When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 76
Chapter 76
The arrow didn't stop there, threading precariously between Baek Manyong's legs.
Thud!
"!!"
Another one.
Thud!
Baek Manyong's face, pale with terror, trembled before turning sickly yellow.
If only he could fight back against the incoming arrows, it would be better.
The arrows that pinned him with spiritual power wouldn't budge, let alone break.
'Why won't these arrows come out no matter how hard I try?'
He couldn't help but feel the overwhelming difference in spiritual power.
'Isn't that person a warrior of the Baek clan? Or do they not recognize me?'
Before him lay over a dozen corpses, turned into porcupines with arrows.
If they mistook him for an enemy...
'I can't guarantee I won't end up like them.'
Baek Manyong's legs trembled at the horrific thought.
'No, no. Stay calm. Someone who killed them all without missing a single shot... if they wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already.'
But then why did they pin me to the wall like this?
Afraid that an arrow might pierce his forehead if he tried to tear away his clothes and escape, Baek Manyong squeezed his eyes shut and trembled.
His throat bobbed violently as he kept swallowing dry saliva.
Then suddenly, the thunderous sounds that had been shaking the space ceased.
He cautiously opened his tightly shut eyes. In the distance, a slender shadow was leaping down from the roof.
The movement was incredibly light. While he was surprised by the weightless appearance...
"!!"
What surprised him most was the white whirlwind that circled at the shadow's feet upon landing.
Even if he stood on his head to look at it, that was unmistakably the Baek clan's spiritual power.
'That's right. Of course, they're from the Baek clan! I already noticed that this divine might could only be shown by the Baek clan!'
Around the shadow, remnants of violet power continued to rise and fall mysteriously like flower petals.
That shadow drew closer to him step by step.
Now certain they were a Baek clan warrior, regardless of why they tormented him like this, with such impressive spiritual power, could they perhaps be another divine beast?
Amidst his exploding expectations, he heightened his vision to make out the shadow's identity.
Soon they came close enough to be identified.
As the face, hidden by backlighting shadows, slowly revealed itself...
"...!!"
Baek Manyong couldn't believe what he saw, opening and closing his eyes several times.
'??? What is this? Have my eyes gone mad?'
Not only was the shadow's identity unbelievably unexpected.
'...This can't be.'
Though it was clearly a face he'd seen before.
The person walking toward him now looked completely different from when he first saw them.
Even then, under the burning sun, he had thought them beautiful.
That face, glowing so clearly it seemed transparent, had looked as delicate and pitiful as the flame flowers that filled the garden.
But how could the face he saw now look so different from then?
Though shadows still fell across her face as she stood with her back to the moonlight, the crimson pupils gazing at him were unmistakable in their presence.
Her lips, red as the death flower, seemed to pierce into his vision like arrows.
Wrapped in spiritual power that still burned like undying flames, she was like a massive red lotus dominating a vast pond.
Baek Manyong barely managed to swallow as his mind went blank at her bewitching, almost malevolent charm.
Finally gathering his wits, he asked in a trembling voice.
"Y-young lady?"
Sehwa's lips curved crookedly, making Baek Manyong's heart pound violently.
"Is, is it really you, El-elder's young lady?"
Swish!
A sword flashed coldly as it swiftly cut through the air.
Simultaneously, a figure in black clothes with their face completely covered by a mask fell to the ground without making a sound.
Baek Giha kicked aside the fallen figure after flicking blood from his sword and moved on.
His face was colder and sharper than winter frost.
"Is it over?"
As he listened, bang! The sound of spiritual power exploding thundered through the air.
Baek Giha stepped back again while drawing up his power.
Whoosh-
Whirlwinds mixed with spiritual power quickly swept in one direction while enclosing the narrow area like walls.
The winds surrounding the space like walls absorbed the sounds spreading from within.
"Then will you help me too?"
When she had said those words, he wondered what she would ask.
Baek Giha focused more on the sound-absorbing barrier instead of advancing further.
'It's not difficult to shoot arrows silently, I should teach her that next time.'
The corners of his firm lips loosened slightly at that thought.
'Inevitably, and certainly not intentionally, I'll have to hold her from behind to teach her again. ...It's truly unavoidable, but I hope the Elder doesn't find out?'
Or maybe I should just wrap her in a blanket and run away to the back mountain again.
"After this is done, I'll need help stamping seals too. Wind carving would be more precise than a blade."
Though he didn't yet understand what she meant about stamping seals,
Baek Giha's expression softened further as he recalled Sehwa asking for help while looking bold yet shy, trying to hide something yet holding her chin high.
