Yayul Hwan, the Heavenly Secrets Demonic Immortal and former strategist of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, was deep in thought.
For the ritual, a dragon vein was absolutely necessary, but every such place had already been occupied by factions with some measure of power.
Now that he had secured command over most of the detached forces that had come outside for the operation, it would not be difficult to seize one by force if he so wished, but…
‘The larger the dragon vein, the greater the ritual’s effect will be multiplied. But the forces occupying the better locations will naturally be stronger as well.’
In the process, losses would be inevitable.
Should he target a weaker place and reduce the damage, accepting a decrease in efficacy, or should he be greedy, pour in his forces, and aim to maximize the ritual?
Simply occupying a dragon vein would not end everything, and since the resources and time he could use were both limited, it was a matter that required careful choice.
‘…No, wait. Is there any need to find a new dragon vein?’
At that moment, a certain place suddenly flashed through his mind.
Was there not one place left abandoned, with no faction occupying it, no need to expend his forces, and a scale that could be called the greatest in the world?
“The Dragon Heart.”
Beijing, where the site of the imperial palace—now completely reduced to ruins—was located.
As it happened, it was not very far from where he was now, so he could save time as well.
‘And since it has now become a completely cursed land, there will be less concern about exposure to the outside.’
At present, the central core had been forcibly torn away, and it had completely lost its function. But once, that place had been a sacred site where the energy of the continent was at its strongest.
Now, because it had become the center that drained the world’s energy like a jar with its bottom broken out, it was so desolate that not even a single ant could live there. Even so, its symbolic meaning had not gone anywhere.
‘In any case, I have no intention of communing and bargaining with a god from beyond. There’s no need to insist on an intact dragon vein.’
What he wanted was to fully absorb the Dragon God’s energy dwelling within the Dragon’s Children.
So long as it met the qualifications of an altar, even if he performed the ritual in the Dragon Heart, whose effect had now been reversed, it would not matter much.
‘No, it might even be better. To take the Dragon’s Children arranged by the god at the center of the world that lost its function after the Dragon Heart was plundered…’
What could be more perfect, in terms of sorcerous causality, than this?
To begin with, the Dragon’s Children had been born for the sake of restoring the Dragon Heart. If he carried out the ritual there, its effect would surely be amplified all the more.
This was an opportunity.
Until now, he had sought a safe method of raising his strength while hiding in the shadow of the being known as the Heavenly Demon, but that method had the drawback of requiring an extremely long time to accumulate the necessary karma.
But if he could use this method to attain his rank in a single stroke…
“Hohoho, to think fortune would follow me in my later years. When the Heavenly Demon died, I thought all my efforts until now had come to nothing.”
Yayul Hwan’s eyes curved gently as he let out a hearty laugh.
The corners of his eyes folded like crescent moons amid deep wrinkles.
At the center of those black irises, slit vertically like a reptile’s, bright yellow pupils gleamed with an eerie light.
***
Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Gaehwa Palace, private laboratory.
“The Heavenly Secrets Demonic Immortal. So he is gathering only the Dragon’s Children in one place.”
Hans removed his hand from the head of a pitch-black corpse and tilted his head as he stroked his beard.
Beside it, dozens of corpses already lay sprawled across the floor, all stained black.
They were all warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who had clashed with Harley far from Xinjiang, and those who had left home had finally returned to their homeland through the “Avatar Cloud.”
Though it was probably not in the form they had wished for.
“Tch, he harbored ambitions beyond his station. If he had simply surrendered, it would have been more convenient and pleasant for everyone.”
He could easily guess what the man had been thinking.
In truth, to one who had cultivated demonic arts like him, the Dragon’s Children were no different from legendary elixirs.
Until now, he would have been forced to yield to the Heavenly Demon, but now that an opportunity had come for him to monopolize them all, it was perhaps only natural that his eyes would turn.
‘Still, it is strange. Even if he completes the ritual safely, he should know very well that it will be meaningless unless he can deal with this body that killed the Heavenly Demon. Could he be that confident?’
Hans recalled the information he had gathered on Yayul Hwan, the Heavenly Secrets Demonic Immortal, but there was nothing especially noteworthy.
As befitted a strategist, he was extraordinarily intelligent, and his accomplishments in sorcery were said to be among the highest in the entire Demon Cult. During the war against the monsters, he had apparently achieved outstanding military merit as well.
“Hmm. Did he think that after taking the Dragon’s Children, there would be a chance to drive me out? Or perhaps it is simply loyalty, in that he cannot follow the one who killed his cult leader.”
