Chapter 329: Magic Mirror. (4)

The smell of burning filled the air in all directions.

Though the smoke rising was sparse, the stench was terrible.

Tak tak.

The sound of embers burning reached my ears.

It was the characteristic sound of burning firewood.

Watching it, I whispered.

“How anticlimactic.”

Tuk tuk.

I brushed my hand against my clothes, and something black came off.

How bothersome.

Since the clothes were meaningless anyway, I just wiped them off carelessly.

With my toes, I nudged the thing lying on the floor.

The body that had thrashed with all its might had finally quieted down over time.

The voice that had screamed as if in its death throes could no longer be heard.

It had completely breathed its last.

“For someone whose mouth was heavier than I expected, you weren’t very persistent.”

It was a statement directed at someone.

But no answer would come.

Looking at the thing that had transformed into mere remnants of its former human self.

I extinguished the flames.

Whoosh!

As the flames vanished, a charred human form became visible.

It would crumble if I tapped it.

I stared blankly at such a thing.

I lowered myself into a squat and watched it intently.

Even though I killed it, giving it the extreme pain it deserved, leaving no trace of its form behind.

“I feel surprisingly little.”

I was far calmer than I had anticipated.

It was the bastard I had wanted to kill so badly.

It was the purpose of my life that I had recalled for the first time after regression.

And the thing I had desperately wanted to do in my previous life.

I had wanted to see him scream.

I had wanted to see him kneel and wail at my feet, but.

Now that I had achieved it with my own hands.

Rather than the ecstasy I had imagined.

A silent emptiness preceded it.

Tuk.

I nudged the foot of what used to be Jang Seonyeon, and it crumbled with a pasak.

Its breath had been gone for a long time.

Unlike what I had said about taking it slow in three stages.

By the time I got to the second stage, it had already died.

That’s a bit of a shame.

As time passed while I stood there, my insides slowly cooled.

“It was more anticlimactic than I thought. Less fun than I expected.”

This was all the impact Jang Seonyeon’s death had on me.

Why was that?

Shouldn’t I feel refreshed and excited?

It was one of the things I had wanted so badly.

‘Perhaps it’s because you’re not the Meteor Sword.’

The current Jang Seonyeon is not the Meteor Sword from back then.

Jang Seonyeon, who had no memories of being involved with me.

Is a different person.

Therefore, this death was ultimately.

Like removing a potential obstacle for the tasks I needed to accomplish ahead of time.

Which is why I felt nothing.

Perhaps only a lingering sense of unease remained.

As such a thought crossed my mind, I clicked my tongue briefly.

‘More importantly, I didn’t get much information.’

I had many things to ask Jang Seonyeon.

But I didn’t get to hear much more than expected.

I had expected him to be under a seal, so that was unavoidable, but.

Should I say it was more negligible than I thought?

Perhaps.

It might have been better to corrupt him into a demon and use him, but.

‘That would be rather disgusting.’

Considering how unpleasant Namgung Cheonjun was.

Jang Seonyeon would have been even more so.

Regardless of his usefulness.

I simply hated the fact that this bastard was breathing the same air as me on this land.

‘If there’s one thing that bothers me.’

It was something he said to me during the torture, which was close to torment, that bothered me.

-Kuaaaaaa…! Kkeueueueu!

-How did you plan to attack me when all the instructors were down?

-Heuueu!

As I kept asking questions.

It was when I started burning him, starting from his toes and gradually moving up.

He didn’t answer most of the questions I had asked earlier.

I wasn’t really asking expecting an answer either.

As this was an era where the field of seals was highly developed.

Getting someone to talk was difficult.

Certain clans like the Tang clan specialized in information extraction through seal removal and torture, but.

Even that wasn’t perfect.

When I was a demon.

Any seal placed on an opponent.

Could be removed with just a wave of the Heavenly Demon’s hand.

It meant something slightly different.

Ultimately, to obtain something from an opponent now.

I had to either dismantle the seal.

Or corrupt them into a demon.

I found it difficult to apply my internal energy delicately enough to dismantle seals.

I hadn’t learned such techniques.

And I didn’t want to turn him into a demon.

This was essentially just a pretext for torture.

-Kkeu… heu…. heu….

Jang Seonyeon, screaming as he burned in the flames.

