Chapter 359

Rustle.

After brushing the bits of stone from his body, the Western Heaven Demon Lord twisted his neck from side to side. His brow furrowed at the sound of bones grinding against each other.

“Your fists pack quite a punch. If I hadn’t had Body-Protecting Qi, I might have been seriously injured.”

Punch, my ass.

I let out a deep sigh as I watched the Western Heaven Demon Lord stand up without a scratch after taking both my full-powered Flame Divine Palm and Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.

“Forget the Body-Protecting Qi. Isn’t it cheating for someone like you to equip gear, too?”

“Gear? What is that?”

I pointed at the black-scaled armor visible through the tears in his yellow robe.

“That thing you’re wearing underneath. You bastard.”

“Ah. You mean the Black Dragon Armor.”

“The Black Dragon Armor?”

Now that was one hell of a cool name.

I didn’t know exactly what the Black Dragon Armor was, but its defensive performance was so impressive that calling it a divine weapon still wouldn’t be enough.

It had blocked two full-powered attacks, and all it had suffered was the loss of a few scales.

With that level of defense, fists and palms won’t be enough.

The armor worn by Dark Heaven’s ordinary martial artists had been formidable as well, but it was nothing compared to the Black Dragon Armor.

An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth. A divine weapon for a divine weapon.

As long as the Black Dragon Armor existed, White Flame was essential if I wanted to inflict a fatal wound on him.

If not that…

As I watched him searchingly, the Western Heaven Demon Lord smiled faintly.

“The more I see of you, the more interesting you become. Your strange techniques are one thing, but I like your refusal to back down.”

“So? Want to date?”

“I must politely decline. I already have a lover I’ve been with for a very long time.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord gently stroked the winding blade of his sword. Ink-black Sword Force rose from the cut surface of the sword, which had broken cleanly in half.

“I’ve seen all your cards. Now it is my turn.”

With a quiet murmur, the Western Heaven Demon Lord stepped forward. A suffocating aura rippled behind his back like wings.

Only then did I realize it.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s martial arts had reached a realm far beyond what I had imagined.

“…Damn it.”

Deng.

Somewhere, it felt as though a bell had rung to announce the beginning of the second round.

But this wasn’t a boxing match that ended after twelve rounds. There were no spectators shouting cheers and groans, and no staff to throw in a towel.

This was a match that ended only when someone staked their life—nothing but their life.

Inventory open. Summon.

The cold spear shaft settled into my grip. I drew in a deep breath and leveled the spearhead at the Western Heaven Demon Lord.

“Come at me.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord did not hesitate.

Snap!

The Western Heaven Demon Lord extended one foot.

Shifting Form and Position.

His vanished figure reappeared in the air above my head.

The sensation of my fine hairs standing on end reached me as I leaned my body backward.

Saaak! Boom!

The heel of his foot grazed my nose by the narrowest margin before slamming into the ground. The floor caved in, and fragments of stone flew in every direction.

Blood trickled from the bridge of my nose, sliced by the wind pressure, but I wasn’t given even a moment to wipe it away.

Shh-shh-shh-shhk!

Ink-black Sword Energy rained down from every direction. It slashed, cut, and swung without discrimination at my waist, chest, and stomach.

Attacks I could never have dodged in the past.

But not anymore.

I can see them.

Within the slowed-down world, I sensed the Sword Energy shooting toward me.

I could picture where that destructive energy would move and how I needed to move to evade it.

My body was already moving ahead of my thoughts.

Kra-kra-kra-kaboom!

I dodged some attacks and knocked others away with my spear. Thick clouds of dust rose everywhere, along with craters that looked like they belonged in a war movie.

And then…

Whooong!

Ink-black Sword Force, casting a dull light, shot out through the dust cloud. With a steady gaze, the Western Heaven Demon Lord brought his sword down along a diagonal line.

I had no way of knowing what martial art it was or what form he was using.

But I knew one thing.

If I backed down here, the only thing left for me was death.

I have to strike back.

