Chapter 634: White.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 634: White.
Crumble.
Debris shifted and fell, and the stench of burning filled the air.
The walls, crushed by intense heat, were melting; the once-pervasive chill was nowhere to be found. In its place, an unknown, stifling heat filled the space.
“Cough.”
I pushed aside the rubble and barely managed to stand amidst the ruins.
“Ptui.”
I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth and straightened my back.
Throb!
“Tsk…”
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through my torso, forcing a grimace. My ribs were broken, obviously, and something felt seriously wrong deep in my abdomen every time I moved. The spot where the sword had pierced me was a problem, as was the long gash carved across my chest.
“Fuck.”
Worse, a trace of cold energy had seeped into my body, penetrating deep into my vitals. I immediately circulated my Qi.
Swoosh.
The warmth spreading through my limbs made the pain somewhat more bearable. I kicked away the debris as I walked. I had been swept up in the explosion, thrown back, and slammed into a wall. I think I might have lost consciousness for a moment—a few seconds at most.
“Hoo.”
I took a few deep breaths and kept moving.
I almost got fucked up.
If I hadn't shielded myself with Combat Qi at the last second, my insides would have been completely scrambled. After abusing my body for so long, I’d finally learned how to take care of it. Well, maybe not "take care" of it—more like learning how to get hurt a little less.
I brushed the dust off my clothes and pressed forward.
“Why is there so much smoke?”
I infused my hand with Qi and gave a light wave.
Fwoosh!
A gust of wind cleared the haze. Finally getting a clear view, I continued toward my destination. A gaping hole had been torn into the far wall. The debris inside sizzled, glowing like molten lava.
And beneath it…
“…Ghk… Keoheok…”
Mang lay collapsed.
A hole had been punched straight through his abdomen. I approached him, observing his state. I glanced at his severed arm and the pierced stomach, then nodded slightly.
His regeneration is slow.
His arm hadn't grown back yet, and neither had the wound in his gut. Considering how he’d regenerated earlier, I thought he would have healed a wound like this in an instant.
It seems his regeneration isn't limitless.
Perhaps it had a cap, or maybe a set number of uses.
“Khhh…”
He groaned, coughing up thick clumps of blood. Seeing him like this—in Woo Hyuk’s body—was a truly jarring sensation.
“You okay?” I asked.
Of course, I knew he wasn't. His eyes shifted, focusing on me.
“Heh… heheh… damn it…” Mang let out a ragged laugh, his expression darkening. “…To think things would get twisted like this…”
Blood trickled from his mouth with every word. His regeneration still wasn't kicking in, which suggested he was truly at his limit. Of course, I kept my senses sharp. I couldn't be sure this wasn't all an act.
“You’re nothing but a newborn fledgling… To think you would interfere to this extent.”
I clicked my tongue. “Just so we’re clear, I never intended to get in your way.”
If no one I knew had been involved in this, I wouldn't have bothered to intervene. In fact, I never would have come to the North in the first place. That’s why I was curious.
What happened to this guy in my past life?
He had clearly said his resurrection was imminent, so something must have happened in my previous timeline. But I don't remember any information about it.
Perhaps because it was an incident confined to the North, nothing reached my ears. Which meant one of three things: Either he resurrected and lay low, waiting for the right time; he failed to resurrect entirely; or his resurrection was thwarted by someone else, just like this time.
There was no way to know for sure right now.
“What was it you said? The third time?”
“…Yes. I…”
“No, actually, I’m not really curious about that or your life story…”
“...”
It was obvious he was about to launch into a monologue. I didn't have the luxury of waiting for it. Not for my sake, but for his. I decided to ask the most important question first.
“What is the Dragon Emperor? That bastard. What is he, really?”
I went straight to the point. At my blunt question, Mang’s gaze locked onto mine. The villain of the past who caused the Blood Disaster. The first calamity to descend upon this world, and a bastard who was still scheming something even now. I needed to know what Mang knew.
“…Heheheh…” Mang just laughed. “…You are truly cold-blooded.”
“Huh?”
“Your own friend’s body is dying right here, yet that is what you ask now?”
I scowled. “Cut the crap. Are you going to answer or not? Just tell me that.”
“…If I answer, will you let me live?”
“Who knows? If you beg for your life while you talk, I might consider it.”
“Kekeke…”
Every time he laughed, more blood bubbled from his torso. I watched him carefully. He should be at his limit soon. The fact that he's still not regenerating…
It seemed I could be certain that it wasn't that he wouldn't regenerate, but that he couldn't.
“Do you wish to hear the answer?” Mang asked.
“Oh? Are you going to tell m—”
“Ptui!”
