Chapter 96
Chapter 96
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Left Guard, Right Guard
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Left Guard. Right Guard.
Suddenly, the twins appeared. I gripped my sword tighter.
Judging by their looks alone, there was nothing remarkable. Bald heads and somewhat fierce expressions, that was all.
But...
Their auras felt entirely different. From everyone I'd fought up to now.
The Blazing Heaven Fist Demon bared his teeth.
"Mi-reung! Fall back!"
"......"
The girl staggered backward. The Blazing Heaven Fist Demon wrapped his entire body in qi.
Blazing power erupted in all directions. The Flower Realm. The stage where qi took on intent.
Its edge ignited, spewing fury.
"One on one! Hold out! I'll kill this one and come help...!"
"You're in danger."
The man in red clothes extended his foot.
In an instant, the Blazing Heaven Fist Demon's form slammed into the wall.
"I'll have to separate you."
"Hold oooon!!"
A massive cavern. A structure so vast it was hard to believe it lay underground.
The one called Left Guard vanished into the unknown depths alongside the Blazing Heaven Fist Demon.
The sounds gradually faded. The blazing qi that had scorched my vision vanished with them.
Gokcheong tilted his head toward me.
"The strongest warrior's gone. Who's next?"
"...I smell blood from below. The most likely place for Wolhyang is down there. Mokmyeong. I'll clear the path for you."
Heuk Danhwa unfurled her fan.
"Black Wind. I hate to say this, but..."
"I know what you mean. We've already boarded the same ship. It's a losing venture... but no choice. This concerns Black Wind's honor too."
"Thank you."
"Keh heh heh. First time hearing that since meeting the young lady."
The eyebrows of the man in blue robes twitched.
"...You green brats dare talk about safety?"
"Shut up, baldy."
A sweet scent brushed my nose.
"This isn't the place for us to talk."
In an instant, a massive formation enveloped the depths. Shadows rose, swallowing Black Wind and Heuk Danhwa.
The rising shadow devoured the blue-robed man as well. His already twitching eyebrows twisted sharply.
"You think this can bind me?"
"Scared? Of losing to two green brats? Well... with that empty head, can't be helped."
"...Keh heh heh. You know how to provoke. But this sorcery can't carry us far anyway. Young Cult Leader. I'll play with them a bit and return. Follow Left Guard for the path. He'll be back soon too."
"Your handling's sloppy."
"Isn't it because we trust the Young Cult Leader?"
"Doesn't matter. Go."
"Thank you."
---Slosh.
The darkness fully engulfed the three. I turned to Yeon Mi-reung.
...There was a wound near her ankle. A clear scar from being sliced and reattached.
Had they severed her tendons? That wasn't all. Fresh scratches covered her body as if she'd just been treated.
I took off my outer robe and draped it over Yeon Mi-reung.
"I'm fine, Young Lady Yeon. No need to tremble."
"Are you turning your back to me now?"
"Hide."
Now, only one foe remained before me.
His aura? Razor-sharp. His brutal power roiled behind me.
Was that all? The energy flowing over his body was all too familiar to me.
...Blood qi.
An atrocious amount of blood qi.
He was on another level from the warriors who'd attacked so far. Young Cult Leader... was it?
"Gokcheong. So you're the Blood Cult's Young Cult Leader."
"And you're the hound that secretly stalked my trail. That food you gave me that day-was it a test?"
"Coincidence."
"Right. Had to be. If there'd been even a hint of ulterior motive, I'd have noticed. Fate's joke. Feeding the enemy."
"......."
I walked, circling slowly to draw away from Yeon Mi-reung. To pull even a fraction of his attention.
"Why are you doing this?"
"You don't seem important enough for an answer."
"Answer me."
"...Insolent pup."
Gokcheong sighed. He spun his drawn sword.
He began circling me in turn.
"I'm the one who wants to ask. Mokmyeong. What are you, wielding blood qi like that?"
"......."
"Answer. Are you from our cult? Then why point your sword at me?"
Yeon Mi-reung was hidden.
I had to keep the conversation going.
"What I learned is the Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword."
"Nine Heavens Blood Demon Sword... I've heard that somewhere... Blood Demon Sword...?"
The man laughed.
"The sword the Blood Demon Squad learns! Right! I remember! You learned something idiotic! Third-rate martial arts that low-rank cult warriors practice! Ha ha! Strutting around with that?! It's just a slight modification of the original Blood Demon Sword! I've tested it before! Strong but unstable!"
"......."
"Third-rate arts... third-rate warrior... keh heh heh. Somehow you climbed that far with it. How much did you sacrifice? But... even if your realm's high, you can't escape your roots. If you crawled up from the bottom, adapt to reality. Why crawl into a place to die for nothing?"
