The wind came rushing in.
The wind wailed like a beast, carrying his fury.
His voice, carried upon the wind!
“This is my world!”
The fierce wind seemed as though it would blow everyone off the cliff at any moment.
Facing the blowing wind, Seophonmajon spread her arms wide.
Whoooooosh.
Then all the wind surged toward her.
Facing the typhoon-like gale alone, she stood firm in place.
Jinhagun and the Myeolmadae warriors watched from the side.
Then Jinhagun saw it. Seophonmajon laughing with a wild, pale grin.
She was enjoying this moment of battle.
Whooooooooosh.
The wind blew even stronger.
The light of the whirlwind pattern engraved on her cheek grew more intense.
When Seophonmajon didn't so much as flinch against the rushing wind, it gradually began to die down.
Once the wind ceased completely, Seophonmajon spoke to Jinhagun and the Myeolmadae warriors standing atop the cliff.
“You won’t see scenery like this again, so enjoy it.”
At her words, everyone looked around. They hadn't thought to admire the view while the cliff was collapsing, but the scenery from the peak with clouds flowing below was truly a sight of absolute beauty.
A very brief gift bestowed by the martial art known as the Soul-Stealing Art.
A moment later, the surrounding landscape began to change.
Sssshhh.
The space changed back to the great hall where they had originally been.
His voice echoed through the void.
“I take back what I said about you being cute.”
Seophonmajon laughed and spoke.
“Still, my heart fluttered a bit. After nothing but being called a crazy bitch, it had been a while since someone called me cute.”
Jinhagun snorted in laughter without realizing it. He hadn't expected a demon lord to speak so freely.
Jinhagun asked her.
“Can you exist like this even without a body?”
“He is using the Body-Swapping Technique.”
The Body-Swapping Technique was a supreme martial art, a branch of the Soul-Stealing Art, that allowed one to move between human bodies.
“Unless you kill his true body, you cannot kill him.”
The meaning was that the way to break this space was to find and kill his true body.
“If he strays far from his true body, he cannot use the Body-Swapping Technique, so his true body must certainly be somewhere in this space.”
“It’s here?”
Jinhagun and the Myeolmadae warriors looked around the great hall in surprise. But there was nowhere a physical body could be hidden.
Then, a voice from the void.
“You cannot find my body.”
“What, is it such an amazing body that you’ve hidden it away so tightly?”
Seophonmajon moved her lips and recited a mantra, and a purple light flowed from her forehead.
Saaaaaa.
And then, an astonishing sight.
Sssssss.
The closed eye drawn on her forehead slowly began to open.
The Ghost Eye.
Emitting a purple radiance, the spectral eye looked around.
The moment its pupil stopped, her form soared through the void.
Whoooom.
She tore through space with her bare hands as though ripping fabric.
As the void tore open, what lay beyond was revealed.
In that darkness black as ink, an old man floated in the void with his eyes closed.
Fwoosh.
Her palm strike, infused with inner power, flew toward the old man’s head. Without a moment’s hesitation, she tried to kill him.
At that very moment, the old man’s eyes snapped open.
When her palm strike connected, the old man was no longer there.
Her fist merely struck within the pitch-black darkness.
Boom!
The old man stepped down onto the floor with a loud stomp. Turning with his back to them, he spoke in a low voice.
“To think you would even use the Ghost Eye?”
He couldn't believe it. The Ghost Eye was not a martial art merely used to find hidden things. It was a supreme martial art that uncovered truths hidden within the Soul-Stealing Art.
Even when he had seen the closed eye on her forehead, he had doubted it. Merely receiving the mark was no easy feat, and even if one did, it was not a technique that could be used so easily.
As Seophonmajon turned back toward the old man, the torn void mended itself, returning to its original form.
Her third eye slowly closed and soon disappeared. It was a soul manifestation that could be used only once.
The old man turned toward her and the Myeolmadae warriors.
An old man with a kindly appearance, the bearing of a benevolent elder. A face one would never expect to meet in a world of the Soul-Stealing Art.
“You are?”
The first to recognize the old man was Hwasong. At first, he thought he was seeing things. This was not someone one would meet in such a place.
But he was certain.
“Master Jin!”
Jinhyu.
He was one of the two grand masters who taught the Grand True Spirit Return Art.
He was someone known to both Jinhagun and the Myeolmadae warriors. In other words, the very Master Jin known as a good man was the one who had been trying to kill them all this time.
Only then did Jinhagun understand.
That Sojeongrak, who used poison, and Jinhyu, who used the Soul-Stealing Art, centered around Cheonaegeosa, had infiltrated deeply into the Martial Alliance. No, it wasn't infiltration. They had lived alongside the Martial Alliance all this time.
If their scheme had not been revealed this time?
If these three had orchestrated a decisive plot? They alone were fatal enough, but what if they had drawn in another enemy as well?
The result was made clear by the chill running down Jinhagun's spine.
Jinhyu's gaze was ice-cold. The presence he now carried within his body was incomparably more intense than before.
Jinhagun was bewildered. It felt so overpowering that he wondered if Seophonmajon could truly stand against him.
