'It isn't pulling me in.'
Hyeok Docheon belatedly realized that the Bigwe was sucking in the Heavenly Demon Soul dwelling within his body.
When he resisted with all his might to keep it from being taken, the Bigwe pulled back with even greater force.
It would have been better if it had sucked him in instead. Forcibly tearing the Heavenly Demon Soul from his body and soul brought him horrific agony.
The blood qi that Hyeok Docheon had been forcibly holding back reversed its flow.
"Kuehk."
Blood spewed from his mouth. The gushing blood flowed along the Bigwe. Having absorbed the blood, the Bigwe vibrated even more intensely.
Geom Mugeuk could tell from the reactions of the others.
That the Heavenly Demon Soul superimposed over Hyeok Docheon's body was visible only to his eyes.
What he saw now was not the Heavenly Demon Soul made manifest through martial arts, but the spirit dwelling within Hyeok Docheon's soul.
That was why, to everyone else, it still looked like Hyeok Docheon was being sucked into the Bigwe.
The Muhwang Divine Sword shouted to Ju Ga-sin.
"The Demonic Cult Leader must not die!"
Honestly, the Muhwang Divine Sword had thought this:
'This is the perfect opportunity to kill the Demonic Cult Leader!'
But that was an emotional, momentary desire he must not harbor.
'He cannot die!'
If the Demonic Cult Leader died here, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would misunderstand that he had perished in a trap set by him. The result of that would be only one thing.
The Great Righteous-Demonic War.
Without the Demonic Cult Leader, how could they possibly defeat the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult with ease? Furthermore, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would gain the powerful justification of avenging their leader.
A war against demonic madmen rampaging with vengeance? It was something that must never come to pass. Even if they ultimately won, it would be a hollow victory bought with countless lives.
Too many had already died in this war. As the Alliance Leader, he could barely endure the guilt as it was. Another war must not happen.
There was another reason he had to save the Demonic Cult Leader.
Vice Alliance Leader Ju Ga-sin, standing right beside him!
Because he could never know how that inscrutable man would act in a situation where the Demonic Cult Leader was dead.
Having made up his mind, the Muhwang Divine Sword moved first.
"I will aid him."
The Muhwang Divine Sword threw himself toward Hyeok Docheon. To think that a day would come in his life when he would rescue the Demonic Cult Leader.
"I am going to help you, do not refuse!"
The Muhwang Divine Sword raised his internal energy and grabbed Hyeok Docheon's body.
Just as he grabbed him and tried to pull him away, the Muhwang Divine Sword saw it.
Hyeok Docheon, pinned beneath the Bigwe and looking this way—his pupils dilating in an instant.
Swhaaaaak!
Boom!
A palm strike flying from behind slammed into the Muhwang Divine Sword's back. Shockingly, it was an ambush carried out by Ju Ga-sin.
"Keuk."
The blood the Muhwang Divine Sword coughed up splattered onto Hyeok Docheon's back and the Bigwe.
Despite having sustained internal injuries, the Muhwang Divine Sword turned like lightning and swung his sword. He raised his body-protecting barrier at the last moment and avoided a fatal wound.
Chae-aeng!
The Muhwang Divine Sword barely knocked aside the sword flying toward his heart.
In truth, the Muhwang Divine Sword had suspected that Ju Ga-sin might perhaps attack him.
But he had not expected such a swift and decisive attack. To think that he would instinctively make a decision that would change the fate of so many others—not to mention himself?
Kwang!
Their two swords clashed in midair, erupting with explosive force.
"You!"
The enraged Muhwang Divine Sword glared at Ju Ga-sin beyond their crossed blades. Seeing the clear killing intent in his opponent's eyes, no further words were needed.
Ju Ga-sin judged that this moment was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill both the Demonic Cult Leader and the Martial Alliance Leader.
Now that he had drawn his sword, there was no turning back.
Their two blades flashed back and forth like rays of light.
Though internally injured by Ju Ga-sin's surprise attack, the Muhwang Divine Sword was not pushed back in the clash. It was a fight where yielding even a single step meant death. He swallowed the blood welling up in his throat.
Their swords were so fast that the next afterimage was left before the previous one vanished. It was as if the two were fighting with dozens of arms wielding dozens of swords.
