Chapter: 671
The night sky stretched out before me.
A crescent moon shone brilliantly above while the wind brushed against my cheek.
It was an exceptionally beautiful night.
Of all nights, of course.
How long had it been since I felt the sweltering summer heat while flying?
It certainly hadn’t been a short distance, considering how many sights had changed along the way.
Kwaak—!
I tightened my grip. The person I dragged along shifted their head.
Their black hair danced in the wind, and they frowned as if the wind pressure was too much.
But—
‘Is this okay?’
Even though their neck was being held, there was no sign of discomfort.
How could that be possible when I was exerting this much strength?
As anger mingled with my confusion,
the Heavenly Horse’s gaze darted around briefly.
Was it to gauge how far we had traveled? Just as I thought that—
I felt a sensation on my wrist.
The Heavenly Horse grabbed my arm with their pure white hand.
And then—
Kwuk—!
“…!”
The Heavenly Horse began to push me away with immense force.
Even though I hadn’t used my full power, it was still an astonishing amount of strength.
I frowned.
As expected. Is this what it means to be a Heavenly Horse?
‘Yeah, this is how it should be.’
This was actually quite logical.
It was better for reducing hesitation.
Thinking that way,
Whoosh—!
I condensed heat behind me, then released the accumulated energy all at once.
Bam—!!!
An explosive burst of energy erupted, using it to accelerate.
I crashed toward the ground alongside the Heavenly Horse at an incredible speed.
Hwarururuk—!! Kwaaaaaang—!!!!
Not only did the vibration resonate, but immense flames erupted in all directions, and the ground shattered.
In an instant, an entire section of the forest was devastated.
The once lush trees were uprooted, and the vibrant fields turned into ruins.
The intense heat and shock produced dust clouds.
Sah—…
The dust was so thick it obscured my view, but it could no longer obstruct my vision.
I surveyed the area with brightened eyes.
No, there was really no need to look.
Because my opponent stood perfectly still, not moving an inch.
I expelled the dust, clearing my line of sight.
Hwaaak—! As the dust settled, my vision cleared.
Leaving the chaos behind, the Heavenly Horse stood right in front of me.
She tilted her head, absently rubbing her neck.
I frowned and asked while looking at her,
“Why did you follow me?”
“…?”
The Heavenly Horse wore a puzzled expression at my question.
“You brought me here.”
The attitude exuded a sense of utter disbelief.
In a way, she wasn’t wrong, but I knew the reality was more complex.
“You could have avoided it.”
The Heavenly Horse could’ve dodged my ambush with ease.
If we only considered the pressure she had used while saving Gu Heebi, it was crystal clear.
The Heavenly Horse had allowed herself to be caught.
So, I asked her—
“Why didn’t you just avoid it and come along quietly?”
The question was simple: why hadn’t she resisted? Hearing this, the Heavenly Horse replied,
“If I stayed there, your sister would get hurt.”
“…”
“It’s safe here.”
Her answer was so maddening that I felt rage boil in my blood just from hearing it.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
How on earth did this situation come to be?
It was so outrageous, it seemed like a joke.
I never imagined words like those would emerge from the mouth of the Heavenly Horse. I had to grit my teeth in frustration.
That short reply was enough to churn my stomach.
“…Fine.”
I deflated in an instant.
This was pointless.
The time for angering and nitpicking had passed. I once again recalled why I had come here in the first place.
Whoosh.
Fire gathered in the palm of my hand.
In a fleeting moment, a blue flame-covered spear took shape. I cast a glance at the Heavenly Horse while gathering my fighting spirit.
This time, I would kill her. By doing this, I would complete the karmic debt I had intended to settle by reincarnating.
Just entertaining that thought filled me with energy.
The Heavenly Horse then asked me a question.
“Do you hate me?”
It was a perfectly reasonable question.
“I do hate you.”
As much as I want you dead.
I hated her, and I hated her again.
“Why?”
The Heavenly Horse continued to question me, bewildered by my response.
“I… didn’t do anything to you?”
You haven’t done anything. Yes, that much is accurate.
“True, you haven’t done anything.”
I certainly hadn’t done anything in this life. Even after several encounters up to this point.
The Heavenly Horse had never done anything to me first.
Only—
“I just haven’t done anything yet.”
“I’m going to keep not doing anything.”
“…”
I had no response to that.
Perhaps that was indeed a possibility.
There had been countless changes in my life, even in the smallest things.
I had changed the lives of many, and mine was also transforming.
