Myst, Might, Mayhem (Novel) - Chapter 278 - Blood Saint (4)
Chapter 278 – Blood Saint (4)
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Translated by Jinmu
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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The great master craftsman Ou Yezi.
All the finest famed swords beneath heaven, such as Jue Que, Zhanlu, Chun Gou, Shengxie, Yuchang, Longyuan, Tai’e, and Gongbu, had all been born from his hands.
Yet there was an unofficial record saying that even such a great master had melted the legendary Guanya Black Iron, which supposedly could not be melted, through human sacrifice and forged demon swords from it.
Those demon swords were said to be the three demon swords discovered in a certain king’s tomb.
Evil-Answering, Huozuo, and Calamity Bane.
These three swords had been found in a ruined royal tomb by a local official and a great merchant.
And because of this, a bloody storm swept through the martial world at the time.
“Is that Calamity Bane Sword, one of those three demon swords?”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s question, Dam Baek-ha, one of the Six Blood Saints, answered with a snort.
“Three swords… yes. That was how the rumor spread.”
“What?”
“Never mind. That is not what is important. More than that, I do not know why that thing is here, but this has become extremely troublesome.”
Dam Baek-ha glanced once at Calamity Bane Sword, then looked into Ju Un-hyang’s eyes that were pouring out a bizarre glow.
It seemed he had been utterly devoured by the sword’s demonic sword intent.
Clicking her tongue, she said,
“Of all things, he has been seized by the demon sword called the very worst.”
“The worst? To that extent?”
“You may not know, but since that sword reappeared in the world, it has passed through three owners, and the number they killed altogether exceeds nearly a thousand.”
‘A thousand? Oh?’
Interest appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.
Just how high was the demon sword intent of that sword, to carry out such a massacre?
No, in the first place, even if the demonic nature of a sword intent was strong, was it really possible to raise such a sea of blood with that alone?
It was then.
“You two… your bodies… look… acceptable.”
-Paat!
Ju Un-hyang, who had been seized by the demon sword, lunged toward them.
In an instant, he closed the distance and swung Calamity Bane Sword, and together with a tremendous blast of wind, sword energy packed with demonic nature swept out in all directions.
“Hmph!”
-Chwachwachwachwacha!
Of course, Dam Baek-ha was not the sort who would simply take that attack.
“Move aside.”
After shoving Mok Gyeong-un to the side, she stepped forward.
Advancing in a spiral, she unfolded her ultimate art, the Blood Jade Hand, and with both hands dyed crimson, rapidly unleashed claw techniques, then split apart all the sword energy at once.
Not stopping there, she used her exquisite footwork to close right to Ju Un-hyang’s face and unleashed the supreme move of Blood Jade Hand.
‘Blood Jade Hand, Third Form, Unchanging Blood Claw!’
-Chwaaaaaa!
The might of that ultimate move, with blue sword-force even wrapping around the blood-red hands, was overwhelmingly domineering.
Its force was so great it looked ready to tear the opponent apart in a single stroke.
But Ju Un-hyang drew a circle in the air with his sword toward her claw technique.
Then,
-Papang!
the air within that circle rippled like waves,
-Chwachwachwachwacha!
and the ultimate move of Blood Jade Hand she had unleashed was reflected straight back at her.
More than that, because even its power had been reflected intact, Dam Baek-ha hurriedly blocked it and was driven backward.
-Chwareureureu!
After being pushed back about five paces, she muttered with an irritated expression,
“Qi-Transferring True Scripture…”
So this was one of the abilities of Calamity Bane Sword that she had heard of only in words?
She had never expected her own ultimate move to be reflected exactly as it was.
Having experienced it for herself, it truly was every bit as astonishing and profound a method as the warnings had claimed.
-Sseuk!
She raised her head and looked at Ju Un-hyang.
Her lips had turned slightly pale.
Because of the evil aura, it was difficult to gauge his exact level by qi-sense, but the sword’s demonic nature was so strong that it was drawing out power far beyond his original limit.
At this rate,
‘I do not know how long that child’s true essence and true qi will endure while he is seized by the demon sword, but at this rate it may all be exhausted and kill him within a few shijin.’
In that sense, if she dragged things out, he would only keep weakening.
Of course, there was another way to deal with him as well.
‘Overwhelming internal energy.’
The stronger the power of the one facing it, the more the demon sword had no choice but to draw out the host’s true essence and true qi even further.
If that happened, the host would ultimately lose his life through the rapid consumption of his true essence and true qi.
‘Then that will do.’
-Wooooong!
Once she decided how she would deal with the enemy, greater luster flowed from Dam Baek-ha’s hands.
Once the Blood Jade Hand drew out its power to above the seven-star level, both hands grew smooth and lustrous like jade.
Having raised her power, she said to Mok Gyeong-un,
“Go on ahead. I will deal with that child.”
