Chapter 467: How pleasant.

I walked for a long time on trembling legs.

My body felt like it could collapse at any moment.

With every step I took, I gasped for air.

My dantian was completely empty, and my body, having reached its limit, felt impossibly heavy.

Still, I couldn’t stop walking.

Crackle.

Magumhw kept walking, stepping on dry, withered leaves.

“Haa… haa.”

My breath hitched in my throat. I felt like I would collapse the moment I let my guard down, even for an instant.

I endured it and kept walking.

It wasn’t much further.

Even if I collapsed, I had to collapse there.

With that thought in mind, Magumhw walked, and finally reached his destination.

“…!”

The moment he reached his destination, Magumhw faltered without realizing it.

It was just an ordinary, empty plain, yet the dense energy emanating from this place made it hard to breathe.

What is this?

What on earth happened to spread such energy all around?

Magumhw stroked his dantian.

Perhaps due to the residual energy, he could feel his dantian tremble slightly.

He looked around.

He was checking if Cheonjun was there.

‘…Where…?’

He had definitely felt Cheonjun’s energy just moments ago, but no matter how much he looked, he couldn’t see anyone.

He considered expanding his senses to check, but he didn’t have the stamina to attempt it.

Then, suddenly.

“…Ah.”

Seeing something far in the distance, Magumhw let out a sigh.

He saw a figure sitting perched on a rock.

The figure, scorched black as if covered in shadow, looked somewhat alien for a human, but

Magumhw knew.

He knew the identity of that dark figure.

He ran.

His legs had barely been able to carry him, but seeing that, he could run without any trouble.

As he approached, the figure’s head turned towards Magumhw.

“Hmm.”

Seeing that, Magumhw stopped short right in front of him.

Because something was different.

Even if the appearance had changed, that wasn’t important.

It didn’t matter how the appearance might have changed.

But.

“…Who… are you…?”

Magumhw knew.

That the figure was not the one he was looking for.

At Magumhw’s attitude, the figure tilted its head slightly, then

“Oh.”

continued speaking with a short exclamation.

“Oh. So it’s that bratty kid’s shadow.”

“…?”

Magumhw’s eyes wavered at the unexpected word.

Shadow…?

“Hmm.”

As if uninterested in Magumhw’s reaction, the figure nodded up and down, examining Magumhw’s body.

“…Oho.”

And then, he exclaimed in admiration.

“You’re much better.”

“…”

He couldn’t understand the reaction.

What was better, exactly?

Click.

Magumhw drew his sword.

“…Where did he go…?”

The sword was, after all, Noea.

Although he couldn’t manifest the sword’s blade without stamina,

Magumhw was willing to draw upon even primordial energy if he had to.

“…”

The figure… Sincheol-seeing that Noea-remained silent for a moment, then

asked, “Let me ask you just one thing.”

He posed the question to Magumhw.

“Is that fellow named Myung inside?”

“…!”

Magumhw’s eyes widened upon hearing the question.

He was surprised by the name that came from the figure’s mouth.

“How…?”

He responded without thinking.

He hadn’t expected to hear that name from anyone else.

“…Is that so? It seems he really is there.”

The voice that responded, seeing Magumhw’s reaction, was filled not only with complexity but also with deep longing.

“Ah-ya. Does that fellow say anything to me?”

“…”

Magumhw tightened his grip on Noea.

[…]

Normally, words should have been heard, but for some reason, Noea remained silent.

That silence felt quite uncomfortable.

“…Who are you?”

He lessened his hostility.

For some reason, this person didn’t feel like an enemy.

And generally, Magumhw’s intuition had never been wrong.

“If you ask who I am….”

Sincheol rested his chin on his hand, pondered for a moment, and then casually replied.

“A remnant of the past. That is all.”

“…”

“Don’t worry, this fellow is safe.”

Seeing him wave his hand dismissively, Magumhw’s body relaxed slightly.

Funnily enough, he felt reassured by those words.

Sincheol chuckled inwardly as he watched Magumhw.

‘My luck with women is damn good.’

He knew this world wasn’t the one Gu Yangcheon originally inhabited.

Moreover, he knew it wasn’t even the time period Sincheol was observing.

So much was different.

Yet, this fellow looks the same to that girl.

Even though the world and time are different.

How could that be?

‘Damn bastard.’

In any case, I didn’t like him.

What’s curious amidst all this is that the child recognizes this fellow without any issue.

Sincheol quietly brushed his chest.

Thump… thump….

He could still feel vibrations within his body.

‘…’

He didn’t know what was happening inside, but he could tell something unusual was going on.

‘Endure it.’

Even in that situation, that was all Sincheol could say.

Because Sincheol also didn’t know what changes would occur after these vibrations ended.

All he could do was hope Gu Yangcheon would endure.

Furthermore.

‘You can do it.’

He had faith that Gu Yangcheon could overcome this.

He had a damn temper and was the kind of guy you’d call crazy, but

Sincheol believed he wasn’t the type to die in a place like this.

“Ah-ya.”

Sincheol called out to Magumhw.

The moment Magumhw looked up upon hearing the call,

Wobble-!

Sincheol faltered, and his body began to collapse.

Startled, Magumhw caught him, wrapping his arms around him.

It wasn’t for any other reason.

He didn’t particularly care about the unknown entity.

What mattered was whose body it was, so he embraced it without hesitation.

Fortunately, there was no foul smell.

Instead, there was a faint floral scent.

A floral scent, how strange.

Held in Magumhw’s arms, Sincheol closed his weary eyes and said,

“I ask for your help for a moment.”

He had reached his limit.

Unable to maintain his form any longer, he entrusted the remaining situation to the young man.

