Chapter 40 – Blood Cult (4)

Seeing his opponent kick off the cliff and leap in, Sun-woo released the sorcery he had poured into the wall.

Bang!

The cliff burst apart above Sun-woo and Yeon-hwa who were falling downward. His opponent didn’t stop there and leaped down following Sun-woo and Yeon-hwa.

The opponent reached right above Sun-woo’s head. The one-eyed warrior pulled his sword back with a menacing smile, and his sword glowed brightly with sword energy.

When his opponent approached, Sun-woo threw Yeon-hwa toward the cliff. Yeon-hwa’s eyes widened in surprise, and the Blood Cult member also shouted in alarm.

“No!”

The warrior hastily slashed through the air to change his body’s direction, but Yeon-hwa collided with the cliff. No, she was sucked into a gap between the cliffs.

The one-eyed warrior sighed in relief at that sight and tried to leap into the cave in the cliff following her, but had no choice but to stick to the cliff due to an unexpected situation.

The cave entrance had been blocked in front of him.

He who had used cliff-walking techniques to stick to the cliff hastily checked below. He had seen Sun-woo collapse the ground. The cave entrance disappearing now could only be Sun-woo’s doing.

And his thoughts were correct. Sun-woo was about ten meters below with his sword embedded in the wall, standing on the sword with his hand on the wall.

“Hmph, trying petty tricks.”

The warrior confirmed Sun-woo’s position and launched his body downward again.

He didn’t attack Sun-woo directly but headed toward a pine tree extending far out from the cliff at some distance from him.

Though his opponent had martial arts at the end of first-class level, he was definitely using strange sorcery that moved the earth. The one-eyed warrior decided to kill Sun-woo by sending sword energy from as far away as possible.

He landed on what looked like a sturdy pine branch, and

“What!”

He fell straight down. As soon as he landed, the pine branch simply disappeared. Startled, he tried to approach the cliff somehow, but having already moved far away, it was impossible to approach the cliff.

“Noooo!”

His scream-like shout faded downward, and shortly after, his figure disappeared into the rapids.

After confirming he had disappeared into the rapids, Sun-woo immediately crouched on his sword. He was exhausted from forcing himself to act fine.

After bursting the cliff and hanging from the cliff with sorcery, then using illusion arts to block the cave entrance and make tree branches appear longer. Having used all his available techniques, he had exhausted all his internal energy, sorcery, and stamina in that short time.

“Sigh, do I have to drink more?”

Sun-woo sighed and took out a potion from his phone to pour into his mouth. This time it definitely seemed like a loss.

But Sun-woo was somewhat satisfied. He had eliminated many Blood Cult members, who were among his enemies.

The reason he had lured the Blood Cult warriors here when he could have kept running was to eliminate them.

After the dream, Sun-woo’s goal had changed. He who had aimed to survive now had a new objective.

After drinking the potion and recovering his energy to some extent, Sun-woo began slowly climbing up the wall. Though he hadn’t learned cliff-walking techniques separately, he could stick to the wall using sorcery power.

When Sun-woo released his illusion arts, a small gap appeared again between the cliffs. It was the cave entrance where Yeon-hwa had been thrown.

Sun-woo entered the cave and could see Yeon-hwa sitting properly in place, waiting for him.

“Welcome.”

At Yeon-hwa’s calm words, Sun-woo could only scratch his head.

“You weren’t hurt, were you?”

“No, I was a little surprised, but there’s nothing wrong with my body.”

At Yeon-hwa’s casual manner of speaking as if nothing had happened, Sun-woo clicked his tongue and first examined the inside of the cave.

Unlike the entrance where only one person could barely pass through, the inside of the cave was quite spacious. Sun-woo had thrown Yeon-hwa here because he had confirmed this interior space with sorcery.

But the cave interior, about 20 pyeong in size, was very ordinary. There were no traces of human presence, and no strange plants or moss growing.

“As expected, things like cliff cave fortunes only happen in novels.”

Rather, Yeon-hwa sitting expressionlessly in the center of the cave was more extraordinary.

She wore loose white clothes and, looking closely, had a strangely Western feel mixed in. A straight nose bridge and distinct features. She seemed to have some mixed blood.

In this world where delicate and cute faces were considered beautiful, hers wouldn’t be recognized, but to Sun-woo’s eyes, it was quite a splendid face. Moreover, her cold expression made her look almost like a model.

Sun-woo sat down in front of her and sighed.

He was worried about what lay ahead. Though he had shaken off the pursuing Blood Cult members and could hide in this cave, the snow cat remained.

Moreover, he couldn’t guarantee that the peak-level expert swept down into the canyon was dead. Having discovered even Sun-woo’s abilities, it would certainly become more difficult when they met next time.

Sun-woo looked steadily at Yeon-hwa. This woman was definitely the key to this mission.

The Blood Cult suddenly kidnapping women who had come out to play, the mission to protect companions falling, the snow cat tracking her, and finally the story she herself had told…

Sun-woo pondered what to do and decided to ask straightforwardly first.

“Why did the snow cat, no, the Blood Cult kidnap you?”

“That’s because I’m one of the Fire Cult’s sacred maidens.”

“Fire Cult? You don’t mean the Demonic Cult, do you?”

Yeon-hwa tilted her head puzzledly and nodded, and Sun-woo could only look at her with an incredulous face.

Sun-woo had heard stories and roughly knew what a sacred maiden was.

It was a term for women who presided over the Demonic Cult’s rituals, referring to the high sacred maiden above and her two disciples.