“You mean to handle him alone?”
“What do you take me for? However much he may be seized by the demonic nature, this is not something that requires borrowing another’s hands. And the longer we delay this jailbreak, the more disadvantageous it becomes for our side.”
“That is true.”
The corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth lifted slightly.
Without his even asking, she was moving exactly as he wanted.
If she would draw out the time and draw the attention of the Embroidered Uniform Guards on her own, what could be better than that?
“Then with thanks…”
He was about to say he would go, but he looked at Ju Un-hyang, seized by the demon sword.
He rather liked that fellow.
He did not know how he had wound up so completely seized by a demon sword, but still.
Mok Gyeong-un shrugged.
He liked him, but that was all.
He had no intention whatsoever of spending his own time to save him simply for that reason.
But,
“If it is possible, could you take only the sword from him without letting him die?”
“This is not just any demon sword, but Calamity Bane. He seems to be completely seized by its demonic nature. Do you really think that is possible?”
“If it is too difficult, there is no need to force it.”
“Is he some dear friend of yours?”
“Not quite that far. Let us just say he is a friend I happen to like.”
“…Do not expect too much.”
-Paat!
With those words, Dam Baek-ha launched herself toward Ju Un-hyang, who had been seized by the demon sword.
Watching that, Mok Gyeong-un let out a faint laugh.
Judging by the way things stood, if heaven favored him, he would survive, and if not, then it seemed he was fated to die here.
* * *
Leaving Ju Un-hyang, seized by the demon sword, in the hands of Dam Baek-ha of the Old Blood Cult, Mok Gyeong-un headed toward the deepest part of the Avici Prison.
The person he had to snatch was in Forbidden Prison Cell Number Two Hundred Seventy.
Because he had memorized the entire map, Mok Gyeong-un was able to reach that place without falling into any mechanism or formation traps.
The forbidden prison was made of thick iron bars.
A strange light flickered in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes as he stood before it.
That was because inside the dark forbidden prison sat a figure in meditation with eyes closed, and when the torchlight fell upon her, it revealed an elderly woman with a rather worn but still graceful appearance.
He had heard she held quite a high position in the Fire Worship Sect, but she was rather different from what he had expected.
-Taeng!
Mok Gyeong-un flicked his finger, making the iron bars of the prison ring.
At that, the old woman who had been sitting with her eyes closed slowly opened them and turned her head.
Staring directly at Mok Gyeong-un, the old woman said,
“Is it mealtime?”
“Yes. It is mealtime.”
“Yet you have come empty-handed.”
“Yes. I came in a hurry.”
“In a hurry?”
Hearing that, the old woman curled up the corner of her mouth and rose from her meditative posture.
-Challgeurang!
But because of the iron ring, chains, and iron weight shackling her legs, she stumbled before barely recovering her balance and standing up.
After rising with difficulty like that, she said to Mok Gyeong-un,
“So the waiting was worth it after all.”
“The waiting… was worth it?”
“Are you not the one who has come to take me away?”
“……..”
At those words, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.
She was speaking as though she had known he would come here.
At that, he recalled what Sang Ik-seo, the Embroidered Uniform Guard Command Investigating Officer who possessed the female command gu, had said.
[They say that Fire Worship Sect woman once received revelations from something called the Sacred Fire and could foresee the future.]
The reason she had been imprisoned in the Avici Prison until now.
That reason lay in the fact that she had supposedly been able to foresee the future.
But according to what Sang Ik-seo had said, though she had been able to do it before, after being imprisoned in the Avici Prison she had not been able to do it at all.
They had tested her repeatedly without warning, yet she had never been able to do it.
Regarding this, both the upper command in the imperial palace and the organization of the Mark had guessed that the Sacred Fire Leader had hidden the treasure bead and thus lost her power of foresight.
But was it possible that apart from that, she still retained the ability to foresee the future?
So Mok Gyeong-un asked,
“Did you foresee that I would come?”
“I knew that someone would come to rescue me.”
“Did you truly foresee it?”
“Did I not just say so? I already knew someone would come to rescue me… wait. Are you not the one who has come to rescue me?”
The old woman’s eyes changed, filled with suspicion.
Because of Mok Gyeong-un’s question, she wondered whether this might be some trick of the Embroidered Uniform Guards meant to deceive her.
So Mok Gyeong-un shook his head and said,
“I did come to rescue you. It is simply that I heard you could foresee the future, so I wanted to ask whether such a thing is truly possible.”
“…And how am I supposed to believe that?”
“If that is how you mean to speak, then it seems you have no intention of leaving this place.”
At his words, the old woman frowned.
“It is true that according to the course of fate this is about the time I am meant to leave, but there is no harm in being cautious. The one who comes to rescue me will be someone strongly tied to me by fate. Show me that proof.”
