Chapter 258: The Appearance of a Legend (1)
“Keugh!”
We had been making our way along the mountain path as best we could, but I didn’t expect them to pursue us this closely.
Or maybe… it was precisely because they were more beast than human, acting on primal instinct, that they could track us?
“Damn it!”
As Gu Chil dodged the strikes of the Awakened Beings, his stance crumbled.
Thud!
At the same time, I was thrown from his back, tumbling pathetically down the rugged slope and slamming into a thick tree trunk.
“You sons of bitches!”
Gu Chil’s arms flared in fury as the Nine Heavens Thunder Silks coiled around them.
Two werewolf-like Awakened Beings pounced at Gu Chil.
Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique
Lightning Threads of a Thousand Kills
Papatatat!
Charged with thunderous qi, Gu Chil’s Nine Heavens Silks danced in the air, slicing the creatures into pieces in an instant!
I couldn’t help but feel a quiet awe toward Gu Chil’s martial might.
‘As expected, the martial arts of the Murder Demon are especially effective against those bastards.’
The supreme slicing power of the Nine Heavens Silks was practically a natural enemy to regenerating monsters like them.
Still, even so, being able to pierce the hide of those tough Awakened Beings required something more…
“Gu Chil, have you reached the state of Thunder Death?”
Gu Chil, catching his breath, replied.
“It hasn’t been long, sir. I still haven’t mastered the Nine Heavens Thunderclap Technique enough to use it freely.”
“…I see.”
Even so, the magnitude of Gu Chil’s accomplishment didn’t change.
If the Murder Demon learned of this, he’d likely drag Gu Chil back into the fold even if it killed him.
“Get on my back again, quickly. From the looks of things, we’ll be caught again soon.”
“…Yeah.”
Since I had inherited the will of the Immortal Lord, I had to survive, no matter how disgracefully.
With that resolve, I moved to climb onto Gu Chil’s back once more.
But—
“That’s as far as you go, brats.”
Rumble!
Before we knew it, massive earthen walls rose up on all sides, cutting off every escape route!
They weren’t physical barriers per se, but the meaning behind their appearance was clear.
‘An illusion formation! Damn it, he’s already arrived?!’
The illusion formations crafted by Hwan Pyeong were virtually indistinguishable from reality.
To break it, you’d have to physically tear through the entire area—and even a peak-level martial artist would find that impossible.
Hwan Pyeong descended before us, his expression twisted in displeasure.
“A disciple of the Murder Demon... to think you’d pull such a bold little stunt.”
“Lord Illusion Demon…”
“I won’t give you a clean death. You’ll be trapped in an eternal illusion, dying and reviving endlessly.”
Gu Chil began to sweat as he backed away, shaken by the Illusion Demon’s chilling threat.
“D-Damn it. That’s actually pretty scary…”
Murderous energy flickered in Hwan Pyeong’s eyes.
“You’re that brat’s subordinate, aren’t you? So you won’t run away. Go ahead, struggle with all your might.”
Boom! Thud!
In an instant, Awakened Beings of the Heaven-Defying Society emerged and surrounded us.
Gu Chil shot me sidelong glances.
“Looks like we’re totally screwed, huh?”
“…Seems like it.”
I chuckled dryly and shook my head.
This time, we were truly out of options.
Gu Chil stood in front of me with grim determination.
“I’ll try to buy us some time. You, just try to escape however you can.”
He hurled the Nine Heavens Silks forward and shouted,
“Go!”
Papatatat!
The silks pierced tree trunks and Awakened Beings alike, weaving a dense spiderweb all around us.
Seeing the technique, Hwan Pyeong’s eyes flickered.
“…Ho?”
Freezing Thread Illusion-Destroying Demon Formation
That terrifying killing formation once used by the Murder Demon on me and Cheon Yura!
Even if it wasn’t on the same level, the fact that Gu Chil could deploy such a formation at all was remarkable.
“Grrrrk!”
The Awakened Beings immediately faltered.
Their instincts warned them of the danger posed by the tightly packed Nine Heavens Silks.
However—
Still manipulating the silks with both arms outstretched, Gu Chil soon collapsed to his knees, unable to handle the formation’s potential.
“Huff, huff… Damn, I’m running low on internal energy.”
With a mocking grin, Hwan Pyeong taunted Gu Chil.
