A pitch-black hole opened, and the Divine Maiden Palace Lord, Gaye, leapt out.
She frowned, panting for breath. The sensation of having her body transported was a vile experience she had never felt in her life.
“Haa, haa.”
Before her, as she gasped, stood the Dark Palace Lord.
At the very center of the space, the Dark Palace Lord sat, surrounded by the Five Great Scholars of the Dark Palace, who were seated around him with their hands extended.
Sasasasak.
Their outstretched hands formed countless hand seals.
Each time they did, smoke as thin as thread rose from their fingertips, forming bizarre patterns and indecipherable characters in the air before vanishing.
Whenever those symbols and characters were created, a single character would glow on the floor where the Dark Palace Lord sat.
She could not tell what incantation they were weaving, but she could guess just how tremendous its power would be once completed.
And they were not the only ones in this space.
In one corner sat two old men side by side. The two looked so alike they might have been twins.
The absolute masters of the Dark Palace, the Dark Twin Supremes.
They were none other than Elder Am and Elder Heuk.
Both old men were over a hundred years old, and they were people the Dark Palace Lord had cherished and kept in reserve for the final moment.
Even Gaye, who had served the Dark Palace Lord for a long time, was seeing them in person for the first time. One might have thought she would study them more closely, yet her gaze was fixed on the opposite wall.
On the opposite wall was a painting of a man standing.
Gaye’s gaze was fixed there because this was the more astonishing existence.
Sensing her stare, the man on the wall turned to look at her and grinned. The sight was so lifelike that, even though she had expected it, her heart sank.
The Dark Painting Spirit.
It was the moment she saw with her own eyes the secret weapon of the Dark Palace she had only ever heard of in words.
The man in the painting began to move slowly. As though the world within the wall were his own, he stepped forward. He walked through the wall.
Then, when he passed the place where the Dark Palace Lord was, he tiptoed carefully.
In that way he crossed to the far wall, went behind the Dark Twin Supremes, and waved his hands as a prank.
Of the Dark Twin Supremes, Elder Heuk swung his hand without turning around.
Peok.
His palm force struck the wall, but by then, the man within the wall had already disappeared.
Gaye lost sight of him in an instant.
Where had he gone?
Just then, he slid out from the corner line between two walls and revealed himself.
He looked somehow full of mischief, but Gaye knew.
Along with the Dark Twin Supremes, the Dark Painting Spirit was the existence the Dark Palace Lord valued most. That surely meant it was that terrifying and powerful.
And it was not only them. Today, every master of the Dark Palace had been mobilized on this ship and around Dongting Lake. As though staking his life and death on this battle, the Dark Palace Lord had brought out all the strength accumulated over three hundred years.
For this life-or-death battle against the Demonic Cult, where only death or survival awaited.
At last, the Dark Palace Lord, whose eyes had been closed, slowly opened them.
Gaye asked him,
“Why did you summon me when I gave no signal?”
Her tone was polite and calm, but it contained strong dissatisfaction.
She had only been one-sidedly battered by Geom Mugeuk’s words. She had not even been able to offer him a single rebuttal, yet the Dark Palace Lord had taken her out of that place.
The Dark Palace Lord had seen and heard every word of the conversation Gaye had held in the VIP room.
He did not ask, What were you planning to say to the Young Cult Leader if you stayed? Instead, he pointed out her emotions.
“Why were you so angry?”
The moment she was drawn into Geom Mugeuk’s psychological warfare and grew enraged, she had already lost.
“If you had stayed there any longer, you might not have made it back. Did you not see how quickly the Young Cult Leader found you? Did you not experience how he overturned your heart the moment he arrived?”
He meant that if she had dragged out the time any longer, she might truly have died at Geom Mugeuk’s hands.
Just as she had been unable to refute Geom Mugeuk, Gaye could not refute the Dark Palace Lord either.
Because at that moment, she really had been angry.
The question of whether she had not wanted to kill the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion had struck her squarely in a vital point. And when he said that the reason was not a matter of whether she could prophesy or not, she had felt as though she had been stripped bare.
“Do you know what is lacking in you?”
“What is it?”
“It would have been better if you had not been a divine maiden at all.”
“!”
It was the first time the Dark Palace Lord had ever said such a thing.
“That empty shell called a divine maiden is making you unlike yourself.”
The emotion that surged up in her at that moment touched the same feeling she had felt earlier toward Geom Mugeuk. It made a person flare up, yet left them unable to easily argue back.
“That shell is the entirety of who I am.”
“Is it truly?”
The Dark Palace Lord looked at her with eyes that seemed to pierce straight through her heart.
“Are you saying that if I were not a divine maiden, I would have become a truly wicked woman? I am sorry, but from the beginning until now, I have been aiding you as a divine maiden, my lord. I follow not your will, but the will of Heaven.”
To be honest, she wanted to add this as well.
I am someone connected to the heavens.
She should have been able to say it proudly.
But she could not.
