Chapter 344: Comeback (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 344: Comeback (4)
Whoosh!
A tremendous wave of heat washed over the area, only to be quickly soothed by a cooling breeze. To be precise, I had withdrawn my Qi before the heat could spread any further.
Crackle… crackle.
The faint sound of lingering flames reached my ears. Embers still smoldered across the scorched earth.
I steadied my breathing and took stock of my condition.
A bit more than half left.
In the past, using a Secret Art would have drained me completely. But now, even after deploying the Flaming Sphere on top of the Red Heaven technique, I still had over half of my Qi remaining. This was clear proof that my vessel had expanded upon reaching the Fusion Realm, allowing for far more efficient Qi circulation.
My eyes scanned the surroundings.
The black formation still hung ominously in the sky. The small hole I’d torn through it with Red Heaven had already sealed itself shut.
What kind of power is this?
I focused my senses, observing intently, but no answer came to mind. It was strange. It didn’t feel exactly like a formation, nor did it seem like a purely martial technique. Could it be the power of a treasure? That was certainly possible.
I shifted my gaze.
Crack.
The main building of the Heavenly Dragon Academy was on the verge of total collapse. It was barely recognizable as a structure anymore, with half of it having been blown away. It had been ravaged by the explosion of my Flaming Sphere.
…
A cold sweat broke out on my brow as I considered the implications.
They’re not going to ask me for compensation, are they?
Rustle.
I moved forward, stepping over charred branches littering the ground. The epicenter of the explosion was shrouded in dust and debris. I waved a hand, summoning a gust of wind.
Whoosh!
The dust cleared, revealing a massive crater lined with flickering traces of flame. I approached its edge.
A black figure twitched in the center of the crater. It was the Fusion Realm martial artist I had been fighting.
Good. He’s not dead.
Fortunately, he had survived. I hadn’t intended to kill him with that final attack. However, I’d miscalculated slightly, failing to fully control my strength due to my unfamiliarity with this new level of power. His death would have been problematic; I still needed to extract information from him.
“Ugh… Cough… Kugh…”
The old man coughed up blood. It seemed he had managed to evade just enough to protect his vitals, but despite his defensive aura, he was still in terrible shape from the blast.
“…You… bastard…”
His face was half-melted, yet he still managed to glare at me with pure murderous intent.
It wasn’t that he was weak. He was a formidable martial artist. Obviously, anyone who reached the Fusion Realm was powerful. He was the one who had reduced the Qinghai Sword to such a dire state, and I had recognized him as a serious threat the moment I saw him.
There are always differences in strength within the same realm, and this is especially true in the Fusion Realm. The gulf in power between the old man and me was vast.
The reason I had been able to overpower him was simple: Demonic Qi works against Fusion Realm martial artists, too.
My Demonic Qi had managed to infiltrate his body.
…Though I wasn’t in a perfect state myself.
When I fought the assassin from the Hwangbo Clan, he was a recent breakthrough, so infiltrating his body with Demonic Qi hadn’t been difficult. This time was different.
It was close.
Not only did I have to be subtle in deploying my Demonic Qi mid-battle, but breaking through the old man’s defenses was far from easy due to his advanced level. In fact, I might not have succeeded at all if I hadn’t recently overcome my own bottleneck.
This pointed to one conclusion: My Demonic Qi has strengthened since reaching the Fusion Realm.
The Demonic Qi within me had become more potent after my breakthrough.
But was that truly a good thing?
No, it’s not entirely positive.
While it had thankfully secured my victory, it bothered me that my win relied more on the Demonic Qi’s assistance than on my own mastery of this new realm. Furthermore, my body was experiencing recoil from using it.
There’s no pain, but there’s a lingering sensation of toxicity.
My Qi hadn’t yet merged with the Demonic Qi, but it could easily happen if I let my guard down. I didn’t know if it was because of my breakthrough, but the Demonic Qi felt far more venomous than before. What about the cleansing rate of my Gu Flame Wheel Art? I would have to check that later.
For now, I approached the old man.
