Chapter 41
Chapter 41
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Flame Emperor 3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The patriarchs of the Snow Mountain Baek Family were silently aiding Baek Moo-jin. It was a heart-wending sight for him. Because of that, the moment he spotted his grandfather and father, his resolve wavered instead.
'Please don't put yourselves in danger because of me.'
Whether they were illusions or real, Baek Moo-jin didn't want them getting hurt. As his heart shook like that, the former patriarchs on either side pressed forward even more stubbornly. As if to say they had no fear of sacrifice.
How could he not know that all these actions were for his sake?
An inexplicable rage filled Baek Moo-jin's heart.
'...You don't have to go that far. I beg you. This is my burden to bear.'
In the meantime, the flames unleashed by the Flame Emperor grew even fiercer, enough to swallow the former patriarchs whole. But the former patriarchs bent their torsos forward as if to plunge into the inferno, painfully advancing one step at a time.
Baek Moo-jin's heart was being torn to shreds.
'What the hell am I to deserve this!'
In a way, the rage might have been directed at himself.
Baek Moo-jin knew that these former patriarchs, whom he had never met, had endlessly sacrificed for him. And his grandfather and father had yielded that legacy to him. He had always been grateful, but he had been too young to truly understand their feelings. It was regrettable and painful at the same time.
Especially in the case of his father and grandfather, they had maintained a heavy, distant relationship in life, never exchanging even a single warm word.
While blocking the flames, Baek Moo-jin shouted at the top of his lungs. His words were incoherent and illogical. They were simply filled with choked regret.
"There's no need to sacrifice yourselves for me like this..."
At that moment, the fire dragon expanded its body even further.
Baek Moo-jin wrapped his entire body even more fiercely in the White Flower Divine Art.
Upon closely examining the now-enlarged fire dragon's form, Baek Moo-jin realized it wasn't skin like leather but merely a shape composed of countless tiny flames.
'In that case...'
The moment Baek Moo-jin resolved himself, the fire dragon unleashed a roar.
Its eyes blazed with fury, and from its massive maw poured endless flames of ancient origin, beginning to crush the former patriarchs who each emanated white cold qi.
But the instant Baek Moo-jin felt ashamed of himself, his mindset had already aligned perfectly with that of the former patriarchs.
Sacrifice.
The moment Baek Moo-jin solidified his resolve, he channeled his Eight Stars inner power to prepare the most suitable of the Four Great Mysteries for this situation.
Grasping his sword with both hands, Baek Moo-jin intoned the technique.
"Integrated Cold Energy (一體寒氣) Body-Sword Unification (身劍合一)"
In an instant, a white cold qi whirlwind engulfed Baek Moo-jin's body, who had resolved to sacrifice himself. He never dreamed he would one day use the Four Great Mysteries' Body-Sword Unification in the name of sacrifice.
In truth, he didn't even know its power or effects.
It was a technique even he struggled to execute.
But the moment he decided to unleash it, there was no regret or hesitation.
Transformed into a beam of white light shrouded in cold qi, Baek Moo-jin boldly charged into the fire dragon's flame stream that was battering the former patriarchs.
Witnessing this arrogant challenge, the fire dragon abandoned the former patriarchs and swallowed the incoming Baek Moo-jin.
The two forces began pouring everything into devouring each other. Then, the massive fire dragon writhed in horrific agony, thrashing on the ground like a worm.
2.
The former patriarchs gazed worriedly yet proudly at their son leaping into the fire dragon's maw.
To some, the son of a son.
To others, the son born to the son of a son.
Either way, Baek Moo-jin was their descendant.
Yet the sight of these former patriarchs anxiously watching the fire dragon that had swallowed their boy was utterly awe-inspiring.
They all appeared as they had at the moment of their deaths.
Was there some curse on the Snow Mountain Baek Family?
Among the former patriarchs, the one who looked oldest was Baek Moo-jin's grandfather. The rest were mostly in their thirties, and there were even some in their twenties, like Baek Moo-jin.
Regardless, their feelings were one and the same.
'Come back alive.'
The fire dragon began rampaging madly through the void space. It shot into the air, then plummeted abruptly to the ground. But it was neither able to spit out Baek Moo-jin nor fully swallow him.
If the fire dragon was suffering this much, who exactly had devoured whom?
The two entities thus tested each other's endurance.
But with no victor emerging, Baek Moo-jin's father stepped forward first. Then his father, and his father after that... they advanced one after another.
Astonishingly, the former patriarchs charged into the fire dragon's maw in the state of Body-Sword Unification, just as Baek Moo-jin had. Some hadn't even reached that realm in life, yet they cast aside any thought of their own safety and followed him into the flames, cloaked in cold qi.
Before long, all the Snow Mountain Baek Family patriarchs had stormed into the fire dragon's maw, swinging dazzling swords as they tore through the flame corridor and reunited with the son who had tried to sacrifice himself for them.
Only then could Baek Moo-jin behold his father and grandfather's faces.
In that hell of fire, the smiles of fathers and son spread.
At that moment, Baek Moo-jin proposed to the former patriarchs that they shatter this Flame Emperor to pieces.
What words were needed among them?
The moment their intents aligned...
Baek Moo-jin and all the Snow Mountain Baek Family patriarchs simultaneously unleashed Absolute Cold Energy, One Sweep White Night, from the fire dragon's heart.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙
[··································································!]
The writhing fire dragon's body began to swell larger and larger, tiny beams of white light seeping through the gaps in its flickering flames.
Those beams quickly multiplied from two to three, three to ten, until the entire fire dragon erupted, engulfed in white light.
Just how many flames had composed the Flame Emperor?
The scattering spectacle was truly magnificent.
Before long, around Baek Moo-jin, the white flames frozen by One Sweep White Night shattered like snowflakes and began to whirl.
The darkness, black as pitch, was gradually turning as white as a snowy mountain amid the remnants of the drifting white snow.
Baek Moo-jin and the former patriarchs landed on the ground and looked up at the sky.
Snow was falling, just like back on Snow Garment Peak. Having all trained under such snow, the same scenery rose in each of their hearts.
Bathed in that snow,
the former patriarchs stood in a row, facing Baek Moo-jin.
It was time to bid farewell.
Baek Moo-jin slowly turned his head, meeting the eyes of his father and the other former patriarchs, forcing a smile. Then his gaze settled on his father and grandfather. At that, the two spoke the words they had always said since he was young. He had thought sound couldn't reach here, yet their voices rang vividly in his ears.
"Well done, grandson."
"Don't cry, son."
Baek Moo-jin collapsed to his knees and bowed deeply toward the patriarchs. With a sudden blizzard sweeping in from somewhere, their figures gradually faded. He knew they were gone, but for a long while, he couldn't lift his head.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