Chapter 497
Chapter 497
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 127
>Chapter Title: Epilogue (3)
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-Groooan.
The golden Heavenly King, having lost all four limbs and both eyes, let out a groan of agony.
Even during the war a hundred years ago, he had never sustained injuries this severe.
The humiliation and pain were unbearable.
‘Damn it.’
He had waited for the moment when Mokgan, his creation, drew his attention, planning to break free.
With his focus divided, it should have been possible, but in that split second, the bastard not only gouged out his eyes but stabbed at the location of his core with his sword.
-Cough... cough...
It was probably to eliminate any future threats swiftly.
However, there was one thing the bastard didn’t know.
A hundred years ago, when his core had been damaged, he had relocated it slightly lower than the center of his chest as a precaution.
Thanks to that, though the upper part of the core was destroyed, it avoided complete annihilation.
But still,
-Wriggle! Wriggle!
The already unrecovered core suffered further damage, slowing his regeneration to a crawl.
Otherwise, he could have quickly restored his arms, legs, and eyes, but now even healing the damage from the bastard’s sword energy inside his body was overwhelming.
It was utterly pathetic.
If he had ended up like this fighting the King of Demons, it might have been bearable, but this was pure humiliation.
To be reduced to this state by a human who wasn’t even part of the demonic lineage.
But now wasn’t the time to dwell on the shame.
He had to recover enough to move and retrieve the divine artifacts to return to the Heavenly Realm.
-Wriggle! Wriggle!
-Groooan!
But no matter how much he tried to calm himself rationally, the pain was excruciating.
Unless he killed the bastard and avenged this disgrace, the rage wouldn’t subside.
It was then, as he was consumed by fury.
-Slither...
-Flinch!
He sensed something approaching.
Normally, he would have noticed it instantly, but having lost his eyes and with further damage to his core, he only realized it when it was right upon him.
-Splash!
Something enveloped him completely.
It was a sticky something,
“What in the world is...”
-Keh heh heh heh. So even the Creator is no different. With that boundless pride shattered, even rage gives way to overflowing greed.
“You?”
From the transmitted intent, the golden Heavenly King realized what was enveloping him.
It was the being known as his third eye, the one he had created.
Mokgan.
“You insignificant thing, how dare you...”
“To be so weakened that even a lowly thing like this can burrow in unchecked. How truly pitiful.”
-Groooan. You bastard! Stop... stop it!
“No. How could I? I’ve waited for this moment. Will I let it slip when an absolute being surpassing the Six Demons’ Great Power King is crumbling?”
“You wretchhhh!
Even with limbs severed and core damaged, he was still nearly a demigod.
The intrusion to dominate his body met fierce resistance.
Indeed, the intent’s caliber was far too high.
However,
“Ahh, but you’re no longer an absolute being. Just a faded king of the heavenly race, defeated by a mere human.”
-Gaaaahhh!
It was a simple taunt, but effective.
With his endless pride already cracked, the humiliation created an opening.
-Crackle crackle crack!
The golden Heavenly King’s forehead split open in agony, and veins gruesomely protruded from the spot, weaving into a round shape.
It was becoming an eye.
* * *
-Pssshhh!
The body of the Six Demons’ Death King turned to ash and scattered.
Jin Ye-rin’s pupils, who had driven her sword into it, returned to normal.
Along with that, before her eyes lay the nearly burned secret manual of the Heavenly Escape Vitality Sword Technique.
Regaining her senses, she gazed at the manual with reddened eyes and spoke.
“Ancestor...”
The faint image of Jin Un-hwi appeared in the manual.
Seeing him smiling brightly, Jin Ye-rin shed thick tears.
Once, she had resented her ancestor, but now she was grateful for his help to the very end, even defying the natural order for her and the world.
-Fwoosh!
As the Heavenly Escape Vitality Sword Technique manual was about to burn completely, Jin Un-hwi’s form grew even fainter.
Kneeling before him, Jin Ye-rin bowed deeply.
“The last blood of the Jin Clan, Jin Ye-rin, sincerely thanks you...”
-Shh.
