Chapter 81
Chapter 81
************************-
Translator: uly
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Illusions of Desire
************************-
Repeating meaningless acts.
Because if I don't even do that, it feels like I'll collapse.
"........."
In the filthy room, the Soul Captivating Enchantress sensed presences entering the formation.
Two. Two of them. Last time, five came in at once, and she ended up seeing something unsightly.
Fortunately, this time they were keeping some distance from each other. No chance of them getting tangled up. The Soul Captivating Enchantress stole a glance at their appearances with her floating illusory eyes.
One was a man with a bamboo hat pulled low over his face. He'd tugged the brim down so far that his features were barely visible. The only thing showing was the knife scar etched across his face.
She knew the one behind him. The man who'd nearly fallen completely under her spell before escaping this place. The Soul Captivating Enchantress tilted her head, unable to fathom why.
If he'd come once before, he must have realized the danger.
Yet he'd come back anyway...
"...Tch."
He's just like the other men.
Wagering his life for a moment's pleasure.
Fine. If that's what you want, go ahead and spill yourself until you're a dried-up husk. I've given you fair warning.
Let's see. When that smug face of yours can't even smile anymore...
what happens then.
...
"Young Master Mu. Slow down a bit."
"Didn't I tell you to follow from a distance?"
"We've put enough space between us. You're yelling at the top of your lungs."
Mist began to fill the forest. With it, the surrounding scenery slowly shifted.
Black Wind exclaimed from behind.
"Second time seeing it, but it's still impressive. Who the hell made this thing... The formation feels like it's alive and moving. Where's the core? Where's the axis... Heh heh. I'm dying to know."
"Can't you stop muttering to yourself and just follow quietly?"
"Muttering? This is conversation! I'm saying it for you to hear! Young Master Mu! If you take three more steps from there..."
---Snap.
The voice cut off abruptly. I turned around.
Suddenly, I was alone in the mist. No sense of front or back, left or right.
Is this where the test begins?
I kept walking anyway. Straight ahead in the direction I'd been going, but nothing appeared.
I sat down for a moment to think. The Seductive Demon Illusion Formation.
What does that mean? What could drain a person's vital energy?
"Oppa."
What the...
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"You answer when someone calls you. You've gotten so cold while I wasn't looking."
I turned my head. A sweet scent brushed my nose.
For an instant, my mind wavered. But Heavenly Tribulation immediately devoured the strange smell.
A face I'd seen before was right in front of me. One I couldn't forget.
"...Baek Mae?"
"You still remember my name. Good thing you didn't act like you had no idea-I'd have gotten mad."
She puffed out her cheeks slightly. A hint of emotion softened her icy expression.
I snapped to my senses before speaking.
"...Are you the core of this formation?"
"Yes. That's right."
"......?"
"What? Were you expecting me to deny it? But you know, any ordinary martial artist who enters a place like this figures it out. Ah, this is fake. It's all lies-something like that."
The unknown entity borrowing Baek Mae's form whispered to me.
"But can you really dismiss a fake that's endlessly close to the real thing as just a fake?"
"...What?"
"Hand. Give it here. Quick. Come on."
I handed it over reflexively.
The entity placed its hand atop mine.
The sensation of touch. Warmth.
The feel of soft flesh.
"Still fake?"
"...Something Baek Mae wouldn't do."
"But I am Baek Mae, and I'm not Baek Mae. Made based on that person, right? Here, look. Flap flap-"
I turned away from her deliberately stretching out her front.
She laughed.
"No need to be shy. You've wanted to see once or twice, haven't you? What's inside here."
"........."
"Truth is, I've been a little curious too. What yours looks like, oppa. So..."
Our skin presses together.
She whispers while pressing and rubbing her chest against me. Her upturned eyes gleam with seductive charm.
"How about we take a peek at each other's? It's all fake anyway. No one's watching inside this formation. Just a little play between us. Oppa."
"........."
"No one will know. Not even the real Baek Mae. So just a tiny peek... Just us two... A secret no one else will know..."
She took my hand. I looked down quietly at her sticky, snakelike grip.
Lust. I have it too. But as she drew closer, that lust only cooled further.
"Something Baek Mae wouldn't say."
"Because I'm not Baek Mae."
"That's what makes it even more disgusting."
The woman I knew didn't take kindly to using her body to win others' favor.
She gave her all to what she set out to do, and even if she gave up midway, she'd come back as a martial artist.
That's Baek Mae.
"If a person has ten kinds of charm, body and face are just one of them."
"........."
"What you're doing isn't tempting me."
I shoved her away.
"It's defiling the Baek Mae I hold in my heart."
She fell on her butt. Instead of vanishing, she grumbled.
"The real one could act like this too. You'd shove her away calling it defilement?"
"I'd have to see. But at least she wouldn't come at me like this."
