When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 107
Chapter 107
Kwaang!!
“!!”
She had barely managed to summon all her remaining spiritual power to defend herself, but the spiritual power imbued in the arrow was far stronger.
Seowol, flung back a whole meter, crashed hard onto the dirt floor.
Thud!
“Ugh… uh…”
Her shoulder, which she had barely managed to make functional with acupuncture, was once again in ruins.
Having used up all her remaining spiritual power to block the arrow, her Core was on the verge of collapse.
‘N-No… Not like this…’
At that moment, an approaching foot stomped hard on Seowol’s severed wrist.
Crack!
“Aaargh!”
Blood spurted from her wrist, which had only been temporarily stanched with spiritual power.
Long, black hair cascaded down like a waterfall over Seowol. Her enemy’s eyes glinted through the gaps in the moonlight-obscuring hair.
How had this happened?
She couldn’t understand at all.
Seowol’s lips trembled as she asked, “Y-You knew I would come? H-How?”
This young girl, who hadn't even lived for five hundred years, had predicted her actions? How?
She had been told this girl was missing. Had she been hiding and secretly following her all this time, waiting?
“Well, that old man wouldn’t forgive you for failing your mission. You had to do something.”
Sehwa pressed down with her foot, grinding and stomping even harder on the severed wrist.
“Aaaargh!!!”
She then grabbed Seowol’s hair as if ripping it out, wrapping it around her hand. She forcibly pulled Seowol’s head up, examining the hideously melted scar.
“While hearing about what happened, I had a question. You were clearly trying to take me, so why did you follow me to that safe house? I was in the mansion within the territory, so why did you burn down the safe house and try to kill my sisters?”
“Sob, ugh!”
As if she had touched something dirty, Sehwa shook off the hair in her hands and kicked Seowol in the solar plexus with her other foot.
Thud!
“Gah! Hack!”
“It seemed like a personal grudge. So I had a feeling you would try something again if we stayed here. Someone like you doesn't give up easily.”
Even amidst the pain constricting her lungs, Seowol couldn't believe that she, so experienced and capable of escaping any danger, had been reduced to this state.
‘No… I have to get out of here alive. I can’t die here at the hands of this bitch.’
In the end, she resorted to her specialty: tears, pleading pathetically.
“S-Spare me… Just spare my life…”
The thought that she might actually die here made her lips tremble and her throat tighten, even though she hadn't intended it.
“If you do, I’ll do anything. I’ll tell you everything I know. Who sent me, why they sent me, what their purpose is. I’ll tell you everything. Okay? I’ll tell you everything.”
This was the first time she had been in a situation with so little spiritual power within her, with her body so broken.
Faced with imminent death, a profound fear she had never experienced before washed over Seowol.
“Okay? Please, spare me. Please spare my life. I was wrong. Please, just spare my life. I’ll do anything.”
Seowol pleaded tearfully, her face completely soaked.
“I… I had no choice. If I didn’t do it, I would have died. As someone not of Ju Clan blood, I had no other way to survive. So I had no choice.”
Sehwa looked down at the pathetically crying Seowol with an unreadable expression, then chuckled slightly.
“You really can do anything? Anything I ask?”
“O-Of course! I will. I can.”
“Then what if I ask you to enter a vassal contract with me?”
“!!!”
Seowol's expression froze for a moment.
‘This… this bitch…’
A vassal contract was no different from becoming a complete slave, bound entirely to someone.
She needed to stay alive to plan for the future, so as long as she could be free again later, a vassal contract wasn't a bad option.
Moreover, since she could receive spiritual power from her master during a vassal contract, it was even more appealing in her current state of depletion.
However, if she did that, she would never be able to return to the Mystic Ruler. The possibility of switching bodies would vanish completely.
The horrific future of living like this forever flashed vividly before Seowol’s eyes.
But…
‘But… I have to stay alive. I can’t do anything if I’m dead.’
Making a swift decision in that brief moment, Seowol nodded as if she had been waiting for those words.
“O-Of course. I’m willing.”
Sehwa’s eyes curved into a beautiful smile.
As she closed her eyes for a moment, a flame-like spiritual power surged around her slender body.
It looked like a large beacon, piercing through the darkness.
And then…
“Hmph…”
A finger, overflowing with spiritual power, reached out and pressed against the center of Seowol’s forehead like a seal.
Through it, a hot spiritual power seeped into Seowol.
After the burning pain subsided, Seowol felt completely drained.
Even so, tears welled up in her eyes.
To have this slave mark imprinted right in the middle of her forehead… wasn’t this too much?
‘I… I will definitely not let you get away with this.’
She felt like she was going crazy with rage.
She felt like screaming in frustration, being completely helpless in this situation.
‘…No. This is better than nothing. It would have been difficult to escape in that situation anyway.’
Seowol's eyes gleamed imperceptibly.
‘Right. I’ll go to the Mystic Ruler like this. Since I’m bound by the contract, that bitch will trust me. I’ll lure her in and gain the Mystic Ruler’s favor.’
“S-So, are you going to release me now?”
Sehwa slowly lifted her foot from Seowol.
The flame-like spiritual power surrounding Sehwa’s body also subsided quietly.
Seowol slowly got up, her hands trembling.
Her muscles screamed in protest with every movement, but thanks to the small influx of spiritual power, her condition was much better than before.
Her body’s recovery was accelerating, so she would feel even better as time passed.
“You know I can retrieve the spiritual power transferred through the vassal contract at any time, right?”
“O-Of course.”
“I’ll let you go this once, but from now on, whenever you sense my signal, you must come to me immediately. Don’t forget you said you would do anything. You’re my slave now.”
