novelraw Chapter 106 : The Soul-Saving Tragedy (1)
Chapter 106 : The Soul-Saving Tragedy (1)
Chapter 106: The Soul-Saving Tragedy (1)
The Minor Mastery Body is rescued, but a tragedy...
‘The exit!’
At last, they escaped through the drainage.
As Gugwi slipped his body out past the iron bars, the cold night air struck his face.
Stars were embedded in the sky, and the moon peeked out between the clouds. Geunsoo was deathly quiet.
At that moment, Gugwi's gaze turned forward. And his eyes widened.
Jin Geonmu… He was standing, his whole body soaked in blood, leaning against his spear. He teetered as if he could collapse at any moment. Thick blood trickled down from his mouth.
His clothes were torn to shreds, revealing white flesh.
Crimson blood flowing from his shoulder spilled onto the ground, forming a small puddle. The distorted moonlight reflected in the pool of blood, swaying with an eerie glint.
With wounds like that, one would think death would be natural.
Yet, he stood firm like a boulder.
On the ground lay nearly fifty members of the Heavenly Sound Cult.
Bodies in black clothes… some with their necks half-severed, some with gaping holes in their chests, some with limbs twisted at grotesque angles… corpses Jin Geonmu had created were scattered together.
They had spilled a considerable amount of blood as well. The blood formed a black river on the ground.
‘Red Spearman…’
Jin Geonmu didn’t even notice Gugwi had emerged. He simply glared at the enemy with his dimmed consciousness.
Gugwi carefully laid Geunsoo on the ground.
Jang Geunsoo remained unconscious. The red symbol carved into his chest still pulsed. The doing of the Heavenly Sound Cult… Yet, it also served as proof that he was still alive.
Gugwi’s fist trembled.
His fingers turned pale, the joints of his bones showing through.
“Namgung Hoyoung!”
Gugwi’s voice split the night air.
Swish!
A blurry puppet appeared with a bluish mist.
“Treat Jin Geonmu.”
Gugwi didn’t even need to say it. Namgung Hoyoung, once summoned into the world, was drawn to Jin Geonmu like a magnet. Silver needles formed at his fingertips, gleaming with a cold light.
“Muksoi, Un Serim.”
Two spirits materialized before Gugwi.
A faint mist and an old man in a white robe materialized.
“Protect Geunsoo. Stop anyone who approaches.”
Tang!
The sound resonating from the Spirit Flow Core was transmitted to the two spirits. With this, they could communicate just like they did in the Realm of the Threshold.
Sssrrk!
The two spirits moved around Jang Geunsoo and encircled him like an invisible barrier.
“General Madal.”
Gugwi’s voice cooled like ice. The giant general appeared, accompanied by the clanking of armor.
“We fight together. They are enemies. Show no mercy!”
Swish!
General Madal raised his black great blade. A deadly aura surged from the blade.
Gugwi looked toward the members of the Heavenly Sound Cult.
Even though fifty of them were down, many still remained alive. They glared at Jin Geonmu with vicious eyes, as if resentful that they had failed to kill him.
Seeing Gugwi appear, they grew more vigilant.
Their sharp gazes pierced through him. But they did not act recklessly. Even they could perceive the spirits Gugwi summoned. Though they couldn't see clearly, they could feel them.
Namgung Hoyoung, Muksoi, Un Serim, General Madal… four Spirit Union Martial Artists.
Comparable to the Twelve True Armies. In a world where three Spirit Union Martial Artists are considered on par with a commander, four was well above average. Among the Twelve True Armies, from the Fifth to the Twelfth, eight were equivalent to four Spirit Union Martial Artists. Gugwi’s Soul-Summoning Arts stood somewhere between the Fifth and the Twelfth True Army.
Not a situation they could easily charge into.
On the other hand, Gugwi was overwhelmed with hostility.
