Chapter 1167: Scorched World.

“Haa… Haa…!”

On a night when the moon had risen, the Black Moon Empress moved frantically.

“Haa…!”

She was drenched in sweat, her face filled with terror. Though she was a woman well past forty, she was a martial artist who maintained her youth by mastering the demonic art known as the Absorbing Star Method.

The women she had killed numbered in the hundreds, and the men she had taken advantage of were likely the same.

Despite maintaining her youth, the woman, a villain whose heart was blackened, was gripped by fear.

‘Run… I have to run.’

Quickly. I had to run faster.

‘Who is it? Just who the hell is that guy…!’

The being she had just seen. Recalling him, the Black Moon Empress felt her insides churn.

He definitely looked like Hwagongma.

That repulsive guy who had persistently clung to her. His eyes were full of lewdness, and he was utterly base compared to his cultivation level.

He was such a disgusting fellow; she’d avoided dealing with him whenever possible.

‘…He was different.’

The guy she just met wasn’t Hwagongma. The Black Moon Empress was certain.

‘What was he?’

‘Just the face was the same; he was someone else.’

Not only his energy but even the aura he exuded was different. He didn’t seem like one of the righteous, but she couldn’t figure out his identity.

How could he look exactly like Hwagongma? It wasn’t even a human skin mask.

‘Yeokcheonje. That old geezer died in an instant.’

He was an old man who had cultivated external martial arts to the extreme, confident in his defense above all else. He used to joke that even the Three Sovereigns of the world couldn’t breach his defenses.

‘What a joke.’

He died far too easily.

Right through the chest his heart was pierced by that guy’s hand, ripped out, and he died.

‘Damn it.’

Was Yeokcheonje’s death sad? Not at all. The Black Moon Empress had absolutely no interest in the death of that old man or Hwagongma.

‘How am I supposed to handle things now?’

All that mattered now was her own life and freedom.

‘If someone like that had been around, I wouldn’t have taken this job.’

Grrr.

The Black Moon Empress ground her teeth. She hadn’t heard anything about this. She was only told to gather at the front line, deal with Bigo, and eliminate the righteous sect members inside.

‘Was I deceived?’

Had she been tricked by that guy? The Black Moon Empress harbored doubts.

This is why it can’t be done.

‘I shouldn’t have trusted those righteous sect bastards.’

Not only had she become a pawn for those disgusting righteous sect members, but trusting them one more time was the real problem.

‘Tsk!’

Regretting her choices, the woman headed towards her predetermined destination.

Thump-!

Where she finally arrived.

“Empress?”

She saw the man who had brought her here.

“How did it go? Did you handle the guy…?”

“You bastard-!!! How dare you!”

The Empress lunged forward and grabbed him by the collar.

“What the…!”

“How dare you trap us! You did it on purpose, didn’t you? You did it deliberately to get us killed!”

“What…?! What are you talking about right now?!”

“Preparing such a monster and then what? You promised freedom? You damn bastards…!”

“Wait a moment…”

Hearing the Empress’s words, the man’s voice took on a strange tone.

“What do you mean, monster? Surely… you couldn’t eliminate him?”

“Eliminate him? Ha…”

The woman let out a laugh. It was absurd.

“How are you supposed to eliminate a monster like that? Don’t make me laugh…!”

A single clash was enough. That guy was not someone they could handle.

“There were two of the Four Demonic Masters here. And you couldn’t handle him? Wait… where is Yeokcheonje?”

“If you can’t see him, don’t you know?”

“…!”

Yeokcheonje was dead. Hearing that, the man’s body trembled.

“I don’t know if your reaction now is false or true. But it doesn’t matter either way.”

The Black Moon Empress said through gritted teeth.

“I’m pulling out of this job. Do whatever you want.”

“What are you saying? Pulling out after coming this far?”

“What more is there to ask after hearing that? I said I won’t do it. That guy is a monster. Now that such a person has interfered, I have to withdraw. Figure it out yourself.”

“…We already have sufficient troops. While the matter of Yeokcheonje and Hwagongma was unexpected, it won’t hinder the operation.”

The Black Moon Empress clicked her tongue briefly at the man’s words. Then, she let out a faint smile.

“You… really don’t understand anything.”

“…What?”

“That’s beyond the level where troops or anything else matters. You’re a martial artist too, how can you not know? Or are you blinded by desire?”

“…Empress.”

“Whatever you say, I’m washing my hands of this. I won’t do it. If you’re someone from a reputable family, you should use your head a bit.”

“That’s why I have a head, to use it.”

“Huh?”

The Empress turned her head at the suddenly intervening voice. It was a spot where no one had been.

At that moment.

Wooddeuk.

“Kkeureuk.”

The Empress’s neck twisted.

A hand that appeared out of nowhere grabbed her neck and twisted it.

Her body fluttered down lifelessly. She met her death.

“…!”

The Black Moon Empress, who had just died before his eyes. Seeing her, the man in front of him trembled violently.

