Chapter 265: What Am I. (2)

“Gurgle…!”

The hand gripping me is hot.

The hand, filled with a heat that felt like my throat would burn right away, felt not only hot but also heavy.

Physically, Namgung Cheonjun was vastly superior to Gu Yangcheon.

Even if he wasn’t as good as he used to be, Namgung Cheonjun was still half a head taller.

And yet.

“Gack…”

Namgung Cheonjun, with his neck grasped, couldn’t do anything.

It was because he couldn’t move even slightly, as if someone had bound him from all directions.

‘What… is this….’

Then. The identity of this pressure.

When he realized it was solely Gu Yangcheon’s killing intent.

Namgung Cheonjun had to inwardly exclaim in shock.

The killing intent of a martial artist who hadn’t even passed his twenties.

Could it be this dense?

The red eyes, shining leisurely in the darkness.

Glower at Namgung Cheonjun.

Why did this bastard suddenly attack me?

“Look at this beast cub, grinding its teeth.”

The words that came from Gu Yangcheon’s mouth were incomprehensible.

“Anyone can see it’s starving, eyes blazing, just waiting for a chance to devour me.”

As he spoke, the corners of his mouth slowly rose.

It was too full of malice to be called a smile.

And too inexplicable to be anything else, a sinister expression.

That expression suited him so well, Namgung Cheonjun felt afraid.

“A runt not even worth a mouthful, who doesn’t know his place and keeps getting on my nerves.”

“Gack.”

The hand gripping his neck tightened.

He tried to summon his internal energy, but amusingly, his energy seemed scared and didn’t obey Namgung Cheonjun.

‘…How… how is this….’

How could this happen?

I am someone chosen by a great being.

“Gasp…”

Months after channeling energy into my body.

I broke through the wall and reached the peak.

That day, Father praised me.

Great-Grandfather sent a letter saying I had worked hard.

It was praise from my Great-Grandfather, who usually looked at me with regret whenever we met, given after a long time.

This power is right.

Namgung Cheonjun was sure then that this was the power that would let him obtain everything he ever wanted.

But.

‘Why can’t I still…!’

Escape even the touch of this insignificant bastard?

“Look at those eyes? Aren’t you looking down?”

“…!”

Suddenly, Namgung Cheonjun’s vision twists.

Gu Yangcheon swung the arm he was holding and slammed him onto the ground.

Namgung Cheonjun, unable to properly execute a falling technique and rolling twice on the ground, groans and hastily tries to get up, but.

Gu Yangcheon’s toes were approaching his eyes.

Slam!

“Gack!”

His jaw shot up towards the sky as his head was yanked back.

He took the hit without being able to defend himself.

There wasn’t even enough time to summon his energy and coat his body.

Back then, the day I faced Gu Yangcheon at the martial arts tournament.

The helplessness and despair I felt then, those damn feelings, surged up to the back of my throat again.

While spitting blood, Namgung Cheonjun thinks.

‘I… I… am not someone who should fall to a bastard like that.’

I am the next Young Master of the great Namgung Family.

One of the Five Dragons and Three Peaks.

The man who would lead the Namgung Family in the future.

I shouldn’t be falling behind in talent or skill to such a pathetic guy.

Why…

“I’ve thought hundreds of times.”

The voice reaches Namgung Cheonjun’s ears.

Because I’m blocking the blood flowing from my nose with my hand.

I couldn’t dare lift my head.

“What reason could I possibly have to kill you.”

“…Gack.”

Unlike the voice that had a slight melody.

The endlessly lowered voice was filled with a dense killing intent that Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t handle.

It’s like back then.

When he grabbed my neck and pinned me down.

The day he conjured flames.

How could he possess such killing intent?

By killing people?

If that were the case, Namgung Cheonjun isn’t someone who hasn’t gotten his hands dirty either.

Whether through others’ hands.

Or by using his own.

Whether villain or hero, he had a record of taking countless lives, but.

That kind of killing intent is too much.

That is.

A level that could only be obtained after taking an immeasurable number of lives.

How could Gu Yangcheon, who hadn’t even passed his twenties, be like this?

Namgung Cheonjun had consistently investigated him.

Namgung Cheonjun knew there were no situations where Gu Yangcheon could have killed enough people to reach that level.

“Thinking like that, you know.”

Squeeze.

Gu Yangcheon’s foot presses down on Namgung Cheonjun’s ankle.

