Chapter 808: Do You Think the Heavens Are on Your Side?
‘It’s not pulling me in.’
Hyeok Do-cheon realized a beat too late that the Secret Box was absorbing the Heavenly Demon Spirit lodged within his body.
When he resisted with all his strength to keep it from being taken, the Secret Box pulled even harder.
It would have been better if it had simply absorbed him instead. Tearing the Heavenly Demon Spirit forcibly out of his body and soul inflicted horrific pain.
The blood and qi of Hyeok Do-cheon, who had been resisting by force, surged backward.
“Keugh!”
Blood burst from his mouth. The spurted blood flowed along the Secret Box. The Secret Box, soaked in blood, vibrated even more violently.
Geom Mugeuk could tell from the reactions of the others.
The Heavenly Demon Spirit overlapping Hyeok Do-cheon’s body was visible only to his own eyes.
What he was seeing now was not a Heavenly Demon Spirit manifested through martial arts, but the soul residing within Hyeok Do-cheon’s spirit.
That was why, to everyone else, it still looked as if Hyeok Do-cheon himself was being sucked into the Secret Box.
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword shouted at Joo Ga-shin.
“The Demonic Cult Leader must not die!”
To be honest, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword had thought this.
‘This is the perfect chance to kill the Demonic Cult Leader!’
But that had been nothing more than an emotional and momentary wish that he should never have entertained.
‘He must not die!’
If the Demonic Cult Leader died here, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would surely believe their leader had been killed by his trap. The result would be only one.
The Grand Demon War.
Just because the Demonic Cult Leader was gone didn’t mean the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult could be defeated easily. Moreover, the cult would gain the powerful justification of avenging their leader.
A war against demonic practitioners driven mad by vengeance? That was something that must never happen. Even if they eventually won the war, it would be nothing but a hollow victory paid for with countless lives.
Too many had already died in this war. As the Alliance Leader, even the guilt he already bore was unbearable. Another war must never occur.
There was another reason the Demonic Cult Leader had to be saved.
Joo Ga-shin, the Unorthodox Alliance Leader standing beside him!
He had no idea what that man, whose true intentions were unreadable, might do if the Demonic Cult Leader died here.
Having made up his mind, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword moved first.
“I will help.”
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword dashed toward Hyeok Do-cheon.
Who would have thought that a day would come when he would save the Demonic Cult Leader in his lifetime?
“I will help you, so do not resist!”
After raising his inner energy, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword grabbed hold of Hyeok Do-cheon’s body.
Just as he was about to pull him away, he saw something.
The pupils of Hyeok Do-cheon, who had been looking at him while crushed against the Secret Box, suddenly widened.
Swaeaeaeaeak!
Bang!
A palm strike flying from behind smashed into the back of the Martial Emperor Divine Sword.
Astonishingly, it was a surprise attack carried out by Joo Ga-shin.
“Keugh.”
The blood spat out by the Martial Emperor Divine Sword splattered onto Hyeok Do-cheon’s back and the Secret Box.
Despite suffering internal injuries, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword spun around as fast as lightning and swung his sword. At the last moment he raised his Protective Energy and avoided a fatal wound.
Chaeng!
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword barely deflected the sword flying toward his heart.
In truth, he had suspected that Joo Ga-shin might attack him.
But he had never imagined the attack would come this quickly and decisively. To make a decision that would change not only his fate but the fate of countless others—so instinctively?
Boom!
The two swords collided in midair with a thunderous explosion.
“You!”
The enraged Martial Emperor Divine Sword glared at Joo Ga-shin across their crossed blades. There was no need for words once he saw the unmistakable killing intent in his opponent’s eyes.
Joo Ga-shin judged that this moment was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kill both the Demonic Cult Leader and the Martial Alliance Leader.
Once he had drawn his sword, there was no turning back.
The swords of the two men flashed back and forth like streaks of light.
Though he had been injured by Joo Ga-shin’s surprise attack, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword did not fall behind in the clash. It was a fight where even one step of retreat meant death. He swallowed the blood rising in his throat.
Their swords were so fast that before one afterimage faded, the next appeared. It was as though each man fought with dozens of arms holding dozens of swords.
