Now hope had come to the three Demon Venerables.
The Extreme Evil Soma had arrived outside, so they only had to hold out until he joined them!
In another sense, it also meant an even greater responsibility and duty had fallen upon them.
Even if they failed to endure and died, they had to inflict as much damage as possible on the Dark Palace Lord.
If the Dark Palace Lord walked out alive and unscathed, even if this space were shattered, the Extreme Evil Soma alone would not be able to face him.
The Drunken Demon sent a sound transmission to the Demon Buddha.
—If the moment comes when I seize him, do not worry about whether I live or die. Attack.
He had boasted that he would bring down all the remaining stars, but the Drunken Demon had already resolved himself for death. Even if the Greed-Heart Great Annihilation Art had vanished, the Dark Palace Lord was still a formidable opponent.
Decisively, all of them were suffering from internal and external injuries, and their internal energy was lacking as well, so defeating him would absolutely not be easy.
As he thought of death, two people came to the Drunken Demon’s mind.
The first was Yeobin, who would be waiting for him at the Drunken Dream Pavilion. If he died.
‘She’ll be drinking herself senseless every day.’
More than fear or regret over his own death, he was troubled by how much pain Yeobin would suffer.
Next came Geom Mugeuk, who had yet to emerge from the secret coffer, with no way of knowing whether he was alive or dead.
Yes, there was nothing to worry about. The Young Cult Leader would surely comfort Yeobin and look after her. For a martial artist, there could be no greater strength than knowing there was someone who would take responsibility for what came after.
‘Little brother, I leave the rest to you.’
The Drunken Demon looked at the Demon Buddha. He had never thought he would end up saving him twice. If they survived, he would gain a drinking companion.
—If we meet later in hell, buy me a drink.
The Demon Buddha stared at him, then sent a calm sound transmission.
—I will buy liquor and come to the Drunken Dream Pavilion. Invite me to your home.
It meant they should both survive and drink at the cult.
Sensing that the two of them were about to unleash their final move, the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable also prepared her last strike.
She intended to use her soul-capturing art on the Dark Palace Lord one last time.
But it had not worked even when she had not yet been injured. If she entered the Dark Palace Lord’s body in her current state, suffering from severe internal wounds, she would surely fall into qi deviation.
‘Even so, there’s no other choice.’
If she could bind him for even a single instant! If luck favored them, the Drunken Demon and the Demon Buddha might somehow finish him off.
When she sensed death, Geom Mugeuk came to her mind. As during the previous crisis, this was still what she regretted most.
‘I am sorry I could not serve you to the end, Young Cult Leader.’
At that moment, the Drunken Demon’s sound transmission flew to her.
—I have a favor to ask of you, Soul-Capturing.
—Tell me.
The Drunken Demon’s request was something she had never imagined. When she heard it, she was startled.
—You will naturally know when that moment comes.
After entrusting one task to the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable, the Drunken Demon stepped forward.
“Come now, old man! If you invited a drunkard, you should open the banquet again, shouldn’t you?”
The Demon Buddha and the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable walked out with him on either side. Today, the two Demon Venerables were willingly becoming the Drunken Demon’s wings.
They no longer paid attention to the Tower Lord of Cheonhwa. The Dark Palace Lord was already certain of his victory, so the chances of him taking her hostage were slim.
Moreover, if they lost this fight, she would die with them, so protecting her in this situation was meaningless.
The Dark Palace Lord looked at the three Demon Venerables and spoke coldly.
“Enjoy yourselves. It will be your final banquet.”
Outwardly, he seemed confident, but like the dark energy coiling around his body, he too was tense.
‘Now that the Greed-Heart Great Annihilation Art is gone, I must be cautious.’
No matter how injured they were, Demon Venerables were still Demon Venerables.
From now on, he could not recklessly use the Dark Demonic Art, which consumed a great deal of internal energy. If his internal energy ran out and even one Demon Venerable remained, that would be the same as death.
“Bring out the liquor! And bring out the Young Cult Leader too!”
