Chapter 266: What Am I. (3)

Tuk… tuk….

Water flowing along the ceiling becomes drops and falls.

It is a space filled with emptiness, and furthermore, damp and moist.

Although underground places are originally like that.

This place felt particularly strong.

Perhaps.

The reason must be the ice crystal located at the center of the underground.

As if endlessly listed.

Deeply hidden underground, and in a space further inside than that, there was a giant ice crystal.

It truly doesn’t fit.

It’s not even an ice palace where all four seasons are frozen.

The fact that such an ice crystal exists in the Murim Alliance.

Jeobeok-.

Leaving such doubts behind.

A woman moves her steps through the wide, dark space, holding a small torch.

It was a path the woman had surely walked thousands of times, so she could go even with her eyes closed.

Indeed, the woman did not open her eyes.

The woman’s calm and graceful steps gradually slow down.

The reason is likely because she reached her destination.

Uuung-

As the woman stopped walking.

A chilling cold wind mixed with the air blows from the front.

The woman’s veil flutters in the wind, but her rigidly standing body seemed unwilling to move.

Soon after.

-Muhee.

At the deep voice heard by her ear, the woman immediately kneels.

-It seems the connection with Namgung’s child has been severed.

“…Yes. It seems there’s a problem.”

-How strange.

“I will send someone to find out immediately what happened.”

Muhee intended to contact the Alliance immediately and send someone.

Because this was, in its own way, an important matter.

Namgung’s Thunder Dragon, the later disciple of the Six Dragons and Three Peaks, was, in a way, the first test subject.

What happens to one who contains divine energy within their physical body.

Or.

How long they can endure.

It was to confirm this.

Thunder Dragon was chosen as the suitable person.

Because the situation and his level matched well.

Of course, from Muhee’s perspective, she thought it was a somewhat hasty apostleship.

It seemed her master had a different stance.

That was enough for Muhee.

Because her master’s opinion was her own opinion.

Kkeul-kkeul-kkeul-

Laughter was heard at Muhee’s words.

As Muhee, who had been bowing her head, lifted it.

-There’s no need.

“…Yes?”

It was a somewhat bewildering statement.

Even though her master had called it an important matter.

Why such a reaction?

As Muhee’s bewilderment grew.

-The Namgung family… I heard that child is also there.

The master said.

“That… child you speak of… Ah.”

A spark appears in Muhee’s eyes.

Because she realized who was meant.

The person the master mentioned.

Was an unexpected dark horse, unforeseen by the Alliance and the master.

A young warrior who has recently been drawing the master’s attention.

‘Jinryong.’

The newcomer who appeared, making a name for himself without notice at some point.

Showed martial prowess that couldn’t dare be called that of a later disciple, crushing the martial arts tournament.

Thanks to that, the plan went somewhat awry.

The master seemed unconcerned about this.

As if.

It felt like they welcomed such dark horses and unexpected situations.

Moreover, whether by coincidence.

He heard that Jinryong was currently at the Namgung family.

‘Then, perhaps what you’re saying now…’

The problem that occurred with Thunder Dragon.

Is it that you think Jinryong caused it?

‘What is it about that later disciple.’

He wasn’t a being possessing the master’s ‘fragment’,

Nor was he someone who caught the eye of the ‘Heavenly Eyes’.

Originally.

He would have been someone swept away by time, fading without even leaving a proper name.

Muhee couldn’t understand.

That such a being suddenly appeared.

However, whatever it may be.

It remains something that couldn’t easily happen.

Especially around the time the connection with Thunder Dragon was severed last.

Because she didn’t know in detail why it was severed.

‘Just at some point.’

The connection was severed the moment Thunder Dragon asked me something.

A sense of foreignness, as if something else had cut the connection.

Muhee was bothered by that.

If it really was something Jinryong did….

-How interesting.

Perhaps because he sensed Muhee’s thoughts.

The master laughs, making a ‘kkeul’ sound.

“…Are you alright?”

-What are you talking about?

“Perhaps, whether the plan might face disruption…”

At Muhee’s worry, the surrounding air instantly grew heavy.

At that anomaly, Muhee lowered the head she was holding up.

-Disruption, what pleasant words.

“…Yes?”

-There’s nothing more captivating than gaps and anomalies arising in predetermined events.

His voice was surprisingly full of laughter.

She thought this was what her master desired so much.

Muhee couldn’t understand in detail why he showed such a reaction.

-This is an order.

At the master’s words, Muhee’s head bowed even deeper.

-Do not delve deeply into the matter of Thunder Dragon.

“…Understood.”

Her answer was without hesitation.

Though doubt and curiosity stirred, Muhee did not voice them.

She would just obey.

Do not question the words of a great being.

It is a principle deeply ingrained in Muhee’s mind since the moment she was born.

