Chapter 276
Chapter 276
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Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Protectorate (1)
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Song Baek's eyes trembled.
How could he not recognize the person standing before him?
He was the one who had existed at the highest pinnacle during the most radiant moment of his life.
Even if he called Gu Il-so the Cult Leader, the one before him was the "Supreme One."
It would be no exaggeration to say he was the most noble being under heaven.
"Wh-why have you returned only now? After the Supreme One abandoned the cult and everything fell to ruin, how can you come back now?"
Thus, Song Baek felt a surge of hot emotion rising within him.
"If the Supreme One had been here, the Lion Blood Wind Squad would never have become monsters chasing corpses. If the Supreme One had been here, we would have rebuked the demonic path from a place of glory!"
The name of that emotion was indignation.
"You showed us the highest and most noble, so why return now!"
Song Baek's cry was nearly a howl.
"Why only now-!"
"Tsk tsk. Pathetic fool."
"...Pardon?"
"How utterly insignificant and worthless a creature you are."
Under that pitying gaze, Song Baek found himself stuttering unwittingly.
"Do you know? What happened after you left? Have you felt the anguish of a proud cult member's death, their corpse not even preserved whole!"
To Song Baek's rage-filled words came an utterly cold reply.
"Should I know?"
"......"
Song Baek was struck speechless.
"Listen well. Does an eagle soaring through the skies abandon its flight and fold its wings out of worry for ants crawling along the roadside?"
"...?"
"Your existence amounts to that much. Should I reverse my resolve for the likes of you? You seem to be under some delusion."
Arrogant words beyond measure.
"You place far too much value on yourself. To me, you are worth no more than a small insect encountered on the road."
"Th-that..."
As leader of the Lion Blood Wind Squad, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?
"My value is..."
"A boatman who cannot advance through darkness without a lantern meets his end there. Swallowed by the waves or culled. You, submerged beneath them."
To those heart-rending words, Song Baek could not even part his lips.
With great difficulty, he finally spoke, driven by the last ember of his pride.
"Then... why! Why reveal yourself before me?"
He hoped for even a trivial word of warmth.
Even words saying he was needed.
Then he would burn away his life to follow the Supreme One once more.
But the Supreme One's response upon their reunion was ice-cold.
"Merely because a small pebble like you lay in my path."
"......"
"You have two paths. Unlike the others, you have prolonged your life by selling young souls, so you have no right to complain even in death."
"...Kuh."
"Will you die as the Cult Leader's dog, offering cult members as living sacrifices? Or rise for the sake of the last cult member and die as a traitor?"
No choice avoided death.
His own death was a foregone conclusion.
Then he realized it anew.
'Ah... It is the Supreme One.'
This ruthlessly powerful, yet even more arrogant being gave no thought to human emotions.
That was why he could stand above the cult's heavens as a transcendent existence beyond realms.
"I..."
Song Baek closed his eyes.
Sling.
The iron thread pressed against his chin, slicing into his skin, but Song Baek did not move an inch.
Not because he—one of the Blood Cult's top hundred experts—could not match Blood Scribe Jin Se-hyun's martial arts.
Not out of fear of the Hell Poison Eye Dragon, Asura Sword Demon, or Killer Valley Lord lurking like ghosts behind.
He closed his eyes purely.
To focus every ounce of his spirit on the final decision.
At last, he spoke.
"I wanted to become the Dark Soul Black Wind Killer."
Only after seeing the flicker in the Supreme One's eyes did Song Baek smile wistfully.
"However... this body is already sullied. Even from the tail end of the Hundred Ghosts, I will follow the Supreme One."
For the first time, the Supreme One smiled at him.
His heart began to pound fiercely.
"Captain!"
Song Baek waved his hand toward the recovered squad members.
"You plan to head to the Protectorate?"
"Yes."
"All paths to the Protectorate have been sealed."
"All of them?"
Blood Scribe Jin Se-hyun frowned delicately as he examined the map.
"Events after Blood Scribe left the cult."
Rustle. Song Baek bit his fingertip and wrote characters in blood across the incomplete map.
"Thanks to that, the Protectorate is isolated now. No one in the cult pays it any mind, which is fortunate."
"The Protectorate elders are men even the Cult Leader fears. How could that be?"
Wi Ji-geuk asked.
"The issue was the Cult Leader perfecting the True Demon Blood God Art. Having fully mastered an absolute divine skill unmatched since the Heavenly Demon Ancestor, the elders must fear him."
"Hmm. True Demon Blood God Art."
His fingers moved swiftly, marking several spots on the map.
