WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 158: Dark King 6
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Thud, thud...
At the sounds coming from outside, Tang Seo-woo bit her lip anxiously.
As far as she could tell, they had no chance of winning. Three Martial Apex Venerables had come.
And Gongsun Myeong, the Hundred Swords and leader of the Uicheon Sword Gate, was a master said to rival a Martial Apex Venerable. What about the leader of the Salhomun? They too were said to be the finest assassin after the Dark King.
Had this not been an unexpected assault, the Dang Family could have made various preparations, such as seeking help from the Black Dragon Society or other friendly Unorthodox Sects. But that was meaningless now. Today, the Dang Family and Salmun would be destroyed.
She knew that, but she could not run. For all that, the Dang Family was a prestigious house with a long history, and Tang Seo-woo was one of its direct descendants.
The thought of abandoning her family and fleeing because they had no chance had never entered her mind. All that filled Tang Seo-woo's thoughts now was the order she had received from her father, the Dark King.
The Dang Family's underground training chamber. Having reached the door in an instant, Tang Seo-woo immediately placed her hand on it. The seals on the door disengaged one by one in response to the blood of the direct line.
Creaaak...
Poison Qi slowly seeped through the gap in the door. Tang Seo-woo carefully stepped through the slightly opened entrance.
In the middle of the room, she saw the Poison King, the Grand Patriarch, kneeling within a mass of Poison Qi. Nearby, Haryeong lay curled up, clutching her shoulder.
“...Is she dead?”
Haryeong did not move. Startled, Tang Seo-woo approached and carefully nudged Haryeong with her foot. There was still no movement.
Tang Seo-woo's face stiffened as she laid Haryeong on her back and checked her condition.
Her skin was ice-cold. Her face was as pale as a corpse's. But she was not actually dead. She was barely breathing, as though she had used the Turtle Breathing Great Art, but she was alive.
Tang Seo-woo could not help letting out a sigh of relief after confirming it. It would be troublesome if Haryeong died now. Naturally, that was not because she was worried about Haryeong.
After all, this had all happened because they had forcibly brought Haryeong to the Dang Family.
Those people would want to destroy the Dang Family and Salmun while safely recovering Haryeong. That meant Haryeong still had value as a hostage.
“If you'd just come along willingly from the start, none of this would have happened...!”
Tang Seo-woo spat those words out and laid Haryeong back on the floor. First, she had to follow the Dark King's order.
‘Ugh...’
The dark Poison Qi looked like sticky mud. She had developed a trauma around mud after Seongju, but even apart from that, putting her hand into it would not be easy.
All of that was Poison Qi. As a Poison Human, Tang Seo-woo would not be poisoned to death merely by exposure to Primordial Unity Poison.
However, the poison within her was greatly diluted compared to the original. Reaching into that thick Poison Qi required considerable resolve.
She did not know what retrieving the dagger buried in the poison creature Grand Patriarch's chest would accomplish, but it had to be for the family if he had ordered it.
Tang Seo-woo pushed her arm, sleeve rolled up, into the Poison Qi.
Her face twisted at the pain, as if her flesh were being sliced away and seared with a blazing mass of fire. She tried to counteract it by surrounding herself with Poison Qi, but it was useless.
Moreover, the Poison Qi was thicker and denser than she had expected. Only after thrusting her arm in up to the shoulder did she finally reach the dagger's hilt.
Silent Blade. Tang Seo-woo knew of it as well. The Dark King's Black Scales had now become the new symbol of the Dang Family Head, but until the previous generation, Silent Blade had been the symbol and heirloom of the Dang Family Head.
It was the sharpest dagger in the world, a blade that cut through everything it touched.
She had heard that Silent Blade had been driven into that chest to grant peace to the Grand Patriarch, who had been consumed by an Inner Demon and become a poison creature.
But the immense Inner Demon had mixed together all the poison and inner power the Grand Patriarch had accumulated throughout his life. It had transformed him into a poison creature that multiplied poison merely by existing, without eating or drinking.
Even with Silent Blade lodged in his heart, the transformed Grand Patriarch had not died.
