Lee Sungmin stared at his own world.
At first, he thought it was chaos, a jumbled mess of disorder.
The memories of the Lord of the Sama Order, the Demon Emperor Yang Il-Chun.
The memories of a dragon that died at the hands of Heoju.
The memories of the Blood Ghost Asura Ju Heebaek, known as the Blood Demon.
His past and present self.
These entangled memories were chaos itself.
But not anymore. After Heoju left Lee Sungmin’s consciousness, this vast world of consciousness became solely his.
The world was no longer hazy. There was no fog. The only resident here was now Lee Sungmin himself. He slowly began to walk through the world of consciousness.
Heoju was gone, but Lee Sungmin had been wholly connected to Heoju for a fleeting moment, seeing what Heoju’s consciousness saw and the feelings he experienced.He felt how Heoju felt when he shook off the regret of leaving and when he laughed.
Don’t cry, smile.
That’s what Heoju said. Still, smiling was difficult. Whenever he recalled memories of Heoju, he couldn’t form a smile.
That’s how important Heoju was to Lee Sungmin. The realization that he would no longer hear the voice of Heoju, who was always laughing and talking, shook his spirit.
But still.
Lee Sungmin did not stop walking. He had promised Heoju. Not just to plunge into a dung heap after killing Geniella, but also…
Someday, when everything was over, and he had no regrets left in the world, he promised to go together to the world that Heoju, Yang Il-Chun, and the Spear King went to.
For that reason, he couldn’t die. He had to prevent the end at all costs. Lee Sungmin stopped walking.
Before he knew it, he was standing in the center of his consciousness. The memories he was aware of began to resurface one by one.
Long ago, there was a clan in the Four Evil Sects called the Dark Alliance. The alliance’s leader at that time was a man named Yang Mu-Gi, and his son, Yang Il-Chun, was born.
Born with innate talent, he surpassed his father’s achievements at a young age and reached the Peak Realm, founding a group called the Sama Order and creating a martial art called the Dark Storm Arts.
Everyone called him the Demon Emperor for his miraculous martial arts.
Long ago, there was an arrogant dragon. Like all dragons, from its birth, it was superior to all races and, true to its racial trait of mastering magic, it was haughty.
Like most dragons, it enjoyed polymorphing into a human and wandering the human world, taking pleasure in whatever it found enjoyable.
Long ago, there was a person called Blood Ghost Asura Ju Heebaek. Suddenly summoned to this unknowable world, he did not form groups but roamed as a loner, enjoying practicing martial arts and fighting strong opponents, like in his previous world.
Along the way, he met two vampire sisters by chance, or rather, by design.
Not so long ago.
There was a 14-year-old kid who didn’t want to go to school, like any other kid anywhere in the world.
Lee Sungmin opened his eyes. It took a long time to process all those memories.
Time probably hadn’t passed by much in the real world. He knew well that time in the mental world flowed differently from the outside.
Lee Sungmin slowly lowered his gaze to look at his own body. The memories that filled the world dispersed.
Who am I?
Am I the Demon Emperor because I carry his memories? Am I a dragon because I carry the dragon’s memories? Am I the Blood Demon because I have the memories of the Blood Demon?
It was a meaningless question. I already knew who I was. ‘I’ had to be none other than myself. Not the Demon Emperor, not a dragon, nor the Blood Demon. Then am I the Ghost Spear?
“……No.”
Lee Sungmin slowly closed his eyes. He lifted his hands to cover his face.
His face felt sticky with dried tears. He couldn’t be the Ghost Spear. Until now, Lee Sungmin had always been the Ghost Spear.
From when he killed the Sword Ghost to when Geniella cut his head off.
“Not enough.”
The Ghost Spear was weak.
Being the Ghost Spear was not enough.
Thump. Thump.
The sound was loud enough for everyone to hear. Geniella’s laughter, which had been full of glee, abruptly stopped.
She pulled her hand out of the abdomen of the Black Dragon. Nearby, Scarlett lay collapsed, drenched in blood, and not far from her, Lloyd sat with his head bowed in resignation.
“Ah, ahhh…”
Oslo lay collapsed, her wings completely torn apart.
Baek Sogo lifted her pale face. With eyes blurred by blood, she looked in the direction of the sound.
Completely exhausted from using her divine protection, Rubia weakly lifted her head.
Thump.
The sound was heard once again. Geniella did not look at the horror she had created.
As she shook the blood off her hands, she looked towards the source of the heartbeat.
