I Decided to Give the Contract to the Male Vassal - Chapter 83
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 83
In an instant, the air inside the cave froze.
“Me?”
Yujumyeong blinked his eyes. As if confirming whether he had really just heard his name mentioned.
“Right now. Kill him.”
Amhamason’s voice was calm.
There was no resentment or hatred in it. That made it feel even more chilling.
“I heard that Amhamason’s martial arts specialize in darkness.”
I carefully opened my mouth. Amhamason’s bark-like eyelids trembled slightly.
“I noticed earlier that Yujumyeong’s eyes are sensitive to light… It must be because he learned your martial arts.”
“…The only place that bastard can endure is dark places like this.”
“Are you worried about Yujumyeong being left alone? Cheonjon would want Amhamason’s Amhagong to be passed down, so he would treat Yujumyeong as the demon lord’s disciple too.”
“No, that bastard is no longer human. …He knows nothing of Cheonmu’s doctrine, and cannot control his killing intent.”
Amhamason’s tone was cold, but mixed with resignation and compassion.
His withered fingers groped through the air.
“That bastard will kill anyone near him and eventually hide in the darkness.”
Amhamason was convinced that Yujumyeong could not survive outside.
“Could it be that you haven’t left Mujingyeop to stay with Yujumyeong?”
“…”
Amhamason was one who had transcended the realm of Talma.
For such a person to endure here for 11 years without even thinking of going outside meant he had decided to die here.
“You planned to live and die in this tomb with your disciple.”
His stiff, branch-like head lifted.
He was watching me from the darkness.
Silence was affirmation.
Yujumyeong could only live in darkness, and Amhamason could live in darkness.
So Amhamason made no effort to go outside. He remained here, even disobeying the Leader’s order to complete his mission and return.
“You’re wrong. Yujumyeong can deal with people.”
Amhamason’s gaze shifted from the void to meet mine.
“Yujumyeong saved Yeo Gyeong-o and me from the Blood Meridian’s Johabsache just because they were noisy. It might have been easier for him to just let us die.”
Yujumyeong found Yeo Gyeong-o and me bothersome, but he didn’t try to kill us.
Rather, he seemed curious about the existence called humans.
Hearing my words, Amhamason’s eyes narrowed thinly.
“…I’ll change the conditions.”
“Please speak.”
“Take that kid with you. Instead, help him live like a human.”
Human.
It was hard to believe such words came from a demon lord.
Many of those who learned demonic arts lost their humanity. It was because they killed other senses to gain strong power through demonic arts.
So I thought someone at the level of Cheonmu sect’s Nine Great Demon Lords would have no human emotions.
But there was warmth in Amhamason’s voice. As if he was recalling his meeting with Yujumyeong.
“Put your hand on my back.”
Amhamason urged me. As if telling me to confirm his wager.
His back had bones clearly protruding like someone dying of starvation.
When I placed my hand on that back, a faint energy seeped into me along his thread-thin blood meridians.
‘Internal energy?’
It wasn’t evil or sinister energy. Rather, it felt like the remaining warmth of an old man growing cold and lonely.
The moment I thought that, a vision unfolded before my eyes.
It was a faded vision that seemed to be from long ago.
A man presumed to be Amhamason was chasing the figure of someone in black martial robes into Mujingyeop, which was entangled with unfamiliar killing intent.
It was him in normal condition, not the withered appearance of now.
‘Was this right after the battle that happened 11 years ago?’
There was the smell of rotten blood and burning medicine, and strange formations created by the Ma Ryeonghwa Family.
The enemies activated three formations to open a space.
Inside the cave that opened, there were corpses made by stitching lurking.
Among them was a particularly small Johabsache, which seemed to be made from children’s corpses.
It was emitting something sticky and unpleasant light from around the heart area.
‘That’s a Death Core that only the Ma Ryeonghwa Family makes!’
Death Cores are made by condensing blood and flesh, and are characterized by unique patterns carved in them for identification.
When Amhamason cut down that Johabsache, the Death Core rolled out through the split gap.
‘That would serve as evidence!’
Amhamason’s battle continued, and when he had defeated most of them, he was trapped in a formation.
The next moment.
Amhamason was lying on a rock, barely breathing.
He was dying, forcibly holding together his half-torn body.