The high sacred maiden received respect from ordinary believers of the Demonic Cult equal to the cult leader.

“Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Yeon-hwa, Western Sacred Maiden of the Fire Cult.”

Western Sacred Maiden. Among the high sacred maiden’s two disciples, she was the youngest disciple who received respect from believers equal to the high sacred maiden.

“Don’t tell me the women who were with you…”

“They’re all believers. Lanzhou has the orthodox faction established, so we came out to the outskirts under the pretext of an outing to hold rituals.”

The orthodox faction and the imperial court ruling this martial world’s China were oppressing the Fire Cult by calling it the Demonic Cult. So they had moved west where the imperial court and orthodox faction’s influence was weaker, and ordinary believers were secretly maintaining their faith in hiding.

“Even so, for someone at the sacred maiden level to enter orthodox faction territory…”

“They’re devout believers. And personally, we’re quite close friends.”

Since they were merchants from the border region, they regularly traveled back and forth to areas ruled by the Demonic Cult, and during that time, women of similar age had become close.

***

A sacred maiden of the Fire Cult. She was certainly a woman worth the Blood Cult targeting. One curiosity was resolved, but the reason for the mission was still unknown.

No, more than that, Sun-woo was more curious about something else.

“Why are you telling me all these facts?”

The fact that she was a sacred maiden had to be kept secret in this place. Moreover, she hadn’t told this secret to anyone except Sun-woo.

She spoke as if it were natural.

“There’s no reason to keep it secret from an inheritor of the <War Wheel Divine Demon Art>.”

Sun-woo’s face twisted and strength entered his hand gripping his sword.

“How did you know that?”

Though the atmosphere became menacing in an instant, Yeon-hwa’s expression showed no change.

“A sacred maiden couldn’t fail to recognize the cult’s guardian martial art.”

“Someone didn’t tell you?”

She shook her head at Sun-woo’s words. According to her continued explanation, sacred maidens seemed to possess a kind of superpower called ‘divine power.’ They could heal other people, sometimes foresee future events, and could feel others’ martial arts.

“How formidable. Not just one ability.”

“It’s not a power that can be used easily. It’s only possible after preparing with faith and purity for a long time.”

Still, it seemed she couldn’t use it easily.

Sun-woo looked at the expressionless Yeon-hwa and conflicted. Except for Nan-seol, no one knew he had learned Demonic Cult martial arts.

Fortunately, Nan-seol had overlooked it, but it was difficult to trust the woman before his eyes.

Since he would continue to be summoned here, it would certainly become very troublesome if people learned he used Demonic Cult martial arts.

Sun-woo pondered for a long time and eventually put down his sword. No matter how determined he was, it was difficult to kill a woman who wasn’t hostile toward him.

“Is the environment I grew up in the problem?”

Yeon-hwa, who had been quietly waiting until then, spoke.

“Have you decided not to kill me?”

Since he had fully raised his killing intent, there was no way she couldn’t know.

“Sigh, this is troublesome.”

Yeon-hwa nodded as if she understood.

“I thought it was strange that you called the cult a demonic cult. You don’t seem to be a believer. I thought you were a believer since you’re learning the Cult’s guardian martial art.”

Sun-woo nodded at her words.

“I only acquired the martial art and have no connection whatsoever.”

Having decided not to kill her, Sun-woo spoke politely again. He told her an appropriately edited version of obtaining martial arts from the forbidden area.

“So that’s what happened. But the cult’s guardianship is inherited through martial arts. Even now, the War Wheel Guardian’s position has been vacant for hundreds of years.”

“I have no interest. And it’s impossible anyway. I’m someone unrelated to this place and my martial arts aren’t that high.”

“I understand. If you wish, I’ll act as if I’ve never seen you, Sun-woo.”

Sun-woo stared intently at Yeon-hwa, but it was impossible to discern anything from her expression.

Anyway, he could only trust her words. Unless he killed her, there was no other method.

“Sigh, then I’ll keep your secret too.”

“Thank you.”

Yeon-hwa quietly bowed her head.

“Well, now I need to think about how to escape. It would be troublesome if they’re guarding the middle. But we can’t keep hiding here forever either.”

Sun-woo fell into thought while scratching his chin, and Yeon-hwa tilted her head while looking at him lost in thought.

“But why do you mainly fight using sorcery? Fighting with martial arts should be sufficient.”

“Because martial arts aren’t enough to face them.”

“What?”

Sun-woo felt a bit embarrassed at her question. To think he was barely at the end of first-class level while possessing one of the top martial arts. Yeon-hwa’s question was natural.

“I’m still at the end of first-class level. I’m blocked by the peak barrier.”

Though developing to this extent in the short time since learning martial arts was truly remarkable, Sun-woo didn’t mention the fact that he had acquired martial arts in a short period. He hadn’t learned martial arts formally anyway.

“That’s strange. The cult leader’s martial arts and the guardians’ martial arts aren’t ones that would be blocked at the peak barrier.”

At Yeon-hwa’s direct hit, Sun-woo’s face reddened slightly.

“Ah, you said you learned without a master? Huh, is that possible? Are you perhaps a genius?”

This time Yeon-hwa was bewildered for the opposite reason. Sun-woo shook his head at her words, then stopped his head completely.

“Then I think I might be able to help you. For the cult’s peak martial arts, sacred maidens can help break through barriers.”

At her words, Sun-woo couldn’t help but look upward automatically.

“Don’t tell me they gave this mission targeting this?”

But no voice reached Sun-woo.