Heukno had hidden his body in the darkness to buy time.
There was no need to fight this disadvantageous one-on-one battle to the bitter end.
If only Amno could defeat Mabul and return, they would be the victors of this fight.
If he joined forces with Amno to focus their attacks on Seophon Majon and eliminate her first, then summoned the Nine Heavens Corpse King with the Nine Heavens Descent Technique? It would become three against one.
They could tear that detestable drunkard to pieces.
But the problem was that Amno's battle was dragging on.
'What is he doing, unable to kill one lousy monk? Hurry up and get here!'
The small mercy was that finding him while he performed the Dark Shadow Stealth Technique was nearly impossible.
That was what Heukno had believed.
Seophon Majon's Nocturnal Eye was unleashed.
The eye-shaped pattern engraved on Chwima's dagger gleamed open.
The pupil darted this way and that, searching for the opponent concealed in the darkness. The sight of the eyeball whipping around wildly was ghastly.
Then the pupil fixed upon one spot.
Without hesitation, Chwima launched himself toward that spot and slashed with his dagger.
Sshhhiiiik.
Blood sprayed amid the dispersing black mist, and Heukno's startled face was visible for an instant.
Heukno once again used the Dark Shadow Stealth Technique to hide his body in the darkness.
But the pupil rapidly swept left and right again. Chwima surged once more toward where the pupil gazed.
Shick! Shick! Shick!
This time, he didn't slash but stabbed in quickly. It was an attack faster and more accurate than before.
Pwaaht!
Blood sprayed in the air once more. It was more blood than before. Because he couldn't manifest his protective astral energy while performing the Dark Shadow Stealth Technique, Heukno was eventually forced to reveal himself.
His Dark Shadow Stealth Technique had failed to evade Seophon Majon's Nocturnal Eye.
Heukno looked down at his slashed and stabbed wounds. The repulsive sensation of blood streaming down his body made him burst out with a string of curses.
"You dog bastard!"
Chwima giggled like a drunkard and staggered closer.
"When you're drunk, you're a dog. Dog."
Heukno sent a palm strike lashing out ambush-style at that staggering figure.
Swaek! Swaek!
Chwima swayed and dodged the palm force. He seemed too drunk to possibly avoid such a swift ambush, yet he dodged by a hair's breadth each time without being hit.
Then Chwima let out a bizarre shriek and charged in. It was an utterly unpredictable attack.
Heukno summoned skeletons to block that sudden assault.
"Keuk!"
Heukno vomited blood. He had suffered internal injuries from hastily performing the Nine Heavens Descent Technique.
Chwima smashed through the skeletons he had summoned with such effort and barreled forward.
Crack! Crunch!
Punching with his fists and ramming with his body.
Even when the skeletons grabbed him or slashed with swords, he shook them all off and evaded while rushing in.
"You madman!"
Heukno was not lacking in real combat experience, but this was the first time he had fought like this. He hadn't expected his opponent to charge in so mindlessly.
Chwima did not fight at ease. Not knowing how the fight between Mabul and Amno was faring, he had to end this battle as quickly as possible. That was why his charge seemed to his opponent like a reckless rush devoid of any regard for his own safety.
Swaek!
Heukno unleashed a palm strike toward Chwima's face, which was wedged between the skeletons.
Kwung!
The flying palm force dissipated in midair.
Seophon Majon, standing behind, had sent out a palm strike to neutralize it.
Missing such a fine opportunity, Heukno was enraged.
"You damned wenches!"
Finally, Chwima broke through the skeletons and charged in. Chwima was smiling like a true madman.
Sshiiik.
Heukno grabbed the arm wielding the dagger.
The two grabbed each other's arms as if competing in a contest of strength.
Puk! Peo-eok!
The remaining skeletons battered Chwima's back, but he didn't seem to feel pain and kept pressing forward.
When he saw Chwima's crimson eyes up close, Heukno felt the fear of death for the first time. If not for the Devouring Heart Annihilation Art, he would have been overwhelmed already.
Right then!
Peo-eok!
The palm force sent by Seophon Majon slammed into Heukno's face.
Had he brought up his protective astral energy a moment later, his entire face would have been blown clean off.
"You cowardly..."
Peo-eok!
This time, Chwima ruthlessly headbutted him.
Heukno couldn't gather his senses. A pincer attack, and now a headbutt?
Puk! Peo-eok!
His nose bone broke and blood gushed down his throat, but Heukno had no time to tend to his wounds.
He tried somehow to create a turning point, but he couldn't endure their brutal fighting style long enough to do so.
They should have fought with composure and pride. If they had come at him like that, he might have found some opening.
They needed to put on airs for him to keep his head clear and look for an opportunity.
