When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 195
Chapter 195
Perhaps it was because of the brutal torture…
A part of her knew something was wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what it was or how to fix it.
She felt as if a pair of crimson eyes, hidden in the darkness, were watching her, laughing.
It was unsettling, but that was all.
Her mind was foggy, her thoughts sluggish.
Only the cold, sharp touch of the blade felt real.
“Just push it in, my lady.”
A cold hand, like a snake, took hers.
Youngsun’s hand, which had been limp and lifeless from the beating, was now steady.
Sehwa, finding the change odd, looked at Youngsun, and it was at that moment.
A black fog began to seep from beneath the stone walls, slowly filling the cell.
Sehwa’s gaze, which had been clearing slightly, clouded over again.
Her hand, holding the dagger, twitched.
She wanted to escape the black fog.
But it wasn’t just the fog controlling her.
Obey.
Accept everything.
An irresistible command, an absolute decree, seemed to weigh her down.
“…Ugh!”
Her head throbbed, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
When she opened them again, the black fog had vanished.
Youngsun frowned. “Why did you stop? You have to push it in. You can do it, can’t you?”
“…Youngsun…”
“You have to end this. Then the Elder, Madam, and the young masters will be safe. And so will we.”
“…That’s right…”
“Yes. This misfortune… it all began with you.”
Sehwa looked at Youngsun, her heart aching, even though the blade hadn't touched her skin yet.
Just then, she heard a cruel laugh echoing in the distance.
She looked up, startled, but the airtight cell was silent.
“What’s wrong? Do you not want to do it?”
“N-No… it’s not that…”
“Do you still want to live? After putting us on the execution block? We were all flayed alive, and you still want to live?!”
Youngsun’s eyes narrowed. “Or are you just afraid? Prove it. Prove that you don’t want to live. Prove that you’re not selfish.”
It wasn’t that she was afraid of death.
She would gladly give her life for this sister before her, for her family.
She wanted to end her life, to end this misery, but…
“You have to stay healthy.”
“Stay healthy. Do you understand? Never get sick. Never be sad.”
“Ju Sehwa.”
His voice made her hesitate.
‘If only I could see him one more time…’
She missed him terribly.
‘If all that was just a dream… then his gentle touch, his soft gaze, his voice… were they also a dream?’
“I don't want you to get hurt.”
“Because I love you.”
‘Then all these memories, all his sweet words, were they just a dream…?’
It was all a hallucination.
How desperately she must have longed for it, to dream such a dream.
It was so pathetic that she almost laughed.
It was more painful than any physical torment, this realization that it had all been a lie.
She felt disgusted with herself for even thinking about it, with Youngsun, her beloved sister, suffering because of her.
Just as she raised the dagger to her neck…
“So you don’t want to do it…” Youngsun’s face twisted in disgust as she slapped Sehwa across the face. Slap! “I can’t believe I served someone as cowardly as you, calling you my sister…”
“Youngsun!”
“Sister?! Ha! You said you would give your life for me! Then do it!” she screamed. “You have to sacrifice yourself for us!”
“!”
Just then…
Another voice overlapped with Youngsun's. “Why are you doing this?! Who asked you to sacrifice yourself for us?! Did I ask you to?!”
‘…Huh?’
“You must never do this again. Do you understand? Your life is precious.”
‘Wait…’
What was this memory?
Who was that shouting?
“Here, my lady! Take this!”
“Shoot as much as you want! Do whatever you have to!”
Who had placed those arrows in her hands, telling her to do what she had to?
Youngsun, her face twisted like a demon, snatched the dagger from Sehwa’s hand and raised it high, but even as she looked at that distorted face, another image was clearer in Sehwa’s mind.
Youngsun’s tearful face, begging her never to risk her life again.
Her sisters, their faces bright with smiles, promising to protect her. “We’ll protect you, my lady. So go and do what you have to!”
…How could she forget…?
Just as Youngsun brought the dagger down, Sehwa grabbed her wrist and pulled her off, the cold, sharp blade stopping just short of her neck. She kicked Youngsun away and, gritting her teeth, pulled herself up, holding onto the bars.
‘This… isn't right…’
She closed her eyes, blocking out all sensations, and focused her spiritual power. ‘Come back.’
