After a long silence, what brushed past the tip of the nose was a thick, viscous reek of blood.

The stench of blood rode the wind and wrapped around their whole bodies, and the echo of death steeped within it pressed down upon the chest.

There was no doubt the Blood Cult warriors had all been annihilated.

The moment the Blood Demon fell away from the front line, there would have been no stopping the rampaging spirit beasts.

Of all beings, those who controlled spirit beasts were most wary of the Blood Demon; now that the Blood Demon had vanished, this was only the natural result.

As helplessness crept up within the mortal flesh, a voice pierced the Blood Demon’s ears as the tent-flap was thrown open.

“There are unconscious women here!”

The Blood Demon and the priestess were discovered in the barracks and, together with the other women, were moved off to one side.

“Were their meridians sealed by Blood Art?”

“I don’t think that’s it. It looks like they were struck by some sinister method.”

“A soul-seizing technique, perhaps? We’ll show them to the Elders. It’s not good to leave them as they are—drag them outside for now and lay them down together.”

“Understood!”

They were carried by the warriors’ hands and laid on the grass near the tent.

As they waited for an Elder to come and examine the women, a man’s voice suddenly cut through the air.

“Hey. You gonna keep pretending to sleep?”

At such an out-of-the-blue remark, the Blood Demon at first assumed those words weren’t meant for him.

But the sensation at his ankle shattered that assumption.

The owner of the voice was gently tapping the Blood Demon’s foot with his toe. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Had he not lost his realm, he could have torn a gnat like this to pieces without lifting a finger. That accursed bird called Zimjo was hateful beyond measure.

Seething inside, the Blood Demon thought:

There was no way the man could know he was awake.

It had to be—yes—some mistake on the man’s part.

This body was a mortal’s body that had never trained ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ martial arts, but that didn’t mean he lacked knowledge of the arts.

By applying an adaptation of the Ghost-Breath Great Method, he had made himself appear as if his consciousness had been stolen.

So he lay deathly still and waited, and the man’s voice continued.

“So you wanna play it that way? Fine by me. Sister, where is it?”

— Chiiiii...

“The chest? Ah, that’s a little...”

At the word “chest,” the Blood Demon’s heart plummeted.

His eyelids twitched and almost opened of their own accord.

There was a Blood Crystal embedded in his chest.

The Blood Crystal was the Blood Demon’s lifeline, the root of his soul.

If anyone tried to tear it out by force, the Blood Demon’s consciousness would be sucked back into the crystal.

But that didn’t mean he could reveal he was awake now.

Even if he did, with this mortal body he couldn’t resist at all.

This vessel was feeble.

In that moment, something slid in, thrusting through the gap of his collar at his chest with a chilling sensation.

“W-wait!”

The Blood Demon snapped his eyes open on instinct.

He had never imagined they would try to check his chest directly.

Exposing a woman’s chest was an act that brought shame upon her.

Such was not something righteous martial artists of the Central Plains would do.

In his sight appeared that same high-realm master he had faced earlier.

And sitting beside him—an enormous butterfly.

The spirit creature’s crimson, glittering, gorgeous wings fluttered as its long proboscis parted the Blood Demon’s collar and extended toward the Blood Crystal.

Startled out of his wits, the Blood Demon threw up both hands to push the proboscis away, but a gust like an arrow struck and sealed his acupoints.

In an instant, every meridian of his body was suppressed, and his entire body below the neck froze like ice.

“D-don’t do this. You’ve—got the wrong idea, I—no, I don’t...”

The Blood Demon cried out.

A misunderstanding.

Whatever the misunderstanding was, it was a misunderstanding—just that.

The man smirked and asked again,

“What isn’t what?”

At that, the Blood Demon’s mind spun as he rattled off a quick excuse.

He was standing at death’s door.

Not even the smallest mistake could be allowed.

He had to convince this man somehow.

“I’m a priestess of the Blood Cult. I was born and raised within the cult doing only what I was told. I have never personally harmed anyone. I—I only served the Blood Demon, that’s all.”

Seeing that they might have realized he was the Blood Demon, he protested that he wasn’t—that he was a priestess. The man gave a short, cold laugh and said,

“Then what’s that on your chest?”

He barely managed to lower his eyes, and the Blood Crystal at the center of his chest was already exposed.

He hadn’t felt it because everything below the neck was suppressed, but the butterfly had used its long mouthpart to pull open his collar.

The Blood Demon spoke in a desperate voice.

“T-that—was embedded because I am a priestess. It’s—it’s merely the mark of a priestess.”

“Oh? Is that so? Funny, because my sister says the Blood Demon is inside there.”

“Th-that’s—r-ridiculous.”

How could they know so precisely?

Did that spirit creature have such an ability?

As the Blood Demon stared in disbelief, the man said,

“Sister, let’s stop arguing and eat. Nice and deep.”

— Chiiiii...

At the man’s words, the butterfly’s long, straw-like mouth thunked into the Blood Crystal, and pain surged.

A pain like his soul being ripped apart tore through the Blood Demon.

“Kyaaaaaah! No—it’s not me! I—it’s that woman. The woman lying there. It’s her! She’s the Blood Demon!”

The Blood Demon sold out the priestess.

To die for him—would be her honor.

“F-fine. I’m the Blood Demon! Don’t kill an innocent—kill me!”

The priestess also claimed she was the Blood Demon, but the man snorted.

“It’s fine. You’re both going. Sister says you’ll taste good, too.”

At that chilling remark, the Blood Demon howled,

“P-please. Please—have mercy. Spare me.

R-right. If you spare me, I’ll serve you for the rest of my life. T-this body—how about it? If you want, I can change into any body you desire as often as you like!”

