Chapter 55: I Know You

TL: FoodieMonster007

A purple radiance signaled a forbidden demonic art. The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme had unleashed the Mind-Reading Soul Stealing Art, a technique that draws truthful answers from its target.

The Mind-Reading Soul Stealing Art was a forbidden martial art. No one could use it on fellow cultists without the Cult Leader's permission. This was because the art's ability to read minds and extract answers gave it great potential for misuse, yet the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme broke the taboo and cast the art.

Even high-level shamans could perform the Mind-Reading Soul Stealing Art, but success depended on their skill and inner arts. Greater skill produced a deeper purple hue.

The brilliant purple color declared that the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's art could draw out memories the target himself could not recall.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Geom Mugeuk."

"How do you know about me?"

"I investigated you. Everything about you."

The Mind-Reading Soul Stealing Art infiltrated through the eyes, but it had no effect on me. I had used the Bloodeye Holy Water.

Still, I answered as if the art had caught me. His questions would tell me something about him.

"Is the Cult Leader behind this?"

"No."

Relief flickered across the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's face. As I expected, he feared my father most.

"Then why did you come?"

"I came to kill you."

"Who did you tell you were coming here?"

"I told no one."

The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme released the Mind-Reading Soul Stealing Art. He must have decided there was no reason to keep expending inner arts if the Cult Leader had not ordered this. The Mind-Reading Soul Stealing Art consumed more inner arts and mental energy than any other evil art.

His question revealed everything. He had decided to kill me.

"Second Young Lord, today you'll disappear from this world."

"Forget about me. Can you handle the aftermath of killing me?"

"Why should I handle it? The Blood Heaven Blade Demon will. I'm not the one who'll kill you. You'll die at his hands while trying to kill him."

His words meant he would use a hypnotic art to command me to kill the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. He believed I could not defeat the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, so he concluded I would die by his hand.

"A thought worthy of you."

"What do you mean, 'worthy of me'? Why do you keep talking like you know me so well? You investigated me? The fact that you think you can kill me proves your investigation was garbage."

The moment he finished speaking, the world spun. Dazzling, intense lights flew at me, too bright to see. Soon, I stood alone in a dark space. Someone whispered in my ear.

[Kill the Blood Heaven Blade Demon!]

The words repeated endlessly.

First, I heard the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's voice. Then my father's, then Lee Ahn's, then Seo Daeryong's. The words repeated in every voice I knew, including my own and even the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's.

Even covering my ears did not help. The words dug into my mind, hammering the command into my brain. My head ached as if it would explode.

It was this intense even with the Heavenly Demon Defense Art activated. An ordinary person would have already fallen for his hypnotic art.

I looked around.

In the pitch-black darkness, I saw a distant, bluish light. I instinctively knew it was the way to break the hypnotic art, so I walked toward it.

The light grew larger as I approached, until it was big enough to pass through. I walked into it without hesitation.

The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme stood outside, staring at me with a shocked expression.

"How did you open your eyes on your own?"

Walking out of the light was, in reality, me opening my eyes.

"You shouldn't be able to open your eyes until the hypnotic art ends."

"I guess I've grown fond of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. I didn't want to kill him."

Again, my surroundings spun. An intense light flew at me, and I was back in the darkness.

[Kill the Blood Heaven Blade Demon!]

This hypnotic art was more powerful, infused with more inner arts. If the first was a small hammer to my brain, this one was a large one.

But the bluish light was still there, and I escaped through it. My head still spun as if it would crack open, showing just how powerful the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's hypnotic art was.

"Why aren't you falling for the hypnotic art?"

"I told you. It's because of my strong bond with Elder Blade Demon."

"Nonsense!"

"You're getting anxious. That's not like you."

"Then I suppose I'll have to step in myself, since I have no such bonds."

The next moment, my surroundings darkened.

Something stirred in the blackness.

The floor rippled, and pitch-black shadows rose. They were chilling monsters with long, slit eyes and mouths, and elongated limbs.

The creatures, which seemed to have crawled from hell, lunged at me.

I cut them down with the Black Demon Sword.

Bluish dots of light appeared on the monsters' bodies. Some on the head, some on the stomach, others on the arm. The Bloodeye Holy Water showed me exactly how to break the evil art.

When I stabbed the light precisely, the creatures dissolved into clusters of white light and vanished. They were evil spirits that attacked relentlessly, only dying if their vital point was struck. Superior martial arts alone could not stop this enemy.

After I cut down all the monsters, the darkness brightened. The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme stood there with a grave expression.

He said nothing and unleashed his next evil art.

The world darkened and brightened again. I was startled to find myself standing on a large log in the middle of the ocean.

The seawater was real. It was an illusion created by manipulating the mind, but it was a real sea where one could die.

Then I heard a distant wave.

I turned and saw something rushing toward me. To my astonishment, it was a giant tsunami.

SWOOOOOSH!

It was the fury of mother nature, something human strength could not stop.

I now saw why the orthodox sects considered him their most troublesome opponent. How could a mere human overcome such a grand illusion?

The approaching tsunami was as high as a cliff, its peak a distant blur.

But I saw no way to break the art on the tsunami itself.

With nowhere to escape, the wave swept me away.

A tremendous impact crushed me, and I was submerged. If not for the Heavenly Demon Defense Art, the shock would have knocked me unconscious.

The water tossed me about, regardless of my will.

How much time had passed?

"PUAH!"

I pushed my face out of the water and exhaled the breath I had been holding.

Just as I thought I could breathe, another tsunami rushed in from the distance. If this repeated, any master would eventually die of exhaustion. I had to find the way out before that happened.

