The Demonic Supreme Sword Novel - Chapter 60

Chapter 60
## Chapter 60: Blood Evil Cult (2)

Sima Geon shifted his frame with a subtle grace as the shard of iron tore through the air like a flash of lightning.

His evasion was more than fluid enough to bypass the projectile. However, the Blood Flame Lord’s iron shard, having calculated Sima Geon’s prowess from their earlier exchange, shredded through his lingering afterimage and made a sudden, sharp adjustment in its path.

Sima Geon swung his blade toward the shard as it lunged for his flank.

Clang!

A high-pitched metallic scream rang out, accompanied by a shower of sparks.

The point of the shard, forced aside by the sword, expertly redirected itself to strike downward at the crown of Sima Geon’s head.

This was the Flood Dragon Claw, a pinnacle maneuver within the Flood Dragon Whip Art.

Sima Geon jerked his head to the side.

As the jagged tip brushed past his ear and aimed for his collarbone, Sima Geon reached out and snatched it from the air.

The Blood Flame Lord grinned with a sense of certain victory.

Though its sharpness wasn’t immediately obvious, the shard was significantly more lethal than any standard blade. Furthermore, the obsidian tint of its chain indicated it was saturated with a virulent toxin. Even a minor abrasion would result in certain death.

He had expected a grueling struggle given how easily the stranger had slaughtered his underlings, but the battle was concluding far too simply. The crushing pressure that had filled his chest began to dissipate.

“You possess a fascinating plaything.”

The emotionless voice caused the Blood Flame Lord’s grin to vanish instantly.

“H-how can this be?”

The sudden, rigid tension on the shard provided the answer.

The Blood Flame Lord steadied his reeling posture and channeled a surge of internal energy through the shard.

He was baffled as to how the man had caught the razor-sharp edge with his bare hand. Unless the man’s skin was as hard as diamond, there had to be a wound, and the venom would surely do its work. Even if it wasn’t an immediate kill, it would create a vulnerability. He intended to strike at that weakness.

Sima Geon sensed the massive tide of power traveling through the metal and understood his rival’s plan.

He saw no reason to retreat.

Since his transformation within the Ghost Gate Clan, he had participated in endless conflicts without ever being overpowered in a contest of internal strength.

This opponent was formidable.

His internal reserves were deep enough to brazenly initiate a soul-shaking energy duel that few would attempt without absolute certainty of their superiority.

Sima Geon’s eyebrow twitched.

The force traveling through the shard was not standard internal energy.

It was a viscous, freezing, and unsettling aura that radiated an inexplicable sense of loathing.

Though it was only a guess, he suspected this was the condensed malice of the countless victims whose life essence the Blood Flame Lord had harvested.

‘How many souls has he murdered?’

The images of the fallen martial monks he had encountered earlier surfaced in his mind, turning his heart cold.

Sima Geon steadied his pulse and triggered the Three Venerables One Heart Art.

This was the peerless internal technique he had claimed from the Ghost Gate Clan.

A titanic power that had been resting within his marrow surged to life. It would tolerate no corruption within its territory.

The hateful thoughts trying to seize his mind and the oily aura creeping into his eight extraordinary meridians were annihilated instantly.

“Gah!”

The Blood Flame Lord’s eyes nearly burst from their sockets at the incoming wall of force.

‘My… my energy… is being overwhelmed?’

The impossible was happening.

His internal energy, the product of over sixty years of cultivation, was retreating. This wasn’t just any power—it was infused with the ultimate essence of mortality drawn from pure terror. No normal person should have survived it.

“Urgh!”

A cry of pure pain broke from the Blood Flame Lord.

He exerted every scrap of his will to resist, but the incoming tide erased his power without effort. Worse, his own physical form began to disintegrate under the pressure of the enemy’s aura.

Blood began to seep from the Blood Flame Lord’s eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth.

His veins bulged as if ready to snap, and his limbs shuddered like a leaf in a gale.