But her power dissipated, as if blocked.
But she didn’t give up.
‘Come back!! Now!!’
Her fragmented memories began to coalesce.
The strong arms that had held her on that hill at sunset, the black fog that had engulfed them, and her own worries at that moment.
And as she remembered, her power, responding to her desperate call, began to return.
Yes. How could she forget them, her precious sisters?
A smile, tinged with blood, touched her cracked, chapped lips.
‘You think you can stop me with this?’
Did she pity the First Consort, seeing herself in her pleas? Was she ashamed of the shadows tainting her Orb?
The thoughts flowed so naturally that she didn't even realize they weren’t entirely her own.
But they were absurd.
‘Don't give me that bullshit.’
Just then, the voice in her head returned, stronger than before, commanding her to accept everything, to forgive, to embrace, to love, to maintain harmony, to follow the natural order.
Sehwa smirked.
If only she had the Corrupt Dragon’s power, she could break free from this illusion much faster.
‘So this is the “harmony” that Divine Beasts have to follow? Helping the Corrupt Dragon with his schemes?’
Did she pity the First Consort, groveling and begging for death?
No. She wouldn’t have wavered even if the First Consort, in an infant’s body, had cried and begged for her life.
Would she pity her more than those who had died because of her? More than her loved ones who had been tortured and killed because of her greed?
Was she ashamed to show Baek Giha her tainted Orb?
“He would never judge me for that.”
No matter what she became.
‘He would never judge me.’
The darkness receded.
The musty smell of the prison cell, Youngsun’s menacing form, all vanished.
To protect her loved ones, she could become a demon, descend into hell without hesitation.
“So get out of my head.”
A wave of powerful spiritual power erupted around her, burning away the darkness, dispelling the nightmare.
“I should thank you for this, Corrupt Dragon. You almost made me fall for that “harmony” nonsense.”
The darkness flickered at her mocking laughter.
“And this is all you can do? This pathetic illusion? After all these years, all that talk about ruling the Mystic and Human Realms, this is the extent of your power? You’re truly pathetic, beyond redemption.”
“......”
“I would have preferred facing that evil shadow sealed in the Baek Clan. That was much more entertaining.”
Just then, the flames flared up.
A dark red, lava-like substance swirled around her, closing in.
A pair of crimson eyes, blazing with spiritual power, flickered beside her, as if alive.
Sehwa met the gaze of those red eyes, unflinching, her gaze piercing through the flames, through the darkness.
—Don’t get cocky, you little bitch. You barely escaped. Do you think your friends will be as lucky? That Baek Clan bastard? Your warriors? Where are they now?
As she remained silent, the eyes narrowed, their pupils slitted like a snake’s.
—Don’t forget, my fog is around their necks.
The flames surged, as if mirroring the shadow’s amusement.
“What do you want?”
The flames reached out to her, as if offering a handshake. —Offer me the Spirit Orb. Beg for their lives.
The crimson eyes, gleaming menacingly, whispered, —Kneel and bow your head. Then maybe… I’ll let them live.
“......”
The Corrupt Dragon's eyes narrowed further.
—What’s so funny?
Seeing Sehwa’s smile, his shadowy face twisted in anger.
—What’s so funny?!
“What’s not funny? You know where the First Consort is, yet you’re not saying anything.”
Her laughter finally subsided, and she sneered at the Corrupt Dragon.
“If that fog was truly your minion, if it could kill people and retrieve the First Consort, you would have done so already. But you didn’t, did you? All it did was show us some nasty dreams. Want to know why?”
Her eyes, which had been clouded, now gleamed, piercing through the darkness.
“Because she’s inside the Baek Clan’s barrier. And you, you can’t even breach it, let alone get her out. That’s why you’re doing this.”
She glared at the flickering darkness.
“You might be afraid of such nightmares, but they don’t work on me anymore. The past has changed. So stop with these pathetic tricks and let’s settle our score from the Human Realm.”
Her crimson eyes blazing with a murderous intent, she challenged the Corrupt Dragon, whose red eyes she could almost see gleaming in the darkness, “Come to me. Come here, Corrupt Dragon.”
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