The Muhwang Divine Sword's unique martial art was the Guangming Wuyang Sword Technique, based on extreme yang internal energy, while Ju Ga-sin's was the Tiandi Yinhan Sword Technique, based on extreme yin internal energy.
It was truly a battle of extreme yang and extreme yin, of heat and cold. If one side emitted light, the other devoured it.
A cold blizzard raged from Ju Ga-sin's sword, while a heat like the sun blazed from the Muhwang Divine Sword's blade. The world alternated between summer and winter.
Geom Mugeuk watched the battle, enthralled. He could not take his eyes off it.
Truly, one marvelous move after another continued. The swordsmanship from three hundred years ago was different from that of the present. There was learning and enlightenment to be gained from that difference.
While their bloody battle was raging, Hyeok Docheon was also fighting a desperate struggle against the Bigwe.
He tried somehow to protect the Heavenly Demon Soul, but it was a force that no human could stop.
In the end, unable to endure any longer, the Heavenly Demon Soul was torn from Hyeok Docheon's body.
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"
The vivid agony of his soul being ripped away coursed through him.
Geom Mugeuk saw the Heavenly Demon Soul being absorbed into the Bigwe. The sight of such a powerful Heavenly Demon Soul being sucked in so helplessly was shocking. Would it have been sucked in even if it had been manifested on a massive scale? It was impossible to know.
Having absorbed the Heavenly Demon Soul, the Bigwe no longer pulled at Hyeok Docheon.
Watching the scene descend into chaos, the Cheonui Palace Lord laughed even as he vomited blood from his mouth.
'Yes, kill each other!'
Meanwhile, the Suho Palace Lord was embracing the Cheonui Palace Lord's body. This was to prevent the aftereffects of the battle from reaching him.
Boom! Kwaaang!
A stray attack from the fierce battle between the two leaders struck his body. Though he endured with his extreme body-protecting barrier, pain like his bones shattering surged through him.
But he tried to protect the Cheonui Palace Lord until his final breath. Though he knew the Cheonui Palace Lord was on the verge of death, he fulfilled his calling until the very end.
Then came a continuous string of explosions.
Kwang! Kwang! Kwaaang! Kwang!
The sounds were so loud and intense that the Muhwang Divine Sword and Ju Ga-sin stopped fighting and retreated from each other.
Hyeok Docheon, having had his Heavenly Demon Soul stolen, was pounding on the Bigwe with his fists like a madman.
To the eyes of the Muhwang Divine Sword, who could not see the Heavenly Demon Soul, it looked as though Hyeok Docheon had broken free from being pulled in.
"The Vice Alliance Leader has betrayed us. Let's take care of this side first—"
For a moment, the Muhwang Divine Sword could not continue.
Looking this way, blood-red energy was streaming from both of Hyeok Docheon's eyes.
'The Demonic Cult Leader has fallen into qi deviation!'
The Heavenly Demon Soul had been forcibly torn away, leaving him half out of his mind.
Hyeok Docheon stretched his hand toward Ju Ga-sin. He raised his internal energy to the extreme, attempting to execute a single technique.
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk knew.
'No!'
What Hyeok Docheon was trying to use without warning was the Heavenly Demon World Destruction. If he used it in this deranged state, not only he himself but everything here would be annihilated.
Flash!
In the next instant, light burst forth.
And fortunately, that light had not come from Hyeok Docheon's hand.
The Bigwe emitted a light so blindingly bright in all directions that one could not open their eyes.
In that moment, everyone's movements stopped as if by a miracle. The same was true for Geom Mugeuk himself. The aftereffects of the light reached even him, who was inside the Spacetime Transference Technique.
Geom Mugeuk could not move his entire body. It was as if the light was saying this:
Just watch.
He could see the figures of people frozen within the light.
Hyeok Docheon with his hand outstretched. The Muhwang Divine Sword trying to say something to him. Ju Ga-sin with an unreadable expression. The smiling Cheonui Palace Lord. And the Suho Palace Lord protecting him with his body.
They were each letting out silent screams of their own.
In the next moment!
Something began to escape from Hyeok Docheon's frozen body.
It was not only him. Something escaped from the bodies of the Muhwang Divine Sword, Ju Ga-sin, and the dying Cheonui Palace Lord as well.
