Chapter 1149
At that time, Baekri Geom-ha had received some degree of instruction from his father on how to control personalities.
Thanks to that, he had likely been able to create countless personalities on his own.
But after the Saha Manor Blood Calamity,
his father erased all the energy and memories embedded within Baekri Geom-ha's body so that he could live an ordinary life.
However, Baekri Geom-ha had already
created a personality capable of containing all the negative emotions destructive enough to shatter a soul.
Realizing this too late, his father must have urged him not to learn martial arts.
If Baekri Geom-ha's personality—one that wielded the immense power known as the Heavenly Darkness Star—were to awaken and begin learning martial arts again,
not only would the seal his father had placed eventually break,
but Baekri Geom-ha, filled with nothing but negative emotions, would become an incarnation of destruction, spreading hatred across the world.
Fortunately, Baekri Geom-ha had disappeared into the Abyss, burdened with all the filthy emotions—rage, vengeance, and wickedness.
Because of that, Bu Eun-seol had been able to spend a brief but peaceful and happy time with his grandfather.
'I had forgotten all this time that I've lived under your protection.'
Ziiing, ziiing.
Then, the power unleashed by the Baekri figure transformed into a dragon finally began to bring calamity.
The blood-soaked landscape of Saha Manor revived all at once, and his heart burned with flames of hatred.
The fury he felt was like a curse that gnawed at his very existence.
The world offered no salvation—only ashen despair remained.
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol desperately wished
for everything to be burned away.
For no life, no light, to ever remain again.
Destruction was not the result of rage—it was salvation. Annihilation was what would bring peace.
Crackle, crackle.
Just as the instinct for destruction, deeply buried within Bu Eun-seol's inner self, was about to awaken—
Ssssshhh—
Rain began to fall from the depths of his spirit and mind, gradually extinguishing the blazing fury within him.
It was the will of Baekri Geom-ha.
'Baekri Geom-ha.'
Feeling his will, Bu Eun-seol was instead overcome with deep sorrow.
In the past, he would have desperately built mental barriers and clung to consciousness to prevent losing control of his body.
But now, realizing that his very life had been built upon Baekri Geom-ha's sacrifice,
he was drowning in guilt and despair.
BOOM!
In the end, Bu Eun-seol's body was slammed into the ground.
Once his spirit and mind were attacked by the power from the dragon's maw, leaving an opening, the dragon's tail struck him down.
Though it took the form of a tail, it was, in truth, a concentrated mass of Manifestation Art Energy.
Sssss—
White smoke rose from Bu Eun-seol's body, and the space around him twisted unnaturally.
[Martial arts are nothing but illusions.]
The middle-aged man watching this nodded.
[A sturdy body indeed. Let's erase it completely.]
At his words, the white-robed man transformed into a dragon opened its maw and swallowed Bu Eun-seol whole.
No—it tried to swallow him whole.
Crrk, crrk, crrk.
The dragon's tightly shut jaws slowly began to part.
Inside, a shadow wreathed in black radiance was forcing them open with both arms.
Though the Darkness Secret Arts concealed his original appearance,
his eyes had grown sharper and colder, and his lips had turned crimson.
Bu Eun-seol's personality had faded away under the weight of guilt, and Baekri Geom-ha—who had been locked behind a wall in the Abyss—had emerged in his place.
"You bastards!"
Rage blazed in Baekri Geom-ha's eyes.
"Were you the ones involved in the Saha Manor Blood Tragedy?!"
Flash!
In an instant, a dark brilliance erupted from Baekri Geom-ha's body.
It was not the power of the Heavenly Darkness Star.
It was Soul-Demon Magic Energy—awakened from within him by extreme fury.
Crrrrack—
Black veins began spreading across the dragon's body.
Since Manifestation Art Energy and Soul-Demon Magic Energy were opposing forces, it was extremely difficult for one to invade the other.
Ultimately, it wasn't a battle of martial techniques—the key was how to inject one's power into the opponent's body.
Because they had never imagined Bu Eun-seol possessed Soul-Demon Magic Energy,
they had not prepared defenses against it—and thus suffered a fatal blow.
Thud.
The dragon collapsed to the ground, motionless. It had perished meaninglessly.
[You wretch!]
The one-armed the white-robed man stretched his hand toward Bu Eun-seol.
