novelraw Chapter 146 : Spy (2)
Chapter 146 : Spy (2)
Chapter 146: Spy (2)
‘H-How did he know that…!’
Though Gongson Beon tried hard not to show it, his heart was filled with shock.
The other had spoken information that should have been utterly impossible to know.
Indeed, the words that Sewoon had spoken were entirely true.
The great demon fox known as the Celestial Fox (天狐) was a being whose power could overturn the world.
In contrast, the Horijeong was a lesser demon—nowhere near comparable to that level.
Of course, even so, it was still a great demon possessing the spiritual power equivalent to that of a master in the Transformation Realm.
At that moment, Sewoon added calmly while watching the shaken Gongson Beon.
“When one tail splits into nine branches, it’s a spiritual being—the Celestial Fox. When there are nine separate tails, it’s a demonic being—the Horijeong.”
“……!!”
“You might’ve fooled those blind fools until now, but that won’t work on me.”
Sewoon twisted the corner of his lips into a faint smirk, marking his words like a stamp.
Pierced in the heart, Gongson Beon let out a quiet groan.
‘No one should know about the Horijeong except the Sect Leader who captured it with me.’
Information about the Horijeong had never been released into the jianghu.
He and the Sect Leader were the first to discover that creature, and because of it, the martial world had given him the alias Nine-Fox Illusionist (九狐幻士).
“……You’re saying it’s not the Celestial Fox?”
“No. What even is this ‘Horijeong’ supposed to be?”
“What nonsense is this?”
Damn it!
Sensing the unrest spreading among his subordinates, Gongson Beon raised his voice.
If morale dropped any further, annihilation was inevitable.
“Don’t be fooled by the babbling of a mere blacksmith! Baekmyeon, tear them apart!”
“!!”
Pabat!
At its master’s command, the demon fox covered in snow-white fur—Baekmyeon—charged at Sewoon like a bolt of lightning.
The enormous movement resembled that of a mountain in motion, reigniting the fighting spirit of the Heaven-Piercing Sect’s spell users, who had briefly faltered.
“Right! Don’t fall for the enemy’s trickery!”
“Die!”
Though half of them were already dead, more than a dozen spell users still remained.
Now, driven by fear of death, they poured their full strength into their spells, unleashing an even more powerful barrage like a torrential rain.
But that was not all.
Grrr!
The demon fox’s cry sent violent ripples throughout the surroundings.
Like waves spreading across a calm lake, a sinister energy began to fill the air.
Chwaa!
A ring of flame formed like a glowing band and dropped vertically toward Nameless and Sewoon, while razor-sharp ice fragments shot out like arrows.
But all of those spells were caught within the shockwaves generated by the Horijeong.
Fwoooosh!
Kwaaaang!
In an instant, the spells inflated several times larger than before.
For the first time, Nameless’ face showed a hint of surprise.
“……!”
That was the moment when the Horijeong’s ability—Baekmyeon’s power—manifested.
It was the ability to amplify the power of all spells cast by those bound as its servants.
Nameless shifted his focus from countering to evasion.
Kwaaaang!
Kwang!
Explosive shockwaves of destruction swept through the surroundings.
“Gahhh!”
“Grrrk!”
At the same time, a barrage of attacks rained upon Sewoon as well.
But this side of the battlefield took on a completely different shape.
The Heaven-Piercing Sect’s reinforced warriors, empowered by the Horijeong’s pulse, had shed their human forms.
Like rabid dogs, they charged forward with frothing mouths.
Their bloodshot eyes gleamed red as if they had overdosed on drugs.
Charaa!
The barrier woven from Heavenly Thread (天羅) barely managed to block them.
Crack!
Snap!
They didn’t even care that their bones were shattering as they threw their fists with insane ferocity.
The Horijeong’s power had driven even the spells cast upon their bodies into a state of near frenzy.
