Chapter 133 : Demon of Prayers (3)
Chapter 133: Demon of Prayers (3)
-You wish to be of help to the Palace Lord, do you not?
-Then just follow my words.
To confess, when Sewoon had first told him that—Umun Tak had felt doubt arise in his heart.
But it was not doubt toward Sewoon, who had saved him from despair.
Rather, it was doubt about himself—how could one called the disgrace of Beast Palace possibly aid his Senior Brother?
It was doubt about his own capability.
Yet before departing for his mission—
-“Th-this power, what is it?”
-“Follow my Senior Brother. Once you arrive, you will naturally understand what kind of power it is.”
Sewoon had awakened within him an ability even Umun Tak himself had not known existed.
As soon as the mission was complete, he had rushed all the way from Deep Fog Valley to the Heavenly Martial Stage.
And the moment he arrived, a voice calling out to him thundered through the air.
“Now, Umun Tak!!”
His heart pounded wildly.
Would he truly be able to live up to Sewoon’s expectations?
Could someone like him really aid his Senior Brother?
[Now, monster! Go and show them your strength!]
At that moment, Nameless—who had fought alongside him to annihilate the Blood Cult warriors at Deep Fog Valley—pushed him forward.
It was nothing more than a light shove, yet his tension melted away.
Fwoosh!
In that instant, a sacred light began to blaze within both of Umun Tak’s eyes.
From his dantian, a brilliant golden Wildfire (野火) began to burn fiercely.
At last, Umun Tak opened the mouth that had been sealed shut.
“Your master commands you.”
He no longer stuttered.
In the moment he realized his worth and purpose, he overcame the habit that had plagued him from nervousness.
The divine might of Wildfire was manifesting.
Step!
Step, step!
Within the dim corridor leading to the Heavenly Martial Stage, endless footsteps resounded.
At the same time, two hundred pairs of baleful, gleaming eyes flared in the darkness.
They belonged to the Hundred Soul Jiangshi that Umun Tak had seized from the Demon of Prayers in Deep Fog Valley.
“Destroy every enemy that dares to harm my brothers.”
He commanded them to sweep away all in their path.
Thud!
Shaa!
At lightning speed, the Soul Jiangshi charged endlessly into the battlefield.
The first Soul Jiangshi to reach the fray tore apart a Monstrous Jiangshi with both hands, as if ripping paper.
Crunch!
Crack!
Another Monstrous Jiangshi was crushed and destroyed.
The raw might of the Soul Jiangshi easily overwhelmed that of the Monstrous ones.
Seeing the new Jiangshi that had suddenly joined their side, the warriors of Beast Palace could not hide their stunned expressions.
And when they realized that it was Umun Tak who was controlling them, their shock only deepened.
The only one who accepted the sight calmly was Sewoon.
‘As expected, he’s overwhelming.’
Umun Tak was performing exactly as Sewoon had foreseen.
Though it was his first time commanding Jiangshi, his control was on par with that of the Demon of Prayers, who had devoted his entire life to the art of Necromancy.
What made such a feat possible was none other than the Wildfire residing within Umun Tak.
The Beast Palace’s hereditary bloodline carried the power of Life.
Yet hidden within their lineage was another, secretly passed down through blood—the power of Death.
That was Wildfire.
The word ‘Beast’ in Beast Palace did not originate from Chuk Yeoun’s coarse martial style.
Its origin lay in the natural cycle of life and death—the birth and demise of a living beast.
Before the regression, when Umun Tak took his own life, the Blood Cult deeply lamented losing Wildfire forever.
The Demon of Prayers, in particular, had wept blood.
He had realized too late that without Wildfire, the Soul Jiangshi would forever remain incomplete.
The influence of Wildfire upon the Soul Jiangshi was far greater than he had imagined.
‘Through Wildfire, the Soul Jiangshi are bound to their master—and as their master grows stronger, their own combat power increases exponentially.’
Crack!
Rip!
[Graaaah!]
At that moment, one of Umun Tak’s Soul Jiangshi tore off the head of a Monstrous Jiangshi attacking Umun Geol—
Crunch!
Crack!
—and crushed it in its fist.
Even though Umun Tak’s cultivation was only at the Peak Master Level, his destructive power was that immense.
These two hundred Soul Jiangshi would later prove their worth in the great war against the Blood Cult.
But for every side that rejoiced, there was one that despaired.
‘How the hell does that wretch have Soul Jiangshi?!’
The Demon of Prayers, who had painstakingly created them only to watch them stolen away before his eyes, was beyond shock.
And what made it worse—
‘Damn it! The soul engravings of the Jiangshi are already complete. I can’t reclaim ownership now…!’
The control over a Soul Jiangshi could only belong to the one who had inscribed their soul engraving.
Once that engraving was complete, even killing the master would not return ownership.
Upon their master’s death, they would merely go berserk and rampage across the battlefield until they burned themselves out.
In short—it was irreversible.
All his bloody efforts had gone to waste, and the vast wealth of the Blood Cult spent creating them had melted away into nothing.
Even if he somehow survived and returned to the headquarters, he could not imagine the punishment awaiting him.
But none of this made sense.
‘That useless fool—how could he possibly?’
Soul engravings required mastery of a sufficiently advanced level of Soul Arts.
To control Soul Jiangshi, one needed at least complete mastery of the Transformation Realm.
Yet the man before him had not even reached the Supreme Peak Realm, let alone Transformation.
“Where are you looking?”
“!!”
While his attention was still on Umun Tak, Sewoon’s voice suddenly echoed right beside his ear.
When had he gotten so close?
