Chapter 86: Aftershocks (2)
Chapter 86: Aftershocks (2)
In the dwelling of King Jinseong [1].
Obviously, the man who lived here was King Jinseong, born Yi Yeok.
As the younger brother of the Emperor, he was practically the second most powerful man in the world.
Being a blood related sibling, King Jinseong was able to remain alive when all of his half-brothers were eliminated by the Emperor [2].
Perhaps it was because he was never greedy for power in the first place.
King Jinseong closed his eyes and slowly recalled the old days.
Ever since King Jinseong was a child, he had never desired the position of emperor and always said that he would be satisfied being a mere king. And just as he had hoped, when the current emperor ascended to the throne, Yi Yeok was immediately granted the position of a king.
But the title of ‘Emperor’s brother’ and ‘only surviving Imperial Prince’ brought power to his position.
Of course, Yi Yeok was never interested in that power, nor did he wield it.
What he wanted wasn’t power, but a peaceful world.
Having such a noble character, it was only natural that only the righteous followed him.
His brother, the current emperor, showed violence when purging their other brothers. But thankfully, the Emperor was a man who showed the will to set up a proper world order.
And that’s why people started giving me different names… Some called me a good-natured person. Some even went as far as to call me a hero…
Of course, I am still at fault for doing nothing when my brother purged everyone else.
But Brother had a good reason behind every one of them.
They were either crazy with women, or showed symptoms of insanity, or even showed bloodlust like a crazed murderer.
At least, I assumed the Emperor wasn’t like that.
Sitting in an empty room, King Jinseong clenched his fists. But it looks like it’s about time I start making a move.
Rumor had it that the Emperor had changed.
No, actually, those rumors were decades old.
And now, King Jinseong was witnessing the truth in those rumors himself.
In the past, I thought all of it was just an act. Acting incompetent to reel out the ambitious enemies hiding inside.
However, no one could go on acting so consistently for decades. Even if the act did continue, it shouldn’t be enjoyable to keep up the facade.
The current emperor had gone mad.
The benevolent ruler inside him had become no more and he had become like those half-brothers he slayed with his own hands.
The madness, the bloodlust, the lustfulness… The Emperor showed signs of all of them.
It might have been alright if he had chosen one of the vices, but he showed signs of all three.
“It’s as though the half-brothers slayed by him have become vengeful ghosts and possessed parts of him…”
The Emperor had become a completely different person.
“Hmm.”
King Jinseong sat there and wanted to weep.
Now, it was just a matter of what to do.
To be honest… I know what I need to do.
Like my brother has done himself, I just need to draw this sword, slay him, and become emperor myself.
However, is that the right thing to do?
Should I stay loyal as a brother, or should I remove the mad emperor and save the Imperial Court from darkness?
“I can’t help but find myself ridiculous.”
King Jinseong, who had been considering his options in silence, suddenly said self-deprecatingly.
Even though I did feel pity when my half-brothers were killed one by one, I didn’t care too much about it.
And here I am deeply troubled because I’m facing the possibility of doing the same with my one hands.
“So this must be what selfishness looks like…”
Or maybe it’s a sense of guilt about having to kill my own brother.
But either way, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a difficult decision to make.
What should I do?
King Jinseong continued to sigh.
It was at that moment that someone entered the residence.
As someone who had practiced martial arts with mercenaries since childhood, King Jinseong recognized the person at once.
“You are here, Sage.”
‘Sage of Earth and Sky’, Do Jin-myung.
Having a deep understanding of the earth and sky, Do Jin-myung was once a member of the martial society, but had ended up as one of King Jinseong’s close associates.
Although he was now part of the government, his reputation still lived on in Murim.
That was why King Jingseong often called on Do Jin-myung when planning work that involved both the government and Murim.
Additionally, the Sage of Earth and Sky had mastered astronomy and astrological divination, allowing him to read the will of Heaven in the celestial skies. As someone who understood the movements of the stars, the Sage had helped King Jinseong many times.
“I am back, sir. Haha.”
When King Jinseong called, Do Jin-myung answered politely.
King Jinseong nodded.
“Report.”
King Jinseong had asked Do Jin-myung to look into the situation regarding the Emperor. Since the Sage had returned, it was obvious what his report was about.
At that, Do Jin-myung bowed and began to speak.
“Have you realized that an unfamiliar star has illuminated the whole Imperial Palace?”
“An unfamiliar star…”
If it were someone else talking about ‘unfamiliar stars’, King Jinseong might have thrown them out of the residence for speaking nonsense and going on tangents.
But the one speaking was Do Jin-myung, an expert in the stars.
There should have been no stars unfamiliar to him.
“It was a star emitting a wicked red light. The star representing His Majesty is being suppressed under its light and barely shines”
“Does that mean someone is suppressing the emperor and using his power?”
Do Jin-myung shook his head.
“His Majesty is the most powerful person in the Imperial Palace. There cannot be such a person.”
“If so, why has such a star appeared?”
Do Jin-myung hesitated.
“What I am about to tell you… is my conclusion after reading the stars myself and going through numerous ancient texts. I should rightfully report about it, but it’s not something I can talk about with ease.”
“Do now worry and continue.”
King Jinseong urged the man to speak of his findings. Letting out a long breath, Do Jin-myung spoke.
“Astronomy is my specialty, but I could not find out what that star is. So to find it, I dug through some texts. Amongst them, there were some texts related to the history of Murim. Since I went through the texts detailing the last 400 years, it was no small amount.”
“And what did you find about that star?”
Do Jin-myung nodded.
