An endless field stretched out before them.
The Iron King’s eyes flew wide open. He was truly shocked and bewildered. In a single instant, he and the Twelve Zodiac Kings were standing in a different space.
There had been no presence, no sensation of entering or being moved anywhere.
‘What is this?’
The scent of grass carried on the wind was real.
There had been no intelligence that the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult could use an illusion art like this.
They were not the only ones surprised.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, Ilhwa Sword Venerable, and the Sword King had come there as well.
“I brought you three along because I thought it would be all right for you to know that I can open a space like this.”
Ilhwa Sword Venerable examined the ground. It was real grass and stone. The soil was real too.
‘It isn’t a simple illusion. It’s real.’
The astonishments the Young Cult Leader had shown on this journey were not over yet.
Then the Iron King asked with a puzzled look.
“Is this the hell you spoke of?”
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the clear blue sky. Earlier, when he had spoken to Jihan, he had wanted to see the sky.
“Yes. This is hell.”
“Isn’t it too beautiful to be called hell?”
“Then were you perhaps expecting a hell like this?”
Snap!
When Geom Mugeuk snapped his fingers, the place changed again.
The blue space turned red. It was a sight that could truly be called hell.
A river of blood flowed, and flames erupted here and there like volcanoes.
The sounds of souls in agony rang out together with the shrieks of evil spirits. The wind that blew in was filled with the suffering of burned souls, enough to make one feel suffocated just by hearing it.
Just then, a hellhound spewing fire from its mouth charged toward Geom Mugeuk.
The hellhound rushed in as if to pounce, then came before Geom Mugeuk and wagged its tail. When Geom Mugeuk stroked the hellhound’s head, it spat fire from its mouth.
Whoosh.
The Sword King and the two Demon Venerables looked down at the sight in astonishment. This hell, and even the dog guarding it, were far too vivid.
“This kind of hell is hell too.”
Snap.
The place where they stood changed back into the original field.
“And this place is hell as well.”
The location did not matter at all.
“Wherever I am is hell for you.”
Swaaaaaa.
Geom Mugeuk’s cold demonic energy, carrying unmistakable killing intent, swept over them once more.
The Iron King’s expression hardened. By being dragged here, he had lost the hostages—his most powerful move.
With a gentle face completely at odds with the demonic energy he had just released, Geom Mugeuk turned to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“They say looking at a lot of green is good for the eyes.”
“Are you treating me like an old man again?”
“No, it’s because you read so many books.”
There were two reasons Geom Mugeuk had brought them here with the Space-Time Transposition Art.
The first was to neutralize the Iron King’s mechanisms. The Iron King could operate his mechanisms at will, but at the very least he had to be in the same space as them.
The device in his chest that would supposedly activate when he died would also have to be in the same space.
This was a space created from the same location, yet it was a completely different world.
Now his mechanisms had been utterly neutralized.
The second reason was that, in order to use the Nine Calamities Demonic Art freely, he had to come here. If he had used the Nine Calamities Demonic Art back there, the cave might have collapsed and buried them all.
Just then, music began to play. Just as the souls of the Twelve Zodiac Kings resided in those bodies, the soul of the Sound King resided in that unending melody.
Geom Mugeuk looked in the direction of the music and said,
“It seems you want to become an immortal musician.”
At that, the music responded by turning sharp and irritable.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon stepped forward.
“You brought us well. Now we can fight to our hearts’ content.”
Seeing his excitement, Geom Mugeuk wore an apologetic expression.
“No, you cannot.”
“What?”
“I will fight. Alone.”
“Then why did you bring us here?”
“So you can watch me fight. I need someone watching for it to be exciting. What fun is there in fighting alone?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked dumbfounded.
The one more disappointed than the two Demon Venerables was, without question, the Sword King.
“This fight is my fight!”
Geom Mugeuk said to him,
“This fight is my fight.”
This was a change brought about by his own regression. The fact that he had come to fight them here was entirely because of him.
