Episode 423: Return to the Demon Sect
I almost suffocated right then and there.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked up to see Murang standing before me.
He looked just as worn out as I felt.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“What happened?” I inquired.
Murang replied, “We were really close to disaster. Luck was on our side.”
“Have you been waiting here all this time?” I asked, glancing around.
This was the spot where I had almost grabbed the box.
Jingle, jingle, jingle!
The bells tied to our waists were ringing incessantly.
Murang gestured for us to move. “Let’s step away from the boundary. Lingering here won’t do us any good.”
We made our way back to the vicinity of the manor. Contrary to my expectations of chaos or heavy security, the area was eerily quiet.
“It’s so still,” I remarked.
“It would be. You’ve been gone for a full fortnight,” Murang explained.
“A fortnight?” I was taken aback. I knew some time had passed, but two weeks?
Murang continued, “I was about to give up and leave. Staying any longer would have put me in danger too.”
I was shocked. I hadn’t realized so much time had slipped by.
“The only reason you could return was because you’ve reached the level of the Celestial Sea. An ordinary person wouldn’t have heard the sound of my bell,” Murang said.
“I was able to use 9th-circle magic,” I admitted.
“9th-circle? What’s that?”
“Let’s just say it allowed me to surpass even the Celestial Sea’s power.”
“But you didn’t gain any new insights, did you?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“That’s the nature of the Dream Realm. Some get so lost in it that they can’t return to reality, ending up as living corpses.”
“I see.”
“Did you find the item Guang Ah handed over to them?”
I nodded and pulled out the box from my robe, revealing a dark red orb inside.
“Let me see that,” Murang said, taking the orb. He pulled out a brush and inscribed the character ‘환(喚)’ on its surface.
He placed the orb down and stepped back, then began chanting a spell.
After a while,
Whoosh!
A bright light burst from the orb, and the surroundings transformed in an instant.
Walls appeared out of nowhere, turning the outdoor space into an indoor one.
When I regained my senses, I found myself in a room with a serene figure sitting in the center, and a shadowy figure seated demurely beyond a curtain.
The figure looked like a young girl, but it was clear she wasn’t the woman who had fled with the box. She was much smaller and more delicate.
The atmosphere was tense, but Murang spoke casually, “This is a memory summoning. They can’t see us. We’re using a spell to summon part of a memory within the Dream Realm. It’s like a dream within a dream.”
I nodded and walked towards the curtain, but the shadow’s true form was nowhere to be found.
Murang, who had come up beside me, explained, “The shadow is something Guang Ah saw, but he never saw its true form. That’s why you can’t see it even if you go behind the curtain.”
‘So it’s not the woman who ran off with the box,’ I thought.
Meanwhile, the shadow behind the curtain spoke, “I want to buy this orb.”
Surprisingly, the voice was youthful.
Guang Ah smiled gently, “How much are you offering?”
“The price of your life should suffice.”
“What?”
“I’m interested in the items you’ll collect in the future, so I’ll spare your life.”
Guang Ah looked momentarily stunned, then scoffed and stood up. “Even if I’m from the Hao Moon, you’re underestimating me. If you won’t pay the price, there’s no deal.”
“Sit down.”
The command carried an undeniable force, and Guang Ah almost sat down involuntarily. But he gritted his teeth, stood firm, and picked up the box containing the orb.
“No deal.”
As Guang Ah turned to leave,
Swish!
A shadow descended behind him with smooth, precise movements.
It was a black-masked figure, face painted entirely in black.
Without hesitation, the figure reached out and pressed a point on Guang Ah’s neck, causing him to collapse.
Jingle…
The bells at our waists rang again.
Murang spoke, “Guang Ah has lost consciousness. We’re entering the realm of the subconscious now. Staying here too long could be dangerous.”
Jingle…
The bells rang once more.
The space began to distort, and the black-masked figure and the shadow behind the curtain started to blur.
The black-masked figure handed the box with the orb to the shadow.
Their conversation was fragmented, mixed with static.
“Our… great work… greater than… the Demon Sect…”
“Remember… Lord… obey…”
The shadow rose and moved gracefully out from behind the curtain, leaving only the sound of footsteps as it entered an adjoining room.
“Don’t… let… anyone…”
The door closed.
Murang and I followed through the door, but the scene was still unclear, as if we were peering into Guang Ah’s subconscious. The shadow’s form was invisible, and only disjointed voices filled the distorted space.
”…Ritan… Lord… incarnate…!”
A chilling energy filled the room.
Simultaneously,
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle! Jingle…!
The bells at our waists rang faster and faster.
