Blood Demon of the Past Life – Chapter 53

Chapter 53: Step Up （3）

Kang San was able to focus on his own situation.

Crack.

Clack, clack, clack!

Soldier ants were thrusting their faces from all directions.

Sharp teeth clashed incessantly, aiming for Kang San’s body, and Kang San, activating ‘Iron Man,’ endured all the attacks. The world in front and behind was completely different. If the rear was an intact world where enemies and allies could be distinguished, the front where Kang San stood was a hell stained black in all directions. Whether he looked to the right or left, there were only enemies in sight.

Hook.

He parried an attack.

And then immediately.

‘Blood Demon Sword Technique, First Style: Blade Kill.’

Flash.

Thud━!

He blew the opponent’s head off.

The sword, drenched in blood, spewed out a red aura.

『The effect of Blood Demon Art has been activated.』

『Attack power is temporarily increased by 10%.』

Already 10.

He felt his senses expanding.

Kang San dealt with the enemies more aggressively, and as the Blood Demon Art’s stats accumulated, he noticed a familiar phenomenon. It was the red aura. He became fully aware of the existence of the red aura while crafting weapons, but in fact, Kang San had experienced this strange phenomenon every time the ‘Blood Demon Art’ was activated.

A kind of killing intent.

A supersense granted by the Blood Demon Art that tells you the most efficient way to defeat the enemy in front of you.

Past experiences gave him confidence in the killing intent.

Therefore.

Swish-

Slash!

He followed the signals sent by the killing intent.

When the killing intent drew a line and wrapped around the enemy’s vital points, Kang San aggressively took advantage of the few counterattack opportunities that were allowed. Every time the sword pierced flesh, the ants screamed. It was a powerful attack that pierced even the hard exoskeleton at once, and thanks to it, Kang San was able to defeat quite a few enemies.

Yeon Gyu-seong’s test.

The experience from that time was effective.

Pushing the Blood Demon Art to its limits, Kang San gradually adapted to fighting using killing intent.

Then suddenly.

Kang San had this thought.

‘Killing intent is a power that contains the intent to kill. When facing an enemy, it finds the enemy’s vital points, but when creating a sword, it tells you the direction to imbue the intent to kill. An intangible power that is not expressed as a skill. Then, is there a way to reverse the intent to kill and use it defensively?’

It was a kind of reverse thinking.

If killing intent tells you the vital points, could that ability to identify vital points be used in reverse?

It was a simple question.

It was then.

The moment he questioned the new possibility.

Whoosh-

A new world was sucked into Kang San’s vision.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

It was a dark space.

The old man he called his master led the way and stopped right in front of a bottomless pit-like space.

“Below, there are specters who have lost their families to me, living only for revenge. From now on, you must descend into hell and endure one hour. You will not be allowed to counterattack, and you must survive only in a defensive stance. Can you do it?”

“……I will do it.”

The old man’s question.

There was no choice in the first place.

If he said it was impossible, he would force an even harsher situation, citing a lack of will.

“Yes, that’s a good attitude. What you must keep in mind in this opportunity is how to handle killing intent. Foolish people think that this Blood Demon Art, and the killing intent we exude, is simply an extreme power that takes people’s lives. But the ultimate form of the Blood Demon Art is different. Killing intent can be interpreted differently depending on the situation, and if you grasp the essence of killing intent, you can not only instantly end the enemy’s life, but also grasp in advance what the opponent intends to express with that killing intent and move one step ahead. That’s why counterattacks are not allowed. When the world is covered in killing intent, you must have the ability to survive even in such a hell.”

He smiled.

It looked enjoyable.

Every time his new disciple overcame a trial, the old man felt excited at the thought that he might achieve his great ambition. The world will soon find out. That the specters of the past will soon bring hell to the world.

The old man moved.

Looking down at the bottomless pit, he shouted.

“My disciple will descend from now on. My only disciple is more precious than anything, so you must never touch my disciple. Keep in mind. If my disciple gets hurt, it won’t be enough to tear your bodies apart, I will extract your souls and throw them into the bottom of hell, where you can never escape.”

That was definitely.

Not a word meant to reassure.

He had set the stage so that the specters seeking revenge on the old man would instead risk their lives to kill his disciple.

The old man turned his head.

His twitching lips revealed his anticipation for his disciple.

“What are you doing? Go down now.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦

A chilling feeling enveloped his entire body.

He went down for a whole quarter of an hour and reached the iron bars, and when he infused them with Blood Demon Art, the iron bars opened with an ominous sound.

Creak.

Thud.

He walked for another quarter of an hour.

After passing through three doors that could be passed through with Blood Demon Art, the man reached an unknown space where not a single ray of light was allowed. A space so dark that he doubted if his eyesight even existed. In the distance, the sound of rattling chains could be faintly heard, and then suddenly the noise spread in all directions.

Clatter, clatter, clatter.

Dozens?

Hundreds?

He couldn’t count.

The unknown beings running through the darkness reached the man in an instant and expressed intense killing intent.

“……Disciple of the Blood Demon!”

“Give it to us!”

Slurred pronunciation.

But the intention was clear.

