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◈ Ophidian of the Immortal World ◈

Chapter 36: A Fight for Blood

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Sagaewan moved at an unbelievably fast pace.

Jegyeong had only managed to keep from losing the trail because Sagaewan's Aura lingered here and there like footprints, serving as markers.

He caught up to Sagaewan a long while later.

He could have arrived sooner if he had traveled alone, but he had Demon Race members to lead. Several of those following him had always been slower than Muk-su, and the shock of encountering Sagaewan had made them even slower.

For that reason, Jegyeong had no choice but to arrive at the gathering place somewhat late. By the time he got there, Demon Race members who appeared to number at least several thousand already filled the plain.

“Jegyeong. I-I'm scared...”

Still shaken, Cheongo had even forgotten the warning to keep quiet and murmured.

Yet Jegyeong could not stop Cheongo.

He, too, had been overwhelmed by the sight.

Was it even possible for so many Demon Race members, creatures ruled more by instinct than reason, to gather like this?

They stood only a short distance from one another, close enough to touch if they fell over, yet they merely growled instead of fighting to the death. The unnatural sight made it seem as though thousands of Demon Race members were all wearing collars.

Jegyeong stared at the strange scene for some time, then turned his gaze toward the hill beyond, where he could sense Sagaewan's Aura.

‘Strange.’

Sagaewan's Aura was clearly atop the hill, but it was far smaller and less oppressive than before.

Could Sagaewan know a method for concealing their Aura, like the Qi Concealment Technique?

The senior cultivators of the Forget-Me Garden had called the Qi Concealment Technique a minor trick and considered it nothing special, but that was because they were proper Foundation Establishment cultivators.

‘Right. Sagaewan is a Great Demon Beast, so they're no different from a Human Race Foundation Establishment cultivator.’

In that case, it would not be strange if Sagaewan knew the Qi Concealment Technique. It was not exclusive to Human Race cultivators in the first place. The Cultivation World was vast, and even if it was not the Qi Concealment Technique, there could be countless similar methods.

‘Then... are all those on that hill Great Demons?’

It was called a hill, but it was large enough to be considered a low mountain.

Several large and small figures stood at its summit, and Sagaewan was one of them. All of them gave off small but steady Auras like Sagaewan's, and Jegyeong guessed they were all Great Demons.

He did not know whether they were Great Demon Beasts or members of another branch of the Demon Race, but they were clearly powerful beings on Sagaewan's level.

After all, even the formidable Sagaewan stood near the edge of their group.

Of course, where someone stood did not determine their strength, but Sagaewan did not appear the least bit special among those atop the mountain.

‘The one at the center...’

Jegyeong shifted his gaze without thinking, then suddenly froze like stone.

He did not know why.

It was as though he had been moving along smoothly, only to suddenly hit a speed bump. His gaze stopped. So did his thoughts.

‘That isn't an ordinary Great Demon.’

Among the dozen or so Great Demons around that figure were some far larger than Muk-su, beings like living skyscrapers.

Compared to their enormous size, the being at the center did not stand out much in appearance.

Still, Jegyeong felt an intense instinctive fear toward that being.

The fear was far stronger than what he had felt when facing Sagaewan up close. Was this pressure born from the instincts of the Demon Race? Jegyeong knew he was relatively free from such instinctive suppression.

Perhaps it was because his body was that of a Demon Beast, while what lay within him was partly human.

‘What is that? A Great Demon? Or a Demon King?’

A Demon King.

A realm beyond that of a Great Demon, equivalent to the Golden Core Stage among Human Race cultivators.

As grand as the title King of Demons sounded, only the smallest fraction of the countless Demon Race members in the Azure Basket Realm had reached the realm of Demon King.

Jegyeong could not be certain whether the being at the center of those Great Demons was a Demon King.

Still, that presence, so distinctly different from the Great Demons around him, and the fear that naturally gripped Jegyeong from simply paying attention to him for a moment, made him suspect the being was something beyond a Great Demon.

Jegyeong did not dare stare directly at him and quietly remained where he was.

He did not even think of concealing his Aura with the Qi Concealment Technique.

He feared that attempting such a thing might draw the attention of the being atop the mountain.

* * *

“Mountain Lord. I believe we have gathered enough.”

Sagaewan watched the Great Demon speaking so politely and sneered inwardly.

Someone who would overturn everything if the slightest thing displeased them was now pretending to be so well-behaved. It was ridiculous.

‘Looks like even that one knows to consider the time and place.’

