Kwoong! Kwaaang!
A thunderous roar as if the darkness were shattering.
The explosive sound of energy colliding head-on shook the entire cave.
‘Sothing is wrong.’
Demon Lord’s expression hardened. Anxiety seed to crawl up his neck.
Heuk-gyeong is a Supre Demon Warrior.
A killer at the pinnacle of stealth in the darkness. Normally he could locate an enemy by a single breath and cut a neck with a single swing.
No matter how strong Three Hidden ones were, it should have been subdued by now.
But the ti kept stretching.
Kuruhrruk! Ududeuduk!
Cracks spread across the ceiling like a spiderweb, and stone dust poured down like a waterfall.
‘Could it be… that we’re losing?’
Demon Lord concealed his thoughts and sharply asked Yeo-rin.
“Which grand technique is faster?”
“Between the two grand techniques…”
Yeo-rin unfolded the bamboo slip with trembling hands and compared both. Ancient characters flickered in the torchlight, and her pupils quickly scanned the script.
“The Current Manifestation Great Technique can be completed within a short mont.”
“Then use that—”
“However…”
Sseuk.
As Yeo-rin hesitated, Wei-seom stepped forward.
His shadow stretched grotesquely along the wall.
“To perform this technique a special sacrifice is required.”
“A sacrifice?”
“To summon the energies of the universe, one needs a body and soul of a Supre Demon Warrior who has fully mastered the Three Harmonies and Five Vitalities and can contain the energies of Heaven and Earth…” ꞦÁ𐌽ȏＢΕŠ
Silence.
A heavy silence pressed on them. Demon Lord’s gaze turned cold.
‘That ans it’s impossible to make the sacrifice.’
A ritual to summon a god.
It required the sacrifice of soone at a realm higher than his own.
Paaaak!
Suddenly a huge rock at the entrance shattered into pieces.
Remnants of red energy rose like smoke. It was definite proof Heuk-gyeong was being pushed back.
“What about the Law of Equal Exchange?”
Demon Lord urgently brought up another grand technique.
“About an hour to two hours.”
“A sacrifice?”
“None is needed. It only calls forth a spirit, so the Demon Lord’s vital essence alone is sufficient.”
‘I must decide. As quickly as possible.’
Kugugugung.
This ti the floor trembled as if splitting. Sothing writhed within the dark cave.
anwhile, Yeo-rin’s eyes were full of a mad desire.
‘The legendary art that descended only through oral tradition… I’m going to see it with my own eyes.’
For a sorcery practitioner, summoning a god.
It was an achievent that would etch her na into history forever.
Wei-seom’s eyes were the sa—an expression mixed with desire and fear.
Kwa kwa kwang!
At that mont part of the cave collapsed. Black smoke surged in like a storm.
“Kraaaak!”
Heuk-gyeong’s desperate scream, with a dull sound like bones breaking.
Puk! Pukpuk!
Heavy blows landed in rapid succession.
In the end Demon Lord made a decision.
“We will use the Law of Equal Exchange!”
Desperation laced his voice.
“If Three Hidden cos in anyway… we all die.”
Sssssk—
The sorcerers moved imdiately. Yeo-rin took out a red powder from her robe.
Cinnabar. A rcury compound redder than blood.
Sakgaksakgak.
Wei-seom began drawing a complex pattern on the ground.
A grotesque diagram mixing the Eight Trigrams and Five Elents. At its center was a circle large enough for a person to lie in.
“At this corner, place the yin-yang fish…”
“I know! Hurry!”
Chyareureuk—
Yeo-rin poured black liquid over the diagram. The rotten stench unique to the Demonic Cult stung the nose.
Drurureuk- Kwoong.
Part of the ceiling collapsed. A massive boulder fell right beside them.
“Faster! Even faster!”
Demon Lord shouted. Thick beads of sweat ford on his forehead.
Tak tak tak—
Footsteps were heard—fast and irregular. Sothing grotesque, not human, was approaching.
“Ready?”
