Chronicles of the Reincarnated Demon God - Chapter 20
Chapter 20 – Evil Ghost Battle Robe
The unorthodox-class warrior was so shocked that he stopped pressuring Tang Gyu-jin and quickly rolled away.
“What is happening…!”
It was understandable that he was surprised. The parasitic vulture, which normally followed his orders to a tee, had suddenly turned its claws against him.
It was even more surprising considering how preciously the Black Bone Ghost Valley treated the parasitic vulture.
Slash!
Boom.
Demon Sealing Sorcerous Sword
Ghost Fog Slash
In any case, a sword slash flew out and pushed the parasitic vulture away.
However, there was no killing intent in the slash.
Knowing the value of the parasitic vulture, it seemed he just wanted to suppress it… but he didn’t know the bird was on a tight clock as well.
Kieek!
The parasitic bird mindlessly rammed itself through the sword slash. It reached the unorthodox-class warrior and tore off his left shoulder in a quick movement.
Crunch!
“Uhaack! You crazy beast!!”
Feeling his left arm get ripped off in its entirety, the unorthodox-class warrior swung his sword with real killing intent.
The sword storm surged forth and cut into the parasitic vulture.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
However, the parasitic vulture endured the pain of its wings being ripped apart and succeeded in slamming its head into the unorthodox-class warrior’s chest.
Boom!
“Kuhak!”
Kieek! Keek!
It was a complete dogfight.
「What a mess!」
「The parasitic vulture is just that desperate. What good will come of losing the Ghost King’s favor?」
In the end, the unorthodox-class warrior’s sword slashes and the parasitic vulture’s brutal struggle turned into such a completely chaotic fight that it wouldn’t have been odd for either to drop dead at any moment.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but count me in!”
Having regained her senses at some point, Tang Gyu-jin charged back in and slashed at the unorthodox-class warrior’s lower body.
One Energy of Heaven and Earth
Evil-Expelling Torrent
Swish!
Like crashing waves, her sword energy filled the air before expelling even the ghost fog.
Tang Gyu-jin’s One Energy of Heaven and Earth was made to defeat wickedness. It was a direct counter to the ghost fog.
“You crazy bitch!”
“Ehehe! Crazy bitch? How can you say that to a woman like me? Praising me won’t get you anywhere!”
“You are mad—”
“Let’s continue our earlier conversation. You’re here because my mother sent you? Then you’re an ally, right? It should be fine if I take one or two of your limbs, right?”
“Aaahk!”
“Where should I cut you? Your arms? Your legs? Or… your neck?”
The way she smiled while covered in blood!
「Hmhm! Hm!」
「It seems the junior lord’s new elder sister is a bit… overbearing.」
「It seems we’ll need to be careful not to be caught by her either.」
「Just how… did you spar against her?」
Sigh, this wouldn’t do. I needed to gain her favor. Otherwise, I was worried I would be chopped up into pieces the next time I slighted her.
If I—her ally—felt this way, then what might that unorthodox-class warrior, who was also busy trying to deal with the parasitic vulture, be feeling?
“S-stay away! Stay away, you crazy bitch!!”
Naturally, his face became more and more pale as Tang Gyu-jin’s Blue Radiant Sword approached him.
Even when he tried to create space by using ghost fog and ghosts, that only stimulated her and made her more excited.
Ehehehehe!
“I will definitely… definitely repay this humiliation!”
In the end, the unorthodox-class warrior couldn’t withstand the pressure and pulled out a weird-looking crystal orb from his sleeve.
「That is… a return crystal?」
「He was quite prepared, this one!」
Return crystals were one-time-use magic tools that distorted space to allow the user to use the escape gate of a formation spell.
Although they didn’t allow the user to travel far, they at least allowed the user to get out of a life-threatening situation.
This was the moment, an opportunity I couldn’t afford to miss as I planned to exile him from the manor.
The unorthodox-class warrior crushed the return crystal with bloodshot eyes.
Tang Gyu-jin hurriedly swung her sword, but the unorthodox-class warrior had already disappeared in a flash of light.
Tang Gyu-jin clenched her teeth as her attack hit empty air.
“Ah.”
She needed to interrogate him to find out his identity and his relationship with her mother, but she had ended up letting him escape.
However, thinking that she had at least successfully saved her younger brother, Tang Gyu-jin let out a sigh of relief. She quickly looked back, only to be caught by surprise.
「Naturally, he isn’t here.」
「This is the proper start of the hunt.」
I should’ve been standing there, but I was gone without a trace.
In a little forest not far from the Nine Dragons Branch Family.
“Pant… Pant…”
The unorthodox-class warrior let out harsh breaths as he ran.
The parasitic vulture, his mode of transportation, had been taken by the enemy, and the Bramble Ghost Fog Formation had failed as well.
