Seo Nak was shocked by the appearance of the Ice Palace Master.
He was even more surprised than when he had sensed the Drunken Demon came to kill him.
"Palace Master."
At first, he tried to make an excuse for what he had just said.
No matter that he had revealed his true colors, they had still spent many years together.
But from the cold gaze of the Ice Palace Master looking at him, he knew that any excuse was too late.
"Did you plan this, Palace Master?"
"You still haven't answered my question. Was killing the brewer also for the sake of the Ice Palace?"
Since things had come to this.
"It has always been so. All my choices are for the sake of the Ice Palace. For I am the Ice Palace."
The Ice Palace Master's eyes grew colder.
To say 'I am the Ice Palace' in front of her was more than disrespectful; it was a challenge.
Naturally, the air around them turned cold.
Amidst it all, the Drunken Demon silently tilted his cup.
Although Seo Nak had already overturned the table, the Ice Palace Master still treated him with courtesy.
After all, there were many things he had done in the past.
"Was joining hands with those who use Blood Arts also for the sake of this Palace?"
After a brief pause, Seo Nak spoke softly.
"You knew all that?"
She knew and pretended not to? Seo Nak's expression hardened, showing his displeasure.
The Ice Palace Master found his face unfamiliar.
It was horrifying to think he had hidden this true face for so long.
The thought of Seo Nak forcing the gentle brewer to write a will in front of him sent shivers down her spine.
"I won't ask why you joined hands with them."
She repeated the words the Drunken Demon had said to Seo Nak earlier.
"It must be for some petty and selfish reason."
At that, Seo Nak shouted.
"Shut your mouth! How dare you! The whole world can curse me, but you shouldn't."
He revealed his raw anger and resentment.
"Whose favor is it that you sit in that position?"
This was what Seo Nak ultimately wanted to say.
"When you ascended to the position of Palace Master, if I had harbored other thoughts!"
The Ice Palace Master could tell.
The root of this betrayal began here.
He regretted it.
That he had not usurped the position of Palace Master then.
"So? Did they promise to guarantee you the position of Palace Master?"
Seo Nak gave no answer, but the Ice Palace Master knew.
It was a silence of affirmation.
He would never have joined hands with them if he hadn't received such a promise.
When did his heart change?
Since she had known him for a long time, she thought many questions would arise, but experiencing it firsthand, it was not so.
Rather, she had no desire to converse.
It was clear they would only scratch at each other's emotions with all sorts of sordid words.
The bridge to return was already broken, so what was the use of arguing over what lay beyond it?
The Ice Palace Master glanced at the Drunken Demon.
As Geom Mugeuk had requested, she had decided to leave Seo Nak's punishment to the Drunken Demon.
She thought it was better for herself as well.
The Drunken Demon set down his cup and said.
"It won't take long."
"I'll wait outside."
The Ice Palace Master walked back into the mist she had emerged from.
"Selfish bitch who doesn't know how to consider others' feelings! A lump of ice!"
At Seo Nak's curses, the Drunken Demon laughed scornfully.
"Why do you laugh?"
"Because it's pathetic. I see now why they chose you."
Killing intent laced Seo Nak's cold laughter.
He still showed no fear.
It seemed he thought it was a fight he could win against the Drunken Demon.
Even so, the Ice Palace Master was outside.
What on earth was he trusting in?
With such a question in mind, the Drunken Demon closed the stopper of the Blood Tears.
Seo Nak stared intently at the Blood Tears.
"Is that your signature weapon?"
The next moment, the Drunken Demon flipped the table in front of him.
Crash!
The instant the table was shattered by Seo Nak's palm strike.
Crack.
A chair flew and struck Seo Nak's shoulder.
The Drunken Demon had smashed him with the very chair he had been sitting on.
Seo Nak was bewildered.
It was too unexpected an attack.
A wooden chair couldn't possibly harm him, so only the poor chair was shattered and scattered, but did the Drunken Demon not know that?
The Drunken Demon's next words answered his question.
"What other weapon would a drunkard have? Anything at hand is a weapon."
The Drunken Demon laughed like a ruffian, but Seo Nak did not laugh.
What ruffian in the world could strike him by slamming down a chair in his hand? Rather, it showed a skill more formidable than being stabbed with a treasured sword.
If one were to pick the most feared Demon Sovereign among martial artists, the Poison King, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon, or the Soul-Devouring Demon Sovereign would be in fierce competition.
No one would pick the Drunken Demon first.
But if that question were posed to Seo Nak now? It would be a matter to consider for a while.
Swoosh!
This time, Seo Nak launched a surprise palm strike, emitting a palm force.
The Drunken Demon lightly twisted his body to the side and dodged.
Crash!
The wall of the great hall behind was broken, and the decorative cabinet placed there was shattered.
