Chapter 200
Chapter 200
************************-
Translator: uly
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Divine Cult Double Agent
************************-
I'd found out Yuk Nam-pyeong's whereabouts.
An outpost of the nearby Apostle Corps.
Hearing he'd been forcibly conscripted as a soldier there, I turned my steps toward it.
On the way, I heard many stories.
"S-Sir! If I may be so bold, my son too...!"
"M-My daughter was taken there! Please... please..."
"It's U-ya! My son's name is U-ya!"
Many had been taken captive.
I listened to their tales of being forced to take up the sword against their will.
I memorized the names I heard, then silently gazed at the warriors trembling in fear.
Leaving these people here wouldn't be right. I stroked Yuk Hae-won's head.
"Stay here with the villagers."
"B-But..."
"Don't worry. I'll bring everyone back."
A life of swinging the sword even beyond death.
I felt the need to take stock of what I'd gained from it.
The hopes wandering the nine heavens had taken form and descended back to earth.
I'd essentially trained in the midst of death.
And because of that...
I needed to see with my own eyes how the things that sustained me had shaped me.
My current state couldn't simply be explained as the Transcendent Realm...
It was unstable.
Incomplete.
And far too vast to dismiss as mere transcendence.
Above all, I needed to get a feel for how to handle the Nine Hopes. White Night and Black Lord drifting by my side were silent on the matter.
Why had the Nine Hopes brought me back here? What was her reason for caring about me?
I wanted to find out. And for that...
I needed some time alone.
Besides, it might be a bit too grim a sight for the kid.
...
I spoke with the Nine Hopes.
And it answered me.
The Heavenly Tribulation, which had completely extinguished, still lingered within it.
That had been the precursor to reviving my lifeless body.
"......."
Gwi-gok Ya-jang had once told me something.
That when the Ghost Sword Nine Hopes was forged, a fragment of the Heavenly Tribulation had seeped into it.
That event had come full circle to reach this point. I thanked the Nine Hopes. And at the same time, I realized it was the Heavenly Tribulation itself.
Its sword form cloaked by Black Lord, White Night, and the Blood Sword...
At its core, a divine relic rooted in the Nine Hopes.
A truly living Ghost Sword, a sword's very flesh following me.
I drew it and examined it with my own eyes.
A bizarre sword in appearance. Black, yet cracked throughout its blackness.
But sturdy. As if to prove it wouldn't break, swinging the seemingly fragile blade effortlessly tore through a nearby great tree.
"...This is..."
Yin and yang.
Demonic qi and blood qi gathered in one place.
Four Origins One Sword. The sword itself had become a vessel capable of holding far more natural qi than any bowl could contain.
I realized that with the Nine Hopes, I could draw forth power beyond my limits.
...In that case.
Beyond the beast's posture, beyond the seventh form of the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art...
The sword I'd swung in death.
I needed to practice wielding its eighth form in the present world.
One sword carrying one heart.
Dyeing the world in my color thereby.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Eighth Form
Rakshasa Gate
As I headed to the Apostle Corps, I slowly honed the sword I wielded.
What I forged was not the form of a beast.
A sword aimed at the tip of those claws I'd devoted my life to climbing with.
Crossing countless hills...
The beast's roar finally reaching the heavens.
"......."
I stepped beyond the form where blood and shadow converged.
"...What? Who are you?"
At the Apostle Corps outpost I'd arrived at, I slowly moved my hand.
Infusing my heart-sword into the mass at my fingertips.
What I'd continuously trained while wandering the nine heavens...
My form. My soul.
With that alone.
"I heard there are people forcibly dragged here."
Let's go.
If I've come back to life, the things to do are simple, aren't they?
Crushing Jin Baek-cheon can wait. For now... let me confirm with my own eyes.
Whether those I cherished are safe.
Whether Su-ah, who overlapped with Yuk Hae-won's image... is alive.
Of course, before that...
I need to repay the grace of those who cared for me.
"Hand them all over."
"...What?"
...
Yuk Hae-won waited, trembling. Even as the village elders tried to calm her, she couldn't settle.
That calm tone. That confident manner, as if it were a given.
But... the opponent was the Apostle Corps.
She knew it too. What the Apostle Corps was. How vast and terrifying it was.
"He's no ordinary man, dear. It'll be fine. It'll surely be okay."
"...S-Still..."
Daddy. Daddy.
She trembled and simply waited. Even as day turned to night...
He didn't come.
The one who'd left.
