Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 13

*Thud!*

The impact seemed to shake the banquet hall.

“H-He’s the Blood Demon…”

It was the sound of Kang Han-cheol kneeling.

“I greet you!”

Just seconds ago, Kang Han-cheol had been trying to take Rowoon’s life.

But now, he was kneeling on both knees, head bowed, trembling.

“……”

That was the presence of the Blood Demon, a being revered by the Blood Cult.

Silence fell over the banquet hall.

‘How can this be…’

Even while prostrating himself, Kang Han-cheol couldn’t fully grasp the situation.

‘Two Blood Demons…’

There had never been such a case in history.

But he couldn’t deny what he had felt firsthand.

‘That was definitely… the Blood Demon Art.’

The Blood Demon Art, a martial art that only the master of the Blood Cult, the Blood Demon, could learn.

The technique Rowoon had displayed for a moment was a Blood Barrier, which could only be used with the Blood Demon Art.

He had never heard of a Blood Barrier being pitch black, but his fist, which had touched the barrier, proved it.

The feeling of his inner energy being sucked away, the feeling of losing control over the flames of his Hellfire that should never be extinguished.

The only thing that could do that was the Blood Demon Art.

He wanted to ask.

How could Rowoon, who was known to be a player, learn the power of a martial artist, and even the Blood Demon Art?

*Whoosh.*

But he couldn’t ask.

The absolute aura emanating from Rowoon seemed to allow no room for doubt.

“H-He…”

Kang Eun-ha finally came to her senses.

“I greet the Blood Demon!”

She also quickly prostrated herself, showing respect.

“Now you’re making some sense.”

Rowoon’s voice was languid.

“Now, you can hand over the position of Blood Demon, right?”

“Kuh…”

Kang Han-cheol bit his lip.

“Why aren’t you answering?”

If he had learned the Blood Demon Art, it was only right that he should take the position of Blood Demon.

That was the law of the Blood Cult.

“That is…”

But there was a problem.

“The current Blood Demon already… rules the Blood Cult.”

There were two Blood Demons.

“I don’t know how you learned the Blood Demon Art, but the elders of the cult… will not easily accept the existence of a new Blood Demon.”

He was the same.

If Rowoon hadn’t shown him the Blood Barrier, he would have called it absurd nonsense, and if he hadn’t experienced the Blood Barrier firsthand, he would have ordered the imposter who dared to impersonate the Blood Demon to be torn to pieces.

‘Even if the elders believe it, it’s a problem.’

The current Blood Demon had already been in power for over a decade, and the elders had reorganized the order to suit the new Blood Demon.

The emergence of a new Blood Demon would disrupt that order.

‘The elders who would lose their power would never acknowledge the Blood Demon before them.’

Unless the current Blood Demon was a half-baked one who hadn’t learned the Blood Demon Art.

If both had learned the Blood Demon Art, Rowoon’s future was obvious.

‘At best, confinement, at worst… murder and extermination.’

They would erase his existence before the general members of the Blood Cult found out.

“Blood Demon Art?”

Then, Rowoon’s voice tickled Kang Han-cheol’s ear.

“Yes, Blood Demon. I am referring to the Blood Demon Art, which is the proof of the Blood Demon and the symbol of the Blood Cult. Did you perhaps not know…?”

“Pfft…”

Above his bowed head.

“Puhahahaha!”

Rowoon’s laughter fell down.

“I wondered why the Blood Cult was in such a state, and it was because of that.”

“……?”

“You’re only half-baked.”

“……!”

Kang Han-cheol’s eyes flashed.

“The symbol of the Blood Demon is not the Blood Demon Art.”

*Whoosh!*

Once again, the blood that flowed from under Rowoon’s feet rippled before Kang Han-cheol’s eyes.

*Swoosh!*

The blood that suddenly took shape and leaped up transformed into a projectile, stopping at Kang Han-cheol’s forehead.

“It’s the Blood Demon Divine Art.”

“That’s…”

“……!”

Kang Han-cheol was so surprised that he raised his bowed head.

Kang Eun-ha was the same.

It was the moment when the truth they had known until now was completely shattered.

“Good. What is your position?”

