Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 274 – Blood Saint (1)

[The foundation of illusion techniques is to deceive the five senses.]

[What are the five senses?]

[It’s literal. The five senses you possess. It can be sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch.]

[How does one deceive them?]

[Humans can unconsciously recall sensations they have experienced before.]

[What does that mean?]

[For example, when you think of sour food, your mouth automatically waters. What do you think is the reason for that?]

[Ah……]

[That is the unconscious recollection of sensations.]

[Then, if illusion techniques deceive this?]

[It makes people unconsciously recall a situation and accept it as natural.]

She had learned everything about illusion techniques from her master.

Except for her master and the one who had taught them this secret art, she was confident that no one could surpass her in this field.

Holding her nose, she looked at Mok Gyeong-un with an incomprehensible gaze.

‘Why didn’t it work?’

Illusion techniques that drive one to extreme self-harm are very difficult because the body or mind unconsciously and strongly rejects them.

However, temporarily turning hostility like this was surprisingly easy.

It was because one only needed to unconsciously select the target of hostility.

But this guy, the illusion technique itself didn’t work on him.

‘That can’t be.’

Of course, illusion techniques were not absolute.

If the opponent had reached the peak of enlightenment and completely transcended, or if their mental strength was even stronger than hers, it might not work.

However, after exchanging blows, it didn’t seem like the former, and the latter was even more impossible.

After being imprisoned in the underground prison, she had lost track of the years, but even before that, she had already surpassed a hundred and sixty years.

Not only her age but also her mental strength, which had not succumbed despite enduring torture and not consuming food for a long time, could not be surpassed by this young lad.

‘Is it a mistake?’

Just in case, she stared intently at Mok Gyeong-un while inwardly chanting mantras and flicking her finger.

-Flick!

‘From now on, go and kill your comrades.’

“…… What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

She was dumbfounded.

The illusion technique really didn’t work.

For her, who could make someone fall under an illusion even with just a sound made by her hand while covering their eyes and mouth, this situation was beyond comprehension.

To her, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“I don’t know what you were trying to do, but how about ending it here? If I were really an Embroidered Uniform Guard, I would have tried to stop you somehow.”

“……”

“Instead, I helped you get released, but attacking me like this doesn’t seem like proper etiquette towards a benefactor.”

“Nonsense!”

“It’s not nonsense.”

“Do you think I would believe your words?”

“There’s no reason not to believe me, is there?”

“No reason not to believe? There are more than enough reasons. You people have used all sorts of methods to get what you wanted from me. Interrogations, torture, all kinds of persuasion tactics. But when I refused to speak, you went even further and cut off my food supply, starving me for dozens of years.”

“Do…… dozens of years?”

Mok Gyeong-un frowned.

Did she just say with her own mouth that she had been starving for decades?

Was her mind wandering?

How could she have survived starving for decades, not just a few days?

If a human starved for even a few days, they would become haggard, and if it continued for a long time, they would lose weight and become emaciated.

However, there was none of that in her appearance.

As he was puzzled, she spoke,

“You deliberately released me as if it were a mistake, giving me hope and then trying to subdue me again to break my will. I’ll make you realize that this is your foolish mistake.”

-Roar!

As soon as those words ended, energy surged from her.

Her true energy was so strong that even wind pressure was generated.

Seeing this, Mok Gyeong-un sighed.

He had thought she was a pawn he could use appropriately, but perhaps because she had been imprisoned for a long time, her mind seemed to be wandering, and she couldn’t trust anyone at all.

‘Does she consider this situation itself a trap?’

If that was the case, no matter what he said, it wouldn’t get through to her.

Mok Gyeong-un looked at her as if he was annoyed.

He needed to hurry, but he was being held back at an absurd point.

‘Ah.’

Mok Gyeong-un then looked at her with a sharp gaze.

Then, he muttered softly,

“There’s no other choice.”

It seemed better to just kill her as quickly as possible.

With this in mind, Mok Gyeong-un was about to assume a martial stance when he felt a presence behind him and turned his head.

Looking back, he saw an Embroidered Uniform Guard Chief Banner standing with a perplexed expression.

The impact from her claw energy had been so great that it shook the cave passage, so it would have been strange if he hadn’t come here.

“Oh damn it……”

The Embroidered Uniform Guard Chief Banner was greatly startled by the sight of the escaped prisoner.

Right then,

-Flick!

The sound of a finger flicking was heard.

At that moment, the Embroidered Uniform Guard Chief Banner’s eyes suddenly lost focus.

Then, he shouted at Mok Gyeong-un and charged at him.

“Die!”

‘Huh?’

When the person who had been perplexed upon seeing the escaped prisoner suddenly displayed killing intent towards him, Mok Gyeong-un couldn’t hide his confusion.

However, the martial prowess of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Chief Banner was only at the beginning of the peak realm.

Naturally, there was no way he could be a match for Mok Gyeong-un.

-Swish!

After easily dodging his saber that aimed to cut his neck,

-Thud!

He struck down on the Chief Banner’s wrist, causing him to drop his saber.

As the saber fell, before it even touched the ground, he kicked the hilt towards her.

-Swish!

The saber rushed towards her forehead as if to pierce it.

“Hmph.”

As she swiftly turned her head to the side, the saber blade collided with her long hair infused with true energy and ended up stuck in the wall.

-Thud!

