Chapter 98. The Chosen Sorcerer

So what did you do?

So-hwa swallowed the question that had risen to the tip of her throat.

The Alliance Leader’s expression had grown very dark. It seemed he had recalled a painful memory, as he closed his eyes.

So-hwa waited patiently for him to speak.

How did he go to the past?

What exactly did you see?

She was willing to wait as long as needed if it meant she could hear the answer.

“…I was startled when I saw that woman, but she spoke with a terribly sorrowful face, as if she had known I was coming. She asked if I had come to kill her. I told her, ‘If you are the Blood Demon, then yes, I came to kill you.’ The old woman then looked at me as if puzzled and opened her silk robe, baring her nape. She said, ‘If you want to kill the Blood Demon, you must kill me first.’”

The Alliance Leader closed his eyes again.

Furrowing his brow as if in pain, he spoke in a regretful voice.

“I wasn’t in my right mind then. I’d seen too much blood, was worked up, and my judgment was clouded with rage toward the Blood Demon. I thought she was protecting the Blood Demon, a member of the Blood Sect, and so I cut her down in one stroke. Naturally, I assumed she was a high elder of the sect.”

The silence that followed painted the picture.

The old woman had done nothing and simply accepted death.

The Alliance Leader was a Taoist. It seemed he was burdened with guilt for having killed someone who had neither weapons nor killing intent.

“But though I was certainly the one who killed her… I lost consciousness. And when I awoke again—”

Only after some time did the Alliance Leader open his eyes again.

“I had returned to the day I first received my Taoist name. It was the day the senior brothers whom I failed to protect congratulated me. One of the best memories of my life, and a day I had longed for.”

Clarity returned to the Alliance Leader’s eyes. Slowly, he turned his head.

Facing So-hwa, the Alliance Leader asked in a low voice.

“What do you think I did after returning to the past?”

That he was aware of his regression had been clear to So-hwa ever since he began speaking of his dreams.

So to her, the question sounded different.

What will you do in this life?

“You must have tried to take revenge on the Blood Demon and protect Kunlun.”

The Alliance Leader gave a faint chuckle at her response.

“Yes, that’s right. I believed the heavens were on my side for granting me such a precious opportunity. Using the future I knew, I quickly sought out fortuitous encounters, cultivated, and began eliminating the Blood Sect scattered throughout the Central Plains one by one. It went smoothly. By the time I was around thirty, I had completely grasped the structure of the Blood Sect and crossed the passage of Qilian Mountain with my companions to reach Jin Yin Mountain and kill the Blood Demon.”

As if reliving his past victories, he spoke in a slow voice.

“The passages leading out of the Central Plains connect to dozens of other passages outside. It’s very complex. On the way to Jin Yin Mountain, various factions of the Blood Sect serve as shields protecting the Blood Demon, but I already knew the route, so I devised a perfect strategy and crushed them all, claiming a great victory.”

Though he spoke of victory, the Alliance Leader’s voice grew quieter.

“Having already been to Jin Yin Mountain once, I avoided the most heavily guarded areas and entered the foremost hall. The shock of that moment is still vivid. Have you ever smelled the rotting stench of blood? Amidst walls soaked in blood stood the Blood Demon’s bed, and he lay there calmly watching us.”

In the Alliance Leader’s eyes, there wasn’t fear or anger—there was another emotion.

Because she couldn’t understand it, So-hwa stayed silent, waiting.

“Even though a full nine-tenths of our forces had made it into Jin Yin Mountain alive, most of them were annihilated inside the Blood Demon’s hall. A few survivors tried to flee, but the Blood Demon toyed with us, tearing at our flesh. I abandoned those comrades who had trusted me and ran from the hall. While the demon was distracted with others’ blood, I ran desperately to the hall where the old woman was.”

“……”

“I had already vaguely sensed that the old woman was someone pitiful, imprisoned by the Blood Demon. And yet, without a moment’s hesitation, I killed her and seized the chance again. Extreme fear makes a person wretched. I convinced myself that if I became stronger and killed the Blood Demon sooner, I could grant her freedom—that it was for her own good. In my third life, I truly did grow stronger and headed for Jin Yin Mountain with even more powerful allies.”

The Alliance Leader repeatedly broke off and resumed his words.

His expression looked deeply pained.

“But… even on the third try, I couldn’t kill the Blood Demon. After countless failures, I finally realized—I could never defeat him. It must’ve been more than a hundred times. And yet, out of habit, I kept returning to Jin Yin Mountain. Once, instead of seeking the Blood Demon, I went to the old woman. As I listened to the screams of my companions being torn apart by the Blood Demon, I asked her—how do I kill him? The old woman said the same thing she had the first time we met: ‘If you want to kill the Blood Demon, you must kill me.’ I suppose she hoped I would learn the way to turn back time. I, feeling hollow, confessed to her that even after returning to the past, I couldn’t kill the Blood Demon. Then disappointment appeared on her face.”

The silence dragged on until So-hwa could no longer bear it and asked,

“So what did that old woman say?”

“She asked me… whether the Blood Demon was the one who killed her.”