I needed power strong enough to stand against Sword Force. This was the moment to use the best move I had.

The answer had been there from the beginning.

One Annihilation.

Grind.

Every muscle in my body drew taut like a bowstring. My foot shot forward first, followed by my waist, which had bent as far back as possible. Rotational force flowed through my shoulder and arm and poured into the spearhead.

Kraaaaaash!

It was a concentration of energy far too massive to be called Spear Energy.

The spearhead, wreathed in blue flames, surged forward. It burned through the air and devoured the dust cloud as it shot toward a single man.

“……!”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes widened. At the same time, his blade trembled, and an even larger mass of Sword Force erupted from it.

The next instant, blue flames and black darkness collided.

KABOOOOOM!

With a roar unlike anything I had ever heard, everything within a radius of over a hundred feet shattered and exploded.

Part of the ceiling collapsed under the impact, and the incredibly solid rock was pulverized into drifting dust.

In the middle of it all, one person stood tall.

“Damn it.”

Even my full-powered One Annihilation wasn’t enough.

At my dejected expression, the Western Heaven Demon Lord shook his head. Blood was running down from his shoulder. That was all One Annihilation had left behind.

“There is no need to be disappointed. It was a sufficiently powerful form. For a moment, it was enough to make my heart turn cold.”

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Anything.”

“If I hadn’t wasted my strength from the beginning and had launched that strike just now… could I have killed you?”

After thinking it over carefully, the Western Heaven Demon Lord answered.

“I believe you could have taken one of my arms. Perhaps even more than that. But you would have died.”

“Damn it. I knew it.”

“I think it is time to finish this.”

Whooooosh.

It no longer surprised me. Sword Force surged up like water from an inexhaustible spring and was swung like a whip.

I gritted my teeth as extreme weakness washed over me from the expenditure of my internal energy.

“It’s not over yet.”

I pulled up every bit of internal energy I had left and unleashed the Fire Dragon Divine Spear.

Unlike before, the blue flames were visibly smaller. They shot toward the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s exposed neck.

Screeeeeech!

The next moment, I met the unwavering gaze of the Western Heaven Demon Lord and realized it.

He read me.

By the time the realization pierced my mind, it was already too late. The Sword Force that had seemed ready to cut me in half abruptly bent in midair and struck the spearhead.

Boom!

A roar like the sky splitting apart rang out. I gritted my teeth as I clung to the violently shaking spear shaft.

The Sword Force swung toward me, my ankles already driven deep into the ground.

Shh-shh-shh-shh-shhk!

Above, below, left, and right.

Terrifying energy flew in from thirty-six directions centered on my body.

With every nerve in my body standing on end, I swung my spear like a madman.

Boom! Kra-kra-kra-kaboom!

Every time I blocked a strike, my body staggered and my breath caught in my throat.

This wasn’t a problem of speed or strength.

It was martial arts—and internal energy.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s martial arts were in a distant realm I could never reach, and the terrifying internal energy transmitted through my spear shook the inside of my body.

What the hell…!

Blood sprayed between my clenched teeth. My torn hands had been covered in blood for some time already.

I squeezed out every last bit of strength and swung my spear at the ink-black Sword Force cleaving toward my chest.

The second form of the Fire Dragon Divine Spear.

Heavenly Strike.

Screeeeeech! Boom!

But unlike the first time, the fire dragon’s claw was pitifully weak, and the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s ink-black Sword Force had not lost even a fraction of its power.

Krrrrk!

I was driven backward, carving a long furrow through the ground.

What I saw was the underground prison shaking as though struck by an earthquake, with thick clouds of dust filling the surroundings.

He’s gone.

I couldn’t see the Western Heaven Demon Lord ahead of me, to either side, or in the air.

Then there was only one answer.

I spun around and unleashed a palm strike.

Bang! Boom!

Two sounds rang out at the same time.

The heat of the Flame Divine Palm burned through the air, while the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s palm had already reached my chest.

