[Kuaaaaaah--!!!]
At the flames invading his face, Gyecheon Munju lets out a scream.
He staggers from the sudden pain and creates distance. Along with trying to somehow peel off the flames stuck to his face, but.
[Kueueue--!!]
The flames did not die out easily. It felt like his skin would burn away entirely.
Unable to overcome the pain, Gyecheon Munju rolls on the ground.
Whether that helped or not, the flames gradually died down.
[This... what is...]
His face still radiating heat and spewing smoke. Gyecheon Munju raises his body, covering his face.
Then.
"Stay down."
A voice was heard.
The moment Gyecheon Munju raised his head at this.
"That suits bugs like you."
Along with a low voice, a scorching darkness pours over his face once again.
Hwarureuk--!!
[Kkeuaaaah---!!!]
He lets out a scream bigger than before. This time he couldn't even move. Because it clung directly to his face and spewed fire.
[Kkeuheuh...!!]
He thrashed and flailed his body. Tremendous firepower engulfed his skin. He tried to somehow escape, but his body wouldn't move.
"For a bug, you burn slowly."
A low voice with absolutely no inflection. At that voice, Gyecheon Munju got goosebumps even in the midst of pain.
Truly, nothing was felt.
Yet killing intent seeped into it.
How could it be so contradictory?
He couldn't understand. Also.
[How... Flames...!]
The bastard who couldn't use Fire Arts just a moment ago was suddenly shooting fire. And such vicious black flames at that.
Was he hiding more power? If so, what's the reason?
What's the reason for hiding it after coming this far. And what's the reason for suddenly revealing it.
He couldn't understand the absurd situation, but.
[Kkeueueu!!]
Now was not the time to think. Just enduring the pain was overwhelming.
Looking at such Gyecheon Munju, Gu Yang-cheon speaks.
"Is it painful?"
It was a voice asking out of genuine curiosity.
"Is this all it takes to make you suffer?"
[...Kkeu...heue!!]
Gyecheon Munju forcefully raises energy in his body. He flicks his fingertips, imbuing them with power. The fallen swords moved and flew toward Gu Yang-cheon.
Shwiiiiik---!!! Four swords plunged in an instant. At this, Gu Yang-cheon shifted his gaze and,
looking at the swords, quietly whispered.
[Stop.]
-!!!!
Chaeng-! Chaengchaeng-!
The flying swords lost their center at a single word and crashed to the ground.
[Kkeuk--!!]
Gyecheon Munju had no time to be surprised by that absurd spectacle.
"How laughable."
The flames covering his face vanished in an instant. And then.
Udeudeuk--!!
[Kkeuaaah--!!]
His arm was bent at a strange angle.
It was twisted so forcefully that the bone was on the verge of piercing through the skin.
[...Y-you basta-!!]
Even in the mind-numbing pain, Gyecheon Munju glared at Gu Yang-cheon as if refusing to back down. The melted skin was fortunately regenerating.
Its speed was getting faster and faster.
Gyecheon Munju knew this too. The power contained in the Yeouiju was spreading quickly through his body.
So, if he just held out a little. Just a very little bit. Then he could be reborn as a complete existence.
Judging this, Gyecheon Munju braced himself.
But.
"Worthless thing."
Even seeing that sight, Gu Yang-cheon's eyes remained unmoved. A low gaze, like looking at a bug.
If there was a slight difference from before. It was that a different emotion was slightly mixed into his once-only-deep eyes.
That emotion, Gyecheon Munju.
"I don't like those eyes."
...judged it as contempt.
Gu Yang-cheon pulled out Gyecheon Munju's thrashing left eyeball.
****************
Chwaaaaaaaak---!!!
A tidal wave surges. Sweeping across the ground, it takes control of a wide area.
Seeing that, I put strength into my legs. Kung-!! I increase my speed and distance myself from the tidal wave. That big bastard was even fast.
I couldn't escape at an ordinary speed. I had to run at my maximum.
Just brushing against it would be a fatal wound.
Because that tidal wave wasn't an ordinary tidal wave.
'Damn, it's really hot.'
A black flame made entirely of heat. With its enormous bulk, it was chasing me as if to melt everything away.
"Crazy bastard."
It was ridiculous. Even while dodging, I was dumbfounded. How could he shoot something like that?
"That's why the fucker's skills don't improve, shit."
Shooting internal energy so recklessly like that, of course his skills don't improve and only his firepower increases. Looking at it now, the problematic part was clearly visible.
"...That's fucking scary..."
Experiencing it directly felt completely different.
Chaotic flames rush toward me in the form of a wave.
How could this not be terrifying?
Now I understood the eyes of the people who looked at me with fear.
Because he casually shot things like that to erase villages, or burned crowds of people at once on the battlefield. It was natural for them to see me as a monster.
