NOVEL NEXT Chapter 697
Chapter 697: The Descent of Darkness
Dark Heaven Village emerged from the underground after Zhuge Sa had tunneled through the earth with the seed of the World Tree. It was a whole meal’s time later since then. Not only was he familiar with magic, but he could also use some techniques. He headed towards the promised location, and before long, he encountered his companions on a high cliff overlooking the ruined Divine City. Spotting two people standing under a pine tree, Zhuge Sa smirked.
“Hey there.”
It was Cheon Woo-jin and Jin So-cheong. They did not respond much to Zhuge Sa’s warm greeting and instead wore a worried expression. And rightly so— the mission they received was not ethically sound nor justifiable. If it weren’t for Zhuge Sa, they probably wouldn’t have sunk to such treacherous and wicked deeds.
‘How scary…’
Especially Jin So-cheong felt a chill run down her spine, acutely aware of how much things had changed since Zhuge Sa had taken the lead. She thought there wouldn’t be much difference as Baek Woong would just act on Zhuge Sa’s plans; however, Baek Woong’s values had held Zhuge Sa back significantly. Immediately after Baek Woong’s disappearance, they ended up creating an absurd mess under Zhuge Sa’s direction, making Baek Woong’s absence all the more profound.
When Cheon Woo-jin didn’t speak, Jin So-cheong asked, “What happened to the three who headed towards the summit and the Sword Demon?”
Among them, only Zhuge Sa could strategically assess the situation using eavesdropping magic. He replied, “Cheongwol and Bright Dragon have now disengaged from the battlefield and are struggling at the bottom of the cliff to recover their internal power. The Sword Demon completed the task but is now injured and fleeing aimlessly. Extreme Tiger has been taken hostage.”
“……!!”
Jin So-cheong gritted her teeth. To think Extreme Tiger, her blood brother, was taken hostage!
Though she had prepared for the possibility of dying amid this colossal whirlwind, it was nothing short of a disaster. As emotions overwhelmed her, Zhuge Sa smoothly added, “Don’t worry. All the information Extreme Tiger has gathered is still fresh in my memory.”
“… Are you saying you won’t rescue him?”
“If Master of the Twelve Joules dies fighting the Eight Parts of the Divine, I might reconsider.”
His words were extremely heartless. However, while Jin So-cheong found that ruthlessness distasteful, she reluctantly acknowledged it internally. She understood all too well how foolish it could be to rush in out of misplaced ideals, ending in annihilation.
At that moment, Cheon Woo-jin slowly spoke, “What that means is that Master of the Twelve Joules and the Eight Parts of the Divine are currently battling.”
“Right. They’re in the thick of it. My spirits are keeping an eye on things.”
“There’s no way Master of the Twelve Joules can win. In that case, we could just assess the situation and rescue Extreme Tiger.”
Cheon Woo-jin firmly concluded the battle’s outcome. The Master of the Twelve Joules could never defeat the Eight Parts of the Divine.
And rightfully so; if it were just human avatars of the Eight Parts, there might be a chance, but facing the main body equivalent to a Demon King alongside multiple foes was another story. In such a scenario, only an Old Ruler or someone of equal measure could contend with the Eight Parts of the Divine.
Yet Zhuge Sa surprisingly said something else. “Still, it’s not clear. This is unexpected even for me.”
“What?”
“He’s quite a scheming guy. I never thought he was hiding that much power…”
Zhuge Sa muttered unexpectedly with an awestruck expression while monitoring the battle situation with his spirit. The leaders of the three great powers were known to keep many secrets, but among them, the Master of the Twelve Joules stood out.
As he contemplated, he asked Cheon Woo-jin, “Right now, the outcome of the battle isn’t what’s most pressing. More importantly, Cheon Woo-jin, did you absorb the essence of the World Tree yet?”
At Zhuge Sa’s question, Cheon Woo-jin made a slight displeased face before replying.
“I did.”
“How much stronger are you now?”
“Damn it. How am I supposed to explain that?”
