Chapter 351: Dark King (1)

Immediately after the Heavenly Demon opened the Demonic Mirror Gate and disappeared.

The woman rushed over and helped Gu Yangcheon.

“Young Master Gu…!”

He stumbled and fell. As soon as she touched him, Wi Seol-ah had to feel it. The demonic energy boiling from Gu Yangcheon’s body.

“No….”

Watching that, she let out a low groan.

In the end, it turned out like this.

She had wished so hard for Gu Yangcheon not to become a demon.

Gu Yangcheon had become a demon after all.

She could see Gu Yangcheon’s eyes looking at her.

Unlike his usual black or red irises.

Gu Yangcheon’s irises were now violet. This was like the symbol of a demon.

Seeing that, the woman couldn’t help but start to whimper.

“No… no….”

Tears welled up in her eyes naturally.

It felt like tears would flow if she just nudged them.

Just then, Gu Yangcheon moved.

He raised his hand and reached towards the woman.

“Are you okay…? Young Master Gu…!”

The woman urgently called out to Gu Yangcheon, but he abruptly reached out and stroked her cheek.

“Ah….”

“What are you crying about?”

His rough fingers brushed past her eyes.

He was wiping away her tears.

“I’m fine, so stop sniveling. If someone saw, they’d think I was dead.”

“…”

While the woman bit her lip tightly.

Gu Yangcheon quietly watched her.

She too had retracted the white energy she had manifested around her body.

As the situation calmed down, the woman felt a sudden wave of anxiety.

It was because the way Gu Yangcheon looked at her was peculiar.

She thought it was because he was tired.

Or because he was shocked from facing the Heavenly Demon.

The woman tried to convince herself.

But she realized it wasn’t that.

“Hey.”

“…!”

“We have some things to talk about, don’t we?”

At Gu Yangcheon’s words, the woman gasped.

How should I say it? What should I do?

[Unni….]

Wi Seol-ah was calling out to her from within, but this wasn’t the time to answer that voice.

Just then.

Swoooosh.

“Young… Young Master Gu?”

Subtle changes began to occur in Gu Yangcheon’s body.

The woman urgently tried to examine Gu Yangcheon’s body.

Her outstretched wrist was caught by Gu Yangcheon.

It seemed like a sign not to touch him.

The woman could see the flow of demonic energy.

The demonic energy flowing through Gu Yangcheon’s body had begun to move.

Just as she wondered what kind of change this was.

“Sigh….”

Gu Yangcheon exhaled, looking somewhat strained.

The changes weren’t just in his energy, but also starting to happen in his body.

His deep black hair began to show hints of light red.

And the color of his irises was returning to their usual black.

“This….”

In other words, his demonic transformation was reversing.

But in the woman’s eyes, it was impossible.

Once one becomes a demon, they remain that way until death.

How potent was the demonic energy that spread from a demon who met their end?

Only after reaching that point would one be freed from demonic energy.

Yet Gu Yangcheon was currently undoing his demonic transformation himself.

How could he do that?

While the woman watched in astonishment.

Gu Yangcheon, having gathered all his energy, opened his eyes again.

“…Hoo.”

“How….”

Just as the woman was about to ask Gu Yangcheon the reason.

She closed her mouth upon meeting his gaze again.

Quietly, they only made eye contact for a few seconds at most, but the time felt incredibly long.

Should I make an excuse?

No. It’s a misunderstanding.

It’s not what you think.

The woman thought countless times.

She had considered that such a day might come.

But her prior resolve was to disappear before such a thing could happen.

If she did that, for him too…

“What should I call you?”

“…!”

“What should I call you?”

At Gu Yangcheon’s monotonously spoken words.

The woman’s expression turned as if she were about to cry any second.

His tone was certain.

He was already convinced.

“…Ah… Ugh….”

“You weren’t the type to be speechless. Why have you seized up like this?”

“That’s….”

“Never mind that. I have many questions, but I want to ask the important one first.”

Where should I even start? How much can I say?

What will he ask?

Will he ask what happened?

Why am I like this?

Why didn’t I speak up?

Or maybe…

Why did you kill me?

Were you satisfied after doing that?

Do you know what I did for you?

Will he unleash such resentments?

Just imagining it makes me breathless.

Her hands started to tremble, but the woman forced herself to endure.

He had the right to say such things.

She was merely running away because she didn’t want to hear them.

“Still.”

At the voice that finally reached her, the woman squeezed her eyes shut.

Then.

“Do you hate me?”

Gu Yangcheon’s voice was heard.

What did he just say?

Did I mishear?

The woman’s eyes slowly opened.

Her subsequent expression was one of bewildered confusion, as if she had misheard.

The woman looked into Gu Yangcheon’s eyes.

“What, what are you saying…?”

“No, I was wondering how much you must have hated me to follow me here. Can’t you forgive me a little? I tried my best, you know.”

Seeing him scratch the back of his head sheepishly.

The woman couldn’t say anything.

Words like that…

“What are you talking about? You… You shouldn’t be asking me something like that.”

“Hm?”

Tears finally fell down her trembling shoulders.