Mixed in a small laugh amidst his screams.

-Are you crazy? Why are you suddenly laughing like that?

-Heu… hehe…. Why did I do it…?

-Oh, you’re going to talk?

-Even if you escape this place by sheer luck and return… it will already be too late. You will have ultimately achieved nothing… kkeureuk!

Jang Seonyeon spat out words like a curse, and my eyes narrowed slightly.

It seemed this wasn’t something he did thoughtlessly.

He seemed to have set something up.

-What did you set up?

-Do you think… do you think I’d die in a place like this…?

-I asked what you set up?

As he kept spouting nonsense, I grabbed the part that was currently burning and applied pressure.

Kkuuk.

-Kkeueup…!

His eyes widened, and he let out a scream he had been holding back.

Hearing that, I spoke again.

-If you keep acting like this, the last words you’ll utter will be ‘Please kill me.’ If you don’t want that, let’s hurry this up.

After saying that, I reignited the flames, but.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep my word.

He only screamed until the moment his breath gave out, never uttering a plea to be killed.

If he had even begged for his life, it wouldn’t have been like this.

At this point, I couldn’t tell if his mouth was sealed.

Or if he simply refused to speak to me, even at the cost of his life.

Recalling that much, I stood up again.

‘It seems he did set something up, but.’

Unfortunately, there was something he didn’t know.

I would return.

And no matter what happened, I wouldn’t be late.

At most, maybe a few days would pass after I disappeared?

It was the same in my past life.

Even during the previous incident where hundreds vanished into the Demon Realm.

The Murim Alliance and the families and sects of those dragged in were thrown into chaos, but.

The hundreds of people returned, as if by magic, a few days later.

Appearing in the exact same spots they had disappeared from.

I said it back then too.

That there were no survivors within the Demon Realm except for me.

But the ones who returned were all those who had disappeared back then.

Everyone had died.

Yet, everyone had returned alive.

The time I experienced there.

Must have been at least several years.

Not a single person had aged.

Moreover, everyone returned without retaining any memory of that time.

If you ask how that was possible.

It was related to the name I had established in this world.

A false world.

A fake reality.

That explains everything.

For reasons unknown, the timeline here and where I originally belonged was distorted.

Though not precisely…

Perhaps a few years here would equate to about a day in the Central Plains.

No, it could be even more than that.

How many years had passed?

Around the time I passed the seventh year, roughly counting.

I had stopped counting the days here.

Because I felt it was meaningless anyway.

Even though it was a place with many stories, incidents, and things that could be called memories.

There was nothing more boring and pathetic than memories remembered alone, so it was also a place I wanted to forget.

The memories, bound like shackles.

Were now preventing anyone from losing them.

Beneath the blood-red sky.

The wind blew.

The wind carried a faint scent of blood.

This is a characteristic of this world.

What could be seen.

What could be heard.

Even the scents that could be smelled.

Nothing in this world was normal.

Smelling that faint, metallic scent, I turned around.

“Still, since I came here. I have to do what I came for.”

There was a reason I had to come to this world, even using Jang Seonyeon and Cheoljiseon.

While obtaining information and wanting to kill Jang Seonyeon were part of it.

That wasn’t the main point.

Those were merely steps in the process.

The purpose of my arrival.

Was to meet the tree I encountered in this world in my previous life.

And furthermore, the damned tree that made me catch the Heavenly Demon’s eye in my previous life.

‘He’s probably watching anyway. Yet he doesn’t appear.’

As far as I know, this is a world created by him.

That’s what he himself said. Though it might not be true.

It’s certain that the tree is watching me right now, but.

Seeing as he doesn’t show himself.

‘Does he want me to come find him?’

It was the same back then.

After watching countless disciples perish, eaten by the monsters here.

Only when I was finally used as a disposable pawn by them and was about to be devoured by monsters.

Did he finally appear.

“So he won’t show himself easily, huh?”

Fine, let’s see who wins.

We both have plenty of time.

I brushed off the remaining ashes with a tuk tuk.

I set a direction and started walking.

Then, I suddenly glanced back at Jang Seonyeon.

His remains lay on the floor, unmoving.

Of course.

I had burned him until he was pitch black.

That was also a form of control.

I tried my best not to burn him too easily, but.

