Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Part 13: Netherworld Demonic Path (5)
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“You bitches...!”
Geumju staggered this way and that, but the killing intent in her voice was enough to chill the blood.
“Tell me how to get out of this damn alley right now! If you don’t...!”
“Alley?”
Se-ah found herself blurting out the question.
“Yeah! This godforsaken alley! It never ends! We have to escape before that bastard shows up...”
Jeong-a spoke to Se-ah, who wore a confused expression.
“She’s not in her right mind. Her entire body has already been eroded by Master’s energy.”
“Eroded by his energy?”
“Yes. She seems to perceive this place as some kind of back alley.”
Geumju shrieked hysterically at the sight of the sisters conversing.
“What are you two blabbering about?!”
Even as she stumbled, she strode toward the sisters.
As she drew closer, Se-ah’s face twisted in horror at the clear view of her condition.
Geumju’s disheveled hair was torn out in patches, scalp and all, as if ripped free.
One ear was torn off, blood streaming down, and her eyes bulged red, veins burst across the whites.
Her exposed skin had turned pitch black, like that of a corpse, with veins bulging and writhing atop it.
“I’ll kill you all!”
Fierce aura poured from her in waves.
Feeling it, Se-ah realized they were facing a martial artist.
Unlike what she’d seen before, it wasn’t inhumanly overwhelming.
And her state was clearly abnormal.
But even so, wasn’t she a martial artist, superhuman compared to any ordinary person?
“Step back, sister.”
Blocking Se-ah’s path was Jeong-a.
She pulled something from her bosom and fitted it over her hands.
“Jeong-a, is that...?”
Jeong-a held up what she’d donned.
It was a gauntlet reinforced with leather, iron rods, and small metal plates.
“I borrowed it from Sojeo before we met up with you in the barrier.”
Jeong-a explained calmly.
“No, this isn’t the time! We need to get out of here right now...!”
Her words cut off.
Geumju, her face twisted like a wrathful demon, lunged at them.
There was no time to react.
In the instant Se-ah thought she’d lost sight of Geumju, the woman was already striking at Jeong-a from behind.
“...!”
What Se-ah saw next was Jeong-a seizing Geumju’s arm, which had thrust over her shoulder, with both hands.
“Hah!”
Before the short, sharp kiai could echo through the cavern, Geumju’s body slammed into the ground.
A perfect shoulder throw.
“Keuk...!”
Jet-black blood sprayed from Geumju’s mouth.
“J-Jeong-a, your internal energy...?”
Jeong-a released Geumju’s arm and stepped back.
“No.”
She gazed coldly down at Geumju, who gasped and coughed, unable to catch her breath from the impact.
“I’m just borrowing the power of my eyes for a moment.”
Then she addressed Geumju.
“How long do you plan to lie there?”
“You... you filthy bitch...!”
Geumju summoned her internal energy and launched herself at Jeong-a like a cannon shot.
But her hands halted in midair before reaching Jeong-a.
Jeong-a’s elbow had driven straight into Geumju’s solar plexus from below.
“Kuhuk...!”
Geumju vomited blood from the gut-piercing strike.
Even as the blood sprayed over her, Jeong-a stared unflinchingly, her eyes flashing gold.
“Hup!”
Jeong-a’s opposite elbow rocketed upward, smashing into Geumju’s jaw.
Broken teeth fragments flew from her mouth as she reeled back and crashed into the passage corner.
Geumju, pinned in the corner, showed no sign of rising.
But Jeong-a merely sneered.
“Still looking fine? I can see it all...”
Jeong-a raised her gauntleted fists into a fighting stance.
“Don’t waste my time needlessly. You still have plenty to pay back.”
At those words, Geumju, who had been prone and preparing a sneak attack, staggered to her feet.
“You...!”
Her teeth ground audibly.
“I’ll kill you!”
Geumju’s left hand shot toward Jeong-a like a living serpent.
Her signature technique unfolded, its trajectory impossible to predict.
But Jeong-a saw through the unpredictable path.
Sparks flew from the gauntlet as Geumju’s strike glanced away.
Simultaneously, Jeong-a’s other gauntlet sank into Geumju’s abdomen.
“Kraaaah!”
Geumju, who had shielded her belly with internal energy, unleashed a barrage at Jeong-a.
Sparks erupted everywhere, sharp clangs echoing in rapid succession.
“Keurk...!”
After dozens of exchanges in an instant, it was Geumju who let out a moan of agony.
Extreme pain and bewilderment crossed her face.
‘How...?!’
Through dozens of clashes, the girl before her had deflected every attack.
And landed over a dozen precise gauntlet strikes in return.
Though lacking internal energy, they weren’t fatal.
‘A mere maid...!’
Unbelievable.
Just days ago, this opponent had been nothing more than an ordinary girl.
And yet...
“Uwaaaaaah!”
Roaring, she charged Jeong-a once more.
But it was futile.
