Chapter: 634
Thud thud-!
Debris crumbled everywhere, and the scent of burnt materials filled the air.
The walls melted under the oppressive heat, leaving no trace of the cold that once filled the room.
Only an unfamiliar heat filled the space.
“Cough.”
In the disordered space, I barely managed to rise, pushing through the rubble.
“Phew.”
As I lifted my upper body, I spat out the congealed blood.
Stick-!
Tsk…
I grimaced at the pain radiating from my upper body.
Not only were my ribs out of place, but my abdomen felt like it was being twisted every time I moved.
The areas where the sword pierced and where my chest was sliced were also problematic.
“Damn.”
There was even a chill lingering within my body, as if it had seeped in deeply.
I immediately redirected the energy.
Hisssss.
With heat enveloping my body, I felt slightly better.
I walked while kicking away the debris.
My body was swept by the explosion and slammed against the wall.
I think I briefly lost consciousness during that moment.
At most a few seconds.
“Huff.”
I walked, regulating my breath.
‘That was a close call.’
If I hadn’t braced myself against the impact, my insides would have likely turned into a chaotic mess.
Having pushed my body so hard, I had learned how to protect it to some extent.
Not sure if it’s “saving” my body, but I figured out ways to hurt less.
I shook myself off and continued walking.
“Why is there so much smoke again?”
I waved my hand slightly, gathering my strength.
Whoooosh-! The wind swept away the smoke.
I finally saw some light and kept walking toward my destination.
A wall lay before me, broken and charred.
Inside, the debris bubbled, resembling molten lava.
And beneath that…
“…Gack…Grck…”
A specter lay crumpled.
With a hole punched through its abdomen, no less.
I cautiously approached the figure, inspecting it.
I nodded, observing its torn arm and perforated belly.
‘Regeneration seems slow.’
The arms had yet to regenerate, and the same applied to the abdomen.
Thinking back to my own regeneration, I expected a wound of this caliber to heal quickly.
‘So, it seems regeneration isn’t as smooth as I thought.’
There might be a limit or a cap on how many times it can happen.
“Ugh…”
The specter spat blood and groaned.
Seeing Woohyuk in such a state was undeniably bizarre.
“You okay?”
I asked him, fully aware that he definitely wasn’t.
In response, he only cast a glance my way.
“Huh… Huh… Damn…”
The specter chuckled darkly, his expression growing increasingly grim.
“…I never imagined things would turn out this way…”
Each word he managed to utter was accompanied by a trickle of blood.
The ongoing issues with his regeneration suggested something was off.
Of course, I kept my energy activated during this exchange.
Because I was still unsure whether that was smoke or not.
“You’re just a fresh lump of flesh… I never expected you to interfere like this.”
He clucked his tongue at that.
“I’m saying this to avoid misunderstandings. I had no intention of being a nuisance.”
If this didn’t involve people close to me, I wouldn’t have planned to interfere at all.
I wouldn’t have even stepped foot in the North Sea to begin with.
So it left me wondering.
‘What happened to this guy in his past life?’
Considering he mentioned resurrection was just around the corner, something must have happened back in my previous life.
‘But such information escapes me.’
It was probably due to it being a North Sea-related issue; not much came to mind.
That pretty much meant…
‘After resurrecting, he must have been biding his time in hiding.’
Or perhaps he failed to resurrect.
Or…
‘Or did someone else interfere with his resurrection like this?’
One of those three possibilities.
Which could it be? At this point, it was all guesswork.
“What did you say? The third option?”
“…Yeah. I…”
“Not that I’m really curious about what not this is or that…”
“….”
It was obvious the conversation was heading off-topic.
I didn’t have the luxury to wait for that.
Not for me. But for him.
So, I decided to cut straight to what mattered most.
“What is the Dragon Emperor? Seriously, what does that guy do?”
No need for small talk here.
The specter’s gaze locked onto me in response to my blunt question.
A past villain infamous for his bloody schemes.
The world’s first calamity, still lurking, plotting who-knows-what.
I pressed on about the Dragon Emperor.