“This is not something worth your time, any of you. Use those precious blades and swords of yours against opponents with hot blood flowing through their veins. Please yield them to me.”
“My sword is not such a precious sword.”
At the Sword King’s words, Geom Mugeuk recalled what had happened before.
“It isn’t the wielder who decides what kind of sword a martial artist’s sword is. Others must decide that. Brother Ak’s sword is a precious sword. It has been ever since it showed the stars to those people underground and sent them safely on their way.”
Since Geom Mugeuk went so far, the Sword King could no longer insist.
“I’ve spent the entire day stepping forward with nothing to show for it.”
With an awkward expression, the Sword King tried to take off his shoes.
“Don’t take them off. If they wear out, I’ll buy you even better shoes.”
The Sword King stubbornly removed the shoes and tied them at his waist.
“No. I like these shoes. Now then, shall I see how much my friend’s skill has improved?”
When the Sword King stepped back, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and Ilhwa Sword Venerable also stepped back. In the first place, the first person to step forward had been the Sword King, and they had only moved to help him.
Even if they did not fight directly, simply watching Geom Mugeuk fight would surely help their martial attainments. Perhaps that was why Geom Mugeuk had brought them along.
Srrrng.
Geom Mugeuk drew the Black Demon Sword and slowly walked forward.
The Iron King was still staying off to the side.
A fight of nine against one.
Normally, it would have been an absurd situation.
Though they did not possess complete reason, they were armed with even stronger martial arts and vengeance.
These nine Twelve Zodiac Kings were a force capable of setting out to conquer the murim immediately.
And Geom Mugeuk was about to face them alone.
Even for Geom Mugeuk, a fight like this was something that might happen only once in a lifetime.
The Iron King shouted to the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
“Now, it is time for revenge!”
The one who eagerly received that encouragement and excitement was Geom Mugeuk. He shouted into the air.
“Something exciting! As loud as possible!”
The moment he finished speaking, Geom Mugeuk charged toward the Twelve Zodiac Kings first.
The sight of him rushing toward nine masters whose martial prowess had reached the extreme was truly spectacular.
The Twelve Zodiac Kings spread to the left and right with the Fighting King at the center and met Geom Mugeuk.
Whoooong!
The Fighting King’s fist flew in with enough power to shatter steel.
As Geom Mugeuk dodged the fist, the Blade King’s Red Blade narrowly brushed past the side of his face.
Ten red lines extending from the Blood King’s fingers shot toward Geom Mugeuk.
When Geom Mugeuk avoided the blood threads, the Fist King attacking from behind was struck instead, but he merely frowned once and continued lunging toward Geom Mugeuk.
Amid the exchange of fists and swords, the Killing King’s hidden weapons split the air.
Geom Mugeuk did not counterattack and only dodged. It was as if he intended to see whether he could evade the combined assault of all nine.
All manner of sword lights, astral qi, and killing intent of different natures whirled through that place. The swirling astral qi became a dragon and ascended, and sword energy became a net to cover its opponent. But the dragon could not seize the orb, and the net could not catch its fish.
The Illusion King and the Illusion Woman used illusion arts and opened a door. Evil spirits sprang out from the door.
The Fighting King was leading the charge, and the blood spewed by the Blood King scattered toward Geom Mugeuk. The Fist King’s punch flew in, and the Killing King launched a surprise attack.
At that moment, Ilhwa Sword Venerable could feel it. Coincidentally, the scene resembled the puppets that had attacked Geom Mugeuk together earlier. As if it had foretold fate.
And Geom Mugeuk showed the result of that fate. He used the Wind God’s Four Steps to its limit and escaped the combined assault.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The attacks struck empty ground.
Watching that sight, the Sword King took one step forward.
He knew Geom Mugeuk had grown stronger, but—
‘He really has become strong!’
He had grown incomparably stronger than when they had last parted.
