episode_0041

When the leader of a group dies, their subordinates naturally lose their will to fight.

That’s understandable; their strongest member is dead, so what’s the point of struggling further if it only leads to a futile death?

More than anything, they also knew.

That the boy named Cheongun, once he absorbed a faction, didn’t unnecessarily kill.

Among them, he especially heard that he usually spared the Demonic Cultists.

Thus, they held a glimmer of hope.

The hope that since they were still useful, if they merely signaled surrender, he might spare them even to extract information.

Clank.

The nine men who barely survived dropped their weapons to the floor, then knelt one by one.

It was a clear sign of surrender.

Then Cheongun hummed a tune.

“I’m lost.”

Cheongun hummed some lyrics, lightly stepping past them.

“Where should I go?”

Then he strode over and stood tall before one of the masked figures.

At the same time, he swiftly raised his sword.

“Split into six—”

—Swish.

Cheongun sliced his sword horizontally and vertically.

A moment later.

“Shredded trash.”

—Slice!

A sword energy in the shape of the character ‘王’ precisely sliced the man into six pieces.

The sword strike was so fast that the man couldn’t even scream before collapsing into pieces on the floor.

Gulp.

The faces of those kneeling turned a ghastly pale.

They trembled with fear, cold sweat dripping from them.

That madman suddenly hummed a tune, then sliced his kneeling comrade into pieces.

They were men who committed murder and plunder as if it were routine, but even they were intimidated by Cheongun’s eccentric behavior.

Regardless.

Cheongun dragged his sword along the ground as he moved.

“Searching for you, step step.”

“Save me…!”

Crack!

Another man’s head was severed and flew into the air.

“Again.”

One man.

“Again.”

Another man.

Cheongun was killing them one by one, as if toying with them.

“…Can’t you just spare my life?”

One man asked.

He was certain.

That Cheongun, he was clearly not in his right mind.

In this atmosphere, was it normal to hum some strange song while slicing people to pieces?

It was clear that if they remained still, he would kill them all.

So, abandoning pride and everything else, he begged for his life first.

What if?

What if he suddenly had a change of heart and spared him?

Cheongun’s steps came to an abrupt halt.

“Have you ever left survivors before?”

“I have.”

“Really?”

Cheongun smiled broadly.

“I haven’t.”

Crack!

The man’s head spouted blood and shot into the air.

Cheongun hadn’t intended to kill all of them from the start.

Still, weren’t they Demonic Cultists?

He could have spared them, ruined their dantians, and used them as batteries.

But then again.

If he was going to use them anyway, wasn’t it human nature to want batteries of decent quality?

But look at these guys.

Every single one of them was trash, impossible to rehabilitate.

They were garbage, not even worth calling useful.

So, he decided.

To dispose of every single one of them.

He didn’t overthink anything.

Cheongun simply did as he pleased.

Once he made up his mind, it was always straight ahead from there.

Because when problems arise in life, the solution is always ahead, not behind.

Then, the last remaining man spoke.

“…It will be hard to survive if you antagonize the Divine Cult, so what exactly is your reason for doing this?”

At the question, Cheongun nodded.

“That’s why I’m doing this right now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you know ‘murder to silence’?”

“…Ah.”

Thwack!

The last remaining man’s neck shot into the air.

****

Cheongun was always crazy, but this time, he acted even crazier.

To deal with madmen who dragged innocent boys and girls to cut out their hearts and offer them as sacrifices, Cheongun also had to be somewhat mad, didn’t he?

He had merely followed after being invited, but in the end, he ended up killing every single one of them.

Well, his mood was quite refreshed after killing all those trashy guys.

Anyway, it was all for the best.

Cheongun began to clean up the situation appropriately.

He roughly put the corpses of the dead men into sacks and tossed them beyond the valley whose depths he couldn’t ascertain.

Originally, corpses usually left various traces like bloodstains or wounds, so a clean disposal was essential.

The corpses haphazardly buried in the pit… he thought about just passing by them, but they kept catching his eye, so he stopped. Ah, damn it.

Since they were all orphans anyway, there was no way to hand their bodies over to their parents one by one.

Holding funerals for each of them was too much due to their numbers, and leaving them as they were felt uncomfortable, so Cheongun gathered their bodies together and cremated them using thunder energy to ignite the fire.

Well, what could he do?

It was a world where if you were weak, you died.

They were just incredibly unlucky.

Still, this body has taken revenge on your behalf, so have no regrets and depart for the Nine Heavens.

Cheongun gazed blankly at the flames.

The red-burning flames were strangely picturesque, yet also made him fall into contemplation.

When he killed that fellow called Soul-Devouring Mad Demon.