“…Hehehe…”
The specter let out an eerie chuckle at my question.
“…You are truly cold-hearted.”
“Huh?”
“Here I am, dying in front of you, and you’re asking such questions?”
His words made my face frown.
“Stop with the nonsense. Just tell me whether you plan to answer or not.”
“…If I answer, will you spare my life?”
“Well, who knows? If you beg, maybe I’ll consider it.”
“Heh heh…”
Every laugh made more blood trickle from his upper body.
I quietly scrutinized his condition.
‘It must be nearing its limit. The fact that he hasn’t even regenerated yet…’
I was beginning to feel confident in saying it wasn’t that he couldn’t regenerate, but rather that he just couldn’t.
While I pondered this, keeping my eyes on him.
“Do you want to hear my answer?”
“Oh? You’re willing to answer-.”
“Hrrk-!”
He spat blood, and I instinctively turned away to dodge it.
Veering toward him, I threw a punch.
Boom-!
“Gack!”
“Oops.”
Seeing him flinch back from my punch made me realize my mistake.
I hadn’t meant to hit him harder than intended.
Quickly retracting my hand, I spoke with a hint of annoyance.
“If you’re not going to answer, then just say it. Why the hell are you spitting all over the place?”
I hit him without realizing it.
“…Phew…Hehe.”
Even after being punched, the specter continued to grin.
Did I hit him too hard? He looked a tad off.
“…Do you really think you’ve won?”
“Hmm?”
“Ninth…You truly do not realize what a colossal mistake you have made.”
“What did I even do?”
“…With this choice, you…will ultimately be defeated and devoured by the Dragon Emperor…. You will never be able to defeat him.”
Hearing this made me chuckle.
“Like you?”
“….”
His jaw snapped shut at my offhand remark.
A moment’s silence passed, but it didn’t last long.
“Yes, like me…”
The way he admitted it so readily felt pathetic.
“Do you really think you can defeat him alone?”
“Why? Because you’re not around?”
“Others of pureblood have been incompetently consumed by him. What can you, a young and alone child do? No, it’s impossible.”
After that, I stroked my chin thoughtfully.
“So in the end….”
“So? What’s the conclusion?”
I interrupted him.
The conversation was clearly veering into a strange direction, and I felt it needed to be reined in a little.
“Since you couldn’t do it, does that mean I can’t either? Is that what you’re implying?”
“Such a simple statement…”
“Nonsense. That’s exactly what you’re saying.”
Really, they’re all so arrogant.
Whenever I tried to have a proper chat, it just went nowhere.
“Look, I get it, you’re angry because you got beaten up in the past. If you were too weak to win, you should’ve just stayed quiet. What’s with all the fuss?”
“…Huh?”
“‘Huh’ my foot.”
sigh.
A sigh escaped me without prompting.
I wasn’t here to have such discussions. If he wasn’t going to provide a proper answer, it would be quicker to just dismiss him.
‘It’s a problem if my body dies like this.’
The specter’s body. To be clear, if I left Woohyuk’s form like that, it would truly die.
So, this was unacceptable.
I needed to wrap things up soon. I turned toward him and asked.
“How do you even know if I will win or lose against the Dragon Emperor? You lost to me too, you know.”
“…!”
I lightly scratched the surface with my words, and the specter’s expression crumpled.
“You thought you prevailed against me in this wretched body? Do you really believe you’ve won?”
“It’s trivial and not worth my time. Yet you’re the one who just lost.”
“Ah…!”
The specter made a face suggesting he couldn’t believe what I said.
“Sure, I might’ve lost this round…”
His excuse sparked a grin on my lips.
‘Caught him.’
That particular statement was key.
Bubbled.
I sensed a tingle in my toes.
This indicated the conditions had been fulfilled.
While acknowledging the sensation, I repeatedly murmured it internally.
‘Devour.’
“Is that to say you can defeat the Dragon Emperor…!?”
In a flash, the specter snapped his mouth shut.
Whooooosh–!
Black energy erupted from my feet toward him.
“What!?”
