Chapter 81

Ant Nest (2)

Namgung Sang-hyeok.

Once called the Sword Dragon, he had originally been a noble existence destined to one day become the head of the Namgung Clan.

"Khuhuhuhu."

However, the prodigy who should have walked the righteous path and later succeeded the Sword King was nowhere to be found.

Namgung Sang-hyeok, once like the most noble crane soaring in the heavens, had fallen—corrupted and cast down.

Drip.

Drip, drip.

Near where Namgung Sang-hyeok stood, blood had pooled into puddles.

To master demonic arts in such a short time, there had been no choice but to forcibly inject that much blood and death.

After consuming on the spot the elixir left behind by Tang Sohye, Namgung Sang-hyeok had been swallowed by madness from that very day onward.

『Go to Hamsan.』

Led by Tang Sohye, Namgung Sang-hyeok arrived here, and at first he had been furious.

『How dare such heinous acts be committed within the territory of the Namgung Clan!』

But soon, he had no choice but to yield to madness and his craving for blood, and Namgung Sang-hyeok realized that he was no different from them.

Each time he consumed the elixir made in this place, his humanity was gradually shaved away.

Thus, the Sword Dragon of the Namgung Clan disappeared, leaving behind only a pitiful being tormented by madness.

"...."

Originally, this place had been quiet.

Boom!

Kwoong!

Yet now, irregular thunderous sounds echoed, along with the pungent scent of blood in the air and booming impacts that struck straight at the heart.

"It's the end."

He realized that the finale of the game board Tang Sohye had prepared was approaching.

Step, step.

Someone was approaching.

Just from the sound of those footsteps, Namgung Sang-hyeok knew who it was.

"You've come, Seo-hee."

It was Namgung Seo-hee.

Though she was his only blood relative, murderous intent surged in Namgung Sang-hyeok's eyes.

"Elder brother...."

"Are you still putting on an act? Don't look at me with those eyes."

"Please stop now."

"Stop? Now, of all times?"

Namgung Sang-hyeok laughed grotesquely.

That sneer, thick with madness, rang loudly throughout the cave.

Drip.

At some point.

Namgung Sang-hyeok's laughter ceased.

"Why? You're the one who took everything I had. What exactly am I supposed to stop? You're the root of it all."

Namgung Sang-hyeok's smile twisted.

Twisted and twisted, until only thick killing intent remained.

"Killing you and setting everything right—that'll be the moment I stop!"

Shoong!

Namgung Sang-hyeok's sword flew forth.

Though he had gone mad over blood, the sword his body remembered was still faithful to its fundamentals.

"...."

His childhood.

The days when he learned the sword together with Namgung San suddenly came to mind.

'Where did it all go wrong?'

Namgung Seo-hee regretted that she could never return to those days again.

For a moment, she wondered if dying to that incoming sword would let everything return to how it once was.

'No....'

It was already too late.

Even if she were to die here, Namgung Sang-hyeok was not someone who should ever become the head of the Namgung Clan.

There was no room for choice.

'I have to cut him down.'

And so, she cut.

Namgung Sang-hyeok's sword, surging in sharply, lost its strength and its trajectory veered off.

"...!"

Puhk!

Not missing the opening, Namgung Seo-hee's sword surged in and lodged itself into his side.

"Khuhuhuhuhuhu."

Despite the excruciating pain he should have felt, Namgung Sang-hyeok laughed grotesquely.

"Right. You're the same. You don't want to lose what you have, do you?"

"...."

That wasn't her true intent, but Namgung Sang-hyeok, already twisted beyond repair, could not grasp her heart.

"So in the end, you too! You were after what's mine! How despicable."

Namgung Seo-hee tried to pull the sword out of his side.

However, Namgung Sang-hyeok's grotesquely contracted muscles refused to release her sword—the Emperor Sword.

"...!"

"Khuhuhuhuhuhu."

A sticky smile.

Greed could be felt.

The Emperor Sword was the symbol of the Sword King.

"The Emperor Sword should have been mine."

"...!"

"With just this sword, I could have... her...."

That bizarre yearning soon transformed into killing intent toward Namgung Seo-hee, who had taken everything from him.

She tried again to pull out the Emperor Sword, but it still would not budge.

"What? Can't pull it out?"

Tap, tap.

Namgung Sang-hyeok struck his own neck a few times with the edge of his hand as he spoke.

"You should have cut my neck, not my side."

Chilling!

With a twisted smile, Namgung Sang-hyeok charged at her, the sword still embedded in his side.