The higher a master climbed, the slower their growth became. Yet Geom Mugeuk was once again showing a level of skill that forced one to look at him anew. The Sword King wanted to draw his sword immediately and leap into the battle. Just watching Geom Mugeuk dodge made his heart pound like mad.
This battle, which had reached the extreme of skill, was a battle of points and lines.
If a point struck, one died; if a line was drawn, one died as well.
Each point gathered to become a line, and the line scattered again to become points.
Attacks that should have killed him several times over poured down on Geom Mugeuk, but Geom Mugeuk did not die.
Geom Mugeuk’s movements were beautiful. It was truly as if he were performing a sword dance to the music. That was why, while facing the Twelve Zodiac Kings, he was also fighting the soul of the Sound King.
The Sword King, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, and Ilhwa Sword Venerable, who were watching, were receiving great inspiration from this battle. A single supposition bloomed in all their hearts.
If it were me?
How would I dodge, and how would I attack? The enlightenment that came from that comparison was as great as the lessons gained from fighting directly. After all, the battle being shown to them belonged to none other than Geom Mugeuk.
At least one thing was certain. They could not fight like this.
Slash! Slaaaash.
Red lines appeared around Geom Mugeuk, surrounding him like a spiderweb.
The Blood King’s hidden trump card, the Divided Blood Net, had been unleashed.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pak!
Geom Mugeuk’s Black Demon Sword tore through the blood net in an instant and emerged outside it. Seeing Geom Mugeuk’s figure, incomparable to when they had fought before, an even denser blood energy surged from the Blood King’s body.
As the music grew louder and raised the power of the Twelve Zodiac Kings—
Swaaaaaak!
A massive astral qi unleashed by the Fighting King flew toward Geom Mugeuk.
The Chain Wind Cloud Fist, now bolstered by the Dark King’s power as well, struck Geom Mugeuk just as he had torn through the blood net.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The earth and grass where Geom Mugeuk had stood were swept away, forming a long, straight trench.
It was truly tremendous power.
When the dust settled, Geom Mugeuk could be seen standing at the very front of the trench with his arms crossed. Astonishingly, he had not been pushed back even a single step.
Geom Mugeuk had blocked the incoming attack with three martial arts: the Heavenly Gang Body obtained beneath the Yellow Dragon Martial Hall, the Vajra Asura of the Thunderbolt Asura Fist, and the Heavenly Demon Protective Art.
As if he had deliberately chosen not to dodge in order to test his protective art, Geom Mugeuk strode toward the Fighting King and said,
“Your fighting spirit isn’t what it used to be. Did you two have a fight?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s provocation, the Fighting King’s face twisted viciously. It had been an attack combined with the Dark King’s power, certainly stronger than when they had fought last, yet he had blocked it with his bare body.
Whoosh!
The next moment, something wrapped around Geom Mugeuk like a cloth. It was the Curtain of Darkness cast by the enraged Dark King.
Puuuk.
But compared to when he had suffered it before, the Black Demon Sword emerged far faster and tore through the Curtain of Darkness.
“Back then, you said that as long as you were in the darkness, I could never win with this technique. Let’s see if that still holds true.”
Whoosh!
In an instant, the surroundings darkened, and a single line was drawn.
The Fourth Form of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art: Dark Flash.
The Dark King said leisurely,
“Young Cult Leader, I told you clearly, did I not? Dark-type demonic arts will never work on me…”
Srrrrk.
Thud.
Her neck was severed, and her head rolled to the ground.
The Dark Flash that had reached mastery had cut off the Dark King’s head.
But though her head had been severed, her soul did not disappear. With an expression of disbelief and shock, her head hurled curses at Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk understood.
‘Cutting off the head isn’t enough to extinguish them.’
Seeing the Dark King’s severed neck, the Twelve Zodiac Kings unleashed astral qi all at once.
Bang! Bang! Kwaaang! Kwaang!
The Sword King’s heart sank as he watched. Such powerful attacks were concentrated on one point that he even wondered whether he should have gone to help.