It seemed everything had been seen through, so the Blood Demon begged for his life again.

Old scenes flashed like a revolving lantern.

That time his whole body burned and he begged the Heavenly Demon.

Shaking with humiliation, the only part that could move—above the neck—trembled, but even so, he had to live.

Anything but this empty, worthless death—losing his body to a bird and being sucked dry by a butterfly.

He could not go like this, having accomplished nothing, achieved nothing, subdued no one.

Years spent waiting for resurrection.

He had endured a darkness that could drive one mad—he could not accept this end.

At the Blood Demon’s offer, the man spoke in fury.

“Do you hear yourself? Do you know what you’ve put me through because of you!?”

“Eh?”

At the man’s blade-sharp shout, the butterfly paused as it was.

The Blood Demon couldn’t fathom the man’s reaction.

To offer the body of any woman he desired—a proposal so enticing—and yet why was he this enraged?

Then came the sound of feathers fluffing.

Flap-flap.

A bird landed beside the man.

Zimjo, was it?

The spirit creature with jet-black feathers tousled by the wind looked up at the man.

A yearning smoldered in its eyes, as if flames were burning there.

Then a voice rang out inside his head.

『Are you not done yet? Hurry and clear that away so we can go make a child.』

“Okay, okay—I get it. Let me finish this. And don’t say things like that in front of everyone.”

『Hoho. Are you embarrassed? How cute.』

The man flustered at those words.

He looked down at the Blood Demon once more.

His expression carried even more fury than before.

“No matter what you propose, it’s useless. Your crimes can be atoned for by nothing but death. Sister, why did you stop? Drink it down.”

— Chiiiiii...

At the man’s words, there came the sound of something being sucked out.

— Sluuuuuurp.

And with the sensation of his consciousness and will being drawn out somewhere, everything that made up the Blood Demon vanished in an instant.

His memories of martial arts, his awareness, his hun and baek.

All that remained of the existence once called the Blood Demon was a fist-sized, now transparent, hollow gem.

The Blood Demon did not know it, but the martial world of the Central Plains had watched it all.

A mighty cheer erupted.

“At last, the Blood Demon is gone!”

“The Blood Cult ends here!”

“Peace has finally come to the martial world!”

“Long live Hero So-ryong!”

“Long live!”

***

Shouts that peace had come to the martial world were rising all around—yet not for me.

My heart was as tangled as a battlefield.

『Now that it’s over, let’s go. Let us keep the promise. Give me a great, thick measure—filled to the brim.』

No—how had the one who radiated such a queenly aura changed like this?

Zimjo had appeared at the public execution ground and kept prodding me.

Hurry up and go make a baby, she said.

She spread her wings and gently patted me, wrapping me up.

Well, the words sounded the way they did, but all she wanted was the venom—if I transferred it, that would be that. However, it wasn’t over yet.

“Hey—wait a bit. It’s not finished.”

『What isn’t finished?』

“There are more coming this way besides the ones here. So let’s do it later.”

We had taken care of the ones massed before the Beast Palace, but additional troops were on the way.

We had to take care of them too.

Anyone with Blood Arts—we needed to hunt them all down.

These bastards were like a disease—leave one alive and somewhere he’d harm people and crave power.

Hadn’t the Blood-Water Venom Claw alone caused a great storm of blood?

At my words, Zimjo gazed at me with her jet-black eyes.

I couldn’t help but watch her mood, worried she might be angry at being put off again.

Because if she got angry, it would not end with mere anger.

If she exuded miasma, it wouldn’t end as a simple incident.

“M-maybe I was a bit... blunt? But, see, the urgent matter isn’t over yet—so please wait a little.”

My fate...

As I apologized while watching her mood, Zimjo spoke in a contrite voice.

『Hmph. I did whine like a child a little, didn’t I? But it isn’t easy to find a man of matching rank. I am sorry. I shall wait. See to your work.』

Why did my heart get so complicated when she went from pestering to acting demure again?

In any case, since Zimjo said she’d wait quietly, I figured Sister and Cho and I should fly out to finish the rest—but Zimjo wheeled once in the air and said,

『No. It will be faster if I move. Roughly speaking, is it fine to kill all the ones in red?』

“W-well, yes, but...”

『Go cleanse your body and wait. I shall be back.』

“You’re going yourself?”

『Yes. Wouldn’t it be faster if I go and clear them quickly?』

“O-okay, then.”

It was true—if Zimjo flew out and scattered her venom once, everything would clean itself up.

I nodded and asked Sister Jeokwol,

“By the way... after drinking—nothing strange, right?”

— Chii? 『Hmm? Nothing strange.』

Wild beasts never eat anything that would harm them.

Experience and instinct tell them what to eat and what not to.

So if Sister judged it safe to eat, there shouldn’t be any big problem.

Still, as a younger brother, I couldn’t help asking.

Then Zimjo’s voice reached me again.

『*There will be no problem. What the butterfly devoured is far, far beneath the butterfly in rank.

Think of it as the difference between a human and a maggot. So do not worry that it might have seized the butterfly’s body just now or anything of the sort.*』

With that, she spread her wings and leapt into the air.

She vanished swiftly toward Dai Viet, and just then I felt something tapping my shoulder.

When I turned my head, Sister was tapping my shoulder with her antennae.

“What is it, Sister?”

Sensing she had something to say, I tilted my head and asked. Sister asked me,

— Chii? 『Ryong, what does she mean by “a baby”? Why is that female saying such things?』

Behind her, Yo-hwa and Hwayang, Cheongwol, and Ranghu had all approached.

I’d thought it would be enough to persuade my wives—but it wasn’t.