“…Gack!”

“Hundreds more reasons came to mind. Reasons to kill you.”

Just then.

A slight opening was felt.

The pressure lessened, and the killing intent subsided.

He could move his body again, and his internal energy flowed fluidly once more.

Namgung Cheonjun didn’t hesitate.

Crack.

He coated his body with energy and summoned his lightning energy.

He didn’t have a sword, but since reaching the peak, his swordsmanship had become proficient.

Even if the level was different, he could use similar energy with his hands.

As he swung his arm to attack.

“Look at this. Another one’s added already.”

Along with the voice, Namgung Cheonjun’s vision flipped once more.

Crunch-

The sound of crushing. It was the sound of the energy Namgung Cheonjun had painstakingly coated his body with shattering.

The energy coating his body broke into fragments and scattered around.

Even if it wasn’t fully coated, it shouldn’t have broken like this.

‘How…?’

How can that bastard break it so easily?

Rather than breaking it, ‘tearing’ it seemed more appropriate.

Gu Yangcheon tore the energy with his hands, then kicked Namgung Cheonjun’s dantian, disrupting his energy.

“Hup!”

With the intense pain rising in his dantian, he couldn’t even scream properly.

It wasn’t crushed, but the internal energy he had gathered scattered instantly.

The lightning energy about to manifest nearby vanished like mist with a single gesture from Gu Yangcheon.

It’s despairing.

Namgung Cheonjun had to feel utter despair.

Even the body that received power from that being.

And the strengthened energy that surpassed the wall.

Are they nothing more than mere struggles against that bastard?

His vision, floating in mid-air, instantly plummeted towards the ground.

Namgung Cheonjun didn’t even realize why he was flying in the air.

What move he made, how it connected.

It meant he hadn’t recognized anything, even for a moment, from the instant he was attacked and tumbled through the air.

CRASH!

Namgung Cheonjun’s heavy body is thrown onto the ground.

This time, he couldn’t get up like before.

Because Gu Yangcheon had already approached Namgung Cheonjun and stomped on his chest with his foot.

The stomp was so strong, as if trying to crush his bones, that Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t help but scream again.

Since earlier.

Namgung Cheonjun had only been screaming.

“It was like that from the first moment I saw you. I was annoyed seeing such an insignificant bastard baring his teeth.”

The red glare looks down at Namgung Cheonjun.

Just like at the martial arts tournament.

For a while, Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t sleep because he feared those red eyes.

“Do you know why I kept you alive peacefully, despite having hundreds of reasons to kill you?”

What reason could it be?

That reason would also be countless.

Because my surname is Namgung.

Because I couldn’t dare kill the next Young Master of the great Namgung Family.

It must be because killing me that way would lead to messy aftermaths.

Killing a noble family’s blood relative without anyone noticing is difficult even for me.

Isn’t that enough in reality?

I am of the Namgung family…

“Be thankful to your sister.”

“…What…?”

“If it weren’t for her, I would have torn your limbs apart and burned you to death long ago.”

For a moment, Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t properly understand Gu Yangcheon’s words.

Sister? My older sister?

Namgung Cheonjun, ignoring even the intense pain, barely opened his mouth.

“What… what do you mean.”

“The reason I didn’t bother killing you, despite having over hundreds of reasons to kill you, was solely because she was your sister.”

Gu Yangcheon said, looking into Namgung Cheonjun’s eyes.

Simply because Namgung Cheonjun was Namgung Bi-ah’s younger brother.

It was for that single reason alone.

Even if a mere young beast ground its teeth, wanting to bite my neck.

Even if it looked at me with hostility and malice, filled with killing intent, without hiding it.

The reason I just laughed it off and let it slide.

For Gu Yangcheon, that was the only reason.

Feeling the blood flowing from the corner of his mouth.

Namgung Cheonjun asks Gu Yangcheon again.

“…What exactly are you saying right now.”

“I’m kindly telling you one by one how I diligently kept you alive. You fucking bastard.”

Crack.

“Gack…!”

Namgung Cheonjun felt his ribs break at that moment.

The killing intent emanating from Gu Yangcheon’s body intensifies.

This is dangerous.

That was genuine.

“What… What are you trying to do now…!”

“Why, are you scared now?”

“I am of the Namgung bloodline. This is Namgung territory. To suddenly do this…”

“Did you know? If you burn even the bones, no trace remains.”