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword’s unique martial art was the Radiant Martial Sun Sword Art, based on extreme yang inner energy, while Joo Ga-shin used the Heaven and Earth Yin-Cold Sword Art, based on extreme yin inner energy.
It was truly a clash between extreme yang and extreme yin—heat and cold.
Where one side radiated light, the other devoured it.
A freezing blizzard raged from Joo Ga-shin’s sword, while blazing heat like the sun erupted from the Martial Emperor Divine Sword’s blade. The world repeatedly shifted between summer and winter.
Geom Mugeuk watched the battle, completely absorbed. He could not take his eyes off it.
Every move that followed was astonishing. Swordsmanship from three hundred years ago was different from the present. Within those differences lay lessons and realizations.
While the bloody battle between the two leaders raged, Hyeok Do-cheon was also locked in a desperate struggle with the Secret Box.
He tried desperately to protect the Heavenly Demon Spirit, but it was a power no human could stop.
In the end, unable to hold out any longer, the Heavenly Demon Spirit was pulled out of Hyeok Do-cheon’s body.
“UAAAAAAAH!”
The vivid agony of his soul being torn away surged through him.
Geom Mugeuk saw the Heavenly Demon Spirit being absorbed into the Secret Box. Seeing such a powerful Heavenly Demon Spirit sucked in so helplessly was profoundly shocking. Would it still have absorbed it even if it had been manifested in its gigantic form? There was no way to know.
Once the Heavenly Demon Spirit was absorbed, the Secret Box no longer pulled Hyeok Do-cheon.
Watching the chaotic scene, the Heavenly Will Palace Master laughed even as blood poured from his mouth.
‘Yes, kill each other!’
Meanwhile, the Guardian Palace Master was holding the Heavenly Will Palace Master in his arms, shielding him so the aftermath of the battle would not reach him.
Boom! Booooom!
Stray attacks from the clash between the two leaders struck his body. Though he endured with extreme Protective Energy, the pain of breaking bones surged through him.
Yet until the very last moment he continued to protect the Heavenly Will Palace Master. Though he knew the man was dying, he fulfilled his duty to the end.
Then a series of explosive sounds rang out.
Boom! Boom! Booooom! Bang!
The sound was so powerful and overwhelming that even the Martial Emperor Divine Sword and Joo Ga-shin stopped fighting and retreated from each other.
Hyeok Do-cheon, who had lost the Heavenly Demon Spirit, was pounding the Secret Box with his fists like a madman.
Since he could not see the Heavenly Demon Spirit, to the Martial Emperor Divine Sword it simply looked like Hyeok Do-cheon had escaped from being sucked in.
“The Unorthodox Alliance Leader has betrayed us. First we should deal with him—”
Suddenly the Martial Emperor Divine Sword could not finish speaking.
From the eyes of Hyeok Do-cheon, who was staring in their direction, crimson blood energy was flowing out.
‘The Demonic Cult Leader has fallen into Qi Deviation!’
With the Heavenly Demon Spirit forcibly torn out, his mind had half collapsed.
Hyeok Do-cheon stretched out his hand toward Joo Ga-shin. Raising his inner energy to the extreme, he tried to unleash a technique.
At that moment Geom Mugeuk realized.
‘No!’
What Hyeok Do-cheon was about to use was Heavenly Demon World Annihilation. If he used that in such a deranged state, not only he but everything here would be annihilated.
Flash!
In the next moment, light exploded outward.
Fortunately, that light did not come from Hyeok Do-cheon’s hand.
The Secret Box emitted a blinding light in all directions.
At that moment, as if by a lie, everyone’s movements stopped. The same applied to him. The effect of the light reached even him inside the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique.
Geom Mugeuk could not move his body at all.
It was as if the light was telling him this.
Just watch.
He could see the figures frozen within the light.
Hyeok Do-cheon with his hand extended, the Martial Emperor Divine Sword trying to say something to him, Joo Ga-shin with an unreadable expression, the smiling Heavenly Will Palace Master, and even the Guardian Palace Master protecting him with his own body.
