When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 180
Chapter 180
Only silence filled the vast space.
Beneath the golden gaze of the dragon, shining like a sun fallen to earth, no one dared to move.
They didn’t even dare to breathe too loudly.
The Mystic Ruler was among them.
As the great Red Dragon’s gaze fell upon him, his body trembled.
He felt fear, of course.
But it was the unbearable rage and frustration that truly consumed him.
‘…How…’
How could this be?
This was impossible.
‘How dare… she… become a dragon… not me…!’
His rage was so intense that he forgot even the searing pain in his side.
How had the Ju Clan’s Red Dragon ruled the Mystic Realm?
Not only because of its immense power, but also because of its all-seeing eyes, its ability to perceive the beginning and the end of all things.
The power to distinguish between black and white, the power that maintained the balance of the Mystic Realm.
Under the golden gaze of the dragon, he felt exposed, as if standing naked in a courtroom, judged.
The thought that the Red Dragon's all-seeing eyes were scrutinizing his soul, judging his every deed, made his body tingle, as if struck by lightning.
‘Judge? Who dares judge me?! Her?!’
He had fought so hard to reach this position!
He had sacrificed everything, even his own bloodline, for the sake of his clan, for the greater good.
Who could possibly judge him for that?
His long life, a life he couldn’t even fully remember, flashed before his eyes.
‘No way…’
He had fought so hard to survive.
He had endured humiliation, bowing his head to the Corrupt Dragon, to cling to life.
‘And you think I’ll die here? No way!’
His face contorted as he gritted his teeth.
He grabbed the warrior standing next to him, trembling, and pulled him closer.
A searing pain, as if his side had been branded with a hot iron, shot through him, but it didn’t matter right now.
“Go to the hidden chamber and break the seal on the entrance to where He resides.”
“…W-What?”
“There's no time to hesitate. Do you even know who that Red Dragon is? It's that bitch who almost killed you! Do you think you’ll survive if you don’t awaken Him and make Him deal with her?!”
The warrior's eyes widened, understanding the Mystic Ruler’s intentions. To awaken the Corrupt Dragon and make him fight the Divine Beast.
The Mystic Ruler's voice dropped to a menacing growl. “Make sure He sees that Red Dragon. Even if you have to tear down the roof of this hall and break down the walls of the hidden chamber, you have to bring Him out. Understand?!”
“Yes!”
The warrior, his eyes filled with determination, turned and ran towards the residence.
Only then did the Mystic Ruler clutch his side, groaning in pain.
He glared at the red dragon soaring above them, his eyes bloodshot.
Sehwa felt as if she were floating in the air.
As she opened her heavy eyelids, the sky seemed close enough to touch, the stars twinkling before her eyes as if she were lying in bed.
“......”
A soft moan escaped her lips.
A splitting headache, as if someone was pounding on her skull, made her wince.
The longer she stayed awake, the more information flooded her mind.
Important truths about the world, and trivial information she didn't even want to know.
A warm light, like the sun, seeped into her body.
‘What… is this? Why…?’
She felt as if she knew everything, yet she had forgotten something important.
As her mind grew hazy, a voice seemed to command her, telling her to accept everything, to forgive, to embrace, to love, to maintain harmony, to follow the natural order.
That it was her destiny.
Sehwa’s eyes, which had been blinking slowly, closed, then opened again.
Destiny?
Her black pupils narrowed vertically.
To accept her predetermined future? To forgive and embrace? To love?
She laughed, or rather, a puff of black smoke escaped her lips.
The smoke dissipated in the heat emanating from her body.
Her large eyes looked down, her gaze cold.
Those ant-like creatures below were looking up at her, their hands clasped together as if begging for their lives.
Those who had struck down her father and mother, kicked her brothers’ severed heads, flayed Sa Danyoon alive, and brutally tortured and killed the three sisters.
“Execute her! Execute her!”
She could almost hear the sound of their feet stomping, their voices chanting.
She laughed again.
Destiny? Harmony? Natural order?
‘What are they talking about?’
To hell with harmony.
What was the point of the natural order?
She shouldn't kill those ant-like creatures with this power?
“Execute her! Execute her!”
She shouldn’t make them suffer the same hell?
Was there such a thing as harmony and natural order?
‘There isn’t!!’
“—!”
Her eyes flashed.
Kaboom! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of fiery lightning bolts rained down on the inauguration hall.
“Kyaaa!”
The people below screamed and scattered like ants whose nest had been destroyed.
But that was just the beginning.
The dragon opened its mouth, black smoke billowing from within.
And then, a torrent of lava-like flames poured down on the hall.
“Gasp… gasp…”
The warrior, following the Mystic Ruler’s order, rushed into the residence.
Kwaaang—!!!
“!!”
A deafening explosion rocked the residence, followed by another, and another.
Screams echoed from both inside and outside the residence.
Servants and maids were fleeing, their voices filled with terror.
The warrior ran against the flow of the panicked crowd and finally reached the entrance to the hidden chamber.
Catching his breath, he carefully undid the layers of barriers protecting the entrance.
Thump! Thump!
He could clearly sense someone struggling inside.
Rumble! Thump!
The residence continued to shake from the explosions outside, and screams echoed everywhere.
There was no time to lose.
‘Please, let the Red Dragon’s attention be elsewhere…!’
Kaboom!
Channeling all his spiritual power, the warrior, his eyes squeezed shut, blew away the roof of the passage and the hallway above it.
Thump! Thump!
“…!”
The Corrupt Dragon thrashed about in the underground chamber, its silent screams echoing through the darkness.
He didn't care if those on the surface lived or died. He was consumed by grief.
How could the heavens be so cruel?
How could they give her such power?
How could they let her become a Divine Beast?
It was then.
He heard a sound, as if something was exploding, and the barrier imprisoning him shattered.
“!!”
Having already been using his power, the sudden release of the barrier caused his uncontrolled spiritual power to lash out, creating powerful explosions.
Kaboom!
The stone walls of the chamber exploded, creating a large opening above him.
A fiery red glow, brighter than the moonlight, poured in through the opening.
The Corrupt Dragon’s red eyes, momentarily wide with surprise, narrowed.
He rose into the air, his massive body writhing, and escaped through the opening.
“—!”
The inauguration hall, engulfed in flames, was a scene of chaos.
A horrific inferno raged, and screams echoed endlessly.
The Mystic Ruler’s warriors, their bodies incinerated without a trace, their flesh melting into a sickening ooze, and the other warriors, exhausted from battling the Red Dragon, lay collapsed on the ground.
She could have killed them all in an instant, but she didn’t. She prolonged their suffering.
She wanted to laugh, looking at their agony.
She wanted to cry.
She wanted to burn them all alive, their bodies and souls consumed by the flames, so that these vile, treacherous creatures would never be reborn.
As her rage consumed her, her mind drifted.
How could she inflict the most excruciating pain on them?
As her eyes gleamed menacingly…
She didn’t even notice the black shadows spreading from the tip of the golden Red Dragon’s tail.
It was then.
“…Se…hwa…”
A voice pierced through her rage as she rained fiery lightning bolts down on the hall.
“Ju Sehwa!!”
The voice, a voice that meant more to her than life itself, brought her back to her senses.
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