Chapter 379
Chapter 379
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 99
>Chapter Title: That Day (5)
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[This is all because of you.]
[Groooan.]
Ryu So-wol, her breathing ragged, glared murderously at Bi Yong-heon, the next heir to the Heavenly Pulse who sat upon the alliance leader's jade throne.
How could this be happening?
In her arms lay only the severed head of her father, Ryu Gang, who had breathed his last. The corpses scattered around her, hacked into chunks of flesh, all belonged to members of the Moon Pulse.
It was all too... too horrific a sight.
And now, another tragedy unfolded right before her eyes.
'Hwa... Yeon...'
Her longtime companion had been bisected and slain.
Her once clear, bright eyes turned bloodshot, thick tears of blood streaming down her cheeks.
Overwhelmed by grief and rage so intense she could scarcely breathe, she hacked and coughed continuously. Bi Yong-heon watched her with a face full of smiles.
[Protect the alliance leader!]
-Roooar!
The escorts protecting Ryu So-wol surrounded her with eyes filled with fear.
They had witnessed Hwa Yeon, the transcendent master leading their escorts, cleaved in half with a single sword stroke. They knew full well how monstrous their foe was, but they were escorts nonetheless.
They had to protect the alliance leader somehow.
Im Yu-seon, Hwa Yeon's deputy, spoke to Ryu So-wol.
[Alliance leader... Please pull yourself together. This is no time for grief.]
[Grooo... grooo...]
[Breathe slowly... slowly regulate your breathing. Hyperventilation and heart demons could lead to qi deviation.]
Despite her earnest plea, Ryu So-wol's breathing did not easily steady.
She had already been lost in sorrow for nearly three months.
To witness her loved ones meeting such gruesome ends right before her eyes in the midst of that—how could the shock simply fade?
Then, the sound of clapping echoed through the hall.
-Clap clap clap clap clap!
The one applauding was none other than Bi Yong-heon, the perpetrator of this catastrophe.
Bi Yong-heon looked at Ryu So-wol, who wheezed and struggled to control her breathing amid their ranks, and spoke.
[Your face is even better than I expected. But this one doesn't seem to like it.]
'This one?'
Im Yu-seon furrowed her brow.
No one was visible around Bi Yong-heon.
What was he talking about?
As she puzzled over it, Bi Yong-heon's face suddenly grew icy cold, and he said,
[Shut your mouth. This isn't your place to interfere.]
'!?'
What?
She sensed something off.
His tone shifted strangely each time he spoke, as if a different person were talking.
She found it eerie when,
[It's about time you all exited stage left.]
-Twang!
Bi Yong-heon, seated on the jade throne, abruptly flicked his finger at one of the escorts.
In that instant,
-Poof!
[Gah!]
A hole pierced through the escort's face.
[In-jing!]
As another escort reached to catch his comrade collapsing from the facial wound,
-Twang!
Another flicking sound rang out.
With it, another escort's face was instantly drilled through.
Startled by the tremendous Bullet Finger Technique that felled two escorts in a blink, the remaining guards tried to break formation.
Deputy Im Yu-seon shouted,
[Maintain the formation...]
-Twang!
In that moment, Im Yu-seon noticed something flying straight at her face.
But it was already too late to dodge.
She braced for the facial penetration and death, when,
-Thud!
Someone shoved her aside, allowing her to narrowly evade Bi Yong-heon's Bullet Finger Technique.
The one who pushed her was none other than,
[Al-alliance leader?]
It was Ryu So-wol, who moments ago could barely breathe.
Her breathing still ragged, but somewhat steadied, she rose from her seat with a terrifying blood-tear-streaked face and handed her father Ryu Gang's head, cradled in her arms, to Im Yu-seon.
[Protect it.]
[...Understood.]
Escort deputy Im Yu-seon received Ryu Gang's head.
Then Ryu So-wol stepped forward across the blood-soaked hall floor toward the jade throne.
-Step! Step!
Her once-white uniform was now dyed red with blood.
Bi Yong-heon, watching her from the throne while propping his chin, spoke as if regretful.
[More backbone than I thought. I figured you lacked the qualities of a leader.]
[Shut up.]
-Sring!
Ryu So-wol drew her sword from its sheath at her waist.
Her custom sword forged by the master smith of Spirit Sword Manor was not yet complete, but the one her father had given her was a treasured blade nonetheless.
Sword in hand, Ryu So-wol stared solely at Bi Yong-heon and said,
[Go outside. Summon the Earth Pulse lord and the sect leaders.]
At Alliance Leader Ryu So-wol's command, Im Yu-seon responded vigorously.
[Yes!]
This dire situation tore at her heart, but the only one who could stop it and manage the aftermath was Ryu So-wol, the alliance leader of the Heaven-Earth-Moon Society and their supreme master.
She had worried the shock might plunge her into heart demons with no recovery, but this was a relief at least.
However,
'Will the Earth Pulse and the sects heed the summons?'
Most of the dead here appeared to be from the Moon Pulse and affiliated sects.
