A Baby Cat Who Commands the Dog Clan - Chapter 245

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 245
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“Hup!”
I leaped lightly onto the stone floor.
Then I tested my footing with a few gentle taps.
The ground that had transformed into a bottomless chasm moments before had miraculously become solid stone again.
“This place is truly strange.”
And that was not all.
The flames that had billowed as if ready to swallow me whole had also subsided.
‘That heat bearing down on me was real—I could feel it scorching my very nose.’
For reasons I could not fathom, someone had succeeded in halting the formation.
‘It must be Je Gal Hyeop, the Supreme Commander, standing atop the cliff. Or perhaps the elders of the Dang Family.’
If not them, it would be Yi Woon.
‘Whoever it was, I am grateful.’
I offered my heartfelt thanks into the depths of my chest.
“…What do we do now?”
According to Dang Yi Woon’s final cry, we had undoubtedly entered a formation called the ‘Eternal Void Formation.’
Je Gal Seon’s death had triggered its activation.
‘Is Ga Ryung… dead?’
To be honest, Je Gal Seon’s death brought me no sorrow.
The lives she had stolen were countless as stars, and among them was my mother.
There were moments when I myself had wanted to strike her down.
Yet Je Gal Seon’s anguished final cry left a melancholy mark upon my heart.
“Right now, the very medicine that lets you walk unharmed—our Ga Ryung was used as its ingredient!”
“I cannot forgive this!”
In that instant, fury surged through me.
‘Why do I feel this way?’
It was an anger I had not anticipated.
During my time at the Myo Family Estate, I had never shared a proper, meaningful conversation with Myo Ga Ryung.
She had been only three years old before I was locked away in the Storage Room.
Yet I did have scattered memories of playing together.
Small hands plucking morning glories beneath the sun, pressing them into the folds of my garment.
Clear eyes waiting for a lullaby before sleep.
‘All of that became medicinal material for the Heavenly Demon in an instant….’
Medicinal material.
That horrible word echoed repeatedly in my ears.
“How could anyone call a person such a thing?”
I clenched my lips tightly.
The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.
My mind sharpened, and my fury became ever more vivid.
‘I cannot forgive this!’
It was not merely anger for Myo Ga Ryung, but for every abused child in this world.
‘I will slay the Heavenly Demon today, no matter what.’
To do so, I had to dismantle the formation before the dragon rose, by any means necessary.
‘Think, think harder.’
This was the Je Gal Estate’s formation.
Perhaps there was a clue hidden somewhere in my conversations with Je Gal Hyeop.
Hong Seol squeezed her eyes shut, racking her mind for a way to dismantle the formation.
Then a fleeting conversation with Je Gal Hyeop surfaced in her memory.
“What a shame you have no intention of marrying into the Je Gal Estate. Someone of your caliber would be a perfect fit.”
“Who knows? If you revealed one of the Je Gal Estate’s secret techniques, I might reconsider.”
To Hong Seol’s jest, Je Gal Hyeop had responded with unexpected seriousness.
“I cannot divulge the secret techniques, but what if I taught you how to dismantle our formation?”
“Let me hear it first, then I’ll decide.”
“When dismantling the Je Gal Estate’s formation, you must always head directly toward its center.”
That’s it!
I had to head toward the center of the formation first.
Hong Seol gazed at the pitch-black tunnel gaping open within the stone cavern.
‘That must be the only path to the center. Let’s go.’
Once the decision was made, my heart felt slightly lighter.
“If luck is on my side, I might even encounter my two brothers on the way.”
It was a quiet murmur spoken with clenched fists, yet it kindled a spark of courage.
The moment Hong Seol turned her head toward the sole passage.
“How unfortunate—you are a child cursed with misfortune.”
A chilling voice pierced her ears.
In an instant, her entire body went rigid. It was pure instinct.
But it was already too late.
Thump!
Hong Seol’s body, now stiffened, collapsed into the arms of a man kneeling on one knee.
Hong Seol’s eyes widened like lanterns.
‘I sensed nothing of his presence until he struck my vital points!’
It was proof that he was twice the master I was.
I was helpless.
Not a single finger would obey my will.
“Haa… haa…”
The Heavenly Demon’s breath, reeking of decay, seemed ready to brush against my cheek at any moment.
In the crimson eyes of the Heavenly Demon—more beast than man—an eerie obsession flickered.
My heart fluttered like a candle about to be snuffed out.
“…Why me, of all people?”
Hong Seol wrung out her voice and barely managed to cry out.
“Why do you ask?”
The Heavenly Demon’s hand moved slowly toward Hong Seol’s wrist.
“No… I can’t…”
In that moment, a horrifying image flashed through Hong Seol’s mind.
Je Gal Seon, caught in the Heavenly Demon’s grip, transforming into a withered husk in an instant.
