### Chapter 368 – Room 205, The Cursed Room – ‘The Absolute Master’ (17)
—
– Park Seungyub
I look down at a world filled with pain and despair.
Everywhere, people are skewered like fish on sticks, suffering as they perish.
What unfolds on the ground is even more bizarre.
People, knowing they’d become the Demon Spirit’s toys, willingly stepped into their own prison, like pigs slathering themselves with spices before hopping into a frying pan.
How brutally did it take to break their will to resist the Demon?
Just imagining it makes me flinch, so I close my eyes.
“Open your eyes.”
“…”
“Want me to help you? How about I poke them open with needles?”
“Ah, no, thanks!”
“You’re an emperor! Shouldn’t you see what your people are going through?”
“Are you perhaps suggesting revenge? For, um, participating in the sealing by the former emperor?”
“Hmm…”
“Uh, uh, uh—”
“Stutter like that one more time, and I might just tear your mouth apart.”
“… If you hate my father, why not break open his grave and burn his corpse?”
“Wow! That’s pretty bold for a son! Are you asking for public execution here?”
“Wouldn’t the living deserve to live? The late emperor is surely burning in hell—”
“Sorry, but I don’t believe in the afterlife. The gods of Baehwa? Just really strong demons in disguise.”
“…”
“What am I supposed to do with a dead emperor? I gave up on him. He escaped my grasp through death. But now, you’re left behind.”
“Ugh!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep a tight grip on you. For a very… long time. Let’s have fun together. So—”
Just when I thought I’d suffocate and wished to faint, the Demon Spirit suddenly tilted its head and stood up.
“Oh? Looks like a benefactor has arrived!”
Benefactor?
“That bastard who freed me from that hellish prison on Cheongzan is here!”
Who the hell let the Demon Spirit out?
It smiled brightly and walked toward someone I couldn’t even see.
I…
I just wanted to rest.
If there’s a god above, I’d now beg for some peace.
So, when the golden lightning strikes down from the heavens to reveal its shape, I can finally smile.
I know that my time to rest has come…
This was my last memory.
— Kwa-LUNG!
—
As the needle points to midnight, the girl realizes something.
She knows that summoning her past using the Time Distortion Device is fundamentally different from summoning others.
Her ancient body, spirit, soul, memories, and power— or more accurately, the tangled mass of all of these envelops her present.
Having rediscovered her innocence, the girl glimpses another future that belongs to her, either past or yet to unfold.
She saw herself entering the Administration Bureau, having lost friends in a Christmas nightmare, and the endless secrets of the world that she learned as an agent, along with countless decisions made in that process.
The girl, who has returned from reversing time, sees the pure potential she had lost.
She saw herself joining the hotel with someone’s help before losing her friends, creating an ideal relationship with her ‘daughter’ among her companions.
As she reached the end, Miro awakened.
Simultaneously, a mysterious vision filled her line of sight.
A robed woman exuded an overwhelming presence as she pressed down on Miro.
“Long time no see.”
“…”
“Looks like I’m under a different blessing now. But back when I recorded myself in the Time Distortion Device, my blessing was justice.”
“Don’t dare put the word ‘justice’ in your mouth. That’s arrogance and violence.”
“I remember having this debate many times. Do you wish to do it again?”
“… Ah.”
Gold waves fell from the sky.
Miro felt the power as both familiar and strange.
To one of the two awkwardly mixed girls, it was a known sensation, while for the other, it was a first experience.
Then, a bewildered voice rang out.
“What is this? The power of the First Apostle? I clearly killed you days ago! What are you—”
“… I am.”
“What?”
“I’ve destroyed countless beings of your kind.”
The Demon Spirit instinctively took a step back, feeling an intense pressure.
“This time won’t be any different.”
As Miro’s justice converged with the golden waves, like a gathering tide…
The Demon Spirit murmured the ‘best response’ it learned after years of clashing with the First Apostle of Baehwa.
It instantly retreated, hiding among the innocent souls behind the barrier.
It didn’t just hide its manipulated body but split its consciousness, blending into the terrified civilians.
In Miro’s perspective, this was a remarkably excellent response.
If it were Elena, she wouldn’t have been able to harm the innocent citizens possessed by the demon indiscriminately.
Even if Elena were a superhero with a righteous character straight out of a movie, she’d likely have her hands tied in this situation.
Why is that?
Because their sense of justice aligns with universal ethical standards of humanity.
“Better to let ten criminals go free than to punish one innocent.”
This has been the ideal that humanity has pondered for centuries.
…
Here lies another ‘different justice.’
“Burn ten innocent ones if it means not letting one corrupt one slip away.”
The ignorant might see this logic as madness and violence.
But it’s not.
In fact, this reasoning is quite familiar to humanity.
It’s simply the logic of ‘containment’ rather than that of law.
When an outbreak occurs in a specific area, all pigs and cows in that region must be eliminated.
Whether each individual being has committed any ‘sin’ or not becomes irrelevant to the situation.
To save more livestock, indeed, for the sake of humanity, they must die.
In Miro’s view, the belief of the Administration Bureau was similar.
Demons, ghosts, and monsters spreading among people are akin to a sort of ‘chaotic calamity,’ not just because they underestimate humanity, but to protect it.
Their loyalty is not to individual humans but to humanity as a whole.
That’s why Miro could decree the death sentence to the 37,892 people behind the barrier without a hint of hesitation.
—
Lightning struck.
With a single blow.
The power of judgment that Miro created shattered the entire barrier.
Then, engulfing silence descended across the entire barrier.
