Chapter 267: What Am I. (3)
Drip... drip...
Water flowing along the ceiling forms into droplets and falls.
It is a space full of emptiness, along with being damp and humid.
Underground is originally such a place, but.
Here, the feeling was particularly strong.
Perhaps.
The ice crystal in the center of the underground would be the reason.
As if endlessly lined up.
Deep within the hidden underground, and in a space even deeper than that, there was a massive ice crystal.
It truly doesn't suit it.
It's not even an Ice Palace where all four seasons are frozen.
The fact that such an ice crystal exists in the Murim Alliance, that is.
Step—
Leaving such doubts behind.
A woman walks through the wide, dark space holding a single small torch.
It was a path the woman had traversed at least thousands of times, so she could walk it even with her eyes closed.
And indeed, the woman did not open her eyes.
The woman's calm and graceful steps gradually slowed down.
The reason must be because she had reached her destination.
Whoooosh—
As the woman stopped walking.
A freezing cold qi blew in from the front, mixed with the wind.
The woman's veil fluttered in the wind, but her upright body didn't seem intent on moving.
Soon after.
- Muhee.
At the deep, resonant voice that reached her ears, the woman immediately knelt.
- It seems the connection with the Namgung child has been severed.
"...Yes. It seems a problem has arisen."
- It is truly a peculiar thing.
"I will send someone to find out what happened immediately."
Muhee immediately tried to contact the Alliance to send someone.
For this was a rather important matter.
The later-generation master of the Six Dragons Three Phoenixes and Namgung's Thunder Dragon, in a way, was the first test subject.
What happens to a person who contains a divine artifact in their mortal body.
Or.
How much they can endure.
It was to confirm this.
Thunder Dragon was chosen as a suitable candidate.
Because the situation and level fit well.
Of course, from Muhee's standpoint, she thought it was a somewhat hasty undertaking.
But it seemed her master had a different stance.
That was enough for Muhee.
For her master's opinion was her own opinion.
Heh heh heh—
A laughing sound was heard in response to Muhee's words.
As Muhee, who had her head bowed, raised her head.
- There is no need for that.
"...Pardon?"
It was a somewhat bewildering statement.
Her master too must have called it an important matter.
Why such a reaction?
Before Muhee's doubt could even settle.
- The Namgung family... you said that child has also gone there.
The master said.
"That... if you mean the child... Ah."
A strange light entered Muhee's eyes.
Because she realized who he was referring to.
The person the master spoke of.
Was an unexpected variable for both the Alliance and the master.
!
A young martial artist who had recently caught the master's interest.
A newcomer who had suddenly emerged, making his mark without a sound.
Demonstrated a level of martial prowess that could not merely be called that of a rising star, crushing the Biwuje.
Because of that, the plan had somewhat gone awry.
But the master didn't seem to mind this much.
As if.
He seemed to welcome such a variable and unexpected situation.
Moreover, was it a mere coincidence?
He had heard the news that there was a True Dragon in the Namgung family right now.
'Then, could the words just now mean...'
That the problem which occurred with Thunder Dragon.
He was thinking it was the work of the True Dragon?
'What does that rising star even have?'
He didn't even possess the master's 'fragment'.
Nor was he someone who had entered the eyes of the Heavenly Eye.
Originally.
He would have been someone who faded away without even leaving a proper name behind, swept away by the passage of time.
Muhee couldn't understand.
That such a being had suddenly appeared.
However, whatever the case may be.
The fact that it was not something that could easily happen remained true.
Especially around the time the connection with Thunder Dragon was severed at the end.
Because she didn't know exactly why it had been severed.
'Just at some point.'
The moment Thunder Dragon was asking her something, the connection was severed then.
The texture of it felt as if something else had severed the connection.
That bothered Muhee.
If that was truly the doing of the True Dragon...
- How amusing.
Perhaps because he had read Muhee's thoughts.
The master chuckled.
"...Are you sure it's alright?"
- What do you mean?
"Perhaps, there might be a disruption in the plan..."
At Muhee's concern, the surrounding air instantly sank.
At that eerie change, Muhee bowed her head.
- Disruption, such a pleasant word to hear.
"...Pardon?"
- There is nothing that draws my interest as much as a gap and an anomaly occurring in a predetermined fate.
Surprisingly, the voice was full of laughter.
She thought it was what the master had so desperately wished for.
Muhee couldn't fully understand why he was showing such a reaction.
- It is an order.
At the master's words, Muhee's head bowed even deeper.
- Do not dig deeply into Thunder Dragon's matter.
"...Understood."
The answer was without hesitation.
Though doubts and curiosity arose, Muhee did not voice them.
She would simply obey.
Do not harbor doubts about the words of a great being.
It was an ideology deeply embedded in Muhee's mind from the moment she was born until now.
- Muhee.
"Yes... Master."
- Send a message to the Bangjang. Tell him I wish to see him.
