Chapter 412: The Last Bandit (3)

Smoke continued to fill the dark forest.

It also filled the air with a sharp burning smell.

“Hah… Ahhh…! Aghhhh!”

The unknown man repeatedly screamed out loud. It was because fire slowly burnt him alive.

“Please… Pleeeaaase!”

He desperately begged for his life to the person who was holding him by his neck, but his opponent continued to stare at him the same way as before.

Unlike his emotionless face, his pupils were bright red as if it was filled with raging flames.

When moonlight started to light up the area around them, the dirt ground below was revealed.

The ground was strangely dark in color.

It was because it was drenched in blood.

“…Urgh… Ufh… gh.”

The man wrapped in flames gradually became quiet after screaming repeatedly.

He was no longer alive.

“…”
Thud.

After confirming his death, the young man let go of the man’s body.

The lifeless body fell to the ground and the flames around the body disappeared instantly.

“Huff…”

Another man watching covered his mouth after seeing the sight. It was the leader of his group that just died.

His leader may have been over the age of forty, but he was still an impressive martial artist who had reached Peak Realm.

Even the boss approved of his strength, yet he was effortlessly killed by a young man who barely seemed to be at the age of twenty…

What is this… what the hell.

The man covering his mouth couldn’t fathom what had just happened in front of him.

The same thing happened to other members of the group as well.

The man who was caught first turned into a pile of ash and the others lost their lives by getting their necks twisted.

It wasn’t any different for the leader of the group either.

Monster… that thing is a monster.

The man slowly backed off while his body shivered in fear, but he was stopped by the tree right behind him.

“Huff… huff…”

His mind was already filled with the fear of death.

Is this it? Am I going to die right here?

Tears started to run down his face due to the fear that continued to fill him.

He couldn’t run either.

His legs were already destroyed by that monster’s hands after all.

Creak.

The monster that was crouching, started to make its move.

Blaze-!

The same flames as before still wrapped around the monster’s body.

The man only had one thought when he saw those flames.

It’s ruthless.

It was different from the usual heat and warmth one could feel from Flame Art.

Nothing could be felt from this one.

That only brought more fear to the man.

Why doesn’t this flame have anything in it?

No, there was one thing.

…Killing intent.

Those flames were like a huge blob of killing intent.

Could nothing be felt from that young man because all of his wills were contained in his flames?

Just how much killing intent did he have for such a thing to be possible?

Flame…? Wait, now that I think about it,

Then, one thought came up in the man’s mind.

The person who was currently the most famous for using Flame Art.

A martial artist who was known as a young hero, and the one who will lead the current generation.

He was known to stop the ambush that occurred in the Heavenly Dragon Academy and got rid of the enemies from the Unorthodox Faction without showing pity. The young man was given a new title after that, and it was said that he used Flame Art.

That title was known as-

“The Lesser King of- “

Crack-!

“…!”

The man tried to scream out loud due to the sudden pain he felt, but the young man covered his mouth after appearing out of nowhere.

The man didn’t even realize he was coming.

All five of his fingers were twisted abnormally.

“Ufgh… Ufh…!”

“That damned title, if you bring that up again even by accident, I will pull your arm out next time. I’ll also pull it out if you scream right here. I will let go of you in three seconds and you must remain quiet, understood?”

The man quickly nodded his head after hearing the young man speak in a calm tone.

He had no other option anyway.

The young man quietly lifted his hand away from the man’s mouth.

The man had to remain silent despite the immense pain he was feeling.

Red flaming eyes looked down at the man.

Then, the young man kneeled down, leveled his eyes with the man and spoke.

“What’s your goal here?”

He spoke in the same way as before, when he tortured the man’s allies earlier.

After hearing the young man, the man spoke with a shaky voice filled with fear.

“…Y…You… already heard the answer earlier.”

“Is that really all?”

“Y-Yes…”

The young man had gotten all the answers from the first man he captured.

The man’s group was ordered to trail after Tang Clan’s crew and observe their pathing.

