Chapter 498: Side Story 18 Baek Sang-ah’s Melancholy

Galaxy Sword.

The moment the contradictory technique that should never have existed was brought into reality, a tremendous recoil struck Baek Sang-ah’s entire body.

“Kuup!”

Even with the Phoenix’s protection, her blood and qi reversed and blood spurted from her mouth.

“Huff! Huff! Cough!”

Even as she vomited blood, Baek Sang-ah desperately slammed her head against the ground to remain conscious.

Thud! Thud!

A strong instinct told her that if she lost consciousness here, she would never awaken again.

‘It hurts… it’s unbearable…….’

Though she had long prided herself on her tolerance for pain, this pain that seemed to tear apart her soul at its very foundation was beyond anything she could endure.

Panting for breath, she quietly whispered someone’s name.

“So… Cheon.”

It felt like he might suddenly appear behind her and say, “You called?”

But instead—

“You… damn mutt…….”

“……!”

What reached her ears wasn’t So Cheon’s voice, but a curse-filled, rage-laden snarl.

The Yeonggwi, split in half, was glaring at her, desperately struggling to reattach its body.

“You think I’ll just… quietly fall asleep like this?”

“…You’re not falling asleep.”

Baek Sang-ah kindly corrected the Yeonggwi’s delusion.

“You’re dying.”

“……!!”

The torn half of its face twisted in agony.

No matter how close to death they came, beings like that wouldn’t normally die.

They would simply slumber and rise again when the time came.

Though the complete annihilation of Heavenly Evil had left it fearing this time might truly be permanent, the mindset between a deep sleep and true death was still entirely different.

“Bull… shit!”

Fwoosh!

The Yeonggwi’s form collapsed, and its mass of flesh began to swell grotesquely.

It was attempting to shed its human form and return to its original body.

—I won’t die like this!

Even if it had been struck from behind by the Phoenix, this place was still brimming with spiritual energy for the Phoenix’s resurrection.

If it absorbed all that spiritual energy, it could easily buy enough time before Eungnyong arrived.

However—

—……Huh?

In the midst of reverting to its true form, the Yeonggwi’s movements came to an abrupt halt.

‘My regeneration… is…….’

It wasn’t regenerating.

To be precise, a power that had seeped into the severed wound was preventing it from reverting to its original form.

At some point, the Yeonggwi realized that the one standing before it wasn’t Baek Sang-ah anymore.

It was a figure completely wrapped in bandages, their gender indiscernible.

One peculiar thing stood out—the figure wore a judge’s robe, black in color, something rarely seen.

The moment it laid eyes on him, the Yeonggwi realized: this man was the cause of its demise.

—You…!

The Yeonggwi desperately reached out to grab him.

But before it could, the energy of the Galaxy Sword spread from the severed wound, beginning to bind the Yeonggwi’s entire body.

Shrrk!

‘He’ lifted his gaze.

In the same awkward voice as before, he spoke:

—Even Heavenly Evil has perished. In the era that follows, you must not taint the waters.

—Nonsense!

The grotesque lump of flesh that was the Yeonggwi roared back.

—A pitiful lingering thought dares…!

A high-level spellcaster could easily embed their thoughts or residual will into another’s energy or body.

And such a thought, no matter how vivid, was just that—a thought.

If left alone, it would eventually fade away without leaving any physical impact.

But—

—Do I truly look like just a thought to you?

Flinch!

At that question, the Yeonggwi hesitated.

Indeed, it had seemed like just a lingering will… yet somehow, it didn’t feel like empty bravado.

That moment of hesitation shattered the Yeonggwi’s focus.

“Guh!”

The instant it realized it had made an irreversible mistake—

Shrrk! Shrrrrk!

The Galaxy Sword’s Death Qi spread and bound its entire body.

It was being dragged—

Not to the Celestial Realm, where their story had begun, but to the Underworld—where their story ended.

Grin!

A clear smile formed on the lips wrapped in bandages—though the expression itself was unreadable.

—You are the last. Once you’re gone, I can entrust the rest with peace of mind.

—N-no!

Though the Yeonggwi thrashed in desperation, her struggles were now nothing more than futile resistance.

And soon, her existence was completely erased from the world.

***

“…Ah.”

Baek Sang-ah blankly stared ahead.

The Yeonggwi’s form had vanished as if it had been consumed by something.

‘What… was that just now?’

If she wasn’t mistaken, the Yeonggwi had been… conversing with someone.

But that someone no longer existed in this world.

She chose not to dwell on the past.

Her past experiences had taught her that lingering on what couldn’t be solved would only harm herself in the end.

“Phew!”

Though it wasn’t over yet, she sat down, planting her butt on the ground, hoping to rest even just a little.

‘I was really lucky.’

The fusion of Celestial True Qi and Killing King’s True Qi—

The result was just like Sangcheongi, the Resonance Qi formed between her and So Cheon—an outcome that even the caster herself could not have predicted.

‘Can I… use that again?’

She stared seriously at the sword body sprawled on the ground.

In the final moment of perfecting the Galaxy Sword, she had pierced through the wall of the Transcendent Demon Realm.

But even so, she had no confidence she could use that same Galaxy Sword again, even if her body fully recovered.

This was a martial current of a different dimension. No, it couldn’t even be called a martial current.

‘No. Now’s not the time to think too deeply.’

The enemy, Eungnyong, still remained.

And she still worried about So Cheon’s safety.

Now was the time to recover her strength however she could and move forward—not the time to waste energy overcomplicating things.

