Chapter 709: You Must Be the One to Escape
Until now, the orb had never once moved on its own.
But the Secret Box was reacting to the orb.
Woooong.
‘That’s real energy.’
It was without doubt the same energy that the Secret Box had absorbed until now.
However, there was no way the orb those people had brought contained goodwill.
“We must put it back.”
Just as Geom Mugeuk carefully lifted the box to return the orb, the orb suddenly flew straight toward Cha Iran.
Before she could even think, she instinctively caught it.
The thought that she must not accept the orb and the thought that it must not be broken struck her at the same time, but in the end she accepted it as her instincts commanded.
It was an orb she had carried with her in her bosom all this time, and one that she was supposed to return. Because of that, her instincts did not allow her to reject it.
Geom Mugeuk was startled and tried to draw his sword, but Cha Iran raised her hand, signaling that it was fine.
The orb rested in her palm. Until now, she had only ever seen it inside the box; this was the first time she had come into direct contact with it.
She had expected a chilling sensation, but it was not so. Instead, a mysterious feeling that could not be described in words flowed into her palm. She did not know it, but it was the energy of Red Essence.
Geom Mugeuk once again held the box forward.
As she tried to quickly put the orb back inside, the orb reacted first.
Charararararak.
A stream of red energy like a thread flowed out from the orb and coiled around her wrist.
“It’s alright.”
For now, the energy felt friendly. It did not seem like it would harm her at all.
The red thread coiled around her wrist began to creep upward slowly, as though exploring her, wrapping around her arm.
Cha Iran gathered her internal energy and slowly drew a dagger.
Geom Mugeuk also prepared to draw his sword at any moment, while with his other hand, he was ready to snatch the orb from her palm.
If anything went wrong, he intended to sever the energy binding her to the orb in a single strike.
As the energy climbed her arm, passed her shoulder, and began to coil around her neck, she pushed it away slightly with her other hand.
It was fine for it to coil around her arm, but she disliked the thought of it wrapping around her neck.
In that very instant, the threadlike energy flowing from the orb swelled as if angered.
Swoooosh!
The energy that had coiled around her arm shot out further, wrapping around her waist and thighs like a serpent. It happened in an instant.
And it still remained connected to the orb, as though its roots had to remain within it.
Even then, all seemed fine. The energy still felt friendly.
The problem was that there was something inside that energy.
Whirik.
Geom Mugeuk and Cha Iran saw it.
Something darted quickly through the red energy as if swimming.
Whiriririk.
When it circled around the red energy and came into view again, they saw it clearly this time.
Amazingly, it was a snake. A real snake was moving inside the red energy that had wrapped around her body like a serpent.
It was no longer than a finger, a very tiny snake, and its color was blood-red. The snake swam through the red energy as if it were water.
As the red snake appeared, the nature of the energy binding her body began to change. The energy that had felt so gentle until now suddenly surged violently.
Kwaaaak!
It began to constrict her.
Cha Iran slashed at the energy with her dagger.
Saaaak.
But the energy was not cut. The blade simply passed through it like smoke.
‘I have to catch that snake!’
She aimed at the snake darting by. It was moving so fast that cutting it was not easy.
‘Next time, I’ll cut it!’
Shiiiik! Sseogeok!
As the snake swam past the energy coiled around her waist, her dagger struck it squarely.
Ssssss.
But the severed snake instantly joined back together, regaining its form and swimming once again through the red energy.
Geom Mugeuk spoke to her with a grave expression.
“It’s useless. That’s a snake that is real and yet false.”
He knew what it was. Since he already knew their enemy was the Dark Palace, he had studied and investigated this technique in advance.
“That snake is the Flying Blood Serpent.”
It was both the name of that snake and the name of a secret technique.
The Flying Blood Serpent of the Dark Palace.
It was their unique secret technique that infiltrated a person’s body and seized control of their mind.
There were two main ways to dominate a person’s mind: through the Soul Reaping Art or through the Parasite Poison Art.
But the Flying Blood Serpent was a fusion of the two.
In short, a living secret art.
If Parasite Poison Art infiltrated the brain to take control of a person, the Flying Blood Serpent entered the heart to dominate them.
Parasite Poison Art could not affect someone with immunity to ten thousand poisons, and once one understood what type of poison it was, it could be eradicated.
But not the Flying Blood Serpent. It could not be stopped even by immunity to poisons, and there was no antidote.
Moreover, since it was not merely dark sorcery, it could unleash devastating power even against someone resistant to sorcery.
It was, in short, the secret art that produced the greatest effect against someone like Geom Mugeuk.
