Episode 453: Return to the Demon Sect
All the stragglers had finally returned.
The journey back was fraught with tragedy. There were times when rescue teams sent to save the stragglers were completely wiped out, and some of the stragglers themselves couldn’t escape death.
But there was no time to dwell on sorrow.
If the Demon Sect breached the inner sanctum, there would be nowhere left to retreat.
Maeseollan called for Jo Shinryang.
“Master Jo, how complete is the mechanism?”
“Thanks to the bits and pieces I’ve been working on, it’s mostly ready. We could use it right away if needed, though there might be a few hiccups.”
“Better to use it now than to be caught off guard.”
“Damn it! Who would’ve thought they’d attack the Myolma Hall? If it weren’t for the Chief’s foresight, we wouldn’t have even this much.”
He couldn’t help but admire Maeseollan’s foresight.
It was Maeseollan who had insisted on installing defensive mechanisms around the inner walls.
With Sabigang frequently absent from the Myolma Hall for various reasons, she felt a heavy responsibility to ensure its safety, especially after the Jaunryong incident. She was determined to protect the hall from any future threats from the Demon Sect.
While others might have dismissed her concerns as needless worry, at this moment, her preparations were proving invaluable.
“There should be no limits when it comes to ensuring safety.”
Jo Shinryang nodded in agreement. It was a hundred times true.
Preparing for the unknown might seem futile, but failing to do so could mean losing everything when disaster strikes.
Maeseollan understood this well.
She had become a steadfast leader of the Myolma Hall.
Just then, Murang entered through the north gate.
After giving a few more instructions, Maeseollan hurried over to him.
“How did it go?”
“I’ve completed all the spell formations up to the north gate. Now we can focus on defending the south gate.”
“That’s a relief. What if they attack from the east, west, and north?”
“I’ve set it up so they’ll be trapped in an endless maze. It could take them six months to get through, or as little as two.”
“That should be enough. Thank you for your efforts.”
“Think nothing of it. I heard there were quite a few casualties.”
“Yes, the injured have been moved to the Healing Hall. The head healer is doing everything possible to treat them.”
“I’ll help as much as I can.”
“Thank you.”
Maeseollan headed straight for the south gate.
Jo Shinryang was busy inspecting the mechanisms.
The students from the Shinsoo Academy were checking the devices far beyond the outer walls to ensure everything was in order.
Once the inspections were complete, Jo Shinryang returned with the students.
“The mechanisms are mostly in order. There might be minor issues, but nothing major.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Maeseollan instructed Danrijung to position archers along the inner walls.
She climbed to the top of the south gate, taking a deep breath as she surveyed the horizon.
“No matter what happens… I will protect this place!”
The mechanisms would be a strong ally, but if the enemy used sheer numbers, the south gate could still fall.
When that time came, she would need to muster all her strength to hold them back.
“I will protect it.”
She whispered her resolve once more, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly.
**
For a moment, it felt like his entire body was being torn apart.
But the intense pain was so fleeting, it felt like a dream.
Dang Ihyeop looked around.
A space shrouded in mist.
One moment he was fighting fiercely, and the next, he found himself alone in an unfamiliar place.
“What on earth happened?”
Standing there with a furrowed brow, Dang Ihyeop shouted into the mist.
“Is everyone alright?”
No response came.
In fact, his voice sounded strange.
It was as if the air had stopped moving.
His voice didn’t carry; it seemed to be trapped within a short radius.
The eerie sensation sent chills down his spine.
“Could I already be dead?”
If so, it meant he had died without even realizing it.
The last thing he remembered was the statues surrounding him, emitting a brilliant golden light.
And then, the searing pain that felt like his body was being torn apart.
“Maybe I really did die then…”
But if this was death, it was a strange one.
“Mucheon! Jaryang! Soso! Is everyone alright?”
He shouted again, but the result was the same.
His voice didn’t carry.
Just then, he sensed movement behind him.
“Who’s there?”
“Kuwaaah!”
A demon soldier recognized Dang Ihyeop and charged at him with terrifying speed.
Swish, thud!
With a single strike, the demon soldier’s head was severed, and it collapsed.
“This is a demon soldier… so I’m still alive?”
But how could this be?
One moment of pain, and then he was in a completely unfamiliar place!
Again, he sensed movement behind him.
Dang Ihyeop quickly turned, drawing two daggers from his belt and throwing them.
“Not a chance!”
Swish! Swish!
Clang!
“They deflected it?”
It was the sound of his daggers being deflected.
A man emerged from the mist, urgently calling out.
“Master! It’s me, Churyang!”
“Ah… Are you alright?”
“Well, thanks to you, I almost ended up dead, but I managed to survive.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, I suppose it couldn’t be helped.”
Churyang muttered as he glanced at the demon soldier’s corpse on the ground.
“Our voices aren’t carrying. Where are we?”
Dang Ihyeop regretted asking the question as soon as he did.
If he didn’t know, how could Churyang?
Churyang had been assigned to the Exorcism Squad when Sabigang left with the rescue team.
There was no reason for him to know either.
As expected, Churyang shook his head.
However, he did offer a possibility.
“It seems like the mist is absorbing our voices. It feels like it’s swallowing the sound.”
“That makes sense.”
The mist surrounding them was indeed peculiar.
