Chapter 531
– What is your relationship with the Blood Demon?
Namgung Myung’s sudden words sent a chill through my mind.
Blood Demon.
‘Why here too?’
Whenever something goes wrong, it always seems to be related to the Blood Demon.
What could possibly make me think of the Blood Demon when I see Brainiac like this?
Just as I was about to ask Namgung Myung why he said that…
[That’s enough…]
Suddenly, Shin Noya stepped in.
[Let’s go now.]
‘Noya?’
It was strange that he interrupted me, and I floundered at his sudden suggestion to leave.
This was about something directly related to the Blood Demon.
I felt like I had to hear it somehow, but should I really just walk away?
What is going on here?!
[I’ll explain when we get back. For now, let’s go.]
‘…’
I sensed it right there.
Shin Noya knows something.
Moreover…
‘Is this something I shouldn’t hear here?’
The fact that he forbade me from listening on purpose means there’s a good reason, right?
I had to choose.
Should I insist on listening here?
Or just trust Noya?
What choice would I make? The answer was glaringly obvious.
“…See you next time.”
I chose to trust Noya. There was no hesitation.
The real issue was any doubt I had about trusting Shin Noya after coming this far.
“So, what does that mean?”
I returned to my room, leaving the Namgung trio and Woohyuk behind. I didn’t even hear the reason why Namgung Bi-ah, who was important to me, rejected Noya.
I was totally worn out, both mentally and physically. I felt like crashing right then and there, but I still needed to ask him a question.
[…]
As soon as I entered the room, I asked, but Noya remained silent.
Was he choosing his words, or was he just unable to speak?
“Noya.”
If it were any other time, I might have held back, thinking he couldn’t say anything.
But now, I had to ask.
This isn’t just anything; this is about the Blood Demon.
Looking at me, he thought of the Blood Demon.
Noya would surely know better than anyone that I was sensitive about this.
So I waited.
I believed he would provide an answer, and I had to wait.
I thought that if I just waited, he would come through.
Sure enough.
[… Kiddo.]
Shin Noya began to talk.
“Yes.”
_Thunk!_
He responded while looking shocked.
There were more than a couple of warriors gathered around us.
They were probably warriors sent by the Poison King.
It wasn’t strange.
Given the severity of the situation, it was natural to protect the guests.
And it likely also served as a form of surveillance.
I didn’t mind.
By now, I could dodge their gaze easily.
No one else could hear Noya’s words, so honestly, I didn’t care if I didn’t keep my guard up.
‘I just want to be a bit comfortable.’
That way, I’d feel a little easier. The last thing I wanted was rumors floating around about the crazy guy in the clan talking to himself.
But then again, maybe it didn’t matter since the crazy rumors were already out there.
‘… Anything goes, I suppose.’
It was convenient that they considered me nuts.
No matter what I did, they would just shrug it off as me being crazy.
‘I need to do crazier stuff in the future.’
I was confident. That was what I excelled at.
While making that firm resolution,
[Before I explain this… there’s something I need to mention first.]
Noya began to tell his tale.
[Aesong-ah,]
As I listened carefully, he said:
[What do you think is a precious item?]
It was a somewhat unexpected question.
What is a precious item?
There are many definitions, but ultimately…
When a specific object possesses special powers, it is referred to as a noble item.
It also played the role of a symbol for different sects or families, such as the Brain or the Ghost.
There was even a time when a family’s prestige was determined by how many precious items they owned.
“Is it really that simple to measure worth?”
The point was, noble items were things that couldn’t be created by mere human effort.
Why did they become symbols?
How do they maintain their value as assets?
It ultimately boiled down to whether they could be created or not.
Special items hold value.
The fewer there are and the more precious they are, the higher their worth generally is.
Why are they called noble items? Partially because they possess special powers, but also because, true to their name, they’re just plain rare.
Oh, of course…
‘Eventually, there will come people who can create noble items.’
In five or six years, a person will emerge who can artificially create these noble items.
It’s a bit tenuous to call it a noble item, but it raised quite a fuss when it first came to be.
It was a new kind of noble item that hasn’t been seen as often nowadays.
‘But that’s secondary right now.’
So, the question was, what is a noble item?
If I were to put it like this:
“…a strange object.”
That’s all I could think of.
Isn’t that the truth?
A sword that releases energy when infused with spirit…
A bandage that never breaks…
Strange rocks that you can’t identify— the whole lot of it just seems off!
There seemed to be no better word than “strange” to encapsulate it.
Upon hearing my answer, Noya smirked and spoke.
[That’s not incorrect. It’s actually quite accurate. Now… let’s move on to another question.]
[When do you think noble items started to exist?]
“Excuse me?”
When are you asking about the existence of noble items?
That’s…
‘…You’ve got me there…’
When did noble items come into existence?
By the time I was born, noble items had already spread far and wide.
Historically, they’ve existed for hundreds of years.