As the Demon of Prayers turned, Sewoon was already standing before the barrier of condensed qi.
‘Just a moment ago, he was fighting the Extinction Jiangshi…!’
The Demon of Prayers’ eyes widened as if they were about to burst when he looked toward where Sewoon had been standing.
Crack!
In that spot stood a mysterious ice statue.
An icy pillar—utterly out of place in the scorching heat of the Southern Barbarians—rose upright.
‘What in the…?!’
And inside that pillar, the Extinction Jiangshi that had been battling Sewoon was sealed.
The Demon of Prayers felt his heart drop.
It wasn’t because Sewoon could wield Yin-Cold Qi.
‘N-no! That must be retrieved!’
He had already lost all of his Soul Jiangshi to Umun Tak—now to have his Extinction Jiangshi seized by Sewoon as well?
Such a disastrous outcome could not be allowed.
The Demon of Prayers quickly redistributed his qi within the barrier of protective energy and attempted to manipulate his Soul Arts again.
Crack!
The corpse lying beside the ice statue opened its mouth and regurgitated a Storage Talisman.
However, this time he was trying to use it to retrieve the Extinction Jiangshi trapped inside the ice pillar.
Sizzle!
Fwoosh!
The activated talisman failed to reach its goal and instead was devoured completely by emerald flames, leaving no trace.
“Graah!!”
The backlash from the failed sorcery sent the Demon of Prayers writhing in pain.
For some reason, the retrieval had failed.
“Tsk, tsk. You think that would work?”
“Grrk, you…!!”
Sewoon clicked his tongue and mocked him.
Beneath the ice, he had already entwined the Extinction Thread—imbued with his most powerful demon-subduing force—around it.
It was the one and only measure he had taken against the three Extinction Jiangshi.
‘After all, I let him summon those Jiangshi just so I could retrieve that Emei Sect’s Extinction Jiangshi myself.’
At any rate, the Extinction Jiangshi would remain sealed within the ice until the battle was over.
Which meant only one task remained for Sewoon now.
‘Break through the Qi Barrier. And then—’
He would finally annihilate the Demon of Prayers.
A chilling killing intent filled Sewoon’s eyes.
Swoosh!
The air split apart with a fierce tearing sound.
Boom!!
A thunderous roar followed.
Sewoon’s fist, wrapped in Innate True Qi, slammed into the Qi Barrier.
Yet the barrier didn’t bear a single scratch.
The Demon of Prayers, briefly tense, let out a sneering laugh from within his protective wall.
“Kihihi, you idiot! Try it a hundred times, a thousand times more!”
Despite the provocation, Sewoon remained calm.
As expected, one wouldn’t be enough.
Shaa!
In an instant, the Extinction Thread of Heavenly Thread coiled around Sewoon’s right fist, forming the shape of a gauntlet.
‘Then I’ll use two.’
Rooaaar!
Vooom!
With a loud resonance, a brilliant golden light began to ripple from Sewoon’s hands.
The demon-subduing force of the Extinction Thread and the Innate True Qi began to merge as one.
Crack!
Sewoon pulled one foot back, drew his arm, and twisted his waist—then once again struck the barrier.
Boom!!
BOOOOM!!
The explosion was even greater than before. Unlike earlier, when there wasn’t even a scratch, this time a faint, thin crack appeared across the barrier.
“Y-you think a trick like that can shatter my Thousand Corpse Turtle Armor?!”
Of course, the Demon of Prayers noticed—but without showing it, he swiftly repaired the damaged spot.
Shaa!
‘Absolutely not!’
He poured even more demonic qi into the barrier, reinforcing it.
But Sewoon did not react to his efforts; instead, he muttered softly.
“If two aren’t enough…”
Then I’ll use three.
Fwoosh!
His entire body felt like it was burning.
The Ink Blood left behind by the Beast Battle God, Chuk Yeoun, wrapped around his soul.
Rumble!
Crackle!
At that moment, the structure of the Qi Barrier began to violently tremble.
‘Wh-what the—?! What’s happening?!’
The Demon of Prayers panicked at the unprecedented phenomenon.
Sewoon’s eyes had begun stealing the color of the Qi Barrier.
He had activated the Color-Stripping Eye (奪色眼), and without stopping, he pushed his fighting spirit to the very limit—a realm he had never reached before.
Crackle!
Fwoosh!
The power of Ink Blood coursing through his entire body burned hotter than any Yang Fire Qi Art. The upper half of his clothing was seared away.
The heat radiating from him felt like the blazing sun itself. Even the warriors of Beast Palace stopped mid-battle and turned their eyes toward him.
Then—they were struck with awe.
“Th-that’s…!!”
“H-how could he wield that power?!”
“Battle God…!”
None of the Beast Palace warriors could suppress the tremor in their hearts.
And with good reason.
As Sewoon’s burned clothes revealed his torso, a vivid flame-shaped Ink Imprint (入墨) was carved upon his flesh.
It was no ordinary Ink Imprint. They recognized it at a glance—
It was the mark signifying the rebirth of the long-awaited Battle God (투신).
Shaa!
Swoosh!
At that moment, Sewoon’s essence, energy, and spirit fused into one.
Step.
He lifted his head and looked into the barrier.
‘N-no…!!’
The Demon of Prayers trembled violently inside.
Sewoon spoke to him quietly, yet his words struck like thunder.
“One strike left.”
“!!”
Whoosh!
With a roaring shockwave, Sewoon threw his punch.
BOOOOM!!
Clang!!
A cataclysmic blast shook heaven and earth—the Qi Barrier shattered into countless fragments.