The will to kill the man without fail, without a moment’s hesitation, stretched out a fist towards the man’s vital point. The man had no time to judge the situation. He quickly retreated and dodged the attack, and when he found an opening in the opponent, he tried to counterattack.

Hesitation.

His body stiffened.

The old man clearly did not allow counterattacks, so the man had no choice but to stop his fist right in front of him.

Hook.

Bang━!

It was from then on.

The specters rushed in frantically from all directions.

The man was busy dodging and blocking, and the specters, as if they had noticed at some point that he couldn’t counterattack, clung to him tenaciously. The man’s story didn’t matter to them. For them, longing for revenge, the very fact that the Blood Demon intended something through this man was displeasing.

The Blood Demon.

He killed their families.

The lives that were lost before their very eyes, with their eyes wide open, drove the specters to their limits.

Slash!

His forearm was cut.

Crack.

Someone bit his leg.

The world spun.

The man risked his life and trained for revenge, but it was difficult to survive in this unfamiliar way. But he couldn’t die like this. The specters’ stories? What did that have to do with him? It was someone else’s business, and the man had a purpose he had to achieve by becoming stronger.

The Great Bloodbath.

Dyeing the world with blood.

The man agreed with the old man.

He was here to uphold his will and was ready to trample on the sorrow of others at any time.

The man thought.

Why the old man gave him this trial.

What it meant to focus on killing intent.

“Give it to us!”

“Uwaaaaah!”

Killing intent surged in from all directions.

Revealing their gleaming eyes even in the darkness, they struggled to grab and tear off the man’s flesh. The man dodged the attacks. His senses, heightened to the extreme, reacted to the attacks, while his mind struggled to grasp the old man’s intentions.

A long time ago.

He had heard the story of his master, the Blood Demon.

The Blood Demon committed countless slaughters to earn that nickname, and people said it was a truly horrifying sight. Alone and unaided, with no comrades or faction. The Blood Demon wandered the world and indiscriminately killed the enemies who chased him to eliminate him. He tore limbs apart and beheaded them in front of everyone. Among them, there was one battle that people couldn’t help but acknowledge the Blood Demon.

The Tang Clan.

They sprayed hidden weapons from all directions.

They spread a net of heaven and earth, and no one thought the Blood Demon would return alive this time. But the Blood Demon, amidst the overflowing killing intent, parried all the attacks and managed to slaughter everyone. With the mountain of corpses and the river of flowing blood, people accepted the Blood Demon’s nickname as a symbol of terror.

That day’s incident.

Was it simply a difference in skill?

It couldn’t be.

The old man, the Blood Demon, must have had an intention when he dropped him into hell.

When he was surrounded by people trying to kill him, there must have been something special behind the scene where he slaughtered his enemies and returned alive.

The wounds on his body increased.

He thought he might die.

It didn’t matter.

He knew from the beginning that he had to overcome countless near-death experiences to become stronger.

Only after his whole body was completely stained with blood did the man witness a new sight in the dark space.

“……Was it this?”

The red aura that dyed everything.

The man grinned.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

Whoosh-

He felt dizzy.

With the feeling of fragmented memories being sucked in at once, Kang San stumbled and stepped back.

“Hyeong!”

“It’s okay. Stay in your position!”

He hastily stopped Jeong Chan-woo at his voice.

The formation couldn’t collapse.

The ants rushed at him as if they didn’t care about Kang San’s situation, and Kang San swallowed a groan at the impact of their steel bodies crashing against him. After taking a few breaths, the dizziness quickly disappeared. Kang San, constantly pushed back while blocking the attacks, pushed the opponent with his shield in an instant, judging that he couldn’t be pushed back any further.

Then.

Thud━!

Kreeek.

Jo Han-byeol’s arrow struck.

He, judging the situation, must have thought Kang San’s condition was strange and immediately attempted to provide support fire.

Stagger.

The ant retreated.

Unable to regain its senses from the shock of having its vital point pierced, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to finish off the ant. In fact, Kang San had dealt with over ten ants in similar opportunities. It was a role he had been playing in the front line, not just tanking, but Kang San hesitated at the opportunity in front of him.

‘Damn it.’

Just now.

In the world stained with dizziness, a message that bewildered Kang San had been heard.

『The ninth Trial and Tribulation has been bestowed.』

『Due to the karma of an evildoer, your act of ‘killing’ living beings will be restricted from now on. You must not kill anyone until the ant den is completely subjugated, and if a result that is recognized as killing occurs, all the rewards you have received so far will be revoked.』

『Reward: Mental Strength +5, ???』

It was a unique trial.

It wasn’t the kind that pushed him to the limit by making the enemies stronger like before, but the restriction on killing enemies alone was a tremendous difficulty. The current force wasn’t adequate to subjugate a C-rank ant den in the first place. Kang San’s restriction was a huge penalty overall, and the trial oppressed Kang San in a new way.

And there was something unusual.

One of the rewards.

The part marked as ???.

It was the first time the system couldn’t clearly explain a reward.

He naturally didn’t want to accept it, but Kang San had no choice in the first place.

Didn’t the trial say so?

If he failed.

Everything would be revoked.

‘Damn bastards.’

As always.

Kang San just endured it.