Chapter 607
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 607
Chapter Title: Now Everyone Get Out
Bang Sa-uk moved the darkness once more.
He had no idea how his darkness had been severed, but if it was cut, he just needed to reconnect it.
However.
He couldn't.
It was as if something was guarding Elder Myo Su-gae, preventing Bang Sa-uk's darkness from reaching him.
Even though he was still shrouded in darkness.
"H-How......"
Bang Sa-uk panicked upon confirming the fact.
This was a situation he had never even imagined since obtaining this power.
"Kuh-huhk. Kek. Kek. Khek."
Released from Bang Sa-uk's grasp, Elder Myo Su-gae let out rough coughs.
As if trying to catch up on all the breaths he had been holding back at once.
"Old man. You heard everything, right? Speak."
A cold voice reached Elder Myo Su-gae's ears.
It was Ha Mu-baek.
"W-What are you talking about?"
Elder Myo Su-gae asked with a face feigning complete ignorance.
A truly loathsome sight.
"Tch."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue once before swinging his hand again.
Then.
Thud. Thud-thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The Beggar Clan disciples hanging in midair all dropped to the floor.
It happened in the moment when everyone's attention had gathered on that spot during Ha Mu-baek and Elder Myo Su-gae's brief exchange.
Even the flustered Bang Sa-uk had been focused on the two.
"Now everyone get out."
Ha Mu-baek said lowly as he scanned the surroundings.
But since it carried inner energy, everyone heard it clearly.
The first to react was Elder Myo Su-gae.
He staggered to his feet, coughing nonstop.
"Old man. Where do you think you're going? You stay here. And the rest of you, get out now."
Ha Mu-baek's following words carried a faint killing intent, making the Beggar Clan disciples hesitate before shuffling toward the exit.
Ha Mu-baek gave Dam Mu-hyeon a glance.
[Tell me about it later.]
With that transmission, Dam Mu-hyeon hurriedly led all the Beggar Clan disciples out, leaving only Deputy Leader Jwa Il-do behind.
As the Beggar Clan's representative, he needed to witness everything, so even Dam Mu-hyeon, who was escorting the others out, left him.
Ha Mu-baek hadn't objected, so Dam Mu-hyeon had read the situation accordingly.
Having rolled through battlefields alongside Ha Mu-baek, he knew.
Bang Sa-uk watched it all quietly.
No, even now, he was still extending his dark power toward Elder Myo Su-gae, but it wasn't reaching.
When Elder Myo Su-gae kept blocking it, he switched targets to the deputy leader.
But the deputy leader was blocked too.
Even though they were clearly within the darkness.
Ha Mu-baek simply stared at Bang Sa-uk.
The reality was different.
Ha Mu-baek's energy sense scanned every corner of the Beggar Clan's headquarters, locating those still remaining amid the chaos.
And those found ones.
Puk!
Puk-puk!
Boom!
Were hurled outside using Telekinetic Object Control.
It was called a tent, but built to this scale, it had a sturdy structure.
He had smashed through the walls and thrown them straight out.
"Such a hassle. Tch."
Grumbling, but Ha Mu-baek had thoroughly cleared the headquarters.
Meanwhile, Bang Sa-uk kept targeting Elder Myo Su-gae and the deputy leader but failed each time.
"What trick did you use?"
Bang Sa-uk asked Ha Mu-baek in an irritated voice.
"Who knows?"
Ha Mu-baek smirked in response.
But inwardly, it was different.
This enemy was on a whole other level from before.
That's why he had sent everyone out of the headquarters.
In case there were sacrifices.
Elder Myo Su-gae, gauging the mood from Ha Mu-baek and Bang Sa-uk's standoff, tried to sneak out again.
But soon.
"Urk."
He was caught by Ha Mu-baek's Telekinetic Object Control and couldn't budge.
"I told you to stay here, old man. So, who is it?"
"W-What are you talking about?"
Elder Myo Su-gae stuck to his denial.
Ha Mu-baek glanced briefly at the deputy leader.
Then circulated his inner energy.
"Kuaaaah!!!"
Elder Myo Su-gae screamed.