That's purely a crazy bastard.
'Fuck.'
I looked back and frowned. Someone was standing atop the still-chasing tidal wave.
It was the Black Flame Disease God.
I frowned looking at that. He didn't look tired at all.
Rather, it seemed like I was the only one getting tired.
My internal energy and skills should have increased compared to back then, so why was I the only one getting tired?
This was the case last time too, and it was entirely a problem with the Fire Arts.
'The cost-efficiency is way too low.'
I had learned Tuapa Cheonmu, but the foundation of my body is the Guyeom Hwaryungong.
Even if not all movements, the root was that.
This included footwork as well.
It explosively increases the body's speed centered around firepower, and uses that as the standard for footwork. But with the Fire Arts blocked, a problem arose.
'The speed is lacking.'
To be exact, I had to use more energy to reach my original speed.
'Damn it.'
Is it because I can't use one martial art that it's come to this? Irritation rose up.
'No. Originally, if one martial art is blocked, you just die.'
My body is strange, so I'm managing this much. Originally, it wouldn't have been strange if I had been done in long ago.
The problem is.
'What good is that right now?'
It provided no comfort at all. It didn't help at all.
What if it's a relief. I can't use it right now anyway.
Hwarureuk-!
"Tch."
The heat was felt right behind me. The distance seemed to have narrowed significantly.
Running away further was meaningless. I knew that long ago.
Besides.
'That bastard. He's intentionally not going at his maximum.'
That dog-like bastard was intentionally toying with me. I knew it because I was me.
If he wanted to, and wished for it, he could make it twice as fast and larger than the current tidal wave.
'Son of a bitch.'
That pissed me off.
Kung-! I stopped my leaping legs and twisted my waist.
Energy erupted and concentrated in my body. Especially in my fists.
Tuapa Cheonmu.
Second Form, Tubi Uicheongwon.
A storm made of fighting energy clashes with the tidal wave.
Kwaaaaah---!!! A massive hole was pierced through the approaching tidal wave.
It wasn't blocked. The difference in internal energy used was too great to block that entirely.
'Tuapa Cheonmu has a limit to how much firepower it can contain.'
No matter how much my firepower has increased, Tuapa Cheonmu itself is based on compression.
Simply putting in more force lowers the degree of completion. So, this was the best.
'And. I didn't intend to block it in the first place.'
If I intended to block it, I shouldn't have done this.
This was just to create an opening.
To briefly stop the tidal wave and change the bastard's actions.
Sure enough, just as I expected, the guy moved.
He was rising slightly above the halted tidal wave. At the same time, I saw him raise his hand.
Hwaaaaaaaak---!!!
The tidal wave below shook violently. Then, it gradually rose into the air.
The sight of all those flames rising into the sky.
'It really is amazing seeing it in person.'
No wonder he got such a shitty nickname. That thought suddenly occurred to me.
No matter how I looked at it, it was a spectacular sight.
The rising flames gradually took over the sky, and its center was at the guy's fingertips.
What was he trying to do? I already knew the answer.
Hwaaaaaaaa---!!!
All that fire was sucked into the guy's hand. And then, it gradually began to take shape.
A large, black orb.
Looking at the completed form gathered and gathered again, I furrowed my brow.
Daeyeomok.
A shape of a mass of internal energy that makes my legs go numb just looking at it.
However, the reason I frowned wasn't because of that.
'To use that like that. You idiot.'
How could the compression rate be so low?
Even with that much internal energy gathered, it's only that much. Let alone the rotational force, how was it?
There was no meaning to what I was looking at.
The compression required for a Yeomok. The rotational force to maintain it.
The guy's Yeomok had no such meaning; it only had the shape.
'Embarrassing.'
I was genuinely embarrassed.
'To think he was using that as a martial art.'
Paejon. No, before that, the words No-ya said came to mind.
- A martial art without any conviction is just a flashy flourish. Kid. What is contained in your martial art?
What did I answer back then? I couldn't remember.
It must have been nothing more than unremarkable words.
And.
'Me back then, too.'
Moments I didn't want to remember. At the end of that mask was eventually that guy.
Kkuok. I clenched my fist.
I can't use Fire Arts. It didn't matter.
Unlike back then, I had learned a lot more.
Gugugugu---!!! A black flame orb the size of a house burns. Having finally completed it, the guy slowly moved his hand.
It seemed he intended to drop it on me as is.
At this, I briefly snapped my waist.
A subtle recoil seeped into my shoulder.
The movement wasn't large.
I've had some realizations lately...
'Even if it's not big, as long as you do what you need to do, it works.'
Efficient use of the physical body. I was realizing that part these days.
Tung.
The briefly thrust fist met the empty air. At that moment.
Udeudeuk---!!!