'She used to never say it was okay to help her with anything, but now she asks for help first.'
While briefly reminiscing about how she used to be, the sound of bowstrings gradually ceased and silence fell.
'It seems to be over.'
Baek Giha gathered the corpses of the Mystic Ruler warriors who had assembled to provide support in case things went wrong, dragging them to pile in one place.
Then, maintaining the barrier, he walked toward where Sehwa had been.
Though she said to help, asking him to create a barrier to muffle sound was essentially telling him to step away while she carried out her work.
'No matter how many you kill or who you kill, it can't be more than the number of lives I've buried. How cute.'
Since she seemed not to want to show what she was doing, from her perspective, she probably wouldn't like him returning so quickly.
So he should just check if she's unharmed and hide a bit longer.
As he was thinking this while carefully walking through the flame flowers,
He caught sight of Baek Manyong pinned to the wall in the distance.
'So the young lady ended up dealing with him.'
A laugh escaped him.
'I wonder if he wet himself. Maybe now he'll watch his mouth.'
But as he drew closer, the expression visible on the Chancellor's face was somewhat different from what he'd expected.
Though he'd expected him to be deathly pale, rather than looking terrified, he somehow appeared very surprised.
The slight flush decorating his eyes even made him look somewhat shy.
'Hm? Shy??'
Meanwhile, Sehwa approached the Chancellor with light footsteps.
At the same time, Baek Manyong's face grew even more clearly flushed red.
Until he became Chancellor. Even after becoming Chancellor.
Baek Giha's expression froze colder than ever before - he who had never rebuked or scolded Baek Manyong's many mistakes, but had always patiently guided him like an older brother guiding a younger one.
'No, this, bastard?'
"What? A Baek clan barrier?"
"...Yes, Mystic Ruler."
"Why did a Baek clan barrier rise from that girl's inner chamber that night!"
"When we looked into it later, it seems the Baek Chancellor complained a lot about the quality of items being provided to them being too low, so they were given different rooms."
"Why wasn't this reported earlier! Have the spies we planted turned traitor?"
"They say they moved quietly because if word got out about the commotion and room changes due to low-quality items, it would damage both clans' dignity. It only spread afterward during the process of settling the disturbance."
"Damn it!"
The Mystic Ruler struck the table violently, his hand trembling.
Now that things had come to this, wouldn't retrieving the spirit orb be even more difficult?
After collecting the spirit orb, he had planned to drag away Myungyun's daughter too and drain her spiritual power, using the excuse that she was responsible for losing the spirit orb that was given as a gift.
'Moreover, we've ended up attacking a Baek clan member. How do we handle this?'
"Kill that spy woman first. Once one ends up like that, the rest will be more mindful and move their mouths in more detail."
"Yes."
"Then, are all those who went there dead?"
"...Yes."
Bang!
The old man cursed repeatedly, as if striking the table several times wasn't enough to vent his anger.
"The Baek clan surely won't overlook this attack."
The old man ground his teeth after shooting his fierce gaze into empty space several times.
"For now, prepare for Young Lord Kyunghyun's betrothal ceremony with Myungyun's daughter."
Once she becomes the Young Lord's betrothed, she must spend a fortnight in the inner palace of the estate, cut off from outside contact, to learn the proper etiquette and customs befitting the Mystic Ruler's clan.
'If only Baek Giha wasn't here, I could have dragged her away and drained her spiritual power until she was nearly dead, regardless of the aftermath.'
If he had known that young thing would shed her skin in such a way, he would never have agreed to send her to the Baek clan, even if it meant finding another sacrifice.
'Since she has to be sent to the Baek clan, we can't drain all her power. Still, if my power increases by as much as hers decreases, I should at least be able to possess the Divine Dragon's spirit orb again.'
"Since time is short, send gifts tomorrow so that Myungyun can't refuse."
"Yes."
Between the old man's distorted expression, his persistent eyes gleamed fiercely.
The atmosphere at breakfast was not just stiff, but depressed.
It was because of Ju Myungyun, who had confirmed the corpses of the uninvited guests from the night before.
Baek Giha and Sehwa were eating quietly, unusually so, while watching Ju Myungyun's gloomy face.
Baek Giha had confessed that he killed those uninvited guests.
Though he only said it seemed some Ju clan member who harbored a grudge against the Baek clan had attacked the Baek Chancellor, Ju Myungyun knew as soon as he confirmed the corpses.
This was the Mystic Ruler's doing.
'Moreover, they weren't targeting the Baek Chancellor. They were targeting my daughter.'
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