Each of them was crying out a silent scream of their own.
The next moment!
Something began to leave the body of the frozen Hyeok Do-cheon.
And not only him. Something also emerged from the bodies of the Martial Emperor Divine Sword, Joo Ga-shin, and the dying Heavenly Will Palace Master.
Golden radiance traced the outlines of their bodies, and then another version of themselves separated from them.
Astonishingly, they were their souls.
The souls flailed their hands as if trying not to leave their bodies, but like the dead departing their flesh, they were separated.
It wasn’t only their souls. From their dantians, Innate Qi and inner energy shone with light as they were separated as well.
Geom Mugeuk was truly shocked. He had experienced all kinds of things until now, but he had never seen such a sight. It was both mystical and grotesque.
The flowing souls and Innate Qi circled once around the Secret Box.
At that moment he could clearly see their expressions.
Hyeok Do-cheon roaring in Qi Deviation, the shocked Martial Emperor Divine Sword, Joo Ga-shin who showed no emotion even in this situation, and the Heavenly Will Palace Master smiling brightly as if believing they were going to hell together.
After revealing their final expressions—
Whoosh.
As if sucked into an abyss, they were absorbed into the Secret Box in an instant.
Thud.
Their remaining bodies collapsed onto the ground.
Geom Mugeuk understood.
They had all died.
No—strictly speaking, they had not died. The Secret Box had absorbed them entirely, leaving behind only empty bodies. Their souls, Innate Qi, and all the inner energy they possessed.
Now the only ones left alive here were himself and the Guardian Palace Master.
The Guardian Palace Master looked with sorrowful eyes at Wi Mucheon, whom he held with one arm.
He had already breathed his last.
“…Palace Master.”
Fortunately, Wi Mucheon’s final expression was a smile, but a single tear flowed from the Guardian Palace Master’s eye.
“I am sorry I could not protect you.”
He had always wished to die first, yet the Heavenly Will Palace Master had died before him.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it. The Secret Box had not absorbed the Guardian Palace Master not because his martial arts were weaker than the other four.
It was because he was a different kind of person.
A man who had lived his entire life protecting others—someone like Hui.
The Guardian Palace Master turned around. The corpses of the three leaders of the righteous, unorthodox, and demonic factions lay on the ground.
Just as he stood there in stunned disbelief—
Clack.
Something was spat out from the Secret Box.
Rolling across the ground was a transparent bead with no color at all. Because it was transparent, one could see clearly through it.
Just as the Guardian Palace Master struggled to pick it up—
Wheeeeeee.
A black energy rose from his legs and wrapped around his body.
“Ugh.”
The energy of darkness bound him tightly with immense force.
Already missing an arm and suffering internal injuries from protecting the Heavenly Will Palace Master with his Protective Energy, he could not endure the pressure.
Crack.
The sound of bones breaking rang out as the Guardian Palace Master vomited blood.
Sssss—
Amid black smoke, a figure appeared before him.
It was none other than the Dark Palace Master of this era, Hwa Sogang.
Srrrk.
When the Dark Palace Master extended his hand, the transparent bead lying on the ground floated into the air. His face filled with joy as he gazed at it.
“The Heavenly Will was with me!”
He felt like shouting with delight. Even if he combined every joy he had experienced since birth, it would not equal the joy of this moment.
Watching him while trapped in darkness, the Guardian Palace Master spoke in a low groan.
“…Hwa Sogang.”
The Dark Palace Master ignored his call, completely absorbed in the transparent bead.
A mysterious energy flowed from the bead. An unprecedented power could be felt within it.
“…Traitor.”
When the Guardian Palace Master glared with burning eyes, the Dark Palace Master looked at him and asked,
“And what about you? Aren’t you a loser?”
The Guardian Palace Master frowned and struggled to escape the darkness. But the more he tried, the tighter the restraints became.
The Dark Palace Master’s gaze returned to the transparent bead.
“I had discovered the secret of the Secret Box.”
He had searched for its secret for a long time and eventually uncovered it. Yet he had never told the Heavenly Will Palace Master this crucial truth.