Ha Mu-baek's energy had invaded his body and moved according to the Muscle-Tearing Bone-Dislocating Technique.
Bang Sa-uk looked startled at Elder Myo Su-gae writhing and screaming in agony.
Catching Bang Sa-uk's reaction from the corner of his eye, Ha Mu-baek calmly said to Elder Myo Su-gae.
"I figured a nicely raised Beggar Clan boy like Bang Sa-uk would only know choking and releasing, but I'm different. Muscle-tearing and bone-dislocating is child's play. I'll make you beg for death on your own."
A voice chilling enough to be eerie.
Hearing it, Bang Sa-uk furrowed his brow.
It was true, but hearing it like that hurt his pride.
Muscle-Tearing Bone-Dislocating Technique?
He knew nothing of such torture methods.
As the Beggar Clan's deputy leader, he had never encountered them.
Now as a child of darkness, he could deliver cruel deaths, but he didn't know such torture, so he couldn't use it.
"Corps Leader Ha. Th-This is Beggar Clan business."
Current deputy leader Jwa Il-do was the same.
Unable to look straight at the gruesome sight of Elder Myo Su-gae, he appealed to Ha Mu-baek.
"This isn't Beggar Clan business. It's Blood Cult business."
Ha Mu-baek replied firmly before questioning Elder Myo Su-gae again.
"Who is it?"
"Kuh-huhk. Stop... if you st-stop......"
The moment he barely managed those words amid the pain, Ha Mu-baek's energy moved.
"Kraaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!"
A massive, desperate scream erupted from Elder Myo Su-gae's mouth.
"Who is it?"
Ha Mu-baek asked again.
Deputy Leader Jwa Il-do couldn't step forward, even as he watched an elder of the Beggar Clan being tortured right before his eyes.
The moment Ha Mu-baek mentioned the Blood Cult, he was powerless.
He couldn't even claim it was unrelated.
From Bang Sa-uk's story earlier and the suspicions raised when he pledged allegiance.
Jwa Il-do had pieced it together.
"Kuh-uh-uhk. Hwa... Hwa... Flower Elder......"
Elder Myo Su-gae answered laboriously.
Ha Mu-baek looked at Jwa Il-do upon hearing "Flower Elder".
He shook his head.
"Know the guy?"
Ha Mu-baek asked Bang Sa-uk.
But Bang Sa-uk was hearing the name for the first time too.
He shook his head.
"What grudge does that guy hold against you?"
"Kuh-uh. M-Met him just once... Said he could hide the Destruction Technique in any manual......"
Ha Mu-baek subtly eased the Muscle-Tearing Bone-Dislocating pain.
Once the mouth opened, he would keep answering obediently.
Excessive pain would only hinder it in this situation.
Ha Mu-baek frowned at the answer.
He hadn't known the Destruction Technique could be hidden in existing martial arts manuals.
No, such cases didn't exist.
And now the mystery of how Bang Sa-uk had learned the Destruction Technique was solved.
Not through Mixed Origin Flowing River, but hidden within the Beggar Clan's own martial arts.
He had appeared before Elder Myo Su-gae just once to tempt him, then exchanged the manual through a secret channel.
A meticulous and secretive bastard.
Ha Mu-baek's mind raced.
Among the Blood Cult members he had encountered.
He needed to recall one with scheming mind and ability.
Nothing came easily.
Appearance meant nothing.
Such a guy wouldn't have met Elder Myo Su-gae in his true face.
"So you hid the Destruction Technique in the manuals for the deputy leader to learn? To make your disciple the deputy leader?"
At Ha Mu-baek's confirmation, Elder Myo Su-gae slowly nodded.
He felt the agonizing pain lessening.
Not answering properly here would bring back that hellish torment—it was obvious.
So he answered desperately.
At that moment.
Like a lie, the pain tormenting Elder Myo Su-gae's body vanished.
Ha Mu-baek had withdrawn his energy.
"Eh? Eh-eh?"
Confirming the pain gone and freedom of movement restored, Elder Myo Su-gae.
Ran desperately without looking back.
Toward the nearest path out of the headquarters, at full speed.
