"Of course. Since she stepped forward for the Central Plains, who would raise any objection to that?"

At the exchange between the Alliance Leader and Gun Hye-rin, a bit of commotion stirred among the Martial Alliance in the rear and the martial artists of the Central Plains.

"Did the Alliance Leader just say Heavenly Demon Cult?"

"That demonic qi... looks like a demonic cultivator, all right. And a Flower Realm one at that."

"If she’s a Flower Realm demonic cultivator, does that mean she’s a master of Extreme Demon?"

"But wasn’t that woman clearly Hero So’s wife?"

"Gasp? R-right!"

With the Heavenly Demon Cult mentioned and Gun Hye-rin scattering demonic qi as she stepped forth, there was no avoiding a stir among the martial artists of the Central Plains; and once it was revealed by someone that she was So-ryong’s wife, people’s expressions turned to shock.

Because it meant the hero of the martial world, Great Hero So, had taken a woman of the Demonic Cult as his wife.

He devised San Gong Du to deal with the Blood Cultists, and isn’t he also the heir of the Alliance Leader?

The low murmur swelled on and on without breaking, and then it happened.

As the dust of Heavenly Demon Mugeuk Fist that Gun Hye-rin had detonated cleared, the Blood Demon reappeared.

Her left shoulder was gone.

From the fierce punch, one of the Blood Demon’s shoulders had been completely erased.

Yet not a single drop of blood flowed.

Unlike the languid expression until now, the Blood Demon’s gaze turned sharp as she looked at Gun Hye-rin and opened her mouth.

Her lip corner twitching as she spoke.

"Heavenly Demon Mugeuk Fist? You wench—what is your rank in the Heavenly Demon Cult!? Judging by your age, are you a Little Heavenly Demon?"

At those words, Gun Hye-rin gave a small snort and replied.

"Bow your head, petty wench of the Blood Demon Corps. This lady is the current Heavenly Demon, Lady Gun Hye-rin. I have personally come to punish the dog that bit her master."

As Gun Hye-rin looked at the Blood Demon with indifferent eyes as though at a lesser creature and spoke, the uproar that had briefly quieted at the Blood Demon’s revealed form as the dust lifted began to swell again.

"Th—the Heavenly Demon!?"

"Not merely a woman of the Demonic Cult, but th—the Heavenly Demon?"

"No way, Great Hero So..."

"Could it be that Great Hero So has been deceived by a woman of the Demonic Cult?"

"Hmph..."

People kept calling for So-ryong.

As expected, voices spread suggesting that So-ryong had been fooled by a woman of the Demonic Cult and taken her as his wife.

But at someone’s words, the story began to twist.

"What do you mean, Great Hero So is at the Manifestation Realm. Would someone like that be easily deceived?"

"That’s true. In that case, he must have forced the Heavenly Demon Cult to its knees without us knowing."

"R-right. Otherwise how could he take the head of the Heavenly Demon Cult, the Heavenly Demon, as his wife?"

"Indeed, the greatest humiliation for a woman is to become the enemy’s wife and bear his child, isn’t it?"

"Hooh. As expected of a great hero."

While everyone’s opinion flowed toward the notion that he had subdued the Heavenly Demon Cult lurking in the Central Plains for the sake of the Central Plains, and made the Heavenly Demon submit as his wife—

—Fwooom.

A massive force began to spew from the Blood Demon’s body.

The Blood Demon’s body trembled all over.

With a wet splurt from the Blood Demon’s left shoulder, blood spouted and in an instant the arm was regenerated.

Soon the Blood Demon, expression corrected, raised clawed hands and spoke.

"So, you are the seed of a filthy line. Today I will erase that filthy blood and the Heavenly Demon Cult from the Central Plains forever."

What had sprouted in the Blood Demon’s hands was the Blood Cult’s art, Blood-Water Venom Claw.

From the glaringly red, blood-colored nails, blood dripped, drip, drip.

Seeing that, Gun Hye-rin spoke with a look of disdain.

"Hmph. Seems you’ve forgotten the fact you were burned by Sammae Flame Purification into a fist-sized lump of blood."

"Y-you dare!"

"Our forebear said so. That you rammed your head at his feet and begged for your life. Most earnestly, at that."

Back then, the Blood Demon had been defeated by the Heavenly Demon, burned entirely by Sammae Flame Purification, and barely transferred her soul into a blood crystal.