“We need to end the spell,” Murang urged.
“Let’s watch a little longer,” I insisted.
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle…!
The bells’ rapid ringing matched the intensifying ominous energy.
Just as the energy became suffocating, it vanished like a lie, and a cold, clear voice of a girl echoed.
“Quite… a suitable vessel.”
“Thank you.”
The voice was undoubtedly that of a girl, yet it felt as if someone else was speaking.
Jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle…!
The bells rang as if they could no longer bear it.
Murang grabbed my sleeve and shouted, “No more! Let’s go!”
He raised a hand and chanted, and the surroundings dissolved like smoke, returning us to the vicinity of the manor.
Jingle…! Jingle…!
The bells slowed down, but their continued ringing signaled that we were nearing our limit.
“The memory of this place is fading,” Murang said, breaking a nearby branch and quickly etching a complex pattern into the dirt.
It was almost identical to the pattern he had drawn in the real world before we entered the Dream Realm.
Murang stepped into the center of the pattern with me.
“It’s time to return. To reality.”
As he clasped his hands together,
Whoosh!
A brilliant light erupted from the ground, engulfing us both.
**
I opened my eyes to see the ceiling above me.
‘We’re back…’
Slowly, I sat up and looked around.
Murang and Guang Ah were still lying in their designated spots.
After a moment,
“Ugh…”
Murang groaned softly as he awoke.
He glanced at Guang Ah, who was still unconscious, and murmured, “It’ll take Guang Ah a bit longer to wake up. We stirred up his memories quite a bit, so waking up too quickly could be disorienting.”
I nodded, and Murang looked at me curiously.
“Did you learn anything?”
“It was a Soul Bead,” I replied.
“Hmm?”
“The orb. It was a Soul Bead.”
“And what’s that?”
“As I mentioned, when crossing dimensions, inanimate objects come through first, followed by intelligent beings. To bridge that gap, summoning or descent rituals are needed, but the Demon Realm lacked such methods.”
“And?”
“Instead of living beings, they sealed souls within orbs to send them across. A soul-sealed orb. That’s a Soul Bead.”
“Wait. Does that mean the orb can act on its own?”
“Not exactly. Unless someone recognizes its value and releases the soul trapped inside, it’s just a pretty stone.”
“So a soul could be trapped in there forever?”
“Yes.”
“Who would take such a risk?”
“They selected volunteers from among the demons who had committed serious crimes. The soul inside that Soul Bead was undoubtedly… the Marquis of Baritan.”
“The Marquis of Baritan?”
“A demon who led a rebellion. The Demon King gave him a chance for redemption. But in the original timeline, he remained trapped in the stone, forgotten forever. But with my return, the future has changed.”
Murang nodded thoughtfully.
“Indeed. Even the smallest change can drastically alter the future. The subtle effects of your return have likely set off a chain of significant events.”
“Had I not come back, the Great War might have dragged on, and the followers of the Demon Sect might not have been so bold. That woman they call ‘Jonya’ might have died quietly somewhere, unnoticed.”
“But you can’t blame yourself for how things have turned out.”
“Of course not. After all, I’m the only one the Central Plains can rely on right now.”
It might have sounded arrogant, but this time, Murang didn’t disagree.
In truth, the Central Plains had no choice but to place all their hopes on Sabigang.
Frankly, even if they hailed Sabigang as a ‘savior,’ it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.
Sabigang’s gaze deepened.
“The fact remains that in this altered history, the Soul Bead ended up in Jonya’s hands. And she awakened it. It seems the Marquis of Baritan chose her as a vessel. Being a demon, she was a perfect match. They found an ideal host.”
“So that’s how it happened. That’s why the Demon Sect has so many summoning sites…”
Sabigang nodded.
“The Marquis of Baritan must have mastered interdimensional summoning. The timing was perfect.”
“Does that mean the demons will arrive even sooner?”
“Yes. It’s possible they’ve already prepared for the Demon King to descend.”
“Goodness.”
Murang stroked his white beard, sighing deeply.
Sabigang fell into a contemplative silence, his expression somber.
Why hadn’t he realized it sooner?
Perhaps because this method hadn’t worked in his past life.
But even if he had been aware, what could he have done?
In his previous life, he never managed to locate Baritan’s Soul Bead.
Maybe one of the demons opposing Baritan had destroyed it first.
With no records left behind, even Sabigang had no way to find the Soul Bead.
Not that he hadn’t completely forgotten about it before.
“The Marquis of Baritan… Now it makes sense why the Demon Sect can wield magic.”
Sabigang’s eyes turned cold.