The experiments on the Minor Mastery Bodies, the gruesome state of Geunsoo and the others, and the blood-drenched form of Jin Geonmu. For the first time, pure rage surged from within like molten lava.
Tang! Pang! Paaaang!
The Spirit Flow Core in his chest throbbed violently. Blue light coursed through his veins and spread throughout his body.
Gugwi’s pupils glowed blue.
Cold killing intent poured from his body like mist… the air itself seemed to freeze.
‘All the spirits… will be annihilated!’
Taaaang!
Gugwi detonated the Spirit Flow Core. Blue light spread in waves, sweeping across the ground.
Expansion of the Spiritless Zone!
The Spirit Union Martial Artists of the Heavenly Sound Cult let out screams as they dissipated like smoke. As if scalded by fire, they disappeared in shock.
The cultists panicked. The shock among the Soul-Summoners was indescribable.
The Spirit Union Martial Artists had all been obliterated.
“What the—? My spirit!”
“This can't be!”
The terror of death flickered across their faces. Their lips turned pale.
Sssrrrk!
Gugwi raised his spear. The light from the Spirit Flow Core infused into the blade, flashing like blue lightning.
Swoosh!
He charged toward the nearest cultist. The spear tip cut through the air, targeting the enemy’s chest.
Squelch.
The spear slipped between the ribs. A dull sound of a heart being pierced rang out.
“Gugh!”
The cultist bent forward, coughing up blood.
General Madal moved with a hiss, swinging his massive blade. A black arc sliced through the air.
Swish!
A head flew off like a coin. Blood spouted like a fountain, soaking the surroundings.
Thud! Clatter!
The head hit the ground with a heavy sound.
Gugwi and General Madal stood side by side, glaring at their enemies.
“Urgh! This is…”
“We can’t fight without Spirit Union Martial Artists. What are you doing? You’re supposed to stop them with martial arts!”
The Soul-Summoners of the Heavenly Sound Cult retreated. Their fear-stricken faces looked ghastly under the moonlight. The Spirit Union Martial Artists had vanished, and no matter how much they called, none answered… It was incomprehensible.
“Run!”
“That one’s a monster!”
Several turned and fled. Some tripped over themselves.
Gugwi pursued the fleeing ones.
Ssshhhhh!
His steps, powered by the Cloud Flow Step, were faster than the wind.
His spear moved like lightning. One cultist, who hadn’t even looked back, was pierced through the center of his back.
Splurt.
The spear tip burst out through the chest, skewering the heart. Blood ran down the blade.
Gugwi kicked a fallen corpse to pull out his spear, then charged toward the next target. It was also a warning that not a single one—no one here—should even think of returning alive.
General Madal swung his broadsword in succession. Black arcs slashed in all directions.
With the first strike, one man’s arm was severed from the shoulder. The second strike sliced off another’s leg at the knee.
“Aaaargh!”
A scream tore through the night sky.
Blood sprayed everywhere, dyeing rocks and trees crimson.
To General Madal, the word “enemy” was the greatest motivator for killing. There could be no mercy for enemies. Especially for spirits—only the mission to “kill” existed.
Ssshhhht!
There was not a shred of mercy in the blade that swung.
The broadsword sliced through a man’s neck. He spun the broadsword and fully separated the head from the body.
Thud!
The head fell sideways without strength.
He then stabbed the broadsword into another’s chest. He felt the heart burst at his fingertips.
Blood splattered across General Madal’s face. But he didn’t stop. On the contrary, he grew even fiercer.
The remaining followers of the Heavenly Sound Cult were completely consumed by fear.
“Th-Those bastards… we can’t stop them!”
“We have to run!”
They scattered in all directions. Some lost strength in their knees and crawled away to escape.
Gugwi threw his spear at a man who passed by him.
Trying to escape by avoiding General Madal meant passing too close to Gugwi—and Gugwi showed no mercy.
Ssshhht!
The spear pierced through the man’s back.
Swoosh.
The spear tip burst out from his belly, intestines hanging from the blade.
