Chapter 40 – Day 40

Day 40

“Empress? Me?”

Cheon Seoa tilted her head at the man’s sudden words.

Empress.
Why does he call me that?

No, more importantly.

“Do you know me?”

“Of course. I know you better than anyone else.”

In response to Cheon Seoa’s repeated question, the man nodded and answered firmly.

However.

“But I don’t know you?”

“Whether you know me or not is irrelevant. There’s only one thing that matters. For the sake of future peace.”

You must die.

Bang!

The man who spoke with a determined voice, kicked off the ground and sprang forward.

The man stretched out quickly towards Cheon Seoa, and then swung his light sword aiming for her neck.

The light sword held in the man’s hand, despite being made of light, strangely possesses physical force.
However, although it has physical force, oddly enough, it feels neither weight nor substance.

At the moment when the emotion of ‘interest’ fills Cheon Seoa’s eyes at the paradoxical existence of the light sword.

Kiiing-!

“You bastard! Who do you think you’re targeting?”

The Sword Demon, who instantly blocked Cheon Seoa’s front, shouted while intercepting the light sword aimed at her neck.

“Sword Demon…”

The man muttered as he looked at the woman, the Sword Demon, who had blocked his strike.

The Sword Demon’s eyes widened slightly.

The current Sword Demon’s appearance had drastically changed due to the magical item received from Cheon Seoa.

Because her appearance was altered through a magical item that Cheon Seoa had personally obtained from the Cultivation World, rather than through an ability user’s power, no human on Earth could notice that she was the Sword Demon.

“Who are you?”

The Sword Demon asked in a heavy voice.

“The hope of the future.”

The man also answered the Sword Demon’s question in a heavy voice.

Hope.
Hope, he says.

Well…

“You’re talking nonsense.”

The Sword Demon sneered at the man’s answer.

Spouting incomprehensible words from earlier, and now calling himself the hope of the future.
He must be someone whose mind has gone completely crazy.

However, she couldn’t entirely underestimate him.

This man, who was crossing swords with her, had seen through the fact that she was the Sword Demon at a glance.
Moreover, just from the aura he exuded, it was clear that he possessed strength that was not inferior to her own.

So while the Sword Demon sneered, her expression remained utterly serious.

“Miss, please step back for a moment. I’ll kill this bastard myself.”

Kuruuru-.

The sword demon who spoke to Cheon Seoa behind her begins to draw out her power in earnest.
The sword technique she mastered is the Tanhae Gyoryong Sword Technique.

As the sword demon who mastered this technique, which uses the characters for ‘swallow’ (tan), ‘sea’ (hae), ‘dragon’ (gyo), and ‘dragon’ (ryong), begins to use her power in earnest, it is said that when perfected, it grants the power of a sea dragon that can swallow the ocean in one gulp.

A massive amount of seawater began to swirl around her.

However, this was not created out of thin air as if creating something from nothing.

The seawater she created was formed by drawing in all the moisture spread around the surroundings and changing its properties to that of seawater.

Perhaps that’s why.

Peoseok-.
Peoseok peoseok-.

As more and more seawater swirled around the sword demon, the surrounding floor and buildings began to crumble into handfuls of sand.

While manipulating the power of water, using this power turns the surrounding environment into a dry desert.

This paradoxical result was the reason why the Tanhae Gyoryong Sword Technique had degenerated into a demonic art.

“Sword demon. Yes, sword demon. You too will become an evil that threatens peace in the future.”

Looking at the sword demon surrounded by a massive amount of seawater, the man muttered as if whispering.

It’s not just the sword demon.

The Illuminati, currently known as the most vicious criminal organization.
The nine villains who established the Illuminati are still called the most vicious villains, but in the not-too-distant future, they will push humanity on Earth to the brink of extinction.

That’s why the man.

“If I kill you here, including the empress, it will be much easier to prevent the destruction that will occur in the future.”

Keeeeeng-!

A strange resonance erupts from the light sword held in the man’s hand.
At the same time, the light forming such a light sword intensified even more….