‘… I don’t even remember learning when they first began to exist.’
I just knew there was such a thing in the world.
I’ve never heard tales about how or when they came to be.
I never bothered to wonder about their backstory.
It was just common knowledge to know they existed.
But now…
The fact that Noya was posing this question to me indicates…
“…Are you suggesting there could be a connection between the Blood Demon and noble items?”
The Blood Demon appeared hundreds of years ago.
Does that mean today’s noble items are somehow related?
In response to my question, Noya said…
[I can’t be certain. Myung might also feel the same way.]
He provided an ambivalent answer.
‘Not certain.’
Not being certain suggests he can’t firmly deny the possibility.
“…Then, why did you bring up noble items specifically?”
I also needed an explanation for why Namgung Myung linked me to the Blood Demon.
After a brief silence, Noya continued speaking.
[The noble items we refer to today originally came from…]
I leaned in, paying close attention to his elaboration,
[They appeared alongside the Magical Scriptures.]
“…Excuse me?”
I was slightly taken aback by what I heard.
‘Noble items came from the Magical Scriptures?’
It was news to me.
“Is that true…?”
[How could I lie? I witnessed it firsthand.]
Are you saying that Noya actually saw the objects that were spat out from the Magical Scriptures?
If that’s indeed the case, it wouldn’t be entirely strange, considering that Noya lived during the chaotic times that began thanks to the Magical Scriptures.
But then the preceding information raised a lot of questions.
“So, what were they… just belching out questionable items?”
[Do you seriously think that could be the case?]
“Then what are those noble items, how did they…?”
[To be precise, noble items are objects spat out by the monsters from the Demonic Realm.]
…That sounds even weirder!
“A monster spits stuff?”
Wait— a monster can spit out objects?
They aren’t magic stones, but physically solid items?
As I was processing this rather nonsensical answer, I finally pulled myself together and felt compelled to question the contradiction in his words.
“If that’s true, then why haven’t I heard about this before?”
If monsters truly produced noble items…
Why aren’t these things still being spat out?
And additionally…
‘There’s not even a record of it.’
It baffled me how this information was only surfacing now.
[They might not come out anymore.]
“Yes?”
[Currently, the white monsters aren’t appearing at all, are they?]
“…Noya, are you trying to say…”
If I’m not mistaken, what Noya is mentioning are those “white” things.
‘White-grade monsters.’
Strange beings with white colors that carry such overwhelming powers, they would cast curses upon the land even post-mortem.
They are strange entities that ceased to exist after the blood calamity ended.
To Noya’s claim, it suggests that noble items originate from these white-grade monsters.
[Yes, all noble items are obtained by slaying those monsters.]
“How is that even possible?”
So you’re telling me that defeating a monster yields a noble item?
That makes no sense whether it’s skin, bone, or a magic stone!
It would be far more realistic if they took byproducts of the monsters to create noble items.
Yet they just poofed into existence?
[I don’t know what happened. They just did.]
If that’s the case, the origin of noble items raises several doubts.
However, several contradictions also began to emerge.
‘…That’s all well and good, but—’
Right now, the birth of noble items isn’t what matters!
“Then what does that have to do with what Senior Namgung Myung said?”
This is what truly matters!
The essence of Namgung Myung’s mention of the Blood Demon.
I needed to hear that part.
Not even a suggestion but a need!
Noya, with a calm voice seemingly unaffected by my urgency, began to explain.
[Aesong-ah.]
“Yes.”
[Haven’t you ever wondered how you can use the Guijeong on your arm?]
Ah, he’s talking about the noble item.
‘…I guess it’s not particularly unusual, right?’
Noya explained how to utilize it as well.
The one who actually questioned my lack of use was Noya himself.
That implies, I could have used it long ago if I had just known how.
Plus, considering I absorbed Noya’s energy, it seemed only natural to think I could wield it.
[That’s not the case.]
But Noya quickly denied that.
[Regardless of your ability to wield it, what I mean is that the noble item has undergone a change.]
“Change?”
Upon hearing that, I raised my arm and eyed the Guijeong.
‘When he says change, does he mean its color?’
The crimson energy used by the warriors of the volcano sect.
The Guijeong’s original color was that shade, but now it was infused with blue.
Seeing that, I thought, of course, that it reflected my energy and spirit.
[Correct, and that’s the issue.]
“…This?”
[Do you know the current status of noble items in the sect?]
“I’m aware.”
Noble items come in many forms.
Not to mention, they have ranks too.
Though they’re called noble items, some are quite useless.
There are those, like the Brainiac or Guijeong, that actually serve as symbols for a faction.
Yes, a symbolic noble item.
The representative noble families and prestigious clans all owned such items.
The Gu Clan has some too, albeit I’ve never witnessed them being used.
[Why do you think that’s even possible?]
“Because… naturally, they match the characteristics?”
Because the characteristics align, surely that’s the case.
I found that assessment to hit the mark.
