A dark aura surged endlessly from the figure in front of her. Wi Seol-ah trembled as she faced that energy.
How could something be so ominous?
And what was this power pushing against that aura? Wi Seol-ah questioned the white energy continuously emanating from her own body.
If someone were to ask whether she didn’t understand the power she was using…
It was likely because this power wasn’t something Wi Seol-ah was currently wielding herself.
“What are you doing right now?”
Although it seemed like she was using it, Wi Seol-ah was only a spectator at this moment.
From the instant that mysterious figure appeared, control of her body had passed to someone else.
Swish! Swish!
The blade, condensed with white energy, sliced through the air, leaving dark trails in its wake.
The aftereffects of those traces were so intense that it created the illusion that dimensions were being distorted.
She could feel her body moving. Even though she had lost control, Wi Seol-ah could still sense how her legs moved, how her hands shifted.
She could also feel the gaze observing her every movement.
How her inner energy flowed, how the sword path moved—Wi Seol-ah could see it all.
It was different from the swordsmanship her grandfather had taught her.
‘It’s similar but different…’
The form was undoubtedly Moonlight Sword Dance. The flow of her inner energy and the way the sword path moved were certainly the same as her grandfather’s Moonlight Sword Dance.
Yet, the sword extending from her hand had a slightly different feel. As she pondered where this sensation came from—
‘…This is…’
It dawned on her.
It was similar to the strange swordsmanship she had learned from the Huashan sect.
The bizarre swordsmanship she had learned from her teachings had a form that closely resembled this.
Then, what was this energy?
This was both similar to and different from the golden energy she’d previously manifested. The flow of her inner energy seemed the same, but the energy was deeper and much warmer.
—Focus and feel it.
A voice echoed in Wi Seol-ah’s ear.
Only then did she recall the situation she was in.
She had been entranced by the beautiful swordsmanship, forgetting herself in the radiant energy.
“Sister…!”
—I didn’t want to show you like this.
Even as she spoke, the sword continued to move.
The dark energy swirling around her showed no signs of ending. It seemed overwhelming at first, but the sheer amount of energy was enough to leave her speechless.
Yet, she didn’t stop.
—Are you afraid?
Flash.
As she swung the sword, a bright light flickered.
The overwhelming dark energy hesitated for a moment.
It was only for a fleeting second, but she took another step forward.
—Do you remember when I told you to understand the essence of Moonlight Sword Dance?
Wi Seol-ah remembered. She had been told that the essence of the Moonlight Sword Dance didn’t lie in the moon itself.
Now, she wondered if bringing it up at this moment meant this power was the true essence of Moonlight Sword Dance.
—No.
She denied it.
—Don’t be misled by this power. The essence is something you must find on your own.
The white energy swirling around her formed something that resembled wings.
This was clearly not a power she could have manifested herself.
Wi Seol-ah looked beyond the white energy to the being emitting the dark aura.
It was a face identical to hers.
How could this be?
Questions filled her mind.
The expressionless face had violet eyes that glowed ominously. With a simple wave of a hand, the overwhelming energy surged outward, pressing down on everything around it.
Her sword once again cleaved through the air, blocking the energy, but this time she couldn’t block it all, and some of it scattered around her.
Was she reaching her limit?
Seeing this, Wi Seol-ah spoke.
“Sister… please return control to me.”
Even though she had promised not to recklessly take over her body, here she was, doing just that.
While the sword swings and the energy surrounding them were breathtaking, this was a different issue.
—I’m sorry.
She apologized.
—You don’t like it when I take control of your body like this… but right now…
She thought it was necessary for his sake. This time, she thought it couldn’t be helped.
“That’s not it.”
Wi Seol-ah refuted.
“If you continue like this… you said it would be the last time. You told me if you went further, you would disappear.”
—…!
“You can’t do that, can you?”
At Wi Seol-ah’s words, she was inwardly surprised.
It wasn’t what she had expected.
—…Are you worried about me?
“Am I not allowed to be?”
They had discussed this before.
Because there was so little strength left, borrowing her body like this had reached its limit. She had said she could only do it one more time.
And that time was now.
And this… was exactly what she had wanted.
If she could use this power for his sake, she had no hesitation.
