When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 204
Chapter 204
“With such immense power, she’ll lose all sense of reason.”
“I wonder how this spiritual power will change her, and how it’ll affect the Corrupt Dragon…”
Youngchae’s eyes gleamed, remembering the delight she had felt when Sehwa had told her this.
The First Consort might think she was hiding her emotions well, but Youngchae, who had often attended Ju Clan banquets in Sehwa’s stead, wasn’t fooled.
She was just like those two-faced nobles she had seen at the banquets.
‘How dare she scheme like this, in this situation?’
Baek Giha’s gaze also darkened as he watched Youngchae. He sighed softly, his lips pressed into a thin line.
‘Why do you always rush into danger alone?’
If she wanted to give her spiritual power to the First Consort, she must be expecting it to flow into the Corrupt Dragon as well.
“......”
‘I have no choice…’
He waved his hand.
A crack appeared on the thick ice barrier, spreading rapidly. His master’s wishes were his commands.
The ice barrier melted away, revealing the battle between Sehwa and the Corrupt Dragon.
Countless bolts of lightning, targeting Sehwa, rained down from the sky, threatening to tear the world apart.
KWA-BOOM!!!
A powerful shockwave pushed against them, sending a few unprepared warriors stumbling backward.
And at that moment, with the barrier gone, the connection between the Corrupt Dragon and his anchor was restored.
“!!!”
The Corrupt Dragon’s bloodshot eyes snapped towards the First Consort.
And at the same time, something surged into his body.
The Corrupt Dragon’s eyes widened as an unfamiliar sensation, a sense of fullness, washed over him. ‘…What… is this?’
He blinked, confused by the unfamiliar feeling.
Despite being humiliated by that little girl with a branch, he hadn't given up yet. He had accumulated an immense amount of spiritual power over the long years of his existence.
If only he could become a Divine Beast with just spiritual power…
But becoming a Divine Beast required something more than just raw power.
And tragically, despite all his efforts, he hadn't been able to figure out what that last, crucial element was.
He had a vague idea that it was some kind of intense emotion, but the more he thought about it, the less he understood.
‘How can I feel anything more intensely than this?’
His desire to become a Divine Beast was so strong, so desperate, it could move mountains!
Why were the heavens so cruel to him?
Why wouldn’t they open the path for him?!
So, he had turned to others, fueling their greed and desire, inflicting pain and suffering, inducing terror, to absorb their negative emotions and fill the void within him. And it had worked.
It would take a long time, but their despair, their desire, their greed, it was slowly filling the void, bringing him closer to his goal.
He would become a Divine Beast in a few years. He was so close.
And then, something had flowed into his body.
‘What… is this…?’
He trembled.
A completely new power, a new energy.
It filled his mind, his senses overwhelmed.
He knew, instinctively, that this… this was different, unlike anything he had ever experienced.
‘This might be it! This could be the key! This could make me a Divine Beast without having to wait years, without having to find that last element!’
Just then, the ice barrier before him shattered.
And he saw his anchor, bathed in a five-colored light.
The First Consort’s face mirrored his excitement, her own eyes wide with a newfound joy.
‘No!’
The Corrupt Dragon’s face twisted in rage. He had never intended to release her.
“You filthy, disgusting creature! I’m ashamed to have given birth to you! I would have killed you if I could! I would have flayed you alive and killed you a thousand times over!”
“You’re my son, you should call me Mother.”
“To become a Divine Beast and avenge me, is that all you’re good for? You filthy half-breed, you useless piece of trash!”
The woman who had murdered her family and friends to enhance her beauty, to gain power, so she could become the wife of a powerful Ju Clan member.
The woman who, after failing to achieve her goal, had turned on other mystics, devouring them indiscriminately, only to be captured and brought low.
The woman who, even then, hadn't given up, who had used him, an abomination, a mistake, to gain power, to become the mother of a Divine Beast.
The woman who had taught him nothing but how to devour others, how to gain power through violence.
The woman who had repeatedly thrown him into the fiery depths of hell to achieve her own goals.
How could he forgive her?
As long as he suffered, she would suffer too.
That was the price she had to pay for condemning him to this hell.
So he had forced her to become his anchor, to share his pain, his curse.
But now, that connection was about to be broken.
The Corrupt Dragon's bloodshot eyes, their pupils narrowed into vertical slits, trembled.
That woman, no longer his anchor, might even become a Divine Beast?
‘You think you can become a Divine Beast and rule over me again?’
‘Never!’
He was even more enraged than when he had learned that that little girl had become a Divine Beast. He lunged forward, his teeth bared. ‘I won’t let you!’
Strangely, the girl didn't try to stop him, moving aside as if to clear his path, a strange smile on her face, which he didn’t even notice.
‘That spiritual power you need to become a Divine Beast, the endless pain you have to endure…’
He opened his mouth wide as he reached the hill.
‘…it’s all mine.’
There was no escape for her.
His sharp teeth snapped shut.
“!!!”
The First Consort, her face contorted in agony, her eyes wide with shock and pain, screamed silently as the Corrupt Dragon’s teeth tore into her flesh, her spine shattering.
“Wait for us! Come on!”
‘Do my lady’s brothers not understand the concept of “together”? Why are they riding so far ahead?’
Baek Manyong, his face red with exertion, shouted at the two brothers riding ahead, but they ignored him.
‘How dare they ignore me, as if I were just a barking dog!’
Of course, they heard him, but…
“Why are you calling her ‘Lady of the House’? Haven’t you seen the power of our Lady Baek Ju Cheon Jang Kang Jin? The Lady of the House of the Baek Clan, born to be our Lady of the House! What else should we call her?!”
“Hahaha, a wedding ceremony? Our Lady Baek Ju Cheon Jang Kang Jin is a gift from the heavens, a true Lady of the House! What does a mere ceremony matter?!”
How could they deal with someone who spoke such nonsense?
Baek Manyong had tried to befriend them, for Sehwa’s sake, but it had backfired.
It hadn't even taken a moment for them to develop an intense dislike for the Baek Clan Chancellor.
They had already sworn to ignore him completely for the rest of their lives.
And so, Baek Manyong followed them, shouting unanswered questions, while behind him, ten thousand warriors of the Six Clans’ alliance, dressed in white, rode in formation. The second wave, the reserves.
Just then, the two brothers suddenly stopped.
Baek Manyong followed their gaze and saw a large group of people approaching rapidly.
Who were they?
Before Baek Manyong could identify Ju Myoungyoon, the two brothers saw their parents. “Father! Mother!!” They immediately turned their horses and rode towards them.
Baek Manyong also stopped and joined them.
But just then, before they could even exchange greetings…
KABOOM!! KWA-BOOM!!
The earth shook violently, a deafening roar tearing through the air.
Neigh!!
They struggled to calm their startled horses and then turned to look.
“What’s…”
Their eyes narrowed as they saw an inexplicable phenomenon in the distance.
A pillar of five-colored light, stretching towards the sky.
And at the same time, the sounds of battle ceased.
They sensed that something was wrong and turned their horses, riding as one towards the pillar of light. “Hiya!!”
Silence fell over them as they rode.
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