Sensing that Sima Geon’s aura had neutralized all resistance and was now reaching for his dantian, the Blood Flame Lord made a desperate choice.

He knew the price of breaking an internal energy connection first, but he had no other option.

“Blegh!”

He threw the shard’s grip away as if it were trash and stumbled backward, collapsing into a heap and retching up mouthfuls of gore.

The vomiting lasted for some time, the color of the fluid shifting from crimson to a bruised black.

Once he finally stopped, the Blood Flame Lord crawled toward the discarded handle. At that moment, Sima Geon casually tossed the shard’s tip with a flick of his wrist, letting it strike the Blood Flame Lord’s head before it clattered to the ground.

Though it was a staggering insult to a master, the Blood Flame Lord hardly reacted. He simply bowed his head and rose with agonizing slowness. Suddenly, the limp iron shard began to thrash and spin violently around his body.

The force of the rotation kicked up a storm of dust and stones, obscuring the battlefield.

The Blood Flame Lord raised his gaze to glare at Sima Geon.

His pupils had expanded to swallow the whites of his eyes, and his pale complexion had turned a bruised charcoal. The blood staining his lips was equally dark.

“A final, useless effort.”

Sima Geon didn’t flinch at the monstrous change; instead, he let out a mocking huff. He had seen the soldiers of the Blood Evil Cult undergo this exact transformation when cornered in the past.

“I will rip you apart.”

With a guttural scream of fury, the Blood Flame Lord’s shards lashed out. But they didn’t head for Sima Geon.

Like a predatory snake, the shard coiled through the air and snared the bodies of the disciples who had already fallen to Sima Geon’s blade.

The captured corpse was flung into the air like a projectile toward Sima Geon. This was only the beginning—the Blood Flame Lord began hurling every dead subordinate in the vicinity at his enemy.

“Trash to the very end.”

Sighing, Sima Geon hoisted his sword. Instantly, the flying bodies detonated in mid-air.

A deluge of thousands of bone shards and shredded flesh erupted, creating a red haze that threatened to swallow Sima Geon.

To the Blood Flame Lord, this was his masterpiece. However, not a single fragment of bone or tissue reached Sima Geon. A protective barrier of sword aura radiated from his steel, shielding him entirely. It looked similar to the barriers used by the Blood People earlier, but its strength was on a different plane of existence.

The gore was deflected harmlessly by the shield; anything that hit the barrier directly was turned into microscopic dust.

As the thick crimson mist began to waver, a piercing whistle cut through the air—the shards were coming.

But it wasn’t just a single strike.

Thirty-six distinct lines of attack appeared in Sima Geon’s vision.

Flood Dragon Captures the Sea, one of the nine secret ultimate techniques of the Flood Dragon Whip Art.

‘Not bad.’

True killing strikes were buried within a sea of illusions.

He couldn’t simply ignore the fakes, either. Each one carried enough force to be lethal; they weren’t mere shadows. Their velocity, angle, and timing were chaotic and varied.

Sima Geon focused his gaze on the incoming metal and took a single step forward.

Boom!

The earth shuddered, and a localized gale erupted. That pressure alone knocked several of the shards off their intended paths.

His sword began to move with the fluidity of water.

A brilliant blue sword aura flowed along the steel, and the shards that met it evaporated like mist in the sun.

“Hah!”

With a sharp exhale, Sima Geon delivered a diagonal slash.

The heavy blood mist was cleaved in two, and every shard caught in that trajectory was forced to yield.

Clang clang clang!

With the sound of shattering metal, the illusions fell away, and even the hidden killing strikes were smashed to pieces.

As the broken chains fell, their owner was revealed.

“This cannot be!”

Soaked in his own blood, the Blood Flame Lord stared in shock at his ruined weapon.

Detonating the bodies of his men wasn’t intended to kill Sima Geon directly.

The true goal was to create the perfect environment for Flood Dragon Captures the Sea.

