Chapter 971: Lost Soul.

The sunset passed, and night arrived.

As always, the crimson backlight was abundant.

Not one, but moons filled the night sky.

Passing the stars and brushing past the moons, I moved towards my destination.

Time in the myriad realms flowed particularly slowly, but there was one strange thing.

The time it took for the sunset to fade and night to arrive was strangely short.

It was truly the blink of an eye.

By the time I noticed, the sunset had passed and it was already night.

While keeping a close eye on that strange situation, I continued to fly.

Not long after, I reached my destination.

It wasn’t difficult to enter, perhaps due to hiding my presence or the lingering effects of the spell.

It might have been my imagination, but the defenses of Yawal itself weren’t that strong.

To think entry could be this easy, even after several attacks had already occurred.

‘There seems to be a reason they aren’t doing something.’

It’s not simply about how they deploy personnel.

Personnel were clearly present, but they weren’t establishing territory with their ki-sense.

In other words, it meant it was easy to infiltrate, which was quite convenient for me, but…

‘It’s strange.’

The lack of strong defenses like this is questionable.

Normally, after something happened, they should have either deployed additional personnel or firmly expanded their ki-sense to establish a posture.

This place had none of that.

What could be the reason?

While feeling strangeness about that,

Separately from that, my body was slowly descending.

Because I had reached my destination.

Thump.

My toes touched the ground.

It was a building of a mansion spread out widely.

Since I had been here once before, coming wasn’t that difficult.

After landing, I looked around.

I sensed movement from above the mansion.

I turned my feet directly towards that direction.

Fwoosh-! Sparks flew briefly as my body moved.

The location was the direction where the movement was sensed.

As soon as I descended a little, I saw someone.

The guy’s eyes widened, seemingly having discovered me too.

“What!”

I saw him about to open his mouth to confirm.

“Intruder!”

But.

Thwack-!

“Gkuh!”

I rushed forward and covered his mouth with my hand.

And then

Crash-!

“Gack!”

I slammed his head against the wall, making him lose consciousness.

Whether it landed properly, he slid down.

Zzzzt.

Several more individuals were caught within my ki-sense.

Since it was bothersome to deal with all of them, I only took down the ones in my path.

“Gak!”

“Guhk!”

“Kuhk!”

Unable to even make proper sounds, they fell one by one.

While the number of personnel wasn’t large, it wasn’t exactly small either.

As I took down over ten of them.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue briefly and sighed.

“Annoying.”

Entering this cautiously is quite a hassle.

Honestly, I wouldn’t have used this method originally, but…

‘If I acted flamboyantly for no reason,’

Because I knew Yawal wasn’t just about Yusa.

It was better to endure for now.

However.

‘Still,’

Enduring too much felt rather stifling.

‘Shall I try a little?’

Fwoooooosh-!!!

I wrapped my hand in black flames.

As always, seeing the black flames made me feel uneasy.

It was also a mark connecting my past and present lives.

The feeling that I hadn’t changed since that time remained.

That made me feel quite foul, but…

For now, I had no choice but to use even this.

‘The location is probably.’

Directly upstairs from here. It’s probably there.

Because it was there last time too.

Judging that, I reached my hand upwards.

Fwooooooooosh—-!!!

KWAaaaah—-!!!

The black flames extending from my hand shot up, piercing the ceiling.

At the same time, I wrapped it in ki pressure to block the sound from escaping.

Kooong–!!!

I pierced through to the desired location.

Right after confirming and retracting the flames.

Thump-!

I leaped briefly and put my body through the hole I had created.

In an instant, I shot upwards and reached my destination.

“…What is it…!”

As soon as I arrived, someone looked at me with shocked eyes.

Their age seemed to be around the early twenties, but they were likely much older than they looked.

I don’t know how old they are, but I can’t figure it out.

Looking at these creatures called Walya, their lifespans seemed longer than humans, making estimation impossible.

‘In any case, they’re older than me.’

Whatever I imagined, it was certain they were older than me.

Blue hair and a handsome face. And rabbit ears that didn’t suit them.

It was the same last time, and no matter how I looked, I couldn’t get used to it.

The ears and tails of other beast-kin were extreme enough, but rabbits were particularly so.

“…Y-you…!”

The head of the Blue family who was with Yusa.

The guy exclaimed in shock upon seeing me.

That’s a relief.

‘He was here.’

That he was unharmed and here.

I landed lightly and readjusted my stance.

As I stood still, staring at him with my hands behind my back, he scowled.

“How dare you come back here…!”

[Hmm?]

Hearing him, I tilted my head.

I had to adopt an attitude of utter incomprehension.

[What do you mean?]

“Wha…?”

[There is nowhere in this land that I, this sovereign, cannot go.]

Arrogant and lofty.

I paid attention to every single word. Since his face wasn’t visible, there was no need to grasp that.

My hands behind my back were firm.

My steps were confident.

An attitude as if I wouldn’t lose to anyone, and a distant resolve as if I would never back down.

The posture I adopted like this was close to imitation.

As if repeating what I had seen.

I embodied the actions of the person I desired.

There was no need to mention who I was thinking of while imitating.

Because he was the original owner of the persona I was currently adopting.

[I came to exchange greetings that we missed last time. Are you ready?]

“…You bastard…!”

[Unfortunately, the General doesn’t seem to be here though….]

Tsk tsk.

I chuckled and said to him.

[You might make for decent entertainment.]

Grrrrrr-!!!

Hearing my words, the Blue leader scowled.

Since his appearance was so handsome, scowling didn’t change it much.

Annoyingly.

“…There’s a limit to your arrogance. Do you even know where this is…!”

Kooogong–!!!

His body reacted greatly.

It wasn’t a drastic change like Baekseok or Gubong.