Because even at this critical moment, the heavens had shown her no will.
The Dark Palace Lord, who had been watching her with an unreadable gaze, nodded.
“I was rash. Pay it no mind and compose yourself.”
How could a heart whose very existence had been denied be so easily calmed?
It was then.
Seuseuseuseu.
From the floor, Hoe, the hands and feet of the Dark Palace Lord, revealed himself.
“All preparations are complete.”
At that, an aura of darkness began rising around the Dark Palace Lord. It was a darkness incomparably denser than usual.
“Today’s battle is the most important battle that will decide our fate. Do not let even a single one of those Demonic Cult bastards leave alive!”
The rising dark energy completely covered the Dark Palace Lord’s body.
“From this moment forth, we begin the Dark Holy War!”
* * *
When one reached Geom Mugeuk’s level in martial arts, there were things one could understand at a glance.
Judging by the skill that had spirited away the Divine Maiden Palace Lord without a trace, and by the level of demonic art now unfolding.
“It seems the Dark Palace Lord is here.”
At the words Dark Palace Lord, the expressions of the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable and the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion hardened.
It was not that they had never expected it, but the true mastermind behind this affair had finally appeared. The Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion once again felt her heart sink at the thought that she had intended to come to a place like this alone.
Huuuu.
The black energy spread across the corridor floor began to seep into the room like mist.
The Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art personally unleashed by the Dark Palace Lord made one feel fear just by looking at it.
“What will happen if we are exposed to that energy?”
At the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion’s question, Geom Mugeuk shook his head as though he did not know either.
“At the very least, do not forget this: that demonic art is a dark demonic art that uses human desire.”
It meant they had to steel their hearts.
“Since we know it’s a trap, shall we escape from here?”
The Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion did not want the Young Cult Leader to fall into danger because of her. This appointment had arisen because of her in the first place.
“By now, this dark energy will already have spread throughout the entire ship.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s answer, the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable proposed,
“Shall we smash through the cabin wall and get out?”
She was thinking that even if they had to fight, they should leave this ship first before doing so.
Unfortunately, it was impossible.
“Unless we break the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art, we cannot escape from here.”
As if to show that in person,
Geom Mugeuk lightly thrust his fist toward the cabin wall.
No sound came from that fist.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
A hole opened in the wall, and the force continued to bore through beyond it.
Tuung.
At the end came an alien impact sound.
The Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion and the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable stared at the gaping hole. At the end of the hole, black smoke churned thickly. Even that tremendous punch had failed to pierce through it.
The ship was completely enveloped by the dark smoke of the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art.
“Even if we could pierce through that with even greater power…”
If it were the perfected Nine Flames Demonic Art, he would undoubtedly be able to break it. If he unleashed Heavenly Demon Annihilates the World toward a wall with no people in it? Truly, everything would vanish without a trace. Naturally, the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art would be broken as well.
But there was a reason he could not do that.
“If we forcibly destroy the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art like that, everyone on this ship will die instantly.”
Because the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art would already be linked to those aboard this ship. This demonic art itself was being unfolded on the foundation of their desires.
“The reason the Divine Maiden Palace Lord waited in the final room was likely because of us.”
The Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable immediately understood Geom Mugeuk’s words.
“It was to connect that dark demonic art to us as well.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“That’s right. That is why, to buy time, she sat there so shamelessly in the hardest place to find. Originally, she must have expected it would take us longer to reach that place after we arrived.”
Because Geom Mugeuk had gone straight to find the shipmaster and come there, and even after arriving, had immediately driven out the gamblers and gotten to the main point.
“Fortunately, we are not deeply entangled with the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art.”
Inwardly, the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable was greatly impressed.
If it had been her, she would still have been searching for the Divine Maiden Palace Lord in the lower-level gambling halls, and in the end, she would have moved exactly according to the enemy’s intentions.
“So if we forcibly break out, we may survive, but everyone else aboard this ship will die.”
No matter how addicted to gambling they were, he could not simply leave them all to die like that. Moreover, there were martial artists of the Water Dragon Gang here, as well as boatmen who knew no martial arts.
Besides, the Water Dragon Gang was a sect belonging to the evil faction. Considering their relationship with the Evil Dao Alliance as well, he could not allow them to die.
“If we do not break this demonic art quickly, the desires of everyone here will become fuel for the art and be consumed. Without even knowing what state they are in, their true qi will dry up and they will die.”
That was the terrifying aspect of the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art. It sucked in all human desire.
“In addition, if we drag things out, it will affect us as well. It will try to draw out even our desires.”
The Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion could not immediately think of what her own desire was.
She did have thoughts about how she wished to live, but that did not seem to fit the word desire.
On the other hand, the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable knew precisely what her desire was.
To become a Demon Venerable with the greatest skill. Thus, to become the finest of the Young Cult Leader’s Demon Venerables. To become the Demon Venerable he cherished most.
That was her desire.
“Now, first let us leave this room.”
Before they knew it, the black energy had pushed halfway into the room.
