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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The First Copy
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"Did you just feel that?"
Moyong Taese's eyes bulged as if they might pop out of his head, shouting straight at me.
But I had no time to worry about him.
"Eighth Elder, we have to run!"
[Too late.]
A chilling whisper from Nameless slithered up my spine like frost.
Five red silhouettes vaulted lightly over the wall, landing gracefully before us.
"Hah?"
It was her.
The one who killed me.
There she stood before me, the Red Mask, exactly as she appeared in that nightmare.
"Ah... aaah."
My hands trembled uncontrollably.
Just looking at her made it hard to breathe.
I was suffocating in terror.
The one who murdered me.
No doubt about it.
I never imagined I'd encounter my killer twice in less than a full day.
Her long hair, tied up in a single ponytail behind the red mask, fluttered in the wind.
The curves of her hips and waist, wrapped in red garb, betrayed a woman's figure.
"What in the world is this? You were definitely dead."
Her voice quivered with agitation.
Swish—
Like a silver serpent flicking its tongue, a paper-thin sword uncoiled from her wrist, snaking up along her waist and hips before settling into her grasp.
"Step back, Moyong Bi."
Moyong Taese positioned himself in front of me.
"Eighth Elder Moyong Taese?"
"You know me?"
Her eyebrows twitched beneath the mask.
"So the Eighth Elder himself is playing bodyguard, and they've cleared out every last ant to prevent any leaks. At this point, denying that one's Moyong Bi would just sound ridiculous."
The Red Mask crossed her arms with a sigh.
"Ah, whatever. I'll just kill anyone suspicious. That ought to solve it."
"We tried to keep it hidden, but it hardly matters now."
Moyong Taese clicked his tongue and dropped the wooden sword he held.
"I'm the weakest among the Moyong Family's Eight Elders, but I can't just stand idly by."
A true sword slid from the sheath at his waist.
"Tell your employer this: Moyong Bi, blood of the Moyong Family Patriarch, is under my protection as of today."
"What?"
"What's wrong? Too tough a request for a hunting dog who has to watch its master's mood?"
The masked woman's eyes narrowed as her gaze locked with Moyong Taese's.
Her shoulders began to shake.
"Ha, hahaha. As if Soyeomgyo answers to anyone. You've really set our elders' tempers flaring after all this time."
The air froze solid.
The assassin clan's leader had revealed her own name.
There was only one meaning to it.
No one—not even a single ant—would be leaving here alive today.
"No more words. Get them, boys."
Snap.
At her gesture, her subordinates shot forward like arrows.
"You bastards!"
Moyong Taese shoved me backward.
A cascade of blue qi erupted from his body like a waterfall.
"Heaven-Earth Breaking Flash Sword right from the start?! Aren't you pushing too hard, Elder?"
"Hah!"
With Moyong Taese's shout, eight arcs of blue sword qi surged toward her.
"Mm!"
The Soyeomgyo Leader's eyes widened.
The blue sword strikes devoured her afterimage in an instant.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Boom! Boom! Boom!
My first time witnessing such advanced martial arts.
Going beyond the primal act of swinging a real sword, infusing it with inner energy to manifest tangible sword qi—that was new to me.
It packed enough power to shred someone like me to pieces without even letting me lift a finger.
[No. It's not enough.]
Nameless's voice echoed in my mind.
"Nameless?"
[Host, I have something to say.]
Nameless continued in an urgent tone.
Clang!!
The screech of clashing steel swords reverberated everywhere.
"What?!"
Moyong Taese's eyes widened.
Kaaang.
Four assassins had blocked his path.
They effortlessly parried his sword qi, shielding the Soyeomgyo Leader.
"Someone said the estate would be empty for an hour, and it's true. No one's coming despite all this commotion."
The Soyeomgyo Leader marveled.
"Damn."
Moyong Taese gritted his teeth.
[Five more times. Within five clashes, Moyong Taese will die.]
"Die?"