“I mean, have you gained any special abilities or have your techniques become swifter? As a practitioner of magic, you should be able to judge for yourself objectively.”
Zhuge Sa pressed on with his inquiry. Cheon Woo-jin grimaced but soon suppressed his emotions. If this had been Baek Woong, he would have thought Zhuge Sa was an annoying fool pestering him, but Zhuge Sa was a strategist who considered all circumstances.
After thinking it over, Cheon Woo-jin replied, “My recovery techniques have significantly improved, I’ve gained a couple of new supernatural powers… my spirit energy seems to have doubled.”
“Just as expected. If it’s energy emitted from the essence of the World Tree, such an enhancement is to be expected. You’re currently wrapped up in that incredible power.”
Zhuge Sa continued, sounding impressed. “At this point, you’re undoubtedly the strongest sorcerer in the world. So you feel like you’ve shortened the path to the Heavenly Manifestation significantly?”
“… I don’t know. This is an endless road. I need to find the ‘door,’ but I can’t even get a grasp on where that door is.”
“The door, you say. Do you mean to escape the interference of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors?”
“Ugh. There’s no point in discussing our levels of mastery since you’re a demon sorcerer. So why are you asking about mine?”
At Cheon Woo-jin’s irritable question, Zhuge Sa responded, “Truth is, we’ve nearly done everything we need to do in this Divine City. There’s not much left, so we must prepare for what comes next. You have a mission that only you can handle. But for that mission, your current power is downright insufficient, so I had to look into the attainment of your strength.”
“What else are you planning to make me do?”
“When Baek Woong returns…”
As Zhuge Sa began to speak, Cheon Woo-jin wore a dumbfounded expression. Then he asked, “… Are you out of your mind? You want me to do that?”
“Yeah.”
“You crazy bastard! No way.”
Cheon Woo-jin vehemently opposed it, but Zhuge Sa calmly stated, “That doesn’t mean I can ask Jin So-cheong to do it. You’re the only one who can manage it.”
“You’ve lost your mind. Just stick your face in a dish and end it.”
“I wonder how long you plan to keep sulking over your pride.”
“… What?”
Zhuge Sa’s sudden remark caused Cheon Woo-jin to furrow his brows, and Zhuge Sa looked down at him with eyes void of emotion.
“Isn’t it about time you accepted that? Since you’ve somewhat accepted it, didn’t you end up breaking the World Tree? Then you should embrace the fact that you will be used as fodder.”
“……”
“You’ve already abandoned a sorcerer’s conscience and sided with a reborn person. There’s no other choice.”
Normally, Cheon Woo-jin might have furiously countered and knocked Zhuge Sa out cold, but Zhuge Sa’s words hit a nerve, leaving him speechless. After hesitating for quite some time, Cheon Woo-jin opened his mouth to say something but lapsed back into silence.
“……”
Silence.
After an awkward pause, Cheon Woo-jin finally spoke. “I can’t make any promises. The chances of failure are exponentially higher.”
“Still doesn’t matter.”
“Fine. It can’t be helped…”
At that moment, Jin So-cheong noticed that Cheon Woo-jin had softened a bit. Formerly, he had despised and loathed Zhuge Sa, who had allied with the path of demons as a pinnacle sorcerer, but at this moment, he had significantly humbled his pride.
Zhuge Sa said, “Then now…”
Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly hardened.
Then he said, “The Master of the Twelve Joules has just been cut down by the scythe of the Eight Parts of the Divine Yacha.”
“Yeah, that seems about right. But why are you surprised? That’s only natural.”
“… It’s surprising because it shouldn’t have been that way.”
Zhuge Sa let out a low groan, running a hand through his hair. ‘This isn’t right.’
He had thought he had pressured them to the absolute brink, yet something felt off. Did that mean Baek Woong’s group lacked sufficient power to push the Master of the Twelve Joules into a corner?
Zhuge Sa felt confident it was so. The tactics were full of holes and solely focused on baiting them, so for them to have reached this far was sheer luck. However, it indicated that they utterly lacked the absolute power to elicit the Master of the Twelve Joules’s true potential.
