Chapter 74: Blood Rain Incantation

As the blood-colored calamity began to fall from the heavens, Sewoon’s eyes were filled with both shock and doubt.

‘…The sorcery of the Blood Rain Incantation!’

The ritual of Blood Rain Incantation.

A forbidden sorcery that summoned crimson rain from the sky, melting all living things it touched.

The scope of the ritual’s domain was vast enough to engulf an entire city.

It was a horrifying sorcery that Sewoon could never forget, no matter how much he tried.

‘It was because of this… that thirty percent of the Murim Alliance’s forces were annihilated during the Sichuan Blood Massacre!’

The ghastly sight that remained engraved in his mind as an unerasable nightmare overlapped with the present.

Before Sewoon’s eyes, the memories of the past vividly resurfaced.

---

Rewinding back in time.

Before his regression.

The main altar of the Blood Cult.

Inside the grand hall of the Blood Demon Palace, two martial artists in pitiful condition knelt with their arms bound tightly.

The captives were figures so shocking, it was hard to believe.

Lee Hoseong, the fifth disciple of Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak, who had recently been praised as a rising hero and called the Radiant Dragon of Qingcheng.

And Sun Ugon, who had left the Rear Dragon Guard and risen as the Captain of the newly established Dragon Guard unit of the Murim Alliance, assisting Lee Hoseong.

Now, both had fallen to the miserable state of captives.

Facing the Ten Great Elders, who glared at them with killing intent, the two trembled pale-faced, before suddenly raising their voices.

“P-Please, spare our lives!”

“Yes! We will hand over all the information we know!”

“Blood Cult Eternal! Eternal, eternal!”

“E-Eternal!”

As if shame meant nothing to them, they raised both hands high and shouted the name of the Blood Cult at the top of their lungs.

Until now, not a single captured martial artist of the Murim Alliance had debased themselves in such a manner, so the demonic practitioners filling the hall all revealed sneering smiles.

But only for a brief moment.

“…All information, you say.”

The Blood Demon, seated high upon the central dais, muttered softly as he gazed downward with madness in his eyes.

Immediately, all laughter and noise vanished.

At that terrifying sight, Lee Hoseong and Sun Ugon swallowed dryly before competing to speak first.

“R-Right now, the Murim Alliance has secretly gathered a massive force to reclaim Sichuan!”

“As much as thirty percent of the Murim Alliance’s power is stationed there! If you spare us, we’ll tell you exactly where they are!”

“I-I can even explain in detail about the formations they’ve set up!”

Betraying their sect and comrades, the captives handed over their knowledge.

They revealed the location where the entire expeditionary force of the Murim Alliance—mobilized to retake Sichuan—was stationed.

But the Elders of the Blood Cult were not so quick to believe.

“Exalted Lord! Do not trust these words! There is no way the enemy would reveal their positions so easily!”

“W-What are you saying?!”

“It’s true! I’m telling the truth! They’re all stationed there!”

“No doubt, once we go there, the Murim Alliance dogs will be waiting with traps.”

The Sword Demon, who was the Vice-Cult Leader, gave counsel.

Precisely because the information was so devastating, he suspected it was a trap.

Then, Gilyeon Yoma, who commanded all of the Jiangshi, flicked his lizard-like tongue as he spoke.

“Hehh, indeed. If you hand both of them to me, I can use them as fine materials for the mixed Jiangshi I’ve been researching lately.”

“N-No! I swear it’s true! This is information only the deepest core members like me would kn—Kgh! Guhk!”

Terrified at the mention of becoming Jiangshi materials, Lee Hoseong turned red with rage and shouted, only to suddenly clutch his throat and collapse.

All it took was the Blood Demon’s gaze upon him.

‘I-I can’t breathe!’

His face turned blue as he writhed in agony on the ground.

As the uproar died down, silence once again settled over the hall.

The Blood Demon’s gaze shifted toward a young demonic practitioner standing diagonally beside him.

“What does the Demonic Craftsman think?”

All eyes in the hall turned toward the same place.

Even Lee Hoseong and Sun Ugon, without realizing it, looked that way.

“-!!”

Realizing the man’s identity, their eyes shook with terror.

‘T-Tang Sewoon?!’

‘W-Why is he here?!’

It was the sudden appearance of the rightful heir of the Sichuan Tang Clan, whom they themselves had abandoned and who was massacred by the Blood Cult.

Lee Hoseong trembled in despair.

Because of their past enmity with Sewoon, he naturally believed Sewoon would use this chance to frame him and have him executed.

But as Sewoon gazed upon the two with eyes holding nothing but endless void and emptiness—

“…I believe this too is their scheme.”

As expected, Sewoon’s answer was exactly what Lee Hoseong had feared.

But it was not spoken to frame them.

Sewoon knew their words were true.

It was precisely because of that knowledge that he lied—fearing that innocent members of the Murim Alliance might perish otherwise.

However—

“So, you mean it is true.”

“…!”

The Blood Demon pierced through everything at once.

When Sewoon raised his head in shock, the Blood Demon looked at him, lips curled faintly in mockery.

‘…He already knew their words were true.’

From the very beginning, the Blood Demon had already seen through their hearts with those dreadful Demon Eyes.

This entire ordeal was staged solely to force this torment upon Sewoon.

“White Yaksha.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

“Activate the Blood Rain Incantation. Plant the cursed objects in the enemy’s camp.”

“Your command!”

---

“Kyaaaagh!”

“The rain, the rain! M-My body is melting—!”

“It hurts, it…hurts…”

From far away, endless screams of the Murim Alliance warriors perishing under the Blood Rain Incantation echoed.

Sizzle!

Szzzt!

Even as the blood-colored rain fell upon his body, burning his flesh away—

‘I must save them. I must.’

