CHAPTER 48: Let's Go.
The Poison King's left hand swelled grotesquely in an instant.
Veins bulged like writhing snakes, and his skin cracked open, oozing dark green poison.
Then, suddenly—
Boom!
“Gaaahhh!!!”
With a sickening rupture, the Poison King's hand exploded entirely.
Chunks of raw red flesh, blood, and grotesque bone fragments sprayed in every direction.
The Poison King screamed, staggering backward in a frantic retreat.
“Uwaaahk!! Uwaaaahhh!!!!!”
Jin Muhon didn't so much as blink. He had no intention of letting the Poison King escape over something like this.
Kicking off the ground, Jin Muhon thrust the Four Emperors Sword straight into the Poison King's dantian.
Squelch!
“Keurk!”
Not satisfied with piercing the dantian, the Four Emperors Sword slammed into the cave wall with a thud.
“Kaaaaahhhhh!!!”
The Poison King howled in agony.
Viscous poison leaked from his dantian like smoke.
Leaving the sword embedded, Jin Muhon swiftly retreated to create distance.
“Uwaaaahk!! Me! Me! How could I come this far just to—!!”
The Poison King thrashed wildly, trying to yank out the Four Emperors Sword.
His left hand was gone, blown apart, and his right was a prosthetic, far from free.
No matter how he struggled, the blade buried deep in his dantian showed no sign of budging.
“Pull it out! Hurry and pull it out! If you're a true warrior, fight fair and settle this properly!”
The Poison King's pain-laced roar filled the cave.
His original poison mist, now joined by the toxic fumes pouring from his dantian.
Before long, the cave was choked with poison so thick it was hard to even breathe.
“Fine, good! Let's see who lasts longer! Don't run, Sword Demon! Don't you dare run!”
Jin Muhon glanced down. Pustules were bubbling up on his exposed skin from the poison.
“Old man. Want me to tell you what you've cultivated?”
“......?”
The Poison King cut off his bellow at Jin Muhon's low voice.
His eyes were a tangled mess of pain, rage, and confusion.
Jin Muhon released his Sword Intent.
—Kiiiiiaaaaaahhh!!!
“Hrk! W-what's that sound? Where's it coming from?!”
The evil spirits he'd suppressed with Sword Intent now wailed in response to the Four Emperors Sword.
This wasn't Blood Mist.
It was the poison mist filling the cave, born from the Poison King's dantian.
Over the past decade or so, the resentful souls of those he'd devoured were unleashing their anguished cries.
“What you devoured wasn't just others' inner energy. Take a good look at what it really is.”
“......!”
Cloud Peak Demon Sea, fifth stage: Sword Intent.
As he'd tested moments ago, it wasn't limited to Blood Mist.
As long as evil spirits were present, he could impose his will on poison mist or blood alike.
“......Ah!”
The poison mist swirling through the cave rapidly coalesced in one spot.
The Poison King gaped, staring in disbelief as it pierced the haze.
Jin Muhon had deliberately shaped it into the form the Poison King himself had created.
—Grrrrrr!
Two eerie lights flared to life within the poison mist.
The moment the Poison King saw them, his heart plummeted.
“Th-that... that's...”
His lower lip trembled violently.
Jin Muhon nodded gravely.
“That's right. The souls of those you devoured.”
—Grooooaaarrr!!!
The poison dragon bared its savage fangs and slashed with razor claws.
Slashhh!
“Gaaahhh!!”
The Poison King's left arm was torn clean off at the shoulder.
Unlike the Poison King, who'd wielded it merely as a poison dragon technique, the one Jin Muhon summoned possessed a solid, tangible form.
—Grrrrr.
The poison dragon loomed before the Poison King, gazing down at him.
This was different from the evil spirits summoned via Blood Mist.
These were the souls of warriors betrayed by their lord, condensed into a new entity by pure grudge.
“N-no... It was all... for the family's glory...”
—Grooooaaarrr!!!
With a thunderous roar, the poison dragon engulfed the Poison King headfirst.
Crunch!
“Keurp! Gulp! Keurghhh!”
Only his lower half remained visible, legs kicking futilely as he tried to escape.
But it was fleeting.
Sizzle!
A foul stench erupted as the Poison King's body began to melt.
The bubbling of boiling flesh and the reek of searing meat filled the air.
Crunch crunch crunch!
The poison dragon mercilessly bit into his waist.
Corrosive venom dissolved his flesh, exposing bone. Red blood and entrails splattered downward.
Soon, the agonized screams faded, leaving only the Poison King's lower half twitching on the cold cave floor.
—Grrrrr.
Melted flesh dripped from the poison dragon's maw.
Even as a king who'd ruled a region for years, his end was more wretched and horrific than any other.
Jin Muhon stood silently, watching the ancient grudge dissolve.
“Go on ahead. I'll follow once it's done.”
The Poison King's twitching legs went limp.
Satisfied with its meal, the poison dragon let out a pleased rumble and circled Jin Muhon in the air.
“Hm?”
As it orbited him, the residual poison in his body—and even the fumes permeating the cave—began to fade.
The poison was gone, the enemy vanquished, yet a corner of Jin Muhon's heart felt heavy.
What had driven the man to this?
Revenge? Enough to devour even the family he was supposed to protect?
“......”
Curiosity flickered—who had passed him that demonic art?
Perhaps the one who'd ignited the fire in his heart.
—Uuugh...
Then, a faint groan echoed from deep in the cave.
Jin Muhon shook off his thoughts.
