Chapter 477: Damned Bastard (1)

“Dammit.”

I immediately cursed out loud after seeing the sight in front of me.

I was in the secret vault where I met Tang Jaemoon for the first time.

Did I seriously get kicked out?

Sigh.

I became speechless and let out a sigh.

She kicked me out after only saying the thing she wanted to say.

“How come all the heroes of the past are like this?”

I didn’t even get to have a proper conversation with her.

She spoke as if she knew everything, but she kicked me out like this.

Crack.

I grit my teeth as I was pissed off by the situation.

What about Elder Shin?

I tried to check if Elder Shin was here or not, but I wasn’t able to hear anything.

I doubt he fell asleep again.

My vessel issue was partially solved, so I didn’t think that he fell back asleep.

That means…

Did Tang Jaemoon do something?

That seemed to be the most likely case for now.

Hah…

I cooled down my emotions.

I thought about the conversation I had with Tang Jaemoon.

She spoke as if I had forgotten about something, and that the test was supposed to show me it.

What is it though?

I didn’t know what it was.

It probably wasn’t about the Demonic Sword or Celestial Sword.

I remember everyone who died in that time.

Maybe I have to think about the anomalies that occurred due to my appearance?

In that regard, there was one person who came to mind.

There may have been one, but I didn’t bother thinking deeply about it.

There is no way.

After all, such a thing would be impossible.

…Of course, that’s not possible.

Well, at least it shouldn’t be.

There were a few things that changed in that world, such as the Murim Alliance and the Heavenly Venerable’s actions.

However, the biggest thing that happened was the Heavenly Demon’s appearance.

But what do I have to do with the Heavenly Demon?

That’s why I didn’t think about it too much. There was no way that I had something to do with the Heavenly Demon after all.

Although…

…

The biggest problem was that I wasn’t certain about it.

…Huh.

What was this uneasy feeling I had?

I didn’t know what it was.

Was it when I met the Heavenly Demon of that world? Or perhaps it started when I met Tang Jaemoon after the test.

It was even possible that it started when my vessel shattered, but I had been feeling this uneasiness ever since.

I felt this whenever I thought about the Heavenly Demon.

What’s going on?

What was this sensation, and why was I feeling it?

Along with a bunch of emotions, my mind was filled with many thoughts because of what Tang Jaemoon said to me.

I didn’t think that I forgot anything, but my heart strangely felt way too heavy.

Was there really something I was unaware of?

…To the Heavenly Demon at that?

It wasn’t just one or two things that were weird either.

After all, it was most likely the Heavenly Demon who brought me back into the past.

Why?

If that was truly the case, how and why did she do that?

Did the Heavenly Demon want something from me?

But that doesn’t seem to be the case, judging by what I saw.

If I thought about when I met the Heavenly Demon for the first time, I knew that I wasn’t her goal.

It happened back when I was in the Murim Alliance army and I was on a mission to hunt down Demonic Humans.

During that time, I met the Heavenly Demon.

She, at the time, slaughtered the Murim Alliance army as if she were stepping on bugs, and I had to flee from that area along with Wi Seol-Ah.

The Heavenly Demon, she ambushed that area for the Celestial… No, Wi Seol-Ah.

I was turned into a Demonic Human during the process.

But judging by that, I clearly wasn’t her goal.

I was able to know that much.

At least at the time, that was the thought I had.

…But what about now?

I started to question things by this point.

Was it because of what Tang Jaemoon said or was it something else?

I didn’t know what it was, but there clearly was something.

I forced my emotions to cool down and thought to myself.

The fog slightly thinned.

It felt like the fog covering my sight had thinned a bit before I realized it.

No, I didn’t even know that there was fog in the first place.

…I’m not sure. I don’t have the answer as of now.

It was possible that it had nothing to do with the Heavenly Demon, and it could be something completely different, but I didn’t have the answer right now.

It’s funny how I’m even thinking about it in the first place.

I never even thought about it once before hearing what Tang Jaemoon said.

…

As I quietly thought to myself,

Wait.

I was able to remember one strange thing.

Huh, why didn’t I think of this before?