He spat bloody saliva at me. I twisted my head to dodge it and immediately swung my fist.
BAM!
“Gah!”
“Oops.”
Watching Mang’s head snap back, I realized my mistake. I hadn't intended to hit him anymore, but my reflexes slipped. I quickly pulled my hand back and spoke, my voice laced with annoyance.
“If you weren't going to answer, you could have just said so. Why spit at me, you filthy bastard?”
“…Hoo… heheh.”
Even after being punched, Mang laughed. Did I hit him too hard? He seemed to have lost his mind.
“…Do you think you’ve won?”
“Hmm?”
“Ninth… you do not realize the grave mistake you have made.”
“What did I do?”
“…With this choice… you will ultimately be defeated and devoured by the Dragon Emperor… You can never defeat him.”
I let out a smirk. “Like you?”
“...”
My casual remark silenced him. A brief, heavy silence passed.
“Yes, like me…”
His ready admission made him look pathetic. “Do you truly believe that you, all alone, can defeat him?”
“Why? Because you’re not around?”
“The other purebloods were helplessly devoured by him. What can you, a child born alone, possibly do? No, it is impossible.”
I stroked my chin.
“You will, in the end…”
“So. What’s the bottom line?” I cut him off. The conversation was heading in a strange direction; it needed a course correction. “You’re saying that because you couldn't do it, I can't either. Is that it?”
“It is not such a simple matter…”
“The hell it isn’t. That’s exactly what you’re saying.”
God, what an arrogant bunch. Whenever I tried to have a conversation with these types, it went nowhere.
“I get that you’re pissed you got your ass kicked back in the day. But if you lost because you were weak, you should just shut up. What’s with this pathetic display?”
“…Ha?”
“Don’t ‘ha’ me, you son of a bitch.”
I sighed. This wasn't why I was keeping him alive. If he wasn't going to answer properly, it would be faster to just get rid of him.
It’ll be a problem if this body dies, too.
Mang’s body—or more accurately, Woo Hyuk’s body—would actually die if I left it like this. That couldn't happen. It was time to wrap things up.
“How would you know if I’ll lose or win against the Dragon Emperor? You lost to me, didn't you?”
“…!”
My provocation made Mang’s expression crumple. “You fought me while I was in this pathetic vessel. Do you truly believe you have won?”
“Pathetic or not. You lost right now, didn't you?”
“Ha…!” Mang’s face twisted in disbelief. “Although I may have been defeated in this battle…”
As he spat out his excuse, a smile formed on my lips.
Got him.
Those words were what mattered.
Bubble.
I felt a sensation at the tip of my toes. The condition had been met.
Devour.
“That does not mean you can defeat the Dragon Emper—!?”
Mang suddenly choked on his words.
FWOOSH!
A black aura erupted from my feet and shot toward him.
“Ghk!?”
Instantly enveloped by the aura, Mang tried to struggle with his mangled body, but the aura was far tougher than I expected.
“You—! What are you trying to do—!!”
Crunch.
“…Ghk!!”
The sound of something being chewed echoed from within the darkness.
Crunch! Cru-crunch! Chomp!
Along with the continuous sounds of tearing and swallowing, Mang began to scream.
“Guaaaaaah!!”
It was a deafening, desperate shriek. The pain must have been unimaginable. I grimaced—not out of sympathy, but because of the sensation I felt inside my own body as he screamed.
Swoooosh!
The black aura acted as a bridge. Something was seeping into my body through the stem of Greed. It wasn't exactly Qi. It was too ambiguous for that.
Memories? Thoughts? Or perhaps the soul itself.
An indescribable sensation traveled up the stem and merged with the soul nestled in my heart.
What a disgusting feeling.
It felt like I was taking something I shouldn't. It wasn't guilt, but a profound, unexplainable discomfort. But, thanks to it…
So this is a power.
I could clearly feel it—the sensation of Greed stealing a power. I was devouring Mang’s very essence.
Crunch. Crack!
“Ghhh… Aaaaaaaah!!”
This was something I couldn't do during the heat of the fight. If you're wondering how I could do it now… it's because he admitted his defeat.
That was the condition for Greed to steal a power: the target had to acknowledge their defeat to me, and they had to say it out loud.
What a fucked-up condition.
Winning the fight was one thing, but I also had to force them to admit it. It was a bizarre, ego-driven requirement. Is it because this power desperately wants to be acknowledged as the winner? It seemed childish, but considering the power resembled my own emotions, it was a plausible theory.
“Ghhhaaa… N-nooooo…!! Don’t… don’t take what’s mine…!”
Engulfed by Greed, Mang cried out, but the power had no intention of stopping its meal. After a long while of chewing and swallowing…
Chomp! Gulp. Guuuh….