So who’s to say the Heavenly Horse wouldn’t change as well?
That was something I couldn’t be sure about.
‘In the end, it was simply an uncertain thing.’
That’s as far as it goes.
I had experienced too much with her to believe those passing words.
Hwhoosh.
The condensed jade began to shift shapes.
I cast the Heavenly Spear.
The speed of casting the spear was much quicker than before, and in an instant, the blue flame-jade spear was completed.
Grasping it tightly, I—
Crack—! Stepped on the ground and twisted my upper body.
Using the recoil as leverage, I hurled the spear with all my might.
Whoosh—!!
A tremendous heat sliced through the air, heading straight for the target.
“…!”
The Heavenly Horse’s eyes widened, and she maneuvered her body to evade the spear.
The spear, having missed its target, soared toward the forest behind us.
Before long—
Boom—!!!
A small tremor echoed, followed momentarily by a massive explosion in the distance.
The acrid scent of smoke filled the air.
I squinted at the sight.
The spear had missed.
But it didn’t matter.
‘I didn’t throw it intending to hit in the first place.’
At the moment the Heavenly Horse was caught off guard, I took a half-step forward.
Half a step.
It was a light half-step, but the condensed energy transformed it into something akin to a teleport.
The scene changed, and I arrived right in front of the Heavenly Horse.
There wasn’t enough time to cast the Heavenly Spear.
So I gathered the jade and reached out in front of her.
The Heavenly Horse squinted.
Last time, she had crushed the jade with her bare hands. Would she manage to do it again this time?
A hit filled with doubt sped toward her.
I wondered how the Heavenly Horse would respond.
Swish—!!!
In an instant, I saw a black energy coalesce around the Heavenly Horse’s body.
The formed energy created a thin membrane, and the extended flame jade impacted the membrane directly.
Boom—!!!
Blue flames infused with heat erupted.
Since it had exploded right in front of us, one would naturally assume there would be consequences.
However, my expression remained sour.
Because the moment I laid eyes on that black barrier, I realized,
‘It didn’t make contact.’
Recognizing that, I stepped back, creating distance between ourselves.
Whoosh—!
The heat that had surrounded the Heavenly Horse dissipated, revealing her form that had remained concealed.
A translucent black membrane, circular in shape.
Inside, she showed no signs of having taken a hit at all.
“Tsk.”
Seeing that, I couldn’t help but click my tongue briefly.
‘So, she still possesses it, huh?’
That membrane was a power the Heavenly Horse had wielded in her past life.
Her overwhelming strength had helped her rise to the top ranks of power, but it was clear that the strength of that barrier played a significant role.
‘…Absolute power.’
I gritted my teeth, recalling the term.
Warriors use their strength to shield their bodies.
That barrier held power far beyond that.
‘The Heavenly Horse’s power doesn’t merely block attacks and protect the body…’
It thwarted every ‘martial art’ that stood against her.
No matter the divine skill or technique, all became futile in the face of the Heavenly Horse.
Since the force couldn’t penetrate the barrier, all one could do was flee.
Thus, no matter how strong the Three Lords might be, in front of the Heavenly Horse, they remained merely weak humans.
‘That’s why it’s so bizarre.’
How could my father have managed to strike such a being?
Suddenly, that question crossed my mind.
Had a miracle transpired?
Perhaps so.
A warrior cannot confront a Heavenly Horse.
Yet, one who protects the world and fights against calamity can also be considered a warrior.
Despite the fight being seemingly inescapably doomed,
‘We could succeed… No, they could succeed because they had the divine sword.’
Among all the myriad individuals scattered throughout the Central Plains, he was the only one capable of cutting through an absolute power.
The divine sword was precisely that kind of entity.
The so-called sword of Parma.
The divine sword had the ability to disregard absolute strength and land a blow against the Heavenly Horse.
By leveraging that, they had ultimately prevailed in slaying the Heavenly Horse.
However, that meant—
‘Without the divine sword, the Heavenly Horse’s strength is unbreakable.’
Given the circumstances, it was an open and shut case; in fact, the same had transpired in my past life.
That was why so many lives had been lost in the futile struggle to preserve the divine sword.
Bam—!
I ground my teeth hard.
‘How will I breach that barrier?’
With the absolute strength in place, everything becomes useless.
‘If it were the assumption of being unfinished, I’d wish for it to be nonexistent.’
Ironically, Cheonma seemed to have already set up a defensive system.
So what should I do then?
What in the world should I do?