“What are you?”
“Cough…”
I grabbed him by the hair and forced him to look at me. I felt no respect for the defeated, especially one from the Unorthodox Faction. Then again, I never really viewed anyone from either the Orthodox or Unorthodox factions as fully human.
“Why did you come here?”
“…You bastard…”
I noticed a long, deep scar running across the old man’s neck. A sword wound, by the look of it, and an extremely severe one. Why would a martial artist of his caliber ambush the Heavenly Dragon Academy?
“Are you not going to speak?”
His body trembled at my question. Was it from anger or fear? To me, it didn’t look like fear. That wasn’t good. It meant I’d have to resort to torture to make him talk.
He surely didn’t come alone for this ambush; I need to understand the situation.
I didn’t have time to spare. I honestly didn’t care what happened to most of the Academy’s students,
…But not my people.
I couldn’t let my people end up in danger. My main reason for training endlessly in the Abyss, for pushing to this higher level, was for them. It was for both me and them. Given the chaos, I needed to know what was happening to the others. I couldn’t help but frown at the thought.
Having so many to protect isn’t ideal.
Unlike the solitary plans I’d made at the start of my regression, I now had a web of connections. While I saw this as a good thing—a sign of a life different from my past one—the weight of the future sometimes felt overwhelming.
Time was short.
Should I torture him?
It would be difficult. I lacked the time, and my control over my newfound strength was still imperfect, making precise torture risky. Especially with him teetering on the brink of death.
As I pondered my next move,
“…Heh…heh.”
The old man suddenly let out a low chuckle.
“Why are you laughing?”
Had he lost his mind facing death? That would be inconvenient. I needed information from him before he died.
“…Those are some horrifying eyes.”
“What?”
“Those eyes… they’re wondering how best to kill me… I’ve seen countless bastards with eyes like yours. All of them were from the Unorthodox Faction.”
“And?”
Was he insulting me because of my eyes?
“I buried all of those brats in the ground with my own hands… and now look at me.”
“What are you trying to say? Are you telling me to spare your life out of pity?”
Had he gone senile? He was spouting useless nonsense.
Blaze.
I wreathed my hand in flames. Their color and intensity were markedly different from when I was at the Peak Realm.
The old man spoke dully, his eyes fixed on the fire. “You… are you really a child of the Orthodox Faction?”
“Of course. There isn’t anyone more diligent than me in the Orthodox Faction.”
I was cleaning up scum from the Unorthodox Faction, so naturally, I was Orthodox.
After a moment’s thought, I made my decision.
I will kill him.
I would forgo the torture. Not only was I pressed for time, but he didn’t seem to possess any immediately useful information. It was better to eliminate him now than to waste time. I also sensed an unusually sharp Qi prickling at my senses from among the many I could feel.
I extended my hand.
“I, the Black Dragon, die not to Wi Hyogun, but to a child.”
Black Dragon…?
His words almost gave me pause, but I didn’t stop my motion. Instead, I reached out faster. My hand closed in on the old man’s face.
No—it stopped just short of contact.
“I cannot allow that.”
Rumble.
“…!”
I sensed a sudden shift. I instantly pulled my hand back and leaped away, gathering my Qi and bracing myself completely. My Dantian jolted in shock at the strange energy now radiating from him.
[ …rr…rrr… ]
“You…?”
My eyes widened at the guttural growl that followed. The beast that had lain dormant for so long, in both the real world and the false one, had suddenly awakened.
[ Grr… ]
Its growl was rough and menacing. It was clearly baring its fangs at something.
…Is it because of that?
Its hostility was likely directed at the old man who called himself the Black Dragon.
“Black Dragon, you said?”
The name sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. I was sure I should have recognized someone with such a famous title, and I wondered how I hadn’t identified him earlier, but this wasn’t the time for such thoughts.
“What is that?”
Something was changing within the old man’s body.
“Ku… ughh…”
From the scar on his neck, something began to ooze out. Just watching its wriggling movement was enough to turn my stomach. It looked like a giant worm.
