When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 206
Chapter 206
The doors to the Ju Clan treasury were wide open.
Crash! Shatter!
“S-Seventh Consort…”
Deafening crashes echoed from within.
The maids, standing outside the treasury, wrung their hands, their faces pale with worry.
Inside, a white hand was tossing precious artifacts aside.
Each sweep of her arm sent objects crashing to the floor.
Normally, the maids wouldn’t dare interrupt the Seventh Consort, no matter what she did.
But the treasury was different.
“Seventh Consort, please come out.”
“Seventh Consort…”
“Are you trying to cause a commotion? Be quiet!”
“Madam, we beg you. If you continue to destroy the treasury, we’ll all be punished!”
The woman called the Seventh Consort glanced at them.
‘All of you who work in this residence, you’re all accomplices of the Mystic Ruler, the Corrupt Dragon, and the Eight Consorts…’
She turned away and pulled another drawer from a cabinet, dumping its contents onto the floor.
Clang! Shatter! “Madam!” “Shut up!” Her voice, hoarse and ragged, was barely a whisper.
She clutched her chest, her breathing shallow. ‘How much time do I have left?’
“You’re not an anchor, your life won’t be long. Are you sure?”
She knew.
She had finally managed to expel the soul that had been controlling her body, but there wasn’t much time left.
The anchors, who absorbed the Corrupt Dragon's curse, usually switched bodies within ten years. Even though it was their souls that were bound to the curse, their physical bodies deteriorated rapidly as well.
And the Seventh Consort had been using this body for almost twenty years.
It wouldn’t be surprising if she collapsed at any moment.
‘I have to find it… before it’s too late…’
She was searching for the box containing the Mystic Ruler’s fire.
She had seen it being placed in the treasury after being given to someone, but she couldn’t remember where.
‘Jangmyung…’
The young man’s face, looking back at her with concern, kept flashing before her eyes.
Even though she hadn’t been able to watch him grow, to hold him in her arms…
‘…how could I not recognize you?’
He had been in his transformed state.
‘I thought he wouldn't be able to transform, being exiled to the Human Realm…’
Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought of her son.
She had seen him escaping with Elder Myoungyoon’s sons.
Had he perhaps gone to the Baek Clan with his master, who was now the Lady of the House of the Six Clans?
‘Or perhaps he had been raised in the Baek Clan from the start…’
She wanted to hold him, to help him, to protect him from harm.
She had been worried about him ever since she saw him escaping, and she wanted to do something for him.
So, as soon as she regained control of her body and learned that the Mystic Ruler was away with his warriors, she had rushed to the treasury and started searching.
Just then, one of the maids outside called out to her, “Madam, the Sa Clan members, including Sa Ganghyun, are here to see you. What should we do?”
“Why are you asking me? Why aren’t they with the other consorts?”
“Well…”
She understood from their troubled expressions.
‘The other consorts are incapacitated by the curse…’
She had warned her, before her soul disappeared, that she might also have to endure the curse, but…
…the curse hadn't returned after the Seventh Consort's soul disappeared.
Just then, she saw it.
The wooden box containing the Mystic Ruler’s fire.
‘There it is!’
She grabbed the box and held it close.
“Madam, are you sure you don’t want to see them? The residence is in chaos, with the Mystic Ruler away and the other consorts incapacitated.”
A cold smile touched the Seventh Consort’s lips. ‘Sa Ganghyun and the other Sa Clan members…’
They were the ones who had been supplying fresh bodies for the Mystic Ruler’s body switching.
“Bring them in.”
Yes, she would see them. She had to.
Her eyes blazed as she stood up, holding the box.
Rumble! Boom!
The artifacts, consumed whole, reacted violently within the Corrupt Dragon's body.
They began to absorb the surrounding spiritual power at a terrifying speed.
If the earlier flow of spiritual power had been a mere trickle, it was now a raging torrent, a waterfall cascading into his Core, opening a path to a new level of power.
‘So this is the power you possessed… that’s why you were so arrogant…’
He had thought that the little girl had been bluffing, trying to appear strong before the Six Clans warriors.
‘But she wasn’t!’
As life returned to his decaying scales, a wave of exhilaration washed over him, his mind reeling. ‘This day has finally come! All that I’ve endured… it was all for this moment!’
He wanted to laugh, to cry, to scream.
“You’re not a Divine Beast.”
“This is between Divine Beasts, so please mind your own business.”
He had endured such humiliation, such condescending remarks from a mere child, all so he could become a Divine Beast, to reach that final step, to see that new horizon with his own eyes!