“You should curse me… Call me a worthless bitch. Say it’s my fault. That’s what you should say. Why… Why are you asking that?”

“What is this girl saying now? Why would I curse? Do you have that kind of taste?”

“I…”

“Ah, stop sniveling and just answer the question. You’re really frustrating.”

Gu Yangcheon, unable to stand the frustration, cut the woman off.

And he asked the same question to the woman again.

“Do you still hate me?”

“…”

Her wrist was still held.

Despite saying he had a mountain of questions for this situation, the very first thing he asks is this.

This is when she should be pouring out her resentment.

This is when she should be cursing him and wanting to beat him to death.

And all he asks is that?

She wondered if perhaps he was cursing her indirectly.

But Gu Yangcheon’s eyes were the same as usual.

They were the eyes the woman had longed to meet.

Looking into Gu Yangcheon’s eyes like that, the woman finally managed to answer.

“No….”

Perhaps because the words were squeezed out with great effort.

Her pronunciation was a bit slurred and full of tremors.

But it wasn’t a lie.

She didn’t know about their first meeting.

No, perhaps she had hated him then.

She must have hated him.

How could she have liked him, given how their first meeting went?

But at least.

The feelings the woman held in her heart while looking at him until the moment of her death were certainly different from hatred.

“I don’t hate you… I didn’t hate you.”

Words spoken in a trembling voice.

Hearing that, Gu Yangcheon released the strength in his grip on her wrist.

“That’s a relief.”

And he smiled.

His very first question was that.

And he smiled just hearing that one answer.

That single smile made the woman’s heart sink.

“…”

There were words flooding her mind.

I want to hold him.

Seeing him brought back memories.

The moment she held him for the first and last time.

That day she held his dying body, bleeding.

Not the moment she wailed while hugging his cooling body then.

She wanted to hold the him of now.

Does she have the right to hold him?

No. She likely didn’t have such a right.

Even so.

Even so, she wanted to hold him just once now.

Even though she knew it was selfish.

The woman moved as if entranced.

Just as Gu Yangcheon wore a puzzled expression at the woman’s movement.

“…Enough of that, won’t you help me a bit?”

Halt.

A voice came from behind.

“It’s somewhat entertaining to watch, but I’m a bit pressed for time here.”

When Gu Yangcheon turned his head to check the owner of the voice, he saw Bi Ui-jin, sweating profusely.

“Huh?”

“…Ah.”

It was something both of them had completely forgotten.

---

Creak.

Thick smoke billowed, and at its center was a red coffin.

The ominous-looking coffin opened, and someone carefully sat up.

Crack crack.

Every small movement echoed with the sound of bones.

The person who sat up in the coffin repeatedly moved a few times, as if unfamiliar with their own body.

Thud thud.

Each time, the sounds that kept echoing gradually lessened with repeated movements.

By the time the sounds finally ceased.

The figure emerged from the coffin through the smoke and took a step.

Seeing that, the Dancer hurriedly approached and knelt.

“…Are you alright? Is there anything uncomfortable?”

In response to the Dancer’s words, the figure, examining their body, replied.

“It’s a meager body, but this will suffice.”

“I apologize.”

“It’s not something for you to apologize for. After all, there’s only one body that would truly satisfy me.”

Heh heh.

The figure chuckled.

Only after all the smoke dissipated could the owner of the voice be seen.

The figure, brushing back his hair while checking his body, was surprisingly Jang Seon-yeon.

No, it wasn’t.

He wasn’t Jang Seon-yeon.

He was merely wearing a mask; he wasn’t such a primitive being.

Where Jang Seon-yeon’s original eyes had been.

Fiery red pupils had taken their place.

One side of his cheek looked bumpy, like reptile skin.

As if aware of it, he lightly touched his cheek with his hand, and the remaining traces vanished.

His pupils also blinked several times.

Then they returned to the eyes Jang Seon-yeon had.

Afterward, he asked the Dancer.

“Dancer.”

“Yes….”

“Did you deliver the message as I instructed?”

“Yes. I informed the Barracks Chief and the Alliance Leader in advance.”

Swish.

Jang Seon-yeon, no, the Blood Demon (血魔), walked out slowly and put on the clothes the Dancer had prepared.

“It’s been a while since I walked on my own two feet; it brings back memories.”

A smile surfaced, as if he were pleased.

How many years has it been?

It must have been several hundred years at least.

Yet it doesn’t feel like that much time has passed.

Or perhaps, since he never cared much about the passage of time in the first place, it felt even less real.

“…Master.”

At the Dancer’s voice that suddenly reached him, the Blood Demon turned around.

“Yes.”

“May I dare to ask you something?”

What could she be trying to ask?

The Blood Demon looked down at the Dancer with an intrigued expression.

This was a sign of permission.

“I wish to ask… the reason why you are moving personally at this juncture.”

“The reason.”

To the Dancer’s question, the Blood Demon stroked a beard that wasn’t there.

The sight was somewhat comical, but the Dancer did not laugh.

“If you’re looking for a reason, I’m simply moving because the time has come.”

“The time you were waiting for?”

“Yes.”

In the distant past.