Blaze-!
I gathered flames into my hand. I couldn’t let this continue; it was clearly dangerous. My Qi drained from my Dantian in an instant as I prepared to strike, observing the old man’s transformation.
What is that thing… a Demon?
It didn’t resemble any Demon I had ever seen. A Demon being born from a human? I didn’t know what was happening, but it was definitely nothing good.
I compressed the flames in my hand, preparing to use the Flaming Sphere again. I would incinerate him completely. The thing was slowly taking shape, its appearance utterly repulsive. Moreover, the aura it emitted was toxic and dark, different from the Demonic Qi of ordinary Demons.
Blaze-!
I completed the Flaming Sphere, ready to launch it.
Just as I was about to strike,
[ Grr! ]
Swish-!
“What?”
With a sudden growl from within me, all the Qi vanished from my hand.
“Fuck.”
The beast had controlled my body and dissipated my Qi. It could do that, too? It could command my Qi? Setting that aside, I needed to know why it was interfering now, after being asleep for so long.
“Why are you choosing to interfere after being asleep for this long…!”
Just as I was about to demand an answer,
Screeeech-!
A piercing screech erupted as something ominous fully oozed out of the old man. It moved with startling speed. I tried to summon my Qi to shield myself,
…Huh?
But I couldn’t channel my Qi at all, as if something had blocked it. Had I run out? No, that was impossible. I’d had more than half remaining just moments ago.
The worm-like creature lunged toward me, giving me no time to react. This was bad. Just as I considered trying to muster Qi from another source,
Slash-!
The worm was instantly sliced in two, falling to the ground before me. Then, it melted away and vanished, almost as if the ground itself had absorbed it.
“What the…”
Amid my confusion, I sensed a presence from the center of the crater. When I looked toward the spot where the monster had emerged,
Someone is there.
A figure I’d never seen before was driving a sword into the remnants of the creature. It seemed this person was the one who had saved me from the attack.
But I didn’t catch their presence.
Even with my Qi control compromised, my senses were still sharp. The fact that I hadn’t detected their approach suggested an exceptionally skilled martial artist.
They had white hair that matched their white attire.
S-Screeeech-!
The monster let out a piercing scream, writhing as the sword remained embedded in its body. Where was the sound even coming from?
The figure, who appeared to be a man, moved his hand swiftly in response.
Swish-!
He swung his sword, easily cutting the monster in half. I watched in shock; even while focused, I couldn’t fully follow his movements.
The white-haired man approached the now-helpless creature and extended a hand toward its body. He moved without hesitation, unbothered by its oily, slippery surface.
Then…
“…Huh?”
I saw it—not the man himself, but his shadow, detach from him and begin to coil around the monster.
-Scree… rrgh…
The massive figure was fully enveloped by the shadow. It thrashed briefly, trying to escape, but quickly fell still.
I could only watch in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what was happening.
Sensing my gaze, the white-haired man turned toward me. His eyes were as white as his hair and clothes. Even his skin was pale white. It made me wonder if he was even human. His mysterious appearance held my stare.
“Are you done watching?” the man asked, his gaze fixed on me.
His voice was rougher than I expected, and I flinched at its sound.
“…Who are you?”
He may have saved me, but I couldn’t let my guard down. I didn’t know who he was. I had to stay prepared.
As I spoke, my body tense, the man slowly opened his mouth to respond.
Just as he was about to speak,
Woong…
“What?”
I turned, sensing an aura from behind me. The sensation was coming from the mountain. My body trembled involuntarily. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead.
“…Why?”
Without realizing it, I channeled my Qi and leaped away from the man and the monster. It was an abrupt move, but the white-haired man made no attempt to stop me.
I increased my pace. There was only one reason for such urgency.
From the mountain, I felt a sensation I both despised and recognized—a feeling I’d hoped never to experience again.
No… it can’t be.
I wanted to deny it, but my body already knew the answer. There was no doubt.
Coming from the mountain, I felt the unmistakable Demonic Qi of the Heavenly Demon.