### Chapter: 328
My first meeting with that guy.
When I was just past my youth.
To be exact, it was when I was semi-forced into the position of the Young Lord of the Gu Clan.
Casting off the restrictions my father had placed on me.
It was a time when I gradually started to reveal myself in the Central Plains.
Probably, with the title of Young Lord.
It must have been around the time I went to Yongbong Branch, looking like a pathetic late bloomer.
Peng Woo-jin, who would later be called the disciple and reign as one of the absolute rulers.
Unlike him, who was no longer treated like a latecomer as soon as he received the Young Lord title.
It seemed I was unable to do the same.
To put it another way.
Almost without showing my face at all.
A Young Lord from the Gu Clan in Shanxi, known for his incompetence and dog-like personality.
Would it be too much to say it was meaningful that he was showing himself for the first time?
A bloodline of chivalry.
At this point, Gu Hee-bi was already being called a master.
And Gu Yeon-seo was starting to boast about her outstanding talent.
That was when the gaze directed toward me was particularly intense.
The very embodiment of pride.
Even on the bad side, he possessed a look that seemed to carry a heavy burden of chivalrous blood.
And yet, on the days when I often heard that my talent went unrecognized.
Amidst the generations of Yoo Sung, which was said to have an unusually high number of excellent late bloomers.
In the midst of self-loathing and feelings of inadequacy.
Covering up my broken spirit under the relentless scrutiny of many.
It was the time when I was trying to hide my own shortcomings with thorns around me.
Everyone cast glances filled with unpleasant emotion.
At that very moment when they kept sneaking glances at me.
—Nice to meet you.
In that gap, he approached me.
With a soft, smiling face.
A handsome appearance. And a warm voice that leaves a good impression on people.
In some ways, it was a look entirely opposite to mine.
The guy who introduced himself as a born member of the Jangga said.
—What are you?
In response to my question of who he was.
He continued speaking with an embarrassed-looking smile, as if it felt awkward to introduce his nickname with his own mouth.
—Although I am lacking, I am called ‘Divinity’. Please take good care of me.
Divinity.
No matter how disconnected I say I am from the world’s information, it was at least a nickname I had heard once or twice.
In recent years, monsters had begun to swarm the slums.
Among those warriors, too busy scraping together a living for themselves to notice me.
They said there was a hero risking his life to save people.
A young man, the son of a lord, known as a promising late bloomer.
There were also rumors that he would soon be promoted to vice-captain of his unit.
If that happened, he would likely attain the youngest position.
That’s how highly the Central Plains regarded this late bloomer.
Jang Seon-yeon, a divine being born into the Jangga.
That was my encounter with him.
Funny enough.
All that fame and the inflated sense of pride surrounding him.
It was only a few years later that I realized that Jang Seon-yeon had intentionally orchestrated the whole situation.
This only happened after the Ma Kyung Jeon incident, when many late bloomers had disappeared.
With the emergence of Cheonma.
Not long after, I fell into corruption as a mine myself.
When the Central Plains were in a frenzy, turning everything into a sea of fire.
That guy came to me of his own volition.
—Long time no see. Oh, should I call you by your nickname now?
I had no intention of engaging in conversation.
I was ready to spit flames and tear into his neck at any moment.
—Do you know about Sogeomseong’s condition?
Suddenly, the hand I was moving to grab his neck froze.
It was that damn bitch’s face flashing in my mind.
My fingertips, wrapped in flames, were flickering, ready to tear into the guy’s neck.
But I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
Jang Seon-yeon noticed my hesitation and smiled brightly.
That smile burrowed deep into me.
It was from that moment.
The day another hell would begin for me.
Crack—!
Boom!
A crack opens in the air, gaping wide like a mouth.
Inside the torn fissure, colors swirled together chaotically.
The wind pressure blowing out raised dust from the distant ground.
After a while, something began to spew out from within the crack.
Thud! Crash!
The objects that popped out fell directly to the ground.
The impact sent clouds of dust swirling around.
And soon after.
“Hurk… gasp…!”
A figure stumbles out from the swirling wind.
Immediately afterwards, someone collapses to the floor, gasping for air.
It was clearly a person.
“This… this…!”
His eyes widened, showing clear agitation.
He spun around rapidly, seemingly unaware of the drool dripping from his lips.
“Th-This can’t be real.”
In a brief moment, the young man gazed around.