Seo Nak's gaze briefly turned to the shattered ornaments rolling on the floor.
He would no longer pay them any mind.
It was a sight that heralded the beginning of a new life.
Swoosh!
When the second palm strike flew, the Drunken Demon disappeared into the mist.
Since no scream was heard, he must have dodged it this time as well.
Suddenly, Seo Nak felt that his body was not as it usually was.
‘This isn't ordinary mist.
It's intoxication.’
That's why his body felt tipsy and languid.
His guard was naturally lowered.
This wasn't a matter of mental strength or the amount of inner energy.
The body was naturally reacting to the alcohol.
As Seo Nak raised his inner energy, a cold chill rose from his hands.
‘Get a grip! If I get drunk, I die!’
Seo Nak's signature martial art is the Cold White Divine Palm.
A light hit would cause cold energy to enter the organs, causing a lifetime of suffering, and a direct hit would cause the entire body to freeze, resulting in instant death.
A terrifying martial art.
"Hey, Demon Sovereign. Stop hiding cowardly in the mist and come out and fight fair and square..."
Swoosh!
Seo Nak twisted his body to dodge what flew at him from the front.
Crash!
What flew and broke the back wall was a steel ball rolling on the floor.
It had fallen from the previously shattered ornament.
As the Drunken Demon had said before, he was fighting using everything he could get his hands on as a weapon.
But the trash he picked up from the floor flew more terrifyingly than the forbidden hidden weapons of the martial world.
"For the great Demon Sovereign to be so cowardly..."
Swoosh.
This time, an attack came from behind.
It was too late to turn.
Seo Nak raised his protective energy and blocked it with his back.
Thwack!
The moment it hit, he could tell.
It was the Drunken Demon's fist.
Seo Nak was thrown forward as if flung, then spun around.
His back ached as if it would break, but it was bearable.
The Drunken Demon was standing where he had been, drinking.
He was looking at Seo Nak while drinking, and the moment he saw that gaze, a chilling wind blew in Seo Nak's heart.
That languid and decadent gaze contained a kind of killing intent and madness he had never seen before.
At that very moment.
Whoosh!
Seo Nak's surprise palm strike cut through the mist and flew fiercely.
But the Drunken Demon dodged it lightly with nimble steps and disappeared into the mist.
This place, overflowing with intoxication, was the Drunken Demon's world.
The more of a master one was, the more they would realize how terrifying this mist was.
They were people whose victory and defeat were decided by a small difference.
Just then, something shining flew through the smoke.
Swish! Swish!
Thud! Thud!
What flew in swiftly stabbed Seo Nak's shoulder and arm.
In the Drunken Demon's hand, which emerged from the mist, was a dagger.
It was too fast to dodge in time.
He swung a palm strike a step too late, but the Drunken Demon had already disappeared into the mist.
‘Strong, he's stronger than I expected.’
Seo Nak also moved quickly, trying to hide his body in the mist.
But the mist was not on his side.
The mist around where he threw his body scattered, revealing his form.
Swoosh!
Crash!
He blocked the palm strike flying towards him, but he was pushed back in inner energy, and his arm ached as if it would fall off.
‘Even palm techniques!’
That wasn't all.
Swoosh!
The Drunken Demon's fingers, bursting out of the mist, scratched past him.
Skin was torn away, and blood splattered.
‘This time, it's the Claw Technique!’
Now Seo Nak could see for certain.
The Drunken Demon had mastered all sorts of martial arts.
Because a drunkard's martial arts should be like this.
Hitting, receiving, stabbing, rolling, throwing.
This is the Drunken Demon's martial art.
The martial art of a drunkard fighting randomly has the skill to break his bones and tear his flesh.
The Drunken Demon appeared again.
He was drinking ostentatiously right in front.
The more he drank, the stronger he became.
Seo Nak raised all his inner energy.
The energy rising from his hands was blue, but now it had turned pure white.
He was about to unleash the White Annihilation Strike, the most powerful form of the Cold White Divine Palm.
‘He's not dodging? He's going to take the White Annihilation Strike right there? I've got him!’
At that very moment, as he inwardly rejoiced!
Seo Nak saw.
The surrounding mist instantly gathered toward the Drunken Demon, soon forming a shape.
It was the back of the Wine God, with his back turned.
It was the Drunken Demon's signature martial art, shining among the various martial arts he had mastered.
Swoooooosh.
The White Annihilation Strike was unleashed.
A massive force of energy flew towards him, tearing up the floor and ripping the air apart.
At the same time, the Wine God, who had his back turned behind the Drunken Demon, turned around and threw his body forward.
From the Drunken Demon's signature martial art, the Wine God Art.
The fourth cup, Wine God Rampage.
The intoxication, flying in the form of the Wine God, merged into a single beam of light.
Kra-boom!
