Chapter 98
Yongyong-i had never actually seen a dragon in her entire life.
However…, she vaguely knew about them.
Because through her Training and sensing the heavenly energy, she could feel what kind of abilities they possessed and what they looked like.
And…
“This is…”
…she could tell that a fragment of the power only a dragon could possess was pouring out from her hand.
A power capable of purifying wicked things.
This was absolutely not something a mere Imugi could possess.
Did that mean she had become a dragon now?
No…, that wasn’t it either. The Imugi felt in her bones that she had not yet become a dragon.
Then what was this energy flowing from her hand now?
‘I don’t know the reason, but…’
Yongyong-i wielded that power and headed toward the Blood Demon Corpse King.
Toward him, the one with the most wicked energy in this place at this very moment.
Paat-!
“Aaaaaaagh-!!”
As Yongyong-i’s hand touched him, he agonized as if he had been burned by fire.
The purest energy of nature peeled away the Blood Demon Corpse King’s demonic energy as if scrubbing off dirt.
The Blood Demon Corpse King, an entity tightly bound by demonic energy, did not lose his mind even in the pain of his existence melting away and vanishing.
Instead, he glared at the Imugi with a face even more filled with malice.
“You bastard-!! Great Serpeeeent-!!”
“…!”
At that tearing, scream-like roar, the Imugi shrank back even though she knew she had the upper hand.
The Blood Demon Corpse King’s fiendish hand reached out to her.
“I must absolutely take you with meee-!!”
The reason the Blood Demon Corpse King was in Hunan Province instead of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
It was precisely to secure the Imugi, the sacrifice needed for the Heavenly Demon Cult’s long-cherished wish.
What they needed exactly was an Imugi right on the verge of ascension.
Yongyong-i was an Imugi who had undergone Training for quite a long time, but she wasn’t right on the verge of ascension.
However…
With her recent growth, she was finally able to stand on the step right before ascension.
“Absolutely-!! For the Demonic World-! I will take you-!! Divine Cult Undefeated, Demonic Heaven Under Heaven-!!”
“…”
The Blood Demon Corpse King reached out his hand toward the Imugi as desperately as if he were a person born solely to grab her body.
His eyes held an intense will and fighting spirit to absolutely fulfill his mission.
It was a madness to Capture the Imugi for the cult, even if it meant losing his life. He was like a moth jumping into the fire purely on instinct without any reason.
“…”
The Imugi just silently watched that Blood Demon Corpse King.
The Blood Demon Corpse King’s pitch-black emotions were revealed to the Imugi just as they were.
Where did this man’s resentment come from? Why were this man’s lamentation and remorse so deep?
The Imugi, who had undergone Training for hundreds of years, knew the reason.
The Heavenly and Earthly Deities. The one humans called the Primordial Heavenly Venerate…, the one the Imugi wished to serve by his side upon becoming a dragon…
He created all things and was omniscient.
He is omniscient, but not omnipotent. No, he is omnipotent, but he did not exercise that power for his creations.
He merely observed as a bystander, endlessly emotionless… and irresponsible.
The resentment of the fellow in front of her stemmed from that indifference of the Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
He wanted to shout at, to take revenge on the heartless Primordial Heavenly Venerate who didn’t even spare a glance despite knowing he was suffering.
The purpose is to establish a new heaven to oppose the Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
That feeling had intensified, causing him to burn his own body like this.
“How pitiful.”
Yongyong-i, who had grown further and gained enlightenment about humans, felt sympathy for that Blood Demon Corpse King. At the same time, she tightly clenched her glowing fist.
She was someone who would one day become the Emissary of the Primordial Heavenly Venerate, although this was not something a dragon should do.
She decided to take a little responsibility for his indifference herself.
Uuuuung-!!
As her will was conveyed, the glow of her fist began to shine even brighter.
“…!”
Seeing that, the Blood Demon Corpse King also tried to resist by condensing his demonic energy.
