Chapter: 532
The Blood Demon is a disaster.
He had the power to use subjugated spirits freely.
It meant that even if you infused your energy into a spirit to claim it, it would be meaningless in front of the Blood Demon.
If the Blood Demon acknowledged that, I didn’t think it was particularly strange.
Because it’s a disaster.
Since he was an extraordinary being, I figured it wouldn’t be too bizarre if he possessed such power.
The problem was that I could do the same thing.
I had the power of a disaster. Just that alone made me think of many things.
Hah…
A sigh escaped involuntarily.
“The Blood Demon was like that too.”
[…yeah.]
Just as I used the spirit and brain, the Blood Demon did similarly.
Then.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
[…]
“I thought this information was something you already knew… am I wrong?”
[…that’s also true.]
If Shin Noya had observed Guijeong’s transformation upon arriving at me, he could have told me long ago.
Noya was only now sharing this information with me.
So, what was the reason?
He even interrupted Namgung Myung right when he was about to speak, making this a separate conversation.
[That’s….]
“Did you not trust me?”
[…!]
“So that’s why you didn’t tell me?”
I swallowed my surprise at the dull tone.
If Noya hadn’t said anything, I thought it would be solely for that reason.
Because he doesn’t trust me.
I didn’t think it was because I was genuinely a disaster that there would be issues.
That’s it.
“Are you afraid that I won’t be able to overcome it?”
[…]
Hearing that made me worry I might get swept away by the information.
It must have been Noya’s silence that made me think I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
[…Kid….]
“I get what you’re saying, Noya.”
I pondered why that foul-tempered old man acted so tenderly.
Damn it, that just made my burden heavier.
“I won’t crumble over something like this.”
This was something I had been thinking about for a while now.
Aside from being sensitive and considering it nonsense, I was saying that it’s not something that would cause me to shatter.
We’ve come too far to let this break apart.
There was so much to protect, and I still had a long way to go.
I couldn’t just collapse here.
“… Even if I am a disaster, I have no intention of breaking down here.”
Even with changes in my body, even if I could do what the Blood Demon did.
Even if I was a disaster, like that bastard Yeon-ga said.
“… I won’t fall apart.”
It wasn’t a statement directed at Noya, but rather a mantra I was repeating to myself.
I couldn’t collapse here.
I had no intention of stopping.
Thus, I thought that worrying about Noya, while pleasant, was a pointless act.
It was more comfortable to simply listen.
I needed to listen to be able to respond.
[The reason I didn’t tell you isn’t because I didn’t trust you.]
Then Noya started his delayed explanation.
[How could I possibly tell this to someone who’s busy with work piling up and working on recovering their body and energy?]
Hearing the reason made sense to me.
But if it had anything to do with the Blood Demon, he should have told me sooner. The explanation he was giving now sounded like nothing more than an excuse.
“Then why are you telling me now?”
[I was going to share this later, but that damned fool brought it up without a hint, so I couldn’t help it.]
He said he had to say it because Namgung Myung suddenly dove into the topic of the Blood Demon.
Noya was saying that.
“Whatever it is, you’re saying that Noya sees it as a connection?”
[…]
Noya did not deny this part at all.
It seemed that way to me, but even more so to Noya.
How could they deny it?
‘Is this problem caused by absorbing blood?’
At first, I thought so, but now I was considering that it might not be that simple.
When I absorbed so much energy that my vessel almost cracked.
I thought this change occurred because I was fighting and absorbing the blood within me.
Yet.
‘Father’s words lingered.’
What my father had said gnawed at me.
My father recalled my mother when he saw my altered form.
‘…Does that mean my mother too?’
While I couldn’t clearly define my body at that moment.
If my mother had appeared similar to me.
Then, my current look could be interpreted more as a change arising from her bloodline rather than simply rebuilding my vessel and absorbing the Blood Demon’s blood.
‘Because my mother also mentioned she was a disaster.’
What about Gureonghwa then?
‘Could that kid also end up like this?’
I envisioned my little sister tumbling about in the volcano.
Could Gureonghwa also take on such a form?
I hoped she wouldn’t, and believed she wouldn’t.