Controlling the thinness was still difficult.

Staring at it blankly, I turned my head back.

‘He was tenacious and filthy. Let’s not see him again.’

Meeting that bastard twice in two lifetimes is enough.

I hoped it was truly over now.

With that wish, I moved forward.

Jeobeok.

Taking a step, I surveyed my surroundings.

It was to check once more where I should go.

I took another step.

I wrapped my internal energy around myself.

I intended to leap forward quickly.

As it was the Demon Realm, the swarming monsters were bothersome, but I wasn’t particularly afraid.

Now, to leap.

As I was about to take my final step.

Jeobeok.

Ung….

“…!”

An inexplicable unpleasant sensation.

I quickly looked back. It felt like I had to look there.

But where I looked, only Jang Seonyeon’s charred remains were still there.

Why was that?

Ung.

A sound reached my ears.

It was an alien resonance.

Should I call this a sound? It felt different from what a sound should be.

As I felt the vibration.

I could tell where it was coming from.

My dantian.

Even deeper within.

‘…Blood Qi?’

It was where I had embedded my Blood Qi. The Blood Qi began to surge as if reacting.

The energy I thought I couldn’t use after crossing over to this world.

Had started resonating on its own.

Just then.

Pasaseuk….

“…What?”

Jang Seonyeon’s body, already charred black beyond recognition.

Began to move slightly.

Black ashes trickled down with every movement.

Yet, it didn’t stop moving.

Seuseu…. Seuseu…

The body rose.

Jang Seonyeon’s body, which had been burned beyond the point of containing life, let alone moving.

Began to lift its upper body.

How could it move?

And what was this damn feeling emanating from it?

Just as I thought I should destroy it immediately.

Jang Seonyeon lifted its upper body.

And turned its head this way and that.

Its entire face was burned, so it shouldn’t be able to see, but.

It looked as if it were checking its surroundings.

With every slight movement, it creaked unnervingly, looking far from normal.

Then, in an instant.

Jang Seonyeon’s face, which had been scanning the surroundings.

Turned towards me.

My body flinched involuntarily.

Even though its form had no expression left.

For some reason.

I felt as if it were smiling.

[Ah….]

A sound was heard.

It was closer to a telepathic transmission than a voice.

[I wondered why the connection was broken. So this was the problem.]

It was a voice I had heard before.

Where had I heard it?

A moment of doubt passed, but the answer quickly came to mind.

On the last day of the Friendly Martial Arts Tournament.

Around the time I was smashing Jang Seonyeon.

He had spoken to me through that bastard’s body back then too.

Jang Seonyeon nodded towards me.

No, that’s not right.

That couldn’t be called Jang Seonyeon.

Because he definitely had another name.

[It’s been a while. Do you remember me?]

To his question of whether I remembered him.

I quietly whispered his identity.

“Blood Demon.”

[Kekekek.]

The bastard seemed pleased with my answer.

And let out a laugh.

---

The Five Great Sword Masters of the world, and.

The leader of the sects known as the Nine Great Pavilions, Azure Sea Sword One.

Was now quietly gazing at the bushes in front of the Dragon God Pavilion’s master’s chamber.

“Hmm….”

Azure Sea Sword One, letting out a sound akin to a sigh.

Gazed around the empty air, his expression still full of questions.

This was the place where Gu Yangcheon had claimed to have found Bigo the other day, but.

From Azure Sea Sword One’s perspective, there were no traces or energy signatures to be felt.

Dragon Dweller had said that after resolving the formation, a gate appeared in the void, yet.

How could not even a trace remain?

“I can’t figure it out.”

If even spreading his energy couldn’t detect anything.

It meant either Dragon Dweller and Gu Yangcheon were lying.

Or the traces were so cleanly erased.

It was as if the place had never existed in the first place.

While the first inference seemed more plausible.

Azure Sea Sword One did not believe those children were lying.

“Bigo…. How on earth did Bigo end up in a place like this?”

The specifics could only be known once the Murim Alliance came to investigate, but.

He didn’t expect them to provide proper information or explanations.

“Even if it was here. What are the odds that child would be the one to find it.”

Gu Yangcheon, a child Azure Sea Sword One had been paying attention to lately.

His exceptional talent was obvious, but.

