Chapter: 382
Crash-…
The surroundings were filled with the sound of something crumbling. The scent of burnt coal lingered in the air.
The world was blackened.
Whoosh-! Flames soared.
Flames of contrasting colors clashed repeatedly as if engaged in a territorial dispute.
The intensity and potency of the stakes contained within both flames were evident.
With each collision, vibrations radiated outward.
Boom! Boom boom!
The air became increasingly hot as the force swept through.
Ordinary people wouldn’t survive getting close, let alone find it easy to breathe.
The sky was eerily blended with red and black.
Yet, they were distinctly separate, as if they were oil and water.
Ahhhh-!
A massive flame seemed to scream.
The flames gradually began to take on the shape of a dragon.
It crashed down to the ground.
Crash-!
At the moment the flames collided with the earth, the ground began to crumble and crack.
The protruding shards appeared half-melted.
It was hot.
The entire area was ablaze with an intense red.
The wildly distorted flames consumed all the black flames scattered around before finally returning to the caster.
Shhhh-! Even after all the flames had returned to their owner, the world remained scorched and melted.
…Phew…
I looked at the other person with tired eyes.
It must have been the same flame originally. The black flame, corrupted and now tinged with darkness, was undoubtedly hotter and rougher than the flames I had once wielded.
Yet, in the face of the fiery red flame before me, I was easily devoured.
I worked to maintain a neutral expression as I faced my opponent.
He still looked fierce, wearing a blunt expression.
His appearance was similar yet different from mine.
To be accurate…it would be fair to say that I resembled him.
Though not much time had passed, it was evident that he hadn’t aged a bit.
The man’s scarlet eyes locked onto me.
“It’s been a while.”
…
I instinctively flinched at his words.
Those were the first words my father uttered to me after several years.
“Yes.”
“I knew she would come back. Yet, she turned out to be much crueler than I expected. I never thought she would send you to me.”
The person my father referred to was Cheonma.
Cheonma had been concentrating on recovery since the battle of days past.
The aftermath must not have been trivial.
With that thought in mind, I scrutinized my father.
The wounds on Cheonma’s body were inflicted by him.
He had left scars on the Heavenly Demon’s body—scars he had never received from anyone else.
In fact, my father appeared to be in good health, seemingly uninjured.
It might seem that way on the surface.
But I knew better; his interior was anything but healthy.
“I know it’s been really tough for you.”
…
My father’s eyebrows twitched at my comment.
Just looking at him, it was already evident.
My father’s body was being devoured by magic. Not just any magic, but the magic of the Heavenly Demon.
Even so, it shouldn’t have been easy for him to even walk around, let alone breathe.
The only reason he was still standing was due to sheer willpower.
That my flames couldn’t encroach upon him even in that state only meant one thing.
His strength was greater than I had assumed.
“Third.”
At his call, my expression slightly contorted.
“…Isn’t it time to stop using that title?”
“Don’t you like it?”
“Do you still see me as your child?”
My father’s face creased into an odd expression at my question.
“Wasn’t it?”
At his question, his eyes tightened shut.
“Are you aware that I… killed Hong Hwa-gwang-geom?”
Hong Hwa-gwang-geom was the alias of the deceased Gu Hee-bi. Hearing this, my father’s eyes twitched slightly.
“Moreover, I have come to kill you now.”
…
“In this situation, am I still your child?”
Even after my declaration, my father maintained his blank expression.
He undoubtedly knew well that I was involved in Gu Hee-bi’s death.
Yet, still, he didn’t show even a hint of anger.
“From the beginning, I’m not sure if you ever thought of me as your child.”
If he had treated me as a child, he would surely have reacted differently upon seeing me now.
There might have been a shocked “How could you do this?” followed by an urging for me to return.
But my father didn’t do any of that.
Not when I plummeted to the depths as a mine.
Even now, facing each other…he did absolutely nothing. If only he had just gotten angry.
Perhaps it was the flames that were ablaze?
I felt my insides simmering.
“That day… why did you save me?”
I asked my father.
He had come to find me as my name began to spread across the Central Plains after I’d fallen as a mine.
In that moment, I sensed death approaching.
I never even imagined my father would save me now that I had become a mine.
I thought I’d burn to death on the spot.
He had taken in my appearance and then simply turned away, disappearing.
“Why on earth did you do that? After considerable thought, I realized… perhaps you saw it as a good thing after all.”
…
“The guy you kept around just in case for the cow pen vanished of his own accord. Wouldn’t that seem like a good thing to you?”
I spoke these words as if resigned. My father, however, just listened quietly.
“So, even now… you still don’t get angry at me?”
“Did you want me to get angry?”
“Well, I’m not too sure about that, but wouldn’t it have been better if you did?”
There was a time when I desired indifference from the world.
I believed that once.
Perhaps contrary to that, I wished more than anything that someone would truly care about me.
Although, by now, it may be far too late.
“I see.”
My father nodded at my statement.
Even that simple action left me feeling frustrated.
With a dejected expression, I asked him.
“What was I to you…?”
What was I to my father?
Just a fool who kept causing troubles?
Or perhaps the child of a concubine he could hardly stand to look at?
Merely a disgrace to the Gu family?
My head spun from all the thoughts, if only because the stakes had vanished so suddenly.
Moreover, my father chose not to answer my question.
Did he deem it unworthy of a response?
Well, he always was that kind of person.
As I gazed at him, a small laugh escaped my lips.
