Chapter 360

I don’t know how much time had passed.

My time moved infinitely slowly, while the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s passed as quickly and violently as the current of the Yangtze I had seen a few weeks ago.

One thing was certain: even now, at this very moment, time was passing.

Thud!

I failed to see either his preparatory movement or his actual motion. By the time I realized the Western Heaven Demon Lord had taken a step, my head had already snapped backward.

Before I could even regain my balance, the sound of splitting air pierced my ears.

Shhk, thud! Thud-thud-thud!

Shoulder, chest, stomach.

A palm strike and a punch infused with internal energy flowed over my upper body like water.

Through the agony and the white haze filling my vision as my bones shifted, I gritted my teeth.

Crk.

One of my molars shattered, and for a brief moment, my mind cleared.

“Raaaagh!”

Whoosh!

With a cry squeezed out from the depths of my lungs, I swung my fist.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord caught the fist riddled with openings and slow beyond belief, then clicked his tongue.

“You still have strength left?”

“……!”

Crack!

Even muscles and bones hardened like steel were nothing more than kindling before the Western Heaven Demon Lord.

His hand, curled like a hook, seized my wrist and twisted. Flesh and bone shattered together.

The bones in my left arm, which had already been broken once, splintered into pieces, sending horrific pain through me.

“Gaaaaaagh!”

“Do not worry. I will call some skilled healers to treat you later.”

“Go… fuck yourself!”

I thrust out my still-usable right arm at the Western Heaven Demon Lord, who was wiping the blood splashed across his face.

The spearhead of White Flame, wrapped in a faint Spear Energy, stabbed toward his lower body.

Screech. Clang.

But the spearhead was blocked with absurd ease.

Not by the Black Dragon Armor or Body-Protecting Qi.

By the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s hand.

“Futile.”

His hand, wrapped in ink-colored Force, tightened around the spearhead. The energy that had been dimly gathering disappeared as though swallowed by darkness.

“Give up. The outcome will not change anyway.”

With a quiet voice, the Western Heaven Demon Lord pulled on the spearhead.

I stubbornly clung to the shaft as it tried to slip from my flayed, blood-soaked grip.

A searing pain surged through me, but it was bearable.

I had endured more than enough pain in the past—and in the present.

Whoosh, crash!

I tumbled forward with the spear shaft. A handful of dirt entered my mouth and mixed with the blood.

The ice-cold, foul-smelling floor of the underground prison felt strangely more comfortable than ever.

I’m sleepy.

If I closed my eyes now, I felt as though I could fall asleep immediately.

After sleeping through a long dream that lasted for days, perhaps I would wake up not in the Murim but in the modern world.

A soft seat on a private plane headed for Sichuan, China, would be fine. So would the one-room at Hope Goshiwon, with its lingering smell of a stale bachelor.¹

Maybe all of this is a dream.

In the more than year I had spent here, I had gone through too much.

From F-rank Hunter Jin Taekyung to the Third Young Master of the Jin Family of Taiyuan. From a disgrace who brought shame to his family name to the Sleeping Dragon of Shanxi.

I had witnessed horrific wars and countless deaths. I had met so many people.

Jin Wikyung, who absolutely doted on his younger brother, and Jin Mukyung, who would have loved to kill his. Hyuk Mujin, who had shared life and death with me while always remaining at my side. Cheongpung, who was both my friend and my rival.

And…

Old Master.

My eyelids, which had been slowly closing without my realizing it, stopped.

That’s right. The Fire King, Jeok Cheongang.

He was behind me, and I was in front of him.

That was why I could not fall. I could not run away.

That insolent bastard. Taekyung, go on ahead.

H-hyung!

I’ll catch up soon.

Three years had already passed, but I would never forget what happened that day.

I had failed to protect the people precious to me, and I had survived through their sacrifice.

Yet even after gaining power beyond anything my past self could have imagined, I had repeated the same mistake.

How about it? Dance of the Fire God and Demon. Isn’t it incredible?

Jeok Cheongang had been smiling then.

That smile held the joy of avenging his closest friend—and the relief of protecting one little brat he couldn’t tell was his disciple or his enemy.

“Yes. It’s incredible…”

A small voice leaked through my torn and swollen lips.

At some point, the floor of the underground prison no longer felt comfortable.

Feeling its unpleasant cold and stench, I began to raise myself.

I planted my still-usable right arm on the floor and supported myself on both knees.

My body felt as though it might break apart at any moment, and my movements were slow, but I did not give up.

When I finally stood upright on my trembling legs, the first thing I encountered was a pair of deeply sunken eyes.

“Impressive. To the point of looking foolish.”

Thud!

My nose broke, and my head snapped backward. But I did not fall or stagger back.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s hand had seized my shoulder like a shackle.

“How many times must I tell you? It is already over.”

Crack.

My shoulder blade was crushed. The spear shaft slipped limply from my weakened hand.

Horrific pain should have followed, but the pain I actually felt was faint.

“If you are waiting for help, you are mistaken. The Sichuan Tang Clan will be destroyed. No, perhaps everything is already over by now.”

Crack!

This time, it was my legs.

The shins of both legs, which had been the only parts of me left intact, broke simultaneously. I lost my balance.

