They traversed the night sky.
As the wind brushed against my cheeks, a crescent moon shone brilliantly above.
It was an unusually beautiful night.
Of all nights.
How long had I been flying, feeling the heat of summer?
It could not have been a short distance. The scenery below had changed countless times.
Squeeze-!
I tightened my grip. The person being dragged along moved her head.
Her black hair streamed in the wind, and she was frowning, apparently because of the harsh pressure of the air.
However.
‘So this much doesn’t bother her?’
Even though she was being dragged along by the neck, she showed no sign of discomfort.
How could that be, when I was gripping her with all my strength?
Just as bewilderment tinged with anger began to rise within me—
The Heavenly Demon’s gaze briefly swept over her surroundings.
Was she trying to figure out how far we had flown? Just as that thought occurred to me—
I felt something against my wrist.
The Heavenly Demon seized my arm with her snow-white hand.
And then—
Squeeze-!
“…!”
The Heavenly Demon began pushing me away with the strength of her grip.
It was not as though I was using all my strength, but even so, her grip was tremendous.
I frowned.
As expected. So this was the strength of the Heavenly Demon.
‘Yes. This is how it should be.’
It made more sense this way.
If I wanted to reduce my hesitation, this was better.
Thinking so—
Vrrrrrrr-.
I condensed heat behind my back. Then, in an instant, I released the gathered heat.
Baaaaang—!!!
An explosion infused with energy erupted, and I used it to add to my momentum.
At tremendous speed, I crashed toward the ground with the Heavenly Demon.
Fwoooosh—!! KABOOOOOM—!!!!
Not only did a tremor resound, but enormous flames spread in every direction, crushing the ground beneath us.
The surrounding forest was ruined in an instant.
The trees that had filled the area in abundance were torn from the earth, and the life-filled field was transformed into a wasteland.
The dense heat and impact produced by the flames sent clouds of dust rising.
Haaaaaah…
There was enough dust to obscure my vision, but such a thing could no longer blind my eyes.
I surveyed the surroundings with gleaming eyes.
No, in truth, there was no need to look.
My opponent was simply standing there, utterly unmoving.
I released my energy and swept away the dust.
Whoosh-! As the dust cleared, my vision sharpened.
With the devastated area behind her, the Heavenly Demon stood directly before me.
She tilted her head and rubbed her neck.
Seeing that, I frowned and asked,
“Why did you follow me?”
“…?”
The Heavenly Demon’s expression filled with confusion at my question.
“You brought me here.”
Her attitude seemed to ask how I could be so shameless.
In a way, she was right. But I knew it was not quite that simple.
“You could have avoided me.”
The Heavenly Demon could have evaded my ambush if she had wished.
The pressure she had displayed just now, and the energy she had shown while protecting Gu Huibi, made that clear.
The Heavenly Demon had allowed herself to be caught on purpose.
So I asked her,
“Why didn’t you avoid me and let yourself be caught?”
I was asking why she had not resisted, and the Heavenly Demon answered,
“If I stayed there, Older Sister would get hurt.”
“…”
“It’s fine here.”
She had given me an answer so infuriating that merely hearing it made my blood boil.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
What kind of absurd situation was this?
It was beyond ridiculous.
I had never expected such words to come from the Heavenly Demon’s mouth. The anger surging up within me forced me to grit my teeth.
That brief answer was more than enough to turn my insides upside down, but—
“…Forget it.”
The anger soon subsided.
There was no point.
The time for getting angry and grinding my teeth was over. I reminded myself once more why I had come here.
Fwoosh.
Flames gathered above my palm.
In the blink of an eye, the Flame Jade wrapped in blue radiance was complete. I raised my fighting aura and stared at the Heavenly Demon.
I would kill the Heavenly Demon here. In doing so, I would complete one part of the karma I had intended to fulfill through regression.
Just as I was wrapping myself in energy with that thought—
The Heavenly Demon asked me a question.
“Do you hate me?”
It was an obvious question.
“I hate you.”
Enough to want to kill her.
I hated her. I hated her more and more.
“Why?”
The Heavenly Demon continued asking, as though she truly could not understand me.
“I… haven’t done anything to you, though?”
She had not done anything. Yes, that was true as well.
“You haven’t done anything.”
In this life, she had certainly done nothing. We had met several times by now, but—
The Heavenly Demon had never done anything to me first.
Only—
“You just haven’t done anything yet.”
“I’m never going to do anything, though?”
“…”
I did not answer that.
Because perhaps it really could be true.
This was a life in which countless changes had arisen from the smallest incidents.
I had changed the lives of many people, and my own life was changing as well.
