Chapter 1066
"Ugh..."
The Myriad-Bones Blood King, still kneeling, glared at Bu Eun-seol with a low, guttural voice.
"I will curse you even in death."
Whoosh—
Suddenly, black flames erupted from the Myriad-Bones Blood King's body, engulfing him in an instant.
Now that things had come to this, he had to preserve his dignity one last time—to leave behind the immortal name of a king.
Just as warriors of the Central Plains severed their heart meridians to take their own lives, he unleashed the India Secret Arts—Karma Flame Extinction.
In an instant, he set himself ablaze.
This way, the name of the Myriad-Bones Blood King Bazrakan would remain as that of a great ruler who chose to perish in a blaze of glory.
Whoooosh—
Bu Eun-seol's gaze remained impassive as he watched the flames consume the Blood King.
Had he tried to humiliate the man further or force him into a more wretched state?
He could have easily extinguished the flames and beheaded him in one stroke.
But the Blood King had chosen death.
Once a person chose death, there was no further intervention to be made.
Moreover, since the Lord of Phantom Dream Fortress had already submitted to him, the Myriad Bones Gate alone would not dare attack Moon Wheel Palace and the Iron Elephant Sect.
Swish—
At that moment, a white shadow descended from the distant sky, landing beside Bu Eun-seol.
It was So-yo, who had been commanding the Moon Wheel Palace forces, now returned.
With just a brief exchange of glances, the two seemed to have shared countless words.
Not only could they entrust their lives to one another, but they had now reached a stage where a single look was enough to understand each other's hearts.
[You've had a rough time.]
When Bu Eun-seol gave her an apologetic look, So-yo bared her teeth slightly and shrugged.
[Not at all. Thanks to you, I got to experience leading a grand army.]
She was dressed in a white robe shimmering with an ethereal glow—prepared to become the next Moon Wheel Saint King.
Her already fair skin and silver eyes only amplified her beauty.
"You've worked hard."
Just then, the mechanism opened, and the Moon Wheel Saint King reappeared.
She had hidden herself away, accepting Bu Eun-seol's suggestion to protect the sacred artifact that would save the people of Ratna City.
"Saint King."
Bu Eun-seol gave a slight nod.
She had trusted him completely, following every one of his decisions.
For someone of her stature to place such faith in another was no small thing.
Rumble—
At that moment, around three hundred soldiers entered Moon Wheel Palace.
They were the warriors of the Four Sacred Tribes and A-wan, who had worked with the Iron Elephant Sect's masters under Bu Eun-seol's orders to hold back the enemy forces.
"Lord!"
A-wan ran over with a bright smile, only to let out an involuntary gasp when she spotted the dazzling beauty in white—So-yo.
Their faces were strikingly similar, save for the color of their eyes.
"So-yo, she is—"
"I know."
So-yo smiled faintly as she approached A-wan.
"You must be A-wan, the saintess of the Yona Tribe who helped the Lord retrieve the sacred artifact. Am I right?"
"I'm just a messenger for the Four Great Merchant Guilds now."
A-wan asked in wonder,
"How is it that we look so much alike?"
Then the Moon Wheel Saint King spoke.
"Because both of you are candidates for the Saint King."
"The Saint King?"
"There is more than one candidate for the position."
The Moon Wheel Saint King smiled faintly.
"Both of you were born under the same fate."
"The same fate?"
When A-wan asked, the Saint King nodded with a benevolent expression.
"Beings derived from the same origin or destiny. Your lives and purposes are intertwined like the wick of a candle—inseparable, bound together."
"Then that means..."
"Both of you possess the qualifications to become the Saint King. Of course, this is but one facet of the deep karmic bond fate has woven between you."
The Moon Wheel Saint King continued,
"Your existences and destinies are deeply entangled. You could say you are two fragments sharing one grand fate."
"One fate..."
For a moment, A-wan's expression brightened.
She recalled the affectionate way Bu Eun-seol and So-yo had looked at each other.
'If she and I share the same fate...'
If Bu Eun-seol and So-yo were bound together, didn't that mean she, too, would inevitably be united with him?
"Now is the time to use the sacred artifact."
The Moon Wheel Saint King smiled.
"It has been far too long."
But So-yo held her back.