"...!"

A movement she never anticipated.

For a moment, Namgung Seo-hee was shaken.

As a swordsman holding a sword, losing her weapon meant her judgment had come too late.

By the time she realized her mistake, Namgung Sang-hyeok had already closed the distance.

"Die."

"...."

A moment of absolute desperation.

There was nowhere to escape.

Yet Namgung Seo-hee did not avert her gaze.

"Where are you looking!"

Namgung Sang-hyeok saw something reflected in Namgung Seo-hee's eyes.

Shiiik!

And thus, he saw a sword flying toward him.

"Where do you think you're—!"

Kaaang!

He tried to shatter the interfering sword in a single blow, but the one sent flying back was Namgung Sang-hyeok's own sword.

"Who are you!"

Filled with rage, Namgung Sang-hyeok turned his ferocious gaze toward the intruder.

"Namgung Sang-hyeok."

"...!"

Namgung Sang-hyeok flinched in shock.

It was a voice that should not have been here.

"H-how is it that you, you bastard, are here?"

It was Cheon Muyang.

However, the aura he gave off was completely different from usual.

"...."

Unlike the wary Namgung Sang-hyeok.

Cheon Muyang's indifferent eyes were like those used to look at an insect.

"You bastard...!"

Namgung Sang-hyeok ground his teeth.

By the time Cheon Muyang stepped close, his entire body was drenched in blood.

It was impossible to even imagine how brutal a bloodbath he had gone through.

"Where is it?"

His tone made it clear that Namgung Sang-hyeok did not even register in his awareness.

"What are you talking about?"

"The Tang Clan."

"...!"

"Or would you understand better if I called it the Demonic Cult?"

Chilling.

A ghostly aura settled into Cheon Muyang's eyes.

"I asked where it is."

On his way here, Cheon Muyang had cut down countless people.

Without exception, they all met death in silence, saying nothing.

"Speak. Or die. I don't have time to waste on you."

Crunch!

Staring up at those eyes looking down on him.

Namgung Sang-hyeok clenched his teeth.

"Don't look at me with those damned eyes!"

Hwaaaak!

Was it rage?

The demonic energy boiling within finally bloomed across Namgung Sang-hyeok's entire body.

It seemed the internal energy of the Namgung Clan had been completely lost.

"This bastard, that bastard...."

Not a single one of them pleased him.

Cheon Muyang spoke to Namgung Seo-hee with indifferent eyes.

"Is it fine if I cut him down?"

"...!"

Namgung Seo-hee nodded.

Already steeped in the demonic path, Namgung Sang-hyeok was no longer the Sword Dragon of the Namgung Clan, but merely a lackey of the Demonic Cult who had to be executed at any time.

The reason Cheon Muyang bothered to ask her opinion was the bare minimum courtesy toward the heir of the Namgung Clan.

"Yes."

"Good."

Hearing their conversation in full, Namgung Sang-hyeok snorted.

"Who's cutting down who! The one dying here is you!"

Overflowing demonic energy.

A perfect body that felt no pain at all, even with Namgung Seo-hee's sword lodged in his side.

"You wouldn't know what I had to give up to gain this power!"

Demonic energy settled upon Namgung Sang-hyeok's sword.

That overwhelmingly ominous aura clinging to the blade tore through space as it surged forward.

"Bullshit. So until the very end, you're saying none of this is your fault?"

There was no need for conversation.

To Cheon Muyang, even exchanging words with Namgung Sang-hyeok was revolting.

"It doesn't matter if you talk or not."

Huuwoong!

Cheongwang shone with light.

A sword that cleaves darkness.

Dark Heaven Severance unfolded.

Paaaat!

Under the light, it was only natural for darkness to exist—

but at least along the path Cheongwang advanced, even that natural law was denied.

"T-this can't be…!"

The demonic energy clinging to Namgung Sang-hyeok's sword—
the very source of that darkness—was nowhere to be found.

As if it had never existed in the first place, the demonic aura vanished completely,
leaving behind nothing but Namgung Sang-hyeok's shabby sword.

"This is your end."

Kaang!

With a sharp metallic cry, Namgung Sang-hyeok's sword shattered.

As the fragments clattered uselessly to the ground, Dark Heaven Severance passed straight through Namgung Sang-hyeok.

The massive wound carved across his chest was one that not even Hwa-ta could heal.

"...."

Blood flowed from the gash.

A thick stench of iron filled the air.

Dark wraiths seeped out along with it.

Because of that, the wound did not close—it only continued to gape wider.