“I thought she was running pretty well, but she didn’t get very far.”

“You…”

The man swallowed dryly at the appearance of the being.

“Ah, we meet again? Nice to see you.”

The figure smiled brightly at the man. It was a person inhabiting Hwagongma’s body.

An unknown entity. A monster who suddenly appeared and killed three of the Four Demonic Masters.

And the very thing the Empress had called a monster.

As the man stood frozen, facing him.

Seuuuk.

“…!!”

The figure reached out and lifted the man’s veil.

He couldn’t stop it. The man’s veil was lifted completely.

“Hmm.”

The figure nodded after confirming the face. The reaction suggested they had expected it.

“No wonder. Something felt off.”

The figure spoke with a smirk. The change happened simultaneously.

Wooddeudeudeuk-!!

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, rough sounds echoed from the figure’s body, and its flesh began to transform.

The body gradually grew larger.

The face that had been Hwagongma’s also started to change. Finally, the figure took out a mask from within their robes and put it on.

“I must reintroduce myself.”

The voice had changed drastically too. It was no longer Hwagongma’s thin, sniveling tone, but a deep, weighty manner of speaking.

“Greetings. I am called Cheonma.”

The one who introduced himself as Cheonma.

He continued speaking, looking at the man.

“Patriarch Pang.”

“…”

The man’s identity was none other than the Patriarch of the Pang family.

---

It was something I had wondered about from the start.

‘Just who could possibly launder the identities of the Four Demonic Masters?’

‘Who could orchestrate something on this scale?’

Even if the reputation of the demonic sects isn’t what it used to be, the Four Demonic Masters are known as the ‘Great Devils’.

‘To be able to summon three such individuals, and to have the power to arbitrarily launder their identities…’

‘Who could possess such power?’

‘That was the question.’

‘Actually, the answer was obvious.’

‘To secretly summon the Four Demonic Masters to the front line, one would need to grasp the positions and situations of the personnel there.’

‘To do that, one must be privy to all the current circumstances on the front line.’

‘Furthermore, one needed the power to arbitrarily alter the identities of individuals, meaning they must have considerable backing.’

‘Identity laundering implies the ability to change them into righteous sect members, doesn’t it?’

‘Which means the one doing the laundering must be from a righteous sect.’

‘Therefore…’

‘Someone who can grasp the situation on the current front line.’

‘The current administrator of the front line.’

‘An entity with the backing to arbitrarily change the identities of the Four Demonic Masters.’

‘A place with vast fame and influence in the Central Plains.’

“Patriarch Pang.”

I spoke, having identified the mastermind behind this affair.

The middle-aged man’s eyes trembled upon hearing my words.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

The culprit was none other than Patriarch Pang.

The head of one of the Four Great Families, the very family managing the current front line.

‘I’ve never seen this person before.’

The Pang family’s Patriarch being the culprit in this matter… It was absurd, yet I had to consider many things as I looked at him.

‘So this is the current Pang family head.’

The father of the deceased Sword King, and the grandfather of Pang Woojin.

‘And he, collaborating with the demonic sects, specifically the Four Demonic Masters, was plotting something at the front line?’

‘This is unknown information.’

It wasn’t something recorded in history.

Naturally.

‘If it had happened…’

‘The Ha-buk Pang family would have ceased being called one of the Four Great Families long ago. This was an unrecorded fact.’

‘…Just who are you?’

As his identity was completely figured out, Patriarch Pang showed a flustered reaction.

‘Did you not hear my words? I am Cheonma.’

“Cheonma…? Ah… wait.”

Patriarch Pang reacted to the name Cheonma.

“‘Could it be… the one who appeared in Anhui…?'”

It seemed Patriarch Pang had also heard the tale of someone hunting a white-level monster in Anhui.

“‘How could someone like that be here…?!”

“‘Who knows? Do I have an obligation to answer such things to you? What’s important is that you, a lowly piece of trash from the righteous sects, attempted to engage in petty acts with those demonic sect scum. Isn’t that right?'”

“…Grrr.”

Upon having his secret exposed, Patriarch Pang’s face contorted.

Watching Patriarch Pang, I asked.

“I heard you were searching for Bigo at the front line. Did you find him?”

“…”

Patriarch Pang shut his mouth. It was a reaction indicating he didn’t want to answer anything.

“Yes. It’s understandable you wouldn’t want to answer.”

It was fine, though. It’s natural to be reluctant to speak. I understand.

Whack-!

“Gak?!”

I grabbed the guy by the neck.

“But it doesn’t matter.”

“Kkeueuk! Ggeuk!”

Ignoring the struggling Patriarch Pang, I glared at him.

“Because you’ll end up answering anyway.”

Wooong-!

Demonic energy surged from my heart.

I wouldn’t make the same mistake I made with Hwagongma.

I immediately injected the demonic energy into him.

“Kkeueo-eok!!!”

Patriarch Pang screamed as the whites of his eyes instantly turned black.