Reincarnation of the Blood Demon - Chapter 7

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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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Blood Demon’s Rebirth
Chapter 7
My Territory
A low voice drifted from the carriage that stood parked on a road some distance from the Martial Arts Arena.
“Let’s go.”
“Won’t you observe a bit longer?”
“It’s already over.”
At the decisive tone, the Carriage Driver grasped the reins without protest.
Soon the carriage began moving quietly along the main road.
“The Third Young Master has trained quite rigorously, it seems. I’m relieved to see his health improving.”
The Carriage Driver spoke, but there was no response from within the carriage.
The driver, as if expecting nothing, kept his eyes ahead, but after a brief moment, the voice returned.
“Has that boy ever learned such Martial Arts?”
“The Martial Art used in the match was the Chaming Lingui Sword Art, a secret technique of Jeoksa Bang. I understand the Third Young Master has never studied it separately.”
“It wasn’t the level of something possible from seeing it once.”
No matter how outstanding one’s talent, hastily assembled Martial Arts always harbor flaws.
Yet in the Chaming Lingui Sword Art that the Third Young Master wielded, not a single such flaw appeared.
Moreover, in psychological warfare and improvisation—areas that could hardly be attributed to mere talent—he had overwhelmed Jeoksa Bangjushin entirely.
Setting aside the weakness of his flesh, what the Third Young Master displayed was, without exaggeration, already that of a fully realized martial master.
‘There has been a change.’
Yet it was a change that did not yield easily to understanding.
As the passenger sank into thought, the Carriage Driver asked softly.
“How shall we handle the matter of the Third Young Master?”
“Leave him be. It seems he has his own thoughts on the matter.”
“Understood.”
Then, as the passenger turned his head, the carriage window opened slightly of its own accord.
Watching the landscape rush past, the passenger murmured as if in passing.
“Before the Life-Death Match began.”
“Yes.”
“For just a moment, it seemed our eyes met.”
“Sir?”
The Carriage Driver’s grip on the reins trembled slightly for the first time. It was that unexpected.
The passenger continued, still admiring the view.
“He looked directly at me, piercing through the crowd.”
“That would be—”
“Impossible, wouldn’t it?”
It would have meant that the Third Young Master had detected him, whose very existence had been perfectly concealed.
It was far more reasonable to attribute it to coincidence.
And yet……
‘What if it wasn’t coincidence?’
Feeling the wind flowing through the window, the passenger spoke in a voice utterly devoid of humor.
“……How intriguing.”
As he turned his gaze forward, the open window closed naturally as well.
“Collect the hidden assassins I left behind. It doesn’t seem there will be major complications.”
At the composed order, the Carriage Driver replied quietly.
“Yes, Cult Leader.”
* * *
The silence brought on by the unbelievable result was brief.
“Wh—what……?”
“What just—”
The spectators, regaining their senses one by one, wore bewildered expressions.
Soon, they realized an upset had occurred.
“He won? The Third Young Master did?”
“Did I actually see that?”
The martial artists grew wildly excited, raising their voices.
“The, the Patriarch……”
“What are we supposed to do now?”
“Should we flee while we still can——”
The Jeoksa Bang disciples murmured in a daze.
Of course, since the Jeoksa Bang disciples were relatively fewer in number, their voices were quickly drowned out.
“This is absurd—we must report it at once!”
“Inform the Patriarch immediately!”
The arena burned with an intensity that threatened to explode at any moment.
Of course, Jeok Unhwi had no intention of feeding that fever.
“All of you, silence.”
His voice carried no inner power, yet it rang with such clarity that the bustling crowd froze and turned to stare at him.
“You cannot fathom why I fought Jeoksa Bangjushin.”
Jeok Unhwi nodded and continued.
“He orchestrated human sacrifices through his subordinate disciples and died by my hand. As agreed, I shall seize his estate—including Jeoksa Bang.”
“……!”
The crowd gasped, utterly unprepared for such words.
The Jeoksa Bang disciples, who had been wavering moments before, now stared back at him with blanched faces.
Jeok Unhwi fixed each of them with a hard gaze and spoke.
“Some among you may consent to my judgment. Others will not. I make my position clear now.”
Crack.
Jeoksa Bangjushin’s Straight Sword plunged into the floor of the Martial Arts Arena.
“This is my territory.”
Jeok Unhwi declared coldly.
“Step beyond the line, and I will kill you all.”
None realized that the “territory” he spoke of encompassed not merely Namhwa County, but the entire Blood Cult.