I scanned my surroundings, then dived into the pitch-black sea to search for a bluish light.

The second tsunami swept me away. I minimized the impact with the Heavenly Demon Defense Art and poked my head out of the water again. A vast, open sea stretched out in every direction.

Searching this wide ocean for the solution seemed nearly impossible.

Where could it be? There were no seagulls or rocky islands, just seawater and me in this vast ocean.

There has to be something for me to find.

Then, a thought flashed through my mind. There was one other thing.

Could it be?

I launched myself from the water, kicking off the surface to fly up and search, but I could not find it and was swept away by the third tsunami.

Before the fourth tsunami arrived, I flew above the sea again, searching desperately. Finally, I found it.

Please! Let this be it!

I found the log I had been standing on when I first entered this place.

I turned the log over and saw a bluish light shining from underneath.

The Bloodeye Holy Water had always shown me the solution quickly and accurately, but this time it was hidden in plain sight. It made sense that the one thing protecting me was the key.

Or perhaps the light was originally on top, but the waves had turned the log over.

Just before the fourth tsunami hit, I slashed the log with the Black Demon Sword.

At that moment!

The rushing tsunami vanished as if it were a lie, and the sea disappeared with it.

It must have been his trump card, but the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme showed no despair.

A new space immediately unfolded. The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme was pouring out all his ultimate killing techniques.

About thirty mirrors stood around me.

My life was contained within the mirrors.

One mirror showed me as a child, another as I am now, another in middle age, and one even as an old man. The mirrors showed my entire life in three or four-year intervals.

I walked slowly, looking at myself in the mirrors. Most showed ages I had experienced before my regression, but some showed ages I had never lived. The me in the last mirror was so old I could hardly recognize myself.

I was on the verge of death.

I asked the me in the mirror.

"What do you regret so much?"

The me in the mirror was withered and shriveled. He lay alone in a large room, staring vacantly at the ceiling. No one was with me at my death. It was a lonely and desolate end.

This is not my future. It is an illusion created by the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme. A short-tempered person might have smashed this mirror, which would have likely worsened the situation.

I reached out and slowly caressed the old man in the mirror.

"You lived with so much blood on your hands, yet you hoped for a happy death? That's greedy, Mugeuk. If you killed Hwa Mugi and saved the people who needed saving, a death like this is fine."

I comforted myself. What would my actual death be like? Would I die alone and lonely? Or would I die smiling, comforting those I leave behind?

"It's okay. Go in peace. I know you."

I caressed the me in the mirror, but perhaps I was comforting my current self, telling myself that it was okay and that I was doing well.

I returned to the front and stood before a mirror showing my younger self. It showed my appearance a few years in the future, and a bluish light swirled around it.

"Well then, shall we get out of here?"

"……"

I swung the Black Demon Sword and shattered the mirror.

Beyond the shattered mirror, I saw the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's shocked face.

"How did you know it was this mirror?"

Of the dozens of mirrors, only one was the exit.

"If you break the wrong one, the mirrors double. Break another wrong one, and they double again. You can never escape."

"I'm lucky."

"You got out because you were lucky? You can't break this with luck!"

The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's expression was rigid. His surprise had turned to shock. As his attacks failed one after another, he reached a single conclusion.

He asked in a trembling voice.

"Did you really learn the Nine Calamities Demonic Art?"

Before I could answer, he concluded it was true.

"That crazy Cult Leader! He already chose a successor behind our backs?"

He misunderstood, but he had no choice. There was only one reason his evil arts would not work.

The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme burst out in anger.

"Damn it! Using his own son as a knife to kill me? That filthy bastard! The Cult Leader never shows his true intentions. He's always backstabbing people."

"Wait. Let's get one thing straight. Besides this, when else has Father backstabbed anyone?"

"What?"

"You said he always backstabs people. Tell me about the other times."

The Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme could not say a word.

"Father said you were the person the orthodox sects feared most. That means he holds you in high regard. Would he backstab someone like you? I don't think so."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Don't speak carelessly just because you're angry. Father hesitated to kill you until the very end. I might even lose points for this."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I thought about it carefully. I was farming, doing business, and attending academies. Just living a normal, good life. Then one day, I'm dragged away for no reason to have my heart torn out for a mountain keep? Wouldn't that be incredibly unfair?"

"Life is unfair. If you think it's unfair, become a master."

"Today, you can have all that unfairness for yourself."

Even under the misunderstanding that I had learned the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme was not discouraged.

"You said you investigated me? Fine, you investigated well. I'm a man who has lived with a fervent desire for a long life. Did you think I wouldn't anticipate a day like this? A day when the Cult Leader would betray me and try to kill me?"

He still believed my father had orchestrated this.

"Do you know why I fell for the Great Mind Control Technique? Just to gain a little inner arts?"

"It wasn't?"

"Of course not."

A black, smoke-like energy rose around the Soul-Stealing Demon Supreme's body.

"You said I became a monster? Have you even seen a real monster?"

He began to change within the black energy, a literal transformation. His body grew larger and his skin turned black. Pure white light flowed from his two long, slit eyes, and his ears jutted out like a demon's. Through his chest, a large, red heart beat and pulsed.

Was it an illusion, or was it real?

The transformed him projected a completely different aura. It was cold and solid. I grew tense. This demonic art was a killing move prepared to counter the Nine Calamities Demonic Art. That meant it was powerful.

"I'll rip your precious Nine Calamities Demonic Art to shreds!"

The demonic qi he unleashed swept through the surroundings. It was not just demonic qi, but pitch-black demonic qi.