Chapter 898: You’re still ugly.

I flew for a long time.

Bursting with flames, I flew and flew with all my remaining energy for a long time.

After about an hour had passed like that.

“Hoo… huff….”

Feeling my breath growing rougher and cold sweat starting to break out, I stopped moving.

“…Hooah.”

As soon as I stopped, my breath burst out raggedly.

Maybe it was because I flew like crazy at top speed, but there was a bit of a backlash.

‘This is worse than when I went from Sichuan to Henan?’

Back then, I could fly for two days straight without resting and be relatively okay, but now, after flying for just an hour, my body was exhausted.

Honestly, I think I could move for about a day in this state, but…

‘Still, two days won’t be possible.’

Is it because the energy felt in the air made my body lighter?

The increased power I was using and my failure to control it was the cause.

‘But thanks to that….’

I looked back.

‘It feels like I was going twice my usual speed.’

Just how far did I fly?

I couldn’t even gauge the distance. Even I thought it was a considerable speed.

‘Will this be okay?’

An hour north.

I flew here after listening to Kkureungi, but…

“…”

I still don’t know if this choice was the right one.

It was truly a choice made by instinct.

‘Was it right to run away, leaving Mother behind?’

Choosing Kkureungi instead of Mother back there.

Was this truly the right thing to do?

I’ve been thinking about it constantly on the way here, but…

‘What can I do?’

The incident had already happened.

If I had done something, rather than dwelling on that moment, I had to decide what to do from now on.

I looked to the side.

Cheonma was beside me. Upon checking, I realized I was holding her wrist, so I let go immediately.

“Ah.”

Cheonma reacted to my action. She didn’t seem particularly tired.

‘I ran this distance and she’s not tired?’

Even I was getting exhausted, so why is she so fine?

‘…Is the difference in skill that significant?’

No matter how I looked at it, it felt strange, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things, so I decided to let it slide for the moment.

First, I heightened my senses.

Hoo-woooook—!!!

Spreading rapidly, I scanned in all directions. Fortunately, nothing was detected.

The problem was.

‘I can’t feel anything at all.’

The fact that I couldn’t sense any presence, strangely enough. Normally, I should be able to sense even the insects in the bushes, or the presence of other wild animals.

Nothing at all could be felt.

The colorless silence, where nothing existed, was instead bothersome and alien.

‘What on earth is this?’

The more I looked, the less I understood.

What kind of place is this, anyway?

I knew it wasn’t Zhongyuan, and fundamentally, I knew it wasn’t that world either.

But so what?

‘Where is it, then?’

Where is this place?

That was important to me.

Catching my breath, I recalled the previous situation.

I mean, the situation when Kkureungi and Mother were arguing.

I don’t know why they fought, but the important thing was that Mother appeared here.

‘Mother was also called the owner of the world.’

Mu-a had said so.

The name of that world was definitely…

‘Man-gye.’

The world that Hyulma mentioned and Mu-a mentioned.

I don’t know what kind of place it is, but I suspect it might be similar to some places in Zhongyuan.

This means…

‘A world beyond the Demon Gate.’

This means this is a world that exists beyond the Demon Gate.

‘…Is it normally like this?’

It feels excessively peaceful to be considered so.

It meant it was vastly different compared to the world Mu-a was in.

Back there, it looked like even weeds struggled to grow, let alone trees, but here, there were bushes, flowers, and it was full of life.

‘Of course, I don’t feel any other living creatures, but…’

That part is quite strange, but let’s overlook it for now.

‘This is Mother’s world.’

More precisely, if this is the world where Mother resides as the owner…

“…”

Then what should I do?

My thoughts suddenly stopped as if blocked.

“Shit.”

My head isn’t working well.

It seemed to be because of what happened before.

“…Mother.”

The image of Mother pinning Kkureungi down. It wouldn’t leave my mind.

With beast ears instead of human ears.

Her form back then, with her white tail held high in the air.

It was a presence and appearance that could never be considered human.

‘The strange energy I felt was like that too.’

Even the reason I chose to escape after listening to Kkureungi.

I knew it was Mother, but for some reason, seeing her like that, I felt she was dangerous.

It was dangerous to be there.

I had to escape immediately.

My instincts screamed that.

“Tsk.”

What on earth is going on?

I kept pondering, but nothing came to mind.

“Are you okay?”

Cheonma asked, looking at me.

Without meeting her gaze, I sighed.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But…”

“I’m just a little annoyed.”

I turned my body and looked north again.

‘What should I do from now on?’

I came here because I was told to head north, but…

‘If nothing is detected by my senses, what options do I have?’

For what purpose was I told to go north?

I came here, and it’s just an endless, barren plain.

‘Or do I have to go further?’

Will something appear if I go a little further from here?

But it feels like I’ve come damn far already.

“Damn it.”

I frowned. I needed some information to figure things out.

There’s no method, I don’t understand anything. I just feel increasingly annoyed.

‘Should I just go back now?’