After pondering for a while, Hans furrowed his brow.
He already had piles of work to do, and now a troublesome matter had overlapped with them, causing irritation to suddenly surge up.
‘I have to retrieve the Dragon’s Children, including Jegal Hyemi and Ju Gangin, before he begins the ritual. Those fellows didn’t know much either, perhaps because only the ones in charge of transport knew the destination. …Well, even if they had known the location, it would already have been changed by now.’
In the Ganghwan World, where channels for gathering information were limited, this was an extremely troublesome problem.
No matter how remarkable he was, would there not be limits to what he could do by using only a few avatars?
‘If Olivia and the ghost bodies were here, there would be no need to worry about this. Or if I could at least actively operate the information networks possessed by this world’s powers… Hm? No, wait.’
Hans, who had been continuing that train of thought, suddenly paused.
As he thought about other powers, it occurred to him that this was not something he needed to rack his brains over alone.
‘Why was I worrying about this by myself? Matters concerning the Dragon’s Children and the Dragon Heart belong to this Ganghwan World, don’t they? Then the people here should be taking the lead more actively!’
Of course, he knew that Geumodo was working hard, but it was true that those who moved covertly in the shadows were nowhere near enough on their own.
‘First, I’ll drag all the other powers into it as well. The more that join, the easier the work will become.’
He could fully understand why they had struggled on alone until now.
Since the imperial family had been wholly blown apart by the Demon Cult’s schemes, which had been prepared over many long years, they must have judged that no one could be trusted easily.
‘But the situation is different now.’
After all, the Demon Cult—the very object of their wariness—had already been swallowed by him.
Of course, he had not yet cleaned up every last one of those who had gone outside, but there was a limit to the tricks they could pull without the help of their main mountain.
If they were busy hiding as they were now, they would not have the leisure for it either.
“Kekeke— Yes, then shall we begin right away?”
Compared to Auterica, the amount of time he had intervened in the Ganghwan World had not been very long.
His information network was utterly inadequate, the foundation he had obtained was only just being solidified, and there were still many things he did not know about this world.
‘First, Geumodo.’
However, he possessed a power that surpassed all of those things.
A power capable of moving this world.
***
Geumodo did not accept that plan from the beginning.
But after cross-checking the information Horus had conveyed with a serious expression, they realized the gravity of the situation and ultimately had no choice but to acknowledge that it was the best option.
The current situation was so grave that they, too, decided to accept a certain degree of risk.
And the result could be confirmed immediately at Mount Yungjung, where Hugo was staying.
“Greetings. This humble Daoist is Cheonggwan of the Mosan Sect. I have something urgent to convey, and so I have come like this despite the discourtesy.”
Daoist Cheonggwan, wearing his old Daoist robe as usual, greeted them politely.
At his sudden visit, the Jegal Clan reacted with bewilderment, but they had no choice but to invite him inside.
In truth, at first they had intended to send him away because the clan was in such chaos, but after hearing what came from his mouth, they simply could not do so.
“It concerns Lady Jegal and the Demon Cult that kidnapped her. It is a matter of true importance, so I ask that you spare me a moment.”
Though they were two great pillars of the sorcery world, unlike the Jegal Clan, which operated actively enough to be counted among the great clans, the Mosan Sect was famous for being a closed-off sect.
The Jegal Clan, which, though slightly inferior to other great powers, was not particularly lacking even in martial matters.
The Mosan Sect, which had devoted itself solely to sorcery, and rather than territorial activity, had grown by accepting requests from places that needed ritual assistance and dispatching personnel.
Naturally, the difference between their outwardly revealed power was beyond comparison. However, when limited to the field of sorcery, public perception placed the Mosan Sect slightly above them, so the Jegal Clan could not help but be privately bothered by it.
Because that was the situation, the words of Cheonggwan, who had come as the representative of the Mosan Sect, could not help but come as a great shock to them.
“…So you are saying that our Hyemi… that those called the Dragon’s Children were born as sacrifices to rebuild the Dragon Heart?”
With several of the clan’s core figures present.
Jegal Howon, the head of the Jegal Clan, asked again in a heavy voice.
Not only he, who had spoken, but the others seated there as well wore expressions that were far from good.
Naturally, they had no choice but to feel that way.
Who would feel pleased to hear that a family member they had lived with for many years had been destined from birth to be sacrificed for the world?
On top of that, there was also the matter of pride.
No matter how different their specialties were, the people they had considered rivals in the same field had informed them first of something they themselves had failed to discover. How could they possibly accept it easily?
