DEB 129

“You did well, brother.”

Some people can’t follow even the simplest instructions and make the worst moves, while others carry out even the most difficult tasks faithfully and produce results. 

Huigang was the latter, and Huiyun liked that kind of person very much.

Yasha’s disciples were also all of that kind.

Feeling proud and satisfied, Huiyun smiled warmly, thinking once again that it wasn’t a coincidence these people were tied to him. 

Huigang let out a few empty chuckles.

“…That was simple.”

“It looked simple, but it wasn’t. When you first heard the last instruction, you had no idea what to do, right? But you still did it. That means you have a natural talent for handling energy. You’re not physically exceptional, but your senses are. People like that are usually suited for being shamans… but your nature is a bit different.”

“My nature?”

“Yeah.”

As he answered, Huiyun briefly checked the mana concentration in his body. 

Since he’d let the disciples and Huigang take the lead without stepping in directly, he still had plenty of energy left.

In that case, it should be fine to show him once.

Drawing the mana stored in his body, Huiyun slightly moved his lips.

“Sorcery is closer to ‘domination.’ It’s arrogant, but peaceful in direction. It’s less about direct combat and more about putting something else forward or causing indirect damage.”

He crouched down and reached his hand to the ground. 

Drawing upon Zenith’s power, he chanted over a small sprout that had grown, and the once vibrant, green sprout withered instantly. 

He showed the result to Huigang.

“If that’s sorcery, then you’re someone who handles energy. In old terms, you’re more like a mage.”

Pointing at the sprout with his index finger, Huiyun lightly drew mana into his fingertip. 

A white energy formed briefly, then shot straight from his finger and struck the sprout. 

The withered sprout disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a blackened scorch mark.

“This is energy usage. Moot is closer to a sorcerer, and Vina is more like a mage. Do you get it?”

“…I can tell this is different from just attributes or skills gained through awakening.”

“Exactly. This is a bigger category than the traits or skills you get at awakening. So from now on, don’t just rely on your sword in battle—try using mana properly too. I’ll keep teaching you.”

If Huigang could realize and polish his proper combat method, Huiyun was certain he’d gain upper-A-class combat ability. 

Even though he was still in a raw stage, the way he handled energy with ease proved he had talent.

Systematic stats couldn’t be changed, but the actual feeling of strength in a real fight would be entirely different.

And that would make Huigang much safer.

It would be like picking a fight with someone you thought was a B-class, only to find out they were actually A-class.

That’s the kind of person my brother should be.

Huiyun beamed as he celebrated his brother’s growth. 

Huigang, who’d looked a bit uncomfortable at first, eventually gave in with a soft smile and patted Huiyun’s head.

“Thanks.”

“You don’t need to thank me for this. I’m going to teach you a lot more.”

When war comes, Huigang wouldn’t be safe either. 

Huiyun had to raise his strength to the maximum possible, and with that resolve burning inside, 

Ash approached lazily while sheathing his sword.

“Wow, brother, you fight well. So now, are there seven of Yasha’s disciples instead of six?”

“Uh… Am I a disciple?”

“No. You’re always my brother. Ash, stop talking nonsense and deal with the monster corpses.”

Huiyun didn’t want to be in an awkward or overly formal relationship with Huigang. 

Even if he were to pass down everything he knew, he had no desire to be called ‘master’ by his brother. 

With that clear-cut line, he ordered Ash to handle the corpses.

That was when it happened.

Fwoooooosh.

A chilling, ominous wind blew.

Then—

Wuuuuuung.
The ground trembled, and a mournful wail, like someone being memorialized, spread through the forest like a fog.

A sinister energy clung to their bodies like a curse. 

Just as Huiyun realized something was wrong and prepared to deal with the corpses himself instead of urging Ash, light burst from the ground.

Flaaash!

“Ugh!”

The flash was so intense that Huiyun lost his vision for a few seconds and groaned. 

As soon as his sight returned, he looked down—and was stunned.

“…Huh.”

The disciples, also lowering their heads to inspect the ground, gasped.

“This is…”

With a wary tone, Moot crouched and examined the purple symbol etched into the earth.