Use the bone shards and flesh to distract, use the blood mist to blind, and then use the final technique to end the life of the target.

Real attacks hidden in a forest of fakes. Furthermore, by striking from the center of the chain rather than the end, he had created two genuine killing blows.

Despite the near-fatal damage from the energy duel, the Reverse Blood Qi Art had flooded his system with more power than he had ever possessed.

Even if it cost him his life, he was willing to sacrifice himself for the cult’s objective. But a few simple movements from his enemy had rendered it all meaningless.

The sacrifices of his men were wasted, and his life-risking final move had been seen through and dismantled perfectly.

His chest felt as though it were filled with molten lead.

Only now did he realize that the energy which had shattered his technique had also sliced through his heart.

The Reverse Blood Qi Art kept his lungs moving, but only for a few more seconds. He could feel his borrowed strength evaporating.

Through the fog of his dying mind, a terrified scream reached him.

The Blood Flame Lord looked to his left.

He witnessed the men Jo Ryong had sent to attack Il Hwang Suk being systematically butchered by Cheol Woo. Only then did he remember his primary mission.

‘Il Hwang Suk.’

To take control of the throne, Il Hwang Suk had to be eliminated. Of course, Sima Geon needed to die too, but that was no longer possible.

Instinctively, his hand tightened.

His mind was fading; his eyes were already closing.

The final spark of life in the Blood Flame Lord’s body moved the broken shard one last time.

It snagged the final corpse behind him and launched it toward Il Hwang Suk.

“You senile maniac!”

Yong Su, horrified that the man would use his own comrade’s body as a tool until the very end, shouted a curse and swung his blade.

It didn’t look like a major threat, but allowing a corpse to strike the prince was an unthinkable insult, so he moved to bat it away.

“You moron!”

A voice like thunder exploded in his ear.

Feeling as though he’d been hit in the back of the head with a sledgehammer, Yong Su tumbled to the ground.

Cheol Woo, who had been slaughtering his enemies with ease, had suddenly appeared in front of Yong Su and thrown a punch.

Whoom!

A massive shockwave boomed as Cheol Woo’s fist aura collided with the flying body.

The corpse disintegrated into bone and flesh, but it was immediately caught in the wake of the fist aura and reduced to nothingness.

Beyond Yong Su, who was still on the ground, everyone looked on in total confusion at Cheol Woo’s sudden movement. But the Blue Orchid Lord, who had been watching the primary duel with bated breath, was different. She sensed that Cheol Woo wouldn’t have abandoned his fight without a vital reason.

“Ah!”

The Blue Orchid Lord gasped.

As everyone turned toward her, she pointed at the ground.

“Look.”

They followed her gesture.

Seeing their confused faces, she clarified.

“Can’t you see? The grass where the flesh landed is rotting instantly. And the stench…”

She grimaced, covering her face as she spoke.

“Smart girl.”

Cheol Woo let out a booming laugh, which only made the humiliated Yong Su scramble to his feet.

“How dare you! Watch your tongue around the Lord!”

“Oh, right. You’re a Lord. Wow, I really messed up. A huge mistake.”

His tone and expression were dripping with sarcasm.

“Regardless. Is it a toxin?”

The Blue Orchid Lord stepped toward him.

“Yep.”

Despite the angry glares from the guards at his lack of manners, Cheol Woo ignored them.

“That seems impossible. They were already dead.”

“These Blood Evil Cult freaks. I’ve dealt with them before. When they’re losing or about to die, they go insane. Some turn their entire bodies into bombs. Most importantly: their very blood and flesh become toxic. The Boss says it’s as deadly as Corpse Decay Blood Poison.”

“Heaven help us. How can a human do that to themselves…”

The Blue Orchid Lord was visibly shaken, causing Cheol Woo to smirk.

“Probably not all of them. Just the ones bred for it.”

Cheol Woo turned his head back to the group.