Since it’s come to this, should I return to where Mother was?

If I don’t know anything, maybe that would be better. That thought crossed my mind.

“Ah, screw it.”

No matter what I thought, I couldn’t find an easy answer. Frustrated, I ran my hands through my hair.

What should I do?

How can I get through this damn situation?

Just as I was pondering that.

Sssaaahhh.

“…Hmm?”

I sense something strange.

I immediately looked up at the sky.

At that moment.

Kkiiiiiiiik-!

“Huh, what the fuck?”

Suddenly, the sky tore open, and crimson Demon Gates appeared. Not just one, either.

Dozens.

Dozens of Demon Gates began to fill the air.

“What the hell?”

What kind of fucked-up situation is this now? I narrowed my eyes, raising my guard.

[Found you.]

A deep voice echoed in my ear.

[Found a filthy bastard dragon. Commencing hunt.]

“What?”

Dragon? Hunt?

The moment my face contorted at those words.

[Kuo-aaaaaaaah—!] |

Along with a rough roar, something began pouring out of the Demon Gates.

Thump-! Thump-thump-thump-!!!

[Kuo-aaaaaaaah—!!!] |

‘Monsters?’

What was pouring down endlessly towards the ground where I stood were, surprisingly, monsters.

Monsters filling the ground in an instant.

Looking at them, I narrowed my eyes.

They were all types of monsters I had never seen before.

And furthermore.

‘Their colors are different.’

The monsters’ colors were all unique. Unlike monsters divided into green, cyan, red, and white (綠靑赤白), these all possessed their own individual colors.

Some had gray fur. Some had orange fur, and so on.

They were colors very different from my common sense.

‘Their appearances are also ones I’ve never seen before.’

Most of them had the heads of beasts and the bodies of humans.

While I had often seen beast-like monsters among monsters, this was the first time for this kind of situation.

‘What is this?’

What kind of monsters are those? As I was momentarily flustered by the unfamiliar ones.

[Master’s words were correct.]

Kuuuwoooong—!!! A colossal being fell from the largest crimson Demon Gate.

With the strong impact, dust and dirt erupted in all directions.

[It truly is a dragon.]

Narrowing my eyes against the harsh wind pressure, I looked straight ahead.

[I shall ask. You arrogant and hideous creature.]

My body instinctively reacted to the thick hostility.

Hoo-wooo—!!! Flames swirled around my body. I raised my stance, cloaking myself in fighting spirit.

[How is it that you, who should have gone extinct along with the Dragon Emperors, have appeared here?]

As the wind subsided, the owner of the voice appeared.

First off, it’s huge.

Compared to Elder Iljang, who is already exceptionally tall among humans, it’s easily twice or thrice his size.

Compared to other monsters nearby, it seemed to be a head or two taller.

It was a creature with a muscular body covered in black fur and the head of a cow.

The giant axe it held in its hand. Even that was bigger than me.

What was even more surprising was.

‘It can talk?’

The fact that a monster was speaking human language.

Then again, Mang from the Northern Sea, and Ttolttoli too. They could speak.

‘…Moreover, sensing it, that guy too…’

The dizzying pressure it exuded reminded me that it was by no means a weak being.

If it were a martial artist, it would be at least at the Hwagyeong level.

As for monsters, it felt like the presence of a Hundred-Rank monster.

“What are you?”

As I spoke to it, a puff of air blew out from its nose with a ‘Hooook!’.

Hwa-reureu-reuk!

It was the sound of it spitting fire from its nose.

[I have no obligation to answer a crude thing like you. You shall simply answer my questions.]

“…That cow bastard is talking like a real asshole, isn’t he?”

[If you refuse to answer. It makes no difference.]

Thump-!

It pointed its axe at me.

[Because the outcome will be the same anyway.]

“Hah.”

At those words, I raised my fighting spirit.

Whether it speaks or not, the outcome is the same. That means…

‘It intended to kill me from the start, that’s what this is.’

I lightly stretched my body. At the same time, I scanned my surroundings with my eyes.

There were many of them. At least close to a hundred.

It means they didn’t just bring them along carelessly.

“Even better.”

Seeing such numbers, I lifted the corners of my mouth.

“I was just getting a headache because there was no one to ask questions to.”

Crack. I clenched my fist, applying force.

“You, you can talk pretty well, right? I have quite a few things I need to ask, so if you stumble later, you’ll die.”

[…]

At my words, spoken while raising my energy, the cow bastard snorted again.

[As expected.]

Kuuuwoooong—!!! Its large muscles writhed, and veins bulged.

[Dragons are arrogant.]

“I hear that often.”

With those words, I raised my energy to its maximum.

Hwa-reureu-reuk—!!! Hot azure flames radiated from my entire body. I unleashed them roughly into the surroundings.

Hwaaaaaaaaahhhhhh—!!!

[Kya-reureu-reuk–!!] [Kreu-ah—!!] The monsters caught in the flames let out cries. The monsters around me burned to death without a trace.