Only then did he cry out, his voice trembling.
“What the hell…!”
His curse reverberated everywhere.
“Damn it… how did I… what have I done…! Just because of some punk like that…!”
While he kept hammering the ground with curses.
Another figure burst forth from the wind previously stirred up.
Unlike the drooling young man, who lay on the floor, agitated.
This one had a slight frown, leisurely rubbing his chest.
“I already feel like puking, and you’re being so loud.”
As soon as Gu Yangcheon spoke, Jang Seon-yeon, who heard it, quickly turned his head toward him.
“This bastard….”
“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve heard you swear. Very refreshing.”
Without warning, Jang Seon-yeon, who had been lying face down, sprang up and lunged at Gu Yangcheon.
He dashed forward, attempting to draw his sword from his waist.
But Gu Yangcheon stepped closer to Jang Seon-yeon, firmly pressing the end of the hilt.
He blocked the sword from being drawn from its sheath.
“Ugh…!”
The strength employed by his palm was so potent that Jang Seon-yeon’s sword wouldn’t budge.
Desperately, Jang Seon-yeon swung her sword around with her left hand.
Smack!
Before she could register, Gu Yangcheon’s hand was already soaring toward her cheek.
A sharp sound echoed as the palm struck her.
Whoosh! Thud!
As it landed squarely, Jang Seon-yeon’s body flew diagonally through the air.
She crashed hard onto the ground.
“Grrr…!”
Shaken and dazed, Jang Seon-yeon struggled to regain her senses after the impact.
Though she managed to get up, blood trickled down from her lips.
“You pathetic brat, do you really think you can take me on like that?”
“Hugh… gasp.”
Gu Yangcheon chuckled at the sight of Jang Seon-yeon, bleeding and sobbing.
He moved slowly closer to her.
His hand was still casually stroking his chest.
‘It’s been a while since I did this, and it feels somewhat nasty.’
This was my first visit to the Demon Realm through the Demon Gate since my return.
Since my body struggled to adjust, I felt slightly nauseated.
In the past, if I took a hit, I used to lie down halfway, trying to calm my stomach.
This time, at least I felt mentally stable, allowing me to endure it for a while.
At that moment, seeing Jang Seon-yeon make an effort to rise again, her trembling figure.
I kicked her leg, breaking her stance.
Grrrck!
“Ugh!”
“Stay still; I like the way you look right now.”
“You…!”
Jang Seon-yeon glared at Gu Yangcheon as if he were her enemy.
Her expressionless demeanour or smile was now replaced with blood vessels popping and rigid tension.
“What the hell…! How can you move?!”
“What can I say? I just move.”
I replied with a grin.
What Jang Seon-yeon was asking was:
How did you manage to move over the opened magic gate on the ground.
It was indeed strange that she even asked how.
I knew that other warriors couldn’t move there.
I had experienced it and seen it myself.
At that time, I witnessed Jamryong and other warriors freeze in place, unable to move.
In that gap, I was the only one who could act.
Honestly, I never thought or pondered over why.
I merely knew it was possible.
I assumed this incarnation would be no different.
Feeling the magic gate I encountered just before, I was confident.
This life would follow the same pattern.
“Based on your reaction, I suppose you thought I wouldn’t be able to move. Why’s that?”
“That guy…!”
“No, you would hardly believe me if I told you that the Iron Line cannot move atop the Magic Gate.”
“…!”
As soon as I mentioned the Iron Line, Jang Seon-yeon’s eyes widened.
“How did you…! You knew that…!”
It was clear she realized I knew about the Iron Line’s ability to open the Magic Gate.
And that he had attempted to use it to kill me.
“That’s not particularly important. What matters most is what I said.”
“How….”
“Tell me, just how did you become so certain of that?”
Though Jang Seon-yeon expressed it differently, it felt like the start of a tale waiting to unfold.
The fact that the Iron Line could exhibit such power.
And the traits of the magic gate he opened.
Jang Seon-yeon’s character was to trust nothing unless experienced firsthand.
There was no way he had felt the danger posed by the Iron Line’s magic gate physically.
It seemed there were alternative sources of information about the guy’s identity and powers.
Grind!
The sound of teeth grinding unexpectedly escaped Jang Seon-yeon’s lips.
“You bastard, are you going to keep torturing me until the very end?!”
“What do you mean torturing you, you punk?”
