Chapter 218
Chapter 218
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: The End of the Demonic Path (3)
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…….
A gray world, shrouded in silence.
No, that wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t quiet. Sounds echoed from all directions.
*Peeee—*
It was simply a roar that the human ear could not perceive.
How did I know, if I couldn’t hear it?
The scene unfolding before my eyes explained it all.
The mass of force that had erupted in an instant created a massive explosion.
The ground was overturned, and rocks turned to sand.
It was a power capable of shattering mountains and parting seas.
But the true power of the Hellscape lay not in expansion, but in contraction.
The immense force, instead of returning to the natural energy of the world, began to converge back to a single point.
*Whooosh.*
*Creeak. Crunch. Crack.*
A gravitational pull, the likes of which one might only see at the Earth’s core, emerged and swallowed everything around it.
Weapons made of steel were crushed into small balls.
Trees rooted nearby were ripped up and flew through the air, turning to dust.
The demonic practitioners of the Ten Demon Alliance were reduced to mere clumps of blood.
Witnessing this phenomenon, like a black hole sucking in everything, sent a shiver down my entire body.
‘This… is the Hellscape?’
The elders of the Righteous Path Alliance were just as shocked.
“Did he get him?”
A classic jinx of a line was spoken, but I was in no state to respond.
“Ugh!”
Having forced myself to unleash a technique beyond my current level, my body felt like it would shatter at any moment.
I had wrung out every last drop of true energy, severing the flow of ki in my body, and the sheer amount of force I had unleashed from within had severely damaged my blood vessels.
*Throb.*
In particular, the sternum near my solar plexus, where I had detonated the internal energy, was completely fractured.
And yet.
“Son… of a bitch!”
The Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance, who had taken a direct hit from the Hellscape, was not dead.
“Remark…able.”
Despite the unbelievable power displayed by the Hellscape, he only looked slightly weary, without a single broken bone.
“I acknowledge it as a martial lineage that rivals the Divine Arts of the Heavenly Demon.”
“……!”
Seeing the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance appear so unscathed, the seven elders charged at him like hounds.
It seemed they intended to settle the fight while he was even slightly exhausted.
*Fwoosh!*
The ethereal Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Swordsmanship of Mount Hua surged forward, radiating a purple sword energy.
The incomparably fluid Flowing Cloud Sword of Wudang emitted a white mist, enveloping the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance.
The devastatingly powerful Hundred-Pace Divine Fist of Shaolin shot toward the Lord’s chest.
It was a single, coordinated strike born from the lifelong cultivation of seven supreme masters, but their attacks never reached him.
*Flash.*
The moment he swung his sword, the world was dyed black, and all their attacks were reduced to nothingness.
As if they had never existed in the first place.
Annihilation.
It was the concept of death that emanated from him.
“Heok!”
As their attacks, filled with internal energy, were annihilated, the seven elders coughed up blood and retreated.
The Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance glanced at them indifferently before his gaze shifted back to me.
“What do you think?”
“*Cough*, what… what do I think about what? *Cough*.”
“The essence contained within the Heavenly Demon’s martial lineage.”
“What kind of non…sense is this… *Cough*. I don’t understand.”
As I answered while vomiting blood, he shook his head and spoke incomprehensibly.
“You unleashed its essence without even understanding it. The fact that you’re still alive suggests the Western School has found a proper successor.”
*Thud, thud.*
He walked slowly as he continued.
“But that, too, ends today.”
A jade-colored hand reached for my head.
Facing his hand, which was brimming with the energy of destruction, I sensed that the moment of my death had arrived.
“Heh… heh. *Cough!* Blech!”
I let out a pointless laugh and looked behind me.
The warriors were rushing toward us, even though we had agreed they would flee if we failed to stop the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance.
“You crazy… bastards.”
You guys, at least, have to live.
You morons.
I looked up at the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance to beg him to spare them.
“Do you have any last words?”
Meeting the arrogant gaze of an absolute being sparked a pointless defiance in me.
“See you in hell. You coward who ran away, abandoning your family.”
Of course, I’ll be in heaven.
The face of the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance twisted into the visage of a demon.