"Moon Wheel Palace has only just repelled a formidable enemy."
She spoke earnestly.
"It wouldn't be too late to use the artifact after restoring order."
"No. The people have waited long enough."
Then she pointed to the people gathered below the altar.
Even amidst this chaos, the citizens remained prostrated with their heads bowed low.
They were desperately hoping the Moon Wheel Saint King would quickly use the Sacred Artifact to bring them rain.
This isn't right.
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol felt a surge of anger at the people's attitude.
Why do they only expect unconditional help?
Why did they never think to solve their own problems, always waiting for someone else to do it for them?
To Bu Eun-seol's eyes, even the way the people bowed and worshipped the Moon Wheel Saint King—
It didn't seem like reverence. It felt like silent pressure, urging her to sacrifice her life quickly so the rain would come.
Do other people's lives mean nothing to them?
Step, step.
At that moment, the Moon Wheel Saint King stepped forward before the altar.
And in a clear, resonant voice, she declared:
"I will now use the Sacred Artifact!"
Rumble...
The name of the artifact in her hands was—
Sacrifice. A word that carried the weight of fate itself.
Without hesitation, she plunged her hand into it.
The black liquid inside began to seethe and churn like the molten lava of the Abyss—or perhaps like the suppressed fury of ancient times.
Its sound was low and ominous, pressing down heavily upon the entire space.
Bubble... bubble...
The boiling liquid finally overflowed the vessel's edge, oozing down with a viscous, clinging texture.
Like a black river, the dark fluid spread outward before suddenly halting.
But then—
Shoooom!
As if imbued with an eerie vitality, it slowly began to rise into the air.
Drip... drip...
The surging black liquid gradually took shape—
Into a flawless replica of the Moon Wheel Saint King herself.
Only pitch-black.
Every strand of hair, every flutter of her eyelashes—perfectly mirrored.
It was a mirror of death, crafted to absorb every last drop of her life, her blazing essence.
Ssshh...
The black shadow—no, the other Moon Wheel Saint King—silently reached out toward her.
The gesture was slow, seductive, and yet carried the inevitability of fate's grasp.
A deathly silence filled Moon Wheel Palace.
The people clasped their hands together, waiting only for the Moon Wheel Saint King to take the black shadow's hand—to make her choice.
The moment she grasped that hollow, darkened hand—
The deep longing they had all yearned for... would finally be fulfilled.
But in exchange—
The Moon Wheel Saint King's breath, her warmth—all of it would be surrendered to the black shadow the Sacred Artifact had created.
She stood motionless, gazing at the sight before her.
What stood before her was her own death—and yet, also the fulfillment of her wish.
Without hesitation, she reached for the black shadow's hand.
At last, beneath the name of sacrifice, a solemn and tragic contract was about to be sealed—
Whoosh—THUD!
Suddenly, a figure clad in black descended beside her.
It was Bu Eun-seol.
This is wrong.
He had seen it.
The faint smile lingering on the Moon Wheel Saint King's face, even in the face of death.
It resembled the Flower-Holding Smile of a Buddha leaping into flames to save all beings—
But in Bu Eun-seol's eyes, she was merely a victim, forced into the devil's lair by the coercion of countless others.
If this world considers it natural to sacrifice the few for the many... then it would be better if it ceased to exist.
This belief was precisely why Bu Eun-seol had clashed time and again with the Three Realms and the countless Abyssal Forces lurking beneath.
Even in the distant lands of India, far removed from the Central Plains, he had no intention of standing idly by in the face of such injustice.
Shake, shake.
As if reading his thoughts—
The Moon Wheel Saint King shook her head. And without hesitation, she took the black shadow's hand.
CRACK—!
In an instant, with the sound of something pure shattering, light began to spill from the Moon Wheel Saint King's body.
The black shadow greedily drank it in.
It was absorbing all the color she possessed, transforming into the new Moon Wheel Saint King.
This isn't right.
Bu Eun-seol swiftly moved toward her. To stand by and watch this spectacle went against his convictions.
It was no different than surrendering to a filthy fate.
Whoosh—!
He seized the black shadow's outstretched hand as well.
CRACK—!
Light surged from Bu Eun-seol's body too, now being drawn into the black shadow.
Ghk—!
His mind went blank, his body frozen in place.
