The masked people looked agitated at the change in my appearance.
“H-his hair is red!”
“The eyes…”
“Just like the lady.”
They were utterly dumbfounded by the change in my appearance. Fortunately, the same phenomenon that had happened when I unlocked my newest star had manifested again.
I wasn’t sure why, but this might be because I’d absorbed the essence of the Blood Demon’s desires.
-Wonhwi. Are you alright?
Short Sword asked me.
‘I am fine.’
-I was surprised. I wondered if your body was stolen again!
-I was surprised, too, Wonhwi.
They must have been shocked at the sudden change in my appearance. In any case, the changes in my body only occurred when I touched the will of the Blood Demon, as expected.
Thanks to this, all of the masked men were shocked. Their reaction wasn’t important to me; however, I only cared about one person.
It was more important to observe how the Fourth Blood Star, Do Jang-ho, reacted.
“Fourth Blood Star, I can use the Blood Demon Sword.”
He simply frowned at my words, but I could see his eyes trembling.
‘I have to trick them.’
I was also having a hard time understanding the situation.
‘Interesting. You don’t even know what is mixed in your blood.’
I remembered what the Blood Demon Sword had told me, so I decided to use my brain to make an escape here.
I was someone who didn’t even know the true secret of my mother or father, but shouldn’t I use this to overcome this crisis? At that moment, Captain Mun said.
“Do not be shaken by that! The only ones who inherited the lord’s blood are our young lady and lady Baek Ryeon-ha.”
He was trying to regain control of the situation, but his men weren’t sure. I then shouted.
“You cannot believe what you have seen? How are you so sure that it is just two from the family left?”
Ah, I didn’t know anymore. I should just do anything to survive.
I looked at Commander Mun and pushed on.
“Can you be sure of this? Even seeing this, you want to ignore the laws of the sect?”
“That…”
He became speechless at this. It must be embarrassing since he had been all confident.
The owner of the Blood Demon Sword, this divine object, would become the next leader of the sect. I was acting bold enough to declare that here.
In a way, it was no different than saying that I was the new Blood Demon.
-Hahaha. You have a good attitude, kid. It is worthwhile to have you as my subordinate.
‘Shut up.’
All of this is happening because of you.
Do Jong-ho, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth.
“You have a knack for surprising me each time we meet.”
“… will not admit it?”
“Another one of his heirs…”
Srng!
‘…!?’
Well, this was unexpected. He drew his sword and was pointing it at me.
Commander Mun was shocked at seeing this.
“Fourth Blood Star!”
But Do Jong-ho simply held his hand out, beckoning him to stay silent and confusing the Commander.
“I will show it. His progress.”
Pat!
I moved the moment he said those things and headed toward him. His sword, which looked like it split into eight directions, began to converge on me at once.
Was he trying to test me? Then I had no other choice but to show it.
‘Phew.’
As I concentrated, the dot on the back of my hand began to glow red. This was something I had wanted to try for a while now.
As the will of my dantian reacted, my body began to move on its own as I used the martial arts.
The Blood Demon Sword moved in a red arch, drawing a circle like flowing water.
Chachachang!
Do Jong-ho’s sword, which had begun to narrow from all sides, bounced off against it.
I thrust my sword forward in that state, forcing him to block.
Srng!
At the same time as it was blocked, the tip of the Blood Demon Sword trembled as if it was vibrating. Along with that, a shock was applied to his sword.
Pak!
“Huh!”
Do Jong-ho’s body was pushed back by five steps.
Woong!
Do Jong-ho pulled back the sword as the entire blade vibrated. His eyes shone at this.
Even though I was the one who used the technique, I also felt shocked.
‘This is the Heavenly Blood Great Sword Technique.’
The sword of the Blood Demon.
The Heavenly Blood Great Sword’s third form.
It was a sword form that concentrated energy on the tip of the sword to maximize the effects of a stab or a slash.
This was the best example of it.
“As expected. Then what about this?”
Do Jong-ho stopped back about five steps and loosely held his sword. Then he shifted the sword’s tip to the ground.
Chachacha!
“Take this!”
With that, Do Jong-ho ran forward while dragging his sword onto the ground.
Chachacha!
Blue sparks appeared on the sword’s tip as it was dragged to the ground. While in this state, he drew the sword in a unique arc, and blue flames clung to the side of the blade that dazzled the eyes.
“Ohhh!”
“Sword Thunder!”
Everyone shouted in awe at this.
The famous Sword Thunder. I wondered once why the word thunder had been added to the end of this sword, but this move was true to its name.
-That’s quite alright. Show it, then. The Thousand Myriad Blood Rain.
The Blood Demon Sword said this, but as he did, I noticed Do Jong-ho’s movement.
I pulled my sword to the left and twisted my body to avoid it before I drew the sword out as a counter.
Chachacha!
My body rotated like a top at that moment, and countless red sword traces exploded around us like rain.
