CHAPTER 4

Broken Personality

The elders' faces turned deathly pale in an instant as they watched Unhui casually chew on what had once been Cheonhajin, all while smiling.

'Damn it all!'

'That crazy bastard again!!'

'We tried to pull him down from power just to avoid seeing this, and yet!'

Again! That cursed smile—again!!

The elders felt a chill run down their spines, and their rage boiled over at the sight of the wicked grin forming on Unhui's lips.

Even in the martial world, opinions about him were straightforward.

A broken personality.

A professional wrecker.

The king of grudges, and so on.

The rumors surrounding him were consistent.

—Every time he smirks, at least one sect ends up in ruins.

—Never engage in a long conversation with him. The moment you go "Huh? What?" you'll already find yourself tangled in some catastrophe, your life plummeting straight into the gutter.

That damned bastard always insisted that he was the victim, that he was the sane one—but no one ever believed him.

If he was really normal, then how could one explain the countless disasters that had swept through the martial world?

Especially that smile—whenever he wore it, chaos was sure to follow.

Before such a colossal calamity, all they could do was tremble.

Shudder…

Boom! Boom-boom!

The Mangryeonghwan (Ghost Elixir) exploded the moment it was absorbed into my body.

Sa-gi (death energy) was not something the living could wield.

But I was different.

Handling the dead came naturally to me, making this more of a potent elixir than poison.

I treated Sa-gi as if it were venom and activated Dokryong Simgyeol (Poison Dragon Heart Technique).

The explosive clash between the Tang Clan's Internal Energy that had been rooted in my Danjun (energy center) and the Sa-gi was directed towards my blocked meridians.

Many of my meridians were shattered. The hardened impurities melted away and surged through my energy channels.

My body turned a ghastly shade of blue in an instant—a horrifying sight to anyone, unmistakably the appearance of severe poisoning.

There was no need to describe the pain.

But I laughed.

Because to me, all of this was ecstasy.

「Laughing in that state…!」

「Sochunma, you truly are—」

"Spare me the chatter. I trust you now understand what you need to do."

Unless they wanted to end up as nothing more than a bite-sized meal like Cheonhajin, they had better start talking about the mastermind.

Several elders with weaker wills eventually lowered their heads and stepped forward.

「They—」

「I… I'll speak! Just stop with that horrifying display, please!」

「Traitors! You think you'll get away with this—Kuaaaah!」

"What the hell are you yapping about, you pathetic bastard?"

If any of them dared to resist, I yanked on the chains hard enough to crush their skulls.

Once I swiftly dealt with the troublemakers, the information I wanted started pouring out.

Had they still been alive, there would have been issues with forbidden techniques or brainwashing preventing them from speaking—but none of that mattered once they were dead.

This was a method I had often used in my past life as Yeon Unhui whenever I needed to interrogate someone.

So this time as well, I would learn plenty about the hidden enemy.

But after a round of interrogation…

"…Ha!"

I let out a hollow laugh.

"The only concrete thing you know is that they operate under the name 'Hoe (會)'?"

It was so absurd that I was at a loss for words.

A society?

A guild, really?

They were trying to brush me off with something that vague? I swear to—

「I-It's true!」

「Please believe us, Young Lord!」

「They always refused to reveal anything about themselves!」

"You really expect me to believe you blindly followed some mysterious group's orders and even had the gall to poison the Heavenly Demon? You're joking, right?"

I was done speaking formally.

If they wanted to be treated as elders, they should have acted like it.

The Heavenly Demon Cult was a religion.

A heretical sect (sagyo) that worshiped its leader as a living god.

Naturally, the Heavenly Demon's words were akin to divine decrees, and his decisions were the will of the heavens—meant to be obeyed without question.

Death was framed as martyrdom, war was a holy crusade.

No wonder the martial world feared the Heavenly Demon Cult, a fanatical sect whose members charged into battle without hesitation.

Even for the elders, harming the Heavenly Demon must have required significant mental resolve.

Yet they had followed orders from an unknown entity without question?

「It's true! They… they insisted that they were the 'true gods'! That compared to them, the Heavenly Demon was nothing but an impostor!」

I narrowed my eyes at the stammering elder.

"Explain. In detail."

Gulp!

The elder swallowed dryly before continuing.

「T-They displayed miracles!」

"Miracles?"

「Yes!」

The other elders nodded frantically.

「They appeared just like the legendary immortals or gods! They soared through the sky atop their swords, summoned storms with a mere gesture!」

"That's something high-level sorcerers can—"

「No! It's entirely different! For sorcerers to achieve such feats, they require immense energy and lengthy preparations. Isn't that right?」

"And?"

「But they did it effortlessly! With just a flick of their fingers!」

"…Are you sure you weren't deceived by illusions?"

「Look, we may be at your mercy now, Young Lord, but we're not fools who wouldn't notice such tricks.」

I had no retort to that.

Before they betrayed us, these men had been the very pinnacle of the Demonic Sect's elders, leading its golden age.

In both power and cunning, they were unparalleled.

But gods? Immortals? That was absurd.

Then, for a brief moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

…Talgakja (脱殼者).

Those who had shed their mortal shells.

「Now do you understand, Young Lord? Why we had no choice but to become their obedient dogs? Before true gods, what could mere mortals like us possibly do?」

The elder looked utterly drained.

But despite his exhaustion, only one emotion remained in his eyes.

Fear.

"…This is insane."

For something to invoke more terror than the name Heavenly Demon itself… How was that possible?

More than anything, the fact that the enemy's power exceeded my expectations made me uneasy.

Countless questions flooded my mind.

But only one conclusion remained.

—Master is in danger.

It seemed things were far more urgent than I had anticipated.

I needed to determine how much time had passed during my Yuan Shen Reincarnation (元神轉輪劫) and what had transpired in the meantime.

Fortunately, the hour I had mentioned to Hyeongsam was almost up.

"Alright. It seems you've told me everything I needed to know. As promised, I'll release you."

「R-Really?」

「Thank you, Young Lord!!」

At last, relief spread across the elders' faces.

"Yeah. Into my stomach."

「!!」

「!!」

「W-What do you mean?!」

「This isn't what we agreed—」

"When have I ever kept my promises?"

Where did these traitors think they were going after betraying Master?

Without looking back, I yanked the chains in my hands.

「You wretched, broken psychopath!!」

Crunch!

Their skulls twisted in unison, forming into Mangryeonghwan (Ghost Pills).

With this, I wouldn't have to worry about their energy dissipating—they'd be easy to store.

I let out a cold laugh.

They had been traitors in life, but in death, they would become the most loyal servants of the Demonic Sect.

Thus, two months passed in a flash.