If using this power meant she would be annihilated, and the immense karmic weight her soul had accumulated would bring about unimaginable punishment—
She didn’t care.
She couldn’t return what he had done for her.
She couldn’t even reveal her true identity to him.
But if she could save him, if she could give him more time to live—
Then she didn’t mind.
In such a situation, she hadn’t expected Wi Seol-ah to worry about her.
“If this keeps going… you’ll disappear. Are you okay with that?”
You won’t be able to see him anymore.
Are you still okay with that?
At those words, she couldn’t help but smile as she continued to swing her sword.
—You’re very different from me.
She was so different from herself, but she liked that.
—That’s enough.
If they had met under different circumstances—
If things had been even slightly different from the way they were—
Perhaps she would have ended up like Wi Seol-ah.
—I want you to be happy.
Please.
Even if she couldn’t be, she hoped Wi Seol-ah could be.
To live the life she had never been able to live.
That was her sincere wish.
“Sister…?”
—I have a request.
She spoke cautiously.
—Please don’t hate our grandfather too much. He had his reasons. You, at least… don’t hate him.
“What are you saying?”
Wi Seol-ah responded, bewildered.
The energy was growing even stronger.
Wi Seol-ah began to faintly understand.
The energy she was using didn’t only flow from her dantian.
It was drawn from a place much deeper.
A place so deep that Wi Seol-ah, in her current state, couldn’t even begin to reach it.
Where was this energy coming from?
What would happen to her after using it?
The energy built up in her sword was gaining strength.
The process was so intricate and flawless.
There wasn’t a single gap in the accumulation of energy.
It was a testament to how perfect her mastery was.
The opponent seemed to notice this as well, tilting its head slightly.
Its expression wasn’t one of alarm, but more of curiosity.
Was it wondering what she was going to do?
“Sister…! St—!”
She thought to herself.
What would happen to her after using this power?
With the weight of her accumulated karma, she knew she would face a fitting punishment.
But she had no idea what that punishment would be.
More importantly—
Could this power destroy that being?
‘It’s impossible.’
It was impossible.
She knew far too well that this power wouldn’t be enough.
Because she was the same as the being standing before them.
She knew better than anyone.
But still—
‘If I could just do some damage.’
All she could do was buy time.
Buy enough time for him to have a little more time.
The energy within the sword wasn’t just her life force.
She couldn’t touch the innate energy within her physical body, so she had imbued the sword with her very existence, with her karmic burden.
It was her soul she had placed in the blade.
This was all for a single thrust.
That was her intention.
Hum—
“…!”
But she stopped accumulating energy and turned her head.
Toward where he sat, crouched down.
Even Cheonma reacted.
The Cheonma who had maintained the same expression all along.
Even Cheonma's eyes widened as he looked somewhere with an intense gaze.
And then suddenly—
“…Huff…ugh.”
Someone let out a groan. Wi Seol-ah immediately reacted to the sound.
The one who had groaned, to her surprise, was Cheonma.
******************
The demonic energy that squeezed my entire body.
Unlike how it usually blocks the flow of my internal energy and causes my body to rot, the pain I’m feeling now is slightly different.
Was this what they call resonance?
As if trying to show that the true master of all demons is Cheonma, the demonic energy inside me is reacting to the Cheonma standing before me.
Is that all?
The demonic energy rages within me, as if it wants to return to Cheonma. It’s thrashing about wildly, as though it will tear my body apart if I don’t release it.
Even though I’ve reached the realm of Hwakyung, just having this demonic energy inside my body has turned me into a meaningless existence in front of Cheonma.
So, what should I do?
In front of me, Wi Seol-ah is battling Cheonma.
Behind me, the fallen Paejon is in no state to intervene.
If the Heuk Ya Palace Lord regains his strength, both Wi Seol-ah and I will be in serious trouble.
This means Wi Seol-ah might be killed.
It’s not a matter of worrying about who will stop Cheonma in the future if she dies.
I simply can’t bear it.
The thought of her dying.
It’s worse than the thought of my own death.
So, I have to find a way out of this situation, no matter what.
How can I break through this?
The solution is simple.
If the demonic energy is trying to return to Cheonma, all I have to do is make sure it no longer has the desire to leave.