In the end, the Dark King gave up on killing the Grand Patriarch. Believing in a faint hope, he sealed him within the underground training chamber. That was what Tang Seo-woo knew.
‘Does Father think the Grand Patriarch may have regained his senses after nineteen years...?’
It seemed absurd to Tang Seo-woo. Had they not repeatedly tried to make the Grand Patriarch regain his senses through Thousand Years' voice, to no avail?
Would the Grand Patriarch, whose death was close at hand, miraculously regain his senses and resolve a desperate crisis that threatened the family's survival?
‘There is no way that could happen.’
Crack, crack...!
Despite her pessimistic thoughts, Tang Seo-woo pulled out Silent Blade. Dark red poisonous blood burst from the wound where it had been removed, and the mud-like Poison Qi trembled.
Tang Seo-woo hurriedly pulled her buried arm all the way out.
Though it had been immersed in terrible poison for a long time, Silent Blade's black blade had not been damaged in the slightest. Tang Seo-woo swallowed hard as she looked at the Poison King.
Rumble...
The Poison Qi that had clumped together like mud collapsed. From within, the Poison King's body, which had remained motionless for nineteen years, flopped onto the floor.
The Poison King's appearance was nothing like that of a healthy human. His lower body and right arm had melted away. That was not a figure of speech. The Poison King's lower body and right arm had truly turned into Poison Qi slime.
“...Grandfather?”
Tang Seo-woo called to the Poison King just in case, but there was no response.
‘As expected...’
Swallowing a sigh, Tang Seo-woo first put away Silent Blade and lifted Haryeong.
She judged that it would be better to take Haryeong outside and use her as a hostage rather than leave her here.
Just as she turned to leave the underground training chamber.
Crack, crackle...
She heard that sound. Tang Seo-woo flinched and turned around. The sound of bones twisting came from the Poison King's body, which had fallen to the floor.
His lower body and right arm, which had turned to slime, slowly writhed. The poisonous blood that had been surging from the wound in his chest where the dagger had been removed floated into the air in drops.
“...Grandfather?”
Splurt! Dragging sticky poison fluid behind him, the Poison King moved. As he creakily raised his head, half of his face had collapsed, and even his intact left eye held no light.
Tang Seo-woo recoiled in horror at the grotesque sight.
Whoosh! The Poison King's arm stretched out like a whip and rushed at Tang Seo-woo. She tried to evade in fright, but the bizarrely moving Poison Hand caught her around the waist.
“Eeeek!”
Tang Seo-woo immediately released Poison Qi and resisted, but it was useless. Her Poison Qi was instead sucked into the Poison King, and even her inner power could not cut through his Poison Qi.
In the end, Tang Seo-woo struggled as the Poison King dragged her toward him.
“W-What is this?! Let me go!”
The clothing that touched the Poison Qi melted away. Tang Seo-woo bit down hard at the pain of Poison Qi touching her bare skin. Crash! Amid the commotion, Haryeong's body fell to the floor, but she did not regain consciousness.
‘I can't breathe...’
Poison with physical form wrapped around Tang Seo-woo's neck like a writhing tentacle.
Before long, Tang Seo-woo lost consciousness as well. The Poison Qi crawled over her unconscious body and steadily drew her in. Eventually, Tang Seo-woo's body was swallowed by the sticky mass of Poison Qi.
“Hmm.”
A man who had watched everything stroked his chin as he walked into the training chamber.
Tang Seo-baek, the Dark Moon Nether Lord. He looked at the Poison King with wide eyes, as though surprised.
“Have you regained your reason?”
Rather than an answer to his question, another reaction came.
The Poison Hand that had incapacitated Tang Seo-woo in an instant lashed out at Tang Seo-baek as well.
However, perhaps because he had seen it beforehand, Tang Seo-baek was not caught as helplessly as his sister.
‘As expected.’
Rather than leaving the underground training chamber, Tang Seo-baek went deeper inside. He picked up Haryeong, who lay sprawled on the floor, and ran around the chamber.