This state was ultimately a problem sprouting from living excessively in this life.
Unless I gathered an immense amount of energy, my vessel wouldn’t break.
This issue emerged due to this crazy body devouring various energies. However, one question haunted me.
‘I thought the reason I could consume different energies was due to the power of the Demonic Absorption.’
Lately, I’ve often mused whether that was just my assumption from the start.
Naturally, I had viewed it as the power of the Demonic Absorption. How could I consider anything else?
But.
What if my body had been capable of doing that from the beginning?
I began to think maybe I had been misjudging it all along.
‘…Because I never considered consuming other energies in my previous life.’
What insane person would even ponder taking in another spirit?
That’s not something you do unless you’re planning to commit suicide.
Various energy depths didn’t acknowledge one another; if they entered the same body, they’d collide and explode.
The body would burst and die due to energy backlash.
That’s why they said the Demonic Arts possessed incredible capabilities.
Any heart technique could seep into the body.
The powers granted by the Heavenly Horse were also remarkable, as was the astonishing value of the energy known as Magi.
Thus, those consumed by power sought to merge directly with the Demonic Cult.
‘If this isn’t due to the power of authority…’
What if my ability to harbor various energies wasn’t from the power of magic but inherently from my body?
‘…’
If my capability stemmed from being my mother’s child rather than from sheer power…
‘It’s possible Gureonghwa could also.’
That little one might also be able to do that.
If that’s the case, then that’s truly a troublesome thought.
Would it then mean all the signs were pointing toward one conclusion?
‘I was meant to be a disaster from the beginning. That’s the feeling I have.’
There were numerous methods to verify this.
Find Gureonghwa, implant different energies, and see if they can coexist within the body.
That sounded like the fastest way, yet.
‘How would I even bring that up?’
If that didn’t work, Gureonghwa’s body might explode.
I couldn’t subject that child to such a test for the sake of verification.
‘It’s better for me to judge myself as a disaster.’
That would actually be a more favorable outcome. Now that I considered it.
-The world doesn’t repeat the same mistakes.
Suddenly, the discussion Yeonilcheon had with me surfaced in my mind.
At the juncture when the master of this world vanished, what he sought to execute through the Blood Demon was thwarted.
Thus, to begin with, he curtailed the capabilities of the opposing martial artists to lower their strength.
In that interval, he attempted to finalize his plans by sending my mother away, but ultimately, that too failed.
That was the conclusion I was drawing.
‘Perhaps…’
Perhaps it all wasn’t as it seemed from the outset.
If the world was shifting toward one possibility, opening multiple other possibilities.
I wondered whether he was hoping for something else.
So, what was he desiring?
‘Do I genuinely think he wishes for me to become a disaster?’
Given the evidence, that seemed the most probable scenario. Regardless of what I believed, I had transcended my humanity and transformed into something different. All signs pointed toward a singular destination.
The world desires for me to become a disaster.
At that moment, it felt like the most accurate statement.
‘Then what about Cheonma?’
A contradiction arose simultaneously.
So then what is Cheonma?
Why did Cheonma make me regress?
What on earth is she?
Also.
‘How could the world not have stripped away all possibilities?’
If, based on the intel Dangjemun supplied to Noya, the martial artists’ limitations were lowered.
Why didn’t they simply take away ‘everything’ instead of merely lowering it?
No matter how much I pondered, this was an enigma I could not wrap my head around.
‘What could be their reasoning?’
A multitude of paths laid ahead.
Whether I desired them or not.
It’s an incomprehensibly long road without an end in sight.
Yet, for some reason, I felt that all those paths pointed toward a singular destination.
‘The problem is that the destination remains unclear.’
Rotten…
Ultimately, the first step in seeking clarity was set.
‘I must meet my mother.’
I needed to encounter my mother, rumored to be somewhere in the Demon Realm.
I believed that doing so might reveal the truth behind my current experiences.
Just as I was compiling my thoughts with great difficulty.
[Kid.]
“…Yes.”
[You will not be a disaster.]
“Haha.”
Shin Noya’s abrupt declaration brought forth a dry laugh from me.
“Do you think that after coming this far, I’m not a disaster?”
