Chapter 1816 – 1816. The Ascension Of Gwangmyeong
The darkness around me turned to light again.
On the floor, the severed corpse of Sabok lay scattered.
Baek Ran staggered for a moment. She steadied herself by planting her sword into the ground. As she extended one hand, a hairpin flew to her. Grasping the hairpin, she slowly arranged her white hair, which was fluttering in the wind.
There were many things to ask. But there was something more urgent.
I dashed towards Hong Je-yu, who was staring blankly at Baek Ran.
Lightning Sky Style (雷天流), Thunder Sound Step (雷音步).
I appeared before Hong Je-yu with a thunderous sound.
“Heeok!”
Hong Je-yu, startled, gasped and stepped back. I stepped on Hong Je-yu’s head and plunged my sword into his right shoulder.
“Aaaagh!”
“Je-yu!!”
Hong Gang-hu jumped up.
“Yeom Gu-seok! What are you doing?! Are you trying to repay kindness with enmity? Get away from my son this instant!”
“Repay kindness with enmity? When have I ever received any kindness from you?”
“We were just fighting Sabok together! Have you already forgotten what just happened?!”
Hong Gang-hu shouted, veins popping out on his neck. His voice echoed loudly.
“I thought you were one of the rare normal ones at first… but in the end, you’re just a guy who can’t even manage his own son.”
I swung my sword. I slashed Hong Je-yu’s right shoulder. Blood gushed out.
‘I can’t let him die from excessive bleeding.’
I pressed on an acupoint to stop the bleeding.
“You ungrateful bastard…!!”
“That’s why I’m saying I’ve never received any kindness from you. In the first place, it was you guys who dragged us into this damn Yuun Merchant Guild trap. You guys betrayed us here. Second, we fought Sabok together? When things went wrong, you tried to use my power to kill the Guild Leader. Oh, and we can’t forget that this bastard caused an explosion. I almost died then.”
If I hadn’t fully recovered, I would have lived as a one-armed man. A one-armed swordsman? It sounds easy, but you can’t do it without considerable talent. It would have been terrible if I hadn’t fully recovered.
“I was a big help in killing Sabok!”
“What help could a guy who collapsed during the fight be?”
“That was because of my internal injuries! I don’t want anything else!”
“We would have killed Sabok even without you.”
Hong Gang-hu bit his lip. Red blood flowed from his lips.
“…Just my son! Please, just save my son!”
“Ah, Father…!”
Hong Je-yu looked at his father with moved eyes. This bastard clearly didn’t know why his father had internal injuries.
“Hong Gang-hu. Can you die for your son?”
“If it means saving my son… I will gladly give my life!”
Hong Gang-hu’s eyes were sincere. He was truly prepared to die for Hong Je-yu.
‘I can’t understand it.’
He protects his son, who committed a heinous act blinded by a woman, to the very end? Even giving his life? No matter how much paternal love he has, it was an incomprehensible choice.
Hong Je-yu only showed moved eyes as his father said he would die for him. He didn’t try to stop him at all.
‘What a messed up father and son.’
These guys were strange.
‘Are they deliberately putting on a melodrama? A sympathy-inducing tactic?’
Whatever they do, my decision won’t change. It’s a bit of a shame not to betray them in a dramatic situation, but I’ve decided to betray them.
‘Did they think they could survive after betraying me? Both of you are going to die.’
The Hwaryeon Flying Daggers moved. Swish, swish. They severed Hong Je-yu’s limbs. Only his torso remained, and he writhed, letting out a desperate scream. He looked like a bug.
“Je-yu!! You baaaaaastard!!”
Hong Gang-hu roared and charged at me.
His anger was too premature. Hong Je-yu was still alive, and the blades of the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers hadn’t dulled even after slicing through his limbs.
As the blade pointed at Hong Je-yu’s neck, Hong Gang-hu’s legs stopped running.
“P-please…!”
Hong Gang-hu pleaded, sobbing.
“Cut off your right arm. Then I’ll spare your son.”
“I-I’ll cut it off!”
Hong Gang-hu gritted his teeth and cut off his own right arm. I was briefly impressed by his decision, which he made without hesitating for even five seconds.
The Hwaryeon Flying Dagger slightly pierced Hong Je-yu’s chest.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
“You cut off your arm! Stop! Stop it!!”
Hong Gang-hu gripped his sword with his remaining left hand. But he couldn’t charge at me, watching my every move. Hong Je-yu was still alive, after all. He was holding onto his last hope.
“Miss Baek! Miss Baek! Save me! Didn’t we agree to be together?!!”
Hong Je-yu called out to Baek Ran, not his father. I glanced at Baek Ran. She was wiping her sword with a cloth.
“We walked together for about an il-dagyeong earlier. I kept my promise.”
“The future! We have to share the future together?! I love you, Miss Baek! Please, save me!”
“I’m sick of hearing love confessions, no matter how many times I hear them. But since you confessed, I should give you an answer. I do not love you. Love is poison. Love makes people weak.”
I was startled by Baek Ran’s words. She was overly cynical about love.
‘She’s definitely the protagonist of the Heavenly Demon’s Revenge War. The original protagonist was basically a madman obsessed with martial arts.’
That tendency was so severe that he was betrayed and killed. And then he regressed. After regressing, that tendency decreased, but with revenge in his heart, love and romance were not on his mind.
Thud.
The blade went in deep.
“Miss Baek!!!”
A voice like a scream. She was indifferent.
“Ah, right. I hate being called ‘Miss.’ I wish you would be careful. Well, looking at you now, it doesn’t matter.”
“N-no! Save me, please save me! Please!”