Those waiting for death, trapped in iron bars, those skewered in agony, even the terrified young emperor hanging from a pole…
All received equal rest.
—
The moment after, silence shattered.
A man radiating a blue aura burst forth through the shattered debris.
His body was incredibly large and robust.
The burns all over him even seemed to be regenerating in real-time.
“That’s Cha Jinchul’s body? Incredible durability.”
Moreover, three more individuals had survived by using Cha Jinchul as a shield.
While it’s debatable whether they could truly be called ‘survivors’ as they were all puppets of the Demon Spirit.
“Y-You! You madman! Do you have any idea how many people you’ve killed?”
“As many as needed.”
The Demon Spirit was left momentarily speechless by such a calm response.
“No… You, you—”
“You can’t protect humanity by fearing sacrifice.”
“Hey! Even if I totalled the number of people I killed over hundreds of years, it doesn’t compare to what you’ve done!”
“A human life is lighter than a feather…”
“Have a little humanity, you bastard!”
Suddenly, Miro realized that she no longer had the power of justice left.
She must have exhausted all the strength given by her Patron through her lightning strike.
Moreover, it seemed the Patron had been appalled by her earlier actions.
Whatever—
Justice was merely a part of the power Miro possessed.
Bloodflow accelerated.
The boiling power of ‘ancient blood’ bestowed upon her supernatural physical strength.
Next, a pitch-black spear materialized in the air.
The ‘Mortal Spear’ awakened, spewing endless hatred towards all living beings.
Finally—the needle of the Time Distortion Device began to twitch peculiarly.
As the Demon Spirit witnessed this scene, for the first time, it thought…
Maybe today would be the end of its long life.
—
In an instant, Miro charged forward, breaking the standoff.
The Demon Spirit pushed its puppets back and clasped its hands.
Three puppets, muttering ominous words together, twisted and merged like clay.
With three heads, six arms, and six legs, it was more monster than human; merely a direct manifestation of the demon, the Asura.
The Asura lunged at Miro from the front.
At the same time, the Northern Commander squeezed Cha Jinchul’s body, aiming for Miro’s rear.
The Demon Spirit was confident in this assault.
The Asura, summoned with over half its power exerted, was a celestial beast capable of dominating even the likes of Yi Jaseong or Jo Wonhong.
But that wasn’t all.
The Northern Commander was, as the Demon Spirit confidently proclaimed, the most extraordinary martial artist born in human history.
“GRAAH!”
A roar erupted from the Asura, shaking heaven and earth.
Even a martial arts master would have their eardrums ruptured and corneas melted under such power!
But the Demon Spirit couldn’t help but doubt its own eyes facing this supernatural phenomenon.
‘What on earth?’
Suddenly, Miro’s body seemed to blur, and as if nothing had happened, it slipped out of the Asura’s roar.
With rising fury, the Asura began to unleash even greater wrath at Miro.
In an instant—
Asura’s six arms converged on Miro from every possible direction.
Simultaneously, the massive spear held by the Northern Commander blocked Miro’s retreat.
Such an offensive by the Asura could not be imitated by any mortal, not even a renowned master like Yi Jaseong.
Having defeated Yi Jaseong himself, there was no room to doubt that.
—
At that moment, a hand on the pocket watch in Miro’s clutch trembled.
Then, her body vanished from ‘that time frame.’
The Asura’s six weapons and the Northern Commander’s spear tore uselessly through the air.
Even a legendary master’s sword could not cut down an enemy that didn’t exist.
Just like how she avoided the Asura’s roar.
This bizarre movement, impossible to comprehend—was it even ‘movement’?
One moment disappearing from reality, the next reappearing didn’t qualify as ‘martial arts’ or ‘technique’!
Realistically, if her opponent had flung Asura’s massive frame with ridiculous strength or endured its assault with absurd durability, that would have been easier to understand.
“What the hell kind of power is this?!”
Thus, the Demon Spirit couldn’t contain its frustration and yelled.
Miro didn’t reply, instead, she extended the pitch-black spear.
With swirling, boundless malevolence.
Infinite hatred for all living beings pierced through the Asura’s monstrosity.
“GRAAH!”
A child-like scream escaped the Asura’s mouth.
The combined powers embedded in the three sacrifices and the Demon Spirit, built over thousands of years, began to crumble like ice melting in boiling water.
“Guh!”
Torn apart.
Collapsing.
Vanishing.
What the ominous spear had destroyed wasn’t just the Asura, the malevolent beast, and the power contained within.
It was something far more fundamental.
The Demon Spirit’s very own soul residing in the Asura, and furthermore, parts of the source of its immortality.
The Demon Spirit recalled memories long forgotten.
Long past, memories it had ceased to remember or had convinced itself it had forgotten.
Feelings from the days when it too was a lowly mortal.
Fear and despair.
Pain and sorrow.
When the Demon Spirit’s thoughts reached this point—
Cha Jinchul’s body twisted back.
— Boom!
With an explosion akin to cannon fire, Cha Jinchul’s massive form was sent soaring into the sky.
“Wha?”
Miro was taken aback for the first time.
Her opponent began to abandon everything and flee!
“Hey, where’s the fighting spirit? Where’s the pride of the Absolute Master?”
—
The Demon Spirit thought, recalling the memories of its weak past it had long forgotten.
‘That stuff was never in me!’
There had never been a moment in the countless years spent lurking within Jianghu where it hadn’t faced danger.
If it sensed something odd, it fled without shame; that was the secret to survival for the Demon Spirit!
‘It’s just that, now that I’m this strong, it’s rare to even have to escape!’
The chase began.
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