The Drunken Demon shouted and charged like a madman. Even though one of his arms was broken, he showed not the slightest fear.
The Demon Buddha and the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable rushed forward together from behind his left and right. Though they had not devised a strategy, each of them knew what they had to do.
The pressure exerted by the combined attack of the three Demon Venerables was immense.
The Dark Palace Lord targeted the Drunken Demon first. He thrust both palms toward him.
Swaaaek, swaek!
Two streams of palm force flew toward the Drunken Demon from different directions.
The Drunken Demon used his footwork and evaded the palm forces. The mastery of footwork he had gained during this outing from the cult was shining in this final battle.
The Dark Palace Lord lightly launched himself backward and thrust both palms again. Two streams of palm force flew in with a time lag.
Swaaaek! Swaek!
This time too, the Drunken Demon seemed to be dodging well with his footwork.
Ripple.
The solid floor rippled, moving as though it were alive.
Because of that, the Drunken Demon’s footwork was thrown off.
Thud!
The second palm force struck the Drunken Demon’s body.
The Drunken Demon was sent sliding backward and collapsed onto the floor.
The one who neutralized the palm force that flew toward the fallen Drunken Demon was the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable.
A pattern formed in front of the Drunken Demon and swallowed the incoming qi force.
Her Primordial Reversal Art sent the qi force back toward the Dark Palace Lord.
In the meantime, the Demon Buddha stepped in front of the Drunken Demon.
“Are you all right?”
At the worried question, the Drunken Demon rose. Fortunately, he had been struck on the opposite side of his body, not on the side of his broken arm. Even though he had used protective qi, it hurt as though his bones had broken.
“I’m all right.”
The Drunken Demon got to his feet spiritedly.
“When you’re drinking, everyone falls over once in a while, don’t they?”
The Drunken Demon charged toward the Dark Palace Lord again.
Ripple, ripple.
When the floor rippled, one might have expected him to fly through the air and charge, but the Drunken Demon ran along that rippling floor. He had chosen to conserve even the smallest bit of internal energy.
The rippling floor hindered the Drunken Demon’s footwork.
But the Drunken Demon clearly showed the difference between being caught unaware and knowing what was coming.
He dodged attacks as though dancing atop the rippling floor, then slid forward and rushed at the Dark Palace Lord in an instant.
Until now, the Dark Palace Lord had only continued to flee, but this time he fought the Drunken Demon at close range. That old body moved with astonishing agility as he tried to strike the Drunken Demon’s throat and heart with his hands.
Thud!
Though he allowed the Dark Palace Lord to land a palm strike, the Drunken Demon did not retreat. He fought with the ferocity of a man who, if both his arms were broken, would fight with headbutts and tear with his teeth.
“Do you know why drunkards’ fights are so vicious? Once we’re drunk, we don’t even know pain.”
How could it not hurt? The Drunken Demon endured the agony and pressed him.
Because the two were engaged in close combat too swift to follow, the Demon Buddha and the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable could only watch without intervening.
At the very moment their close-quarters battle reached its peak, the dark energy of the Dark Palace Lord, which had remained still until then, seized the Drunken Demon. It was energy that had been waiting solely for this moment.
“No!”
The Demon Buddha shouted, but the Dark Palace Lord’s blow was already smashing into the Drunken Demon’s chest.
Booooom!
The Drunken Demon vomited a mouthful of blood.
He looked once at the Demon Buddha with vacant eyes, then dropped his head and collapsed.
The Dark Palace Lord looked down at the Drunken Demon with a cold gaze.
“Your drinking party is over.”
A deep sigh escaped the Demon Buddha as he watched. He could not sense any life from the Drunken Demon’s body. That one move had ended his life.
The Drunken Demon had died this pointlessly?
A golden radiance filled with dense killing intent burst from the Demon Buddha’s eyes as he looked at the Dark Palace Lord.
By contrast, the Dark Palace Lord stepped forward with a much lighter heart.