The Brainiac embodied its name, imbued with brain energy.
Even comparing Guijeong with the treasures I gave to the volcano, they both possessed plum blossom energy.
Other symbolic items followed the same trend.
They all carried the essence that reminds people of their sect or clan.
‘It’s intriguing to think about.’
How could that even be the case?
As I contemplated, it did feel pretty fascinating.
So if noble items originated from those white-grade monsters, does that suggest they extracted items that matched certain qualities from them?
Since the Brainiac uses mind-tech, Namgung Myung snagged that.
While Guijeong housed the volcano’s energy, so Noya took hold of it?
That would be a possible interpretation.
But then Noya’s remark struck me.
[…The order is incorrect.]
Noya said no again.
“If that’s the case, then what is it?”
[The objects that are referred to as noble items initially lacked any such energies.]
“There weren’t any?”
This time, I was left even more stunned than before.
The noble items that manifested did not have energy in them? What about the noble items we see now?
[At the very beginning, the Brainiac was nothing more than a nameless stick. Guijeong was just a plain white bead.]
“Then…?”
[Do you know how those noble items transformed into what they are today?]
The implication of Noya’s query suddenly clicked with me.
His words about the order being wrong stuck in my mind.
Tentatively, I shot out a guess.
“…You infused them with energy?”
[Exactly. We imbued our own energies into those items.]
And shockingly enough, that was true.
The Brainiac, which started out as just a stick, became the Brainiac after Namgung Myung held it and fed it energy.
Guijeong transformed due to the energy of Shin Noya.
So that explains how various symbolic items are distributed among the different sects, right?
We infused power into the powerless items, giving them life.
Since the primordial Guijeong was endowed with the volcano’s energy, it became part of the Volcano Sect.
That’s the crux of it!
So,
“I used my energy for this too, does that mean it changed as well?”
[Correct.]
I infused my energy into Guijeong, causing its color to morph accordingly?
That clarified a lot.
But here lies the issue.
“Then… what’s the problem?”
I’ve changed the noble item to suit me by infusing my energy.
What’s wrong with that?
That’s how it’s supposed to work!
My brow knitted in confusion, as I failed to see what the issue was at this point.
[How could that not be a problem?]
Noya sighed and spoke to me.
[…Once energy has been infused into a noble item, it shall not change.]
“…Wait? It doesn’t change?”
As soon as I heard that, I gestured at the Guijeong, all tied up.
So what’s the deal with this?
There’s a clear change in this thing, and yet you claim it stays the same? This has changed too clearly for that to be factual!
[That’s precisely the problem. Myung probably had a dilemma with that too.]
“Hmmm…”
After all, why would a symbolic noble item serve as a symbol in the first place?
Most cannot be used if one doesn’t learn the martial arts of their inherent bloodlines, or if their energy doesn’t align.
If everyone else could utilize them, they wouldn’t serve as symbols!
But if that’s the case…
‘Why can I use it?’
It undoubtedly felt weird.
Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that since I also have the tomb of Mount Hua, we can assert Guijeong is like that.
Still, the Brainiac couldn’t have permitted that!
I had used my heat on a weapon already drenched in brain energy.
How can one explain this?
As my confusion continued to blossom, Noya revealed…
[… We called such phenomena subjugation. The act of infusing energy into noble items, thereby rendering them subordinate to oneself, is what it entailed.]
With Noya’s explanation, my head was spinning.
Noya, whether knowingly or unknowingly, kept continuing to elaborate.
[While not every weapon absorbed energy, those that resonate well with the user tended to absorb particularly well. Consequently, if they did so, other martial artists with differing energies could no longer wield them.]
Examples of this would be Guijeong and the Brainiac.
[However…]
The more he spoke, the darker Noya’s voice became.
[There was someone who nonchalantly took them and used them.]
I had to react to that.
I felt an ominous sensation creeping up on me.
[He acted as if energy didn’t matter at all, using the noble items as if they were his own.]
And after a few uses, he tossed them aside as if they were no longer interesting.
The true monster who never needed noble items’ powers in the first place.
That was how he acted.
[Even noble items that had undergone considerable changes would alter their appearance in his possession, like they found a new owner.]
“…Noya, you’re not implying that…”
The person Noya had in mind…
I felt my stomach churn because I had a strong inkling of who it was.
Is it because I’ve thought this far?
Namgung Myung’s words from before replayed in my mind.
-What is your relationship with the Blood Demon?
“…What the hell?”
Why did Namgung Myung bring up the Blood Demon at a time like this?
If I remember right, those changes in my noble item had happened right after I shed my old self…
[… Yeah. That’s him.]
There was only one right answer to this story.
The underlying truth behind what Noya was attempting to convey to me from the very start.
That is…
[He is the Blood Demon.]
I was an omen who stained that era with blood.
I was now wielding the very same power that the Blood Demon, Dokgo Jun, once exhibited.
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