At the mention of the Blood Sect, Jo Mak-saeng's eyes flipped, and he suddenly let out a monstrous scream as he lunged at me.
"Graaaah!"
I released my grip and leapt back.
I had been holding his neck tightly to prevent any reckless actions, but he seemed to be having a fit as if he didn't care if it broke.
'He can't die just yet.'
As I retreated, Jo Mak-saeng lowered himself on all fours like a beast and growled.
"Grrooo..."
His eyes were bloodshot, as if soaked in blood.
His entire face was grotesquely marked with dark red veins, and saliva dripped from his open mouth.
Drip, drip...
From his sharp, raised nails, a grayish sword aura extended about an inch.
I narrowed my eyes, confirming his martial arts.
"You, do you even know what martial arts you're using?"
"Grrooo... Graaaah!"
In that moment, Jo Mak-saeng leapt at me.
The gray line sliced through the night sky.
One side of the alley wall was slashed by the sword aura and crumbled down.
I jumped up and lightly landed on the rubble of the collapsed stone wall, looking down at him.
"Black Blood Demon Art. That's the name of the demonic art you've learned. Do you know why it's called a demonic art?"
"Graaaah! Shut up!"
Jo Mak-saeng didn't listen to the end of my words and tried to tear me apart with the gray sword aura from his nails.
I dodged all his attacks and continued speaking.
"The biggest side effect is that your personality becomes hot-tempered. Eventually, you lose your reason and become a madman."
"Shut up! I'll kill you!"
Jo Mak-saeng seemed to have almost lost his reason, but I didn't stop talking to him.
If I didn't, he would completely lose his mind.
"The bigger problem is that the Black Blood Demon Art uses innate energy instead of internal energy. That's why you can use something similar to sword aura at your level. Strictly speaking, it's not even sword aura..."
Whoosh!
I tilted my head to the side to avoid the nails aiming for my neck.
Then, stepping around to Jo Mak-saeng's left, I whispered in his ear.
"The more you use it, the more your innate energy depletes, and you wither away like a mummy. Eventually, you die, bleeding black blood from every orifice. That's why it's called Black Blood Demon Art. Did the person who taught you this martial art tell you that?"
Jo Mak-saeng flinched for a moment but then shook his head violently and shouted at me.
"Shut up! Don't try to deceive me!"
"I wish I could show you a mirror."
"Aaaah!"
Jo Mak-saeng, with eyes dyed red, flailed his arms wildly, throwing a fit.
The veins on his face bulged as if they would burst at any moment.
I wasn't provoking him for no reason.
I was trying to extract information by observing his reactions.
"Seeing you act so foolishly, you don't seem to be a properly trained spy..."
"Graaaah! Shut up! Get out of my head!"
...
Get out of his head?
I wondered what he meant by that, but since he wasn't in his right mind, I decided to think about it later.
'I need to subdue him first.'
I had set up a sound barrier to prevent noise from leaking out as much as possible, but if this dragged on too long, someone might come.
I brought my left index and middle fingers together to form a sword finger and quickly pressed several of his acupoints.
Thud! Thud, thud, thud!
Jo Mak-saeng, whose acupoints were pressed, trembled and then collapsed to the ground like a stiff log.
I stood in front of him and spoke.
"I won't say much. Tell me everything you know about the person who taught you the Black Blood Demon Art."
Crack, crack!
Suddenly, the sound of bones twisting was heard, and he sprang up.
I was so surprised by the bizarre sight that my mouth dropped open.
"This is insane... He forcibly released the acupoints?"
"Kehehe..."
The dark red veins on Jo Mak-saeng's face swelled as if they would burst.
Some had already burst, turning his entire face into a bloody mess.
Drip, drip...
Blood tears flowed from his eyes as Jo Mak-saeng twisted his body grotesquely to look at me.
He resembled a puppet with misaligned joints.
"Hehehe..."
Watching him laugh like a madman, I hardened my expression.
"You'll really die like this."
