Chapter 410: Old Nemesis (2)

I saw determination in Baek Sang-ah’s eyes.

A resolve to willingly stain her hands with blood for the greater cause.

If she truly danced with her sword in earnest, then save for a select few in the Central Plains, no one’s head would remain safe.

However.

“The logic of the orthodox path, it is not.”

“Only now you say that?”

“I acknowledge your resolve, my lady, but at the very least, there’s no need to act on it immediately.”

I looked down at the unconscious Mosan Celestial Maiden.

“For now, we can decide after interrogating the Mosan Celestial Maiden. There’s no rush.”

“Ugh! K-Krk!”

The Mosan Celestial Maiden, her vision blurred, felt her consciousness surfacing.

“You’re awake.”

The Mosan Celestial Maiden looked this way with vacant eyes.

She had been subdued so cleanly that she likely didn’t suffer much of a headache.

“Well, as you know, the situation is over. The sorcerers of your Mosan Sect have all been subdued by the Hwan Clan.”

“……”

From the moment the Mosan Celestial Maiden—their leader—was taken down, there was no chance of victory left for the Mosan Sect.

Some elder-level sorcerers fiercely resisted, but they weren’t enough to overcome the elite led personally by Hwan Jeong.

“Do not attempt to draw upon your sorcery. You know how merciless the main clan’s suppression technique is.”

“What… do you intend to do with me?”

I coldly advised her.

“Confess everything you know and swear to seal the Mosan Sect. Do so, and I will at least spare your life.”

“Hah…”

Despite her circumstances, she let out a scornful laugh.

“You think you can threaten me with something as cheap as my life?”

Indeed, someone twisted by decades of obsessive revenge would hardly surrender over something so trivial.

“Torture? Go ahead. If you wish to touch my brain, feel free. Even if my ego shatters, I will never hand over even a single piece of information to the likes of you!”

“……”

Her spirit was admirable, but to me, it was laughable.

“Hwan Jeong, is it possible to destroy the Mosan Celestial Maiden’s mind and extract information from it?”

Her shoulders flinched slightly—perhaps she hadn’t expected I would actually consider it.

“Hmm…”

Hwan Jeong looked hesitant for a moment, then shook his head.

“It is difficult.”

“Why is that?”

“Once sorcerers are subjected to mental techniques, they understand well how wretched their downfall will be.”

Just as martial artists have their final gambit known as mutual destruction, sorcerers have similar measures.

“For a sorcerer of her caliber, she is bound to have prepared at least one countermeasure for her final moment.”

“A countermeasure?”

“Usually, they destroy their own body while simultaneously unleashing a curse on their foe. Among the Hwan Clan, even our elders are trained in such techniques.”

I tilted my head slightly.

“Hwan Pyeong didn’t seem to have anything like that?”

“…It probably didn’t work on the Grand Duke.”

Hwan Jeong pouted.

It was a silent protest—why compare her to such a monster outside the norm?

“Fair point.”

Back then, it wasn’t me but the Second Heavenly Demon who had taken over my body.

Curses and petty tricks wouldn’t have worked on someone like that.

“So in short, mental sorcery won’t work on her?”

“Unfortunately…”

“There’s really no other way…”

It would be a waste to simply kill the Mosan Celestial Maiden as she was.

But releasing her was absolutely out of the question.

‘No matter how strict the suppression technique is, if she’s freed, she’d eventually break through it and become our enemy.’

More importantly, although she had been subdued anticlimactically, she was said to be so skilled in psychological techniques that other sorcerers even called her Sa Gal.

At that moment, Yorang poked her head out from within my robe.

–What kind of nonsense are you trying to pull now?

“Hm?”

–Whatever countermeasure she’s got, just crush it with force… tsk tsk!

“Crush it with force?”

–Yeah. If you want, I could even lend a hand.

As soon as she saw Yorang, the Mosan Celestial Maiden’s eyes flew wide open.

“D-D-D-D-Demonic Immortal?!”

“…?”

“H-How?! How can you appear in the material world again?!”

I was slightly confused by her reaction.

‘What? It’s like she’s seeing Yorang for the first time…’

But she had been right there listening during my conversation with Gunggi, hadn’t she?

Yorang scoffed and answered my question.

–Hmph, it’s a difference in level. Beings of lower class can’t even properly perceive my form. Unless I permit it, they can’t comprehend me, nor the circumstances involving me.

‘Ah, is that so?’

An illusion technique that deceives the world itself merely by existing.

If this creature had been fully unleashed, the Heaven-Defying Society would’ve been nothing more than a minor ripple compared to the catastrophe that would’ve descended upon the Central Plains.

“Please.”

–Hmph, watch carefully.

Yorang, whose eyes had turned red at some point, stared directly at the Mosan Celestial Maiden.

–Look into my eyes.

She desperately tried to turn her head away.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

Hwan Jeong grabbed her jaw and forcibly fixed her gaze.

“……!”

At that moment—

Crunch! Crack!

Nothing occurred in the physical world.

But within the spiritual realm, a distinct sound echoed—as if something was being torn apart.

“D-Don’t! Stop it! No!”

Even the Mosan Celestial Maiden, who had withstood threats of torture without flinching, now had fear welling up in her eyes.

And before long—

“……”

The light vanished from her pupils.

“A-Amazing. Even with the suppression technique in place, to break her this easily…”

–It’s done. Ask anything you wish.

“Thank you, Yorang.”

I gently stroked the space between her brows.

To my surprise, she didn’t seem to mind my touch.

–Hmm, there. A bit more… mhmm!

“……”

–What are you looking at? Wanna lose those eyes? Lower them.

Hwan Jeong, who had been staring blankly, quickly dropped his gaze the moment Yorang bared her fangs.