Puk! Peo-eok! Puk!
The moment strength faded from the hand gripping Chwima's dagger-wielding arm.
In an instant, Chwima pulled his arm free and his dagger cleaved through the air.
Puuk puuk puuk!
Chwima showed no mercy, stabbing Heukno's heart repeatedly with his dagger.
The moment Heukno's limp corpse began to collapse to the ground, Chwima spun around as swift as lightning.
"Watch out!"
The body of Heukno with the pierced heart was not real. That body turned into black smoke and vanished, while the real Heukno was rising up behind Cheonhwa Ruju.
Just before his heart was pierced, he had squeezed out his remaining inner energy to unleash one final move.
Dark Shadow Shell Shedding Technique.
Heukno grabbed her neck from behind.
"Move a single step, and this wench's neck will snap."
He intended to hold out like this until Amno returned. A one-on-one fight was simply unbearable. Now that he had succeeded in taking Cheonhwa Ruju hostage, he regretted not doing this sooner, before his body had been reduced to a mangled mess.
The next moment, Heukno's eyes went wide.
Cheonhwa Ruju was standing in front of him, looking at him.
In that instant, Heukno was dazed. The person he had taken hostage was Cheonhwa Ruju, so why was she over there? Then who was he holding?
Puo-eong!
The sound of something bursting open rang out.
He felt his abdomen go hollow and something pour out.
The moment Heukno looked down at his stomach, he was overcome with shock.
A gaping hole had been blown through his stomach.
The woman he had been holding had discharged a palm strike backward.
It was too close and too unexpected; he had no time to raise his protective astral energy.
The woman slipped from his grasp and slowly turned around. She was not Cheonhwa Ruju, but Seophon Majon. He had definitely grabbed Cheonhwa Ruju from behind.
"...How?"
Heukno could understand. While he had been fighting frantically with Chwima, Seophon Majon had cast the Soul-Devouring Technique on him.
It was a Soul-Devouring Technique that wouldn't normally have worked, but his internal injuries were severe, and his mind had been half-scattered from the headbutt, so he had fallen victim to it.
Heukno's lips trembled. Just as he tried to muster his last strength to hurl curses and hexes at Seophon Majon, these wretched demon lords did not even allow him that.
Flash.
Kwazizizik.
A streak of qi resembling Chwima drinking alone fell.
Chwima's unique martial art, the Wine God Art.
Its second cup, the Wine God's Poisonous Wine.
The moment the qi lodged into the top of his head, Heukno's entire body was shattered and he perished.
He was the one who had said he wouldn't leave so much as an eyeball or a limb for Seophon Majon, yet in the end, he couldn't leave anything of his own corpse.
Seophon Majon turned around and attended to Cheonhwa Ruju.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks to you, Seophon Majon."
Cheonhwa Ruju bowed politely to Seophon Majon.
"I will not forget this grace."
It was no ordinary life-saving grace. Seophon Majon had not avoided a fatal situation for herself to protect her.
Seophon Majon attributed that merit to Geom Mugik until the very end.
"I was merely following the Young Cult Leader's orders."
It was then.
Hwaaaaaak.
They saw it. A massive golden palm print faintly appeared and vanished where Mabul and Amno had disappeared.
"That's Lord Mabul's Demonic Palm."
At Chwima's words, Seophon Majon and Cheonhwa Ruju looked toward that spot with tense hearts.
Shortly after, Mabul and Amno appeared there.
Amno's corpse had its entire body shattered.
"You've worked hard."
At Chwima's greeting, Mabul looked toward the traces that appeared to be Heukno and spoke.
"It seems he made you quite angry."
"Quite the opposite. We were the ones who made him furious."
At Chwima's reply, Mabul smiled.
"You've done well."
Now even the two limbs of the Dark Palace Lord, Amno and Heukno, had met their deaths.
Mabul stretched out his hand and inspected the dark energy flowing like mist.
"The energy of the Devouring Heart Annihilation Art still hasn't diminished."
Amno, influenced by the Devouring Heart Annihilation Art, had been no easy opponent.
If the Dark Palace Lord grew even stronger because of this energy, the fight could become incomparably more difficult than the battles against Heukno or Amno.
This was no time to be drunk on victory.
"Hurry to the Young Cult Leader's aid."
Mabul took the lead and walked into the dark energy, and the two women followed him.
Chwima walked behind them.
'Brother, I've saved the last drink for you!'
* * *
Five people left the main hall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Geom Ujin took the lead, with Gwonma and Dokwang at his sides, and Pungcheon Gyoju and Geomwang at the far ends.
If Geom Mugik had seen this scene, he would absolutely never have let it pass.
"Father, you've just donned the strongest wings in the world right now!"
He would undoubtedly have said something like that.