However…
“I’ll put you at ease.”
Puuuuuck-!!
“Kuaaaaaagh-!!”
…No matter how hard he tried, the Blood Demon Corpse King’s demonic energy was sucked away helplessly.
The Imugi did not move, keeping her fist embedded in his chest until the Blood Demon Corpse King’s demonic energy evaporated to the very last drop.
* * *
Thud-.
By the time the glow on the Imugi’s fist disappeared, the Blood Demon Corpse King’s demonic energy had also completely vanished.
The Blood Demon Corpse King’s body, completely devoid of demonic energy, became emaciated like a mummy rather than a living human.
“Ugh…”
Tuduk-.
As the Imugi pulled her fist out, the shriveled corpse of the Blood Demon Corpse King fell backward.
The Imugi also fell backward in the same way. It was because she had just used up almost all of her remaining strength and was too exhausted to even stand.
“Heok…, heok…”
The Imugi breathed heavily, having fallen on her rear.
However…
Seu-euk-.
“Kyaaaaagh-!”
“…!”
…A shadow suddenly fell over her head as she sat there, and one of the zombies lunged at the Imugi, baring its nails.
“Oh no…!”
Having just fought the Blood Demon Corpse King, she had no strength to strike back. All she could do was close her eyes in preparation for the impending pain…
Chwaaaak-!
“Yongyong-i!”
“…!”
Still, the Imugi was able to open her eyes again right away.
When she opened her eyes, Muyeon had already approached and severed the zombie’s waist and neck.
He looked back and forth to check the condition of the Imugi and the Blood Demon Corpse King, then stood in front of her as if to protect her.
Then he spoke in a slightly serious voice.
“I want to tell you that you did a good job, but… we have a problem. Those zombie bastards… They’re still moving even though the main body is dead.”
As soon as he said that, the other zombies, including the Heavenly Demon Zombie, swarmed toward the two of them.
“Grrrrr-.”
“Kiiiiiek-.”
Just as Muyeon said, the zombies were still going strong even though the Blood Demon Corpse King was dead.
And…
The Imugi, who had been clashing with the Blood Demon Corpse King’s demonic energy until just a moment ago, knew the reason why.
“…He’s not dead yet.”
“…What?”
“That fellow… He’s still alive.”
“…What are you talking about?”
When Muyeon briefly turned his head and asked with a grim expression, the Imugi hurriedly answered.
“I felt it at the end… His demonic energy didn’t completely vanish… it fled toward the east as if drawn by something. If my guess is right…, he’s definitely still alive.”
“…If it’s the east.”
Hearing the Imugi’s words, Muyeon’s expression instantly hardened. And for good reason: The exact direction of the Mountain Stronghold where his Subordinates were holding out was the east.
* * *
“Iyaaaaaah-!!”
“Block them! Block them so they absolutely can’t come up-!”
At that moment, an ultra-close-Quarters standoff between the Bandits and the zombies was continuing at the Mountain Stronghold.
The zombies that popped out from underground had already invaded the Mountain Stronghold long ago. The Haomun Leader and Dongryong moved all the stronghold’s personnel up onto the Wooden Palisade, then set up a Wooden Wall on the stairs to fight back.
However, due to the closer distance to the zombies, injuries inflicted by them occurred one after another, and even more zombies swarmed in.
And there was an even bigger problem than that…
“…It’s poison.”
The Haomun Leader, who hailed from the Sichuan Tang Family, noticed that the zombies' bodies were coated in deadly poison.
Those who were injured couldn’t hold out for long before their wounds swelled up and they died.
The Haomun Leader went around detoxifying them, but the rate at which the injured increased was faster than the rate at which she could detoxify them.
“Damn it… Deputy Leader. How long will the Reserve Forces take…!”
“It hasn’t been long since the carrier pigeon left, so we’ll have to wait a good while!”
The Haomun Leader wasn’t the only one feeling frustrated by the current situation.
“Fuck…, fuck…!”
