Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 266 - Office of Penal Service (1)
Chapter 266 – Office of Penal Service (1)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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A strange light appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.
That was because of the phenomenon taking place in Mara Hyeon,
the mixed-blood westerner and Thousand-Household
Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
The energy flowing out from his whole
body was none other than demonic aura.
This was a phenomenon even Mok Gyeong-un had not expected.
Something extremely rare was taking place.
No,
to begin with,
he had never directly poured demonic aura
into someone else as though it were true qi.
Demonic aura was what arose when all yin energies deriving from death aura,
one might call it necrotic force,
were gathered into one.
That was why he had assumed it would be poison to ordinary people.
For example,
he had expected it to eat away at true qi like death aura did.
Yet exceeding that expectation,
Mara Hyeon was accepting his demonic
aura and internalizing it as his own.
‘There is not even any sense of rejection.’
He had thought Mara Hyeon’s existing energy,
being life-preserving in nature,
would try to reject it.
But Mara Hyeon’s true qi was merging with the demonic
aura and changing into a new form of demonic aura.
Its purity was lower than Mok Gyeong-un’s own,
but it was unquestionably demonic aura.
‘This has become interesting.’
All he had meant to do was strip away the old commanding gu,
then send his demonic aura into the parasitic-type gu that had been rampaging because its command master had been severed in terms of sorcery and qi,
in order to brand it.
Since death aura itself lay outside the realm of ordinary perception,
he had judged demonic aura to be the sort of energy
most difficult for others to interfere with.
Yet it had produced an entirely different result.
‘Hmm.’
That,
of course,
could be tested through someone else later.
After sending a little more demonic aura into Mara Hyeon’s Baihui point and abdomen,
Mok Gyeong-un stopped.
The gu that had rampaged inside his abdomen had also been branded by demonic aura,
accepted him as the new commanding gu,
that is to say its master,
and the poison within the body settled down.
At that moment,
Mara Hyeon came back to his senses and spoke.
“What in the world is this…”
He wore a strange expression,
as though he could not adapt to his changed energy.
That was only natural.
The very nature of his true qi had changed.
It had become a violent and dark kind of energy.
Perhaps because of that,
he could feel it.
“Ahhh.”
With trembling eyes,
Mara Hyeon looked at Mok Gyeong-un.
Upon sensing Mok Gyeong-un’s enormous and pure demonic aura,
he felt both awe and a shiver of reverence.
Mara Hyeon fell into confusion.
He could not tell whether this truly matched his own will.
His mind denied it,
yet his instincts felt a powerful reverence toward Mok Gyeong-un.
It was like an ant instinctively feeling a loyalty
that compelled it to serve the queen ant.
“Who knows.
I only meant to deal with the gu poison,
but you internalized my demonic aura on your own.”
“My energy is very different from that of ordinary people.
Since you have internalized it, you should be able to feel it.
How destructive and violent it is.”
Mara Hyeon looked down at his own hand.
It was a phenomenon he could not understand.
After the thing Mok Gyeong-un called demonic aura merged with his own energy,
that energy had grown stronger and greater.
No,
it felt as though it had doubled in power.
At this moment,
it felt as though he could defeat anyone he faced.
It was a truly aggressive energy.
“How could I come to possess such energy…”
“I would be disappointed if you blamed me for something you internalized yourself.
Besides,
I went to the trouble of saving your life.”
Come to think of it,
both the poison aura running wild and the gu had come to a stop.
Still,
Mara Hyeon’s expression twisted.
The reason was this.
“…The gu is still there.”
“Yes. Of course.”
“That…”
“I never said I would remove the gu. I said only that I would ensure your life was not in danger.”
At those words, Mara Hyeon was left speechless.
There was no denying it. Mok Gyeong-un had clearly drawn the line from the start, saying he would not remove the gu until his own matters were done.
And he had kept that promise exactly.
He did not know what this energy was, but the gu was no longer rampaging.
So Mara Hyeon asked,
Given Mok Gyeong-un’s disposition, there was no way he had truly gone there merely to talk.
At that question, Mok Gyeong-un answered with a smile.
At those words, Mara Hyeon’s eyes widened.
“It means exactly what it sounds like. You can think of it as my having taken possession of the commanding gu that Superior Commander had.”
At those words, Mara Hyeon’s expression froze once more.
If it was truly as he said, then he had literally snatched away the female commanding gu from Superior Commander Sang Ik-seo.
That meant, in the end, that the holder of the weakness had changed.
Thinking back, beside that man there had been an extraordinary master who had subdued him in only a few exchanges.
Even if it were Mok Gyeong-un, the martial strength of that man…
Mara Hyeon swallowed dryly.
He had failed to notice it until he internalized the demonic aura.
But once he became able to sense Mok Gyeong-un’s demonic aura, he could no longer gauge its extent at all.
With energy of this level, then perhaps…
“If by guard you mean, ah, that fellow called Gyeom-chang, the Hundred-Household Commander.”
“Yes. I was just about to tell you he was no ordinary opponent…”
“He is dead.”
“I said he is dead.”
At those words, Mara Hyeon was left dumbfounded.
Though he was called nothing more than a Hundred-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, that man Gyeom-chang possessed martial ability that would not make it an exaggeration to say he was practically at the level of a True Martial Officer.
Mara Hyeon had thought no one could match him except the Southern Commandant Gu Seong-baek and his own teacher, Deputy Thousand-Household Commander So Ye-rin.
For such a supreme master to have been killed left him at a loss for words.
‘Wait.’
Then if he had killed that guard called Gyeom-chang, could it be…
“………”
At those words, Mara Hyeon said nothing.