Letting out a faint chuckle, I turned my eyes toward the Mosan Celestial Maiden.

“Mosan Celestial Maiden, answer my question.”

“…Yes.”

I started with what I was most curious about.

“Where is Cheon Juchun’s real body?”

The answer came quickly.

“I don’t know. Not precisely.”

“……”

“……”

…You little!

The mood in the room instantly turned icy.

After acting like she knew everything, she was bluffing?

Suppressing the urge to throw a punch, I asked the next question.

“Tell me everything you know about Cheon Juchun’s abilities.”

Thankfully, this time she answered smoothly.

I listened with great interest as information flowed from her lips.

“The maximum number of terminals he can control is around a hundred… That’s fewer than I expected.”

Even then, at most, he could simultaneously control only about ten.

“Even if he has become a mental collective, he still cannot exceed the fundamental limits of a human…”

“Of course.”

If he could wield thousands or tens of thousands of terminals, there’d be no need for this approach.

He could’ve simply built a force and steamrolled the Central Plains with power.

It was then—

Suddenly, a twisted smile formed on the Mosan Celestial Maiden’s lips.

“Cheon Juchun… believes himself to be the right arm of the Grand Heavenly Lord, a revolutionary to usher in a new world… but in truth, that is merely his delusion.”

A delusion?

“In what way is it a delusion?”

And then, a shocking truth spilled from her mouth.

“In truth, he is… the sacrificial offering meant to resurrect the last of the Four Atrocities who slumbered long ago—Docheol.”

“……!”

“If all of the Four Atrocities awaken, it will hasten the Heavenly Time in which Heavenly Evil resurrects… Once his purpose is fulfilled, he will be discarded.”

Cheon Juchun, a sacrifice to revive the Four Atrocities?

It’s not entirely implausible.

There are offerings that are judged not by quantity, but by quality.

No, more importantly—

“You said if the Four Atrocities all awaken, the Heavenly Time can be brought forth sooner?”

“Yes… They are ancient beings who once served Heavenly Evil, those who inherited his power. Just by being near them, even the slumbering fragments of Heavenly Evil are greatly stimulated…”

Gunggi, Chaos, Do’ol, Docheol.

The demonic beasts of the Mythic Era, still remembered today as the Four Atrocities.

“Didn’t Gam Unbi, who inherited Docheol’s power, die by Master’s hand?”

The Essence of Chaos must’ve been completely destroyed back then as well.

Master was never the kind to leave such things unfinished.

Then the Mosan Celestial Maiden nodded.

“Former Third Heavenly Lord Gam Unbi was Docheol’s descendant… He was originally designated as Docheol’s host, but his death caused the plan to fall apart.”

“Hmm…”

So in short, Cheon Juchun is a backup.

‘If anything happens related to that guy, it’s highly likely to occur within the Cult. The Grand Heavenly Lord must still be after Yura’s body.’

According to the Mosan Celestial Maiden, among the Four Atrocities, Docheol and Chaos have yet to be resurrected.

Which meant, time was still on our side.

I asked her a few more questions after that, and managed to extract some fairly useful answers.

“Even if we head to the Jaegal Clan right now… it’s probably too late.”

“Too late?”

“Except for a few of the bloodline, the Jaegal Clan has effectively already been taken over. The moment the terminal’s head falls… that man will set the Jaegal Clan ablaze….”

“……”

Everyone’s expressions hardened.

Baek Sang-ah let out a strained breath.

“Eun-ah…”

Jaegal Eun was one of the few bloodline survivors who, by fortune, escaped Jaegal Cheon’s grasp.

But if she learned what had become of the Jaegal Clan…

Turning away from the pained Baek Sang-ah, I asked my final question.

“What do you think Jaegal Cheon’s next move will be?”

“He will declare war on the Northern Murim Alliance.”

“Why?”

“The Alliance Leader is dead… and the Jaegal Clan has been annihilated. That fact…”

“He’ll pin it on the Northern Murim Alliance.”

“Yes.”

To be fair, it wasn’t exactly false.

The one who cut down Jaegal Cheon, the Alliance Leader, was the Northern Murim Alliance’s strategist, First Strategist Black Thunder.

“The Southern Murim Alliance was already unstable from the beginning. But using the Alliance Leader’s death and seizing internal control, they can easily consolidate their scattered forces.”

At my monologue, Baek Sang-ah bit her lip.

“War will break out soon.”

“They likely want blood to flow through the Central Plains. That’s the goal in itself.”

It seemed Baek Sang-ah’s assassination mission would have to be put on hold.

As the Northern Murim Alliance Leader, there was no way she could withdraw now.

“For now, let’s quickly wrap up our remaining tasks and return to the Alliance.”

Everyone agreed with that.

“Hwan Jeong, gather a few fast ones and send them to the Jaegal Clan.”

“Understood, Grand Duke.”

But a few days later, a report came from Hwan Jeong—saying the Jaegal Clan’s main house had gone up in flames.

Just as we expected.

Not long after, the Southern Murim Alliance officially announced the death of Alliance Leader Jaegal Cheon and the annihilation of the Jaegal Clan, and declared war on the Northern Murim Alliance.

And on top of that—

News spread that the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty, once driven to the north, had raised a massive army and begun marching southward toward the Hebei region.

Their numbers—one hundred thousand.

However—

Prince Yeongsa, who held supreme command over the Northern Army that should’ve opposed them, suddenly began acting strangely, causing the battle situation to take a bizarre turn.

Lord Baek Cheong, who had been stationed in Beijing, hastily sent a request for support to our Cult, and Cult Leader Cheon Yura responded by dispatching the Cult’s elite, led by Saber Demon, to the imperial court.

A great storm of war began to sweep across the Central Plains.

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