Within moments, the specter became engulfed in energy and began to thrash around, desperately trying to escape. Thankfully, the energy appeared far more resilient than I anticipated.
“You despicable…! What are you planning to do…!!”
Crunch.
“…Gack!!”
I heard something crunch beside my ear.
It certainly came from within the energy.
Like a springboard, the sounds of chewing and gulping filled the air.
“This is maddening!”
The specter began to scream wildly from within the energy.
“Aaaaaaaahhh!!”
The noise was deafening.
When he screamed from his suffering, my expression tightened in response.
It wasn’t because I empathized with his pain.
As his screams echoed, the sensations within me became troubling.
Swish—!
A black aura trailed from my feet onwards.
Something began seeping into my body along the energy stream.
It was difficult to label it simply as energy.
Nor could it be easily dismissed as something else.
Should I refer to it as a memory?
Does it count as a thought?
Or perhaps, it’s the essence of a soul…?
An indescribable sensation coursing through me merged with the soul residing in my heart.
‘What a creepy feeling.’
As if I were stealing something that shouldn’t be taken.
Guilt? No, that didn’t fit.
It was just an uncomfortable sensation I couldn’t quite articulate.
But strangely, thanks to it…
‘So this is what they call power.’
I realized I was quite literally devouring the specter’s strength.
Indeed, I was absorbing power.
I was currently feasting on the specter’s potency.
Crunch. Crunch!
“Gugh… Aaaaaaaaahh…!!”
This was an action I couldn’t perform amidst combat.
How was I even able to do this now?
‘Because he accepted his defeat.’
The conditions for devouring essence.
Admitting defeat to me.
Speaking it aloud.
It was this that made the moment possible.
‘What a ridiculous condition.’
Winning by fighting is one thing. But I needed to coax them into admitting it and even making them vocalize their surrender.
It was an absurdly filthy and bizarre condition.
‘Is this because you want to be acknowledged for “winning” somehow?’
It might sound like a childish and foolish sentiment, but considering how power parallels my emotions, the possibility existed.
“Awwww… No… You can’t take it… don’t take what’s mine!”
The greedy specter wildly protested, yet he had no intention to stop his meal.
That continued for a lengthy while.
Eventually…
Slurp-! Gulp. Gugh….
After thoroughly feeding, I sensed satisfaction radiate from the specter.
He let out a mighty sigh.
“Hah.”
Finally, I could breathe once the greed had returned.
I felt pleasantly full.
Strange, given I was the one who hadn’t eaten.
Staring forward, I noticed…
“Ugh… Ugh…”
The specter’s face was utterly drained of color, gasping for air.
Seeing it made me smirk slightly.
“So that was it. I was curious about the whole thing.”
“…You… you’re taking… mine…”
The specter extended a trembling hand toward me.
“Give it back… Give it back to me… my… strength…”
Hearing the sheer desperation in his voice, I swatted his outstretched hand away.
Thwack—!
I casually brushed it off; his hand flailed before he collapsed.
“What do you mean, give it back? It’s mine now.”
“No… all of it… that’s… mine…”
“Sure, it used to be yours.”
While it must have originally been the case…
“But that’s not true anymore, is it?”
Now it belonged to me.
“That’s… infuriating!”
In response to my words, the specter contorted his face in rage.
That wasn’t genuinely threatening.
Now that I had no further business with him, I delivered a curt dismissal.
“I’ve taken all I’m entitled to. Now scram.”
“Ugh… Ugh…!!”
The specter seemed to struggle against the urge to rebel, but his body had been damaged long ago.
There was no way he could pose a threat, and to me, it seemed he had little time left.
I could feel it, having absorbed his power.
The minute that was taken away, his time would truly be up.
As evidence…
“It’s… so… frustrating…”
The light in his eyes gradually dimmed.
What remained could only be resentment toward me…?
“I will… curse you… You will be cursed…”
Drip.
As he uttered those words, he froze like a stone statue, motionless.
The pureblood dragon faced a dreadful death.
It was hardly a death that sparked any excitement.
“… ”
I pressed a hand against his chest.
‘Not dead yet.’
