Chapter: 436
“Ugh…!”
I regained my senses and exhaled roughly.
After coughing a few times, I rolled my eyes around.
Where am I…?
An unfamiliar ceiling… though I can’t actually see the ceiling.
The first thing I see is the sky.
Is it night, or is it dawn?
A subtly mysterious sky that doesn’t tell the time comes into view.
Suddenly.
I sprang up immediately upon seeing that.
I looked around right away.
‘…Where am I again?’
All I could see around me was a charred dirt floor.
I grabbed some dirt with my hand and lifted it to examine it more closely.
‘This…’
The soil was rotten.
And it was very rotten, indeed.
It looks like it has decayed due to poison.
Fortunately, maybe because some time has passed, the toxic air seems to have dissipated…
I roughly brushed the dirt off me and stood up.
First of all, I needed to figure out where I was.
‘Where the hell did you send me?’
I circulated my energy through my body.
The energy flowed through my blood vessels and circled my body.
I had recovered just a little bit of stamina, and I didn’t feel anything strange with my body.
I soon recalled Tang Jaemoon’s words.
Since she mentioned that I would be taking a test, is this place itself a testing space?
‘For it to feel this strange, though…?’
An unknown atmosphere came into view. I’m not talking about a pit.
Something cool that I felt outside was poking at my instincts.
I gathered my strength and leaped.
Boom! I burst through the dirt and emerged from the hole.
“Wha…?”
As soon as I landed on the ground, I opened my eyes to the scene outside the pit.
I kept glancing around.
After a few seconds, I couldn’t help but be startled.
And rightly so.
“…What?!”
Surprisingly, the space where I had just been lying was the Poison Lake.
The water that had originally filled it had drained away completely, leaving only a hole, and it seemed like I had been lying on top of it.
“…What?”
Seeing this, I could only let out a sigh of relief.
All that water vanished in an instant? What is going on? The water draining away is one thing, but…
“Crap…”
In a situation where the Poison Lake is treated as a treasured asset of the Tang clan.
As soon as an outsider came to observe, the water just disappeared?
This wasn’t a situation where excuses could be made.
This is really a mess.
How do I explain this?
‘…Dammit.’
I thought I had encountered a fortuitous opportunity, but it looks like this could be a disaster.
I tried to ease the tension in my furrowed brows and turned my head.
The goal was to find Nahi, who was waiting outside.
“…!”
As I slowly scanned my surroundings, I sensed another feeling of dissonance.
First of all, the fields that spread out all around were all withered.
The same went for the forest we had passed through.
The trees were soaked in black like the soil.
This was evidence that they were rotting both on the outside and the inside.
A once-lively forest that the Tang clan had painstakingly cultivated.
Now it all lay dead.
Thump.
My heart raced wildly at the sight.
My body was already moving.
I began to move despite having only a sliver of energy left.
Something felt odd.
Was there a raid?
Did an attack happen while I was away?
My mind wasn’t working right.
I simply ran.
‘The kids? The kids…!’
I couldn’t clear my mind to grasp the situation.
For now, I had to run.
Maybe I exerted myself too suddenly and aggressively?
Blood vessels burst in my eyes.
Boom! Crack!
I arrived at the residence, kicking up a cloud of dust.
I hadn’t spotted a single person on my way there.
A subtly lingering smell of blood and a chilling presence mixed with the air surrounded me.
I tore the door of the residence open as if I were ripping it apart.
“Phew…”
I tried hard to calm my racing heart, but it wasn’t easy.
What if something happened?
Thoughts like that filled my head.
I headed toward where Namgung Bi-ah and Wi Seol-ah had been.
Even while walking through the hallway, I bit my lip at the blood soaking the walls and floor.
Blood dripped from my lips and slid down my chin.
Finally, upon reaching the place, I exhaled, “Ha…”
As expected, there was no trace of people.
Only faint signs remained, indicating someone had been there.
I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or uncertain about what to do next.
I sat down as if all my strength had drained away.
‘What’s going on? What is happening?’
My fingertips trembled slightly.
What on earth is happening here?
Rational thinking was needed, but I couldn’t keep my cool.