“Get it now? If that body had exploded right here, what do you think would have happened?”

As Yong Su started to stammer, Cheol Woo waved his arms theatrically.

“You’d all be dead. Every single one of you. I saw it coming, but you lot are as blind as bats. You should’ve learned something watching the Boss fight. How have you lived this long with such terrible instincts?”

Whether from guilt or embarrassment, Yong Su looked at his boots.

“Be happy. I saved you because I recognize your face. I’m just a soft-hearted guy like that.”

While Cheol Woo was rambling, the Blue Orchid Lord’s eyes were wide with realization.

‘He knew from the beginning? If the guard had no instincts, but he did… then…’

Her eyes moved past Cheol Woo to see Sima Geon walking slowly toward them.

Behind him lay the remains of the Blood Flame Lord, cut perfectly in half.

In the moment he had thrown the corpse at Il Hwang Suk, the Blood Flame Lord had attempted to lunge at Sima Geon to self-destruct. But Sima Geon’s blade had been faster, ending him in a single stroke.

‘It’s finally over, you monster.’

She felt a wave of relief at the end of the man who had tried to destroy her family—but her fury remained. So many people had died.

‘The Grand Secretary!’

She gritted her teeth at the thought of the mastermind behind the bloodbath. Cheol Woo interrupted her thoughts.

“Getting sloppy, Boss? You almost let us get melted.”

“Not exactly.”

Sima Geon shook his head softly.

He could have intercepted it. But since Cheol Woo was already positioned near the prince, there was no need for him to act.

“How did you finish the old guy…”

Cheol Woo started to ask, then looked back and stopped.

“Clean. I knew he had one last trick left.”

“He tried.”

“I bet.”

Cheol Woo grinned. No further words were needed.

“Anyway, looks like the cleanup here is done too.”

Sima Geon surveyed the area. There were still enemies standing, but they had been so broken by Cheol Woo’s display of power that none dared to step forward.

With Dong Cheon captured and bound earlier, they had no leadership left to follow.

“More or less. Though if those newcomers join in, they might get brave again.”

Cheol Woo pointed toward a group approaching from the distance.

Il Hwang Suk’s party turned in alarm.

Yong Su, recognizing the colors, let out a cheer.

“The Commander’s colors! Eom Cheon Ho is here with the vanguard!”

“Excellent. He succeeded.”

Jo Ryong nodded in relief, his face hardening as he took command.

“Move now and seize those traitors. Do not let a single one escape.”

The remaining enemies, already terrified of Cheol Woo, began to scatter in a frenzy at the sight of the reinforcements.

“Yes, sir!”

Despite his injuries, Yong Su took off with renewed energy.

“I am Jomun Seong. I am in your debt.”

Il Hwang Suk offered a deep, respectful bow to Sima Geon. After a short silence, Sima Geon returned the gesture.

“There is no debt. I only did what was required.”

“Don’t be modest! You saved our lives. Without you two, we would be corpses.”

Il Hwang Suk continued to offer his gratitude.

While Sima Geon remained stoic, Cheol Woo couldn’t hide a satisfied grin. He didn’t care much for the crown, but the respect of a prince was hard to ignore.

“And this is…”

Il Hwang Suk gestured toward the Blue Orchid Lord, who was waiting for an opening.

“I am Ju Hwa Seol. It’s good to meet you again now that the danger has passed. Back at Shaolin, you two were the primary suspects. You’ve realized that by now, haven’t you?”

Sima Geon felt a jolt of surprise as the Blue Orchid Lord gave him a knowing look.

“Shaolin knew you as Sima Yeong and Woo Cheol. Whether those were your names or not. Your faces are a bit different, but your presence is the same. Am I right?”

Cheol Woo’s eyes went wide.

“Whoa! How did you—Ow!”

Sima Geon dug an elbow into his ribs, but the damage was done.

Facing the smiling Blue Orchid Lord, Sima Geon and Cheol Woo found themselves without a word to say.