Book 18 Chapter 21
Chapter 138
Dreaming of the Strongest Chef, Blood Kin Capture Operation (2)
“You were once human? What does that mean?”
At Friede’s question, Ibica of the Blood Kin calmly continued to speak.
“My family was originally a prestigious Blood Kin household, but it collapsed due to a power struggle.”
“A power struggle?”
“Blood Kin society is a society of survival of the fittest. It’s commonplace for the strong to seize families or annihilate clans. Only the strong can hold status. Fighting each other to the death over the family position, that’s what we call a power struggle.”
Friede nodded to everyone. It meant the information was no different from what he knew.
“At that time, I was ten years old and had nowhere to depend on, so I chose to flee outside the Demon Realm. It was an ignorant choice. If I had entrusted myself to the ‘Master of Blood,’ I would have been raised befitting a child of a prestigious family.”
Then Lyuminik pointed his finger accusatorily, as if to show off.
“See that! That filthy true intention! Regardless of the circumstances, calling associating with humans an ignorant choice!”
“It was an ignorant choice, but not one I regret. The place I arrived at… was this very village where these people lived. I used the alias Rebecca there. These people gave me food and shelter without asking about my circumstances.”
“You must have deceived these ignorant villagers. Said you were human. Didn’t you? Along with some nonsense about not being able to stay in the sunlight long due to a congenital illness.”
At Lyuminik’s words, Ibica briefly fell silent.
“Yes… at first I intended to use them, but gradually my heart changed. I grew to like the human way of life more than the Blood Kin way of life.”
“Nonsense! There’s no way a Blood Kin could live well in a human village. Your Blood Kin become thirsty if they don’t consume blood!”
“That thirst only manifests after undergoing the coming-of-age ritual of receiving blood from the ‘Master of Blood.’ In short, Blood Kin are not born as Blood Kin! One can choose not to be Blood Kin!”
However…
Just as he seemed to recite that fantasy hopefully, Ibica’s eyes soon filled with despair.
“Three years later, the one who was my parents’ ‘Master of Blood’ came looking for me.”
“And you didn’t betray them?”
“Blood Kin can sense each other’s presence through subtle waves. Lord Repatra tracked those waves. He said he heard about the upheaval in the family and was deeply pained by it. And that he would finally begin my education as a Blood Kin…”
“So… what happened?”
“The first lesson was to take human blood and turn them into blood thralls, and the targets were precisely the villagers I lived among. I… I couldn’t kill these people. So I did drink blood, but I only injected a truly minimal amount. Hoping they wouldn’t die.”
“Did they become blood thralls?”
“No, they act like blood thralls, but they aren’t. The fact that they’re following me with their self-awareness intact… is also because they’re helping me not to die at the hands of the ‘Master of Blood’…”
Lista pointed the Holy Sword Shyrpen right in front of Ibica’s eyes.
“How many people have you killed so far?”
The light of the holy sword, to humans, was like the fear and pressure of absolute darkness. Ibica said, her eyes trembling.
“I haven’t killed a single person… it’s true that I participated in the human hunts organized by the ‘Master of Blood.’ However, due to circumstances, I merely went along with it, never actively leading.”
“Friede, what do you think?”
“Hmm~ I don’t feel any vengeful spirits at all, do I? Someone who massacres people usually carries those vengeful spirits with them.”
“I see. I understand your situation. But you are Blood Kin, and I am a Hero, so it’s impossible to condone your existence.”
“Then kill me. But promise me. As I said before, these people are not blood thralls. Kill me, but don’t treat these people as blood thralls; let them live.”
The blood thralls began to wail and desperately pleaded with Lista and Friede.
“Rebecca is innocent!”
“If it weren’t for this child, we would have died long ago.”
“They never made us create human flesh or blood wine!”
Lista had been pointing the holy sword at Ibica for a long time before suddenly lowering its tip.
“Under normal circumstances, I would have immediately struck you down… but right now, we must pursue something greater. If you cooperate, I will end your punishment with exile outside the civilized world instead of execution. This is a promise as a Hero.”
The Hero party members always respected their leader’s decision, so there was no objection, but Lyuminik vehemently protested.