As if satisfied, Greed let out a metaphorical burp.
Slither.
The black aura retreated, returning to my shadow.
“Hoo.”
I finally exhaled. At the same time, I felt a strange sense of fullness, even though I wasn't the one who had eaten. I looked ahead.
“Ghh… uh… ah…”
Mang was gasping for breath, his face deathly pale. I let out a slight smile.
“So this is what it was. I was wondering.”
“…You bastard… my… thing…” Mang reached a trembling hand toward me. “Give… give it back… My… power… I said give it back…”
I slapped away his hand.
Smack!
I only hit it lightly, but his arm flopped down limply.
“Give what back? It’s mine now.”
“No… it’s… mine…”
“Yeah, it was yours. But not anymore, right?”
“How… dare you…!”
Mang’s face contorted in rage, but it was no longer a threat. My business with him was done.
“I got what I came for. Now, get lost.”
“Hngh… ghhh…!!”
Mang tried to resist, but his body was broken beyond repair. He didn't have much time left. I could feel it as I stole his power—the moment I took it, his life force began to drain away.
“How… vexing…”
The light slowly faded from his eyes. What was left? Resentment?
“I… curse… you… I will curse…”
Thud.
The creature froze like stone and stopped moving. A pureblood dragon had met a miserable end. It wasn't a particularly moving death.
“...”
I placed my hand on his chest. He’s not dead yet.
His breathing was shallow, but his heart was still beating. It was thanks to me barely missing his vitals when I stabbed him with the spear. In other words, Mang was gone. All that remained was Woo Hyuk.
However, the situation was still dire.
If I leave him like this, he’ll die.
Perhaps because he had absorbed Mang’s energy inside the ice crystal, Woo Hyuk’s body had changed, much like my own. But his injuries were so severe that his life was slipping away.
…Tsk.
I had anticipated things up to this point. My original plan had been to steal Mang’s power and use it to heal Woo Hyuk, but…
“This is pretty fucked.”
There was an unexpected problem. I had stolen two powers, and I knew what they were the moment they integrated.
…I can’t save him with these.
The regeneration power was completely different from what I had expected. When Yuseon healed my internal injuries, I thought it might work the same way. But now that I possessed it, I realized the truth.
It only increases the user’s own regenerative abilities.
Using this, I could regenerate a severed arm in an instant, just like Yuseon. But it couldn't be used to heal others.
…Was it always like this?
Seeing what Yuseon did, it didn't seem to be the case. Why was it different for me?
…Could it be? Does the power weaken as it’s transferred?
Perhaps it was impossible to steal a power completely, and its effectiveness diminished during the "digestion" process. It was a plausible theory, but a useless one right now.
What do I do?
Should I just let Woo Hyuk die? Even if I rushed him to the hideout, he’d be dead before we arrived. And even if we made it, could he be treated? In this state, not even the Immortal Healer could save him.
“...”
I gritted my teeth. Shit, I thought I’d be able to save him. Why did it have to get nerfed like this?
To drastically increase the owner’s regenerative abilities… This was exactly what I wanted for myself, but for Woo Hyuk…
“Huh?”
I paused. A thought struck me.
It increases the owner’s regenerative abilities…?
I recalled a memory from the not-so-distant past. A memory of the Heavenly Demon from my previous life—specifically, the time she was creating the Demonic Humans.
Of all the times for this to come to mind.
Those who became Demonic Humans at her hand shared a distinct characteristic. Along with the powerful bodies gained through corruption, they received a certain power: Demonic Arts. Not only did it enhance their original martial arts, but some received unique abilities that transcended traditional techniques.
The Demonic Humans called this process a "Baptism."
Recalling that I, too, had received the Demonic Absorption from the Heavenly Demon, I saw the similarities. The way a body strengthened upon becoming a Demonic Human was remarkably similar to the state of a Dragonoid. And the unique abilities received through Baptism were, for some reason, similar to these "powers."
Even if the levels were different, could it really be a coincidence?
I didn't know, and it didn't matter.
Perhaps…
Perhaps it was possible.
Swoosh!
My blue eyes gradually bled into a deep violet. The Demonic Qi I had drawn out for the first time in a long while sluggishly took control of my body. I gathered the energy in the hand resting on Woo Hyuk’s chest.
Just before I unleashed it, I hesitated. I looked at Woo Hyuk’s closed eyes.
If this succeeded… when you open your eyes… will you resent me?
The thought made me pause, but when I weighed it against his death, the answer was simple.
I will save you.
That was my only answer.
FWOOSH!
The Demonic Qi burrowed deep into Woo Hyuk’s body.