“Just a little… just the final seal…”
Chiiiik—
Yeo-rin bit her own finger. Red blood flowed out. She used it to inscribe the final character.
Sseuuuu—
At that mont, a fierce wind blew from the darkness at the entrance.
And then, a following silence.
‘Who is it?’
Sseuk.
Demon Lord turned his head. His heart pounded. Whoever had returned alive would decide everything.
“Ah…!”
Thuk.
His knees weakened. The figure before him was neither Heuk-gyeong nor Three Hidden.
A black robe flickered in the darkness. Its re presence made the air heavy.
“Demon Lord. Why are you here?”
A low voice echoed through the cave. The Cult Leader—it was Heavenly Demon.
“Master… no, Cult Leader.”
Chrepeuk.
Thud. From behind the Cult Leader ca the sound of sothing being dragged. Warriors were dragging a limp body.
It was Heuk-gyeong.
His face caked in blood, his left arm grotesquely twisted as if broken. Whether conscious or not, his head hung limply.
“Can you not tell why you are here?”
Gooooo.
The pressure radiating from the Cult Leader.
A force beyond a Supre Demon pressed on Demon Lord’s lungs.
“Cult Leader, that is…”
“Perhaps.”
Tak.
The Cult Leader took a step forward. His shadow swallowed Demon Lord completely.
“Did you target the hidden martial arts inside here?”
“……”
Silence.
They could not answer.
After declaring noninterference in the successor contest, the Cult Leader had disappeared.
Yet here he was, at this very mont.
“You are… the Strange Being Troops, aren’t you?”
A sharp gaze turned toward the palace heads.
“We pay respects to the Cult Leader!”
Yeo-rin and Wei-seom imdiately knelt, bowing so deep their foreheads touched the ground.
“We are…”
Yeo-rin’s voice trembled.
“We were performing a great technique.”
“Which great technique?”
“The Law of Equal Exchange.”
For a mont, the Cult Leader’s gaze shifted.
It contained sothing like intense curiosity rather than anger.
“…What is that?”
Sreureuk—
Yeo-rin opened the bamboo slip. With trembling fingers she pointed at the characters and began to explain.
“It calls forth a spirit… and places that power into the body…”
She explained, step by step, the principle of the Law of Equal Exchange.
“And one more: the Current Manifestation Great technique…”
She then described the Current Manifestation Great Technique in turn.
“What did you say?”
Having heard everything, the Cult Leader’s voice sharpened.
He stared at the two leaders as if to test whether they dared lie.
“Did you just say… that you can summon a god?”
“In theory… that is what is known, but…”
“Hmmm.”
The Cult Leader’s lips twitched.
It could be a smile, or sothing else entirely.
“So this is it.”
Sseuk.
The Cult Leader slowly approached the bamboo slip. His finger traced the ancient characters.
“So what that one spoke of… was this.”
‘That one? Who is he referring to?’
Demon Lord and the leaders looked at each other. Anxiety tightened their throats.
“What is the casting thod?”
“……?”
“The Current Manifestation Great Technique.”
“Ah, that is…”
Yeo-rin answered hastily.
“A person as a sacrifice… to receive the energies between Heaven and Earth, you need a vessel capable of containing it. Soone who has reached the level of a Supre Demon Warrior…”
“Is that all?”
A cold voice. Cold sweat ran down Yeo-rin’s spine.
“And… the more Supre Demon Warriors there are…”
Gulp.
“The probability of summoning a god increases. The quantity of sacrifices is proportional to the potency of the ritual.”
“I see.”
The Cult Leader nodded, then slowly turned his head.
His gaze lingered on the fallen Heuk-gyeong, the darkness at the entrance, and the warriors who had followed him.
“Prepare them for .”
A chilling smile spread across his face.
“Three Hidden.”
Kugugung—
As he spoke, sothing writhed in the darkness. Three pairs of red eyes flashed.
“Co here.”
Sreureuk—
Three monstrous forms slowly revealed themselves. Twisted beings that could not be called human.
“And Heuk-gyeong.”
Thuk.
