The tone of Sima Ryunju was calm, but it was taken in an entirely different manner by the listeners.
In particular, Lee Sungmin’s mouth was wide open in disbelief.
His master said he was going to die.
Lee Sungmin recalled the conversation Sima Ryunju and Geniella had before leaving the mansion.
“Why is master going to die?””
“She didn’t tell me about it. She’s a mean girl.”
Sima Ryunju grumbled like that, tightening the hand that grabbed the neck of the Jehu. He glowed down the Black Dragon Strait, his eyes full of life.
“So swear on it. Otherwise if this old man dies, there’s no way to control you.”
“Wait… no! No matter how much I swear on things like an Oath, it’s too radical…….”
“Do you really want to show me what radical is? In fact, I don’t need to take an Oath from you. It’s much easier on me and my disciple to kill you here anyways. Do you want me to do that?”
“Well, that’s….”
“But I suggest you to swear an oath instead because I have grown attached to my disciple and you over the coming months. If you insist on not taking an oath, I’ll have no choice but to take care of you before it bites me later. Yeah, wait I don’t have to kill you. How about I cut off all your limbs and crush your dantian; what about that?”
SIma Ryunju’s eyes screamed sincerity and seriousness.
Jehu swallowed its saliva. Sima Ryunju continued to speak toward the hesitant Jehu.
“Think carefully. You can’t go back to Beyond the Heavens anyway. Even if you were forced to undergo an Oath, you betrayed Musin. If you go back and beg for forgiveness, will the Heavenly Spirit, the Divine Maiden and Musin all forgive you?”
At those words, Jehu seriously pondered about just how well he knew Jehu. He wasn’t exactly a cruel character, but by any stretch of the imagination that Jehu had, Musin was not likely to be generous with a traitor. Even if he didn’t die to Musin, it seemed certain he’d pay a price equivalent to death.
“What am I supposed to do?” If you, Sima Ryunju, die, then who will protect me then?”
“My disciple will protect you.”
“Oh please don’t be ridiculous. How can someone weaker than myself protect me?”
“No. It’s not nonsense. My disciple seat can protect you. It may not seem like it, but he will protect you from Musin if it comes down to it.”
To be honest, Lee Sungmin couldn’t understand his master’s words at all.
Although he had made serious progress in his mastery of the Dark Storm Arts and internal circuitry, Lee Sungmin could not guarantee victory against Jehu or Kang Seok, the Spear King, yet. But he didn’t say that to Sima Ryunju out loud yet.
“Choose. Swear on the oath or become a crippled idiot here.”
“Damn it!”
As if to fulfill his words, Sima Ryunju grabbed the shoulders of Jehu.
Sima Ryunju’s strong grip forcibly crushed the bones and muscles of Jehu’s Draconic body. Jehu uttered abusive language and closed his eyes tightly.
“I- I swear! I, Jehu, will never betray Lee Sungmin, Scarlet, or Ye-Hwa. I will never harm them!”
“There you go, that’s all you needed to say.”
Sima Ryunju nodded satisfactorily at Jehu’s cries. He lowered Jehu, who he was holding by the neck, and pressed his pressure points to release him from his forced restraints.
Even a master of the Transcendence Realm could not disobey an Oath sworn on his name and his mana.
It was one of the laws of the world that was absolute. If you broke an Oath, your mana would collapse inside your core or dantian and kill you on the spot.
Jehu wrapped his face in both hands, pessimistic about his desperate collapse.
“……I can’t believe you’re going to die….”
It was not until the Oath was committed until Lee Sungmin uttered in an awkward voice.
It was beyond belief. Sima Ryunju, whom he had taken as his master, was the most powerful man in the world, a huge mountain that could never collapse, would die.
Even Geniella, the de-facto head of Predator, was not looking for a fight against him, and even Hoeju, the most powerful monster to walk the world of Eria, also acknowledged the power of Sima Ryunju.
How would such a man die? The strongest man in existence could not possibly die could he? What would be the cause of it? Lee Sungmin was distraught.
“What’s wrong with your face? Are you feeling depressed that your mother is going to die?”
“How can you be so peaceful?”
“Everyone dies one day. Do you really need to feel so depressed when it’s obvious that it’s going to happen even though it won’t happen right now?”
“But…!”
“This old man has lived without any regret.”
Sima Ryunju stopped Lee Sungmin by raising his hand.
“It has been, and it will continue to be. Death is inevitable, but when and where this old man dies will be chosen by this old man himself. So, don’t say anything else to me about it.”
“But…… Master…….”
“The Vampire Queen said that. She warned me about my death and knew that her words would not constrain her actions. She was right because I will remain unperturbed.I know I’m going to die one day.”
Scarlett looked at Sima Ryunju speechlessly.
On the way in the carriage, she recalled the request that he had secretly made to her.
The request was granted because it wasn’t anything like rocket science. Now that she thought about it…… even without Geniella saying that he would die, Sima Ryunju seemed to already know he would die, Scarlett thought.
“Maybe it’s too much.”
Scarlett swallowed a sigh thinking so.
“Go to the Shaolin.”
Sima Ryunju opened his mouth.
“I will need to talk to the Grandmaster. Also, the Guild Master of the Wizard Guild might be there. I don’t know if he is still there…… if he is, we can talk about it at the same time.”
“Do you plan to use the pegasus?”
“No, there is no need. There’s only one chance left and I don’t think I should use it over this.”
Sima Ryunju replied, shaking his head.
“Don’t tell Ye-Hwa about this.”
Sima Ryunju said as he climbed into the wagon.
Ye-Hwa, who thought of Sima Ryunju as her parent, will have a fit if she finds out he might die.
‘What about me?’Lee Sungmin quietly followed Sima Ryunju into the carriage.