Perhaps the only regret is that the number wasn’t that large.

[Tear them apart.]

At the cow bastard’s command, the monsters from all directions charged at me.

Seeing that, I immediately reached out.

Gu-yeom Tae-ryun-ah.

The azure flames spread out in all directions like they were spinning. It was the same as before, but these guys didn’t burn easily and pushed right through the flames.

‘They have high immunity.’

So they’re different from the others.

If so.

Gguk.

I clenched my fist.

The embers that had burst into the air stopped their movement.

Hwa-reureu-reuk—!!! Then, each ember transformed into a Flame Prison.

Dozens of Flame Prisons floating in the sky.

Watching them, I moved my fingers slightly.

Swishhhhhh—!!! The dozens of Flame Prisons spun rapidly. It was the same form as Gu-yeom Tae-ryun-ah.

They expanded their range while rotating.

Kwa-ang-! Kwa-aaaaaaaah—!!! Every time a monster was hit by the rapidly moving Flame Prisons, an explosion occurred.

[Kya-aaaaaaaah—!!] [Kreu-reureuk–!!] The monsters that had withstood the flames earlier couldn’t handle the explosions, exploding and bursting apart. The resulting flames surged towards the ground.

The surroundings instantly turned into a sea of fire.

I still had more than half my power remaining, but this also meant I had killed half of them in a short time.

‘It’s been a while, and it feels pretty good.’

Honestly, it’s quite refreshing.

Since my power itself is specialized for mass slaughter, I guess I’m somewhat of an expert in this area.

Moving the remaining Flame Prisons, I gathered flames in my other hand.

I transformed and reconstructed the shape. What was created was the Flame Prison Star Spear.

Immediately after maximizing its rotational force.

“Hup!”

I fired it with all my might.

The spear flew in a straight line, piercing through monsters until it reached its destination.

It was right where the cow bastard was.

I intended to hit it directly.

But then.

Kwak-!!

Kwa-aaaaaaaah—!!! “Hmm?”

The cow bastard grabbed the incoming Star Spear and crushed it.

An explosion occurred due to the recoil.

“…Is that bastard crazy?”

Staring at the situation in disbelief.

[Unexpected.]

Surprisingly, the cow bastard spoke to me as if nothing had happened.

I wondered if it wasn’t hit at all, but that wasn’t the case.

I saw its arm, which had grabbed the Star Spear, fly off.

It was practically blown off up to the shoulder by the explosion.

However.

Grind-grind-grind-! “…!” Bones and flesh formed on its hand, and soon after, it was perfectly restored.

‘What kind of regeneration is this.’

It was truly absurd regeneration. It was almost similar to when I fought Mang.

[It’s unusual for a young dragon to wield such power so well… It’s quite remarkable.]

“Who are you calling remarkable?”

[It seems I underestimated you. I apologize.]

The creature that had been standing still walked forward. Then, the growling monsters suddenly became quiet as if dead mice.

[I am the Leader.]

“…”

[From now on, I will kill you.]

It was a simple, brutish declaration. But.

Kugugugugugu—!!! The pressure emanating from the cow bastard proved that it wasn’t an empty threat.

‘Damn it.’

The pressure is on a different level than before.

I could tell it was vastly higher than the pressure felt from a Top Ten Master.

‘This is a bit problematic.’

If it comes to this, I think I’ll have to use everything I can.

‘Besides, it’s not alone.’

Facing a guy like that while also handling the remaining power?

That wasn’t good.

If there’s any silver lining, however slight.

‘Cheonma is on my side.’

The fact that Cheonma is by my side. I turned my head as if looking for her.

Cheonma was standing behind me, looking at the sky.

“Hey. Stop just standing there and…”

“It’s here.”

I frowned at Cheonma’s words.

“It’s here.”

“What’s here? Instead of saying that, come help me with this…”

“Something strong has arrived.”

“What?”

What is she really talking about? Following her gaze, I also looked up at the sky.

“…There really is something there?”

There really was something.

Something was floating just below the sky where the moon hung.

What is that? I narrowed my eyes, wondering what it was.

Then, it became a little clearer.

“Huh…?”

Confirming its identity, I uttered a dazed word.

What was floating in the sky was clearly a human.

A human standing with hands clasped behind their back, looking down here with a noble posture.

I couldn’t see clearly, but they looked tall.

They wore white martial arts attire, and seeing their white hair and beard, I knew it was an old man.

Honestly, that wasn’t important.

It wasn’t very important that I saw another human here either.

What was important to me was.

‘That….’

The clothes the old man was wearing. The pattern emblazoned on the chest.

The embroidery depicting flower petals on the pure white martial arts attire is a uniform worn only in one specific place in Zhongyuan.

As I stared blankly at it.

“Kkuh-kuh.”

The old man in the sky chuckled lowly and spoke.

“My, you’re still ugly.”

Along with those words.

The scent of plum blossoms spread to the tip of my nose.