<Time Attack: Endure for 900 seconds.> <Survive by enduring the corner with the time.> <Success: Mission Completed.>
This…
900… 899…
The number in front of his eyes was already decreasing. The mission’s conditions were difficult to understand. He could understand that he had to endure something in that time.
Kakaka
Yupae was ready to move.
He had a long sword in his hand. At the end of it, there were three inches of a green hue shining and the tongue of flame was flickering. In his other hand was the Flame Full Body Demonic Arts, which was ready to annihilate him.
I need to keep my distance.
He might get lost in the force if he tried to approach it. The opponent was already at the highest state of the Supreme Demon level. And the other was just a step below.
In terms of martial arts, he was similar or slightly inferior to Seol-Hwi, but when it came to experience, he was far ahead.
If only it would be simple.
There was this feeling of goodwill which rose in his chest. If it was a fight that could not be avoided, he wanted to do it right.
Seol-Hwi clearly took a determined stance.
<Supreme Demon ON>
It was Yupae who attacked first.
He was already holding a safe distance, so he did not even have to rush in and just swung his hand.
Chaa-ack.
“…!”
However the action was simple and swift. The sword which he held loosely came up like lightning. Green light came out sharply.
Kwak!
Seol-Hwi’s body split in half.
“Hmm…!”
But this was just an optical illusion. Seol-Hwi was already using footwork and the energy of Yupae did not touch him.
Shhhhhh.
Heavenly Demon King’s Step.
The martial arts which gave Seol-Hwi victory until now. The only difference was that there were now six forms created by Seol-Hwi.
Sshshshs!
But it was enough.
Six forms each went in different directions with strong energy towards Yupae.
“…!”
Yupae was taken aback for a moment.
It was surprising that a bunch of enhanced energy like this was suddenly coming out, from Seol-Hwi at that.
Wheik!
Of course, Seol-Hwi’s weapon was no normal sword, but a curved one, and the energy naturally moved with the flow of the weapon
Seol-Hwi swung the sword which was curved, in a way that took a lot of energy.
And then the enhanced energy twisted like a snake, and moved in different directions.
It was an attack that aimed to block all escape routes.
Papat
In the end, Yupae chose to avoid it rather than block. It was not easy to face such enhanced energy in a straight line, and to block it when it moved in such a way was probably impossible.
Because the fluctuating energy was aiming to make Yupae retreat and chase him down, he instead tried to hit Seol-Hwi.
Chiing
Annihilation Flame Arts. The flames, which were said to be from another world, blazed over and heated the surroundings.
Then, the enhanced energy was bent, making it move away from Yupae. The extremely strong concentration of energy distorted the space.
“Eup!”
Taking advantage of this opening in which the enhanced energy lost its direction, Yupae moved to attack Seol-Hwi.
But Yupae, who had sighed in relief, could not help but panic again.
“…?!”
The four illusions that were waiting for him, who had just taken one down, were prepared.
“Caught you.”
From the start, Seol-Hwi only used six of his clones to attack. And with a little additional time, he summoned four more of them.
Like now.
In order to intensively attack the gap of the group which moved in.
“Annihilation Flame Arts.”
“…What?”
Even Yupae was shocked at the words which came from the illusions who put their hands together and chanted.
The destructive energy of demonic arts could be performed if one learned Flame Full Body Demonic Arts. However—
Wheik!
For an illusion to use it? The four Seol-Hwi’s had purple flames shine from their hands.
“Huh!”
Yupae, whose face turned pale, threw down his sword he was holding and faced the energy of the enemy with a fist.
Kwaaang!
As the Demon Lord said, explosions occurred when martial arts of the same nature collided too.
Unlike the enhanced energy, which deleted the part it brushed with to the side, this caused an explosion.
Thud! Kwaaak!
The formidable power of the two warriors made the walls on all four sides shatter, and it created a wide range explosion which took down the ceiling too.
What would have happened if there were people inside? When the thought of that struck his brain, he felt goosebumps rise.
“As I thought you are skilled. Try stopping this then!”
Beyond the dust came the voice of Yupae in a slow way.
<Hellish Annihilation Arts are being used.>
Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts—
Among them, this was one of the peak martial arts.
As the peak of a martial art, the flame spread through his body when the attack moved, and the flame could not be taken down with water.
A superhuman strength that could only be pushed back when one’s internal energy was higher than the opponent’s, which turned everything within a certain energy into ashes.
Seol-Hwi tried to get rid of Yupae at once with this prepared tactic after deceiving the eyes of the opponent by using the Heavenly Demon King’s Step in advance.
“…!”
Yupae also noticed.
Chiii-kwakwang!
He confirmed the completion of the ring of flames. And suddenly a huge explosion occurred.
Wheeeik-
“Oh my…”
Everything in the space within a one mile radius turned to ashes. It looked so odd that even Seol-Hwi thought it was unreal.
What drew even more attention than the explosion was the purple flames. It would be amazing for a human to use such martial arts, and surviving it should be impossible.
“Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts…”
The Demon Lord was shocked.
This was definitely the martial arts of the End Demon. This was the flame arts only he could unleash.
But somehow, that man named Seol-Hwi was perfectly displaying it. The more he looked at it, the more it surprised him.
Same with martial arts he used before of the former demon.
What kind of warriors could simultaneously unleash internal energy and the demonic sects unparalleled martial arts at the same time? It was to the point where his mind could not make sense of it to understand it.