“Do not. I’m a worthless ancestor who couldn’t protect much for you. So from now on, live your own life.”
With those words, Jin Un-hwi lightly nodded toward Sima Chak, the Moon Peak Sword, standing behind Jin Ye-rin.
Sima Chak nodded slightly in return, bidding him farewell.
Though he knew little of spirit arts, he realized that once the manual burned completely, they would never meet again.
Yet Jin Un-hwi gazed somewhere with regret.
“I worry.”
“Pardon?”
“He’s finally gained a human heart, but to lose such a precious bond... I wonder where that sorrow and rage will turn.”
Far in the direction Jin Un-hwi looked was Mok Kyung-un.
Though viewing the world through the manual, he had observed everything around, hence his concern.
Recalling Mok Kyung-un’s resilience, Jin Un-hwi soon shook his head.
Though their meeting was brief, he believed that man could overcome even this sorrow.
Fate could be tragic at times. How regrettable to bring loss to a once-in-a-generation hero.
-Pssshhh!
As the manual was about to burn away completely, Jin Un-hwi said his goodbye.
“Then farewell.”
However,
-Flinch!
As he faded, Jin Un-hwi looked somewhere and urgently spoke.
“Dodge now...”
-Pssshhh!
But the manual burned completely, and Jin Un-hwi’s form vanished entirely.
No sooner had it happened,
-Kaboooom!
An ear-shattering roar erupted as a massive pillar of light surged upward from underground.
The pillar gleamed with a corrupted black-red hue, as if tainted, shaking the earth and shattering the ground as it rose.
-Rumble rumble!
“What... what is this...”
“We need to retreat.”
Sima Chak hurriedly grabbed Jin Ye-rin’s hand and leaped away.
Glancing back at the corrupted black-red pillar of light, he saw in its center a being rising with grotesquely transformed, eerie wings flapping.
‘What is that?’
It was the golden Heavenly King, limbs severed by Mok Kyung-un’s hand.
But the golden Heavenly King’s appearance was strange.
The hideous wings, and the third eye on its forehead resembled one of the Six Demons, the Great Power King.
But that wasn’t the point.
The revived being’s aura blanketed everything, exuding an intent to destroy all.
So extreme was the aura that even Sima Chak, transcending life and death, felt fear in his heart.
* * *
“No.”
Ye So-rin, the Sorcerer of the Sea Flash Pavilion, spoke in a sorrowful voice.
Having barely annihilated the Six Demons’ White Peng Demon King in joint assault with the Yu Clan, she dragged her weary body to check on the summons.
Examining Cheongryeong with her senior brother, she could only shake her head.
Though a high-caliber怨魂, spirits—or soul bodies—dissipate when their spirit energy is exhausted, by natural law.
Yet Cheongryeong had nearly depleted hers.
It was miraculous she still held form, though why remained unknown.
“...Save her.”
Mok Kyung-un said to her in a boiling voice.
His tone carried complex emotions, but even she couldn’t help this.
Ye So-rin cautiously spoke.
“Young master knows too. She’s already...”
“Enough.”
Mok Kyung-un cut her off before she could continue.
‘No more time, young master. If you don’t merge the soul before the soul body vanishes completely, not just the soul but you’ll dissipate too.’
Biting her lip, she closed her eyes and stepped back slightly.
She did so because of Mok Kyung-un’s reddened eyes.
Seeing him like this, Cheongryeong’s gaze grew peculiar.
‘You weep for me?’
Though humanized, he had barely any emotions.
Yet here he was, grieving for her.
Cheongryeong laboriously raised a hand toward Mok Kyung-un’s eyes.
-Drip!
A tear fell from Mok Kyung-un’s eye, passing through her fading soul body to wet the ground.
The sight pained her heart.
He became human to be with her, to know her...
‘...I wanted more time with you.’
The heavens were too indifferent.
She had just come to know who he was, yet the time given was so short.
Her heart tore at having only time for farewell.
She wished for just one more meeting, had fallen in love again with the humanized him—why must their story end so sadly?
“Cheongryeong...”
In Mok Kyung-un’s grief-choked voice, she smiled through tears.