"Understood."
Muhee, bowing her head and paying her respects at the master's words, retreated.
The master, left alone in the darkness.
The Blood Demon quietly whispered in the emptiness.
- Child, I wonder if you will be able to do what the Golden King could not.
Child.
The Blood Demon recalled the fierce boy he had met in the past.
In the distant past.
He resembled the ugly one who locked him here, thus postponing things to the future.
Fierce lingering attachments of the past clung to him.
I mean the boy who had the King of the Otherworld hiding in his body.
He resembled him.
The fact that he harbored a monster within his body was also the same.
Was this a coincidence?
It likely was not.
Coincidences do not exist in this world.
Then, this too must be inevitability.
At the same time, the Blood Demon thought of the one who locked him here.
It might have been the best choice for him.
But ultimately, it was just a foolish act of pushing the impending disaster onto his descendants.
- Going around and returning to the beginning. That is samsara.
Being broken and ruined, and then burning away.
The world was originally fated to be so.
No matter how much they struggle, it is merely the flailing of microscopic vermin.
Just a laughable death throes.
- But, will you be different? I am curious about that.
It is unknown.
The sequence of all things is set, but.
As in the past, many in the world leave behind struggles to survive.
It is laughable and pathetic.
That too was fate.
- Can you become a dagger?
A dagger that can pierce the tiniest created gap.
The Blood Demon was curious.
Whether that fragile dagger could truly pierce through everything.
Recalling a certain time.
It was right before the Heavenly Demon moved toward the Alliance.
Around the time when two of the Three Venerables had died.
When the Divine Sword was still called the Little Sword Saint.
It was also around the time when the scattered righteous martial artists, who had only been seeking their own survival, barely started to join forces.
There were countless who were impressed by the Heavenly Demon's power and fell to become demonic people.
Their military might was so soaring that the probability of the Demonic Cult's defeat was extremely slim.
Not unlike the righteous faction, the Demonic Cult's masters were also buried in the ground.
But everyone knew.
As long as the Heavenly Demon was present, the Demonic Cult would not fall.
The Alliance's forces could be seen in the distance.
They were formidable martial artists gathered as elites, every one of them.
Yet the Heavenly Demon remained calm as he watched them.
- Daeju.
At the Heavenly Demon's voice, I raised my bowed head.
- ...Yes.
- Do you desire an answer?
The Heavenly Demon asked.
Whether I desired an answer to my question.
I nodded.
Wondering if it was even possible to dare ask something to the heaven of our cult.
But I felt like now was the chance to finally ask.
And so I asked.
- You said you were curious as to why I desire the Central Plains.
Where the Heavenly Demon came from.
What kind of being he was.
And what he wanted from me.
I was not curious.
Because it was far too late to be curious about such things.
Nevertheless...
Nevertheless, there was one thing I wanted to know.
- What do you think the reason is?
- ...I do not know.
Why a being like the Heavenly Demon would go out of his way to sweep through the Central Plains and want to stand above the heavens.
Even while taking countless lives.
What the goal he wished to ascend to was.
I wanted to know.
To this, the Heavenly Demon let out a laugh.
- Daeju, within the reason for your question... selfish motives are mixed in.
I closed my mouth at the Heavenly Demon's words.
- Are you afraid?
The Heavenly Demon's gaze turned toward me.
- Are you afraid that the head of the woman you harbor will be held in my fingertips?
Imagination flashed by.
Her, dead and bleeding at the Heavenly Demon's touch.
Her, who would look at me with eyes of resentment.
Was I afraid of that?
I couldn't possibly say no.
But I couldn't say it was entirely true, either.
For I, too, knew very well that a sliver of emotion was growing larger and larger.
The Heavenly Demon's purple eyes turned this way.
I wanted to bow my head right then and there.
But I couldn't bow it.
Because the Heavenly Demon did not allow it.
- I thought you had frozen so thoroughly.
His fingertips approached.
Supporting my chin, he lifted my head up.
- Daeju, you are still the same. You haven't cooled down one bit.
- I apologize...
- Since you have committed no sin, I will not accept your apology.
The Heavenly Demon, having finished speaking, turned his back without hesitation.
The Heavenly Demon's martial robes fluttered as demonic qi swirled fiercely.
It was still an incomprehensible energy.
So much so that one wondered if it was a realm attainable by a human.
- The reason, huh.
I listened closely to the Heavenly Demon's words.
He murmured as he looked at the gradually encroaching Alliance forces.
- Well.
The Heavenly Demon slightly raised his hand.
And above his palm, energy from all directions surged in.
The energy gradually gathered at his fingertips.
That was surely a disaster.
A disaster that would sweep the surrounding area in an instant.
The black sphere, as if it had gathered all the malice in the world.
Contradictorily, it looked more pure than anything else.
Was it because I was a demonic person?