Having barely preserved only her soul like that, and, in the state of a blood crystal, having fed on the blood offered as tribute until she barely revived—she now, at Gun Hye-rin’s words, spewed rage and charged.

"Die! I intended to raise the people of the Central Plains as my pigs, but I will not leave a single one of the Heavenly Demon Cult alive."

Because what Gun Hye-rin said was true.

A bitter defeat suffered for failing to ascend to the Manifestation Realm.

Locked in the ultimate barrier, every last drop of her blood had burned.

In that process, she had indeed begged for her life in desperation.

Because at the time she hadn’t known the Great Blood Crystal Art would succeed, and the fear that she might die took hold.

It was something she wanted erased completely from memory.

—Shraaak!

The Blood Demon lunged fast and slashed with long claws made of blood.

Startled by a body technique faster than expected, Gun Hye-rin threw herself back in great alarm, when the Martial Alliance Leader stepped in front of her and shouted.

"A fine ruse to provoke!"

By nature, though it may work on a lesser, it is not easy to disturb the mind of a master.

The higher one’s realm rises, the stronger the heart grows with the body, so one does not easily fall for petty taunts.

But seeing her explode her energy and charge, it seemed the ploy had worked properly.

Thus he praised it, but Gun Hye-rin, with a face saying that wasn’t her intent at all, spoke.

"Not particularly. I only stated the facts."

"Y-y-you wretch!"

As a curse burst from the Blood Demon’s mouth—

—Crunch.

"Khk."

With a face as if it were nothing, Gun Hye-rin slipped past the Martial Alliance Leader who had blocked the Blood Demon and drove her fist in again.

Hwa-eun and the Princess rushed in from either side.

Swift Walker soared above the Blood Demon’s head, while Leg Demon So Su-ryeon and Geolhwang took the rear.

"Die!"

The first strike was by Leg Demon So Su-ryeon.

Her one leg speared down toward the head.

A leg that plunged from midair like lightning, aimed at the head.

The Blood Demon swiftly swung her remaining hand toward Hwa-eun to open space and threw her body that way.

In the spot the Blood Demon vacated, Swift Walker’s fist-and-foot strike skimmed empty air, and the Princess’s sword brushed past the lapel.

As everyone’s attacks thus came to nothing, the Blood Demon raked her long claws wildly and retreated backward.

But Gun Hye-rin pursued and drove in another blow.

—Crunch.

Gun Hye-rin’s strike severed the Blood Demon’s other arm again, yet the Blood Demon did not let out even a groan.

The retreating Blood Demon shouted to the Blood Cultists waiting in the rear.

"Charge!"

To throw mere fighters into a battle between Flower Realm masters?

It was an action that made no sense.

Because the difference in realm was such that they could not even be opponents.

All they could do was rush in and die—but at the Blood Demon’s command, the Blood Cultists who had been waiting behind rushed forward like mad.

"Uwaaaah! Blood Under Heaven!"

"Blood Under Heaven!"

Their eyes were full of fear, and yet they did not stop and charged, the Blood Cult’s believers.

But as they surged in, they toppled one after another right on the spot.

From the outset, Flower Realm masters stood thickly gathered, and to charge into that was nonsensical.

—Shk.

When the Princess’s sword swept horizontally, a dozen fell at once.

—Crack!

One struck by Leg Demon So Su-ryeon’s one leg flew backward and exploded the others as well.

Those who took Gun Hye-rin’s punch fell with stomachs pierced through.

After about the span of a cup of tea, Blood Cultists lay strewn all around.

So many corpses piled that no more Blood Cultists could come forward from behind.

Then it happened.

"Grk."

As he cut down one Blood Cultist who had staggered forward through the corpses, a rough groan burst from Swift Walker’s mouth.

As everyone turned their eyes that way, Swift Walker was letting out a groan with his foot skewered by a spear of blood that had shot up from the blood pool.

A red spear that had pierced the instep and thrust up to Swift Walker’s knee.

"Th-this is?"

In the instant everyone was flustered at that sight—

—Shraaak! Shraaaak!

Spears of blood brimming with murderous intent shot up from the ground in succession.

Spears that looked more than three feet long sprang from the ground and were mercilessly fired toward Hwa-eun, Gun Hye-rin, the Princess, and the Flower Realm masters including the Alliance Leader.

The Alliance Leader, who had trained strong external arts and whose body technique was comparatively slower, had his abdomen pierced, and Swift Walker, who had lost one foot, had both legs torn to shreds.

