Chapter 469: Nice To Meet You (4)

The first thing I felt was the sensation of being inside someone’s arms.

Rub- Rub-

I felt a gentle hand.

It felt like it was slowly rubbing my back.

I slowly turned my head around and checked the situation.

“…Hmm?”

The hand stopped moving because I moved around, and my eyes met the person who had me in their arms.

It was the Demonic Sword.

She widened her eyes when she saw me move.

“…You… woke up?”

“…”

The Demonic Sword had a rather exhausted expression.

I became speechless after seeing her.

“Why…?”

Why was she doing this? I looked around with a puzzled look.

“…!”

However, I became horrified at the shock.

There were strange black things around me.

They were slowly disappearing, but it looked very ominous.

Moreover…

It’s burning?

There were traces of fire around the area.

I was able to know immediately that these flames came from me.

Blaze.

The undying flame that continued to burn on the ground was beautiful.

It was also very blue.

Blue flame?

Originally, the color of my flame should have been light red, or black when mixed with Demonic Qi.

Judging by its blue color, it seemed like it was enhanced with Blood Qi.

How come it remained on the ground?

I flowed Qi to my hand after noticing something strange.

Blaze-!

Flames rose.

I frowned at the sight.

It was blue.

“What the hell?”

I was certain I didn’t use Blood Qi.

I also suppressed my Demonic Qi, so the color of my flame should have been light red.

…This is.

No matter how much I looked at it, it was clear that this was the same flame I saw back when I used Blood Qi.

I immediately checked up on the inside of my body after seeing the sight.

It was to check my Dantian.

I wanted to know what happened after my vessel shattered.

Thump-!

“…!”

However, I felt an unexpected recoil when I tried to gain access to my Dantian.

It was near my heart, more accurately, where my middle Dantian used to be.

Huh?

Why was this guy reacting all of a sudden?

I flowed my Qi around my body after becoming confused.

Fortunately, I was able to control them without trouble.

Did that mean my vessel returned to normal?

But to say that…

…It’s all coming from my heart.

The starting point of my Qi was where my middle Dantian was.

Normally, I would have had to flow my Qi starting from the lower Dantian to the middle and then to the top.

But considering it started from the middle…

It meant that my lower Dantian disappeared, which was practically the source of where my Qi came from.

Then, where did all of that Qi go?

I searched deeper into my middle Dantian.

Huh.

I found it.

All of the Qi that used to be inside my lower Dantian was moved to the middle.

How was this possible?

As I struggled to understand this strange situation, I felt a cold touch on my cheek.

“Are you okay…?”

It was the Demonic Sword’s hand.

I immediately lifted myself up in shock.

“Huh?”

However, I faltered midway through getting up.

Something felt strange.

The view?

It felt like my point of view was slightly higher than what I was used to.

Because of that difference, I wasn’t able to control my body easily.

“…”

The Demonic Sword also got up after me.

Then, I was clearly able to see what the problem was.

It’s my height.

For some reason, the Demonic Sword looked shorter than before.

I was already taller than her, but the difference in our height wasn’t this much.

It used to be about half a finger’s length difference, but now it was about a whole palm difference.

I grew in height.

I especially felt the difference in my arms and legs.

That wasn’t the only change.

I opened my eyes widely after seeing my right arm.

…What the hell is this?

The light red bandage was now blue, and my arm under the bandage seemed rather strange.

It was clearly covered in scales.

I originally only had a small number of scales on my right arm…

But now, I have less on my right arm.

It was to the point that it didn’t sound strange for me to say that my left arm looked like it came from a whole different creature.

It was hard to say that my left arm, covered in blue scales, was a normal human arm.

I started to wonder how my arm turned into this mess.

Oh, wait…

I began to remember.

It was my left arm that was almost devoured by the Blood Qi monster.

Perhaps it was the result of that?

The look of it made me rather uncomfortable.

It may have been partly covered up by the bandage, but it came all the way up to my shoulder.

…Is it fine everywhere else?

I checked my body, and I fortunately didn’t seem to have any other problems.

Well, it was possible I did, but it looked fine from the outside at least, besides my left arm.

I repeatedly curled my fist a few times.

Squeeze.

“…”

I noticed that my grasp was stronger than what I was used to.

Not only my Qi, but it felt like my physical strength increased.

It almost feels like I changed my bone structure.

Besides the fact that my Qi resided in my middle Dantian now, this wasn’t much different from changing one’s bone structure, or rebirth, as they commonly say.

Not only that…

…My unstable Fusion Realm problem has been fixed.

It felt like my unstable state at this level was solved.

Does that mean there aren’t any problems besides the fact that I have to get used to the new body?

If so, what changed?

I was told that I would no longer be a human once my vessel breaks, yet I didn’t notice any big changes.

I was expecting myself to become a monster or something.

It wasn’t so bad after all-

…Though I can’t really say that with my left arm like this.