The Drunken Demon, who had tried to close in during their combined attack, had been troublesome, but he believed he could handle the other two well enough.
The Dark Palace Lord sensed victory from the Demon Buddha’s appearance. He was agitated by the Drunken Demon’s death. Even if he fought calmly, he could not defeat him; if he was agitated as well, the outcome was obvious.
Golden radiance began to gather in the Demon Buddha’s hand. The Dark Palace Lord sensed that he was about to use a major demonic art.
That was exactly what the Dark Palace Lord wanted. If he unleashed a powerful martial art, his remaining internal energy would be depleted in an instant.
“I know well that your Blood Buddha is not merciful. But it seems that mercilessness applies to you as well.”
It was at that moment.
From behind, someone wrapped one arm around the Dark Palace Lord’s neck. It was the Drunken Demon, whom he had thought dead.
“Now!”
The Drunken Demon was not dead.
Before the battle began, what he had asked of the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable through sound transmission was for her to make him appear dead. So that the Dark Palace Lord would believe in his death.
For this one and only chance.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable poured all her internal energy into unleashing her final soul-capturing art.
Soul-Capturing Turtle Breath.
She had perfectly disguised the Drunken Demon’s death. She had split the shock of the final blow equally between herself and him. It was a perfect move that had deceived even the Demon Buddha.
Whooooooooosh!
The Demon Palm Seal was released from the Demon Buddha’s hand.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwak!
A giant golden palm struck the Dark Palace Lord and the Drunken Demon, driving them back.
The two were swept away by the Demon Palm Seal and sent flying.
The Drunken Demon rolled across the floor. As he coughed up blood, his body was completely battered and torn.
A short distance away from him, the Dark Palace Lord stood with a discomfited expression. He had nearly died from that single move just now.
But he had not died. Blood flowed down his arm, and he had suffered a deep wound on his face, but he had not died.
A regretful sigh escaped the Drunken Demon’s lips. He turned his head and looked at the Demon Buddha.
“With a heart so weak, how can you call yourself one who serves the Blood Buddha?”
At the final moment, the Demon Buddha had not released his attack immediately and had hesitated for an instant. That hesitation had given the Dark Palace Lord time to escape. As he escaped, the Drunken Demon, who had been clinging to him, had survived as well.
The reason the Demon Buddha hesitated was because of the Drunken Demon. He could not bring himself to kill with his own hands the Drunken Demon who had saved him twice.
Even though that choice had been the only way to save himself and the others, at that final moment, the Demon Buddha had hesitated.
“I could not let you die together with a man like that, even in death.”
At those words, the Drunken Demon lay back and looked up at the night sky. Now true death remained.
“This is all because of the Young Cult Leader.”
The Demon Buddha had not originally been someone with such a weak heart. Though, by that logic, he himself would not have saved the Demon Buddha twice either.
The Demon Buddha sat down and silently rolled his prayer beads. Since he had poured out the last of his internal energy, he could not help the Drunken Demon.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable was the same. By using Soul-Capturing Turtle Breath, she had exhausted all the internal energy she had left.
The Dark Palace Lord extended his palm toward the Drunken Demon to deliver a palm strike.
“You tiresome bastard!”
The Drunken Demon was truly an opponent he never wanted to fight again.
“Old man, move that hand. I can’t see the sky.”
The Dark Palace Lord laughed coldly and was about to blow off the Drunken Demon’s head with palm force.
“Stop.”
An unexpected person stepped forward. Astonishingly, it was the Tower Lord of Cheonhwa.
She walked forward fearlessly and stood in front of the Drunken Demon.
“If you kill this man, you will not hear the final prophecy from me.”
When she stepped forward, not only the Drunken Demon but also the Demon Buddha and the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable were startled.
The deep wrinkles on the Dark Palace Lord’s face twitched.
“Do you think prophecy matters to me at this point?”
As though she had read his mind, the Tower Lord of Cheonhwa nodded calmly.
“I received a prophecy on this ship. Are you not curious what that prophecy was?”