Despite already hearing the answer, the young ma- …No,

The Lesser King of Hell…

The man grinded his teeth while thinking about the young man’s identity.

It was said that he became more ruthless than ever when he dealt with the enemies from the Unorthodox Faction, and it seemed like the rumor was true.

I didn’t believe it because he is still a young bastard…!

However, the rumor couldn’t be any truer.

How could one be so cruel? He was way too terrifying for him to be from the Orthodox Faction.

His torture methods were so horrifying that the man almost pissed his pants from fear.

The young man seemed as if he was used to torturing his opponents with his flames.

Was it really right for him to be the future of the Orthodox Faction?

As the man continued to stare at the Lesser King of Hell with shaky pupils, the young man continued to speak with an expressionless face.

“Seven total. One Second-rate, five First-rates, and the last being Peak Realm.”

“…!”

The man gasped in shock when the young man guessed everyone’s levels.

He was right.

The leader of the group was Peak Realm and the rest were all First-rate martial artists. The man himself was a Second-rate martial artist.

“You are all relatively talented for bandits. Just what are you guys?”

“…Huff… Huff…”

“What is your goal? Hmm?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that- “

Sizzle-!

“Urghh…!”

The young man grabbed one of the man’s broken fingers and started to burn it in flames.

The man shook heavily because of the pain he felt.

The young man asked once again after a while of burning the man’s finger.

“I’ll ask again.”

“I…I don’t… know. Please… Please…”

“Fine. I’ll ask you a different question. Is Tang Duk the name of your boss?”

“Huff…!?”

The man gasped and shook when the Lesser King of Hell spoke his boss’s name.

How…?

How does the Lesser King of Hell know boss’s name?

He was only known by his title in the Central Plains, and there shouldn’t have been anyone that knew his real name.

After seeing the man’s reaction, the Lesser King of Hell started to smile.

That smile made him seem way too horrifying.

How could a person make such a horrifying smile?

“So I wasn’t wrong. It’s that bastard’s tail.”

“…How…”

“Why though? Why does he bother doing such an unnecessary thing when he should just stay hidden?”

“…Do you and my boss perhaps know each other?”

“Do we know each other?”

The Lesser King of Hell responded with a smile after hearing the man’s question.

“I guess you could say that. We are so close that I’m willing to pop his eyeballs.”

“…”

It was obvious that the two didn’t have a good relationship.

The man planned to beg for his life by taking advantage of their friendship, but that plan was completely shattered.

He continued to work his brain while enduring the pain.

His mind was filled with questions.

He was already informed that the Lesser King of Hell from Gu Clan was a part of the Tang Clan’s crew.

However, even if he was currently the most famous for his talent, the man didn’t think that he would pose similar level of threat as the Poison King or the Lord of Pe Clan.

Just how…

He man thought about the marble that his leader had.

It was a treasure that erased the presences of the holder and others around it.

The man was told that not even the Poison King would be able to catch their presences as long as they weren’t too close.

…But how did this bastard find us?

What about the Lesser King of Hell who found them after breaking through the marble’s effect?

Did that mean he was stronger than the Poison King?

No, that probably wasn’t it.

Such a thing was impossible even if he was a generational genius.

Maybe he had a different way of finding them?

“I can hear your brain working from all the way here.”

“…!”

Crack-!

“Urgh!?”

Another finger was twisted.

It was already broken from before, so it was much more painful.

“W-Why?”

“Ah, sorry it’s a habit. I have a habit of breaking body parts when I speak. It’s not exactly easy to fix it.”

Such a response shouldn’t have come out from his mouth with a smile.

He has a torturing habit?

Is this bastard… really from the Orthodox Faction?

The man only became more confused.

“These bandit bastards are abnormally strong. Has it always been like this?”

“…”

“Oh, I’m not asking you so you don’t need to answer that.”

The man’s back started to drench in sweat as the Lesser King of Hell continued to speak.

His voice sounded as if he hadn’t completely gone through puberty and his tone was way softer compared to the first time he made his appearance, but the man knew.