From Lee Sungmin, whose head had flown off, a heart was beating loudly.
The heartbeat was so powerful that it shook his entire body. The head that had been lost was now fully regenerated.
Geniella’s lips curved into a smirk. Finally.
“I was worried you really died.”
The regeneration was too slow. So slow, she wondered if his mind had died entirely, leaving only his body alive.
But that wasn’t the case. That excited Geniella. She wanted not the annihilation of Lee Sungmin but his complete despair.
To surprise him when he opened his eyes… Geniella had prepared a lot.
She cut off Baek Sogo’s right arm. She gouged out Scarlett’s left eye. She chopped off the Black Dragon’s left arm.
She cut off Lloyd’s right leg.
The rest was to be done in front of Lee Sungmin when he opened his eyes, to subdue him as he screamed and struggled in despair.
She wanted to see him cry and beg. To beg for forgiveness, for his life, to stop. Geniella slowly approached Lee Sungmin.
She had asked him numerous times. Have you despaired? But each time, Lee Sungmin did not give the answer Geniella truly wanted to hear.
But now, she would be able to hear it. Geniella stopped in her tracks. The powerful heartbeat that had made his body shimmer was subsiding.
His eyes, which had been closed, opened.
It felt like waking from a long dream. He did not hear Heoju’s voice. It was to be expected. Heoju was no longer by Lee Sungmin’s side. Lee Sungmin slowly got up.
His body didn’t feel like his own. It felt like when he had swallowed Aine’s heart; no, it was a more intense feeling of alienation.
As he got up, Lee Sungmin became keenly aware of his own body. And he realized, indifferently.
He said that he had undergone a complete body transformation. His dantien no longer existed. The immense amount of inner power and magical energy that had been inside his internal core was now all within Lee Sungmin’s body, circulating.
Lee Sungmin’s entire body had become the dantien.
“How do you feel?”
Geniella asked with an excited voice. Lee Sungmin looked at Geniella with a vacant expression in his eyes, stirring a slight sense of unease within her.
Did his brain not yet fully recover? Although such a question crossed her mind, Geniella did not hesitate to chatter away.
“Look. All these things have happened while you were down.”
Geniella didn’t provide detailed accounts of her actions. She thought it would be more enjoyable for Sungmin to see the aftermath with his own eyes than to hear about it.
Lee Sungmin slowly surveyed his surroundings. Much was laid before his eyes. The Oslo with torn wings, Rubia who collapsed powerlessly, Baek Sogo drenched in blood, Scarlett covered in blood, the Black Dragon soaked in blood, blood, blood. Sungmin slowly closed his eyes.
No one was dead.
Thankfully, they were all alive.
There was a sliver of relief in that. However, such wounds could not be healed even with elixirs.
A severed arm meant living the rest of one’s life with one arm. Losing an eye meant living the rest of one’s life with one eye.
Yet, they were not dead. All were still alive. Lee Sungmin took a deep breath. The worst had been averted.
It was not too late for redemption. He was thankful for that.
“How does it feel?”
Geniella asked with an excited tone. A softly whispering voice hurried him along.
Geniella resumed her halted step. She lightened the gap between her and Lee Sungmin with steps light as a dance.
“How do you feel? All this happened while you were down. You are…”
“I…”
Lee Sungmin spoke.
He didn’t wait to hear Geniella’s question to the end. He already knew what she was going to ask.
While Lee Sungmin was down, Geniella could have killed everyone. No matter how much they united their strength, they were not strong enough to face Geniella.
However, Geniella did not kill anyone. Although she inflicted wounds that would never heal, she did not take their lives.
Why she did so, he did not need to ponder. What Geniella desired was Lee Sungmin’s despair.
“…am not in despair.”
They were not dead. For now, that was enough. At Lee Sungmin’s response, Geniella giggled gleefully.
Still? Geniella murmured in a low voice, shoulders shaking.
“Oh, good. Very…good. You haven’t fallen into despair even after all this? It’s fine, it’s fine. The night is still long. Even if that moon sets, it doesn’t matter. We can just create a new full moon. Perhaps that would make it easier to drive you to despair? Yes, good. You still haven’t despaired. So, how do you feel now?”
“Rage.”
He answered in a whisper. He looked down at his hands, holding nothing.
“Hatred.”
Something’s wrong.
Listening to Lee Sungmin murmuring, Geniella thought. Could it really be that his brain hadn’t fully regenerated?