Hearing someone who could go anywhere speak in that soothing tone left him simply speechless.
But that was not the issue right now.
He absolutely should not simply have been killed.
Until now Mara Hyeon had been unable to touch him because of the gu poison in his body, but there was decisive evidence concerning what Sang Ik-seo had tried to do, and based on that, it should have been possible to aim higher up the chain.
“He is alive and well.”
“Ah…”
At those words, Mara Hyeon felt relieved.
If he had simply been killed, it would only have stirred up unnecessary turmoil and alerted those higher up.
But if he were still alive, then there was still room to investigate.
Mara Hyeon rose from his seat.
Then he moved to gather up the pieces of evidence lying on the office desk.
To him, Mok Gyeong-un said,
“If you mean to do something with that, then do not do it yet.”
At those words, Mara Hyeon paused.
He understood at once what Mok Gyeong-un meant.
He must be saying that since he was planning to enter the underground prison and seize a prisoner, he did not want an internal incident within the Embroidered Uniform Guard to erupt beforehand.
But if they simply left that man alone, he would surely report upward, and there was a chance those above would cut off the tail.
If that happened, then the evidence would be meaningless.
“I told you not to do it.”
The moment those words ended, Mara Hyeon immediately set down the human skin mask chest.
And then, as though by instinct, he answered,
“Understood.”
After replying like that, Mara Hyeon frowned.
It was only natural that he would think so.
He had accepted what Mok Gyeong-un said as though it were obvious.
As though Mok Gyeong-un were his master.
At Mara Hyeon’s bewildered reaction, Mok Gyeong-un curled up the corners of his mouth and said,
“It seems it is not only on my side that this is happening.”
“Who knows. Just as I said earlier. But perhaps because you assimilated to my energy, even I feel a greater sense of closeness with you now, Thousand-Household Commander Mara.”
“I… I…”
“In this condition, it seems you will be able to help me even better.”
At those words, Mara Hyeon felt strange.
He should have been filled with resentment at the sense that something had clearly been done to him.
Instead, each time Mok Gyeong-un spoke, an absurd feeling arose that he ought to accept it.
It felt as though he ought to do whatever Mok Gyeong-un wanted.
He wanted to deny and suppress this inexplicable change in his mind through sheer force of will, but he could not.
To the confused man, Mok Gyeong-un said with a smile,
“As it happens, it seems the time has come, and I need Thousand-Household Commander Mara’s help even more now. Once that matter is over, I will let you do as you please.”
At those words, Mara Hyeon nodded without hesitation and answered,
“Understood.”
“It is good that you agree so readily. Then do this for me.”
Mok Gyeong-un then laid out the plan he had in mind.
As Mara Hyeon listened, his expression gradually became strange.
That was because, in this plan to seize the underground prison, his role was actually rather important.
* * *
Cadet Bae Ji-seok.
He was a cadet participating in this Imperial Guard Bureau martial examination.
Having passed with exactly middle-ranking results and been assigned to the Fourth Squad, he was swelling with anticipation as he thought of the Embroidered Uniform Guard apprenticeship that would begin tomorrow.
He fully intended to work as hard as possible and get good results.
Yet, just as he was trying to sleep while making those resolutions, he was not long afterward summoned to the Six Service Offices of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
They said they were investigating the death of Cadet Mok Gyeong-un and had called him in as a reference witness.
He did not know much about Mok Gyeong-un.
No, among the cadets here, there was no one who knew much about those from the Heaven and Earth Society.
So he could not understand why they had called him.
Though he found it strange, he was told it was only a simple inquiry, so he went to the interrogation room of the Six Service Offices for the time being.
Bae Ji-seok knocked on the door and said,
“This is Cadet Bae Ji-seok. I was told to come for reference questioning.”
“Come in.”
At the voice from inside, Bae Ji-seok opened the door.
The interior of the interrogation room was dark.
Once he entered, he saw one lamp, a table, and two chairs arranged so two people could sit facing each other.
Inside stood a masked Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
Bae Ji-seok closed the door, went inside, and saluted him with both hands together.
“……..”
The masked Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard said nothing.
As the Thousand-Household Commander of the Six Service Offices, which he had heard was an investigative department, remained silent, Cadet Bae Ji-seok began to feel uneasy and asked carefully,
At that question, the masked Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard opened his mouth.
“I am sorry.”
“It was not I who summoned you.”
“What do you mean by-”
At that moment, a voice came from directly behind him.
“I am the one who called you.”
Startled by the voice behind him, which he had not sensed at all, Cadet Bae Ji-seok hurriedly turned around.
Bae Ji-seok’s eyes widened the moment he turned around.
That was because there stood Mok Gyeong-un, the very man they had said had been murdered in the Embroidered Uniform Guard infirmary a few days earlier.
“Y… you were clearly said to be dead…”
Far from being glad, he was only all the more bewildered.
So,
Bae Ji-seok slowly backed away as he called to the masked Thousand-Household Commander.
But the masked Thousand-Household Commander remained silent with his arms crossed.
Instead, Mok Gyeong-un approached him and raised the corner of his mouth in a chilling smile.
“The Thousand-Household Commander did not call you.”
“Just what in the world…”
Growing uneasy, Cadet Bae Ji-seok raised his voice.
Then, under the shadow cast by the lamp, the corners of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth rose into a gruesome smile.
At that sight, the young cadet panicked still more and tried to back away, widening the distance between them, but Mok Gyeong-un slowly narrowed that distance as he said,
“It is nothing much. I thought I might borrow your face for a little while.”