Chapter 290: Cheon Yujeong (3)

“…….”

“…….”

A heavy silence fell.

—So, in the end, you’re determined to reject me?

Cheon Yujeong’s outstretched hand dropped.

Her face twisted again into that vicious expression she had worn before.

—In that case, like that old man outside, I have no choice but to force a leash on you.

It was coming.

The binding spell of Cheon Yujeong, which was closer to sorcery than to the usual attacks of a martial artist.

The darkness that filled the surroundings rushed toward me like a cloud, trying to bind my body.

However—

At the same time, something sleeping in my embrace began to emit light.

Snap!

—…!

That darkness, like shattered glass, could no longer invade my body and scattered away.

—…How?

Cheon Yujeong immediately realized the cause.

She glared at my chest and shouted.

—You used the power of an external object!

Just as she said, the artifact that had been quietly lying in my possession all this time had activated, blocking Cheon Yujeong’s technique.

—Do you have no pride as a martial artist?!

At her words, I let out a snort.

“That’s not something you should be saying, Lady.”

Of all people, she was the last one qualified to say that, having built her power with borrowed strength like a castle of sand.

Clicking my tongue, I lectured her.

“It’s prejudice to think a martial artist shouldn’t rely on a weapon. In fact, the stronger you get, the more you need the right equipment to match your level.”

Back in my day, if you didn’t have at least a legendary or myth-grade weapon, people would treat you like a fool!

—Stop spouting nonsense!

“I’m serious.”

Regardless, I took advantage of her momentary rage to widen the distance between us.

And without delay, I gathered my strength to the fullest.

Heart Sword – Heaven-Shattering Demon-Slaying Slash

The sword of will cut through the darkness as it surged forward.

But the target of my Heaven-Shattering Demon-Slaying Slash wasn’t Cheon Yujeong herself.

It was aimed beyond her head, at a massive sphere hidden deep in the darkness.

—…What is this?!

Cheon Yujeong, utterly shocked, reached out her hand.

In an instant, she gathered the surrounding darkness and formed a barrier to block the advancing Heaven-Shattering Demon-Slaying Slash.

Boom!

The wall of darkness collided with my attack, canceling each other out.

I clicked my tongue at the sight.

“…What ridiculous strength.”

I had used nearly eighty percent of my power, and yet she blocked it so easily!

That wall of darkness had enough potential to crush someone like Gam Unbi without effort.

However, having been caught off guard, Cheon Yujeong gritted her teeth and glared at me.

—So you knew from the start? That I was using such a cheap trick?

“I had a hunch the moment I saw you.”

If the ritual had succeeded perfectly, she wouldn’t have looked like this.

No matter how great her vessel might be, someone who had only reached the peak level couldn’t possibly forge a body capable of withstanding a Transcendent Demon Realm strike in just half a day.

Even if she had given up being human!

“You can’t leave this space. You’re being affected by someone else’s form.”

—……

“If you’re drawing power from something external, it explains everything.”

Just as I said.

There it was—beyond her—floating in the darkness, the sealed black sphere that contained Lord Baek Cheong, Ju Baek Ryeo.

Six shards orbited that sphere, generating near-infinite power.

Of course, the fact that she could use that power without self-destruction meant Cheon Yujeong’s potential deserved to be reevaluated.

But still, the ritual hadn’t been completed.

If I wanted to find a chance to win, I had no choice but to exploit that gap.

—I thought I hid it well enough, but you really are too sharp.

She bared her teeth in frustration.

—But even so, nothing changes. At least within this space, there’s no one who can oppose me.

She was probably right.

No matter how many came, in her current state, they would all just become sacrifices.

But there was one thing Cheon Yujeong had overlooked.

It sounded self-congratulatory, but it was the fact that her opponent was me.

Pointing my sword at her, I spoke.

“Do you realize how many monsters like you I’ve faced?”

—……

“I’ve seen countless unworthy people obtain power beyond their station. And they all had something in common.”

That was, when wielding unfamiliar power, their attack patterns became extremely simple.

—And what is that…

I didn’t wait for her to finish speaking and quickly lunged forward.

—…You bastard!

