“You still haven’t given up on the Young Cult Leader, I see.”
Hwa Domyeong interpreted Cha I‑ran’s joke that way. She wasn’t someone who would crack a joke like, “I guess I don’t have to pay you back in this situation,” after all. Moreover, was she smiling so bewitchingly at him?
“Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn’t fall for it.”
Hwa Domyeong slowly walked over and stood before Geom Mugeuk. Geom Mugeuk, his eyes closed, was drenched in sweat.
“He’s holding out long. By now, the Blood Silkworm should have had time to settle in the Young Cult Leader’s heart.”
Swoosh.
Hwa Domyeong opened his fan and fanned Geom Mugeuk’s face.
Just then, Cha I‑ran’s voice came from behind.
“I’d like to finish the rest of the wine.”
Her demonic meridians had been suppressed, rendering her unable to move.
Hwa Domyeong sent a burst of finger wind to unseal her acupoints so she could move. Of course, her internal energy was still suppressed.
Cha I‑ran picked up the wine bottle on the table and poured it into her cup. It was the wine they had ordered together while dining with Geom Mugeuk. The two of them had rented a private room at the restaurant, and all of this had begun the moment they finished their meal.
Without turning around, Hwa Domyeong spoke.
“At least he had a splendid last meal.”
Those words carried the meaning that once this matter was over, he would kill them both.
When she did not respond at all to his words, Hwa Domyeong glanced back at her. Whether she had given up quickly or not, she neither begged for her life nor showed any will to fight.
She simply leaned sideways in her chair, drinking in silence as she gazed out the window.
She recalled the moment earlier when she had sat side by side with Geom Mugeuk in the manor garden, looking up at the sky.
Back then, she had never imagined that she would abandon the request.
She had inwardly smiled at the sight of the Divine Flower Pavilion Lord changing her fate without a moment’s hesitation, yet she herself was no different.
“What are you thinking about?”
At Hwa Domyeong’s question, Cha I‑ran refilled her cup and replied.
“I’m not thinking about anything.”
Cha I‑ran treated him indifferently. Just as he seemed to know her well, she too knew Hwa Domyeong well.
He was someone who always pretended to be shy, hiding behind his fan, yet he was a man who wanted to stand at the center of the world. At this moment of success, he would be hoping for her acknowledgment and praise.
But she wouldn’t give it.
Seeing her resigned demeanor, Hwa Domyeong finally brought up a story that would capture her attention.
“When Akgunhak recovered the secret chest…”
The cup that had been heading to Cha I‑ran’s lips froze in midair.
“The old man was truly overjoyed. That alone more than made up for his failure to kill Geom Mugeuk. But the secret chest he brought back was useless, producing no effect whatsoever.”
“He was outdone by the Young Cult Leader again.”
This was what Cha I‑ran was curious about.
“What was that red energy contained in the bead?”
The energy she had felt at first was truly pleasant. Though its nature had changed when the red serpent emerged.
“The power to prevent destruction.”
Once again, the word “destruction” flowed from Hwa Domyeong’s lips.
“From whom? From the Demon Lord?”
Hwa Domyeong nodded and looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“Today, it all ends.”
* * *
The Blood Silkworm traversed every blood vessel in Geom Mugeuk’s body as if it were its own home. It was as flexible as a water snake swiftly swimming through a narrow cave.
The power and vitality felt from the Blood Silkworm were completely different from what was seen with the eyes.
It was condensed with all sorts of elixirs and exotic herbs of the martial world, and the mysterious power of countless spiritual artifacts. He felt that if he could kill and melt it down, he would obtain energy far more potent than any elixir he had consumed thus far. If he could catch it, that is.
It was fast.
Ssssh.
It weaved through the blood vessels at high speed, aiming only for the heart.
Geom Mugeuk blocked the main blood vessels leading to his heart with his internal strength. His vigorous and pure internal energy wrapped around his heart as if to protect it.
The Blood Silkworm, having swum rapidly along the blood vessels, collided with the inner force guarding his heart.
Fwoom!
As the shock ran through his blood vessels, Geom Mugeuk clenched his teeth. He tried to grab the retreating creature with his internal force, but it was absurdly fast.
Ssssh.
Like a loach slipping out of one’s hand, it escaped Geom Mugeuk’s internal force and swam back into the blood vessels.
The problem was that he couldn’t afford to focus on this thing alone.
Inside his body, the five energies absorbed from the secret chest were rampaging through his blood vessels. Presumably, this was because of the Blood Silkworm stirring throughout his body.
He had tried to calm them somehow, but to no avail. He realized that only by completely melting away the Blood Silkworm could these five energies settle down again.
Thus, he had to wage a defensive battle to protect his heart amidst a literal raging storm, while also carrying out a capture operation.
Pow!
The second collision was even more powerful than the last. Geom Mugeuk clenched his teeth once more.
