Chapter 262
Chapter 262
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 262
>Chapter Title: Kill Each Other (4)
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‘This isn’t how it’s supposed to go.’
The moment the Tang Family’s name got involved, there was a risk this incident could twist into something bizarre.
The Blood Cult might be pushovers, but it could end up looking like the Tang Family had caused massive damage.
Racking his brains, Gong Son-hyeon furrowed his brow and shot back.
“The Tang Family even tried to wipe them out completely, so how the hell did those later-generation disciples find out and expose it?”
It didn’t make sense that the Tang Family—hardly incompetents—couldn’t handle a few later-generation disciples and let this mess happen.
In response to his question, yet another unexpected name popped up.
“The experts from the Maitreya Illuminated Cult rescued those later-generation disciples, sir.”
“…The Maitreya Illuminated Cult again?”
“???”
When Gong Son-hyeon used the word ‘again,’ the man who had come to deliver the urgent report gave him a puzzled look.
But Gong Son-hyeon had no intention of explaining the full situation.
Right now, the top priority was somehow pinning this on the Blood Cult.
“I’ll report to the Alliance Leader myself. You’re dismissed.”
Sending his subordinates away, Gong Son-hyeon left the Military Affairs Hall and headed for the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
“Hahaha. Come in. Chief Military Officer Gong Son.”
The Alliance Leader welcomed the sudden visitor warmly.
“I heard an urgent report came in. Is it about the Blood Cult?”
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
“Hahaha. Things are proceeding just as you planned, Chief Military Officer. As expected.”
At the Alliance Leader’s praise, Gong Son-hyeon bowed his head hastily and replied.
“I’m sorry, Alliance Leader. There’s been a slight hitch in the plan.”
“A hitch…. Tell me the details.”
Unlike usual, Gong Son-hyeon swallowed once before continuing his tense explanation in response to the Alliance Leader’s question.
Right after Gong Son-hyeon finished explaining, the Martial Alliance Leader smiled affably and spoke.
“I see. So that’s how it is. Hmm. And how do you plan to resolve this, Chief Military Officer? Surely you’ve come with a solution, as expected.”
In response to the Alliance Leader’s question, Gong Son-hyeon forced a calm expression and answered.
“We need to form a joint investigation team and dispatch it to the Heavenly Demon’s Secret Grotto. To confirm whether it was truly the Tang Family’s doing or the Blood Cult’s work. Until it’s clear, Your Excellency should send letters to all sects and clans forbidding any reckless actions.”
Gong Son-hyeon thought to himself.
Before attacking the Blood Cult, they first had to prevent the righteous factions from fracturing.
* * *
While the Martial Alliance’s Chief Military Officer Gong Son-hyeon was nursing a fierce headache.
Il-mok was suffering from one too.
“Gu Yang, young hero.”
“Yes. Young Master.”
Upon arriving in Nanju, Il-mok had summoned Gu Yang-mun—the source of his headache—to his room.
He’d sent everyone else far away to prevent any eavesdropping.
“What the hell are you thinking?”
“Thinking about what… What do you mean?”
“Just one thing. Just one.”
“???”
As Gu Yang-mun made a confused face, Il-mok let out a sigh.
“Do you really want to take responsibility for what happened with Team Leader Dam Bin?”
“What do you mean, Young Master! How could a man ignore something like that?”
Gu Yang-mun shouted boldly, as if pleading not to misconstrue his intentions.
“…But why did you keep saying you felt sorry to Miss Jin now and then?”
That was the biggest reason Il-mok had a headache.
Over the five days from Geumcheon County to Nanju, Gu Yang-mun had clung relentlessly to Dam Bin. Just like he had with Jin Ha-yeon.
The problem was that, in the process, he’d occasionally apologized to Jin Ha-yeon too.
Il-mok wondered if the guy was actually insane.
“As a man, shouldn’t he have a sense of responsibility? I expressed my feelings to Ha-yeon for years, but now I’ve switched targets, so I thought it was only right to at least feel sorry about it, Young Master.”
“…….”
He was insane.
‘I knew it, but still.’
Letting out a deep sigh, Il-mok asked again.
“Separate from responsibility—do you have any romantic interest in Team Leader Dam Bin? Actual affection.”
At the question, Gu Yang-mun looked baffled and replied.
“Affection? What does that have to do with taking responsibility?”
“…Feeling nothing for her as a woman but trying to take responsibility anyway—that’s a path to misery for both of you.”
He’d seen it plenty in his past life.
Among high school classmates or acquaintances, there were those who’d gotten into accidents as kids.
Some turned out fine, but nine out of ten who married purely out of ‘responsibility’ fought constantly as couples, often ending in divorce.
“But….”
“I’m not done. Listen to the end.”
“Yes, Young Master. No, Master.”
When Il-mok spoke seriously unlike usual, Gu Yang-mun quickly shut his mouth.
“From the start, Team Leader Dam Bin stepped up and defined this as a ‘treatment procedure.’ So if you just keep quiet, young hero Gu Yang, it’ll pass like nothing happened.”
“But Young Master. How could I ignore a woman I spent the night with….”
“Exactly. If it goes that way, you’ll be seen as an irresponsible man. But isn’t that for your own good? That selfish desire to be a ‘responsible man.’”
“!!!”
“You keep framing it as for Team Leader Dam Bin, but this is purely for you, young hero Gu Yang. Not for her.”
“…….”
“Did Team Leader Dam Bin ever once say you should take responsibility?”
“…No.”
Uncharacteristically solemn, Gu Yang-mun shook his head.
Staring deeply into his eyes, Il-mok spoke after a moment.
“This incident isn’t yours to decide on responsibility in the first place, young hero Gu Yang. Your Demonic Deviation was the cause, but it wasn’t something you did to Team Leader Dam Bin. It was something she did to you.”