"To reach the Protectorate beyond the main base, passing through here is best."
"Yin Blood Valley? Didn't the Lord wipe out that clan?"
Gazing at the fluttering bandages, Song Baek replied.
"The current Cult Leader trusts no existing experts. He likely suspects their submission to the Supreme One."
"Continue."
"Recently, he gathered poison mages and revived Yin Blood Valley for the same reason. Rumors say Yin Blood Valley and Five Poisons Cult lie at the heart of the Blood Tribulation, colluding with foreigners."
"Why choose those two among demonic noble houses?"
"They wield poison and curse arts. Ideal for capturing living sacrifices and executing rebels—no one more useful."
"Huhu. The Blue Spirit Jiangshi we encountered en route must be their handiwork too."
"Correct."
Song Baek affirmed as he listened.
"Moreover, with the Cult Leader's favor, subduing them first will prove highly useful in many ways."
"The more useful, the more heavily guarded."
"Yes."
Song Baek added, trembling in terror.
"Yin Blood Valley has revived the 'Ghost Brigade'."
Ghost Brigade.
Once an army of jiangshi and drugged fiends, a name ever bound to the Blood Cult's infamy.
"Understood."
Twirl.
Chu Un-hwi drew Dark Soul from thin air and stabbed a section of the map.
Stab.
There, the characters 'Yin Blood Valley' were written.
"Let's smash these bastards first."
Rumble.
Experts from the masked Asura Sword Squad and Silent Shadow Squad began pouring through the North Gate.
"Time will be our biggest problem."
Sima Yul's assessment was spot on.
They had succeeded in infiltrating the Blood Cult's main base, but a full-scale battle would draw countless experts pouring forth.
"Why? Scared?"
"No way. Just eager to loosen up after so long—feels good."
"You rascal."
Swish swish swish.
Dan Ya returned, reeking thickly of blood.
"Lord. Small fry mostly cleared."
Seeing the blood-soaked fluttering bandages, Chu Un-hwi shrugged.
"Jin Se-hyun."
"Yes, Lord."
"You clean up with the trailing forces and catch up."
"Understood!"
"First, I need to see this Yin Blood Valley Lord's face."
"Hah!"
Passing the corridor into a small hall, Yin Blood Valley Lord Yeom Po was stunned.
"Who the hell!"
The hall, always swarming with disciples, stood empty. Thick blood scent drifted from afar.
"Valley Lord! Ambush!"
To his blood-drenched disciple's cry, Yeom Po slammed his bone staff and bellowed.
"Who dares target our valley!"
"Th-they're unknowns."
He rushed to the hall, flung open the doors, and gazed down at the arena stretching below a hundred steps.
"Hmm..."
There, a band flashed razor-sharp sword gleams, herding and slaughtering the valley's disciples.
Capturing his eye: sword lights gleaming with peculiar elegance amid the darkness.
A blue gleam in the shadows, and disciples halved.
"Ghost Brigade! What of the Ghost Brigade!"
Ghost Brigade.
Yin Blood Valley's ace: a thousand blood spirit jiangshi.
These specially refined jiangshi repelled blades and scattered poison with every gesture.
'If only the Ghost Brigade moves...'
Even peak experts could be torn apart.
So he thought—but his disciple's words struck like a bolt from the blue.
"Th-they... the jiangshi won't move at all."
"What nonsense is this!"
"This subordinate doesn't know. The jiangshi are silent—damage spreading fast."
"They can neutralize blood spirit jiangshi?"
In that brief moment gathering himself, more disciples toppled.
No more—he personally raised the bone staff to command the jiangshi.
Ghost Cry Bone Staff, handed down through Yin Blood Valley generations.
To curse mages, no different from a divine artifact—capable of shattering any curse.
But he could not even take a step.
"Didn't expect to see you again like this."
Flutter.
With the sound of cicada wings and surging killing intent, Yeom Po swung the bone staff a dozen times and retreated five paces.
Tap.
Before him grinned a man holding a single sword at his side.
"Asura Sword Demon."
"Long time no see, Yeom clansman. Or should I call you Valley Lord now?"
Sling.
The instant the sword tip turned toward him, Yeom Po gritted his teeth against the sensation of a colossal sword afterimage crushing down.
"Asura Heaven Piercing Sword. The art that lopped off your father's skull. Don't you miss it?"
"Sword Demon! I'll kill you!"
"Your father spouted drivel too and became a headless ghost. Curious if you'll recognize each other if the son leaves his head on the ground as well."
"You bastard!"
Under the pure provocation, demonic qi flowed from his eyes as Yeom Po drove his poison arts to the extreme.