The Blood Demon was sealed.

The world claimed the Blood Demon had been killed.

But the reality was different.

He wasn’t killed.

He was merely sealed.

Those who ultimately judged they couldn’t kill the Blood Demon decided to seal him, preventing his revival if he couldn’t be killed.

Do you know how intricate and powerful the formation array required to seal just one Blood Demon was?

Not only were his body and energy separated and sent flowing into the sea.

His five senses, mixed within his soul, were torn apart and scattered so they could never rejoin.

After emptying the framework and core of his soul, multiple layers of formation arrays were built upon it to block him.

Normally, it shouldn’t have been broken even after many centuries, let alone millennia.

The Blood Demon broke free from his seal less than a hundred years after the Blood Demon War ended.

Contrary to expectations that it would hold for centuries.

It didn’t even take a hundred years.

Ironically, this was something the Blood Demon had already anticipated.

It was impossible for a formation array, at best created by humans, to stop him.

A hundred years. Even that was quite something.

However, he was only freed from the seal; his body and energy.

Along with his five senses, had not yet returned.

He had no worries.

After all, they would eventually return.

That was the nature of the flow, and the story was destined to unfold according to the world’s order.

All the Blood Demon had to do was endure.

Time flowed by.

The time had come.

The scattered fragments of the Blood Demon had journeyed back through the long years.

“I didn’t expect the fragments to mix with other souls, but it’s not a bad thing.”

The Blood Demon’s five senses, having wandered lost amidst the cycle of reincarnation.

As if they had been waiting, had gathered in one era.

Was this also part of the predetermined sequence?

Thinking so, he found it utterly amusing.

Someone flashed through the Blood Demon’s mind.

A man with dark blonde hair.

“Didn’t I tell you? That it was a futile endeavor.”

Even though I said it was futile, the back of that foolish man who stubbornly pushed forward despite not believing comes to mind.

See? In the end, the flow turns and moves in the destined direction.

“There’s a slight anomaly, but even so, it’s merely a struggle that won’t be noticed.”

Splish.

He stepped over the damp floor.

The Dancer followed, moving her steps accordingly.

“Yes, you asked why I’m moving now.”

“Yes.”

“Because the world is urging me.”

“The world… you mean?”

Beings, each embodying one of the Blood Demon’s five senses, were born into this world.

From the moment they were born, the Blood Demon had sensed them.

Every single sense, without exception.

Do you really think it’s a coincidence?

No, that’s impossible.

The fragments that should have been born around the time the Blood Demon revived were not born then.

They were put on hold.

‘It’s not time yet.’

So for them to be given all at once after hundreds of years…

Hee hee.

The Blood Demon simply laughed.

It was such an obvious story that it was utterly laughable.

The Blood Demon looked up at the ceiling.

It was the ceiling of a sealed underground space, but the Blood Demon’s eyes saw beyond it.

The sky that lay spread out, and even higher places.

“Are you that afraid?”

A cool breeze suddenly brushed past.

“What is there to be so afraid of? It’s so enjoyable.”

Giving a slight smile to the one who wouldn’t answer, the Blood Demon turned his head to look at the Dancer.

The Dancer lowered her head, avoiding the Blood Demon’s gaze.

Although hidden by her veil, the Blood Demon could clearly see the Dancer’s face.

Seeing that, the Blood Demon spoke.

“It seems your siblings have met each other.”

“…!”

At the word ‘siblings,’ the Dancer’s shoulders flinched.

Furthermore, she had to suppress the emotions boiling up inside her.

It was jealousy.

As she bit her lip slightly, trying to erase the emotion.

The Blood Demon, watching the Dancer, tilted his head.

“What’s making you so angry?”

“Ah, no. How could I….”

At the Dancer’s reaction, the Blood Demon mused.

A pitiful creation.

After all, unlike those children who received parts of his body and energy.

You, who only possess a few of his scales.

Jealousy, a truly narrow emotion, but the Blood Demon did not blame the Dancer.

He observed the Dancer intently, then turned his head to look towards the entrance.

“For now, I simply wish to feel the wind.”

Normally, he would have stayed here a little longer.

But an anomaly had appeared, catching the Blood Demon’s attention.

The predetermined flow remained the same.

But he could feel something emerging from within it, causing a slight disruption.

“How fascinating.”

An anomaly interfering with a story that should have been immutable.

It was something Yeon Il-cheon had craved so much but never achieved.

The Blood Demon briefly recalled someone with a fierce appearance.

He was truly a peculiar child.

Not only did he harbor a terrifying being within his embrace.

But half of him wasn’t even human.

Moreover, he possessed several holy marks from other realms.

If one bore that many holy marks on a single body, their soul should have ignited long ago, yet he was breathing perfectly fine.

Furthermore, the person himself seemed unaware of his condition.

If that isn’t an anomaly, then what is?

Having confirmed that the anomaly he had so desperately wished for and anticipated was right there.

The excited Blood Demon couldn’t help but take a step forward.

“This time, I shall go see for myself.”

His anticipation swelled.

“To find everything I scattered.”

Including the five senses.

The Blood Demon was seeking his body and energy.