Chapter 48

Chapter 48

I was suffocating.

Right before I lost consciousness, I pushed her away with all my strength.

“Haah, haah.”

I gasped desperately for air.

Why had she done something like this?

Had she wanted to kill me from the start? Was this her plan all along? Even the brand she engraved on me—was that all part of it?

Countless questions rushed through my mind.

Before I could come up with a single answer, she charged at me again.

Slaaash!!

A tremendous energy surged from her hand, dyed red. Her speed was incredible—but mine was even faster. I twisted my body to the side and ducked down, sweeping at her lower body with a kick.

“Aunt!”

“……”

Her eyes were glowing red.

Only then did I realize she was in the throes of madness. I didn’t know why she was suffering from it, even though she had learned the cultivation method.

I knew that the cultivation method wasn’t invincible, but I had never seen or heard of anyone falling into madness so suddenly and without warning.

‘What should I do?’

I was about equal in skill to her, making it difficult to subdue her without hurting her.

To be exact, she had already reached the realm of 8 stars, while I was still at 7.

In terms of sheer level, I was behind—but I had several ways to beat her.

However, if I used all of them, I couldn’t guarantee her survival. That was the biggest problem I faced.

‘How do you cure madness?’

I had only ever heard that it was cured through cultivation, but judging by the state she was in now, it didn’t seem like she could use it on her own.

“Grrrrrrr.”

She growled like a beast.

She dashed forward, kicking off the ground, and in an instant, her fingertips pierced my shoulder. Fortunately, it only grazed me, but the force behind it was strong enough that blood poured from the wound.

“Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die.”

She muttered curses as if casting a spell.

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with a proper way to subdue her. In the end, I decided to use Makina.

“Calm down, please.”

I activated Makina and formed a transparent rectangular barrier large enough to cover her entire body. I had only used a bit of strength, but the overload was already starting.

Still, I couldn’t stop now.

I trapped her inside and headed for the stream from earlier.

“Get in.”

Splash!

I threw her into the stream. Because I remembered what she had said to me earlier.

If this didn’t work either, then I would have no choice but to do everything I could to subdue her. I couldn’t die just to save a relative.

“……”

Did it work?

At first, she struggled in the water, but soon her movements stopped. Watching her anxiously, I realized she had returned to normal.

Because her red eyes had gone back to their usual state.

“…Ran?”

“Aunt? Are you back to your senses?”

“What happened to me?”

“You seemed to fall into madness. What on earth happened? I thought cultivating the method would completely block it.”

She spoke with a confused expression.

“Madness? You’re saying I suddenly went mad? But why…?”

“That’s what I’d like to know too.”

“Just because you've learned the cultivation method doesn’t mean you’re completely immune to madness. But for most people, it stays within a manageable range. Yet just now, I feel like I was overtaken by it without even realizing it... If falling into water was enough to bring me back, then it must not have been a complete rampage. What in the world happened?”

If even my aunt didn’t know, then I had no idea either.

She kept pondering with a baffled look on her face, but no matter how much she thought, she didn’t seem to find an answer.

Eventually, she gave up and came over to apologize. I brushed it off like it was nothing, and we headed straight back home.

---

Another two weeks passed.

Before I knew it, the brand on my body had been completed. Geometric patterns were now densely etched across my upper body. Thanks to this brand, I realized that the strength in my entire body had increased dramatically.

During that time, I had officially begun learning the cultivation method.

Its name was the Bloodfire Grand Heavenly Technique.

I didn’t know what it meant. What mattered was that mastering this technique would allow me to endure madness.

Every time I breathed, it felt as though a thousand flames were rising from within. But I had to endure, and I kept pushing through.

As time passed, I began to feel my mind growing clearer. I also sensed that the mana flowing through my body had become much denser.

The brand and the cultivation method.

Just those two alone were making me stronger.

I never skipped my physical training and sword practice, doing them daily. Maybe it was due to a fortunate combination of many favorable conditions, but my growth rate was staggering.

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the wall that was the 8-star level. At this rate, I would reach 8 stars before long.

It was a remarkable growth, but I had to become even stronger, and faster.

Because the enemies I’d be facing from now on would all have reached transcendence.

In the meantime, I had shared many conversations with my maternal grandfather. Unlike how he had been hostile to me at first, he now treated me very kindly.

Had he finally come to truly see me as his grandson?

Either way, it was a good thing for me.

And through those conversations, I also came to understand just how powerful he really was. Though he had aged and grown frail, I estimated that he had at least reached the realm of 10 stars.

If he truly set his mind on killing us, not even all of us together would be able to stop him.

