Chapter 362: Fatal Poison (1)
At Cheon Yura’s sudden outburst, all the Guardians and Guardian Lions standing watch around her froze at once.
Second Elder, whose heart had been pierced, collapsed to his knees without strength.
“How is it, Second Elder? Are you just going to die like this?”
Despite Cheon Yura’s mocking tone, Second Elder responded with a faint smile and lifeless eyes.
“F-For the glory of the Cheon Clan…”
“……”
“As expected, you… are unfit… to sit as Cult Leader…”
A flicker of anger appeared on Cheon Yura’s face.
She grabbed Second Elder by the collar and lifted him into the air.
“If this continues, you’ll stop breathing. Shouldn’t you use that power quickly?”
“……”
Even at her coaxing, Second Elder only smiled and made no move.
And not long after—
Thud.
Second Elder’s head dropped limply forward.
“H-He’s dead…”
One of the Guardian Lions muttered in sheer shock.
“C-Cult Leader, what on earth have you done?!”
The Left Guardian, Wang Cheongeol, looked just as stunned as the others.
Even in this unprecedented situation—where the highest elder of the Cheon Clan had been summarily executed without reason—Cheon Yura merely clicked her tongue in slight annoyance.
“Tsk. I thought he’d ugly his way into survival by turning into an Awakened Body. So he just gave up his life?”
She tossed Second Elder’s corpse aside carelessly.
“Dispose of it.”
“……”
“……”
Everyone present felt it in their gut.
The Cult Leader had come out of seclusion… changed.
Among them, Cheon Jin-sang, who regained his composure the fastest, spoke to Cheon Yura.
“Cult Leader, why would you do such a thing?”
“Such a thing? What are you referring to?”
“Second Elder is the de facto head of the Council of the Seven Elders! Killing him without reason is no different from declaring the entire Cheon Clan our enemy!”
Not even the Great Elder or First Elder could do anything to salvage this situation.
For the sake of future rule, she needed to restore relations with the Cheon Clan—yet instead, she’d all but declared war.
“There is a reason.”
Cheon Yura glanced coldly down at Second Elder’s corpse.
“He’s a traitor who accepted external power, just like the former Second Elder.”
“……”
The three Guardians exchanged brief looks.
“But… there’s no proof.”
“My eyes are the proof.”
Cheon Yura’s attitude was as unyielding as Iron.
‘This is insane.’
Cheon Jin-sang frowned as he stared at Second Elder’s body.
Even if—just for argument’s sake—Second Elder really had been a traitor, this was not the way he should’ve been killed.
Unless he had turned into a monster like the former Second Elder, this entire situation just looked like Cheon Yura had one-sidedly ambushed and murdered him.
‘Could it be Qi Deviation?’
Losing oneself to demonic energy during martial arts training was more common than one might think.
But she was far beyond that phase—she had long since reached the very peak of the Extreme Demon Realm.
‘If we don’t act swiftly… the Cult might face a disaster beyond imagination.’
‘The Demonic Faction Lord must return. Right now, only he can rein her in.’
‘Just imagining how the Cheon Clan will respond makes my blood run cold…’
The three Guardians withheld their thoughts, each mulling over the chaos quietly.
In the midst of it all, Cheon Yura wiped the sticky blood of Second Elder from her hands and murmured to herself.
“Still… far too lacking… To reach him…”
The emotion in Cheon Yura’s eyes—
If anyone had seen it, they would have immediately labeled it for what it was: madness.
***
A storm was rising within the Heavenly Demon Cult—one no one had foreseen.
With Yorang’s help, I laid the foundation of the Demonic Saint’s Eye.
–You handle the power of movement techniques better than I expected. Have you ever handled a Divine Relic before?
“Well, something like that.”
In truth, if one were to count only experience with Divine Relics, there was likely no one in this world who surpassed me.
“Now I can finally see properly.”
Until now, I had only understood that the Second Heavenly Demon’s power reacted automatically to the power of the Awakened Body.
But even after inheriting the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art following his disappearance, the energy had not responded to the Awakened Body’s power.
‘So it was because I lacked this eye.’
The Second Heavenly Demon must have awakened this eye too—and set the energy to automatically respond to the power of the Awakened Body.
Well, that aside—
I turned my gaze toward Han Mubaek and activated the Demonic Saint’s Eye.
‘It’s definitely different.’
The moment I saw Han Mubaek, I understood what Yorang had meant by removing the power of the Divine Beast.
There were traces near the dantian, as if something had been gouged out.
“Han Mubaek.”
“Please speak, Lord.”
Thinking he had earned some merit, Han Mubaek’s expression held a measure of composure.
“What is your true objective?”
“If you’re asking about my true objective…”
“You said your goal was survival, didn’t you?”
And that killing Heavenly Researcher was also part of your mission.
I slowly began to draw out killing intent, pressing him.
“This is only a guess, but you’re hiding a real objective behind those two stated ones. Aren’t you?”
“……”
“If you don’t confess everything now, I’ll kill you here on the spot. I don’t care if you’re the Heavenly Thunder Corps Leader’s proxy or not.”
Receiving my killing intent head-on, Han Mubaek’s whole body trembled—but he still raised his head proudly.
“Then just kill me.”
“What?”
“I already told you, didn’t I? For some reason, you’ve held a grudge against me since the beginning.”
“……”
“Ever since I met you back then, I’ve been thinking deeply. Even if we’re enemies, why would someone like you—who had no personal ties to me—harbor such intense malice? Eventually, I reached one conclusion.”
Han Mubaek had deduced the truth with sharp insight.
“You knew I was going to be dispatched to the Young Cult Leader’s side.”
I gave a simple nod.