Of course, creating a Flying Blood Serpent was nearly impossible.
It was said that even with a lifetime of effort, producing a single Flying Blood Serpent was difficult. The process was far too complex, required an astronomical amount of wealth, and even if one succeeded in creating it, keeping it alive for storage was said to be even harder.
It was said that only a genius of Dark Palace martial arts could create such a secret technique.
And shockingly, that very martial art had now appeared.
Cha Iran did not know exactly what the Flying Blood Serpent was, but there was at least one thing she was certain of.
“Don’t come near me! It’s a trap!”
Because there was no reason for them to want her dead. She instinctively knew—it was to draw Geom Mugeuk in.
From the very moment they entrusted the orb to her, they must have already anticipated this situation.
Meanwhile, the red energy coiled ever tighter around her body.
“I will be the one to kill you. Hurry, run away!”
She believed that once this unknown energy was absorbed into her, she would be the one to kill Geom Mugeuk. Driven into madness, she would unleash terrifying internal energy. Since it was a scheme to deal with the Young Cult Leader, its power would surely be overwhelming.
Kwaaak.
Her expression twisted in pain. The red energy pressed down on her with such force it felt as though her body would shatter.
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk spoke words she could not have expected.
“You must be the one to escape.”
Cha Iran could not understand what he meant.
As he stepped toward her again, she suddenly recalled what Hwa Do-myeong had told her.
―You’ll be persuaded by the Young Cult Leader. Just like Ak Gunhak was persuaded.
He had known she would join hands with the Young Cult Leader.
―This whole plan has been calculated.
Yes, he had clearly said so.
And this too had been part of the calculation.
‘Even that the Young Cult Leader would save me!’
Hwa Do-myeong must have entrusted her with the orb knowing Geom Mugeuk would save her.
He had known Geom Mugeuk would never willingly absorb the orb. So he had forced this situation to make it unavoidable.
The words she had once spoken to him half in jest, half in truth, had now become reality.
‘……I truly was just their tool.’
The contortion on her face was not only from pain.
The crushing pressure was reaching its limit. Her Protective Energy could not withstand it. At any moment, her entire body felt like it would burst apart.
Cha Iran threw Geom Mugeuk’s words back at him.
“I’ll go to hell first and wait for you.”
And with that, without a flicker of hesitation, she drove the dagger toward her own throat.
Shiiiik.
She broke her own principle of never taking her own life.
In the instant before death, she felt gratitude that she was not someone who feared dying. Just as she had when she had foreseen her death at the hands of the Unorthodox Alliance Leader, so too now. Yes, this kind of death did not seem so bad.
Of course, Geom Mugeuk was not about to allow that.
The dagger froze in front of her throat. Geom Mugeuk had stopped it using Void Telekinesis.
“…Let me die for your sake.”
Of course, it was a plea that would never work on Geom Mugeuk.
“Did you forget? Do you know what would happen if you died like this? Hey, you—you call yourself the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, yet you couldn’t even save one woman who liked me? What on earth were you doing? Look, you half a woman.”
Geom Mugeuk stared straight into her eyes as he spoke.
“Trust me.”
The moment those words left his lips, Geom Mugeuk seized the red orb in her hand.
At once, the red energy from the orb trembled more violently and constricted her even tighter.
But Geom Mugeuk pressed the orb into his bosom.
To Cha Iran, it looked as though he was bringing the orb directly into his own heart. As if to say he would be the one to sacrifice himself. Her voice broke in a desperate cry.
“No! Please… don’t!”
But instead of his heart, the orb touched the Secret Box he carried inside his robes.
And at that instant—
The orb stretched out its energy in a long wave and shuddered intensely.
Ssssss…
The energy binding Cha Iran’s body unraveled and began to flow back into the orb.
The orb started to recall all of the energy it had unleashed. The red serpent returned with it.
The Secret Box vibrated violently and floated up into the air. Geom Mugeuk’s body was lifted along with it.
As always, the Secret Box began dissolving the energy of the orb. The energy that had moved freely in and out of the orb was now refined and melted down, leaving nothing behind.
That refined energy flowed back out of the Secret Box and into Geom Mugeuk’s body. He did not resist it, but accepted it.
The energy that had passed through the Secret Box was fully absorbed into his body. The Flying Blood Serpent, which had reformed into its snake form within the energy, was also drawn into him.
Once all of the energy had been absorbed, the orb was spat out of the Secret Box with a dull pop.
Geom Mugeuk understood.
They had used Red Essence as a medium to plant the Flying Blood Serpent inside him.
Once they had taken control of his mind, they would surely use some method to retrieve all the energy within his body. There was no way they would ever abandon such energy.