There was still the faintest hint of breath and the occasional heartbeat.
Thanks to the spear narrowly missing his vital area.
In other words, the specter, who had been coveting Woohyuk’s body, vanished.
All that remained was Woohyuk himself.
Yet, even this situation wasn’t one for relaxation.
‘If this continues, I’ll be done for.’
Perhaps it was due to consuming the specter’s energy while inside the ice crystal.
Woohyuk’s body had also changed into a problematic state, much like mine.
Because of significant wounds, complications arose.
‘…Tch.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly at this development.
Up until now, it was largely what I had anticipated.
Moreover, the original plan was to absorb the specter’s powers and heal Woohyuk’s body.
“This feels extremely messed up.”
An unexpected issue emerged.
I may have siphoned two powers, but as soon as I grasped them, I realized something was amiss.
‘…This can’t heal that guy.’
The power of regeneration was utterly different than I expected.
Just as Yooseon healed my internal injuries, perhaps it was feasible for me too.
However, at this instant, it felt impossible on my end.
It increased the regenerative capability of my own body.
Using that, I could, indeed, rapidly regenerate a severed arm, just like Yooseon did.
‘But I can’t heal others.’
The second ability that the specter possessed.
The power of ‘regeneration.’ Its condition bound me.
‘…Was it always like this?’
From what I’d observed with Yooseon, it clearly couldn’t be said to be the case every time.
What caused this issue?
…Could it be?
‘Is power lost upon transfer… causing the effectiveness to diminish?’
A thought flickered through my mind as I considered it.
Perhaps complete absorption was impossible, but maybe its effectiveness waned during digestion?
It wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
However, the problem was…
‘I need to recognize this situation now.’
It was a pointless scenario.
‘What should I do?’
Should I let Woohyuk die like this?
Even if I take him to the hideout now, he’d surely draw his last breath on the way.
If, by some stroke of luck, we made it there, could I treat him then?
At this stage, even a divine intervention wouldn’t whisk him back to health.
“… ”
So what should I do? What on earth am I to do?
As thoughts raced, I had to bite my lips in frustration.
‘Damn, I could’ve survived before, but now? Why’s it all so cumbersome?’
I drastically increased the regenerative power of the possessor.
That’s precisely what I wanted, yet presently…
“Huh?”
Mid-thought, I halted abruptly.
Suddenly, something clicked.
‘It enhances the owner’s regenerative power…?’
Considering the conditions, I recalled a certain situation.
Not too distant in the past.
Memories of the Celestial Demon from my prior life popped into my mind.
To be specific, it was during the time she was forging the mines.
‘Why is this suddenly coming to me now?’
Her touch imparted distinctive attributes to those who became mines.
They received a boost including robust physiques gained from corruption.
‘Demonic Power.’
It not only augmented one’s martial arts prowess.
Several even acquired abilities that couldn’t be classified merely as martial techniques.
The mines labeled this process baptism.
As I remembered receiving the Magic Absorption from the Celestial Demon, the similarities to my current situation merged perfectly.
‘… So familiar.’
The transformation that strengthened one’s body as it turned into a mine resembled that of a dragon’s state.
The powers received through baptism bore uncanny resemblances to authority.
Even if there were differences in level.
Could this ultimately be coincidence?
I’m unsure.
Whether coincidence or not, it didn’t bear importance.
‘Maybe it’s possible.’
That thought crossed my mind.
Hisssss-!
The azure irises slowly morphed into a shade of violet.
The magic, having been stagnated for too long, now took command of my body.
I gathered my magic atop the hand resting on Woohyuk’s upper body.
But before unleashing it all at once…
“… ”
I paused for a brief moment, gazing at Woohyuk, who lay with closed eyes.
Not thinking of what might happen if I failed, but…
If I succeed, will you…
‘…blame me?’
That made me falter for an instant, but when I weighed these assumptions against Woohyuk’s life,
The answer, as expected, was straightforward.
‘I will save you.’
That was the sole conclusion I could arrive at at this moment.
Whoooooosh-!
Magic surged forth, penetrating into Woohyuk’s body.
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