Chapter 230
Chapter 230
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 64
>Chapter Title: Desire (2)
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“Hahaha. Your Majesty. Are you ready to be embraced in this man’s arms tonight and scream in ecstasy?”
‘!!!!!!’
No one could have anticipated it.
Who would have thought such shameless and vulgar words could come from Peng Seok-im, the younger brother of Peng I-mun, who was considered the closest aide to Consort Seo?
“Ha!”
She was so taken aback that even Consort Seo was left utterly dumbfounded.
She had placed great expectations on the Hebei Peng Clan.
They were her escape route from the Heaven and Earth Society, who supported her but ultimately sought to manipulate her as they pleased.
Yet now, that hope was crumbling before her eyes.
-Papapapak!
The Eastern Depot’s Chief Eunuch Jang So-gam, who had been exchanging moves with Seop Chun, leaped back to create distance. Unable to contain his fury, he scolded.
“Peng Seok-im! Have you truly lost your mind? How dare you be so disrespectful to Her Majesty...”
But before he could finish speaking,
Peng Seok-im let out a mad cackle as he strode toward the pavilion.
“Hehehe.”
Just from his appearance, it was clear he was far from sane.
The guards moved to block the man heading for the pavilion.
“Hero Peng, stop!”
“If you take one more step toward her, we’ll have no choice but to act.”
-Sring!
Those who drew their weapons assumed attack stances.
Sneering at their display, Peng Seok-im spoke.
“Act? Do you filthy worms think you can stop me? If you dare, give it a try. But you’ll have to stake your lives on it.”
With those words, Peng Seok-im continued forward without pause.
-Thud!
He took just one step, but the guards flinched.
It was because a thick killing intent and an inexplicable ominous aura poured from him, pressing down on them.
“S-Stop!”
“Stop him!”
“Urk! Attack!”
-Papapap!
Though somewhat intimidated by his presence, the guards launched themselves simultaneously to halt the unrelenting Peng Seok-im.
Skilled in coordinated attacks, the three warriors targeted his vital points from different angles.
But at that exact moment,
-Slash!
The moment they entered his range, Peng Seok-im’s sword swept broadly through the surrounding space, grazing the guards.
The three charging at him with their swords froze in place.
Terror mingled with shock on the guards’ faces.
“Ah... Ah...”
“H-How...”
-Chrrrrk!
Their bodies split open, upper and lower halves separating.
-Thud!
As they collapsed, writhing on the ground, the sight was gruesome beyond words.
Blood sprayed like fountains from their severed lower halves.
-Pshhh!
With three guards cleaved in half in an instant, the warriors on Consort Seo’s side couldn’t hide their dismay.
Peng Seok-im was the younger brother of Peng I-mun, her closest ally, and thus a reliable comrade to them.
Yet he had cut them down without mercy.
As murmurs rippled through the crowd, some eyes shifted not to the fallen guards but to the sword in Peng Seok-im’s hand, etched with strange markings.
‘The Wicked Sword?’
‘How does that bastard have the master’s sword?’
It was Mong Mu-yak and Seop Chun.
They recognized the sword in Peng Seok-im’s grasp as the Wicked Sword.
The Wicked Sword (惡則劍) was a demonic blade forged by the legendary swordsmith Gu Ya-ja.
‘Ah!’
Come to think of it, before entering the rear garden, they had handed their weapons to the soldiers at the restaurant’s entrance.
It seemed someone had tampered with the sword then.
‘Has he been possessed by the blade’s demonic nature?’
Otherwise, he wouldn’t display such madness.
They had anticipated danger from the demonic Wicked Sword, but seeing even a near-transcendent master fall to its influence showed its power was no ordinary thing.
‘It wasn’t a sword to touch lightly.’
Mong Mu-yak, who had once coveted the Wicked Sword back with the Heaven and Earth Society, inwardly felt relieved as he recalled those days.
It was no item for the unworthy to pursue recklessly.
Just then,
-Pat!
After slicing the guards, Peng Seok-im pressed on toward the pavilion without stopping. Eastern Depot’s Chief Eunuch Jang So-gam blocked his path.
Assuming a refined attack stance, Jang So-gam glanced subtly at the sword in Peng Seok-im’s hand.
As a transcendent expert, he could tell at a glance that it was no ordinary blade.