Golden radiance shone along the contours of their bodies, and then other versions of them separated out.
Amazingly, it was their souls.
The souls flailed their hands, trying not to leave their bodies, but like the dead departing from their flesh, they separated from their physical forms.
It was not only their souls. Innate true qi and internal energy radiated with brilliant light from their dantians and separated out together.
Geom Mugeuk was truly astonished. He had experienced all manner of things, but this was the first time he had witnessed such a sight. It was mysterious yet bizarre.
The escaping souls and innate true qi circled around the Bigwe once.
Then, he could see their expressions clearly.
He saw Hyeok Docheon roaring while lost to qi deviation. The astonished Muhwang Divine Sword. Ju Ga-sin, still not revealing his emotions even in this situation. And the Cheonui Palace Lord, smiling radiantly as if he believed they were all going to hell together.
They revealed their final expressions like that, and then...
Shhhuk.
Like being sucked into an abyss, they were instantly absorbed into the Bigwe.
Thud.
The remaining physical bodies all collapsed to the ground.
Geom Mugeuk understood. That they were all dead.
No, strictly speaking, they were not dead. The Bigwe had absorbed them all, leaving only empty shells behind. Their souls, innate true qi, and all the internal energy they possessed.
Now, the only ones left alive here were himself and the Suho Palace Lord.
The Suho Palace Lord looked at Wi Mucheon, whom he had been holding in one arm, with sorrowful eyes.
He had already breathed his last.
"...My Lord."
Fortunately, Wi Mucheon's final expression was one of a smile, but a stream of tears flowed from the Suho Palace Lord's eyes.
"I am sorry I could not protect you."
Even in death, he had wished to die first, yet it was the Cheonui Palace Lord who had died first.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it.
That the Bigwe had not absorbed the Suho Palace Lord was not because his martial arts were inferior to those of the other four.
He felt it was because the Suho Palace Lord was a different kind of person from them. Because he was someone who had lived his whole life protecting others, like a shield.
The Suho Palace Lord looked back. The corpses of the three leaders lay fallen on the ground.
While he stood in a daze with an expression of disbelief.
Clunk.
The Bigwe spat something out.
Rolling across the floor with a rattle, it was a perfectly transparent bead devoid of any color. It was so transparent that what lay behind it was clearly visible.
At the moment when the Suho Palace Lord was struggling to go pick it up.
Hwiiiiiiii.
Black energy rose from his legs and wrapped around his body.
"Ugh."
The dark energy pressed down on him with tremendous force and bound him.
With one arm already severed and internal injuries from protecting the Cheonui Palace Lord with his body-protecting barrier, he could not endure this pressure.
Crack.
As sounds of breaking bones rang out, the Suho Palace Lord vomited a gush of blood.
Sssss.
Along with black smoke, the one revealing himself before him was none other than Hwa Sogang, the Amheuk Palace Lord of this era.
Sreuk.
When the Amheuk Palace Lord stretched out his hand, the transparent bead that had fallen to the floor rose into the air. Joy flooded his face as he looked at it.
"Heaven's will was with me!"
He was so overjoyed that he felt like shouting. Even if he combined all the joy he had experienced since birth, it would not match this moment.
Watching that figure while trapped in darkness, the Suho Palace Lord let out a low groan and spoke.
"...Hwa Sogang."
The Amheuk Palace Lord was utterly absorbed in the transparent bead, even at his call.
A mysterious energy was flowing from the bead. An unprecedented power could be felt from it.
"...Traitor."
When the Suho Palace Lord glared at him with burning eyes, the Amheuk Palace Lord looked at him and asked.
"What about you? Are you a loser?"
The Suho Palace Lord hardened his expression and struggled to break free from the darkness. But the more he did so, the stronger the binding became.
The Amheuk Palace Lord's gaze turned back to the transparent bead.
"I had uncovered the secret of the Bigwe."
He had sought the secret of the Bigwe for a long time and finally uncovered it. He had not informed the Cheonui Palace Lord of that important fact.
"The Bigwe is originally an absolute divine object that absorbs evil spirits and converts them into primordial qi. They didn't even know that and merely enshrined it all these years."
Just by seeing what it had shown moments ago, one could tell those words were true.
