Heavenly Demon (2)
As soon as the great hall doors opened—
"How dare some lowly stray…!"
"You idiot! You got caught because you let your guard down, and now look at you." Nam Danju dragged the middle-aged Twelfth Elder forward and forced his head down onto the floor of the hall.
"I, Nam Danju of the Great Heavenly Demon Divine Church's Supreme Heavenly Sect, greet our honorable Church Leader."
With every acupoint in his body sealed and black iron chains biting into him, even a veteran elder of the Blood Sect had no choice but to bow helplessly.
"Krr… To humiliate me like this…!"
"……."
Her master watched the scene in silence.
As expressionless as ever.
"Nam Danju, you may withdraw now."
"Yes, ma'am."
Her master said nothing else, resting her chin on one hand until Danju had left the hall.
There were many people inside, yet not a single breath could be heard. If anyone was restless, it was the Twelfth Elder. After a long hesitation, he finally spoke.
"…This pressure…. Don't tell me you're the Heavenly Demon?"
"How insolent! Someone like you, a mere Blood Sect elder, is not worthy of addressing her!"
His face brightened at the confirmation of his own guess.
"Kuhehe… Good, very good! So the Demonic Sect is finished after all! To think you're serving such a fake."
"A prisoner like you dares to spout such nonsense…!"
"That woman is a fake! Your rightful successor was personally dealt with by Lord Blood Demon!"
He had the nerve to insult the Church Leader…!
My blood boiled in my skull.
I should cut off one of his arms at least!
At that moment—
"Twelfth Elder, what brings you to this church?"
A clear, pure voice rang through the hall.
At last, her master spoke.
"…Girl. Why else would I be here if your underlings dragged me in like this? I ended up in the hands of some greenhorn…!"
Even as the Twelfth Elder shouted in bitter complaint, she rose slowly from the throne, her face still devoid of expression.
"……."
Her red eyes, as if they saw through everything, gleamed faintly.
She was clearly acting out a perfect piece of grand theater, but to a third party it looked nothing more than ridiculous.
Perhaps he wasn't stupid enough to miss the mood, because the elder hesitated before speaking again.
"Just when… did it start?"
"……."
She remained silent.
As though the question wasn't even worth answering.
"Khahah… So the dragon's cub really is a dragon, after all…. Ku, kuhahahahahaha!!"
Swoooosh—
Blood energy gathered more and more around the Twelfth Elder's body, and he burst into mad laughter.
Just how had he broken free? His acupoints had been sealed and his dantian half destroyed.
That could wait. I gave orders to the hidden guards stationed throughout the hall.
"What are you all doing? Shoot that Blood Sect bastard down at once—"
I had no choice but to stop my command.
Her master slowly raised her right hand.
An unmistakable sign of refusal.
Then the black iron chains snapped apart like hemp cord, and—
Crack.
Crack-crack—
Bathed in blood energy, the Twelfth Elder transformed into a massive wolf-like fiend beast.
A sinister purple jewel glowed from its chest.
"Behold, you trashy Demonic Sect dogs! This is the power of our church's divine relic, the Blood Jade Divine Relic!"
The beast's roar swept through the hall.
As its ferocious blood energy spread with murderous intensity, even breathing became difficult.
"Th-there's no way. How does a Blood Sect elder possess this level of inner power?"
"Could he be at the Profound Realm?! No—maybe even beyond that!!"
"What are you waiting for! Protect the Church Leader now!!"
Amid the cries of awe and shock, the guards sprang up from all directions to block the path before her.
"Keh-heh-heh…. You little trash! This is my new power, bestowed upon me by Lord Blood Demon!!"
"…I thought as much. It's a counterfeit."
Ignoring the dense killing intent, the woman with the red eyes walked slowly down the steps.
"Stop her!"
"Take him down before he reaches the Church Leader!"
"Too late, you pathetic demonic scum. This is the end for you!!"
The dense aura was visible to the eye, and the murderous pressure, sharp enough to cut flesh, was so overwhelming it interfered even with the flow of inner power.
The Twelfth Elder's blood energy churned as though it might sweep across the world!
Except—
"…How utterly insignificant. For this lord to have to indulge such child's play…."
"Child's play? You've lost your mind!! This power is acknowledged even by Lord Blood Dem—"
She seemed to take in the spectacle for a moment, then casually swept one hand sideways and flicked her fingers.
And then—
"Ghk, kuhheeeeeeegh…."
The Twelfth Elder's triumphant laughter turned into a shriek of agony that echoed through the hall.
It was bizarre.
She had only moved a finger lazily, that was all.
"Kraaaaaaah!!!!"
Yet all four of the powerful elder's limbs were torn away, and a thick stench of blood spread through the hall.
As expected of the Church Leader…!
"It seems a fair amount of time has passed…. To think someone would make a counterfeit of the Heavenly Jade."
The Twelfth Elder twitched on the floor like a worm, vomiting blood from every part of his body.
"Kraaaaaaaah!! Hhk, impossible!! Ghk… What in the world is this!!!"
Still not fully grasping the situation, he raised his head and glared toward the Church Leader.
"How unpleasant."
As she swept her left hand,
Crack—
His body twisted like clay and spat out blackish-red blood in a gush.
"Uegh… ghk."
Still expressionless, she asked quietly, "Speak. Where is the Heavenly Jade?"
Half-mad with pain, he screamed back, "Do you think I would tell you?! When the Blood Demon Emperor cuts off your head, you—khehk!"
"I see… Then I understand your loyalty."
The Twelfth Elder's body twisted in all directions, east and west, north and south, and made a grotesque sound.
"Argh… aaaaagh!"
"…Time is plentiful. Keep thinking."