"I'll ask once more. Why are you doing this?"
"Why?"
Gokcheong gripped his sword straight.
"Because we're short on blood. I'll answer. I wasn't going to, but... it's amusing enough that trash like you stands before me. I'll tell you out of consideration for this twisted fate."
"......."
"The current Demonic Cult is weak. Far from blood. Its forces have grown, sure. But the direction? What's the direction? All that excess power just rotting away, huddled up. The Demonic Cult's a stagnant pond now. Content with still water. That's why... swords that should point outward turn inward."
"What are you talking about?"
"What else! You know too! We have the three factions as pillars, but they're busy guarding their own rice bowls! They don't look beyond their groups! Whether unaffiliated demonic folk rampage or not, they don't care! Why? They think it's none of their business!"
"......."
"It's always the powerless cult members who get trampled. The lowest ones are so used to it now, they've forgotten how to speak up. The overwhelming majority silenced. Does that make sense? Huh? Someone has to understand their pain. Fight in their stead! Topple this irrational hierarchy for them-that's our role! Shatter the rotten doctrines and blanket the world in true teachings... that's why the Blood Cult was born!"
The chattering man drew a breath.
"...But we know it too. The Demonic Cult's so massive, even if we thin their numbers, they recover faster."
"......."
"That's why we need this. Just spilling blood? No. That's not all! It's in the result born from that blood! The profundity of the Heavenly Blood Sword I learned lies in blood. The Thousand Luo Reverse Blood Back-Death Formation, built long ago over the suffering village-it gathers all blood flowing there into one. Blood from countless warriors. The True Blood refined from it... that's the Blood Cult's true aim. It'll let me assume my rightful place as next Blood Cult Leader! Ghost Snake Black Night Squad? Can't compare to that immense elixir! True power to shatter even the Demon Heaven! I have it now... I have it!"
"......."
"That's why I stand here. You're Demonic Cult trash, no better than our third-rate warriors. Nod if your dull brain gets it. Drop your sword and beg for mercy. I'm generous. Last chance, Mokmyeong. Take my hand. Then... I'll show you the real world."
Gokcheong's voice paused briefly.
"I'll teach you what you never learned. Reality."
Yeon Mi-reung's presence fully vanished.
I stopped moving.
"Speaking for the weak... was it?"
"Yes. Exactly. Seems you get it somewhat."
"Then what's the reason for all the blood spilled here by your lot? Civilians are mixed in this riot too, aren't they?"
"Necessary sacrifices. No gains without blood."
"Even if some results demand blood, you could have planned to shed less. But you didn't even try."
I peered in.
At his sword. At the blood qi writhing at its tip.
It wavered. As if saying something.
...What.
What was he conscious of?
"There's another reason."
"......"
"No conviction in your excuses. Even as you say it, you don't believe it. Borrowing someone else's words? I asked for your opinion."
"I already told you."
"Why did you do this? What's your true heart beyond that hollow cause? What are you, Gokcheong? What do you... really want?"
I steadied my breath.
I tightened my grip on my sword.
"Answer."
"...Spouting nonsense, not worth answering. There's a saying for times like this. Blood Cult or Demonic Cult, they share one thing. Know what it is?"
---Fwoooosh!!
Surging qi engulfed the man's body. Blazing blood qi twisted around him like a coiled serpent.
"The words of the weak carry no weight."
"......"
"Enough questions. Want more from me? Rip out this throat and drink the blood. In the end, the powerless words mean nothing. You'll die here. And I'll forget even your name. That's reality. The reality where the strong hold all life and death."
He whispered.
"All you can do is remember my name. The name of the one who kills you."
"...Right. No point in more questions."
Ghost Sword White Night hummed. I added my second hand to the one-handed grip.
Amid the flowing blood qi, I whispered back.
"I'll hear the rest with my sword, Gokcheong."
I could see the endpoint.
So...
I stepped forward.
...
Heuk Danhwa unfurled her fan. The terrain warped within the shaking shadows.
Mixing illusion and reality. That was the Demon Illusion Arts.
She spared no Ink Blood Qi. Blood-qi from her gourd spread along the fan's edge.
Handling Yin-Yang, stamping the Three Powers at her toes.
Sealing the Four Directions, whispering the Five Elements.
Demon Illusion Arts
Ten Thousand Phantoms Heavenly Concealment Formation
The fan's tip shook. The sweet scent melting into the surroundings crumbled the boundary between illusion and reality.
All the Ink Blood Qi she'd stockpiled for just one fight.
"Young Master Black. Seal his movements."
"How many precious Silver Spirit Threads have snapped already!"