***
They say your life flashes before your eyes right before you die.
Some say it passes in an instant, like a film reel on fast forward, while others say a single minute feels like a day… an experience only for those on the brink of death.
I had already experienced it in my past life, but this time was different.
‘My lady…’
Only one person’s face came to mind.
It was only at the moment of death that I was certain.
I loved her, too.
‘Even so.’
What good was that, now that I was dying?
It wasn’t like I could turn back time.
‘If I get reincarnated again, I want to be born as a small puppy.’
Preferably a white Maltese.
I was always jealous of how they were adored for doing nothing.
Just as the shadow of death fell over my head.
*Thwack.*
A small impact sound was heard.
It wasn’t the sound of my head exploding.
For one, I felt no pain.
“……”
When I opened my eyes, the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance was staring down at his own chest with a look of utter bewilderment.
Where his gaze fell, a small butterfly made of iron was shallowly embedded.
‘Why is an Iron Butterfly here?’
This shouldn’t be here.
The Iron Butterfly was a hidden weapon that could only be used by the direct line of the Green Dragon Hall.
Which meant, if there was an Iron Butterfly…
“The King… of Shadows!”
“My Lord?”
It meant the Lord was here.
And he hadn’t come alone.
*Kwaaaa!*
A straight beam of white sword energy.
A single streak of energy shot forward like a ray of light, with enough force to bring down the sun.
*Shnk.*
“Kuh!”
Just as the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance raised his sword to defend, the elder from Mount Hua grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and pulled me out of the blast’s range.
*KABOOOOM!*
The sharp energy contained within the dissipating sword qi revealed who its master was.
“To think the Great Pure Adept has also come… This is truly fortunate. A stroke of heavenly luck.”
“Hehehe, *cough*, that Alliance Lord… is a dead man now. *Cough*. Blech!”
I spoke with a sense of triumph, only to vomit more blood.
“Are you alright, young man?”
“I feel like… I’m going to die.”
“Let us withdraw. It seems our role here is finished.”
I shook my head at his words.
“I can hold on for… about an hour.”
I had to see the end of this fight.
“I’ll stay with him. Why don’t you all come and protect this young hero?”
“Very well.”
“Of course.”
At his words, the seven elders gathered and formed a circle around me.
The eyes of everyone on the battlefield turned to one spot.
It was only natural. The outcome of this battle would decide the victor of this long war.
“It has been a while.”
“Hehehe, if you came back from the dead, you should have lived quietly. Why stir up such a bloody conflict?”
The Lord of Nine Dragons and the Great Pure Adept stood facing the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance.
“Why didn’t you go to the main headquarters? I was certain I slipped away without anyone knowing.”
It was a question not only on the Lord’s mind but on everyone’s. The Great Pure Adept answered with a broad smile.
“Before entering the Xinjiang desert, I observed the celestial omens. The Heavenly Killing Star was moving east. Thanks to that, I was able to follow you here. Though it seems I was a bit late.”
To think he could pinpoint a person’s location in the world.
“Indeed, one cannot escape the celestial omens.”
“They say the net of heaven is wide, yet it misses nothing.”
“It is a grace bestowed upon us by the Buddha.”
“There’s nothing as accurate as celestial omens. *Cough, cough*.”
I had suddenly become a firm believer in horoscopes.
“…Indeed, you live up to your name, Great Pure Adept, whose Dao has reached the heavens.”
“Not the heavens, perhaps the clouds.”
The Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance looked at the two with an indifferent gaze.
“Do you intend to attack together?”
“Why else would the two of us have come here like this?”
“Unbefitting of the two pillars of the Righteous Path.”
“If it means we can kill the sky of the demonic path, what wouldn’t we do?”
“The leader of the Righteous Path Alliance faced me alone.”
“……!”
The eyes of the Lord of Nine Dragons and the Great Pure Adept widened.
“…Did you… kill him?”
*Smirk.*
“He forgot his pride and begged me to spare his life.”
“You bastard!”
An explosive aura erupted from the Great Pure Adept’s body.
The Alliance Leader had been a friend of my grandfather, so he must have had a deep connection with the Great Pure Adept as well.
The Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance sneered at the enraged Adept.
“But how long do you plan to stall? If the poisoning is done, shouldn’t you just attack?”
The corner of the Lord’s eye twitched.
I hadn’t sensed any indication of it.
The words ‘colorless and odorless’ came to mind.
“You hypocrites of the Righteous Path.”
As the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance lowered his black sword, the Lord’s hand moved.
*Clatter.*
An ordinary Iron Butterfly.
But its power was anything but ordinary.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
“Hmm.”
A groan escaped the lips of the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance as he blocked the Iron Butterflies, each moving in a different direction and at its own speed.
*Kwaaaaa!*
The Sun-Shooting Sword, Hou Yi’s Sun Shot.
The legend of Hou Yi, who shot down the suns to save the world, descended upon the battlefield.
*KRAAANG!*
A black light flashed from the Alliance Lord’s sword, creating a massive shockwave.
Watching them, a single phrase crossed my mind.
‘A decisive, short battle.’
That’s right.
The two of them were aiming for a swift conclusion.
Otherwise, there would be no reason to unleash their greatest techniques from the very beginning.
As proof, despite having just clashed once, the two were already preparing their next attacks.
*Shhhk. Shhhk. Shhhk.*
A sound that disoriented the ears filled the air.
Well over a thousand dark green projectiles enveloped the Lord’s body.
It was the Sky-Covering Flower Rain, the divine secret art of the Green Dragon Hall that had elevated the Sichuan Tang Clan to the center of the Nine Dragons Fortress.
Perhaps deeming it too dangerous to leave unchecked, the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance moved to swing his sword, but…
The Great Pure Adept’s sword reached him first.
A single streak of light.
I understood the moment I saw it.
Why the legend of Hou Yi was said to be contained within the Sun-Shooting Sword.
‘Penetration…!’
The Sun-Shooting Sword, capable of piercing even the formless natural energy of the world, collided with the black Heavenly Demon Sword.
*Paaaaa. Kwaaaaaa.*
A battle of annihilation versus penetration.
The result.
“Heok. Heok.”
Was a victory for the Heavenly Demon Sword.
The Sun-Shooting Sword vanished after leaving only a slight scratch on the Heavenly Demon Sword.
*Fizzle.*
The Great Pure Adept’s beloved sword, which had unleashed the technique, also evaporated into thin air.
“*Cough*.”
*Thud.*
He coughed up blood and fell to one knee.
However, the assault was not over.
*Shhhk. Drip. Drip.*
The Lord, having finished his preparations, had already unleashed his Sky-Covering Flower Rain.
A thousand projectiles, each containing devastating power, flew toward the Alliance Lord.
*Sizzzle.*
The projectiles were coated in a potent poison; a tiny droplet that splattered from one melted the ground.
‘Freedom.’
Only after seeing the essence contained within the Sky-Covering Flower Rain and the Sun-Shooting Sword did I understand what the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance had said earlier.
The projectiles that covered the sky descended upon him.
*Chiiik. Chik. Chang. Changchangchangchang.*
His sword moved without rest.
He blocked, and blocked, and blocked again.
Finally, the last form of the Heavenly Demon Sword was unleashed.
Before his sword, which momentarily dyed the world black.
*Shaaaa.*
All one thousand projectiles evaporated.
“Keuk.”
Blood trickled from the corner of the Lord’s mouth, indicating he had suffered internal injuries.
Frustrated at being unable to defeat his foe despite unleashing the culmination of his life’s work, he glared at the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance with crimson eyes.
The only silver lining was that the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance wasn’t in good shape either.
His wrist was broken by the Sun-Shooting Sword, which he thought he had perfectly blocked.
And despite unleashing the final secret art of the Heavenly Demon Sword, a single strand of the Sky-Covering Flower Rain was embedded in his thigh.
Pulling out the projectile and setting his wrist, the Lord of the Ten Demon Alliance raised his black sword.
*Guooooo.*
A black current of energy began to gather.
Sensing the ominous aura, the Great Pure Adept and the Lord tried to act, but the Alliance Lord was one step ahead and swung his sword.
*Flash.*
The world was plunged into darkness.