Chapter 376: Treason (4)
They made up one-third of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s full strength and had ruled unchallenged in their sacred, inviolable domain for a thousand years.
I was going to erase them from the world.
How would Cheon Yura take these words?
Would she dismiss them as absurd and impossible?
Or would she boldly draw her sword, saying she’d take the lead?
After a long pause, what she said completely defied my expectations.
"Could you not give them one chance?"
"……."
She had taken my words about eliminating the Cheon Clan more seriously than I had imagined.
That was why she pleaded with me, asking me to give them a chance.
"The Cheon Clan brings you no benefit."
"I know."
"If anything, they’re just bastards who drag you down."
"I’ve known that all these years."
"And you still want to give them a chance?"
This wasn’t about whether it was possible or not.
She truly wanted to embrace the Cheon Clan as part of herself.
"Even so. They are still… cult members."
Just one sentence, packed with meaning.
I scratched the back of my head and let out a small sigh.
"You’re way too soft for no good reason."
At my words, she gave a faint smile.
"No one would ever say that to me."
Of course not.
In any context, the word “soft” didn’t suit a woman like Cheon Yura.
But I knew her true nature.
Even if she had a ferocious fighting spirit, a venomous tongue that spared no mercy, and had sincerely tried to take my head when we first met…
The woman I knew was the kindest person in the world.
"Huhu, you just had a pretty arrogant thought, didn’t you?"
Squeeeze—
With a chill in her smile, she tugged at my cheek.
"…How’d you know?"
I’d kept a perfect poker face.
"It’s not like we’ve only just met. I can read you easily now."
Her deep, searching eyes seemed to see right through me.
'Damn it, can I not even think properly now?'
My lady’s instincts were too sharp—it was a real problem.
She could almost rival Gu Chil in that department.
I rubbed my cheek where she’d let go, lips pouting slightly.
"About the Cheon Clan, let me say this first."
Our expressions turned serious again.
"If you try to give them a half-hearted chance, they might just swallow you whole in an instant. Even then… are you okay with that?"
If she nodded at those words—
Then I’d give the Cheon Clan a single chance, even at the risk of danger.
However—
"If it’s truly dangerous, you don’t need to listen to me."
"……."
"I’m not alone anymore."
She tilted her head slightly and smiled, locking eyes with me.
"No matter what happens, what belongs to ‘me’ comes first. Isn’t that right?"
Damn.
How could she be this beautiful?
No matter how I looked at her, from this angle or that…
It was clear I had rose-colored glasses glued to my brain.
I gave a small cough.
"Ahem! I don’t know how that chance might come, but the Cheon Clan will have more than one opportunity to change their course."
"…That’s true."
"But if they stubbornly insist on enforcing their will, then we’ll have to make our decision too."
That decision would likely… no, certainly… leave an indelible mark on the future.
The Cheon Clan would no longer be a symbol of absolute power, and the day would come when even the Six Great Demonic Clans could produce a Cult Leader.
"I’m a little curious how future generations will judge your choice."
"I don’t care what the future thinks."
Truly, I didn’t care even the slightest bit.
"What matters to me is that whatever threatens your reign must be removed, no matter what."
Honestly, who cares what our descendants will say?
By then, Cheon Yura and I would be roaming the world in peace.
At those words, Cheon Yura let out a bright laugh.
"Hahaha, I really did end up with an amazing husband!"
Any ordinary woman might have been horrified by such a mad statement and rejected it outright.
But she wasn’t ordinary. She was the heroine who stood at the pinnacle of hundreds of thousands of cult members.
And then—
"Ugh!"
She suddenly grabbed both my shoulders and pushed me flat onto the floor.
"…Hehe."
Her face hovered above mine, like a cat staring at its prey.
Seeing this much assertiveness from my lady was truly delightful, but…
"I still have a lot to talk about…"
Like the deal with Cheon Jumyeong, the schemes of the Grand Heavenly Lord, the Cheon Clan’s movements and our upcoming plans…
There was easily a whole two hours’ worth of conversation still to go… but…
"Well, if it’s not urgent, can’t we talk about it after all this is over?"