He calmed himself, suppressing his excitement, and curled his massive body within the swirling pillar of light, like a fetus in the womb, waiting to be reborn. Just then…
Something began.
It started as a faint tremor.
A tiny pinprick of pain, an unpleasant sensation amidst the overwhelming euphoria.
It was so small that he almost didn’t notice it.
But the pain intensified, growing sharper, deeper.
And at the same time, the flow of spiritual power into his body slowed.
His eyes snapped open.
‘What?! Who?! Who dares interrupt my transformation?!’
“!!”
His gaze fell upon a young woman, who was holding the unconscious First Consort's hand, her expression calm as she healed the First Consort, repairing her shattered Core, gathering her scattered spiritual power and channeling it back into her broken body.
…Repairing her Core…?
The light surrounding him flickered, dimming slightly.
‘No… no!!’
As the young woman’s healing light intensified, the flow of spiritual power into his body slowed further, then stopped completely.
He desperately tried to absorb the remaining spiritual power with the artifacts, but it was no use.
—You… you bitch!! You!!!
“Why that look? I'm just being a dutiful daughter, since you refuse to acknowledge your own mother. Shouldn’t you be grateful?”
—Ju Sehwa!!!!
“Yes, as you can feel…” Sehwa's eyes curved into a smile, “…it’s not you who’s becoming a Divine Beast, but your mother.”
Crack! Shatter!
Just as she spoke, cracks appeared on the pillar of light that had been encasing him. It began to crumble, unable to maintain its form without the influx of spiritual power.
Small pinpricks of pain spread throughout his body, but he was too enraged to notice. His vision blurred with fury.
‘No!!!!’
This couldn't be happening! Not like this!!
That impudent bitch! How dare she try to steal his chance, his destiny?! How dare she give it to that woman?!
Who gave her the right?!
—!!!!
The Corrupt Dragon roared, a deafening sound that threatened to shatter their eardrums.
—Kill her!! Warriors of the Ju Clan!! Kill her!! Now!!
The Mystic Ruler also gritted his teeth as he watched.
‘You idiot! You fool!’
After consuming so many Spirit Orbs and artifacts, he still failed?!
‘No… if he loses to Ju Sehwa… I won’t be able to switch bodies… I’ll die in this body…’
He felt a wave of dizziness at the thought of what would happen if the Corrupt Dragon died.
He also shouted, his voice hoarse, “Kill her! Kill that bitch, Ju Sehwa! Go! Attack!”
Battles between mystics weren’t decided by numbers, but by the difference in their spiritual power. Even a thousand highly trained warriors could be slaughtered by a single mystic with strong, pure spiritual power.
The Ju Clan had been able to maintain its rule because their bloodline possessed the strongest spiritual power among the Seven Clans.
But that was before the Divine Beasts appeared.
“Come.”
Baek Giha, his eyes cold, a chilling smile on his lips, drew his sword and stepped forward, a white aura swirling around him, a clear warning to anyone who dared to interfere.
Crack!
Ice formed around his feet with each step.
The Ju Clan warriors, their mouths dry, hesitated, then retreated, their fear palpable.
Hadn't the last war proven that they couldn't defeat him, no matter how many of them there were?
“You fools! Attack! Can’t you hear me?! Use your lives to clear a path!!!” the Mystic Ruler screamed.
At his words, a dark, murderous intent filled the eyes of the Ju Clan warriors, not directed at Baek Giha, but at the Mystic Ruler himself. What right did this Young Lord, who had murdered his own father and usurped his position, have to order them to their deaths?
They had only come this far because of the Guduks within their bodies, the fear of disobeying, the certainty of death.
The Mystic Ruler, oblivious to their resentment, sneered,
‘You dare defy me?’
He gritted his teeth, blood trickling down his chin.
‘Fine, I’ll show you what happens to those who defy me! You’ll regret this!’
He channeled his power, summoning the Mystic Ruler’s Sword, which he had obtained by killing his son. Since the inauguration ceremony had been interrupted, he couldn't access the full power of the Mystic Ruler without the sword, his only means of controlling the warriors with the seal or the Guduks.
A red aura swirled around his hand.
“......”
But the sword didn’t appear.
‘What?’
He tried again, channeling more power.
“......”
Still nothing.
‘What… what’s going on? Why isn’t it appearing?! I killed him! I took the sword—’
And then he remembered.
The moment his son’s dagger had pierced his side, he had dropped the sword.
The white blade, unable to contain the power of the unsealed Red Dragon’s Spirit Orb, had shattered.
“......”
He needed the sword to control the warriors, to force them to fight Baek Giha.
The blood drained from his face.
…The sword was gone.
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