novelraw Chapter 230 : Turning the Enemy Against Me (3)
Chapter 230 : Turning the Enemy Against Me (3)
Chapter 230: Turning the Enemy Against Me (3)
Chwaaah.
As the Heavenly Thread penetrated deep into Pa-eum Bima’s flesh, ferocious demonic energy surged forth, and the ashen memories lingering in his brainstem flooded in like a raging torrent.
Reflected dimly in Sewoon’s eyes, Pa-eum Bima’s memories—stained with blood and darkness—gradually grew vivid.
Instead, Sewoon’s figure standing upon the ground scattered and vanished like a shadow.
At last, it felt as though he had become possessed within Pa-eum Bima’s body itself.
‘Now, I must select only the memories I need.’
Pushing through the countless fragments of the bastard’s shattered recollections, Sewoon searched for the Blood Cult’s plans.
But the process was anything but easy.
Chwaaah!
All of a sudden, a vivid scene was reenacted before Sewoon’s eyes.
—Aaaaargh!
—S-save me, save meee!
—It hurts, it hurts so much.
Inside iron bars, captives screamed and groaned in agony.
Within the prison, smeared with blood and filth, the abducted martial artists had already had their Dantian destroyed and were reduced to miserable, pitiful states.
Yet Pa-eum Bima twisted the corners of his mouth as he looked upon them.
—Khehehe, you want to die?
—Aagh!
He kicked the captives hard, toying with them and mocking them.
—How could toys choose death on their own? The only time you’ll be allowed to die is when I grow tired of you.
—Y-you monster!!
—Someday, you will receive heavenly retribution!!
—Kahaha! I’ll be waiting! Go on ahead and wait slowly for me!
—Kuhk, khk!
Pa-eum Bima turned them into slaves, mere playthings to satisfy his cruel tastes.
As Sewoon experienced those vivid memories, killing intent surged within him.
‘Once this is over, I’ll kill him far more painfully.’
Facing the bastard’s atrocities head-on, Sewoon made that vow.
At that moment, the memories before his eyes turned to mist and gradually shifted into another form.
—What?! You’re telling me to raise nothing but damn bugs?!
Pa-eum Bima was shouting in rage at someone.
The face of the person seated across the table was someone Sewoon knew well.
‘Sword Demon.’
This time, he was facing Sword Demon, the Vice Cult Leader of the Blood Cult.
It seemed to be right after the decision had been made to send him to the Gu Farm.
—Pa-eum Bima. They’re not just bugs. They’re Gu.
—What’s the difference, Sword Demon?! Other elders were deployed freely in the Outer Regions, so why am I stuck with that trash!!
—This is an extremely important mission. It is an order given directly to you by the Master.
—T-the Master himself?!
Though Pa-eum Bima vented his fury over being sent to the Gu Farm, the moment Sword Demon mentioned the Master’s name, he calmed down instantly.
Pa-eum Bima, too, could never defy the solemn command of the Blood Demon.
Sword Demon looked at him with a contemptuous gaze and continued.
—Once the Male and Female Gu Poison is completed, return as quickly as possible.
—Tsk, sending me off and then calling me back—what kind of damn nonsense is this again?
—There’s someone we need urgently.
—For whom?
—We will feed it to the Palace Lord of the North Sea Ice Palace.
—……The Ice Palace?
Astonishingly, the target chosen by the Blood Cult to be fed the completed Male and Female Gu Poison was none other than Seori.
‘So that’s how it was.’
Sewoon nearly let out a hollow laugh.
Because he had eliminated Pa-eum Bima and retrieved the Male and Female Gu Poison, Seori had avoided the Blood Cult’s Gu.
Yet by a twist of fate, she ended up swallowing him instead.
Was she destined to consume it regardless?
The conversation between the two continued.
—Did you fail to sway the Ice Empress?
—Yes. But we successfully recruited the Vice Palace Lord. We’ll use him to plot a rebellion, feed the Gu to the Ice Empress, and seize the Perennial Ice Crystal as well.
—Hmm. Then everything belonging to the Ice Palace will fall into our hands. What’s the plan after that?
This was it.
