Gurgle
Didn’t it change all the way to purple? The deep blue energy in the air which had wrapped itself around her, the Third Disciple resisted it with all her might.
“Kuaaak!”
But no matter how much she shouted and tried to get away, nothing worked. It was because the Demon Lord stuck to her like a leech which would not let go.
“Kuhaha, where are you trying to escape to?”
The Demon Lord’s face frowned. Probably because his proficiency in the Absorption Great Technique was not that high, and it seemed like he was doing the very best.
“Eik!”
As the energy continued to pierce her even after she tried to shake him off, the Third Disciple changed direction and suddenly reached for the Demon Lord.
Reach!
“Die!”
The Demon Lord was shocked as he did not expect this.
His chest was pierced at the sudden martial arts she used.
“Ku….!”
She wanted things to change with this. But soon she was confused.
“Kuahahaha…. Too late now, samae.”
“…?”
The Demon Lord who should have collapsed was still standing. With his head lowered, he giggled and raised his head.
“Almost everything has been absorbed now.”
“…!”
The expression of Third Disciple twisted.
The expression which was beastly soon turned into subtle curiosity as she checked her body. Half of her body was burned like black smoke, and only the remaining half was barely in the human form.
“H-how…”
Her voice slowly went hoarse as she lost strength and in shock. And she was not the only one who was shocked.
“How could this happen?”
Seol-Hwi too was shocked.
Was the strength of the Absorption Great Technique so great that it could consume the internal energy of the opponent?
“The Demon Lord already has the power to control the energy,”
Songhwa said in a low voice.
“Control the energy in the sense…”
“The energy of the other world, the transformed demonic energy, the Demon Lord asked us to let him have that energy.”
Songhwa talked with difficulty. There were conversations which Seol-Hwi could not understand and the Demon Lord secret told them a few days back.
-Is the energy of the Soulless different from the one we have?
-If it is the same energy, the one with better control can obtain it?
-Can it be controlled by any other way?
At the time, Dong Ryong, his master, roughly tried to evade it as much as possible but the Demon Lord did not let it happen.
-Take action now. If there is no method to absorb it, you create it.
He continued to demand that he be able to pour the demonic energy of the Soulless into his body.
Dong Ryong refused until a while later as it could lead to a breakdown of the mind.
But the Demon Lord did not care about it. He continued to press on it as if he was being chased by something, and by performing a dangerous procedure on his body, he finally infused the demonic energy of the Soulless into his own.
And that was the secret of now he was able to absorb this energy of the Third Disciple.
Swish
“Ah… ah… Ah….”
The Third Disciple who could not speak as a third of her body was gone, looked at Demon Lord with a blank expression, as if this were a hard reality for her to believe.
Even if she resisted and tried to push through, nothing was happening. She just shed thin tears like she could feel that the source of energy in the body had been changed.
“I will put this to good use, samae.”
The Demon Lord smiled with a satisfied look on his face.
“…”
The Third Disciple tried to say something but even that did not happen. After a while, she floundered and disappeared completely, like a ghost.
“Phew…”
The Demon Lord raised both his hands slowly as the energy was sucked into the body. He looked like he was trying to perceive an unknown energy which had never entered his body before.
Tingle
“Kuaah…”
Groaned the Demon Lord. It was as if the blood vessels were burning from within.
The Third Disciple, who reached the stage of Supreme Demon, just went down like melted iron.
Chiiii….
It was not just a misunderstanding but the body of the Demon Lord was actually releasing this amazing heat, and some of the energy which had been less harmonious gathered together.
“Finally I got this. This power which only a Soulless can have.”
The Demon Lord groaned thinly and was overcome with joy.
Lately, the Demon Lord had been feeling a serious sense of crisis like never before. The First Disciple who could be called as the second in command for the sect.
And then the Fourth Disciple who can kill even the First Disciple if the situation called for it.
He felt trapped in the gap of the strong from above and below, and yet he could do nothing. He knew from the start that it was impossible for him to defeat them with just martial arts.
Overcoming demonic nature was something which just the chosen ones can achieve.
And so he formed a force.
It was one where he recruited warriors and continued to keep check on them and make sure to keep distance with them so that his sahyung and sajaes did not attack him.
Plans, assassinations, and trips which were not an option but a necessity for him. And so far, this method worked…
Recently, the state of theirs has been out of balance, and in the end, he realized nothing can be done with this weak body.
The leader must be strong. Only then will the subordinates follow.
The Demon Lord had to be strong. But he knew that he could not grow in the usual way, so he tried to find a real life solution with the Soulless.
In the ancient books, it was said that if a warrior who had risen to the top of Peak Demon could try and absorb the energy of the Soulless, they could reach the state of Supreme Demon or even more.
However, there were huge aftereffects due to it and a collapsed thought process. The Demon Lord chose that path, but he did not just want to go down in ruin. If he could, he wanted to use the power without paying the price.
So he tried another way.
It was a method that had never been attempted before and was just a theory. Through sorcery he first accepted a very small amount of the Soulless energy and the unique energy to their type, and then slowly began to take in more and more.
By repeating the process, the power of the Third Disciple could be absorbed.
“Feels amazing, good! Hahaha,”
Came out his mad laughter.
At one time, the technique was a gamble for him, but now he won that bet.
It was because he could use more strength than just a Supreme Demon without touching that stage. All the plans he had were done with this as the goal.
“Haa, right. Now that I gained this power. I will have to use it, and the person to test…”
The gaze of the Demon Lord scanned around and fell on one place. It was a person who came out at an unexpected moment—
A familiar face which used the martial arts of the Justice faction.
“So you were right in front of me.”
“…!”
Seol-Hwi’s face went stiff.
The Third Disciple was a Soulless who was beyond his imagination, and after consuming her energy, Demon Lord was even stronger now.
