Listen while Reading: Yagyu Sword Chronicles And Open the Gates of Hell

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“{Demonic Cursed Seal Arts}: {Demonic Volcanic Eruption of Purgatory}!”

The crystallization of Hatred, Sorrow, Frenzy, and Frustration given form, embodying the essence I replicated from those Death Apostles, without using any skill nor even their help.

Only my visualization, and what I felt was the closest thing to their truest “essence,” that’s all I needed.

Everything else was discarded, creating an army of dozens of demons made of crystals that emerged from my erupting aura.

I couldn’t help but create an army again; my bad.

“Anna! You’re overdoing it now, showing off to your master like THAT!”

Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon managed to get through my army of Inner Demons, breaking through their bodies with his kicks and bare hands, sometimes using his own wings as a secondary pair of legs.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

CRAAASH!

His body was overflowing with the power of several Demonic Cursed Seals at once, all combined into his Aura, overflowing with several dark colors.

“It’s honestly impressive… but not enough!”

FLASH!

With a single step into the skies, he reached me once more, and the first thing he did was kick me in the stomach with all his force.

BAAAM!

“Ugh?!”

I quickly resisted the surge of agony that even bypassed the pain-dulling effects of the cursed seals, making me realize that their power could counter each other.

And with enough power, even cancel each other!

FLASH!

With that punch alone, I felt my aura breaking apart and disappearing, and all my Demonic Seals I had activated sealing themselves again.

“W-What did you…?!”

“Heh! Impressive, right?”

He raised his hand, overflowing with dark and demonic ki, until I saw a massive hand, the gigantic hand of a demonic, Buddha-like crow with several wings, arms, and three heads.

“You saw my “Record Self” use this technique, right? Now you’ll be able to see it on your own! I wonder, can you go against this, my foolish disciple?!”

“That’s…!”

“{Heavenly Cursed Seal Arts}: {Diabolical Incarnation of the Seven Hells: King Yanma}!”

King Yanma, the Constellation that governs the Seven Hells, or Naraka, that are shared between all Murim worldlines.

It was said that he was the very first Heavenly Demon that existed, and through that small enlightenment I saw upon the awakening of the golden dragon fist, I was able to see it at first hand.

However, this crow didn’t create his true image, but what he believed he looked like, to his own image, like the selfish bastard he was.

I faced the King of the Seven Hells with a smile.

I can’t believe it.

This damn crow has infected me with his insanity.

“BRING IT ON!”

With a roar, I faced King Yanma himself. I restricted all my energies, even cosmic energy, and relied purely on my own Ki, my physical body’s stats, and the cursed seals.

Because the only path to growth is by limiting oneself and finding new ways, paths, and powers within already existing abilities.

That is the only way I’ll grow even further!

The massive fists of Yin Yanma rushed down as my master swung down his hand, enormous enough to blast entire mountains with a mere touch.

BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM!

The fists reached me as I furiously unleashed several barriers of pure Ki and nothing else, trying to resist the immense power.

Crack, crack…!

However, the barriers shattered instantly, one after another.

CRASH!

The searing flames of King Yanma’s Seven Hells engulfed me completely, as my skin started to burn.

“UUAAAAGGGHHH!”

Agonizing pain encompassed me entirely as I screamed.

This wasn’t training; this wasn’t slowly getting somewhere.

This was outright torture.

And all so I could get to his level as quickly as possible.

Something utterly impossible.

The agony I felt seemed never-ending.

If this continued, if I didn’t use my other abilities…

Would I be reduced to cinders?

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Pain…

Wait.

“T-That’s… right!”

As my skin turned red and then black while I burned in agony, as I saw my hair disappear into ashes, and as my clothes and everything I wore burned away as well.

As my physical body alone resisted this agonizing hellhole, I became one with it.

The last Seal was that one sensation all along.

“PAIN!”

The most primordial negative sensation in every world, all across the cosmos.