“If I’m going to die, I should die alone. Why do you need to drag me into this?!”
That was such a shameless and absurd statement.
Even though Jang Seon-yeon was hopelessly trashy.
He never struck me as the type to spout such thoughtless nonsense.
Perhaps this was a sign the situation had genuinely spiraled beyond control.
In that sense, it didn’t seem too bad.
Right now, Jang Seon-yeon wasn’t in her right mind.
Of course, as this was inside ‘that’ magic realm.
I quickly glanced around.
First off, the sky was red. It was neither night, nor dusk, nor the blue sky of a sunny day.
It was genuinely a red sky, shrouded in ominous hues.
The ground I stood upon was already dark, as if it was lifeless.
Most of what appeared to be trees were merely rotten, dead wood.
No matter how you looked at it, this place was filled with an unfamiliarity that screamed it wasn’t part of the real world.
Beyond the magic gate.
Many emotional souls might say it was one of the places termed the Demon Realm.
‘Thank goodness.’
And.
‘Thank goodness I came here.’
This was where I had long wished to go.
In my previous life, I had been trapped in the chaos of the magic realm war.
An area where I had struggled for over several years, separated from countless late bloomers.
Among the types of magic delineated in the Murim Alliance.
This was a magical realm that didn’t belong to any category.
The name may be a magic realm.
The place I recall is.
A false world.
A place that fits too well with the truths of this reality.
Generally, the chances of returning alive after crossing into the Demon Realm are almost nonexistent.
Even the Queen of Swords.
She had only been able to return after contracting a fatal illness.
That’s the nature of the magical realm.
A place where it’s perilous to return at any given moment.
The reason the late bloomers could escape and return to the real world in their past lives.
It was all due to the persistence I exhibited as I fought to return alive.
Otherwise, they too would have become eternally trapped in this world, never to return.
In Jang Seon-yeon’s eyes, this location.
It would undoubtedly appear as a nightmarish realm.
And, indeed, it closely resembled such.
“I…I! This is Jang Seon-yeon…!”
Jang Seon-yeon cried out as if he had lost his reason, overwhelmed by emotion.
It was a different appearance.
I had grown tired of the sight of him smiling and acting condescendingly, maintaining a semblance of dignity in the past.
I wished to see this kind of display. Perhaps it was too late, however.
Or is it because it’s not the previous incarnation of Jang Seon-yeon, but the now-degraded version after his regression?
The sense of thrill wasn’t as intense as I expected.
“I shall become the pillar of the Central Plains from now on…!”
“Ah, since I’m thinking, why don’t you just keep your mouth shut for a moment?”
I was irritated by the constant jabbering.
I stomped down on Jang Seon-yeon’s ankle, crushing it.
Crunch!
“Kaaaah!”
Jang Seon-yeon’s scream echoed powerfully.
Honestly, I preferred this much more.
“Why are you whining? Didn’t you want to send me off? Isn’t that why I showed up?”
“This!”
“Ah, did it upset you that I tagged along?”
I chuckled, having a playful laugh before stomping down on his foot once more.
“Grrr!”
“That’s something you’ll have to consider. It would be lonely going alone, so why not let me join you?”
Only then did Jang Seon-yeon grit his teeth.
I was about to unleash my bet.
Did he regain consciousness once more due to the impending crisis?
His bets were moving more precisely than before.
Though his ankle was smashed, his sword remained quick.
What to do? Should I break his wrist this time?
Just as I was reaching out.
“…!”
Jang Seon-yeon, who had been preparing to strike with his sword, flinched, tremblingever so slightly.
“Huh?”
Seeing that reaction, I halted instinctively.
What was going on?
Just as confusion began to settle in, Jang Seon-yeon started to tremble violently.
“…W-Why is my divine energy…?”
He stammered with trembling eyes.
“Why…! Why can’t my divine energy come forth…? Oh, God!”
Looking at the heavens, Jang Seon-yeon cried out.
He was, in no doubt, not acting normal.
“Are—are you abandoning me?”
‘Hmm.’
I contemplated why he was reacting this way, observing him briefly.
A sudden realization hit me, prompting me to channel my spiritual energy.
It was the blood energy I received from the blood horse.
‘I see.’
After trying to maneuver my energy for a while.
I could vaguely grasp what was troubling Jang Seon-yeon.
‘My blood energy isn’t moving.’
The blood did not move to my will.