She hated parting so much it tore her apart, but if she kept showing sorrow, he’d live in torment.
Though her voice wouldn’t come, Cheongryeong arduously mouthed.
‘I’m fine.’
As if she could be.
Mok Kyung-un’s lips trembled at her words.
Her attempt to accept it all and show calm only hurt him more.
“...I wanted to shine more with you.”
They had only just begun together.
Far too lacking.
As Cheongryeong tried to caress his cheek with her hand, she mouthed again.
‘It’s enough.’
Like a life flashing before her eyes.
Memories from a hundred years ago as Ryu So-wol, and all as the怨魂 Cheongryeong with Mok Kyung-un, flashed through her mind.
The red thread of fate.
Perhaps the heavens had tied it again by destiny.
Yes. No resentment—gratitude.
Thank the heavens for granting her earnest wish to see him, even briefly.
Her vision darkened gradually.
With her last strength, Cheongryeong mouthed to Mok Kyung-un.
‘I... love... you.’
Her sight went completely black, nothing visible.
Was this the prelude to dissipation?
She wanted to hear his answer last.
But her wish went unfulfilled.
-Ssshhh!
Her soul body was about to vanish completely.
-Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Mok Kyung-un, trying to respond to Cheongryeong, hurriedly formed hand seals toward her fading form, unleashing the Demon Heart Soul Fusion Technique of the Wicked Heart Wave.
Her vanishing soul body ignited red and was slowly drawn into Wi So-yeon.
-Whoooosh!
At last, Cheongryeong’s form disappeared completely.
-Thud!
Mok Kyung-un collapsed to his knees before Wi So-yeon, powerless.
Fragments of her vanished soul body scattered like red ash, so achingly ephemeral.
[...Then what happens when soul and魄 merge? Does everything about the魄 wash away?]
[Yes. That’s the natural law.]
He futilely grasped at the intangible ash, but his palm held nothing.
In his closed eyes, Mok Kyung-un saw Cheongryeong’s final form in his heart.
-Tears streamed.
Endlessly.
“Urk!”
-Thud! Thud! Thud!
Mok Kyung-un pounded his chest fiercely.
It hurt too much.
Even in his past life, and now reunited, he couldn’t say it.
He wanted to say it so badly, yet failed.
She must have hurt more than him in this parting—why didn’t he say it sooner?
Such regret.
“Master...”
“Young master Mok...”
All watched Mok Kyung-un’s form with pity.
The once emotionless man crumbled in sorrow.
It was then.
-Kaboooom!
An ear-shattering roar, and a massive pillar of light surged from underground.
Gleaming black-red like corruption, it shook the earth, shattering the ground.
-Rumble rumble!
“No way?”
“It... it hasn’t died?”
All stared blankly at the corrupted pillar, where the golden Heavenly King rose flapping grotesquely transformed eerie wings.
The revived being brought despair like the sky collapsing.
‘Young master Mok?’
‘My lord?’
‘Heavenly Demon?’
All eyes turned to Mok Kyung-un.
Only he could stop that desperate entity.
Yet he was consumed by grief.
No one could urge him forward.
His sorrow, pounding his chest and shedding tears, reached them all.
Then the golden Heavenly King’s voice resounded.
“Rise. Our sole worthy rival. Let us conclude the world’s fate in our final clash.”
“Conclusion...”
Mok Kyung-un murmured softly at his words.
My story already ended in tragedy, losing my precious bond.
And regret lingered at the end.
The world’s fate meant nothing to him now.
Even if this world ended, without her, what meaning...
-Rustle!
Then the last remaining ash fragment brushed his cheek.
Mok Kyung-un’s closed eyes snapped open.
An intangible soul fragment touching his cheek.
With reddened eyes, Mok Kyung-un gazed at Wi So-yeon, so like Cheongryeong.
[Become the grandmaster embracing all.]
Cheongryeong’s wish.
He thought nothing remained, but her wish did.
-Shh!
Mok Kyung-un slowly rose.
Turning, he looked at the golden Heavenly King—no, the aberrant fusion with Mokgan—in the pillar radiating immense aura like an absolute god transcending good and evil.
