Chapter 279
Chapter 279
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 77
>Chapter Title: Holy Fire Command Lord (1)
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The old woman's eyes widened in shock inside the Golden Prison.
From the moment Mok Kyung-un suddenly drew a marking and mentioned the First Order, she had assumed he was one of them.
But that had been her misjudgment.
-Slash!
-Thud!
'What?'
She couldn't hide her astonishment at the sight of him bare-handedly slicing off the arms of Mok Seom, the Guard Captain who was clasping his hands in a formal salute.
His severed hands, still twitching on the floor as if their nerves were alive,
Soon, panic-stricken by his own amputated arms, Guard Captain Mok Seom opened his mouth to scream.
"Kuuaaah..."
-Punch!
-Crack!
Before the scream could escape,
Mok Kyung-un kicked his jaw upward.
The kick, infused with such internal energy that it not only snapped his head back but forced his upper body to rise involuntarily, forcibly shut his jaw, shattering his teeth.
"Keh."
-Punch!
Without stopping there, Mok Kyung-un unleashed a palm strike toward his abdomen as it lifted upright.
-Boom!
"Keheuk!"
Guard Captain Mok Seom's body slammed straight into the cave wall.
-Crash!
Half-embedded in the cave wall, Mok Seom spewed blood wildly.
"Kuueee. Euek."
Having been struck where his dantian resided, his qi twisted chaotically, causing him excruciating pain.
His eyes shook madly in agony.
It seemed his dantian had been shattered.
Qi was dissipating rapidly from his abdomen.
-Swoosh!
For a martial artist, the true death was the destruction of the dantian.
It wiped away a lifetime of martial prowess and internal energy.
As his internal energy scattered, bloodshot veins bulged in Mok Seom's sclera.
Beyond mere regurgitation, a torrent of complex emotions surged in that instant, when Mok Kyung-un seized his throat and hoisted him up.
-Grip!
"Kuueuuh."
"Ahh. You're bleeding quite heavily. I suppose I should tend to that."
-Tap tap tap tap!
Mok Kyung-un pressed the pressure points near his severed arms to staunch the bleeding.
Then, with a smile, he spoke.
"I thought the only First Order-level executive near the Command Adjutant was that fellow called Sickle Spear, but it seems the Imperial Palace is quite important after all. Seeing there's one more."
'W-What the hell is this guy?'
Guard Captain Mok Seom stared at Mok Kyung-un with trembling eyes.
He had considered himself elite enough to aspire to the First Order.
Yet he had been duped so absurdly, so pathetically.
No, he had no choice but to be fooled.
From the start, he had brazenly rattled off things only those of Second Order or higher should know. It would have been stranger not to fall for it.
"You... what is your... true identity? Are you really... from the Blazing Flower Cult?"
Normally, he might have smirked and said, "Who knows?"
But with the Blazing Flower Cult's Holy Fire Command Lord watching from inside the Golden Prison, Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly and answered nonchalantly.
"Did you really think I was one of yours?"
"Kuueuh."
-Drip drip!
Blood surged up from within, continuously trickling from Mok Seom's mouth.
Unfazed, Mok Kyung-un stared at him intently before dipping his index finger into the drops of blood from the opposite hand.
Wondering what on earth he was doing,
-Swish! Swish!
Mok Kyung-un soon began carving something on his forehead, the hollow of his throat, and then,
-Rip!
Tearing open his chest to etch it near his heart.
It was the character for "ward" (防).
Infusing curse power with his own blood to form a talisman.
Having inscribed it, Mok Kyung-un formed a hand seal and muttered.
'Face-Unfacing Power Method's Secret Defense Art.'
"Sealing Azure, North Dipper Great Power Spirit, Heaven's Oath Earthly Troops, Six Purity Six Jia Command Spirits, Nine Great Powers, True Qian Kun..."
Feeling an ominous chill from the incantation of the warding spell, Mok Seom tried to shake off Mok Kyung-un's hand.
But with his dantian destroyed and his qi rapidly waning, it was impossible.
-Grip!
"Keh!"
Instead, Mok Kyung-un tightened his grip on his throat, making it even harder to breathe.
Pausing the incantation with the hand seal,
-Swish!
'!?'
He suddenly brought his finger to Mok Seom's mouth.
Then,
-Crack!
"Eup!"
He yanked out one of Mok Seom's upper front teeth.
Unable to comprehend what this madman was doing even after losing a tooth,
But Mok Kyung-un didn't stop there,
-Crack!
And pulled another tooth.
Not just one, he kept going until he had extracted six.
With all his front teeth gone, blood gushing from the gaps, Mok Seom's face looked utterly pitiable.
-Scribble scribble!
Mok Kyung-un inscribed letters on the extracted teeth.
They were the names of the Six Jia Spirits.
After engraving the Six Jia Spirits' names,
"Passing traveler, passing traveler, Six Jia Yin Spirits, Water God Protection, Dragon Instant Saint, Pure Azure Upper Direction, Three Pure Golds Prohibited, Jade Emperor's Decree, Instant Dragon Instant Spirit Subdue."
He chanted the Corpse Liberation Curse about seven times, inhaled seven breaths, and scattered them to the east.
Then, he removed Mok Seom's shoes, placing one pair three steps east, the other three steps west.
'What the hell is he doing?'
Even the old woman in the Golden Prison couldn't understand Mok Kyung-un's actions.
Then, as if finished, Mok Kyung-un smiled at Mok Seom and said.
"Now you're all set."
"What... exactly... are you... doing?"
"Ahh, nothing much. Just warding against the restrictions placed on you."
Mok Seom's expression showed utter incomprehension at these words.
Restrictions? What did that mean?