He thought that if he hadn’t strengthened his blood vessels with the Heavenly Meridian Strengthening Technique, and if he hadn’t built up even more vigorous and pure internal energy through his various fortuitous encounters, this single collision would have broken through.
He tried to catch it again this time, but the Blood Silkworm quickly escaped once more. This time, he sent his internal force in pursuit.
It was clever, and its will to survive was strong. Evading the pursuit of his internal force, it traveled between the countless blood vessels in his body, searching for a way to survive.
It mainly fled into blood vessels where internal energy did not flow naturally. It instinctively knew which way to escape.
On the third attack, Geom Mugeuk launched a surrounding operation.
He sent his internal force simultaneously to squeeze it from all sides, but this time it escaped the encirclement by using the five energies rampaging within his body.
The paths the Blood Silkworm took while fleeing mostly ran counter to the flow of true energy, and among them were meridian pathways he could have accessed but had never thought to explore.
‘Ah! So there was a path like this too.’
The paths it revealed in its desperate struggle to survive were, in equal measure, paths of new enlightenment for Geom Mugeuk.
Having circled around once more, the Blood Silkworm charged toward his heart again.
Four times, five times, ten times, twenty times…….
Perilous situations unfolded as well, but Geom Mugeuk held fast. The more it repeated, the more new meridian pathways Geom Mugeuk discovered.
The Blood Silkworm did not tire. But neither did Geom Mugeuk.
You were created with difficulty over several decades?
Sorry, but it’s the same for me.
‘So come at me as much as you want!’
* * *
Finally, Geom Mugeuk began to open his eyes.
Hwa Domyeong stood before him with an expectant expression.
Standing behind him, Cha I‑ran prayed fervently.
‘Please!’
The moment fate was decided!
A gasp of joy flowed from Hwa Domyeong’s lips, while a sigh of despair escaped from Cha I‑ran.
Geom Mugeuk’s two eyes were completely dyed in red energy.
“It worked! The Blood Silkworm has completely dominated the Young Cult Leader!”
Cha I‑ran clenched her fist. She had believed Geom Mugeuk would overcome.
‘You told me to believe in you!’
She despaired, while ecstasy filled Hwa Domyeong’s face.
The red energy that had flared in Geom Mugeuk’s eyes soon vanished.
Shortly after, his eyes returned to normal, and he gazed at Hwa Domyeong with a calm look.
Irrepressible emotion surged on Hwa Domyeong’s face. Everyone had failed to subdue the Young Cult Leader, yet he had succeeded in capturing him.
“We have been waiting for this one chance. You are merely a servant who ended up doing our work for us.”
Geom Mugeuk simply stared at him without revealing any emotion.
Hwa Domyeong coldly gave an order.
“Go and… the Demon Lord…”
At that moment, Cha I‑ran cut him off.
“If the Young Cult Leader kills the Demon Lord, a war will break out.”
“Indeed.”
Cha I‑ran spoke with contemptuous eyes.
“All to stop destruction? Go plug it with that mouth and fan of yours.”
Hwa Domyeong pretended to cover his mouth with his fan as he finished giving the order to Geom Mugeuk.
“Kill the Demon Lord and return to me.”
Geom Mugeuk slowly turned around.
Hwa Domyeong turned toward Cha I‑ran and spoke.
“Shall we have one last drink now?”
If the plan succeeded, this had been decided from the beginning. She would betray him, and a traitor was eliminated.
Cha I‑ran silently watched Geom Mugeuk’s back, visible beyond Hwa Domyeong’s shoulder.
She was frustrating to the very end.
Hwa Domyeong stared into her eyes. Into her eyes that looked toward the Young Cult Leader until the very end.
Just as he was about to kill her while looking into those eyes.
Hwa Domyeong saw. The reflection in her pupils. The glint of something flying toward him.
Shhhiiii.
Hwa Domyeong desperately twisted his body.
Puuuk!
The Black Demon Sword pierced his shoulder.
Had he not dodged at the last moment, it would have been a strike that pierced his heart.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been walking toward the door, soundlessly turned around and attacked him.
The move he used was the Dark King Step among the Wind God Steps.
Hwa Domyeong, his shoulder pierced, was engulfed in shock and terror.
“…I told you to kill the Demon Lord.”
He thought Geom Mugeuk had misunderstood the order.
That was why he couldn’t counterattack immediately. He had to figure out what had gone wrong and send him again. The Blood Silkworm, which had taken so much time and effort to create, was something that could never be made again in this era.
“I am your master…”
The moment his eyes met Geom Mugeuk’s, Hwa Domyeong’s entire body trembled as if struck by lightning.
The leisure within those pupils was something that ten Blood Silkworms could never create.
“Don’t tell me… the Blood Silkworm didn’t work?”
A bright smile formed on Geom Mugeuk’s face.
“The drug and the Blood Silkworm. I enjoyed them both.”
Having finished speaking, Geom Mugeuk drew his sword.
Fwoosh!
Blood sprayed from his shoulder. Geom Mugeuk simply let him try to staunch the wound.