“The Secret Box is originally an absolute divine relic that absorbs evil spirits and converts them into vitality. And all this time, without knowing that, you simply worshiped it for ages.”
Just the scene earlier proved his words true.
The Dark Palace Master’s gaze shifted toward Hyeok Do-cheon lying on the ground.
“The Heavenly Demon Spirit is a great evil spirit among evil spirits. And Hyeok Do-cheon, who controlled that spirit, possessed a cruel and vicious nature. I knew the Secret Box would surely absorb it.”
That was all he had expected.
When the Demonic Cult Leader went berserk after losing the Heavenly Demon Spirit, he intended to steal the bead containing that spirit and escape.
That power alone would have been enough.
But the Secret Box gave him a far greater gift. Even the Dark Palace Master, who had orchestrated this entire scheme, had not known the Secret Box would absorb all of them.
“With this power, I will rule the martial world forever.”
The Dark Palace Master stared at the bead as if entranced.
Within the transparent bead he saw the heavens.
He saw the sea.
He saw light and darkness.
He saw life and death.
Meanwhile, the Guardian Palace Master struggled not to lose consciousness even as his entire body was being crushed.
“The heavens… will never grant such power… to someone like you.”
The Dark Palace Master gazed at him and asked,
“Do you really think the heavens are on your side?”
At least in this situation, those words could not come out.
“…The experts of the righteous, unorthodox, and demonic paths will not leave you alone.”
The Dark Palace Master laughed.
“How would they know I killed them? The three leaders of the righteous, unorthodox, and demonic factions clashed over the divine relic of Heavenly Will Palace and ended in mutual destruction! Truly shameful. What happened today will never even be known to the world. It will become an event that never existed in history.”
Craaaack.
The sound of the Guardian Palace Master’s bones completely shattering echoed.
Unable to bear watching, Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes. He could neither help him nor intervene.
Ever since seeing that light earlier, Geom Mugeuk still could not move his body at all. The Secret Box prevented him from interfering in this matter.
The Guardian Palace Master spoke with difficulty.
“The heavens were not on our side… but they will not be on yours either.”
With those final words, his head dropped.
Only then did the darkness surrounding him vanish, and his corpse fell to the ground.
“This will not remain in history…”
Black smoke began covering the Dark Palace Master’s body. He left his final words to the corpse of the Guardian Palace Master.
“But I will remain in history.”
The Dark Palace Master vanished from that place along with the smoke.
A moment later, Geom Mugeuk released the Temporal and Spatial Transference Technique and revealed himself. Only after the Dark Palace Master left did his body begin moving again.
Geom Mugeuk’s expression was more serious than ever.
Now he finally understood where Hwa Moogi’s strength came from.
‘The Heavenly Demon, the Martial Alliance Leader, the Unorthodox Alliance Leader, the Heavenly Will Palace Master, and even the Heavenly Demon Spirit. He possesses five souls along with their Innate Qi mixed together. And if you include the soul of Hwa Moogi, the original owner of the body that accepted that power, then six souls reside within him.’
Now he clearly understood why it was said that without the special power called the Six-Origin Energies, he could not be controlled.
He did not know why the Six-Origin Energies had been scattered and hidden like that, but he understood that the six energies he had gathered were deeply connected to those six souls.
Geom Mugeuk walked toward the corpse of the Guardian Palace Master. He had died with his eyes still open.
“That Dark Palace Master did not achieve the Heavenly Will. His name never appeared even in a single line of history.”
Because that power was too great, he must have failed to fulfill his ambition. Only in later generations would it become known that such power required the Six-Origin Energies to control.
“His futile ambition will not be achieved even by his descendants. So please close your eyes in peace.”
Geom Mugeuk closed the Guardian Palace Master’s wide-open eyes.
Then he looked at the blood-soaked Small Secret Box lying beside him. In his own world it had completely disappeared, so this would likely be the last time he ever saw it.
‘Thank you, my friend.’
After saying his farewell, Geom Mugeuk immediately strode toward the Large Secret Box.
“Send me back.”
Until now he had been pulled into the Secret Box at completely unexpected moments, but this was the first time he had demanded it of his own will.
“To where my people are.”