Chapter 409: Old Nemesis (1)
‘Why is this happening all of a sudden?’
The Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword, which was presumed to have been sealed by Yoo Jeon in his later years, had never reacted this violently until now.
At best, it had shown a faint response only when it encountered the lingering thoughts of the Priestess Han Yeong in the past.
-…….
“That’s a familiar resonance.”
As the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword reacted, the expressions of Yorang and Gunggi subtly changed.
In Yorang’s case, it was understandable given the past she had with Yoo Jeon.
‘Did that bastard also fight with the First Senior Brother?’
From the way his expression twisted more and more, it seemed clear even without asking.
“Now I remember. That sword.”
The bastard pointed at the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword with his finger.
“The great warrior who followed that devil. Among all the humans I’ve met, he was the strongest.”
Excitement began to rise on Gunggi’s face.
“You are the successor of that warrior.”
“…….”
I had no doubt that the bastard would charge in like a mad dog.
However.
The battle spirit that had been swelling up suddenly and completely died down.
“Let’s stop.”
“…What?”
For some reason, the moment Gunggi recognized the identity of the Ten Heavenly Record Immortal Sword, he gave up the fight.
“The first human who ever defeated me. If you’re that one’s heir, then I cannot face you with just this avatar. The proper stage will be prepared soon.”
‘Is he serious?’
Given the presence of that absolute pride unique to the strong that Gunggi exuded, it didn’t seem like he was retreating out of fear.
This wasn’t bluster. It was sincerity.
“W-Wait! Are you going to break the contract, Gunggi?!”
Before I could even react, the Mosan Celestial Maiden snapped at him in a sharp voice.
But what she got in return was Gunggi’s sneer.
“Contract? What contract are you referring to?”
“You clearly said you would cooperate as much as possible…!”
“Yes, and I am cooperating. But don’t be mistaken.”
Gunggi stared coldly at the Mosan Celestial Maiden.
“It’s not that we are helping with your plan. It is you who are helping with ours.”
“…!”
“Also.”
The killing intent that poured from his entire body crushed the Mosan Celestial Maiden.
“Urgh! K-Keugh!”
“You pitiful human. Do you really think you made an equal contract with us? Don’t delude yourself.”
The Mosan Celestial Maiden couldn’t utter a single word.
In terms of level, it was the undeniable truth.
“If you had dared to speak that way to someone like Do’ol or Docheol, you wouldn’t have even kept that petty life. Be thankful for my mercy.”
“…My apologies.”
With that, the Mosan Celestial Maiden shriveled.
Her martial prowess was not at all inferior even when compared to a master of the Extreme Demon Realm, yet she could not do a thing against Gunggi.
But I had no intention of letting the bastard leave peacefully.
“Are you going to tuck your tail and run?”
From past experience, such high-ranking beings were provoked enough by this kind of jab.
But Gunggi was a bit different.
“Hmph, is that how it looked?”
Far from getting angry, the bastard responded with leisure.
“This body is what it is, but you too are still unripe.”
Flinch!
“Unripe, you say?”
“Your current skills fall far short compared to the original owner of that sword.”
“…….”
I couldn’t argue with Gunggi’s words.
Yoo Jeon, believed to have stopped even the Heavenly Demon Ancestor, had surely reached the realm of the Supreme Demon Realm.
As someone who hadn’t even reached that wall, I had no choice but to accept it, however frustrating it was.
“Can’t believe it? Then I’ll let you land a hit.”
“What?”
“Come at me with everything you’ve got.”
The bastard Gunggi suddenly spread both arms wide.
Just as I was about to frown at that outrageous gesture—
“Let me warn you. If you fail to deal a meaningful blow to this avatar, you will die the moment you face my true body.”
“…!”
There was no bluster in those words.
Gunggi clearly meant it.
“Fine, if you’re offering, I have no reason to refuse.”
I immediately gathered Sword Intent and struck at the bastard's body.
-Heaven-Piercing Annihilation.
Kwa-gwagwang!
A blow slightly stronger than earlier engulfed Gunggi’s entire body and surged backward.
However.
The disappointment was plain on Gunggi’s exposed face.
“Surely, this isn’t your full power?”
Though the bastard’s body, struck directly by Heaven-Piercing Annihilation, had a long gash…
That was all.
“Tsk!”
Gunggi clicked his tongue and lightly brushed his chest with his hand.
Even that wound vanished not long after.
With an expression of clear dissatisfaction, Gunggi shook his head.
“Well, fine. I don’t intend to take back what I said. For now, I’ll spare your life.”
The bastard flapped wings like a bat and soared into the sky.
“W-Wait! The ritual isn’t over yet!”
“No, it’s enough. Even the power of a dragon can’t alter the laws.”
Gunggi looked truly without regret.
“Whatever you do with the remaining power is none of my concern.”
“H-How could you!”
“Then I’ll see you at the next battlefield. Noble bloodline, I eagerly await the day I meet your fangs.”
Without listening to the Mosan Celestial Maiden’s words to the end, Gunggi truly vanished.
“…….”
“…….”
Afterward, an awkward silence settled over the chamber.
I struck the Mosan Celestial Maiden before she could come back to her senses.
Thud!
A sorcerer, when mentally unstable, suffers a far greater drop in ability than a martial artist.
Perhaps the shock had been too great, as the Mosan Celestial Maiden’s protective sorceries were all broken and she was subdued.
Had she been a sorcerer or martial artist of equal standing, it wouldn't have been so easy, but the difference in our fundamental capabilities was clear.
“Well done, Grand Duke.”
