Boom! Crackle!

The doors of the second and third floors of the main hall shattered, and warriors in black poured out, beginning to fight with the group in red robes that had surrounded the hall.

"Kraaak!"

Amidst the rampant screams, more warriors in black entered the main hall.

However, even with their reinforcement, their numbers were small, and they fell one by one.

Even while watching this, Cheon Yu-myeong leisurely drank his tea.

In a brazier placed not far away, wood giving off a strange fragrance was burning, and its smoke was spreading across the floor.

"Cheon Yu-myeong!"

Pat!

Dokgo Jeong, flashing his sword energy and cutting down the men in black, entered.

Behind him, the Yeon and So family heads, as well as Mun-gang and Dokgo Hyeon, were visible. In addition, there were other cult executives and a few elders.

Gung Ma-yeop, one of the Four Guardian Demonic Gods, was also noticeable.

The white-haired Gung Ma-yeop stood holding a sharp half-moon saber.

Dokgo Jeong stepped forward.

"You have thrown the cult into chaos and poisoned the previous Cult Leader. That is not all. You have killed hundreds of cult members and common people for the sake of learning demonic arts. You persecuted the Six Great Demonic Families to become the Cult Leader, so where will that grudge go? Today, I will cut off your head and show the justice of the Heavenly God Cult to all."

"You talk too much. It's not that, but you covet this position, don't you?"

Cheon Yu-myeong tapped the grand master's chair and turned his eyes to Dokgo Jeong.

Dokgo Jeong did not deny it. He said with a face full of laughter, "You don't seem to understand your own situation. Cheon Yu-myeong. Either kill yourself, or fight all of us and be torn to shreds and die. Choose one."

"Hahahaha!"

Cheon Yu-myeong laughed loudly, finding it absurd.

"Shut up!"

"Shut your mouth and come down!"

"If you step down on your own, we will maintain propriety."

The cold voices of the So and Yeon family heads, as well as Gung Ma-yeop, echoed in the main hall.

However, they did not rashly step forward.

The opponent was Cheon Yu-myeong, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly God Cult. His martial arts had shaken the cult five years ago.

Dozens of masters had died at his hands, the Na family was annihilated, and he had seized control of the Ma and Yuk families.

Cheon Yu-myeong sat up straight.

"Do you have proof that I poisoned Dokgo Yang?"

When Cheon Yu-myeong asked, Dokgo Jeong gave the answer he had already prepared.

"If not you, who would use poison? Did you think we didn't know that you gave poison to the doctor and the cook?"

"It seems they said I gave them poison. They must be dead, right?"

"Of course."

Cheon Yu-myeong looked at Dokgo Jeong and shook his head.

"How clumsy. You are not fit to be the Cult Leader."

As Cheon Yu-myeong sneered, Dokgo Jeong's shoulders trembled. It was the first time in his life he had felt such a humiliating emotion.

"What?"

Dokgo Jeong stepped forward.

In any case, he had to start first. If words didn't work, he had no choice but to subdue Cheon Yu-myeong with force.

If he started, everyone would naturally join in the attack.

Seuk!

As Dokgo Jeong put his internal energy into his sword, Cheon Yu-myeong took out a small bell from his sleeve.

It was a bell called the Soul Sound Bell, which he had seen in the Esoteric Cult.

Of course, there was no one in this main hall who knew that.

Cheon Yu-myeong showed a cold smile and shook the bell once.

Jingle!

As a small echo spread through the main hall, everyone's movements stopped as if time had frozen.

"What is this? Are you trying to play some children's game?"

Dokgo Jeong's sword began to glow. But he also had an intuition.

Feeling a strange sensation, he turned his head and saw everyone trembling like an aspen tree with their eyes wide open.

"Do you really think I was waiting for you without any preparation?"

Cheon Yu-myeong showed a relaxed smile and shook the Soul Sound Bell.

Jingle! Jingle!

"Keuk!"

"Uwaaaak!"

Those with weak internal energy vomited blood and collapsed.

The cult members in red robes outside the main hall also covered their ears and retreated.

The eerie sound of the Soul Sound Bell, filled with internal energy, was powerful enough for them.

However, the most threatened were those who had experienced the Soul-Stealing Grand Technique.

Most of those standing in the main hall were trying to move their bodies on their own.

At this strange sight, Dokgo Jeong's flustered expression was evident.