However, having lived since childhood in an environment where reason was valued over emotion, they subdued their agitation and began to discuss the matter calmly.
And after analyzing the information and related materials they had gathered until now and putting their heads together, the conclusion they reached was that there was a very high possibility Cheonggwan’s words were true.
Above all, the decisive factor was the fact that the imperial scion of Shaolin Temple, who had suffered the same symptoms as Jegal Hyemi, had also been kidnapped by the Demon Cult’s attack on the same day.
“The Demon Cult is using those they kidnapped in that manner to increase individual power. According to what we have confirmed, the reason the Heavenly Demon’s realm rose sharply of late was also because several of the Dragon’s Children had already been offered as sacrifices…”
Cheonggwan’s words continued.
The faces of the Jegal Clan members hardened.
This was not simply a matter of the safety of their family member, Jegal Hyemi.
They had long since heard of the Heavenly Demon’s might.
In the middle of Shaolin Temple, which was covered in Buddhist arts that suppressed demons, he had cut off one of the Divine Monk’s arms. Even while continuing a two-on-one battle against a new Profound Realm master who had joined belatedly, he had apparently maintained the upper hand from beginning to end.
And such a person was going to hold an additional ritual offering sacrifices in order to become even stronger.
Worse still, the sacrifices required for it were those absolutely necessary to return this chaotic world to normal—
“…Phew. This is not a matter we can resolve among ourselves.”
The rebuilding of the Dragon Heart was a matter to think about afterward.
Even if, later on, they were forced to demand sacrifice from them, for now they had to stop the Demon Cult’s movements by any means necessary.
“That is why I came as well. With the Jegal Clan’s help, it should not be too difficult to spread this truth to the other major powers.”
The mainstream mystery of this world was martial arts, but the other powers also fully recognized the usefulness of sorcery.
It was only that there were too many restrictions in learning and mastering it, making it difficult to achieve results easily.
And the Jegal Clan, equipped with both connections and infrastructure, possessed the capacity to quickly spread desired information across every part of the continent.
“…Very well. Then let us begin immediately. We are already busy with many things to do; this will truly be the death of us.”
“The Daoists of our Mosan Sect spread throughout the continent should also be able to assist in carrying out the ritual. If they take charge of the relay, the consumption of power due to distance can be reduced as much as possible.”
“Excellent. Then I will be relying on you.”
Conveying information through long-distance communication required an enormous amount of labor and was therefore not used often, but if the Mosan Sect lent a hand as well, they would be able to finish things more smoothly than expected.
And so, based on the cooperation of the two organizations called the twin pillars of the sorcery world, news began to spread one by one to the powers ruling territories across the continent.
About the Demon Cult’s conspiracy and the danger of their leader, the Heavenly Demon.
And about the possibility of bringing an end to the present chaos.
***
‘Good. It’s proceeding smoothly.’
Since no one except the Demon Cultists yet knew that the Heavenly Demon was dead, there was no better pretext for stirring people’s sense of crisis and uniting them as one.
After all, there was already no one who did not know of the might the Heavenly Demon had displayed at Shaolin Temple.
‘Once the eyes of the entire continent are focused on this, he won’t be able to stay quietly hidden as he is now. In the end, his traces will be revealed somewhere.’
Of course, now that information had been spread on such a large scale, among those who heard the rumor, there would surely be some who harbored absurd thoughts.
Even at this very moment, there were likely no small number of people beginning to weave schemes in the shadows in order to use the Dragon’s Children as they pleased.
That was an issue that might ultimately become the starting point of yet another tragedy, but…
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Hans paid no heed to such trivial problems.
It was not that, at this point, he was turning away and saying it did not matter what happened to mere Dragon’s Children.
It was simply that, just as the words implied, it truly no longer mattered.
Because the answer to that had just been completed.
“Now—rise.”
Hans’s low voice resonated softly.
Twitch—
In accordance with that sound, the figure lying on the bed jerked.
At first, the body reacted intermittently, then gradually began to move rapidly, as if convulsing.
Then, in an instant, all movement stopped.
Ssssss—
The next moment, the being had already risen from its place and was kneeling before Hans, bowing respectfully.
Its eyes gleamed black without any whites.
“…Glory to the Lord of Death. Please give me your command.”
The Heavenly Demon, who had swallowed countless karma and in the end was himself swallowed by karma.
A new undead born through his corpse, and a dagger honed to aim at the destined foe known as the leader of the Beoncheon Society.
Its provisional name was “Karma Jiangshi.”