It wasn’t that he was a fool; having done all this, he should have realized. Or perhaps the shock was too much, and his mind had collapsed that way.
“…There’s something odd about you.”
The smile vanished from Geniella’s face. If his mind had already collapsed, all Geniella had done would be rendered meaningless.
Geniella wished to see Lee Sungmin break down in despair and fear, sobbing and screaming, but if he had been completely broken, she should have fully enjoyed it earlier.
Geniella hadn’t enjoyed everything yet. She wanted to push him to the limit, endure to the limit, and when the hunger was at its greatest and when the thirst was unbearable… that’s when she wanted to experience the ultimate thrill.
Geniella’s gaze shifted. The All-Seeing Demon Eye activated. Geniella’s shoulders twitched as she gazed at Lee Sungmin.
‘Heoju is…?’
Until a moment ago, Heoju was within Sungmin. He was on the brink of his existence, barely holding on, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if he disappeared at any moment… but why did he disappear so suddenly? No, that wasn’t all of it. Something more…
Pop!
Geniella’s eyeballs burst. Dark blood gushed from her eye sockets. Staggering backward, Geniella covered her eyes with both hands.
Her Demon Eye failed to recognize what had happened. What should have been visible… was not. Until now, there had been times when she couldn’t see Lee Sungmin, but she never felt such oppressiveness.
“What happened?”
“A lot.”
There was no need to explain to Geniella. Lee Sungmin took a step toward her slowly.
He wasn’t just looking at Geniella. He saw Prescan, still sobbing, lying in the distance, and Gemini standing rigid beside her.
“…Ghost Spear…”
“No.”
Lee Sungmin shook his head to deny Geniella’s murmured words.
“I am the Predator of Massacre.”
Lee Sungmin vanished.
It wasn’t that she couldn’t see him.
Her shattered eyes had already regenerated. Geniella saw where Lee Sungmin was moving.
‘Predator of Massacre?’
The reason she stopped moving was because of the words Lee Sungmin muttered. The words themselves were not of great importance.
Geniella had already known Lee Sungmin had awakened as the Predator of Massacre. Recognizing that fact now was not a reason for surprise.
The disappearance of Heoju was.
That was reason enough to be shocked. No, that wasn’t it. The real reason for the surprise was…
Geniella’s body was thrown backward. Her closed lips parted as blood spurted out.
Lee Sungmin, who had kicked Geniella’s body, did not stop but flew forward. In an instant, he reached the positions of Gemini and Prescan, grabbed their collars, and chased after Geniella, who had been flung.
Geniella, thrown back by the blow, and Lee Sungmin, holding Gemini and Prescan’s collars to pursue her, quickly left the lakeside. When enough distance had been made, Lee Sungmin slammed the bodies of Gemini and Prescan onto the ground, coming to a stop.
The ground quaked. A little ahead of them, Geniella stopped. She licked the blood coating her lips while looking at Lee Sungmin.
“What are you trying to do?”
Geniella smirked, not providing an answer to the question. Lee Sungmin quietly raised his hand.
The magic of the Forest of the Fairies began to stir—the mana dissolved in the atmosphere gathered around Lee Sungmin’s palm.
Geniella’s eyebrows twitched. She discerned what Lee Sungmin was trying to do. Panic preceded action.
Geniella stood, shocked, simply watching as Lee Sungmin manipulated the magic. No spell or incantation was necessary.
The magic filling the forest moved as Lee Sungmin desired. His lips slightly parted.
The words he muttered were in a language that humans, and most beings for that matter, could never comprehend.
Geniella didn’t know what the muttered words meant. But she knew what it was.
“Dragon language…?”
It was unbelievable. Impossible. Dragons had left this dimension hundreds of years ago.
No, it wouldn’t make a difference even if dragons hadn’t left and remained in this dimension. How could a human, if it’s even appropriate to call Lee Sungmin a human now, a being that wasn’t a dragon, use dragon language?
The dragon language Lee Sungmin uttered was genuine. The magic moved following his voice. The gathered magic expanded broadly, forming a barrier behind Lee Sungmin.
It became a powerful barrier that completely enveloped the lakeside.
It was his first time using dragon language. Yet, it felt natural, as if it was meant to be. To the current Lee Sungmin, using dragon language was ‘originally’ something he knew and could use. It was just a bit awkward.
The silence in his mind, without any voice echoing, made that feeling even more pronounced.
There was no teasing praise.
He already missed that voice.