Chapter 179:
Chapter 179:
Chapter 179
There is a saying that some things are so terrifying that they take your breath away.
Yu-hyun felt that very acutely right now.
Just by existing, the air around him became several times heavier, and it pressed down on his whole body, especially his shoulders.
The Heavenly Demon was a mythical beast that emanated a dark aura that devoured all the light in the world.
‘It feels like everything is being sucked into one direction.’
The dense magic energy was so strong that it distorted the space like a black hole, and it absorbed all the natural energy.
It seemed like this whole world was created for the Heavenly Demon alone.
For a moment, he saw the Heavenly Demon’s figure, but soon it became hard to see with his naked eyes.
The magic energy spread like a fog and obscured its appearance.
The only things he could catch a glimpse of were the black cloak that fluttered without wind and the long black hair.
‘That is…the Heavenly Demon, who was called the peerless warrior of ancient times.’
He felt a different sensation when he witnessed the state of being one step away from transcending.
It was not comparable to what he had seen before.
The only thing that came to his mind was Moby Dick, the giant whale that was over 200 meters long.
He wondered if he compressed that huge creature into a human size, would it still have such an overwhelming presence?
‘Its existence is based on the stories of this world, so its power should be weaker than reality, not stronger. But even so, it’s like that. That means it was much stronger in reality.’
Yu-hyun looked at Seo Sumin, who was sitting on the ground.
No matter what happened, the most important thing right now was that the Heavenly Demon was in front of him.
And then, the Heavenly Demon, which had been still for a while, began to unleash its power.
Kwarrrr!
With a roar that shook the heavens and earth, the magic energy that flowed from the Heavenly Demon’s body shot out in all directions like a porcupine with its spikes raised.
It created thousands of magic spears.
“Run, run!”
“Get back!”
Chwajajak!
Someone shouted, but it was already too late.
Along with the torn pieces of clothing, red blood splattered in the air.
Yu-hyun, who was watching from a distance, felt cold sweat running down his back.
It was overwhelming.
With just one attack, many members of the Blood Eagle Corps died instantly.
“No, no.”
Seo Sumin couldn’t take her eyes off that scene and shed tears.
It was like a nightmare being replayed in front of her eyes.
The nightmare where she stained her hands with blood that would never wash away.
She couldn’t move her body as if it was frozen.
“Stop it…”
She desperately wished.
Don’t hurt the people she cherished.
Don’t stain the smiling faces in her memories with blood.
But just like her sins didn’t disappear, there was no stopping her past self.
Aaaaah!!
A red light burst out from between the black magic energy.
Goosebumps rose on her skin.
It was a beast.
A beast that had lost its reason and gone mad with grief.
That wounded beast bared its fangs at everyone around it.
Kwajijik!
With a flick of its hand, the Heavenly Demon tore apart space.
The bodies of some members were also ripped apart.
With a stomp of its foot, the ground shook.
Some members were crushed flat on the ground. Red flowers bloomed on the bare earth.
“Please…”
Seo Sumin cried and couldn’t look away from that scene.
Her unforgivable sin was killing her old comrades who had laughed and talked with her.
She could only watch helplessly.
“Stop ittttt!!”
Shudder.
Did that scream reach something?
It was very slight, but the Heavenly Demon’s movement stopped.
And that was an unexpected luck.
The Blood Eagle Corps members who were only trying to escape seized this opportunity and launched a counterattack.
They raised their inner energy and displayed their best martial arts skills.
Energy blades flew everywhere and dust rose from colliding with the ground.
As he watched that scene, he saw someone approaching from afar.
“Who are you…?”
The leader of the Blood Eagle Corps who was engrossed in fighting noticed Yu-hyun and his companions and widened his eyes.
He thought there would be no one else in this area, but he didn’t expect to see three people who had nothing to do with this situation.
He looked quite flustered.
Especially since two of them were young girls.
“What are you doing here? Why are you here?”
“…We got caught up in this by accident. Are you alright?”
Yu-hyun asked that after seeing the blood flowing from one of the commander’s arms.
The amount of blood indicated that it was not a shallow wound.
Even though it must have been very painful, there was no change in the commander’s expression.
“It’s none of your concern. Rather, get out of here quickly! If you get involved in this fight, it’s dangerous…”
His warning was cut off.
