The Ruler of Darkness

Chapter 11

Web Novel: Volume 1 Chapter 11

The Title: Predation

“Oh, it’s here! the delicious smells…”

Soohyeon Yeon’s eyes were sparkling with blue flames [ghostly light].

His laughter was gruesome, like scratching an iron plate. In the wide opened mouth, sharp teeth like saw blades glowed eerily, revealing a dark red throat—a hole—like an abyss with no end in sight.

“Uh… Eu-uhhhh!”

The man who had peed his trousers leapt forward, horrified. A normal person would have frozen, shocked by the horrifying sight before them.

They were, on the other hand, the ones who roamed the back alleys of Luoyang like a chaotic. Although they were not Moorim people [martial artists] who could shield their spirits with inner force, their spirits, which had been refined through blood and violence, were there.

“Die motherfucker!”

The sword in his hand glistened. It wasn’t some sword technique or anything, but it was a clean and swift strike—at least by his standards.

“……!”

A split second later, though, he realized that the opponent had grasped his wrist. A tiny, smooth hand, unscratched by life, yet frigid as icy midwinter water.

He felt as though the cold hand that grabbed him was really frost. “Ahhhhh… !” He kicked the opponent with all his might—or was ready to do so. Unfortunately, the opponent was much quicker as he squeezed his hand tightly.

As though there were no bones or muscles—as though squashing cold dumplings.

Thud!

His blade-wielding hand rolled across the ground, scattering blood.

“Aaaaaaa!”

His hand was chopped. The “monster’s” grip was so strong that it overpowered his common sense.

As he staggered back, grabbing his blood-gushing forearm, another one of them lunged at the monster.

Holding the blade firmly in both hands, he pushed his whole weight to force the blade into the monster’s body all at once.

Kakak!

Sparks flashed from where the monster’s hand and blade had collided.

“Erk!”

Like a knife pushed into a stone wall, the force shattered the hulking man’s blade. He hurriedly backed away in search of another opening. But the monster, was much quicker, catching both of his wrists.

“Ahhhh, let go of me…!” He groaned and struggled with all his strength to break free of his opponent’s hold.

And yet, no matter how hard he fought, the antagonist’s grasp remained firm. There wasn’t even the slightest move.

Slowly, his wrists were being squeezed.

“Oh, stop, ahhhh ……!”

It seemed as though the opponent had regretted shattering the wrist of his first victim so fast; as if he hadn’t relished the act.

This time, he was easygoing, slowly adding strength as though he was curious what would happen.

He did not even need to pull out the demonic force.

He just continued gradually, leisurely, adding strength.

Soon, the sound of bones cracking and flesh ripping could be heard.

“Argh! Eu-uhhhhh!” Meanwhile, he kicked the foe relentlessly, but nothing happened, as if he were kicking a wall.

Instead, his shattered ankle dangled helplessly.

“Ahhhh… !”

His bones were crushed into bits, and the sound of the flesh being squeezed echoed through the back alley, mingled with screams.

As if someone had squeezed a rich, overflowing pulp, a mist of blood arose, carrying a thick smell of blood.

“Squeak.”

The hulking man collapsed helplessly. He then crawled like a squashed worm to a dingy back alley. His teeth, which had been fractured by the unbearable anguish, mixed with the blood and gushed out of his mouth.

He would certainly die of severe bleeding and excruciating agony if left alone, but the opponent had no intention of letting him go.

The big man felt a firm grasp on both of his ankles. Second later, his legs were torn apart, one at a time.

The blood splashed from the pulled-out legs drew a long arc on the alley wall.

No kung fu or martial arts were used. It was just pure violence. It was a game of overwhelming strength.

“Whoo…”

The hulking man writhed for a few seconds, then stopped moving.

“Hmm?”

As Soohyeon Yeon looked at the corpse, his eyes sparkled.

Pale hands surged from the ground’s blackness and pulled the corpse in. There were dozens of white hands, big and small. Among them were the hands of a child, the hands of an old man, and the hands of a woman.

The corpse sank into the deep darkness of the ground.

And all the scattered blood ran dry quickly, as though it had been absorbed.

Thump, thump—

Soohyeon Yeon felt his Dantian pulsating badly.

His vitality increased even more, and his euphoria soared.

“Hoo?” Soohyeon Yeon half-opened his eyes, which were fluttering in ghostly light, and savored the refreshing feeling.

“Ugh, ooh!”

At that moment, one of the men, who had been transfixed by the terrifying sight, began running away without looking back.

The back alleys were dark and filled with obstacles.

He kept running even after his feet tripped and tumbled in a filthy hole, and even after something caught on him and tore his garments and flesh.

Even when his lungs felt like they were about to pop out of his mouth, he kept running.

But, for some reason, the alley didn’t want to end.

Looking ahead, hoping to find a way out of this dark alley. But he couldn’t detect even the faintest of Luoyang’s nighttime lights. The alley in front of him seemed to be swirling around him.

A hand suddenly appeared on his stomach.

The grip that held his intestines was stained with blood and looked glistening, even in the dark.

“……!!”

He wanted to scream as strongly as he could, but his abdominal cavity had been severely damaged, and his diaphragm had been torn out.

He collapsed on his knees, desperately trying to gather his entrails.

“……”

Soohyeon Yeon looked down at the man but said nothing.

In that gaze, there was no trace of humanity.