[After his death, you'll follow. Easier than snapping a child's wrist. To be honest, I don't care if you live or die. But if you go, I go too. And...]
"You...!"
[I don't want to die.]
Nameless's tone was flat, but it burned with unspoken emotion.
The same desire I felt: not wanting to die.
[Do you want to live, Host?]
"Of course."
No hesitation whatsoever.
[No matter the cost?]
A chill like ice water poured down my spine.
"What do you mean by that?"
[Nothing special.]
A lie.
He's lying right now.
But there was no time to argue.
Did I want to live?
"..."
My silence was assent.
[Then prepare, starting now.]
"Prepare for what?"
[There's only one thing you can do right now, isn't there?]
My breath caught.
To my hesitation, Nameless cut in coldly.
[Prepare. Vermin get only one chance.]
Craaaack!
With the fourth clash, Moyong Taese spat black blood.
"Kuhk! Cough, cough."
The Soyeomgyo Leader gave him no respite.
She masterfully disrupted his rhythm with rapid strikes, stabbing into his openings.
Toying with him thoroughly.
Moyong Taese gasped for breath amid sprays of blood.
"Hah, hah! How can there be such experts...!"
"To stop me, you'd need a Guardian Divine Guard from the Nine Great Sects and One Gang!"
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Blood Demon Serpent Wheel Brush Sword
A storm of slaughter that pulverizes all in its path!
Red qi exploded from her arms, coiling around them like blood-red serpents.
"Time to end this, Eighth Elder!"
It was a storm of blood.
She was resolved to sever his breath with this single blow.
Groooaaar!!!
The red serpent climbed her body, roaring as it lashed out in eight directions toward Moyong Taese, shredding everything in its wake.
"Ngh!"
Moyong Taese poured every ounce of his inner energy into his mightiest ultimate technique.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Twin Dragon Whirlwind Sword
Two azure dragons rose from the earth!
Two blue dragons were uprooted from the ground.
They smashed and ravaged everything around before hurtling forward like a thunderous gale.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The earth-shattering clash of mighty blue and red qi.
"...Moyong Bi?!"
Moyong Taese spotted me still standing frozen nearby and widened his eyes in shock.
"What are you doing?! If you stay there, you'll get caught in—! Kuhk!"
Moyong Taese's shout cut off as the qi storm hit.
Rumble... rumble...
The ground quaked.
The earth wailed.
Rock fragments flew.
[Targets: two. Position: twelve steps ahead!]
Pew, pew!
Debris tore across my cheek.
Vibrations shook beneath my feet.
'Hah, hah.'
All sounds faded into the distance.
My legs shook.
I swallowed hard.
'Can I really do this?'
It was absurd.
Impossible.
I'd dismissed it as a cheat, something too good to be true.
'But!'
I have to.
Nameless's urgent shout rang in my head.
[The formal stance name is four characters! Chant them in two pairs to begin! I'll signal—focus, Host!]
Moyong Taese and the Soyeomgyo Leader.
The two masters' ultimate techniques, wrapped in fierce red and blue qi, hurtled toward collision.
Rumble! Rumble!!
Blue and red qi charged ferociously at each other.
The ground heaved.
My soul felt like it would shatter.
My teeth chattered.
A blinding white shockwave filled my vision—!
[Begin!]
Fwosh!
My eyes began to glow red.
"Urgh!"
Blood surged through my body.
Veins across my entire body contracted and bulged as if about to burst.
"Nam"
⟨ Crushing Thought Samadhi ⟩
In my first time chanting a stance name, I uttered the first two characters—as if striking flint in a powder keg.
[Next, two syllables!]
I shouted the two words he taught me, the incantation to awaken the Heavenly Demon's power.
Samadhi
My eyes turned to bloodshot crimson.
The movements of the two supreme techniques were traced like a rubbing, imprinting directly into my brain.
Crack! Craaack!
It was an onslaught of information.
Pain like my brain tearing apart assaulted me.
