Chapter 418
Chapter 418
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 109
>Chapter Title: Water Battle (5)
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"A pathetic wretch still coveting what belongs to others, as always."
'!?'
The voice emanating from Mok Kyung-un carried a changed aura.
The moment he heard it, the pupil in the third eye on Sam-an's forehead trembled violently.
In that split second, the third eye's pupil, now stained dark red, spoke into his mind with a voice filled with bewilderment.
-......This can't be.
-What in the world is this? Didn't we confirm it wasn't?
It wasn't a long exchange.
Yet Sam-an had never forgotten this distinctive aura.
It was darkness itself, akin to an abyss of unfathomable depth, bordering on chaos that evoked thoughts of ruin.
Above all, the absolute pressure overwhelming every existence instilled in him a terror he had never even felt from the Six Demons.
-It's him. It has to be him.
-No. It's not. Something's off. There's clearly no core.
-Cores be damned......
-The core is their foundation. No core means death to them, the end of their existence.
-Then what the hell is this guy in front of us? A ghost?
-A ghost or whatever......
It was right then.
-Tssst!
"Huh!"
The veins in Sam-an's neck, gripped by Mok Kyung-un's hand, turned black as some kind of corrosion set in.
Sam-an tried to push back the invading corrosion by mustering his demonic power, but once the energy had breached, it surged forward relentlessly.
'This energy...... It's definite.'
It wasn't merely similar—it was that exact energy from before.
Then, a voice echoed in Sam-an's mind.
-Were you sharing consciousness?
-You?
-You bastard?
All three of Sam-an's pupils shook simultaneously.
He had noticed the corrosion, but he hadn't expected it to infiltrate their linked consciousness.
-The vague sense that we killed it but didn't...... That discrepancy was because of this.
At Mok Kyung-un's voice, Sam-an responded with fury-laced words.
-So it was you after all?
The question carried many layers.
But Mok Kyung-un's altered aura didn't seem to mind at all, continuing indifferently.
-Foolish. Can't even tell your own greed is being exploited.
-Greed? Did you just say greed? Hahahahaha!
Sam-an burst into mad laughter.
Then he abruptly stopped, calming his excitement, and spoke in a cold voice.
-Fine. One could call an intense desire greed. But you, who stole what belongs to me at your whim—how dare you lecture me on greed?
-Ingenious.
-What?
-It perfectly shows how foolish obsession with the unattainable can destroy you. Of course, that's why your eyes and consciousness could connect.
-You dare!
-Dare?
-Guh!
Sam-an's three pupils shook violently.
The ferocious invading energy spread throughout his entire body, stiffening it while stabbing pain like needles pierced every nerve.
-Don't mistake sharing words for being equals.
-Kuh......
He had let his guard down.
The blunder worsened because he assumed the ancient forbidden technique, the Void Sealing Chaos Ritual that had even sealed the Sea Slayer King, would render him immobile.
Another consciousness pressed in his mind.
-Don't get swayed by him. We have to detach him somehow before the corrosion advances further. I'll block the nerve pain, so......
-Pak! Pak!
In that instant, black veins bulged from the forehead pupil and burst.
The third eye's consciousness cried out in agony.
-Kuh...... You bastard...... How......
-I don't know why you're still clinging to human consciousness, but you thought I'd just deal with the host like last time and move on?
......What the hell are you? Ugh...... How, without a core......
-I'm just a remnant.
-Remnant?
-No need for you to know. You lot just need to vanish......
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un's eyes narrowed.
Then one eyebrow arched up.
The reason was that, while trying to excise the two consciousnesses parasitizing Na Yul-ryang's body, he realized one fact.
......These aren't the real consciousnesses.
-Sneer!
Sam-an, who had been grimacing in pain, suddenly twisted his lips into a sinister grin despite the torment.
He stopped groaning and erupted into laughter.
"Kuhk...... Kehehehe...... Kahahahahaha!"
It looked like a triumphant laugh.
Was the suffering from the corrosion all an act?
Mok Kyung-un, staring fixedly at Sam-an's forehead, spoke aloud instead of through consciousness.
"You transplanted the separated consciousness as is? ......No, you replicated eyes in nearly identical form to link the consciousness?"
"Quick on the uptake. Impressive indeed. Even with corrosion, to notice this already."
"Ha?"
Mok Kyung-un looked at him with utter disbelief.
He had seen countless beings, but this was a first.
It seemed real, but it wasn't.
The entity called Three Eyes parasitized others, with its true body being the eye at the center of its demonic power.
Yet this eye wasn't the true body—it was a replication of the demonic power, consciousness, and memories in identical form. A clone, essentially.
But Mok Kyung-un's scoff wasn't just because they sent a cloned consciousness pretending to be the true body.
"You even replicated the separated consciousness to thoroughly hide that this isn't the main body?"
"Hehehe. That could be one reason, but it's useful in many ways."
"Useful?"
"Humans are greatly swayed by emotions. Especially extreme ones. Greed, anger, sorrow—they're tremendous driving forces even for me."