‘They should, if they don't want to die.’

Two heads, two minds.

Most of the time, it was bothersome, but occasionally it was useful for relieving boredom like this.

There was something quite enjoyable about secretly exchanging insults about others.

‘Still, for the Mountain Lord himself to come here. Is this really serious enough for that?’

‘Who knows? Those above must have their reasons.’

Sagaewan cautiously looked at the one called Mountain Lord.

At first glance, he looked like nothing more than an ordinary Wood Spirit, but no one in Upper Demon Grove was unaware of the Mountain Lord's notorious reputation.

Chaesan Old Demon.

One of the three elders leading Upper Demon Grove, whose strength was said to rival that of a Demon King.

Yet the Demon Race members of Upper Demon Grove did not dare raise their heads before him, and the fear that gripped them was not due to his position or strength alone.

‘If that old man has stepped forward, it means more blood will flow this time than before.’

‘Maybe. But isn't that better?’

The conflict between Upper Demon Grove and Jeyeon Sect was nothing new.

Even setting aside the innate hostility between the Demon Race and the Human Race, they were bound to clash because they shared the Juge Mountain Range as though it were one home.

Still, neither side could crush or drive out the other, so their conflicts always ended with both sides bloodied and no victor.

From the outside, it looked as though both sides were foolishly wearing themselves down over wounded pride. In truth, it was an intended outcome born of a tacit agreement between the two factions.

To understand this conflict that continued without victors or losers, one first had to understand the circumstances the two factions faced.

The matter of control over the Juge Mountain Range was, at its root, something neither side could resolve.

If Upper Demon Grove defeated Jeyeon Sect and took the Juge Mountain Range, the Higher Sect behind Jeyeon Sect would not remain still. The same would happen if Jeyeon Sect won.

Upper Demon Grove and Jeyeon Sect were insignificant, unknown factions in the Cultivation Worlds of their respective races, but each had a force they relied upon.

That was why they could fight but could never win completely.

Even if they could win, they were not allowed to.

When they had first encountered one another in the Juge Mountain Range over a thousand years ago, a truly fierce battle had broken out.

They had fought as though defeat would bring disaster, as though there would be no tomorrow, waging a life-and-death war.

Before long, though, they understood what that fight meant and grew disillusioned.

They were like bells tied together.

They could clash and ring loudly, even dent one another, but neither could be completely destroyed.

The front line of the Two Regions? No. It was only a remote borderland that no one cared about.

Neither side particularly wanted it, but neither wanted to hand it over to the other. They had drawn an uncertain line and kept up appearances. That was all it meant.

After realizing their own meaning and value, both factions had lost their will to fight. Not long afterward, though, they discovered an unexpected truth.

Their war might have had no meaning, but it did have value.

To the Human Race, the corpses of Demon Race members were treasures in themselves.

Everything obtained from their bodies had a use, and some body parts in particular were used as ingredients for Medicinal Pills.

Likewise, Human Race cultivators were both a delicacy and an elixir to the Demon Race.

Most Demon Race members ate whatever they pleased, grew however they pleased, and advanced their realms according to instinct. Naturally, the energies within their bodies became turbid. Human Race cultivators were exceptionally effective at purifying those turbid energies.

Purifying them not only strengthened their Aura, but also helped them aim for higher realms. Demon Race members who knew of this effect often salivated whenever they saw Human Race cultivators.

Since each side had something to gain from the other, the fading conflict between Upper Demon Grove and Jeyeon Sect naturally caught fire again.

Still, they both knew they could not completely suppress the other, so they controlled the intensity of the fighting to ensure its aftermath did not shake the foundations of either faction.

Even the pretexts for battle were set to a degree.

When Jeyeon Sect started it, they provoked Upper Demon Grove by pretending to expand their influence into the neutral zone. When Upper Demon Grove started it, they created a Beast Tide and drove masses of ignorant Demon Race members into Jeyeon Sect's territory.

This time, Jeyeon Sect had started the fight. Since Upper Demon Grove was responding, they usually maintained the appearance of being on the defensive.

Yet Chaesan Old Demon, infamous even among them, had stepped into such a battle?

Even if he did step forward, should he not have shown himself only as the battle neared its end? That was how it had always been.

‘Something's happening.’

‘Yes. Something is different from before.’

Sagaewan instinctively sensed that this battle would be more complicated than the previous ones, but they could not grasp why.

‘At times like this, it's best to eat only enough and keep our heads down.’