"...Tch. Somehow I doubt it..."
"What would you know?"
"I know because it's based on your memories. Well, nothing to be done. If you're that stubborn..."
Baek Mae brushed off the dirt and stood.
She checked her chest.
"Last chance. Really not gonna look? This is huge. Legendary size. Wow, impressive."
"Get lost."
"Ahaha! So strict!"
Baek Mae's form crumbled in an instant.
I started walking again.
"Junior."
This time, Eun Seol-ran?
She tagged along beside me as if it were natural. I glanced over. Her fierce eyes were curved more gently than I'd ever seen, and her steps were light and dainty.
"You don't like me either?"
"Get lost."
"Ah, right. Nothing to see here, huh. But honestly, there's quite a bit if you look closely. I mean, it's not like I have nothing."
"Didn't ask."
"Don't be so cold. Junior. Forgot about us? Huh? We rolled around together in Demon Valley. The two of us uncovering Black Heaven Axe Sect's secrets..."
I placed my hand on my sword.
I warned her softly.
"Don't defile my senior any further."
"...Oops. Another reverse scale, huh."
Eun Seol-ran vanished.
A heavy voice came from behind.
"Brother!"
"Wanna die?"
"........."
Yeon Gwang vanished with a swipe. Something came rushing over.
"B-Brother Warrior!"
"Not leaving?"
"W-When did you... North Gate Book Depository..."
"........."
"Waaah!"
I grabbed Seo Cho-hee, who'd been following, and hurled her into the forest.
I muttered softly toward the Soul Captivating Enchantress who must be watching.
"This is extremely unpleasant. Can't you just open the path?"
No answer. The mist continued.
A presence ahead. I stopped in my tracks.
There stood the First Demon, mask removed. That beauty I'd seen before was looking back at me.
"You don't tell me to get lost right away."
"...Fuck."
I finally drew my sword.
"You touch what shouldn't be touched?"
Ghost Sword White Night roared roughly, as displeased as I was. The channeled energy surged along the blade.
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Third Form
Tyrannical Demon Path
Blood shadows enveloped my body. My reinforced foot left a deep imprint in the ground.
The thing wearing the First Demon's guise flinched. For a moment, it flailed its hands.
"W-Wait! I could be the real First Demon...!"
"If it were her, she'd block this strike easily."
A growl rose from my throat.
I had no intention of enduring more ugliness.
"This shit... a test?"
Just disgusting.
The fact that it mimics only the shells of people I know, ignorant of their true worth.
"I'll cut them all down."
Nine Heavens Blood Demon Art
Fourth Form
Flashing Scatter
---Kwaaaaaaah!!!!
My thrust sword tore through an entire realm.
The final technique of the first half. Overlaid with Tyrannical Demon Path.
The two combined, and the First Demon's form split in two in an instant.
The mist cleared. That revolting mist.
---Shwaaaaa!!
White fog drifting around was sucked into the rift. Amid it, I heard a whispering voice.
"Impressive."
I turned. A distorted illusion of the Heavenly Demon waved lazily at me.
"Childish prank."
"...Cult Leader?"
"Hm. No. It's not me here. But even my shadow can't be handled by just anyone. My existence is like a mountain-split it however you like, it'll still be heavy, right?"
She, the only one who felt truly real and self-assured, grinned. She lifted her chest slightly.
"Still, since it's a rare chance, want a peek? Puppy. Mine's definitely more impressive than any you've seen before."
"...Don't tease."
"Heh heh. Joke. Just a joke."
Even the Heavenly Demon's illusion was sucked away. In the suddenly cleared mist, I heard a man's groaning voice.
I didn't want to look, but I turned anyway. Black Wind was thrashing his hips wildly in midair, howling.
"Arf arf! Yeah! Let's die once today!"
"........."
I ignored him and walked forward.
A voice called out.
"How... so fast...?!"
"Soul Captivating Enchantress, you've done enough. Let us go now."
"...No. Come deeper. There's a second test-the final one. It's been years since someone passed my first test."
A house appeared at the edge of my vision. A grand mansion, built with delicate care.
"Come in."
The door opened on its own with the voice. The interior was as dark as when I'd entered the formation-no desire to step inside.
"...Can't I really just leave?"
"No. Unless you want to wander this forest forever. Come in, warrior."
Even the address had become polite. I had no idea what she truly wanted.
Still, I stepped forward. As I entered, the door shut behind me.
---Click.
The lantern on the nearby table lit up.
An eerie atmosphere permeated the endless corridor awaiting me.
The structure looked different from outside than inside. This is...
"...Another formation."
Piercing the darkness was easy. But ignoring the lantern placed as if for me felt odd, so I picked it up.
I stepped into the corridor.
The first thing I spotted in the darkness was a painting.