That meant the Earth Pulse and other sects might have sided with the Heavenly Pulse or him.
Troublesome as it was, they had no choice.
They had to call them regardless, come feast or famine.
But then,
[Stop!]
Ryu So-wol's voice rang out like a shriek in the ears of Escort Deputy Im Yu-seon and the escorts hurrying toward the hall's exit.
They hastily tried to halt when,
'!?'
Someone appeared as if lying in wait and swung a sword laced with qi energy.
The sword strike was utterly simple, but its power and range were tremendous, so,
-Slash!
In an instant, it cleaved through Escort Deputy Im Yu-seon and the escorts' waists, severing their upper bodies from their lower halves.
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
[Aaaaaagh!]
At the sight, Ryu So-wol let out a beastly scream.
Once more, her people had lost their lives right before her eyes.
Amid it all, even with her body bisected, Im Yu-seon lifted the Moon Pulse lord Ryu Gang's head high, desperately trying to protect it.
-Thud!
[Guh... All... alliance... leader... Forgive... me...]
Having prevented damage to her father Ryu Gang's head, Im Yu-seon breathed her last.
At the same time, Ryu So-wol, heading for the throne, veered off and launched herself at the one who had slain them.
-Clang!
The clash of swords echoed with a blast of air through the hall.
The two qi-laced blades collided, blue flames scattering in all directions.
Ryu So-wol screamed at the foe before her in a voice thick with anguish.
[Yang In-cheol!]
The man before her was the Earth Pulse lord.
Earth Pulse Lord Yang In-cheol spoke with a somewhat bitter expression.
[...It's come to this. No matter how I try to accept it, I can't hand the top seat leading an alliance to a mere woman like you.]
[For... for such a pathetic reason...]
[It's not pathetic. No matter your martial prowess, do you think it's right for a woman like you to hold the position akin to our forefathers, leading all these sects?]
......He sided with them because he couldn't accept a woman?
Just for that reason?
Ryu So-wol's eyes grew icy.
Then,
-Shing!
As her internal energy surged, Earth Pulse Lord Yang In-cheol's form began to be pushed back.
He had reached the pinnacle of the transcendent realm and devoted far more years to cultivating his qi, so he was confident he wouldn't be outmatched in raw power at least.
Yet the gap between one who had broken through the wall and a transcendent master was stark.
[Bi... Bi Yong-heon, help...]
-Slash!
Before his words finished, Ryu So-wol's sword severed Earth Pulse Lord Yang In-cheol's throat.
His head rolled across the floor without even a dying gasp.
-Spurt!
Blood spurting from his severed neck splashed across her face.
Regardless, Ryu So-wol crushed Yang In-cheol's skull underfoot.
-Crack!
Then, with ragged breaths, she turned her head and glared at Bi Yong-heon on the throne.
She no longer cared what twisted motives drove him to this.
She only wanted to tear him limb from limb and kill him.
-Poof!
Ryu So-wol kicked off the floor and flew toward the throne.
If shaking her and plunging her into heart demons was his ploy to claim the throne, it was a mistake.
Even if she couldn't overcome the shock and fell to heart demons, she would kill him first.
Him, at least...
-Clang!
In that instant, her form was repelled backward.
Hurled back over five paces, she stabbed her sword into the floor to halt herself.
-Kud thud!
She looked up at Bi Yong-heon in astonishment.
Still seated on the throne, he had somehow drawn the sword she had planted in the floor.
He blocked her full-powered strike in that state?
Though consumed by extreme rage with nothing but the intent to kill him, that single clash cooled her fury.
'......How is his power like this?'
It was different from just three months ago.
It had nearly doubled—no exaggeration—and she couldn't help but question it.
What trick had he used?
As she wondered, Bi Yong-heon spoke.
[Why so surprised?]
[......What have you done?]
Her power had transformed so drastically in a mere three months—not a little, but immensely—and she voiced her doubt.
Bi Yong-heon replied in a flat tone.
[I told you. This is all because of you.]
[Bullshit. No amount of training could double your power in three months...]
-Clink!
[!?]
Her words caught in her throat.
It was due to the ornament dangling from Bi Yong-heon's sword hilt.
It was the ornate jade bead pendant with intricate patterns that he had once won from her in a bet.
Why the hell was it on his sword hilt?
No way...
[Ah, this? The guy... Hmm. Seems he wants to speak for himself.]
[What are you...]
Bi Yong-heon, who had been smiling, suddenly turned cold-faced and said,
[Why did you do it?]
[......What are you talking about?]
[To shake me?]
[Shake you how?]
[You... I only had eyes for you alone. So why... Why humiliate me like that?]
[Humiliate? Bi Yong-heon, you...]
[That bastard! That bastaaard!]
In that instant, Bi Yong-heon shot up from the throne, veins bulging on his neck and forehead as he bellowed.
At his mad visage, Ryu So-wol forgot her anger, her face twisting.
Why had he changed like this?
Was this the same cheerful, playful man she knew?