"Khehe... Hahaha! Power, I feel overflowing power! With this power, I'll kill them all! Those who looked down on me for being an orphan! I'll tear them apart and scatter them like dog food!"
The gray sword aura on his nails grew longer, and his disheveled hair turned white.
His already thin body became even more emaciated.
He was pouring out all his remaining innate energy.
His transformed appearance, devouring his own life, was that of a complete demon.
'Is this really the Black Blood Demon Art?'
This was different from what I knew.
The Black Blood Demon Art didn't transform like this, nor did it exude such a dense demonic aura.
"Hahaha! I'll rip out your heart and devour it!"
The demonized Jo Mak-saeng reached for my heart.
His speed was like lightning.
His hand reached my chest in an instant.
Rip!
I dodged quickly, but my front was torn.
I drew my sword, Wolyeong, and slashed at his arm.
Clang!
Wolyeong, infused with sword aura, bounced off.
A long bloodstain was left on Jo Mak-saeng's arm, but I couldn't completely sever it.
My grip felt like it would tear apart.
"Hahaha!"
He charged at me, bleeding black blood from his arm.
Demonic energy poured out from his entire body.
"Die!"
There was no fear in his madness-filled eyes.
I clicked my tongue and kicked off the ground, leaping into the air.
He followed, kicking off the ground.
We clashed briefly under the moonlight.
Jo Mak-saeng's remaining arm aimed for my heart and neck, while I targeted his lower body to incapacitate him.
Thud! Thud!
His thigh was pierced, and he staggered, pretending to be off balance, then used a technique to close the distance between us in an instant.
'If he had this level of skill in the martial arts arena, even Cheon Yi would have had a hard time.'
The demonized Jo Mak-saeng's skill was above that of most top masters.
He wielded sword aura freely, his body was tough enough to withstand sword aura, and his mind knew no fear.
"Khehehe!"
But such tricks don't last long.
Innate energy is not infinite.
As expected, his momentum noticeably decreased.
I didn't miss the opportunity.
Slash!
The sword I drew in an instant severed Jo Mak-saeng's right arm.
He didn't care and charged at me.
Without an arm, he seemed intent on biting me with his teeth, opening his mouth wide.
Crunch!
I shoved the sword sheath into his mouth.
Then, with my left palm, I struck his chest and hooked his leg with my sword, toppling him to the ground.
Boom!
Jo Mak-saeng, slammed into the ground, squirmed.
Only after breaking a few more bones did he finally calm down.
"Whew..."
It would have been easy to kill him, but I had to subdue him first, which made me break a sweat.
There were still things I needed to hear from him.
I stepped on his neck with my foot and asked in a cold voice.
"Tell me. Who taught you the Black Blood Demon Art?"
"Khehehe! Kill, I'll kill them all. Those who looked down on me for being an orphan...!"
"He's completely lost it."
Clicking my tongue, I placed my hand on his head and infused my internal energy to dispel the demonic energy.
Since the demonic energy had penetrated his very marrow, I needed to resolve that first for any conversation to be possible.
'I'm getting used to this after doing it a few times.'
I extracted the demonic energy filling Jo Mak-saeng's brain.
But I didn't absorb it.
The demonic energy accumulated from practicing demonic arts and the demonic energy generated from martial arts are similar but different.
The latter doesn't help me at all, so I extracted it and burned it away.
Sizzle...
As the demonic energy dissipated from his brain, Jo Mak-saeng regained his senses.
"Why am I... Ugh! It hurts, it hurts so much...!"
The sight of Jo Mak-saeng suffering from the aftereffects of the demonic arts was pitiful.
His body, emaciated to the point of resembling a mummy, had burst blood vessels all over, still bleeding.
With little innate energy left in his body, Jo Mak-saeng's life was like a candle flickering in the wind, on the verge of going out.
'He won't survive.'
This is the typical end for those who practice demonic arts.
Having seen countless cases in the past, I felt no particular emotion, but it was undeniably bitter.
"I... I don't want to die like this..."