My current confusion about the Heavenly Demon.

I had never thought about it in my life. Isn’t that strange?

It was a huge problem, yet I never thought about it once, despite knowing how dangerous the Heavenly Demon was.

But then why was I thinking about it now?

I gulped nervously as I started to question myself.

I realized it now.

I was intentionally avoiding any thoughts about the Heavenly Demon in my mind.

I dodged the topic without realizing it myself it every time.

I always told myself that it was a problem of the future, and that I had important things to do at the time.

I started to realize that there was a problem in that.

It almost felt as if someone was preventing me from thinking about her.

What’s going on?

Why was I having these thoughts only after what I went through?

…Perhaps.

I remembered that I took a sip of tea as I spoke with Tang Jaemoon.

She said it was a piece of Oblivion, was it?

Maybe it was because I ate that?

Ever since then, there has been this certainty that came into my mind.

Grrr…

I turned towards the sudden growl I just heard.

I instinctively started to charge my Qi.

Was there something else besides me in this place?

Blaze-!

I used my flames.

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue instantly after seeing the blue flames that rose from my hand.

Pinkish red flame was one thing, but this color was rather problematic.

I put aside the problem for now and readied myself to charge towards the growling sound.

Grrr-

“…Hmm?”

Then, something appeared from behind a pillar along with another growl, and I opened my eyes widely immediately after seeing the bastard’s appearance.

“Blood Qi?”

The bastard seemed rather similar to a certain monster I saw.

It was the cranky dragon that desperately tried to take over my body.

Grr…

However, the current bastard’s size wasn’t anywhere near as big as the one I saw before.

It was even smaller than I, but it definitely had a similar look.

Beautiful scales that covered its body, hair on its arms and legs, and a gaping mouth filled with sharp fangs.

Why is this bastard here?

My body moved before I questioned myself.

I planned to capture it first.

Swish-!

I tilted my body and threw my fist out towards the bastard.

Before my fist wrapped in flames could make contact,

Grr.

“…!”

I quickly turned my body away after looking into the bastard’s eyes.

Swoosh-!

Craaash-!

My fist struck the pillar next to the monster and burned in flames.

Crack-! Thud-!

The pillar collapsed and shattered into pieces, along with a loud thud.

All I had to do was control and retrieve my flames, but I continued to stare at the bastard with a rather shocked expression.

Despite my being right up in its nose, the bastard tilted its head confusedly and didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking me.

“You…”

With a confused voice, I asked the bastard a question.

“…Are you perhaps the Red Water Snake?”

The bastard’s eyes started to sparkle when I spoke its name.

Grrr.

Then, it lightly nodded its head.

“…”

I became speechless for a moment at the sight.

It was the Red Water Snake that was born from the Red Demonic Stone.

But it turned into this bastard?

“Why did you become like this?”

I wasn’t able to say anything.

Its appearance was completely different from before.

Back then, it was a small water snake that was barely able to wrap around my arm, but now it was thick and long enough to be as tall as me if it fully stretched its body out.

Besides the fact that its body seemed long and flexible, it didn’t even look like a snake anymore.

However, I was still able to notice that it was the Red Water Snake because of one thing.

Woong-

The energy inside my body was resonating with this bastard.

Perhaps it was because of that? I was naturally able to see that this was the Red Water Snake.

Grr.

The bastard poked its tongue out and licked my face.

The thin and long tongue from before was no longer, and a huge thick tongue licked my cheek heavily.

“You are getting your saliva on me, you bastard.”

The amount of saliva was no joke because of its size.

Why did this happen?

I thought to myself as I briefly started to pet the bastard.

However, there was no reason to think about it for too long.

Is it because of me?

Judging by its scales and my energy resonating with the bastard, it was obvious why the Red Water Snake became that way.

“…Because I changed, you changed as well?”

Grr?

The bastard tilted its head as if it wasn’t able to understand me.

Unlike its monstrous appearance, its behavior was the same as before.

Thankfully, only its appearance seemed to have changed.

But that was also the biggest problem.

How am I supposed to deal with this thick bastard?

I failed to think about it until now, as I was puzzled by the situation.