But Baekri Geom-ha, having sensed the movement in advance, flicked his fingers faster.
Grrrrind—
Before the white-robed man could even extend his arm, a massive black hand erupted from the ground and seized his head.
Sssss—
Exposed to the Soul-Demon Magic Energy, both the dragon and the white-robed man emitted white smoke before collapsing.
[Was he one of those from the True Demon Palace?]
The middle-aged man's eyes widened.
If a single infusion of Soul-Demon Magic Energy was enough to bring down members of the Baekri Clan,
then only a master of the True Demon Palace—or one of the Three Attendants who reincarnated alongside the True Demon—could have done it.
[But there's no corpse...]
Muttering under his breath, the middle-aged man shook his head.
For the denizens of the True Demon Palace to appear in this world, one condition was necessary—
the True Demon's Corpse.
But this man had only pure Soul-Demon Magic Energy—no trace of the corpse whatsoever.
[No matter what he is, it doesn't matter.]
He spoke as though it were inevitable.
[Everything has already been decided anyway.]
"You've always been like this."
Black flames flickered to life in Baekri Geom-ha's pupils.
"Whether truth or lies, you try to seize and control everything!"
[How noisy.]
Drip, drip.
The middle-aged man's body slowly began to be covered in scales.
But astonishingly, the middle-aged man was wielding the power of Dragon Transformation Manifestation without fully transforming into a colossal white dragon.
"It was you."
Black flames flickered to life in Baekri Geom-ha's pupils as he stared at that form.
"Those who wield the power of Dragon Transformation Manifestation in human form!"
The masterminds who had attacked Saha Manor, disguising themselves among martial artists and blending in with them.
They were none other than—
Those who had wielded the power of Dragon Transformation Manifestation while maintaining human form.
[A troublesome one, this one.]
A strange glint flashed in the middle-aged man's eyes.
[Disappear.]
"Die!"
A single black line, sharp enough to rend space itself, shot toward the middle-aged man's throat.
Baekri Geom-ha had unleashed the power of Soul-Demon Magic Energy first.
[Hmph.]
At that very moment, a brilliant light erupted from the middle-aged man's right arm.
Scales, dyed pure white, spread outward before solidifying into the form of an impenetrable armor.
KAAANG—!
With a deafening metallic screech, the black line clashed against the white radiance.
FLASH!
The shockwave rippled outward, carving a massive cloud formation into the sky.
But Baekri Geom-ha, having anticipated his attack being blocked, manipulated the black radiance as though it were a living creature.
SWISH—!
A single line split into dozens—no, hundreds—of black afterimages, surging toward the middle-aged man like a storm.
Each of those razor-sharp black lines was a concentrated manifestation of Soul-Demon Magic Energy—
Every single one carried force enough to split mountains and sever rivers.
Yet the middle-aged man stood unshaken at the storm's center, immovable as a mountain.
With deliberate ease, he deflected the onslaught, moving his scale-covered arms with practiced precision.
[How sloppy. As if he's never fought a true opponent before.]
He assessed Baekri Geom-ha's condition in an instant.
[And he hasn't trained in martial arts. If that's the case, he's even more vulnerable to the power of martial techniques.]
When the middle-aged man thrust out his left hand, Baekri Geom-ha was sent crashing to the ground with a thunderous impact.
That was the original martial technique of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars—the Baekri Clan's power refined into eleven distinct branches.
RIP—! CRACKLE—!
Struck by the martial technique of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, Baekri Geom-ha's side was gouged out the size of a fist, and his thigh muscle was cleaved clean through.
Worse still, the overwhelming Manifestation Art Energy was forcibly draining the energy within his body.
Damn it.
Baekri Geom-ha bit his lip.
His memories only extended back to the age of seven.
Moreover, Bu Eun-seol's body was adapted to high-level martial arts—ill-suited for the full exertion of the supernatural power he possessed.
Am I really going to die like this?
Baekri Geom-ha clenched his teeth.
I have to slaughter every last one of them and return.
Bu Eun-seol knew nothing.
While his own personality remained intact, he had to eliminate at least one of those demonic bastards.
"HAAAP—!"
With everything he had, Baekri Geom-ha unleashed the Soul-Demon Magic Energy raging inside him.
Rather than countering the storm of demonic energy head-on, the middle-aged man manifested the power of Dragon Transformation Manifestation across his entire body.
