When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 178
Chapter 178
“M-Mother…”
Choi Jangmyung stared at the woman, mesmerized, then took a step forward.
Crunch.
Dry grass, preparing for winter, crunched under his feet.
Whether she noticed his movement, heard the sound, or simply moved her eyes…
Her indifferent gaze turned towards him.
“!”
Their eyes met.
Both their eyes widened simultaneously.
His footsteps faltered, and he stepped back.
He sensed it.
In her gaze…
…there was no emotion.
‘Like an inanimate object…’
“What are you doing?! Come on!”
Ju Gayoon’s voice startled him.
‘Oh no!’
Realizing the situation, he quickly turned and ran.
He glanced back one last time before disappearing into the darkness, worried that the woman might alert the guards.
She was still watching him.
Doing nothing, not calling for anyone.
Just watching them go.
The inauguration hall descended into chaos.
Boom!
A white whirlwind crashed into the warriors.
“!!”
The warriors, who had been bracing themselves with their swords, their spiritual power at its peak, were swept away by the shockwave.
The blast of wind slammed into the area where the elders and Ju Clan members were seated.
“Aaargh!”
“Kyaaa!”
The Mystic Ruler crossed his arms, shielding himself from the wind. “Baek Giha!!”
“I don’t care how many of you there are, or what powers you use,”
Baek Giha’s voice was cold, a menacing aura swirling around his white robes, “you will not lay a finger on her.”
As if to prove his words, the warriors who had managed to stand and charge towards him were thrown back like leaves in a storm.
“Are you even Ju Clan warriors?! Get up! Get up!”
The Mystic Ruler’s gaze turned towards the woman, who was now floating in the air like a bird.
A crimson orb was falling towards her outstretched hand.
He couldn't lose it. Not that Spirit Orb.
“!”
Then he had an idea.
The Red Dragon’s Spirit Orb had been embedded in the Mystic Ruler’s sword, resonating with the sacred blade that could only be summoned by the Mystic Ruler’s power.
He had removed it during the previous banquet, when it had been transferred to Ju Sehwa.
‘If I summon the sword, I might be able to call the Spirit Orb back.’
Where was the sword? It was passed down from the previous Mystic Ruler to the new one.
He glanced behind him. His son, his frail body unable to withstand Baek Giha’s spiritual pressure, was stumbling.
‘The sword is inside him!’
But his son, who resented him, wouldn’t give it to him willingly.
Then how could he get it?
The hall was filled with dust and debris from the clash of spiritual powers.
The clan members were screaming and running, trying to avoid the attacks.
No one was paying attention to him in the chaos, this was his chance.
He rushed towards his son.
Picking up a discarded sword, he lunged, piercing his son’s—his own original—body.
“…Ugh!”
“You deserve to die a thousand deaths. You dare betray the Ju Clan and seek help from that half-baked Baek Clan and that little bitch?! You dare sabotage the inauguration ceremony?!”
“F-Father…”
“You should have just died quietly… You were born to be my vessel anyway…” His voice was low, almost a whisper, meant only for them. “There’s no time. Just die.”
His face, in Ju Kyunghyun's body, was contorted with rage.
“A soul filled with such resentment towards me won’t help my transformation, and you won’t give me the Mystic Ruler’s sword willingly.”
He twisted the sword in his son’s body.
“…Gah…!”
Blood spurted from the gaping wound in his son’s stomach.
“So your only use now is to die and release the sword.”
“F-Father…”
He grabbed his son by the collar and pulled him closer, the sword sinking deeper into his body.
His son’s body convulsed.
As his life force drained away, his body turned cold, like a corpse.
Just then, a force pushed him away.
“!”
He threw his son’s body to the ground like trash.
The Mystic Ruler’s sword, floating in midair, appeared.
Ju Kyunghyun’s hand shot out and grabbed the sword.
He pointed the sword towards the Red Dragon’s Spirit Orb, which was still floating in the air.
The red aura emanating from the sword connected with the Spirit Orb’s.
Sehwa’s fingertips grazed the Spirit Orb, but the sword's pull was stronger.
The Spirit Orb dissolved and flew towards the sword, embedding itself in the center of the blade.
“Ju Sehwa! You think you can deceive me? Do you think I don’t know that you’re using your marriage to the leader of the Six Clans to gain power and crush the Ju Clan?!”
He glanced at the Spirit Orb embedded in the sword, then at his son, collapsing on the ground.
Seeing that his son was dying, unable to speak, he sneered and shouted at Sehwa, “I don’t know what you did to my father, but you kidnapped him, tortured him, and put those words in his mouth! You have no fear of the heavens!”
He pointed the sword at the sky.
“Do you see that moon?!”
Even amidst the dust and smoke, the red moon, empowered by the Red Dragon’s energy, shone brightly.
“That is the Ju Clan! It has always been this way, and nothing can change that! No matter what you do! That is the Ju Clan! I am the Mystic Ruler!”
“Then I’ll erase the moon,”
Sehwa said, landing beside Baek Giha on the platform, her gaze fixed on the Mystic Ruler.
“To stop you, the Corrupt Dragon, and those despicable Ju Clan members, I have no fear of defying the heavens!”
Twang!
The bowstring thrummed as she released the arrows.
Whoosh!
Three arrows flew towards the Mystic Ruler at terrifying speed.
The Mystic Ruler gritted his teeth and activated the unsealed Spirit Orb.
The sword trembled, unable to contain the power, but he smirked.
Even if the sword shattered, it didn't matter.
As long as he could capture Sehwa and Baek Giha, nothing else mattered.
He had already used the Spirit Orb, there was no turning back.
Flash!
A red light erupted from the Spirit Orb. Having been unsealed, the Spirit Orb lost its physical form, its power flowing into the sword, enveloping the blade in a dark red aura.
A massive whirlwind of spiritual power deflected the arrows.
An overwhelming sense of exhilaration filled him.
‘My god… such power…!’
Had such power been contained within that small orb? This was a level of power he had never experienced before.
He felt as if he could reach the highest point in the Mystic Realm, beyond the red moon, to the sun itself.
‘I should have unsealed it sooner…’
Even though it was a power he couldn’t control, a power he could use only once…
He regretted not having used it sooner to crush Baek Giha and the Six Clans. ‘No, it’s not too late. Once I consume her, I’ll be able to transform!’
Unable to contain his excitement, he shouted at Sehwa, “Do you think you’re the first to challenge the Ju Clan?! No one has ever succeeded! Not even the Divine Beasts of old could defeat the Ju Clan! What makes you think you can?!”
His eyes gleaming menacingly, he raised his sword.
“I’ll prove it to you tonight, by taking both your lives! That the Ju Clan is the ruler of the Mystic Realm! And I am the Ju Clan!”
It was then.
Just as the Mystic Ruler was about to leap towards Sehwa and Baek Giha, something grabbed his ankle.
“!!”
Something cold, like a corpse, clung to him, a burning pain searing his side.
The Mystic Ruler’s face paled.
“…Ugh…”
He slowly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes widening as he saw what was clinging to his leg.
“F-Father…”
It was his son, his hand clutching a dagger imbued with a five-colored aura, his body trembling.
“Father…”
“You… you…!!”
“Just… one word… Please…”
His son pushed the dagger deeper into his leg, as if trying to stand up with it.
“Gah…!”
“…Just say it… then I… I would have forgiven you… like the foolish son I am… just say you’re sorry…”
Ju Kyunghyun, his eyes filled with tears, looked at the man wearing his face, his father.
“…You…!”
Ju Kyunghyun whispered, his face wet with tears, just one word…
Just one word…
I’m sorry.
Just one word…
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