“…A fine technique, sure, but what good is it if you can’t control it? How will you protect your master?”
“Huff… Huff! When facing the Illusion Demon… you can’t afford to hold anything back.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that.”
Hwan Pyeong slowly stepped into the Freezing Thread Illusion-Destroying Demon Formation.
Slice.
Slice.
Every step he took left traces of the Nine Heavens Silks on his body.
But not a single wound appeared.
“…Damn it.”
At last, Hwan Pyeong reached Gu Chil, who stared up at him in disbelief.
With a cruel smirk, Hwan Pyeong leaned in.
“If the Murder Demon were my opponent, he’d have unleashed Thunder Death infused with the Power of Destruction. Well, if you could actually pull that off, that is.”
Gu Chil chuckled weakly.
“C-Can’t you cut me a little slack here?”
“Nope.”
Thud!
Gu Chil vomited blood as he was slammed to the ground.
‘Gu Chil…!’
I bit my lip as I watched Gu Chil fly through the air, blood spraying from his mouth.
A thin stream of blood trickled down between my trembling lips.
If only I had been more cautious.
If only I hadn’t underestimated the enemy’s strength before acting.
Then none of this would have gone so disastrously wrong!
Hwan Pyeong sneered at the trembling Gu Chil.
“To think you survived the Illusion Demon’s Strike… well, no matter. You’ll be devoured soon anyway.”
True to his words, the Awakened Beings began creeping toward the unconscious Gu Chil.
They looked every bit like monsters craving human flesh.
Turning his gaze from Gu Chil, Hwan Pyeong looked back at me—still not running.
“Hm? Not going to run anymore?”
Just as Gu Chil said, there was no point in running.
The moment Gu Chil died, I—whose entire internal energy was sealed—would be captured and killed anyway.
There would be no more reinforcements.
And no retreat paths remained.
All that was left for me was to beg for a merciful death.
Yet—
I let out a genuine sigh of relief and closed my eyes.
“…Still, I’m glad you’re alive, Gu Chil.”
“…What?”
“At the very least, I’ll do everything I can… to make sure you return to Myeong-oh.”
I slowly rose to my feet.
Pain shot through every part of my body, but perhaps because of the body of the Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan, my mind remained razor sharp.
The three privileges bestowed upon me by the Goddess.
Even though all my powers were sealed by the True Star Sword, there was still one privilege left that I could activate at will.
I slowly moved my arm toward the Heavenly Spirit Opening.
Then, I murmured softly.
“The first… is sense.”
“The second is vitality.”
And the third was…
“…fate.”
That’s right.
Now, I would cast aside all fate that blocked my path.
Gloriously, I would burn out.
Still with my eyes closed, I struck down with the Celestial Spirit Dagger to open the third gate.
And so, my two past lives finally came to an end.
“……”
“……”
“……?”
“……??”
What was this?
Why wasn’t my arm moving?
I slowly opened my eyes and looked at my arm, which didn’t budge.
I wondered if some lingering instinct for life was trying to stop me from committing suicide.
But in truth, someone’s hand had grabbed my wrist, preventing me from bringing down the Celestial Spirit Dagger.
“Who… are you?”
A presence that had appeared without the slightest warning.
He spoke.
“My ancestor keeps causing such a commotion that I can’t get any decent sleep.”
“…?”
Blinking in confusion, I looked at the handsome young man who had stopped my action.
He had a slightly sharp impression, but I sensed no hostility.
‘Something about him… feels familiar, like I’ve seen him somewhere before…’
It was definitely the first time I’d seen him, yet his face felt oddly familiar.
While I was confused by that fact—
The young man who had grabbed my wrist gave me a bright smile and said,
“Isn’t it still too early to use that, little brother?”
“……!!!”
‘…What the hell?’
Hwan Pyeong, having disposed of Gu Chil, kept a close eye on Jin Yeomyung’s behavior.
‘That guy definitely just tried to commit suicide.’
Striking down with the Celestial Spirit Dagger was one method martial artists used to end their lives painlessly.
But now—
‘He suddenly stopped—what’s he doing now?’
He looked as if he had seen a ghost.
Yet even the Ghost Spirit Eyes didn’t pick anything up, so it clearly wasn’t a soul or evil spirit he was seeing.
‘Don’t tell me he’s lost his mind?’