The pain of being hurt, the pain of being heartbroken, the pain of feeling hunger, the pain of losing those you love, the pain of hating yourself, the pain of hatred, the pain of frustration, the pain of sorrow…

Everything, at the end, came from it.

This is my master’s…

Last Seal!

FLUOSH!

I suddenly felt the flames wrapping around my body, embracing me.

The pain remained; it was more agonizing than anything I’ve ever experienced.

Yet at the same time, they felt like something… I had overcome.

I had comprehended that everything came from pain, and that pain was the origin of all of men’s… no, of all living beings’ problems.

We work hard, so we don’t want to go through pain.

We love, so we don’t go through pain.

We rest so we don’t go through pain.

We eat so we don’t go through pain.

We desire to live so much because dying is painful.

Yet we all die, and we all feel pain.

Be it psychological or physical.

It’s a primeval force that exists within every corner of the universe where there is a living being.

“It’s really painful.”

FLAAASH!

The flames embraced me, no longer burning them as I absorbed them into my body.

Several black and dark red tattoos surged across my calcified skin.

Rapidly shaping around my chest, quickly becoming something, absorbing it all.

All the pain I felt was absorbed, and miraculously, the damage I took was eaten away.

All the pain I went through, it became the “ingredient” for this last seal.

My body, as it was drained of its pain, recovered back before I was burned.

Even my hair regrew anew.

The eyes that popped up as they burned and melted away also regrew.

All my senses came back, as the darkness of endless agony that encompassed me now became my power.

“When you go through all the pain in the world, accept it, embrace it, and use it against those that inflicted it upon you, you will begin your journey across Ascension.”

“Ah!”

I looked up into the skies; my master smiled warmly.

“Well done, Anna.”

And then all the tattoos gathered within my chest, my heart.

It became a single tattoo, resembling a single Chinese word.

PAIN.

[Through the arduous trial you’ve experienced, you have managed to reach the last stage of the Demonic Cursed Seal Cultivation, forging your seventh and last Seal!]

[You have successfully created the {Seventh Demonic Cursed Seal: Pain}!]

[Every time you go through Pain, it’ll accumulate within your body; the more Pain you go through and the more agonizing your wounds are, both physiologically and physically, the more power you’ll accumulated.]

[When activating this Seal, you will absorb all the pain you’ve gone through; if enough Pain is absorbed, you can even recover from lethal wounds, and the pain you go through will enhance your power temporarily while also increasing your power permanently by a small percentage each time.]

[By activating all other Seals together with the Seventh Seal, you will be able to embody the {True Cursed Demonic Seal Aura} and shape it to your will.]

[The [Seven Demonic Cursed Seals Arts (7/7): Tier 5] Martial Arts has reached Tier 6!]

[The Power of all Seven Demonic Cursed Seals has been increased greatly.]

[The Ki Energy cost of using these Seals has been reduced lightly.]

It was so simple… Yet it took me a while to comprehend.

“Master, you’re one sadistic piece of shit, aren’t you?”

“Hah! Watch your mouth, you damn brat… Because we are not done yet!”

King Yanma remained behind him, exuding from his Aura.

I have to surpass this, or this fight will continue until I fall unconscious and lose.

And if I lose… he will no longer be my master.

I simply cannot lose.

“I’ll show you that my Pain is not small, master,” I said, as my Cursed Seals activated one after another. “Although yours is much greater than mine. I possess something called Empathy, a terrifying power when you can embody Pain into Power. Did you know?”

“Hah?!” he smiled viciously, squinting his eyes. “Empathy? A useless emotion! The only pain I care about is my own pain!”

“Not at all…”

I recalled the Heavenly Empress smile, her radiance, her charisma, her strength, and her endless…

Empathy.

Yes, although I will not use Heart of Hope, it doesn’t mean I won’t carry her within my techniques.

She is also my inspiration.

I saw her story, her past, her pain.

And her pain, I can feel it too; I can imagine it.

This is Empathy.

