novelraw Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104 : Chapter 104
Chapter 104 Stone Cavern(6)
Muhyang’s hands once again moved quickly over the Seven-stringed Zither.
The wavering sound waves that surged forward swept through the middle-aged man’s body in an instant.
Every time he was hit by a sound wave, the middle-aged man’s body shook violently.
“Ke-…… heck.”
Blood pools began to form on the floor in an instant from the blood bursting out from various places on the middle-aged man’s body.
He did not know how to properly deal with sound arts and even lacked lightfoot art skills, so he was inevitably helpless against Muhyang’s attacks.
‘It is a properly mastered sound art.’
Jaun checked Muhyang’s hand movements and nodded.
Every time the Seven-stringed Zither was plucked, the internal energy created turned into a sharp aura and poured down on the enemies.
Perhaps the enemies facing Muhyang’s sound arts felt as if countless invisible blades were pouring down on them.
To those who did not know how to disperse energy, sound arts were a martial art as difficult to deal with as poison arts.
The middle-aged man, who was staggering after receiving Muhyang’s attacks, eventually gritted his teeth.
─ CRUNCH!
As the Blood Immortal Pill hidden in his molar melted and passed down the middle-aged man’s throat, a red energy began to fill his body in an instant.
Along with a SIZZLE sound, the middle-aged man’s wounds began to heal.
“……You bitch, you were hiding your martial prowess. To think you are at that level without receiving the Blood God’s protection. Tsk. If you had only obeyed Lord Blood Demon, you could have risen to a much higher position.”
After finishing his words, the middle-aged man’s complexion returned to normal in an instant.
The Blood Qi enveloping his body emitted a thick scent of blood in all directions.
As if resonating with it, the blood pools around the middle-aged man’s body bubbled here and there in response to the Blood Qi.
The blood pools that had been sloshing for a long time eventually began to evaporate into the air.
─ SIZZLE
The middle-aged man, who inhaled the red energy filling his surroundings through his mouth, kicked off the ground once more.
─ BOOM!
A massive explosion that seemed to shake the grotto erupted, and the middle-aged man’s body shot toward Muhyang like a flash of lightning.
─ THUD
The middle-aged man’s sword, swung from bottom to top, accurately struck Muhyang’s Seven-stringed Zither and sent it flying into the air.
Following that, the middle-aged man turned his body and swung his sword toward Muhyang.
─ SLASH
A red line was drawn on Muhyang’s arm.
Muhyang, who barely avoided the middle-aged man’s sword and leapt into the air, reached out for the falling Seven-stringed Zither, but the middle-aged man’s sword, which had approached at some point, was aiming for her feet.
Eventually, Muhyang, who gave up on the Seven-stringed Zither and twisted her body back, had her front lapel cut by the middle-aged man’s sword by a hair’s breadth.
Muhyang, who grabbed her opened clothes firmly with one hand, bit her lip hard and took a deep breath.
At the same time, Muhyang’s energy filled her body.
【Ah. A moonlit night full of the full moon】
A clear song melody flowed from Muhyang’s mouth.
The middle-aged man, who was charging toward her again, stopped in his tracks and hurriedly blocked his ears.
【Like vegetation, fluttering in the wind and rain】
As the sorrowful lyrics continued from Muhyang’s mouth, the middle-aged man opened his eyes wide as if startled.
“Carrying energy, in a song melody……? C-could it be! You were a martial artist of the Illusionary Maze Palace?”
It seemed the middle-aged man truly knew almost nothing about Muhyang.
The middle-aged man, with his eyes wide open, hurriedly concentrated his Blood Qi into his ears.
Fear began to dwell in the middle-aged man’s gaze as he looked at Muhyang.
【Staggering, staggering along the path the beloved trod】
Regardless of the middle-aged man’s reaction, Muhyang continued the song while slowly walking forward.
The middle-aged man struggled to somehow escape the sound art while raising his energy.
【I press down and step on it. Ah. O Heaven, come here now.】
As Muhyang’s song continued, streams of blood flowed down from the corners of the middle-aged man’s mouth.
Following that, the middle-aged man’s eyes slowly began to lose focus.
He struggled to somehow overcome the energy, but eventually, his eyes ended up turning white.
【Let the wind-rain fall, with a sail made of a rainbow, let it fall!】
A climax that seemed like a scream erupted from Muhyang’s mouth.