Simply, the proportion of fur covering his body increased. Additionally.

‘His muscle mass is increasing.’

I could see his body strengthening.

The changes were particularly extreme in his lower body.

[Hmm.]

I watched with interest.

And at the same time, I glanced out the window behind him.

Night had fallen, and the moon had risen.

The sky dyed black signifies the existence of the Walya, didn’t it?

‘This is also a gamble in its own way.’

I clenched my fist slightly.

It was partly to raise the tension, and partly to activate my own body.

[Are you planning to show off?]

Grind-!

My step, imbued with energy, crushed the ground.

[I look forward to it.]

The Walya of the night.

And among them, a leader-class existence.

Could I really win? Swallowing the doubt, I wrapped myself in energy.

At that moment.

KWAaaaah-!!!

The blue monster charged at me.

---

Pitter-patter-!

Debris fell from the ceiling.

The ruined ceiling could no longer maintain its form.

Not to mention the pillars supporting it.

The floor, laid neatly and luxuriously, had long since shattered into pieces.

It was to the point where I wondered how the space was even being maintained.

From within the wreckage, something fell with a THUMP!

“Grrrrrrr…!”

He knelt down and vomited blood.

It was a blue-furred monster with an enormous build.

The creature, perhaps having exhausted its strength, collapsed and curled up.

Not long after, its massive body began to shrink little by little.

Fshshshsh-!

Its energy dissipated like smoke.

The body, which had started shrinking, soon took on a human-like form.

Returning to the appearance of the Blue leader I had faced earlier.

“Guh… ugh….”

He looked quite pained.

He would be. With a large hole in his upper body, how could he not be in pain?

“Th-this bastard… this bastard… just what…”

[…Hooo….]

Looking into the guy’s despairing eyes, I let out a deep sigh.

[For a display, it wasn’t bad.]

I said that, spewing bullshit.

Not bad, my ass.

‘I almost died.’

Even though I was acting fine, my body was quite exhausted.

Two ribs. A crack in my left arm.

My palm, temporarily bound with Gui-jeong, felt increasingly painful as the wound reopened.

My physical condition was reversed due to the battle just fought.

The only fortunate thing, perhaps, was that…

‘The parts that don’t show.’

Only that they weren’t visible externally.

Thanks to that, I could pretend to be fine like this.

“Just… what is your purpose….”

The Blue leader asked, his eyes trembling.

My purpose?

[Hmm. Who knows.]

I tilted my head and approached him.

[I don’t think I have any reason to tell you that.]

“Kugh…!”

While speaking mockingly, I tapped his chest a few times with my hand.

As I did, the blood flowing out stopped.

“H-how….”

Seeing me suddenly staunch his bleeding, he looked flustered.

[Since your display wasn’t bad, I won’t take your life.]

I considered killing him, but it was right to keep him alive for what was to come.

Besides.

Since I finished the first thing I needed to confirm, that’s enough.

The thing I needed to confirm. That was…

‘I can win against a leader-class individual even when the moon is out.’

When I saw that these Walya become stronger at night.

I wanted to confirm if I could truly defeat them at my current level.

‘Done.’

I just found that out.

‘I can win.’

I can win.

I don’t know for sure how the others will be, but…

If I compare him, the Blue leader…

‘If I’m at full strength, it’s not that difficult.’

If my condition were perfect, it would be nine parts (out of ten).

Even in my current state, it was seven parts (70%).

And on top of that.

‘If I apply the Heavenly Demon Divine Art with the intention of sacrificing my body,’

There would be no need to consider defeat.

‘…Not bad.’

The strength the Blue leader showed in the recent battle reached at least the upper echelon of the Top Ten Masters.

‘Perhaps comparable to the Sword Emperor?’

I haven’t clearly fought the Sword Emperor, but it seems about that level.

This means…

‘That reaching the upper echelon of the Top Ten Masters is now effortless.’

It means my strength has surpassed that, and…

‘…I should aim for the Three Venerables level now.’

It meant I wasn’t far from the level of those three people called the absolute rulers of the Central Plains.

‘Though, saying I’m not far off feels like there’s still a definite wall.’

The gap between the Top Ten Masters and the Three Venerables is beyond imagination.

It would take a long time to fill the gap between them, but…

‘I don’t have time to wait for that.’

I had no intention of waiting for that ‘long time’.

I’ll narrow it somehow.

Recalling that, I turned away from the Blue leader.

“W-wait…!”

He struggled to speak, trying to stop me.

Naturally, I didn’t listen.

“I said wait…!”

[For the tongue of the weak, it’s rather lengthy.]

“Kughhh…!”

The guy’s veins bulged as he tried to move.

[Tsk.]

Seeing that, I moved my foot slightly.

Thump-!

“Gak!”

The energy bursting from my foot struck his jaw.

Thud-!

Hit by that, he collapsed as if losing consciousness.

Did things finally calm down?

As I stood watching him, just as I was about to move to leave,

“Leader-nim!”

Someone opened the door and entered.

Oops.

‘My ki-sense must have weakened after the fight.’

It seemed my ki-sense had weakened a bit because I used too much power just now.

Thus, someone managed to get past my heightened senses.

They seemed to be people who came after hearing the aftermath of the battle.

And at the front…

‘Ah.’

Like the leader, a familiar face caught my eye.

‘That guy.’

Last night. The one who said he fell for Cheonma and told me to become his.

The one who claimed to be related to the leader.

[….]

Realizing that.

“Leader…! What happened…!”

Before he could even speak.

Gak!

My hand grabbed and tore out his left eyeball.

[Oh. Oops.]

My body moved on its own, and I realized.

It was a mistake.

“Kuaaaaaak!!?”

The guy screamed in sudden agony.