When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 192
Chapter 192
“…!”
Just as the First Consort’s pain-filled eyes widened…
Sehwa grabbed her by the neck and pulled her out of the carriage.
Baek Giha’s hands moved, and a white barrier enveloped them.
“…Anchor…?”
Baek Giha asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
“Gasp…”
The backlash continued to torment the First Consort. As she collapsed on the ground, festering wounds, surrounded by a faint, dark aura, appeared on her skin.
“You underestimated me.”
Sehwa leaned down, looking into the First Consort's face.
“There’s a Divine Beast’s barrier around this carriage. There still is.”
A barrier, far stronger than the one around the carriage, surrounded them.
“Nothing can penetrate a Divine Beast’s barrier. Unless it’s directly connected to the Corrupt Dragon, like you said.”
Sehwa had been thinking about this.
Baek Giha had said the backlash from the Corrupt Dragon's actions should be life-threatening.
But the Corrupt Dragon was someone who would gladly sacrifice thousands of lives for his own benefit.
He was currently absorbing life force recklessly with that barrier, wasn’t he?
So why would he do something that would endanger his own life?
‘No. That's impossible…’
He must be so reckless because he knew it wasn’t a threat to him.
So, after hearing Baek Giha’s words, Sehwa had been trying to figure out how the Corrupt Dragon was avoiding the backlash.
What was he using? Did the Ju Clan possess such an artifact?
But she couldn’t think of anything.
Could he be using a wish, like the one Baek Giha had used to turn back time?
‘No, that’s not it. The Corrupt Dragon isn't a Divine Beast, and even if he could use a wish, he would never give up his immortality.’
And it was strange that this woman was his lifeline.
What was their connection? What was the mechanism behind it?
Then, she remembered.
The dragon’s Orb.
Before obtaining the Red Dragon's Spirit Orb, she had been a Divine Beast, but not a complete one.
Perhaps that was why her own Orb, the one she had obtained upon transforming into a dragon, had been useless, just a plain white bead.
So she had forgotten about it.
She hadn’t thought it would be of any use.
But after absorbing the Red Dragon’s Spirit Orb and becoming a complete Divine Beast, she had wanted to give Baek Giha something.
Something precious, something unique to her.
But she couldn’t give him her reverse scale or her wish, as he would use them for her, not himself, so she had to hide them.
And the only thing left was her Orb.
‘It has no special abilities, but it’s the only one I have, so it would be a special gift…’
With that thought, she had taken out the Orb, even though she wasn't sure if he would appreciate it.
But then, she had noticed something strange.
A faint, black shadow was swirling within the white Orb.
‘What… is this?’
At first, she hadn’t understood.
But then she realized that it was a result of the chaos she had caused at the Mystic Ruler's residence.
Even though the Orb itself had no power, if it turned completely black, she would transform into a corrupted dragon, even worse than the Corrupt Dragon, losing even her sense of self.
‘I can’t show this to him.’
She had hurriedly hidden the tainted Orb.
But if her Orb had been tainted just from that brief incident at the Mystic Ruler’s residence, then the Corrupt Dragon’s Orb must be in an even worse state, shouldn’t it?
‘But the Corrupt Dragon I met in the Human Realm was still sane.’
His Orb couldn’t be intact, not after absorbing so many lives, so…
‘How is that possible? Does he have a substitute?’
The thought of the Ju Clan members repeatedly switching bodies came to mind.
‘Now that I think about it, the First Consort kept saying she wanted to die. But if she doesn’t want to live, why did she keep switching bodies?’
It was strange.
‘Did she just want a younger body before she died?’
That theory didn’t fit.
When they infiltrated the residence to rescue her mother, the Fifth Consort had forcibly absorbed the First Consort's spiritual power.
A mystic’s appearance was enhanced by their spiritual power.
If the First Consort didn’t want to absorb spiritual power, she clearly wasn’t concerned about her appearance.
‘Then she must have been forced to switch bodies. Just like the other consorts who were keeping her alive…’
Someone had been forcing the First Consort to switch bodies.
‘The other consorts never used criminals’ bodies, they had to maintain a certain appearance in the Mystic Ruler’s residence. But the First Consort, the most important one, was using the body of Sa Yeonju, a criminal trapped in a hidden chamber.’
As if she had been forced to switch bodies in a hurry, without any other options.
Why?
It wasn’t during the war, and the Ju Clan possessed potent medicines that could heal even severe injuries quickly, so there shouldn’t have been any reason to be in such a hurry.
What had happened when the First Consort took over Sa Yeonju’s body?
Her mother had been kidnapped, her brothers had gone missing, and…
‘…And the drought in the Human Realm…’
The Corrupt Dragon had been submerged in the Lake of Blood, absorbing the negative energy from the tens of thousands of corpses.
“!”
The strong connection with the Corrupt Dragon, the backlash from the curse, the repeated body switching… could a living being act as a substitute for the dragon's Orb, absorbing the curse?
Everything, except for that fundamental question, pointed to the First Consort being the Corrupt Dragon’s anchor.
“If we sever the connection between her and the Corrupt Dragon, the backlash will turn on him.”
“But that won’t be easy. We don’t know how to sever the connection between an anchor and a dragon, and the spiritual power we use might be transferred to the Corrupt Dragon through her.”
“Indeed. That’s troublesome. What should we do?”
“She's been switching bodies, so she must have a limit to how much of the curse she can endure, right? How about we wait and see?”
“We don’t know how long it’ll take, wouldn't it be more dangerous to leave the barrier active?”
“I don’t think it will take long. Even a minor deviation tainted my Orb, so with him acting so recklessly, it shouldn’t take more than a few days.”
“......”
“Why?”
“…Nothing. Then we should get closer to the barrier.”
“What a load of bullshit! You have no compassion! No empathy!”
The First Consort shrieked,
“I can’t even die! And you want me to endure this pain for you? How are you any different from the Corrupt Dragon?! You treat life as if it’s nothing, just like him! What’s the difference?!”
“That’s funny.”
Sehwa's eyes turned cold as she approached the First Consort.
“Did I force this on you? I promised to kill you if you told me the truth, if you asked for my help. But what did you do?”
A chilling aura emanated from her as she stepped closer.
“You lied and tried to get the Red Dragon’s Spirit Orb. You even claimed you were bound by a restriction and couldn’t speak freely.”
“That… that was a—”
“It was a lie. You hid the fact that you’re the Corrupt Dragon’s anchor, you pretended to be bound by a restriction because you were afraid I wouldn’t give you my spiritual power if I knew you were connected to him.”
“…Th-That’s…”
“And even aside from that, everything you said was a lie. And you expect me to pity you? How can I believe you even want to die?”
“N-No! That’s not true!”
The First Consort scrambled towards Sehwa, pleading, “I-I’m sorry! But I thought you wouldn’t help me if I told you the truth! I was wrong! So please, just help me! Please, save me from this curse!”
She slammed her head on the floor, the decaying flesh on her forehead splitting and bleeding.
“Please, just kill me! Please, end this!”
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