[......Why have you become like this?]
[You never answer me in the end. Am I nothing to you?]
[It's not that...]
[So he's the one you chose?]
[What? You... right now... no way...]
[She was beautiful. I wanted that beauty by my side, so why that... Hoo... hoo...]
Ryu So-wol bit her lip hard at Bi Yong-heon struggling to control his furious breaths.
She had questioned his motives.
But was this massacre because he couldn't have her?
Had he taken everything she cherished for that?
[Just... because you couldn't have me...]
[You're mine! Mine! Ryu So-wol!]
-Rumble rumble rumble!
With that shout, an immense pressure arose, shaking the entire hall like an earthquake.
-Flinch!
For a moment, a chill ran down her spine.
She felt fear from his madness-consumed form.
She too loved a man and still longed for him, so she knew well how addictive and painful such emotions could be.
But his was closer to obsession than love.
Then,
-Swish!
As Bi Yong-heon reached out, something flew into his hand.
It was none other than,
[You?]
Ryu So-wol's eyes trembled violently.
In his hand was the severed head of Heavenly Pulse Lord Bi Hyeong-myeong, a round wound on its forehead.
The sight shocked her beyond measure.
Seeing the severed head reminded her of her father Ryu Gang, bile rising in her throat.
[Urk.]
To her agonized form, Bi Yong-heon grinned madly and said,
[How could I suffer this pain alone? Though he was little more than an empty shell, beheading my own father with my hands was excruciating.]
[......You mad bastard.]
He was utterly insane.
At first, she thought his affection had simply gone too far into obsession.
She believed that was the cause.
But to behead his own father just to share her pain? It went beyond madness.
[You... you just need to die.]
Gripping her sword hilt with both hands, she ground her teeth.
Any shred of pity vanished.
If he was this far gone in insanity, killing him was the only answer.
To her, Bi Yong-heon dropped the father's head to the floor and extended his hand as if inviting her.
[Join me. Now we're the same—we can understand each other.]
[Like hell. I'll never understand you.]
[......Please don't make me choose that.]
[Shut up!]
-Poof!
Loathing even speaking to him further, she unleashed her full aura and launched herself.
But with his power surging like that, the duel’s outcome might already be set.
[Haa... haa... haa...]
Unlike her battered form, Bi Yong-heon was at ease.
He even sat arrogantly on the hall's throne, looking down at her with haughty eyes.
-Stab!
Ryu So-wol stabbed her sword into the floor like a cane and gasped,
[What... the hell... Aaaagh!]
She wanted to kill him so badly, but she couldn't.
It tormented her.
She yearned to kill him, yet he toyed with her.
From the throne, Bi Yong-heon said,
[Last chance. Join me.]
To his offer, Ryu So-wol replied with one word.
[Die.]
She gripped her sword hilt tight.
Tearing strips from her clothes, she wrapped and secured her wrist, then flew toward Bi Yong-heon on the throne.
But right then,
-Stab!
In the blink of an eye, Bi Yong-heon from the throne appeared before her, his hand plunged into her chest.
[Haaak!]
Her blood-red pupils quivered.
Countless figures flashed through her shaking vision.
Her long-dead mother and brother Ryu Hoon, her father Ryu Gang... and the faces of Moon Pulse members.
Finally, one man's face emerged.
That man.
She wanted to see him so much... so very much...
-Thud!
As sorrow worse than death overtook her, something appeared in her vision.
It was her still-beating heart, pounding away.
Who would have thought she'd see this while alive?
Unable to speak, Bi Yong-heon said to her, tears streaming down his vein-bulging face.
[The one this heart should hold is me.]
[Ha... ha... ha...]
[Don't worry. We'll be together forever, one way or another. So-wol.]
-Crack
Before his words finished, she saw her heart crushed in his hand.
The heart that had pounded as if alive beat no more.
To die like this...
-Kaboom!
In that instant.
A massive explosion roared as the hall's ceiling collapsed.
Darkness fell in a moment, dust filling the air and obscuring vision. She toppled forward and closed her eyes.
-Thud!
Was this how she'd die?
In her ears rang what seemed to be Bi Yong-heon's scream from someone.
[Graaaagh!]
Screams followed several times, then someone embraced her.
Struggling, she opened her eyes.
It was miraculous.
Her heart ripped out, she was as good as dead, yet was this a final burst of clarity?
The one she longed to see appeared.
A man.
[Groooan.]
He... he looked at her with such sorrowful eyes, sobbing.
Mourning my death?
She wanted to say something, but no voice came.
-Your... bride... I... wanted... to be...
So-wol barely parted her lips.
With her fingertips, she wiped the tears streaming down his cheek.
She wanted to comfort his grief.
Even if it was the last thing she did.
The man clasped her hand tight and said,
[You were beautiful... So beautiful, like a single crimson peony.]
Ah... You saw.
You saw it.
At last, she couldn't fight her heavy eyelids.
Through her slowly closing eyes, she saw him roaring in grief.
[Chapter 99: That Day (5)] End