Chapter 798: He Chose the Wrong Opponent
It truly was the smell of alcohol.
Black Elder and Dark Elder looked at each other, then nodded at the same time.
Without hesitation, the two of them unleashed their palm force.
Swaeaeaeaeak.
Two tremendous streams of palm force shot toward the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. Even though it was an attack that would kill the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress if she dodged, they launched it without the slightest restraint.
Just as they had expected, Soul Reaper Demon Supreme protected the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress to the very end.
“No!”
The moment the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress screamed.
Boom! Kwaang!
Heavy explosions rang out in succession.
When she squeezed her eyes shut and then opened them again, Soul Reaper Demon Supreme was standing perfectly fine in front of her.
The two incoming streams of palm force had been neutralized by another attack that flew in from somewhere.
One did not need eyes or a nose to know who had helped.
In that place, thick with dark mist, golden waves flowed—and the smell of alcohol had grown even stronger.
Two people stepped into that space.
Uncontainable emotion flickered across the face of Soul Reaper Demon Supreme as she looked at them. Just moments ago, she had been prepared to die.
Even if it had been death while carrying out the Young Cult Leader’s command, how could death not be frightening at such a young age?
Demonic Buddha, who had entered first, spoke to her.
“Soul Reaper, you’ve worked hard.”
Had Demonic Buddha’s face ever seemed so welcome before?
Soul Reaper Demon Supreme bowed respectfully and expressed her gratitude.
“You saved my life. Thank you.”
“You would have held out well enough on your own.”
Demonic Buddha said as he looked up at the ceiling, which had been blasted wide open.
“Why didn’t I think of this? We should’ve come down like this too.”
Earlier, when Black Elder had smashed through the floor in search of an even stronger aura of darkness and fallen recklessly downward, he had ended up descending to the very level where Drunken Demon and Demonic Buddha had been.
“Then it wouldn’t have had any style, would it?”
Reeking of alcohol, Drunken Demon followed in behind him.
After glancing at Gaye, who was standing in a corner, Drunken Demon strode over toward where Soul Reaper Demon Supreme was.
At the appearance of the two men, the expressions of Black Elder and Dark Elder hardened completely. If Demonic Buddha and Drunken Demon had already appeared here, it meant the Dark Painting Spirit had been defeated.
The strength of these damn Demon Supremes was truly running wild.
Drunken Demon stopped in front of Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. Seeing blood at the corner of her mouth, he took something from his sleeve and handed it to her.
“Have a drink.”
What Drunken Demon offered was a small flask of liquor.
When Soul Reaper Demon Supreme looked at it, Drunken Demon nodded with drunken eyes.
Without a word, she removed the stopper from the flask.
Breathing in the aroma of the strong liquor spreading around her, she tilted her head back and drank.
It was no ordinary alcohol. It was Drunken Demon’s medicinal liquor, the most effective remedy for internal injuries.
She knew the moment it touched her lips.
‘This is precious liquor.’
Indeed, it was just as she thought. The moment the liquor entered her body, it began to soothe her twisted and wounded meridians. She truly had not expected that he would offer such precious liquor without hesitation.
“I will treat you to a drink someday.”
It was liquor far too valuable to repay with a single cup, but she expressed her gratitude that way for now.
At her words, Drunken Demon smiled in satisfaction.
“My popularity is soaring these days! There’s a line of people wanting to buy me drinks. Young Cult Leader, I’m this kind of man!”
He wore an expression that clearly showed he wanted to hurry and meet Geom Mugeuk to boast.
Watching this, the two elders were displeased with Drunken Demon. The fact that he displayed such leisure while they stood right before him was an unmistakable act of disregard.
Meanwhile, tears finally streamed from the eyes of the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress, who had been watching from the side. She had truly believed Soul Reaper Demon Supreme was going to die. They would never know how grateful and reassured she felt that the two Demon Supremes had appeared in time.
She bowed respectfully to the two Demon Supremes. It was not thanks for saving her, but thanks for saving Soul Reaper Demon Supreme.
‘The two of you, thank you so much.’
Drunken Demon and Demonic Buddha did not say anything in particular to the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress. The one who had saved her today was not them, but Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. That credit had to belong entirely to her.
Drunken Demon found himself thinking that Soul Reaper Demon Supreme was truly remarkable. The final attack those two had launched had been dangerous enough to inflict fatal injuries, yet she had not dodged and had instead protected the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress. That was why he had willingly handed over the internal injury medicine he treasured.
Only after seeing to Soul Reaper Demon Supreme did Drunken Demon finally turn toward Black Elder and Dark Elder.
“It was two against one, so three against two now. Fair, right?”
Black Elder and Dark Elder had nothing to say to that.
Dark Elder released a cold aura.
“Not three, even four is fine. No, it wouldn’t matter even if all eight of you came.”
Drunken Demon openly sneered.