My vision turned white, followed by the pain of my heart meridians snapping apart one strand at a time. I swallowed the blood surging into my throat and righted my flying body.

“That was amazing. I mean it.”

“……!”

It was instinct.

At the quiet voice coming from beside me, my arm moved on its own. The hand blade shooting toward the back of my neck struck my forearm instead.

Crack!

Pain surged through me with the sound of a bone being forced out of place. Then the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s foot, swung like a whip, drove into my side.

Thud! Boom!

After smashing through the rock and embedding me in the wall, the Western Heaven Demon Lord slowly walked toward me.

The emotions in his eyes were admiration and delight.

“Incredible. Truly incredible. Do you know what you just did?”

I spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm and answered.

“No, you fucking bastard.”

“You may be proud of yourself. You lasted more than three hundred moves against me while I was fighting at full strength.”

“Three hundred moves. I’m crying tears of joy.”

“You do not seem particularly happy, so let me put it another way. What if the Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun and her Elders had lasted more than five hundred moves?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Why not?”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord looked genuinely unable to understand. I tossed him a single answer.

“They died anyway.”

Even if someone lasted three hundred moves, five hundred moves, or a thousand moves, if they lost the fight, the only thing left for the loser in the end was death.

The Heaven-Shaking Venerable Nun and the Poison King had been no exception.

And…

I suppose I was no different.

“Cough.”

Blood seeped through my parted lips.

I wanted to stand up as casually as the Western Heaven Demon Lord had earlier, but my body was in no condition for that.

Internal injuries aside, my left arm is fractured, and I think I’ve cracked some bones in my chest.

I had really been beaten to hell. No wonder breathing had felt difficult for a while.

Breathing heavily, I used White Flame as a cane to pull myself upright.

At the sight of me, the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes lit up.

“Do you still have something left to show me?”

“Of course.”

“That must also be the power of supernatural powers. Show me. Quickly. Quickly!”

“I was planning to.”

I leveled my spear at the Western Heaven Demon Lord, who was getting excited like a child.

And that was the entirety of what I did.

“……?”

“What are you doing? Aren’t you coming in?”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord stared at me with incomprehension and asked,

“What did you just do?”

“I’m showing you. The supernatural powers you wanted to see.”

“What?”

“I’m good with my body, but I’m hopeless with my head. I’m such a dumbass that I even failed the Level Eight Hanja exam.¹ But then I came across the term ‘supernatural powers’ in a martial-arts novel. I didn’t know what it meant, so I looked it up.”

Even if I explained it like this, he probably wouldn’t understand half of what I was saying.

My vision wavered. Every time I exhaled, my lungs prickled as though they were being stabbed with needles, and the spear shaft that had always felt light now seemed like a boulder weighing ten thousand geun.

But still…

“‘Supernatural powers.’ Mysterious beings or phenomena that are difficult to explain through reason. That’s what it meant.”

I neither staggered nor collapsed. I simply stared at the Western Heaven Demon Lord and continued speaking slowly.

“What’s so special about supernatural powers? A bastard who keeps fighting even after being reduced to this state—that’s supernatural powers.”

Remaining Stat Points? None.

Physical condition? It was a miracle that I could still stand.

Now that everything had escaped as if from Pandora’s box, the one thing I had left was not hope.

Sheer grit.

Hope could make people stand back up, but it could also make them weak.

But as long as that grit remained—as long as I still had the will to fight until the very end—I would not fall.

No.

I had decided not to fall.

Because there were people I had to protect. The Fire King and Cheongpung had fought for my sake, so even if I had to become a ghost instead of some supernatural being, I had to stop this bastard.

“So…”

I gathered all the internal energy I had left. A fistful of qi desperately surged toward the spearhead.

A faint wisp of Spear Energy lit up the darkness like the glow of a firefly.

“Quit spouting bullshit and come at me, you bastard with a supernatural-powers fetish.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord fell silent.

After countless emotions passed across his face, his gaze settled into a deep solemnity.

Swish!