Chronicles of Heavenly Demon - Chapter 199: Price of Sin (1)

“This is……. ”

King Jinseong, who had escaped from the Thousand Path Disorienting Labyrinth, looked around under the light of the setting sun.

‘Sage of Earth and Sky’ Do Jin-myung followed after him, dressed in black.

The imperial courtyard sprawled before them.

Kuakuakua—

It seemed like the fight had already begun elsewhere.

King Jinseong muttered, “Near the Palace of Heavenly Purity.”

The Palace of Heavenly Purity.

The emperor’s current audience hall.

The exit through which King Jinseong had come out was connected to one of the two entrances located right outside of the inner court.

The building caught his eye as he turned his head.

“Brother, I can finally avenge you.”

King Jinseong tried to take a step forward.

At that moment though, those who had heard the commotion found King Jinseong.

The one in the lead shouted, “Your Highness, King Jinseong! That means…”

King Jinseong had given a proclamation earlier, standing on the side of Murim. The fact that he was here definitely had something to do with that.

Considering that, the leader called out, “Secure the perimeter! We don’t know how many more there are, but prepare to fight against the rebel leader!”

Bam, bam.

Soldiers marched towards them, surrounding King Jinseong and Do Jin-myung. Do Jin-myung stood in front of King Jinseong, pushing him back.

“Your Majesty!”

King Jinseong looked at the man who had shouted that order.

“Oh Geum-jang.”

To his words, the leader, Oh Geum-jang, responded, “Your Majesty, why have you caused this conspiracy?”

The man raised his hand as he spoke. As soon as he lowered his hand, the other soldiers would shoot their arrows.

Do Jin-myung watched the soldiers with sharp eyes.

Small explosives were attached to the arrowheads.

Hmm.

He wondered how many explosives he could withstand.

“It is the opposite. I am trying to make things right.”

“You are trying to bring down the Emperor, so you are in the wrong.”

King Jinseong’s expression turned ugly. He thought Oh Geum-jang would understand, but it was now unclear. His emotions bubbled up.

“How do you know he is the true emperor?”

In fact, King Jinseong did not want to fight Oh Geum-jang. The man had been loyal to the imperial family since his brother was first crowned.

He was a real man, but was not good at digging below the surface.

Oh Geum-jang resolutely responded, as if he did not understand King Jinseong’s words.

“The mouth that gives the orders is His Majesty’s, and the hand that holds the seal is His Majesty’s. Why do you say he is not the Emperor, Your Majesty?”

It was almost a scream.

At Oh Geum-jang’s self-immolating cry, King Jinseong closed his eyes.

He did not say it aloud, but it seemed like Oh Geum-jang’s true voice was transferred over.

And that was why King Jinseong also spoke with his heart.

Oh, you know.

You know, Oh Geum-jang. 

You know that the lord you serve is wrong. Since the Heavens do not have the power to rectify the lord who has gone astray…

Even if the soul has changed, Oh Geum-jang will do everything in his power to protect that husk of flesh.

A person who follows himself. 

Why must you pay for others’ failures?

King Jinseong opened his eyes. It seemed like he had already made up his mind.

“So this is how it ends.”

“It turned out this way, my lord.”

King Jinseong took a step forward, stepping around Do Jin-myung. “I will take the head of the emperor today.”

“I will stop Your Highness today.”

“And then I will make things right.”

“Whatever you do, you will have to step over my dead body.”

Oh Geum-jang also took a step towards King Jinseong.

It was a tense situation.

“You will not be able to clear the way easily.”

“Our side is stronger.”

Do Jin-myung was a master in the Absolute Realm, no matter what anyone else wanted to say. Although King Jinseong was not as strong, he was still a skillful person within the category of Transcendence.

However, there were more than two hundred soldiers surrounding them.

Encircled, their enemies had drawn their bows, arrows glistening with gunpowder.

“One who has mastered martial arts is a force that transcends mortal understanding.”

“Then let us take a look at the power of martial arts.”

King Jinseong nodded and walked forward. He then turned, facing Do Jin-myung, “It won’t be an easy fight.”

“Is there a simple solution to fighting against the Heavens? It cannot be easy.”

King Jinseong smiled brightly at Do Jin-myung’s words.

“I have good allies.”

Kuang—

At that moment, a huge sound rang out and Oh Geum-jang’s hand slowly began to descend.

“Looks like they’re preparing something great there, too. Let us go all out.”

“Release the arrows!”

Papababababak-!

Dozens of arrows flew towards King Jinsung and Do Jin-myung.

“There’s only three left!”

The workers had awakened the incomplete corpse puppets with the power of the Insanity-Inducing Black Flute.

In the short period of time the Twin Stars had been raging, most of the puppets had already been destroyed, leaving only three behind.

“Haha, did you wake those cursed things again? How can you ever repay your sins? Amitabha.”

The Sword Star raised his hand and shouted, “How can they repay? They can pay with their lives!”