“If you can foresee the future, do you really need that proof?”
“Even if one can read heavenly secrets, it is not as though one can know every detail of what lies ahead. The revelations of the Sacred Fire are like seeking a way through smoke filled with gray. Even if one can read the path, it does not mean one knows everything in detail.”
“Do you need that treasure bead in order to know?”
-Challkang!
No sooner had he said those words than the old woman’s face hardened and she stepped back.
“…So they have tested me again.”
“This is not a test. I was merely curious whether the real reason so many people are after you lies in that foresight or in something else.”
At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the old woman frowned.
Then she said,
“At the moment, I cannot distinguish whether you truly came to rescue me or whether you are some scheme of the Embroidered Uniform Guards sent to deceive me. But even if you are the former, if you continue wasting time like this just to satisfy your curiosity, you may fail to leave this place.”
“If you foresaw that I would come to take you away, then should you not also be certain that you will leave?”
“Even one who can read heavenly secrets cannot know everything that will happen, and even one who receives revelations from the Sacred Fire cannot know all things. I merely interpret its revelations with these eyes and seek the proper path.”
“You speak only in riddles. Then I will ask plainly.”
“Why are you…”
“It is natural that the Fire Worship Sect would want to free its Sacred Fire Leader, but the Lord of the Heaven and Earth Society as well…”
-Kkirik! Kkirik!
Mok Gyeong-un scratched something into the iron bars with sword energy.
It was a mark in which a vertical line pierced between two horizontal strokes.
The old woman’s eyes widened on seeing it.
“I am curious why the organization of this mark, too… no, why they are after you, or rather after that treasure bead.”
At that, the old woman asked in a trembling voice,
“…Who are you exactly? How do you even know that mark…?”
Before she could finish,
“Would you keep quiet for a moment?”
“What?”
Mok Gyeong-un slowly turned his head and looked toward the rightmost of the three passages.
Then someone wearing a bamboo hat walked out from there.
The man removed the bamboo hat as if it were cumbersome, revealing none other than Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom.
Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom spoke with a cold face.
“The other prisoners in the forbidden prison have been released, so I came here first just in case. It seems my expectation was right.”
“And who might you be?”
“That is what this official should be asking. How did a trainee of the Embroidered Uniform Guard come to this place? Then again, there is no need to ask. Were you sent by the Fire Worship Sect?”
-Sreung!
With those words, Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom slowly drew his sword.
The instant it came free, such overwhelming force spread out that the surrounding air itself became stiflingly heavy.
The old woman dropped to the ground as though her breathing had become labored.
-Jeobeok jeobeok!
As Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom approached, he said,
“If you do not wish your neck cut by this sword, you would do well to open your mouth at once.”
“Second Realm?”
‘!?’
At the unexpected question from Mok Gyeong-un, Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom stopped short.
Just what was this bastard?
Naturally, because he stood in the place where the Sacred Fire Leader was held, Mok Seom had thought him a man of the Fire Worship Sect.
But how did he know his rank within the organization?
“You…”
-Sseuk!
At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un clasped his hands behind his back, released an oppressive pressure through his bearing, and said,
-Gooooooo!
“What should one do when someone of the Second Realm beholds someone of the First Realm?”
‘What?’
At that moment, Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom stared fixedly at Mok Gyeong-un with a stiffened face.
Those who knew what the Second Realm meant were only the Second Realm Gyeom-chang who had been assigned the duty within the imperial palace, and those of the higher First Realm.
And by coincidence, he had never once seen the face of anyone from the First Realm.
More than that, the only person from the First Realm known at all was Ghost Sword.
So he truly could not be certain whether the one before him was really someone of the First Realm or not.
Because of that, he tried to speak the code phrase by which people in the organization identified each other.
“Three…”
Before he could say more, Mok Gyeong-un cut him off and said,
“Since there is no helping it, because you continue to keep your head lifted so stiffly without showing proper respect, later, before that person, no, before the third…”
-Pak!
Before he could finish those words, Garrison Pacification Commissioner Mok Seom dropped to one knee on the floor, bowed his head, and saluted with both hands clasped.
“Mok Seom of the Second Realm pays his respects to the cadre of the First Realm.”
Mok Seom’s eyes trembled beneath his lowered head.
From the fact that the other had been about to mention even the title by which that person was addressed, he had to be a high cadre of the First Realm.
Mok Gyeong-un approached him.
“Only now do you show proper respect.”
“…I am sorry. Until I confirmed the code or the mark, I could not be certain, so I hesitated for a moment. Please forgive me with a generous heart.”
“Forgive you? Is there even any need for that, when you have already been deceived like this?”
“Decei…”
-Chwak!
At that very moment, Mok Seom, who had his head bowed, saw his own two arms, still joined in salute, drop to the ground amid burning pain.
‘!!!!!!!!’