“Hero, are you serious? If you just let that guy go, who knows what tragedy he might cause along the way? Can you take full responsibility for that? A life once lost cannot be brought back!”
“But sir, you seem to react too sensitively when dealing with Blood Kin. Unlike your usual character. Did something happen?”
“The reason I distrust and hate the Blood Kin is… because I was a victim first. To Blood General Berom, their current leader! Do you know why Berom became Mushinyeon’s public enemy?”
Mushinyeon’s Public Enemy!
This refers to what is called a ‘murim public enemy,’ a target that wandering warriors cooperatively hunt.
“It was when I, Lyuminik, was young. I was the son of the Ilyangseonpa Sect Leader. At that time, I had little interest in martial arts, only causing my mother grief.”
How was one supposed to react when a man overflowing with mischief suddenly recounted a long, serious story?
“Then one day, my mother, who had returned from the Great Demon Front, brought back a poor child from the marketplace of the yellow border city of <Raptas>, saying she had seen a talent for martial arts in him.”
“Surely not…!”
“Yes, coincidentally, that poor child was Blood General Berom. He was a monster, born with the blood of a Pale Baronet among the Blood Kin, capable of shedding blood and flesh to make his body like an infant’s.”
Lyuminik, speaking of his strange ill-fated connection with Blood General Berom, who was currently the vanguard of the demon race and a nightmare for humanity on the Adrion Continent front, looked somewhat sad.
“I became consumed with jealousy at the sudden newcomer receiving the favor of my mother and all the sects. So, from then on, I, too, dedicated myself completely to martial arts. I began to compete with him.”
“……!”
“Thus, ten years passed, and on the day we were finally to have a martial arts contest for the position of the next sect leader… that day, when everyone was relaxed in a festive atmosphere, he suddenly massacred all the members of the sect!”
Everyone was aghast.
Only Ibica of the Blood Kin had her gaze lowered, with a somewhat desolate feeling.
“He didn’t just kill them; he drained all the blood from those who had laughed and talked like family – friends, younger siblings, older brothers and sisters – and then built an altar with their hearts, offering it to the heavens. The Ilyangseonpa Sect was a great sect. There were well over 300 wandering warriors affiliated with the main sect alone. He killed them all!”
Lista, who listened to anyone’s words with utmost interest, spoke with an extremely bewildered expression.
“But, but how is that possible? The Ilyangseonpa Sect’s power is the sun! If a Blood Kin did that, the damage would be immense; isn’t that akin to suicide?”
“That guy was born with power stronger than any other Blood Kin. Strangely, after using the Ilyangseonpa Sect’s martial arts, he didn’t just turn pale, but his body would become gaunt. Then, after night passed, his vitality would recover. At the time, all the sect members thought that Berom simply lacked basic stamina.”
But later, they found out.
That ever since Berom came to the Ilyangseonpa Sect, disappearances of women and children in the vicinity of the sect had been incessant, and he was the culprit!
Berom had restored his body with the blood of those victims! Cruelty!
“On the eve of the martial arts contest, my mother had discovered his true nature and tried to interrogate him. At that, he cut off the neck of the person who had raised him like his own mother, tore off her arms, legs, and body, and killed her.”
“!”
“I organized a suicide squad with the three senior elders, who were also the last survivors, and ten top disciples, resolved to die, and confronted him.”
“!!!”
“He had left a part of his body and blood in the Demon Realm, but he was still incredibly strong. All the suicide squad members died, and just as I was about to die myself, dawn broke.”
Blood Kin die if exposed to sunlight for too long.
Unlike trolls, who temporarily turn to stone when exposed to sunlight, their bodies melt away.
Among the six Great Demon Tribes, only these two had no resistance to the sun. Was this the price for receiving immense power?
“Perhaps intoxicated by blood and ritual, forgetting even the passage of time, he couldn’t evade the morning sunlight. His corrupted body began to melt away.”
Berom fled.
Lyuminik continued to pursue and attack, but…!
His body was already pushed to its limits, and Berom, being a Pale Baronet, possessed all sorts of strange powers, such as transforming his body into a swarm of bats.
