—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
—————————————————————–
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The main gate of the Black Heaven Cult emerged as the grey mist cleared.
The clamor of clashing steel and shouting voices had been replaced by an eerie silence.
Even the chirping of crickets and the calls of nocturnal birds were absent.
It was as if time itself had been sliced in two by some mythical blade.
Everything that had been alive now lay scattered on the ground.
The once-imposing buildings of the Black Heaven Cult were ravaged, decaying as if struck by a sudden, devastating storm.
The bodies of Cult members and Azure Dragon Unit warriors lay intertwined, a gruesome tableau of death.
“Gurk…”
Some writhed, frothing at the mouth; others spilled black blood from their lips before succumbing to death.
“Aaaaagh!”
Those still clinging to life writhed in agony and their bodies were consumed by an unbearable burning sensation.
Indescribable agony coursed through their every nerve, overwhelming all senses.
“Aaaaagh!”
The Head Administrator moved among the survivors, delivering the final blow.
They were poisoned by his own toxins. There was no saving them.
He moved through the hellscape he had created, a solitary figure amidst the carnage.
“Ugh…”
A faint groan reached his ears. Not the sound of the living, but of the dying.
He walked towards the source of the sound and grimaced as he recognized the face.
“H-Head Administrator… the Young Cult Leader…”
It was Mae-hwa, barely clinging to life.
Half of her face was ravaged by the poison, but even in her agony, she wore an expression of peace.
“I’m sorry.”
He repeated the words he’d spoken while granting peace to the others.
Mae-hwa slowly shook her head.
“I… had so much… to teach Yeon-hwa…”
-Thud
Without hesitation, he plunged his dagger into her heart. She coughed up black blood and closed her eyes.
The last vestiges of life faded from her body.
He stood alone amidst the field of corpses.
“I’m… sorry.”
Tears streamed down his face, tracing a path down his chin.
He looked around.
This was the Black Heaven Cult he had helped build.
But today, it felt alien, unfamiliar. He had never seen it so desolate and lifeless.
“Ahh…”
The people he had lived and worked with, the people who had protected the Cult alongside him, were dead.
He had killed them with his own hands.
The people he had considered family.
The realization pierced his heart like a dagger.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Jegal Hwi, a distant relative of the Jegal Clan, had been a product of their ambition.
The Jegal Clan had sought to create a being capable of wielding the combined powers of various sects and clans.
This pursuit had led to inhumane experiments.
Their goal: to create a poison user who surpassed even the Tang Clan.
But the Tang Clan’s knowledge, accumulated over generations, couldn’t be replicated overnight.
So they resorted to reckless experimentation.
He had been subjected to countless poisons, forced to sleep in jars filled with venomous insects.
He had consumed the cores of snakes and spiders, endured forced infusions of internal energy.
He had survived these torturous experiments and become a poison user.
An imperfect one.
Although he had surpassed the Tang Clan in skill, his power was unstable.
His every step left a trail of poison and his every breath withered the surrounding plants.
The poison within him began to consume him from the inside out, threatening his life.
The Jegal Clan, recognizing the danger he posed, banished him.
The pain of rejection was far greater than the physical agony of the poison.
As he waited for death in a secluded spot, a figure appeared before him.
– What are you doing here?
– S-stay back! You’ll be poisoned!
– Your poison is nothing to me.
The imposing woman grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet.
A strange energy flowed through him.
– Your balance is disrupted. Tsk.
– W-what are you…?
He tried to resist, but his body refused to obey.
A revitalizing energy surged through him, easing the burning sensation that had been consuming him.
– I’ve stabilized your condition for now. You’ll live… for another month, perhaps.
– Only a month?
– Yes, a month. But if you learn to control your power within that time, you might survive.
– Please, teach me.
– Then follow me. I will save your life, but from this day forward, it belongs to me.
– May I ask your name?
– Call me the Heavenly Demon.
He followed her without question.
She kept her promise and taught him to control his poison and even imparted her martial arts knowledge.
Others, drawn to her power, began to gather and formed the Black Heaven Cult.
They cared for each other, treated each other like family.
‘Perhaps it was the bond of comradeship forged in the face of death,’ he mused.
He rose through the ranks and eventually became the Head Administrator.
He vowed to make the Black Heaven Cult a better place, a true sanctuary for its members.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Li Hang and the Azure Dragon Unit reached the Heavenly Demon Palace.
“It seems Lightning Sword was right. The Heavenly Demon isn’t here.”
If she had been, they would have been dead before they even reached the mountain.
Lightning Sword had been certain of her absence, though Li Hang didn’t know where she had gotten her information.
“Alright. Proceed as planned. Find Kang In-ho.”
The Azure Dragon Unit members spread out, searching the palace.
They overturned furniture, ripped up floorboards, searching for any hidden passages.
Kang In-ho was said to have no internal energy, so he wouldn’t be detectable by their senses.
This brute-force search method, though crude, was the fastest way to find him.
“No sign of him.”
“Nothing here either.”
After a fruitless search, the unit members gathered before Li Hang.
“We’ve only searched the Heavenly Demon Palace. Move to the other…”
He was about to order them to search the other palaces when a chilling aura made him turn.
The Head Administrator walked towards them, his body radiating a menacing purple aura.
“How…? We left him behind… could it be… he used his poison…?”
The Head Administrator had defied their expectations, unleashing his poison despite the presence of his own Cult members.
The Head Administrator, Poison Demon Jegal Hwii, growled in a rough voice and his soulless eyes reflected the figures of the unwelcome intruders.
“Stop destroying my home.”
His words were laced with a chilling sorrow.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
