Chapter 1243: Scorched World

Drip, drip.

I looked at Chu Yeongyeon, who had lost consciousness while wetting his pants.

“……Whoopsie.”

I took a step back. Was that too much? I don’t think so.

‘I did try to hold back a bit, you know.’

I deliberately didn’t hit him directly, striking him glancingly instead. Even though the martial arts stage got wrecked, this is pretty mild considering.

I left his body mostly intact, didn’t I? I feel like I did everything I could, and he ends up like this over something so minor?

‘Just in case, I only infused it with Qi.’

Two-Clawed Heaven-Shattering Dance or Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Or the Nine Blazing Wheel Art. I didn’t use any of them.

It was just in case. I knew I wouldn’t miss, but wouldn’t it be problematic if he died just from a graze? So I really tried my best.

‘To end up like this from just a slight graze.’

Compared to his damn temper, he’s undeniably weak.

“Hmm.”

I brushed myself off and put some distance between us. I looked straight at the referee.

“It’s over, right?”

“…….”

The referee couldn’t say anything, just staring at Chu Yeongyeon. The others were the same.

“Chu Yeongyeon… so brutally…”

“What the hell was that just now-?”

“His level is…”

Was it because I didn’t bother hiding my strength? Everyone stared at me in shock.

Besides, I wasn’t really planning on hiding it anyway, so it’s not a problem.

‘Ouch.’

I felt particularly sharp gazes from behind.

It was the direction where Iron Blood Faction Leader sat. And also where Sword Empress and Sword Master sat.

Was it too much? I probably should have hidden it a bit.

‘…But I don’t feel like doing that after coming this far.’

There’s a limit to hiding one’s strength. I refuse to do the same thing I did in my old world, even here.

‘And.’

It’s barely even my power anyway.

As the thought crossed my mind, I looked towards the spectator stands.

The energy my mother gave me. I just used that.

‘…I was completely drained after just one use.’

The borrowed energy was long gone. Is this all I get from one use? It leaked out as soon as I received it, so I couldn’t hold onto it for long.

‘In the end.’

It was just a temporary measure. A temporary measure I couldn’t even use without my mother.

‘Tsk.’

I clenched my fist. After all this, shouldn’t I be allowed to rest for real now? Having shown even my energy, I thought pushing further would be too much.

‘The remaining energy, anyway…’

Will disappear soon. As I regretfully looked at the energy filling me for the first time in a while.

Whoooosh.

“…!”

My eyes widened.

I quickly turned my head. Far away. Beyond the spectator stands, I felt something foreign.

Something I couldn’t feel when I had no energy was emanating from over there.

‘This is…’

I scowled, searching for the source of the energy.

This energy…

‘It’s the Blood Demon’s energy.’

It was the energy that bastard Blood Demon possessed. Where is it? Where is this blood-reeking scent coming from?

Before my energy ran out, I heightened my Ki sense to the extreme. As I delved deeper and deeper.

‘Found it.’

I located the source of the energy. The people surrounding the martial arts stage. The only Sword Brigade not participating in the Sword Martial Festival.

Wind Dragon Brigade.

It was where the formation masters were stationed for safety. And in that place, one person.

A young man with an ordinary appearance. I pinpointed him. Even though the distance was considerable, the young man was clearly looking at me. Our gazes met, mine filled with Ki.

That was when it happened.

-Ah, darn.

It wasn’t my imagination.

-I’ve been found.

The young man mouthed the words to me. The moment I saw that, I tensed my thighs. A chill ran down my spine. An instinctive feeling rose to the back of my throat. I felt I had to kill him the instant I saw him.

‘Tam.’

Grrrr.

Hunger writhed in my stomach. He’s inside the Alliance. That was something I’d already anticipated. I was looking for him anyway. And I was wondering how I should approach him once I found him.

‘…I’ll kill him.’

Upon confirming him, I realized. I couldn’t just leave him be right now. For some reason, I felt I had to capture him immediately. Feeling that I had to charge at him right away, whether I had energy or not, I summoned Tam.

My shadow writhed.

I ignored the surrounding gazes and reactions. Just as I was about to charge at him.

-Tsk, tsk…….

The guy chuckled.

-That won’t do. It’s too late.

He raised his thumb and wiggled it once.

That was when it happened.

RUMBLE—–!!!!

Everything around violently vibrated. An earthquake, all of a sudden?

“Hah!?”

“Kkuh!?”

The martial artists reacted. The first among them to move was Taehoan.

“Protect the Alliance Leader-!”

True to their status as the Dragon Guard, the Alliance Leader’s direct unit, they moved straight towards Sword Master. The violent waves were enough to make me stagger.

The problem was.

‘…This vibration…’

It was one I had felt before.

RUMBLE–!!!!

Clattering,

A long time ago.

When countless late-stage disciples gathered for a festival held at the Murim Alliance before I even regressed. The accident that happened then. It flashed through my mind. It was a familiar air and a familiar vibration.

