Chapter 332
Chapter 332
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 332
Chapter Title: Black and White Flower (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It was an utterly emotional action.
The moment the name White Path slipped from that bastard's mouth. There was no way I could just sit there and listen.
I knew better than anyone that I'd be targeted after returning from the past.
I couldn't easily reveal the bottom of my vessel.
I had planned to slowly build up my power and forces for at least three years.
So I couldn't understand why my reflexive action had burst out like that.
-Next is White Path. I'll kill that bitch.
-No, not just kill her. I'll savor it slowly. Stuff her mouth and rape her!
Blood trickled from where my nails dug into my fist.
The unknown future always filled me with anxiety.
A tragedy that could strike anywhere, anytime. Even in my sleep, I'd jolt awake at the smallest phone alarm.
It felt like my head had been smashed hard.
My heart pounded wildly against my ribs. The growing heartbeat echoed noisily in my skull.
The irregular breathing tormented me. Something popped in my head with a thud.
My face hardened coldly as emotions I couldn't control surged. My brow twitched. Blood vessels bulged on my forehead, and my eyes burned red.
Veins throbbed on my fists.
I swept up my lukewarm face. The bothersome hair fell back, clearing my view.
"......"
My mouth wouldn't open.
A step away, I just stared at the collapsed Plum Blossom with my eyes.
"...Huh?"
Plum Blossom, still not grasping the situation, let out a dazed sound.
Hidden in the shadows, I didn't take my eyes off him for a second.
The emotions that should have exploded couldn't escape my lips.
But that instant of rage settled as dregs deep inside, becoming the driving force that let me compose myself.
'This bastard.'
I can't let him live.
-Twitch.
His hand, which hadn't moved a bit, suddenly stirred.
*****
Thick demonic energy rose from Lee Siheon's body.
Under the night sky, in the field of vision captured by Plum Blossom's eyes.
He was consumed by terror, unable to twitch a single finger.
"......"
The man's face, shrouded in shadow, wasn't clear.
Yet his bulging eyes and bloodshot pupils pierced into his bones.
-......
It felt like two eyeballs were floating in pitch-black darkness, staring right at him.
Just looking made nausea surge.
Because the demonic energy blanketing the sky crushed his muscles.
In this space where no light seeped in, Plum Blossom endured mental agony no one else could detect.
"...Hng, ugh."
Vomit rose, but he had to hold it down.
Plum Blossom's throat bobbed repeatedly. Bile dripped from the corner of his mouth.
"How did you climb this far..."
Defiance bloomed, rising from his solar plexus to his throat.
Plum Blossom's trembling pupils.
His eyes blazed red, snapping him back to sanity.
"Ha, haha."
Yes. That's how it should be.
Forcing down the fear, Plum Blossom unleashed his potential without restraint.
A pure white authority crept out, enveloping his body.
"...You look killable now."
Pure white magic surged from the ground.
Petals spread bit by bit, covering Plum Blossom's body and swallowing Lee Siheon in an instant.
A bit further forward than before.
Plum Blossom's potential surpassed anyone else's.
His eyes tore wide as a smile crept onto his lips.
"I'll kill you. And grow stronger."
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ White Path (Modified version far stronger than the original)
The swirling petals rode an air current along one arm, shooting straight ahead.
White Path. His refined version of it, which he boasted was far stronger than hers.
The moment Plum Blossom's White Path stabbed toward Lee Siheon's body.
He lightly raised his hand, wrapping it in demonic energy.
A faint demonic aura coated his palm.
-Boom!
A storm raged.
Plum blossoms and magnolias stretched to the nearby hotel and scattered to the distant sky.
Far enough for the people on the mountain and everyone at the Foundation to see—
Petals riding the rising whirlwind reflected the moonlight, sparkling as they dispersed.
Falling petals drifted down toward Saku and Suyeon, who watched the scene with grim faces.
-Whoosh!
Beneath the spreading petals, the two clashed fists.
