Chapter 289 : Entry into the Blood Palace (2)
Chapter 289: Entry into the Blood Palace (2)
When the martial artists of the Allied Forces passed through the Entrance of the Blood Palace, a bizarre space resembling a labyrinth unfolded inside.
Since it was a structure that soared upward, they had to find stairs leading to the upper levels, but even if it appeared simple, it was by no means easy.
True to the word labyrinth, the Blood Palace’s interior—where room after room was connected like a maze—was anomalous, as if space itself had been cut apart countless times, then stacked and stitched back together in layers. Its structure allowed not even the slightest view of the outside, making it impossible to sense direction.
Moreover, the Evil Qi thickly spread in all directions numbed even the sense of orientation of the martial artists who had entered.
“Cough, kh—!”
One of the Allied Forces’ martial artists unknowingly held his breath.
What reflected in his eyes was a space like a living hell.
The space, twisted by the Blood Demon’s power, exuded a terrifying pressure that the martial artists could hardly endure.
The interior of the Blood Palace was not a simple labyrinth. It was a living anomaly—one where the Blood Demon’s will had been manifested into reality.
Chwaaa!
Pa-at!
“Th-They’re coming!!”
“Block them!!”
“Kill them!!”
From all sides, all manner of anomalous abominations, malevolent spirits and monsters, demonic practitioners, and jiangshi charged in, gnawing away at both flesh and mental fortitude.
“Kuaaaagh!!”
In the end, one martial artist was seized by an abomination and let out a scream.
But no one could save him.
The abominations’ bodies were as hard as solid steel, and the martial artists’ martial arts did not work on them at all.
Seogeogeok!
Pupupuk!
From all throughout the Blood Palace, horrific sounds of flesh and bone being torn and sliced echoed endlessly.
“Grr.”
Gunggi, who had descended into the Heavenly Demon’s body, growled irritably.
Sewoon’s group was also calmly advancing forward while cutting down their enemies.
However, their situation was clearly different from the other groups.
In Gunggi’s eyes, all the anomalies—including the malevolent spirits and monsters—were nothing more than prey.
Kwa-deuk!
The Ferocious Divine Corpse clenched its fist and crushed the head of the malevolent spirit it was holding.
Bone marrow flowed down through its fingers.
The Ferocious Divine Corpse then charged at the other enemies.
Kwaang!
Kwagagak!
Each time it destroyed the heads of the other malevolent spirits and monsters, their bodies turned ashen and vanished amid dreadful thunderous booms.
Overwhelmed by its power, the other anomalies recoiled in terror, but it was already too late.
Mocking their fear, the Ferocious Divine Corpse trampled their bodies underfoot.
Gunggi truly possessed destructive power befitting the name Ferocious God.
“Tsk. It’s strong enough already, but it makes beast noises too—makes it even scarier.”
Watching the scene, Nameless shook his head as he spoke.
When Gunggi shot him a sharp glare after hearing the insult, Nameless quickly averted his eyes and whistled.
Although he had been disguised as a warrior of the Beast Palace, Nameless no longer needed to act and had returned to his original chatty self.
Like the Ferocious Divine Corpse, Nameless was cutting off the enemies’ lifelines, but then he turned his gaze to one side.
Unlike before, his expression grew solemn.
Since entering the Blood Palace, he had sensed that his senior brother had been strangely silent, and so he sent a telepathic message.
[By the way, Senior Brother. Are you really okay with these guys? If they somehow gain freedom because of the Blood Demon, they look like they’d point their blades at you. Especially that one.]
Where Nameless looked, a middle-aged martial artist possessed by madness was rampaging.
“Kahahaha!! Die, all of you!!”
The one scattering dreadful poisonous qi while running wild was none other than the Poison Demon, Yelü Sheng.
Yelü Sheng was also mixed in with the Demonic Cult’s forces, fighting in battle.