Intent filled the shaking fan. Ink Blood Qi bursting from the gourd mixed atop it, warping the formation.
Water. Myriad formation-qi waters erupted.
Each droplet formed illusions, surging toward the foe. Turning to spears to stab down, swords twisting to block even escape.
Flames exploded, storms raged. Tidal waves rose, lightning struck.
Disasters hard to believe were wrought by human hands.
Yet...
They were all blocked.
"Child's play, far below the original's quality."
---Tap.
His casually flung fingers flicked away the clinging calamities.
"Pathetic."
---Kaaaaang!
Colorless transparent threads snapped repeatedly. Black Wind vomited blood at the same time.
Heuk Danhwa's face twisted.
Expert. She knew that.
But this...
Wasn't he a step above even the Blazing Heaven Fist Demon?
She twisted the formation instantly. If frontal assault failed, go for ambush.
Shadows rose from the ground, lunging as one. Black spears aimed at his ankles.
But one step of his true stance shattered them all.
---Kwaaaaaang!!!
"Shown everything you've got?"
"Young Lady Black!"
"I'm thinking!"
A way. She needed a way.
Wrack her brain, pull out some breakthrough.
Ink Blood Qi wasn't infinite. Consumable qi clumps. No immediate way to replenish, so she had to conserve.
Half remained. Her original amount.
She shook the fan. Once more, Ink Blood Qi rode the wind, turning illusions real.
Blade storm assailed. It flew past Black Wind-who'd dodged in panic-blasting his front entirely.
Bombs cratering the ground. But the dust cleared in an instant.
Right Guard whispered, his robes merely torn.
"Pathetic."
The moment blood gang qi seemed to mix into his extended fist...
Heuk Danhwa's vision warped.
"Kuhk?!"
Her struck left arm dangled, nearly torn off. Despite the distance, the shot qi had wrecked her shoulder.
"Young Lady Black!"
"Watch... ahead...!"
Silver Spirit Threads called forth coiled through the air. In a flash, they bound Right Guard's body, sealing his movements.
His eyebrows twitched.
"Child's play."
---Drrrrrrrk!!!
With harsh sounds, the Silver Spirit Threads began snapping. Black Wind hacked up more blood.
"What... kind of... power... is this...?"
Heuk Danhwa gritted her teeth. She forced her dislocated left arm back into place.
"Eugh...!"
Fortunate it still moved despite the blood.
But still, no decisive countermeasure.
Finisher.
She lacked a finisher.
Black Wind and she were supports only. If there were even one proper warrior, they could gain the edge...!
Wrong place? Too remote, no help in sight.
Underestimated the foe.
Arrogance thinking they could at least stall.
Still...
She had to do it.
Somehow... she had to...!
"Familiar scent. Familiar energy. But... different owner."
Foliage rustled suddenly. Heuk Danhwa turned.
A presence closing fast. A chill wrapped around, darkening the air as if night fell.
Not mere cold. This was...
Peak qi.
Right Guard, bound by Silver Spirit Threads, finally raised his arm properly.
---Kwaaaaaang!!!!
His form was pushed back. Not just scraping the floor-he crashed into a building.
"Grk?! What?!"
---Tap.
Heuk Danhwa looked at the shadow landing beside her.
Flowing hair like scattering plum blossoms. Amid it, mischievous lips whispered. In a voice only she could hear.
"You know Red Cloud?"
".......!"
She didn't know who it was.
But she knew few knew that name.
"Ally!"
"Him?"
"In a bloodbath! To catch up, we must pass this one! You...?!"
"Friend."
The woman cracked her neck. Qi clung to her black-nailed fingertips.
"Just help, right? Simple. I can dust off the White Bone Death God name I didn't want to use... again."
Black Wind recovered his snapped Silver Spirit Threads and stood. A smile crept onto his lips at the shifted situation.
"One punch packs heat! Whatever, ally's fine?! What's your name, miss?!"
"Joo Ryeongryeong."
"Miss Joo! I'll bind him! Young Lady Black...!"
"I'll disrupt his senses. Block any attacks he shakes off and..."
"I'll finish it, yeah?"
The three steadied their qi amid the swirling dust.
Right Guard rose from the crumbled building, growling.
"Think adding one wench changes anything?!"
"It does."
Heuk Danhwa checked her remaining Ink Blood Qi.
Enough. If she pictured the story in her head, it would connect...
---Tap.
The folded fan slapped her palm.
"From now on, I'll peel every bit of skin off you."
"Peel more there and it ain't cruel, too much? Already bald..."
"Start with the head? Why? Used some head-martial art?"
Right Guard's qi boiled furiously.
"You insolent brats!"