My heart raced faster than usual, and my breathing was already erratic.
Heat surged through my body as my emotions rapidly fluctuated.
What’s wrong?
How long was I gone for things to turn out like this?
What happened to the kids? Are they alright?
What on earth could have happened…
I clutched my pounding heart and tried to turn my head, somehow.
Creak.
Something caught my attention.
It was a person.
My head turned back.
“Damn… what’s going on? Are there no contacts from other units?”
A voice reached my ears.
“…Senior, we need to join up first! Otherwise, the other infiltration unit…”
“Kid, what are you going to do there? Are you going to just die together? Don’t you know who’s there?”
“But…!”
That was enough of the conversation for me.
Crack!
I approached the residence, where I sensed the movement and pounced.
One guy broke his leg, knocking him off balance. As he fell, I grabbed the other by the neck.
“Ugh?!”
The intruder looked at me in surprise at the sudden turn of events.
I confirmed the appearance of the person whose neck I had grabbed.
The face was that of an ordinary person.
At least not someone I recognized.
And then,
“The Murim Alliance?”
The clothes he wore were clearly those of the Murim Alliance’s sword uniform.
“Ugh… Ugh…”
Right after checking his clothes, I slightly relaxed my grip on his neck.
“What are you? Why is the Murim Alliance here?”
“Cough… Ugh… A survivor…?”
The guy widened his eyes in surprise at my sudden appearance.
A survivor?
“Oh, how could there be survivors?! I heard there were no survivors!”
His expression twisted at those cold words.
This meant that an attack had taken place at the Tang clan.
“What happened here? Tell me.”
“Are you from the Tang clan? I am from the Murim Alliance…”
“Answer me first. If you don’t want to die.”
As I spoke with a killing intent, the man’s expression turned pale.
Ugh… Ugh…
A man with a broken leg groaned beside the guy whose neck I grasped.
He looked at me and shouted, “Who… Who are you?! How can a non-warrior do this to the Murim Alliance?!”
“Shut up and answer. Why is this place like this?”
I was impatient. I had no idea how things had unfolded.
The Tang clan was in disarray and devoid of life.
It was a situation where I couldn’t even tell how much time had passed.
There was no way I could calm down when I didn’t even know the fates of the others.
I struggled to suppress the urge to destroy everything right then and there. Sensing my unusual state, the man started to speak.
“P-Please calm down…! If you make a fuss, you’ll attract the other minions!”
“What?”
That was actually the problem.
“Did you say ‘minions’?”
“Yes, yes… Do you have any idea who’s here right now…?”
Thud thud thud…!
As the man spoke, I felt something twist inside me.
“… How do you know about ‘minions’?”
“What the hell are you talking about?! Now is not the time for this… Huh!?”
I pulled my energy up to my heart.
A damp aura mixed with malice enveloped my entire being, and soon even my pupils filled with it.
Seeing my face, the man began trembling in fear.
“Ma-Minion?!”
He clearly shouted that.
This is undoubtedly a term that people of this era wouldn’t know.
‘…What?’
But what is that reaction?
How do they know about the ‘minions’?
As I thought about this, goosebumps erupted all over my body.
I moved my head and scanned my surroundings again.
Additionally, I pieced together the scenes I had witnessed thus far.
A Poison Lake emptied, leaving only a pit.
A decayed forest devoid of vitality.
The Tang clan filled with blood.
People who know about ‘minions’ and the Murim Alliance.
Slowly combining these elements, the pieces of the puzzle began to show.
“Ugh…”
While trying to figure it out, I couldn’t hold back any longer and had to vomit.
“Cough…”
It felt like everything inside me was coming out.
As my thoughts progressed, what was tightening around my throat was unmistakably ‘fear’.
“…C’mon… please, stop this.”
I had to hope it wasn’t the case.
The test that Tang Jaemoon spoke of.
The regret she often mentioned shouldn’t have been like this.
As I was spewing out my overwhelming fear,
A chilling presence brushed past me from behind.
The moment I sensed it, I swung my hand.
Fireworks erupted.
“Ahhh!”
The black flame mixed with magic clung to the person who was about to attack me.