For the past five years since becoming the Cult Leader, Cheon Yu-myeong had continuously performed the Soul-Stealing Grand Technique on the important figures of the cult, allowing them to communicate with the Soul Sound Bell.

It was to prepare for betrayal.

"What on earth is this..."

Dokgo Jeong, seeing everyone looking at Cheon Yu-myeong with a similar expression, greatly raised his killing intent.

"What kind of dark art did you use?"

"It's not a dark art, but a demonic art. I just unfolded the Soul-Stealing Grand Technique. This Soul Sound Bell confuses the minds of those under the spell of the Soul-Stealing Grand Technique."

Cheon Yu-myeong stood up from his seat and shook the bell once. Everyone in the main hall, except for a few, focused on Cheon Yu-myeong.

Those few were the ones standing behind, and Cheon Yu-myeong took them all in with his eyes.

"I'll give you a good present. Dokgo Hyeon."

Seuk!

As Dokgo Hyeon came forward, Cheon Yu-myeong raised his hand.

"Stab your own neck."

"Keuk!"

Dokgo Hyeon held his sword in a reverse grip and tried to stab his neck.

But the hand holding the sword shook greatly. It was because of the will that remained, unshaken by the Soul Sound Bell.

"Brother! No!"

Dokgo Hye came out, grabbed Dokgo Hyeon's hands, and applied force. Seeing this, Cheon Yu-myeong sat down in his chair and raised his hand.

"Stop."

At those words, Dokgo Hyeon lowered his sword.

Dokgo Hye was relieved to see Dokgo Hyeon lower his sword. But she could not understand the current situation.

"You bastard! Cheon Yu-myeong!"

Dokgo Jeong, unable to bear it, extended his sword towards Cheon Yu-myeong.

Cheon Yu-myeong drank his tea and shook the bell.

"Gung Ma-yeop, kill Dokgo Jeong."

"What?"

Dokgo Jeong, finding the words absurd, turned his body. In that instant, Gung Ma-yeop's half-moon saber was cutting Dokgo Jeong's chest.

Dokgo Jeong quickly raised his sword to block.

"Everyone, kill Dokgo Jeong."

As Cheon Yu-myeong's voice echoed in the main hall, the So and Yeon family heads swung their swords at Dokgo Jeong.

Not only them, but all the executives in the main hall rushed at Dokgo Jeong at once.

Per-thwack!

Swords, sabers, and various other weapons passed through Dokgo Jeong's body.

In an instant, Dokgo Jeong, whose entire body was mangled, stood with a blood-soaked appearance.

"How could this happen..."

Thump!

"Father!"

Dokgo Hye, who was holding Dokgo Hyeon from behind, was horrified and shouted loudly.

Dokgo Hyeon also turned his body to kill Dokgo Jeong, but Dokgo Hye held him back.

As Dokgo Hyeon's movements stopped, Dokgo Hye quickly sat in front of Dokgo Jeong's corpse and held him.

Although Dokgo Hye's clothes were soaked in blood, she didn't care.

Cheon Yu-myeong looked at Dokgo Hye with a pitiful gaze and then said in a gentle, soothing tone, "My daughter-in-law is having a hard time."

At those words, Dokgo Hye's eyes widened as goosebumps covered her entire body. She raised her tear-stained face and shouted at Cheon Yu-myeong.

"You hellish ghoul! Just die! Spit!"

"Hahahaha! It's natural to grieve over a father's death."

Cheon Yu-myeong laughed loudly as if it were delightful. It was impossible to know what was so good.

Cheon Yu-myeong just found it funny that Dokgo Hye's crying face was steeped in despair.

Whoosh!

In that instant, Mun-gang jumped out from behind, picked up Dokgo Hyeon, and ran back.

Although he saw this, Cheon Yu-myeong did not move.

Because if he left the main hall, the Soul-Stealing Grand Technique would be released.

Dokgo Hye wiped her tears, picked up her sword, and stood up.

"I will kill you."

Whoosh!

In that instant, Cheon Yu-myeong's figure disappeared with a phantom, grabbed the So family head's head, returned to the grand master's chair, and sat down.

Swoosh! Ppudeuk!

"Kraaak!"

With a scream, the So family head's head was crushed, and a hazy, fog-like energy seeped into Cheon Yu-myeong's hand.

He had unfolded the Star-Sucking Demonic Art to recover the internal energy he had consumed when using the Soul Sound Bell.

