Episode 246: Return to the Demonic Sect
“Master, you really are something else.”
“Of course. Just realizing that now?”
At Sabigang’s retort, Churyang let out a sigh.
“That’s not what I meant. I was impressed by how you managed to get her to eat the scorched rice in that situation.”
Sabigang glanced at Churyang.
“So, should I have just left her to wallow in her sorrow?”
“Well, that’s…”
“Was your action to consider her feelings, or was it about saving face for yourself?”
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Churyang hesitated, unable to answer immediately.
It was a difficult question.
“I’m not sure.”
“I just don’t care if people criticize me. Same as always.”
Sabigang tossed the words over his shoulder and continued walking.
Churyang, on the other hand, was left standing there, feeling as if he’d been struck by something profound.
“Not caring about being criticized, huh…”
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Why didn’t I eat the scorched rice for someone else’s sake?
“Damn it, now I’m hungry just thinking about it.”
Churyang quickly followed after Sabigang.
Before long, the two arrived at a cave on the southern side of Bohwa Mountain.
With the sun setting, Churyang felt an eerie chill creeping in.
“By the way… there’s no way there are actual ghosts here, right?”
“I told you, the ghost is ‘Soyugang.’”
“Uh, that sounds even scarier! Wasn’t he the one who disappeared seven years ago? But if he’s a ghost now…”
Without listening further, Sabigang slipped into the cave.
“You wait outside.”
“What? Why? I’ll go with you! I absolutely want to go with you…!”
“Why? Want to see a ghost up close? It’s not a bad experience.”
“Be careful. I’ll wait here like a statue.”
Sabigang chuckled and walked into the cave.
Whoosh!
A cold wind swept past the entrance of the cave where Sabigang had disappeared.
“Ugh, this place is really creepy!”
Churyang rubbed his arms and looked around nervously.
That’s when it happened.
Someone gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Ahhh! Who, who, who are you? Come at me! I’ll take you all down!”
He drew his sword and swung it wildly, blinking in confusion as he finally focused on the figure before him.
“Ma… Master?”
Sabigang stood there, looking at him with a puzzled expression.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh, well… But Master, why did you come back out? Isn’t this the place? Or is today not the right day? Should we come back another time?”
“Stop babbling and take this.”
Sabigang tossed something to him.
Caught off guard, Churyang caught it and stared blankly at what was in his hands.
“This is…?”
“You must be hungry. Eat it.”
It was scorched rice.
As Sabigang turned and re-entered the cave, Churyang’s eyes welled up with tears, and he shouted after him.
“Master…! You’re really something else!”
**
The man’s face was as pale as snow.
His skin showed no sign of life, and his eyes were a deep crimson.
In his hand, he held a sword about a foot long, which was currently piercing the heart of another man.
“Ughhh!”
The man with the pierced heart, Samjeok, groaned, blood trickling from his mouth.
With a swift motion, the sword was withdrawn, and Samjeok collapsed to the ground.
The man with the red eyes looked down at the fallen bodies.
Five corpses.
Swallowed by darkness, they had died without even realizing each other’s presence.
He hadn’t intended to kill them from the start.
As always, he had tried to approach them first.
But once again, they had rushed to kill him.
In the past, he had tried reasoning with them, persuading them.
But now, he found it all tiresome.
Without hesitation, he swung his sword at those who reached out to harm him.
In the end, all five were dead.
“How tiresome.”
His dark lips parted, releasing a voice so chilling that anyone who heard it would think it belonged to the underworld.
He sat down casually on one of the corpses’ heads.
Looking at the bodies strewn around, he recalled the first time he had come to this place years ago.
That day, he had a minor argument with a martial artist from a nearby village.
But as is often the case in the martial world, a small dispute quickly escalated into a life-and-death duel when pride was wounded.
He had defeated the man in a fair fight.
The problem came afterward.
Martial artists from the same sect as the defeated man began to pursue him, intent on killing him.
He had no choice but to flee.