He had intended to hold on until Gu Yangcheon woke up, if possible, but

‘This is the limit.’

He had to close his eyes now.

Just before Sincheol closed his eyes, held in Magumhw’s embrace,

“…Myung-ah.”

Sincheol softly called his friend’s name.

[…]

At this, Noea, held in Magumhw’s hand, trembled slightly.

“Are you there, Myung-ah?”

[…]

The vibrations continued.

Feeling this, Magumhw sensed something strange.

Normally, this person would have said something, but for some reason, he was quiet.

“If you’re there, listen carefully.”

As if it didn’t matter whether he was listening or even present,

Sincheol spoke with a smile.

“Seeing the way your descendant wields a sword is quite a sight, you bastard.”

[…!]

At Sincheol’s words, Noea suddenly began to wail madly.

Could it be sensing the vibrations?

Sincheol chuckled dryly, then

“If it were me, I’d be so embarrassed I’d shove my face in a dung heap.”

[That son of a bitch….]

“What a pathetic sight. Heh heh. Serves you right, you bastard.”

He spat out a few more words excitedly, then closed his eyes.

After that, an immense roar echoed in Magumhw’s ears.

Just as he was about to throw Noea away due to the noise,

[…Draw it.]

An enraged voice spoke to Magumhw.

[…Draw it right now and cut this bastard down…!]

“…”

It was the angriest voice he had ever heard.

However, Magumhw deliberately ignored it.

He was too busy stroking the back of the fallen figure.

“…”

The scorched black appearance obscured his original face entirely.

How did he end up like this?

What happened to make him this way?

As Magumhw looked on with a somewhat pitiful expression,

Crackle.

“…!”

Suddenly, something detached from his body.

A black, shell-like substance fell from his body.

The shell fluttered down, touched the ground, and vanished without a trace.

Seeing this anomaly, Magumhw quickly examined the body.

“…”

It wasn’t just one.

The black energy enveloping his body was gradually peeling off.

Cracks slowly spread across his body.

Seeing the precarious state, as if about to shatter, Magumhw quickly embraced him.

As he wrapped his arms around his back,

Rattle-rattle-rattle.

The body suddenly began to vibrate intensely.

That wasn’t all.

Whoosh-!!

Flames surged like dancing embers from the space revealed as the shell broke.

One might expect him to pull away, but Magumhw didn’t mind at all, hugging his back tighter.

The flames were spectacular and immense, yet not hot.

He prayed that nothing would happen.

Praying thus, Magumhw tightened his grip.

---

Limp.

On the path to escape the Four Heavens.

The old man walked past dry, rotten trees.

His steps were truly slow.

The old man walked slowly with a limp, his expression utterly devoid of vitality.

He had a tall stature and a well-trained body that showed potential, but

no one would dare look at him and recognize him as Cheonjun, one of the Three Sovereigns.

That’s how diminished he had become.

Where was he walking towards?

Cheonjun walked without even realizing where he was headed.

The only thought remaining in his mind was that he had to return.

Return where?

‘…Where was it?’

He didn’t know. Yet his feet kept moving forward.

He had become unaware of his own destination.

Afterimages still remained in his mind.

The three divine swords displayed in the air.

The vast conviction felt from them.

Had shattered Cheonjun’s everything.

What had he lived for until now?

Revenge for his fallen clan and the desire to save the order that the being called Cheonma sought to destroy.

He must have had such intentions.

Where did it all go wrong?

Now, Cheonjun knew nothing.

Everything was just white.

Cheonjun’s world was collapsing entirely.

Stumble.

His steps tangled, and he faltered for a moment.

Cheonjun steadied his stumbling body, preventing himself from falling.

His lingering pride wouldn’t allow him to fall.

Feeling that, Cheonjun let out a hollow laugh.

He found it laughable that he was still concerned with pride in this state.

“…It was all for nothing.”

The life he had achieved.

The end he had sought.

Everything was meaningless.

He thought.

“It was all meaningless….”

“Was it?”

Halt.

Cheonjun’s shoulders stiffened at the casual voice that reached him.

Just as he tried to turn around,

Grip.

“Gk..!”

A chilling hand dug in and grasped Cheonjun’s neck.

Squeeze-

Cheonjun’s legs were lifted into the air.

Cheonjun, nearly seven feet tall, was lifted with absurd ease.

Moreover, the hand lifting Cheonjun’s body was incredibly slender and delicate.

“Gk… gkk…!”

What was surprising was that Cheonjun couldn’t even resist.

As his breath caught, he could only groan.

“I shall ask, ghost of the Namgung clan.”

The owner of the hand posed the question to Cheonjun.

Swish.

Long black hair swayed in the wind.

Her fair, delicate skin and the purple hue in her eyes were like embedded precious jewels.

The woman’s beauty was astonishingly profound, but

Cheonjun felt dread rather than pleasantness upon seeing her.

Why.

Why in the world is this monster here?

There was no one to answer his question.

It was something even Cheonjun couldn’t ask.

The moment the woman appeared,

this entire area fell under her dominion.

He felt a shift in domains.

His senses scattered, and the air changed drastically.

Everything revolved around the woman.

“I clearly warned you not to enter the land of the Four Heavens. Why are you here?”

The woman’s eyes curved into half-moons as she spoke.

It was a truly alluring expression, but

Rumble.

the aura emanating from her body was overwhelmingly domineering.

So much so that Cheonjun could barely breathe.

“Perhaps you found my words amusing? That would be problematic.”

The woman smiled as she watched Cheonjun gradually losing consciousness.

“I don’t particularly care for insects crawling about.”

Saying this, the woman focused her gaze on Cheonjun,

and in that instant,

Plink-

all the surrounding light vanished,

and a brilliant darkness descended.