Then she slowly sat back on the throne and leaned against it.
********
It is snowing.
A childhood so distant my memories of it had already grown hazy. The day I hurried away somewhere, clutching my older brother's hand—
"We have to leave here at once. We don't know when the pursuers will arrive."
Back then, I was too young to understand what was happening.
"B-but there are still other people…"
"Don't worry. Come here. We'll be reunited soon enough."
And yet, one memory still remained vivid in some corner of my mind.
"Big brother!"
"They've already made it this far…! Go! Hurry! I'll draw their attention!"
So I ran.
Until I collapsed from exhaustion.
People think that if something is out of sight, then it no longer exists, but I could still feel him even as he vanished beyond the blizzard's white curtain.
"Kyah—"
When I finally ran out of strength and tumbled into the snow, the little girl was crying…
And smiling.
Whether it was because she felt relieved to be alive or because she was sad to be left alone, no one knew.
Not even herself.
"Sob, sniff…"
The world was pure white like blossoms in full bloom, but that was when I first learned… that even white could be dark.
Snow fell over her tears.
Endlessly.
*********
"Church Leader?"
At the gentle voice reaching her ears, she slowly opened her eyes.
"……."
Her beautiful face twisted slightly.
That dream again.
As she frowned, the red in her eyes seemed to deepen.
The Heavenly Demon slowly lifted her right hand.
"The Twelfth Elder, who had fainted, has risen again."
"I see."
With her master's change in mood, the Third Elder swallowed dryly, nerves tightening.
She hardly ever showed emotion, but every so often there were moments when her expression turned displeased.
And every time that happened, no one could imagine how tense it made the room.
"K-kreuuuuuuughhhhhhh!!!"
A hideous beastly scream rang out, shaking the surroundings.
On the floor of the great hall lay the Blood Sect's Twelfth Elder—no, the enormous wolf-like fiend beast he had become—thrashing wildly and shrieking.
His body had already been butchered beyond recognition, leaving only his head and torso.
And yet the bastard was still alive.
Unbelievable.
Black-red bubbles began boiling up from where his limbs had been, and then tentacles burst out.
Her beautiful white skin curved like a winter valley, and she furrowed her brow.
"Disgusting."
She clenched her fist.
Shrrk!
Then, as though wringing out a wet towel, the Twelfth Elder's body twisted and contorted, and—
"Kyaaaaaaaaaek!! Kraaaaaaah!!!"
His lower half snapped clean off and fell away.
The hall filled with a terrible scream so full of pain it might have come from the depths of hell itself.
"So noisy. You really have no patience at all…."
The Heavenly Demon moved her fingers.
"……."
Just like that, tranquil silence returned.
Gulp.
Everyone in the hall trembled at her overwhelming might, and at the same time, relief settled over them.
Because she was their master.
With a soft sweep of her hand, the Twelfth Elder's body was repeatedly torn apart and stitched back together.
For a very long while.
She would not even permit him the mercy of fainting again.
"Do you feel like talking now?"
Whatever she did, her face remained unreadable as she rested her hand on the armrest and propped up her chin.
"……."
The man's eyes were full of despair.
Where in the world did this monster of a woman come from…? Does the Blood Demon Emperor know about this?
As an elder, he knew many ways to take his own life instantly or endure pain—but none of them worked.
Every time the Heavenly Demon lazily moved her hand—
"……."
—he could only stifle his screams inwardly in utter misery.
This soul-crushing agony was not something you could beat with some flimsy trick.
His gaze met the monster's red eyes.
There was no trace of human emotion in them, no anger at all, even though he was the Blood Sect's sworn enemy.
This is not just some fiend… no, it's an existence from an entirely different world.
Only now did he realize that the fact he had been allowed to faint at the beginning was itself an act of mercy.
…And that realization broke him completely.
The Heavenly Demon silently regarded the Twelfth Elder as he crawled miserably across the floor.
"N-no way. Kuuk, I planted the Hyeoloksinjo in my body…."
How foolish.
He still believed the Heavenly Jade fragment was genuine.
"……."
Crack!
"Aaaagh! I-I'll talk! Please, please just kill me…."
As her hand moved again, the Twelfth Elder wore an expression as though he had forgotten every happiness in life.
"Speak. Where is the Heavenly Jade?"
"Kuh, cough… I-I'll tell you everything. Please end this pain…."
"……."
And then…
She soon heard the answer she wanted.
When she sat back on the throne again—
"Church Leader, what shall we do now?"
The Third Elder clasped his hands and bowed.
"The elders will continue searching for Cheonsal."
"Then should we leave the Twelfth Elder's matter to the Grand Elder?"
"……."
Her master was silent for a long while, gazing up at the star-strewn ceiling.
Then she spoke.
"No…. I will search for it myself."
"……!"
Everyone in the hall was painted with shock.
*
*
Paeng Gayeon, her face red as an apple, held out a wooden box.
"Miss Paeng, what is this?"
"I… I prepared some elixirs for Sojin-nim!"
So that was what she was doing here. She'd been up to something this sweet and earnest…
"You mean elixirs?"
Inside the wooden box lay four elixirs.
"I don't know if you'll like them, but… I still did my best…."
Her words trailed off shyly.
…….
As expected of someone from the Hebei Paeng family, one of the Eight Great Clans, these were not elixirs you could obtain easily.
"I also prepared them with what you received from me last time in mind…."
Ah. She had even prepared elixirs suited to both yin and yang, which showed just how meticulous she was.
When I slowly lifted my head and met her eyes,
with her flushed expression and bright, sparkling gaze, and then…
"I-I prepared something too!" Ju Yeonhwa cut in between us.
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