Chapter 1005: The Divine Tree and the Master.

Kwah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah—-!!!!!

A blue expanse unfolded from my hand, covering all directions.

The Gu-yeom Tae-a-rang is originally a power that emits strongly compressed flames in the form of a beast. When that met the ultimate technique of the Gu-yeom Hwa-ryun Gong, its power increased unbelievably. Even I was surprised after unfolding it.

‘What in the world is this?’

How could the same martial art have this much difference? Seeing the situation unfold, I still couldn’t believe it.

Hwa-reu-reu-reu-reuk—!!!

Like a tsunami, the flames engulfed the world. House-sized flame-shaped beasts rampaged around, overturning everything. Just like when I tore and swallowed those white monsters back then. The sparks erupting from my hand were more violent than anything.

Gi-ee-ee-ee-ing—–!!!!!

Behind my back, a ring that had appeared spun ceaselessly.

Chi-ee-ik-!

I felt a sensation in my hand and looked down to see my palm glowing white hot. It was the aftermath of the heat. Clumped and clumped heat. As it gathered and gathered like that, it seemed to have taken on this color. Moreover, it wasn’t just gathering.

‘It’s spinning ceaselessly.’

The heat clumped in my hand repeats compression and rotation. Its speed and power must be outstanding to be able to contain such intense heat. What about the materialized ring?

‘The center is here.’

The ring spinning madly behind me. The power and pressure felt from it flowed directly into my flames, becoming my power. Moreover, having reached transcendence, the Gu-yeom Hwa-ryun Gong itself had become my will, allowing me to fully accept all the power without discarding any midway. That was the result.

Ta-dak-! Tak-!

It was a devastating sight, not even comparable to a single punch. The entire area was ablaze, and a vast expanse was covered in blue flames. And at its center, something burned brilliantly, as if clad in blue flames.

“Kuh-eu-eu-eu… Kkeu…”

Surprisingly, it seemed to be a living creature, wriggling and slowly raising itself. It was the Usa that had been blown away by the flames just moments ago.

“Kuh-heuk… Kya-ak…”

It was a truly pathetic sight. Its skin, scorched black by the flames, was not the only issue. Perhaps because the heat was overwhelming, even that had melted, revealing its bones entirely. It was gruesome, truly gruesome. Although I caused it, seeing its condition was somewhat shocking.

“Kuh-reu-reu-reu-reuh—–!!!”

Sa-ah-ah-ah-ah-!!

‘Huh.’

The Usa’s body began to return to its original state along with the growl. Its regeneration speed was rapid. The skin that had been burnt and melted quickly returned, and hair soon grew in its place.

“Kuh-reu…”

By the time I noticed, it had returned to its original form. No, there was a slight difference.

‘It looks a bit skinny?’

Its body, once large and thick, had become noticeably thinner. Especially its stomach seemed sunken in. It looked like it hadn’t eaten for days.

“You damn bastard…”

That hunger seemed to seep into its eyes, as the Usa looked at me with much fiercer eyes than before.

Immediately after.

Kung-!!!

With even stronger steps than before, it charged at me again. It seemed like it had no intention of giving up. Even though its body had thinned, its aura had become more ferocious. Hunger and emptiness. A desperate need to eat something immediately. Such an alien feeling emanated from it. That feeling permeated its aura, making it much more intense.

“Kwah-ah-ah—–!!!”

Kwah-gah-gahk-!!!

Its claws tore through the air as it charged.

Kwak-! Kwah-kwah-gahk-!!!

It was the same this time. There were no techniques, just pure movement. Even using my Mind’s Eye, it acted so chaotically, driven by instinct, that I couldn’t easily grasp it. I narrowly dodged the attack. It wasn’t a major problem that my Mind’s Eye wasn’t working. Although its movements lacked rules due to the absence of techniques, this meant something else.

‘It’s that simple.’