I was sort of glad that the bastard came back with me, but now I had no way to hide the bastard like I was able to back when it was a small snake.

My mind became conflicted as I looked at the bastard tilting its head confusedly, with its whiskers shaking.

Just what is this bastard?

Putting aside the fact that it was born from a Demonic Stone after stealing my Qi, it was now changing its form.

It isn’t going to change any more than this, right?

That was a scary thought.

What will I do if it gets even bigger than now?

If it does get bigger…

I was reminded of the Blood Qi monster I met in my mind.

That bastard was rather huge.

Its size was comparable to the Red Water Snake Demon I fought against in the river, which was a problem.

And how will I feed it?

I was already worried about feeding it now because of its thick size, but it becoming even bigger would be a huge problem for my wallet.

Hah.

I let out a laugh during my thought.

I found it funny how I was worried about taking care of the bastard and feeding it, rather than just abandoning it.

I continued to pet its head, and the bastard rubbed its head back into my hand.

I turned my head around after a few more pats.

“Hmm.”

I looked around and found what I was looking for, so I started to head my way towards it.

It was a pile of something that was at the end of the hall.

The Heavenly Poison Orbs and the White Demonic Stone.

Thankfully, they were all there like the first time I saw it.

“…”

I drooled with lust when I saw these for the first time, but now I wasn’t feeling the same emotions I felt back then.

I carefully picked up a Heavenly Poison Orb.

“Hmm…”

Was it even safe to eat this thing in my current state? I became hesitant as I didn’t fully know what happened to my body.

What about my martial arts?

Was my Demonic Absorption Art still in there?

I placed down the Heavenly Poison Orb and picked up the White Demonic Stone.

Woong-

As soon as I picked it up, I felt its energy being absorbed.

It didn’t seem like my martial arts were affected just because my body changed.

Then could I consume all of this energy?

As I continued to think,

Swish-

“…!”

I noticed a flowery scent and a slight heat from my body.

This feeling…

I rolled my eyes after feeling a familiar sensation.

[Ugh…]

As I expected, I started to her a familiar voice echoing in my head.

Elder Shin?

[…]

I tried calling out to Elder Shin after noticing his presence, but he gave no response for some reason.

Elder Shin?

[…]

Huh?

Perhaps…

He disappeared again?

As I started to become nervous at the thought,

[…Don’t talk to me right now.]

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like he disappeared this time.

“What’s wrong?”

I asked in a curious tone.

[I’m rather embarrassed right now… just don’t talk to me for a while.]

…Oh, understood.

It seemed like something happened.

I was concerned because of his voice being much more down than usual.

Elder Shin, I’m going to ask one thing just in case.

I know he told me not to speak to him, but I had to ask him this question.

Did you perhaps get slapped?

[…]

No response came.

I asked half-jokingly, but did that really happen…?

Elder Shin… did you really…

[W-Who dares to slap who!?]

…

He shouted out in anger.

Judging by his reaction, it seemed like that indeed happened.

I wasn’t able to see how he looked like, but it sounded like he was scolded rather hard judging by his shaky voice.

And the person who could scold Elder Shin…

-This is…

She appeared right behind my back.

-What happened?

I heard slight confusion and anger from her voice.

I turned my head towards where the voice came from.

“Oh.”

I was able to know why Tang Jaemoon asked this question.

One of the pillars of the secret vault was destroyed after all.

Tang Jaemoon was scowling at the sight of the broken pillar, and her gaze felt rather sharp.

Then,

-Descendant…

Her gaze aimed towards me, and immediately after my eyes met with her fierce eyes,

“Sigh.”

I let out a sigh and pointed somewhere using my finger.

In that spot,

Grr?

What was once the Red Water Snake that was petted by me earlier, was tilting its head confusedly.

While looking into its sparkly eyes, I shouted without hesitation.

“I told you to be careful…! How are you going to go around breaking everything in your sight!”

I was scolding the poor bastard.

Though of course.

-…Descendant?

It obviously didn’t work.

Of course it didn’t, because…

Blaze…

My blue flame was still burning in one of the pieces of the broken pillar.