That wasn’t the reason.

‘He said he heard information from the Beggars’ Sect, so is that side involved too?’

That part was hard to believe outright.

Especially for Azure Sea Sword One, who knew the Beggars’ Sect leader well, it was even less believable.

‘Then… what about that Ilgeolpae?’

He had guessed the child held many secrets, but.

The people involved were not simple individuals.

Is it a case of like father, like son?

“…I decided to summon him again later. I’ll have to get things straight then.”

Azure Sea Sword One sighed deeply and stroked his beard.

The sighs that never ceased even in his youth.

Seemed to have increased even more now that he was old.

Since the academy students were all out for practical training right now.

It seemed okay to wander around this slightly quieter place.

To soothe his troubled mind.

Just as he was thinking of going for a stroll.

Geugeugeuk-!

“What…?”

Azure Sea Sword One’s energy sense, spread throughout the entire Dragon God Pavilion.

Something was felt.

Immediately, Azure Sea Sword One enveloped his body in internal energy and drew his sword.

It was an energy that made him feel queasy just by sensing it.

It carried the distinct scent of demonic energy possessed by those from the unorthodox factions.

Sensing that, Azure Sea Sword One let out a hollow laugh.

“I must be getting quite old.”

With Azure Sea Sword One guarding this place.

For insignificant scoundrels from the unorthodox factions to dare bare their fangs and come here.

It was something he couldn’t have imagined in his youth.

As he recalled such thoughts, just as Azure Sea Sword One was about to leap in the direction of the felt energy.

“Excuse me.”

A voice sounded near Azure Sea Sword One.

“Are you perhaps Azure Sea Sword One?”

To the casually posed question.

Azure Sea Sword One’s sharp internal energy spread out around him.

It was an energy he hadn’t sensed until it was right behind his back.

‘How on earth?’

Azure Sea Sword One’s energy sense permeated the entire Dragon God Pavilion, yet.

How could someone penetrate that sense and reach his back?

Raising his fighting spirit sharply, Azure Sea Sword One asked the owner of the voice.

“Who are you?”

Azure Sea Sword One observed the opponent.

It was a considerable giant.

Clad in black martial attire. He was draped in something made of unknown beast hide.

A deep, long scar was visible on his neck.

Just looking at it sent a chilling aura.

Azure Sea Sword One immediately knew.

That this was an opponent against whom victory was uncertain.

‘Who could he possibly be?’

Someone possessing such a level of mastery, yet his identity was unknown.

A trickle of cold sweat ran down Azure Sea Sword One’s back.

Amidst the palpable tension.

“It seems so. Pleased to meet you.”

The man smiled as he looked at Azure Sea Sword One.

As his massive mouth opened, yellow teeth became visible.

Azure Sea Sword One stared at the opponent, his tension reaching its peak.

The only thought crossing his mind was escape.

His pride as a warrior was not important right now.

The fact that someone like this had infiltrated.

‘The children are in danger.’

Meant that the other academy students belonging to the Dragon God Pavilion were in danger.

Azure Sea Sword One had to find a way out, regardless of victory or defeat.

Because he had to protect the other children.

Just then.

“You seem troubled, Azure Sea Sword One. Your eyes are wavering.”

“…!”

“That’s fortunate. It means I am still dangerous to you. I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“I ask again… who are you?”

“Me?”

The giant laughed as if pleased by Azure Sea Sword One’s question.

“Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve spoken, so I’m excited.”

Huuuuu-!

Using the giant’s body as a bowstring.

A fierce energy burst forth in all directions.

“I sincerely hope you remember me.”

As the energy began to engulf the surroundings.

The giant drew a massive saber and slammed it onto the ground with a kung.

“I am called Black Dragon Sword.”

“…!”

“Judging by your expression, you seem to know me.”

Azure Sea Sword One’s eyes widened considerably upon hearing the giant’s epithet.

Because it was a name Azure Sea Sword One also knew.

Except, he had died a long time ago.

The giant chuckled, seemingly enjoying Azure Sea Sword One’s surprise.

Then, he drew his saber, pointed it at Azure Sea Sword One, and said.

“Would you care to dance a sword dance with me?”

Thinking of performing a sword dance after so long.

Black Dragon Sword smiled with apparent delight.