However, since his identity must not be exposed to the orthodox faction’s martial artists, he wore a mask equipped with a locking mechanism that prevented him from speaking the Demonic Cult’s fabricated language.
Moreover, because it was unclear what strange behavior he might display upon entering the Blood Palace, Sewoon had personally kept him close.
With his mouth now free, the Poison Demon was rampaging as if he had found his own world.
“…….”
Yet Sewoon gave no response.
Nameless let out a deep sigh.
‘Sigh… I really don’t know if this is okay.’
What in the world was his senior brother thinking, and what was he worrying about?
Deep concern for Sewoon took root within Nameless’s heart.
Of course, even now, Sewoon’s face showed firm resolve—but at the same time, it also revealed profound pain and sorrow.
Having watched Sewoon for a long time, Nameless could clearly see his current state.
Once again, the man was trying to bear everything alone.
Just as Nameless feared, Sewoon was lost in his thoughts.
Before entering the Blood Palace, Sewoon had burned with fighting spirit, but now his composure had sunk low.
Yet it could not be helped.
At that moment, Sewoon swept his gaze around.
To others, the Blood Palace looked like a grotesque labyrinth, but to Sewoon, it appeared entirely different.
The countless rooms of the Blood Palace, where innumerable places were chaotically mixed together, felt far too familiar to him.
That was only natural.
This was not the Blood Palace of the ‘present.’
It was an exact recreation of the Blood Palace where Sewoon had lived as a slave for over a decade before his regression.
Each time Sewoon cleared a room and moved forward, rooms filled with memories he never wished to recall appeared before him.
What reflected in his eyes were the places of his sins and regrets from before his regression.
The smithy where, by the Blood Demon’s command, he had crafted weapons for the Blood Cult’s demonic practitioners.
The underground prison where he had been locked away as a crippled wreck after becoming lame.
The space where surviving orthodox practitioners, who had hurled curses at him, were turned into jiangshi.
This place—the Blood Palace—was not merely a jumble of space.
It had become a truly inhuman realm where even time and worlds were intertwined.
And there was only one reason the Blood Demon had created the Blood Palace in this form.
Solely to mock and torment him.
Sewoon’s guilt and sorrow weighed heavily upon his shoulders.
Just as his head felt like it was about to split—
“Kihihi. Disciple brat, you’re getting caught up in useless stray thoughts again.”
“……!!”
The Poison Demon, Yelü Sheng, suddenly approached and snickered at Sewoon.
From within his ruined body, his ashen pupils stared directly at him.
Yelü Sheng had clearly lost his eyesight, yet for some reason, Sewoon felt as though the man was peering straight into his inner self.
“……Please refrain from useless worries.”
“Kihihi, then all you have to do is not waver from such pathetic tricks.”
“…!!”
At that moment, Poison Demon Yelü Sheng stretched out his hand toward Tang Sewoon.
Sssaaaah!
Chwaaaah!
The poisonous qi of Angshin Tears pouring out from his hand burrowed straight into Sewoon.
‘This is…?’
Normally, once poisonous qi seeped in, it brought unbearable agony followed by death. However, within Sewoon already resided the very same poisonous qi possessed by Yelü Sheng.
The power of two Angshin Tears, sharing the same origin, resonated with each other, clearing Sewoon’s previously chaotic mind.
“How is it? Doesn’t your head feel a bit clearer now?”
Yelü Sheng spoke while still curling up the corners of his mouth.
He genuinely regarded Sewoon as his own disciple and was trying to purify Sewoon’s Inner Demons.
Just as Sewoon was left unable to respond to this unexpected action, Yelü Sheng uttered something even more unexpected.
“This damned space spread out before us must be the reason you knew the future memories so thoroughly. But what can be done about it? What has already passed is called the past because it is over. If you cling to the past, you cannot defeat that monster.”
“......”
Sewoon could not refute him.
Because it was true.
