Chapter 773 - Li's Fragment (7)
“Okay. So, you couldn’t convince him?”
“No. He said…”
“Regardless, you couldn’t convince him. Right?”
“That, that…!” The Flood Demon King had trouble thinking straight after receiving the Macaque King’s rapid-fire questions. He wanted to make excuses, but the Macaque King’s piercing gaze showed no signs of relaxing.
In place of the Flood Demon King, who acted immature most of the time, the third among the siblings, the Macaque King, was actually in charge of the administrative operations work within the Seven Demon Kings. Because of her strong personality, the Macaque King was often feared by her other brothers and sisters.
The Macaque King scolded the Flood Demon King for failing to bring Sun Wukong. And the more the Macaque King’s scolding continued, the more the Flood Demon King felt the urge to hide in a mouse hole.
It was not like the Flood Demon King wanted to go in the first place. The Flood Demon King wanted to shout out this point, but as he glanced at the Macaque King’s bitter and domineering gaze, he could not help but bite his tongue. He looked over at the Sage Lion King, hoping for a glimmer of hope and salvation. “…”
Whip! The Sage Lion King whistled and quickly turned his head to avoid the Flood Demon King’s imploring gaze. This action made the Flood Demon King feel a deep sense of betrayal.
“It can’t be that you came back after the youngest said he found it too bothersome and tiring to come back, right? You know that the youngest is the most important key to your older brother’s plan, right?”
“Hahaha! Of course, I know how important it is to bring the youngest back! But the youngest said he was on break and needed some time to digest the order and organize his thoughts…”
“So, you didn’t know the importance of your task at all.”
“…”
“Why did you even come back? You should have just gone off and killed yourself. If that happened, I might have at least considered shedding a tear.”
As the Macaque King’s venomous words continued, the Flood Demon King’s face became wet from perspiration and tears. “…”
But the more pitiful the Flood Demon King looked, the more the Macaque King sighed. A deep trough formed on her forehead. “Ah, this is a big issue. What can we do…!”
Before having a chance to finish her words, the Macaque King raised her head. At the same time, the Flood Demon King and Sage Lion King also looked in the same direction.
[Sun Wukong is coming!]
Boom! Suddenly, the barracks where the demon kings and their troops were stationed were blown away as a being came down. It was a being with long gray hair, Sun Wukong.
Everyone put on a forced friendly face. However, Sun Wukong’s older brothers and sisters hardened their expressions. Whoosh! Because there was a lot of fighting aura emanating from Sun Wukong.
“Brothers and sisters, I’m sorry for interrupting, but I’ve come to collect some Soulstones. Please understand that the Soulstones will be used for a very good purpose.”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
At that moment, Sun Wukong’s brothers and sisters all opened and released their powers at once. Then, they quickly looked at each other. They had never mentioned to the youngest that they were in possession of any Soulstones, so the youngest should have been unaware. However, since Sun Wukong knew that they possessed Soulstones, it meant that someone had told him.
As if knowing what his siblings were thinking, Sun Wukong wryly smiled. “Oho! I just made a random guess. I guess you guys really have some?”
“…!”
“…!”
“…!”
“Anyway, my brothers and sisters, are you all always so naive? Anyway, I’ll take some of the stones off your hands. I have a good use for it!” Sun Wukong slammed down hard on the ground.
Boom!
Whoosh!
“W-Wait! S-Stop him!”
“Damn it! What trouble is he planning to start this time?!”
Except for the Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong’s other brothers and sisters had been tormented by Sun Wukong for time immemorial, so they reflexively got into a formation to defend themselves. It seemed their teamwork had been honed from a considerate amount of practice.
But once he started moving, Sun Wukong did as he pleased. He was like a runaway locomotive. Rumble! As Lightning Strikes and Flame Wheels exploded one after another, all his brothers and sisters were pushed away. As the remaining barrack structures collapsed, several pillars of fire soared into the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rumble!
[Infighting has occurred between ‘Pandemonium’ and the ‘Seven Demon Kings’!]