Since he had just used the return crystal, he only had a couple more magic tools he could use.
The problem was that he didn’t know when Tang Gyu-jin would find him using the parasitic vulture.
He needed to quickly return to the temple before this incident became known all throughout the Nine Dragons Branch Family.
That was the only way he could shut Woon-hwi and Tang Gyu-jin up.
And recoup the parasitic vulture.
“Why! Just why did it end like—”
Taking away control of the parasitic vulture wasn’t something he could gloss over.
That just wasn’t possible unless by the Ghost King—the previous junior cult leader—one of the 81 Holy Abbots, or some other being on a similar level.
The fact that someone of that caliber was at the White Pavilion was critical information for the Black Bone Ghost Valley, which was planning on using Namgung San-yeong to gain a foothold in the central plains.
“Maybe another group of husk-shedders have made their move. I need to inform Master and prepare countermeasures—”
Rustle!
Mu Ga-il stopped midstep.
Tsch.
Beyond the forest covered in darkness, a pair of purple will-o’-the-wisps were floating in the air.
They slowly began to take on the form of an evil ghost.
They were so faint that it didn’t have a detailed shape, but Mu Ga-il could instinctively recognize it.
No, there was no way he wouldn’t recognize it.
It was a being that every member of the Black Bone Ghost Valley knew!
“E-Evil Ghost Spirit…? But the junior lord definitely died six years—”
The Evil Ghost Spirit was the primordial god of the sorcery that Junior Lord Yeon Woon-hwi often used when going into battle.
Being a type of clone, it acted as the leader that directly commanded countless ghosts and spirits.
It was now remembered by the cult as a symbol that represented the junior lord.
However, when Yeon Woon-hwi met his end at the hands of the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon, the Evil Ghost Spirit also disappeared.
But it had returned?
That could only mean one thing.
‘The junior lord is back!’
A chill went down his spine.
Step, step!
At this moment, someone walked out from underneath the Evil Ghost Spirit.
It was a face that Mu Ga-il recognized.
“You—”
“I think there’s a lot we should talk about. Don’t you agree?”
Tang Woon-hwi’s mouth twisted to the side.
Mu Ga-il could see Yeon Woon-hwi’s smiling face superimposed over Tang Woon-hwi’s.
“!!”
…Tang Woon-hwi was the junior lord?
Had he faked his death?
Was this the fabled resurrection? Or maybe it was possession?
Incarnation? Reincarnation?
He couldn’t understand what was happening.
“Looks like you recognize who I am. Then this should make the conversation easier. So—”
Woon-hwi raised his hand to the sky.
As he did, the Evil Ghost gently landed on his palm and took on the form of a long article of clothing.
Evil Ghost Battle Robe
A spiritual artifact woven from the threads of resentment that oozed out of the Evil Ghost Spirit.
The moment it enveloped his body, it became as sturdy as armor, and it had the effect of empowering inner energy and sorcery at the same time.
Clack.
Woon-hwi donned the Evil Ghost Battle Robe.
The robe extended out like a cape, and on its back was embroidered the face of a fierce evil ghost.
The moment his body was surrounded by the dark blue cloth, it was as if darkness itself covered him.
A chilling and brutal scream echoed out.
Kyaaaaaa!
Kekekeke.
Ghost ki and death ki stormed around him, and poison ki condensed around his body like armor.
After six years, the junior heavenly demon had reappeared in the central plains.
At this moment, Woon-hwi wanted to face Mu Ga-il not as “Tang Woon-hwi” but as the junior lord “Yeon Woon-hwi.”
If the enemy was connected to the Society as he expected, then he would become the judge to enact justice on this sinner!
“E-even the Evil Ghost Spirit’s Battle Robe? You… just who are you! The junior lord?! There is no way he is still alive!!”
“We can talk after you die. Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to be alone like this?”
“!!!”
Woon-hwi didn’t even care to hear Mu Ga-il’s response.
He pushed off the ground with a hard stomp.
Boom!
Swoosh.
The way he flew in while surrounded by poison ki and death ki made him look like a battering ram about to smash through the city gates.
Mu Ga-il quickly raised his sword with his one remaining arm.
He imbued it with the remnants of the ghost fog and sharply launched ghost ki at Woon-hwi.
However…
Shatter!
The ghost fog shattered like glass the moment it made contact with Woon-hwi.
Fwoosh!
Woon-hwi landed right in front of Mu Ga-il and lashed out with his foot.
Wild Wind Dance.
Slashing Demonic Wind Kick
‘He’s different from the junior lord!’
He was using martial arts, not sorcery?
Mu Ga-il slashed down his sword with all his might to push away Woon-hwi’s kick.
His veins popped as his eyes became bloodshot.
“…I was nearly tricked. You’re not the junior lord. Fuu! Yeah, that’s right, there is no way a dead person can come back to life.”