【Like the day the beloved left, Aieee, heaven and earth were stained with wind and rain-】
At the last verse Muhyang murmured, the staggering middle-aged man’s hands dropped down with a thud.
His body, with pupils completely unfocused and saliva dripping from his mouth, stopped on the spot.
Having confirmed that, Muhyang picked up the Seven-stringed Zither fallen on the floor and began to walk steadily toward the middle-aged man while imbuing it with full energy.
─ THUD!
The Seven-stringed Zither swung by Muhyang, who gritted her teeth, struck the middle-aged man’s head directly.
The middle-aged man’s body, flying toward one wall of the grotto like a kite with a severed string, hit the wall and fell to the floor with a thud.
His head was completely pulverized, and a pool of red blood began to fill around the floor where he fell once more.
“Heh. I didn't imagine she would finish it with a physical strike.”
Mad Dragon, who had stood up at some point and had been sitting on the floor, let out a hollow laugh.
Jaun shrugged his shoulders, stood up, and approached the middle-aged man and the men lying down to check their status.
“……They are all dead.”
At Jaun’s words, Muhyang let out a small sigh and slumped down on the spot.
Jaun, who glanced at such a Muhyang, picked up the corpses and threw them all over the cliff outside the grotto.
Jaun, who returned to the grotto, sat in front of Muhyang.
Muhyang, who had roughly tied her torn front lapel, faced Jaun.
“You did well. Seeing as the Infiltration Squad didn't even know your martial arts level properly, it seems certain that you weren't deeply related to the Blood Cult side.”
“Of course. A proper cult member cannot express their belief falsely.”
Mad Dragon, who was looking at Muhyang with a determined expression, tilted his head and asked.
“However. Even though this old man has wandered the Jianghu his whole life, it’s my first time seeing someone who uses sound arts like yours. What kind of martial art is that?”
‘……Old man?’
Since Mad Dragon looked to be in his twenties on the outside, Muhyang, who scanned him up and down as if it were strange, tilted her head and replied.
“Sound arts are a martial art that is almost impossible to learn unless one is born with a specific talent. At least sound arts using instruments are possible to learn and develop depending on effort, but sound arts implemented through the mouth are not so. Only someone who is naturally born with the ability to see the texture of air with their eyes can implement sound arts through the mouth.”
At Muhyang’s words, Jaun nodded from the side.
“I also know it that way. From what I know, even in the Illusionary Maze Palace, the number of people who can imbue their voice with sound arts can be counted on five fingers……”
At Jaun’s words, Muhyang slightly frowned.
“Miss Muhyang, what position did you hold in the Illusionary Maze Palace?”
Muhyang, who turned her head, let out a small sigh and brushed her hair back once.
“I was…… a disciple of the Illusionary Maze Palace Lord and the Vice Palace Master of the Waning Moon Palace.”
“Hmm. If it’s that level, you would have been treated quite well if you had entrusted yourself to the Blood Cult, as that fellow said earlier?”
At Mad Dragon’s words, Muhyang, who was reminiscing about the past, trembled as if she were horrified.
“……The screams mixed with the resentment of the dead wandering around the altar. I can see that. I can feel more desperately than anyone else what kind of cruel and terrible things they are doing. Anyone who has properly felt those screams even once would never be able to say they will be with the Blood Cult.”
Hearing those words, Jaun let go of his suspicion toward Muhyang one step further.
If she held a different will from the Blood Cult for such a reason, she would likely find it difficult to ever entrust herself to the Blood Cult side in her lifetime.
Jaun, who nodded, asked Muhyang.
“Will the remaining Infiltration Squad come here directly now?”
“I don't think so. In this situation, there is a high possibility they will wait for support from the Main Unit and come together with them.”
“It’ll take some time then.”
Mad Dragon let out a large yawn and sat leaning against the grotto wall again.
Mad Dragon, who was about to close his eyes as he was, suddenly sat up straight as if something occurred to him and looked at Muhyang.
After hesitating for a while, Mad Dragon spoke.
“……You mentioned Lord Mad Demon last time.”
At Mad Dragon’s words, Muhyang nodded and began to explain in detail the situation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that she knew.
The one who took power after Wi Jeong-cheon stepped down from the position of Heavenly Demon was the Blood Demon, who was the Grand Elder.