As I grappled with these pressing concerns,
“Stop,”
the Heavenly Horse whispered to me.
“…I don’t want to fight.”
The words escaped her lips, laced with a hint of sadness.
I could faintly sense the emotions woven into her statement, brushing against my heart.
Perhaps that’s why her words seemed sincere. That notion flickered momentarily in my mind.
“Bullshit.”
The moment that feeling emerged, it ignited and vanished.
“You shouldn’t say such things.”
You don’t want to fight?
At the very least, she should not have uttered that.
Even if she felt that way.
“Should’ve said it long ago.”
Not now, not in this life—but long before.
Even had she said it then, it would’ve seemed too late.
Whoosh.
Flames engulfed my body. Blue flames flared brightly.
This was due to the magic blending with my emotions.
Despite still being uncertain of how to breach that barrier,
I knew that the time to turn back had passed.
Boom—!
I kicked the ground and charged.
Twisting my waist, I fortified my lower body.
I launched a kick aimed straight at the Heavenly Horse.
Whoosh—! Flames spiraled around the tips of my feet.
Concentrating the energy, I swung it toward her.
Pow—!
As my foot made contact with the barrier, the flames extinguished and the energy dispersed.
I felt my strength waning.
In a heartbeat, the kick lost its momentum.
Thwack—!
The Heavenly Horse seized my foot and flung me away.
Hwaaaak—!
“Ack!”
With an incredible force, my body was sent flying.
I couldn’t afford to create unnecessary distance, so I exhaled flames to halt my motion.
Whoosh—! Peel—!!
Just as I barely managed to slow down, I glanced forward again.
“…”
The Heavenly Horse had already approached, her gaze penetrating through to me.
Damn it.
Is she toying with me?
“…Stop…”
A sorrowful voice whispered in my ear.
Hearing those words from her—her face and voice so hauntingly reminiscent of Wi Seol-ah—only left me feeling more repulsed.
‘Find a way.’
At times like this, I had to find a solution. I had managed to do so before.
So, I would seek another way this time.
Now was the moment to do so.
I opened my mind’s eye as I regarded the Heavenly Horse enveloped in her power.
Peering into the depths of my heart, I wondered if I could unearth something.
‘Damn it.’
I cursed instinctively upon seeing that membrane.
‘Can’t see a damn thing?’
Even when looking closely, no flow was apparent on the membrane.
How could that be?
Every form of energy inevitably has a flow.
If that had also been such a potent energy source, there should have been some visible flow, yet the Heavenly Horse’s absolute strength exhibited no signs of any such flow.
‘No—it’s not odd.’
Indeed, it wasn’t strange.
If some underlying flow had been present from the get-go—
‘Paejon wouldn’t have lost.’
No way would the triad have been defeated so easily, especially when the Lord possessed a more sophisticated mind than mine.
Since breaking through was challenging, they likely sought to preserve the divine sword at all costs.
‘What a moronic situation this is.’
Is it truly the case that there’s no way forward?
No matter how fervently I struggle to slay the Heavenly Horse, if I can’t even get past this barrier, I might as well not even have started.
Even after all my turmoil since returning, the thought of being unable to seize that one opportunity was utterly maddening.
‘It’s an absurd level of power, to begin with.’
A strength capable of nullifying all martial arts.
Describing something like that as mere martial arts would be a folly…
‘Huh?’
In the midst of my pondering, I froze.
Something flashed in my mind.
‘If….’
What if absolute strength isn’t strength at all?
What if the reason I can’t see a flow in this context is that it simply isn’t an energy?
‘It might not be an energy. That implies…’
I raised my head to gaze at the Heavenly Horse.
The Heavenly Horse was looking back at me with the same expression as before.
“I am…”
I could hear her attempting to articulate something. What was she trying to convey by moving her lips?
Though I held that question, I prioritized my own aim.
“Greed.”
My pressing tasks came first.
“Chew.”
Gnash—.
Kwacdak—!
“…!”
A massive mouth erupted from my shadow, biting into the Heavenly Horse’s barrier.
A space opened where the bite occurred.
The membrane was shredded.
The Heavenly Horse’s absolute power had been torn apart by my greed.
“Huh?”
The Heavenly Horse displayed a bewildered reaction at the torn membrane.
I wouldn’t lose this opportunity.
Whoosh—!
I forced the amassed jade through the gap.
And then—
Kwaaaaaaaaaa—!!!
An explosion erupted from within the barrier.
Smoke billowed outward, engulfing the surrounding area.
Fortunately, the smoke dissipated shortly after.