Instead of locking it away in a corner of my dantian like I have been, I need to fully integrate it with my body.
In other words, I must transform myself into a Maga (魔人化)—a demon.
Since the moment I absorbed demonic energy, I’ve resisted this. I’ve tried to use it without becoming a demon.
But now, I’m going to shatter that resistance and willingly embrace it.
I released the hold I had on the raging demonic energy.
Rumble.
Immediately, I felt the demonic energy rampaging wildly within me.
It hurt.
It felt like someone was cutting me apart from the inside.
Even as I endured the pain, I intensified the demonic energy further.
Screech!
It felt like something was screaming inside my body, as if the demonic energy itself was howling.
I guided the energy along my meridians.
The destination wasn’t my dantian.
It was my heart.
[Growl!]
A sound echoed in my ears. It was the beast within me, the one that had been silent despite my desperate calls, finally emerging.
I wondered if I should feel resentful that it showed up only now, but...
No, that wasn’t the case.
‘It was you, wasn’t it?’
I asked the beast.
‘You were the one holding the demonic energy back, weren’t you?’
[Growl...]
Even though I’ve had demonic energy stored in my dantian all this time, I didn’t feel the pain, and the transformation into a demon hadn’t progressed.
‘You’ve been stopping it, haven’t you?’
I had thought the purification power of Guyeomhwarunggong was responsible, but in retrospect, my previous life made me think differently.
Back when I was caught in Cheonma’s grip and turned into a demon in my past life...
Unlike the others, I hadn’t succumbed to madness.
I had chalked it up to special circumstances at the time, but if the World Tree is right, and this beast has been inside me all along since my previous life...
Was it possible this beast had been holding it back?
Had it not just awakened now, but rather, I had failed to notice its presence until recently?
And now, as my cultivation increased and the influence of the demonic energy grew stronger...
Was this beast preventing my demonic energy from running wild?
That thought crossed my mind.
Maybe the purification power came from this beast, but that was something I still didn’t know for sure.
One thing I could be certain of was this:
‘You don’t want me to become a demon.’
[Growl...]
‘Right?’
This beast didn’t want me to become a demon.
Whether that was true or not, I believed it.
But—
‘Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.’
Even if the beast didn’t want it, this was something I had to do.
Perhaps I had been delaying this all along.
I had said I would use everything at my disposal to reach my goal.
Yet, here I was, postponing this decision just because I didn’t want to become a demon, remembering my past life.
Because once I crossed that line, I felt like I could never go back.
That’s why I hesitated.
Crack.
The demonic energy spread throughout my body and surged more violently.
Now that the pressure had been released, it began to rampage as if it owned the place.
I redirected the flow of demonic energy spreading through my body toward my heart.
The energy plunged into my heart instantly.
Not all of it followed my command, but most of it rushed toward my heart.
Every vein in my body stood on end.
The pain was incomparable to what I had felt in my past life.
Back then, it was Cheonma who had bestowed the stigma and made me a demon.
But now, I was forcing myself into becoming a demon.
I couldn’t be sure of anything.
All I knew was that I had to endure.
I opened my eyes, which felt like they were about to burst, and stared at Cheonma.
If I became a demon now, even if I could hold out for a moment, I would eventually fall under Cheonma’s control.
‘Then it’s no different.’
It would be no different from my previous life.
That’s why I took a slightly different approach.
I had been repeating it in my head for a long time now.
Ever since I realized that the Madocheonheupgong was clinging to my body, even after going through regression...
As my cultivation increased, and I gained the power to turn others into demons...
I had reached this point.
The more my strength grew, the more I could replicate the things Cheonma had done.
It felt as if someone was pushing me forward, saying I could replace Cheonma’s position.
How utterly repulsive.
The idea that everything I was going through might be tied to someone else’s will...
Especially with Cheonma right in front of me.
‘Could that really be true?’
I didn’t have enough answers.
Was it because every situation seemed to suggest this?
I, too, began to think it might be possible.
Was this demonic energy truly under Cheonma’s control?
How could the energy I drew from demons belong to Cheonma?
Because he was the master of all demons?
How many demons were there, even now?
Screech!
The demonic energy that had coiled around my heart continued to thrash.
As if wanting to return to Cheonma.
‘No. It needs to go somewhere else.’