The entrance appeared before his eyes.
The moment he saw the Bang Clan disciples gathered outside.
Suddenly, darkness fell before him.
And he couldn't move his body again.
Thus, dragged back before Bang Sa-uk by the darkness.
Bang Sa-uk looked at Ha Mu-baek with unknowing eyes.
The instant Ha Mu-baek withdrew his energy from Elder Myo Su-gae.
The protective energy shielding Elder Myo Su-gae from Bang Sa-uk's darkness also vanished.
Bang Sa-uk realized it late and recaptured Elder Myo Su-gae.
A little later, and he would have escaped.
"What did you do?"
Bang Sa-uk asked Ha Mu-baek.
"I resolved my curiosity. I told you earlier—wait a bit. My business is done, so now I'll wait for yours."
"C-Corps Leader Ha......"
Jwa Il-do was startled.
"I'm not nosy enough to meddle in grudges unrelated to me."
Ha Mu-baek's voice drilled into Elder Myo Su-gae's ears.
"W-What... that......"
The moment he tried to say something.
Darkness surged into Elder Myo Su-gae's mouth, sealing it.
And the darkness burrowed into every corner of his body.
"Mmph. Mmmph. Mmmmmmph."
He couldn't even scream.
His whole body filled with pain, yet powerless.
In excruciating agony, his eyes rolled back.
Yet he couldn't even faint.
Intense pain wracked his entire body.
Bang Sa-uk hadn't just watched Ha Mu-baek's Muscle-Tearing Bone-Dislocating Technique.
He had sensed the energy's movement and was now applying what he saw to condemn Elder Myo Su-gae.
The moment the darkness occupied all his meridians.
Darkness erupted from his dantian in an instant.
Papapap!
Thus, Elder Myo Su-gae exploded and vanished in a flash.
"Ah... ah......"
Jwa Il-do stared blankly at the sight.
Grotesque and terrifying.
A person had exploded and disappeared, leaving nothing behind.
Just viscous darkness rising.
Fierce energy began surging and emanating from Ha Mu-baek's body.
"Now it's our turn, right?"
At Ha Mu-baek's question, Bang Sa-uk stared steadily at him.
"Your circumstances are tragic, but you've become a Blood Cult monster anyway. We see this to the end, don't we? You're probably burning with the urge to exterminate the Beggar Clan completely right now anyway."
Bang Sa-uk nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Jwa Il-do jumped in shock.
Then Ha Mu-baek's words reached his ears.
"Now you get out too."
Ha Mu-baek had kept Jwa Il-do for one reason only.
He needed a witness to Elder Myo Su-gae's deeds.
As the current deputy leader responsible for the Beggar Clan.
That's why he left him.
If Iron Staff Elder had been here, it would have been him instead.
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Jwa Il-do had no choice but to leave.
It was a quiet mutter, but he felt an absolute, irresistible energy.
Thus, only Ha Mu-baek and Bang Sa-uk remained in the Beggar Clan headquarters, facing each other.
Bang Sa-uk, waiting until Jwa Il-do exited, spoke lowly.
"You know well."
"I know more about you than you think. Like how you didn't easily succumb to the Destruction Technique's curse. No idea how you survived, though."
Surprise appeared on Bang Sa-uk's face at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Gaining the power of darkness had allowed him to recall memories from the time he neither lived nor died.
"The Destruction Technique doesn't just let the host die. It tries to dominate."
At Bang Sa-uk's response, Ha Mu-baek nodded as if understanding.
During the process of the Destruction Technique dominating his body to turn him into a Dark Blood Zombie, he had clung to life without dying.
"Vermilion Bird Blood Spirit Body."
"What?"
"That's your innate constitution. One resistant to the Destruction Technique."
Bang Sa-uk's eyes widened at those words.
No one in the world knew, yet they flowed from Ha Mu-baek's mouth.
In truth, Ha Mu-baek had learned of the constitution from Blood Cult's Ten Elders' Blood Ghost Shadow Do Mun-wi.
Having seen Yeong So-hyang back then, he recognized it, and today he saw it in Bang Sa-uk, already devoured by darkness.