Chapter 433: Internal Strife Within the Divine Cult (4)
Do'ol was fairly satisfied with this body, which belonged to the pinnacle among humans.
Unlike when he was in his original form, the shift in earthly laws had freed him from that unpleasant pressure, which he particularly appreciated.
There were just two things that displeased him…
“This body has no talent for sorcery.”
The vessel itself was quite large, yet the most crucial aspect of sorcery—development of the upper dantian—was practically nonexistent.
“Well, time will take care of that.”
After all, this body had been given to him for pleasure, not battle.
Once the Grand Heavenly Lord fully awakened into the Heavenly Evil, there would be no need to cling to a human shell.
However, there was one more hindrance to his enjoyment until that moment arrived.
“That bastard Grand Heavenly Lord… how could he give me a body without properly dealing with old grudges?”
Do'ol grumbled with an irritated expression.
It had only been a few days since he had taken over this body, and yet a human had already come charging at him like a madman to kill him.
The problem was that this human’s level was too high for Do'ol’s current self to handle casually.
And more importantly, he was a crucial collaborator of the Grand Heavenly Lord, someone Do'ol couldn’t kill at the moment.
“Tch. For this body to have to hide in a place like this, avoiding mere humans…”
The Grand Heavenly Lord had asked him to endure until all the rituals were complete.
In exchange, he had given Do'ol permission to devour as many other insignificant humans as he pleased.
Sshh!
Do'ol raised his index and middle fingers.
At that signal, the attendants who had been serving beside him began to scream.
“P-please!”
“Forgive us!”
But their pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Guh! Ghaaark!”
Soon, the two attendants clutched at their throats, desperately trying to suppress something that was trying to burst out of their mouths.
But before long, something dark, like black steam, began to erupt from their mouths and coalesced at Do'ol’s fingertips.
Do'ol gulped down the mass that had formed.
Thud!
Silence fell over the room in an instant.
The face of Sa Bihwan, who had been rubbing his palms toward Do'ol, froze stiff.
Do'ol smiled, satisfied by the reactions around him.
“Not bad at all. Especially here—there are so many souls belonging to the demonic domain, big or small.”
“……”
“Well then, let’s move the husks aside and bring in the next course.”
“Y-yes, Elder!”
Sa Bihwan bolted from the hall as if fleeing.
Do'ol chuckled while watching the back of the next sacrifice, who would soon meet the same fate.
“With a feast this delicious in front of us, that Gunggi fool is sitting around munching on buried ley line energy... I truly can't understand him.”
Of course, in terms of recovering power, it couldn’t compare. But to Do'ol, Gunggi was like someone turning their nose at a well-cooked steak in favor of some nutrient-rich fodder.
Then—
“Hm?”
Do'ol sensed something unpleasant for a brief moment.
“What was that?”
For a fleeting instant, he had caught a whiff of a very unpleasant aura—one that resembled an old nemesis.
“Was it just my imagination?”
It was such a brief moment that one could have dismissed it as a mere illusion.
But Do'ol did not let his guard down.
No matter how indulgent his lifestyle had become, he was here on official business.
‘Can’t hurt to be prepared.’
Do'ol used telepathy to summon his subordinates, who were out feeding nearby.
However—
Even he could not have predicted that the threat would go beyond the limits of normal imagination.
Infiltrating Golden Thunder Demon Peak, the base of the Black Gold Sa Clan, was surprisingly easy.
No matter how rugged the One Hundred Thousand Great Mountain range was, the vicinity of the Eight Demon Peaks was developed almost like a large city.
And yet, we had passed through the mountain path without encountering a single person.
Far in the distance, we could sense the presence of thousands, presumably at the main house of the Black Gold Sa Clan.
‘Did they herd everyone inside?’
From now on, we had to reach that place without being discovered by anyone.
But none of us thought it would be particularly difficult.
That was because one of our companions was none other than the person who had been the Young Mistress of this place until very recently.
“This way, everyone.”
Sa Biyeon guided us to the entrance of a cave.
Looking around, Sa Biyeon sighed softly.
“As expected, no one’s here.”
“Where is this place?”
Ma Chulsoo asked, and she answered.
“This is one of the entrances leading to Golden Thunder Jade, the main family’s prison.”
Although there were well-known prisons like Geummadong, a family of even the rank of the Yuk Clan usually had one or two private prisons within their territory.
Golden Thunder Jade generally held demonic practitioners who had gone mad from qi deviation while learning the clan’s unique Thunder Skill, or criminals who had caused great financial damage to the family through fatal mistakes.
“If Sa Bihwan hadn’t thrown his opposing faction to the demonic beasts as food, many of those who followed the clan head should be locked inside here.”
Sa Biyeon spoke as she took the lead.
“More importantly, the other side of this place leads into the main family’s interior.”
“You mean the prison is open on both ends?”
“Yes. More precisely, it connects to the training grounds nearby where the main family’s elite warriors gather.”
“What a nasty taste.”
So Soryu clicked her tongue.
She immediately understood the true meaning of that remark.
“It’s usually used as a passage to bring supplies into the main house. Not a taste I like, though.”
Sa Biyeon’s excuse was met with a click of So Soryu’s tongue and a scolding.
“Ah, fine. Just lead the way. There’s no way the path inside is properly maintained.”
As she said, ahead was literally a hell of formations and mechanical traps.
Originally, we had planned to quickly infiltrate the interior, but the current problem with the family was not simply to eliminate Sa Bihwan.
The entire Black Gold Sa Clan had to be restored to normalcy.
Sa Biyeon nodded and moved forward to deactivate the mechanisms inside Golden Thunder Jade.
But before long—
Along with a putrid and nauseating stench—
“Damn…”
We discovered the wrecked mechanical formations and scattered corpses of humans and demonic beasts all around.