Nameless called this the 'Heavenly Demon's Power' as well.
The Heavenly Demon's innate ability.
Or perhaps one of the Demonic Cult's martial arts.
Nameless said he didn't know.
He might have known when he was the Heavenly Demon himself, but in his current fragmented, imperfect state, he couldn't say.
But who cares what it is.
The important thing is I can use it now.
Cause? Don't care.
Reason? Don't care.
Extra worries are a luxury for survivors only—not for a dayfly uncertain of tomorrow.
Rumble!!
"Gaaah! Aaaagh! Aaaaah!"
Bloody tears welled up.
Splat!
A vein in my right arm burst.
Crunch!
A vein in my right thigh burst.
Like shards of glass being driven one by one into my brain.
Unable to endure the influx, my right eye exploded.
The dripping blood sizzled on the dirt amid blue smoke.
"Grrk, grrrk!"
Black blood bubbled from my mouth.
The world, dyed red in my uplifted crimson gaze.
The world slowed.
Everything divided into fractions of seconds, etching into me.
Crackle, sizzle.
A foul stench as my brain burned.
Nothing like Dang Sowi's Plum Blossom Spinning Dagger nonsense.
Regardless of my body's agony, the process, once started, didn't stop.
My eyes darted grotesquely, greedily devouring every motion of the Soyeomgyo Leader and Moyong Taese.
⚙ SYSTEM SYNC ⚙ Possession Experience Synchronization
A gloomy, damp voice, different from Nameless's.
The same one I'd heard when the Soyeomgyo Leader first killed me.
This is the Heavenly Demon.
Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, its founding sovereign.
This is the essence of the Heavenly Demon, Nameless's origin—what remains of its aspirations.
⚙ EXTRACTION COMPLETE ⚙ Target martial arts forms analyzed per Heavenly Demon Grand Archive Rank 2: Blood Killer Sect - Blood Demon Serpent Wheel Brush SwordRank 3: Moyong Family - Twin Dragon Whirlwind Sword
Indescribable, multicolored knowledge—vast and incomprehensible—seared into my eyes.
Like shoving a massive waterfall straight into them, heedless if my gut burst.
"— , —!!"
I screamed.
Tears mixed with blood streamed down my chin.
It was hopeless from the start.
For trash like me, barely worth tripping over, to copy two masters' supreme techniques? An insane plan...!
[Host! Don't stop. Halting midway is worse than death!]
Nameless's frantic scream faded into the distance.
Like gouging my pupils with a blunt needle and embroidering.
In hellish torment, thousands of regrets and vows flashed in an instant.
Drip.
Blood trickled from both eyes.
Bloody tears hit the ground.
I'd lived like vermin.
Backing off at the slightest difficulty, thinking "this is enough."
I recalled myself enduring others' mockery, their snickering laughs—pretending not to hear, smiling like a fool.
Pretended not to hear what I heard.
Pretended not to see what I saw.
Pretended not to feel what I felt.
Bought a fake manual with half a year's savings.
Practiced it for half a year, believing it real.
Entered the disciple exam, demonstrated it proudly, earned everyone's ridicule.
Still smiled like it was nothing and tried again.
But no one acknowledged the effort.
'But.'
I gritted my teeth.
The die was cast.
End this life like this? Hell no.
This hard-won hope.
I'm alive right now, breathing.
Existing here.
To escape, I'll do anything.
Even scrape mud from the sewer.
'No matter the cost?'
Nameless's earlier question.
"Fuck, isn't it obvious!"
It hurt so much I cried.
Wailed, vomiting blood.
"Yes, no matter the cost, never again!"
The answer meant nothing.
My regret-filled past life had already decided it.
"I won't go back."
✅ COPYING COMPLETE ✅ Rank 2: Blood Killer Sect - Blood Demon Serpent Wheel Brush SwordRank 3: Moyong Family - Twin Dragon Whirlwind Sword Ready for Activation
"—! —!!"
Bathed in blood, my figure desperately shot forward.