As the two massive forces of energy collided, a huge explosion erupted.
The impact completely blew away the great hall.
As the rising dust settled, the two figures were revealed.
The Drunken Demon stood in his original spot.
In contrast, Seo Nak had been pushed back about ten steps.
The Wine God Rampage had overwhelmed the White Annihilation Strike, completely pushing it back.
Seo Nak's entire body was tattered.
"Gah!"
He coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The wound was fatal.
The Drunken Demon had defeated him without using his signature weapon, the Blood Tears.
He was strong, but the Drunken Demon was stronger.
The Drunken Demon drank.
The last sip was for the brewer.
Facing his impending death, Seo Nak was enraged.
He was not enraged by the fact that he had lost, but by his anger towards those who had broken their promise.
"They said they would protect me..."
Blood trickled from Seo Nak's mouth.
What he had trusted in was not just his own skill.
At that moment, a new voice was heard.
"They didn't break their promise."
Something flew in front of Seo Nak.
What was thrown before him were two corpses.
The person who entered was none other than Geom Mugeuk.
"It seems you were an important person to them."
The two martial artists had been lying in ambush in a secret location at Seo Nak's residence.
They were not of ordinary skill.
Not only their martial arts but also their stealth and lightness arts were excellent, and they were prepared to flee with Seo Nak if necessary.
Geom Mugeuk walked towards the Drunken Demon and asked.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. You?"
Geom Mugeuk nodded, saying he was fine, and looked to the other side.
"They're coming!"
Something was rushing towards them from beyond the mist.
Piiing!
The Drunken Demon instinctively twisted his body.
Something grazed past his face.
It was a drop of blood.
What flew like a hidden weapon was clearly a drop of blood.
It was not an ordinary drop of blood.
It was Blood Qi in the shape of a drop of blood.
Soon after, the one who had thrown the drop of blood revealed himself, lunging at them.
His eyes, face, neck, and hands were an eerie red.
"Dodge!"
At Geom Mugeuk's shout, the two dodged to either side.
Kra-boom!
The man who had rushed in exploded, splattering blood in all directions.
The splattered blood pierced through the collapsed walls.
It was the Self-Destruction Art.
The power of the Blood Qi unleashed upon death was immense.
This was why.
This was the reason Geom Mugeuk was wary of, and disliked, the Blood King.
He was a man who used the lives of his subordinates in this way.
This was not someone who had learned the Self-Destruction Art for a short time.
This was a martial artist who had been trained through long cultivation to use this Self-Destruction Art effectively.
What awaited at the end of that effort was this one moment of self-destruction.
That's why a fight with the Blood King becomes a grueling battle.
This time, he had to ask.
"Are you okay?"
At Geom Mugeuk's question, the Drunken Demon nodded and was about to answer when.
Their gazes turned to one spot again.
Someone else was rushing towards them.
It wasn't one or two.
"There are many this time!"
The Drunken Demon cleared the mist in front to secure his vision.
At that moment, the two saw.
About a dozen people who were rushing in seemed to fly up all at once, and then.
Kra-boom!
They exploded all at once, unleashing the Self-Destruction Art.
As if they had been raised for this very moment, they showed no hesitation.
It was a Self-Destruction Art that focused all the Blood Qi forward.
Piiiiiing!
Hundreds of Blood Qi flying towards the two!
They flew densely, with an ear-splitting sound, making it impossible to dodge anywhere.
It was impossible to dodge because they flew in such a wide range.
The Drunken Demon stood in front of Geom Mugeuk.
"Young Cult Master! Behind me!"
The Drunken Demon stood in front of Geom Mugeuk, raising his protective energy to the limit.
At the same time, he crossed his arms to cover his face.
In the moment of crisis, the Drunken Demon called Geom Mugeuk by his title, Young Cult Master.
In this moment, he was not a younger brother but the Young Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect, who must be protected.
He was the Demon Sovereign protecting him.
The Drunken Demon raised his inner energy to the limit.
Judging by the power of the blood drops that had flown earlier, injury was inevitable.
Even if he got hurt, he would never let a single hair on Geom Mugeuk's head be harmed.
This was the pride of the Demon Sovereign who had come out to serve the Young Cult Master.
Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!
The sound of the flying Blood Qi hitting something was heard.
The next moment, a brief silence fell.
The Drunken Demon slowly uncrossed his arms from in front of his face.
He looked up with a surprised expression.
The Blood Qi, which had flown with terrifying momentum, had not reached him.
Something had been erected in front of him.
A wall of energy, shining brilliantly as it reflected the sunlight.
The Blood Qi had poured down densely, leaving no place to escape, but not a single strand of Blood Qi had pierced this shining wall of energy.
A great wall of energy, the greatest wall for any demonic practitioner.
The Great Demon Wall of the Nine Calamities Demon Art had been erected.