“That’s right. Why would I let someone live when they’re trying to steal what’s mine?”
“Huhu… Back then, she wasn’t even yours yet. I don’t know how you figured it out, but fine—let’s go with that.”
Unlike earlier, Han Mubaek seemed to have somewhat adapted to my killing intent. Though he was drenched in cold sweat, he adjusted his posture.
“Yes. There is one goal I haven’t told you about—one I absolutely must achieve.”
“…You.”
“But even if I told you, it’s not like someone as distrustful as you would believe it easily.”
With forced composure, he curved his lips into a smile.
“More importantly, who in the world lays all their cards on the table? That’d just get me discarded and hunted.”
Hoo—
He took a long breath before continuing.
“Still, I don’t want to die like this, so I’ll give you a few hints.”
“You said to just kill you, didn’t you?”
“That was just a figure of speech.”
Perhaps regaining some ease, he shook his head with feigned indifference.
Then, unexpectedly, he said something truly shocking.
“I want to see the destruction of the Grand Heavenly Lord and Heavenly Researcher.”
“…?!”
“And I want their plan to fail.”
He wants their plan to fail?
“That much—I can swear with everything I have—is the truth.”
I instinctively knew he wasn’t lying.
“To that end, as I’ve said before, I’m willing to share information and cooperate with you.”
Of course, as long as he wouldn’t reveal his real goal, I couldn’t trust him completely.
There was no guarantee that the downfall of the Grand Heavenly Lord and Heavenly Researcher Cheon Juchun would equate to our victory.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
He raised a finger and said:
“Remember when I mentioned the Grand Heavenly Lord’s plan before?”
“You did.”
That plan was none other than consuming Cheon Yura’s body.
“I suspect that by now, there’s a high chance something’s gone wrong with the Cult Leader’s mind.”
At that moment—
The air around us dropped drastically in temperature.
“What… did you just say?”
The level of killing intent I unleashed was entirely different from before. Blood began seeping from Han Mubaek’s seven apertures.
Had Yorang not warned me again, Han Mubaek would have died then and there.
Wiping the blood from his mouth, Han Mubaek continued.
“Th-The Cult Leader… From the very beginning, she was a creation touched by the Grand Heavenly Lord. The trials she faces aren’t just her own.”
“……”
“The preparation the Grand Heavenly Lord embedded in her was something even the previous Cult Leader couldn’t undo. And now that the previous Cult Leader has vanished, it’s about time that preparation’s effects begin to surface.”
His claim carried a certain weight.
“According to a collaborator inside the Heaven-Defying Society, the Heavenly Illusion Clan recently succeeded in capturing the Grand Heavenly Lord’s soul and is now headed to Ten Thousand Mountain.”
“What?”
Don’t tell me Hwan Jeong actually succeeded with that absurd plan?
Just then, Han Mubaek snapped me back to reality.
“Surely… you don’t actually believe a group like the Illusion Clan captured the Grand Heavenly Lord by force, do you?”
“……”
“Under no circumstance should the Grand Heavenly Lord’s soul meet the Cult Leader. If it does, the worst possible scenario will unfold. Consider that the price of my life, Lord.”
I stood there in silence, lost in thought.
Whatever the Grand Heavenly Lord planted inside Yura—it had to be tied to the demonic nature sleeping within her.
Even if not, it must be something that could corrupt her mind.
–Hmm…
Just then, Yorang let out a peculiar hum and spoke.
–If what he says is true, the demonic nature your mate harbors may no longer heed the command of the Main Soul.
Screech.
The little fox’s mouth twisted just enough to appear sinister.
–Still, that doesn’t mean there’s no way to stop it.
There’s a way?
Yorang declared triumphantly:
–Meeting me was the luckiest event of your life.
Meeting of the Council of the Seven Elders of the Cheon Clan.
“How could… such a thing have happened?!”
The atmosphere in the hall was one of utter grief.
Every member present clenched their teeth as they stared at the empty second seat.
“First Elder! Are you telling us that the Cult Leader’s reckless rampage is what you truly desired?!”
“……”
Despite the accusations from the other elders, First Elder said nothing.
He had long suspected that Second Elder—and several of the others in front of him—had aligned themselves with foreign forces.
But even putting that aside, Cheon Yura’s actions were incomprehensibly extreme.
‘The previous Cult Leader knew this and still chose to let them be…’
Unlike Cheon Yura, the previous Cult Leader had set up an elaborate trap, securing both justification and gain.
But Cheon Yura had done none of that.
‘She wasn’t one to act rashly… What could’ve happened to her…?’
Still, what was done was done.
To recover even a fraction of the situation, the Cheon Clan would have to make significant concessions and reparations.
But if the reports were true, that would never happen.
“So what now? Are we going to join forces and raise our banners in rebellion?”
First Elder asked curtly, but the answer he received was completely unexpected.
“At this rate, the Cheon Clan will vanish in the hands of the Cult Leader. If that’s the case, then perhaps…”
At Fourth Elder’s remark, First Elder exploded in fury.
“You fool! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“What choice do we have?! The Cult Leader has gone mad!”
According to the countless reports coming in, the Cult Leader was no longer in her right mind.
And then—
Creak.
A side door of the meeting hall opened, and a well-dressed noble youth suddenly appeared.
First Elder’s eyes widened as he recognized the figure.
“You…!”
The youth closed his fan and bowed with a certain grace.
“It’s been a while, everyone. I arrived a little late—had to avoid the Clan Leader’s gaze.”
With a smiling face, Cheon Juchun stepped into the meeting hall.
“As a member of the Heavenly Brain Clan, it seems my help is needed. So then, would you all be willing to hear me out?”