“W-what do you mean?”
As Gu Yang-mun looked baffled and asked back, Il-mok swallowed a sigh inwardly.
‘This medieval mindset of his.’
In this era, if a man and woman consummated, it was taken for granted the man took responsibility.
If he didn’t, only the woman got slandered as loose. A deranged time.
The issue here was that the aggressor wasn’t the man, but the woman. Though ‘aggressor’ didn’t fit since it was for treatment.
“In other words, if you just let it go, young hero Gu Yang, it can be buried as a ‘treatment procedure.’ But that doesn’t mean you should unconditionally do so.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Look inward. Ignore responsibility or others’ opinions—reflect on your own feelings. Whether you have romantic feelings for Team Leader Dam Bin. And if you can completely let go of your feelings for Miss Jin for her sake.”
“…….”
“Ponder it over and over until you’re certain. Until then, don’t speak to Team Leader Dam Bin or Miss Jin—or anyone. Got it?”
“…Yes, Young Master.”
Replying with a complicated expression, Gu Yang-mun gave a fist salute and left the room.
Shaking his aching head, Il-mok sighed and stood up.
‘Swinging a sword around would feel better.’
Thinking that, Il-mok soon chuckled.
‘I’ve become a proper martial artist.’
His head hurt, so he thought of swinging a sword.
Leaving the room, Il-mok arrived at the training ground, where Dam Bin and a few others were practicing.
“We greet the Young Master.”
Returning their fist salutes casually, Il-mok scanned the training ground, spotted a sword, and picked it up.
The reason he gripped that sword instead of the Ascending Heaven Sword was simple.
Though he’d calmed the vengeful spirits in the mental world last night, baleful energy still lingered in the Ascending Heaven Sword.
So unless it was real combat, he didn’t want to draw it.
Warming up by lightly swinging the training ground sword a few times, Il-mok began freely deploying the forms of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword in no particular order.
After loosening up, Il-mok took position in the center of the training ground, closed his eyes, and reminisced about the past.
A few days ago, in the final moments of his life-or-death duel with the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master, the insights he’d gained.
“Whew.”
Steadying his breath, Il-mok thrust his sword forward, and demonic energy surged from his dantian into the blade.
The demonic energy, flowing along his arm into the sword, briefly took the shape of sword aura.
Screeeeech!
The sword aura split into dozens of bundles, spreading like a spiderweb in all directions toward one corner of the training ground.
‘Hmm. Sure enough, control fails beyond about half a zhang (1.5m).’
As if planning more experiments, Il-mok drew out threads of sword aura and scattered them in various forms through the air.
Grasping the feel somewhat, Il-mok leaped into the air and unleashed a large number of sword aura bundles toward the ground.
Slash!
Boom!
The bundles spread like a fisherman’s net, shredding the training ground floor.
“Hmm. This could be called the Heavenly Net Sword.”
The name came from the saying ‘Heaven’s net is vast and lets nothing slip through, though its mesh is wide.’ Whether it qualified as a form was debatable.
Above all, he wasn’t yet adept at handling sword aura like threads.
Beyond half a zhang, control was impossible. They just flew inertially in the launched direction.
Thus, he’d formed dozens of bundles simultaneously and thrown them at various angles to form a net as they spread.
For a true form matching ‘Heaven’s net is vast and lets nothing slip,’ he’d need control even after launch.
‘If I can do that, I might actually reach the Transcending Demon realm.’
Finishing that thought, a certain form came to Il-mok’s mind.
The technique he’d used at the end of his bloody battle with the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master.
The problem: back then, his blood energy had been rampaging, enabling it.
‘I can’t gather blood energy just to use that one move.’
Pondering briefly, Il-mok had a bizarre idea.
‘Wait. Blood energy or demonic energy—aren’t they both a pain either way?’
A highly dangerous method occurred to him. Aiming his sword at an empty area, he closed his eyes and focused.
‘No fights for a while anyway, so practicing now wouldn’t hurt.’
Deciding, Il-mok drew up the remaining demonic energy in his dantian.
Then he shook it violently.
Intentionally forcing the demonic energy to rampage, just like his blood energy had before.
For a moment, the demonic energy raced wildly through his meridians in unnatural flows. Then, clashing together, it began raging furiously.
Just before the rampaging demonic energy escaped control.
Il-mok’s eyes flashed open, directing the energy tearing through his meridians toward the sword all at once.
Crackle!
Around the sword he gripped, strange-shaped sword aura formed.
Sword aura that looked more like lightning.
But the sword lightning lasted only an instant.
Clang!!
No sooner had it formed than the sword in Il-mok’s hand shattered into pieces, exploding outward.
Unlike when he killed the Flying Dragon Pavilion Master, Il-mok hadn’t deliberately detonated the sword lightning.
The sword had simply burst on its own, unable to withstand the power.
Boom!!!
A massive explosion roared, obliterating everything in the direction Il-mok had aimed.
The training ground floor, the walls surrounding it—nothing was spared.
“…Nearly got myself killed.”
Due to the unintended blast, even Il-mok had almost been swept up in the storm of sword aura fragments.
‘I guess this is only for the Ascending Heaven Sword.’
Or an equivalent famed or divine sword.
Otherwise, it’d be a suicide move, not a killing one.
Finishing that thought, Il-mok suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The price for forcibly rampaging his demonic energy: internal injuries.
‘…Gotta save this for when no other solution comes to mind.’
The power was undeniable, but it was dangerous in many ways.
If he could wield it freely, it’d be a solid weapon.
“Maybe when I enter Transcending Demon….”
Wiping blood from his mouth, Il-mok muttered while looking down at the sword, now just a hilt.