The four people following the Heavenly Demon walked silently behind him.
They entered Maga Village.
The place, always bustling, was now completely empty.
Geom Ujin stood in the middle of the road and looked down the street. No one could even guess what he was thinking as he gazed at the empty street with deepened eyes.
Given the situation, the tension was extraordinary, and no one opened their mouths.
Geom Ujin, Gwonma, and Dokwang had always been men of few words, and Geomwang was not one to speak out of turn in such settings.
Of course, except for one person.
Pungcheon Gyoju, whose mouth had been itching since they left the main hall, couldn't hold back and spoke.
"Perhaps it's because of that tavern, but coming to Maga Village always reminds me of the Young Cult Leader."
When Pungcheon Gyoju mentioned Geom Mugik, Geom Ujin responded.
"You've suffered much because of that son of mine."
Since it was before the Cult Leader, not just anyone, he had expected the obvious reply: "Not at all. Though the Young Cult Leader is young, you know well what a fine man he is, do you not?"
Pungcheon Gyoju waved his hand and shook his head.
"Oh, don't even speak of it. Your son made my uniform burst so many times. Back then, I wondered what great sin I had committed in my past life."
They had all experienced Geom Mugik before, so faint smiles touched their lips. To them, Geom Mugik was the only person who could make them smile just by thinking of him.
Of course, Pungcheon Gyoju had not spoken those words to speak ill of Geom Mugik.
"But now, I am grateful to the Young Cult Leader. If my uniform hadn't burst and I hadn't hopped around back then, I would still be living unhappily."
Gazing upon foul water every day and delighting in it, while keeping Gowol shackled.
Pungcheon Gyoju's eyes deepened.
"Thanks to the Young Cult Leader, I am happy these days."
Pungcheon Gyoju looked at Geom Ujin. Though the Heavenly Demon was always difficult and prickly, this was one thing he had wanted to say.
"You raised your son well."
Geom Ujin looked at him and spoke calmly.
"It's thanks to your kind regard."
Silence fell upon them once more.
Even after a long while, no one spoke.
In the end, the one who spoke again was Pungcheon Gyoju. How taciturn they all were.
If not for him, they could have stood there all day, no, an entire month, without anyone opening their mouths.
It was so suffocating and tedious that the approaching Thousand Kill Star would probably turn around and go back! He couldn't bring himself to say such words before Geom Ujin, however.
"If that one truly comes here, this Thousand Kill Star will be a most unfortunate star."
Everyone nodded as if in agreement, except for Geomwang.
"That may not necessarily be the case."
He was someone who would never have spoken up if it were anything else, but he had a reason to do so now.
"Why do you think so?"
At Pungcheon Gyoju's question, an unexpected answer flowed from Geomwang's mouth.
"It's because of the Young Cult Leader."
The reason he had thought of Geom Mugik first upon hearing the news of the Thousand Kill Star's appearance was this.
"If someone like the Young Cult Leader was born to stop the Thousand Kill Star appearing this time?"
Geomwang's words were that much of a high estimation of Geom Mugik.
"If the heavens have balanced him with the Young Cult Leader? If so, this Thousand Kill Star will become the greatest star in history."
At the same time, it was also a chilling statement.
Geom Mugik was a Young Cult Leader unseen in history. If, as Geomwang said, this was a destined rival to maintain balance, it meant a truly fearsome enemy could be coming.
Soon, Geom Ujin spoke.
"If it is as you say, I will surely destroy that Thousand Kill Star with my own hands."
Everyone could feel it from Geom Ujin's resolute will. For this moment alone, he was not speaking as the Heavenly Demon, but as a father.
"If it is as you say, I wish for the greatest star in history to come."
If fate truly maintained balance, the stronger the Thousand Kill Star, the greater his son would become.
Watching the Cult Leader reveal his heart for his son so openly, Gwonma could feel it.
Many had changed because of Geom Mugik, but the person who had changed the most was the Cult Leader. Though he seemed to have changed the least on the outside, he had changed the most. Rather, he had changed even more than Gwonma himself.
"When the evil star sets, the new star will shine all the brighter."
Geom Ujin nodded at Gwonma's words. A look passed between the two men.
"Let's kill it ourselves rather than burden Mugik."
"Yes, Cult Leader."
It was not the gaze of Cult Leader and Demon Lord, but of father and master.
Pungcheon Gyoju spoke cheerfully, as if trying to change the mood.
"Young Cult Leader, your father is suffering like this, so where and what is he doing?"
The one who answered Pungcheon Gyoju was Geomwang.
"The Young Cult Leader is...."
Just as he had to Pungcheon Gyoju, and as he had to himself.
"He's probably bursting someone's uniform somewhere again."