Plum Blossom's pupils turned to his own fist.
Lee Siheon's right hand, which had lightly received the blow, shattered Plum Blossom's fist.
From the fist up the inner arm, black burns were etched.
"Grr, grraaak!"
For the first time on the battlefield, a scream erupted.
Pain familiar yet enough to shatter his mind—Plum Blossom foamed at the mouth, clenching his fist tight.
The National Trees watched that sight.
Plum Blossom, who had sneered at any attack before.
At his pathetic state, Lee Siheon still stared with a hardened face.
"...No words for that."
Suyeon, who had been watching, spat out her feelings.
It was relief, but a trace of awe leaked from her stunned tone.
'No.'
Plum Blossom denied the phenomenon before his eyes.
No magic dwelled in his violently trembling right hand.
The tissues were ruptured. No regeneration. Despite killing countless trees to gain top-tier recovery.
His magic circuits were completely sealed shut.
Sweat beaded on his chin and fell.
-Grind.
Plum Blossom's teeth ground together. Rage burned in his quivering jaw and pupils.
'Something like this.'
Plum Blossom gripped his agonizing right arm with his left.
A smile tugged at his lips as strength entered his left hand—the right arm severed clean off.
-Thud!
The hand hit the ground. It twitched, turning to petals and vanishing.
Bleeding profusely, Plum Blossom bowed his head to endure the pain. Then he glared murderously at Lee Siheon.
Moment by moment, Plum Blossom's body adapted to the demonic energy.
If I do well. I can steal it.
As if thinking that, pure white petals clung to his entire body.
"Re—"
Release.
The divine power of Wood People that humans exploding their potential couldn't use.
The moment Plum Blossom tried to unleash his power with gusto.
As a massive tree armor began attaching to his body, his words cut off midway.
-Boom!
The forming tree armor shattered to pieces.
Amid the plum blossoms falling like snowflakes, black magnolia petals mixed in.
Petals devoured petals.
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 -MASSIVE DAMAGE
Straight to the heart
The moment Lee Siheon's fist plunged into Plum Blossom's heart, his eyes flushed blood red.
One strike.
White energy gathered without even pulling his arm back.
To the heart that had taken one impact, Lee Siheon's demonic energy struck a second time.
⚙ HEAVENLY DEMON DIVINE ART ⚙ · White Peach -KABOOM!
The heavens and earth shook.
A heroic spirit piercing the skies.
It engulfed Plum Blossom's entire body. His form flew like it would bore through the mountain, smashing the hotel's outer wall.
-Rumble!
The building sank from the brutal impact.
Thirty percent of the massive hotel's structure crumbled to pieces, steel beams and concrete burying Plum Blossom's body.
Pure white magnolia petals scattered along that path.
Beautiful petals formed a long carpet on the ground.
-Squish, squelch.
Tree roots and petals rose from the collapsed debris.
His body burst through the rubble.
"Lee Siheon!!!!"
The severed hand was covered in wooden armor, forming a new one.
Tree roots entered both corners of his mouth. Plum Blossom's mad eyes locked on Lee Siheon.
-Bang!
Before he could even sort his wounds, the flying Lee Siheon kicked Plum Blossom's head squarely.
The wooden armor tore off once more as his body launched into the sky.
'I can take that power.'
Plum Blossom's eyes desperately scanned where Lee Siheon had been.
Read the trick, copy it. Follow that method, grow slowly—even this moment could be overcome.
It should have been possible, but Lee Siheon's movements vanished.
-Crack!
Just before reacting to the presence behind him, Lee Siheon's hand gripped Plum Blossom's head.
Plum Blossom's head jerked up. His heel was already there.
-Boom!
The downward strike from the sky drove Plum Blossom's body back into the debris.
As consciousness flickered from the facial pulverization, Plum Blossom regenerated his blinded eyes and looked to where Lee Siheon had been.
"White Path. Lee Siheon!"
