Chapter 389. Become a Dog, or Become a God.
Sitting side by side with Yongmyeong as we watched the cultists, I whispered.
“If the Cult Leader comes at you like this.”
“Yes.”
“At first, the order is to bring back Ilsal… then it changes into an order to go massacre an entire sect. Next, he tells you to kill a traitor. It’ll keep repeating, one order leading to another. If you obey each time because you’re worried about Blood Night Palace, then you’ll simply become the Cult Leader’s dog. Retrieving Ilsal can’t possibly be the end of your mission.”
“That is true.”
“Have you decided?”
Yongmyeong looked at me.
“I will return to Blood Night Palace at once.”
I intended to respect whatever decision he made.
“You’ve thought well. Give Elder Heo and the Palace Lord my regards. Tell them to build their strength so no one can lay a hand on Blood Night Palace. At first, running away is also an answer. You have to fight the long fight. There may be an encirclement. Can you break through?”
Yongmyeong looked around.
“…Sect Leader, do you think I can’t even break through this?”
“Good. As soon as your breathing returns to normal, leave.”
“Yes.”
If he was an assassin, he must naturally have learned about escape as well.
Yongmyeong suddenly looked at his sword, which was stuck to the strangely shaped great saber. It had been embedded with its tip bent, so the sword was no longer intact. I looked at Yongmyeong’s sword with him, then took the Flash Dagger from my robe and handed it to him.
“Use this.”
“Pardon?”
“An assassin should use a dagger. I have one more.”
Yongmyeong accepted the Flash Dagger.
I also taught Yongmyeong a simple bit of psychological warfare.
“Don’t run. Walk confidently, as if you have a mission, and if pursuit attaches itself to you, then use your lightness skill or adapt as needed.”
“Sect Leader, I’ll go ahead.”
We bade each other farewell with a single look. As I had told him, Yongmyeong slowly rose and headed toward the Jaha Inn. He looked as though he intended to leave only after greeting Eldest Brother.
Still sitting cross-legged, I glared for a moment at the Black Forest scout unit. If some of them slipped away and seemed to be chasing Yongmyeong, I intended to charge straight at the Black Forest scout unit alone.
First, I asked what I was curious about.
“Where is the new Left Envoy, or the person above him? Grand Duke Yang, are you the one in charge?”
Only then did Grand Duke Yang appear from where the black-clothed men were slowly widening the distance. His hair was white, and his face was on the pale side as well, but Grand Duke Yang, whom I had not seen in a long while, now had the skin beneath his eyes turned quite dark.
Looking at Grand Duke Yang’s complexion, I asked.
“Grand Duke Yang, it was nice when you were living leisurely in Deep Abyss Valley, wasn’t it? Your face seems much worse.”
Grand Duke Yang nodded.
“The former Right Envoy came all the way to Deep Abyss Valley. It’s true that it was exhausting.”
“That must have been troublesome. He didn’t look sane.”
Grand Duke Yang answered as he walked toward me.
“That’s right. I had never seen a man as mad as the Right Envoy in recent days.”
“I’m curious what happened to him.”
Grand Duke Yang sat down facing me at a short distance and said.
“It’s an internal matter, so I can’t tell you in detail. He received new orders and left to carry out his mission.”
“The Right Envoy received orders? That can’t be.”
Grand Duke Yang smiled.
“Outer halls are often created in such a fashion. When called, they must come running like dogs. There are no exceptions.”
Only after seeing Grand Duke Yang did I realize that if Yongmyeong survived under the Cult Leader for a long time, he would become like Grand Duke Yang. Deep Abyss Valley or Blood Night Palace, in the end, they were the same.
The distance to where Grand Duke Yang sat was slightly ambiguous.
With Grand Duke Yang’s skill, it was a distance from which he could launch a surprise attack in an instant, so I could not leisurely continue asking and answering questions.
Keeping Grand Duke Yang’s surprise attack in mind, I threw out a question.
“Did the Cult Leader meet with the Right Envoy?”
Grand Duke Yang answered with only a laugh. While I was staring at Grand Duke Yang, Eldest Brother’s voice sounded from behind me.
“Grand Duke Yang.”
“Speak.”
“You, too, are a meritorious retainer no less than Elder Heo. Why not become independent now? You are already a grand duke, and I doubt you have any lingering desire for power. Must you really step forward like this?”
“What independence is there for a cultist?”
I found Grand Duke Yang’s expression extremely striking. It was close to expressionless, but it did not seem peaceful. I deliberately asked about Yongmyeong.
