Star Instructor, Master Baek-Chapter 343: The Dark Heaven Goddess (2)

TL: FoodieMonster007

After a long silence, Baek Suryong muttered, "Someone reincarnated me? Deliberately?"

Gritting his teeth, he glared at the Dark Heaven Goddess, thick killing intent seeping from his eyes. This wasn't just a threat. It was a clearly coalesced aura of murderous intent.

"If you keep spouting such nonsense, I'll make you pay for it."

For most of his previous life, he had followed someone else's orders. After losing his parents at a young age, he became a martial artist of the Blood Cult, fighting to survive every day.

Not once had he been the master of his own destiny. Even his final attempt to gain freedom was thwarted by the Blood Cult, and he met his end alongside his masters.

And now she's telling me that someone intentionally orchestrated this life too?

A surge of anger coursed through him, causing his fingertips to tremble, but he fought the urge to grab the Dark Heaven Goddess by the throat and scream in her face.

"Explain yourself clearly. If you keep rambling vaguely, I'll rip that mouth of yours apart."

The Dark Heaven Goddess gazed steadily at Baek Suryong, her expression unchanging despite the savage killing intent and vicious words. "Do you think you can harm me in this place?"

The entire Black Tortoise Academy was her sorcerous domain. Although she had grown weaker in exchange for peeking in on heavenly secrets, within this place, she was invincible.

Still, Baek Suryong snorted. "At this distance, I won't miss." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

They were less than ten feet apart. He was confident that he could seize the Dark Heaven Goddess before she could cast any spells.

SSSSSH…

His eyes turned red. Until now, he had tried his best not to reveal the Heaven Defying Divine Art to other masters, but he felt no such need with the Dark Heaven Goddess.

"Since you know I was reincarnated, you must also know who I was in my past life. I'm a vile scoundrel who doesn't give a damn about means or methods as long as I can achieve my goals."

Baek Suryong seethed. There had been another being in the past who spoke to him of fate. Right now, the Dark Heaven Goddess reminded him of that person.

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"You were born with a very special destiny, with two possible futures. In one, you will become the cornerstone necessary for our cult to achieve world domination… and in the other, you will ignite the flames that will destroy our cult."

His voice, once heard, lingered in one's memory. Blood-red hair fell against deathly pale skin, framing the inhumanely perfect, sculpted features of a transcendent being who regarded him with languid condescension, as a god might a mere mortal.

The Blood Demon.

"…Even now, looking at you like this, I still can't be certain. Your reincarnation was definitely intentional, but the heaven-defying power I feel from you reminds me of that day fifty years ago. What truly resides within you is…"

WHOOSH!

Baek Suryong darted forward with lightning speed and seized the Dark Heaven Goddess's neck. Bringing his face close to hers, he hissed, "I told you to speak plainly, didn't I?"

The Dark Heaven Goddess did not struggle, as if she had expected this. Even with her throat grabbed, her face was as expressionless as a doll's.

"About fifty years ago, a great distortion of the celestial order was set in motion," she gasped.

Waves of qi spread out from her suspended body, transforming the surrounding scenery.

FWOOOOOSH!

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Suddenly, the two stood before a sect established deep in the mountains—the Dark Heaven Sect.

The Dark Heaven Goddess looked wistfully at her now-vanished homeland.

"For generations, the Dark Heaven Sect has monitored the spread of heaven-defying power, intervening in earthly affairs when necessary to contain it. Such is the karmic duty bestowed upon us by the heavens."

She lightly flicked her fingertips.

Time rewound rapidly. Dark, ominous clouds gathered over the Dark Heaven Sect, and lightning struck it again and again.

RRRRRUMBLE! KWAKWAKWANG!

Thunderstorms raged and earthquakes shook the land. As if the end of the world had come, natural disasters razed and demolished the Dark Heaven Sect.

"…It was a warning from the heavens. A sign that the celestial order had been compromised and needed to be restored. A foreshadowing that the hellish scene unfolding at the Dark Heaven Sect would soon be repeated across the entire world."

A bloodied young Dark Heaven Goddess stumbled out from the rubble and knelt down upon the charred ground. She was the sole survivor among the disciples of the Dark Heaven Sect. Looking up at the sky, she wailed and sobbed until she could barely breathe.

"I descended to the mortal realm to seek the entity that had disrupted the celestial order. However… I was too slow."

"……" Without realizing it, Baek Suryong began to loosen his grip.

The scenery changed once more. This time, it was a place he knew very well.

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"The Blood Cult?"

They stood amid the burning Blood Cult headquarters. Orthodox martial artists and blood cultists were engaged in fierce combat everywhere. Screams and shouts reverberated through the air.

"Kill all the filthy demons!"

"Hail the Blood Demon, in blood shall we reign supreme! For our Supreme Lord!"

Desperate orthodox martial artists and crazed blood cultists faced off brutally. Blood pooled on the ground, and corpses piled up like hills.

"This is a recreation of the memories of a martial artist who participated in the war. I couldn't make it there in time."

BADUMP, BADUMP…

The martial artist's erratic gaze drifted toward a certain location.

Baek Suryong followed his gaze. He was looking at the Blood Demon Palace.

Just then, someone from the Murim Alliance side shouted, "The Apostles have fled! Kill the Blood Demon!"

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A frenzied suicide squad broke away from the chaos and raced towards the Blood Demon Palace at full speed. Every single one of them was a renowned murim master.

CRASH!

The orthodox suicide squad smashed through the gates of the Blood Demon Palace.

There, the Blood Demon greeted them from his grand throne, looking down with a transcendent air that went beyond just appearance or aura.

"Blood Demon! There's nowhere left to run!"

"Even the Apostles protecting you have all fled!"