Well, she had a point.
I immediately agreed.
But… was it really okay to do this kind of thing in such a sacred cultivation chamber?
‘Ah, whatever.’
Watching her slowly approaching gaze, I decided to let my thoughts drift away.
***
Shaanxi Province, near Xi’an, battlefield.
Baek Sang-ah’s twin swords couldn’t reach Lee Jaseong.
It was because the Awakened Bodies that Lee Jaseong had gathered blocked her all at once.
Catching a brief moment to breathe, Lee Jaseong frowned.
"…Why the hell are the Black Lotus Union bastards helping the orthodox sects?"
He knew the Black Lotus Union had roots connected to the Demonic Cult.
But even so, they were undeniably part of the demonic faction.
Even if they didn’t cooperate with the orthodox sects, they’d rather strike them from behind to expand their influence than come all this way to offer help like this.
“I just can’t understand this. If that woman called the Demonic Sword Flower were from an orthodox background, it would make sense, but…”
That unmistakable demonic qi and evil aura that had reached the Extreme Demon Realm.
Who would ever claim she was a martial artist of the orthodox side?
“Anyone would think she’s an old monster of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
It was at that moment that Lee Jaseong muttered those words.
Flash!
The sword of Baek Sang-ah, who had been blending chaotically with the Awakened Bodies, suddenly pierced through a gap and flew toward Lee Jaseong.
Kwa-gwagwagwang!
Lee Jaseong narrowly evaded the slash of her sword qi, breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Did she hear that? Her hearing must be superhuman.”
Well, one couldn’t easily judge the senses of an absolute master.
After all, didn’t he too gain enhanced senses when he transformed into his Awakened Body?
Lee Jaseong, watching over the battlefield, came to a conclusion.
‘I’ll be able to kill her soon.’
No matter how strong the Demonic Sword Flower was in the Extreme Demon Realm, it was impossible for her to handle all those Awakened Bodies.
Above all, she was fighting while still minding the hypocrites of the orthodox sect who had already lost their will to fight!
“Soon, my subordinates who detect their intrusion will rush in. As long as she’s held back, we can kill her easily.”
And so, Lee Jaseong leisurely waited for the Demonic Sword Flower’s strength to wane.
“Hm…”
A sword that was fast and destructive.
Her violent sword dance, which evoked a suicidal frenzy, was indeed formidable.
But such a technique, which consumed immense internal energy, was nothing more than prey to the Awakened Bodies.
About a quarter of an hour later.
“Something’s… off.”
Lee Jaseong narrowed his eyes, sensing a discord in the situation.
Surely, with their overwhelming stamina and regenerative ability, the Awakened Bodies should’ve outlasted her, and her energy should’ve been nearly depleted by now...
-Kuaaaagh!
-Kyaaaagh!
But weren’t the ones being pushed back the Awakened Bodies instead?
Only then did Lee Jaseong realize the cause.
“The wounds… aren’t healing?”
Looking closely, the bodies of those facing her were all torn to shreds.
“…How?”
They had abandoned precise techniques in exchange for overwhelming regeneration and stamina.
That was the very strength of the Awakened Bodies, wasn’t it?
Yet, the ones still raging with power weren’t the Awakened Bodies—but the dual swords of the Demonic Sword Flower.
Heaven-Slaying Twin Star Sword Formation
Soul-Annihilating Twin Qi
Each time her swords moved violently, the supposedly durable bodies of the Awakened Bodies were torn apart like paper.
-Kuh, keugh!
With nearly half of them slain by the Demonic Sword Flower’s hands, the remaining Awakened Bodies—now driven only by instinct—began to retreat, unable to approach her.
Seeing that, Lee Jaseong scowled and shouted.
“What the hell is this disgrace?! What punishment do you think you’ll face if he sees this pathetic display?!”