Though it looked as if Sewoon’s side was being pushed back under the endless assault of the Heaven-Piercing Sect’s spell users—
‘Tch, compared to the real thing, this power is trash.’
Sewoon, having already analyzed the Horijeong’s strength, merely frowned.
The true Celestial Fox—the strongest of demon beasts—had taken its own life rather than allow the Blood Demon to control it.
That real Celestial Fox was now sealed away somewhere that no one knew.
And Sewoon, with his memories from before regression, knew exactly where it was sealed.
He was slowly preparing to claim it for himself.
‘Time to wrap this up.’
Ssshh!
Sewoon withdrew the barrier that had been blocking his enemies.
“Graaaah!”
“Grkkk!”
The maddened reinforced warriors charged from every direction.
Chwaa!
Sensing the opening, the true body of the Horijeong moved as well.
Bwoong!
As it shifted, three of its nine tails stretched like tentacles toward Sewoon.
Each of those pure-white tails carried power equivalent to the strike of a master in the Transformation Realm.
It was the force of three Transformation Realm masters attacking at once.
A truly perilous, flame-flickering moment—
Sssaaah!
Suddenly, an extreme Yin energy burst forth from Sewoon’s body.
Compared to it, the Horijeong’s pale-white aura looked dull and impure—this was true, absolute whiteness.
Paaat!
The Heavenly Threads that had silently covered the ground began to glow as the Yin energy coursed through them.
‘Ice Wheel Formation (氷輪結).’
Crackle!
Crack!
The threads of Ice Wheel Thread (氷輪絲), layered hundreds and thousands of times over his little finger, froze every enemy that stood above him.
Every foe who had swung their weapon before Sewoon’s eyes was now turned into an ice statue.
Kieee!
The Horijeong let out a scream of agony.
Of course, its three tails were among the frozen as well.
Even its spiritual body convulsed in pain, paralyzed by the extreme Yin energy.
Pabat!
But Sewoon didn’t stop there.
He kicked off the ground and dashed forward, crossing both hands that were connected by Heavenly Thread (天羅).
“Heavenly Edge (天銳).”
Chwararak!
Seogeogeok!
A chilling sound of slicing echoed out. It was so loud it hurt the ears.
Naturally so—
Because hundreds, thousands of slicing sounds overlapped at once.
Sgeuk!
Thududuk!
Along with the slicing, the sound of ice shards breaking and falling to the ground layered over itself.
In an instant, all the Heaven-Piercing Sect spell users, except for the distant Gongson Beon, became cold corpses.
Kieee!
The Horijeong convulsed wildly, its three tails severed in a blink.
‘W-What is this?!’
Witnessing the Horijeong’s miserable state for the first time, Gongson Beon couldn’t hide his shock.
Kuwoong!
The earth trembled, and something suddenly dropped from the air.
Sewoon leapt up and swung the Heavenly Threads gathered into a single line like a sword, tracing a half-moon.
Seogeok!
“……!!”
Before Gongson Beon’s eyes, the Horijeong’s head was severed cleanly.
He didn’t even have time to mourn the death of his spirit beast.
Piyung!
Papak!
“Kuaaah!”
Four strands of Heavenly Thread shot out like arrows, piercing through the bones and flesh of both his feet.
As his body collapsed in pain, forcing him to his knees—
“Now, how about we settle your sins?”
Nameless looked down at Gongson Beon with a chilling smile.
“K-Kkeuh…”
A short while later, Gongson Beon looked like a broken man.
Only the whites of his eyes remained.
Nameless had chosen from the cruelest torture methods he’d learned since childhood in the Gate of Assassins (殺門) and performed them one after another.
After torturing him so thoroughly that sweat beaded on his forehead, Nameless wiped it away and said,
“Phew, I’ve done enough. He’s useless now, so let’s kill him, Master.”
“Kkeueeek!!”
Gongson Beon let out a grotesque shriek at those words.