“Kuk-!”

As the light of the sword in the man’s hand grew more intense, the Sword Demon let out a suppressed groan from the overwhelming heat spreading in all directions.

The overwhelming heat bursting from the light sword evaporates the seawater created by the Sword Demon.

However, peculiarly, only the Sword Demon and the seawater created by the Sword Demon were affected by the heat overflowing from the light sword.

That overwhelming heat, reminiscent of the sun, did not affect anything else except those two.

“Tch-, die!”

The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it becomes for him.

Although it hurts his pride, the Sword Demon, acknowledging this fact, rushed towards the man.

As the Sword Demon, who sprang forward by kicking off the ground, swung his sword, the sea that had been raging along with the swing advanced towards the man.

The moment the sea, which had stretched out becoming a giant wave… no, a massive tsunami, was about to engulf the man.

“Hap-!”

The man let out a resounding battle cry and swung down the light sword in his hand.

Seogek-.
Chiiiiik!

The moment the light sword slashed through the air, the massive tsunami created by the Sword Demon split apart.
The heat that burst out in all directions along the trace of the sword strike completely evaporated the collapsing tsunami.

“Give up, Sword Demon. The compatibility between you and me is the worst. No matter how strong you are, you can’t defeat me.”

The man pointed his light sword at the Sword Demon and spoke.

The Sword Demon frowned deeply at the man who was issuing a warning bordering on a threat with his light sword.

Certainly, the man’s power was not a good match for his own.

Who would have thought that what he had assumed to be just a strange sword of light with physical power would contain such overwhelming heat comparable to the sun?

At that moment, the Sword Demon gritted his teeth roughly and began to draw up his power again.

“Do you know something? Compatibility doesn’t exist. What exists is merely the difference in the magnitude of power.”

Flinch-!

When did she move?
The man trembled slightly at Cheon Seoa, who had suddenly appeared beside the Sword Demon and spoke.

As if not caring about the man’s reaction, Cheon Seoa looked at the Sword Demon with gentle eyes and said.

“Do you feel wronged?”

“… Yes.”

The Sword Demon answered in a suppressed voice to Cheon Seoa’s question.

As Cheon Seoa asked, the Sword Demon felt wronged.
And he was angry.

Although it might have been just a moment of sympathy, he had gained power through the young lady’s grace.
And now, when a situation arose to repay that grace.

But.

‘The power I’ve built up… is it still not enough, and I’m causing trouble for the young lady again?’

If the other villains of Illuminate saw this scene.
Especially if that brat from the Seven Swords had seen it, he would have said to bite his tongue and die.

And the Sword Demon also felt that if he was going to be a burden like this instead of being helpful to the young lady, he would rather die.

“You don’t need to do that. I didn’t help you expecting anything in return.”

“Young lady.”

“Let me ask you one thing. If you could gain the power to defeat that man, even if it means taking some risk, what would you do?”

“There’s no need to ask. I don’t know what the risk is or how big it is. But if I can kill that bastard who’s after your life, I can handle anything.”

“Is that so.”

In response to the Sword Demon’s determined answer, Cheon Seoa smiled and showed something.

It was a black pill that seemed to be made of condensed darkness, and it was emitting a chilling magical energy that was creepy just to look at.

“What is this…?”

“There’s no specific name for it. But if I had to give it a name… Explosive Soul Pill. Yes, Explosive Soul Pill would be fitting.”

The pill that was named Explosive Soul Pill on the spot.
Its effect was simple.

It maximizes the user’s strength to the extreme.
However, the price was that it could explode one’s soul… As the name suggests, it was dangerous enough to potentially cost one’s life if not careful.

If one used up all their luck in a lifetime, they might simply lose the level they’ve built up so far, but usually, nine out of ten users of the Explosive Soul Pill end up dead.

But even after hearing this explanation, the Sword Demon.

Grind-.

Without hesitation, he chewed and swallowed the Explosive Soul Pill that Cheon Seoa handed him.

Thump-!

‘Ugh!’