-Muhee.

“Yes… Master.”

-Send word to the Director. Tell them I wish to see them.

“Understood.”

Muhee, who bowed respectfully at her master’s words, withdrew.

The master, left alone in the darkness.

Blood Demon whispers quietly in the emptiness.

-Child, I wonder if you can accomplish what the Golden King could not.

Child.

Blood Demon recalls a fierce young boy he met long ago.

In the distant past.

He resembled the pathetic one who postponed matters to the future by imprisoning me here.

Fierce thoughts of the past clung to him,

And he was the boy in whom the King of Another World had hidden.

-You resemble him.

It’s the same that he harbored a monster within his body.

Is this a coincidence?

It cannot be.

There are no coincidences in this world.

Then this too must be destiny.

At the same time, Blood Demon recalled the one who imprisoned him here.

Perhaps it was the best he could do,

But ultimately, it was merely a fool’s act of postponing a future disaster onto his descendants.

-Going round and round to the beginning. It is reincarnation through him.

To be broken, ruined, and then burned away.

The world was originally destined to be that way.

No matter how much one struggles, it’s merely the twitch of a microscopic organism.

Just a laughable final struggle.

-But, will you be different? I am curious.

I cannot know.

The sequence of all events is predetermined, but.

Like in the past, many worlds struggle to survive.

It is laughable and pitiful, but.

That too was destiny.

-Can you become a dagger?

A dagger that can pierce a very small, created gap.

Blood Demon was curious.

Whether that weak dagger could pierce through everything.

---

I recall a certain time.

It was just before Cheonma moved towards the Alliance.

Around the time when two of the Three Sovereigns had died.

It was when the Divine Sword was still called the Lesser Sword Saint.

It was also around the time when the righteous sects, scattered and only looking out for themselves, were barely starting to unite.

There were countless individuals who fell into demonic ways, impressed by Cheonma’s power,

And the probability of the Demonic Cult’s defeat was very slim, as their forces were overwhelmingly high.

Just as much as the righteous sects, the experts of the Demonic Cult were also buried in the ground, but.

Everyone knew.

That as long as Cheonma existed, the Demonic Cult would not collapse.

The Alliance’s forces are visible far away.

They were all elite, highly skilled warriors, but.

Cheonma remained calm even while looking at them.

-Great Leader.

At Cheonma’s voice, I lifted my bowed head.

-…Yes.

-Are you seeking an answer?

Cheonma asked.

Whether I sought the answer to my question.

I nodded.

While wondering if it was possible to dare ask something of my sect’s sky,

It felt like I could finally ask because it was now.

Therefore, I asked.

-Why do I desire the Central Plains? You were curious about that.

Where Cheonma came from.

What kind of being he was.

What he wanted from me.

I wasn’t curious.

Because it was too late to be curious about such things.

And yet….

And yet. There was one thing I wanted to know.

-What do you think the reason is?

-…I do not know.

Why a being like Cheonma would bother wanting to sweep through the Central Plains and stand above the heavens.

Even while taking countless lives.

What the goal he sought to climb towards was.

I wanted to know.

At this, Cheonma chuckled.

-Great Leader, your reason for questioning is mixed with personal desire.

-…

I closed my mouth at Cheonma’s words.

-Are you afraid?

Cheonma’s gaze turns towards me.

-Are you afraid that the head of the woman you cherish will be held in my fingertips?

The image flashes.

Her, dead and bleeding from Cheonma’s touch.

Her, looking at me with eyes full of resentment.

Is that what you fear?

-…

I couldn’t bring myself to say no.

Though I couldn’t say it was entirely true either.

Because I too knew well that a sliver of emotion was growing.

Cheonma’s purple eyes turn towards me.

I wanted to bow my head right away, but.

I couldn’t.

Because Cheonma did not permit it.

-I thought you would have frozen over that much.

His fingertips approached.

Supporting my chin, he lifted my head.

-Great Leader, you are still the same. Nothing has cooled.

-I’m sorry…

-You have committed no crime, so I will not accept your apology.

Having finished speaking, Cheonma turned his back without hesitation.

Cheonma’s martial robe fluttered, and demonic energy surged.

It was still an energy that defied reason.

To the point where I wondered if it was a realm achievable by a human.

-Reason.

I listened to Cheonma’s words.

Watching the gradually approaching Alliance forces, I murmured to Cheonma.

-Well.

Cheonma slightly raised his hand.

Energy surged from all directions onto his palm.

The energy gradually gathering at his fingertips.

That was surely a disaster.

A disaster that would sweep the surrounding area in an instant.

The black sphere, seeming to gather all the world’s malice.

Paradoxically, it looked purer than anything else.

Is it because I am a demonized person?

Or perhaps because Cheonma’s power is that unnatural?

