NOVEL NEXT Chapter 189
Chapter 189: The Ultimate Weapon Girl
The blood of Jeoksawol grew cold.
In her sight, Lee Cheol-soo was collapsing, losing consciousness.
Blood flowed down through the torn fabric of his martial robe. Her world froze.
“······Gaga······.”
From Jeoksawol’s parched lips came the endearing name she had never had the chance to express while he was awake.
It had been a 62-year life where she had never truly believed in anyone, nor loved anyone.
Her biological father didn’t even know she existed.
Her biological mother had envied her beauty and tried to sell her off as a courtesan.
Her master, whom she thought had replaced her father, attempted to rape her out of fascination for her beauty.
Of course, she had cut off his neck before his hands had even touched her, preventing his filthy hands from tainting her body.
Thus, she maintained her 62 years of pure innocence. But she couldn’t shield herself from the mental shock.
Since that day, Jeoksawol had trusted no one.
She couldn’t sincerely love anyone.
Regardless of age or gender, the entire world had judged her only by her outward appearance. Whether it was positive or negative, that was all that mattered.
No one saw her true self.
Right.
Until she met Lee Cheol-soo. From the moment they faced each other with Hwa Myeon-ho-gyeom, he didn’t care about her looks.
Unlike all the men she had encountered, he genuinely wanted to share cloud and rain pleasure.
Even as Neungwolhyang, even as Yeon Sowol, even when standing before him as Jeoksawol herself.
He—no, Gaga—wasn’t swayed by her beauty.
Only he.
He treated her as she was.
Yes, that was it. Gaga was the first love that had come to her at the end of 62 years. The spring breeze that melted her frozen heart for the first time. Yes, the most precious in the world.
Thoughts of the years gone by surged in her mind. The time she had spent with Gaga as Neungwolhyang had been a bit over a year. Neither too long nor too short.
But it had been the happiest year of her 62-year life.
That’s why she wanted to protect him. She wanted to be with him.
The person she wanted to protect was now collapsing.
Thud.
Before Lee Cheol-soo’s body hit the ground, Jeoksawol accepted Gaga’s form. The firm muscles of Lee Cheol-soo, influenced by the external martial arts she had cultivated tirelessly, felt vivid against her thin clothing.
Usually, Jeoksawol would have blushed, but not now.
Her face was hardened.
‘Gaga, how much pain have you been in······.’
Her hand brushed the unconscious Lee Cheol-soo’s cheek. Tears flowed from Jeoksawol’s eyes.
Her head lifted.
Her thoughts surged. The martial arts of the mind stirred. Mind’s martial arts responded in kind. In the Eight Cold Hells, extreme blizzards raged, and in the Eight Heat Hells, volcanic flames surged up violently.
At the end of her gaze was the culprit of this calamity.
A man with the lean, gnarled appearance specific to Corpse Martial Arts.
“Gangsimajon.”
A voice rose up from the depths of hell, swirling like a storm. Even that voice was beautiful. His angry face was beautiful too. Jeoksawol’s beauty transcended mere beauty.
It was a supernatural allure, a power that captivated anyone who looked.
Her beauty was divine in itself. Gangsimajon set his sights on Jeoksawol. Just by looking, his heart raced. He wanted to kiss her feet. She was incredibly beautiful. All consuming······.
Gangsimajon bit down hard on his tongue. Dead blood burst in his mouth.
His mind snapped back to reality.
‘This is beyond what I expected.’
King of Hell.
He had heard that her beauty rivaled the supernatural. Once he saw her true form, he knew that regardless of rank, every man would fall for her.
Indeed, it became a legendary tale how many disciples from the Orthodox Faction had betrayed the White Path for the King of Hell’s beauty.
“King of Hell. I never expected you to come in person. I didn’t know your beauty was this level. Truly, it rivals the moon!”
Gangsimajon laughed. Though the heat from the Eight Heat Hells and the chill from the Eight Cold Hells approached him, his body, enhanced almost to an indestructible state by Corpse Martial Arts, allowed him to walk unharmed in extreme conditions.
Seeing Gangsimajon, Jeoksawol was furious. A cold voice escaped her lips.
“Gangsimajon. How dare you, a mere child, presume to call yourself ‘this lord’ in front of me? How ridiculous.”
Jeoksawol’s thoughts surged. Red energy, resembling her red eyes, appeared in the air. The energy compressed to an extreme, transforming into a Strong Circle, caused an overwhelming force that shook the surroundings.
Holding onto Lee Cheol-soo, Jeoksawol stepped forward without faltering. It was her unique ghost step method, Famous Ghost Step Method. With each step she took, hell stirred.
Countless souls that she had dispatched rose from the Eight Great Hells in dark shadows.
Within Mind’s Martial Arts, she was truly the king of lions, the ruler of the underworld.
“How dare you.”
Jeoksawol spoke again. The energy within her voice shook the hellish air. The resonance of her pure voice, filled with her inner power transformed into melody, disturbed Gangsimajon’s lifeblood. It was the voice imbued with her training in the unmatched sound technique, Mingdo Eumbuqu.
The courtesans of Hao Mun often mastered sound techniques above all. Singing and dancing were essential skills for them. Naturally, sound techniques, which involved playing instruments and singing, were the first martial arts they learned upon entering Hao Mun.
And Jeoksawol had risen to become the world’s most beautiful woman among all the courtesans of Guju Palhwang.
Her voice was unmatched, unparalleled in the world. Just by weaving her thoughts and sound techniques into a song, Jeoksawol could enchant ten thousand enemies and bring them to their knees, inflicting heavy injuries upon them.
With the proverbial siege from all sides, she easily brought it to life.
“Cough!”
Gangsimajon, struck by the sound attack, spat out dead blood. His hands trembled. In his true form, he might have had a fair match against Jeoksawol.