Realizing his condition, Jo Mak-saeng looked up at me, tears streaming from his eyes.
"... Tell me about the person who taught you the Black Blood Demon Art. Then I'll at least help you die peacefully."
"Demonic arts? I-I don't know, I don't know anything..."
"Even in this state, you want to stay loyal to the Blood Sect?"
"I really don't know, I don't know! Blood Sect? I was an orphan from the start... Ugh! I learned martial arts at the orphanage, then at the Namgung family..."
I listened to Jo Mak-saeng's slow, painful story as if hearing a last will.
In summary, he was abandoned at five, learned the basics of martial arts at an orphanage sponsored by the Namgung family, and caught Namgung Soo's eye.
He claimed he never learned the Black Blood Demon Art from anyone and could naturally use it.
"You say you could use it naturally? Do you think that makes sense?"
"Ugh, ugh. I didn't know it was demonic arts..."
"Why didn't you tell Namgung Soo?"
"Because, like you, he'd interrogate me about where I learned it..."
"So you knew something was off."
Watching him cry and laugh, I fell into thought for a moment.
'He doesn't seem to be lying.'
Judging by his personality and actions, he wasn't good at acting or lying.
'But is it possible to learn demonic arts without anyone teaching you?'
I thought Jo Mak-saeng was a spy sent by the Blood Sect or an organization derived from the fallen Blood Sect.
But could a spy act so foolishly and know nothing? Moreover, he claimed he realized the Black Blood Demon Art on his own.
It's not like martial arts were forcibly implanted in his mind at birth...
'Implanted?'
At that moment, I recalled a very old memory.
- Hehe.
Is this what you mean? It's a secret weapon for the Blood Sect's domination.
Demon Brain.
In my past life, the old man I hated most in the world.
The First Elder of the Blood Demon Sect, Demon Brain, proudly showed me a scene with a grotesque smile.
- Behold.
Isn't it beautiful?
Countless children lay on stone beds.
Their scalps were sharply cut open, exposing their brains.
The children were all alive.
- It's a miracle achieved through ancient techniques and artifacts.
We will implant the sect's ultimate arts in these children's minds.
I reached out and grabbed Jo Mak-saeng's hair, pulling it back.
Then, with sword aura, I shaved off all his hair.
"What, what are you doing...?"
"Stay still. I need to check... Damn it."
Around his now exposed scalp, there was a faint trace that would be unnoticeable unless closely examined.
A scar from surgery to split his head.
- The children who succeed in the great technique will have their memories sealed and be sent into the martial world.
They won't remember anything at first.
How else would they join other sects and rise to important positions without guilt?
The face of Demon Brain, looking at the sky with eyes filled with joy, came to mind.
- These children will gradually recall their roots.
That's how the sect's demons will grow from within the righteous martial world.
Hehehe!
Demon Brain named this evil technique himself.
- It's called the Soul-Seizing Great Technique.
And these children will be known as Soul-Seizing Demons.
The old monster, having abandoned even the slightest humanity, looked at me with a wicked smile.
- When the Four Great Evils you raised are complete and the Soul-Seizing Demons awaken, the sect will drench the martial world in blood.
Demon Brain, unable to contain his joy, burst into maniacal laughter.
He died by my hand.
...
No, he should have died.
"I definitely crushed his dantian and severed his limbs..."
I didn't finish him off completely.
Just before that, the Blood Demon arrived, and I had to fight.
But with such injuries, the chances of Demon Brain surviving were slim.
'If he's alive? Or if someone inherited Demon Brain's Soul-Seizing Great Technique?'
As my expression grew serious, Jo Mak-saeng's body suddenly began to tremble.
"Ugh, ugh, it's cold..."
His body, which had been emaciated like a mummy, suddenly swelled up.
Realizing what that meant, I immediately kicked off the ground and retreated.
"Save me..."
At that moment, Jo Mak-saeng's body cracked open, light seeping out, and the remaining innate energy inside him exploded with its final force.
Boom!