My left arm may have been a mess, but this was much better than what I expected.

After checking up on my body, I gazed at the Demonic Sword.

She was staring at me with a strange look on her face.

At first, she gazed at my left arm, and now she had her eyes locked onto mine.

Because of that gaze,

“…”

I couldn’t help but avoid it.

I then hid my face with my hand.

It became hard for me to breathe when I looked at the Demonic Sword’s face.

Dammit.

I had been suspecting it all along, but it was hard for me not to notice by this point with how the situation became.

Moreover, judging by what she had been doing up until now, I couldn’t just pretend to act like I didn’t notice.

I looked into her eyes again.

She still had a strange look, and that gaze of hers made me feel uncomfortable.

I put aside that emotion and asked her a question.

“You.”

I naturally spoke to her in an informal way.

It was much more comfortable than when I spoke to her formally, calling her Vice Captain.

“…You know who I am, right?”

I finally let it out.

Ever since she started giving me special treatment, I suspected that she knew my true identity.

It’s just that I was never actually certain, which was why I never brought it up.

“…?”

The Demonic Sword tilted her head and gazed at me after hearing my question.

Did she not understand my question?

Or perhaps…

Does she truly not know who I am?

That was also possible.

My face was different in the first place, and I restrained myself from using my signature martial abilities, so it was practically impossible for her to find out.

However, there was one problem.

The flame I made with my hand just earlier.

She saw the whole thing.

Could she really be clueless even after seeing that?

As I became more nervous,

“…What… do you mean…?”

The Demonic Sword answered back with a question of her own.

It really seemed like she didn’t know what I was asking her.

Maybe that’s a good thing.

It was fortunate if she didn’t realize my true identity.

Because then, I would only have to figure out why the Demonic Sword had been giving me special treatment.

I guess I’ll let this slide for now.

Right as I was about to change the subject,

“Never mind… Please forget what I just said, Vice Cap- “

“Gu Yangcheon.”

Pause.

I shut my mouth immediately after hearing what the Demonic Sword said.

I gazed at her with a shocked expression.

I could’ve sworn she just said my name.

“…What?”

“Your name.”

“…”

The Demonic Sword spoke in a calm tone with her eyes on me.

All I was able to do was stare back at her, dumbfoundedly.

“…No matter what happens…”

She continued to speak with her usual tone.

“I…”

“Will always recognize you.”

“…”

She spoke with certainty.

I didn’t even think about how she was able to speak with so much confidence, as my emotions started to go wild inside my heart.

“…How?”

I couldn’t understand.

It was always like this. I just couldn’t understand her.

Moreover, I didn’t want to admit it.

“You…”

I hated the fact that I failed to learn who she truly was in my past life, and that I was only learning it now.

I just knew how much of her I missed in my past life.

I thought about asking her a question, but I shut my mouth.

I repeated that a few times.

I noticed her exhausted eyelids, and blood leaking from her injured body.

Pretending like I didn’t notice, I asked her a different question.

“Then, why aren’t you surprised?”

“…?”

“Isn’t it strange that… there is a whole other me?”

There was already a Gu Yangcheon in this world.

Just seeing that bastard made me angry, but I had to admit that it was me.

Because of that, I couldn’t help but become fascinated by the fact that the Demonic Sword knew who my true identity was, like it was nothing.

After hearing my question, the Demonic Sword looked at me with her beautiful blue pupils.

“…It’s cool.”

She gave her usual short response in a calm tone.

“That’s all?”

“Mhm.”

“…”

So she only found it cool, but wasn’t curious how such a thing was possible?

Huh.

“…It does suit you.”

Absurdly enough, such a response suited her more than anyone.

I couldn’t help but smile after hearing her.

Swish.

Her fingertip made contact with my cheek once again.

I didn’t dodge it this time, in shock like before.

I was able to block her hand, but I didn’t bother.

“…The world you live in. …Am I there?”

“You are.”

It seemed like it was naturally obvious to her that I wasn’t from this world.

I didn’t deny that fact.

“How is she?”

“Pretty similar. Slow like you, and spaces out a lot.”

The Demonic Sword slightly frowned after hearing my response.

I felt my heart feel heavy after seeing the sight.

“Yes, your eyes were always like this.”

The Demonic Sword of this life.

The Namgung Bi-ah I knew in my world.

They didn’t seem all too different.

But then why did I think that the two were so different?

No, it’s not that I thought that way, but I instead prayed that they were different.

As we continued to hold eye contact, the Demonic Sword spoke without letting her frown go.

“In that world… Do you look at her with the same eyes you have right now?”

“…The same eyes? What kind of eyes are they?”

When I asked her back, the Demonic Sword’s… No, Namgung Bi-ah’s hand carefully separated itself from my cheek.

“I’m jealous.”

When she spoke with a slight smile, many emotions struck me.

It would have been better if I had never felt these emotions.

How was I supposed to respond to her?