ZZZING—!
Sweeping his left hand through the air, the moisture in the atmosphere froze into hundreds of ice spears, hurtling back toward the black tempest.
RUMBLE—!
Stamping his right foot, the earth trembled with the roar of a dragon, and massive boulders erupted like lances from the ground.
ZZZZZT—!
The black energy of Soul-Demon Magic clashed against the middle-aged man's pure-white frost, shattering into razor-sharp fragments—
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
—before detonating in a chain reaction of explosions.
Unable to withstand the force of their clash, everything within Saha Manor began crumbling into fine dust.
"I've been waiting."
At that moment, Baekri Geom-ha's body shot into the air.
As if all surrounding darkness was being sucked into his hands, pitch-black lightning surged forth.
The power of Soul-Demon Magic Energy, so vast it dyed even the heavens black.
[Come.]
ZZZZZIIING—!
As if preparing for the final strike, the middle-aged man also brought his hands together before his chest.
Behind him, the colossal phantom of a white dragon roared into existence, and pure-white True Qi began condensing like a miniature sun between his palms.
He was concentrating the power of Dragon Transformation Manifestation into a single point.
And when the two forces finally collided—
All sound vanished from the world.
Black annihilation and white purification.
Two colossal powers clashed in midair.
For an instant, the world was divided into light and darkness.
Blinding radiance and all-consuming void tangled together, tearing apart the very fabric of space.
RUMBLEEE—!
The deafening roar paradoxically felt like a moment of perfect silence.
When the dust and smoke finally cleared, Baekri Geom-ha stood like a statue.
His eyes were wide, as if he had swallowed forbidden extreme poison, and black smoke coiled from his entire body.
Having lost the contest of Manifestation Art Energy, the Soul-Demon Magic Energy within him was now ravaging his own form.
[A most agonizing death awaits you.]
The middle-aged man smirked.
Soul-Demon Magic Energy, bearing the attribute of destruction, had been forced into reversal by Manifestation Art Energy.
Not only would his body shatter, but he would die while enduring the most excruciating pain a human could suffer.
[Still, I can't leave any loose ends.]
The middle-aged man extended his hand.
The form of a white dragon began swirling violently around it.
If this man was truly from the Demon Palace?
He could not be allowed to leave alive. He had to die here.
WHOOSH—!
In an instant, a massive white dragon revealed itself in the sky, jaws gaping wide.
The middle-aged man had not transformed his own body—he had instead created another avatar of Dragon Transformation Manifestation.
[Hmm?]
At that moment, the middle-aged man frowned as he sensed something.
He had just noticed that the sword Baekri Geom-ha had been wearing at his waist had disappeared.
[No matter what you do, it's futile.]
With a dismissive snort, the middle-aged man was about to obliterate Baekri Geom-ha's body in an instant—
Thud.
A sensation of something bursting erupted, and a pitch-black sword abruptly jutted out from the middle-aged man's chest.
The Ink Soul Sword had suddenly pierced through his back and emerged from his sternum.
[How...?]
The middle-aged man's Manifestation Art Energy aside—
His martial arts were so exceptional that he could freely wield the original techniques of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Moreover, being stabbed in the back was something that only happened in fights between third-rate martial artists.
So how could something like this have occurred?
"Did you think I could only use Soul-Demon Magic Energy?"
The reason Baekri Geom-ha had relentlessly attacked with Soul-Demon Magic Energy—
Was to deliver a decisive strike using the power of the Heavenly Darkness Star.
[You were deliberately using Soul-Demon Magic Energy?]
Members of the Baekri Clan could instinctively sense the aura of Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
Not only that, but the middle-aged man also possessed extrasensory perception, allowing him to detect even the unseen.
Baekri Geom-ha had anticipated this and, in fact, exploited that absolute confidence.
"The power of the Heavenly Darkness can erase anything. Even physical objects."
He had intentionally revealed his presence through Soul-Demon Magic Energy while fighting.
All the while, he had completely concealed the Ink Soul Sword's existence before using the Heavenly Darkness Star's power to send the blade flying into his opponent's back.
"You thought of me as nothing more than an insect."
Baekri Geom-ha let out a derisive snort.
"You wouldn't have cared even if a single sword went missing."
Had the middle-aged man been a true martial artist?
