Chapter 196 – The Bright Cult or the Demon Cult (4)

“Vice Chief Hwangbo is safe, right?”

Having regained consciousness, Nanseol first asked about Hwangbo Jagyeom’s wellbeing.

“He was badly injured, but his life wasn’t in danger.”

Nanseol could understand the hidden meaning in Sun-woo’s words.

His life wasn’t in danger, but for a warrior there was something else equally important.

She let out a sigh of relief then became gloomy again.

Having lost all her subordinates and even been kidnapped herself, it was more than understandable how she felt.

Sun-woo silently waited for her to regain her spirits again.

Meanwhile, Hairy who had vigorously scraped and eaten the moss on floor and walls regained his strength to some degree after circulating his energy.

“Following was definitely the right answer.”

Having been a cultist of the Bright Cult, he at least thought Sun-woo who knew the Heavenly Demon’s martial arts was related to the cult.

Even imprisoned here for committing a great crime against the cult, he always thought of himself as a cultist.

With that thought he’d followed Sun-woo, and gained this fortunate encounter midway.

However, Ki Ji-min had a troubled expression.

Her plan to seduce Sun-woo with her looks had gone completely wrong.

A woman warrior not much different from herself at first glance.

Moreover, unlike herself who looked young only with the help of rejuvenation techniques, she was a beautiful woman radiating youthfulness itself.

‘Huh? Peak top-grade at that age?’

Only then did Ki Ji-min realize Nanseol’s martial arts level was at an absurd level.

‘Well, a woman like that suits a man beyond super-peak level.’

Ki Ji-min looked at Sun-woo and Nanseol with a gloomy expression.

Fortunately Nanseol recovered her spirits quickly.

She too was a warrior who’d gone through countless battles.

This wasn’t her first failure, and too much blood had flowed on the path she’d walked to be discouraged by something like this.

After circulating her internal energy once and finally checking her body, she transmitted to Sun-woo.

She told Sun-woo the reconnaissance she’d done and what she heard while being captured here.

The Blood Prison seized by the Blood Cult and the Blood Cult story eroding inside the Demon Cult.

And that this Blood Prison was the Demon Cult’s main force, and the giant summoning circle being created on the surface to summon the Demon Lord.

Most of it was stories Sun-woo already knew.

However, Sun-woo didn’t show he knew and listened to everything in consideration of her.

After the story ended, the two immediately left the stone chamber through the hole Sun-woo made.

“Aren’t they people you know?”

Nanseol glanced at the two hurrying after them and asked Sun-woo.

At her question, Sun-woo made an ambiguous expression.

“Hard to call them acquaintances, but hard to call them enemies or prisoners either?”

At Sun-woo’s words, Nanseol made a puzzled expression.

Sun-woo briefly told the story of meeting the two.

“Just pretend they don’t exist. Killing them seemed wasteful so I left them.”

At Sun-woo’s words, Nanseol nodded. This was the Demon Cult’s prison anyway, so as someone from the righteous faction, it was hard for her to say anything.

The two who came down through the hole Sun-woo pierced immediately left the ruins.

“There was a master posing strange questions here but I don’t see him.”

At Nanseol’s words, Sun-woo just smiled. Probably he escaped the Blood Prison long ago.

He didn’t know how the half-contaminated madman would live outside, but he just hoped not to catch his eye.

The two passed Hairy’s area now without guards, then arrived at the underground cavity in the center of the Blood Prison.

The spacious underground cavity with a high ceiling pierced with holes had many people positioned unlike before.

The people were divided into two groups confronting each other.

One side gathered centered around a big-bodied bald monk with a bushy beard, and the other side was led by a gloomy middle-aged man thin as a skewer.

And in front of the two groups, faces seen recently knelt with tearful expressions.

“What I said doesn’t have a shred of falsehood. Definitely above, the Blood Cult bastards seized everything.”

“That’s right. The guardian from the cult also followed the Blood Cult bastards’ words. The cult definitely isn’t normal either!”

The Demon Cult technicians seen at the top of the vertical tunnel.

“Hmm, certainly seems problems occurred. And more new faces appeared.”

The monk muttered looking at Sun-woo and Nanseol who entered the cavity. At his words, everyone’s gaze in the square turned to the two.

People’s gazes swept past Sun-woo then fixed on Nanseol.

“Whew!”

Of course Sun-woo was also very handsome, but with a beautiful woman there, no reason to look at a man.

The prisoners in the underground square saw Nanseol and their eyes turned red.

“Idiots, stop it, stop. She may look like that but she’s peak top-grade. Mess with her and you’ll all get smashed.”

At the gloomy middle-aged man’s words, people’s eyes widened, but the gazes watching Nanseol still didn’t decrease.

“Then shall we capture her first and ask what happened?”

The monk cracked his neck left and right looking at Nanseol.

Sun-woo felt a bit hurt at being left out.

It was natural they couldn’t recognize him as beyond super-peak level, but showing off by releasing his aura felt awkward too.

Just then, among the crowded people, some began slowly backing away seeing Sun-woo.

“Ah, so that’s how it turned out.”

The ones carefully backing away were all people Sun-woo had met.

Those backing away on the monk’s side were those who attacked him with Ki Ji-min, and those backing away on the gloomy middle-aged man’s side were Hairy’s people.

Once their affiliations were destroyed and their bosses disappeared, they quickly attached to the other side.

Hearing stories from them, the two forces rushed to this central square for confirmation.

