NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 351: The Dark King (1)
“Master Gu…!”
He lost his balance and began to collapse. Wi Seol-Ah felt it the moment she touched him, the Demonic Qi boiling within Gu Yangcheon.
“No…”
She murmured to herself after feeling it.
So it had come to this, after all.
She’d prayed that Gu Yangcheon wouldn’t turn into a Demonic Human in this life, yet it had happened in the end.
She gazed into Gu Yangcheon’s eyes.
His usual black and red eyes now glowed a haunting violet, the mark of a Demonic Human.
Seeing this, the girl began to sob uncontrollably.
“No… No…”Her eyes filled with tears.
It felt as if a single touch would make her tears spill over.
Then, Gu Yangcheon moved.
He raised his hand, reaching out toward her.
“Are you okay…? Master Gu…!”
The girl called out to him urgently, but he only reached out, patting her cheek.
“Ah…”
“What are you crying for?”
His rough hand brushed past her eyes.
He wiped her tears away.
“I’m fine, so stop crying. You’re acting like I’m dead or something.”
“…”
The girl bit her lip as Gu Yangcheon silently watched her.
The girl had already withdrawn her white aura from before.
The growing silence made the girl feel anxious.
There was something strange in the way Gu Yangcheon was looking at her.
She told herself it was just fatigue and shock from the Heavenly Demon’s appearance, but deep down, she knew that wasn’t it.
“Hey.”
“…!”
“We need to have a talk, don’t we?”
The girl gasped at Gu Yangcheon’s words.
She hesitated, uncertain of what to do.
[ Sis… ]
Wi Seol-Ah called to the girl inside her mind, but she wasn’t in the situation to respond to her.
Then.
Ssss.
A change started to ripple through Gu Yangcheon’s body.
The girl leaned in to check on him, but Gu Yangcheon caught her wrist, signaling her to keep her distance.
She noticed the Demonic Qi swirling in his eyes.
The Demonic Qi began coursing slowly through Gu Yangcheon’s body.
Just as she began to wonder what was happening,
“Swoosh…”
Gu Yangcheon exhaled heavily.
Not only was his Qi shifting, but his appearance began to change as well.
His black hair, tinged with red, started to return to its usual state, and his eyes followed suit.
“This is…”
It looked as though he was turning himself back into a normal human, but the girl knew that was impossible.
Once someone becomes a Demonic Human, there’s no turning back.
In her experience, the Demonic Qi scattering from a dying Demonic Human’s body was vile and repulsive.
Only in death could they be freed from the Demonic Qi.
Yet somehow, Gu Yangcheon was reversing the process of his own accord.
How was that possible?
The girl watched in shock as Gu Yangcheon opened his eyes, having completed the process.
“…Phew.”
“Just… How…”
Just as she was about to ask what he’d done, she stopped short as Gu Yangcheon met her gaze.
They locked eyes for only a few seconds, though it felt like an eternity.
She wondered if she should come up with an excuse.
No, it’s a misunderstanding. It’s not what you think.
The thought circled endlessly in her mind.
She had known a day like this would come, but it arrived before she was ready.
Then, then…
“What should I call you?”
“…!”
“What name should I call you?”
Hearing Gu Yangcheon speak so casually, the girl’s expression crumbled, and it seemed she might cry at any moment.
His tone told her everything.
He was already certain.
“…Ah… Uh…”
“I don’t remember you as a stuttering type. How did someone like you end up this broken?”
“I…”
“Anyway, I have a lot of questions, but I want to ask the most important one first.”
Where did I need to start? How much could I tell him?
What would he ask? Was he going to ask what was happening?
Or maybe he’ll ask why I’m here and why I kept it from him.
If not that, maybe he’ll ask why I killed him, and if I found satisfaction in it.
Was he going to resent me for it?
The thought alone made it hard for her to breathe.
Her hands trembled, but she fought to steady them.
He had every right to say those things to her.
She’d only run away because she couldn’t bear to hear it.
“Do you still,”
The girl shut her eyes tight as he began to speak.
Then,
“Hate me?”
She heard Gu Yangcheon’s question.
What did he say just now?
She wondered if she misheard him.
Slowly, the girl opened her eyes.
Her face showed confusion as she wondered if she’d misheard him.
She stared into Gu Yangcheon’s eyes.
“W-What do you mean…?”
“You must really hate me to follow me all the way here. Can you forgive me already? I’ve been trying, you know.”
She was left speechless as he spoke awkwardly, scratching the back of his head.
Such words…
“What do you mean by that? You… you can’t be asking me that.”
“Hmm?”
In the end, tears spilled down her trembling shoulders.