The Heavenly Demon might change too.
I could not be certain of that, but—
‘In the end, it’s merely uncertain.’
That was all it amounted to.
I had experienced too much at her hands to believe in words that would simply scatter away.
Fwoooosh.
The condensed Flame Jade changed shape.
I activated the Sacred Spear.
I could form the Sacred Spear far more quickly than before. In an instant, the Flame Jade Sacred Spear was complete.
I seized it—
Crack-! I planted my foot on the ground and twisted my upper body.
Using the recoil to my advantage, I hurled the Sacred Spear with all my strength.
Wheeeeeee—!!
The tremendous heat tore through the air and drove forward in a straight line.
“…!”
The Heavenly Demon’s eyes widened as she moved her body to evade the Sacred Spear.
The Sacred Spear passed her without striking and flew toward the forest behind her.
Not long after—
Hum-!
KABOOOOOM—!!!
A small tremor rang out, followed by a tremendous explosion in the distance.
The smell of burning filled the air.
Seeing that, I narrowed my eyes.
The Sacred Spear had missed.
But it did not matter.
‘It wasn’t thrown with the intention of hitting her in the first place.’
The instant the Heavenly Demon was caught off guard, I took half a step forward.
Half a step.
It was a small, light step, but the condensed inner energy seeped into it, transforming it into something close to Sukhyeok.
The scene changed, and I arrived before the Heavenly Demon.
There was not enough time to cast the Sacred Spear.
So I condensed the Flame Jade and thrust my hand out right in front of her.
The Heavenly Demon frowned.
Last time, she had crushed the Flame Jade by seizing it in her hand. Could she do the same again?
A strike filled with doubt flew toward the Heavenly Demon.
Just as I wondered how she would respond—
Ssssss—!!!
For an instant, I saw black energy gather around the Heavenly Demon’s body.
The energy formed a thin barrier in the blink of an eye, and the Flame Jade I had thrust out struck it head-on.
KABOOM—!!!
Blue flames filled with heat erupted.
It had exploded right before her face, so one would have expected her to suffer some damage.
But my expression was not good.
I had realized it the moment I saw the black barrier.
‘It didn’t touch her.’
With that judgment, I widened the distance between us.
Haaaaaah-!
The heat gathered around the Heavenly Demon vanished, revealing the figure concealed within.
A circular, semitransparent black barrier.
She stood inside it without having suffered the slightest injury.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue as I looked at it.
‘So she still has that.’
That barrier was a power the Heavenly Demon had possessed in my previous life as well.
The Heavenly Demon’s overwhelming martial might had been enough to place her at the pinnacle of strength, but—
It was also clear that the power contained in that barrier played a major role.
‘…Absolute Gangqi.’
I ground my teeth as I recalled its name.
A protective gangqi with which martial artists guarded their bodies by using gangqi.
But the barrier possessed power that could not even be compared to that.
‘The Heavenly Demon’s gangqi doesn’t merely block attacks and protect her body…’
It cut off every form of ‘martial art’ that opposed her.
Whether it was a supreme technique or an ultimate art, it became meaningless before the Heavenly Demon.
Power could not pierce through her gangqi, leaving escape as the only option.
That was why even the Three Venerables, despite their immense strength, were nothing more than helpless humans before the Heavenly Demon.
‘That’s what makes it so strange.’
How had Father managed to injure someone like the Heavenly Demon?
The question crossed my mind.
Could it have been a miracle?
Perhaps it had.
A martial artist could not oppose the Heavenly Demon.
And yet, it was also martial artists who protected the world and fought against the blood calamity.
It seemed like a battle whose outcome had already been decided, but—
‘We… No, they were able to do it because they had the Divine Sword.’
Among the countless people spread throughout the Central Plains, he was the only one capable of cutting through Absolute Gangqi.
The Divine Sword was such a person.
The so-called Demon-Subduing Sword.
The Divine Sword was someone who could ignore Absolute Gangqi and injure the Heavenly Demon.
Using that ability, he had ultimately succeeded in killing the Heavenly Demon.
But put another way—
‘As long as the Divine Sword is absent, the Heavenly Demon’s gangqi cannot be pierced.’
That was a fair assessment of the situation, and that was how things had actually been in my previous life.
It was also why so many people had died in an effort to keep the Divine Sword alive at any cost.
Grind-!
I gritted my teeth harshly.
‘How am I supposed to break through that?’
As long as Absolute Gangqi existed, everything was meaningless.
‘If it wasn’t complete, I had hoped at least that she wouldn’t have this.’
But damn it, it seemed the Heavenly Demon had already surrounded herself with that defensive system.
Then what was I supposed to do?