Sewoon perked up his ears. The information he had been waiting for was about to emerge.
—Yes. Completing the Thousand Blood Gu will take a considerable amount of time. I should tell you in advance so you can prepare.
After pondering briefly, Sword Demon spoke carefully.
—We’ll use four forces from the Outer Regions—the Beast Palace, the Ice Palace, Gale Sands, and the Sun Palace—to strike the Central Plains.
—……Huh?!
—While seizing Shanxi Province with the Ice Palace’s strength, the other three will all infiltrate deep into the Central Plains.
And finally—
—At the end, we will wash Shaanxi Province and Hebei Province in blood and take the first true step toward conquering the martial world.
The Conquest of the Martial World.
The catastrophe Sewoon had struggled so desperately to prevent was finally on the verge of occurring.
Hearing Sword Demon’s words, Sewoon’s mind felt as though it would burst.
‘Shaanxi and Hebei. Both border Shanxi, which the Ice Palace devoured. I must stop this at all costs…!!’
Sewoon treated the invasion of Shaanxi and Hebei as an established fact.
Of course, the time when Pa-eum Bima heard this plan from Sword Demon was far in the past.
There was a possibility the plan had changed—but Sewoon did not think so.
The Blood Cult’s plan Pa-eum Bima had heard was already half successful.
He had saved the Beast Palace, and the Sun Palace had been annihilated.
But precisely because of that, the likelihood of Sword Demon’s grand design coming to fruition had increased.
‘The plans in the southern barbarians’ lands and the Southern Sea failed. That’s why the Blood Cult’s strategy will be reinforced toward advancing south from Shanxi.’
Sewoon let out a silent groan.
He had to head for Shaanxi as quickly as possible.
He needed to go there anyway because of the Treasure Map Seori had given him, but now he also had to unravel the Blood Cult’s schemes spread across that land.
‘Then now…!’
There was no time to waste.
Just as Sewoon confirmed the information he sought and was about to stop combing through Pa-eum Bima’s memories—
Suaaah!
—M-Master!!
Suddenly, the scene before his eyes changed once more.
Pa-eum Bima was kneeling and prostrating himself before someone.
The arrogant figure who had swaggered before Sword Demon moments ago was nowhere to be seen. Trembling in terror, he could not even dare to raise his head.
It was the day he was departing for the Gu Farm.
—F-for what reason did you summon me…?! H-have I perhaps offended the Master’s disposition in some way…?!
At that moment, as Pa-eum Bima broke into a cold sweat down his spine—
[Raise your head.]
Pa-seusseut!
A grotesque voice echoed out, one that alone was enough to twist and entangle even the demonic energy of a divine beast just by being heard again.
Sewoon felt his aura churn violently.
‘That is…!’
Horrific pain and an overwhelmingly unpleasant sensation spread through his entire body like poison, but he had no leisure to care about such things.
The instant he heard the owner of that voice, Sewoon realized who it was.
At the same time, Pa-eum Bima slowly raised his head in obedience to the command.
Chwaaaah!
There was a being seated upon a jade throne, gazing down.
A black form scattering like a blood mist.
An existence so dreadful that one could not even dare to look upon it directly.
That being was none other than the Blood Demon.
‘That bastard…!!’
Chwaaaah!
Reverse Heaven Qi surged upward like madness.
Gritting his teeth, Sewoon glared at his lifelong nemesis.
And then, in that very moment—
[So you were watching from there.]
—Y-yes? Pardon…?
‘…!!’
At the absurd remark, Pa-eum Bima’s confusion was clearly felt.
But Sewoon was even more shocked.
And it was only natural.
The two pupils of the Blood Demon, visible like a blood mist—
‘…He’s looking at me!’
They were staring precisely at him, piercing straight through the abyss.
That was right. The Blood Demon was not speaking to Pa-eum Bima.
He was speaking directly to Sewoon—
Sewoon, who was rifling through Pa-eum Bima’s memories using the demonic energy of a divine beast.
Though Pa-eum Bima had not noticed at all, the master of ten thousand demons was looking straight at Sewoon, wearing an unfathomable smile.
[Yes… more than what you had ‘seen’—.]