Then Zhuge Sa’s next words shocked Cheon Woo-jin and Jin So-cheong immensely. “Gin Nara, Yacha, and the Gang Leader of the Thief Gang attacked all at once, but only Yacha survived. To be precise, the Master of the Twelve Joules defeated them all once, but Yacha resurrected and caught him off guard leading to the Master of the Twelve Joules’s demise.”
“What? Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know. No matter how much I freed two of the Seven Luminaries…”
Could that even be done?
Yet there was no doubt, as Zhuge Sa monitored the battlefield directly with magic. The Master of the Twelve Joules had unleashed two of the Seven Luminaries and wrapped himself in a light aura, fiercely battling. Yet unexpectedly, he was strong enough to confront the Eight Parts directly, pressuring them but ended up caught off-guard and defeated.
Even at the moment of death, the Master of the Twelve Joules’s gaze did not reflect that of a loser. It felt like he chose to die at the moment he must.
As if to say— he wouldn’t waste any more effort in such a place.
‘What could that light aura be?’
He knew that activating the Seven Luminaries allowed the use of unique techniques inherent to that Luminary. However, techniques like the Flame Elemental Sword or Water Elemental Ice were activating-type powers and couldn’t be wrapped around the body.
One could assert that no one had utilized the Seven Luminaries in such a manner before, not even during Baek Woong’s reincarnation process. Countless Great Immortals and Divinities had passed through him, but they all merely utilized the techniques as they were. Yet the Master of the Twelve Joules had summoned an aura seemingly to strengthen himself and even displayed enough offensive power to pierce through the Eight Parts’ barriers.
Could it be that the Master of the Twelve Joules learned an alternative way to wield the Seven Luminaries from somewhere?
Suddenly, a dark flame ignited from Zhuge Sa’s right eye, and overwhelming pain washed over him.
“… Ugh.”
“Are you okay? It seems like the Demon King’s eye is slowly consuming your soul.”
“Give me some of your spirit energy. I still have to hold on.”
Cheon Woo-jin sighed. “It’s only a temporary measure. You’re already confirmed to go blind, and no matter what technique I use, I can’t restore your lost sight. You have to find it yourself since it was taken as a cost of the contract with the Demon King.”
Zhuge Sa going blind was highly significant. It wouldn’t be easy to overcome by simply transferring his soul to a doll with the Soul Exchange Technique. Since he lost his eyes as a cost of the contract, even if he were to change bodies, the loss of sight would be inherited alongside.
“I know without you saying it. Heh heh.”
As Cheon Woo-jin passed him a green spirit energy, Zhuge Sa’s expression noticeably improved. He addressed the group.
“I’m going to start wrapping up my last task here. You all should head towards the place I mentioned previously after rescuing the remaining companions. Transmit the memories of the location you’ve seen so far.”
Upon transmitting his memories, Cheon Woo-jin wore a perplexed expression. “You really intend to go alone?”
“Don’t be a bother by dying alongside— just endure it.”
“Get lost.”
“Ha ha.”
Cheon Woo-jin abruptly turned his head and used spatial magic to vanish. Jin So-cheong briefly hesitated, staring at Zhuge Sa before saying, “I’ll guard you.”
At that, Zhuge Sa looked at him as if to say, “What are you talking about?”
“Why? It’s unnecessary.”
“Because I want to prevent your instant death. You lack the reflexes to deal with an ambush.”
“I understand why you’re worrying, but I’ll be fine. Considering the temperament of the Eight Parts, it shouldn’t happen. And if I go with you, you’re guaranteed to die.”
“I still choose to go. I’m confident I can escape alive.”
“… What kind of stubbornness is this? Who do you think you are, Baek Woong?”
Seeing Zhuge Sa’s displeased expression, Jin So-cheong stated, “You always say we should pursue efficiency and that we’re all expendable, but this life is my own. And I wish to act according to my heart’s desires.”