“W-What?”
“What else is going on?”
The present Seven Demon King’s location was not very far from Li’s Tomb. Naturally, the members of the Jie Sect decided to set their camp nearby.
The demons belonging to Jie Sect turned their heads towards the Seven Demon King’s camp and shook their heads as if they were tired. Since many of these Jie Sect members had battled and quarreled with the Seven Demon Kings in the past, enough times that their legends were intertwined with their struggles against the Seven Demon Kings, the Jie Sect members did not feel that the sudden internal conflict was anything strange. While they were all having this thought…
“…this is?” The Sage Lion King, who was quietly retreating to avoid being beaten up by Sun Wukong once again, was shocked when he looked down and saw his shadow fluctuate like a wave.
[The Alternate Ego of the Black King is descending!]
“Ugh! I was wondering why the youngest was acting so weird… So, Sun Wukong has decided to join hands with you! I guess this makes things easier.” When he saw Yeon-woo descending, the Sage Lion King shouted out and laughed aloud. His utter fright had given him an abundance of unsubstantiated confidence.
The Sage Lion King’s divine domain was battle. To be precise, it was ‘battle maniac’. The Sage Lion King was addicted to fighting. This was so much the case that he started piling up legends related to battle, and once he faced off against the Bull Demon King, who he could not defeat, he had faithfully submitted to him and became part of the Seven Demon Kings.
The Sage Lion King had faced off against Sun Wukong numerous times, so he could not get himself worked up to battle him, but Yeon-woo was a different case. Though the Sage Lion King had bumped into Yeon-woo once a long time ago, and after that, crossed paths a few times, they never had a proper battle, so the Sage Lion King felt an urge to battle Yeon-woo.
So as soon as the Sage Lion King saw Yeon-woo, he immediately flew towards him. Like a lion lunging onto its prey, each strike the Sage Lion King subsequently shot out tore the surrounding space apart. Whoosh! Bam! However, before the Sage Lion King’s fist could reach Yeon-woo, it was blocked by a sudden rising shadow.
“Out of my way.” As if there was no time to spend on a worthless insignificant being, Yeon-woo lashed out violently as he continued moving forward.
[‘Shadow Domain’ has greatly expanded!]
[‘Night (Nox)’ is coming down!]
[The fate of the Opponent continues to turn like a wheel!]
“…Ugh!” When a great constricting power was applied to the shadows that surrounded him, the Sage Lion King took in a large breath of air before fully releasing his divine power.
[The divine wind power of the ‘Palm Leaf Fan’ is being implemented!]
[The power of the wind has failed to properly operate as it has been forcefully interrupted.]
“Huh… What!”
Boom! The Sage Lion King was flung away like a rag doll after his Palm Leaf Fan, which had essentially become a part of his being, had failed to properly operate. He wondered if Yeon-woo already knew of the Palm Leaf Fan.
Since Yeon-woo had already come across the Palm Leaf Fan in the past, Yeon-woo had ample time to draw up countermeasures, so the Sage Lion King’s closest resources turned out to be a poison.
“Hey, hey!”
“Ack, no!”
The other demon kings discovered Yeon-woo late and tried to stop his advances somehow.
“You dare turn your back on me?”
“Y- Youngest!”
“Please, just stop…!”
Sun Wukong smiled wickedly as he swept away his siblings.
In the end, Yeon-woo was able to reach the place where the Macaque King was. The Macaque King was at a loss. Her shadow had already gone against her will. It bound her whole body and held a sharp blade to her throat. And now, Yeon-woo placed his hands atop the sharp blade.
The Macaque King’s gaze trembled slightly at the menacing posture Yeon-woo took while holding onto the blade that could easily pierce her neck at any moment. “…what do you want?”
“Give me the Soulstone.”
“Just because you’re doing this doesn’t mean that there’s a chance you can stop the Black King from…!”
“I’ll take care of my own job, thanks. So, give it to me.”