‘Right. Let's be careful this time. Don't lose your mind because the blood rushes to your head like last time.’

‘Wasn't that blood rushing to your head?’

‘My head is your head, and your head is my head.’

‘Oh? Only when it suits you?’

Sagaewan was confident they were the cleverest Great Demon Beast in the world.

After all, they had two heads.

Others thought with one head, while Sagaewan could think with two. Naturally, did that not make them twice as clever as those with only one?

Using their proud, clever heads, Sagaewan decided that no matter what happened this time, they would not be the first to step forward.

* * *

Jegyeong naturally had no idea what Sagaewan was thinking.

He only saw Sagaewan lingering apart like an outcast unable to join the group and wondered whether Sagaewan was being ostracized among the Great Demons.

‘They said we're fighting somewhere called Jeyeon Sect, but I don't know how these Demon Race members fight. This is frustrating.’

Surely they would not rush in without any organization and fight like children in a brawl?

‘No. Would that actually be better?’

If there was an organized structure, Sagaewan, who had dragged him here, was likely to become his superior. Jegyeong found Sagaewan deeply uncomfortable.

It was not simply because Sagaewan had forced him to come.

More than that, it was because Sagaewan seemed to have noticed there was something unusual about him.

Someone might say he was overreacting to a moment of curiosity.

But to Jegyeong, even that brief curiosity was a serious threat.

Sagaewan was a Great Demon Beast that could kill him whenever they wished.

To the weak, the attention of someone powerful they were powerless against was poison.

Some said poison could be used as medicine, but that did not make poison any less poisonous.

Poison was dangerous by nature, and if danger could be avoided, it should be avoided.

That was a simple rule of survival.

‘No matter how strong the pressure of hierarchy is, can they really control creatures like these?’

Those from Upper Demon Grove had forcibly gathered thousands of Demon Race members in one place and pressured them to keep from attacking one another, but that was all.

Even now, some were sprawled out, some were turning their heads this way and that while howling, and some were even relieving themselves. They were nothing but a disorderly rabble.

Could creatures like these really be used as an army?

As Jegyeong considered these things, movement began atop the mountain as well.

“Mountain Lord. Shall we begin?”

At the respectful question, Chaesan Old Demon, in the form of a huge tree-man or ape, spoke in a low voice.

“Let's.”

Once he gave his permission, the enormous Great Demon who had been respectfully reporting to him turned around.

The moment that Great Demon faced the thousands of Demon Race members below the mountain, explosive pressure burst from their entire body.

The pressure spread from the summit and covered the plain. The thousands who had been busy doing their own things all had their stances give way at once, their breathing growing ragged.

“Listen, you vermin! Those weak Human Race bastards dared to set foot on our land without knowing their place! They are even now approaching us! They want to strip our hides, pull out our sinews, and chew our flesh!”

The Great Demon's fury spread through their roar and colored the hearts of the Demon Race members listening.

At first, they had only been confused and afraid. In an instant, their eyes went wild with rage.

‘What is this?’

Jegyeong was overwhelmed by the sudden shift in the atmosphere around him.

His own heart was violently stirred by the Great Demon's roar, but fortunately, it did not slip beyond his control.

‘This isn't incitement or anything like it. Hypnosis? No, should I call it brainwashing?’

He could not help but shudder at the sight of the Great Demon atop the mountain coloring thousands of Demon Race members with just a few words.

Could such a method really exist?

If so, did that not mean a Great Demon could manipulate thousands of Demon Race members however they pleased?

The Demon Race might be strongly affected by hierarchy, but was this not too extreme?

“Go! Kill those who seek to kill you, and skin those who seek to skin you! Fight until you die, and if you can, keep biting them even after death!”

Once the Great Demon gave the order, thousands of Demon Race members howled together and turned around.

As though they knew exactly where they had to go, they charged in one direction without anyone pointing the way.

Jegyeong also took the hint and moved with the group.

“Cheongo! Muk-su! Get a hold of yourselves!”

As he moved, he urged Cheongo and Muk-su, who had fallen into a frenzy much like the other Demon Race members.

After he shouted two or three times, the savage look in Cheongo's eyes returned to normal. Muk-su did not recover, so Jegyeong had no choice but to lash Muk-su several times with his tail to bring Muk-su to their senses.

Before doing so, of course, he first made sure that many Demon Race members nearby were colliding, tangling together, and falling over.

“Both of you, keep your heads clear.”

He was speaking to Cheongo and Muk-su, but he was also repeating the words to himself.

Footnotes:

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