When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 205
Chapter 205
The Mystic Ruler and his entourage reached the border around noon.
“Hurry! Faster!”
The closer they got, the louder the explosions became, the sound deafening.
“Use all your spiritual power! We have to get there as fast as possible!” he shouted, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the road ahead, his hand clutching his injured waist.
The explosions meant that the Corrupt Dragon was fighting someone.
Was it Baek Giha?
No, the light emanating from the distance seemed different from the Baek Clan Divine Beast's.
Then could it be Ju Sehwa?
‘What if she’s transformed into the Red Dragon and is about to kill him…?’
“So, I, Ju Sehwa, will not allow you to become the Mystic Ruler!”
…If she gained control, it would be the end of everything.
‘I need the Corrupt Dragon! To switch bodies! To regain my position as Mystic Ruler! To crush the Six Clans and reclaim our rightful place! I still need him!’
“Damn it! Faster! Hurry!!!”
Just as they reached the riverside…
Flash!
A blinding, five-colored light filled the sky.
The Mystic Ruler, shielding his eyes, focused his gaze, trying to see through the light.
It was the Corrupt Dragon, radiating spiritual power, floating in the air amidst the five-colored aura. ‘That’s… that’s the sign of an imminent transformation…’
But something was off.
The light surrounding the Corrupt Dragon was fluctuating, expanding and contracting, as if he were struggling against something. ‘Spiritual power! He doesn't have enough spiritual power!’
The Mystic Ruler, who had witnessed countless transformations, immediately understood.
“First unit, cross the Central River and hold off the Six Clans! Second unit, take these artifacts and Spirit Orbs to Him!”
The warriors split into two groups.
“Aagh…!”
Her spine shattered under the Corrupt Dragon’s massive jaws.
And not just her spine, her Core was also destroyed.
The First Consort’s body writhed on the trembling ground.
The spiritual power within her, unable to find a vessel, surged outwards, then began to flow into the Corrupt Dragon's body, filling his Core.
The Corrupt Dragon’s body, bathed in a brilliant, five-colored light, began to transform, just like during his first transformation.
He knew, with certainty, that this power… this was it.
He had absorbed countless other Spirit Orbs, but they hadn’t been enough. This power, the power of the new era, this was what he needed.
But…
‘It’s too slow! Too slow!’
The spiritual power flowing from the First Consort was too slow, not enough to fill his massive Core.
It was because she was still alive.
If she were dead, all her spiritual power would have flowed into him instantly, but since she was still clinging to life, it was trickling in slowly.
‘I can’t kill her… but should I? Just to become a Divine Beast?’
It was at that moment.
“Here! We have Spirit Orbs!”
A voice made him turn his head.
The Ju Clan warriors were approaching.
Having channeled their spiritual power for the journey, they leaped across the Central River and charged towards the Baek Clan warriors on the other side.
“Here, take these!” the Mystic Ruler shouted, holding out a chest. “We also have artifacts!”
The artifacts absorbed spiritual power from their surroundings.
And so, in a split second…
The Corrupt Dragon turned, opened his mouth, and…
…the Ju Clan warriors threw the chests filled with Spirit Orbs and artifacts into his gaping maw.
—!!!!
They activated inside his body, their power surging outwards.
Rumble! Thump!
The mountains, the river, the very earth trembled.
A pillar of five-colored light, connecting the heavens and the earth, rose from the ground, its light blinding.
And within that pillar, the Corrupt Dragon began to transform.
His wounds healed, his scales, which had been cracked and broken, regenerated, gleaming, his mangled flesh restored.
As if he were truly becoming a Divine Beast.
Youngchae swallowed nervously. ‘Is he really becoming one?’
Her lady’s plans had never failed before, yet she couldn't shake off a feeling of unease. She looked at Baek Giha anxiously.
“Ah…”
But his face showed no sign of worry. He wasn’t even looking at the transforming Corrupt Dragon.
His gaze was fixed on a figure descending from the sky, stepping on a staircase of pure spiritual energy. Sehwa.
She landed on the hill and walked towards the First Consort, then leaned down and whispered something in her ear.
“…!”
It felt as if the sky itself was falling on her.
The pain was so intense that she couldn’t even scream.
The First Consort gasped, spitting out blood and bile.
But even that crushing weight, that agonizing pain tearing her body apart, was nothing compared to the feeling of her spiritual power being drained away. ‘No! No!’
The spiritual power that had filled her, that had elevated her, that she had craved so desperately…
…was being taken from her.
If it was going to be taken away, why had she been given it in the first place?
Why were the heavens so cruel?
What had she done to deserve this?
Unlike what she had told Sehwa, she had never been passive.
She had always strived to create her own destiny.
‘No one has worked harder than me! No one has struggled as much as I have!’
She had been born with an unusually strong spiritual power for a clanless mystic, and she had known it. She had seen her own beauty, a beauty enhanced by her spiritual power, a beauty far surpassing that of any Seven Clan mystic.
And that had been the beginning of her misfortune.
If she hadn't been so beautiful, she wouldn’t have desired more.
She had always felt that she was so close to reaching her goals, to ascending to the heights she craved.
If only she had a little more spiritual power, if only she were a little more beautiful…
Driven by that desire, she had started by killing animals, any way to increase her meager spiritual power.
And when that wasn't enough, she had seduced and murdered strangers, drinking their blood.
And once she had started, she couldn't stop, secretly killing friends, family, even her own parents, stealing their spiritual power.
She had used that power to become the concubine of a Ju Clan elder. But how could she be satisfied with that? Why couldn't she become the Mystic Ruler’s consort?
So she had started killing again.
‘If only I hadn't been caught!’
Her mistake had been killing within the Ju Clan territory. Her downfall had been swift and brutal. She had been stripped of her spiritual power, her Core severely damaged, and exiled. She had been spared execution only because she had been pregnant, but the child she had given birth to had been a monster, its form twisted and grotesque, its once-powerful spiritual power corrupted by her sudden loss of power.
A monstrosity.
She was horrified by the creature she had birthed.
But with her Core damaged, unable to steal spiritual power like she had before, this cursed creature was her only lifeline, a lifeline she desperately clung to, even though it was rotten and decaying. She had no choice but to nurture it, to raise it.
‘After all that I’ve endured, is this my fate?’ she wailed, tears streaming down her face.
Was she being punished for trying to make that monster a Divine Beast? But she had failed! What more did they want from her?!
She had thought she could die now, but…
‘No! This power is mine! I have to keep it! It’s mine!’
She gritted her teeth, her jaw trembling.
Just then, a voice whispered in her ear, —Doesn’t it frustrate you?
Who was that?
—Your power… it’s being taken away…
Whose voice was that? Where had she heard it before?
—Should I help you? Keep your power? Just say the word, and I’ll do it.
Her eyelids fluttered, the whispers echoing in her mind, amidst the waves of agonizing pain.
—I can help you. You know I can, don't you? That spiritual power you crave… it’s mine…
The voice drew closer, softer, more seductive, promising to fulfill her every desire. Everything was falling apart anyway, what did she have to lose?
She nodded without hesitation.
It didn’t matter anymore.
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