As the last traces of smoke cleared, the Heavenly Horse stood revealed.
Drip…
Blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth.
She wiped the blood away with the back of her hand, gazing up at me.
“Um…”
Her eyes were filled with disbelief.
“It hurts.”
The way she struggled to form the words gave each one a ring of unfamiliarity.
Moreover, the fact that she was saying she’s in pain betrayed an odd sense of surprise in her eyes.
Is she really surprised to feel pain?
While that delighted me, the same could be said about my sentiment.
‘…I never expected this.’
It was strange that I couldn’t visualize the flow earlier.
The membrane that had been protecting her body wasn’t a solidified force of strength.
“That was power.”
“Power?”
The baptism wielded by the demon.
I recalled the innumerable instances of beings receiving powers from the Heavenly Horse, even though I had unconsciously overlooked that possibility.
“Only a fool would think of it as martial arts…”
From the very beginning.
“It simply wasn’t martial arts.”
“…”
I rose to my feet.
Just as the Heavenly Horse had done, I brushed away the drops of blood at my chin.
Is this sweat?
Had I somehow begun to sweat coldly?
My body was far from fatigued; I was brimming with energy.
Yet still, my body had begun to sweat cold.
It appeared I had been startled for a moment.
How absurd.
“Haah…”
I sighed deeply and lifted my head.
Then I gazed at the bleeding Heavenly Horse.
Was she a dragon?
Well, if she’s employing power, then that confirms my assumption.
Yet—
‘I don’t feel hostility.’
The hostility I had felt whenever I beheld the dragons had faded.
No, I definitely felt hostility. It was just—
‘It’s not because she’s a dragon that I feel this way.’
It was more akin to the enmity felt towards someone worthy of destruction rather than the instinctive nature evoked simply by being a dragon.
How could this possibly have transpired?
Questions bubbled up, but,
‘It no longer mattered.’
Now, that too became inconsequential.
What was pivotal now was—
“I can break through.”
That I can shatter her barrier, which could be torn down only by the divine sword.
Thus.
Eat it.
That I could consume the seeds of chaos here and now.
At that moment, that remained my singular focus.
Gnash—.
The heat surged anew.
Thump—!
The recoil emanating from my heart seeped into my vision.
The luminous blue hue in my eyes gradually shifted to a fiery red.
Then, pools of blue and red melded together, transforming into a deep purple.
I might just kill the Heavenly Horse.
Therein, I might just adequately replace the divine sword.
This yearning began to swell within my mind.
“Greed.”
The newly enkindled possibility ignited passion.
That transformed aspiration morphed into hope.
And consequently, that hope solidified into purpose.
As a result, the purpose congealed with purple, bursting into life.
“Chomp.”
Kyaaaaaaaaah—!!!
I shall kill the Heavenly Horse.
Right now, that was the only thought filling my mind.
—
*
As the purple hue began to envelop beneath the crescent moon—
“…Hmm.”
A sudden sensation caused a man to look in one direction. Hanam, where the Murim Alliance resided. It had originally been where he intended to go.
Whoosh.
For now, as far as he could see, only flames blazed.
“…”
Then the man diverted his gaze to survey the surroundings.
Another fire raged on Mt. Taesan, on his path to Hanam.
Mount Taesan.
A towering mountain that stood between Shanxi and Henan.
Normally, this mountain should have been awash in green light according to the season.
Yet somehow, Mt. Taesan was engulfed in flames, glowing red even against the backdrop of night.
What was truly peculiar was that there were houses at the foot of Mt. Taesan, yet the residents had seemingly lost all interest in the raging fire.
As if there was no flame to see at all.
A man stood atop Mount Taesan, surrounded by those bizarre flames.
The head of the Gu clan in Shanxi. Gu Cheol-woon stared ahead with an impassive expression.
To be precise, he faced the master of the flames that engulfed Mt. Taesan.
At the end of his gaze, someone lounged atop a massive stone.
There sat an old man, clad in tattered rags, with white hair.
The old man met Gu Cheol-woon’s eyes, his own irises a striking red.
What was even stranger was that a colossal crimson horn jutted from one side of the old man’s forehead.
Even in the darkness, that red glowing horn was distinctly prominent.
As Gu Cheol-woon observed the horn, he turned his similarly red eyes to the old man and spoke.
“It’s been a while. I hope you’ve been well.”
To Gu Cheol-woon’s words,
“Father.”
The old man’s expression shifted, a chilling smile spreading across his face.
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