Chapter 464
Chapter 464
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 119
>Chapter Title: Karma Retribution (2)
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King Yeongchang Gyeo Jong-sin and the three retainers who had long served at his side furrowed their brows at the bizarre scene unfolding before their eyes.
It was because Gyeo Jung-sun, the heir to the family, was acting strangely all by himself.
He seemed to be attacking someone invisible, only to suddenly writhe in agony as if his body were being bound by something.
He even spat up blood.
They tried to help him,
“Cough, cough. This... this damned bitch! You're... a fake. Gyeo... Gyeo So-ha... is dead.”
‘!?’
They froze at Jung-sun's unexpected words, spat out so suddenly.
What on earth was this?
Why was this child suddenly bringing up So-ha, who was dead?
“Family Head! The young heir keeps...”
“Wait... Just leave him be for a moment.”
At the family head's command, they left Jung-sun alone for the time being.
But what followed was truly a spectacle.
They couldn't see it, but Jung-sun was conversing with someone, then unleashed some eerie evil technique, lunged at something invisible as if strangling its throat, and soon spat out shocking words one after another.
“You damned bitch! How dare the likes of you try to seek revenge!”
‘Revenge?’
“Stop? Stop? Hahahahaha!”
A laugh filled with madness.
The family head was at a loss for words at this side of Jung-sun he had never seen before.
Jung-sun's face was the epitome of evil.
He had only shown a gentle demeanor even up until being named heir, and after becoming the heir, he had maintained his dignity.
So how had he hidden such a side?
It was in that moment of bewilderment.
“I don't know how you survived with your face smashed in, but So-ha, you're a fool too.”
‘!?’
His retainers were stunned at those following words, not knowing what to do.
They had heard something they absolutely should not have.
What in the world had happened?
As the flustered retainers looked to the family head,
-A chill!
The family head's gaze upon Jung-sun was no longer that of a father looking at his son.
Oblivious to this, Jung-sun continued provoking the family head with words, paying no heed to those around him.
“Are you angry? You went to all that trouble for revenge, but couldn't even manage that properly, and now you're about to die by my hand again.”
Gyeo Jong-sin no longer simply watched Jung-sun.
Gyeo Jong-sin aimed his signature weapon, the famed spear Hanwi, at Jung-sun's throat and demanded,
“Say that again... just now.”
At this voice, Jung-sun's expression—which until moments ago had revealed madness without regard for anyone—stiffened.
Jung-sun slowly raised his head, scanned his surroundings, and couldn't hide his bewilderment.
“Ah, Father. Something...”
“Did you kill So-ha?”
“......”
He should have denied it immediately, but as his eyes met those of his adoptive father Gyeo Jong-sin—whose calm face burned with fury—his words caught in his throat for a moment.
Jung-sun was at a complete loss on how to navigate this situation.
He had to secure ‘that thing’ as per his orders and escape the Heaven-Earth Society, but he had no idea how to explain it.
Time was short, and even if he tried to persuade them, would it work?
Especially after spewing those words.
After countless thoughts in an instant, Jung-sun finally spoke.
“Father... this is a trap.”
“A trap?”
“I don't know what they did, but it seems I was caught in some kind of sorcery. That's why I said things that could be misunderstood, but it's absolutely not true. You know, don't you? How much I cherished... that brother of mine.”
“......Didn't you say you didn't know how your brother died?”
“Yes?”
“It concerned that child's honor, and I didn't tell you for fear you'd be shocked. So how do you know about it?”
Gyeo Jong-sin was one of the Five Kings of the Heaven-Earth Society.
Thanks to that, he had turned Blood River Valley and Fate-Killing Pavilion upside down to learn how his daughter Gyeo So-ha had died.
But it had been such a gruesome murder that he had kept it from Jung-sun.
‘Damn it.’
In that instant, Jung-sun intuited.
No words would clear this up.
There was only one way out.
‘I have to escape.’
The good news was that he was currently channeling the Blood Explosion Technique his lord had taught him, so at this moment, even King Yeongchang Gyeo Jong-sin couldn't easily...
-Pierce!
In that instant, King Yeongchang Gyeo Jong-sin's famed spear Hanwi pierced through his throat.
Jung-sun's eyes bulged as his mouth gaped, then his head drooped downward.
Even with his internal energy more than doubled by the Blood Explosion Technique, his opponent was a supreme master at the pinnacle of the transcendent realm, and King Yeongchang Gyeo Jong-sin was one of the Eight Stars called the pinnacle of the martial world, having reached the Manifestation Realm.
Against such a foe, with his throat already targeted, there was no escaping.
As King Yeongchang Gyeo Jong-sin glared at the deceased Jung-sun, a single tear fell from one eye.
‘Ahhh. So-ha.’
Gyeo Jong-sin's heart ached terribly.
To think his one and only daughter had died in agony with her face crushed—not by anyone else, but by his own adopted son.
As tears flowed,
-Swish!
Something strange happened in his eyes.
Right before him stood the dead Gyeo So-ha, gazing at him with a tender expression.
“You... you...”
-Father.
His dead daughter called out to him.
If not for his wife's dying wish, he would have raised her as his own daughter.
He had wanted to raise her more beautifully than anyone.
But he couldn't.
He had even sent her to Blood River Valley, where he hadn't wanted her to go, leading her to her death.
Guilt and longing enveloped his heart.
“I'm... sorry. Truly sorry. To you... as your father, I only... did unforgivable things.”