[...!!]
The guy's chest caved in as his bones shattered.
The Heart Fist had hit its mark.
I saw blood spurt from his mouth. Did it go in properly?
While narrowing my eyes, the guy's body in the air headed toward the ground,
Kung-! The guy's body finally rolled on the floor.
I quickly approached him.
[Keol-eok.]
As I got closer, he was bleeding and staring at me with empty eyes.
Since my face was doing that from the ground, it felt really subtle.
Was he slowly dying? I could feel his blurry vision and unstable breathing.
"...Sheesh, damn, this is hard."
Since I had used quite a bit of energy on my end too, my breathing was rough.
I grabbed the guy by the collar and said.
"What the hell are you really?"
[...]
"I'm asking what your intention is, you bastard."
What on earth was it that made him so desperate to kill me? I couldn't understand.
"Why do you keep fucking with me..."
[...Did you bring the answer?]
"What?"
I frowned at the guy's words.
"What, asshole?"
[I asked... if you brought the answer from back then.]
"Answer?"
At those words, I recalled with narrowed eyes.
-Why are you alive?
The guy's words that he asked every time he saw me. I recalled that.
"Hah."
An empty breath escaped naturally.
"Why do you keep wondering about that? Whether I'm alive or not, why is it so important? Are you saying I should just stay dead?"
[Yes.]
"...This bastard?"
[You have no value in being alive.]
"You're saying some harsh things. Are you crazy?"
Why do you get to decide that? I wanted to say that, but it didn't come out.
At that sight, the guy spoke with his increasingly blurring eyes.
[It seems you still haven't decided on an answer. Then I'll ask something else.]
"You don't answer my questions and only keep asking yours..."
[Why didn't you kill me?]
"..."
The corner of my eye trembled slightly on its own.
[Just now, you could have killed me. Yet, why didn't you kill me?]
He was right. With the Heart Fist that hit just before, if I had aimed exactly for the heart or the head instead of the chest, it probably would have ended easily.
Yet, knowing that, the reason I didn't do so was...
"That's because I had something to ask..."
[Your excuse is funny.]
The guy laughed. It was the first time.
[When you begged that you had to go out, when did you act so desperately? What shook you now?]
Kkeuk-kkeuk-kkeuk. Every time he laughed, blood flowed from the guy's mouth.
[You are afraid.]
The guy's voice dug into my ear.
[You are afraid of erasing the current me. That is why you ultimately lost in the previous fight as well.]
"..."
I should have denied it, saying that wasn't true. However, my mouth wouldn't open this time either.
[Even while asking to forget me, you are still in the place where I am.]
Strength entered the hand gripping his collar.
[Isn't that right?]
"...This bastard really talks too much shit."
[You've grown dull. You have grown far too dull.]
Suppressing my irritation, I said to him.
"So what. You're going to die in a little while anyway, why are you arguing so much about-"
I stopped mid-sentence and widened my eyes. Something was strange.
Strength appeared in his eyes, which had been growing blurrier and losing their vitality.
His rough breathing had returned to normal. The blood was no longer flowing.
The moment I noticed this.
Hwarureuk---!
"...Fuck."
Feeling the heat, I lifted my head upward.
[That is your fatal mistake.]
The Yeomok made earlier.
Without disappearing, it was falling towards me.
It was too late to avoid. I hurriedly wrapped myself in Gangi.
Kwaaaaaaaa---!!!!!
I was swept up in the explosion.
"Keuk!"
My body was blown away by the air pressure.
I only managed to stop after rolling on the ground several times.
"Keo-eok..."
The aftermath of the explosion was no joke. I barely maintained my body with Gangi, but I took the recoil. This time, I was the one bleeding.
"...Wow. This cheap bastard."
Enduring the pain, I looked at the guy.
When did he start aiming for this?
He drew my attention by falling after being hit by my attack, and in that gap, he landed the Yeomok.
Does that mean he prepared it from the moment he made the Yeomok?
Whatever it was, it was undeniably a cunning method.
Especially since it was a method I used often.
"Huu..."
I raised my body as if staggering. The damage wasn't small, but it wasn't a lot either.
Because I didn't take it head-on.
However, this wasn't because I dodged it well, but rather...
"This bastard. You keep trying to go easy on me?"
It was certain he had intentionally aimed off-center.
Huuuu.
The guy floating in the air like before was looking down at me from the sky.
[Just in case, don't misunderstand.]
Hwarureureuk---!! The black flames spewing from his body gradually surrounded the area. It looked somewhat like the shape of wings at first glance.
[If it's the same as last time and the time before. You will die. And.]
The wings created like that soon rapidly tore through the air.
[I will take that empty place.]
Hwaaaa---!!!!
The countless torn pieces all turned into Yeomoks.