There they captured three Demon Cult technicians who just came down from above and were hearing their story.

Sun-woo placed his hand on the wall and confirmed his speculation wasn’t wrong.

While Sun-woo grasped the situation, the monk and middle-aged man began approaching Nanseol.

The two who grasped Nanseol’s abilities seemed to have schemed through transmission.

The two forces raising tension both stepped back a bit and watched their bosses walking toward Nanseol.

Nanseol summoned her sword.

“I’ll face them.”

The opponents were peak high-grade masters, two versus one so hard to gauge abilities.

But Sun-woo stepped back and crossed his arms.

“Thank you.”

Rationally she’d composed herself, but what accumulated in her heart couldn’t disappear.

Letting it burst at this opportunity wasn’t bad.

Watching Nanseol holding her sword step forward, Sun-woo transmitted toward the front.

High-difficulty transmission sent simultaneously to multiple specific people’s ears.

[If you run, know you’ll all die.]

The steps of those backing away stopped dead.

They looked at each other, realized they all heard the same thing, and froze pale white.

“Hehe, a fresh young lady, how long has it been.”

Even at the middle-aged man’s gloomy voice, Nanseol’s expression didn’t change.

Only, before his words ended, Nanseol’s body shot forward.

Clang! Clang!

Nanseol’s sword bloomed splendidly.

“Wh, what!”

Somehow in the middle-aged man’s hands were long claws made of black bone.

Black claws that didn’t budge against Nanseol’s sword however they were made, but he alone couldn’t handle Nanseol’s martial arts.

“What are you doing! Monk! Help quickly!”

Desperately blocking Nanseol’s attacks, the middle-aged man shouted toward the monk.

But the monk just blankly watched Nanseol.

“Was it Mount Hua?”

Wearing ordinary martial clothes to enter the Demon Cult’s territory, he couldn’t recognize the sect, but the martial arts didn’t change.

The monk could sense plum blossom scent from Nanseol’s sword.

“Crazy monk, is this betrayal!”

“Amitabha, I will surrender.”

The middle-aged man nearly blew his top at the monk’s words.

“Damn, what chanting from a defrocked monk! Finally gone crazy?”

Eventually, one black claw was cut off by Nanseol’s sword and badly wounded in the side, he screamed at Nanseol.

“Damn, let’s die together!”

From his body, internal energy surged up like black currents.

Gang-ki extended from the cut claw end and his face twisted fiercely.

“I who learned evil arts am trapped in this hell. Experience the power of the absolutely forbidden martial art, Black Corpse Arts!”

At his shout, subordinates behind began screaming and fleeing.

“The boss went crazy!”

“He’s going berserk!”

From the middle-aged man’s body, tremendous stench burst out. A smell like gathering long-decayed abandoned corpses.

He rushed at Nanseol with a corpse-like transformed face. The black claws swung, black currents surged upward.

But Nanseol calmly waited for him to approach.

“Plum Blossoms in Full Bloom (梅花滿開)”

And when he arrived right before her, her sword moved.

As the sword moved, plum blossoms appeared, and as the sword unfolded toward the middle-aged man, plum blossoms bloomed fully on his body.

Puak!

Only what bloomed wasn’t petals but the middle-aged man’s blood.

“Ha. Ha. Really Mount Hua martial arts? In the end, evil arts don’t match righteous arts. But why didn’t the poison work?”

The middle-aged man with split chest looked at Nanseol with an expression of complete incomprehension then breathed his last.

***

[All corpse poison has been neutralized.]

Sun-woo made a subtle expression hearing the bracer’s voice.

When the middle-aged man started going berserk, Sun-woo tried to step in. But before he moved, the bracer stepped forward first and eliminated the corpse poison.

‘Seems like it’s trying to look good…’

The bracer seemed to feel that Sun-woo found it unsettling.

“Good work.”

[Thank you.]

The bracer’s tactic succeeded to some degree.

Sun-woo who’d planned to properly inspect it after returning decided to wait and see for now.

“Oh my, too late.”

Just then, Ki Ji-min and Hairy arrived.

The two moved fairly fast, but following Sun-woo and Nanseol was impossible.

Thanks to that, they ran like crazy worried they’d lose them, but ended up a bit late.

‘Tsk, thanks to them it became awkward to leave them behind.’

Sun-woo clicked his tongue seeing the two who followed.

The two kept chasing so it was awkward to abandon them, so he just came out, and ended up caught here.

After brief contemplation, Sun-woo reached a conclusion.

Sun-woo walked to the center of the cavity.

“What are you planning to do?”

To Nanseol’s question as she approached his side, he answered.

“Since the Demon Cult isn’t normal anyway, the Blood Prison is meaningless too. I’ll open the door.”

“If that’s Sun-woo’s decision, fine.”

Sun-woo’s eyebrow rose slightly at Nanseol’s changed expression.

Sun-woo grinned then wrapped his arm around Nanseol’s waist. Nanseol’s eyes widened.

Sun-woo poured internal energy abundantly toward his feet.

Kugugugugung!

Centered on Sun-woo, the solid floor began cracking wildly.

Only then did people look at Sun-woo with shocked eyes.

Confirming the floor shattered like a turtle’s shell, Sun-woo spread earth spirits into the ground.

“Then we’re going up.”

The ground where Sun-woo and Nanseol stood began rising upward.

The ground rising like a cylinder had spiral stairs formed around it.

Stairs Sun-woo made.

The circular stairway Sun-woo created soared upward.