Lee Sungmin didn’t consider him a parent. But he considered him as his true master. He respected him. He felt incredibly grateful because he got help from Sima Ryunju in many ways.
But should he just let his master die like this?
“Don’t think useless thoughts.”
It was before Lee Sungmin said anything when Sima Ryunju continued.
“Didn’t I say that I would choose? And I don’t believe in the future that Geniella sees. I just can’t accept that the future is fixed. They said it would never go wrong if the situation and conditions were met, but I think there are enough variables.”
“If so…”
“This old man will deny that future which she has seen.”
Sima Ryunju laughed and continued as he re-fitted the mask on his face.
“Don’t you think it’s going to be pretty fun?”
Sima Ryunju spoke with excitement and joy in his voice.
* * *
It was the first time Km Jonghyun had been on a ship in a very long time.
He recalled the last time he was on a boat when he was a human. He wasn’t sure, but he was pretty sure he had been seasick at the time.
I thought it would be pretty funny if he was. Being seasick was something he would never experience with his new body, but it was impossible for him to become sick as a half-Devil.
Kim Jonghyun was a little sad about it since he wasn’t sure if seasickness was something someone could be born with or not.
But it wasn’t something someone would want to enjoy even if they were born with. He just wanted to feel the pleasure of seeing new things and having new experiences.
“Well, then.”
While enjoying such meaningless contemplation, the preparation was completed. Kim Jonghyun slowly raised his body. He had already spent over half a year on the boat with Volander.
Fortunately, the Death Knights together on the Ghost Ship were neither quick-tempered nor rash or dumb.
When Kim Jonghyun told them that they needed sufficient preparation, they waited for months without being impatient on the promise that they would be able to run back into humans.
For them, that much time could hardly be called a wait. Thanks to this, Kim Jonghyun was escorted by hundreds of Death Knights to enjoy a comfortable life on the Ghost Ship the past six months.
There was a good reason for living on the sea, or on this Ghost Ship for that matter.
Although Geniella encouraged Kim Jonghyun to make the deal with Volander, Kim Jonghyun was originally already mindful of Volander when planning out his next move.
Two of the Five Black Star positions were currently vacant. Arbeth was murdered by Kim Jonghyun in cold blood and his knowledge plundered and Yana had ripped out Henemy, the King of Monsters’, heart.
The King of the Lycanthrope Tribe, the Mad King, Juwon, was not an option for Kim Jonghyun to try and control since he had given up on such interest of massacres and outright violence, so Kim Jonghyun could not be able to fulfill the ritual with him. So naturally the only one left was Volander, and he just so happened to have a wish that Kim Jonghyun could fulfill in trade for his obedience.
In fact, Juwon had a relationship with Geniella of some sorts and Kim Jonghyun did not dare to cross those two monstrous powerhouses.
‘I should never anger her.’
It was not just the power of the future that Kim Jonghyun was wary about when thinking of Geniella. She was a monster beyond all common sense, and he was not even sure that anybody could possibly kill her with her ridiculous regeneration.
The only person left was Volander, and he was a card that Kim Jonghyun valued a lot when thinking about controlling a large power.
Longing to be human, the Death Knights and Volander had no choice but to obey Kim Jonghyun.
In addition to being able to fulfill their wish, there was another reason Kim Jonghyun visited the Death Knights on this vast and empty ocean.
Death Knight is different from the other undeads. They lost their bodies, formed an astral body using spirit as a medium, and put armor on it.
In fact, it was the same for a Lich, but the biggest and most fundamental difference between Liches and Death Knights, was that unlike a Lich, a Death Knight was cursed and never would be able to have a chance at returning to being a human unlike a Lich who could freely move their souls into different vessels.
It was very attractive for Kim Jonghyun that hundreds of Death Knights were gathered together.
Volander, with hundreds of Death Knights and powerful powers, was a formidable power that went beyond common sense. That was what Kim Jonghyun was interested in.
‘There you go.’
Kim Jonghyun looked down at the magic formula that was painted on the floor with a pleased face.
It’s a magical formula that attracts the power of fear and death into a condensed place. On a ship with the most death energy in one area on the entire planet, this was the ideal place for him to perform the spell.
Kim Jonghyun spoke the Demonic tongue while inhaling fervent amounts of fear and Death Energy while reading from the Grimoire’s contents.
The Death Knight’s curse that they were afflicted with, was due to a contract with a Devil, and naturally Kim Jonghyun who had the powers of a Devil, was able to dispel it with proper time and preparation.
He had the source and power necessary to fulfill every desire they had.
Though he was only half a Devil, it was something he no longer regretted.
He no longer was trying to re-attempt his body reconstruction due to his curiosity already being satisfied.
It was nothing but a simple curiosity that moved him at the time.
Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…….
The Dead Mana flowed freely throughout the air. The fear and death energy that had been carefully collected for months started to pulsate and spiral into a vortex.
Kim Jonghyun grinned.
There was no way this magic spell would fail. There was nobody that could stop them, and even if there was, the Death Knights and Volander would be there to stop them.
He even prepared for the possibility of someone trying to interfere like last time, but there was no interruption.
The magic was completed as planned, and a black door appeared in front of Kim Jonghyun in the middle of the air.
He slowly approached the dark and eerie door.
Through the energy of death, which was connected to the origins of the devil, opened the portal to the Realm of Demons. Kim Jonghyun didn’t even have to reach out and open his hand. The door slowly opened in front of Kim Jong-hyun.
The moment he tried to get in the door, Kim Jonghyun stopped walking.
“Don’t come in.”
He heard such a voice in his head.
‘If you go in, you can’t come back.’
Kim Jonghyun’s eyes shone at the warning he felt in his head.