“You did well. Time to find peace.”
He turned to the poison dragon and unleashed Cloud Peak Mist Sea.
Tssshhh—
The scales brimming with evil energy gradually took on a holy glow.
Just as in the Tang Clan, the poison dragon vanished, leaving a fist-sized orb floating and shimmering in its place.
“Farewell.”
Perhaps because it was forged from many souls—the soul orb was large and emitted a mesmerizing, eerie light.
Whoosh—
“Hm?”
Its behavior was different too.
In the Tang Clan, the purified soul had ascended to the heavens, but this soul orb seeped directly into Jin Muhon's left palm.
Blinking in surprise, he glanced at his hand.
A scale pattern briefly shimmered over the glowing skin before fading.
And within, he distinctly felt the poison dragon's presence.
“You'll stay with me?”
No answer came, of course.
Jin Muhon pondered briefly, then chuckled.
He already shared his body with a blood-mad demon lord like the Blood Light Horse Demon. What harm in taking in a dragon?
“Alright. Let's go.”
It had forsaken ascension for the path to hell—no reason to stop it.
Pocketing the Four Emperors Sword, Jin Muhon clenched his left fist and strode deeper into the cave.
***
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed off the cave walls.
Water dripped from the ceiling, and the walls glistened with moisture. Phosphorescent stones embedded here and there cast a faint blue glow over everything.
“What is this place?”
Traces of human hands were everywhere.
Spaces carved into the walls suggested people had lived here.
Rotted bedding worn by time, scratch marks on walls and floor, rusted chains dangling from above, and scattered grotesque blades and tools of unknown purpose.
“Hmph...”
Even a glance revealed a space steeped in madness.
Someone before the Poison King must have used this cave.
“The world's vast, and the mad are plentiful.”
As he pressed on, signs of life finally stirred.
Jin Muhon halted.
A prison cell barred by iron grates.
A stench of blood and festering pus wafted out.
“Uuuugh...”
In the cell's shadows, someone huddled against the wall.
“Jeokhwa.”
Jin Muhon called Yeon Jeokhwa softly.
But the groaning figure, her mind frayed, showed no response.
He raised the Four Emperors Sword.
“Kekeke. The lord has arrived.”
A grating voice echoed from deeper in.
Jin Muhon turned, sword at the ready.
He'd sensed another presence, but the voice was familiar.
“Who are you?”
“Kekeke. Forgotten my voice already?”
Lowering his sword, Jin Muhon advanced.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
In a nearby cell, a man lay sprawled, eyes gleaming fiercely.
Starved for ages, his emaciated frame resembled a skeleton, limbs limp from severed meridians.
Yet even in that state, his gaze burned with life.
He should have lost his mind by now.
It was a willpower far beyond human limits.
“...Jin Baek.”
Jin Baek, the massive, muscle-bound Paecheon Vice King who once overwhelmed all who saw him.
One of the Sword Demon's four loyal division leaders, now reduced to this pitiful state in a frigid cell.
No—counting Yeon Jeokhwa, that made two.
The realization hit, and Jin Muhon slowly turned.
Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
From the opposite cell, someone crawled across the floor like an insect.
“...L-lord...”
Jin Muhon's face hardened.
Jin Jaryeong, one of the Demonic Cult's top assassins, White Night Killer.
A man who spoke so rarely he might go a year without a word, now gazing up at Jin Muhon with trembling eyes.
“...Jin Jaryeong.”
“Kekeke. What brings you here?”
Jin Baek laughed, his raspy voice cracking.
Neither he nor Jin Jaryeong meant it as sarcasm—they truly felt that way.
Hummm— Hummm— Hummm—
The Four Emperors Sword hummed, sword qi rising.
Jin Muhon slashed decisively.
Boom! Boom!
The thick iron bars sheared like tofu.
He spoke heavily.
“Let's go.”
“Heh heh heh. What use for two crippled wrecks who can't even move? Our dantians are shattered too.”
“......”
While he'd left the cult for Unbong County, his subordinates had met this fate in the shadows.
Jin Muhon had assumed them dead, but seeing it firsthand ignited a fierce blaze in his chest.
Only then did he realize.
They weren't mere subordinates.
Yeon Jeokhwa, Jin Baek, Jin Jaryeong.
Family, just as Jin Hayeon was bound by blood.
Family forged in the heart, not blood.
“At least Jeokhwa's limbs are intact. Dantian's busted, but take her for odd jobs.”
“......”
“Hasn't responded to calls since yesterday. Better hurry.”
His words were rough, but worry laced Jin Baek's cracked voice.
Jin Muhon swung his sword with a whoosh.
Yeon Jeokhwa's bars parted effortlessly.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
He entered her cell.
The stench assaulted him, but he ignored it, scooping her up in both arms.
“Uuuugh...”
Her body burned like fire, soaked in sweat.
Hastily channeling inner energy, Jin Muhon eased her pain.
Her face relaxed at last, slipping into sleep.
Stepping out, he stood before Jin Baek and Jin Jaryeong's cell.
They nodded with resolute eyes.
“Go on, lord. It was our honor to serve.”
“Honor... to... serve...”
Jin Muhon gazed down at them silently.
If he left to treat Yeon Jeokhwa first, these two would bite their tongues and end it.
They'd choose death over burdening their lord with beggars' lives.
Jin Muhon unleashed Cloud Peak Demon Sea.
Tssshhh—
“Hm?”
“......?”
Red Blood Mist spread through the cell.
A bloody fog enveloped their wavering vision.