He stared directly at Zhuge Sa. “You are our brain. You’ve dedicated your heart and soul, so I want to protect you.”
“Damn it.”
Zhuge Sa sighed. “Seeing your eyes, it’s clear I won’t change your mind. Do as you like.”
Zhuge Sa realized he had no choice. Originally, he might have tried to persuade or brush it off, but Jin So-cheong, assessing from Baek Woong’s former memories, was not someone who could be swayed easily. Once he decided to do something, he would push through no matter what, rendering any attempts to dissuade him meaningless.
Swoosh.
Moments later, they arrived at a desolate land. It was once the spot where the Sacred Altar Tree stood, but the tree had snapped off at the waist, creating a massive scar upon the world, and it was now a barren field due to the clashes of divine beings.
Zhuge Sa found it strange that Extreme Tiger was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did Hong Gil-dong take him after all?’
For reasons unknown, Hong Gil-dong had not joined the Master of the Twelve Joules until the end and had fled midway. Perhaps he seized the opportunity during the battle to take Extreme Tiger. Given his deep loyalty to the Master of the Twelve Joules, it wouldn’t be strange for him to fight alongside until death, so why had he done so?
Zhuge Sa suspected that his ominous feelings were spot on. It seemed that this time, they had failed to corner the Master of the Twelve Joules.
‘Tch. I need to get on with my tasks…’
Swish.
Zhuge Sa said to Jin So-cheong, “I’m about to summon something, so don’t hold any grudges if it leads to your death.”
“I’ll guard the area until you finish the summoning.”
“Do as you wish.”
Whiiiiiiiiiiir.
Zhuge Sa began to chant an incantation. After about twenty breaths of time had passed since the incantation began, an attack suddenly came flying from somewhere.
Clang!
Jin So-cheong moved like lightning, knocking away the scythe of the Eight Parts of the Divine Yacha. Yacha looked rather exhausted and was humanoid in form, glaring displeasedly.
[Stop! Cease the incantation. What are you thinking!?]
He appeared quite flustered. And rightly so, for Zhuge Sa’s spell was about to summon an unintended presence. Furthermore, other than Yacha, the rest of the Eight Parts had temporarily dissipated, which would take time to reappear. Thus, Yacha was reciting in an ancient language rather than human speech.
Zhuge Sa was almost finished with the incantation and chuckled. “Oh, I misjudged? After being thoroughly defeated by the Master of the Twelve Joules, I thought you’d be resting, but you noticed such insignificant magic and launched an attack?”
[You bastard!]
If Jin So-cheong hadn’t followed Zhuge Sa to provide support, Yacha’s ambush might’ve decapitated him, necessitating a frustrating search for a new safe zone to continue the incantation. However, that didn’t mean Zhuge Sa felt particularly grateful to Jin So-cheong, as the temporal losses from one of his dolls dying were far outweighed by the costs of losing Jin So-cheong.
Clang! Clang!
Yacha swung his scythe with frightful momentum, but Jin So-cheong calmly defended against it. He had temporarily brain-transferred his consciousness to employ fragments of the Thunder Spirit Technique, thus he was not heavily hindered by speed.
Ssssssssss.
Dark spirit energy spilled forth from Zhuge Sa’s body upon completing the incantation. With the last bit of light from the Demon King’s eye ignited, he wore a crazed smile.
“There’s someone who’s eager to see you all, so go meet them!”
Kuwaquaquawa!
Darkness exploded forth, sketching a cruciform darkness in the sky. Then, from that black cross that seemed to tear the world itself asunder, ‘something’ began descending slowly. The dark flames crackled, sharply raising the temperature around the Sacred Altar Tree.
Yacha opened his eyes wide and screamed.
[No! Why is that bastard…?]
In that moment, Jin So-cheong stopped blocking Yacha and dashed away with all her strength.
Now that her duty to guard was over, she had to escape as far as possible.
At this very moment, the right arm of Jeon Wook, the second in command of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Palace, one of the Divine status figures from the Mythological Age— Zhuyong— was descending.