“You were magnificent, Benefactor.”

Just then, someone landed in front of her.

A woman with thick, flowing red hair.

It was the Phoenix’s flame avatar, whom she had encountered once before.

“……”

Noticing Baek Sang-ah’s guarded expression, the Phoenix smiled faintly and reached out a hand.

“You need not worry. For beings like us, a contract is as precious as life. Besides, I will soon…”

“…?”

The Phoenix trailed off, stepping closer to place her palm atop Baek Sang-ah’s Baekhwehyeol.

Too drained to resist, Baek Sang-ah let her have her crown without protest.

And then—

Tsssss!

“You…”

As the throbbing headache subsided and a refreshing energy descended from the top of her head, Baek Sang-ah’s eyes widened.

This power was far from ordinary.

It was closer to temporal regression than mere recovery.

To spend such power on another meant… the Phoenix’s own resurrection was—

“I told you, didn’t I? I choose… to be buried in history.”

The Phoenix’s expression showed not even a trace of regret.

“Now, only the very last gateway remains. The help I can offer is crude at best, but please… protect him…”

The Phoenix couldn’t finish her sentence.

Suddenly, the space behind her collapsed.

From the broken space, a massive golden claw slashed the exact spot where the Phoenix had stood.

Craaaack!

“……!”

In an instant, the Phoenix’s body was swept away by the claw and vanished.

Baek Sang-ah instinctively knew—the Phoenix’s body had been destroyed by that one blow.

Yet strangely, the sound of her body breaking didn’t sound like flesh being torn apart—it sounded like an egg cracking.

“…How disappointing.”

It wasn’t a spiritual voice—it was spoken aloud.

Yet in that one utterance was the overwhelming presence of someone who towered above all.

“That you, of all beings, would betray us.”

Unconsciously, Baek Sang-ah lifted her head toward the sky.

There, releasing a pressure far beyond what she’d seen before, floated Eungnyong.

Eungnyong opened his mouth, speaking toward a distant point.

“To resurrect you, I’ll be the one using the resources. Though it seems there’s not much left.”

—Eu…ngnyong.

Baek Sang-ah’s gaze followed Eungnyong’s.

There, among the shattered remains of an egg, lay a blood-drenched red bird, no bigger than a human child.

No doubt about it—that was the Phoenix’s true form.

“To circumvent the gold restriction, you tried this and that… But it ends here.”

Descending, Eungnyong grabbed the Phoenix’s slender neck and lifted her.

—Eungnyong… Please… let go of that regret…

“Nonsense. This isn’t regret—it’s righteousness.”

Eungnyong stared down at the Phoenix’s true form with eyes full of disgust.

“Almost no power remains. Did you exhaust everything striking the Yeonggwi from behind?”

Crack! Craaack!

The Phoenix’s blood-soaked body rapidly lost its vitality.

Eungnyong was draining what little life force she had left.

Baek Sang-ah could only stare blankly at the fearsome pressure radiating from Eungnyong.

They say even a dog has strength in its own home—but the Eungnyong she now faced was utterly different from the one outside.

‘I can’t win…’

Even if her body were in perfect shape, she doubted she could handle this.

What if she fought together with So Cheon?

It still seemed hopeless.

The only person who could possibly confront what stood before her… was Jin Yeomyung.

Her instincts screamed it.

‘No.’

Baek Sang-ah slowly rose to her feet.

She had always known this would be difficult.

And once she had spoken her resolve, she would take responsibility—no matter what.

That was the identity of Baek Sang-ah, and the Alliance Leader of the Murim.

Soon, Eungnyong, having tossed aside the now truly lifeless Phoenix, turned his gaze toward her.

“I thought you’d interfere midway… but surprisingly, you’re behaving.”

“……”

“With someone like you, I’m sure you can sense it immediately—there’s an unbridgeable gap between us now.”

Eungnyong slowly walked toward her.

“If you stay still, I’ll let you go without pain.”

Thanks to the Phoenix’s grace, she had recovered a bit, but still nowhere near a state fit for battle.

Using the Galaxy Sword again was out of the question.

However.

Even so.

Baek Sang-ah raised her sword.

“…Foolish.”

Eungnyong frowned slightly.

In her current state, it would take only three seconds of light effort to turn her into a lump of meat.

“Even what little mobility you had is nearly sealed. How do you plan to fight me?”

At some point, the massive claw reappeared behind Eungnyong.

Whether it was a spell or a piece of his true body, Baek Sang-ah couldn’t tell—but she knew she couldn’t withstand that claw.

Taking a short breath to steady herself, she spoke.

“Did you know something?”

“What?”

Eungnyong’s eyes narrowed.

It was an obvious ploy to buy time, but even so, he raised his awareness cautiously.

“We’re assassins… but we’ve rarely ever acted like assassins.”

“And what’s your point?”

“So this once—we thought we’d actually act like assassins and get an easy kill.”

“……”

Eungnyong frowned as he repeated her words in his head.

That couldn’t be.

He had come here after confirming that they were being overwhelmed by the subordinates he had unleashed.

Was she referring to the Palace?

But the Palace was still struggling against Kirin.

Then—

Shiver!

The beastly instincts of a Divine Beast issued a dire warning.

Eungnyong reflexively turned his head.

And there—

Stood So Cheon, drenched in blood, already within reach.

And then—

Thuck!

So Cheon’s dagger, tinged with pitch-black light, pierced straight through Eungnyong’s throat.

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