Intangible swords were already hovering around the swordsman. His ability to create and control dozens of swords seemed to have escaped the realm of humanity, reaching the realm of myth.

“Hah.”

The corpse puppets wavered. At that moment, the Black Flute sounded once again.

Fwoo-ooo-ooo!

As the sound spread throughout the basement, the three corpse puppets scrambled towards the Twin Stars.

Even though they were incomplete, they had all been Semi-Divine Beings!

“Be careful!”

“Don’t let your guard down!”

The Sword and Buddhist Stars collided with the three corpse puppets in a series of wheel battles. The moment the Buddhist Star stretched his fist and punched one, the Sword Star would switch places and slash downwards towards another.

The Buddhist Star would then strike the next puppet, and so on.

Bam, bam.

With a loud sound, the sword slashed the puppet.

But the gash was only half a finger deep.

Even a rock the size of a boulder could be cut straight through, yet the flesh of the puppet had barely been cut.

“Cursed monsters, they’re tough!”

As soon as the swordsman stopped, one of the other puppets flew forward with long claws out, aiming for that one moment. Its claws were covered in something red.

Kuang!

“Be careful!”

The Buddhist Star took the attack. He tanked the hit, body wreathed in flames.

The ‘Golden Vajra Unmoving Body Skill’ (金剛不動身), one of the Shaolin’s divine techniques.

With the Golden Vajra Body, there was not even a scratch on the Buddhist Star’s body.

“Your Golden Vajra Body!”

The Sword Star spoke of his admiration before raising his sword. Blue qi surged around his entire body.

A swift stream of qi rushed down the sword and a dozen intangible swords superimposed upon the real blade.

Fwua—

A bright light spilled out across the sword.

At that moment, the sword in the hands of the Sword Star was the earth and sky.

A sword reminiscent of a giant’s bane squashed one of the corpse puppets.

Kuang—

Boom!

Along with a thunderclap, the corpse puppet began to collapse, screeching.

The huge pillar itself was a massive collection of swords!

Looking at the huge pillar, the Buddhist Star clapped his hands together. Within seconds, a white light wrapped around his hands.

The Hundred Steps Divine Fist was about killing an enemy even a hundred steps away, perfect as a white lily.

But that is not the limit to the true Hundred Steps Divine Fist.

The power to walk a hundred steps in a single step.

He condensed that kind of power into one fist and then shot it out!

“Amitabha!”

Boom-

All of a sudden, a bright white light filled the field of view.

The skill slammed into the corpse puppet that was already being squashed by the pillar of swords.

The other puppets were also hit by the fist skill.

One crossed its arms in order to defend itself.

But…

Crack—

Its arms were immediately broken. It was not enough to stop the fist; the fist skill continued forward without losing power at all.

Crunch—

“Kwuah!”

Qua—

The fist advanced, marching forward. It was completely unlike the first time the Buddhist Star had used this skill, inherently different from when he was destroying unmoving corpses.

When the white light of the Hundred Steps Divine Fist receded, it had burned all things in sight and there was only one corpse puppet left.

One of the workers, stunned by the overwhelming power, dropped the black flute in his hand.

“Ugh.”

“Kiei!”

It didn’t take long for the last corpse puppet to fall. It was an incomplete product from the start, a corpse puppet that only had half the power of a Semi-Divine Being. The idea that the three corpse puppets could prevent the Buddhist and Sword Stars was absurd.

And when all the corpse puppets were down, then what?

Next came the workers.

Clattering—

The Sword Star swung his sword, and one man fell in a fountain of blood. He had been wondering if there was anyone who had been forced to join this project, but there was no such thing.

All of these workers had originally been members of the Cult of the Inverted Sky. For their own purposes, they were all ready to use the lives of others.

“You are on your own.”

“Heh-heh-heh.”

The words of the Sword Star made the last man laugh. One of his hands had already been cut off.

“You’re all going to die.”

The man cackled madly in the face of death, aiming his good hand at the Twin Stars. “You’re all going to die. Hahaha. We got what we wanted in the first place. The corpse puppets are merely a product of that process, and you will lose your lives to him!”

“Him?”

The Twin Stars titled their heads.

At that moment, the man’s eyes flickered to one corner of the basement.

It was an ordinary wall.

The Buddhist Star approached and knocked on it lightly.

Tong—

There was light ringing.

“There is space beyond this.”

The Sword Star aimed a sword at the man’s neck, but the man only burst out laughing.

“It is too late. There’s nothing there now. Ke-ke-ke, it will kill. Yes, kill you!”

That was the last thing the man said.

Swallowing a poison pill hidden in his mouth, the man vomited blood and breathed his last.

The swordsman smiled bitterly, looking down at him. “Nasty bastards.”

The Buddhist Star turned his head, clenching a fist and nodding towards the wall, “Shouldn’t we take a look?”

Kwa-rung—

When punched, the wall collapsed and another passageway was revealed.