their morale and will to fight plummeted at the realization that the leader they relied on was dead.
"Waaaaah! The Sect Leader has taken the head of the enemy leader!"
"Waaaaah! Kunlun's martial arts have triumphed over the Sun Divine Palace!"
In contrast, the morale of the Kunlun disciples soared. Knowing their Sect Leader was standing firm behind them gave them a natural surge of strength.
"Throw down your weapons and surrender! If you surrender now, I will spare your lives!"
Mu-yang urged them to yield as he looked at the grim-faced Sun Divine Palace disciples. He didn't want to suffer any more casualties.
However, not a single disciple of the Sun Divine Palace dropped their weapon. They merely glanced at one another, hesitating.
"Do not surrender! We still have the God of the Great Desert! When the God of the Great Desert arrives, he will turn an old man like that into ash in an instant!"
Just then, a rough-looking middle-aged man raised his saber and roared.
"Waaaaah! Our God is still with us!"
"Do not be afraid! The God will protect us!"
"May the God be with us!"
With those words, the morale of the Sun Divine Palace disciples surged back like a tidal wave. The mere mention of the "God of the Great Desert" had restored their fighting spirit to its previous heights.
"Waaaaah! Burn Kunlun to the ground!"
"Avenge the Vice Palace Master!"
The Sun Divine Palace disciples began to unleash fierce flames once more, directing them straight at the Kunlun disciples.
"Do not back down! Show these bastards the height of Kunlun's sword!"
"I'll send you to join your precious Vice Palace Master!"
The Kunlun disciples raised their swords even higher, meeting the charge head-on with murderous aura infused into their blades. The battle between the two groups erupted once again.
'Tch.'
Mu-yang clicked his tongue inwardly. It seemed impossible to end this without further bloodshed now that their morale had been rekindled.
'Just who... is this... God of the Great Desert...?'
Mu-yang looked puzzled. Who was this "God of the Great Desert" that could inspire such fanatical devotion and rally them from the brink of despair?
As he was lost in thought, a voice cut through.
"Die!"
The rough-looking middle-aged man who had rallied the troops swung his saber down at Mu-yang. Seeing this, Mu-yang threw Ouyang Ping's head, which he was still holding in his left hand, directly into the path of the saber.
The man flinched, his movements coming to a sudden halt. He couldn't bring himself to hack through the head of his Vice Palace Master.
Clang!
Mu-yang didn't miss the opening. He lightly swung his sword, parrying the frozen saber into the air. This left the man's chest wide open.
'An opening!'
Swish!
Mu-yang lunged forward. He straightened his five fingers and thrust his hand toward the man's chest.
Crunch!
His fingers struck the chest, pierced through the flesh, and impaled the man's heart.
"......Guh... Geu-argh......"
The man coughed up blood and groaned as his heart was pierced. His eyes rolled back until only the whites were visible. He was dead.
Pluck.
Mu-yang quickly withdrew his hand from the man's heart.
Thud.
The Sun Divine Palace martial artist collapsed onto the ground.
"My apologies. I don't have the luxury of fighting fair and square right now."
Mu-yang offered a brief apology to the corpse. Then, without a hint of lingering regret, he turned and began to walk toward the thick of the battle.
Behind him, only the heart-pierced man and the severed head of Ouyang Ping remained.
*
"Haah... damn it... it hurts like hell."
Lying on the ground, Un-seol groaned in agony. As time passed, her condition wasn't improving; the pain was only intensifying.
It felt as if bone fragments were lodged in her lungs, making every breath a struggle. Her entire body felt fractured, and every joint ached. Her arm was broken and dangling uselessly, and her internal energy was so depleted she couldn't muster any strength. To top it off, she was covered in burns that felt like thousands of needles pricking her skin. She was, quite literally, in a near-death state.
"Of course... it hurts. You took my Fire Calamity head-on, after all."
A deep, masculine voice reached her ears. It was the man she had fought to the death: Flame Disaster Ouyang Jin.
"Don't talk to me, you weapon-reliant hack. If it wasn't for that goddamn weapon, I wouldn't have been beaten like this."
Un-seol snapped back, her voice sharp with irritation. Hearing his voice only made her blood boil.
"I have told you repeatedly, possessing a magnificent weapon is also a part of a martial artist's capability. Do you still not understand that?"
"It's just pathetic. Watching you act all high and mighty as if it's your own strength, when you're just filling your lack of skill with a fancy toy."
Un-seol began to criticize him scathingly. She didn't actually have a problem with the outcome of the fight. She knew full well that in a duel between martial artists, having a superior weapon wasn't a flaw.