Its movements focused solely on strength and speed. Fast and strong, nothing more. To put it nicely, it was monotonous; to put it bluntly, it was simple. While its fluidity and the resulting strangeness were definitely present, it wasn’t enough to be overly concerned about. It was dangerous if hit, that was true, ‘But I just need to not get hit.’ Since I was managing to dodge, it was fine.

Kkeu-geu-geuk-!

I twisted my body, pivoting on my toes. ‘One more time.’ I intended to use the ultimate technique I had just employed again. The ring behind my back started spinning again.

Gi-ee-ee-ee-ing—–!!!

Feeling it spin roughly, I prepared to unleash the flames again,

Tik-!

‘…Hm?’

The ring, which had been spinning diligently, suddenly stopped.

Pu-shi-shi-shik—–!!!

Then, it began to emit smoke. The heat that had spread through my blood meridians suddenly subsided.

‘Huh.’

The rising excitement settled down, and a sense of powerlessness filled its place. Why is this acting up again? I felt frustrated, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on it.

Kki-gi-gi-gik-!!

Its claws reached for me. I quickly twisted my body to dodge the Usa’s attack.

Kwah-gah-gah-gahk-!!!

The claws that struck the floor unleashed a fierce aura, splitting the ground.

“You rat-like bastard. Are you just going to keep running away?”

Along with the words, its tail lashed out.

Kung-!

My body took the full impact of the tail swung like a whip. Although I quickly defended with my arm, my insides were violently shaken by the impact.

Kwah-deuk! Kwah-deu-deuk-!!

My body, sent flying, crashed through the surrounding forest trees.

‘Damn it.’

It felt like my bones had cracked. Luckily, I had fully activated my defensive energy (Ho-shin Gang-gi) in that split second. ‘If I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have just been cracks.’ I wondered how much damage was done. Maybe the arm I used to block would have been ruined completely.

I stopped my momentum, dragging my feet on the ground. Afterwards, I tried moving my left arm.

‘It healed.’

The arm, cracked from the recent attack, had healed as if nothing had happened. As expected, I’d felt it last time, but the Wolya’s body is the best. The best part about becoming a dragon was this. Its excellent regeneration meant I could fight while taking some hits without issue, which I liked. ‘The Wolya race is even better.’ This body’s regeneration ability surpassed even that of a dragon.

‘Seeing the Usa heal earlier, it seemed related to the power of regeneration.’

It was similar to the power Mang used, where arms grew back quickly even if severed. In terms of regeneration, the Usa seemed superior to me.

‘What a shame.’

I felt this during the power of regeneration too. Somehow, regeneration just doesn’t seem to suit me. Back then too, the power didn’t mesh well, limiting my healing to just slightly faster recovery.

‘Tsk, it’s the thing I need the most.’

I was so disappointed when I realized it didn’t suit my body. Maybe because of that disappointment, the regeneration I gained upon becoming a Wolya was especially welcome.

Tuk-tuk.

I brushed myself off. As I was brushing off the dust like that,

“Kuh-reu-reu.”

I sensed the Usa approaching from a distance. No, there was no need to sense it. It was impossible not to see its massive form.

Kwah-jik. Kwah-jik.

It was approaching with angry strides, trampling everything around. Despite transforming into its beast form, I could tell it was smiling.

“…How about that? Are you coming to your senses now? Do you know who you messed with?”

As it approached, the Usa pulled up a nearby tree and shoved it into its mouth.

Kwah-deu-deuk.

It chewed vigorously, but seemingly finding no taste, it scowled and spat it back out.

Ptooey! The tree ejected from its mouth fell to the ground. The Usa, wearing an unpleasant expression, wiped its mouth with the back of its hand and spoke to me.

“You were playing with the chieftains, so you must have thought the general was a joke. Well, what now?”

Kuh-reu-reung.

Its snort was rough.

“You’re nothing. Honestly, to think I was shaken by a mere nobody like you. I can’t even tell anyone out of sheer embarrassment.”

It looked triumphant. I really didn’t like that. So, I put my mind to work. What should I do now? I thought and thought.