‘There’s a demonic aura about it.’
It felt profoundly sinister.
In a low voice, Jang So-gam warned.
“Hero Peng, put down that sword at once and withdraw.”
But such a warning would hardly make Peng Seok-im back off.
Sneering, he kept advancing.
Jang So-gam shouted.
“Peng Seok-im, I said withdraw now!”
In response, Peng Seok-im sneered back.
“For a eunuch bastard, all you do is flap your mouth.”
-Grind!
Jang So-gam’s face twisted in fury at the words.
All eunuchs entering the palace underwent castration.
Only imperial clansmen could enter the palace interiors as men.
Thus, eunuchs became neither fully man nor woman through emasculation.
Yet they didn’t joyfully embrace or accept this fate.
Naturally, mocking them as eunuchs would provoke rage.
“You filthy scum!”
Having been called a eunuch twice, Jang So-gam could no longer hold back and launched first.
Knowing Peng Seok-im’s skills surpassed even his brother Peng I-mun, Jang So-gam unleashed his full power from the start with a lethal technique.
‘Sunflower Phantom Claw, Eighth Form: Wave Blood Corpse Claw!’
This was a desperate killing move designed to slay the foe without fail.
-Papapapak!
Jang So-gam’s claw technique, rippling with blue gang qi, unleashed a barrage of claw shadows like crashing waves, engulfing Peng Seok-im.
The momentum was so fierce it stirred gusts of wind around them.
“For a eunuch, not bad at all. But as long as I have this sword, you can’t defeat me.”
-Grip!
Clenching the sword hilt tightly, Peng Seok-im channeled his internal energy.
The blade’s sharpness focused, forming a blade of blue sword-gang.
With that, he unleashed his sword technique.
‘Primordial Thunderclap Sword! Thunder Movement Unity!’
-Kurrrung! Boom!
With a thunderclap-like roar, Peng Seok-im’s single stroke zigzagged like blue lightning, clashing against Jang So-gam’s wave-like claw assault.
-Papapapapapak!
As the transcendent experts’ lethal techniques collided, gang qi shockwaves scattered everywhere.
The ground shattered where the qi struck, chaos ensuing.
-Crunch! Boom! Boom!
“Gasp!”
“F-Fall back!”
Those nearby scattered in panic.
At a glance, it seemed evenly matched.
But Jang So-gam’s complexion was poor.
‘Is this truly the same root technique?’
Originally, the Primordial Thunderclap Sword derived from the staff art Primordial Thunderclap Staff.
Peng Seok-im had adapted it into a sword form, surpassing even the original in power and variation.
Having sparred with Peng I-mun and experienced the staff forms, Jang So-gam felt this keenly.
Moreover,
‘Even protected by gang qi, my hands feel like they’ll tear apart.’
He endured forcefully, but wounds accumulated on his hands.
Though the gang qi was similar, Jang So-gam executed barehanded while Peng Seok-im’s was amplified by the famed sword’s edge.
-Chrrrrrr!
Gradually, Jang So-gam’s form was pushed back.
Seop Chun, watching silently, had his eyes gleam.
‘Now’s the chance.’
Intervening now could reclaim his master’s Wicked Sword without much effort.
As he prepared to step in, a voice whispered in his ear.
-Leave it be.
‘Master?’
Seop Chun glanced puzzled at Mok Kyung-un.
With a cursed weapon in Peng Seok-im’s hands, why let it slide?
Incomprehensible, but his master’s command was absolute.
Thus, Seop Chun held back.
In the meantime, the clash of techniques between Peng Seok-im and Jang So-gam reached its conclusion.
-Papak! Slash!
Unable to withstand the sword technique’s power, a gap opened in Jang So-gam’s defense. Peng Seok-im swiftly exploited it, slashing his side.
Fortunately, it didn’t reach his vitals, but the sharp qi seeped in. Unable to bear the pain, Jang So-gam dropped to one knee.
-Thud!
“Groooar.”
“Chief Eunuch Jang!”
Seeing this, Consort Seo cried out in despair.
The Eastern Depot’s Chief Eunuch Jang So-gam was her sole protector among her closest aides.
Yet he had been defeated.
Now, none under her could stop that man.
