Chapter 444: A Twist (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 444: A Twist (2)
The oppressive heat saturating the room began to stifle my breath.
Even while holding back my true strength and not circulating my Qi to its fullest, this sweltering atmosphere was challenging for a martial artist of the Fusion Realm like myself. As his flames dominated the space, I couldn't help but show my shock.
You really gorged yourself, didn't you?
The sheer volume of Qi contained within that heat was staggering. Feeling this power firsthand, I finally understood just how much of a maniac I had been in my past life.
I had reached unimaginable heights not through diligent training, but by voraciously consuming Qi through brute force. No one else could comprehend how utterly absurd such a method was.
Building one's power is supposed to be like filling a cup drop by drop—a slow, steady process requiring a solid foundation. But I…
…I devoured energy to climb higher.
I forced my way upward. Instead of constructing a stable foundation to build upon, I used sheer force to elevate the foundation itself. Just how much Qi had I absorbed to reach that point? I couldn't even fathom it now.
The amount of Qi I currently possessed was nothing trivial, yet comparing my present self to my past self was like comparing the earth to the heavens.
That's why it took me so long to adjust to this new body after regressing.
In my past life, I was accustomed to wielding a boundless ocean of Qi. After returning to the past, struggling with the meager amount I had now was intensely frustrating. Of course, I later learned Qi condensation from Elder Shin and gained deeper martial insights through enlightenment and training. But the previous me possessed such an overwhelming quantity of Qi that it could obliterate everything I have now.
No matter how refined my techniques or how many enlightenments I gained, that version of me had the raw power to crush them all. That was the strength I attained through the Demonic Absorption Art.
So much Qi that it couldn't be contained within his body, spilling out as a palpable, dominating presence. Mixed with his killing intent, it made him seem like a true Demon King.
Looking at him, I could only curse inwardly.
You keep absorbing Qi you can't even control, without any intention of refining it.
Despite that colossal energy, he made no effort to master it. He never planned to.
Crack.
The Demon Emperor gestured, and the Sword Demon, who had been slammed into the wall, was dragged out by an unseen force.
Slam!
He was thrown dismissively to the floor, tumbling several times before coming to a stop, gasping heavily. He was clearly in bad shape.
“Cough… Huff…”
His Qi balance was shattered. The Sword Demon's territory, formed from his own energy, had been utterly torn apart by the Demon Emperor's overwhelming force. Ambushed mid-attack, he had likely suffered severe internal recoil damage.
What a reckless method. To others, it might look like a skillful martial technique, but I knew the truth. It was nothing special. He simply overpowered him with brute force. Pure, unadulterated power. That was how I solved every problem in my past life.
Patter.
The Demon Emperor walked calmly toward the Sword Demon.
“Sword Demon.”
Flinch.
The Sword Demon's shoulders twitched at the sound of his voice. He was still conscious, after all.
“What do you think you are doing?”
Press—
“Ughh…!”
The Demon Emperor placed his foot on the Sword Demon's neck. As pressure increased, the man began to groan in pain.
“Cap…tain…”
“How many times have I warned you?” the Demon Emperor said, his voice cold. “I told you not to cause trouble in my sight.”
As he spoke, the black flames swirling around the room scattered.
Blaze!
“Aghhhh!?”
The flames shot toward the members of the Ghostly Sword Army. Caught completely off guard, they were burned alive without a chance to react. Throughout this, the Demon Emperor's gaze remained fixed on the Sword Demon.
“Speak. Explain yourself thoroughly.”
“…I-I’m… sor—”
“Is that all?”
Slam!
“Urgh…!”
The Demon Emperor's presence intensified with displeasure. The air pressure surged, and blood trickled from the Sword Demon's mouth.
“I left you your tongue out of mercy. I left you your arms because your swordsmanship had some use. However—”
The Demon Emperor's hand shot out and grasped the Sword Demon's left shoulder.
Then, with a firm grip,
Craaack!
“Aghhhhh!”
He tore the arm clean from its socket.
A collective gasp rippled through the other Demonic Humans. As the Sword Demon screamed in agony, the Demon Emperor incinerated the severed limb with a flick of black flame, ensuring it could never be reattached.
“I'm beginning to doubt your judgment if you use your sword for such pointless endeavors. Don't you agree, Sword Demon?”
The Demon Emperor's expression remained unchanged—calm, cold, and utterly emotionless—as the Sword Demon looked up in terror, clutching the bloody stump where his arm used to be. Everyone watched, swallowing nervously.