Looking closer, he was even muttering to himself.
“Click. Seriously ruining the mood.”
To think that the final moment of the guy who gave them so much trouble would end up like this.
Just as Hwan Pyeong raised the True Star Sword and approached Jin Yeomyung—
“Hwan Pyeong, are you still dawdling?”
“Ah, my apologies, Grand Heavenly Lord.”
Having finished dealing with the Venerable Buddha, the Grand Heavenly Lord and Seventh Heavenly Lord appeared before Hwan Pyeong.
Hwan Pyeong gave an awkward smile and said,
“I was just about to wrap it up.”
“Don’t waste time—just kill hi—”
For some reason, the Grand Heavenly Lord trailed off mid-sentence and suddenly glared at Jin Yeomyung.
“…Grand Heavenly Lord?”
Startled by the Grand Heavenly Lord’s sudden odd behavior, Hwan Pyeong instinctively shrank his shoulders.
“Is there… some kind of problem…?”
“……”
The Grand Heavenly Lord still didn’t respond.
He simply continued to glare at Jin Yeomyung.
Sssk!
At some point, Jin Yeomyung’s arm, which had been aimed at the Celestial Spirit Dagger, lowered.
His previously dim eyes now sparkled as he lifted his head.
Facing the Grand Heavenly Lord directly, ‘Jin Yeomyung’ spoke.
“Still scheming so creepily from the shadows, huh? That kind of consistency is practically a sickness.”
“…You bastard.”
Crack! Crackle!
It sounded as if his muscles were violently twisting—an ominous noise emerged from the Grand Heavenly Lord’s face, hidden in darkness.
Jin Yeomyung clicked his tongue as he looked at the awakened beings densely surrounding him.
“Awakened beings, huh? Still conducting artificial experiments on martial artists? How filthy.”
“You son of a—!”
“Just looking at them is annoying. Let’s clean up the surroundings before we start, shall we?”
Suddenly, Jin Yeomyung spread both arms wide.
And then—
Forces of similar nature yet completely different essence began to gather in each of his hands.
Left Hand: Heaven-Slaying Qi
Right Hand: Heaven’s Record Qi
Without hesitation, Jin Yeomyung merged the two energies together.
The two forces, which should have clashed like yin and yang, instead combined smoothly, amplifying beyond their usual power!
“It’s not as much as when I was with Yoo Mae, but it should be enough for a greeting after all this time.”
Qi Convergence.
Heavenly Demon Resonance: Great Calamitous Destruction.
“……!!”
In an instant—
It felt as if all of existence was being sucked into the fused energy.
A massive black-and-white explosion engulfed the area for several li in all directions.
Unlike a normal explosion, no loud noise rang through the air.
It was calm—but voracious.
The resonant qi, born from the merging of the two forces, ground down all surrounding terrain into nothingness—literally obliterating everything into void.
“Keuh-huhhhhk!”
Caught off guard by the overwhelming shockwave, Hwan Pyeong couldn’t even stay conscious.
‘W-what just happened?!’
He had confirmed multiple times that all of Jin Yeomyung’s power had been sealed by the True Star Sword.
He was sure Jin Yeomyung had become a powerless criminal.
So what in the world was that divine might radiating before his eyes right now?
‘C-Cult Leader?’
That sacred aura—one that only the Cult Leader should be capable of showing—why was that mere brat now displaying it?
Hwan Pyeong struggled desperately to maintain his grip on the True Star Sword as his strength faltered.
That last attack—if the Grand Heavenly Lord hadn’t hastily erected a barrier to block it, he would’ve been annihilated without even time to scream.
After a while—
“Haah, haah!”
He, the Grand Heavenly Lord, and Seventh Heavenly Lord had survived, but the awakened beings that had surrounded them—every last one—had vanished without a trace.
“Now then, we can finally have a proper conversation.”
Jin Yeomyung waved toward the Grand Heavenly Lord.
“It’s been a while, Han Seon. Four hundred years, was it?”
The Grand Heavenly Lord, now called Han Seon, roared at Jin Yeomyung with a voice filled with rage—completely unlike his usual demeanor.
“Cheon. Ha. Seong!!”
Cheon Haseong.
It was a name barely remembered anymore.
But four hundred years ago, it had been widely known by that epithet.
The Second Generation Heavenly Demon.