Seeing his Subordinates fall one by one, Dongryong felt a deep sense of helplessness and lamentation.
It was the same for all the other executives.
Besides Dongryong, there were Bang Sam-i, Bongchun-i, Jeokyeom, and Eungchil.
They all bravely faced the zombies at the front lines, but they couldn’t stop their Subordinates from dying.
“Leader…, Leader…!”
Even as he swung his blade, Dongryong unconsciously looked for the Leader.
Rather than the thought that he needed to show his strength and sense of responsibility as the Second-in-command of the Green Forest, his desire for the Leader to return right away and save everyone was much greater.
However, making those feelings meaningless…
“Kuaaaaaaaaagh-!!”
“…!!”
“…What is this!”
…The one who came to them first was not Muyeon, but the ear-splitting howl of a demon.
Everyone on the Wooden Palisade heard that monstrous scream and lost their mind for a moment in this fierce battlefield.
“…”
The Haomun Leader, who was the first to regain her senses, turned her head to find the source of the voice just now.
And soon after…, she was able to spot a man leaking black demonic energy outward from amidst the zombies beyond the Wooden Palisade.
“Aaaaaaagh!”
The young man screaming toward the sky from among the zombies looked truly vivid, perhaps because of the other zombies around him.
It was inevitable.
Because he wasn’t a dead zombie…, but a living human.
“Cough-! Cough-!!”
Before he could even adapt his body to the new flesh, the Blood Demon Corpse King vomited blood from the internal injuries inflicted by the Imugi.
“Damn it! Damn it!!”
Although the Extreme Demonic Blood Art was called a Martial Art, its essence was actually closer to sorcery.
And the final Secret Art of that dreadful demonic art.
The Blood Soul Transfer Art.
When the Extreme Demonic Blood Art reached its pinnacle, the Sorcerer could divide and store their soul in blood. And in a desperate moment, they could abandon their original flesh and transfer to a body they had previously stored their soul in.
However…
Crack-, crack-.
…The Blood Soul Transfer Art was by no means an invincible Martial Art.
Within a week, the new flesh would collapse, and once the Blood Soul Transfer Art was used, it could never be used again.
It was truly a final resort, a method of mutual destruction, used only after holding out until the very, very end.
Craaack-.
Looking at his body that was already beginning to collapse, the Blood Demon Corpse King realized that he had no time.
The time he had left was barely a week.
However…
‘The Imugi’s condition is right on the verge of ascension…!’
…He had witnessed right before his eyes the sacrifice absolutely necessary for the cult.
Now, his goal was to deliver the Imugi to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, even if it meant burning up the rest of his life.
However, instead of turning back toward the Imugi and Muyeon, he headed for the Mountain Stronghold right in front of him.
With his current physical condition, the odds of winning against the awakened Imugi and that monster-like heretic were not high.
‘If that’s the case, I’d rather…’
It would be better to subdue the weaklings in front of him and take them as hostages.
The Blood Demon Corpse King thought so, his eyes bloodshot.
* * *
“…So you’re saying the Blood Demon Corpse King’s soul has transferred over to the Mountain Stronghold right now?”
“…Yeah.”
“…”
Hearing those words, I had no choice but to fall silent.
I wanted to run to the Mountain Stronghold right this instant, but…
“Grrrrr-.”
…I couldn’t because of the zombie bastards growling as if they would lunge at any moment.
Even if the Blood Demon Corpse King wasn’t in perfect condition, would my Subordinates be able to handle him?
“No…, absolutely not.”
…My Subordinates wouldn’t be able to face that crazy bastard.
Even if a miracle happened and they struck him down, it would be accompanied by devastating casualties.
“Damn it…”
Tremble-.
As the worst possible future was painted in my mind, my hands trembled violently.
And at the same time…
“From the next Stance of the Miji Pageom, a price must absolutely be required. So avoid using it if possible.”
…An old memory that had been buried in my mind for a long time surfaced.