The suction force emanating from the black shadow was akin to the power of nature itself—impossible to resist with any form of strength or martial arts.
"No!"
So-yo, sensing something amiss, quickly rushed to Bu Eun-seol and grabbed his hand.
Chaaaang!
In an instant, she too was engulfed in the radiant light, and a tremendous suction force began draining the life force from her body.
"Young Master!"
A-wan, realizing something had gone terribly wrong, also sprinted toward Bu Eun-seol without hesitation.
"You mustn't go!"
At that moment, one of the warriors from the Four Sacred Tribes shouted.
"That is the Sacrificial Relic! If you get too close, your life force will be pointlessly drained!"
Yet, despite hearing those words, A-wan charged forward without pause.
And in one swift motion, she seized Bu Eun-seol's outstretched hand.
'If the world has no place for the Young Master, I'd rather die.'
Bu Eun-seol had assumed her love was mere infatuation or fleeting curiosity.
But in this world, even the briefest encounter, the most momentary bond—
Could plunge someone into a love so deep they would wait a lifetime.
A-wan had loved him with that very heart.
Wooong—
The moment their hands connected, a blinding white light surged from her body as well, and she too was pulled toward the shadow.
"Damn it, damn it!"
Yu Cheong-rim, watching the scene unfold, bit his lip hard.
Though he was a thief who had abandoned his conscience to steal from others—
He hadn't discarded his sense of loyalty.
Seeing Bu Eun-seol rush forward without hesitation to save the Moon Wheel Saint King, even at the cost of his own life—
"Ugh—"
His chest burned, and his fighting spirit surged to its peak.
"Ah, screw it!"
In the end, Yu Cheong-rim also dashed toward the altar.
Just as he was about to grab Bu Eun-seol's hand—
The dazed expressions of the commoners watching the scene suddenly caught his eye.
"Hey, you damn fools!"
He roared furiously at the people standing below.
"You think it's normal for people to die for your sake? If you've got any conscience left, stop gawking like idiots and get up here!"
Yet the crowd remained frozen, mouths agape.
"You heartless bastards."
Flames of fury blazed in Yu Cheong-rim's eyes.
"Is happiness built on someone else's sacrifice even real happiness—?!"
His voice, as if vomiting blood, reverberated through Moon Wheel Palace like a temple bell.
And it began to echo in the minds of countless people.
But still, there was no response.
"Do as you please."
Muttering under his breath, he stepped onto the altar and took a deep breath.
"Haa, huu."
And then another.
'Who'd have thought I'd end up dying in India of all places?'
But it was fine.
If he were to perish gloriously alongside the Martial Soul Lord, who had already become a legend in the martial world—
Then his name, too, would be immortalized forever.
"Haa. Haa."
But when it came to actually reaching out, it wasn't so easy.
'Ah, I can't do it after all.'
Now that he thought about it, he hadn't even gotten married yet.
Not to mention, the world was still full of treasures he hadn't discovered.
Beyond India, weren't there countless unknown treasures scattered throughout the Beyond the Frontier?
Who knew what kind of joy they might bring?
He really didn't want to die in this desolate, crumbling palace in India, where not even his corpse would be found.
"My Lord, I think I might..."
Just as Yu Cheong-rim scratched his head hesitantly—
Rumble—
The warriors of the Four Sacred Tribes, who had been waiting below, suddenly began charging toward the altar.
Seeing Bu Eun-seol and A-wan on the brink of death, and hearing Yu Cheong-rim's impassioned cry—
They, too, could no longer contain their burning emotions.
"Huh? Wha—?"
Yu Cheong-rim was swept forward by the tide of charging warriors, pushed toward the altar.
"W-Wait a second!"
He flailed desperately.
"No, I changed my mind—!"
But they were all individuals capable of wielding the sacred artifact's power, and they came in such overwhelming numbers—
Yu Cheong-rim had no choice but to be swept along by the wave.
"S-Save me! Aaaaah!"
As he was finally connected to the shadow's hand along with the others, Yu Cheong-rim screamed.
An agonizing pain unlike anything he had ever experienced spread through him.
It felt as though his head were melting and every bone in his body were being crushed to pieces.
The Moon Wheel Saint King and Bu Eun-seol's companions had been silently enduring this very pain.