I couldn’t even know that.

As the demonic energy mixed with the wind, gradually distorting the space.

Cheonma said to me.

-It must be because my role is like that.

Cheonma, saying so, lightly stepped towards the charging forces.

Cheonma’s expression at that moment.

Somehow, it seemed like he was smiling.

I opened my eyes, ending with that scene.

“…Ah.”

I let out an involuntary sigh and looked around.

What I saw was an unfamiliar ceiling, but at least it was more welcome than the dream from back then.

“What a shitty dream.”

As always, if I wanted to dream, it was a nightmare,

And it was the same this time.

This is why I hate falling asleep.

“Ha.”

I clutched my throbbing head and sat up.

It wasn’t just my head that had a headache; my whole body ached.

My lower abdomen was particularly problematic.

The emptiness, feeling as if it were completely hollow,

And the severe pain resulting from it were the problem.

‘Shit.’

It was at a level where I couldn’t train using energy for a while.

I add a self-deprecating laugh and mutter to myself.

“…Who can I blame? I’m the sinner.”

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue once and dragged my exhausted body out the door.

I don’t know how much time has passed, but I couldn’t stay wallowing here, staggering.

I can’t be like this when I’m not even a beggar.

When I came outside.

A breeze mixed with a faint morning scent was blowing.

Furthermore, along with the blowing wind.

I noticed someone standing in front of my door.

I thought it might be Hongwa, but.

It definitely wasn’t.

Having immediately confirmed their identity, I frowned and opened my mouth.

“You seem fine?”

At my voice, the guy turned around.

“…”

The identity was Namgung Cheonjun, whom I faced last night.

The wounds he suffered yesterday seemed mostly healed.

The bones in his chest had mended.

His twisted arm was back in place.

The remaining injuries were probably just the fingers whose nails had been pulled out and cauterized.

And on top of that.

The way he looked at me had changed significantly from yesterday.

The madness, tightly packed with malice and murderous intent, was gone.

What filled his eyes was only bewilderment and questioning.

Perhaps a spoonful of fear was mixed in.

‘Of course.’

I knew the reason why that guy had no choice but to be like that.

The vital energy flowing through Namgung Cheonjun’s original body.

Was all absorbed into my body.

Seeing the accumulated amount wasn’t small, it seemed I received quite a lot.

I don’t know with what intention that energy was sent to Namgung Cheonjun.

‘Well, I can just hear about that from now on.’

At least I should be able to hear as much as that guy knows.

Even amidst this, I steadily observed Namgung Cheonjun’s body.

To be precise.

Rather than Namgung Cheonjun’s body.

It would be more correct to say I was looking at the demonic energy that sprouted within his lower abdomen.

‘…It’s clear. Excessively so.’

The demonic energy that sprouted in Namgung Cheonjun’s body.

Was exceptionally clear.

As if it possessed will, I could see it slowly permeating his body, albeit sluggishly.

Since it was the place where vital energy had resided in the first place, it was like filling an empty spot, but.

The problem was that it had been recognized by Namgung Cheonjun’s body.

That it was gradually permeating his body.

Means Namgung Cheonjun is slowly becoming demonized.

And.

What made him like that.

Was me last night.

Due to the demonic arts evolving according to my level.

There’s something I thought of once.

That I might actually turn someone else into a demonized person like this.

It was an ability that was solely Cheonma’s privilege,

A special ability I thought only Cheonma could use.

Even after thinking of it, I dismissed it with a laugh, saying it couldn’t be.

At that time, I was secretly scared.

I knew it all along.

I instinctively knew I could do it if I wanted to.

Even without needing to confirm it.

It was a fact I could vaguely sense, as if someone had told me.

Still, I desperately hoped it wasn’t the case, but.

‘It’s confirmed now.’

Seeing the result before my eyes, I had no choice but to accept it.

Namgung Cheonjun was becoming demonized due to my demonic energy,

And soon he would be a demonized person.

“How did this happen…!”

“Kneel.”

Kkung…!

“…!”

At a single word, Namgung Cheonjun knelt without resistance.

“Fuck.”

Seeing that, I involuntarily let out a hollow laugh mixed with a curse.

At my command, the demonic energy within Namgung Cheonjun’s body moved him of its own accord.

As if obeying.

Every word is like imposing a restriction.

Isn’t it truly a terrifying power?

“Th-this… this…”

Namgung Cheonjun looked up at me with a face filled with fear.

He seemed not to properly understand what was happening to his body.

“Who… are you, really?”

That’s what he asked me.

My identity?

To that question, I answered with a bitter laugh.

“Yeah. I’m curious too. About what I am.”

Now, even I don’t know.

No, I just wanted to turn away.

At least this time.

Because my prediction shouldn’t have come true.