Heuk-gyeong’s body was thrown onto the ground. Blood pooled.
“On top of that…”
The Cult Leader’s voice deepened.
“I will include the lives of my entire escort who guarded .”
“Cult Leader…!”
Demon Lord’s face went pale.
The Cult Leader intended to offer his own subordinates as sacrifices—the Heavenly Demon guards, several of whom were Supre Demon Warriors.
“Yes. As the Cult Leader wishes.”
It was an imdiate reply.
Not an ounce of hesitation or refusal. The guards’ gazes were already those of the dead.
It was chilling.
A coldness crept along Demon Lord’s spine.
This was the Heavenly Demon’s true grandeur: absolute loyalty willing to give life at a single word.
Sreureuk—
Three Hidden’s slowly stepped forward. Three twisted figures. Resignation, not madness, lay in their red eyes.
Thuk. Thuk.
Heuk-gyeong’s blood dripped to the floor. Even half-unconscious, he nodded.
It was a tacit acceptance of death.
‘There are more than ten. At least four of them are Supre Demon Warriors…’
This was not a grand technique but a sacrifice—a massive sacrificial ritual to call a god.
“Through whom does the god manifest?”
The Cult Leader’s question landed.
“The second disciple.”
Sseuk.
Yeo-rin’s fingertip pointed to one spot: the place where Demon Lord stood.
At a glance he seed apart, but looking closely at the formation on the ground, red lines converged toward him like a spiderweb.
‘… as the vessel.’
Demon Lord felt a chill run up his spine. The idea that a god would manifest through his body.
He had steeled himself, but could not fathom what it truly ant.
“Now, begin the ritual.”
Gooooo—
With the Cult Leader’s command, the air weighed heavily.
Ssssseusuk—
Yeo-rin’s hands moved violently. The ground pattern began to glow crimson.
Wei-seom muttered an incantation lowly.
Parreureuk—
The sacrifices stepped into the diagram one by one. Their steps were eerily calm, as if their fate had been decided long ago.
Chiiiiik—
Strange smoke rose—blackish-red mist. It looked as if the sacrifices’ souls were being drawn out.
Swsish—
One fell to his knees. Then another. Even the Supre Demon Warriors could not withstand it.
“Cu-cult Leader.”
Demon Lord stepped back. His voice trembled.
“Why this…”
He couldn’t understand. For the successor contest? No. This was beyond that—sacrificing his loyal subordinates, the Heavenly Demon guards.
“Why? Isn’t this what you wanted?”
The Cult Leader’s eyes glinted oddly.
“That may be so… but this is unbearable…”
‘As expected, warrior is like . But there is sothing more.’
Demon Lord felt it: the Cult Leader had another motive.
“Soone told .”
The Cult Leader spoke slowly, his gaze into the void.
“That a god will soon appear in this world.”
Kugugugung—
The formation glowed brighter. The sacrifices’ bodies began to turn transparent.
“Therefore I watched personally and ca to witness it.”
Paseusseusseu—
One Supre Demon warrior vanished completely. His spirit was sucked into the formation.
“He must appear… and only after he disappears can the successor contest continue.”
‘He? Who is he referring to?’
Demon Lord’s brow furrowed. Then he realized.
That the Cult Leader was in the sa bind as him—entangled by soone or pursued by sothing.
“There are reasons I do not know.”
Demon Lord bowed his head.
“Understood.”
Wuuuuung—
The formation’s vibration grew stronger. The entire cave trembled.
‘In any case…’
Demon Lord steeled himself. He did not wish to live under another; he was ready to accept any situation or outco.
Kwaaaang!
In an instant, a giant pillar of light shot up from the formation.
“Oooo…”
Yeo-rin and Wei-seom were in awe. The legendary art was truly activating.
Paaaaah.
The light intensified. And within it—
Kugugugugugug—
Before Demon Lord, who stood a step back, sothing shone clearly.
It was the language of a god.
No language pointing the way to becoming a god.
At least to Demon Lord, it appeared so.
No.
Yes.
Reviews
All reviews (0)