The embers rapidly swelled and engulfed the human body.
It didn’t take long for the man’s breathing to cease.
Another man, witnessing this, covered his mouth with his hand.
“Black… Black flame… Black flame demon…?”
Snap.
I broke the neck of the man before he could even blurt out another word.
Crackle crackle.
A flame burned, using the human body as firewood.
Watching that, I wiped the vomit from the corner of my mouth with my hand.
Finally, I clenched my fist and swung it at the wall.
“…Fk!”
Bam! My fist dug into the wall.
With a thud, cracks spread across the entire wall like spider webs.
I thought about everything as I watched the falling dust and crumbling pieces.
Everything felt genuine.
The heaviness I felt just a moment ago.
The sensation I experienced while killing someone.
Even the tactile feeling from my arm as it penetrated the wall right now.
Everything felt real.
Is this truly an illusion?
If… it’s not an illusion? Then what does that mean?
“…This is really not right. Seriously… This is too much.”
With trembling hands, I wiped my face repeatedly.
Given the state of things, I couldn’t ignore the reality anymore.
I had to consider the situation and location I found myself in.
Combining every circumstance led to only one conclusion.
Nothing had occurred while I was in Vigo.
Time hadn’t ridiculously passed, or anything of the sort.
‘Time hasn’t even passed…’
Rather…
Crackle-
“…!”
I turned my head as an energy brushed past my body.
It was a sensation felt from somewhere far away.
I fixed my gaze.
I extended my energy towards the direction where I sensed the force.
Only then did it become visible.
In the distance, dark clouds hung over a sky tinged red.
At the same time.
‘No way….’
I recognized a familiar thunder energy emanating from that direction.
Without hesitation, I leaped toward it.
My speed was faster than before.
Moreover, a different feeling of urgency and anxiety arose within me than what I had felt earlier.
How could I express this feeling?
I don’t know.
For now, I just needed to run.
I sprinted past collapsed buildings and rotting trees for a while longer.
My energy was depleted, and I gradually began to scream from exhaustion.
But I didn’t care about that.
I ran endlessly.
So, the distance narrowed.
As I got closer, something unfamiliar began to invade my nostrils—an overwhelming smell of blood.
The blood stench was strong enough to make me cringe without realizing it.
I desperately tried to ignore it and finally reached my destination.
I suppressed a gasp at the sight before me.
How could it not be shocking?
Boom… rumbles!
Beneath an unclouded sky.
A dark cloud filled with dark energy, out of place.
And the floor crowded with corpses and blood puddles from them.
All were warriors of the Murim Alliance dressed in their uniforms.
Squish.
With a step forward.
It was a gruesome and terrifying sight, but it didn’t register in my mind.
Because from the beginning, I was focused solely on one person, ignoring the surrounding scenery.
And the dreadful scent of blood.
The corpses littered on the ground.
None of that mattered.
Only one thing was important to me.
A blood pool created by the corpses.
I saw a figure standing alone above it.
Squish.
She must have sensed my presence through the faint sound, but she continued to maintain a seemingly indifferent attitude.
I took a step closer.
One step.
Another step.
Ignoring the trembling in my legs, I approached carefully.
At some point, her gaze finally turned toward me.
Cold, blue eyes met mine.
The woman looked exactly as I remembered.
With pale white hair and snowy skin, her appearance was striking.
She was drenched in blood, yet I knew it wasn’t her own.
It was the blood of those she had killed.
“Ah….”
Once I confirmed this, a weary sigh escaped my lips.
She tilted her head, curious about my reaction.
That reaction mirrored my memory perfectly.
‘…’
I looked at her and recalled her.
…The woman whose thoughts I could never comprehend throughout our hellish past life.
Why was she forever chasing the moon?
Moreover, what was it that drove her to kill so desperately while she wielded her sword every day?
I knew nothing about her.
Because life had been so intense that I couldn’t care less about my surroundings.
That held true even when she met her untimely death without hesitation.
With the same expressionless face as before, she pointed her sword at me and asked:
“Who… are you…?”
A soft voice tinged with a threatening aura.
She was, without a doubt,
The Demon Sword Master I remembered.
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