Geom Mugeuk examined the rear wall.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
He opened a large hole in the direction where there was space, big enough for a person to pass through. Beyond that wall was another corridor.
Geom Mugeuk instructed the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable,
“To break the Greed-Seeking Great Annihilation Art, we must find the Dark Palace Lord. I will find him, so in the meantime, please protect the Pavilion Master. Avoid that black mist as much as possible.”
The Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable nodded with a dependable look in her eyes.
“Do not worry, Young Cult Leader.”
Geom Mugeuk was about to enter the place from which the black mist was surging.
“Will you be all right?”
At the Master of Cheonhwa Pavilion’s concern, Geom Mugeuk answered with a smile.
“To find him, I’ll have to go to the source of that darkness.”
Because the Dark Palace Lord would be at the source of that black energy.
After drawing the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art to its limit, Geom Mugeuk walked into the black mist.
In an instant, the darkness swallowed Geom Mugeuk.
* * *
The Demon Buddha was looking at the Drunken Demon with an expression of disbelief.
The Drunken Demon, who had been guzzling liquor, had gradually tilted to one side and finally fallen asleep. He was even snoring.
He was sleeping drunk at a moment this important?
This bastard’s insane, isn’t he?
The Demon Buddha stared at the Drunken Demon with such eyes, then soon smiled faintly.
All of this was the Young Cult Leader’s doing.
Because the Drunken Demon had changed like this while staying with the Young Cult Leader, because he had come to look at that Drunken Demon with a smile like this, and because the person on that ship over there was the Young Cult Leader, he was not worried…
The moment he casually looked toward the Wealth and Honor Ship, the Demon Buddha’s expression hardened sharply.
“Hey, wake up!”
At the Demon Buddha’s urgent shout, the Drunken Demon opened his eyes.
“Look over there!”
The Drunken Demon, who had been looking in the direction the Demon Buddha was staring while still half-asleep, opened his eyes wide and sprang to his feet.
A massive aura of darkness could be felt from the Wealth and Honor Ship, and thick black smoke began wrapping around the vessel.
When the two met each other’s eyes, they nodded at the same time.
Whoooosh.
Their figures launched toward the Bugwiseon. The evil aura was far too immense for them to simply say, Geom Mugeuk will handle it.
Just then, as the two of them stepped across the water and raced toward the Bugwiseon with water-walking movement arts—
Thoom.
Blocked by something, the two were flung backward. There was an invisible membrane in front of them. They were still far from reaching the ship.
“It’s a barrier!”
At Chwima’s shout, Mabul examined the membrane spread out before his eyes.
“It’s the Heavenly Night Demon Domain (天夜魔域)!”
A barrier demonic art of the Dark Palace.
It was a barrier known to become far stronger when deployed at night, to the point that it was said no one could ever break through it.
Splash.
Chwima dove beneath the surface.
But the barrier extended below the water as well. The Bugwiseon was enclosed within a vast, transparent, spherical barrier.
The aura of darkness they had felt from the ship earlier, and now this barrier as well. It was truly a supreme-level dark demonic art.
Considering that they had failed to notice the barrier being deployed even while they had Hyeollyeon floating nearby, today’s meeting had clearly been a meticulously prepared trap.
“We must break through the barrier somehow and get onto that ship.”
At Mabul’s words, Chwima launched the first palm strike.
Shwaaaang!
Booom.
The powerful palm strike struck the barrier.
For a moment, the barrier’s surface seemed to cave in, then rebounded outward again.
“Let’s try together.”
This time, Mabul and Chwima launched palm strikes simultaneously.
But even under the two men’s attacks, the barrier did not break.
“We’ll have to find the method to dispel it if we want to pierce through.”
But the barrier was spread around the Bugwiseon in such a wide, enormous sphere that finding the method to break it would not be easy.
And if that method lay beneath the water? Finding it in these pitch-black depths would be nearly impossible.
Chwima drew a dagger and infused it with internal energy.
Shiiing.
Thoom!
But Chwima’s dagger failed to pierce the membrane and bounced away. The barrier was being maintained with truly tremendous power.
Then Mabul thought of another way to break it.
“The Heavenly Night Demon Domain grows stronger in darkness, doesn’t it?”
“So I have heard.”
“Then what about under light?”
Mabul’s eyes sharpened, and golden light began to pour from his body.
Flaaaare!
Not only the people on the other nearby boats, but even those on the lakeshore saw that light.
Mabul gathered the light radiating from his body into his palm. The light extending from Mabul’s hand concentrated on one spot of the barrier.
Chwima’s dagger flew toward the part illuminated by the light.
Shiiing!
Thunk!
This time, the dagger lodged in the barrier.
But it had only stuck there and had not torn through, so Chwima drew his internal energy to its utmost limit.
Flaaaaaaaaaare!
The light pouring from Mabul grew so bright that it was impossible to keep one’s eyes open.
“Now!”
Riiiiip.
Chwima’s dagger began to tear the barrier.