Chapter 39
Chapter 39
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Debt of Desperation
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Number 20 crawled along the ground. She kept on crawling.
She had to return to the place she'd left.
Someone was waiting. They would be holding out.
Number 30.
I can't picture him dying in my mind.
So I'll go help. I have to help.
I can't just let him die. Somehow.
Somehow...!
"...Ah."
In an instant, her drooping head slams into the dirt. Dust crawls into her mouth.
She coughs harshly. Spit mingled with blood splatters on the ground.
She has to stand up.
She has to stand up...
Her body...
Her body won't move...
"...Grk."
No. This isn't the time to gripe.
Instead of agonizing, stretch out your hand. Keep moving.
Crawl. Crawl there even if you have to.
Grab on somehow. Grab hold and...
Grab hold and...
"...Hic."
She swallows the tears about to spill. She crawls on, sobbing.
Don't die.
Don't die.
Number 30. Don't die. You can't die. We've come this far-it'd be too strange if you did.
You're still alive, right? Please say you are. Please. Please...
Someone like you isn't allowed to die.
That... that would be truly unfair.
You're alive. Please.
Right now.
I'm coming right now...!
"You."
A voice rings out. She turns around belatedly.
In her hazy vision, someone stands there. She can make out something cradled in their arms.
A man, limp as a corpse.
Geuk Jin-myeong's body.
"What are you doing?"
"......."
She opens her mouth. No words come.
Enemy? Ally? She doesn't know. But holding Geuk Jin-myeong... probably an enemy.
She flails the sword clutched in her grip. The woman laughs.
She catches the blade's tip with both hands.
"Mind answering one question? Got an advance payment-I'm on the clock."
"......."
"Cheonak Sect side? Or Sima Clan?"
"......."
"Can't talk? Well, you look the part."
Purple hair cascades before her eyes. The woman, silhouetted against the moonlight, leans in.
She whispers.
"Just blink once. Sima Clan?"
"......."
An answer.
How should she answer?
Once again, lost in thought without realizing it, Number 20 let out a self-mocking laugh. Some instincts never change, do they?
Still a coward at heart. But if she could overcome her nature through sheer effort...
Resolve.
She had to steel it now.
No more lies at this point. Even if this woman was the enemy, she wanted to cling to her convictions.
Nothing was more pathetic than sheathing a drawn blade.
She blinked.
The woman smiled.
"Is that sooo?"
She reached out. Number 20 squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the strike to her face.
But the expected pain never came.
Instead, something tumbled into her mouth.
"Painkiller. Just numbs the agony, so no thrashing around? You'd really die then."
"......."
"I've got places to be. Need this guy in one piece. So just lie here nice and..."
She reached out.
Number 20 seized the woman's ankle.
The downward gaze hardened.
"Told you to stay put. Never said climb up."
She coughs violently. Her voice finally emerges.
So she begs. Because she's too weak, too helpless to act.
Sobbing.
Whispering.
"Pl...ease... save... 30th... Lake..."
"What?"
"Blood Demon... Squad... he's... alone... there..."
"......"
Because she knows she can't do it herself.
Knows she's not strong enough to accomplish it all.
So she clings and pleads. Casting aside even her fierce pride.
"Plea...se..."
"...First time seeing a scene like this. Kid. Worry about your own body right now. Not the time for others-you're on the brink yourself."
"Save... him..."
"Jeez. Begging like that, what choice do I have?"
The woman's eyes curved like a new moon.
"Then... this is a debt? I'll collect every last bit later. Not a penny short."
...
Her body shatters. Regeneration and destruction cycle endlessly.
Heavenly Tribulation wrenches her frame. Black roots lodged in her veins howl.
Body at its limit. The creaking grows worse.
She feels the necrotic skin sloughing off her toes.
...But.
Still, I'm walking.
"What the hell do you gain from pushing that far?!"
It flies at her. A sword.
It clashes. With her body.
---Kaaaaang!!!
She meets the sword. A groan blends into the scream.
It hurts. Feels like death. Her creaking body bucks wildly.
For just one step.
She swallows thousands of groans.
Freezing over. Her body. She feels it. Dying in real time.
But even so, she's walking.
Don't think.
Move.
She swings back. The foe retreats. She doesn't pursue the gap.
Instead, she raises her sword. Forcefully scoops under the frozen flesh.
Awakens deadened nerves with the blade's edge.
"What are you...?!"
The exterior is freezing. Faster than it regenerates.
So she carves it out. Awakens it directly.
Heavenly Tribulation.
Don't sleep.
Not time to sleep yet.
She continues the self-mutilation, dragging forth the blood trying to slumber. Peels away the frozen skin amid the screams.
Blood. Flow again.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art. Rouse the blood to hell's depths.
If internal energy runs dry, rip it free.
Recall what you've devoured.
The time piled up.
The sword piled up.
---Prove it-even if you tear it all apart!
「I'm waiting for you. From a dizzying height you can't even gaze upon.」
She hears the prior whisper. Thrusts it onto her sword tip.
Steps into the Soul-Departing Sword's dread.
Rouses her blood.
Swinging her sword.
Proves she's alive with her entire body.
"What?!"
She launches her sword at the foe's twisted, mirthless face. It's blocked.
But she doesn't halt.
"Such barbarity...!"
She scatters sword arts. Dodges the incoming blade.