“According to the records of the Sky Chronicler, that star is one of misfortune. It shines bright whenever the Cult of the Inverted Sky prevails in this world.”
As Do Jin-myung had reported, the Sky Chronicler was a man who had lived near the end of the Late-Ancient Era, about 400 years ago. Talented in both astronomy and astrological divination, he had gained the name ‘Sky Chronicler’ and left detailed observations behind.
Do Jin-myung wished that he was better at divination, but he could not be considered lacking.
Since many of the extraordinary prophecies seen by the Sky Chronicler were passed onto the government, King Jinseong had also heard of him.
“I have heard of the Sky Chronicler before… But the Cult of the Inverted Sky… It’s not only unfamiliar to me, but it is also ominous.”
A name that included turning the sky upside down could not be more ominous.
Did they want to topple the reigning elite?
Or were they aiming to pull down even the Heavens?
“Yes. It is only natural to find such a name ominous. It is the name of those who have driven the Murim into chaos, and even plotted to take over the Imperial Court.”
King Jinseong gripped the armrest of the chair he was sitting on, causing it to splinter as his strength increased.
“And why is such an ominous star shining on top of the Imperial Palace? Are you telling me that these people of the Cult of the Inverted Sky are trying to suppress His Majesty and take over his power?”
“As I said before, His Majesty is the most powerful person in this palace.”
“…”
After finishing his report, Do Jin-myung swallowed. He lowered his head, as if hesitating to speak once more, then spoke in a low voice.
“But unfortunately, amongst the sorceries of the Cult of the Inverted Sky…”
“Their sorceries?”
King Jinseong’s eyebrows twitched and he immediately refocused on the conversation.
“There is a spell which takes over the bodies of others.”
Back in the Heavenly Mountains.
In an uninhabited area of the Cult, people were rushing about a forest that normally would have been peaceful.
“Where did it go?”
“We can’t lose it! We need to find its tracks!
Gwan Tae-ryang found a corpse leaning against the trunk of a tree and shouted.
“There’s a body here! It went this way!”
After the collapse of the Heavenly Demon, Woon-seong had been busy dealing with problems regarding legitimacy of leadership. Moreover, the Young Leader had been called into the Divine Palace and the Charred Dragon Unit was ordered on a mission.
Gwan Tae-ryang was temporarily appointed as the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit.
Gwan Tae-ryang was not as strong as Woon-seong, but he was still a Great Demon. That was enough to qualify as the captain of a Twelve Supporting Unit.
Passing by him, Sang In-hyo reminded, “Do not let your guard down. It’s no easy opponent.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Gwan Tae-ryang tamped down on some of the excitement running through him after hearing these words.
There were two other people running alongside them.
It was the Divine Maiden A-young and another young woman, who had become the new captain of the White Ape Unit.
“When we find it, I’ll use my divine power to tie it down first. After that, you take care of it, Demonic Sword.”
“Understood,” nodded Sang In-hyo.
“Captains of the Charred Dragon Unit and White Ape Unit, work together to prevent it from fleeing.”
“Understood.”
The reason the quartet was wandering through the deep forest was because of the blood jiangshi that had fled from the Divine Maiden’s Palace.
“That thing is a monster that maintains itself through blood. We need to stop it before it creates any more casualties. It will continuously look for blood just to sustain its existence.”
It was clear that the demonic villagers would be targeted. Several victims had already been found.
At that time, Sang In-hyo, who had been running in the front, shouted loudly.
“I found it!”
Just as he said, the blood jiangshi was running a few meters ahead of them.
At that moment, Chun A-young took out the Bell of the Heavenly Demon.
Ding!
The moment she rang the bell, the blood jiangshi stopped.
Of course, it was stronger than before due to its awakened instincts, so ringing the bell once was not enough.
But Chun A-young still had energy to spare!
Daeng—
A powerful energy flowed out from the bell, travelling along the sound waves. Forming a rope, the energy flew towards the blood jiangshi and tied it in place.
“Screech!”
The blood jiangshi screeched and thrashed at the sound of the bell, but it had already been tied up.
Before it could do anything more, Sang In-hyo appeared with a sword in hand.
The only time a blood jiangshi should be feared was when it could move!
With the blood jiangshi incapacitated by the divine power, even Sang In-hyo, who was a Great Demon, was capable to killing it in one stroke.
“Haap!”
Despite only having one arm now, Sang In-hyo charged at the blood jiangshi and slashed downwards. As his sword arched down, it was covered in layers of blood-red qi, which was what gave him the title of ‘Demonic Sword of Layered Blood’.
Fwoom—
Sang In-hyo gathered all of his energy on the sword, forming ‘sword aura’. He was currently weakened by the imbalance to his body, but he still had enough strength to maintain a cutting force that nearly surpassed Great Demon-level.
Still…
Thwack—
It was enough to cut the blood jiangshi in half.
Despite having feasted on fresh blood, the final blood jiangshi was unable to maintain its form.
“Whew.”
Of course, the blade had also stopped moving because Sang In-hyo could no longer maintain the sword aura.
But he had done enough.
With its body cut into little quadrants, the blood jiangshi was unable to continue to exist.
“We finally got it…”
Seeing the corpse of blood jiangshi, Chun A-young muttered to herself.
The final blood jiangshi was finally destroyed after ten full days of pursuit.
It also happened to be the tenth day since Woon-seong entered the Divine Palace with the Leader.
[1] King Jinseong, otherwise known as Grand Prince Jinseong or King Jungjong of Joseon . He would succeed his tyrannical half-brother, Yeonsan-gun, after a military coup.
[2] While not historically accurate, the novel seems to imply that King Jinseong and the Emperor are full siblings.