Bizarrely, the two fused in madness had grown stronger.
However,
-Sring!
Drawing his demon sword Yakjik, Mok Kyung-un calmly connected the blade with sword stance.
-Hummmm!
His blade darkened with demonic energy.
The golden Heavenly King, fused with Mokgan, grinned ear-to-ear overlooking him.
The process never mattered.
The one standing at the end is the true victor.
As Mok Kyung-un assumed the stance for a slash,
-Goooosh!
-Chill!
The fused golden Heavenly King’s face paled.
Fusing had temporarily restored the core, drawing all divine power, yet Mok Kyung-un’s aura surpassed it.
True supreme prowess.
‘No.’
Instinctively, the fused pair realized.
That being was on the verge of defying natural order.
No matter their combined might, they couldn’t face it.
The fused golden Heavenly King hurriedly tried to open a gate to the Heavenly Realm—but in that instant.
-Flick!
Mok Kyung-un instantly reached him.
“Y-You?”
“I slash all that exists. This is my ultimate sword.”
-Slash!
A single black line slashed from sky to earth.
Space tore, and from the fused golden Heavenly King’s crown downward, a red line appeared amid the pillar.
‘!!!!!!!!!!’
All watching gasped at the heaven-earth-cleaving sword.
Had there ever been a more perfect, ideal sword since ancient times?
-Crackle crackle!
As space shredded and twisted, the bisecting fused golden Heavenly King used his last strength to speak.
“Sword... that... slashes... all... that... exists? This... is...”
“Supreme Heavenly Demon Sword.”
-Pfshh!
With that, the halved body twisted into the shredded space, sucked in, and vanished in blood-red dust.
-Slush!
As if never parted, the sky-to-ground rift mended, the world pristine again.
-Waaaaahhhhh!
All who watched anxiously erupted in joyous cheers.
It was finally over.
Yet amid their cheers, Mok Kyung-un’s eyes held emptiness and sorrow.
He had saved the world from crisis, ended all grudges—yet nothing remained.
Save fulfilling her wish.
Then, his eyes caught Wi So-yeon on the ground regaining consciousness.
Her complexion was brighter than before.
Once incomplete without魄, now soul-fused, it was full reincarnation.
‘Ah...’
Seeing her so like Cheongryeong saddened him anew.
They wouldn’t meet again.
Staring at her, Mok Kyung-un descended to earth, approaching her.
Wi So-yeon, regaining senses, puzzled, spoke.
“Young master Mok?”
Approaching, Mok Kyung-un embraced her with a sad smile.
-Thump!
Gently stroking her hair, he said.
“Becoming human taught me the most heartbreaking things.”
“...”
Perplexed, she listened as he continued.
“It’s the loss of a precious one, and the regret of failing their wishes.”
“Young master...”
“Though you won’t remember, hear, or speak of it anymore, I wanted to tell you this one last thing. I love you.”
-Tight!
Biting his lip, eyes closed, Mok Kyung-un hugged Wi So-yeon tightly.
His voice full of anguish and warmth shook her eyes and lips.
Unsure why, hearing “I love you” made her heart tremble—her chest ached deeply.
It was then.
-Slush!
A soft glow emanated from Mok Kyung-un’s body, seeping into Wi So-yeon.
A voice whispered in her ear.
‘So-wol... and... my... beautiful... shining... story... ended... then. Now... it’s... Cheongryeong... and... yours.’
Vivid memories flooded her mind.
[...Yes. We’ll be together. Even if just a moment.]
[It was beautiful... so beautiful, like a single red peony.]
[Sorry, but I can’t let you go. Cheongryeong is already my life.]
[It was all me.]
-Tears streamed.
Wi So-yeon’s eyes reddened, tears trailing her cheeks.
Having conveyed his final words, Mok Kyung-un bitterly tried to pull away, but
“Jung-saeng.”
At the voice from Wi So-yeon’s lips, Mok Kyung-un’s eyes shook.
Her tear-streaked smiling face, as if longing for him, quickly reddened his eyes.
The impossible made real by desperation.
We call it a miracle.
Without a word, they embraced and kissed.