I assumed that perhaps he knew I wasn’t, Shin Noya.
Maybe he regretted having met me, thinking, “What a disaster it was to chance upon that guy named Huin.”
‘Ah, I don’t think that’s the case.’
Knowing Noya’s personality, I suspected he wouldn’t think that way.
I wondered if he had a head as tangled as mine.
Thinking that made me smile.
[Didn’t I say that before?]
Noya remarked.
[Just believe in yourself.]
“…!”
[Even if you, kid, are a disaster, if you think it’s not true, then it’s not true.]
“That sounds like ignoring reality.”
[So what? If I say it’s not me, then that’s enough.]
That was a remarkably simple answer.
Regardless of what others declare, if it’s not true for me, then it doesn’t matter.
It was a statement that threw light on how Noya managed to uphold his beliefs throughout his life.
Would I be able to do that?
[You can.]
The answer was given assertively by Noya, as if speaking on my behalf.
[You can do it.]
Those words felt particularly weighty.
Was it because of the gravity of faith? Or perhaps it was the guilt I felt for having witnessed even a fragment of Noya’s life?
“How are you so sure I can do it?”
[There’s no reason not to know. You are that kind of person.]
“…”
When someone else offers me a confidence I lack, many emotions intertwined.
From the get-go, Noya might have earned that confidence.
Noya might have already suspected I could be a disaster.
‘But did it not matter to him?’
If I wasn’t, that would suffice.
He would likely have one judgment about not being so. Did he make that assumption?
If that were true.
“You’re truly something else.”
That leaves no options open for me.
Deceiving those who trust you is simply the most disgusting act.
I spoke with a hollow chuckle, and Noya bluntly replied.
[If you don’t like it, just act like a disaster then.]
“…What?”
[If you don’t want to, what else can you do?]
Noya always had a knack for dropping heavy subjects without hesitation.
There was never a time when the conversation remained intense until the end.
I understood that this was Noya’s empathy.
Knowing this, I realized I wouldn’t be able to do anything more.
“…For now, I’ll at least give something a shot. Don’t trust me too much.”
[From the start, I didn’t really trust you. Why would I trust you when there’s no one else to trust?]
This old man…? He always phrases it like that.
“Honestly, I’m just glad you’re a ghost…”
[I’m the one who says those things. You brat. If we truly met, you wouldn’t have even been able to speak to me.]
I genuinely thought that might’ve been the case. However, I resolved not to dwell on that fact. So what? We can’t meet right now anyway.
Just a thought.
‘Even if I am genuinely a disaster, it’s okay, I just have to endure it.’
I never intended to creep into that nonsensical situation.
No, it seems that a situation has already been predetermined, yet I was confident in dodging the tasks laid before me.
How could they force me to do something I detested?
‘I have a foul temper, so if you act that way, I’ll bite you. Just remember that.’
I muttered inwardly, unsure who I was addressing.
If someone was listening, that was a directive to disappear.
I felt mentally drained.
After all the contemplating, was my body and spirit reaching their limits?
“…I’ve been cutting down on sleep for a few days.”
If fatigue was piling on in my Hwagyeong body, it had crossed a severe threshold.
Alright, first things first—let’s catch some sleep.
I flipped the bedding.
I figured even if it was just an hour, a deep sleep was in order, so I attempted to drift off.
With that, I shut my eyes and lost awareness.
Precisely one hour later, when I opened my eyes.
“Whoa! Damn!”
I had to let out an expletive over the scene unfolding as soon as I opened my eyes.
In a dimly lit room, there was someone else besides me.
At first, I pondered whether they were an assassin, and indeed they were.
The person who arrived was an assassin.
Also, the most famed assassin in the Central Plains.
“…”
“… W-What are you doing there?”
I questioned him, unable to avoid asking.
How could I not inquire?
The assassin present in the room was the leader of the All-Night Assassination Corps, known as the finest assassination group across the Central Plains.
The King of Night, who is said to be the unkillable one in the Central Plains.
The Dark King knelt before me.
“…Huh.”
Upon my question, the Dark King tilted his head momentarily and then stated:
“I feel a bit more at ease now.”
“…?”
That was a puzzling remark.
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