But it didn’t end there,

“Ugh.”

The Embroidered Uniform Guard Chief Banner, who had fallen under her illusion, flew towards her.

‘Huh?’

In an instant, she frowned.

Then, she unleashed her claw energy towards the flying Embroidered Uniform Guard Chief Banner, tearing his entire body into pieces.

-Swish swish swish swish swish!

As his body was divided into dozens of pieces, blood splattered everywhere.

But in the midst of that, someone passed through and thrust their sword fingers towards her neck.

It was none other than Mok Gyeong-un.

-Thud!

Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, her left shoulder was pierced by the aura infused in his sword fingers.

‘This bastard?’

Her eyes gleamed with interest.

He threw his own comrade to obscure her vision and then attacked through that gap?

What the hell was he doing?

-Swish swish!

The puzzled woman then dodged Mok Gyeong-un’s sword fingers aiming for her neck with an elegant footwork technique and widened the distance.

-Swish swish swish swish!

While widening the distance, the pierced area on her shoulder sizzled, and the blood stopped flowing.

Noticing this, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes narrowed.

‘The wound?’

The healing speed surpassed human limits.

He also had a fast recovery rate for injuries, but her speed far exceeded that.

If it could heal immediately after being pierced, it wasn’t just recovery but the realm of super-regeneration.

‘Does it heal even with death energy?’

Death energy disperses martial power.

However, it seemed unable to stop the regeneration of her body.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes caught sight of thunder power sparking from her wound.

It seemed that power was promoting the regeneration.

While he was marveling,

-Swish!

She counterattacked with her claw energy, and Mok Gyeong-un twisted his body to the side.

Then, he tried to strike her wrist, which was unleashing claw energy, with his elbow.

In response, she used a variation to avoid it and aimed for Mok Gyeong-un’s neck.

-Swish swish swish swish swish swish!

In a flash, their hands clashed about six times, and they were both pushed back.

-Swish swish swish swish!

-Swish swish swish swish!

The woman who was pushed back raised an eyebrow and looked at her red-stained hand.

‘I’m using Blood Jade Hand and strong energy simultaneously, but he’s blocking it with a strange strong energy in an instant.’

Her martial art, which turned her hands into blood-red jade, was called Blood Jade Hand, a divine technique that combined claw and palm techniques. Its power was enough to crush rocks and tear iron with bare hands.

If strong energy was added to the Blood Jade Hand, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was difficult to find an equal match in close combat.

However, the fierce-feeling strong energy unleashed in an instant was blocking it.

The power was completely different from ordinary strong energy.

‘Who the hell is this bastard?’

On the surface, he didn’t even look to be in his prime.

Even if her body wasn’t fully loosened and she wasn’t exerting her full strength, it was unbelievable that a young lad who hadn’t even lived for twenty years could almost match her.

She thought she could easily subdue him, but it seemed difficult to do so without going all out.

Inwardly clicking her tongue, she opened her mouth.

“You’re no ordinary fellow.”

“That’s what I’d like to say to you.”

Mok Gyeong-un was also inwardly amazed by her martial prowess.

It was doubtful whether she had really been imprisoned in the underground prison for a long time, considering how agile and lively her movements were.

Moreover, her internal energy and martial power were beyond imagination.

It flowed endlessly like an inexhaustible spring, making him wonder how they had managed to confine such a monstrous woman.

According to Cheong-ryeong, in terms of martial power, he was infinitely close to the Profound Realm. Except for the Six Heavens, who were at the current peak, there were hardly any in the martial arts world who could match him, aside from the Eight Stars, who were called the greatest masters of the era.

However, it seemed he had encountered such a person quite quickly.

‘…… Was it the Nine Blood Cult?’

Come to think of it, both Mong Mu-yak and Cheong-ryeong had mentioned that during the era of the Old Martial Arts World, the level of martial prowess of the masters was even higher than now.

Looking at this woman, it certainly seemed that way.

‘I’ll have to go all out.’

Mok Gyeong-un had been controlling his martial power to the maximum extent possible due to the deep underground cave.

So he had only unleashed demonic energy in the instant of clashing.

However, that level seemed insufficient to deal with this woman.

With this, Mok Gyeong-un released the control he had been maintaining and circulated demonic energy throughout his entire body.

Then,

-Roar!

A sinister black energy flowed out from Mok Gyeong-un.

Seeing this, wariness appeared in her eyes.

‘Look at this bastard.’

She had thought he was quite skilled, but if he exerted his full strength, she believed she could kill him within about thirty moves.

However, when Mok Gyeong-un revealed his demonic energy, her thoughts changed.

Even if she went all out, it wasn’t a level where she could settle the match within thirty moves.

‘I’ll have to be a bit more serious.’

-Crackle crackle crackle crackle!

At that moment, blue sparks erupted from her entire body, and lightning enveloped her.

The moment she revealed the thunder power she had been concealing, Mok Gyeong-un made the first move.

He intended to settle the match before she could fully demonstrate her abilities.

-Tap tap!

Mok Gyeong-un tapped the ground twice, and with a gust of wind, his figure split into two and charged towards her.

This was the Wind God Steps he had stolen and learned from the Thousand-men Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, Ma Ra-hyeon.

However, seeing Mok Gyeong-un’s mysterious lightness skill that split his figure into two, her eyes widened.

‘Th-this is?’