Enraged, Cheon Yujeong lashed out once again with the tail extending from her back.

‘Cheon Yujeong’s primary means of attack: the tail behind her, and the unidentified darkness filling this space with physical force.’

Fwoosh!

Flames erupted from the blade of my True Star Sword.

But this wasn’t the usual black flame of the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art or the Ten Heavenly Record Demonic Sword.

It was a radiant blade shimmering with golden light!

Flinch!

Realizing the danger of that sword a moment too late, Cheon Yujeong hastily tried to withdraw her tail… but it was too late.

The golden blade mercilessly severed her six tails.

—Kyaaaaah!

Cheon Yujeong let out a beastly, vicious scream as her tails were sliced off in an instant.

—It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! What is that?! What the hell is that thing?!

Her pupils stretched horizontally as she howled in agony.

If it were the usual Cheon Yujeong, she would have recognized it immediately. Had her senses and even her judgment dulled that much?

“If you were truly a member of our Cult, you would know this. The secret art of the Pa Clan, which cuts down all internal energy.”

—……!!

Only then did Cheon Yujeong understand what I had just said, her face twisting in shock.

One of the greatest secret techniques of the Pa Clan—Holy Saber!

—You’ve mastered even the Pa Clan’s Holy Blade after the Illusion Clan’s techniques? When the hell did you learn that?!

This technique, personally passed down by Pa Gooncheong, had the reverse qi ability to burn willpower and dismantle qi circulation.

While it was somewhat usable even at peak level by those who could handle willpower, its true value only fully revealed itself upon reaching the Transcendent Demon Realm.

Still writhing in pain, Cheon Yujeong opened her pitch-black eyes wide and shouted at me.

—No matter how great the Pa Clan’s secret art is, it’s still a human technique! Do you really think it can harm me?!

“……”

…What?

Her tone had just changed all of a sudden.

I felt a strange sense of unease for a moment but soon shook it off.

“This may be a human technique, but it wasn’t made to target humans.”

—What?

“It’s a ‘solution’ crafted by a disciple who dedicated their life to surpassing their master—someone no different from a transcendent.”

Ma Seoyeon’s Demonic Blade.

Yu Jeon’s Ten Heavenly Record Demonic Sword.

Jin Gwanchun’s True Holy Deity.

The disciples of the Heavenly Demon Founder had all crafted their own answers over a lifetime to surpass their master.

Naturally, Pa Gooncheong, one of his disciples, was no exception.

Holy Demon Heaven-Shocking Blade.

This was Pa Gooncheong’s answer to surpass the Heavenly Demonic Divine Art.

‘Though burning willpower makes it far from a safe technique…’

I couldn’t deny that, in this situation, it was the most effective move against Cheon Yujeong.

—How dare you, how dare you! A mere mortal causing me this much pain?!

Enraged, Cheon Yujeong began unleashing her full strength.

It seemed she had given up on trying to subdue me and instead gathered the surrounding darkness to crush me entirely.

Darkness, shaped like a massive cloud, surged in from all directions.

I recognized the phenomenon with shock.

‘The space is warping!’

Desperately moving my feet, I dodged the encroaching darkness.

It was similar to Ma Seoyeon’s Blood Sea Rampage, where attacks poured in from all sides.

The only saving grace was that, unlike Blood Sea Rampage, it didn’t include meticulous techniques to seal off escape routes.

However, unlike Blood Sea Rampage, which I could break through using Asura God, just touching that darkness would deal fatal damage.

Even brushing it with my arm would crush the limb into a pulp of blood.

Unless I had reached the level of True Holy Deity, as Jin Gwanchun had mentioned regarding Asura God, taking it head-on would be suicide.

—You dare to dodge me?!

Instead, Cheon Yujeong relentlessly pressed me with sheer power.

And the more strength she drew upon, the more I could hear someone’s agonizing screams in the distance.

—Aaaagh! Aaaaargh!

There was no doubt it was Lord Baek Cheong.

‘I can’t drag this out any longer.’

If I delayed any further, Lord Baek Cheong’s consciousness would vanish, and she would become nothing more than a tool supplying power to Cheon Yujeong.