Her grievance was with Ouyang Jin's attitude. It disgusted her that he spoke as if he were the true victor, when he had only managed to match her by boosting his power with that divine relic. It was annoying enough to make her skin crawl.
".......Your tongue is sharp, woman."
Ouyang Jin frowned at her biting words. He had tried to let it slide at first, but her constant dismissal of him as a "weapon-reliant hack" was starting to grate on his nerves.
Who was he? He was a walking catastrophe, the man hailed as the God of the Great Desert. How could she treat him with such utter contempt?
"Want me to sharpen it more? Without that weapon, you're just a useless piece of shit."
She mocked him with a thick smirk on her lips. It was a humiliating insult, and it sent Ouyang Jin's rage boiling over.
"You wretched bitch! Even the position of a concubine is too good for you! I'll turn you into a public prostitute and let men use you until the day you die!"
"Vulgar bastard. Keep dreaming."
Un-seol spat out the words with annoyance. Ouyang Jin's crude threats only made her more irritated.
"I'm going to cut off your arms and legs and make you crawl around like a maggot. Just you wait, you crazy bastard."
She threatened him back, promising him a miserable existence.
"I'll be the one cutting off your limbs. It'll be quite a sight to see you squirming."
"I'm going to dump you in a male brothel. You can spend the rest of your life getting fucked."
The two of them continued to hurl curses and insults at each other. Since they couldn't move their bodies, they used their mouths instead.
They had been arguing for quite some time when...
Whirrrrrrrr!
A bone-chilling wind began to howl with an ominous sound.
Twitch.
Both of them flinched and immediately shut their mouths. Along with the eerie wind, they felt an unsettling presence.
'What... is this... this revulsion... and dread...?'
Un-seol was bewildered. A feeling of disgust, as if thousands of insects were crawling over her skin, and a sense of dread, as if thousands of crows were cawing at once, enveloped her entire body. She had never felt anything like this before. It was a mystery why these emotions were suddenly overwhelming her.
Step. Step. Step.
The sound of footsteps began to echo in their ears. Someone was approaching. Both of them quickly turned their heads to identify the newcomer.
And there he was. A man wearing a black robe embroidered with golden demons.
""..............The Heavenly Demon.""
The two of them spoke in trembling voices. They knew the identity of the man who had appeared all too well.
The founder of the Thousand-Year Demonic Cult.
The king of all demons.
The immortal who does not die even in death.
An incomprehensible existence that defies human common sense.
The Sky of Demons.
The Heavenly Demon.
"H-how... are you... here..."
".......Why have you shown yourself!"
They asked him, their faces filled with confusion. His sudden appearance made no sense to them.
"I am an existence that is everywhere and nowhere. I can exist on Mount Kunlun, and I can also not exist here."
The Heavenly Demon spoke in a calm, detached tone.
"Cut the crap. Stop talking nonsense and tell us your business. Why are you here?"
Un-seol cursed and demanded to know his purpose. She had no patience for his mystical act and cryptic riddles.
"I have come to eat you, Un-seol."
The Heavenly Demon replied with a deep smile.
"W-what?"
Un-seol stammered, her face pale with shock. What kind of nonsense was this now?
"A Half-Immortal who has completed the Nature Sword, albeit imperfectly. I shall eat you."
The Heavenly Demon continued, his smile brightening.
"You crazy bastard, are you a cannibal now?"
She frowned and retorted.
"Do not worry. it will not be painful. We are simply becoming one."
The Heavenly Demon spoke calmly.
"Piss off. I'd rather bite my tongue and die than be eaten by a freak like you."
She snarled at him, issuing a fierce warning.
"It matters not if you die. Even if only a corpse remains, I can still merge with it."
The Heavenly Demon looked at her with indifferent eyes.
"Let us become one."
Billow. Billow.
Black mist began to seep out from around the Heavenly Demon. It slowly started to coil around the fallen Un-seol.
"Dammit."
Un-seol cursed under her breath. She was furious at her current state, unable to put up even a proper resistance.
Whoosh!
The black mist began to wrap around her in layer after layer.
"Now...... come...... give me... your realization... Un-seol..."
The Heavenly Demon spoke as he watched Un-seol being swallowed by the black mist. He waited for the mist to consume her completely.
Fwooooosh!
Suddenly, a wind so powerful it could be called a gale—no, a hurricane—began to howl. The raging wind blew away the black mist surrounding Un-seol as if it had never existed in the first place.
'.......W-what?'
As the black mist cleared completely, Un-seol looked around in confusion. What on earth was happening?
"You cannot have that child."
A voice, incredibly clear and pure, resonated through the area. Upon hearing that voice, the Heavenly Demon's expression shifted. His indifferent face began to cloud with rage.