“Ultimately, I let him escape across the sea. From that day on, as the last survivor of the Ilyangseonpa Sect, I have been tracking the Blood Kin, tracking him. With a strange premonition that someday, somewhere, he would reappear.”
“…….”
“I believed it was necessary to cultivate the strength to confront him directly, so I trained and trained the Ilyangseonpa Sect’s martial arts to their limits. And when the period of turmoil began… as the Blood Kin army advanced, I discovered that he was at its very center.”
Lyuminik suddenly clenched his fist and stood up abruptly.
“But he still hasn’t fully recovered from the injuries inflicted by the suicide squad’s martial arts and direct exposure to the sun! If we’re going to finish him, now is the only time. Before he fully regains his strength, right now! That’s why I’m here, exposing his lies on behalf of you who know nothing about the Blood Kin! You must be careful!”
After all that was said, a long silence seemed to settle.
Until Lista spoke with a deep, wry smile.
“Mr. Lyuminik… you thought of Blood General Berom as a real friend, didn’t you?”
“Why would you say that suddenly?”
“Just because. I felt a certain sadness in your words, Mr. Lyuminik.”
Lyuminik, who had been staring at Lista as if dumbfounded, then looked out the window at the horizon shrouded in a sandstorm, letting out a hollow, bitter laugh.
“Indeed. Perhaps so. Even if it was all deception from the start… my youth was spent entirely with him. So there are things I want to confirm by meeting him directly.”
“……?”
“They say that for Blood Kin, there’s a ‘Red Thirst,’ a situation where they must kill humans and drink their blood… I wonder if he truly killed everyone in the sect family because of that thirst.”
“…….”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean I’ll forgive his evil deeds. Nor that I’ll hesitate. If the chance comes, I will definitely put an end to him with my own hands. So you don’t need to worry.”
Rin said.
“What? I just thought he was trash. But now that he’s telling such a profound backstory, he suddenly seems different.”
Friede nodded, a long pipe in his mouth.
“Don’t be fooled. Con artists always make their past sound plausible.”
“You guys, after I spoke so frankly!”
This time, Lyuminik rolled up his sleeves and began to chase the two.
“No, why! You said I looked different! What’s got you so riled up?!”
“Shut up! Come here, you arrogant country bumpkin from the Empire! I’ll instill some Republic etiquette in you!”
“Hey, I’m a shamaness, okay? You want to hit a shamaness? Do you want legal punishment? Stop coming! I said stop coming!”
Shuan clapped his hands together, calming the commotion.
“Well~ so Ibica here has told us that if one hasn’t received blood from the ‘Master of Blood,’ they can overcome the thirst. So, it seems Mr. Lyuminik’s curiosity has been satisfied, hasn’t it?”
“That’s…!”
“And this Ibica said that Repatra is the ‘Master of Blood.’ Repatra is a big deal, isn’t he? One of the ‘Pale Baronets,’ signifying the heads of the Five Great Noble Families.”
Shuan looked at Ibica with a seemingly gentle yet somewhat sharp smile.
“I heard that the Blood Kin have been gathering by great families recently. Has Repatra not issued a summons as well?”
Ibica nodded, then glanced at Lyuminik.
“Since Blood General Berom took full command, the Blood Kin have fully participated in the plan to invade humanity. So, if you would forgive me and these people for my betrayal, and furthermore, stop this madness… I will tell you his location.”
Shuan nodded.
“Then I will ensure that this person leaves for the Demon Realm without causing any trouble.”
Lista felt sad that she couldn’t simply celebrate the success of the plan in that situation.
‘Then Rin will have to risk danger again and infiltrate enemy territory. Lately, Rin has been overdoing it…’
Had he found out somehow?
That I was terminally ill?
Is that why he’s pushing himself so hard?
‘Only a handful of insiders know that Fae-Quarier are terminally ill…’
Heroes do not die.
They merely disappear.
With that propaganda slogan, the Fae-Quarier vanished without a trace around the time they turned thirty.
Most people don’t know this.
No, it is concealed.
The fact that to draw out the power of ancient heroes, one must use their lifespan as a price.
When Lista heard that fact at the Hero training institution <Wyong Sword School> (her mother, who was also a hero’s disciple, had not told her about this), she accepted it as fate.