Just to be sure, I tried maneuvering other energies.
The same applied to demonic energy.
The nurturing energy seemed to flow. Naturally, the betting energy appeared to move as well.
But the blood and demonic energies remained inert.
That meant they couldn’t be utilized.
‘Why?
Besides the fact that I could manipulate my betting and nurturing energies.
I briefly considered why these two were not functional.
But I couldn’t discern anything conclusive.
And at this moment.
I needed to focus on other matters more urgently.
“I’m not sure what’s wrong, but isn’t there something we must attend to together first?”
Jang Seon-yeon jumped at my words.
Having come this far, I suspected he envisioned what I was about to do next.
“What—what are you planning to do…?”
“Ah, indeed, you are still rather immature.”
“What did you say…?”
“The fact that you’re already exhibiting fear is fascinating.”
He lamented having lost a piece.
To display such ineptness in revealing his situation like that was something the former Jang Seon-yeon would have never done.
That statement served as proof he hadn’t fully matured.
It meant he was fundamentally a different person from the previous Jang Seon-yeon.
‘Boring.’
It merely dampened the excitement I was fighting to stoke.
Though, that aside.
“When I kill someone, I have a few rules set in place. Do you know what they are?”
I had no intentions of letting him live, however.
At my statement, Jang Seon-yeon looked at me with curious eyes.
“The first rule is that if you plan to kill someone, make sure to do it in one strike. It’s cleaner that way.”
Given that I wasn’t a maniac like that killer, I tried not to indulge in unnecessary actions.
“The second is, if you absolutely have to use flames, start by burning the head.”
If a situation arose where I needed to unleash pyromancy.
If someone provokes me, I would seize them by the head and reduce them to ash.
As I let these words slip.
Whoosh!
I conjured flames in my palm.
Jang Seon-yeon’s eyes trembled intensely, visible to anyone who laid eyes on him.
“Do you know what the third rule is?”
As I began to speak, Jang Seon-yeon suddenly unleashed his sword, channeling all his power into a single strike.
I applauded him. Choosing to confront rather than flee signaled progress.
He had stepped into the trap, knowing I’d expected a quick retreat.
“Tsk!”
And so, I sidestepped his sword casually while continuing to speak.
“Simply put, starting from the tips of your toes, you burn.”
With Jang Seon-yeon’s ankle already injured, regardless of how swiftly he activates his energy, it doesn’t pose much of a threat due to his unstable stance.
“Moderate your pace and go slow. This way, thread of life won’t shatter, and it can last a while.”
Avoiding life-threatening areas like the heart or head, I methodically burned.
To ensure he could feel the pain.
While grasping onto the betting energy to keep him conscious.
And watching out for any attempts at self-destruction.
“Kkraaah!”
At my remarks, Jang Seon-yeon shouted out and began to flail his sword in desperation.
There was a hint of fear beginning to seep in.
A quick glance at the trajectory of the sword revealed weaknesses stemming from his toppled form.
Sighing softly while taking in the emotions reflected in Jang Seon-yeon’s eyes.
I reached out.
It wasn’t an instantaneous movement.
I was just aiming to reach my target.
And I extended my arm lightly, achieving my objective.
Thunk.
Snap.
As I maneuvered through the disarray of sword strikes.
My arm weaved in, impacting Jang Seon-yeon’s danjeon.
Alongside a brief, audible crack, I felt something fracture.
And that was his danjeon shattered.
“Gah…!”
Jang Seon-yeon choked, the scream caught in his throat.
As the empty void and excruciating pain of his fading energy threatened to swallow him whole.
I latched onto his neck, injecting fresh energy.
I needed to prevent him from losing his mind.
“I hope you heard me well from the first to the third.”
This was the necessary order of events.
“I’ll now apply this in reverse order with you. Interested?”
From now on, I intended to use a different approach with Jang Seon-yeon.
“I have a lot of questions for you. So I sincerely hope you can respond swiftly. Handling this is a hassle beyond my estimations.”
To cut to the chase.
Each of the three outcomes leads to death.
There was no option to spare his life.
Thus, at the moment he opened the Demon Realm to carry out his mission of killing me.
Hope or opportunity had forsaken Jang Seon-yeon.
I hadn’t intended to offer him any mercy from the very beginning.
Watching Jang Seon-yeon’s trembling back, still unable to scream.
I extended my hand.
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