Mu Ga-il’s eyes narrowed.
There was no way the purple light around Woon-hwi’s eyes could naturally be like that.
He hadn’t expected Woon-hwi to copy the Violet Mystic Eyes as well.
“I don’t know how you were able to obtain the Evil Ghost Battle Robe… but if you were truly the junior lord, there is no way you would fight me with martial arts like this! I would have already been ripped to shreds if you were him!”
Mu Ga-il took his stance.
“It looks like you wanted to gain your own achievements without Tang Gyu-jin’s help… but this is better! If I capture you here, everything will be resolved—”
“Ah, why do you talk so much? Hey! Do you fight with your fists or your mouth?”
“…I’ll kill you!”
This fake at least seemed to be as proficient in riling people up as the junior lord.
Mu Ga-il brought out his cultivated energy and exposed his origin ki.
Grand Blood Reversal Technique.
It was a spell that burned one’s life force to temporarily raise their power multiple times.
With this, even if Woon-hwi had something up his sleeve, Mu Ga-il believed he would be able to win.
Bzzt!
The ghost behind him also enlarged and granted him more power.
Black Bone Twelve Battles
Bone Thunder
Crackle!
The Black Bone Twelve Battles had the nature of empowering the elements by mixing martial arts and sorcery.
Bone Thunder infused powerful lightning ki into his attack, which he would use to instantly destroy Woon-hwi’s martial arts.
However, Woon-hwi laughed.
Smirk!
If Mu Ga-il had made up his mind to run away, it would’ve been difficult to catch him, but now he was coming right at Woon-hwi of his own accord.
Of course, Woon-hwi had calculated that Mu Ga-il would charge him to try and suppress him if he appeared alone.
Woosh.
He reached out with his bladed hand.
As ghost ki and poison ki mixed together, the Cutting North Winds Technique became much harder and sharper.
Just looking at this, it wasn’t any different from a sharpened divine sword.
Slash.
Crackle, boom!
Bone Thunder disintegrated midair.
Woon-hwi took a big step forward. He was now within sword’s reach. A dangerous position.
However, Woon-hwi didn’t relent. He unleashed the Twelve Fierce Tiger Steps.
He believed in the destructive force of the Wild Wind Dance and the defensive capabilities of Evil Ghost Battle Robe.
His spear and shield.
When he possessed the perfect forms of both, what was there to fear?
Clang, clang, clang!
The twelve shadows imbued with wild wind slammed into Mu Ga-il.
Martial arts and sorcery.
Striking arts and the primordial gods.
These two powers that would’ve never mixed came together to enact something beautiful.
Twelve Fierce Tiger Steps
Chaotic Fierce Tiger Dance
Mu Ga-il’s hand that was holding his sword shattered, and his head was launched back as his jaw cracked.
The ghost poison that seeped into the contact zone instantly made its way through his veins. It consumed his inner energy before crushing his dantian as well.
Boom!
With the final close-body strike Woon-hwi landed against him, Mu Ga-il’s heart burst and he was launched away.
A huge hole was left in his left chest.
“Keuk. Cough, cough!”
Mu Ga-il rolled along the ground for a while.
He couldn’t muster any strength.
His consciousness continued to fade.
‘How can this be…?!’
Mu Ga-il couldn’t tell if the being in front of him was Tang Woon-hwi or Yeon Woon-hwi.
The spiritual form that had overpowered the parasitic vulture with one word and his possession of the Evil Ghost Battle Robe made it clear that he was Yeon Woon-hwi, but the way he could naturally use martial arts made him seem more like Tang Woon-hwi.
Yeon Woon-hwi had never been able to use martial arts.
However, the many different sorceries he used between his martial arts, such as the ghost poison, made it clear he was Yeon Woon-hwi.
Yeon Woon-hwi, Tang Woon-hwi, Yeon Woon-hwi, Tang Woon-hwi, Yeon Woon-hwi, Tang Woon-hwi…
As these two names made a mess of his mind, Mu Ga-il noticed Woon-hwi’s shadow had at some point covered his head.
“You don’t need to think too hard about it. In the end, Yeon Woon-hwi and Tang Woon-hwi are the same,” Woon-hwi said, his voice beyond cold.
Had Woon-hwi read his mind?
Mu Ga-il forced himself to look up.
Beyond his vision covered in blood, he saw Woon-hwi smiling down at him like an evil spirit.
At this moment, he realized.
‘Ah, this person is the junior lord that died six years ago. And he is also the Tang Woon-hwi that we were aiming for.’
The Ghost Valley and Namgung had messed with someone they shouldn’t have…
“I’ll rip you all apart in the end.” Woon-hwi slammed down onto Mu Ga-il’s head.
Crunch!
Flesh exploded all around him.
And Mu Ga-il lost consciousness.