Whether full-power strikes or blind-side rushes from behind, Jeong-a deflected them effortlessly.
‘Those eyes...!’
The ominous golden gaze seemed to read every move she made.
No attempt could evade that stare.
“Keuk...!”
After another face strike sent her reeling, she leaped back, widening the gap in one bound.
Jeong-a’s breathing grew heavier, but she sneered at Geumju.
“Giving up already?”
Geumju gnashed her teeth viciously.
The opponent’s weakness was clear: no internal energy, and thus poor stamina.
Drag it out, wear her down, and she could pummel that annoying face to death.
But if she did, ‘that one’ would...
“...Someday, you’ll kneel before me and beg for your life.”
Retreating now was the smart play.
“Someday for sure...!”
She scraped together her dwindling internal energy and kicked off the ground.
Or tried to.
Countless white hands hadn’t seized her legs.
“Uwaaaaaah!”
The hands crawling up her body dragged her down to the floor.
“Let me goooo!”
Geumju struggled fiercely.
The more she thrashed, the more wounds she sustained.
Her body was soon drenched in blood.
“Uwaaaack!”
Still alive, the hands merely pinned her to the ground, unable to drag her under.
But that was enough.
Step, step. Footsteps echoed by her ear, and Yeon So-hyeon appeared in scholar’s robes.
Jeong-a bowed toward him.
“You’ve arrived, Master.”
Yeon So-hyeon smiled at her.
“Yes. How did it feel testing your power?”
“Still woefully insufficient.”
The master and servant conversed casually.
No demonization, no signature demonic aura—just Yeon So-hyeon as he usually was.
Se-ah let out a small sigh of relief and greeted him.
“Eldest Young Master.”
Yeon So-hyeon nodded to her.
“You’ve been through a lot. Your subordinates are waiting nearby, so rest easy.”
“Ah, thank you.”
The peaceful conversation felt utterly bizarre to Se-ah.
The gulf between the Dark Heaven Venerable she’d seen and this Yeon So-hyeon was vast.
Especially with Geumju shrieking beside them, pinned firmly to the floor—the dissonance was immense.
“Let me go right now! I’ll kill you! I’ll chew up every last one of you Yeon bastards!”
Yeon So-hyeon ignored her completely and asked Se-ah.
“You came here with Jeong-a, so you must have something to say to me?”
Se-ah forced herself to ignore Geumju’s ravings.
“Yes, that’s... correct.”
She hadn’t exactly shone in her prior encounters with him, but she was a veteran of this world.
Yeon So-hyeon gave a wry smile at her speech.
“No need to force the formal honorifics if you’re not used to them.”
Then he turned.
“But before we talk...”
Geumju was begging now.
“Please, please, just spare me this once. I’ll never set foot in Luoyang again. From now on, I’ll do nothing but good deeds in the world.”
Unlike the Dark Heaven Venerable, with whom no conversation seemed possible, seeing Yeon So-hyeon respond normally must have changed her mind.
“I was wrong. Please spare me.”
As Yeon So-hyeon approached, she begged even harder.
“Oh? You’ll do nothing but good deeds from now on?”
“Yes, yes. Of course. Naturally. You’ll see if you watch. Ah, or! You could make me your slave outright. I’ll do anything you command.”
Yeon So-hyeon burst into hearty laughter.
He leaned close to her face and murmured softly.
“You really think I’d let you live if you said that?”
Geumju’s face contorted hideously at his words.
“You bastard!”
Her attitude flipped in an instant.
“You haven’t forgotten, have I?! I’m the owner of the Sword Clan Bronze Token!”
Yeon So-hyeon squatted before her, chin in hand.
“So?”
“If I die, the Sword Clan will investigate for sure! They always probe the death of a Bronze Token holder!”
“That’s true.”
“With your influence, you can’t cover it up! Sword Clan investigators and trackers will hunt you down!”
Yeon So-hyeon merely smirked without reply.
Geumju took it as her words gaining traction.
“You’ve drawn too much attention too quickly! Add the Sword Clan to that, and how long do you think you can hide your identity?!”
She spat her final tirade, squeezing out every ounce of strength.
“The entire Sword Clan will pursue you! Even your brothers, who see you as a pesky thorn, will hunt you personally!”
Her swollen veins began bursting one by one.
“You’ll face the whole Sword Clan alone!”
Yeon So-hyeon replied calmly.
“Let them.”
“What?”
He smiled.
Crimson fangs gleamed beneath.
“Whether they hunt me or not.”
Geumju’s vision filled with Yeon So-hyeon’s face drawing nearer.
“All rotten things end up devoured by me.”
His face loomed closer.
“Like you.”
Crimson blood fountained onto the floor.
Geumju’s body convulsed as if in seizure.
The sound of flesh being devoured followed.
Her death scream echoed endlessly through the cavern.
Jeong-a watched the scene with a composed expression.
Se-ah paled, but didn’t look away.
And at some point, all sounds ceased as if by magic.