"We will take your head here and bring peace back to the murim!"

Overwhelmed by the ominous presence of the Blood Demon, the orthodox murim masters blustered like frightened beasts puffing themselves up to seem bigger.

…But something was wrong. Even though the Blood Demon Palace had been invaded, the Blood Demon showed no reaction.

Having heard it from the Beggars' Gang Chief not long ago, Baek Suryong knew why.

"…He's really dead."

The Blood Demon's eyes were closed peacefully, and soon, the masters present realized that he wasn't breathing.

Their first reaction was naturally one of disbelief.

"Huh? Did the Blood Demon commit suicide?"

"That's impossible…"

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"Don't let your guard down yet! He might be trying to trick us using the Breath Concealment Technique!"

"Vile fiend! Open your eyes at once!"

Agitation and denial spread among the martial artists. They had risked their lives to come here and kill the Blood Demon, only to be greeted by his lifeless corpse.

Some collapsed to the floor in disappointment, while others approached the grand throne to examine the body.

"…There's no way he committed suicide," Baek Suryong muttered.

The Blood Demon he knew would never choose suicide. Even if he knew his defeat was apparent, he would die fighting as the world's worst Heavenly Blight until the very end.

SHHHHHH…

The sorcery that recreated past memories faded, and the two returned to their original location. After casting large-scale sorcery consecutively, the Dark Heaven Goddess was visibly exhausted.

"The Blood Demon had cast a heaven-defying spell which distorted the celestial order, and paid the ultimate price for it. No, it would be more accurate to say he sacrificed himself for it," she explained.

"Was that the spell…that caused my reincarnation?" Baek Suryong asked.

The truth was, as soon as he heard that someone had orchestrated his reincarnation, he immediately thought of the Blood Demon. Only that monster could have planned something so unthinkable.

"Since that day, I have kept a steady watch on the celestial order. That's when I noticed the slow spread of heaven-defying energy, which in turn sparked all sorts of bizarre events."

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Baek Suryong recalled the mother Silver Tiger's words.

[There is someone out there who is spreading the power to defy heaven.]

[All over the world, the power to defy heaven is stirring. Because of that, ancient entities that were dormant for ages are awakening, and events that rebel against destiny will occur.]

It matched the Dark Heaven Goddess's tale.

So the one who spread heaven-defying energy all over the place was the Blood Demon.

"Then one day, twenty-eight years ago, I learned that a child with a heaven-defying fate was born."

Baek Suryong's jaw dropped. "…You've been observing me ever since I was born?"

The Dark Heaven Goddess nodded with her doll-like, expressionless face. "It wasn't just you. Though you are exceptional, I observed all children born with even a hint of a heaven-defying fate. I knew that one of them would be the Blood Demon's reincarnation, but I couldn't tell which one. I just couldn't. A heaven-defying fate cannot be accurately discerned, even with eyes that see the celestial order…"

THUD!

The Dark Heaven Goddess collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut mid-speech.

Surprised, Baek Suryong caught her. "Hey! Are you okay?"

"…It seems that I have said too much. In exchange for revealing heavenly secrets, this body will fall into a deep sleep for a while," the Dark Heaven Goddess whispered, her eyes closing.

Baek Suryong panicked. No! I still have a lot of questions for her!

He asked urgently, "What exactly does he want? Why did he reincarnate me and spread heaven-defying power throughout the world?!"

"…I don't know. All I know is that he will be resurrected in some form and destroy the world, just as he did to the Dark Heaven Sect…" The Dark Heaven Goddess's voice grew fainter, and she looked up at Baek Suryong with hazy eyes.

"I have watched you since you were born. I saw you enter the Azure Dragon Academy, save the Namgung Clan, and cleanse the Murim Alliance of spies. Only then did I completely dispel my suspicion that you might be the Blood Demon in disguise."

"Hah! If you observed me that closely, then you should know how much I detest the Blood Cult."

"…If I still harbored even the slightest suspicion that you were the Blood Demon, I would have annihilated you right here, along with the Black Tortoise Academy."

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Baek Suryong felt a chill run down his spine. Holy shit, she's telling the truth.

"Does that mean you no longer doubt me?

"I cannot read the nature of a person with a heaven-defying fate. All I can do is observe the life you have lived. At the very least, I can tell that you regret your past and are striving to become a better person."

"What the…" Baek Suryong was dumbfounded by the sudden praise. How can she say something so embarrassing with a straight face!?

"That is enough for me. Although you were born with a heaven-defying fate, you are not an existence that will destroy the world. Rather, you might be the only one who can stop the Blood Demon…"

The Dark Heaven Goddess's slowly closing eyes flashed open, and divine energy coursed through her voice. "Will you help me restore the celestial order and save the world?" she asked.

"…Even if you didn't ask, I was planning to eradicate the Blood Cult and kill the Blood Demon anyway." Baek Suryong nodded as if it were obvious, then smirked. "And I'll make sure that damn bastard regrets reincarnating me."

"…What do you mean?"

"Because he reincarnated me, I gained a family I never had in my past life, and even cute delinquent students."

"……"

"I also received a chance to right my wrongs."

As Apostles of the Blood Cult, his former students still lived like ghosts from the past. Thanks to the Blood Demon reincarnating him, however, he could meet them again.

"I don't know what he's planning, but I'll definitely make him regret reincarnating me."

The Dark Heaven Goddess met Baek Suryong's gaze. The firm and unwavering resolve that burned in their depths shook her.

"…I see. I think I might be able to help you with that."

At that moment, Baek Suryong felt the divine energy flowing from her body seep into him.

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Painter Foodie's Note: Done painting two layers, one more to go once it dries… I might be able to squeeze out one more chapter? Maybe? My back hurts :(