Could he be dead? Yuk Hae-won stood at the village entrance, waiting endlessly. Despite the elders warning of danger and urging her inside, she stayed until the end.
Then, late into the night, with the moon risen, Yuk Hae-won leaned against a tree, still shivering.
And...
She heard it.
The sound of footsteps approaching from afar.
".......!"
She shot to her feet. Widening her eyes, she checked.
Someone was coming. No, not someone.
Many. A great many people. All wearing what looked like military uniforms. A bit ragged, but unmistakably Apostle Corps attire.
But her feared scenario didn't unfold. Among those in the uniforms were familiar faces.
Her long-awaited father.
"...D-Dad..."
Yuk Hae-won ran.
Even as her shoes came off and she tumbled once...
She limped into her parents' embrace.
"Hae-won!"
"Daddyyy!!!"
She couldn't even get half her prepared words out. She just clung to the embrace she'd nearly lost forever and burst into tears.
Her view blocked by the embrace. Beyond it came the sounds of people crying.
"Oh no! Oh no! My son! My boyyy!"
"F-Father! You'll fall!"
"My... my daughter... It's okay. It's okay. Forget it all. Think of it as a beast bite..."
"Mother... Mother..."
The village youths and maidens who'd been captured wept.
Amid the sobs, Yuk Hae-won belatedly wiped her nose and snapped her head up.
"D-Dad... what about that warrior...?"
"...He came with us."
Yuk Hae-won spotted a shadow watching the villagers from a step away.
A man like an immortal. Someone who truly seemed capable of fixing anything.
Yuk Hae-won limped over. She clung to him.
"B-Big brother... thank you..."
The face she looked up at smiled faintly. The hand that patted her head was gentle.
"You've been taking care of me all this time. I just repaid the favor."
"......."
"Listen to your dad, okay?"
"...A-Are you leaving?"
"Yeah. I have someone to find."
"C-Can I... see you again...?"
The man bent at the waist. Matching her eye level, he whispered softly.
"If fate connects us, we'll meet again."
"......."
"Now, go on."
Yuk Hae-won stepped back hesitantly. As she ran back to her father, she glanced over her shoulder.
He was already gone. As if he'd never been there at all.
...
I'd saved the people.
But I knew it wouldn't end there.
A village without me was as good as defenseless. The moment I left, it could be targeted by the Apostle Corps again.
If I was going to take responsibility, I'd see it through to the end. But that didn't mean staying in the village forever.
What I was ultimately responsible for was stopping the Apostle Corps' tyranny itself.
"......."
A force to shake an entire faction.
And that power was now in my hands.
I began to move my sword. To solidify what I possessed and to crush the Apostle Corps' outrages at the root.
"Who... guk?!"
I single-handedly smashed one of their branches. I subdued all who stood in my way.
Without unnecessary bloodshed, swiftly and decisively. I killed only the leaders responsible and hung their bodies in the marketplace.
Rumors began to spread. Tales of an unnamed warrior slaying key Apostle Corps figures.
Naturally, this drew the Apostle Corps' attention to me. Their core members' guards increased, and renowned warriors began patrolling around them.
But it couldn't stop me.
"I'm Mujongma... urk!"
None were all that impressive.
"W-What nonsense is this...?!"
Not even peak absolute masters meant much.
"W-Who the hell are you...?"
I ignored vast numbers of troops and closed right into their midst.
I warned them. Pressing my sword to their throats, I spoke lowly.
I always ended with a warning at least once.
So they could choose for themselves.
"Listen closely, carve it into your ears."
"......"
"Don't drag civilians into murim affairs. If it's discovered again, I'll kill without warning."
Cases of civilians being forcibly conscripted into the war began to dwindle. And with that, an official bounty was placed on my head.
A masked freak whose face couldn't be identified. Even his moniker was bizarre.
No Wind Asura.
The price on his head started at gold. And so I became a hunted man, but...
I didn't care. I didn't hide.
Drawing even more attention was what I wanted...
And those trying to kill me just for calling out wrongdoing no longer deserved mercy.
"Tell them only those who don't value their lives should chase me."
I set up base on a mountain. And there, I welcomed those who came for me.
"I'm right here."
Until everyone feared me and no one pursued.
Until the Apostle Corps as a whole dreaded my existence and completely halted conscripting civilians.
I greeted the guests who sought me out. At the same time, I honed what I lacked.
With my heart-sword complete, I could now see beyond it.
What began to appear after reaching the Transcendent Realm...
The final form of the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword.
I moved to forge the ninth form myself.