‘I too will end up like Je Gal Seon, my vitality drained away…!’
A crude, powerful grip seized Hong Seol’s slender wrist.
“Hah!”
Hong Seol shuddered at the cold sensation.
“Yes, this is it. This is what I desired.”
A voice trembling with rapture reached her ears.
‘…He wasn’t trying to absorb my vitality?’
Confused, Hong Seol opened her eyes.
The Heavenly Demon was staring intently at her wrist.
There, two snowflake-shaped marks were distinctly visible.
“The mark of the Heavenly Time Reversal Art. At last I see it with my own eyes.”
Hong Seol’s face grew even paler than before.
“The Heavenly Time Reversal Art… you know of it? How?”
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes narrowed with irritation.
“Tch, you youngsters speak without thinking. I, the Supreme One, know every martial art under heaven.”
The tone was arrogant and composed.
It was not mere boasting, but the bearing of one who had seen through all things across countless ages.
Hong Seol felt a chill run down her spine.
‘Perhaps… this being truly approaches absolute power…’
The Heavenly Demon caressed Hong Seol’s snowflake-shaped marks with unmistakable affection.
“Long ago, I once encountered a vermin from the Northern Sea Ice Palace.”
The Heavenly Demon furrowed his brow, as if recalling a distant past.
“From him, I learned that within the Northern Sea Ice Palace exists a supreme art—one that allows passage beyond death’s threshold to return to the past.”
Truthfully, the Heavenly Demon had not believed that tale.
Not until Nam Goong Do, that fool, spoke of a child bearing snowflake-shaped marks on her wrist.
“…What does that matter? Only I can perform the reversal anyway, can’t I?”
Hong Seol glared at the Heavenly Demon, her expression bewildered.
“Ahahaha, how foolish you are! My dear bride.”
The Heavenly Demon laughed with mad delight, lowering his face close to Hong Seol’s once more.
Then he whispered softly into her ear.
“If one bears the mark of the Heavenly Time Reversal Art and marries me, we can traverse time together, returning to the past.”
“…!”
Hong Seol’s eyes widened like teacups.
The shock left her breathless. Every piece of the puzzle was falling into place in her mind.
The reason the Heavenly Demon had pursued her so relentlessly to make her his bride.
It was the only way for the Heavenly Demon to break free from the poison now that the Golden Dragon Jade Blood Pill had burned away.
The crimson eyes before me were unsettling.
“Now do you understand? Your eye-shaped birthmark is the second life granted to me.”
The Heavenly Demon’s lips curved upward with unmistakable satisfaction.
“Therefore, Myo Hong Seol, become my bride willingly.”
For that to happen, ‘that object’ would be necessary.
As expected.
The Heavenly Demon asked.
“Now then, where is the Golden Cat Sect?”
That was when it happened.
“Remove your filthy hands from Seol Ah!”
As a cry shattered through the stone cavern, a crystalline azure aura sliced through the air.
Crash!
Accompanied by the Nam Goong Family’s distinctive clear thunder.
Whoosh!
The Heavenly Demon retreated, treading through empty space as if dancing.
At first glance, the movement appeared composed and unhurried.
Yet in that instant, I had already been separated from the Heavenly Demon’s embrace.
“Ah!”
Just before my paralyzed body fell helplessly to the ground.
Someone caught my rigid form firmly.
“…Are you alright?”
Familiar azure eyes trembled before my face.
It was Nam Goong Baek.
“I didn’t arrive too late, did I?”
His words were calm, yet cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
I assessed his condition with my eyes.
Blood droplets already spattered his garments in several places, and his breathing was labored.
It was clear he had expended considerable strength to reach this place.
“Now, do not worry.”
Yet the moment Nam Goong Baek released the pressure point blocking my meridians, he rose immediately.
And faced the Heavenly Demon directly.
Where the Heavenly Demon had stood moments before, claw marks from a blade were distinctly visible.
“For a mere boy, your sword energy is quite impressive.”
Despite the Heavenly Demon’s words, which seemed to praise someone far beneath him, Nam Goong Baek’s expression remained unmoved.
Instead, he gripped his blade and aimed it squarely at the Heavenly Demon.
“You were fortunate to evade this attack, but next time, this blade will claim your throat.”
At those words, the Heavenly Demon’s expression twisted.
“So, the vermin of the Nam Goong Family have always been this ignorant of their place.”
Clang!
The Heavenly Demon drew a shimmering blade from across his back.
A blood-red aura rippled through the air, casting an ominous pall across the stone cavern.
-Seol Ah, are you listening?
At that moment, Nam Goong Baek’s voice echoed in my mind.
It was a telepathic transmission.
-While I fight, you find the Heavenly Demon’s weakness no matter what. This battle… I can’t hold out for long.
Before his words even finished.
Whoosh!
The Heavenly Demon hurled himself at Nam Goong Baek first.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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