“W-Wait! Don’t kill me! I still have value! I can still be useful!!”
The moment he regained reason, he burst into tears and snot, desperately begging Sewoon for his life.
With a gaze as cold as ice, Sewoon thought silently.
‘A leech like him… He had more attachment to life than even the Sect Leader who died to the Blood Demon after getting greedy with spells.’
In other words, he was the perfect tool to use.
“M-Master Tang…”
“The Horijeong’s dead. What use could you possibly have?”
“I-I can revive the Horijeong if given time! And I am the Vice Sect Leader of the Heaven-Piercing Sect (通天房). I can provide all information about the movements of our sect and the Demonic Alliance that would benefit the Tang Clan!”
“Hmm.”
Sewoon looked unconvinced, so Gongson Beon quickly continued.
“The Qingcheng Sect! Yes, the Qingcheng Sect is targeting you! They plan to poison the upper stream of the river to infect commoners with toxins—!”
“So that they can accuse the Tang Clan of being behind it. That’s why I bought the ingredients you and your sect were preparing for your spell poison.”
“Huh?”
Now that he thought about it—it was true.
Seuk.
When Nameless lifted his Twin Daggers (雙手匕刀) slightly, Gongson Beon shouted louder.
“T-Then there’s the secret organization ‘Blood Cult (血敎)’ working behind the Qingcheng Sect’s movements—!”
“Yes, the Blood Demon, their leader, ordered it. He must have tempted your Sect Leader with forbidden high-level sorcery in exchange for leaving the Demonic Alliance.”
“H-How could you possibly know that?”
“Master, he seems useless. Let’s just kill him.”
As Nameless began walking toward him slowly, Gongson Beon screamed out new information in terror.
“Aaaah!! T-The Heaven-Piercing Sect is targeting the Shrine Maiden Sect (神女門)!”
Nameless stopped. Sewoon’s eyes glimmered.
That was something that hadn’t happened before his regression.
It meant this was a new event in the changed future.
Realizing this information was his only lifeline, Gongson Beon poured his strength into speaking.
“If the Qingcheng Sect helps seize control of the Sichuan Tang Clan, they promised to open the path through Sichuan leading to the Shrine Maiden Sect’s main mountain two months from now! Once our poison spell is perfected, both sides will exchange documents to ensure neither betrays the other! It’s true!!”
Tang Sewoon fell silent, lost in thought.
The Heaven-Piercing Sect Leader’s plan became clear in his mind.
That man’s obsession with sorcery was stronger than anyone’s.
He must have planned to subdue the Nine Heavens Immortal Maiden (九天仙女) and steal all her sorcery and divine power.
“This bit was useful.”
“Y-You’ll spare me then?”
“Yes.”
“T-Thank you! Thank you so much!!”
“But if I’m keeping you alive, I need to place a shackle on you.”
“……W-What? W-Wait—?!”
Sewoon reached out and forcibly pried open his mouth.
Tatadak!
A strange sound followed as something small crawled from his sleeve along his wrist.
“Kkyeeeek!!!”
Gongson Beon thrashed in terror.
A Male and Female Gu Poison (雌雄蠱毒) creature was walking toward him, moving its spider-like tendrils.
As a spell user, Gongson Beon recognized it at a glance.
When he tried to resist again, Sewoon spoke in a chilling tone.
“If you don’t swallow it, you die.”
“H-Hee…!”
Gulp.
At last, rolling his eyes in dread, Gongson Beon swallowed the Gu on his own.
Once Sewoon confirmed that the creature had settled near the man’s heart, he murmured softly,
“Your life now belongs to me.”
“……!!”
“To stay alive, you’ll hand over every bit of information about the Demonic Alliance you possess—and keep feeding me new intelligence.”
“You—you mean you want me to act as a spy?”
“No.”
Sewoon slowly shook his head.
“I want you to be my slave.”
“!!”
Gongson Beon’s expression was drenched in despair.