At her words, the corners of the Dark Palace Lord’s eyes trembled slightly.
“What prophecy?”
“I will tell you if you spare the Demon Venerables.”
With an indifferent gaze, the Dark Palace Lord extended toward her the hand that had been aimed at the Drunken Demon. At the sight, as though he intended to kill her first, Gaye shouted.
“No!”
She could not stand by and watch the Tower Lord of Cheonhwa, who had saved her twice, die like this.
But the Dark Palace Lord had not extended his hand to kill her.
Using object manipulation from afar, the Dark Palace Lord moved the Tower Lord of Cheonhwa away from the remaining people.
“Even if I give up hearing the prophecy, I cannot spare them.”
Seeing that he moved only her aside, Gaye understood. He intended to spare the Tower Lord of Cheonhwa and kill her.
“The first person who should die is me.”
Gaye calmly accepted death.
“Because all of this is my responsibility, for failing to properly convey heaven’s will.”
The Dark Palace Lord spoke coldly.
“There is no need to decide the order of death. I will kill you all at once.”
When he raised his hand, the star floating in the sky began to descend.
It was different from before, when the stars had become ganggi and fallen.
All the remaining stars slowly descended. The pure-white masses of light were beautiful just to behold.
Those stars gathered around the three Demon Venerables and Gaye. Before their faces, and before their hearts.
They could all feel it. These stars would soon explode around them.
With this final technique using the stars, she meant to kill them all.
At the thought that death was now moments away, all the Demon Venerables closed their eyes.
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable said softly,
“It was an honor to fight alongside you two.”
It was his final expression of gratitude to the two senior Demon Venerables who had treated him, to the very end, as one of their own.
At the very instant the stars were about to explode—
Thunk!
The sound of something piercing through rang out there.
The gazes of the Demon Venerables, who had closed their eyes, turned toward the source of the sound.
A single sword had jutted out from the place the Drunken Demon had nearly torn apart earlier. Knowing that spot was weak, someone had thrust the sword in from the outside.
Was it because the Greed-Heart Great Annihilation Art had vanished? Or was it because the sword’s owner’s martial arts were simply that profound?
Riiiiip.
The protruding sword tore the dark energy downward.
At that moment, this space of darkness howled like a person.
Ssssssss.
Astonishingly, the stars floating before them, looking as though they would burst at any moment, lost their light and disappeared.
Because there were no stars in the night sky, the Lord of the Dark Palace could not alter the constellations to shift locations.
As the Lord of the Dark Palace hurriedly recited an incantation, the dark energy surrounding her surged toward the long tear below, trying to fill it.
It was right then.
Fwaaaaaak!
Through the spot where the sword had torn downward, something enormous broke in.
It was a great saber.
Above, a great saber. Below, a sword.
Two weapons pierced the wall of darkness at the same time.
The space let out an ear-splitting scream.
Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!
With the sound of firecrackers bursting, the night sky began to vanish. It was the moment the Dark Heaven Star Soul Art unleashed by the Lord of the Dark Palace was broken.
The hellish night sky disappeared, and they returned to the space where they had originally been.
Seeing the people standing there, the Drunken Demon tried to laugh loudly, but clutched his chest at the pain that surged through him.
The Demon Buddha also let out a sigh of relief, and a bright smile spread across the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s face.
The Lord of Cheonhwa Pavilion cried out in a trembling voice.
“Lord Soma.”
The snow-white mask was smiling at her.
The one she had longed to see so desperately had come to save them.
And he was not the only one there. If he had been, the three Demon Venerables would not have been so relieved.
Two more people stood beside the Extreme Evil Soma. Two people whose presence explained how they had managed to break through the external barrier and the dark haze surrounding the ship.
“Why is it that nothing happens all our lives, and then the moment we go out to enjoy ourselves, this chaos breaks loose?”
The owner of the gentle voice was none other than the One-Flower Sword Venerable.
Beside him stood the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, his great saber resting on his shoulder.
“This is why I can’t go anywhere.”