The words, spoken nonchalantly as if he’d done it many times, seemed truly sincere.

“…Why?”

Namgung Cheonjun asked.

“Why are you suddenly trying to kill me?”

It’s a question.

Gu Yangcheon’s attack was too sudden.

Gu Yangcheon’s lips curl up at Namgung Cheonjun’s question.

“Why? You’re trying to kill me, so why can’t I kill you? What a funny philosophy you have, you brat.”

“…Is there even any proof that I tried to kill you… Gaaaah…!”

Namgung Cheonjun, mid-sentence, lets out a huge scream.

It was because Gu Yangcheon twisted Namgung Cheonjun’s arm in an unnatural direction in an instant.

The strong body of a peak martial artist snapped like a twig.

“I won’t engage in trivial Q&A. This isn’t the time for proof.”

“Haa… Haa!”

He wanted to resist.

He wanted to unleash his lightning energy and fry the bastard’s head off right away, but.

Namgung Cheonjun couldn’t.

“See? Your eyes are still full of the killing intent to kill me, so do I need proof?”

“You bastard…. Do you even know where you are doing this…”

Namgung Cheonjun speaks, but.

Gu Yangcheon grabs Namgung Cheonjun’s neck as if he doesn’t need to hear.

“Curious? About why I’m doing this to you now?”

“Gurgle…”

“You.”

His neck feels like it’s about to break from the grip.

He could feel the grip being controlled just enough, precariously, not to break.

It was an unbelievable level of control.

“What were you trying to do to your sister earlier?”

“…!”

At Gu Yangcheon’s question, Namgung Cheonjun gasps.

His expression was like someone caught with their dirty secret exposed.

He hadn’t exactly planned to do anything.

He had only harbored the intention to do something someday.

Rather than hand my sister over to that bastard.

He just wanted her for himself.

Such a lowly guy doesn’t suit my beautiful sister.

Only I was suitable for her.

That kind of feeling.

Did that bastard sense it?

“You see, I know the feeling of greed all too well.”

The moment Gu Yangcheon spoke, one of Namgung Cheonjun’s fingers snaps.

“So, I can’t help but know what kind of thoughts a bastard like you is having.”

“Ugh…!”

“I’m pretty good at making people hurt in this regard. And I didn’t want to do it again now if possible. But why do you keep poking the bear, making me feel like shit?”

He says this while pulling out Namgung Cheonjun’s fingernail.

The method is incredibly crude and violent.

It was torture performed solely with brute force, without any regard for the opponent’s agony.

No, was it even torture?

Gu Yangcheon didn’t even intend to hear an answer in the first place, so it wasn’t torture.

He grabbed the fingertip where the nail had been pulled and conjured flames.

“Gaaaaah!”

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? That there were countless reasons to kill you. Yet, the reason I kept you alive was only one.”

If it weren’t for Namgung Bi-ah.

Namgung Cheonjun would have killed and burned him to ashes without anyone knowing.

The fact that his surname was Namgung might have been a reason for holding back, but.

A mere noble family, rotten and hollowed out long ago.

The hesitation its name provided.

Was at most fleeting.

“If you keep trying to provoke that one reason, how else am I supposed to react?”

“You… bastard…”

“Your eyes are still alive, mine are dead. By now, you should be drooling and begging for your life.”

The way he chuckled and grinned.

It looked like he was enjoying this situation.

He raises the hand that was burning Namgung Cheonjun’s finger and conjures flames.

The flames illuminating the night were incredibly brilliant, but.

The magnitude of the killing intent within them crushed Namgung Cheonjun with fear.

“I wonder why. I’ve thought about it too. I thought I beat you down well enough. The reason why that damn pride of yours won’t die.”

Gu Yangcheon thought.

First, he broke my arm.

The second time, he made me wet my pants.

He shattered my pride and killed my self-esteem.

This guy shouldn’t have been showing me his teeth anymore.

Since I’m someone who excels at this sort of thing, I don’t think I made any mistakes.

Yet, the bastard remained the same.

He coveted feelings he shouldn’t have towards my sister.

And tried to act on them.

How dare he.

It meant he tried to take the second moon that appeared to me.

Since the bastard tried to cross the final line.

My respect ended here.

“So, I thought about it.”

Squeeze.

“…!”

Namgung Cheonjun’s eyes widen considerably.