His current voice had killing intent mixed within it.

“To be honest, I wasn’t really curious about your objectives. It was obvious from the beginning after all.”

That meant that he planned to kill the group in the first place.

Then why…? Why did he bother torturing everyone for answers?

“I just had to pick one of you. One who gets scared easily, one who can work their brain, and one who will listen to me.”

“…”

“Do you want to live?”

The man shut his mouth after hearing the Lesser King of Hell.

Do I want to live? Of course I do.

However, the man couldn’t help but feel nervous as the question came from the Lesser King of Hell.

“I won’t ask you again. Answer my question.”

“I…I want… I want to live.”

The man didn’t want to burn alive in flames, so he had to respond.

The Lesser King of Hell nodded his head after hearing the man’s answer.

“Oh, this is a personal question by the way. How many people did you let go when they pleaded for their lives?”

“…!”

“I’m glad you gave me the silent answer. That much is enough. At least I won’t feel bad.”

The man believed that he was going to die after all because of his past, but the Lesser King of Hell didn’t do anything special despite his answer.

Huh? Is he really going to leave like this?

The man became relieved, but he realized a problem.

Is this really… me being alive?

He was no longer able to walk as his legs were destroyed, and one of his hands was completely broken.

He didn’t know about his hand, but he knew that not a single doctor would be able to heal his legs.

The man realized he wasn’t going to live a normal life anymore.

As relief slowly turned into despair, the Lesser King of Hell grabbed the man’s neck.

Huh? Didn’t he say I can liv-

“I’ll say it now. Endure it. I don’t know how to be kind and soft like the Heavenly Demon.”

“Heavenly Demon? What do you mean by that? Y-You clearly said I can live…!”

“I will let you live. Of course I will. How will you work otherwise?”

The man was then able to see.

The Lesser King of Hell’s red eyes started to change into a violet color for some reason.

The color was so beautiful that the man continued to stare into it as if he was charmed even though he was in a terrifying situation.

As the man continued to stare into the violet eyes, the Lesser King of Hell spoke.

“What’s your name.”

“I…I am Jul Bok.”

“Jul Bok, alright. You only have one job. Return to your boss and inform him of everything that happened.”

Right as the man became confused after hearing his order,

Flinch.

“…!”

He felt something digging into his Dantian.

Something very small had dug into his body.

Swoosh-!

“Ugh!!?”

It instantly expanded in his body and became whole in his Dantian.

That wasn’t it either.

After completely taking over his Dantian, it left and dug itself into his heart.

“Urghhh… Aghhhh!”

The man felt an immense amount of pain during the process.

It was greater than any pain Jul Bok felt in his life.

Was the Lesser King of Hell lying and he planned to torture and kill me after all?

Jul Bok believed that to be the case.

There was no other explanation for this pain otherwise.

I… I don’t want to die…

He felt more desperate to live.

Jul Bok wanted to live.

That’s exactly what Gu Yangcheon felt as well.

That’s what it meant to become a Demonic Human.

One had to have something they so desperately desired, whether it was to live, or revenge.

Without it, they won’t be able to survive through the Demonifying process.

Though of course, if it was the Heavenly Demon from Gu Yangcheon’s past life, she would’ve used a better method, but Gu Yangcheon himself had no plan to use that method.

Not that he was able to in the first place anyway.

This was the second time after Namgung Cheonjun.

Gu Yangcheon was able to realize in just two tries.

The Heavenly Demon had an unbelievable control for her to be able to turn someone into a Demonic Human without any pain in the process.

Gu Yangcheon didn’t know why the Heavenly Demon bothered to do such a thing, but he had no plan of doing the same.

It isn’t needed for bastards like these.

He had no plan to show any pity to those who blocked his path.

The Green King was one of the cruelest Demonic Humans in his past life.

It was no different for his minions.

Not only did they play around with civilians’ lives, they also did countless number of evil things as Demonic Humans.

Gu Yangcheon was able to see that the bastard in front of him was no different from those Demonic Humans in his past life after seeing the man’s reaction from earlier.