‘This… crazy bitch… She only gave me a tiny bit of spiritual power, and she’s saying that…’
Fury surged within her, but she needed to escape this situation first. She had no choice but to nod with an innocent expression.
“Alright. You can go now.”
“I… I really… can go?”
“Yes.”
“You… you won’t follow me, will you?”
“Why? Should I?”
“N-No. I was just worried you might not keep your promise.”
Seowol’s feet hesitantly stepped back.
“I… I really can go?”
“I said so.”
“…Then…”
She had to be cautious. There was no telling when this crazy bitch might change her mind and attack.
But even as Seowol continued to back away, Sehwa just stood there.
As she gazed at the moon, she showed no intention of chasing after her, so Seowol, who had been hesitating, turned around.
Mustering all her remaining strength, she ran forward at full speed.
Keeping in mind the possibility of being pursued, she changed her path and direction several times.
She spent the entire day running, using all her spiritual power to mislead her potential pursuer.
“Gasp… gasp…”
Seowol paused at the entrance of the cliff before her, catching her breath.
She had only turned towards this direction after hundreds of cautious checks, making sure no one was following her.
Her prepared hideout was here.
She had no more stamina left, and the spiritual power the girl had given her seemed to have reached its limit as well.
She carefully hid herself in the rugged mountains.
With one wrist missing, it was difficult to maintain her balance. She needed more spiritual power to do anything.
Clutching her burning throat, dragging her legs, Seowol continued deeper into the mountains, to a place where ordinary people would never venture.
And after confirming that the place she had prepared was still safe and undisturbed, she undid the multiple layers of barriers.
A short while later, the contents within were revealed.
Dozens of Spirit Orbs and jewels she hadn't been able to absorb while switching bodies near the Mystic Ruler, intending to absorb them all at once after accumulating enough to rival a Divine Beast. Money, and secret documents filling chests.
Her entire life was laid out here.
“I’ll kill you.”
Seowol’s voice, filled with rage, escaped her bloody lips.
“How dare you brand a slave mark on this Seowol’s forehead. Don’t think you’ll die peacefully. I’ll flay you alive and tear you to pieces.”
Just then, a voice she shouldn’t have heard spoke.
“Ah, I was so worried you wouldn’t say that. You finally did.”
“…!!!!!!!!”
Seowol’s face drained of color as she reflexively turned around.
Sehwa, looking the same as yesterday, was sitting on a tree branch as if on a swing.
“Why are you so cautious? I thought you’d be here in half a day, but it took you a whole day.”
“…You… you! H-How… how?!”
“Are you asking how I followed you? Or how I knew you’d come here?”
Her slender body leaped from the high branch as if weightless.
Landing silently, Sehwa walked slowly towards the frozen Seowol.
“People who do things like that have something they want. Seeing as you don't mind working as an assassin, you're not after power. And since you change your appearance freely and wander around like a vagrant, it doesn't seem like you’re after money either.”
“…!”
“It seems to me you’re after spiritual power. Then you must have quite a few Spirit Orbs stashed away, stolen from the Mystic Ruler. That’s what I thought.”
Sehwa’s lips curved upwards as she saw the Spirit Orbs piled up behind Seowol.
“My, you’re quite diligent. There’s more than I expected.”
“You… you!!!!!”
‘This bitch! She wasn't just after the Spirit Orbs, she never intended to let me live from the beginning!’
Bang!
Seowol’s face flushed crimson, and the little spiritual power she had left exploded, enveloping her body.
If this place was discovered, she would truly be worse than dead. Only a wretched, insect-like existence would remain.
Realizing she couldn’t escape any longer, Seowol lunged with the resolve to die.
Ignoring the damage to her Core, she tried to inflict even the slightest blow on that demonic bitch, hoping to create even a momentary opening.
Hoping to escape with even a single chest’s worth of Spirit Orbs.
Sehwa’s lips twisted as she read Seowol’s desperation.
Without even nocking an arrow, she swung the bow, striking Seowol’s neck.
Thwack!!
“Agh!”
“How dare you try to kill my sisters.”
Woooong!!
Sehwa’s spiritual power surged through the bow, emitting a violent hum.
A crimson glow flared like a setting sun.
“You still dare to wish for life?”
Gritting her teeth, Sehwa wielded the bow like a sword. Her movements were fluid, like a dance, but the force behind the bow was anything but.
Kwaang!!
The presence of her spiritual power, fierce as a storm and savage as a beast, pressed down on Seowol from all directions.
“Gah! Hack!”
The earth exploded, and Seowol's body, covered in blood, exploded along with it.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Seowol's lips trembled with rage and terror.
…She saw no way to survive, no chance to escape. But—.
‘I will definitely not let you live either.’
Whoosh!
Seowol set her own body ablaze with spiritual fire.
‘I won’t die alone. If I have to die today, I’ll take you with me!’
But even that resolve was futile in the face of the vast difference in their spiritual power.
Crack!!
Sehwa’s spiritually honed bow pierced Seowol’s neck like a sword.
“…Y… …ou…”
She seemed to be trying to say something, but with a slight movement of Sehwa’s hand, her head was severed, and no more sound came out.
With those few, groan-like syllables, the light faded from Seowol’s eyes. Her headless body collapsed to the ground.
However, Sehwa's gaze was fixed past Seowol, on a certain symbol on top of the chests piled up in the distance.
The clear emblem stamped on the chests was the seal used only by the branch family elders.
‘Were those bastards in cahoots with the Mystic Ruler from the beginning?’
A hollow laugh escaped her lips, but now that she had found evidence, there was no time to hesitate.
Her lips twisted into a fierce grin.
It was time to begin in earnest.
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