“Hehehe. Eunuch scum, I’ll spare your life for now, so watch closely from there. Tonight, I’ll show you Seo Yang-hyo that bitch writhing and begging beneath me.”
“Grooo... Y-You bastard...”
Clutching his side, Jang So-gam tried to rise and block him despite the pain.
But with his injuries, it was impossible.
Peng Seok-im kicked Jang So-gam’s jaw as he grabbed at him.
-Puk!
“Gak!”
Struck in the jaw, Jang So-gam let out a short scream, spewing blood as he tumbled across the ground.
Peng Seok-im, having felled him, advanced unabated toward the pavilion.
-Thud thud!
“What are you lot doing? Stop him now!”
Eunuch Yu Bong scolded the guards, but it was futile.
None dared step up.
Fear of death paralyzed them.
Desperate, Yu Bong turned to the Heaven and Earth Society’s vanguard and rearguard, pleading.
“Brother Gan, Brother Ok, please help! If harm comes to Her Majesty, you won’t complete your mission either!”
“......”
Yet no one responded to his plea.
Even longtime acquaintance Gan Yang feigned ignorance, standing still. Seop Chun and Mong Mu-yak of the rearguard crossed their arms, watching as if it were none of their concern.
“Wise choices.”
Peng Seok-im, consumed by lust and madness, had no desire to fight them unnecessarily and simply passed by.
His mind was filled solely with ravaging Consort Seo.
As he drew near her, his lust swelled to bursting, his lower body bulging prominently.
-Grip!
Witnessing this, Consort Seo bit her lip in humiliated fury.
She had trusted the Hebei Peng Clan so deeply.
How could such a man devolve into this lecherous beast?
It defied understanding.
She turned to Mok Kyung-un beside her and demanded.
“......What have you done?”
Mok Kyung-un shrugged nonchalantly.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Peng I-mun’s brother may act frivolously at times, but as an upright martial artist, he knows to uphold propriety. Even when this consort first met him, that was the case.”
Yet this was utterly different from his usual self.
Those filthy eyes brimmed only with madness and desire.
Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly.
“Do you think I did something to him?”
“Then you didn’t?”
“Yes, I didn’t.”
“Then why is Peng Seok-im...”
“You’re mistaken. That is Peng Seok-im’s true desire.”
“What?”
“One ensnared by the Wicked Sword’s demonic nature reveals their hidden true desires, their innermost self.”
“Desires? What nonsense is that?”
“Call it karma, fittingly enough.”
“Karma?”
“When entering, I warned the soldiers collecting weapons: my sword is a cursed demonic blade, so never draw it.”
‘What nonsense is this?’
Consort Seo couldn’t easily believe Mok Kyung-un’s words.
How could merely gripping a sword make someone bare their desires and true nature?
At that moment, Eunuch Yu Bong at the pavilion’s front whipped his head around and said urgently.
“Y-Your Majesty! If that truly is the Wicked Sword, it is indeed the demonic blade of legend.”
“The demonic blade of legend?”
She furrowed her brows in confusion.
Her own eunuch Yu Bong had no reason to lie about this.
He had even betrayed the Heaven and Earth Society for her.
-Thud thud!
By then, Peng Seok-im had reached right before the pavilion, cackling madly.
“Hehehe. Seo Yang-hyo. Finally, I’ll have you in my arms.”
-Chill!
His words sent shivers down Consort Seo’s spine.
Unlike the vile Heaven and Earth Society, she had viewed orthodox martial artists as chivalrous gentlemen of decorum.
That was why she sought to sever ties with the society and ally with them.
But if even those who called themselves righteous harbored desires to lust after her body, were they any different?
Plunged into disappointment beyond fear, she said to Mok Kyung-un.
“......Help me.”
“Help you?”
“I’ll never again seek aid from the righteous sects or others, nor join hands with them. So please, protect this consort from that man.”
“Hmm.”
‘!?‘
His response left her staring in disbelief.
Then what was she supposed to do here?
To her bewildered expression, Mok Kyung-un sneered.
“Aaah. At this rate, Her Majesty’s body will be defiled by that filthy thing.”
“You!”
As if she didn’t know that already.
Finally, desperation born of fear made her plead.
“W-What do you want?”
Mok Kyung-un’s lips curled slyly, as if he’d been waiting, and he replied curtly.
“Submission.”
End of Chapter 64: Desire (2)