The moment he realized the sword at Baekri Geom-ha's waist had vanished, he would have immediately sensed danger—
And sharpened all his senses to locate the missing Ink Soul Sword.
But because he had detected the fading Soul-Demon Magic Energy within Baekri Geom-ha, he was utterly convinced that no trick could defeat him.
Moreover, even if a treasure sword like the Fishgut Sword slashed at his body, it would never leave a wound—so naturally, he hadn't even spared a thought for mere blades.
But he had never dreamed that Baekri Geom-ha would possess the power of the Heavenly Darkness Star.
In the end, his body had been pierced like tofu by the Ink Soul Sword, condensed with that very power.
Click.
As Baekri Geom-ha withdrew the Ink Soul Sword—
[This supernatural power... So it was you.]
Thud.
The middle-aged man, bleeding profusely, collapsed like a felled log.
[......You too will soon die.]
Thud.
With those final words, the middle-aged man met his death.
"Hah... Hah..."
Baekri Geom-ha gasped for breath.
The power of the Baekri Clan had completely transcended the limits of martial arts.
His body was being ravaged by the backflow of Soul-Demon Magic Energy due to the Manifestation Art Energy, and his thigh muscles and knees were nearly shattered from the dragon's strike.
On top of that, the Heavenly Darkness Star's energy had completely vanished.
Just as the middle-aged man had foretold—
He, too, would soon breathe his last.
"I..."
Gazing at the ashen sky, Baekri Geom-ha struggled to draw breath.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and the sensations in his body were slowly fading.
He had even forgotten what he had meant to say—
Thud.
Like a broken ancient tree, he toppled forward with a heavy crash.
Whoosh.
A desolate wind blew past.
Drip... drip...
By now, the Absolute Boundary surrounding the battlefield had dissipated. With it, even the remnants of the fierce battle vanished.
The corpses of the middle-aged man and the white-robed man gradually turned into silver dust.
How much time had passed?
By the time only the heavy air, the stench of blood, and the scent of death lingered over the ruins—
Shuuuu...
At the center of the devastated landscape, a pitch-black darkness rose like a heat haze from Baekri Geom-ha's fallen body.
It was the corrosive Soul-Demon Magic Energy, capable of eroding all living things.
The edges of his clothes touched by the demonic energy silently decayed into ash, and the ground around him blackened and withered, losing all life.
If even a quarter hour more passed, his flesh would turn to dust and scatter in the wind.
But then—
Flicker.
As if a star had appeared in the starless night sky, tens of thousands of black light points began spreading through the air.
They shimmered darkly like fragments of a shattered star, descending in silence.
The moment those lights touched the ground—
Shwip.
Masked figures clad in pitch-black attire materialized without a sound or shadow.
As if they had been standing there all along.
"Hmm."
Their gazes were fixed on the traces of silver dust.
The one who appeared to be their leader stepped forward, carefully observing the scattered silver particles.
"Just remnants of the Baekri Clan."
Then, his eyes fell upon Baekri Geom-ha, who lay sprawled, his body emitting smoke as his eyes remained wide open.
"Still alive, are you?"
Baekri Geom-ha tried to speak, but the Soul-Demon Magic Energy burning through his body wouldn't even let him open his mouth.
"Not just Soul-Demon Magic Energy."
The leader clicked his tongue as he discerned that the gruesome wounds and the energy seeping from Baekri Geom-ha's body—
Were not just tainted with Soul-Demon Magic Energy, but also contained a mysterious light.
"Manifestation Art Energy is mixed in as well."
He let out a deep sigh, laced with resignation and irritation.
"Another plaything the Elder must have crafted out of boredom."
After muttering under his breath, he glanced at the traces of the middle-aged man and shook his head.
"Still, if he managed to kill a Baekri Clan elder, he can't be a complete failure."
With an air of reluctant acceptance, he addressed his subordinates.
"Summon the Dolls. Take him to the Earthen Chambers and restore his body along with the Soul-Demon Magic Energy."
The moment the order was given, strange patterns etched themselves onto the masked men's hands.
As they stretched their hands toward the empty sky, an eerie and uncanny light began surging upward from the distant heavens.
After some time had passed like this...
Something slowly descended from the void toward the ground.
No—rather than descending, it was flowing down like liquid blood.
As though the heavens were vomiting forth a nightmare, something continuously took shape before... finally beginning to assume a human form.