Chachachang!
He forcibly rushed forward as if trying to break through the rain. However, his blue flame lost its light, and his form was pushed back.
Chhh!
Sword marks were left everywhere as he was pushed back. Still, it was good that every move was at least blocked.
Our surroundings were filled with static for a moment. I glanced around to see the shocked faces of all the masked people.
At the point where our techniques collided, dozens of sword scars were visible, as if heavy rain had gouged out the ground.
‘Ha!’
I couldn’t even believe that I had done this. If I had tried fighting him with just my middle dantian, then he would have simply overwhelmed me.
However, I managed to gain the upper hand by drawing on the power of the Blood Demon Sword. However, the qi consumption by using its will was too much drain on my dantian.
Just using it once made it feel like my dantian would be drained of half its qi.
-Tch, this is not enough.
Blood Demon clicked his tongue.
Even I knew that!
It wasn’t a power that I had made my own, so my body could not fully recognize or use the technique at an appropriate level.
Still, I thought this was good enough. Do Jong-ho then advanced towards me once more.
This!
The ground cracked as he stood upright while riding on the soles of his feet. He had driven out the qi that had dug into his body.
‘As expected of the Fourth Blood Star.’
He was known as one of the best in the Blood Sect. Everyone there looked between him and me with tense faces. At that moment, Do Jong-ho managed to catch his breath and pointed the tip of his sword at the ground. He then clasped his fists together and greeted me.
‘…?!’
The masked men were also surprised, as Do Jong-ho said.
“Fourth Blood Star Do Jang-ho greets the young lord.”
Everyone became agitated at this. The bow he had given me now meant that he recognized me as one of the heirs.
One of the top members of the Blood Sect had bowed, making the masked men hesitate. Seeing this, Commander Mun spoke with a distorted face.
“Fourth Blood Star!”
Do Jang-ho looked at him and said, “Didn’t you see it just now? He has learned the technique of the Blood Sword. He is an heir to the sect.”
Hearing this, Commander Mun bit his lip. It must be difficult to deny, yet difficult to accept as well. The masked people then began to bow to me.
“Stop!”
Commander Mun shouted to stop them and pointed at me with the sword.
“Fourth Blood Star. Even so, did you not swear allegiance to the lady already? Then we have just one thing to do here.”
“…”
“We must take the sword and present it to the lady!”
Commander Mun continued to speak as the masked people stopped bowing.
I could see their annoyance at not being able to do anything.
I realized I had to do something here, so I shouted at the Blood Star and the people around us.
“Do you want to break the law of the sect? Now that I hold the sword, I am the sect’s Blood Demon.”
‘…!!’
Do Jong-ho frowned at hearing those words. It was hard to know what this man was thinking.
Seeing this ambiguous expression, the masked men changed their stance, but Commander Mun remained steadfast.
“Unleash the Blood Demon Circle! Our only Blood Demon is our lady…”
It was then…
Bang!
A large roar erupted from inside the house. I looked behind me and saw someone striding out through a broken wall.
“Teacher!’
It was the Ghastly Monster.
-Oh! The crazy man is back!
Short Sword was excited at seeing his entry.
Just as she said, the wild and evil qi around him felt like he had recovered.
It took more time than we expected, but he seemed to be back in his perfect state.
“Fourth Elder…”
As Hae Ack-chun appeared, the masked people and even Commander Mun could not hide their shock.
They were overwhelmed by the force of his raging qi.
[You have been through a lot, teacher.]
I told him this, but he looked at me strangely and said.
[I know your intentions.]
[Uh?]
As I pondered his words, he stepped forward and shouted at the masked people in a loud voice, loud enough to make the ears ring.
“Who are you to stand in front of the Blood Demon?! Kneel!”
‘…!?’
What was he saying?
I only did that to buy us time. But this man shouted something like this and forced the masked men to kneel.
Commander Mun, who was shocked, urged his men.
“You- do you people realize what you are doing? Get up right now! Why will you not move?!”
Even with his cry, the kneeling men refused to get up. He was at a loss, as Do Jong-ho said.
“Fourth Elder. Long time.”
“Huh! It has been long enough that you have come on your knees?”
Do Jong-ho looked at him and said, “It is quite a difficult thing to understand the world. Maybe it was fate that brought me here?”
“What bullshit is that?”
“I hope my judgment is right.”
As he said that, Do Jong-ho turned to Commander Mun.
“Commander Mun, according to the sect’s law, I will serve the young lord as the Blood Demon. Shouldn’t you do the same?”
“Fourth Blood Star! What are…”
Chak!
But before he could finish, Do Jan-ho waved his sword and split Commander Mun’s neck.
‘…!!’
This was something I didn’t expect.
Do Jong-ho, who had beheaded the man, knelt on one knee and said.
“Blood Demon. Please give me the order. I will remove anyone who troubles you.”
At his words, none of the masked men dared to not kneel.