SCREEEEEECH–!!!!

Everyone panicked. In the wake of the sudden event, everyone’s gaze turned towards where the Heavenly Outer Sect members were. Iron Blood Faction Leader was assessing the situation with a grim expression, and so was Pae-jon.

“Calm down. First, evacuate-.”

Sword Master tried to stand up and manage the situation, but.

CRASH-!!!!

The vibrations erupted violently, as if refusing to wait.

“Damn it.”

I scrunched up my face. I braced myself again. I looked towards where Mi Hyoran and Mother were. This speed might be too slow. I was about to leave the Blood Demon and run towards them, but far in the distance, someone was running towards me.

‘Mother?’

My mother, wearing a veil, was running towards me.

“Don’t go!”

Mi Hyoran tried to grab Mother quickly, but she couldn’t catch her as she ran barefoot. Seeing that, I tried to move again, but.

SCREEEEEECH–!!!!

It finally began.

“This is!”

“The Demonic Mirror Gate…!?”

“Why the Demonic Mirror Gate…! The Demonic Arts Division shouldn’t have reacted…!”

The Demonic Mirror Gate appeared. And not in the air or above the ground, but in the ground itself. The Demonic Mirror Gate unfolded across a vast area, like an eye opening in the ground. As the ground beneath their feet vanished, people floated up into the air.

“Baek Yangcheon!”

It was a loud voice. It was my father’s voice. Father, embracing So-i who was nearby, reached out his hand towards me. Just as I grit my teeth and tried to grab that hand.

-Please.

The Blood Demon’s voice echoed in my ear.

-Show us another anomaly this time.

WHIZZ-!!

“……!”

A strong wind pressure surged, shaking my body. I couldn’t grab my father’s hand as a result. The unfurled Demonic Mirror Gate created a giant maw and swallowed us. And so, darkness fell.

---

…….

It’s dark. Feeling that, my consciousness slowly returned. I felt my vision was pitch black.

“…Hah…”

The moment I felt that, I lifted my eyelids and opened my eyes. I immediately pushed myself up and turned my head. I looked around as if surveying my surroundings.

“Ah, crap.”

I had to curse the moment I saw it.

“…This fucking…”

I ground my teeth at the familiar scenery. Where I was sitting wasn’t Hanam, where I originally was, and certainly not the martial arts stage of the Murim Alliance.

Parched, withered land. Trees that looked somewhat murky. And.

‘A red sky.’

The sky, sickeningly red, and the strangely nauseating air. Feeling all of it, I bit my lip.

‘I really came back here again.’

I got to my feet. It’s a familiar space. Of course it is; I was stuck here for years in my past life, and even after regressing, I spent a year here for personal reasons.

“Goddamn it.”

The Demonic Mirror Gate Transfer Incident. It refers to the incident that occurred when many late-stage disciples were gathered, where a massive Demonic Mirror Gate captured dozens of people and transferred them into the Demonic Mirror Gate. The vibration and situation felt the same as back then, making me think ‘no way,’ but.

‘To think I’d fall for this again.’

Grind.

I clenched my fist.

“Hah.”

The Blood Demon. I know it was his doing. How could I not know? The situation was exactly like that.

‘To think I wouldn’t sense this.’

It was because I lacked energy that I couldn’t sense him. If I had had energy earlier, I could have sensed him, but I couldn’t.

Flap flap flap—!!!

Birds took flight from the forest. The problem is, they look like birds, but they aren’t.

‘Monsters.’

Monsters. Countless creatures, too pale to tell their grade, soared up. This damned land still seemed to be disgustingly filled with monsters.

‘Others must have fallen somewhere too.’

If we were transferred together, there must be other humans.

‘I need to find them.’

I didn’t care about the others, but I was worried about Mother and Mi Hyoran. First, I needed to get a grasp of the situation and look around.

I headed towards the forest.

Crrunch. The tree crumbled the moment I grabbed it. It’s land that feels completely devoid of life. Filled only with miasma, you couldn’t feel anything else. And it’s damnably vast, so finding people here wouldn’t be easy at all.

‘It took quite a long time back then too.’

How long did it take me to regroup with the other late-stage disciples? I think I wandered around for at least half a month.

‘…Sigh…’

I grimaced. I need to scout around first.

Just as I decided that and was about to head deeper.

CRACK-! Hiss-!

“Hm?”

I heard a sound. What was that? I followed the loud noise. It wasn’t far.

THUD-!!

As I approached, I heard a loud sound of something falling. It wasn’t the sound of a monster.

This is.

‘A person?’

It’s a presence. Convinced of it, I immediately stepped forward.

Swish.

“……!”

Something touched my neck.

A dagger?

With startled eyes, I moved my eyeballs.

“Huh……?”

“Oh my……?”

I made eye contact with the owner of the dagger. We both froze upon meeting each other’s gaze. The person who appeared was, surprisingly, the Poisonous Whip of the current era.