“I am ashamed to say, but I hold the position of Left Protector.”

“Okay. Left Protector.”

Rowoon looked down at Kang Han-cheol, who had raised his head, and said.

“What should I do now?”

* * *

A villa in Namyangju.

The walls were as high as a fortress, and black-suited bodyguards guarded the perimeter like an iron wall.

It was the villa of Kang Han-cheol, the chairman of the Kangha Group.

“Hoo.”

Inside, Kang Eun-ha was breathing heavily, looking nervous.

After catching her breath, Kang Eun-ha carefully knocked on the door.

“I report to the Blood Demon. May I…”

“Come in.”

Kang Eun-ha opened the door, knelt down, and bowed her head.

“I greet the Blood Demon.”

Well-dressed, with grace and courtesy in her movements.

As expected of a Blood Cult priestess, Kang Eun-ha faced Rowoon.

“Enough with the useless greetings. You don’t need to prostrate yourself or be overly polite.”

“H-However…”

Kang Eun-ha was flustered by Rowoon’s words.

What kind of place was the Blood Cult?

It was a cult, not a sect or a clan.

And in the Blood Cult, the Blood Demon was the god they had to serve.

Although many things had changed in the Blood Cult over the years, the etiquette and formality towards the Blood Demon were something that every member of the Blood Cult had to learn and observe.

“I’m the Blood Demon, not you.”

“……!”

“If I tell you not to do it, then don’t do it.”

“I-I will keep that in mind.”

Kang Eun-ha quickly raised her head and straightened her posture.

‘Ha.’

Even at this moment, she couldn’t understand what was going on.

The beginning was just something close to a deviation.

As a priestess, she had been confined to the Blood Cult for years. Fortunately, she had come to Earth with her grandfather, but her life was no different from her life in the Eun [a fictional world].

Therefore, she secretly left to help the Blood Cult directly, hiding her identity to recruit members, and was accidentally caught up in the Red Player’s scheme.

She thought it was a good thing.

If she rescued those she was trying to recruit, they would be more cooperative with her.

‘But…’

There was a man who bothered her.

A man who gave her a strange feeling, a wanderer, she thought he was hiding something.

At first, she thought he was just a hidden master hiding his identity.

When she found out that he was Rowoon, famous for being a fellow killer, she became greedy.

Rowoon was definitely a player.

But he had the inner energy of a martial artist, and his skills were so high that she couldn’t even compete with him.

She thought that if she could recruit him and uncover his secrets, it would be a great help to the faltering cult.

But he was the Blood Demon.

‘I never imagined it.’

She kept feeling something prick her deep inside, but she never thought it was because Rowoon was the Blood Demon.

“You must be confused. A guy who suddenly appeared, who was also a player, is now the Blood Demon.”

“……N-No, that’s not it.”

“Your tone. Can you please do something about it?”

“I will correct it…”

“Your tone.”

Kang Eun-ha shook her head and took a breath again.

“I understand.”

Rowoon still didn’t look satisfied, but he seemed to be letting it go.

“Well, I didn’t expect this situation to happen either.”

“……”

“A slave who was dying in the Hwasan Guild is the Blood Demon. Isn’t it funny?”

He was serious.

When he thought it was the end, he met his masters, and he really didn’t know if he would be able to contain the chaos.

He thought he was going to die again, but he didn’t know he would come back.

But he came back, took a small revenge, and reached one of his masters’ legacies.

“What did the Left Protector say?”

“My grandfather said…”

Kang Eun-ha finally came to her senses and spoke.

“He said he would look into the intentions of the elders and select those he could trust…”

“Lower your tone a bit more.”

“…he will.”

Rowoon nodded.

The current situation of the Blood Cult, which he had briefly heard, was like this.

The Blood Cult, which was already cornered in the Eun, rarely had the Blood Demon Art properly passed down, and there were generations when the Blood Demon did not exist.

However, about ten years ago, the son of the previous Blood Cult leader succeeded in inheriting the Blood Demon Art and became the Blood Demon, uniting the divided Blood Cult and building up its power.

The Blood Cult, which could have collapsed at any time, was regaining its center.