Thump—

He swung his arm around and hammered it into the man’s back.

His hand pierced the man’s torso and stirred it again, as if ripping through a leather sack furiously.

His use of brute strength without any demonic force made him look—well, he was everything but clean.

And that rawness and squalor were just what he wanted.

Soohyeon Yeon gently pulled the ripped torso to the side.

Thump—

As before, white hands emerged from the ground and pulled the dead man’s body in. Without leaving a single drop of blood.

Thump—

Soohyeon Yeon’s reason was sharp, but

Insanity filled his head, and happiness flooded his heart.

“This is ridiculous…!” The fourth man in the corner murmured incoherently. “It can’t be. I’m not seeing this; it must be a dream.”

The demonic force emanating from Soohyeon Yeon—the ruler of darkness—had already eroded this place.

The third man, whom he’d thought was running out of the alley, hadn’t moved more than 10 steps, and the man mumbling in the corner had long ago lost his mind.

This was the true side of the demonic force of the ruler of darkness—Soohyeon Yeon.

Compared to this, the frightening and threatening behavior of the servants in the morning was merely a joke.

The demonic force emitted by him—the ruler of darkness—was powerful enough to damage people’s minds and pervert their intelligence.

He didn’t even pump the demonic force straight into these people’s heads.

He had already seized control of this place; all it had taken was some demonic force—and, of course, making up his mind.

Thump—

It took him just a few seconds to tear apart the man whose spirit had been quelled.

The torn-apart limbs sank into the ground.

“Hmm…?”

Suddenly, Soohyeon Yeon sensed the very first man—the big brother who had lost his hand—was fleeing into another alley.

The man had managed to get away as carefully as possible, but, unfortunately for him, this area belonged to Soohyeon Yeon; it was his realm.

Then, with a calm smile on his face, Soohyeon Yeon kicked the ground softly. He used the “Abridged Undercurrent” technique.

* * *

“Fuck, where am I? Where is the street?”

This alley had been like his own front yard because of his familiarity with it, but apparently not anymore.

He was hovering around in one place, holding onto his wrist. Literally, he was spinning in a circle over and over again like a crazy person.

Actually, he was. He may have made it out of that horrible place alive, but his spirit [mind] had been already eroded by the demonic force.

“Anyone there?! Is there anyone?!” the man yelled, blood spraying from his mouth.

His unfocused eyes darted aimlessly about the area. Who the hell was that? He couldn’t comprehend.

Was it a ghost or a monster? Reaper?

Of course, he, like everyone else in Luoyang, was superstitious to some degree; however, the superstition that people believed in was the unseen fate, gods, and luck, rather than the monsters in ghost stories that scare children.

What the heck was it, then?

He shouted hysterically. “Why the hell are you doing this to me?! What’s wrong with you?” He collapsed on his knees, dizzy from having lost too much blood. “There are so many bad people in the world. Why me?!”

At that moment, his entire body froze. He could feel clear breaths near his ear. Freezing, cold exhalation mixed with the thick smell of sulfur and the intense smell of blood.

A metallic-sounding whisper echoed in his ears.

[You are just the beginning.]

Then the monster started chewing up the man’s whole body and ultimately swallowed it.

* * *

“You—didn’t you eat them?”

Soohyeon Yeon stroked his stomach gently. “Come to think of it, I don’t feel hungry anymore.”

Overflowing gravy. The taste of uncooked raw meat.

Even though he had eaten a human, which was a disgusting violation of natural morality, he didn’t feel anything at all.

He was merely pleased with a small sense of fullness, free of the excruciating hunger.

“Eating the wicked is the ruler of darkness’s first and last request to the chosen one.”

Soohyeon Yeon brought back a memory.

[Listen up, Chosen One. The name of this scripture is The Ruler of Darkness. A scripture that defies Heaven. A scripture who will devour all the darkness of the world on behalf of the uncaring and indolent Heaven!]

“Besides, the more wicked you devour, the more you will grasp the power of the ruler of darkness.”

Getting as much as he gave? It was a reasonable system—at least to some extent.

“By the way, old man. Eating doesn’t seem to mean eating alone, does it?” Soohyeon Yeon recalled seeing a swarm of hands dragging the shattered corpses into the ground.

“Yeah. Those are the starving ghosts of the ruler of darkness. They will help you with your meal by exerting physical influence within the realm that you will have dominated with your demonic force.”

Then there was a shake from the ceiling. Crushed rock ran in places, and dust ascended.

The light pillars that dropped from the holes in the ceiling started to narrow gradually.

“Time is running out.”

“Is that so…”

The light pillars that lighted the old man gradually diminished, and his body sank into complete darkness.

“We’ll see each other again soon.”

Amid the pitch blackness, the old man’s eyes fluttered in ghostly light.

“Until then, happy hunting…”

Soohyeon Yeon greeted the old man politely.

Soon, the terrible darkness engulfed everything.

***

Good day, everyone.

I’ll stop posting on the website (1 chapter per week or so) until I reach 30 advanced chapters on Patreon. I’m not really busy right now, so it shouldn’t take too long.

Until then, the Iron Warrior Tier would be unavailable.

After the advanced 30 ch:

The Iron Warrior Tier will be activated once again (10 advanced CH+ daily update).

I’ll continue posting on the website (4 chapters in a week).

So, what I do?

I do a lot of editing: grammar, names, sentence structure, choosing the right words, etc.

That took time.