The Heavenly Demon, which had been only taking attacks, suddenly changed its momentum and moved.
Kugugung—!!!
One step.
It took just one step, and the sky shook.
The Blood Eagle members gasped. They each raised their inner power to resist the pressure.
Yu-hyun also activated the armor of [Untrained Knight] and protected Seo Sumin and Kang Hyerim.
The commander muttered in surprise.
“He’s using a strange power.”
“It’s nothing special. That’s not what’s important right now.”
“Right. That’s not what’s important. No matter what happened, take those two soldiers and leave. I can’t guarantee your lives if you stay here.”
“That seems difficult.”
Yu-hyun had not thought of running away either.
But he couldn’t turn his back and run away from the Heavenly Demon in front of him. Perhaps because of Seo Sumin’s scream earlier, the Heavenly Demon had noticed them.
“It doesn’t look like it will let us go easily.”
He didn’t think that talking would work on the Heavenly Demon that had lost its reason.
The Heavenly Demon had completely lost its mind and was in a rampage state. It perceived everything in sight as enemies, so the moment they tried to run away, they would be attacked first.
The commander knew that too, so he clenched his teeth.
“…Then try to save yourselves as much as possible. We’ll buy some time.”
“Why do you care so much about us? You’re strangers to us.”
“We don’t want anyone unrelated to this fight to get involved.”
There was no trace of kindness in the commander’s voice, but Yu-hyun could clearly feel his conviction.
“This is our fight. Our struggle. We can’t let anyone else die because of it.”
“Weren’t you from the Demon Sect?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“The Demon Sect…”
“The Demon Sect. Everyone calls us that. Even in our own sect, they called us Blood Eagle mad dogs. But they don’t know. We’re just fighting for our beliefs. We’re also human beings.”
There was sadness in the commander’s voice as he said that.
“This is our grave. The only ones who should be buried here are us.”
As he was about to say ‘so go’, he stopped.
The black energy had already reached their noses.
The commander widened his eyes.
The Heavenly Demon had stretched out its hand and shot out a tangible energy like a cannon.
He had forgotten. Who he had to face from now on. He had been leisurely chatting with someone he couldn’t afford to be careless with for a single moment.
The commander sensed his end and gritted his teeth.
‘I have no regrets about death. But to make innocent people get involved… That’s the only thing that bothers me.’
But what he worried about didn’t happen.
Kwaaaaa!!
Yu-hyun stepped forward with a shield in his hand and blocked the attack.
The moment the black magic energy hit the shield, it scattered in all directions.
Yu-hyun’s body was pushed back by the force. His two legs dug two trenches on the ground.
“Kkueuk!”
Yu-hyun tightened his whole body and endured it with clenched teeth.
The magic energy that seemed endless gradually subsided and disappeared.
Yu-hyun breathed out the air he had been holding.
There was no part of his body that didn’t ache from his trembling fingertips to his shoulders.
‘This is crazy. A casual blow has this much power. I can’t block this more than once.’
He had raised the power of [Untrained Knight] and used Baekryeon as a shield.
It was a double-layered defense.
But as soon as it touched that black magic, everything was torn apart like wet paper.
The only thing that held up was Baekryeon, a mythical-grade equipment.
The commander hadn’t expected Yu-hyun to block that attack either, and opened his eyes wide.
“Who, who are you…”
“That’s not what’s important right now. Don’t worry about us, just do your own fight.”
“…I hope you’re safe.”
The Blood Eagle members surrounded the Heavenly Demon and launched all kinds of attacks.
The commander also joined them soon. The red energy he unleashed collided with the magic and caused explosions.
The Blood Eagle was fighting while buying as much time as possible.
But Yu-hyun knew they wouldn’t last long. It was only a matter of time before they were annihilated.
Yu-hyun became anxious.
They would all die at this rate. He grabbed Seo Sumin’s arm and pulled her up.
“Seo Sumin, get up! We have to leave now. We have to go while they’re buying us some time.”
“I, I am… I am…”
Seo Su-min’s face was a mess.
Her face was distorted by pain, and tears flowed endlessly from her eyes.
Yu-hyun bit his lip as he saw her.
Her condition was much worse than he had thought.
Her heart had not healed yet. It had been broken.
‘I thought she had finally stabilized, but the trauma just came back full force because of what happened.’