Whoosh whoosh.
Once more, I wrapped myself in black flames.
“We don’t need to discuss this any further.”
…
Witnessing this, my father too enveloped himself in flames.
Immediately after, the heat erupting from my father soared into the sky. At that moment, I felt a strong pressure weighing down on me.
It was the effect of activating the red sky.
Resolved not to back down, I too activated the black sky and slowly began to tap into my internal strength.
Demonic energies swirled around my fingertips.
This was condensed into forming a fiery jewel.
Not just one.
Numerous fiery jewels manifested above me as well as in my hand.
I sent them forth towards my father.
Though potent enough to annihilate the area, just before reaching him, the jewels disappeared as if they had never existed at all.
…
Even with the vast energy vanishing in an instant, there was not a gust of wind nor a whisper of sound.
I frowned at the sight. Gritting my teeth, I launched myself forward.
I moved my body and observed my father’s hand.
There lay the reason.
“That’s….”
The secret technique of the Gu clan that could only be harnessed when at its apex.
The power that had inflicted wounds upon Cheonma.
The very essence of all the flames within the Gu clan.
As long as that power existed,
I would stand no chance against my father.
No, even without it, defeating him was beyond my capabilities.
I knew that all too well.
Yet still, I alone sought the Gu clan.
To finish off my father, whom Cheonma could not kill?
That was the justification of being a mine.
But I was different.
I didn’t come to kill my father.
I had come here to die at my father’s hands.
Whoosh-!
Flames erupted forth uncontrollably.
When I channeled all the pent-up emotions, the flames appeared even darker and it felt almost comical.
Could it be an illusion?
I guessed it was merely a misconception.
The enormous flames spread relentlessly, yet they failed to touch my father at all.
My molars crunched as I bit down with intensity.
Ahhhh-!
The blaze emanating from my father’s feet held me at bay, yet I forcibly pushed through.
It burned hot.
Despite being practiced in flame arts, my father’s flames were exceptionally scorching.
My collar burned away.
The fire that penetrated my protective powers singed my skin as well.
The pain threatened to consume my consciousness, but I pressed on.
Father’s eyes lit up as he observed my reckless charge.
Flames gathered at the tips of his fingers.
I condensed every ounce of my remaining energy into a handful.
This was unlike the fiery jewels.
Not a refined martial art, merely a distillation of emotions.
I would die here.
This was just too much.
Even when dulled by slaughter, the mind isn’t infinite. Living for someone else was no longer a sufficient reason to withstand it.
My original goals had long turned outdated and started to fade.
What was I living for?
I recalled that there must have been something at some point.
But now, those memories felt hazy.
I was exhausted and just wanted a break.
Would my death lead to anyone’s atonement?
No.
Childish desires blossomed within me.
This was not atonement but just a means to soothe my own selfishness.
Yet, does it really matter at this point?
With that thought, I stepped forward.
The red flames intensified as they neared my father.
It seemed he genuinely intended to burn me.
While I hoped for that, a bitter feeling welled up within.
This wasn’t the kind of relationship I wanted.
To end my life at the hands of my father, whom I had once feared and resented so deeply.
What a miserable way to go.
As that thought danced through my mind, an involuntary laugh bubbled up.
I believed it would be a fittingly dismal conclusion.
Thud.
Whoosh-!
Flames in the shape of a dragon and tiger coiled around me. Were they meant to bind my legs?
I immediately summoned my strength and broke free. Sparks flew, obscuring my vision, but I cleared the haze.
Then, my father came into view right before me.
If things were different, I would have been ensnared in the same red flames.
He stared at me with red eyes and hair.
What kind of expression was that?
I couldn’t decipher it.
My father’s hand moved.
It was a hand charged with the secret energy of the Nine Families.
The instant it touched me would spell the end. As that realization sank in, I reached out.
What expression would my father wear when I died?
Would he maintain that same expressionless look as he did now?
That seemed likely.
I couldn’t imagine him displaying a different emotion.
Just as those thoughts crossed my mind, my father’s hand drew nearer.
His hands were large and rough.
Though he surely moved quickly, it inexplicably felt slow.
Was he recalling something like a mirage?
I wished that wasn’t the case.
Any memories that came to mind were dirty, wretched things.
Or simply tragic memories.
Right now, I just wanted to close my eyes.
Soon, just as my hand was to reach him, my father’s hand came down.
Just when I thought this was it,
Snap-!
…!
In an instant, the flames enveloping my father’s body were released.
The very disappearance of the flames signified that he had let his power go.
It also meant that the protective energy enveloping his body had vanished.
There was no time to assess the situation.
Just as I was desperately trying to withdraw my energy from my hands,
My father grasped my hand as I attempted to take it back.
Boom-!
My fist collided with my father’s chest, sending shockwaves through the air.
Whoosh- The air pressure exploded around us.
I struggled to comprehend what was happening.
“What is this…? What is going on…?”
I raised my incredulous head.
Finally, I saw my father’s face.
…!
Blood trickled from the corner of my father’s mouth.
Right before my attack made contact, he had desperately tried to stealthily release his strength.
It was because he couldn’t fully reclaim all his energy.
That force struck his unprotected body directly.
In a situation where he could have easily met a swift end, my father remained staunch, standing firmly on both feet.
“What…What is this…!”
Perhaps it was because I was so taken aback that I couldn’t form a coherent thought.
Then.
I suddenly felt something rest on my head.
It was my father’s hand.
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