Rusty metallic sounds mixed with spurting blood from his mouth.
The man gave no reaction to such a Plum Blossom.
He simply continued unfolding his martial arts steadily.
A single barrage continued.
Demonic energy laced with black magic expanded from his body, converging to one point.
⚙ HEAVENLY DEMON DIVINE ART ⚙ · Fifth Form · Hidden Magnolia A rigid shockwave like sword aura from a rising blade.
The sharp force plunged into the hotel rubble, cleaving the remaining building in half.
-Slash!
A long straight groove scarred the earth.
Plum Blossom's body, including his heart, was bisected, etched with the same black burns as before.
"I can read— it—"
Just a bit more, and he'd understand that power.
His trembling pupils turned blood red.
He had to. Having teetered on death's door, Plum Blossom ignited his potential once more.
-Squish, squelch.
Risen tree roots bound Plum Blossom's body. The halved corpse fused back in an instant. Plum Blossom's body rose lightly.
That form could no longer be called pretty petals.
-Drip, drip.
He lifted his caved-in face shamelessly, oozing sticky blood.
Staring with sole intent to somehow win.
A fishy smile still hung on his lips.
Blood stained Plum Blossom's white petals.
"I can do it."
A dry, pain-soaked voice emerged.
His legs quivered.
Plum Blossom's magic surged grotesquely. He began tracking Lee Siheon's movements bit by bit.
"I can—"
He could grasp the trick. He just needed to move his hands himself.
-Boom!
His body wouldn't obey.
Standing dazed, Plum Blossom's body permitted Lee Siheon's attack once more.
It sank into the ground from his fist.
Endless black demonic energy surged. The burns Plum Blossom had inflicted on Lee Siheon now appeared on him.
Consecutive close-range strikes fired off.
⚙ HEAVENLY DEMON DIVINE ART ⚙ · Sixth Form · Dragon-Eye Magnolia -Flash!
The black magnolia before Plum Blossom's eyes mixed with rain, blurring his vision.
The ground cratered in a hemisphere. Like it had been scooped from the start. A pit large enough for a lake formed centered on Plum Blossom.
His body tore to shreds.
Muscles failed to hold form and burned away.
Compound-fractured bones thrashed futilely to realign.
His heart paused briefly, charred nerves blinding him.
"Guhk, khk,"
Unconscious groans escaped his lips.
Plum Blossom's body, covered in black burns, barely qualified as alive.
The man grabbed his twisted neck and hoisted him up.
Black sleet filled the pit.
Onrushing raindrops intensified into a storm.
Water pooled in the pit, submerging the lying Plum Blossom halfway.
The plum blossoms prettily unfolded from their first fist clash still drifted down from the sky.
The flame of life flickered out.
"I... will win."
Muttering short words, Plum Blossom lifted his unresponsive body.
Blood filled his pupils instead of tears in an instant.
The man with clenched fist stared silently at Plum Blossom's body.
"White Path. Whi— White Path—"
Lower dantian status. Blood vessels. Heart and brain. Emotions in the pupils.
Having read it all, the man judged every organ had ceased function, then thrust his fist forward one last time.
No mercy left.
-Bang!
His head exploded, demonic energy crushing the body beyond form.
No traces, not even remains.
So this being could never think of anyone he knew again.
As the last tenuous plum tree trunk and roots withered. The man slowly withdrew his power.
-Swoosh!
The downpour eased. The heat cooled.
The man stared at Plum Blossom's corpse from above the pit for minutes.
-Thud!
He pounded the pulverized remains with his fist repeatedly.
The man swept up his blood-soaked face.
"Haa, haa...."
The black spots that had risen all over his body gradually subsided.
His lips quivered. Trembling like he had a vicious cold, he still gazed pathologically at the mashed Plum Blossom corpse.
Siheon's nails scraped the dirt ground. Blood flowed from under his broken nails.
As if his sanity returned.
His weary face enveloped in Healing Authority to calm himself.