“Mm……”
“By the way, I do have a question.”
Hwan Jeong asked while placing a seal on the unconscious Mosan Celestial Maiden.
“That strike you used on Gunggi just now… No matter how I think of it, it didn’t seem like your full power. Am I right?”
“That’s right.”
I readily admitted it.
Heaven-Piercing Annihilation was undoubtedly a powerful ultimate technique, but it wasn’t my full strength.
“You purposely held back!”
I let out a slight sigh.
“Exactly. There’s no reason to show my full hand to an enemy like that just yet.”
If the enemy knows your peak, even striking at their gaps becomes impossible.
“If his words were sincere, then in the next battlefield, I’ll be killed by him.”
-Hmph, you don’t need to take it so seriously.
Yorang snorted and tapped my shoulder with her front paw.
-He lacks the power to choose his own battlefield.
“Hmm…”
-Of course, if you use a clever strategy, you might drop him right in the center of one. But he can always avoid it even by abandoning the field. As long as you’re alive, there’s always a way to win.
“……”
-Why hesitate? You’re not exactly the altruistic type, are you?
Yorang, who was spiritually connected to me, understood my character almost perfectly.
Indeed, in my first life, I couldn’t afford to be picky with means just to survive, and I had to make cold, ruthless choices time and again.
But things were different now.
‘Because Yura wouldn’t want that.’
Of course, if I had to choose between Yura and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, I would abandon the Cult without hesitation.
But since Yura wouldn’t want that, I couldn’t abandon the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Sensing my heart, Yorang clicked her tongue.
-What a troublesome one you are.
“Anyway, I suppose we’ve achieved our first goal here?”
Though it was regretful to miss out on Gunggi’s avatar, the bastard and I would clash again eventually.
Still watching the lingering dragon veins around us, I spoke.
“Can you absorb the remaining dragon power here, Yorang?”
-…Are you serious?
“My subordinate or another ally could take it, but you seem like the most efficient choice.”
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind handing it to Hwan Jeong the sorcerer, but I couldn’t fully trust him yet.
Yorang’s innate divine art, Gluttonous Blooming Devourer.
If that could be realized in the real world, it would be a great help in future battles.
For some reason, Yorang replied in a dissatisfied tone.
-I’m the same as Gunggi. No matter how much of this power I absorb, it will ultimately be consumed.
Though Yorang, being bound to me, had a bit more freedom in how she could utilize power.
“Then it’s better for me. They won’t be able to think of anything else, right?”
-What an arrogant brat.
From a troublesome brat to an arrogant one—but it didn’t sting.
“So? Will you accept or not?”
-Uuuugh…!
Yorang contemplated with a serious expression.
But the hesitation didn’t last long.
-Fine. My nature is closer to intellect anyway. I’ll gladly help mess with those bastards.
Yorang grinned.
-But before that, there’s something to do.
“What is it?”
-We need to find those two brats we sent down another path before coming here, don’t you think?
“…!”
Yorang had said there were rituals being held in two different places.
If a being like Gunggi was also at the place they went, then their lives were in danger!
As it turned out, Baek Sang-ah and So Cheon were unharmed.
However, corpses were strewn across the path they had taken…
‘The Jaegal Clan?’
The sorcerers of the Jaegal Clan who had followed Jaegal Cheon.
They weren’t present at the location where Gunggi had appeared—apparently, they had gathered here instead.
Hwan Jeong and I found the two inside a cave midway up a mountain peak.
“You’re safe, Lady Baek.”
Only a bit of blood stained her clothes; her condition was otherwise intact.
Though her expression was far from good—and it was clear why.
Before her lay the corpse of a middle-aged man holding a sword, whose appearance and presence were on an entirely different level from the other members of the Jaegal Clan.
Sensing my gaze, Baek Sang-ah let out a deep sigh.
“This is the current Jaegal Clan Head, Jade Brush of Authority Jaegal Mun.”
“…!”
Jade Brush of Authority Jaegal Mun.
A renowned scholar in the murim and a master of mechanical formations.
“And… he was the man I used to call uncle when I was young.”
Judging from the situation, it seemed she had cut Jaegal Mun down herself.
“What happened here?”
“…You’ll understand if you look inside.”
At Baek Sang-ah’s words, I turned my eyes toward the cave interior.
Beyond, countless corpses lay scattered around a massive altar soaked in blood.
-We’re a step too late.
“Too late?”
-The ritual is already over. Whoever was here before them must have fled.
“Can you tell who it was?”
-From the lingering qi, it’s likely Docheol.
“Docheol?”
-The most cunning and scheming of the Four Atrocities. I would have preferred the blockhead Do’ol instead.
In short, another troublesome bastard.
‘This is becoming a serious headache.’
The news that monsters like Gunggi were being unleashed into the world was far from welcome.
At that moment, Baek Sang-ah called me.
“Young Master Jin.”
“Yes, Lady.”
“We need to head to the Jaegal Clan immediately.”
“Why?”
“Just before Clan Head Jaegal passed, the brainwashing broke and he regained his senses.”
Jaegal Mun recognized Baek Sang-ah in his final moments and told her this:
“The list of sects cooperating with the Heaven-Defying Society is hidden in the Jaegal Clan Head’s study.”
“…!”
I had the account book of the Colorful Flower Lord, so I already had some idea of those collaborating with them.
But that only allowed for speculation, and I didn’t believe the book contained every name.
If what she said was true, this time we could clearly distinguish friend from foe.
Baek Sang-ah looked at me with resolute eyes.
“If we can choose and kill those bastards, perhaps the Central Plains will see less blood.”