Chapter 86: If You Can Catch Me, Try to Catch Me (5)

Demonic energy overflowed everywhere.

It was formed by offering 'sacrifices' to human negative emotions and certain entities.

'What on earth did the Kunlun guys do?'

Han Seojin looked ahead.

The Monks laughed hollowly.

But inside them was filled with dreadful demonic energy.

Pitch black.

Their insides had turned into a nest of demonic insects.

Demonic insects.

They had already consumed them.

Crazy bastards.

Curses came out involuntarily.

Demonic insects slowly infiltrate from within.

When demonic energy spreads there, it multiplies exponentially.

Like paint dropped on paper.

It gnaws at the entire body.

And it creates insects.

They gnaw at living things and devour the negative emotions they regurgitate.

That's why they are called demonic insects.

However, there was a fatal weakness in the demon insects.

Anyone who has awakened mana can resist them.

The apostles of the Insect Dragon King and their subordinates are a bit different, though.

'It's not that level.'

It's just an ordinary demon insect.

However, the ascetics of Kunlun had already embraced them.

The meaning was simple.

They had already crossed the line.

They sold people out and desired power. Those who once distanced themselves from the secular world realized the reality and got closer to it.

Perhaps it was because of that distance they fell faster than anyone else.

'Disgusting bastards.'

Anger surged naturally.

They hated the Demonic Sect more than anyone else, and their ancestors were noble.

Even if it meant death, they would risk their lives to stop those who wanted to advance into the Central Plains.

Because if the Demonic Sect prevailed and war broke out, the ones who would suffer the most were the common people.

No matter how much the Demonic Sect tried to lessen the suffering of the common people.

War demanded sacrifices from the lowest strata.

Therefore, the immortals of Kunlun were revered and noble.

Hence, Han Seojin stepped forward.

"Brother?"

"Wait, wait. They are from Kunlun!"

"So what?"

That doesn't matter.

The fact that the bastards in front of his eyes are the descendants of those he acknowledged was the disgusting part.

Han Seojin's eyes began to glow blue.

"Hero? Who is this person?"

"The bastard who will kill you."

"What?"

Wham!

He struck the face with his fist.

With a thud, the head was crushed and disappeared.

It was a technique that destroyed the space itself.

"What! Brother, what are you doing suddenly!"

"Great Hero Han!"

Peng Bosung and Sa Gonghwa looked at me in shock.

But Seon Woohyeon was staring blankly at the Monk.

"…No blood?"

"What on earth are you saying! In this situation…?"

As Seon Woohyeon said, the monk's head was empty was revealed.

If it were a human, blood should have splattered.

Just like popping a balloon, inside the master's head, there was nothing.

No.

There was.

Han Seojin's manifestation.

The power to break anything.

Because it had burst what was inside, it only appeared as though there was nothing.

Buzz!

A vibrating sound was heard from inside.

Insects.

Demonic insects began to swarm.

They formed shapes.

The monk's head.

And soon, they began to reconstruct the head.

"…Demonic insects?"

"Why Kunlun?!"

Peng Bosung and Sa Gonghwa were in shock.

Han Seojin quietly stared at the monks of Kunlun.

He appeared infinitely composed.

It looked as if the heat had vanished. But like a cold flame, Han Seojin was watching them.

"Hoho, how did you know?"

The Monk questioned Han Seojin as his face reformed.

His face was grotesque.

A head made up of insects.

It was slowly regenerating.

While others frowned, Han Seojin stared straight at it.

'There doesn't seem to be a connection with the Demon King.'

He laughed inwardly.

He thought, just in case.

He thought they were caught by something and were making some sacrifice, didn't know.

But no.

They voluntarily abandoned their bodies.

And that means.

'Rotten bastards.'

They created a sinister magic by offering people as 'sacrifices.'

"How did you know?"

The Monk looked at Han Seojin, who had seen through his identity, with a surprised expression.

"Until now, the warriors around here didn't notice us. Impressive, Monk."

"Did you hide?"

"Ha ha, we hid, we hid well. Since they all disappeared eventually, it means we hid well, right?"

"Disgusting bastards."

"Hmm, hearing such words upon our first meeting, even though we have renounced the secular world, it still hurts. But how did you really know?"

"Because of the smell."

"Smell?"

"No matter how much you try to hide it, you can't hide that nauseating smell."

"Hmm, other Monks couldn't figure it out. It seems you have a talent related to that."

"Bullshit."

"But why are you so angry?"

"Because your ancestors were noble."

"Our ancestors? Ha."

The Monk let out a mocking laugh.

"Noble? Hmm, you could think that way. We were always the wall blocking foreign powers."

"Ridiculous words."

"What a joke. For the sake of righteousness, the Kunlun sect has continually declined. They say we must keep our distance from the secular world. They say we must become endlessly pure. But that is merely the end of an old sect's honor and a breakwater against an external force called the Demonic Sect. They don't think about the sacrifices made by our fellow disciples and just revere the purity."

The Monk's eyes widened.

Demonic energy surged.

A wave.

The space around, harmonized with demonic energy, began to ripple like waves.

Swoosh!

A gigantic figure appeared behind the Monk.

"Do you know of our hardships? Of course not. You just pile up excess grains on fertile land and think only of filling your belly."

A voice filled with rage.

The Monk glared at Paeng Bosung.

"The Five Great Families of the world. Truly a name that sounds good. The ruler of a castle, growing up receiving treatment no less than a king by collecting taxes from them. Being the young master is said to be akin to being a prince in the empire in the West. Enjoying such rights, yet imposing only duties on us, it's ridiculous."

Therefore.

The Monk glared at us.