“You don’t need to think deeply to understand what happened.”
Ma Chulsoo grimaced while looking at the hellish surroundings.
The corpses looked horribly torn apart, as if humans trapped in the stomach of a giant beast.
The experts Gu Chil and So Soryu examined the bodies and drew their conclusions.
“They died without putting up much resistance.”
“The demonic beasts must have sought more prey and fell victim to the mechanical formations.”
Since those imprisoned in Golden Thunder Jade were mostly suppressed in their inner power or had their dantians sealed, resistance was impossible.
They could not have fought against beasts with exteriors that resisted ordinary blades.
Preparing for possible demonic beast attacks, we cautiously pushed forward through the prison.
After advancing about two hundred jang,
Sa Biyeon, who was inspecting the mechanisms, let out a relieved sigh.
“From here onward, the mechanisms are functioning properly.”
That meant the demonic beasts had not invaded this far.
After moving a little further,
“So, Young Clan Head! You’re alive!”
“Elder Sa Hwangwoo!”
We found many living retainers of the clan imprisoned in Golden Thunder Jade.
They had all resisted Sa Bihwan to the end and were locked here.
Tears welled up in her sunken eyes.
“You survived…”
“Heh heh! Whether this counts as surviving, I’m not so sure…”
Indeed, among those imprisoned, not one had a whole body.
Some had limbs missing or dantian issues.
Still, Sa Biyeon was relieved they were alive.
While freeing the clan warriors from their inner power restraints and shackles, we began sorting out those useful for combat.
‘Not a very good situation.’
There was only one elder-level in this place: Sa Hwangwoo.
That meant the rest were either dead or had sided with Sa Bihwan.
‘Especially, there is one presence far away that irritates my nerves…’
I was certain based on many experiences.
‘That presence’
Did not feel like that of a warrior.
Rather, it was closer to a sorcerer.
“We must flee, Young Clan Head.”
At that moment, Sa Hwangwoo, newly freed, suddenly grabbed Sa Biyeon’s wrist and said,
“Right now, Cheon Jumun, the Death King Enforcer, is at the main house.”
“...?!”
“W-what did you say!?”
Sa Hwangwoo shouted in a grim voice toward the shocked group.
“Wherever he learned it, he handles strange sorcery. The family’s warriors couldn’t withstand his sorcery and were all defeated!”
“Sorcery? What does that mean?”
I pushed Sa Biyeon back and stepped forward toward Sa Hwangwoo.
“Cheon Jumun uses sorcery? Is that true?”
Sa Hwangwoo recognized my face and nodded politely.
“Y-yes, Your Grace.”
“……”
It would have been easier to understand if they had massacred while under mind control.
But—
‘Cheon Jumun, a pure martial artist, using sorcery?’
Something was wrong.
If that were true, then it was either someone impersonating Cheon Jumun or perhaps...
‘No way...’
I frowned at the worst assumption that came to mind.
I didn’t regret choosing the Sword Demon instead of Cheon Jumun even now, but I hadn’t expected the butterfly effect to come back like this.
I closed my eyes and drew in my spiritual sense.
As before, I instantly detected thousands of presences just beyond.
But at the end of this path—
From above, emitting a powerful presence, waiting was...
Thud!
“...Master?”
“Gu Chil.”
I slowly moved forward while giving Gu Chil orders.
“Gather the clan’s warriors and return to where you came from.”
“W-wait?!”
Sa Biyeon protested, overriding the previous agreement.
“I tried to be careful, but it seems we’ve been discovered.”
“......!!”
“The opportunity for Young Mistress to behead Sa Bihwan will come soon. But before that... we must first remove the huge obstacle blocking the path to Sa Bihwan.”
Removing that obstacle would be quite a noisy task.
If we brought wounded with us, there was a high chance we’d be swept up in the commotion.
Without waiting for an answer, I stepped forward.
Fortunately, no one followed.
When we reached the end of the path and stepped out of the cave,
A demonic beast, black like a giant snakefish and easily several times larger than a human, opened its jaws and surged toward where I had emerged.
Kwahkwa-gwang!
But that wasn’t all.
As if prepared for my intrusion, several more demonic beasts raged near the entrance, creating loud earthquakes and roars.
From afar, Do'ol clicked his tongue.
“Tch! I half suspected it, and as expected.”
The life signs still felt inside sparked Do'ol’s interest.
“Yeah, that’s definitely Jin Yeomyung.”
Long before arriving here, I had heard countless warnings about that guy.
Our archrival who had risen to the top of the list for elimination above all humans in this world.
Still, despite all the warnings, Do'ol’s eyes held little real caution.
“I don’t see why we should be wary of a mere human. Especially now, with all four Atrocities resurrected and the Heavenly Evil about to awaken...”
In Do'ol’s view, the tide had already turned.
No mere human was on a level to pose a threat.
“Unless a demonic entity of the Martial Supreme level appears like a thousand years ago... hmm?”
Crack!
At Do'ol’s ear came the sound of something like skin being forcibly torn.
Crunch!
Then the sound of something like bone breaking.
And those sounds were coming from Do'ol’s own subordinates who had attacked the entrance of Golden Thunder Jade.
Crack! Crack! Crunch!
Yuk’s spine snapped, and Jeokyu’s head was torn off.
The face-crushed Gon screamed, and Chu-i’s body slumped, half-buried in rock.
“Ah, I suspected as much.”
The being that had instantly slaughtered Do'ol’s closest followers spoke with cold blue eyes, uttering something similar to what Do'ol had just said.
“You’re not Cheon Jumun after all.”
...Chills!
It was just a moment, but–
That single phrase sent a cold chill down Do'ol’s spine.