“Yongmyeong has decided to return to Blood Night Palace. Will you let him go safely?”
Grand Duke Yang nodded.
“From the beginning, I heard Yongmyeong would decide his own course. Depending on that, the fate of Blood Night Palace will change as well.”
“And your fate?”
Grand Duke Yang looked at me and murmured.
“My fate…”
The instant I unconsciously blinked once, I saw Grand Duke Yang’s palm force. With all other things vanished from sight, I met the enormous palm that appeared with my right palm.
An earsplitting boom erupted, and I was pushed back while still seated. Then, when I accepted the aftermath of the collision with the Cloud-Ladder Leap and rose lightly, Grand Duke Yang’s follow-up attack continued.
Perhaps because of all the dust that had risen from the aftermath of the clash of palm force, visibility was poor. Grand Duke Yang’s attacks suddenly shot out from within the dust. Since they were attacks centered on powerful palm techniques, it was not difficult to receive them, but dust-laden winds mingled everywhere.
‘Is he doing this on purpose?’
Because Grand Duke Yang poured out his full strength from the very start, I had no chance to draw my sword. His internal energy was incomparably deeper than Yongmyeong’s, and he seemed to have abundant real-combat experience. He was strong enough to crush and kill most experts with a single palm force. Under ordinary circumstances, I would have conserved my internal energy while keeping an eye on the scout unit, but after clashing palm force with him, I changed my mind.
Grand Duke Yang used his palm techniques while hiding his body from both enemy and ally.
It was because his footwork, his movements, and even the operation of his palm techniques continuously raised gusts of wind. He also seemed skilled in methods of finding an enemy where visibility was poor. I reached toward my waist to draw Ilsal, then hurriedly lowered my head.
As I stepped backward, I saw my own hair scattering through the air.
Before I knew it, a palm floating in the air appeared as if stabbing downward. I met it with my right palm imbued with fighting spirit, and my left palm soon collided with his palm force as well.
Only then did I see Grand Duke Yang’s face.
The troubled expression from before was nowhere to be seen; his face was full of joy at being able to fight properly.
While receiving him with both palms, I was pushed back slightly…
Before I knew it, I had found my balance and was competing against Grand Duke Yang in internal energy. Only then did I feel I understood Grand Duke Yang’s intent a little.
This was a full-blown, life-or-death contest of internal energy.
Only when the dust-laden winds mixed into the whirlwind began to settle did my surroundings come into view. The Black Forest scout unit was still waiting, and I could feel Eldest Brother watching from behind me as well.
Grand Duke Yang’s internal energy rose in stages, and soon he even poured out waves of qi as if deploying a protective art. Then the ground beneath where we stood caved in.
Since the situation was flowing in a rather dangerous direction…
I looked at Yang Daegong and readied my Jahashingong. The moment I felt something stir in my dantian and detected an ambush from the right, I instantly unleashed a palm force imbued with Jahagi, combining it with external power to push Yang Daegong away.
‘Ambush.’
Instinctively, I grabbed Ilsal and readied Balgeom. The master who had launched the ambush from the right was already airborne, his entire body bright red as if engulfed in flames.
‘Huh?’
Yang Daegong, knocked back by the palm force mixed with Jahagi and steadying himself, looked up and unleashed a palm force. Just as the energy was about to burst from his palm, the ambushing man’s fingertips pierced his palm center.
Stab!
A red beam of light looked like an arrow flying in and embedding itself.
In the midst of that, Yang Daegong’s left palm struck the man’s chest.
BOOOOM!
As the man in the red robe was pushed back…….
Blood also burst from Yang Daegong’s right hand. Surprisingly, the man in the red robe, in the very moment he was pushed back, sprayed a fistful of blood that had burst out from the palm force into Yang Daegong’s eyes and rushed in again.
Seven or eight strands of blood qi, looking like bright red spider legs, simultaneously shot out from the man in the red robe’s body like blades…….
and immediately surged toward Yang Daegong, who had blood splashed across his eyes.
It was a technique that looked like perfect mutual destruction, but the blood he had spewed seemingly possessed burning properties as well; Yang Daegong, squinting his eyes, appeared to be at a severe disadvantage. It had happened so suddenly that I could not intervene.
Soon, the seven or eight strands of blood qi repeatedly pierced through Yang Daegong’s body and emerged. Even in the midst of that, Yang Daegong swung his twin palms. But before long, the man in the red robe grabbed both of Yang Daegong’s arms and tore them off to the left and right.