"Khuhuhuh...."

Surprisingly, faced with death slowly approaching, Namgung Sang-hyeok remained calm.

A voice boiling with blood.

"In the end, everyone dies."

"That's just your opinion."

Cheon Muyang had no intention of dragging this out.

He brought Cheongwang to Namgung Sang-hyeok's neck.

Chk!

Blood flowed from the cut at his throat.

Even that blood lacked any proper redness.

Namgung Sang-hyeok sneered.

"Do you even know where this place is?"

"...?"

"It's an ant nest. And you're just a stupid ant that crawled into the nest on its own."

Namgung Sang-hyeok realized it then.

From the very beginning, his role had been nothing more than bait—
meant to lure these two into the ant nest.

'From the start….'

It had all been according to Tang Sohye's will.

He had merely danced in the palm of her hand, but Namgung Sang-hyeok found he didn't mind.

'So this is the end.'

He wanted to remain by her side.

But now, being unable to do so was the only regret Namgung Sang-hyeok had left.

"Khuhuhuhu. You'll die here too."

That was his sole comfort.

Everyone would die here.

Just as Tang Sohye intended.

"Bullshit."

Slash.

Cheongwang severed Namgung Sang-hyeok's neck.

That was the end.

Thud!

His body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Yet the faint smile on his face did not fade.

"...."

After staring coldly at the dead Namgung Sang-hyeok, Cheon Muyang soon withdrew his gaze.

He then asked Namgung Seo-hee,

"Namgung Sang-hyeok joined hands with the Demonic Cult. This corpse will serve as proof."

Under normal circumstances, the demonic energy would have devoured the body, leaving not even a trace behind.

However, Cheon Muyang had cut down even that property of demonic energy with Dark Heaven Severance.

It was to leave behind evidence that Namgung Sang-hyeok had colluded with the Demonic Cult.

"What will you do?"

"...."

Namgung Seo-hee hesitated.

He understood her.

Who would want to use the death of their own blood?

"Take your time to think."

He had been the one to cut off Namgung Sang-hyeok's head,
but how the body would be used was her decision.

Just then—

Kwaaaang!

With a thunderous crash,

one side of the cavern wall collapsed.

"So this is where you were."

It was Nangwang.

Judging by his appearance, he too had been through a fierce battle—his clothes were in tatters.

"Hoo...."

Behind him followed Neung Ryeo-un, Cha Myeong-hak, and even Wol-yeong.

They were in no better shape.

They must have crossed the line between life and death countless times.

Had they not accumulated sufficient real combat experience in Soho, they might have met disaster.

"We're late."

"Weren't you supposed to bring those bastards with you?"

"Ah."

"Luckily, the formation suddenly collapsed. I smashed through the annoying ones and ended up running into you."

What more needed to be said?

Nangwang was that kind of man—

one who would carve a path even where none existed.

"This place looks absurdly complicated. Meeting like this must be a stroke of fortune."

"Probably… all paths were designed to lead here."

"What?"

Cheon Muyang recalled the phrase ant nest Namgung Sang-hyeok had left behind.

"An ant nest…."

He thought it was extremely characteristic of the Tang Clan.

'If Tang Clan poison were released here…'

The poison would spread throughout the entire ant nest.

In other words, if the exits were sealed, death by Tang Clan poison would be inevitable.

'Ant nest. A fitting name.'

Cheon Muyang was inwardly impressed.

"Let's prepare to leave."

"We should."

"How will we do it?"

"We'll take him with us."

"Good. Neung Ryeo-un."

Without a word, Neung Ryeo-un hoisted Namgung Sang-hyeok's corpse onto his back.

"But do you know where the exit is?"

"We'll know soon enough."

"Hm?"

Just as Nangwang grew suspicious,

movement could be heard from deep within the cave.

"Looks like there are still remnants left."

"No need to stay on guard."

"Huh?"

"They're too busy trying to survive."

It was a cryptic remark.

The moment those words ended, Nangwang understood what Cheon Muyang meant.

"Ghk!"

"Guaaaargh!"

People spewing blood from every orifice, screaming in madness, burst forth in droves.

Nangwang frowned.

"Poison?"

"A trap—the ant nest."

Cheon Muyang walked toward where the poison was spreading.

'Is that the place?'

At the end of that trap would be those who had conducted experiments here.

And there was no other path.

"What are you thinking?"

"Death is life ."

"...."

"That place is the way out."

Huuwoong!

Cheongwang let out a resonant cry.

"Follow me."