I stared at Cheon Yujeong, who was furiously swinging the darkness.

‘I knew it… there’s no way to finish this without causing harm.’

After all, she wielded the Heavenly Demon Founder’s power.

Moreover, as time passed, Cheon Yujeong was clearly becoming more adept at controlling that power.

If that continued, even the slim chance I had would disappear.

‘No choice, then.’

I had no choice but to risk everything before it was too late!

Cheon Yujeong glared with eyes full of madness at the man who stubbornly rejected her until the end.

‘Why… why… why?! Why do you keep rejecting me?!’

This was different from the past, when she simply craved to surpass Cheon Yura.

Unlike the lowly obsession of the past, this time, she genuinely wanted him to stay by her side.

Since before she could even remember, she had been thrown into the barren heart of the Cheon Clan.

Over time, she had begun to sense that someone had been secretly taking care of her.

Especially whenever she witnessed other children, in situations similar to hers, dying from poisoning or assassination, that suspicion had grown into near certainty.

However.

Even so.

How could a child possibly understand unseen kindness and affection?

In her life, there had never been such a thing as a companion.

The Cheon Clan’s true-blooded scum who entered adolescence used to ramble about love, but to her, the so-called love and affection they spoke of were nothing but hypocrisy and playthings for the privileged.

To the woman named Cheon Yujeong, love was something she neither understood nor wanted to understand.

However.

When she saw someone who threw away everything for the sake of others, she was struck by an overwhelming shock.

A mad devotion that ruthlessly rejected every temptation, resembling that of a seeker.

The moment she confirmed that his devotion was not deception but truth, he became a precious treasure she wanted to possess no matter the cost.

Especially after the betrayal of a confidant she had mistakenly believed was in the same position as herself, she had begun to crave him like a lunatic suffering from a mental disorder.

Jealous. Maddeningly jealous.

She had always hated Cheon Yura, but seeing him now, she hated her even more.

She wanted him.

If only she could see those eyes looking at her for a lifetime.

If it meant that, she was willing to give up everything.

But no matter what she did, he would not come to her.

No matter what she offered, no matter what temptation she tried, he remained immovable.

His unyielding stance infuriated her to the point of madness.

‘Rather than give such a treasure to someone like Cheon Yura!’

She finally began to understand the twisted logic that if she couldn’t have him, she would destroy him.

A mindset that those who stood at the top naturally came to realize, but one she had never experienced because there had never been anyone she truly wanted to possess with sincerity.

Chzzzz!

The darkness gathered, forming the shape of a massive hand.

As she fought Jin Yeomyung, she began to slowly grasp how to apply her power.

No, it felt as if ‘someone’ was forcibly awakening her, as if she had been meant to wield it this way all along.

Flash!

Jin Yeomyung charged toward her, the Holy Saber blazing in his grip, aiming for her throat!

—Jin. Yeo. Myung!

With a savage roar, she swung six arms made of darkness.

An attack far more powerful and solid than her fox tails.

Whack!

In an instant, Jin Yeomyung spat blood and was thrown back, Holy Saber or not.

Not stopping there, Cheon Yujeong extended a dark arm to grab Jin Yeomyung’s entire body, as if to crush him completely.

Staring into his eyes, she pressed him to make his choice.

—Now, swear it. Say you’ll abandon Cheon Yura. If you want to live, say it!

Jin Yeomyung, lifting his head weakly, gave a slight smile.

“Sorry… but… I can’t do that.”

—You… to the very end!!

“And… this is the last.”

…Shiver!

The moment Cheon Yujeong saw Jin Yeomyung’s triumphant smile, an unexplainable chill crawled up her spine.

Realizing her life was in danger, she tried to crush him completely.

“True Star Sword, activate.”

—……!!!

Finally, the True Star Sword, one of the three great treasures of the Illusion Clan that I had preserved until now.

As its true power fully activated—

The black sphere containing Lord Baek Cheong in the distance—

Was cleanly split in two.

—Aaaaaaaaargh!!

—■■■■■■■!!!

At that moment, both Cheon Yujeong and ‘something’ hidden deep inside her screamed in unison.

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