‘I certainly thought I had accepted it…’
From a certain moment, deep within her heart, beyond her soul, something was sprouting…
Is this lingering attachment?
Is this obsession?
After everything ends, above the horizon of an era where battles are no longer needed…
‘This desire to travel somewhere, anywhere, with everyone here now…’
***
Ibica of the Blood Kin had to part with the villagers.
They were like family.
They were the ones who wholeheartedly helped Ibica when she could do nothing.
“- Just a little of my blood… I’ll put it into your veins. It has to be done. Otherwise, you’ll all die.”
And when the Pale Baronet ordered her to turn them into blood thralls, they understood Ibica’s situation and complied. Her heart ached at having to part with them.
‘Still, taking them deep into the Demon Realm is impossible…’
As the King began to awaken, anomalous weather became even more intense in the Demon Realm.
The desert had begun to burn.
Let alone the Hero party they met earlier, each member a monster… ordinary human bodies wouldn’t last a second there.
“Then I shall depart now…”
It was at that moment, amidst the wailing of over 80 villagers, that Ibica turned towards where Shuan was waiting.
“Do you wish to become human, Ibica?”
“……?”
“If that is truly your will, come here. I will absolve the sin residing in your soul.”
Was this shepherd mad?
The Blood Kin looked similar externally, but internally, they had many significant differences from humans.
According to legend, the Blood Kin were originally primal humans who received rights by pledging loyalty to Anridal, the Lord of Time… so if the legend is true, their roots might be the same.
“No. That is not a legend, but the truth.”
“How did you know my thoughts…?”
“The Demonfolk are descendants of those who refused to receive the light and chose to dwell in darkness when <The Ones Who Came> arrived. By not accepting the light, you have already been judged. Even if you wish to return to the light, you cannot.”
“……!”
“As the Son does what the Father has done… come here. If you truly wish to be freed from that sin, if you have a yearning for the light, I too will bestow upon you the baptism of light, just as <The Ones Who Came> did.”
It was the absurd babbling of a madman.
The human before him was claiming that something essentially impossible was possible.
But… his body moved on its own, kneeling before him.
Was it because of the exceedingly brilliant divine radiance that this enigmatic man possessed…?
“Oh Light, please heal me, this corrupted body… I too wish to be in the light.”
Ibica found herself weeping and praying unconsciously.
Shuan placed his tearfully benevolent hand on Ibica’s head and sighed sorrowfully, looking up at the sky.
“Oh Creator Parent, among all things on this earth, there is no creature not fashioned by Your love. Now, one of the prodigal children who had to leave Your side due to the sin of their ancestors has returned with sincere repentance. Please embrace them with Your sacred love and mercifully take them in.”
Beyond that lament… within a prayer unknown to Ibica… something was felt.
Light descending upon a body that had belonged to darkness, originating from the ancestral original sin…
The first feeling Ibica experienced was, “It’s warm.”
He knew that this, which filled his heart and, furthermore, the depths of his soul with a throbbing warmth, was light.
The bodies of the Blood Kin had no warmth, and they were a tribe that drank human blood to replenish the warmth of life from outside.
That was the thirst of the Blood Kin.
That thirst had vanished forever.
He felt an eternal thirst, an eternal craving, being completely satisfied within the light that was the source of life.
“Where has the yoke of sin that bound you gone?”
When Shuan’s voice was heard, he was able to emerge from that warm ecstasy. Ibica blankly fumbled over his body.
“It’s gone, nowhere… my body… has become a human body…”
He couldn’t believe it himself.
He felt warm blood flowing throughout his veins.
Ibica immediately recognized that this was life and light.
“Then go now.”
The direction Shuan pointed was not south, where the Demon Realm was… but north, where the villagers and the world of light resided.
“Go, and do not sin again. Live a life like light. That is the will of Creation who healed you today.”
The villagers rushed over, embraced Ibica, and began to cry. Ibica, despite the emotion, felt an uncontainable curiosity.
“Just who… are you?”
The enigmatic priest, Shuan, smiled gently and walked towards the horizon beyond the sandstorm that covered the south.
“I am human, just like you. Just an ordinary human who knows a little more about the love of Creation than others.”