He was now aiming for Seol-Hwi. What is this?
“Well, this is amazing.”
The Demon Lord’s eyes shone.
“Was it Seol-Hwi? Even though you showed amazing strength before, I wasn’t sure if you would break into our place alone.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi could not even answer that.
He was already back to his original form, and it was bound to happen as he was using the Shaolin’s martial arts, so he could not maintain two at the same time.
“Always watch what the enemy is doing to bring victory.”
“…”
At Seol-Hwi’s words, the Demon Lord frowned and then laughed.
“I like such confidence…”
But as he began to speak, he began to radiate his energy too. The energy felt very similar to what the Third Disciple had, and the air was moving swiftly.
Seol-Hwi felt nervous as he was now in a situation where he was not sure on what to do.
“Lord. Can you please allow me to speak with that man for a moment?”
There was someone who stopped the Demon Lord.
“…Yupae? What are you doing?”
The Demon Lord looked shocked. Yupae, despite having strong martial arts, was a quiet person. And this was his first time trying to step ahead in front of his lord which is why he looked surprised.
“He is someone I like.”
“Uh, is that so?”
The Demon Lord looked at Seol-Hwi with a surprised expression on his face and then looked at Yupae again and smiled.
“That is interesting. A person you are interested in. It seems like the man is definitely not any ordinary one.”
Shhh
The Demon Lord soon suppressed the energy in his body, and when the energy of the other world vanished, he quickly took a step back.
“Not bad. If you have something to say, then say it.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
After bowing to him, Yupae started to walk towards Seol-Hwi.
Yupae…
Seol-Hwi’s eyes narrowed.
Even in the past Yupae was strangely friendly person. It was like that now too.
If he had not stopped Demon Lord right away, he would have been unable to find his way and started fighting right away.
“You are pretty good. I heard that he won first place in the academy but…”
“…”
Seol-Hwi did not answer. He looked the man straight in the eyes.
“I don’t know how much the Fourth Disciple favors you but he is one who cherishes people. Loyalty is good, but is there any reason to risk your precious life in an unfavorable situation like now?”
“…What do you want to say?”
“You know. Things in the world don’t always go their way. Tomorrow is an unknown thing for a warrior. I want to give you a chance to not waste your talent.”
And Seol-Hwi could not believe the phrase which appeared in front of his eyes.
<Yupae has made a proposal about ‘Life suggested now.’ What would you like to do?>
“…”
Seol-Hwi was a bit shocked. He was an enemy who invaded their base.
How can he make an offer in this hostile situation?
As expected of Yupae, he was a gentleman of the Demonic Sect just like his reputation said.
But, there were two lives before.
After looking at the text, Seol-Hwi wanted to see what had changed from the past.
Come to think of it, the change was not as immediate as it was now. He was not at the point of being favored by the Earth Demon either nor was he strong.
So, like the two lives, he wondered if more possibilities were there. Perhaps the one life which the Second Demon proposed now was to follow him. Or he would kill Seol-Hwi.
There is no reason to drag this for too long.
Seol-Hwi made a choice, and soon this appeared.
<Rejected.>
“Ah… unfortunate.”
They were empty words as the face of Yupae looked complicated.
There was regret as he looked back at the Demon Lord and then nodded as he said,
“Even if we ask twice it will be the same answer. Right, I get it. In that sense, I hope you understand the situation…”
“…?”
“If I cannot recruit the talent I wanted, I cannot allow them to go somewhere else.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“I mean, I will take your life.”
Tssss
As soon as he finished his words, the ground began to shake.
In the end, I cannot avoid this fight.
Seol-Hwi felt it in his actions. If he did not defeat Yupae and the Demon Lord he could not get out of here alive.
It won’t be easy, seriously this one…
A young one who was willing to fight, the Demon Lord seemed like he would come running at any time.
One was clearly a warrior of the Supreme Demon level and the other, the Demon Lord. He could not even guess how powerful he was at this point.
To be honest, there was no chance for him to live.
Even if he used the techniques of raising his internal qi, the moment the two attacked at the same time, everything would be in vain.
That was, unless Supreme Demon and Supreme Master could be combined.
Then—
-Benefactor. Could you endure it for a bit? The sound is being transmitted to you.
It was Dong Ryong who said it.
-The child called Songhwa is talented and can use spatial movement. Now that I gave you the instructions, one step ahead. If you hold on for that long, you can escape.
“…!”
Seol-Hwi turned to the side. And he was sure now that Songhwa was chanting something.
-This is all I can do to help.
-That… Why are you doing this?
Seol-Hwi asked.
Although they wanted to help, they did not have to do anything in this desperate situation, and the words which came back were unpredictable.
-Please, would you take the child and let him have a comfortable death?
…Comfortable death?
Seol-Hwi’s face distorted without a thought. What now? Songhwa must die?
But Seol-hwi did not hear it. Dong Ryong continued,
-Songhwa is… well, he spent too much of his Fangshi powers. If you look at the side of a warrior it is like his dantian has been broken… It is my hope that he gets spared from a painful death,
“Ahhh,”
Seol-Hwi said.
He tried to save Songhwa, wondering what was wrong, but it did seem like he exhausted his energy and only death awaited him. Even in the life he had in the past, Songhwa had a close encounter with death.
“I understand. I will accept it.”
Although he was talking out now, his face turned to Yupae.
There was no longer any choice. Then, he had to do his best.
“Kangho’s man. Our sect’s law is that whoever overcomes all, has everything. I will see if you can have that intention too.”
“Hooo.”
Saying something somewhat misleading, Seol-Hwi raised both his hands to Yupae.
Maybe if he said it like this, he would understand. Maybe if he said it, because he liked it, he would survive a little more.
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