“If you’re hoping for the night, you should give up on that dream immediately. I grow stronger the hungrier I get… and night is when I’m hungriest.”

‘Gets stronger when hungry…’

At those words, I looked closely at its body again. Its skinny, famished body. The hunger visible in its eyes. Seeing it end up like that after regenerating its body…

‘Is it related to the power of Gluttony?’

Maybe so. The information Tam had consumed about Gluttony wasn’t perfect, so I didn’t know the specifics like this. Moreover,

‘It gets stronger at night, right?’

It would become much stronger here when night fell. Keeping that in mind, I thought again. Soon, I reached a conclusion.

“Listen, stop messing around and just…”

Although the Usa tried to say more, I cut it off before it could finish.

“I admit it.”

“What?”

The Usa paused at my words.

“Admit what? What are you admitting?”

“I admit that trying to deal with you using just this much was foolish.”

“Haha.”

The Usa chuckled upon hearing that.

“You admit that? So what? Are you planning to kneel and beg for your life? Go ahead, try. Who knows? Maybe I’ll grant it.”

The Usa spoke with a chuckle. I calmly observed it and then said,

“I also admit that you’ll likely become more troublesome when night comes.”

If you get even stronger here, it will be difficult to handle. I had become a Wolya due to Hwa-ryun Castle, but if the true moon were to arrive here, the Usa would become even stronger. Therefore,

“Let’s end this here.”

“Oh really? Just because you say so, does that mean I have to stop…”

“Stop.”

“!!!”

The Usa froze instantly at my words. It stared at me, its eyes wide like saucers.

“You… how… You can only use the command ‘Myung’ at night-“

“I apologize for that as well. Since you were so confident, I thought it was a form of consideration on my part, but…”

I clenched my fist.

“Looking back now, I didn’t realize it would become a strategic move.”

Gi-ee-ee-ee-ing—–!!!

I tried spinning the ring again. Fortunately, the ring spun properly this time. I wondered why it had stopped suddenly earlier, but ignoring it, I focused on the ring.

Gi-ee-ee-ee-ing—–!!!!!

The ring gradually increased its rotational speed. When it reached its maximum, I drew up the energy of the Tu-a-pa Cheon-mu from within. Energy met energy. An unmixed repulsion formed a different shape. The Cheon-ma Shin-gong, which had been coiled within my body, reared its head. The Gu-yeom Hwa-ryun Gong, having reached transcendence. The Tu-a-pa Cheon-mu, advancing towards near-great accomplishment. From there, the collision became power, and chaos began to accumulate at my fist’s edge.

“You… you… Kkeuk…”

The Usa, perhaps sensing the unusual power, tried to react desperately, Perhaps thanks to reaching transcendence? The power of ‘Myung’ seemed stronger.

Of course.

Ppeo-jeo-jeok-!

The Usa’s body, having unleashed its power, was incredibly strong. I quickly felt the limit in holding it with ‘Myung’. The restraint I had placed felt like it was breaking in real-time. If it continued like this, the Usa would move again soon. It didn’t matter.

‘A moment is enough.’

That was all I needed. I gathered the chaos accumulated in my hand evenly and approached it. As I got right up close, the gathered chaos formed a shape. It was different from the Cheon-ma Il-gwon, which was made by applying the Tu-a-mu Kwon. Its origin could be traced back to the Yeom-ok (Flame Orb). Or the Pa-cheon (Sky Breaker). I had condensed the chaos into a spherical shape. The sheer power contained within it made my hand tremble just from holding it. I brought it close to the Usa. While it was half the size of the Yeom-ok, its contained power was incomparable. It was power born from friction, so naturally.

The chaos gathered in my hand. I decided to give it a name.

It shall be called…

‘Cheon-ma Hon-ok (Heavenly Demon Chaos Orb).’

The sphere of chaos touched the Usa, and feeling it, I released the power in my hand.

Instantly.

Tung.

A small popping sound was heard,

Woong-!!

and then the sound ceased. The world’s loudest silence descended upon the world.