“…” For a moment, the Macaque King felt conflicted. She wasn’t too concerned about death or annihilation. Unlike the opportunistic Flood Demon King or the simple battling madman Sage Lion King, the Macaque King truly understood and agreed with the Bull Demon King’s plan and was wholly invested and participating in realizing the Bull Demon King’s vision.
That was the only way she could save the youngest, Sun Wukong, and the Heavenly Demon.
The Macaque King believed this firmly. Even if she were to die while pursuing this purpose, she did not really care. However, what concerned her and caused her to hesitate was the youngest’s actions. As far as the Macaque King knew, though Sun Wukong often acted in a playful and insincere manner, he never did anything meaningless. While she was having these thoughts…
Thud!
Thud!
“Ugh…”
“That guy, he just got stronger…! Are you really a living thing…!”
Two of Sun Wukong’s siblings cried out as they fell helplessly to the ground after being thoroughly beaten by Sun Wukong. Seeing Sun Wukong wiping his hands after finishing off the two, the Macaque King glared at him and shouted out. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking of surviving.”
“…do you think that the path your older brother is taking won’t work?”
“I want to pursue something similar in principle. I don’t think it’s possible to rebuild this damn universe from scratch.”
“If you continue, you’ll die! There will be no end!”
“Rather than watching the ‘wheel’ turn like this, I’d rather just fix it, even if it’s ruined. Even the kid would appreciate that.”
“…” The Macaque King wanted to stop Sun Wukong, but she knew well that once he made up his mind about something, he would never listen to anything else. She had to give up the Soulstone in the end. On the other hand, she also felt a sense of relief, as if this conclusion was not all that bad. She had never felt comfortable joining hands with the Jie Sect people, who she had always detested.
[You have acquired the Soulstone – Humanitas (Kindness)!]
As soon as Yeon-woo retrieved the Soulstone, he immediately raised his head up.
[‘Night (Nox)’ is spreading all over the place!]
[The demonic society, ‘Jie Sect’ has fallen into great chaos!]
[The ‘Sea of Time’ has been ambushed and is in danger of destruction!]
[An unidentified beast-like opponent writhes in pain!]
[An unidentified beast-like opponent writhes in pain!]
…
[Harbinger announces destruction on those who dare defy its father!]
[Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young wants to inflict a curse on those who refuse to submit to the rule of the ‘Night (Nox)’!]
[Source of Uncleanliness presents a gift of plague to its old enemies!]
[Green Flame wants to purify everything in sight through incineration!]
…
[Dis Pluto spreads death!]
The demons of Jie Sect and the beast-like opponents left behind by Yvlke were caught in the shadows spread by Yeon-woo and devoured by Yeon-woo’s familiars. The world shook with the screams of the demons and the cries of the beasts.
[A large portion of your law of causality is being consumed.]
[Remaining law of causality: 41, 40, 39, 38%...]
From the moment Yeon-woo decided to fully open his power, no one could go against Yeon-woo. The only reason he gave them the impression that he was inferior to them was only for the continued operation of the ‘dream’ and ‘wheel’.
However, now that he threw those pretenses away, Yeon-woo was essentially stating that he would now personify the will of the law of causality and the deterrence force of the universe and the world. This was because the Black King represented and possessed all of this.
Rumble! And just like that, Yeon-woo reached the front of a certain cave after passing a number of howling enemies. He could sense traces of Yvlke, the Bull Demon King, and Tongtian Jiaozhu leading into the cave. Furthermore, the magic energy of the Sin Stones that comprised his Philosopher’s Stone wriggled in the cave’s direction.
Yeon-woo felt that he was near Li’s Tomb. However, just when Yeon-woo was about to enter the cave’s entrance, he stopped.
Step. Step. Someone was walking out of the cave. And once Yeon-woo saw the being’s face, Yeon-woo frowned.
“I thought an uninvited guest would come, but I didn’t know it would be my nephew. It must be the first time we’ve met each other face to face, right? Nice to meet you.” Oceanus greeted Yeon-woo with a wave of his hand.