But in this form like Blood Zombie, he couldn’t face her head-on. It was impossible for him to unfold his Mind’s Martial Arts.
Before her stood a being who had reached the pinnacle of the Demonic Faction.
Having endured the treachery of the Demonic World for 62 years, in the most unfavorable form of a woman, she now stood at the peak of the Black Path.
At this stage, it was impossible to fight her. Though his body wasn’t sweating, he felt as though cold sweat dampened his back.
Beside Jeoksawol, compressed Strong Circles continued to emerge, one, two, three, endlessly multiplying. The shapes of the Strong Circles turned into blades.
‘Somehow······.’
Gangsimajon raised a hand.
Jeoksawol was the most hindering presence in the grand scheme, the commander of Heavenly Alliance. He had to eliminate her immediately. That was the right thing to do.
Even if his strength was lacking······.
Red energy nails grew from Gangsimajon’s hand.
“How dare you······. A hideously repulsive Blood Sect zombie dare touch the one I call Gaga?!”
Jeoksawol’s anger exploded. Her thoughts shook hell.
[■■■■■■─!!]
The moans of the lions trapped in the Eight Great Hells filled the world. The lamentations of the spirits struck hard against Gangsimajon’s psyche. The attack flowed past Blood Zombie and into Gangsimajon’s true form through the technique of Whispering Blood.
As Gangsimajon’s vision blurred, the connection weakened momentarily.
King of Hell’s Ten Wheel Technique.
The First Hell – Hell of Blades.
Jeoksawol, having ascended to the realm of Hyeon-gyeong, executed a beautiful bloom of her unique martial energy, the King of Hell’s Ten Wheel Technique. Like the scenery of the Blade Mountain Hell, blade-shaped energy rose from the ground, manifesting a forest of blades. Red blades stabbed mercilessly through Gangsimajon’s entire body.
“Cough?!”
Gangsimajon screamed in agony. He hadn’t expected the connection of his spirit to be severed like this.
No, even before that.
He had thought any support from Heavenly Alliance was nothing more than a mole within the Demon Sect.
But how—why was the top of the Demonic Faction here?!
It made no sense. His recovery plan was on the verge of success. He had managed to probe through the moves of the law method so well that it was incomprehensible, and though he had fought well for a Master of Hwakyung, that was it.
He had taken care of all post-stimulation indicators in the Demon Realm, intending to capture Yujinhwi and return to the main school with her.
Yujinhwi.
The body of the Heavenly Body had considerable usefulness in the grand scheme. If she were made into an envoy, the resurrection of the supreme being would surely be hastened.
If that were to happen, he would achieve greater contributions and solidify his footing amidst the Four Great Lords, which had been shaking.
But now, with Jeoksawol’s appearance, everything was thrown into disarray.
“Why······.”
Gaga? Gangsimajon couldn’t understand. Jeoksawol, who had never trusted anyone and had contempt for the men who approached her based solely on her beauty.
The King of Hell was destined to remain a lifelong bachelor.
Yet, why—
“······calling him Gaga······.”
Is she referring to Lee Cheol-soo by that name? Was her intervention merely to protect her loved one? This was an inconceivable turn of events. Gangsimajon’s eyes trembled.
As the blade of energy pierced through him, binding him, Jeoksawol walked toward Gangsimajon.
Because the energy technique was imbued with her fierce thoughts, Gangsimajon couldn’t escape now. After all, this wasn’t even his true body.
Jeoksawol faced Gangsimajon while holding Lee Cheol-soo.
“······What’s wrong with calling Gaga, ‘Gaga’? Gangsimajon·····. Well, I suppose with that face, you wouldn’t understand the pure feelings I have toward Gaga····.”
“Pure feelings?! More like lust! Oh, King of Hell. What kind of ridiculous nonsense are you babbling about, throwing around such lofty claims against a boy with the innocent looks of youth?!”
Gangsimajon squeezed out the remains of his strength to voice his outrage.
He didn’t want to accept the fact that his grand scheme had crumbled like a sandcastle due to mere emotions.
Hearing his words, Jeoksawol’s face turned cold.
“How dare you, how dare you insult my pure love?!”
She too knew. The Gangsimajon before her was not his true form.
But he was the one who dared to mock her pure feelings, the burning love she had for Gaga.
She could no longer allow that filthy mouth to keep flapping.
“But it’s true······.”
“Get lost. You hideous creature of the Blood Sect.”
Flash.
A red flash erupted. The Strong Circle Jeoksawol had conjured beheaded the spirit of Blood Zombie that Gangsimajon was connected to.
Blood Zombie’s head burst, sending flesh and dead blood splattering everywhere.
“Whew.”
Jeoksawol sighed. She cast away her Mind’s Martial Arts. The scenery of hell collapsed and was absorbed into her body. As the landscape reverted to a cave, she quietly checked Lee Cheol-soo’s pulse.
Fortunately, he was still safe. His life was not in danger. A single tear fell from Jeoksawol’s eye.
Thank goodness.
Gaga was still unscathed.
But still.
She absolutely couldn’t forgive those wretched Blood Sect scoundrels.
“Gaga······. The girl will protect you.”
Jeoksawol gently caressed the head of the sleeping Gaga and stepped out of the cave, embracing him.
As soon as Jeoksawol exited the cave, the first person she met was—
“······King of Hell Senior, no.”
A man with pitch-black hair, a stunningly beautiful face, almost more beautiful than Jeoksawol herself, a woman disguised as a man.
Lee Cheol-soo’s older sister.
Yujinhwi.
Her heavy, sunken gaze fell upon Jeoksawol.
Yujinhwi’s alluring pink lips parted.
“Should I refer to you as Lady Yeon?”