"Star-Sucking Demonic Art!"

Dokgo Hye shouted in surprise.

Cheon Yu-myeong threw the dead So family head and appeared in front of Dokgo Hye.

Dokgo Hye's eyes widened.

In that fleeting moment, Cheon Yu-myeong was already sitting on the grand master's chair, with Dokgo Hye on his lap.

Dokgo Hye, whose demonic and vital acupoints were suppressed, could not say anything.

Cheon Yu-myeong grabbed her neck and made her look forward.

"Look carefully. What hell is."

Jingle!

Cheon Yu-myeong, who had shaken the Soul Sound Bell, said loudly, "Kill each other until only one person is left."

The moment his words ended, the main hall became a scene of chaos, and they began to kill each other.

"Uwaaaak!"

"Keuk! Fuck!"

Seo Mun-ryeon, who was sitting on the railing on top of a pillar in a corner of the main hall, covered her mouth with a face that looked like she was about to vomit.

'He's crazy.'

An unbelievable thing was happening right now.

Things like the Soul-Stealing Grand Technique and the Soul Sound Bell were dark arts she had never even heard of in her life.

She thought the Cult Leader was a madman.

Seo Mun-ryeon trembled her shoulders. Her fear of the Cult Leader grew.

What made it even harder for her was that she had not reported the movements of the anti-Cult Leader faction, even though she knew about them.

She had deliberately not done so. There was an order from the family head, and the reason was also that the atmosphere of the cult was strange, unlike before.

The fortunate thing was that she was fine even after hearing the Soul Sound Bell. It was enough to just cover her ears from the bell sound.

"Keuk!"

The floor of the main hall was filled with corpses.

Blood stained the floor of the main hall red like a lake.

The Inspection Pavilion Master, who had barely held on, also fell, his neck cut by Gung Ma-yeop's saber.

The only person left standing in the main hall was Gung Ma-yeop.

It was perhaps natural that Gung Ma-yeop, called the Blood Shadow Saber Emperor, the best saber in the Demonic Cult, was the one who remained.

Blood had pooled at Gung Ma-yeop's feet.

There was no emotion on his indifferent face. He was just looking at Cheon Yu-myeong.

It felt as if he were asking for the next command.

"Sit in the empty seat."

At Cheon Yu-myeong's words, Gung Ma-yeop sat down in an empty chair next to the left pillar.

As he sat, Cheon Yu-myeong laid the trembling Dokgo Hye at his feet and then picked up his teacup.

"Hwayeong Pavilion Master."

Seo Mun-ryeon, who was sitting on the pillar, felt a chill run down her spine at the voice calling her.

"If you run away now, you will die."

At those words, Seo Mun-ryeon jumped down from the pillar and prostrated herself in front of Cheon Yu-myeong's stairs.

If she would die even if she ran away, she decided to consistently deny knowing anything about the anti-Cult Leader faction.

"D-did you call, Cult Leader?"

Seo Mun-ryeon's body was trembling violently as if it were cold.

Cheon Yu-myeong looked at Seo Mun-ryeon for a long time. It felt as if he were deciding whether to kill her or let her live.

Cheon Yu-myeong said as if he had decided.

"Pour the tea."

"Yes."

Seo Mun-ryeon quickly stood up and poured tea into Cheon Yu-myeong's empty teacup. It was a polite posture, as if she had become a maid.

Cheon Yu-myeong, who had drunk the tea poured by Seo Mun-ryeon in one go, held out the teacup to Seo Mun-ryeon and said, "Go and fetch blood."

"Pardon?"

Seo Mun-ryeon's eyes widened in surprise.

But seeing Cheon Yu-myeong's sharp eyes, she quickly took the teacup and fetched the blood pooled on the floor of the main hall.

Cheon Yu-myeong, who had received the teacup full of blood, brought it to Dokgo Hye's lips and said, "This is the water you drink in the hell you like. Drink it."

Dokgo Hye's eyes were wide open, and her mouth was firmly shut. Seeing this, Cheon Yu-myeong smiled and raised the teacup.

"It seems you don't like hell."

He held out the teacup to Seo Mun-ryeon.

Seo Mun-ryeon flinched her shoulders with the thought, 'Is he really telling me to drink it?'

Fortunately, Cheon Yu-myeong had no intention of making Seo Mun-ryeon drink it.

"Give it to Gung Ma-yeop."

(End of Chapter)