The good news was that the mist was slowly dissipating.
As it cleared, their voices began to carry further.
“Is anyone there? Answer me!”
Dang Ihyeop shouted again, and Churyang joined in, cupping his hands around his mouth.
“Heukgwi! Answer me! Heukgwi! Heukgwi!”
“Hmm.”
“Well, that guy often feels like he’s not there even when he is… but this time, he’s really not here. I wonder if he even followed us to the descent site.”
“I haven’t seen him. But what on earth is going on here…”
“Could we be trapped in an illusion created by a formation?”
Churyang’s suggestion made Dang Ihyeop shake his head.
“I considered that, but doesn’t it seem too strange? We didn’t enter a formation, so how could one suddenly appear out of nowhere?”
“I’m not sure either…”
Churyang furrowed his brow, deep in thought.
“This is definitely strange. And isn’t it too cold here?”
Despite wearing a thick robe, the chill wind made his spine tingle.
It felt like the weather had suddenly changed.
Then again, the terrain had changed too.
This was clearly not the place where they had been fighting at the descent site.
Just then.
Boom! Boom! Boom…!
A rumbling sound shook the ground.
“What?”
“What’s happening?”
The two of them looked around in shock, and suddenly, a dark space opened up in the sky.
“My god… what is that?”
“Could it be… a descent…?”
Churyang’s bewildered question was met with Dang Ihyeop’s pale murmur.
**
Sabigang stared at the dark hole in the sky.
“A descent…!”
His brow furrowed deeply.
There was no doubt.
This was a phenomenon that only occurred when a descent ritual succeeded.
Of course, he had never witnessed a descent himself.
But during his time in the demon realm, he had read extensively about the phenomena that occurred when demons descended into the human world.
“Damn it! We failed to stop the descent ritual!”
The biting wind suggested they were far to the north.
The Demon Sect’s descent site had been a decoy.
This was the real one.
They had been searching in the wrong place all along.
Moreover, a golem gate had formed there, enabling mass teleportation.
A collective sacrifice had been made.
The thick mist around them muffled all sounds except for the rumbling vibrations.
But even now, a battle between humans and demons was raging.
They were all destined to become sacrifices.
“Those bastards. They even sacrificed their own Demon Sect members for the ritual.”
Finally, a massive, dark hand began to descend from the sky like a shadow.
The demons referred to it as the “Divine Hand.”
At that moment, the mist that had filled the surroundings vanished as if by magic.
Suddenly, the warriors and demons locked in combat were clearly visible, and the cacophony of battle erupted.
“Argh!”
“Roooar!”
“Haaah!”
“Ugh!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Boom!
It was nothing short of a hellscape.
In the distance, a group led by Neung Un-pa could be seen, and not far from them was Tang Yi-hyeop with the Cheokma Corps.
Closer by, Akcheon Goe and Salmak were locked in combat.
Just moments before the mass teleportation unfolded, this place had been a pristine white snowfield. Now, it was being stained a deep crimson with blood.
Suddenly,
“Get out of the way!”
Sabi-gang shouted with all the force of his inner strength.
If they didn’t dodge the divine beast falling from the sky, it would mean instant death.
The warriors, who had been battling the monsters, flinched at Sabi-gang’s voice and looked up at the sky.
Seeing the dark shadow descending upon them, the warriors were struck with terror and launched themselves into the air with their light-footed techniques.
Yet, many were unable to evade the massive divine beast in time.
BOOM!
An earth-shattering crash assaulted their ears, and the ground shook violently as if an earthquake had struck, crumbling and collapsing beneath them.
The divine beast vanished as if swallowed by the earth.
Though it had no physical form, being crushed by it meant certain death, bodies bursting under its weight.
Hundreds of warriors lay dead, drenched in blood where the beast had fallen.
And it wasn’t the only one.
“Look out! Another one’s coming!”
“Help, please!”
Desperate cries erupted from all around.
“Damn it!”
Sabi-gang gritted his teeth and leaped into the air.
“Hyaaaah!”
As he collided with the enormous divine beast, he wondered if it could be fought with a sword.
CRACK!
When his sword, imbued with powerful energy, clashed with the beast, a thunderous noise exploded.
BOOM!
Finally, the divine beast shattered and dissolved into the air.
But Sabi-gang didn’t escape unscathed.
It was a clash of immense forces.
His clothes were torn to shreds, leaving him bare.
Thud!
“Cough!”
Landing on the ground, Sabi-gang spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Damn it!”
In a fit of anger, he punched the ground, leaving a deep crater.
The divine beasts continued to fall relentlessly.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
If there was ever an image of the world’s end, this was it.
The people and monsters offered as sacrifices struggled to dodge the falling beasts, only to be crushed and killed.
Even Sabi-gang, who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, could barely manage to destroy one.
Crash! Boom! Bang! Crash!
Finally, the relentless descent of the divine beasts ceased.
The ground was utterly devastated, littered with the bodies of the dead.
Some warriors survived, either through skill or sheer luck.
They stood there, stunned by the unfamiliar and terrifying scene.
“Is it over…? Has the divine beast’s onslaught ended? Then now…”
Rumble…
The ground began to shake violently once more.
“The terraforming begins. The true descent is upon us!”
Sabi-gang gritted his teeth again.