A magic circle.

An array engraved in the language of the Demon Realm had spread across the ground, covering the entire area around Huiyun’s group and dissolving Verita’s sacred domain. 

As Verita’s divine energy melted like boiling lava, an unknown formation emerged over it in sharp clarity.

Standing beside Moot, Vina lowered his head and frowned.

“…A summoning array.”

“And a sacrificial one, too. They’re mixed.”

The two clever disciples quickly identified the nature of the array, but there was nothing they could do.

“…The exchange has already begun.”

Just before the flash, the dozens of monster corpses scattered everywhere had vanished without a trace. 

They had been offered to the array.

An array fed with sacrifices had dangerous repercussions if disturbed. 

A mix of summoning and sacrificial arrays was not something to mess with lightly. 

A wrong move could bring catastrophic consequences.

“Looks like the second trial is beginning.”

Ash summed up the situation in one sentence. 

Oddly, that made it a little easier to accept, it was bound to happen anyway. 

Still, the ominous waves radiating from the array remained deeply unsettling.

Everyone focused intensely on the array’s vibrations.

Then—

“Yasha!”

Ash shouted and yanked Huiyun behind him. 

Zenith raised a barrier, and Verita layered divine energy on top. 

No sooner had they completed the hasty preparations than thick, pitch-black demonic energy surged from the array, incomparable to anything before.

The demonic energy solidified into dozens of daggers and shot toward Huiyun and his group. 

The disciples moved swiftly to intercept them, but the daggers, which seemed to bounce off at first, suddenly split into dozens more and poured down like rain. 

No matter how fast they struck them down, they couldn’t avoid them all.

In the end, the daggers grazed their faces and legs, drawing blood. 

Even Huiyun, behind Zenith’s shield, couldn’t escape—the dagger broke through the barrier.

Because he instinctively tilted his head back, the wound wasn’t fatal, but a small cut formed, and from it came a burning, eerie pain.

“…Ugh!”

“Ah, fuck…”

The pain was so excruciating, like his brain was being wrung out, he couldn’t even hold back a groan. 

Everyone clutched their wounds in agony. 

The vicious demonic energy crawled up the cuts and gnawed at them. 

The pain intensified as if the wounds were being torn open, and blood streamed down.

A drop followed the curve of Huiyun’s cheek and fell to the arrayed ground.

Wuuuuung—

The purple array began to vibrate with a heavy, skin-crawling sound.

An array soaked in Huiyun and his disciples’ blood began to emit a dark glow.

“…Damn it.”

Realizing things had gone awry, Huiyun pulled the disciples away from the center.

The sacrificial array had drunk their blood.

Blood that had once held the soul of a dragon in a previous life, and blood from a body still bearing the role of divine proxy in this life.

Those bloods were priceless sacrifices far beyond a few monster corpses.

He couldn’t even imagine what would emerge from such a ritual.

Whatever it was, it would be beyond his worst expectations.

Whooosh!

From the center of the array, a pillar of black fire erupted. 

Demonic energy swirled around it like a whirlwind, tightening the tension. 

Huiyun held his breath with the others and watched. 

Then, as the black wave accompanying the wind hit them, he staggered.

The wave pushed at his body and stirred a primal fear.

Drip.

Cold sweat ran down his forehead and soaked his back. 

The fire pillar kept rising, endlessly, growing larger and larger. 

From within it, a being slowly began to take shape.

First, an arm burst forth—then a leg. 

The black claws were sharp as blades. 

The massive hand gripped the pillar’s sides, as if prying it open with brute force.

Huiyun slightly released Yasha’s power to peer inside the pillar.

A diagonal crack appeared. 

Within it, the owner of that arm struggled to break free into the world.

Suddenly, an eye snapped open between the cracks.

As their gazes met, Huiyun’s body stiffened.

“…Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped him in disbelief. He knew the owner of that eye.

“This is insane.”

The second of the three trials granted by the Fountain of Souls:

“You will face an overwhelming enemy in an inescapable battle.”

That trial was now beginning on this land.

With none other than —A lord of the Demon Realm, following the Demon God’s will.