—A-ah…
The Blood Demon’s final words crumbled and scattered.
Pa-eum Bima’s memories were violently shaken, as though struck by a storm.
The moment Sewoon met the Blood Demon’s gaze, Reverse Heaven Qi burrowed into Pa-eum Bima’s eyes and began rampaging madly.
Kwaduk!
Kwajijik!
‘Kgh!’
It was not only Pa-eum Bima who suffered abnormalities.
Sewoon, who was viewing those memories, was also wracked with intense pain.
The demonic energy of the divine beast screamed as it rapidly dispersed.
—U-ugh…!
Foam bubbled from Pa-eum Bima’s mouth as his entire body convulsed in seizure-like spasms.
His sanity was already half gone.
‘I have to endure! Just a little—just a little more!’
Sewoon clenched his teeth and held on.
If his concentration slipped even slightly, the memories would be severed at once.
Yet the Blood Demon was still moving his lips as he looked at him.
[But still, full bloom is far away.]
Sewoon engraved that voice ringing by his ear into his mind.
The meaning was unclear, but for some reason, he felt a powerful intuition that he absolutely had to hear it.
And then—perhaps realizing that Sewoon could no longer endure—
The Blood Demon delivered his final message.
[I will be waiting at Mount Hua.]
At the same time—
Kwaaaaang—!!
With a tremendous explosion, every scene Sewoon had been witnessing shattered into countless fragments, as though glass had been smashed to pieces.
Swaaaaah!
A ferocious vortex of demonic energy wrapped around the underground prison.
Seeing Sewoon suddenly scattering all that energy, Seori was thrown into confusion.
‘What…?!’
He had been using a mysterious, unidentified art on Pa-eum Bima only moments ago.
Yet in less than half a moment, he was now causing such a bizarre phenomenon.
It looked like a berserk outbreak—but the reason she was shocked lay elsewhere.
‘But this demonic energy is definitely…?!’
Because she had definitely seen this distinct demonic energy before.
As her thoughts grew tangled—
Sswaeaeak!
Suddenly, accompanied by an air-piercing sound, Sewoon hurled himself forward.
“Kgh?!”
The instant he opened his eyes, he seized Pa-eum Bima by the throat, who was gasping like an insect under the aftereffects of demonic energy.
Then, he began to squeeze harder and harder.
‘What—?’
At a glance, Sewoon was clearly not in a normal state.
Not merely berserk rage, but the madness of Reverse Heaven Qi had swallowed his mind whole.
Pahak!
Ppeoong!
Unable to withstand Sewoon’s strength, Pa-eum Bima’s head finally exploded.
Blood and bone fragments sprayed everywhere, and brain matter spilled out.
But Sewoon did not stop there.
Pabat!
‘It’s coming!’
He lunged straight toward Seori, who had been standing there in a daze.
Sewoon’s eyes were dyed blood-red.
Chwaak!
His hand wrapped mercilessly around Seori’s pale nape.
Because of the Gu lodged in her abdomen, she was unable to draw up her aura.
At the very moment she was about to meet the same horrific end as Pa-eum Bima—
Hwarurur…!
A blue light flashed from where Sewoon and Seori’s skin came into contact.
At the same time, an aura carrying winter itself coiled around both of them.
The divine relics of the North Sea, the Perennial Ice Crystals dwelling within their bodies, were resonating.
Primordial cold rapidly circulated through Sewoon’s meridians, which were steeped in madness.
It was like cold rain pouring down upon a raging inferno.
Because the Perennial Ice Crystal, bearing primordial power, possessed demon-subduing strength comparable to a Buddhist monk’s sacred relics.
Only then did the red hue in Sewoon’s eyes begin to fade rapidly.
Thud.
At last, Sewoon released the strength in his strangling hand and staggered backward.
“Cough, cough.”
Seori collapsed onto the ground.
“Haah… haah…”
Sewoon, freed from the Blood Demon’s malice, steadied his ragged breathing.
After some time had passed—
When both of them had finally managed to calm down—
Seori spoke first.
“How are you using the Blood Demon’s power?”
That was a secret Sewoon had never told anyone until now.