Chapter 357: Bound Beast (5)
"Th-That…!"
The fragment of the Demonic Immortal opened its eyes wide.
Its form was slightly different from what it remembered, but the essence was the same.
Of course—it would be impossible not to recognize a technique once used by the very host it had once possessed.
"How did you set foot in the Divine Realm…!"
Shocked by the realization, it nevertheless desperately drew upon its strength.
"Kyyaaaaah!"
The space around them, once stained crimson-black, began to revert to a dull, colorless hue.
It was proof that even the power of the divine sorcery which had eroded the surrounding environment was being completely withdrawn and poured out.
However—
Slash!
Ignoring everything, the First Slash of Heavenly Demon’s Dominance split the monster’s massive body cleanly in two.
"……!"
It gritted its teeth at the sensation of its vanishing lower half.
"You think it ends like this?!"
The remaining upper body suddenly shot toward me and clutched my throat, pouring out all it had left.
"…Kuh!"
"I’ll dominate you, here and now!"
Its corrupted demonic energy began flowing through my entire body.
'Damn it, I really thought that would be the end.'
It had been a flawless blow.
To land that strike, I had wrung out every last drop of myself, and in return, I was now in a state of extreme exhaustion.
No—calling it exhaustion was lucky. One who wasn’t worthy, even daring to glimpse above, would never escape with something so light.
Still, that didn’t mean the situation was in my favor.
"Junior! Hold on just a little longer!"
Hwan Seong was trying everything in a panic, but it looked like it would be over before he could intervene.
"Hand it over. That body—give it to me!"
At some point, the thing had returned to its humanoid form and was now strangling me with both hands.
Crack! Crunch!
It felt like my neck bones were about to snap.
Even in that moment, I desperately grinned and taunted it.
"Could you not… make that kind of face… using Yura’s face?"
"…What?"
"That obsessive expression doesn’t suit Yura."
"You dare…!"
Its furious aura surged like a wave, invading my meridians and finally reaching my heart.
‘The heart… huh.’
Suddenly, I grew curious.
Currently, my heart was connected to ‘that place’ as a price for reactivating its vitality.
If its energy settled in my heart under such conditions—what would happen?
‘Huh? This might not be so bad after all.’
If things went as I expected… maybe…
"Go ahead. Try taking it."
"……!?"
Grab.
I grabbed its wrist and began to absorb its energy as it poured in.
"Have you gone insane!?"
"What? You asked for it. I’m just giving it to you. Scared?"
Crack!
"Fine! Then I’ll gladly accept it!"
Its invasion of my body began accelerating.
And soon enough—
"KYAAAAAAAH!"
A scream like metal being scraped from deep within rang out.
***
‘There it is!’
The fragment of the Demonic Immortal that had invaded Jin Yeomyung’s body arrived at the deepest part of the soul before long.
If it could seize that core and bind the soul, this sturdy body would be his!
‘It’s not as good as my first host, but still a fine body. No—its potential for growth might even be better… heh heh!’
As it reached Jin Yeomyung’s heart, the fragment found itself puzzled.
‘Strange. He should’ve awakened his demonic nature—why is there no reaction?’
In truth, the origin of all demonic nature across the continent came from him.
There should be no fragment greater than himself.
‘If he inherited the host’s power, there should at least be some kind of resonance.’
Even if he had subdued the demonic nature within, it wouldn’t matter.
After all, the demonic nature still existed.
Yet—
Truly, there was no reaction at all.
‘What is this?’
Puzzled, it nevertheless couldn’t turn back now.
And the moment it crossed a certain threshold—
The fragment of the Demonic Immortal saw it.
Light.
A massive sphere of light, seemingly connected to some distant realm, had taken the place where the demonic nature should’ve been.
‘W-What in the world is that?!’
It asked—but not because it didn’t know.
That—was divine nature.
The source of the golden energy he had just unleashed.
However, that thing had no place existing in this world.
And yet, it was clearly right before its eyes.
‘Could it be… the reason I can’t sense any demonic nature is because…!’
That immense being had devoured it all…!
The moment it realized the truth, the fragment made its decision.
‘I—I have to flee!’
Unlike himself, merely a fragment, that thing was a complete divine nature.
Though it was said to be harmless unless approached, it was already far too close.
He had gotten too near.
The fragment tried to escape with everything it had.
But now that ‘it’ had locked onto him—
It was too late.
"N-No!"
Before his eyes, the light began to transform into the hazy figure of a woman.
***
‘Did it… succeed?’
The pain that had stabbed through my body like thousands of needles vanished as if it had been washed away.
“Junior!”
As the Six Thousand Demon Transformation Grounds he had cast disappeared, Hwan Seong appeared here.
“Are you alright?!”
Whack!
Hwan Seong's spicy fist struck my skull directly.
“You damned brat, why were you so stubborn?!”
“I’m sorry, Senior Brother.”
I obediently apologized to Hwan Seong.
It would’ve been nice if I had handled it a bit more stylishly, but there’s no use dwelling on it.
Hwan Seong immediately grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me out of the Thought Domain.
Only after returning to the Heaven of Sacred Spirits did I finally let out a sigh of relief.
“How’s your body?”
“I think I’m alright.”
My stamina hadn’t yet returned, but there were no other problems.
“I wasn’t asking about your physical condition. Quickly sit cross-legged and observe your inner self.”
I obediently followed Hwan Seong’s instructions.