‘You still have no sense of self. You swallowed Seo-woo and now want to swallow me as well... Hmm, I see. It seems you regard the Poison Core in my dantian as part of yourself.’
The current Poison King was merely a poison creature left with basic instincts, without will. It sprayed poison and tried to kill anything.
Tang Yu-shin must have been counting on this. To introduce an unpredictable variable into the hopeless situation the Dang Family faced, he must have decided the Poison King's rampage was their only option.
‘But nineteen years is too long.’
Long ago, when the Poison King had become a poison creature and rampaged, he had even driven Tang Yu-shin into a corner. But he had spent far too long having poison extracted from him in the training chamber and being saturated with suppressants, leaving him weakened.
That thing could not even properly use martial arts. It was no longer the Poison King, merely a poison creature. Even if it were unleashed, it would not become the variable Tang Yu-shin hoped for.
‘For this to happen...’
Tang Seo-baek frowned. Tang Yu-shin's decision had been too rash after all. Because he had unnecessarily tried to kill Cloud Dragon and Sword Dragon, the Dang Family and Salmun were on the verge of annihilation.
Tang Seo-baek could not help feeling bitter and regretful. If he had simply waited patiently, he could have swallowed the entire Dang Family and Salmun whole.
‘Who would have thought those two were really alive?’
Tang Seo-baek glanced at the limp Haryeong. The words he had used to keep her from giving up on life in despair had all turned out to be true. Clicking his tongue, Tang Seo-baek closed in on the Poison King.
‘The Dang Family will be destroyed anyway. Even if I fight alongside them out there, I will only die a dog's death.’
He had no intention of dying a dog's death alongside his idiot siblings and retainers.
‘Still, you're my father. As your son, I'll lend you some strength.’
If he was lucky enough to kill even one Martial Apex Venerable, it would be a profitable trade. Thinking that, Tang Seo-baek smiled faintly.
After closing to within arm's reach of the Poison King, he took a small glass vial from his robes and removed its cap.
He brought his mouth close and whispered something into the liquid in the vial, then shoved the entire vial into the Poison King's mouth.
Crunch!
The forcibly inserted vial shattered, and its contents went down the Poison King's throat.
After confirming that, Tang Seo-baek grabbed Haryeong's body.
He considered running away with her, but persistent pursuit might follow if he did. It was better to leave this woman here.
“Why don't you two have a father-daughter reunion?”
Tang Seo-baek sneered as he threw Haryeong's body. Splurt! After confirming that Haryeong's body had been swallowed by the Poison Qi, Tang Seo-baek turned around.
‘It is a shame.’
He regretted not becoming the Dang Family Head, but he also regretted leaving while there was still so much to take from the Dang Family.
He wanted to take Silent Blade at least, but it was already buried deep within the Poison Qi alongside Tang Seo-woo.
‘If I meddle any further, the Poison Qi in my dantian may be sucked out. I have no choice but to give up on Silent Blade.’
He regretted Tang Yu-shin's Black Scales as well, but what he regretted most was the Heavenly Slaughter Primordial Unity Art. That peerless poison art existed only in the Poison King's mind, and even Tang Yu-shin, his son, had not inherited it.
Tang Yu-shin did not want to be compared to his father, a genius of poison arts, so he had never learned poison arts at all.
Even Tang Yu-shin had coveted the Heavenly Slaughter Primordial Unity Art enough to bring his younger sister before their father, who had become a poison creature, several times in an attempt to make him regain his reason.
‘I had hoped it might be hidden somewhere as a martial arts manual.’
Even if there was no manual, had things not come to this, he could have fully passed Primordial Unity Poison on to Haryeong and created an entirely new poison art.
Clicking his tongue in regret, Tang Seo-baek walked out into the corridor.
* * *
“Impressive...”
The Sword Emperor watched Yuri in admiration.
No matter how numerous they were, the difference in strength was so overwhelming that most of the Dang Family and Salmun forces had already been dealt with.
In truth, with such a vast disparity, there was no need for the Sword Emperor to lead the charge himself. So, from midway through, he had put away his sword and watched the battle between the Dark King, Yuri, and Estor.