"We are different from our ancestors. We will not just perform our duties. We must reclaim the rights we have lost."

At the Monk's words, Han Seojin smirked.

With his characteristic mocking expression.

"So what?"

"…What?"

The Monk blinked.

"Did you not hear? We have been oppressed all this time. Therefore, we…"

"How pitiful."

Han Seojin said mockingly.

"But so what? Does that justify what you're doing?"

"…"

The demonic energy.

This wasn't disliked for no reason.

Negative emotions of humans.

Jealousy towards others, or floundering in pain, wailing.

Not being satisfied with that, pretending to save while pushing back into the abyss of despair once more.

And when they become so exhausted from it that they lose their reason, they are fed to the beasts or simply tortured with unending pain.

When refined, it becomes the demonic energy.

Therefore.

Han Seojin clenched his fist.

The demonic energy they possessed spread in all directions.

How many were sacrificed just to gain such a pitiful mana, such power?

'Crazy bastards.'

He was not noble.

He simply broke the things he didn't like.

He respected those who practiced self-restraint and moderation.

But he didn't understand them.

Nor did he want to be with them.

However, right and wrong had to be distinguished.

Those bastards who exploited others for their convenience.

Those bastards who thought they were right despite their hypocrisy.

Those bastards who justified themselves with their convictions.

Those kinds of people.

'I will eliminate them.'

Thus, Han Seojin was a demon who didn't distinguish between right and wrong.

He defined those who step outside his boundaries as 'evil.'

Evil that devoured evil.

That was what a demon was.

It was the tyranny possessed by those of the Ming Cult.

The hypocrites who cried out for justice because they think they are right cannot do it.

The unorthodox sect? They were the same.

Those who scorned hypocrites but pursued their gains were no different.

Evil can only be judged by evil.

A madman could only be dealt with by someone even madder.

Therefore.

He clenched his fist.

Gray flames vividly enveloped Han Seojin's fist.

"You scoundrels. You said Kunlun, right?"

"That's correct."

"If I crush all of you first, the others will come out, won't they?"

"Haha, do you think we'll fall so easily?"

The Monk leaped back.

"We immortals are on a slightly different level than you. And this body has reached the state of Incarnation. In your terms, it corresponds to the High Realm."

The Monk master clasped his hands together.

Buzzing! The demonic insects began to exhale mana and demonic energy.

A gigantic insect.

The head of a fly stood idly behind him.

Radiating a massive presence.

The Monk raised the corners of his mouth.

"Do you know why we allied with the Insect Dragon King? They, the demonic insects, can store the most demonic energy among all the demons."

Behind the Monk, an overwhelming number of insects gradually revealed themselves.

"We haven't been discovered yet. We've done quite a lot to reclaim our lost rights. But do you know what happened to everyone who found out our true identity?"

"They must have died?"

"That's right. All their magic was stored in them."

Demonic energy swelled up, emitting a pungent smoke—the smell of death.

Exuding demonic energy, the Monk stepped forward.

"Do you know, boy? Our sages wield the power of mysticism."

Mysticism.

It was a power that shook the laws of this world.

High Realm.

Reaching it meant being able to alter the laws set by the world.

A swordsman could cut the uncuttable.

A magician could twist the laws and wield destructive power.

Druids could harness forces that do not exist in this world.

But mysticism was a power higher than that.

To fulfill certain conditions and manifest one's own rules in the world.

That was the power called mysticism.

Normally weak, but if conditions are met, it can exert stronger power than others.

"It requires an enormous amount of mana to use this."

Buzz!

The demonic insects began to cry.

Their bodies grew larger from barely 1 cm to over 1 m in size.

They surrounded Han Seojin on all sides.

Hundreds, thousands of them swirled around like a storm.

Ziiing—.

The space began to distort.

This place started to be tinged with a peculiar power.

"Boy, you were too quick-witted. All the Monks here will die because of you."

"Really?"

Han Seojin smiled and moved forward.

"I don't think so."

"Do you think you can escape from here alive? We have full control over this place. There is no way to escape from here."

Something similar to a barrier was surrounding the area.

Other Kunlun monks were surrounding the area, reinforcing the barrier.

So he felt grateful.

"Thank you."

"Hm? What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

Thanks to them, it wasn't troublesome.

There was no need to catch the things spreading from this place.

"Because of you."

The reason Kunlun was being annihilated today was.

Because someone like you caught my eye.

Han Seojin opened his hand.

Fwoosh!!

Crackle!!

Flames and frost.

They started to circulate within the body simultaneously.

Two circles.

They began to repel and harmonize with each other.

Amplification art.

The absolute art that created the Purple Magic Tower was brought forth to the present time.

Mana began rapidly expanding.

Whooosh!!

And the surrounding space became distorted.

A kind of barrier created by the Demon King's minions.

Han Seojin's storm of mana was pushing it away.

'What.'

Myeongcheol, the highest-ranked monk, was astonished.

A storm of mana.

It was literal.

Like a dragon exhaling its breath, the surrounding magical energies began to rampage.

Crackle.*

Within it, black llightning sparked.

It was an alien occurrence.

If the Heaven-Surrendering Godly Technique was intended to destroy everything blocking its path, then the black lightning was different.

Destruction.

It had the will to obliterate everything in its way without a trace.

He had heard of it.

The Seven-Colored Magic Tower.

The first Tower Master and the face of the empire.

The Demon King Slayer killed the Insect Dragon King alone.

If you see him surrounded by black lightning, that place will be wiped from the map.

Therefore, he was called the Duke of Destruction.

Han Seojin quietly recited.

Divine Thunderbolt.

Celestial Conqueror.

Black lightning exploded.