When the dust settled, Geom Mugeuk’s figure appeared.
Before Geom Mugeuk stood a pure white wall of astral qi.
The Third Form of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art: Great Demon Wall.
Having achieved mastery of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art, he could now even make the Great Demon Wall small enough to protect only himself.
When even that attack was blocked, the performance rang out loudly enough to tear the ears. The melody screamed. It was asking why they could not win when it was empowering them this much.
An even more intense energy poured from the eyes of the Twelve Zodiac Kings. It seemed they were now about to launch attacks that surpassed their limits.
By contrast, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze as he looked at them was calm.
“I’d like to fight more, but I can’t waste any more inner force. I’ve confirmed well enough just how strong I’ve become.”
Had his internal energy already run out? The two Demon Venerables, who knew just how profound Geom Mugeuk’s internal energy was, looked at each other and exchanged glances. Did the Great Demon Wall demand that much internal energy?
That was not the reason.
Geom Mugeuk bade farewell to the Twelve Zodiac Kings.
“At least for today, you are without sin. You were only dragged to a place you should never have come. Now, return to the place from which you came. There will never again be a day when you return.”
Then he spoke incomprehensibly to the three behind him.
“Stand directly behind me. I still can’t control it as precisely as Father, but at the very least I’m capable of releasing it forward. For some reason, I also have a feeling I can unleash it without destroying this place.”
Geom Mugeuk looked back and added,
“If I fail to control the force, I’ll leave the rest to you.”
Hyeolcheon Doma’s eyes widened in shock.
“What are you trying to do?”
Geom Mugeuk grinned at Hyeolcheon Doma, then thrust the Black Demon Sword forward.
Flash!
The Sixth Form of the Nine Flames Demonic Sword, Heavenly Demon Annihilates the World.
Light burst from the Black Demon Sword.
The entire world turned white. The sun exploded, and that explosion was a soundless one.
Within that light, their final forms could be seen.
The arms of the Fist King, crossed to block the incoming light, were disappearing. Along with his arms, his body, too, dissolved into the light.
The sun engraved upon the black saber thrust out by the Saber King vanished as it met the true sun.
The Assassin King threw himself away to conceal his presence, but there was nowhere to hide.
The severed head and body of the Dark King, and even the darkness that still lay sunken around her, vanished as though melting into the light.
The Illusion King and Hwanyeo vanished as well, like lies within an illusion. The Fighting King’s thirst for revenge melted away, and the Blood King’s blood melted away. The device attached to the Iron King’s chest that had threatened all their lives melted without leaving a trace.
Even their souls were utterly annihilated.
Now, nothing remained there.
Not a blade of grass, not a shard of stone. Not even a single scrap of iron that had once been the bones of the Twelve Zodiac Kings remained. The performance that had been resounding all this time had now ceased as well. The soul of the Sound King had been completely annihilated.
The Nine Flames Demonic Art, brought to great completion—its final technique.
Heavenly Demon Annihilates the World.
In this moment when the Heavenly Demon destroyed the world, there was no being that could survive.
It was the moment all of the Twelve Zodiac Kings, save for the Sword King and the Fire King who had sided with Geom Mugeuk, were wiped out.
Before this overwhelming martial might, the three behind him could not utter a word. The two Demon Venerables had even forgotten to pay their respects to the Nine Flames Demonic Art.
Geom Mugeuk gazed at the empty space in deep emotion.
‘I did it!’
He had succeeded in unleashing the Heavenly Demon Annihilates the World, brought to great completion, without destroying the Spacetime Transposition Art.
The three behind him stared at Geom Mugeuk’s back with eyes filled with admiration and reverence. It was reverence for the Nine Flames Demonic Art, and reverence for the martial artist named Geom Mugeuk.
“Since they’ve returned to their own world.”
Geom Mugeuk drew up the last remaining handful of his internal energy.
“Let us return to our world as well.”
Snap.