Or was it because the Heavenly Demon's power was that heterogenous?
Even that I could not know.
Around the time demonic qi mixed with the wind and space began to distort.
The Heavenly Demon spoke to me.
- My role is such, so it must be so.
Saying so, the Heavenly Demon lightly walked toward the charging forces.
The expression on the Heavenly Demon's face that I saw then.
Somehow, it seemed like he was smiling.
With that scene as the end, I opened my eyes.
"...Ah."
I let out a sigh involuntarily and looked around.
What I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling, but it was at least more welcome than the dream from back then.
"What a shitty dream."
As always, when I tried to dream, it was a nightmare.
And this time was no different.
This is why I hate going to sleep.
"Hah."
I held my throbbing head and sat up.
Not only did my head ache, but my entire body throbbed.
Especially the area around my dantian was troublesome.
It felt completely empty, a void.
And the severe pain arising from that was the problem.
'I'm screwed.'
It was at a level where I wouldn't be able to train using qi for a while.
I smiled emptily and added to myself.
"...Who can I blame? I'm the sinner."
Tsk.
I clicked my tongue once and led my exhausted body out the door.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but I couldn't just stay collapsed and stumbling.
At the very least, I'm not a dog, so I couldn't stay like this.
By the time I came outside.
A wind mixed with a faint morning scent was blowing.
Along with the blowing wind.
I saw someone standing in front of my door.
I wondered if it was Hongwa, but.
It definitely was not.
Confirming his identity immediately, I frowned and opened my mouth.
"Looks like you're fine?"
At my voice, the bastard turned around.
"..."
The identity was Namgung Cheonjun, whom I had faced last night.
Most of the wounds he suffered yesterday seemed to have healed.
The bones around his chest had reattached.
His twisted arm had returned to its place.
The remaining wounds were perhaps his fingers, where his fingernails had been pulled out and branded.
On top of that.
The look in his eyes as he watched me had changed significantly from yesterday.
The madness that had been tightly packed with malice and murderous intent was gone.
What filled his eyes was only bewilderment and doubt.
And sprinkled on top of that was perhaps fear.
'That would be right.'
I knew the reason why that bastard couldn't help but be like that.
The blood qi flowing through the mortal body that Namgung Cheonjun originally possessed.
Had all been absorbed into my body.
Seeing that the accumulated amount was not small, it seemed he had received quite a lot.
I didn't know with what intention such qi had been sent to Namgung Cheonjun.
'Well, I can just hear about that from now on.'
At the very least, I would be able to hear as much as that bastard knew.
In the meantime, I had consistently observed Namgung Cheonjun's mortal body.
To be precise.
Rather than Namgung Cheonjun's body.
It would be more accurate to say I was looking at the demonic qi that had sprouted in his dantian.
'...Clear. Overly so.'
The demonic qi that had sprouted in Namgung Cheonjun's body.
Was exceptionally clear.
It could be seen slowly, but surely, seeping into his flesh, as if it possessed a will.
Since it was originally the place where blood qi resided, it was filling in the empty space.
The problem was that it had been imprinted on Namgung Cheonjun's body.
The fact that it was gradually seeping into his flesh.
Meant that Namgung Cheonjun was gradually becoming a demonic person.
And.
The one who made him like that.
Was me, from last night.
With the demonic art changing as if evolving to match my realm.
There was something I had thought of once.
That if this kept up, I might really be able to turn another person into a demonic person.
Something that was only the Heavenly Demon's exclusive property.
An ability I had thought was a power only the Heavenly Demon could use.
I, who had recalled it but laughed it off, thinking that couldn't be the case.
At that time, I was inwardly terrified.
I had known from the start.
I instinctively knew that if I wanted to, I could do it.
Even without bothering to verify it.
It was a fact I could faintly grasp, as if someone had told me.
Nevertheless, I had desperately hoped it wasn't true.
'This confirms it.'
Seeing the result laid out before my eyes, I had no choice but to accept it.
Namgung Cheonjun was becoming a demonic person due to my demonic qi.
And he would become a demonic person before long.
"How did this...!"
"Kneel."
Thump...!
"...!"
Without even being able to resist at a single word, Namgung Cheonjun knelt.
"Fuck."
Seeing that, a hollow laugh and a curse burst out of me without realizing.
At my command, the demonic qi in Namgung Cheonjun's body moved his body as it pleased.
As if following my will.
It was like putting a restriction on every word.
Wasn't it truly a terrifying power?
"Wh...at... This is..."
Namgung Cheonjun looked up at me with a face reeking of fear.
He seemed to not fully understand what had happened to his body.
"You... what exactly are you?"
That was what the bastard was asking me.
What my identity was?
To that question, I answered with a bitter smile.
"Right. I'm curious too. About what I am."
Now, even I don't know.
No, I just wanted to turn a blind eye.
At least this time.
Because my prediction shouldn't have been right.