“I think maybe it’s because of this fucking thing that you keep crawling back.”

“Wh-what….”

He swallows his surprise.

It couldn’t be helped.

The energy bestowed by the great being.

The noble power that had begun assimilating into his body.

For some reason, it was leaving his body and being sucked somewhere.

“What the…! Why is this…!”

Then, Namgung Cheonjun finally gained an understanding.

Right after the martial arts match with Gu Yangcheon.

Around the time the divine energy disappeared from his dantian.

Namgung Cheonjun had thought the energy disappeared because he used the divine energy that hadn’t settled properly yet.

“No way…. Was it you back then too…!”

“I might not be picky about side dishes, but I’m a bit picky about energy. I guess I have to eat this one even if it doesn’t taste good.”

“Let… let go! Do you even know what kind of power this is, you bastard…!”

“What kind of power? You fucking piece of shit, it’s a rotten corpse fragment that’s been dead for centuries.”

“H-how can you take another’s energy…!”

He struggles desperately, but.

As his energy was being sucked away, his body, contrary to his feelings, was stiffening.

Even his fingers, which had been trembling from the burns, stopped trembling and stiffened.

“Please…. Please, this is my everything.”

Namgung Cheonjun abandons his pride and begs Gu Yangcheon like a supplicant, but.

It was a futile act.

The divine energy that resided in his body drained out completely.

Even the energy barely contained in his dantian flowed through Gu Yangcheon’s hand and disappeared without a trace.

“Ah… no.”

Despair seeps in.

The power he had believed without doubt would lift him high into the heavens.

Vanished in an instant.

And it was taken by the person he resented enough to die.

He lost his honor.

He lost his beloved sister.

He even lost the power that was like his only hope to that bastard.

“Ah… Ah…”

Namgung Cheonjun gazes at the night sky with a vacant expression.

The night was dark.

The moon, which had been so visible, seemed to have hidden, not shining upon Namgung Cheonjun.

Gu Yangcheon, looking at Namgung Cheonjun like that, spoke.

“What a funny guy. Did you lose the light in your eyes just because a little something was taken?”

A hollow laugh is heard.

Gu Yangcheon was still holding onto Namgung Cheonjun.

The internal energy originally in Namgung Cheonjun’s dantian remained the same.

He had only lost the demonic energy he’d consumed from the Blood Demon.

Namgung Cheonjun, broken as if his world had collapsed, seemed laughable.

Amidst this, Namgung Cheonjun whispers.

“Kill… me.”

“What?”

“Now, stop…. Just kill me already.”

Ha.

At the words spoken as if he had lost the world.

Gu Yangcheon smiles.

If he was going to give up this easily, why did he grind his teeth so much?

He was a pathetic bastard right to the end.

“Brother-in-law, your brother doesn’t kill people that easily.”

“…If you plan on playing with me until the end, I’d rather bite my tongue and die…!”

Snap.

Gu Yangcheon covers Namgung Cheonjun’s mouth with his hand to stop him.

Because it would be problematic if he actually bit his tongue.

“Mmph mmmph!”

“Why the fuck are you trying to die like a hero on your own, you bastard who lived a dirty life? It makes me feel like shit. If you’re going to live, live disgracefully until the very end.”

In the dim night, his face was cast in shadow.

The red glare was still red.

His eyes were expressionless.

His mouth was smiling.

Namgung Cheonjun, looking at Gu Yangcheon like that, realized something was wrong.

“You said it yourself. This land is the heart of the Namgung Family.”

“Gggk….”

“No matter how angry I am, killing someone here is a bit… inconvenient.”

At the beaming smile, Namgung Cheonjun felt a surge of fear.

Something is different.

He was different from the Gu Yangcheon who had been tormenting him earlier.

From where did it change?

He couldn’t understand the meaning himself, but it was definitely different.

“Since you seemed to know something, I thought about torturing you. But I don’t think that’s necessary anymore.”

Whoosh.

“I happened to have something I wanted to experiment with. It worked out well, since you said you were going to die anyway. I’ll use it a bit. Okay?”

The red flames that were still burning.

Became even larger.

And gradually became covered in another color.

“Gk… Ggghh…!”

“Okay? I figured you’d answer that way too.”

Gu Yangcheon’s red pupils, looking down at Namgung Cheonjun.

Could be seen changing color.

If Namgung Cheonjun wasn’t mistaken.

It must have been violet.