I had to change my way of thinking.
Not that the energy was returning to Cheonma, but that it had found a better vessel and was trying to settle there.
‘After I’ve fed and sheltered you all this time, now you want to leave because Cheonma is here?’
Just thinking about it made me sick.
Cheonma had told me.
That power was his.
But no. That’s not quite right.
I possessed it, so it’s my power now.
I never asked for it, but since it was given to me, I’ll bear it.
I have no intention of giving it back.
Return it? No, it’s mine now. I won’t let go of anything that belongs to me.
Screech...!
The demonic energy continued to rage.
It resisted the idea of connecting to Cheonma, and so it fought even more fiercely.
I yanked it back with all my strength.
The pain intensified, as if my body would explode any second.
But I didn’t care.
‘Shut up and listen.’
If the world has demands of me—
This time, I was willing to meet them.
‘Stay quiet and don’t take me for a fool.’
After making themselves comfortable in my body, now that Cheonma had shown up, they wanted to leave?
Not a chance.
Grr.
I grabbed all the rampaging demonic energy and forced it into my heart.
I could still feel it raging violently.
If I couldn’t endure even a little, my heart might burst and kill me.
But I couldn’t back down now.
I wove the demonic energy tightly and carefully, packing it into my heart.
If this had happened before, my body wouldn’t have been able to handle it.
But now that I had reached Hwakyung, my body barely held on.
It was as if...
It had been waiting for me to reach Hwakyung.
It was almost too perfect to dismiss as a coincidence.
If that were true...
What was this unknown entity expecting of me?
‘Are you telling me to become Cheonma?’
What a ridiculous idea. How could I be Cheonma when such a monstrous existence was right in front of me?
It was a terrifying thought.
Something that shouldn’t be possible.
Amidst this chaos, I could faintly see it.
As the demonic energy coiled around my heart, I could see a transparent thread connecting my body.
It was connected to Cheonma.
I hadn’t had much interaction with Cheonma in this life, so why was this thread here?
Was it a mark that linked the demonic energy in my body to Cheonma?
The question didn’t last long.
Whether this thread was real or an illusion, whether it meant I was connected to Cheonma—
It didn’t matter.
I reached out.
And severed the thread.
Snap.
The thread broke so easily.
“…!”
At that moment, Cheonma’s gaze shifted toward me.
Had he felt the thread snap?
Rumble!
As soon as the thread was severed, the demonic energy I had trapped in my heart began to change.
The demonic energy that I had barely managed to hold back surged through my entire body again.
But this time, it felt different.
The demonic energy that had previously caused me pain now felt warm.
First, it settled in my dantian.
It mingled with the internal energy that had been resting there.
Unlike before, when the demonic energy had threatened to devour my internal energy, this time they mixed slowly.
The demonic energy that merged with my internal energy surged up to my middle dantian.
There were no obstructions.
It was so smooth and natural.
As if it were filling in the dried-out traces, the demonic energy filled my middle dantian completely.
There was only one place left to go.
The upper dantian.
The demonic energy surged toward the unknown space that had been frozen since I had reached Hwakyung.
Its movement was like a tidal wave.
Although it moved quickly in that instant, I could feel every part of its journey.
Its presence was so clear that there was no way I couldn’t notice it.
The demonic energy reached my upper dantian.
Then, heat surged into my eyes.
“Haa...”
The pain had long since disappeared, and I exhaled in an inexplicable sense of euphoria.
There was no time to savor it.
I stood up.
Cheonma was looking at me.
His glowing violet eyes were fixed on me, but instead of fear or terror, what I felt now was an inexplicable sense of kinship.
Flare.
Facing him, I ignited flames at my fingertips.
Not with internal energy, but with demonic energy.
Because of that, the flames were a black hue, with a violet tint.
“Ah, damn it.”
I cursed as I looked at the flames.
I hadn’t wanted to transform into a demon just to see these cursed flames again.
Yet here I was, once again filled with these damn flames.
Setting aside the fact that I had now become a demon and that Cheonma was standing before me...
As I looked at the flames, I made one resolution.
If I wasn’t going to die here—
At the very least, I wouldn’t let myself be known by the same pathetic nickname from my previous life.
Amusingly, that was now my top priority.