So-hwa frowned at the incomprehensible words.

“I made that same face. But there was a reason the sorcerer said that.”

The Alliance Leader gave a powerless smile.

“I thought returning to the past was a blessing. But in their world, it’s called punishment. They said it was a time of repentance, meant to make the one chosen by the god realize that a divine messenger cannot be killed by humans. The killer believes they can change the future by returning to the past and struggles with all their life. Even if they fail, they think they’ll have another chance. They challenge it again, kill the divine messenger once more, and live through the same time again… And then, eventually, they realize—they’ve become trapped in time. Without changing anything.”

The Alliance Leader turned to So-hwa and continued,

“In the end, the thing you most desire… will never come true. No matter how hard you try, the event will still happen—only the timing changes.”

“But if the timing changes and we keep trying… can’t the future eventually be changed?”

So-hwa countered coldly.

The Alliance Leader twisted his lips into a faint smile.

“As I said, this is punishment. The god they speak of is not so merciful. It knows what you want—and the more lives you repeat, the more karma you accumulate, the more cruelly it takes that desire away from you.”

“But didn’t the Blood Demon repeat time and change the future? In the end, he devoured all of the Outer Regions.”

The Alliance Leader gave a powerless laugh.

“That’s because the Outer Regions were never what he truly wanted.”

Silence fell over the pavilion.

The Alliance Leader exhaled a breath heavier than the silence itself.

“As far as I remember, the Blood Demon never once killed the old woman to restart time. That means he never needed to go back—he never failed, not even once, by his own standards. He merely kept the divine messenger by his side in case of failure.”

“What is the Blood Demon’s goal?”

“I do not know either. I wasn’t close enough with him to have such deep conversations.”

The Alliance Leader brushed off So-hwa’s question with a laugh.

“But… it seems the Central Plains isn’t the end.”

“The Western Regions?”

“Who knows? I have no way of knowing what his true goal is. I’ve not gone mad enough to comprehend a madman’s thoughts. I was more cowardly and weaker than I believed, while the Blood Demon was more honest and stronger than I expected. He never once tampered with time. He beat me easily every time with the same methods and thoughts. Meanwhile, those who followed me and believed in me died more and more cruelly with each repetition. When the old woman told me this was punishment, I realized why each repeated life grew more painful. That’s why I had no intention of killing her anymore. And when she saw that I had given up, she cried and begged me—please, just once, kill her.”

The Alliance Leader paused again.

He exhaled deeply and then continued.

“She said she knew a way to end her punishment. Their god is extremely fickle and sometimes takes back the power it once granted. If the chosen sorcerer gives up their own life, the god withdraws its favor, and the sorcerer can no longer connect time.”

“……”

“The old woman asked me to turn back time. She said she had once been under the care of a physician in Qinghai at the age of fifteen. She recited the contents of a letter, asking me to send it to that place. She asked that I open the passage in time, so the physician could help her return to that moment, before the Blood Demon captured her. And that she should then take her own life, for the Blood Demon would find her again and imprison her all the same.”

So-hwa furrowed her brows, and the Alliance Leader let out a sigh.

“She tempted me by saying that if the sorcerer died, the Blood Demon would lose the passage that connected time. Back then, my hatred for the Blood Demon was so intense that I wanted to see him suffer.”

“…You killed the old woman again.”

The Alliance Leader nodded.

“As soon as she returned to being fifteen, I left Kunlun Mountain at the risk of severing my limbs and meridians, and went searching for the physician in Qinghai the old woman had spoken of. I was too anxious to send a letter—it was a dangerous message—and I was curious why she specifically wanted to return to the age of fifteen. I joined the group under the guise of a courier. Yeonju was a kind physician who gave me a room to rest in after I told her I had traveled a long way. In the next room… was the old woman. Though time had erased everything from her face, I recognized her instantly. Her gentle energy was exactly the same.”

“..…”

“I placed the letter in her room and quietly observed. That night, the sorcerer approached Yeonju and said something. Yeonju quickly packed her things. The two of them left through the back door, and I followed immediately. But instead of just going out for a walk, they carried light luggage and traveled far.”

So-hwa listened to the Alliance Leader’s words with disbelief creeping in.

The Alliance Leader smiled faintly at her.

“They arrived at Emei Mountain. It was a place between canyons with a large lake. The young sorcerer walked into the lake without hesitation. After a while, she called out, saying she found it, and told Yeonju to follow her into the water. Honestly, I still don’t know what she did down there. She dove in with a small dart and only surfaced briefly to breathe, over and over again. Thinking back, I believe she was carving something into the riverbed stones. Sorcerers complete their spells using their own script.”

Though he claimed not to have known at the time, the Alliance Leader then revealed the answer.

“While the girl was submerged again, strange bird calls echoed from all directions. I knew exactly what those sounds were. They were the signals used by the Blood Sect. After about the fifth birdcall, Yeonju—who stood alone in the lake—suddenly rose into the air. The Blood Demon appeared and grabbed her by the throat. The sorcerer, who had just surfaced for breath, froze the moment she recognized him.”

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