Squelch!
The following scene was even more gruesome. Blood and chunks of flesh burst into a chaotic mess in mid-air, and before long, Yang Daegong was literally disassembled.
I was so dumbfounded that I stepped back slightly.
‘Ah, crazy bastard.’
Gwangmyeong Usa, covered in Yang Daegong’s flesh and blood, smiled as he looked at me, then gazed at the Demonic Cult’s forces. Blood was also flowing from Gwangmyeong Usa’s mouth from taking Yang Daegong’s palm force, but it was bizarre yet intense, as if I were witnessing a Blood God before my very eyes.
Having surveyed the surroundings once, Gwangmyeong Usa spoke to me.
“Haomunju, it’s been a while.”
I nodded and replied as if greeting an old friend.
“Long time no see. Have you been well? Eating properly?”
Gwangmyeong Usa glared at me.
“…….”
“I didn’t know you held such a deep grudge against Yang Daegong.”
Gwangmyeong Usa said, looking at the lump of blood and flesh that had been Yang Daegong just moments ago.
“I only needed to kill this bastard, but he kept breaking his promise and running away.”
In truth, if I hadn’t used Jahagi, Yang Daegong would have recovered much faster and faced Gwangmyeong Usa, but since I couldn’t tell who Gwangmyeong Usa’s ambush was targeting, it was a regrettable outcome.
Gwangmyeong Usa, who had suddenly appeared and butchered Yang Daegong, looked to be in even worse shape than when I had seen him before. In other words, he now looked like someone incapable of normal human communication.
Since Gwangmyeong Usa was approaching me, I sidestepped slightly.
Avoiding a madman is the answer.
I am no exception.
Gwangmyeong Usa glanced at me, took a few more steps, and grabbed the warped greatsword lying on the ground.
“Munju.”
“What?”
“Is this the Tower King’s weapon?”
“It is.”
“And what is embedded in it?”
“The weapon of the assassin Yongmyeong, who lost to me.”
“Hmm…….”
Gwangmyeong Usa looked at me.
“What of the Tower King?”
“The former Left Emissary killed him.”
Gwangmyeong Usa smiled as if satisfied and asked as though seeking my permission.
“May I use this?”
“The greatsword?”
I granted him permission, wanting to stay on this madman’s good side for the time being.
“I was planning to take it, but I’ll give it to you as a gift.”
“Good.”
Gwangmyeong Usa removed Yongmyeong’s long sword and infused it with the Blood God Technique, turning the blade reddish-black. Then, when he pressed the red-hot blade of the long sword against the warped greatsword, a screeching sound rang out as the two fused together.
The sight of Gwangmyeong Usa holding the warped greatsword was nothing short of bloodthirsty.
It was a weapon so perfectly suited to him that it seemed as though it had been the Blood Cult Leader’s weapon from the very beginning. Gwangmyeong Usa, gripping the warped greatsword, asked me.
“Are you still fighting the Cult Leader?”
“I am.”
Gwangmyeong Usa smiled awkwardly and spoke as if confessing.
“I have already lost once. You, too, will find victory difficult. If you survive, let us meet again.”
I nodded and treated Gwangmyeong Usa as what he was, after all: a mad demonic grandmaster.
“Farewell, Blood Cult Leader.”
This madman suddenly walked toward the Black Forest scout unit waiting in standby with the warped greatsword in hand, then unleashed his movement arts and charged.
The Blood Cult Leader’s muttered words, laden with inner power, flowed out ominously.
“……Move aside.”
The Blood Cult Leader—formerly Gwangmyeong Usa—then butchered part of the Black Forest’s scout unit to clear a path and disappeared into the distance.
I watched Gwangmyeong Usa’s mad rampage together with my big brother, who had come to my side, and let out a sigh.
“Wow, crazy……. Was he always like that?”
My big brother shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why is he like that?”
“I don’t know. It’s more amazing that he shows you courtesy despite being that insane.”
My big brother went to where Yang Daegong had died, searched for something, picked up a small golden accessory, and threw it to the cultists. As the tiny, glinting accessory flew through the air, one cultist caught it.
My big brother spoke to the cultists.
“That is all that remains of Yang Daegong. Take it and return it.”
The cultist who caught the accessory replied to my big brother without much thought.
“……Understood.”
When the cultist answered in an extremely polite tone, the black-clad men beside him all looked at him at once.
The atmosphere was quite odd.