The pain of countless characters across the novel, each one more agonizing than the other.

The pain of those that died, the pain of my brother as he went through hell over and over again.

So much pain that it broke him until he became nothing but a husk of his former self.

His pain, my beloved brother’s agony.

It will also become my power.

Reader grants me the innate power to recall with extremely good memory all of the novel.

This means I can reread it over and over again within my mind.

The emotions of these characters, their pain, their suffering, their countless trials.

I relive it within my mind, over and over and over and over again.

And through the power of Empathy.

I replicate it and turn it into my own pain as well.

“Prepare yourself, my disciple… This is our last round!”

King Yanma moved according to my master’s movements, like an immense puppet of tremendous and unsurpassable power.

His fists came down towards me again; this time, I won’t just take them.

And I won’t try to defend either.

I will go fully into the offensive!

“{Seventh Seal Release: Pain}”

RUMBLE!

All the Pain of these people I love, it was imbued into my body at once.

My Aura transformed, constantly shaping.

The faces of these characters, I saw them.

Visions of these scenes I read countless times, that I reread and reread.

Henrietta dying.

Baihe dying.

Annabelle dying.

Kevin dying.

Earth being destroyed.

And my brother’s endless, silent cry.

“T-That’s…”

Master’s crimson eyes opened wide within that split second it took for his technique to reach me.

This is like Myriad Self, but only of the pain I absorb and embody.

“{Cursed Demonic Seal Arts}: {Primeval Aura of Empathy}”

FLAAASH!

The Aura of Empathy erupted into the skies, the never-ending tale of pain and agony, of the death of all those I love.

Of their pain and their agony.

And of a man’s endless path towards freedom.

Towards liberation.

And towards…

Towards trying to live up to everyone’s expectations.

For all those that sacrificed themselves for him.

For all those that died by his hands.

Images, visions appeared everywhere.

My brother, Henrietta, Baihe, Kevin, Annabelle, the Chimeras, the Death Apostles, and countless other monsters, foes, and friends of the future.

“What is this?!”

Master couldn’t understand anymore.

Of course not.

I took his technique and twisted it upside down.

I have completely rewritten it.

And I’ve made it my own.

What is this you ask?

This is…

“{The Tale Of The Lonely Man That Sought Freedom}”

Their pain, their agony, their suffering, their tears, it all became power for me, shaping into dozens—no, hundreds—of enormous fists.

You say you’ve suffered everything in the world?

Don’t make me laugh…

BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!

King Yanma’s fists clashed against my own Aura’s fists.

Explosions and eruptions of Pain Flames echoed everywhere, accompanied by Agony Frost and endless Suffering Lava.

It covered King Yanma completely.

He attempted to use his Flames of Seven Hells to burn it all.

It seemingly worked, as my elements were overcome.

Yet…

I simply had to improvise.

“{The Tale Of The Lonely Man That Sought Freedom Echo}: {The Lonely Pinnacle}”

FLASH!

My Aura then transformed, suddenly resembling an endless darkness, the void of emptiness, and a throne sitting in there.

This is when my brother found freedom.

When he reached the lonely pinnacle.

And realized that everything he loved and everything he cared for.

Was gone…

He sat there alone; he could no longer cry; he could no longer scream.

He had cried every tear he had, he had cried every voice he possessed, and he couldn’t scream; he was mute.

“Ahh…”

He looked at the sky.

“Anna…”

And the novel ended when he said my name.

Yes.

This was the ending.

Why?

Because I couldn’t accompany him to the pinnacle.

I died.

The Aura transformed, becoming an endless void.

King Yanma’s flames… and his entire structure, fell apart.

The Void, born from my brother’s Ultimate Pain, the Emptiness he felt, consumed everything.

“T-This is…?! Hahaha… HAHAHA!”

My master smiled in fascination and then started to cry.

“This is beautiful…”

He was consumed by the emptiness.

“The ultimate pain!”

And as the void engulfed him completely, our battle came to an end.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep