The Tower's Trial: Floor 14. The Red Moon

'Damn, now that's one handsome man.'

He has the sort of appearance that makes me wonder whether this is what the protagonist of a martial-arts novel would look like.

His neat martial-arts uniform contrasts with his carelessly tousled hair, yet he somehow gives off an even stronger wild charm.

When I stayed still, Jang Sam noticed and whispered into my ear.

"Big Sis, that man is Namgung Myeong-il, known as the Divine Dragon Sword of the Namgung family. He's been following you around for ages. I never thought you'd meet him here again."

Isn't the Namgung family a fairly famous clan? And that guy has been following me around?

Perhaps he naturally assumed I would accept, because he stood there smiling leisurely in a clasped-hands salute.

'A duel...'

If I had to choose, I'd say I wanted to.

He didn't seem much different from me in skill, and I had always enjoyed dueling people who used a variety of martial arts.

And I liked being the center of attention.

It wasn't as if I wanted attention so people could ogle this body that practically invited sexual harassment; but to learn the cause of the Shaolin abbot's qi deviation, it would be advantageous to become somewhat famous.

But,

"I refuse."

Well... with the Blood Cult's attack less than a day away, why suddenly have a martial arts duel...?

I had experienced the martial world myself, so I knew that the eminent monks of Shaolin had a severe old-fogey streak.

The Shaolin elders were already looking displeased at the outfit that left my entire buttocks exposed and made my breasts sway as I walked around; if I did anything even more conspicuous, I might not get to see the Shaolin abbot at all.

When I refused his challenge, his face twisted.

"Miss, why...?"

"Young Master Namgung, read the room. The Blood Cult's attack is less than a day away, so you should rest a little longer and gather your energy."

As I gently made my refusal clear and returned to my room, Jang Sam followed, massaging my shoulders.

"Hey, Big Sis is going to rest here, so go somewhere else."

"Ngh..."

When the massive Jang Sam snickered while massaging my shoulders, Namgung Myeong-il's hand began to tremble.

I sensed a trace of killing intent from him, but casually ignored it.

'Is this male jealousy?'

My desire to look around Shaolin Temple vanished completely because of that Namgung-whatever.

I decided it would be better to conserve my energy by taking a nap than to wander somewhere, get sexually harassed, and cause a commotion for no reason.

*

Time passed like that, and before long it was dusk.

While I napped, I had the viewers search for precedents involving this trial, but they hadn't found much.

- No records

- It's not in the Korean records, and it doesn't appear in the World Awakened Association's records either

- Since there's no record, S-rank is confirmed

But Lee Do-hee's internet detective squad found one article.

- I'm translating a Chinese article I found while digging around, and one turned up (link), but it only says everyone died at the mid-boss

- There's no video... It's the same up to the Azure Dragon Escort Agency, though

- There's one photo, and all it shows is everyone getting killed by a strange monster beneath a blood-red moon

- Looks like things get rough starting with the mid-boss

'I definitely can't let my guard down in this trial. There's a mid-boss too...'

"Big Sis? What are you looking at?"

Just then, Jang Sam's large, bandit-like face loomed in front of the chat window.

"Hey, are you going to move that head?"

"Ah, no... It's not that way; it's this way!"

"Oh, really?"

We were currently heading to Shaolin Temple's training ground at the request of the Azure Dragon Escort Agency's master.

All the Azure Dragon Escort Agency's core escorts and skilled wandering martial artists were gathering in one place. And it wasn't just us.

Looking around, I saw all the martial world's elite gathering in one location.

"So what did they call us here to do?"

Jang Sam had become my trusty information aide by now.

"Umm... Maybe they'll give some grand speech? Something about fighting with our lives on the line?"

When we arrived at the large training ground, members of various sects and famous figures were lined up in their respective ranks.

The broad grounds had the typical feel of a huge Chinese temple, surrounded by temples and pagodas.

I probably wasn't anyone special compared to them, so I went to stand at the very back of the Azure Dragon Escort Agency...

"Explosive-Breasted Divine Spear! Why are you standing there? Come to the front!"

At someone's words, everyone's attention focused on me.

"Hahaha!! Explosive-Breasted Divine Spear, have you suddenly gotten shy? Why aren't you standing at the front already?"

"Hehehe... A talent like you needs to stand at the front to raise everyone's morale!!"

"What? M-me?"

With no good way to refuse, I moved forward, but somehow I was pushed and squeezed all the way to the very front row.

'Th-this is a little embarrassing......'

Right beside me were the master of the Azure Dragon Escort Agency and that man I'd just met, Namgung Myeong-il.

And I could feel hot gazes on me.

Everyone behind me was staring intently at my enormous buttocks, while the eminent monks in front of me looked displeased.

Of course, not every Shaolin monk looked at me that way; those whose training was still lacking blushed and turned their heads away, or suddenly bent at the waist and crouched down.

Understandably, a woman with a lascivious body had suddenly appeared in a place forbidden to women, so for young monks who had not trained enough, it must have been an overwhelming stimulus.

"Ahem... It seems everyone has gathered. I am Jue Lun, one of the Eighteen Arhats temporarily serving as the representative in place of our currently incapacitated abbot. I thank you all for gathering here. Today, we will discuss the peace of the martial world and......."

I let the principal-like speech go in one ear and out the other, focusing instead on the energy of everyone gathered here.

I had to sense them to some extent beforehand so I wouldn't accidentally attack an ally in the middle of the chaotic battle.

'Is it over?'

Once Monk Jue Lun's speech ended, other people came forward one by one to continue speaking.

"The Huangbo clan will stand with you!!! We will defeat every one of those wicked enemies!!"

"The Jegal clan will not bow before the Blood Cult's violence!!"

"The Azure Dragon Escort Agency will provide unconditional financial support. We promise unlimited support until the Blood Cult scum are destroyed!!"

Everyone shouted a word or two about their resolve.

'At least this is worth listening to.'

A round of applause broke out after each distinctive speech.

If the battle against the Blood Cult ended in victory, the people gathered here would become the true leaders of the martial world.

Then the order moved on, and it was Namgung Myeong-il's turn.

He looked at me with a smirk and headed forward.

'What's with that strange smile?'

I suddenly had a bad feeling.

But the surroundings were still utterly peaceful.

The Blood Cult's attack was expected at dawn.

The ordinary martial artists and reconnaissance teams were monitoring the Blood Cult's movements, so everyone felt safe for now.

In that situation, Namgung Myeong-il began his speech.

"I am the Third Young Master of the Namgung family, Namgung Myeong-il, the Divine Dragon Sword."

He greeted everyone with a measured clasped-hands salute, and brief applause broke out.

"Is that the last bloodline of the Namgung family?"

"It seems so, tsk tsk..."

After the crowd murmured for a moment and fell silent, Namgung Myeong-il continued his speech.

"Today, we have all gathered beneath the same sky. This is a revelation from God. I too believe that, if not for this moment, there could never be another opportunity like this. Today is the day the history of the martial world will be written anew!!"

'Hmm...? Something about that sounds strange.'

A revelation from God.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

'Is there a god in the martial world? Doesn't Buddhism usually not refer to one as God...?'

Something felt off, but I couldn't object just because his word choice was strange, so I continued listening.

"Let me tell you about the destruction of the Namgung family. That day, there was a deep-red moon. Yes, it was just like now, around dusk as the sun was setting..."

He looked up at the sunset-colored sky, lost in recollection.

"There was no warning or omen. A red moon suddenly rose in the sky, and blood jiangshi suddenly emerged from the ground of our peaceful clan. Family members we thought were on our side turned into living jiangshi and attacked us. Like the red moon, our clan was stained with blood in an instant. It was a tremendous shock to discover that the family members living alongside us were actually living jiangshi."

His eyes grew slightly moist.

"So they died without even being able to respond properly. My father, Namgung Hyeok, couldn't bring himself to cut down his own child and died after hesitating. It was a truly horrific scene!"

He looked up at the sky as though trying to hold back his sorrow.

But then, someone quietly raised a hand and interrupted.

"Hmm... How would Young Master know that? I heard you survived by chance because you were somewhere else, but wasn't the destruction of the Namgung family shrouded in mystery until now?"

The gathering grew slightly noisy at someone's questioning words.

"Why haven't you released this information until now?"

"Exactly... This is the first I've heard of it too. They were all wiped out in an instant, and when the investigators rushed over, all they found were corpses..."

"No. It's only that I never had the chance to speak of it until now!! I couldn't speak because my life would have been in danger if I did!"

At his denial, the people simply went, 'Is that so? I suppose that could be true,' and let it pass.

"Where and how could I have said such a thing? How could I speak of my father bleeding to death before my eyes!"

'Before... my eyes?'

Now that the others had noticed something strange as well, they were tilting their heads in confusion.

"But! Now I can speak!! Come, everyone, look!! Look at the sky!!!!"

Following his words, I turned around and looked at the sky...

The red sunset-colored sky had vanished without a trace, replaced by a huge, blood-red moon.

When I came to my senses and lowered my gaze, the entire world had turned red from the light reflected off the moon.

'When did that happen...?'

Not only me, but every expert here had missed it.