“Why didn’t you fight using your own body from the start?”
Then Jinhyu answered.
“For the likes of you, I didn't need to reveal my true strength.”
He smiled with composure. But Seophonmajon shattered that composure to pieces.
“Bullshit.”
In that instant, Jinhyu’s eyes twitched.
“It’s because you’re afraid to die.”
At her words, Jinhagun understood. That if he died fighting in his true body, he would truly die.
The reason he had begged so desperately to escape when caught by Seophonmajon’s Soulshackling Chain earlier had also been because he feared death.
“A coward to the very end.”
Jinhyu said coldly in response to Jinhagun’s words.
“Lord Jin, watch your tongue!”
Who do you think you're talking to right now!
Jinhagun was truly speechless. With nothing but curses on the tip of his tongue, he quietly brought his finger to his lips, just as Seophonmajon had done.
Shhh.
At that gesture telling him to shut up, Jinhyu’s rage exploded.
Swoosh.
He charged in an instant, trying to ruthlessly strike Jinhagun's cheek.
But he couldn't reach him.
Clank.
When Jinhyu looked down, chains were already wrapped around his body.
It was the Soulshackling Chain unleashed from Seophonmajon's right hand.
Jinhyu’s gaze whipped toward her.
Seophonmajon wrapped the chain once around her wrist with a clank and said,
“Trash ought to fight this crazy bitch.”
Killing intent erupted from Jinhyu’s eyes.
“You two are truly a pair!”
Jinhyu grabbed the chains and pulled them toward himself.
Clank! Craaaack!
The chains pulled taut. Light erupted from the whirlwind pattern on her face.
Blue light began to emanate from the surrounding space as well.
Hwasong sighed at that sight.
‘The Blood Heaven Soul-Strengthening Art is properly exerting its power.’
In terms of strengthening the Soul-Stealing Art, this Blood Heaven Soul-Strengthening Art possessed effects incomparable to a soul manifestation. It required far longer preparation, and an enormous amount of money must have been spent on its materials.
Since he had activated it himself, his feelings were beyond description.
Sure enough, Seophonmajon began to be slowly pulled in.
Then the flame pattern on the back of Seophonmajon's left hand flared.
Real flames arose and spread along the chains toward Jinhyu.
Bound by the chains, Jinhyu couldn't evade.
Fwoooosh.
Jinhyu’s body burst into flames.
The Myeolmadae warriors watching were of one mind.
‘Burn to death!’
The next moment!
Swoooosh.
Blue energy erupted from Jinhyu’s body.
Boom!
A metallic sound of something snapping burst forth.
Clank! Clank!
The chains that had bound him were broken.
Enveloped in flames, Jinhyu walked out.
The blue light surrounding his body seemed to shine even brighter before the flames gradually died out.
Jinhyu smoothed his furrowed brows.
“You crazy bitch! That was hot!”
Despite the unfavorable situation, Seophonmajon wasn't overawed. She was far better at swearing anyway.
“The trash bastard doesn't burn well.”
Jinhyu charged at her with killing intent.
When the two had closed to a distance where they were nearly entangled.
Shwik!
Blade-like tentacles sprouting from Jinhyu’s back flew toward her heart.
Grab.
Seophonmajon caught it with her bare hand.
The tentacle squirmed, trying to escape her grip.
Just as a second tentacle sprouted from his back.
Shhhhhhik.
A blade of sword qi swept across Jinhyu.
Blood flowed down his face as he was knocked back with a thud. Blood streamed down from the long gash on his face.
It was sword qi unleashed by Jinhagun.
“That trash is our trash. We'll be the ones to take it out.”
Led by Jinhagun, the Myeolmadae warriors rushed at him all at once.
Chaaaaaa.
A transparent barrier blocked their path.
Thud.
Jinhagun, who had been bounced back, charged again and thrust his sword into the barrier. He raised his internal energy to the limit, trying to tear it.
The other Myeolmadae warriors also threw themselves at the barrier.
Then invisible energy shot out from the barrier like awls, stabbing at Jinhagun. It wasn't just one. Dozens flew out like a hedgehog's quills.
Jinhagun raised his protective astral qi, but the awl-like energy inflicted terrible pain.
But he didn't give up on tearing the barrier.
Shreeeeek.
Just as the barrier began to tear and Jinhyu’s attention turned toward him.
Puaaaaak!
In one breath, Seophonmajon yanked the tentacle and ripped it out as though tearing it free. She had not missed the moment when his strength faltered for an instant.
Paaaaak!
Blood burst from Jinhyu’s back, and a monster’s howl rang out.
“This crazy bitch!”
When Jinhyu rushed in and tried to tear her arm off, Seophonmajon’s shadow rose and lunged at him.
Shaaaaaaalak!
Seophonmajon's shadow wrapped around Jinhyu’s face as if alive, strangling him.
Not missing that moment, her fist flew toward Jinhyu’s stomach.
Thud! Boom!
The fist was repelled by the blue light surrounding him with a metallic sound.
“Uwaaaaack!”
With extreme force, Jinhyu also tore the shadow apart with his bare hands. Seophonmajon was being pushed back in strength.