He was stopping the bleeding with internal energy, but couldn’t prevent his breath from gradually weakening.
Like a hungry beast drawn to blood, a small figure approached him.
It was Yujumyeong’s appearance, much smaller than now.
Amhamason was gasping and struggling to breathe.
Yujumyeong just looked down at him without doing anything. His eyes were full of curiosity.
“Get away.”
It was a sound mixed with irritation and pain.
But Yujumyeong didn’t run away. Instead, he came closer and precisely pressed the points needed to stop the bleeding with his hands.
It was a movement like pure instinct.
Amhamason’s eyes properly turned to Yujumyeong for the first time then.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s warm.”
Though the words were brief, he seemed like a child seeking warmth, so there was nothing to say.
The child went around the ravine picking medicinal herbs and brought them to his waist.
“This. If you apply it, bleeding stops.”
As if he had been taught by someone, his small shell-like hands were busy treating him.
Amhamason, who initially resisted, gradually became accustomed to those touches.
Time passed in the blink of an eye.
Though Amhamason sometimes cursed at or hit Yujumyeong, he steadily passed down how to live in darkness and Amhagong, a unique martial art that builds internal energy through darkness.
The relationship was too rough to call master and disciple, too dry to call father and son.
Nevertheless, there were years they had endured together between the two.
As the winds of time passed, Yujumyeong had grown before they knew it.
Yujumyeong, who initially had curiosity about the world, gradually assimilated into darkness. His power specialized in darkness also deepened.
Perhaps that’s why. Unlike Amhamason who originally lived outside, Yujumyeong could only live in darkness.
As time grew longer, Amhamason fell into sleep more often. His body was gradually weakening.
Death was not frightening.
However, he was troubled by the thought of Yujumyeong being left alone in this darkness without him.
So he sustained his life by drawing up all his internal energy.
He consumed small amounts of the food and water Yujumyeong brought, but became emaciated as he couldn’t absorb most of it.
He endured for several years like this, unable to leave.
It was because of his worry, compassion, and affection for Yujumyeong.
He had lost his humanity while learning demonic arts, but amazingly regained it through the child.
Amhamason was Yujumyeong’s darkness, and thus his world.
The moment I thought that, I escaped from the vision.
Amhamason spoke calmly as if reciting.
“The third strange gate. Traces of the Ma Ryeonghwa Family remain there. That bastard will know how to get there.”
As if he no longer desired anything more, he closed his eyes.
“Old man. No.”
Moisture filled Yujumyeong’s voice as he looked at Amhamason.
“You fool. Myeong-ah.”
Though his eyes didn’t open, Amhamason’s mouth moved.
“Old man. Don’t speak. Save your breath.”
A faint smile appeared on the demon lord’s lips, while Yujumyeong’s mouth twisted in anguish.
Yujumyeong grasped his dry, branch-like hand.
“From now on, you must live in the light, not in darkness. So be careful of the light, my disciple.”
With those final words, a single tear fell from Amhamason’s withered eyes.
His head tilted to the side.
At the moment of death, Amhamason acknowledged Yujumyeong as his disciple.
Moisture filled Yujumyeong’s eyes.
“What? Why is this happening.”
As if unaware that he was crying, Yujumyeong frowned and rubbed his eyes.
“Chung-rin.”
Yeo Gyeong-o, who had been quietly watching, called my name softly.
Instead of answering, I shook my head. It meant there was no way to save the demon lord.
“Amhamason showed me a vision. Based on that, we might be able to find evidence that the Ma Ryeonghwa Family and Bloodsky Sect are in collusion.”
Even during this time, Yujumyeong wiped away his flowing tears with the back of his hand, but the tears wouldn’t stop.
Tears streaming down his face, he held out Amhamason’s sword and rags before him.
“These belong to the old man. I won’t ask for them anymore.”
Like a Buddhist statue frozen in meditation, Amhamason also remained completely still.
“Yujumyeong.”
I pushed the weapon back toward him.
“They belong to your master, so keep them well.”
“Huk…!”
At the word “master,” Yujumyeong shed tears once again.
When his sobbing had subsided somewhat, I extended my hand to him.
“It’s your master’s will. Come out with me.”
Yujumyeong tilted his head and looked up at me.
His transparent eyes, shining in the darkness, were filled with fear.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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