The torrential rain helped obscure his trail.
That’s when he stumbled upon this cave.
“Yes, it was pure chance.”
While hiding among the bushes, a sudden lightning strike had nearly killed him.
Debris flew everywhere.
“And that’s when the entrance to this cave appeared.”
A section of the cliff had collapsed, revealing the cave.
A cave revealed by a lightning strike.
When he first discovered the entrance, his heart raced.
Hadn’t all the legendary masters gained their fortunes through such serendipity?
He thought it was the beginning of his own fortune.
But…
“Fortune, my foot…!”
It was nothing but a curse.
“If only I hadn’t stepped into this place that day.”
He knew it was pointless, but regret washed over him.
With a long sigh, he stood up.
At that moment,
“Hmm. Is there still a straggler left?”
He sensed someone entering the endless darkness.
“How bothersome.”
Once they sensed his presence, they would surely attack him again.
It would be easier to kill them first.
The man moved silently.
His movements were ghostly, leaving no trace.
Meanwhile, the newcomer to the darkness was clearly flustered.
The man smirked.
“Of course, they’d be surprised. In this endless darkness, the only way out is death. Let me grant you peace…”
Then,
“Light.”
A single word slipped from the newcomer’s lips.
In the next instant, astonishingly, light filled the endless darkness.
“Ugh!”
The man quickly shielded his eyes with his arm and retreated.
He was deeply unsettled.
Light! Light!
In all the years he’d been trapped here, he had never seen light.
How is this possible?
In this place, it should be impossible to create light!
Slowly, he lowered his arm, disbelief etched on his face.
It wasn’t a dream.
A sphere of light floated in the darkness.
“How is this even…?”
But that wasn’t the only surprise.
The newcomer looked at him calmly and asked,
“Are you Soyugang? You look quite young. Then again, the first time I saw you was eight years from now.”
Soyugang frowned deeply.
The first time was eight years from now?
What kind of nonsense is that?
And how did that light appear?
As questions piled up, he couldn’t help but ask,
“Who are you? Are you a demon?”
“No. I’m Sabigang. A proper instructor.”
“Instructor?”
“Yes. I’ve come to take you with me. From now on, you’ll be under my command.”
“Under your command…?”
“Well, you’re almost a finished product, so calling you a disciple doesn’t quite fit.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“It’s a long story. For now, let’s get out of here.”
“Heh.”
Soyugang chuckled.
This was certainly an interesting situation.
In the past seven years, nothing this amusing had happened here.
Dozens of uninvited guests had come, but this was the first time for something like this.
They all tried to kill him upon seeing him.
But this one was speaking to him so casually.
And he had come here of his own accord, saying he was looking for him?
He still didn’t understand, but one thing was clear.
Whoever this person was, there was no way out of this endless darkness…
“Come on, you must be tired of this place. Let’s get out.”
“Heh. I don’t know who you are, but there’s no way out of here…”
“Stop talking and step back.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to break it. This endless darkness.”
“Break it? Wait, do you even know what this endless darkness is?”
“I told you I know. And once we’re out, you’ll need to change the way you speak. I’ll be your master then.”
Sabigang reached into his cloak and pulled out Ragel’s pouch.
From it, he extracted a bow, an arrow, and a peculiar orb that shimmered with a crimson glow.
This was the Devil’s Fire, a relic he had seized from Dangu long ago.
In other words, it was an explosive.
Sabigang carefully attached the explosive to the tip of the arrow and drew the bowstring taut.
“What… what are you doing?” Soyugang asked, bewildered.
“The Infinite Darkness is just a barrier made of mana. Even if a torch goes out here, light created from mana won’t. Similarly, if we trigger a powerful explosion using mana, we can shatter this darkness.”
Soyugang blinked, utterly lost.
“Just watch,” Sabigang instructed.
Finally, he released the bowstring.
In the next instant,
Whoosh!
BOOM!
A cataclysmic explosion shook the very earth.