“You were so scared of just one that you tried to gang up on her, and now you’re talking about eight? I’d really like to line up all the Demon Supremes right in front of you. Your skulls would crack under those big fists, your eyeballs pierced through by finger wind, your five viscera shredded strand by strand by deadly poison—then you’d go, oh dear, I babbled nonsense in my old age, please spare me! Tears and snot streaming down your faces.”
Though Drunken Demon acted as if he were belittling them, he was not careless in the slightest.
The Greed Annihilation Art spread throughout his entire body was reaching its peak. Their Dark Demonic Art would display its greatest power. They held the advantage in numbers, but there was also the Sky Flower Pavilion Mistress to protect. No one could predict how this battle would unfold.
Drunken Demon asked Demonic Buddha.
“Which one will you take?”
“I’m fine with anyone.”
“As expected! The composure of the strong!”
Drunken Demon openly asked the two elders.
“Which of you is stronger? The weaker one can fight me.”
Though it sounded like a flippant question thrown out without thought, it carried the intention of disrupting their unity. That was, if deep down each believed himself to be stronger.
“A petty trick to divide us.”
Dark Elder immediately grasped the intention.
At that, Drunken Demon said to Demonic Buddha,
“Please take that one. He seems more cautious, so his skills are likely superior as well.”
In this way, he identified who was the more cautious of the two, and at the same time succeeded in offending Black Elder by treating him like the lesser.
“Soul Reaper, please support me a little.”
Drunken Demon readily admitted that in terms of martial compatibility, he was at a disadvantage in this fight. He did not feel ashamed of acknowledging that he was weaker.
Black Elder looked at him with cold eyes.
“There’s no need to pair off like that. I’m not your opponent.”
Black Elder unleashed a new Dark Summoning Art.
Beast Descending Art.
Monstrous creatures in the shape of beasts were summoned, baring their massive fangs. They were summoned beings without souls—things Soul Reaper Demon Supreme could not reap.
Drunken Demon drew his dagger. Even at the sight of those terrifying summons, there was not the slightest trace of fear on his face.
“If you’re going to summon something, at least call something we can share a drink with.”
The moment he finished speaking, he charged toward the beasts.
Black Elder had spent many years mastering summoning demonic arts and had faced countless enemies, but this was the first time he had seen an opponent charge in so recklessly without any apparent countermeasure. And that opponent was a Demon Supreme, no less.
The beasts lunged at Drunken Demon.
As their battle began, Dark Elder stepped forward toward Demonic Buddha.
“Can that light emanating from your body truly protect you?”
Demonic Buddha quietly pressed his palms together and said,
“It wasn’t this light that protected me. I was the one who protected this light.”
Whoooosh.
The dark aura flowing from Dark Elder’s body swirled like a gale around the two of them, and in an instant, they vanished from that spot.
Thud! Thuk! Thud thud!
Drunken Demon’s dagger stabbed into the beasts in rapid succession. It seemed like a reckless brawl, charging in relying solely on his Protective Energy, yet his movement technique displayed truly astonishing divine might.
After breaking through the vortex martial art, Ten Thousand Waves Revolving Wheel, that the Azure Sea Divine Lord had displayed outside the ship earlier, he had succeeded in advancing his martial comprehension by another level—a matter he had recently been contemplating deeply.
That achievement was now revealing itself.
Though it appeared as if the beasts were rushing in from all directions to tear him apart, he narrowly deflected their attacks at the last possible moment. What was torn was only the hem of Drunken Demon’s clothing, while the beasts, in contrast, had their entire bodies bursting apart under his attacks.
He stabbed and kicked at the beasts charging from all directions with his dagger. He stomped on fallen beasts and even strangled them.
Black Elder tried to continue summoning more beasts.
But Soul Reaper Demon Supreme did not stand by and watch.
Swaeaeaeak! Swaeaeak! Swaeak!
Struck by the incoming palm force, Black Elder halted his summoning and leapt backward.
‘When did she recover from her internal injuries?’
Before he knew it, Drunken Demon had broken through the beasts and was charging in. Surrounded by them, he looked like a beast himself. In fact, he even bit into the neck of a dark beast and tore it apart.
Soul Reaper Demon Supreme understood why Drunken Demon was charging in like that.
Ordinarily, since they were fighting together, he should have chosen Dark Elder, the stronger of the two. But he had chosen the relatively weaker Black Elder.
His intention was to finish quickly and go help Demonic Buddha.
That was why Soul Reaper Demon Supreme actively supported Drunken Demon as well.
Faced with Drunken Demon’s charge, Black Elder concealed himself within the darkness.
He had unleashed Dark Shadow Stealth Art.
The longer he dragged this out, the more advantageous it would be. Dark Elder would surely kill Demonic Buddha and return.
“Fighting like this? How cowardly!”
Drunken Demon tried to raise his energy to locate him, but the aura of darkness was so strong that it was not easy.
Ssssk.
At that moment, a pattern was drawn in the air above Drunken Demon’s dagger. It was a circular symbol with the shape of a human eye inside.
Dark Night Opening Eye.
It was Soul Reaper Demon Supreme’s unique demonic art for finding those hidden within darkness.