What in the world could I do?
Just as I was racking my brain in desperation—
“Stop.”
The Heavenly Demon murmured to me.
“…I don’t want to fight.”
She spoke with an expression that seemed somehow sad.
The emotion contained in her words could be faintly felt in my chest.
Because of that, the thought briefly crossed my mind that perhaps she was being sincere.
But—
“Nonsense.”
That feeling burned away the moment it arose.
“You have no right to say that.”
You did not want to fight?
At the very least, you had no right to say such a thing.
Even if you were going to say it—
“You should have said it much earlier.”
Not now. Not in this life. Far earlier than that.
Even if you had said it then, it would have been too late.
Fwoosh.
I wrapped my body in flames. Blue flames burned dully.
They had become mixed with demonic energy in accordance with my emotions.
I still did not know the way.
Perhaps I would never be able to pierce through gangqi.
Even so—
It was time to stop turning away when the moment stood before me.
Boom-!
I kicked off the ground and charged.
I twisted my waist, channeling strength into my lower body.
Then I launched a kick at the Heavenly Demon.
Fwoosh-! Flames coiled around my toes.
I condensed them into a single point and swung at the Heavenly Demon, but—
Bang-!
The moment they touched the gangqi, the flames vanished, and the energy that should have gathered in my leg disappeared as well.
The strength drained from me.
In an instant, my kick lost its speed.
Crack-!
The Heavenly Demon caught my leg and flung me away.
Whoosh-!
“Guh!”
She must have used a considerable amount of strength, because my body flew through the air at tremendous speed.
I could not let the distance widen more than necessary, so I immediately spewed out flames and halted my movement.
Fwoosh-! Sizzle-!!
Just as I barely managed to reduce my speed, I looked straight ahead, preparing to charge again.
“…”
The Heavenly Demon had already approached and was staring at me from close by.
Damn it.
Was she simply playing with me?
“…Stop…”
Her pitiful voice brushed against my ears.
Damn it, hearing those words in Wi Seol-ah’s face and voice made me feel even more wretched.
‘Find a way.’
At times like this, I had to find a way. And until now, I had always managed to do so.
Therefore, I would find one this time as well.
Now was the time I had to.
I looked at the Heavenly Demon wrapped in gangqi and opened the Mind’s Eye.
I had activated it in the hope that I might see something through it.
‘Fuck.’
The moment I saw the barrier, I had to curse.
‘You mean I can’t see anything?’
Even through the Mind’s Eye, no flow could be seen within the barrier.
How was that possible?
Every form of energy was bound to possess a flow in the end.
If that too was gangqi, I should have been able to see at least some trace of a flow. And yet, not even the slightest flow could be seen in the Heavenly Demon’s Absolute Gangqi.
‘No. It isn’t strange.’
Right. It was not strange.
If there had been some sort of flow to see in the first place—
‘Paejon would never have lost.’
Neither Paejon, who possessed a Mind’s Eye more refined than mine, nor the Three Venerables could have lost so completely.
Because it was so difficult to overcome, they must have tried to keep the Divine Sword alive by any means necessary.
‘This is truly a fucked-up situation.’
Was there really no way?
No matter how desperately I struggled to kill the Heavenly Demon, if I could not overcome this, it was no different from being unable to even begin.
Even after enduring all this since my regression, I had not managed to open a single path through it. It was simply absurd.
‘This power shouldn’t even be possible in the first place.’
A gangqi that blocked every martial art.
Could that thing really be called gangqi…
‘Huh?’
I stopped in the middle of my thoughts.
Because something had occurred to me.
‘What if…’
What if the Absolute Ganggi had never been Ganggi in the first place?
What if the reason its flow could not be seen through the Mind’s Eye was because it was not energy itself?
‘It might not be energy. If that’s the case…’
I raised my head and looked at the Heavenly Demon.
The Heavenly Demon was looking at me with the same expression as before.
“I…”
It seemed he was about to say something. What was he trying to tell me as his lips moved?
That question arose in my mind, but more important than that was—
“Tam.”
There was something I had to do first.
“Bite.”
Twitch—.
Crack—!
“…!”
A massive mouth sprang from my shadow and tore into the Heavenly Demon’s Ganggi.
A space opened where Tam had bitten down.
The barrier had been ripped apart.
The Heavenly Demon’s Absolute Ganggi had been torn to pieces by Gluttony.
“Huh?”
The Heavenly Demon showed a moment of bewilderment at the torn barrier.
I did not miss it.
Whoosh—!
I shoved a clump of Flame Prison through the gap.
Then—
Kraaaaaaash—!!!
An explosion erupted from within the barrier.