“Is that the God of War's miracle...? To draw out that much power through a miracle...”
Yeonri Sangah murmured with a stunned expression. At her words, the Sword Emperor shook his head.
“Miracles are convenient and extraordinary powers, but in this case, I think Cloud Dragon is simply handling it well.”
“Hmm... I see.”
Yeonri Sangah, who had closely watched Yuri's movements, nodded in agreement.
The martial arts and movements Yuri was displaying now were improved versions of what he had used against Tang Yu-shin earlier.
He had not simply gained power. He was clearly applying that power to higher-level techniques.
“Potential from the future... Has he forcibly grown enough to fight the Dark King...!”
Elleia, who had planted her blood-soaked greatsword into the ground, was excited for some reason. Clenching both fists, she muttered to herself.
“A restriction that requires death to be at his doorstep, a vow to certainly kill his opponent...! It is a shame his appearance has not changed much.”
It would have been cooler if his hair had risen wildly and his whole body had become muscular. Elleia felt a small pang of disappointment.
“A paladin's geas is also a kind of miracle. It does not grant such explosive power, though.”
“A Divine Relic truly is a Divine Relic. Still... I worry about the backlash.”
“Isn't it a Divine Relic that can only be used when one is on the verge of death? You need to survive before you can worry about backlash. Sword Emperor, what do you think? Does Cloud Dragon seem likely to defeat the Dark King now?”
“Hmm.”
The Dark King was young among the Martial Apex Venerables, young enough to be his son. But being young did not mean his skill was lacking.
Even Martial Apex Venerables did not know each other's precise tiers, but in the Sword Emperor's view, the Dark King had already surpassed the seventh tier.
“At first, he seemed flustered by Cloud Dragon's sudden growth and was being led around. Now, however... he seems to have adapted fairly well.”
“Even taking that into account, this lady thinks Cloud Dragon is about half a step ahead.”
“I agree. The fact that the Dark King's specialty barely works against Cloud Dragon is fatal.”
Even to the watching Sword Emperor, it was almost unnerving.
Every concealed weapon that came from an unavoidable angle and timing was blocked. Before Cloud Dragon could even move his body, lightning and flames fluttering around him surged and swept the concealed weapons aside. Those that broke through that defensive line were ultimately struck away by Cloud Dragon's hands and feet.
A surprise attack did not work. That forced the Dark King into a frontal battle.
Every concealed weapon released by the Dark King through Conceptual Apotheosis was fatal. His attacks did not stop, changed fluidly, and continued without end.
Having reached the pinnacle of concealed weapons, he understood their weaknesses. His will to counter those weaknesses had been reborn as Intent.
Even so, the Dark King's style was not suited for head-on combat. Every martial art had strengths and weaknesses.
‘Their compatibility is poor...’
No.
A thought suddenly occurred to the Sword Emperor, and he could not help smiling.
‘That greedy fellow will never be at a disadvantage, no matter who his opponent is.’
With that thought, Cloud Dragon's movements appeared different. Most surprise attacks did not work. He cut off frontal assaults before they could begin, and if he could not, he redirected them to the side.
The attacks he inserted through those openings were swift and heavy. Force aura like raging flames grew larger and spread, pressing in on his opponent. When the distance widened, he drove bloody rings forward with palm strikes and hurled spheres brimming with Intent.
Even while fighting so fiercely, the force of his attacks did not weaken. Infinite inner power did not exist.
No matter how strong his Intent was, pouring out attacks that powerful should require him to watch both his inner power and physical stamina...
‘He is absorbing the qi around him...? It is different from the Absorbing Star Great Art.’
The Dark King's name was no empty reputation. Several of his attacks had wounded Cloud Dragon.
But look. No wounds could be seen on Cloud Dragon's body now. Something was regenerating his wounds at an absurd speed.
Was it another miracle of the God of War, like when his wounds first healed? Or was it an ability of Cloud Dragon's, affected by the miracle? If it was the latter...
“He is like an evil spirit.”
The Sword Emperor let out a hollow laugh and murmured.
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