In that time, Jinhagun and the Myeolmadae broke through the barrier.
Shwik! Shwik! Shik!
The moment sword qi poured down upon him.
In an instant, the surroundings changed.
Splosh!
Jinhagun and the Myeolmadae warriors all fell into the sea. Swimming and looking around, they were in the middle of the ocean. Only the horizon was visible in the distance, a vast expanse of sea without a single rock islet.
“Where is Seophonmajon?”
Someone spoke from behind at Jinhagun’s shout.
“I am right here.”
When they turned, she was standing on the water behind them.
She wasn't floating using lightness arts; because this was the world of the Soul-Stealing Art, she simply stood there as easily as if on land.
But the Myeolmadae warriors couldn't do that. To them, this place was truly underwater.
“Ugh!”
Right then, one Myeolmadae warrior was sucked down into the water.
It wasn't just him. The other warriors were pulled in as well.
From within the water, water fiends appeared wielding weapons. They had human shapes, but they were bizarre beings covered in scales and gills.
An unknown force steadily pulled the Myeolmadae warriors downward.
The Myeolmadae warriors swung their swords underwater and fought them.
But fighting in water was absolutely disadvantageous. Internal energy consumption was far more severe, and their power couldn't reach its full potential.
Conversely, the water fiends' attacks were much faster and stronger.
Jinhagun looked around while fighting underwater. The situation was not good.
An unknown force kept pulling at them, making it impossible to rise above the water. They held their breath and endured while fighting, but just as they were reaching their limit.
This time, on the contrary, everyone was pulled by an unknown force and flew up out of the water.
Chwaaaaak.
Both the Myeolmadae warriors and the water fiends soared into the air.
“Now! Kill them all!”
At Jinhagun's command, the Myeolmadae warriors attacked all at once. If they were still underwater, perhaps, but with the battle outside the water, how could water fiends stand against the Myeolmadae?
The water fiends were all severed by the Myeolmadae warriors' sword qi.
Splosh! Splosh!
Corpses and the Myeolmadae warriors alike plunged back down into the water.
Everyone could tell.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable had drawn them back out.
“Thank you.”
At Jin Hagun’s gratitude, the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable smiled and said,
“Fighting is a goddamn mess, isn’t it?”
If it had been anyone else, he might have answered that this accursed soul-capturing art truly was. But he did not want to say such a thing to the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable. This fight alongside her did not feel that way.
“No.”
At that, she gazed quietly at Jin Hagun, then smiled and said,
“Our Squad Leader Jin is far too proper.”
A compliment from the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable? She truly was a woman he could not get a handle on.
It was right then.
“Look over there.”
At the shout of a Demon Annihilation Squad warrior, everyone’s gazes turned toward the corpses of the water-men.
Pop, pop, pop!
The corpses burst apart like bubbles.
And in their place, new water-men were formed.
Jin Hagun’s and the Demon Annihilation Squad’s expressions hardened. Against an opponent like this, their internal energy would be exhausted first.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable showed no particular change in expression, as though she had already expected it.
And that was not all.
Swaaaaaaaaaa.
A great wave was surging in from afar. Jin Hyu stood atop that towering wave.
If they were swept up in that enormous wave, they would all be scattered, and then attacked by the water-men beneath the surface. His intention was to defeat them one by one.
In that hopeless situation, Jin Hagun looked at the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable.
The patterns on her face had all disappeared. Only the flame pattern on the back of her hand remained, faintly.
And her face was pale from the severe depletion of her internal energy.
“Demon Venerable, please escape first.”
If it was someone on the level of the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable, he was certain she had some secret method to save herself.
They could not let her die here as well.
“I suppose I should.”
When she readily said she would leave, Jin Hagun felt relieved and cupped his fist respectfully.
“I will not forget the grace you have shown us by helping us until now.”
She smiled as she looked at Jin Hagun.
“Trying to save myself alone? I really am a bitch, aren’t I?”
Jin Hagun smiled.
“You were the most magnificent bitch I have ever seen. I will see you in the next life.”
The Demon Annihilation Squad warriors in the water also bowed their heads respectfully. Not a single one of them feared death.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable, who had seemed as though she would leave at once, changed her mind.
“I would like to go as well, but I cannot.”
“He will understand too.”
Geom Mugeuk, do not blame the Demon Venerable too much. She did her utmost.
But then she gave a reason he could not understand.
“It is not because of the Young Cult Leader. It is because I am still in training.”
Just as Jin Hagun and the Demon Annihilation Squad warriors were wearing expressions that said they could not understand what she meant—
A pitch-black shadow fell over the place where the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable and Jin Hagun stood.
Everyone aboard the boat turned around.
They were startled. It had not been a cloud covering the sun.
Swaaaaaaaaaa.
A colossal ship was cutting through the water as it approached them.
Never in their lives had they seen a ship so large. It was so enormous that the wave Jin Hyu was driving toward them looked like nothing more than a light ripple before it.
At the prow of that ship stood the Pungcheon Cult Leader, arms folded.
Absolute Regression, Chapter 661