Restrictions were something only those of the Fifth Order or higher in the Three Realms received.
Even as a mid-level executive, those at the Second Order level had no memory of ever receiving or being forced into such restrictions.
Yet Mok Kyung-un said.
"You don't even realize you've been restricted yourself."
"What nonsense..."
"That fellow Sickle Spear mentioned your master and his head exploded right here..."
-Tap tap!
Mok Kyung-un tapped his own head with his finger and continued.
"Right?"
"Don't spout nonsense. We've never been under any such restriction."
"Then try mentioning the one you serve, just for a test."
"What?"
"You say you've never been restricted. So tell me what you call the one your master serves."
Mok Seom shut his mouth at these words.
Naturally, anything about that one or related to him was absolutely forbidden to utter.
It was an ironclad rule of the organization.
But with Mok Kyung-un babbling about restrictions, it made him even more reluctant to speak.
"What are you..."
-Stab!
Before he could finish, Mok Kyung-un's finger dug under his eyeball.
Mok Seom paled and froze.
'T-This... insane... bastard...'
To him, Mok Kyung-un said.
"No time, so if you don't answer, I'll just pop out this eye. You've never seen it before, have you? Your own eyeball?"
He grinned widely as he spoke,
-Chill!
The sight sent shivers down Mok Seom's spine.
One look at a person's eyes reveals if they'll really do something.
Mok Kyung-un's eyes showed not a shred of hesitation—he would do it.
Thus, with a trembling voice, Mok Seom said.
"I-If what you say is true, then speaking it would make my head explode from the restriction too. Think I'd talk?"
"Don't worry. That's why I placed a curse-blocking talisman on your body and used a corpse method to create a proxy corpse for you."
"Corpse?"
"Yes. So speak freely. Of course, if you don't want to, just keep silent."
"......"
"But after counting to three, I'll remove this eyeball. Then count three more for the other eye. Next, I'll twist off your nose... What comes after is too tedious to mention, so guess."
"......"
Guard Captain Mok Seom's face stiffened, speechless.
In this situation, unless one was truly prepared to die, anyone would talk.
Each word and action from Mok Kyung-un was utterly terrifying.
Under this pressure, Guard Captain Mok Seom finally spoke.
"J-Just telling you what we call that one is enough?"
"If you answer a few more things too, I'll guarantee your life."
"......"
Mok Seom hesitated for a split second.
Even shit was better than the afterlife, so maybe clinging to life?
-Swish!
His gaze fell to his severed arms and shattered dantian.
Even if he survived, he was as good as dead.
'Haa.'
Besides, as a worthless martial artist now, the organization would surely silence him.
In the end, Mok Seom resolved to uphold his loyalty to the organization.
"Just kill..."
"I'll restore your severed arms and dantian too."
"What? How could..."
"If you don't believe it, nothing I can do, but I'll tell you it's possible. Though the later it gets, the harder recovery becomes, so better hurry."
"......"
At those words, Mok Seom, who had steeled himself for loyalty, changed his mind.
"I'll talk."
"Good choice."
Mok Kyung-un read his intent instantly from his gaze at his arms and resolute eyes.
"Go on, then."
"......Understood. We call that one the Third..."
-Crack!
It was right then.
The shoe placed three steps east exploded with a pop.
"Wh-What?"
Mok Seom couldn't hide his shock.
Meanwhile, Mok Kyung-un's lips curled upward slightly as he watched.
His prediction was correct after all.
In sorcery, curses require the target to pay a price to be lifted.
Thus, Mok Kyung-un had created a fake corpse for Mok Seom using the corpse method to deceive the curse.
It looked like a mere shoe, but in sorcery, it was his corpse.
A corpse didn't evade curses.
-Swish!
Mok Kyung-un extended his hand, gesturing for him to continue.
Mok Seom, flinching at the exploded shoe, swallowed dryly and pressed on.
"We call it Mokgan (目艮)."
-Crack!
No sooner had he spoken than the shoe three steps west exploded.
Seeing this, Mok Seom exhaled in trembling relief.
"Haa......"
Was it really some restriction?
Whether it was this guy's trick or not, the moment he said the name, his body trembled and blood rushed to his head—it felt truly dangerous...
-Crack!
In that instant, Mok Seom's head exploded.
Gripping the remnants of his burst head, Mok Kyung-un, splattered with gore, wiped it off with his sleeve and muttered.
"......Failed."
He thought he'd succeeded in diverting the curse by fooling it with sorcery.
But the curse was so potent that it overwhelmed, bursting the man's head.
He'd thought it a clever ploy, but the caster's curse power far exceeded his own.
Even the corpse method to fake death couldn't fully evade it—the sorcery had reached a profound level.
'Troublesome.'
Mok Kyung-un clicked his tongue inwardly.
If he'd overcome the curse, he could have extracted more info. What a shame.
Still, he had confirmed one thing.
Their leader was called the "Third Mokgan (目艮)."
'Third Mokgan......'
Why that name?
Literally, it meant "Third Defying the Eyes" or something similar.
Hard to grasp the meaning.
No time to ponder it now.
-Step step!
Turning toward the Golden Prison, Mok Kyung-un approached and said.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"......"
"I wanted more info, but as you see, they weren't in a position to talk. So I'd like you, Holy Fire Command Lord, to tell me. Why these guys are after you and that bead."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, the old woman—no, the Holy Fire Command Lord—spoke.
"You... I'm not sure you're really one of our cult's faithful."
"Why's that?"
"Our cult's doctrine is to revere the sacred flame, perform good deeds, and eradicate evil."
"And?"
Pointing at him, the Holy Fire Command Lord said coldly.
"But no matter how I look at it, you are evil incarnate."