-Kuduk! Kuduk!
Sam-an's corroded pupils reverted to normal.
'Pushing it back?'
-Goooooo!
The energy that had spread through his upper body receded, and Sam-an's demonic power surged sharply.
It wasn't normal circulation but reverse circulation, doubling in power.
This was the Reverse Meridian Energy Method.
Sam-an grinned maniacally and said,
"The moment I sensed your energy, I knew we'd meet soon. How much do you think I prepared for that moment?"
"You made good use of the time given."
"I'll take that as praise. Wingless king. I don't know how you ended up possessing a mere human, but you called yourself a remnant—so I'll claim all that remaining power."
"That was the goal."
"Our goal. It'll fulfill our companion's long-held wish and reduce his interference too."
"Him......"
So it was him after all?
A choice tantamount to oblivion, yet he hadn't believed it easily.
Mok Kyung-un shook his head.
Then,
"You think meddling with me ends at interference?"
"As if. I'll drag you out myself."
"Drag me out?"
"Kehehehe. Did you think we'd forever be dragged around by your kind, playing god and lording over us? This world is mine."
Absolute greed.
For ages, Three Eyes had desired everything.
But knowing the time wasn't right, he had bided his time with patience whenever blocked, until he gained the power to shatter any wall effortlessly.
Now all preparations were complete.
No more patience.
"The moment the grand scheme unfolds, everyone will realize the day of great calamity was merely the beginning."
"Calling it a grand scheme—I'm intrigued."
"You should be. Shame, though. I wanted to show you the new world about to emerge."
-Ssssh!
As the corrosion nearly unraveled,
-Pak!
Sam-an gripped Mok Kyung-un's wrist hard.
Red threads of light flowed from the wrist, instantly binding his body from the wrist up.
-Whirrr! Tight!
"Still, I'll make good use of that body of yours."
-Swish!
Sam-an brought his hand to his forehead.
He casually plucked out the third pupil.
-Squelch!
After extracting the eye, he moved it toward Mok Kyung-un's forehead.
But then,
"You scattered your consciousness in multiple places, so tracking the true body's location will be tricky."
'!?'
At those words, the pupil in Sam-an's hand lost focus.
Right then.
-Pang!
The red threads binding Mok Kyung-un's body snapped apart pathetically.
Realizing something was wrong, Sam-an tried to pull back,
-Pak!
But Mok Kyung-un's hand seized his face once more.
From the grip, pitch-black ferocious energy poured out again, burrowing into his entire face.
Sam-an spoke in bewilderment.
"You wouldn't dare?"
"Did you think a mere cloned consciousness—not even real—and squeezed-out power could do anything to me?"
-Tssstssst!
The energy corroded his body at a speed incomparable to before.
It spread so fast that even the demonic power boosted by the Reverse Meridian method couldn't halt it.
Sam-an's face hardened as he spoke.
......You deceived me.
"Not my way. Another me's way."
"What?"
"Your haughty attitude grated, but thanks to it, I learned what you're plotting—and even scattered as it is, where the real consciousness might be. Not a bad move."
......
-Tssstssst!
Already seventy percent of the body was corroded.
Soon, the whole body would be overtaken, the dominating consciousness would perish, and he'd claim the remaining energy.
He thought repaying that old grudge with a mere offshoot consciousness was feasible, but even depleted, it had once stood at the pinnacle of those monstrous beings.
-Pfft!
Sam-an sneered, curling his lips.
"Fine. If it ended too easily, I'd be disappointed."
"That disappointment will vanish soon too."
"Don't get cocky. Think this is the end? This body is just a vessel holding my transplanted consciousness."
"Long tongue."
-Ssssh!
Ninety percent of the body was corroded.
Sam-an shuddered violently, forcing his mouth open.
"Me...... You'll desperately...... seek me......"
-Parrorroro!
Before he finished, the veins in the third pupil he held bulged grotesquely.
Realizing what Sam-an intended, Mok Kyung-un crushed the eyeball.
Intense heat emanated from it.
Even a cloned consciousness eye—better mutual destruction in humiliation than this.
The heated eyeball burst.
-Pop!
He had concentrated all energy to protect his hand, so no major explosion occurred.
Mok Kyung-un opened his hand, scattering black ash.
He couldn't absorb the energy in the final eyeball due to self-destruction, but he fully corroded the body, absorbed its remaining power, and erased the separated consciousness.
"Haa...... Haa......"
Yet breathing came from the body.
'Lucky guy.'
Na Yul-ryang, who had his body hijacked yet survived.
But pushed beyond limits and drained of all energy, he was now no different from unable to use martial arts.
Mok Kyung-un stared at the barely breathing Na Yul-ryang, then lightly waved his hand.
The fog filling the surroundings dissipated.
Mok Kyung-un murmured softly.
"Now, I leave it to you."
No sooner had he spoken than his pupils trembled, and his gaze and aura shifted.
[Chapter 109: Water Battle (5)] End