Shaaaaarrr.
For a moment, it seemed as though the pattern settled into Drunken Demon’s dagger.
Then the eye within the pattern snapped open.
---
Demonic Buddha stood in an empty space.
Some unknown force was gripping his body tightly. No matter how he tried to move, he could not. When the dark aura had swirled like a gale earlier, he had realized that some kind of dark demonic art had been cast upon him.
Dark Elder slowly walked toward him.
“Is there any need to fight like those lowly ones who smash everything like drunkards?”
Demonic Buddha answered calmly.
“I was rather looking forward to smashing everything.”
“Then you chose the wrong opponent.”
Dark Elder slowly circled around Demonic Buddha once and then looked behind him as he spoke.
“A shadow holds a person’s darker side.”
Demonic Buddha realized that what was gripping him was his own shadow.
His opponent was one who used a dark demonic art that manipulated shadows.
Demonic Buddha calmly searched for Dark Elder’s shadow.
“Where is your shadow?”
Dark Elder had no shadow.
“This is a place where shadows must not exist. It is a place where shadows devour their masters. Just as you have been devoured now.”
The dark demonic art cast upon Demonic Buddha was the art Dark Elder was most confident in.
Soul-Wound Collapse Art.
“The wounds in your heart will bring you down.”
“How utterly commonplace and trivial for a demonic art.”
A sneer curved onto Dark Elder’s face, as if to say, Is that so?
“A single wound will be amplified a hundredfold. No human can possibly endure that pain.”
In short, it was a demonic art with a clear method of breaking it. Endure it and break through—fail to endure, and collapse.
“Demonic Buddha, you will die here.”
Originally, Dark Elder had not intended to use Soul-Wound Collapse Art on Demonic Buddha.
“It was a demonic art I planned to use on the Young Cult Leader, but I suppose I’ll use it on you first.”
The stronger the opponent, the more effective it was. The stronger a person was, the deeper the darkness they often carried within.
“Then why not save it and use it on the Young Cult Leader?”
“We shall see how long you can keep up that composure.”
Sssssss.
In an instant, Demonic Buddha found himself in another space.
It was the small cave from his childhood. The place he had always hidden in to escape the mockery of others.
At the moment when the wound should have resurfaced, a smile formed at the corners of Demonic Buddha’s lips.
If he had first fallen to this demonic art in the past, it would have been a place capable of dragging him into deep heart-demons. As the man had said, if the wound from that time were amplified a hundredfold, could his mind have endured it?
Perhaps in the past.
“Someone brought me here first, you see.”
Demonic Buddha walked out of the cave on his own. There was not even a small wound left here to be amplified a hundredfold.
Ssssss.
As the cave vanished, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader appeared in its place.
With a face full of hurt, he spoke.
“I thought we were friends. But you threw away our friendship for the sake of power. That’s the kind of man you are.”
Though the words were meant to provoke anger, Demonic Buddha answered calmly.
“We have already reconciled.”
For a moment, the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader looked bewildered, then gradually faded away.
Ssssss.
Demonic Buddha muttered to himself.
“Next, the Great Young Master will appear.”
No sooner had he spoken than Geom Muyang truly appeared there.
“Because of you, I couldn’t become the successor! And even then, you were debating whether to side with Mugeuk. Even now, hiding that despicable heart of yours….”
Demonic Buddha strode up to Geom Muyang. He said nothing else. Instead, he wrapped him in a firm embrace.
“I am sorry, Great Young Master. It was all my fault.”
Demonic Buddha patted Geom Muyang’s back again and again. In that moment, Demonic Buddha was the guiding adult—and also a small giant leading him forward.
Ssssss.
Geom Muyang disappeared from his arms.
Though he had believed he had already overcome these matters, seeing them appear like this as a trial made him realize that wounds once inflicted upon the heart never truly vanished.
And Demonic Buddha confirmed that he had indeed overcome those wounds.
No—rather, he felt grateful that he had those wounds at all.
He was not a Demon Supreme devoid of blood and tears, but the trace of a man who had lived as a human being. They were precious wounds.
That was why he could now say this:
Wounds, do not fade away.
In the next moment, Dark Elder stood before him with a look of utter shock. Blood poured from his mouth in heavy gushes. As his demonic art had been shattered in an instant, he had suffered severe internal injuries.
“Soul-Wound Collapse Art… broken so easily?”
Dark Elder’s expression showed he could not possibly believe it.
“How can this be?”
“Because those wounded souls have already become faint scars.”
“!”
“You were right. You chose the wrong opponent.”
Of all people, he had used Soul-Wound Collapse Art on the one among the Demon Supremes who had worked harder than anyone to overcome the wounds of his heart.
Demonic Buddha quietly brought his fingers together, forming a hand seal.
“You said this was a place where shadows devour their masters?”
A radiant brilliance began to shine from Demonic Buddha’s body.
“Then perhaps….”
The burst of light began to push back the darkness that had dominated the space.
“Shall we look for your shadow?”