Great confusion descended upon the area.

"The moon... turned red?"

"Sorcery!!"

"Aaaah!!"

"Everyone, stay calm!"

Just then, a booming laugh rang deafeningly in my ears.

"Kwahahahaha!!!!!"

Everyone focused on him again at the chilling laughter.

It rang out as loudly as a monster's laugh, an unpleasant sound like metal scraping.

As everyone stood stunned, he continued speaking.

"Now that the red moon has risen, the festival of blood shall begin!!! The day our god descends upon the earth is near!!"

Namgung Myeong-il's mouth stretched all the way to his ears as he laughed loudly like a madman. His large, sharply protruding teeth didn't look human; they made him look like some kind of monster.

He was even shedding blood-red tears from his eyes.

"That lunatic, right now..."

Just as someone circulated their internal energy and tried to rush over to restrain him,

"Cough...!!"

A mouthful of blood poured from his mouth.

That wasn't all.

When the martial artists, sensing the danger, instinctively tried to raise their internal energy, they collapsed, vomiting blood and screaming in pain.

"Nobody use your internal energy!! It's Qi-Dispersing Poison!!!"

"Damn it, when did this start?"

"Qi-Dispersing Poison... So it actually existed?"

Qi-Dispersing Poison.

One of the extremely potent poisons that prevents the use of internal energy. It spreads through the respiratory system and is a forbidden poison that cannot be detected until one tries to raise their internal energy. Not only had its production been lost in the martial world, even the method of making it had disappeared, yet for some reason the Blood Cult bastards were using it.

"Damn it, those Blood Cult bastards... They knew how to make Qi-Dispersing Poison too!!"

"So this is why the other sects were wiped out so easily..."

"It's all right. Use qi circulation to slowly drive out the Qi-Dispersing Poison. It's not much different from an ordinary poison."

"Everyone, stay calm. Nothing has happened yet!!"

'No, it already has. According to that man, this is...'

Rumble-rumble-rumble......

'As I thought... It's coming!'

With the rumbling of the earth, blood jiangshi shot up from the ground.

Blood jiangshi that were difficult to fight even with internal energy began attacking martial artists who couldn't use theirs.

Fwack!!

Their knife-hand strikes sliced through the martial artists' bodies as if cutting tofu. The sturdy blood jiangshi were even impervious to ordinary swords without sword qi or hardened qi.

In an instant, Shaolin Temple's enormous training ground turned into a sea of blood.

The stones reddened by the red moonlight grew even redder with blood, while elite martial artists fell helplessly one after another.

"Ghk, raise your internal energy even if it kills you! We can't die here!!"

Even after being poisoned by Qi-Dispersing Poison, martial artists at a high enough level could still use some internal energy. Although the more they used, the more severe their internal injuries became, it was better than simply dying.

But,

The blood jiangshi were not the only problem.

"Cough... Clan Leader Mo, I'm counting on you here!"

An injured martial artist tried to switch places with someone he knew well, as if passing a baton,

Fwoosh!!

His stomach was pierced by a sword wielded by an allied martial artist.

"Clan Leader Mo... Wh-why?"

That was the beginning; allies began attacking allies all over the place.

The allies, who had formed ranks and prepared for battle, suffered a devastating blow.

"Damn it, those guys are living jiangshi. Attack!! The souls of their original bodies have already been devoured, and they're being controlled!!"

"So that's how the Qi-Dispersing Poison spread..."

Despite someone's explanation, the situation did not calm down easily.

The damage had already spread beyond control.

"Brother, is it really you? Are you really dead?"

Some people couldn't bring themselves to kill someone they'd lived as family with all their lives,

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening!!!!!"

Some simply went mad amid the chaos.

It was a scene of utter chaos.

'Damn it, are we screwed?'

In that situation, I was furiously smashing the blood jiangshi with my spear. Fortunately, Qi-Dispersing Poison had no effect on me because I didn't use internal energy, but my strength alone wasn't enough to overcome this crisis.

'These things are slow, but their defense is too high. And the problem is...'

I saw Namgung Myeong-il, who had been standing in front of me until just now, kill the eminent monks and enter Shaolin Temple.

'The Shaolin abbot. If he dies, it's over. But if the people here die too...'

Only now did I realize why I had been given such a large-scale martial-world trial. This was far more important than I had expected.

Naturally, since the Qi-Dispersing Poison had no effect on me, I was the only one who could freely bring out my true strength.

If I had challenged this with a four-person party, I would've had to split our forces between defending this place and pursuing those inside, but I was alone now.

The Shaolin abbot suffering from qi deviation, or the elite orthodox martial artists...

I had to choose.

'Damn......'