Of course, if I used Makina, I could at least introduce some unpredictable variables.

Life here had given me deep satisfaction.

I had trained diligently.

I had learned a new cultivation method.

I had grown stronger, fast.

I had reunited with family I had forgotten.

And for the first time, I was being treated like a real grandson.

To be honest, I had come here just to cure my madness, but I had found something even greater—deep bonds and genuine happiness. Not once had I regretted coming here. If anything, I considered it a blessing.

Just living with these people seemed to ease the madness in my head. The warriors of the Halla Clan treated me with kindness, and Cecil, Attica, and even my crazy sister all seemed to be doing well in their own way.

But I knew.

It was about time for me to leave this place.

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Once I had fully mastered the Bloodfire Grand Heavenly Technique, I intended to leave this place without any lingering regrets.

Of course, I knew it wouldn't be a permanent farewell, so I planned to leave on the best possible terms.

‘A week should be enough.’

With that thought in mind, I fell asleep.

But misfortune always struck suddenly—always when least expected.

Early dawn.

Awakened by a sense of foreboding, I looked around.

“What the... What kind of dream was that?”

Maybe it was because I had a nightmare.

Even now, after waking up, the ominous feeling wouldn't go away. Thankfully, Cecil and Attica were fast asleep. Lin Winterbell was outright snoring.

“Living easy, aren’t you?”

But my aunt was nowhere to be seen. From outside, the scream and wailing of someone proved that my foreboding wasn’t wrong.

“Gyaaaah!!!”

Alongside that, I heard something like the sound of a flute. I didn’t know where it was coming from, but it scratched at my brain in an oddly irritating way. The longer I heard it, the more it gave me a headache, but when I activated the Bloodfire Grand Heavenly Technique, the pain vanished.

When I stepped outside the house, I froze like a stone statue.

Blood had flooded the surroundings.

What the hell had happened?

What on earth was going on?

“Gyaaaaaah!!!”

“Die. Die. Die.”

“Please help me!”

The warriors of the Halla Clan were killing each other. Not just one or two—dozens of them had gone berserk and were slaughtering one another. Even the villagers, who weren’t warriors, were charging at one another. In their hands were the heads and flesh of the neighbors they’d been eating with just moments ago.

“…What is this.”

Madness.

I didn’t know how it had happened, but most of the Halla Clan had gone on a rampage. They had become so frenzied they couldn’t even recognize their own family or friends.

A few warriors who still had some sanity tried to subdue the others, but they were far outnumbered.

The village had become a living hell overnight.

I looked at a child from the Halla Clan who stood nearby. Jackil, her once kind neighbor, raised his hand to pierce her head.

His eyes flipped with madness—now, to him, the girl was nothing more than a lump of meat, easy to kill.

“P-please save me! Uncle Jackil!”

I drew the Behemoth from my waist and sliced through Jackil’s right arm with a blade imbued with aura.

Slash!

The blade cut cleanly through his flesh, leaving a smooth severed edge.

Thud.

Jackil’s gaze shifted to me. Even with his arm severed, he licked his lips as he stared at me.

He couldn’t even feel pain.

Jackil charged at me.

I felt immense mana radiating from him.

Every time he swung his arm, I heard the sound of air being torn apart, and the wind pressure that followed tore at my body.

True to the nickname “warrior clan,” Jackil attacked me like a mad beast. Was this what it looked like when a rabid dog lost control? I inflicted wounds all over his body during the fierce clash, but he didn’t care and kept charging in.

“Grrrrrrr!”

I never imagined that the inability to feel pain could become such a huge advantage in battle.

Jackil turned out to be a trickier opponent than I’d expected.

I was no longer in a position to go easy.

Releasing my aura, I explosively expanded my muscles, then kicked off the ground and shot forward.

Shrrrk!

I slashed diagonally across Jackil’s chest, then followed up by cutting clean through his head. Jackil fell silent, as if nothing had happened. Well, if someone kept moving even after their head was chopped off, that wouldn’t be madness—it’d be undeath.

“It’s dangerous here. Go find your parents.”

“…I don’t know where Mommy and Daddy are.”

After a moment of thought, I took the child’s hand and headed toward the chieftain’s house. I figured that was the safest place in the village right now.

It was also the first place I needed to check in this situation. To be honest, his safety was more important than any of the other warriors in the Halla Clan.

Because he was the Halla Clan.

As long as he was alive, the clan could endure. I naturally assumed he would be.

He was a powerhouse at the 10-star level. There was no way anyone within the Halla Clan could kill him.

So I reached the chieftain’s house and pushed the door open.

And then...

“Grandfather?”

I froze.