Strangely enough, as he listened to Yelü Sheng’s words, the confusion in Sewoon’s mind seemed to clear.
“Kihihi, this is what experience is. You may be half a step ahead of your master in martial arts, but you still have an endless amount left to learn! Kihihihi!”
As if he truly were Sewoon’s master, Yelü Sheng lightly patted his shoulder in encouragement and strode forward.
Listening to him, Sewoon once again steeled his resolve.
He decided that he would no longer be shackled by the pain of the past.
As he did, Sewoon looked at Yelü Sheng’s back as he walked ahead.
Before the regression, Yelü Sheng had been a dreadful demon who tormented him and stole everything from him.
But the present Yelü Sheng was a completely different being.
Step.
“Senior Brother.”
“……!”
At that moment, Assassin Nameless quietly approached and spoke to Sewoon.
When Sewoon met his eyes, concern was plainly visible within them.
Feeling that warmth, Sewoon let out a faint chuckle and spoke.
“Thank you for worrying about me. But I’m really fine now.”
“…Well, that’s a relief then.”
“Good. From here on, let’s pick up the pace and push through quickly. We need to move to the upper levels as fast as possible.”
“Understood.”
“Now, Gunggi.”
“Grr?”
Sewoon called out to Gunggi as if calling a pet dog.
Meeting Gunggi’s gaze, Sewoon gave his order.
“Destroy everything that blocks our path.”
“Grr!”
From that point on, Sewoon’s group crushed the first floor with unstoppable momentum.
The overwhelming power of the Ferocious Divine Corpse, the terrifying poisonous qi of the Poison Demon, and the assassination techniques of Assassin Nameless combined, grinding all enemies to pieces.
And then—
“Disappear.”
From Sewoon’s hand, Pure Yang Sword Radiance erupted, sweeping away all the anomalies within the Blood Palace as if to purify everything.
It was a natural outcome.
Those belonging to Sewoon’s group possessed the highest combat power even when compared to all martial artists of the Allied Forces combined.
Even the powerful malevolent spirits and anomalous abominations were shattered like toys, their limbs torn apart as they died.
And finally—
“Found it! There are stairs here.”
They discovered stairs leading from the first floor up to the upper levels.
“Let’s go in.”
Without hesitation, Sewoon leapt up the stairs.
Nameless, the Ferocious Divine Corpse, and the Poison Demon followed behind him.
Wooooong!
Kwaaaarrr!
As they ascended the stairs, they could see the surrounding space warping and intertwining.
Space was once again plunging into chaos.
Kwaaaarrr!
Kugugugugu!
Watching that violent torrent of Evil Qi, Sewoon calmly assessed the situation.
‘As expected, the higher we go, the stronger the malevolent spirits and anomalies become.’
The Blood Palace was a structure where the level of danger increased the higher one ascended.
Chwaaaah!
[We’re about to enter, Senior Brother!]
At that moment, Nameless’s telepathic message rang out.
Looking ahead, the end of the stairs was indeed visible.
Hwaaak!
Soon after, the full view of a new room came into everyone’s sight.
‘This place.’
After confirming the surroundings, Sewoon furrowed his brows.
Like the spaces they had seen before, this was a place Sewoon could never forget.
A horrific space filled with the stench of blood and pus.
There, traces of death and suffering were tangled together like a spider’s web.
On the walls, countless human faces were carved in forms that looked almost alive, their features twisted in agony.
–Pl-Please! Please kill me!!
–Aaaah!! I don’t want to live like this!!
–It’s all your fault! This is because of you!!
The Confinement Chamber, where the survivors of the Sichuan Tang Clan had lost their eyes and died amid unbearable suffering, spread out before them.
And within that horrific space, a middle-aged man stood as if he had been waiting for them.
“You’re late.”
“!!”
His name was Hyeong Eyang.
The current Sect Leader of the Gate of Assassins.
And—
Nameless’s biological father.