More precisely, that moment when he swallowed a sword aura with mere sword energy.

…How did I do that again?

It felt like he could do it again if asked, but when he tried to mentally organize the process based on the flow and form of qi, he honestly didn’t know.

It felt like an epiphany had arrived for a moment, then slipped away.

This was truly strange, like fog that seemed within reach yet remained elusive.

Ah, damn it. How did I do it?

He seemed to have pulled out something by doing this and that with his sword energy.

For some reason, it felt like if he just pushed a little further, he could achieve an epiphany or something similar.

A wave of irritation washed over him.

Wouldn’t he know right away if he tried it just one more time?

Are there no more demonic figures around?

He felt like if he just killed one or two more demonic figures, it would work.

Damn it, it’s annoying, it’s just like how even dog poop is nowhere to be found when you need it for medicine [an idiom meaning something is unavailable when urgently needed].

Cheongun clicked his tongue in annoyance and stood up.

Footsteps echoed as he entered the temple.

Cheongun searched every corner, looking for a potential storage room.

Spoils of war were the victor’s right.

Naturally, he intended to meticulously loot everything without missing a single item.

But as if to prove they were indeed lunatics of the Blood Cult, all the collected items were talismans, human remains, ritual tools… each one utterly sinister.

Of course, he didn’t forget to collect all items that could be exchanged for money.

But it wasn’t as lucrative as he thought.

Anything else?

Cheongun went further inside.

A chilling cold flowed down his spine.

He stepped into the deep darkness, following the narrowing passage.

And at the end of the cavern, he found something in the darkness.

It was a black wooden box.

Ominous crimson patterns were carved into its surface, and for some reason, a dense killing intent emanated from its surroundings.

Yellow papers, like talismans, were thickly pasted onto the wooden box.

Furthermore, blood-drawn magic circles were heavily inscribed on the floor, clearly traces of a grand demonic ritual.

Then he remembered.

That guy he killed.

Hadn’t he said that a Demonic Cultist’s heart was needed to complete some grand ritual, and assisting would grant him a position in the cult?

He guessed that the grand ritual referred to this very thing.

The sword-length wooden box had blood-drawn talismans pasted wherever its black paint had peeled off.

Blackish haze slowly wafted out from the gaps.

It looked like something that shouldn’t be touched at first glance, but shouldn’t he check it just once?

Cheongun hesitated for a moment, then placed his hand on the wooden box.

He tore off the talismans and opened the wooden box, revealing a black leather scabbard.

The scabbard itself was enveloped in an unknown black mist, creating an illusion that blurred its form.

It felt like ghost qi, yet strangely possessed the nature of demonic energy, with turbidity mixed in as well.

Cheongun grasped the sword hilt.

And immediately drew the sword from its scabbard.

“Hmm.”

It was a demonic sword with a pitch-black blade and red blood patterns carved into it.

It was plain without excessive ornamentation, yet the blood vessel-like grooves flowing along the blade were far from ordinary.

More than anything.

—Hum!

As soon as he gripped the sword, the surrounding qi surged, and the ground trembled.

A black aura flickered, filling the space.

At the same time, a dull ringing sound, like tinnitus, echoed in his ears.

It felt as if the wailing of the dead could be heard from somewhere.

Cheongun subtly lowered his gaze to look at the blade.

He saw his face reflected in the blade.

An unknown black energy slowly seeped into his eyes, gradually encroaching.

The sky turned red, and the surroundings darkened.

Suddenly, the smell of blood permeated the air, and he saw illusions of blood streaming down the walls.

Ah, damn it.

He knew exactly what it was.

In the distant future, a faction that split from the Divine Cult would rise in the Jianghu.

The Blood Heaven Divine Cult.

Or simply, the Blood Cult.

They had a demonic artifact mentioned only through oral tradition.

It was none other than a sword made from the flesh and blood of living humans… specifically, those consumed by demonic energy, offered as sacrifices.

It was precisely the Demonic Sword.

Unless one intended to follow the Blood Cult path, it was a monstrosity that didn’t need to be held.

The moment one grasped it, the resentful spirits contained within the sword would erode the user’s mind and lead them to madness—a troublesome object.

Regardless of its performance, it was an item that could truly be called a demonic artifact, as the more one used the sword, the crazier they became.

But there was a problem.

“……”

A black aura buzzed, surrounding Cheongun.

But regardless, Cheongun stood blankly, staring at the sword.

`[You have encountered a Demonic Cultist as an enemy!]`

Looks like this.

`[Unique Trait: 「Slay the Demonic Cult!」 has been activated!]`

…I seem to have picked up an endgame item.