Flinch!
The moment they heard the word he, the expressions of the Awakened Bodies shifted dramatically.
Then, they steeled their will again and surrounded Baek Sang-ah.
“Interesting. So even with death before your eyes, you chose to fight? That guy must be scarier than death, huh?”
-…….
-…….
A cold smile curled on her lips.
“Fine. I was going to kill you all anyway. I suppose I should praise you for not running away.”
Her aura grew even more intense.
Lee Jaseong let out a helpless laugh as he saw the surge of demonic qi coursing through her entire body.
‘This is absurd. In terms of internal energy alone, she surpasses the King of Ten Thousand Evils. Could she really be an old monster of the Heavenly Demon Cult who reversed her aging?’
Had she heard that, she would have sent a blade flying at him immediately, but Lee Jaseong’s speculation wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
Who in the world would look at that and think she was a woman barely past twenty?
‘I could summon my Awakened Body too and have a chance at victory, but there’s no need to show that monstrous form to my subordinates.’
Even though he had once rampaged in his true form in the very heart of the Evil Overlords of Heaven...
His appearance as an Awakened Body had been well hidden by other collaborators within the Evil Overlords of Heaven.
There was a difference between one’s subordinate being a monster, and the cult leader himself being one.
The subordinates would take it differently.
And more than anything else...
Lee Jaseong did not want to clash head-on with that bizarre force that suppressed regeneration.
‘In that case, it’s better to…’
His expression turned icy cold in an instant.
***
Catching her ragged breath, Baek Sang-ah thought to herself.
‘This is more manageable than I expected.’
The Awakened Bodies of the Heaven-Defying Society.
Under normal circumstances, she would have killed two or three before retreating.
Unless one had reached the Transcendent Demon Realm and completely cast off the limitations of internal energy, it was impossible to suppress such monsters by brute strength alone, at least not at her level.
But the energy she had inherited from Salma So Jeong—an unidentified power named King-Slaying Qi by So Cheon—had made the impossible possible.
King-Slaying Qi was practically the natural enemy of the Awakened Body.
‘At this rate, I should be able to finish things before Master So Cheon arrives… hm?’
Her thoughts were cut off by a bizarre phenomenon unfolding before her eyes.
The monsters she had been facing off against so fiercely just moments ago—
Suddenly began clutching their throats and writhing in agony!
-Kuaaagh!
-Kyaaaagh!
And that wasn’t all.
A thick, murky energy began seeping out from their entire bodies!
“W-what is this?!”
What made it all the more baffling was that the energy pouring out of them wasn’t the result of violently igniting internal energy from within, like her own.
It looked more like… their power was being forcefully extracted by someone!
Crack! Creak!
Her suspicion hit the mark with no margin for error.
In a matter of moments, something began pouring out not only from the surviving creatures, but even from the ones she had already killed—and all that energy began converging into one spot and ascending into the sky.
Kugugugung!
Baek Sang-ah glared at Lee Jaseong, eyes narrowed.
“You—what are you doing right now?!”
In Lee Jaseong’s hand was a round object resembling a precious jewel.
He gave a sinister smirk.
“A kind of recycling. If I can’t defeat you with that force, shouldn’t I at least make it more useful?”
“…You son of a bitch!”
That cold-blooded act of sacrificing his own allies without a second thought.
Just as she was about to lunge at Lee Jaseong in rage—
“……!!”
Baek Sang-ah widened her eyes as she sensed a massive presence suddenly descending from the crimson sky.
Something completely unlike anything up to this point.
Even though the Awakened Bodies of the Heaven-Defying Society, including the Ten Heavenly Lords, looked monstrous on the outside, they still emitted some faint human presence.
But what was descending now from above—was undoubtedly a being that shared nothing with humanity.
‘Something’s wrong.’
An overwhelming sense of dread surged through her entire body.
It felt like something that should never have appeared in this era had manifested.
What slowly emerged from the clouds—
Was a beast-like figure with black wings.