However, he had no plan to judge him.

He too was a Demonic Human in his past life, and he had also taken countless lives in the past.

This was simply him taking his anger out on the man. He had no excuse for his sins in the past.

After some time, a change started to occur to the man named Jul Bok.

There wasn’t much difference, but Gu Yangcheon was able to see right away.

Demonic Qi was properly stuck in the bastard’s Dantian and heart.

Jul Bok had become a Demonic Human because of Gu Yangcheon. Gu Yangcheon frowned after seeing the sight.

He barely managed to hold on since he is only a Second-rate.

Any person would’ve exploded and died without being able to endure the Demonic Qi if they weren’t at a high enough level.

Gu Yangcheon noticed Jul Book’s will to survive and his level that was barely enough when he first saw him.

Because of that, he chose this bastard as his target right from the beginning.

There was a limit to how much control Gu Yangcheon had if he were to turn someone at a First-rate or Peak Realm into a Demonic Human.

At most, he would’ve been able to put a Shackle or make it so that they weren’t able to betray him.

A martial artist at a Fusion Realm would’ve been impossible for Gu Yangcheon to tame.

With all the said, Jul Bok was a perfect target for Gu Yangcheon.

After noticing the change in his body, Jul Bok stared at Gu Yangcheon with a shocked expression.

He realized that his body was going through a change after he became a Demonic Human.

His broken legs started to move.

It wasn’t completely fixed though.

Demonic Qi barely maintained the shattered bones in his legs.

Gu Yangcheon stood up after seeing the sight. He may have had a calm expression, but he was rather shocked inside.

That was possible too?

He knew that it was possible to do such a thing using Heavenly Demon’s Qi, but he didn’t know his own Demonic Qi was able to do the same.

Was it possible because Jul Bok was at a lower level? Shouldn’t it be the other way around though?

I guess I need to research this more later.

This much was enough for now.

Gu Yangcheon’s current goal wasn’t to fix someone’s body using Demonic Qi after all.

After standing up, he looked down at the man and spoke.

“You have one job.”

Jul Book looked up at Gu Yangcheon using his shaky eyes.

His pupils were filled with fear and awe.

Gu Yangcheon couldn’t understand.

How come everyone who was turned into Demonic Humans, had eyes like those?

At the very least, he himself didn’t look at the Heavenly Demon that way.

He didn’t know the answer, nor did he care.

He didn’t bother caring about such a thing.

Instead, he only looked around, making sure there wasn’t anyone else around.

Gu Yangcheon continued to speak while looking down on Jul Book.

“Deliver this message to Tang Duk.”

This was Gu Yangcheon’s goal.

Jul Bok opened his ears.

Then,

“…Stop this nonsense and show yourself… you failure?”

He delivered the exact message to Tang Duk.

Crack-!

When Tang Duk clenched his fist, his stone chair shattered into pieces instantly.

Then, others around the chair started to shake because of the intense Qi that poured out from Tang Duk.

The giant man with dark green hair, the man who ruled over the bandits in the Ghostly Mountain, the boss himself Tang Duk, asked once again after hearing the minion in front of him.

“That young bastard told you to deliver this message?”

“…Y-Yes… Boss.”

Tang Duk stared at the bastard that delivered the message to him.

Jul Bok was it?

He was the underling of the bastard named Godong who reached Peak Realm last year.

Tang Duk frowned when he thought about Godong.

He sent him to observe the Lord of Tang Clan’s choice of path,

Yet only this bastard returned alive while all others died?

Hah-

Moreover, they even lost the treasure as well.

Tang Duk was only able to laugh out hollowly due to the absurd situation.

Crack.

After smiling for a bit, Tang Duk stood up after grabbing a spear bigger than himself.

“…Not only does he know my name, but he even taunts me huh.”

The Lesser King of Hell.

What an interesting bastard he is.

Tang Duk smiled as he looked at Jul Bok.

Other bandits shook in fear when he saw his smile.