Gyeo So-ha shook her head at him as his throat choked with grief.
And she smiled radiantly.
As if to say she was fine.
In that moment, Gyeo Jong-sin's lips trembled, his eyes reddening as he reached out toward his daughter with a flushed face.
But then Gyeo So-ha's body glowed brightly, scattering like hundreds of fireflies taking flight.
“So-ha! So-ha!”
Gyeo Jong-sin flailed at the dispersing lights, then broke into sobs.
He had wanted her to resent him, so why did you leave me with such a bright smile?
Ahhh. So-ha. So-ha. My one and only child.
‘Family Head.’
The three retainers looked pityingly upon the family head, lost in sorrow and sobbing.
Then,
-Bang!
Suddenly, the head of the deceased Jung-sun exploded.
‘!?’
The retainers couldn't hide their bewilderment at the sight.
Though his throat had been pierced, the family head hadn't seemed to channel energy to his head.
So what was this?
* * *
A dark audience chamber.
Mok Gan, the leader of the Secret Assembly hidden in the shadows, shook his head in disappointment.
He had intended to unleash torment on them starting with the Heaven-Earth Society.
The pinnacle of the Immeasurable Demons, the Six Demons so close to divine beasts, were each a calamity and a disaster.
But it hadn't gone as planned.
“Lord Mok Gan?”
A man with long hair and red lips cautiously called out, sensing his displeasure.
Just moments ago, he had been eagerly anticipating a disaster upon the Heaven-Earth Society.
The reaction wasn't good.
Mok Gan waved his hand and said,
“Forget the King of Corpses.”
“Yes?”
“It doesn't matter. The Imprisoned Celestial Dog was merely a prelude anyway. Now that even it's in my hands, the tide has fully turned.”
The red-lipped man knew exactly what Mok Gan meant.
How many years had Mok Gan spent to obtain it.
Though sealed for ages, it was once hailed as the greatest in demonic power among the Six Demons, a monster comparable to the deviant ape, the strongest of the Immeasurable Demons.
* * *
-Booooom!
Someone was hurtling through the air at tremendous speed.
The one slicing through the atmosphere with such velocity that the naked eye could barely track it, executing the Void Flight Technique, was none other than Mok Kyung-un.
Having already awakened his boundless potential, Mok Kyung-un's flight speed far surpassed ordinary lightness skills.
-Twitch!
Mok Kyung-un, flying so swiftly, suddenly furrowed his brow.
And for good reason.
‘Was that just now?’
This sensation was unmistakable.
One of the karmic ties connected to him had been severed.
Mok Kyung-un had felt a similar sensation before, when he lost his spirit servant Wi Maeng-cheon.
This was entirely different from when Cheongryeong's tie was severed.
‘No way?’
Had one of his spirit servants been destroyed?
Yet the recoil upon severance was far less intense than before.
What could this be?
It was in that moment of puzzlement.
Someone's will transmitted into Mok Kyung-un's mind.
-Master.
The voice belonged to his spirit servant, the Demon Monk.
-Demon Monk.
-The Mok Ham has been safely retrieved, and as you instructed, they came for it.
-......And what happened?
-The remaining lackeys have been dealt with. However.
-However?
-Gyeo So-ha resolved her grudge in the process.
-......
So the severed tie wasn't due to destruction?
Then she had released her held grudge and attained Buddhahood?
Though he had spirit servants, this was a situation Mok Kyung-un had never encountered.
His eyes took on a subtle glint upon learning this.
Then Cheongryeong's voice rang in his ear.
-Why do you look like that?
-Pardon?
-What has happened to make such an expression?
Now able to read Mok Kyung-un's mood from even subtle changes in expression, Cheongryeong asked.
Mok Kyung-un gave no answer.
For an unexpected new conflict had arisen in his mind.
The place he was heading to now was where Mok Gan's main body resided.
-Mortal being?
‘......’
As expected, the Secret Assembly's scheme targeted the Six Demons, the apex of spirit beasts.
Fortunately, he had prevented the King of Corpses at their Heaven-Earth Society headquarters from breaking its seal, but if Jin Ye-rin's information was accurate, three more remained.
However, these three Six Demons were scattered across the northern, southwestern, and eastern reaches of the central plains, making it not just tight but practically impossible to stop them in time.
Thus, the most ideal course for Mok Kyung-un was but one.
‘Cut off the head.’
Mok Gan, the leader of the Secret Assembly and root of all this.
If he could kill that mastermind, everything might resolve naturally.
His and Cheongryeong's revenge as well.
But a new dilemma had emerged.
What if... what if killing Mok Gan's main body released the deep grudge Cheongryeong had harbored for a century? What then?
Would she, like Gyeo So-ha, unexpectedly attain Buddhahood?
Mok Kyung-un, who had never considered this, found his mind in turmoil.
Perhaps, rather than targeting Mok Gan's body first, it might be better for contingencies to settle Cheongryeong's soul into Wi So-yeon and allow reincarnation, as he had planned.
However,
-Clench!
Strength entered Mok Kyung-un's fist.
Now that he knew the body's location, failing to eliminate Mok Gan could lead to the very catastrophe he desired.
He would soon reach that location and needed to decide.
Should reviving Cheongryeong take priority? Or eliminating him first?
It was in that moment of conflict.
-Twitch!
‘Damn!’
Mok Kyung-un's gaze turned downward.
In that instant, a blindingly intense light surged from the ground below, engulfing him without chance to evade.