“The Blood Demon pointed out the deeds of the previous Heavenly Demon, who failed to unify the Jianghu for decades, and argued for an alliance with the Blood Cult.”
At first, most cult members did not pay much attention, but as they watched the miracles the Blood Demon continuously showed, their hearts began to open little by little, and from some point, the martial arts of the Blood Cult spread through the Demonic Cult like a wildfire.
“The martial arts of the Blood Cult were indeed martial arts that Demonic Cult members needed. Demonic arts have the advantage of being able to raise one's level very quickly compared to the martial arts of the orthodox sects, but their characteristic is that as the level increases, the risk of falling into Qi Deviation also increases due to their instability.”
At Muhyang’s words, the group nodded.
“On top of that, when the Blood Demon even showed miracles of curing martial artists who had fallen into Qi Deviation through Blood Qi, the Demonic Cult members ultimately had no choice but to rely on the Blood Demon.”
In that way, the Blood Demon solidified his foundation in the Demonic Cult for about ten years.
Eventually, a new doctrine subtly mixed with the Blood Cult’s doctrine took hold within the Demonic Cult, and it was said that learning both the martial arts of the Demonic Cult and the Blood Cult together also became a natural situation.
Currently, nearly ninety percent of the Demonic Cult members are following the Blood Demon’s will.
“Once even Poison Demon, Yoma, Blade Demon, Illusion Demon, and Fist Demon among the martial artists who received the title of ‘Demon’ representing the Demonic Cult entrusted themselves to the Blood Demon, he began to be revered as the new Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”
Recently, it was even said that arguments for discarding the name Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and putting forward the name Blood Demon Divine Cult were coming out.
“However, among the martial artists who received the title of ‘Demon,’ Lord Sword Demon entered secluded meditation as soon as the previous Heavenly Demon stepped down from his position. Even now, he is rejecting any interaction with the Blood Demon.”
On top of that, it was said that as the Mad Demon, who seemed to follow the Blood Demon’s will in the beginning, recently changed his course by rebelling against the Blood Demon, all the martial artists who opposed the Blood Cult’s martial arts and doctrine until the end are gathering under the Mad Demon’s command and creating a separate faction while waiting for the Sword Demon.
“I could not possibly accept the Blood Cult’s doctrine of committing indiscriminate slaughter and gaining power through it.”
That was why she said she was merely eking out her days while performing only chores within the cult.
After hearing Muhyang’s story, Jaun could understand why the series of events surrounding him and Wi Jeong-cheon on Mount Daeheuk had occurred.
It was a situation where the Blood Demon’s dignity could only be fully established if the previous Heavenly Demon was eliminated.
That was why the Pursuit Squad of the Demonic Cult had chased Wi Jeong-cheon to the end.
‘Is the Blood Demon the root of all the trouble after all?’
As he grasped more, the target became a bit clearer.
While Jaun was organizing the story he heard from Muhyang once more in his mind, Mad Dragon scratched his head roughly and spoke.
“Stop the complicated stories there. Doesn't the conclusion mean the inside of the Demonic Cult is a complete mess right now? And the reason they were able to grow their power like that despite being in such a mess is ultimately because of that nonsensical martial art of the Blood Cult.”
Mad Dragon, who found out as much about the Mad Demon as he wanted, leaned against the wall again and this time stared intently at Jaun.
“Right. Then what does the successor of the Sword Demon intend to do now?”
At Mad Dragon’s words, Muhyang opened her eyes wide and looked at Jaun.
Jaun, who stopped thinking, made eye contact with Ice Rakshasa Pan Bing-yeong once and gave a reluctant smile.
“Successor of the Sword Demon? Who? This Young Master? Truly?”
Leaving behind Muhyang’s questions that poured out in an instant, Jaun fell into thought.
‘Sword Demon, I see.’
He didn't know how far he should carry this situation, but for now, he felt it was not the moment to reveal his identity.
“Let’s settle things here up to the Main Unit first. After that, it would be good to try and contact the Mad Demon’s faction that Miss Muhyang mentioned.”
Muhyang, who was looking at Jaun with her mouth wide open, stuttered.
“I-is it truly that you, no, that Young Master is the successor of Lord Sword Demon? Ah! So that’s why you were able to possess such a massive energy of the Demon God!”
Seeing Muhyang’s eyes sparkle, Jaun let out a small sigh.