“Jul Bok.

“Yes… Boss.”

“Everything is good and all,”

It was still a mystery.

“How come you were able to escape?”

“…Boss…?”

Jul Bok’s pupils started to shake after he heard Tang Duk.

“If your brothers couldn’t accomplish the mission and died, you should’ve died along with them. You son of a bitch.”

“Boss…! Wait…!”

“Yet you return so shamelessly? How daring of you.”

Tang Duk growlingly spoke and lifted up Jul Bok in the air by grabbing his neck.

Jul Bok wasn’t a small man, but he looked ever so small compared to the giant named Tang Duk.

“You worthless bastard… I have no use for a useless bastard.”

“S-Spare me Boss! Please… Please!”

Jul Bok repeatedly begged for his life as if he was losing his mind, but Tang Duk grasped harder without hesitation despite seeing him plead.

“Go say hi to your brothers in the afterlife, you worthless bastard.”

Crack-!

Along with a brutal sound, Jul Bok died with his neck being twisted.

It was then.

Woong-!

“…Hmm?”

A change started to occur in Jul Bok’s body that Tang Duk was holding.

It was a vibration.

He should’ve died judging by the lifeless pupils in his eyes.

What was happening?

“What in the…”

Right as Tang Duk started to become confused,

Pow-!

An explosive sound came out from Jul Book’s body, and an incredible amount of blood poured out from Jul Bok’s mouth, drenching Tang Duk’s body.

“…”

Others quickly ran over and gave Tang Duk something to wipe himself with, but Tang Duk just used his giant hand and wiped his face.

He then thought to himself.

He couldn’t understand why Jul Bok suddenly poured out blood from his mouth after dying, but he felt like he knew one thing.

It was a taunt by the bastard that sent Jul Bok.

Chuckle…

Tang Duk started to laugh out loud while wiping blood.

Hahahaha-!

After laughing for a while, Tang Duk spoke with a smile so big it seemed as if his mouth was about to rip apart.

“The Lesser King of Hell was it?”

The bastard that sent Jul Bok here. That young bastard dared to give me an order.

Tang Duk started to move with that thought.

He seemed to have no plan to wipe any more blood off of him.

I would’ve been more cautious normally.

But I guess I have no other choice if I’m taunted like this.

Tang Duk quietly whispered to himself with a smile.

“Grab your weapons.”

As soon as he spoke, others immediately poured out their Combat Qi.

The clearest and most dense Combat Qi and killing intent of all, was from Tang Duk as expected.

I turned my head after noticing a change in the middle of a meal.

“Ah.”

“Is something the matter?”

Wi Seol-Ah tilted her head in confusion as she put food onto my spoon.

After seeing her, I lightly shook my head and ate another spoon full.

“It’s nothing.”

Namgung Bi-ah and Moyong Hi-ah also gave me a strange look after they saw my reaction, but I had no plan to tell them anything.

Instead, I clicked my tongue inside repeatedly.

Tsk, tsk.

I promised him to let him live.

I only had one reason to react like this.

I immediately realized that the bastard named Jul Bok died.

It was because the Shackle on him had activated.

The Shackle I put on him wasn’t only to make sure that he would deliver my message to Tang Duk.

I made it so that it would activate if Jul Bok was killed by Tang Duk’s hand.

It would explode his heart and make him vomit blood.

Judging by this, it seemed like Jul Bok was killed by Tang Duk.

I didn’t kill him myself.

However, this made me learn that Tang Duk is more than willing to kill his own minion.

He must be very angry.

Judging by his fiery personality, I believed that he became very angry.

I prepared everything already.

Even if Tang Duk doesn’t come himself as I planned, I was able to initiate my plan soon.

All I had to do was wait for now.

“Do you want to… drink water?”

“Sure.”

I looked around while drinking water that Namgung Bi-ah poured for me.

We were still in the same forest, but there was one change.

It’s Sichuan’s territory now.

Right as about it became summer after we started our trip to Sichuan, we had finally entered Sichuan’s territory.