“Yupae… you alright?”
Amid the smoke, the Demon Lord looked for Yupae. He thought there was no way he could have lived through the explosion.
“Eukkk…”
Fortunately he was alive.
Even though it was a martial art which burned everything down, Yupae was also learning the destruction arts, and thanks to that, he was able to reduce the damage to some extent.
This was a martial art at the peak. And he was learning it.
“I-I am sorry, lord…”
Yupae suffered burns all over his body, and one of his arms was entirely burned, leaving just bone behind.
“No. I am glad you are alive.”
Seeing Yupae’s condition, the Demon Lord shook his head.
Since they had the same flame attribute, he thought Yupae somehow managed to live, but losing one arm meant huge loss of power.
“Hellish Annihilation Arts is a secret of great sahyung. And you being able to survive that is a thing to be respected.”
With words of encouragement which were not usually said, the Demon Lord glared at Seol-Hwi and raised an arm.
Chaaak
This sharp sword moved like it was waiting for his order.
It was a small sword, one he stole from the Third Disciple.
“Now let’s do it with me. Mysterious warriors?”
Chak
As soon as the Demon Lord finished his words, the length of the sword increased, and at the end of it there was black energy slowly rising.
“Phew.”
Seol-Hwi raised his head and looked at the time.
721… 720….
There was still quite a bit of time left. And he wondered if he should focus on fighting with all his strength or just hold on for the time to run out.
“Phew.”
It did not matter though. Either way, he would have to see the decision of the Demon Lord.
<Supreme Master ON>
Seol-Hwi changed his martial arts mode to the Justice faction one.
“Now, Demon Lord.”
Clench
And when he spoke to him, the Demon Lord, who was about to swing his arm, stopped.
“What is it? So suddenly.”
“I have something I am curious about. Would you please answer it?”
“…”
The Demon Lord’s expression changed at those unexpected words. What question would one ask when a fight was inevitable?
“Is there any reason why I should answer you?”
“That is the Demon Lord’s will. But what did I think when Yupae made an offer to me? Aren’t you curious about it?”
“…”
The Demon Lord glanced at Yupae.
Although he lost an arm, he clearly wanted to fight. As long as the Demon Kord ordered, he would move at any time.
“Right. Speak.”
With permission, Seol-Hwi bowed.
Thank goodness. His body was completely exhausted from having just drawn out all of his strength. He wanted to take a couple seconds to himself, but the opponent’s composure was still allowing it.
“If, if it was around… a year ago.”
Seol-Hwi spoke slowly.
With the expression of him thinking of the past.
“When the disciples of the Heavenly Demon got along well, even for a short while. If I had told the Demon Lord how to absorb the energy of the Soulless in this place…”
“…”
Seol-Hwi took a few breaths and continued,
“How would the Demon Lord treat me?”
“…Huh.”
The Demon Lord looked at Seol-Hwi and frowned.
And his face had a hint of concern before it turned expressionless.
“Not in the same situation as now, but if you had made me like this before the Fourth Disciple got stronger… of course, I would have hired you, a supreme level.”
“…”
Seol-Hwi looked at Songhwa.
He was starting to understand it slowly now.
What were the thoughts of the man who could not overcome the current situation?
The Earth Demon cared for his subordinates alone. As such, they did not undertake missions which had a risk to his subordinates.
The Demon Lord, on the other hand, was more about how much change they could bring about.
If he brought success or great merit, then the subordinate would be treated accordingly, but if someone did not meet his standards, he would cut them down without mercy.
This was how the Demon Lord would lead his life.
Then, Songhwa and Dong Ryong…
—will die.
He knew what the Demon Lord’s choice would be, but he was now sure again. A proper reward for those who helped, but it was difficult now.
It was not difficult to take the missions which could not be handled, or orders which required death in situations, and it was all in the name of having no choice but to win.
Was he always like this?
Or did he change due to the harsh environment around him?
What was certain was that now he no longer saw people as people, but as resources to use.
“So, did you get the question answered?”
Seol-Hwi nodded at the Demon Lord’s words.
“Yes.”
“Right. So, are you willing to ally yourself with me right now?”
“No.”
Seol-Hwi responded in a flat manner.
Chak
He held out the sword to the Demon Lord.
“I am certain. We have to somehow end this now.”
“You are no fun.”
The Demon Lord smiled. Chaaak.
Slowly, black air covered the area around them, and the energy of the Soulless was fierce, but what was spreading around now was truly darkness.
“Kuk… kukuk.”
The Soulless touched by the energy shuddered and bowed their heads. It seemed like they had no intention to fight back.
Here he comes.
Looking at the dark energy approaching, Seol-Hwi used the Taiji cultivation.
If the opponent shot out black energy, it was immediately countered with energy of exorcism.
Chhing
One hit opened the occlusion. Seol-Hwi retreated from the vast black energy which was moving at him.
“Kuak.”
He took a step back and tried to take another chance. But then—
Swish
This pillar of ice rose from the ground and covered him.
Seol-Hwi was shocked at the unexpected situation.
This… White Light Body Demonic Martial Arts?
The ice cold pillars covered him, and his entire body froze like it turned into an ice statue.
“Hehe. You didn’t know?”
Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, Water.
How could he forget?
The Demon Lord was also one of the disciples to the Heavenly Demon, and was also learning the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts.
“Then you need to die.”
Puak!
The Demon Lord’s sword went right for the area between the eyes of Seol-Hwi.
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