But for now, Geom Mugeuk had succeeded in gaining even the energy of Red Essence.
The problem was the Flying Blood Serpent that had entered his body!
The energy within his body erupted violently all at once. It was clearly a rejection of the newly arrived Flying Blood Serpent.
Now, along with the five streams of energy flowing through his blood vessels, the Flying Blood Serpent coiled within him.
Like a living creature, it prowled for the chance to burrow into Geom Mugeuk’s heart.
Geom Mugeuk fought to block it by directing his internal energy.
Despite the severe pain that should have made her lose consciousness, Cha Iran did not faint.
Struggling, she forced herself upright to help him—then froze.
“Young Cult Leader!”
She could feel it. Geom Mugeuk was fighting that red serpent within his body. This was not a situation where anyone else could interfere carelessly.
“Overcome it!”
At that very moment—
Tak.
Someone struck her pressure point, sealing her energy core. A whisper brushed against her ear.
“The Young Cult Leader can never win.”
The one who had appeared behind her like a ghost was none other than Hwa Do-myeong.
Having just been freed from the strangling energy and focused entirely on Geom Mugeuk, she failed to block Hwa Do-myeong’s ambush.
“So the Young Cult Leader really can absorb the energy.”
He wore an expression as if even seeing it with his own eyes, he could hardly believe it.
Hwa Do-myeong’s gaze shifted back to Cha Iran.
“You did well, friend.”
Cha Iran glared at him without a word. Acting as though he was frightened, Hwa Do-myeong flicked open his fan and hid his face behind it. From behind the fan, his voice flowed out.
“Because of the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique, there was no way to plant the Flying Blood Serpent in the Young Cult Leader through ordinary means. That’s why we decided to throw out a great bait.”
That bait was both Cha Iran herself and the orb containing Red Essence.
“No matter how great the Young Cult Leader is, he cannot withstand the Flying Blood Serpent.”
Hwa Do-myeong peeked his face out from behind the fan.
In his eyes, as they looked at her, were tangled strands of many emotions.
But Cha Iran’s eyes, as they looked at him, were filled with only two.
Contempt and fury.
“You brought up Ak Gunhak on purpose, didn’t you?”
It had been Hwa Do-myeong who first mentioned Ak Gunhak to her.
He had done it so that she would naturally grow closer to the Young Cult Leader through him.
A satisfied smile curved Hwa Do-myeong’s lips. It was an unmistakable smile of affirmation.
“The Young Cult Leader is not the kind of man who would just sit idly by and watch a woman who once abandoned everything, even her assassination contract, die before his eyes.”
Cha Iran’s heart filled with rage and despair. Yet now was not the time for self-recrimination.
“Hey, friend.”
“Strange, you still call me friend?”
“If no one else, shouldn’t you at least not have done this to me?”
“Didn’t I tell you not to meet the Young Cult Leader earlier?”
That was the excuse he had thought of?
Cha Iran swallowed the words she wanted to spit out.
“Why couldn’t you trust me? I was only pretending to reject the assassination contract. I was planning to kill them all. You should have given me the chance.”
Hwa Do-myeong smiled at her, a clear sneer.
“This Young Cult Leader truly is remarkable. To think he can even make you spout such lies.”
All this time—was the reason you stayed by my side, fanning me so gently, only for this day?
She swallowed down the words she wanted to hurl at him.
“If it ends like this, I won’t be able to close my eyes even in death. Let me complete my final assassination contract with my own hands.”
She was still thinking of saving Geom Mugeuk, even at the cost of her own life.
But Hwa Do-myeong was unmoved.
“Don’t look at me. Look over there. This is the moment when the history of the martial world changes.”
Geom Mugeuk stood with his eyes closed. Beneath his eyelids, his pupils quivered violently. It was clear he was locked in a life-or-death struggle against the Flying Blood Serpent within his body.
“When the Flying Blood Serpent completely takes control of the Young Cult Leader…”
Words that should never have been spoken slipped out.
“…the Young Cult Leader will kill the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.”
Chwaaaak.
Hwa Do-myeong snapped his fan open and wafted the air lazily toward her.
“Your assassination contract has succeeded.”
Cha Iran looked at Geom Mugeuk, who was fighting with his eyes closed. His last words echoed in her mind.
Trust me.
She had abandoned her contract because of him, so she would trust him. Yes, even if she abandoned her assassination contract, she would never abandon him.
“My contract succeeded, you say?”
Cha Iran’s lips curved into a seductive smile as she asked one more question.
“Then I don’t need to return the money, do I?”