Hong Je-yu begged me for his life one last time. He was a funny guy. If he was going to beg for his life, he should have done it to me from the beginning.
I smiled and answered him.
“No.”
The blade reached his heart. I couldn’t just kill him easily. I twisted the hilt of the sword. Hong Je-yu’s eyes widened as he felt the intense pain.
‘Not enough. Lightning.’
Red currents flowed through his torso. The currents raced through his body several times. Hong Je-yu died in agony, feeling as if his entire body was being torn apart at the cellular level.
“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Hong Gang-hu charged at me, spitting blood. He had forced his inner energy while enraged, which worsened his internal injuries. The qi covering his sword was weak, and his legs were faltering.
Lightning Sky Style (雷天流), Lightning Flash (雷光).
A red streak of light passed through Hong Gang-hu’s neck. His head shot up like a water rocket before falling weakly to the ground.
‘I would have given him more pain originally, but…’
I was conscious of Baek Ran’s presence. Since I hadn’t figured her out yet, I needed to be moderate. If I went too far, she might dislike me.
I shook off the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers and searched the bodies of the Hong father and son.
I found 21 Heavenly Jades and some junk on Hong Gang-hu. The most useful thing was the sword he had been holding onto until the end. It seemed to be a type of magical artifact, but I didn’t know exactly what its effect was.
Hong Je-yu had only one thing. It was a black cloth that felt mysterious. I knew that this was a magical artifact called a Light Force Pouch (光力包).
I glanced at Baek Ran. Was she going to ask for this magical artifact? She was already sitting cross-legged on the floor, circulating her inner energy.
‘She’s openly circulating her inner energy in front of me? Does she trust me? Or is there something else?’
It was also proof that she had no interest in the Hong father and son.
‘How do you use the Light Force Pouch?’
I pondered for a moment.
‘The word “pouch” (包) means to wrap something, so…’
I unfolded the cloth and put a Heavenly Jade inside and wrapped it. Then the cloth glowed. When I unfolded the cloth again, the Heavenly Jade had disappeared without a trace. The cloth continued to glow.
‘Ah, so that’s how you charge it. How do you use it?’
I wrapped my body in protective qi and fiddled with the Light Force Pouch. I wasn’t too worried about an explosion. I had only used one Heavenly Jade, so it wouldn’t be able to penetrate my protective qi.
After touching it here and there, I found out how to use it. I rolled the cloth like I was wrapping a gimbap. Then the black cloth turned into a cylinder. A cylinder that was perfect for shooting something.
I hit the back of the cylinder with my palm. Light shot out from the front and hit the floor.
Bang!
An explosion occurred. It was nothing compared to the explosion that had happened earlier.
‘I know how to use it now, so that’s good.’
The cylinder that had shot out the light turned back into a black cloth.
‘If I use about 30 Heavenly Jades, could I kill a master of the Three Peaks?’
I glanced at Baek Ran. I had been too careless just now. Concentration was important when circulating inner energy. You could fall into a qi deviation if you weren’t careful. Fortunately, Baek Ran’s concentration hadn’t wavered at all.
‘If her concentration wavers with just this much, the name of the Regressed Heavenly Demon is wasted on her.’
She was a master of the Fifth Realm.
‘No, wait a minute.’
I could see three things above her head. They were so faint that you couldn’t see them unless you focused your eyes and looked closely… There were masses of energy.
Three Peaks (三頂).
‘She was an absolute master of the Three Peaks?!’
I swallowed hard. Judging by the fact that the three flowers made of qi were faint and not fully formed, she must have recently reached the Three Peaks realm.
While I was surprised, she opened her eyes.
“Hoo. I feel a little better now. The stuffiness is gone. Thank you for protecting me.”
“…Protecting you? Don’t you know I have a lot of questions to ask?”
“Hmm. Ask away.”
“What’s your identity?”
“First-Class Royal Guard Baek Ran. There are no lies in those two things.”
“Do Royal Guards use demonic arts these days?”
“There are no restrictions on martial arts for Royal Guards. If they want to learn demonic arts, they can. What’s important isn’t the type of martial arts they learn, but the power they possess.”
I was about to dig deeper into her, but I stopped.
Baek Ran wouldn’t reveal that she had regressed until the end. That was the case for most novels where the protagonist was a regressor. If I were her, I would hide the fact that I had regressed. It would be troublesome in many ways if it was revealed.
If I wanted to maintain a good relationship with her, it was best to pretend I didn’t know until she revealed it herself.
“What kind of grudge do you have with the Little Heavenly Demon, Cheon Yu-un?”
“A one-sided, deep grudge… or rather, it’s an old, stale grudge.”
Was she not planning on hiding the fact that she had regressed?
“Killing Cheon Yu-un doesn’t mean I’ll become the successor of the Heavenly Demon.”
“Do you know what the qualifications for the Heavenly Demon are?”
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
“That’s right. The one who masters the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon is determined by the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, not by bloodline. However, there are few who have mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is not an ordinary demonic art. You need a special talent to master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. The Cheon family (天家) is born with that talent in their blood.”
“……”
“Don’t make such a serious face. You’re fine. You can master the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have said I would help you become the Heavenly Demon.”
“Why are you so sure?”
Baek Ran smiled.
“You were born with the energy of the stars. Since ancient times, those chosen by the stars have lived special lives. Heroes or great villains. Either way, they are more special than the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
“I saw you using demonic energy. Is that the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?”
“Hmm. I call it the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, but it’s a bit different from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art you know.”
“That’s good. Teach me the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
“…That’s impossible. The Heavenly Demon Divine Art I have has already been altered.”
My free ride failed.
“You need the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to become the Heavenly Demon.”
“I know the exact location where the Heavenly Demon Divine Art is.”