Yu-hyun had to make a decision.
He thought he had to take Seo Su-min away, even if it was a bit forceful.
If they stayed here, they would be killed by the Heavenly Demon.
With that thought, he turned around to see what the Heavenly Demon was doing.
[Yu-hyun!!]
“Why…!”
Yu-hyun felt his heart stop.
Right in front of him.
At a distance where he could touch it if he breathed out, the Heavenly Demon was looking at him.
‘How… when?’
Yu-hyun rolled his eyes.
Just a moment ago, the Blood Shadow agents were attacking the Heavenly Demon.
It took only a few seconds to confirm that and talk to Seo Su-min.
In those few seconds, all the Blood Shadow agents were rolling on the ground.
“Ugh.”
“Urk.”
They were not all dead.
They had just been thrown back by a very powerful force. But Yu-hyun could not feel any relief from that.
The Heavenly Demon, covered in black magic, was looking at him.
The moment its red eyes scanned his body, Yu-hyun remembered one being.
The Satan who looked at him with eyes that wriggled in the darkness.
The power of its true self that it had shown a little bit as its avatar.
It felt like facing that again.
‘If I move now, I’ll definitely die.’
The Heavenly Demon was not a simple illusion.
It was something else that had transcended humanity.
The Heavenly Demon’s red eyes looked at Yu-hyun and then moved to Seo Su-min, who was crouching behind him, and Kang Yu-ra, who had fallen down.
Its gaze was especially focused on Seo Su-min.
Seo Su-min also looked up at the Heavenly Demon with tears in her eyes.
[This is strange.]
The Heavenly Demon said.
It did not speak with its mouth.
The voice that came through its mind shook his brain.
[How can there be another one like me?]
It was an illusion created by the Heavenly Demon, but it recognized Seo Su-min’s identity right away.
Yu-hyun felt a glimmer of hope as he saw that.
The Heavenly Demon had regained its reason.
If that was the case, he could communicate with it.
And if he could communicate with it, he could somehow get out of this situation.
‘Is it possible?’
In fact, the Heavenly Demon had regained its reason.
It was true that it was sad about the betrayal of its closest aides, and it had briefly lost its reason as well.
If history had followed its original course, it would have run wild and killed everything around it without anyone stopping it.
But the situation changed because of Seo Su-min’s existence.
Her cry of sorrow unintentionally awakened the consciousness of the Heavenly Demon that was buried deep in its subconsciousness.
It was an unexpected stroke of luck.
‘The Heavenly Demon has regained its reason. This is an opportunity. It still looks angry, but if I explain the situation to it, it might change.’
His intuition told him so.
This was a chance.
If he could resolve this with dialogue, the original tragedy would not happen.
Yu-hyun guessed how this all happened through his conversation with the commander.
They must have had a reason for their betrayal. He had to somehow make the Heavenly Demon understand that.
The nightmare
Must not be repeated again.
“Heavenly Demon.”
As Yu-hyun opened his mouth, the red eyes turned to him again.
He was surprised at first, but he got used to it and felt okay.
[Who are you?]
“Just a passerby who got caught up in this.”
[You don’t look like you belong to this school by your outfit. Caught up in this… You were unlucky.]
“Yes. I was unlucky.”
[So, what do you want from me?]
Yu-hyun breathed a sigh of relief inside as he saw that the conversation was going better than he expected.
‘The conversation is working.’
However, there was someone who did not want to leave it alone.
“That’s not how you do it.”
Shamat, who was watching all this from his [Room of Observers], said that with his fingers crossed.
“How can you let him mess up the plot I made? Lao Chen. You hear me? Start.”
-Yes.
Lao Chen, who was waiting outside, nodded to Ling Yan. She nodded back and moved her puppet.
Creak.
A puppet that looked very human-like and had joints that provoked an unpleasant feeling moved.
The puppet entered the inner world with a neck armor in both hands.
Inside the inner world, the puppet opened the neck armor.
A divine core that emitted a dazzling light revealed itself.
The puppet grabbed the divine core and then.
Crack!
It crushed it into dust with its strength.
At the same time, a huge energy that was dormant inside the divine core exploded.
Boom!
The light spread like a tidal wave.
It passed over the ruined city and town and reached the entire inner world.
And it rushed towards all the conscious beings.
To devour their minds.