“Get lost while I’m letting you live.”
Even though it was an absolutely advantageous situation, Hwa Domyeong didn’t believe those words. He thought it was a trick to catch him off guard and strike.
Geom Mugeuk told him the reason.
“Thank Lady Cha. Because she told me not to kill you.”
She had indeed told him not to harm Hwa Domyeong. But even Cha I‑ran had not known she was truly letting him live at this moment.
Hwa Domyeong looked at Cha I‑ran. She didn’t know Geom Mugeuk’s intention, so she only looked silently at Hwa Domyeong.
Shh.
As the fan unfolded, Hwa Domyeong disappeared.
It seemed like he was making her owe him a life debt, but that wasn’t the reason.
Once he confirmed Hwa Domyeong had completely disappeared from the room.
Clang.
Geom Mugeuk dropped the Black Demon Sword to the floor and vomited a gush of blood.
“Young Cult Leader!”
The moment she supported Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk’s two eyes were beginning to turn red again.
Cha I‑ran grabbed Geom Mugeuk’s arm tightly.
“Come to your senses!”
Barely, Geom Mugeuk pushed back the red energy. The Blood Silkworm was still not fully under control.
“I only gave up half my heart.”
He said he had given it up, but in truth, he had turned half his heart into a prison to lure it in. It was the only way to catch it.
Because he was locked in a tense confrontation at his heart, he couldn’t execute the follow‑up move to kill Hwa Domyeong earlier. If he had, he would have completely yielded his heart to the Blood Silkworm. The first Dark King Step had also been a move he forcefully executed to save her.
Cha I‑ran could understand. Geom Mugeuk could have quietly escaped. He could have gone out as if to kill the Demon Lord and then received help from the Extreme Evil Soma or the Demon Lord to heal himself.
But he had forcefully used his internal energy to save her.
“Why on earth did you do this?”
With trembling hands, Geom Mugeuk released the seal on her internal energy.
“No need to be moved. Because now you must save me.”
Even as he spoke, Geom Mugeuk’s eyes were repeatedly invaded by red energy and then pushed back again.
“When I open my eyes again…”
Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes and spoke his last words. The red energy flowing between his closing eyelids looked like the gates of hell closing. There was only one person who could pull him out of that hell.
“Lady Soma must assuredly be before me.”
Geom Mugeuk intended to follow where the prophecy led. Having delivered his last words, Geom Mugeuk completely closed his eyes.
Cha I‑ran could tell. That the time given to him was not long.
Cha I‑ran sheathed the Black Demon Sword and hoisted Geom Mugeuk onto her back.
Only because it was Geom Mugeuk could she make such a joke.
“Commissioning someone without even paying the fee?”
She leaped straight out through the window.
At that moment, she saw. Someone on the roof of the building across the way looking down at her.
It was Hwa Domyeong, who had not yet left.
Cha I‑ran leaped away without a word.
From the sight of Geom Mugeuk on her back, Hwa Domyeong realized he had been deceived. That he hadn’t been spared, but rather, hadn’t been able to be killed.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh!
Behind him, martial artists revealed themselves by dispelling their concealment, dropping from the sky like heavenly gods descending. Their stealth and movement techniques were extraordinary, and their imposing spirit was immense.
“Stop them! We must never hand the Young Cult Leader over to the Extreme Evil Soma!”
The martial artists all leaped after her.
When Hwa Domyeong also tried to leap after them, his remaining subordinates restrained him.
“The wound is deep.”
Though the shoulder wound from the sword was deep, he had only pressed the meridian points to stop the bleeding.
Moving carelessly could result in greater injury, but he couldn’t just stay put.
“The Young Cult Leader’s condition is worse.”
Even if he gave up on killing the Demon Lord, he could not give up on Geom Mugeuk. The energies dwelling in his body had to be recovered by all means.
“Release the seal.”
* * *
Piiii, ba‑ba‑boom!
The Crescent Moon Masked Guest, who had been sitting by the window looking outside, heard the sound of fireworks from afar.
A peculiar firework sound.
It was the exact same firework sound he had heard when carrying out the operation to capture the Gahin Cult assassins.
The Crescent Moon Masked Guest looked back at the Extreme Evil Soma. The Extreme Evil Soma was meditating with his eyes closed.
“It’s the assassins’ distress signal.”
Behind the mask, the Extreme Evil Soma’s eyes flashed open.
As he stood from his seat, the Masked Guests who had been doing their respective tasks around him also all rose at once.
The Extreme Evil Soma looked at the Heavenly Flower Pavilion Lord, who had been drinking tea with Ian.
The Heavenly Flower Pavilion Lord slowly nodded. She could feel it fatefully. That the moment of the prophecy had finally arrived.
“Let’s go!”
As the Extreme Evil Soma leaped through the window and soared into the sky, all the windows opened and the Masked Guests also all leaped out in unison.
Beyond them in the sky, fireworks were exploding in the distance.