Yet the eyes that gleamed like blood dripping steadily were more than enough to seal every mouth shut.
The fervor that had gripped the arena had long since withered away.
“Now, all of you—be gone.”
The spectators scattered without a word, as though bound by an unspoken oath.
As the crowd withdrew, only a heavy silence remained on the arena floor.
Only then did Jeok Unhwi’s shoulders tremble faintly.
“……Hah.”
As he exhaled the breath he’d held, a bead of blood pooled at the corner of his mouth and fell.
‘Am I at my limit?’
His clenched fists began to shake—not mere muscular spasm, but his blood meridians convulsing as though crying out.
For three days he had used the Blood Essence Absorption Technique to suppress the demonic possession, but the aftermath of the fierce battle was beginning to undo that restraint.
‘The Chaming Lingui Sword Art is not a technique I can deploy in this state, anyway.’
Pain lanced through his joints; his organs twisted.
Yet Jeok Unhwi wiped the blood from his lips with his sleeve, composure intact.
‘If I feel pain, that is actually good.’
It meant his senses were still functioning properly, at least.
Three days of effort had not been in vain—his body was holding on, somehow.
‘I will need to find a fundamental solution someday, but not now.’
Jeok Unhwi raised his head and surveyed his surroundings.
‘……Gone.’
At some point, the Cult Leader’s carriage had vanished without a trace.
A thing as large as a carriage should leave visible signs of movement, yet even amid the battle’s fury, he had failed to notice its departure.
An unexpected arrival, and an incomprehensible retreat.
“Hm…….”
The impression was too strong; Jeok Unhwi simply searched his memory.
In the Third Son’s recollection, there was but one emotion toward his father.
‘Resentment.’
No matter how cruel the Blood Cult’s law of the jungle, the Third Son’s circumstances had been merciless beyond measure.
Treatment that made one forget he was the Cult Leader’s own child.
Whenever he endured unjust and insulting abuse, the Third Son had cried out for his father, and with each cry, only resentment had festered in his heart.
‘Those eyes were not ordinary, though.’
The Cult Leader’s gaze through the carriage window.
Fleeting as it was, he could sense it—that ruthless, emotionless stare.
‘Like a mad cult founder should be, I suppose.’
A creature so bloodless and tearless as to abandon his own son was certainly distinctive in some way.
The current Cult Leader was said to be the most reasonable of all his predecessors, yet his mercilessness left little to distinguish him.
After a moment’s thought, he cast it into the back of his mind.
‘It is not important now.’
The successor’s personal affairs held low priority.
His mind was already tangled enough; he had no wish to compound it with needless problems.
And it was at that moment he appeared.
“……Third Young Master.”
Ju Igyeom’s expression was troubled.
At any other time, he would have fussed over him, asking if he was all right, but now he didn’t even seem to have the mind for it—his eyes remained narrowed.
Jeok Unhwi answered flatly.
“What is it.”
“How are…… are you hurt at all, sir?”
“That’s not what you were about to say, was it.”
“Mm.”
Ju Igyeom, scratching his head as if at a loss, let out a deep sigh before speaking.
“How exactly did you win?”
His tone carried genuine bewilderment.
Jeok Unhwi let out a soft laugh.
“I told you I’d finish it, didn’t I.”
“But it wasn’t something you could just sweep past like that…….”
Ju Igyeom’s eyes narrowed again, finding nothing more to say, but Jeok Unhwi could see it—
his right hand sliding down from where it had rested on Jeok Unhwi’s sword guard.
‘Was he about to step in if things went wrong.’
It was almost endearing, in its way.
Jeok Unhwi deliberately pretended not to notice and jerked his chin toward the Martial Arts Arena.
“Noisy. Let’s go. If you don’t like it, go clean that place up instead.”
“That’s harsh, sir. I’m still your escort, after all.”
Ju Igyeom’s face fell pathetically, but Jeok Unhwi turned away as if he hadn’t seen.
Of course, Ju Igyeom was not discouraged in the slightest. Without missing a beat, he caught up and pressed his request with shameless persistence.
“Let me check your pulse for a moment, would you? I need to make sure you haven’t been injured.”
“Fine.”
Jeok Unhwi held out his wrist without interest, and as Ju Igyeom took his pulse casually, his expression gradually stiffened.
“Wait, hold on…….”
Startled, Ju Igyeom glanced at Jeok Unhwi’s face once before hurriedly returning his attention to the diagnosis.
‘What state is…….’
He’d assumed there was nothing seriously wrong given his calm demeanor, but that was far from the truth.