Smoke billowed out and spread around us.
Fortunately, the smoke soon subsided.
And where the smoke had completely cleared, the Heavenly Demon stood.
Drip….
Blood was falling from the corner of his mouth.
The Heavenly Demon wiped away the blood with the back of his hand and stared at it.
“Ah….”
His eyes were filled with unmistakable disbelief.
“It hurts.”
He spoke haltingly, as though it were a word he had scarcely ever uttered.
Moreover, even as he said that it hurt, his eyes were filled with wonder.
Was he amazed by pain itself?
While that struck me as astonishing—
‘…I suppose the same goes for me.’
I had thought it strange that I could not see it through the Mind’s Eye.
The black barrier protecting his body was not Ganggi at all.
“That was an Authority.”
“Authority?”
The baptism used by demons.
As I recalled the countless demons who had received supernatural powers from the Heavenly Demon and used them, I found it strange that I had never thought of it before.
“I thought it made no sense to call that martial arts….”
In the first place—
“It wasn’t martial arts.”
“…”
I rose to my feet.
Just as the Heavenly Demon had done, I wiped away the drops running down my chin.
Was it sweat?
Had I been breaking out in a cold sweat without realizing it?
My body was not tired. My inner energy was brimming over.
And yet my flesh had broken out in a cold sweat.
As though it had been frightened in advance.
Ridiculous.
“Hoo….”
I exhaled deeply and lifted my head.
Then I looked at the bleeding Heavenly Demon.
Had the Heavenly Demon been a dragon?
Having witnessed him use an Authority, it seemed certain that he was a dragon, and yet—
‘I don’t feel any hostility.’
The hostility I had felt whenever I saw a dragon was faint.
No, I was certainly feeling hostility. It was simply—
‘It’s not because he’s a dragon.’
The hostility was closer to what I felt toward something that needed to be killed. It was different from the instinctive sensation I experienced because my opponent was a dragon.
How had this happened?
A question briefly arose in my mind, but—
‘It doesn’t matter.’
It no longer mattered.
What mattered now was—
“I can break through it.”
I could pierce the Heavenly Demon’s barrier, something only the Divine Sword had been able to do.
And thus—
‘I’ll devour him.’
I could bite down on and swallow the seed of the Blood Calamity right here.
That was all that mattered to me now.
Twitch.
Heat churned within me.
Ba-dump—!
The recoil that began from my heart seeped into the corners of my eyes.
A reddish hue gradually spread through my gleaming blue irises.
Then the blue and red blended together, changing into violet.
I might be able to kill the Heavenly Demon.
And by doing so, I might be able to fully take the Divine Sword’s place.
Such longing accumulated in my mind.
“Tam.”
The new possibility became longing.
The transformed longing became hope.
And hope, in turn, became purpose.
The purpose thus created burned dully as it mingled with violet.
“Bite.”
Kyaaaaaaaah—!!
Kill the Heavenly Demon.
That was the only thought in my mind now.
*****************
Fwoooooosh—!!!
Around the time violet light began to stain the land beneath the crescent moon—
“…Hmm.”
At the sudden presence he sensed, a man looked in one direction. Henan, where the Martial Alliance was located. It had originally been the man’s destination, but—
Whoosh.
For now, all he could see was raging fire.
“…”
The man withdrew his gaze and surveyed his surroundings.
Another flame was burning on Taesan, along the road to Henan.
Mount Taeseong (泰成山).
It was a lofty mountain standing along the route from Shanxi to Henan.
It should have been covered in green according to the season.
Yet for some reason, Taesan was wrapped in flames, burning red even in the dead of night.
The strange thing was that there were homes beneath the mountain, but despite Taesan being engulfed in flames, the people living there showed no interest whatsoever.
As though—
They could not see the flames at all.
At the summit of Taesan, wrapped in those異質적인 flames, a man stood.
The lord of Shanxi’s Gu Family, the Heroic Gu Cheol-un, stared straight ahead with expressionless eyes.
More precisely, he was facing the master of the flames encircling Taesan.
At the end of his gaze, someone sat perched atop a massive boulder.
A white-haired old man wearing a completely tattered rag stood there.
The old man looked at Gu Cheol-un with eyes dyed red.
The strange thing was—
A massive red horn had sprouted from one side of the old man’s forehead.
The horn glowed red in the darkness, clearly visible even in the night.
As he stared at that horn, Gu Cheol-un turned his similarly red eyes and spoke to the old man.
“It has been a long time. I hope you have been in good health all this while.”
At Gu Cheol-un’s words—
“Father.”
The old man’s expression changed, and he wore a chilling smile.