While saving the two, even Geolhwang had an arm ripped off and sent flying.

The sun was setting.

***

We departed from Dai Viet and sped northwest.

While flying, scattered below, patches of red masses came into view.

They looked like Blood Cult scum moving in clusters of a thousand as reinforcement troops.

It seemed the remaining fifty thousand were following the main force from the rear.

As we sped swiftly along the river, a voice reached my ears.

"To think we have to leave that alone..."

When I turned my head, I caught Wheel Lady Heo Muha’s face looking down with a regretful expression.

Since she favors mowing down the weak, leaving them seemed to pain her.

I reminded Senior that that wasn’t what mattered right now.

"If we are delayed dealing with that, the main force could be annihilated."

"I know. I know. Still, it’s just frustrating, you know."

We soothed Senior, who clicked her tongue, and continued moving fast.

As the sun began to set, curious about the battle situation, I asked in the group chat.

『"Hwa-eun, how did it go?"』

They’d said the fight broke out early in the morning, and yet it had been quiet until now.

But no voice came back.

Just then the river came into view.

This river crosses Dai Viet and Yunnan.

It meant we were almost at the Beast Palace.

"We’re almost there! Kids, hang in there!"

—Trrrrr. 『Got it. Dad!』

—Shaaa! 『Understood, Soryong-nim!』

At my shout, Yeondu and Cho picked up speed, and after about an hour of flight, at the moment the sun just set, we reached a place where the Beast Palace came into view.

Off in the distance near the entrance of the Beast Palace, over which darkness had begun to fall, a crimson tide caught my eye.

The plain all around and the entrance to the Beast Palace were packed with Blood Cult warriors in red uniforms.

Did they say fifty thousand troops?

The number fifty thousand was more tremendous than one might think.

It was much like when army ants swarmed the entrance to the Beast Palace.

At that moment, Senior Staff King Gam Muncheong looked down and spoke in a startled voice.

"Don’t tell me, the earthen fortress has been breached?"

"In not even a single day?"

From what I’d heard from Hwa-eun, they had even laid formations and prepared the defenses thoroughly, yet it felt like it had broken through faster than expected.

However, it seemed the gourd-mouth entrance had not been breached.

In the vision of the Beast-Eye Art, no crimson tide could /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ be seen inside the gourd.

With surprise giving way to slight relief, I spoke.

"Fortunately, it seems they haven’t broken through all the way into the Beast Palace."

"That’s a relief if so, but..."

At that moment, Hwa-eun’s voice, for which we’d been waiting in the group chat, came through.

『"So-ryong!"

"Hwa-eun! What’s happening?"』

I asked urgently, but no answer came.

Just then, below, at the gourd-mouth entrance, I caught sight of my wives dodging red spears that were bursting up from the ground.

Each time a witch-like woman in the rear flicked her hand, dozens of spears would surge up.

That was probably the Blood Demon, and behind my wives, I saw the Alliance Leader, Senior Swift Walker, and Senior Geolhwang fallen and bleeding.

The three were dragged by some woman, hauled to the rear, and then pulled farther back by other warriors.

It looked like the three were badly hurt and had retired from the field.

I glanced to the side and spoke.

"It seems the Alliance Leader and Senior Swift Walker are seriously injured."

"What!?"

"What did you say?"

Clearly it was urgent, and that was why Hwa-eun hadn’t answered, so I called for Moji and Soji.

『"Moji, Soji, I’ve arrived. Come this way! To the Beast Palace entrance!"』

I didn’t know how badly they were hurt, but if they could be healed and returned, the odds of taking the Blood Demon would rise.

After ascending to Manifestation, all issues regarding martial arts had disappeared.

I mean the things that became problems because, though I was at the same realm as other masters, my actual combat experience and the like were lower.

From the Manifestation Realm on, one need not be bound by set forms; one can load hard qi or intent into every motion, so those drawbacks vanished—but even so, I expected the Blood Demon would not be easy.

Because she could keep regenerating her body.

『—Kissit. (Brother!)

—Trrrr. (Dad!)

—Myu-myu, (Ah, it’s Daddy So-ryong!)

—Myuuu. (Daddy’s here!)

—Chii. (So-ryong!)』

As my voice came through, the group chat grew noisy.

Dropping down from atop Yeondu, I fed the Blood Demon’s head a Toad Explosive Palm.

—Bang!

"Make way for this body!"