Seizes her severed right arm. Forces it back into place.
"Th...this...!"
Grabs the sword. It slips.
Grabs the sword. It slips.
Grabs the sword. It slips.
Even so, one more time...
---Grabs the sword.
"First beast like you in my life!"
The Soul-Departing Sword wails.
It's coming.
An ultimate strike she's never witnessed. A sword art charging past sincerity toward the brink of death, readying to rush her.
She staggers but grips her sword. Pours tension into slackened muscles.
「...Wait just a moment. Heavenly Demon Cheon So-so.」
To lend weight to her own words.
To never glance back at her extended blade again.
She hauls forth that sword, now one with her body, from the depths of hell.
Flashy ultimate technique?
None.
She knows nothing of the sort.
No phantom swords, no feints, no such trifles.
Just a blade charging wildly like a drunkard. A blade advancing straight and true toward its mark.
That's the entirety of the sword she knows.
The gripped hilt trembles. She feels the quiver atop the frozen blade.
A distant dream, as always.
To seize it, she grits her teeth. Shouts with her whole body to keep longing from remaining mere longing.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Second Form.
Soul-Pulling Thrust.
「Chasing after you. Always.」
A sigh mingled with frozen blood.
Her extended sword slices even sound asunder, eyes gleaming to devour.
The Soul-Departing Sword regurgitates everything it had devoured from her. Azure flame seizes every blind spot in a flash.
But even so.
...Even so, she...!
"Enough."
Her nape is seized.
"That's far enough. Stop thrashing."
Her body lurches backward.
The rampaging sword's momentum shatters. The blade rattles in her loosening grip, nearly slipping free.
Someone is behind her.
A presence so eerie she never sensed it until it closed in.
The Soul-Departing Sword retracts its blade in an instant. She blinks, cold sweat streaming down her face.
"What is this... Who are you...?"
"Soul-Departing Sword No Ha-cheon. Let's call it here. The rest of this tale..."
She looks up. In her blurring vision, someone stands.
Purple hair. A smile both refined and alluring.
"...falls under the Blood Execution Squad's jurisdiction. The Sima Clan made a special request for oversight."
"...Blood Execution Squad? Why would they show up here...?"
"To sort truth from lies. Rooting out and handling cult traitors is the Blood Execution Squad's domain, isn't it? Just doing our job-nothing odd about it."
"......"
"Step aside. Consider this a notice. Not a suggestion-appreciate your understanding."
"...Hah."
"If you still won't back off..."
The woman gestures behind her.
"...your disciple might be at risk?"
"...Jin-myeong...? Your doing?"
"No. Some kid pulled it off. Blood Demon Squad member, from the look."
"My disciple felled by some Blood Demon Squad nobody...? Still breathing?"
"Took every measure possible. He won't die. Probably?"
"...Grateful. No plans to clash with the Blood Execution Squad. Can't in this state anyway. If you inspect properly, no need for me to step in. You're the most upright outfit in the cult, by reputation?"
"Thankful for your cooperation."
"...Cooperation be damned... I'm beat. Haha... What madness. What the hell did the Blood Demon Squad raise? That thing... what even is it?"
"Beats me. First freak of this caliber I've seen."
Her vision blurs to nothing. Darkness swallows her sight bit by bit.
Side effects hit late. Her frozen body, immobile, is devoured by the chill.
"Pushed an old man like me to the brink by mere early Peak Realm? They'd laugh if word got out."
"...Hold on. Hey? Your death would complicate things. My deal includes keeping you alive."
The voice recedes.
Her colorless vision drowns fully in black.
"Soul-Departing Sword?! What did you do to this kid?!"
"No clue. Something... looked like he swallowed something..."
"Heavens. Heavenly Tribulation? Don't tell me this kid..."
"You know something?"
"The Cult Leader's plaything! Ah, fuck! Stepped in shit! Shouldn't have taken the pay!"
"You took money?"
"Skip the trivia! Soul-Departing Sword! Help me out!"
"Me, your foe until a moment ago...?"
"Blood Execution Squad! In the Blood Execution Squad's name, I request your aid! I don't wanna die to the Squad Leader!"
"S-Squad Leader? Connected to the Heavenly Blood Demon Fiend...? It clicks now! Yes! Explains the freak!"
"Cut the bullshit-hurry...!"
Her body convulses.
Did she endure? Did she pull through?
She doesn't know. Where's her sword?
"...Heavens. Even now, won't release the sword?"
Where's my sword...?
"A true beast."
"No time for awe! Soul-Departing Sword! Protect! What a nightmare! Thought it was easy cash... Aaa! Why'd I promise that crap?! Why push so hard against someone leagues below?! Should've let him die before I arrived!"
"Leagues below?! Among all I've faced, the toughest bastard! Slash after slash, won't die-charges right back... Creepiest foe of my life! Wasn't that I didn't kill him! Couldn't!"
Stan...
Stand...
"Wh-what?! Lie down! This guy's completely insane?!"
"Huh? That wrecked body stands again? This guy's...!"
"Soul-Departing Sword! How many times do I say no time for awe?!"
Stand... but...
Now... truly...
"What the hell did the Squad Leader raise?!"
Her frozen body halts.
Standing, just like that.
Heavenly Tribulation falls silent too.
Everything...
---Falls quiet.
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