"Save me! Aaaah, nooo! I'm dying! It hurts too much!"
—Uuuugh.
Then something strange happened.
The moment Yu Cheong-rim let out his agonized scream, the expressions of the commoners shifted.
—Even a young man like that has made his sacrifice.
Yu Cheong-rim, with his boyish face and a body no different from a girl's,
appeared to the people of India as little more than a teenage boy.
Yet when he let out that agonized scream, as if plunged into the fires of hell, cracks began to form in their stone-hardened consciences.
—Save the Saint King!
Dozens among the crowd, their expressions resolute, rushed toward the altar.
—Even a child like that threw himself in—how can we not do the same?
Then, the remaining people too began ascending the steps of Moon Wheel Palace's altar.
Even through his fading consciousness, Bu Eun-seol saw them surging forward.
A faint smile touched his lips as he watched through blurred vision.
'In truth... they were never foolish.'
The people had never been foolish.
They had simply lacked someone to guide them.
They had only followed their belief—that the Saint King's sacrifice was inevitable.
But if someone had told them, with burning conviction—
That life was precious.
That the few should never be sacrificed for the many as if it were natural.
They would have gladly followed.
In the end, it was Yu Cheong-rim's desperate screams and cries that awakened their conscience.
And finally, spurred them into action.
—Waaaaah!
As if someone's shout had been the signal,
the countless people who had been silently witnessing this noble sacrifice now surged forward like a tidal wave.
Farmers covered in dust.
Mothers carrying tear-streaked children, elders leaning on canes—
Men and women, young and old, all desperately reached out.
—Huaaaaah!
With desperate cries, hundreds—no, thousands—of hands stretched toward the black shadow.
No, not the shadow—toward the Saint King, whose hand was locked with it.
The black shadow, like a ravenous Hungry Ghost, began greedily devouring their life force.
The single strand of light flowing from the Saint King
had now merged with hundreds, thousands of fragile, flickering lights, forming a vast river of radiance.
Each individual light was faint, but together, their brilliance outshone the sun.
On every face, instead of the terror of death, burned only determination—to share in the suffering—and fervent wishes, blazing like sacred flames.
And in that moment, a miracle occurred.
—Shoooaaaah!
Suddenly, the heavens split open, and rain poured down as if it had been waiting.
A life-giving deluge soaking the parched earth.
Dust-covered leaves regained their emerald glow, and cracked fields filled with moist vitality.
Whooooom.
The black shadow swelled, growing larger and larger, until it looked at the Saint King and the countless people holding her hand.
Heh.
As if satisfied by their pure hearts, it bared white teeth in a grin—
—then, Paaaaah!
It burst into millions of motes of light, vanishing into the sky in an instant.
Yet even after the shadow disappeared—
astonishingly, the Saint King, Bu Eun-seol, So-yo... not a single one of them collapsed.
They stood unharmed, still holding hands, gazing at one another.
What the black shadow had devoured
was not their life force—but the warmth of their faith and sacrifice for one another.
Thud.
The Saint King sank to one knee in relief.
The sacred artifact had brought the rain, and not a single citizen had been harmed.
That alone was enough to fill her with gratitude.
"Saint King."
So-yo stepped forward, supporting her.
Though their time together had been brief—
So-yo had learned much from her, preparing to inherit the mantle of Saint King.
Their bond had been that of master and disciple.
"I'm all right."
Their gazes met, brimming with trust.
Without a word, they clasped hands beneath the life-giving rain.
Then, they turned to Bu Eun-seol and nodded.
"Thank you."
—Waaaaah!
At that moment, the people erupted—cheers and sobs mingling with the downpour.
Not tears of sorrow, but of overwhelming joy—a song of hope born from despair.
The Saint King lifted her rain-soaked face to the sky, while the people embraced one another.
For the true name of the sacred artifact
was not Sacrifice, but Solidarity.
When all hearts were united in cooperation and responsibility,
it granted not death—but the fervent wish shared by all.
Yet somewhere along the way, twisted by human greed and selfishness...
it had been given the cruel name of Sacrifice.
—Waaaaah!
The people's cheers echoed endlessly.
Moon Wheel Palace, once shrouded in the shadow of death,
was now filled with dazzling light and a sublime, beautiful energy.