“You should curse at me… tell me I’m horrible, that everything is my fault. You should say that instead. Why… why would you ask me this?”
“What the hell are you saying? Why would I curse you? Are you into that sort of thing?”
“I…”
“Hey, stop crying and answer my question already. Seriously.”
Growing impatient, Gu Yangcheon cut her off.
Then, he repeated his question.
“Do you still hate me?”
“…”
Her wrist was still in his grasp.
He’d said he had so many questions, yet the first one he asked was this.
Even though he should resent me endlessly, curse me, and beat me to death… this is the question he chooses to ask.
The girl wondered if Gu Yangcheon was indirectly cursing at her, but his eyes were the same as usual.
They were the eyes she had longed to gaze into for so long.
After staring into his eyes, she finally gave an answer.
“No…”
Her voice came out slow and shaky as she fought to suppress her emotions.
But she didn’t lie.
It might have been different when they first met.
No, she probably did dislike him back then.
Yes, that must have been it.
How could she have been fond of him, considering how they first met?
Yet, the emotion she felt for him at his death was certainly not hatred.
“I don’t hate you… I never hated you.”
Her voice trembled as she spoke.
Upon hearing her answer, Gu Yangcheon loosened his grip on her wrist.
“I’m glad.”
Then he smiled.
That was the first question he’d chosen to ask, and he smiled at the answer he received.
Seeing that smile made her heart skip a beat.
“…”
A memory surfaced in her mind.
I want to hug you.
She remembered the first and last time she’d hugged him, the day he’d died, covered in blood.
Remembering that moment, she wanted to hold not the cold, dying body, but his living, breathing self.
Did she have the right, though?
No, she had no such rights.
Yet, despite that, she wanted to embrace him now.
She knew it was selfish of her.
The girl moved as if entranced, and Gu Yangcheon looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“…How about you stop there and help me?”
Pause.
They paused as a voice came from behind.
“This is all very entertaining, but I’m a bit pressed for time myself.”
Gu Yangcheon turned to see Bi Eejin, cold sweat trickling down his face.
“Hmm?”
“…Oh.”
They’d both completely forgotten he was there.
******************Creak.
There was a dense fog, and in the center of it, there was a red coffin.
The ominous coffin opened, and someone began to rise, carefully and slowly.
Crack.
Each movement sent echoes of bone-cracking through the fog.
After rising from the coffin, they moved cautiously, as though unfamiliar with their own body.
Crack, crack.
The cracking sounds lessened with each movement.
When the cracking ceased entirely, they pushed through the fog, leaving the coffin behind as they started forward.
Upon seeing this, the Dancer hurriedly ran forward and knelt.
“…Are you okay? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
The figure glanced around before responding to the Dancer.
“It’s a worthless body, but it’s enough.”
“I apologize.”
“There’s no need to feel sorry. After all, there’s only one body in this world I find satisfactory.”
Chuckle.
The person chuckled.
As the fog dissipated, the figure’s appearance became clear.
The figure brushed his hair aside and inspected himself, revealing the shocking resemblance to Jang Seonyeon.
No, that wasn’t it.
That wasn’t Jang Seonyeon.
He wore only a mask of Jang Seonyeon, and he was far from human.
In place of Jang Seonyeon’s usual pupils were now blood-red eyes.
A rough, bumpy mark marred one side of his cheek, giving his skin a reptilian appearance.
He seemed aware of this, too. He touched his cheek, and the mark vanished.
He blinked a few times.
Gradually, Jang Seonyeon’s usual eyes returned.
Then, he addressed the Dancer.
“Dancer.”
“Yes.”
“Did you deliver my message as instructed?”
“Yes. I informed the Chief Abbot and the Alliance Leader in advance.”
Swish.
Jang Seonyeon, no, the Blood Demon slowly walked out and changed into the clothes the Dancer prepared for him.
“It’s refreshing to walk on my own two feet again.”
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
How many years has it been?
It had likely been around a few centuries.
Even though it didn’t feel that long.
Perhaps the Blood Demon had simply never bothered with the passage of time.
“…Master.”
The Blood Demon turned, hearing the Dancer speak.
“Yes.”
“May I dare to ask you a question?”
What was she curious about?
The Blood Demon gazed down at her, amusement flickering in his eyes.
He gave her permission.
“I wanted to ask… why you’re choosing now to act in person.”
“Reason, huh.”
The Blood Demon stroked his nonexistent beard, considering her question.
It was almost comical, yet the Dancer didn’t laugh.
“If I had to give a reason, it’s because the time has come.”
“Time you say?”
“That’s right.”
Long ago, the Blood Demon had been sealed away.
The Blood Demon was known to be killed in the records, but that wasn’t the reality.