The Amheuk Palace Lord's gaze turned to Hyeok Docheon, collapsed on the ground.
"The Heavenly Demon Soul is a great evil spirit among evil spirits, and furthermore, the one wielding that soul, Hyeok Docheon, is a wicked and cruel man by nature. I was certain the Bigwe would absorb it."
He had expected exactly that much. When the Demonic Cult Leader, having had his Heavenly Demon Soul stolen, went on a rampage, he had intended to secretly make off with this bead containing the Heavenly Demon Soul and escape.
That power alone would have been enough.
And yet the secret coffer had given him a gift far greater than that. Not even the Lord of the Dark Palace, who had orchestrated this affair, had known the secret coffer would absorb them all.
“With this power, I will rule the murim forever.”
The Lord of the Dark Palace stared at the bead as if bewitched. Within that transparent bead, he saw the heavens, and he saw the sea. He saw light, and he saw darkness. He saw life and death.
Even as his entire body was being crushed, the Lord of the Guardian Palace struggled not to lose consciousness.
“The heavens will not permit…… such mighty power to one like you.”
The Lord of the Dark Palace gazed at him and asked,
“Do you truly think the heavens are on your side?”
At least in this situation, no such words could come out.
“……The masters of the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions will not leave you be.”
The Lord of the Dark Palace laughed as he said,
“How, when they will not know I killed them? The three leaders of the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions fought over the sacred relic of Cheonui Palace and mutually destroyed one another! Truly a disgraceful affair. What happened today will never even become known to the world. It will become something that never existed in history.”
Craaaack.
The sound of bones being completely crushed came from the Lord of the Guardian Palace’s body.
Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes, unable to bear watching. He must not help, but even if he wished to, he could not.
After seeing the light earlier, Geom Mugeuk still could not move his body at all. The secret coffer was making absolutely certain he could not interfere in this matter.
The Lord of the Guardian Palace spoke with difficulty.
“The heavens may not have been on our side…… but they will not be on yours either.”
With those words, his head dropped limply.
Only then did the darkness surrounding him vanish, and his corpse fell to the floor.
“This affair will not remain in history, but…….”
The Lord of the Dark Palace’s body began to be shrouded in black smoke. He, too, left his final words to the corpse of the Lord of the Guardian Palace.
“I will remain as history.”
The Lord of the Dark Palace disappeared from that place along with the smoke.
A moment later, Geom Mugeuk released the Spacetime Transposition Art and revealed himself. Only after the Lord of the Dark Palace departed had his body begun to move again.
Geom Mugeuk’s expression was graver than ever.
Only now did he understand where Hwa Mugi’s strength had come from.
‘The Heavenly Demon, the Murim Alliance Leader, the Evil Dao Alliance Leader, and on top of that the Lord of Cheonui Palace and the Heavenly Demon Soul. Five souls and even their innate true qi are mingled within him. If I include the soul of Hwa Mugi, the owner of the body that accepted that energy, then a total of six souls dwell within him.’
Now he understood clearly why it had been said that without the special energy known as Six Paths Primordial Qi, Hwa Mugi could not be controlled.
He did not know why the Six Paths Primordial Qi had been scattered and hidden in that manner, but he could tell that the six energies he had gathered were deeply connected to those six souls.
Geom Mugeuk walked over to the corpse of the Lord of the Guardian Palace. He had died without even closing his eyes.
“That Lord of the Dark Palace did not fulfill Heaven’s Will. His name was not recorded in even a single line of history.”
Because that power had been far too strong, he must have failed to achieve his aim. Only in later generations would it come to be known that one needed the Six Paths Primordial Qi in order to handle that power.
“His descendants will not achieve that vain ambition either. So close your eyes and rest in peace.”
Geom Mugeuk closed the Lord of the Guardian Palace’s wide-open eyes.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the small secret coffer lying beside him, soaked in blood. Since it had vanished completely from his own world, this would be the last time he ever saw it.
‘Thank you, my friend.’
After bidding it farewell, Geom Mugeuk strode straight toward the large secret coffer.
“Send me back.”
Until now, he had always been sucked into the secret coffer at completely unexpected moments, but for the first time, he demanded it of his own will.
“To the place where my people are.”