‘But then I appeared.’

His existence.

A new Blood Demon who had inherited the Blood Demon Art.

No.

‘The real Blood Demon Divine Art.’

He was the one who had inherited the true advancement of the Blood Demon, which even the Left Protector didn’t know properly, so it was inevitable that they would be confused.

‘If I make a mistake, the Blood Cult, which has barely regained its center, will be shaken.’

Kang Han-cheol would also be in a mess.

“Can you trust your grandfather?”

“Of course! The Protectors only desire and are loyal to the true Blood Demon. The Left Protector has witnessed the power of the Blood Demon with his own eyes, and he has realized who the true Blood Demon is.”

That was true.

But the problem was still the other elders.

It might be a good idea to show Rowoon to them directly, but…

“The other elders…”

“They might not want the Blood Cult to split again, or they might attack me if they can’t accept me.”

“……”

Kang Eun-ha bit her lip.

That was also true.

And right now, Rowoon couldn’t overcome the elders’ attacks.

Although he had the power of the Blood Demon, each of the elders had reached the realm of Extreme Demon [a high level of martial arts mastery], and the current Blood Demon already had more power than that.

They had found the real one, but they could lose the real one.

“But my grandfather will do it! If what the Blood Demon says is true, and the Blood Demon has inherited the true Blood Demon Divine Art, then the legitimacy lies with the Blood Demon.”

“That process is…”

*Snort.*

“A coup.”

In the end, they had to fight.

The Blood Cult had barely regained its center, but it had to be shaken again.

“Still, if the true Blood Demon, who has learned the Blood Demon Divine Art, becomes the center, the Blood Cult will become stronger than before.”

“Well, that’s obvious.”

Rowoon shrugged his shoulders and said.

“There is a way.”

“……?”

“A way for me to become the Blood Demon without a coup, a way for me to become the Blood Demon without splitting the Blood Cult that has barely come together.”

“What is it…?”

*Smirk.*

With sleepy eyes, Rowoon curled up the corners of his mouth.

“I just need to beat the elders and that half-baked Blood Demon by myself.”

“……!”

* * *

The Blood Cult is a religion.

The reason why the Blood Demon is absolute is because of the law.

In other words, the law was absolute.

There was something that was the foundation of the Blood Cult’s law.

It was similar to the Heavenly Demon Cult, and it was the reason why the martial artists of the Eun pointed their fingers at the Blood Cult and the Heavenly Demon Cult, calling them the demonic hordes.

‘The strong are respected.’

The strong are the law.

Of course, there was the existence of the Blood Demon above that, and even if the elders were stronger than the Blood Demon and defeated the Blood Demon, they would not become the Blood Demon.

But what if there were two who had inherited the Blood Demon Art, the symbol of the Blood Demon?

‘The one who wins becomes the Blood Demon.’

It was a simple matter.

He had heard about the current Blood Demon from Kang Eun-ha.

‘He has achieved the Blood Demon Art to the extreme, and has transcended the Extreme Demon to become a Transcendent Demon [a level beyond Extreme Demon].’

She said he was at the level of a high-ranker.

But he hadn’t fully grown yet, so he hadn’t reached the level of a high-ranker or a one-hand, or even a two-hand [terms referring to the level of martial arts mastery].

If the Blood Demon was complete, the Blood Cult would have already come out of the veil and revealed its true form.

So the conclusion was simple.

“I just need to surpass the current Blood Demon.”

At that level, he could survive the elders’ combined attacks and prove himself.

‘Show it.’

It was as if he could hear the words of his master, the Martial King.

The Blood Cult was originally his, but he wasn’t annoyed that he couldn’t have it easily.

That’s the kind of world it is.

It was natural for the strong to have everything.

He was the same.

He would prove himself and take it.

That was what he had learned from his master, the Martial King.

To do that…

*Whoosh.*

In Rowoon’s half-closed eyes, a thick blood aura began to circulate.

The third stage of the Blood Demon Divine Art, Black Blood, was reaching its end.

From now on, he would complete the Black Blood.

And then.

“I will enter the fourth stage.”

The final stage of the Blood Demon Divine Art, the stage of True Blood.