Fucking hell.
But my concern lay elsewhere. My focus wasn't on the Demon Emperor, but on the maimed Sword Demon.
His arm is gone.
It was a small mercy it was his left arm, since he was right-handed, but losing any limb would drastically reduce his martial prowess. Which meant…
…This is going to be a problem when the Heavenly Venerable arrives.
The Sword Demon was supposed to face the Heavenly Venerable, wielding the Demonic Sword. Now, that plan was in jeopardy.
And this happened because of me.
My presence had already twisted the original flow of events. This specific incident never occurred in my past life; the deviation was undeniable.
What do I do?
I had anticipated some changes, but this was far worse than expected. I never thought he'd actually go as far as tearing off an arm.
Is he insane?
He knew better. Even if he ultimately planned to weaken the Demonic Cult's forces, he still needed the Sword Demon's strength for the immediate future. That was the only reason he'd kept him alive until now.
So why cause this mess?
That bastard was me, yet I couldn't fathom his reasoning. If I were in his position now…
…Hmm.
My eyes flicked briefly toward the Demonic Sword. If I saw the Sword Demon seriously attempt to kill her…
…I would have killed him.
Regardless of the circumstances or his usefulness, I would have ended him. But that's what the current me would do. The me of that time…
…
I studied the Demon Emperor again, the situation growing more perplexing. That version of me had no particular affection for the Demonic Sword. At best, he probably saw her as a troublesome woman, an idiot who understood nothing.
But is that really true?
I wasn't sure anymore. My memories of her death haunted me. Was she truly nothing to me back then?
Then why?
Why was I so enraged?
I was contradicting myself. A sickening feeling grew in my gut as I failed to reconcile these conflicting emotions. The bastard before me seemed to be in a similar state of confusion.
After burning the arm, the Demon Emperor delivered a sharp kick to the Sword Demon's torso.
“Ugh!”
The Sword Demon was sent flying back toward the surviving members of his Ghostly Sword Army.
“Clean this up,” the Demon Emperor ordered shortly.
The Demonic Humans scrambled to attend to their injured commander. Watching this, the Demon Emperor strode toward his shattered throne.
Swoosh!
A wave of energy emanated from him, blowing the debris away. He then sat down upon the cleared space.
Couldn't he have just sat down normally?
Every one of his actions annoyed me, but I forced myself to ignore it for now. It was difficult, but I had to try.
Seated on the ruined throne, the Demon Emperor's gaze fell upon the Demonic Sword. His eyes looked unusually weary.
“Vice Captain…”
She gave a slight nod in response.
“That was unlike you.”
“…”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“…My apologies…”
A hint of anger tinged the Demon Emperor's voice. He looked down at her with his luminous purple pupils. “There will be no second chances after this. If you cause such trouble again, I will tear your arm off as well.”
“…”
The Demonic Sword nodded silently at the warning.
I found his words deeply ironic. He didn't say he would kill her. Was it because my perspective had changed? I was noticing subtleties in my past self's words that I would have missed before.
A bastard who wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who inconvenienced him was kindly issuing a warning. Moreover, threatening to only take an arm meant she would live even if she erred again.
This is…
Hah.
I laughed bitterly in my mind, keeping my face neutral. Why had I realized this so late?
I'm way too late.
The depth of my own foolishness struck me. Even back then, the Demonic Sword had mattered to me greatly, but I had been too blind to see it. I only understood now, after all this time and reflection.
That idiot. And the idiot over there would likely go to his grave without ever realizing it, lamenting his life while fixated on another girl entirely.
I wouldn't say that path was necessarily wrong. Even in this life, my focus isn't so different. However.
I won't be choosing the same path.
That is the purpose of this current life. Because of that, I needed to figure out what this illusion wanted from me. And more importantly…
What will happen now that the Sword Demon is crippled?
The timeline I remembered from my past life was shifting. I had to consider my next moves with extreme caution, as the future was now profoundly altered.
As I pondered this, trying to observe the situation more carefully, an interruption came.
“I have a report.”
But I was unaware that the changes had already begun. The course of events hadn't just started to twist now; it had been warping ever since I arrived in this world.
As the tension slightly eased, the Silent Fist appeared, kneeling before the Demon Emperor.
“We've received word. The forces of the Murim Alliance are gathering at the border.”
“The Murim Alliance?”
“Yes. And in that region…”
The story of this world…
“We have confirmation that the Celestial Sword is present among them.”
…was being twisted.