A few things came up in my mind, but I couldn’t say them out in words.

I couldn’t dare to say anything to her.

I only watched Namgung Bi-ah in silence.

“…First…”

Then, I realized she wasn’t in good condition, so I reached my hand out to her.

It wasn’t good for us to stay in this area, so it was wise to leave.

Moreover, I also had to learn more about what happened to my body after leaving this area.

After all, I had to figure out if I was no longer human.

Right as I was about to move with Namgung Bi-ah, with that thought,

Woong-

“Huh?”

I suddenly felt something in the air.

I turned my head around towards where the strange feeling came from.

Thud.

A rift started to form behind Namgung Bi-ah.

Craaack-!

It then ripped the space apart, forming a crack in the air.

I immediately grabbed Namgung Bi-ah and pulled her behind me.

I frowned at the sudden sight.

That was definitely a Demon Gate.

A Demon Gate appeared out of nowhere without a sign.

Right as I wondered why a gate suddenly opened…

Skid-

“…!”

I realized I was being sucked in, with my feet dragging against the ground.

Something was pulling me in purposely.

I endured as best as I could.

I couldn’t afford to be sucked into that thing when I didn’t know what it was.

However.

Dammit.

The force of it was incredibly strong.

What was this thing?

I didn’t want to use it until I checked up on it.

I grit my teeth.

I wanted to be safe as my lower Dantian disappeared, and I didn’t know what would happen with Qi originating from my middle Dantian now.

However, I was forced to use Qi as I was going to be sucked into the gate otherwise.

Swoosh-!

Qi in my middle Dantian reacted and started to vibrate.

It then flowed into my blood vessels, around my body.

I was shocked by the power I felt from it.

It’s much more than I expected.

It felt much more powerful than I imagined.

I wasn’t certain yet, but it felt like my original power was multiplied by a third.

With this much…

I really wasn’t going to be defeated by some random enemy.

I was confidently able to say that I was a Fusion Realm martial artist now.

But that’s not the important part right now.

I first had to escape this situation.

Squeeze-!

I enhanced my feet with Qi, and planned to leave this place with Namgung Bi-ah.

Tap.

Roll-

However, something fell from the air and rolled up to me.

What was it now?

“…!!”

I let out a gasp in shock after seeing the sudden object. Namgung Bi-ah had the same reaction.

She even gripped my shoulder tightly with her hand because of how shocked she was.

Her reaction was natural.

The object that rolled up to my foot, was someone’s head.

It had an expression of despair, as it looked like the head was ripped apart without the owner being able to do anything.

Moreover…

Why is this man…?

I knew this face.

This head belonged to none other than the Heavenly Venerable.

It was the old man who killed me, and one of the Three Venerables who was Namgung Bi-ah’s grandfather.

My shock only lasted a moment.

“It took me a bit to find him.”

After all, my body froze like a rock after I heard a new voice that appeared.

It sounded familiar. Moreover, it wasn’t a voice I could ever forget.

How could I forget a voice that was engraved deep into my chest?

A white hand started to reach towards the Demon Gate.

It was a lady’s hand, but it didn’t belong to Namgung Bi-ah.

It was ever so thin, and looked very fragile.

My eyes followed her calm hand automatically.

Her fingertips reached out and grabbed the rift in the air as if she were holding a door.

Craaack-!

Just like that, she closed it with ease.

An unbelievable amount of force and wind exploded out from the process, but it wasn’t a problem for the lady who closed the gate.

Swish…

The difficult situation, was very easily solved by her.

That was how things were to her.

She was able to easily get rid of a mysterious gate known as the Gate of Demons, with how powerful she was.

Just her existence alone, felt unfair to this world.

Creak…

It seemed like it didn’t fully close, as the Demon Gate shook weakly.

The lady had her hand on it, stabilizing the gate so that it wouldn’t open again.

Even during the process, her hand didn’t shake one bit.

Instead, she even seemed amused as she looked inside the gate she was holding.

She had dark black hair that held no other color.

Her dark outfit waved along with the breeze.

I couldn’t say a word as the sight continued to unfold.

Shortly after, the lady’s gaze landed on me.

It felt like my heart was going to stop when I made eye contact with her.

I didn’t feel any special emotion.

Fear.

That was the only emotion I felt looking at her.

The lady showed a smile after staring at me.

Her violet pupils curved along with her eyelids.

I had to bite my lips to prevent them from shaking in this uncomfortable atmosphere.

Just why…?

Why was she here right now?

The lady’s head moved a little as she continued to gaze at me.

I saw her violet eyes that shone ever so beautifully.

She was the ruler of all Demons and the Demonic Cult’s heaven.

She was the absolute whose existence was unfair to this world.

There were many names and titles for her, but everyone called her by one name.

“Nice to meet you.”

A Demon sent down from the heavens.

Heavenly Demon.

“Captain.”

The embodiment of despair was smiling at me.