The Heavenly Sound Cultist collapsed forward.
After falling, his body convulsed several times before going still.
Gugwi pulled the spear out.
Blood dripped from the blade, soaking the earth.
The battlefield was wrapped in the stillness of death. There were no surviving cultists in sight.
Gugwi looked up at the sky.
The moon was hidden behind clouds. Only the stars looked down, cold and distant.
The light of the Spirit Flow Core gradually dimmed, and his fury subsided. But he felt no regret. The people of the Heavenly Sound Cult here… deserved to die—he felt that strongly.
Gugwi turned toward Jin Geonmu.
Namgung Hoyoung was treating Jin Geonmu. Silver needles were embedded in various wounds, subtly vibrating.
The bleeding had stopped, and his ragged breathing was stabilizing.
“Thanks to you… I think I’ll live,” Jin Geonmu said with difficulty.
“I accept serving you… as my lord. I’ll willingly become your subordinate. On one condition—my wife’s ascension. And as your lord, I command you. Don’t ever appear before me like this again.”
“Understood.”
Jin Geonmu nodded.
“Formal speech feels awkward. It’s weird for someone young to talk down to someone older, but the reverse feels just as strange. I’ll treat you as my subordinate, so you, Red Spearman, treat me like your nephew.”
“Heh! So long as you’ll be my lord.”
Gugwi approached Jang Geunsoo.
Jang Geunsoo remained unconscious. But his breathing was stable. What troubled Gugwi was the red symbol on his chest. It was significantly dimmer than when they were indoors.
“You’ll be fine.”
Gugwi whispered, stroking Jang Geunsoo’s forehead.
At that moment, a silver mist approached from afar. It was Yeon Sohye.
She was shocked by the carnage on the battlefield. Her eyes darted between the scattered corpses and Gugwi’s cold expression.
“No wonder they were all retreating from me like an ebbing tide. So… it’s over here?”
Her voice quivered.
Gugwi nodded. He planted his spear in the ground and shook off the blood.
“No one left who wants to fight.”
“Is this person the Minor Mastery Body?”
“Seems he was subjected to some sort of experiment…”
Gugwi said, pointing to Jang Geunsoo’s exposed chest.
“Let’s go quickly. We were incredibly lucky today. The Heavenly Sound Cult Leader and the Twelve True Armies are away. I overheard something on the way—apparently, today is the day they offer a ritual to the Manifest Demon Emperor.”
Yeon Sohye urged him.
“A ritual? Like the ones the Dark Spirit Sect does…?”
“No, it seems different. More like using the ritual as an excuse to gather the Twelve True Armies? I’m not exactly sure, but it’s something like that. Thanks to it, we only had to deal with the underlings. If they return, it’ll get dangerous.”
“Let’s move.”
Gugwi lifted Jang Geunsoo in his arms.
Revived from the brink of death thanks to Namgung Hoyoung’s treatment, Jin Geonmu walked up.
“You’re… safe,” he said to Yeon Sohye. His voice was weak, but his mind was clear. Vitality had returned to his eyes.
Yeon Sohye approached him and offered her shoulder.
“We agreed to lure them together, but you came alone… that’s why you ended up like this.”
“Ah! Easy. It really hurts.”
“You can hurt more.”
Yeon Sohye helped Jin Geonmu to his feet.
Jin Geonmu smiled. Though blood smeared his lips, his eyes were clear.
Hurried footsteps echoed from afar.
Jang Unhyeok came running, gasping for breath.
When he saw Geunsoo, his face turned paper-white. His legs gave out beneath him.
“Geunsoo…!”
Jang Unhyeok dropped to his knees and gently embraced his son. The boy was still unconscious.
It was a wretched sight.
The wound on his chest, his pale face, his blue-tinged lips.
“You bastards… what did you do to my son…!”
His voice trembled.
Tears streamed from Jang Unhyeok’s eyes—tears of rage and sorrow intertwined.