Countless massive explosions and pain erupting from within the body.
The pain from those explosions was so intense that even with teeth clenched to the point of crumbling, groans still leaked out.

However, such pain passed in an instant, and what followed was…

“Aah-!”

The Sword Demon showed an expression of ecstasy.

An immense power welling up from deep within the body.
That mighty force, spreading throughout the entire body through the blood vessels, gave the Sword Demon a sense of omnipotence, as if anything was possible.

While the Sword Demon was showing an ecstatic expression from the overflowing power…

“Explosive Soul Pill. Fortunately, this future hasn’t changed. Then we can deal with it sufficiently.”

You know about the Explosive Soul Pill?
No, more than that, what? ‘This future hasn’t changed’?
What could that mean?

Cheon Seoa glanced at the man who uttered those strange words.

The man reflected in Cheon Seoa’s eyes also took something out of his pocket and ate it. With that, the heat contained in the light sword gripped in the man’s hand intensified even more. Furthermore…

Whoosh-!
Whoosh-!

The man’s physical body began to burn vigorously, transforming into flames.

It wasn’t in the form of flames covering the body.
That was literally a physical body made of fire.

If I had to define it.

‘Should I say it’s similar to that little one from Bihwamun?’

In the past, Cheon Seoa directly destroyed Bihwamun, a sect, as a warning about Seungcheonmun.

A little one I met at that Bihwamun burned his own life to become a giant of golden fire to save his disciples.

Although the man standing before me now didn’t grow as large or turn golden like that little one from Bihwamun, if I had to compare, he had a similar quality to that little one.

Of course.

‘That side is much purer and more intense.’

Well, it’s natural if you think about it.
While that little one from Bihwamun was at the Geumdan-gi level, the man standing before me now was at least at the Won-yeong-gi level. And not just barely at Won-yeong-gi, but with one foot in Hwasin-gi.

If this were Suseongye instead of Earth, that man would have long since achieved the Hwasin-gi level and ascended from the lower realm to the middle realm.

But.

“Haa-.”

The Sword Demon took a step forward with a thud and exhaled a low breath.
In that breath, his spirit energy was seeping out, transformed into a dark blue mist.

No, it wasn’t just his breath that had changed.

The Sword Demon’s appearance, which had been that of a beautiful woman, had transformed into something like out of a fantasy novel.

Dark blue scales had sprouted all over his skin, and his face resembled that of a dragon.
With a thick tail growing from his behind and two horns protruding from his forehead, he looked like a dragon-human hybrid.

Flash-!

As the Sword Demon opened his closed eyes, a fierce dark blue light flashed from his vertically slit pupils.

“I’ll kill you.”

The moment the Sword Demon took a step forward while muttering as if whispering.
In an instant, he appeared in front of the man who had turned into flames and swung his sword.

Following the trajectory of the Sword Demon’s sword, the vast sea surges and stretches towards the man.

Its power was incomparable to what it was before….

“Somehow, it’s strangely effective. I thought it would barely reach the end of the Origin Energy. I didn’t expect it to step into the realm of Incarnation Energy.”

Not bad.

If their levels were the same, he could no longer evaporate the Sword Demon’s sea with that pathetic heat, talking about compatibility or whatnot.

From the beginning, compatibility is something that changes moment by moment depending on the magnitude of power.

Even if flames can evaporate water.
You can’t evaporate the sea with a match flame after all.

By the way.

“The damage to the surroundings is too great.”

The Sword Demon and the man.
While those two were engaged in an intense confrontation, Cheon Seoa frowned as she looked around.
At some point, the surrounding area for hundreds of meters around those two had disappeared without a trace.
As a result, a simple calculation showed that thousands of deaths had occurred.

“Honestly, I don’t care how many criminals die. But, I quite like this amusement park. So.”

Kiiing-.

The magic energy flowing from Cheon Seoa’s fingertips instantly swells up and swallows the surrounding space.

At the same time.

“From now on, let’s fight here.”

As soon as Cheon Seoa finished speaking, the Sword Demon and the man instantly fell to the center of the Colosseum.