It was never killed.
It had only been sealed.
The heroes in the past concluded that they weren’t able to kill the Blood Demon, so they resorted to sealing it so it would never revive again.
They crafted an immensely powerful Formation to contain the Blood Demon.
They not only dissected its body and scattered its Qi, but also tore its five senses from its soul, ensuring they could never reunite.
After hollowing out its soul and body, they bound it within layers of Formations.
The seal was meant to last for centuries, yet the Blood Demon broke free in less than a hundred years after the Blood Demon War.
Contrary to the heroes’ expectations of a centuries-long seal, it hadn’t even lasted a hundred years.
Funnily enough though, it’s what the Blood Demon expected.
It was impossible for mere humans to contain the Blood Demon with their Formations.
A hundred years. Even that was impressive.
However, breaking the seal didn’t mean the Blood Demon had fully regained its body, Qi, and five senses.
It wasn’t worried though.
In the end, all will return.
Such was the flow of the world, and its principles would ensure it happened.
All the Blood Demon needed to do was remain patient.
It waited, and its time finally came.
The scattered pieces of the Blood Demon finally returned after a long absence.
“I hadn’t expected my fragments to merge with another soul, but that’s not so bad.”
The Blood Demon’s five senses had been lost to the cycle of reincarnation, yet they all reappeared in the same generation, as if lying in wait.
Was this also a predetermined sequence?
The thought made the Blood Demon laugh.
Then a memory came to the Blood Demon.
It was a man with golden hair.
“Didn’t I tell you? It’s all pointless.”
The Blood Demon recalled the man walking away, stubbornly disbelieving, when told it was pointless.
Look at it now. The world’s flow flow had returned to its destined path.
“There were some slight changes, but they are only struggles that won’t affect anything.”
Splash.
The Blood Demon walked through a path of puddles, with the Dancer following closely behind.
“You asked why I’ve chosen to act now, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“It’s because the world is calling me.”
“…The world… you say?”
Beings who carried each of the Blood Demon’s five senses had begun to emerge in the world.
The Blood Demon had sensed it from the moment they were born.
He felt all five of them.
Was this a coincidence?
No, this was in no way a coincidence.
The puzzle pieces that should have been created upon the Blood Demon’s resurrection hadn’t appeared then.
They were deferred as it wasn’t time yet.
Then, a hundred years passed and all of them returned at once.
“Chuckle.”
The Blood Demon only chuckled.
It was so obvious, it made the situation even funnier.
The Blood Demon looked up at the ceiling.
Though it was the ceiling of a sealed basement, the Blood Demon’s gaze pierced through it.
It looked toward the sky and beyond.
“Are you that scared?”
A cold breeze suddenly blew by.
“What are you so afraid of? It’s quite entertaining.”
The Blood Demon smiled at the silent onlooker before turning to face the Dancer.
The Dancer kept her face down to avoid the Blood Demon’s gaze.
Her face was covered with a mask, but the Blood Demon clearly saw her face.
Seeing her reaction, the Blood Demon spoke.
“It seems your younger siblings have crossed paths.”
“…!”
The Dancer’s shoulders trembled at the mention of her siblings.
She forced down the emotions boiling up within her.
It was jealousy.
Biting her lip to suppress her emotions, the Dancer felt the Blood Demon’s gaze upon her.
“What makes you so angry?”
“N-No, how could I…”
The Blood Demon considered the Dancer’s reaction.
What a pitiful creature she was.
It was understandable, though. Unlike the others who shared its body and Qi, the Dancer had only received a few scales.
Jealousy huh. A narrow-minded emotion, perhaps, but the Blood Demon didn’t blame her.
The Blood Demon observed the Dancer briefly before turning toward the entrance.
“For now, I just want to feel the breeze.”
Originally, the Blood Demon would have lingered longer, but something had changed, troubling it.
The world’s destined flow remained intact, yet the Blood Demon sensed something subtly twisting its course.
“How fascinating.”
A shift in an otherwise immutable story.
It was something Yeon Il-Cheon so desired, but failed to achieve.
The Blood Demon thought of a young man with a fierce expression.
He was a very strange child.
Not only did he harbor a terrifying presence within him, but half of him was not human.
Moreover, he bore marks from other worlds.
Anyone with so many markings on their body should have had their soul burned away, yet he was perfectly fine.
And it appeared he was entirely unaware of his own condition.
If that wasn’t the change in the world, then what was?
This was the change the Blood Demon had desired, and seeing it confirmed here, it couldn’t resist setting off.
“This time, I’ll go see him directly.”
Excitement filled it.
“Once I gather all that was scattered.”
The Blood Demon set out to reclaim its body, Qi, and five senses.