Ironically, the only reason I was still standing was that the Western Heaven Demon Lord had not let go of me.

“Will someone come to your aid as they did in Henan? The Sword Saint, who will only hear the news after half a month? The Sword Saint’s successor, who is probably fighting desperately even now? If not…”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord turned his head.

Beyond the empty underground prison, destroyed and collapsed by our clash, his gaze settled on a tightly shut iron door.

“Your master, who still has not regained consciousness?”

“Cough.”

“Nothing will change. Today, the Tang Clan, Qingcheng, and Emei will be destroyed, and all of you…”

“Cough!”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord could not continue.

A sticky liquid of dirt and blood covered his face.

He clearly had not expected someone whose limbs had already been crushed to do something like this.

In a moment brief enough to call an instant, I drove my head forward with every ounce of strength I had at the man who had frozen while gripping my neck.

Thud!

With a heavy impact, the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s head snapped backward.

My internal energy had run dry long ago, and my severe Internal Injuries made it difficult to move even a single finger. I did not know where that strength had come from. I did not even know myself.

And…

I don’t have time to think anymore anyway.

That had been the last desperate struggle I could manage.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord stroked his reddened forehead and let out a quiet laugh.

“You really are… a dangerous man.”

I answered in a hazy voice.

“I should’ve cracked your skull.”

“If I had not raised my Body-Protecting Qi at the last moment, you might have.”

“You monstrous bastard.”

“Hah. It feels strange hearing that from you.”

Unfathomable emotions flickered through the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes as he looked at me.

At first glance, they seemed like anger. At the same time, they felt almost like admiration.

But before I could identify those emotions, an unexpected boom rang out.

Rumble-rumble-rumble, boom!

The source of the sound was neither me nor the Western Heaven Demon Lord.

The underground prison.

This entire space, stretching for several thousand feet, was trembling. Fist-sized stones fell from the ceiling, and the ground began to split apart.

The noise and vibrations soon ceased, but deep furrows appeared between the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s brows.

“…I had better hurry.”

The instant he muttered that while casting a quick glance at the ceiling, the sky and earth flipped.

Then a small impact reached me through my back.

Boom!

A wall.

He had thrown me into the wall.

“Cough.”

I spat out blood, and a calm voice reached my ears.

“Sit there for a while. I will be back soon.”

“You…”

“If you are still alive by then, I will take you with me. If you happen to be dead…”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord fell silent briefly before continuing.

“That would not be so bad either. You are a dangerous person.”

“W-wait.”

I stretched out my hand with all the strength I had left toward the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s retreating back.

I had to stop him. I had to prevent him from capturing Jeok Cheongang and the Divine Physician.

But not a single part of my body moved as I wanted it to.

“Cough. Gaaaagh!”

Dark-red blood poured from my open mouth.

The clotted pieces mixed into it were…

Damn it. Those are pieces of my organs.

It was neither the first time I had seen something like this nor an unexpected sight, but a profound despair weighed down my entire body.

My limbs were crippled, and I had suffered a fatal Internal Injury.

My mind stood in the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s way, but with my crushed arms and legs, I could not move even a single step.

“Ah.”

I raised my head blankly with a groan.

The corridor where the Western Heaven Demon Lord had disappeared was empty.

The place, devastated by our clash, was filled with traces of craters large and small, collapsed walls, and other destruction.

The prison where prisoners had still been confined half a day earlier was now strewn with bent bars, fallen rocks, and things like broken chains.

At that sight, I realized.

It’s over.

I had fought, and I had lost.

I had tried to stop him, but I had failed. I had tried to protect them, but I had failed.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord had been telling the truth.

The kind of luck we had seen in Henan would not happen again. The Tang Clan, Emei, and Qingcheng were headed for destruction, and Cheongpung could not handle them all alone.

He’ll probably die or be captured.

I wanted him to run away instead, but that would never happen.

That was the kind of person Cheongpung was. Even covered in blood, he would return to the underground prison to save his Benefactor.

I stared into the darkness beyond, where the exit lay, and laughed weakly.

Damn it…

Everything felt like my fault.

Cheongpung. Jeok Cheongang. Even the Divine Physician, who had been dragged into this mess for no reason and would suffer because of it.

At least Hyuk Mujin and Gung Gibang had not come with me. That was the only thing I could be grateful for.

Rumble-rumble-rumble.

A small vibration reached me along with a roar that seemed to rise from the depths of the earth.

The sound announcing the end of the match.

There had been no need to go twelve rounds like in boxing. I had fallen after only three, and I would probably die soon.

I’m sorry. All of you.

The simple rule written in the capsule’s instruction manual.

If you die in the Murim, you die in reality, too.

Everything I had built by traveling between the two worlds was crumbling little by little, just like this underground prison.

“I didn’t think I’d die like this…”

My vision blurred. The pain throughout my body and the sounds reaching me through my ears slowly grew distant.

Then, just as I was about to slip away from all sensation, an old man’s face suddenly entered my field of vision.

A chain with marks where something had torn it away.

A body so thin that its bones protruded, attached to an unusually tall frame.

I called out to him in a feeble voice.

“…Heavenly Power Demon.”