Gabriel's eyes widened. He knew exactly who the Revenant King was.
That demon was one of the 'Thirteen Demonic Warriors' known even across the world.
He was a supreme demonic master. The Mo Zhuzhe, the man ruling over demons and evil spirits. It is said that his blade was formed and his armor was tempered in the ichor that spewed from the body of the High Overseer.
That demonic master was also the High Preceptor of a notorious cult. The Blood Sacrifice Sect.
It's often rumoured that they bathed in the blood of mortals often to gain ritualistic powers and pleasure, and the ten Priests that carried out his direct orders wielded weapons forged from crystallised blood.
His cult went against the world and its natural order, with their cursed powers gained from unknown occult sources.
"…Just who is this boy?"
Gabriel stared at Chen, who stirred in his unconscious sleep. He was still naked, but he didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all now.
"Maybe he just has a rare spiritual vessel, like the Heavenly Yin Constitution. But still, since I found him, I guess it's my job now to bring this boy to safety!"
He picked up the boy in a tremendous display of human strength, and began his march back towards the village.
<…>
A few minutes later, Gabriel trudged through thick snow, striding fleet-footedly with the boy on his back.
The frigid gales of frost blowing through the air grew stronger by as he strided, strong enough to sweep a crowd of people off of their feet.
It was as if a snowstorm was about to appear. However, he was undettered by the biting chill of the air and marched onwards through the bitter cold.
"Hmph. Now that I think about it, usually, when I try and do something nice for others, some kind of unfortunate event strikes me down as I'm doing it."
"And even aside from that, I once tried to enter a brothel... however, I was cast out almost immediately, and they banned me from ever going back to that place, all because of a single joke I made towards a young master I spotted while drunk!"
"Damn it! Even now, it's still embarrassing!"
But, despite the embarrassment he suffered from the memory resurfacing, he still found it strange. Sometimes he was lucky, sometimes he wasn't.
Considering how unlucky he was at times, it was a miracle that he managed to become a guardian warrior of a Sect. Especially the Sect belonging to the Mystic Mother who pursues 'physical immortality'.
Now, by complete chance, he found himself as the helper of the young man he carried on his back.
"…This must be fate, I guess. Aside from martial arts and the will of the Sages, the 'destiny' spoken by Gods is also an unchangeable rule of the world."
According to destiny, the strong shall devour the weak, and those without discipline cannot hope to survive without constant and consistent training.
Gabriel then glanced at the young man, who dreamed oddly, with one eye open. What he saw in this young man's deep purple eyes was strange too.
It was enigmatic, to put it lightly. Somehow, it seemed like he was bound to something. A particular fate, Gabriel guessed.
But, amidst his thoughts he felt an evil stench urking both his mind and soul. And then, he stopped right in his tracks.
From the thick fog and mist that accompanied the cold gales of wind, a clear voice rang out.
"I've had my fun watching you run in circles… but, I must do my duties. Understood?"
The following scent of blood filled the chilling air with unease and apprehension, before a strange man approached Gabriel, with an unusual gleam hidden within his crimson eyes.
"…That boy... he wields the power of golden water…"
"You, however, are irrelevant. I'll let you live if you run away right now with all of your might!"
Gabriel's heartbeat quickened. But, he stood his ground.
"Yeah… yeah, right…!! You don't look like a trustworthy person! Who knows you won't just kill me when I try to run! And, even if I do, who'll be here to protect this poor boy?"
The mysterious man grinned, exposing his fangs, before he walked closer so that Gabriel could see his aristocratic attire with blood-red garments attached.
"Heh. You're clever."
Gabriel narrowed his eyes.
It was clear. He knew it with a chilling certainty that the man in front of him was a disciple of the Blood Sacrifice Sect.
"Ah… it seems you've realised my identity. As you probably guessed, I'm a member of the Blood Sacrifice Sect. The Moonlight Drinker, is what people call me nowadays."
Gabriel was unsure of who he was, despite him having revealed his title, however, he was terrified, to the point where he couldn't even breath.
"From the emotions veiled by your eyes, it seems you may or may not already know me."
"However, you still do not choose to run…"
"Ah… you're one of the brave ones, I see? Then, I'll have fun ripping each bone out of your body. A slow death is what I prefer, after all."
Gabriel gritted his teeth.
"Why…? Why are you here? Why do you want this boy so badly?"
"…Why?"
"Haha! Because we can reforge him into a valuable weapon for us… so that when the time comes, the Revenant King with split the heavens asunder with a slice of annihilating light and thunderbent fury, destroying the Sages who dare speak of 'peace' as they hunted him because of his 'golden strength'!"
"They despise my master even more so than the other demonic masters for that reason. The man whom they fought with for over a century shall rise again in my lordship's form, reducing this world to ashes!"
The gales of wind whistled as Gabriel took a step back. Things looked extremely dire now, as the Moonlight Drinker was preparing to tear his heart out in a single strike.
That bloodthirsty man stepped forward, while Gabriel stepped back.
"Oh? You still aren't petrified because of me? How… tenacious you are."
Gabriel stared at Moonlight Drinker for a while, breathing heavily and thinking on what to do next.
As far as he could tell, the demonic disciple held quite a lot of Qi, comparable to someone with two or even three Soul Cores.
It was a death sentence for him to face that demon directly.
"Haha, continue on with your pathetic face. Your terror makes it all the more enjoyable!"
Gabriel's eyes widened. He realised then and there that he could actually die, on this strange day that he decided he wanted to find out what exactly it was inside of that lake.
And so, in that case, he decided to take his chances.
He breathed in and took on an unyielding stance, accepting the risk of death, and on his face was a determined expression.
"I… I will kill you!"
The Moonlight Drinker chuckled.
"You've accepted the possibility of death, huh? No… in your case, it's more like an inevitability!"
He swiftly began the hunt, as he lunged towards Gabriel and Chen.
But, he gritted his teeth and summoned his pure resolve from the delves of his very heart.
"I don't care!"
"I will stop you, for the sake of this young boy's fate!"