Before long, I discovered a fragment of the Demonic Immortal bound completely near my heart.
-Let go! I said let go of this thing!
The fragment of the Demonic Immortal was utterly subordinated to my soul and couldn’t budge.
I hadn’t done anything special to restrain it, yet the result was like this….
I had a guess about the reason and bowed my head inwardly.
‘Thank you, Auntie.’
If I ever got the chance to return again, I’d repay you properly, big time.
While examining my inner state, Hwan Seong gave me a slightly bewildered look.
“Hm, it ended up in a form a bit different than I expected… but regardless, the thing is now structurally your shikigami.”
“Then that means…”
“You need to complete the final part of the shikigami contract. Give it a name.”
-Shut up shut up shut up shut up! You think I’ll accept a name from the likes of you?!
After watching it struggle, I made a suggestion to Hwan Seong.
“How about Dungball?”
-…….
“…….”
The moment I said it, the creature’s tantrum abruptly stopped.
Then came a flood of desperate pleas begging me not to do it.
Hwan Seong also looked displeased and asked,
“…Isn’t it a bit much to call it that in battle? It seems to have a feminine form.”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
Honestly, I didn’t have much talent in naming things.
I just needed to give it a decent enough name.
“How about Yorang?”
Rather than Yohoga, it was Yorang because the creature’s essence was more wolf than fox.
-That… that’s acceptable….
The fragment of the Demonic Immortal—no, Yorang—accepted the name I gave it without resistance.
Watching this, Hwan Seong grabbed my shoulder and gave a thumbs-up.
“Impressive, Junior!”
“Pardon? What do you mean…?”
“It’s incredibly rare for a being like that to accept a name given by its master so obediently! Of course, given the situation, it probably had no choice, but still, I was deeply impressed by your powers of persuasion!”
-……Ah.
At that moment, I heard Yorang’s voice break as if something inside it had snapped.
***
Hebei.
Although it housed the imperial capital of Beijing, Hebei was originally a neglected frontier in the Central Plains Murim.
To the north was Mongolia, swarming with the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, and to the east was Liaodong, where foreign tribes still roamed freely.
However, because of that, a significant portion of the empire's military might was concentrated there.
And today, at the Royal Palace, one of Hebei’s military hubs, an unprecedented massacre in imperial history took place.
“Clan Leader, it's all over.”
A sea of blood and mountains of corpses.
That phrase suited the place too well, as the stench of blood pervaded the Royal Palace.
Hwan Jeong, the current Clan Leader of the Illusion Clan, furrowed his brow slightly as he surveyed the hellscape.
“Unbelievable. All these soldiers… were actually test subjects for them…”
Just as he said, it was nearly impossible to find any corpses that retained a proper human form.
They were all monstrous beings far removed from humanity.
“There’s no sign of Heavenly Researcher. He’s either hiding somewhere or out on a different mission.”
At his subordinate’s report, Hwan Jeong shook his head.
“Forget that one. As long as we capture the most important target, that’s enough.”
Hwan Jeong narrowed his eyes and asked,
“What about the Grand Heavenly Lord’s soul?”
“It has been securely restrained.”
The Elders of the Illusion Clan presented a large transparent crystal.
Inside it was something pitch-black and lustrous. Those well-versed in sorcery could immediately tell it was a soul.
“Good. Now we can keep our promise.”
Hwan Jeong received the crystal containing the Grand Heavenly Lord’s soul with satisfaction.
Of course, the cost the Illusion Clan had paid for this outcome was immense.
From the start, attacking the Royal Palace was an act they committed fully prepared to be branded traitors by the Empire.
“What are the casualties?”
“Two Elders and forty high-level sorcerers have died. Including all casualties, the total is around two hundred.”
Two hundred.
Given the Illusion Clan's past reputation as one of the Six Great Demonic Clans, it might not seem like a huge loss, but the issue was that every casualty had been a core asset of the clan.
Irreplaceable power that could no longer be replenished.
One of the Elders asked Hwan Jeong with an expectant tone.
“Does this mean… we can finally return to the main sect?”
“If the Demonic Faction Lord keeps his promise, yes.”
Hwan Jeong’s gaze shifted elsewhere this time.
He bowed politely toward the one he faced.
“Thank you for your assistance. Thanks to you, we were able to easily break through their resistance.”
Where his eyes landed stood a middle-aged man cleaning a bloodied sword.
The truth was, without the direct martial aid from this person, the Illusion Clan would never have reached this far.
“Second Heavenly Lord.”
“…….”
Second Heavenly Lord, Old Han.
He had worked with the Illusion Clan to successfully capture the Grand Heavenly Lord.
After cleaning his sword in silence for a while, Old Han slightly furrowed his brows.
“Something’s not right.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was captured too easily.”
Finishing his sword maintenance, Old Han glanced at the sealed soul of the Grand Heavenly Lord.
“Too careless. That’s not the Grand Heavenly Lord I knew.”
“But, Second Heavenly Lord, you know the extent of the sacrifices our clan made, don’t you?”
As he said, the Illusion Clan hadn’t merely launched a surprise attack.
They had mobilized all their strength and prepared five different divine sorceries, pouring everything into neutralizing the Grand Heavenly Lord’s resistance.
“Still…”
Old Han trailed off.
Regardless of Old Han’s doubts, Hwan Jeong, who had just completed a monumental task, smiled brightly with a lightened heart.
“Let’s go. To the Heavenly Demon Cult.”