Every blood meridian was damaged and twisted—so much so that Demonic Possession of Body wouldn’t be surprising to occur right now—and his muscles and ligaments had been pushed to their very limit.
‘How is he even standing.’
It was only then that Ju Igyeom noticed Jeok Unhwi’s collar.
It was drenched with cold sweat. Now that he looked closer, his complexion was rather pale.
These were involuntary bodily responses—which meant that aside from such physical reactions, he was showing no other sign of distress.
‘……Willpower can’t simply be forced like this.’
Truly, an incomprehensible realm of mental fortitude.
Even he wasn’t certain he could endure to that degree.
“What kind of martial art did you use? Is it a form of the Explosive Power Technique?”
Ju Igyeom furrowed his brow as he asked, but Jeok Unhwi merely feigned ignorance and looked away.
“……Did you detonate your latent power? I’d believe it if you told me you set off a lightning pearl in your own body.”
Ju Igyeom clicked his tongue while muttering; Jeok Unhwi’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise.
‘He can tell.’
It wasn’t easy to deduce the type of martial art used from the pattern of internal injuries alone.
It occurred to him anew that Ju Igyeom was no fool.
After examining Jeok Unhwi’s condition a few more times, Ju Igyeom spoke with a grave expression.
“Well, I’ll have a physician summoned at once. We should head back to Jeokmy Palace, shouldn’t we?”
“No.”
“Sir?”
Jeok Unhwi shook his head firmly.
“We’re going to Jeoksa Bang.”
“In your condition? What are you going there to do.”
“It’s my business now. I can’t skip work on the first day.”
“……Sir?”
Ju Igyeom turned to look at Jeok Unhwi, his tone baffled, but he did not break stride.
“Nothing to marvel at. I killed Jeoksa Bangjushin, so it’s mine now. That was the arrangement from the start.”
“I see, but…… were you planning to fight Jeoksa Bangjushin for that reason from the beginning?”
“I wouldn’t say I had no such purpose.”
Ju Igyeom regarded his superior anew with a look of fresh astonishment.
“You had it all planned from the start, didn’t you?”
“Planned? It’s hardly worth the word.”
Jeok Unhwi let out a dry laugh.
She’d taken him for a man who acted without thought, but now he seemed altogether different.
“Then… after absorbing Jeoksa Bang, what will you do?”
The question struck at something vital, and Jeok Unhwi finally stopped walking, turning to face Ju Igyeom.
“Swallow them all. Every last vermin gnawing at my territory.”
“……!”
“Look at the state of Namhwa County. Dogs like Jeoksa Bangjushin strut about with their chins held high, committing human sacrifice as though it were nothing.”
As Ju Igyeom fell silent, Jeok Unhwi continued in a grave tone.
“Discipline has crumbled, hierarchy has dissolved. Well, I behaved like a fool, so this much is inevitable.”
Ju Igyeom found himself with nothing to say. There was not a word of falsehood in it.
“If something is filthy, it must be cleansed.”
Jeok Unhwi’s gaze turned cold and sharp.
“Diseased flesh must be cut away. Jeoksa Bang is merely the beginning.”
The weight of that word—beginning—hung heavy enough that Ju Igyeom swallowed hard before speaking.
“Beginning… if you were to bring all of Namhwa County under your heel, there would be more after that?”
“Perhaps. The rot extends far beyond Namhwa County alone.”
Jeok Unhwi smiled darkly as he spoke.
“Whatever the cause, if there is corruption, it must be corrected.”
“……!”
Ju Igyeom’s expression stiffened visibly.
‘This… depending on how one hears it…’
Was he not speaking of entering the succession struggle itself?
Ju Igyeom’s face had grown grave, his throat dry, when Jeok Unhwi resumed his steps.
“Now you understand? How crucial the path we’re taking truly is.”
In other words, this present endeavor was the foundation for everything that was to come.
“…It’s far more ambitious than I’d imagined.”
It felt as though they were stepping into an entirely new realm.
‘Can a man change so completely?’
That unshakeable resolve, that ambition—neither could have been predicted.
He was no longer the weakling Third Young Master, clinging to life by mere habit.
Before him stood eyes burning with the will to seize tomorrow, and the imperious gleam of a ruler determined to remake everything that displeased him.
“I understand what you’re thinking.”
Ju Igyeom exhaled slowly, his expression conflicted, as Jeok Unhwi strode forward with purpose.
“Good. Then let’s go.”
‘My’ Jeoksa Bang awaited.

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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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