With a frenzied look, Sewoon soared into the air, striking at the cursed objects spewing demonic energy.

Clang!

Clang!

He swung his blood-soaked Twin Daggers again and again, striking desperately at the cursed objects.

Forced into the support unit by the Blood Demon, Sewoon immediately broke away from the main force the moment the battlefield descended into chaos.

He moved secretly, avoiding everyone’s eyes, in order to destroy the planted cursed objects.

Crack!

The instant the cursed object that was activating the sorcery came into contact with Reverse Heaven Qi, something abnormal occurred.

‘It worked…!’

A glimmer of hope lit up Sewoon’s expression.

Kwoooom!

Kwagagaga!

But the situation unfolded in the exact opposite direction.

“-!!”

Instead, the cursed object absorbed the power of Reverse Heaven Qi and began to run even more violently out of control.

The moment Sewoon saw it, he realized at once.

‘…I was tricked again.’

The Blood Demon had already predicted that Sewoon would attempt such a thing.

He had tampered with it so that if destroyed with Reverse Heaven Qi, it would instead strengthen the sorcery’s effect.

The rain of the Blood Rain Incantation poured down ever more fiercely.

–“Kyaaaaah!”

–“Guaaaah!!”

As the screams of victims resounded endlessly in his ears, Sewoon finally collapsed to his knees.

Half his mind was gone.

“It’s my fault. I…”

“…Tang Sewoon?”

At that moment, someone’s voice called from behind.

It was a woman’s voice.

Do Ha-yeong, covered with the traces of fierce battle, was staring at him with astonished eyes.

“Why are you here…!”

But she could not finish her words.

Only then had she confirmed the overflowing Reverse Heaven Qi surging from Sewoon’s entire body.

And behind him, the cursed objects were violently running amok.

Countless emotions welled up in Do Ha-yeong’s eyes.

“…So, you have finally chosen this path.”

Guilt, sorrow, rage.

The guilt must have been for failing to help the Tang Clan in the past.

“…If you sought revenge, you should have taken it only upon us. By sacrificing the innocent, you’ve become no different than the villains of the Blood Cult.”

The sorrow was for once again witnessing the heir of an orthodox clan turning into the hound of the Blood Cult.

“…Traitor, Tang Sewoon. In the name of the Alliance, I will execute you.”

Her sword, bathed in moonlight, shimmered with a mournful glow.

---

‘Damn it.’

Sewoon shook off the memory he had forgotten and returned to reality.

He forced himself to focus on the present.

There was a fragment of knowledge even he hadn’t known.

Before his regression, the source of the materials used to activate this sorcery, already found in the Blood Cult’s warehouses, had been none other than Hwangbo Geon.

‘His name wasn’t on the Blood Cult’s list of collaborators. That means that fool sold them off without even knowing what they were, just for wealth.’

He wanted nothing more than to tear Hwangbo Geon to pieces on the spot, but Sewoon barely suppressed his killing intent.

Because that was not what mattered right now.

‘Why now—and here?’

As its name implied, the Sichuan Blood Massacre had occurred in Sichuan, and the timing of its manifestation had been much later, after the Blood Cult had revealed itself to the entire world.

Yet now, the timing had been drastically advanced, and even the location completely altered.

Why? For what reason?

Why had the Blood Demon made a different choice in this life?

Sewoon clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh and drew blood.

No matter how much he thought, he could not understand the reason behind the Blood Demon’s altered judgment and actions.

‘Damn it!’

What consumed him was anger at himself.

He had gotten arrogant, thinking himself strong merely because he had grown faster this time.

He had optimistically assumed that the Blood Demon—that monstrous fiend of Reverse Heaven—would act according to the original flow of time.

The very thought of his own complacency filled him with disgust.

Yes, to slay a monster, he too had to become a monster.

Venomous resolve surged in Sewoon’s eyes.

‘I must end this…!’

---

‘So this is it!’

In that instant, Yoo Jinhak realized.

This horrific blood-colored rain was the blood calamity their mysterious enemies had planned.

Clenching his teeth, Yoo Jinhak moved to urgently handle the crisis.

Thud!

He threw aside the unconscious Hwangbo Geon, who he had been holding by the collar, and immediately issued orders to Jaegal Hoon.

“Chief Strategist, send an urgent message to the magistrates for aid at once! Divide the districts and broaden the search as much as possible to rescue all civilians!”

“Your command!”

“Elder Paeng, distribute every last drop of Poison-Repelling Wine stored in our warehouses to the rescue troops. Supply the magistrate’s soldiers as well. I leave it to you!”

“It shall be done at once!”

“And Myeong Iljin-in—”

“Alliance Leader!”

“…!”

In that urgent moment, Sewoon suddenly called out to Yoo Jinhak.

Their eyes met in midair, and without hesitation, Sewoon spoke.

“If you grind Semgak Grass and apply it to the wounds of the afflicted, it can somewhat neutralize the poison in the rain!”

“-!”

“But this is only a temporary measure! The civilians’ safety must be our highest priority! The more victims there are, the stronger this sorcery will become exponentially!”

“…Myeong Iljin-in, go immediately to the Divine Physician’s Hall and relay the Tang Young Master’s words.”

“Understood!”

Once even Myeong Iljin-in had departed, doubt rose in the eyes of all who remained.

Naturally, their suspicion was directed at Sewoon.

The Elders of the conservative faction wondered if Sewoon, like Hwangbo Geon, might also be a spy.

Ssshh.

A heavy silence fell over the gathering.

At last, Yoo Jinhak opened his mouth slowly.

“…From the fact that you first said we needed to summon the Shrine Maiden Sect Leader, you already knew this was sorcery. And now you even know the cure. Explain yourself—how is this possible?”

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