The Martial God's Return
Drip.
“Who are you?”
Blood welled from the small wound on his arm, and Yomra fixed Do-ha with eyes thick with killing intent. He had never even noticed the man until he was already within arm’s reach.
“You must have had a reason for attacking me.”
“My friend looked like he was in trouble.”
“Friend? You mean this one?”
Yomra glanced at Dool, who was still coughing. He had seized the immortal only because the man knew things he should never have known. Of course, if the answers had proven unsatisfactory he would have killed him—but for the moment he had no intention of doing harm.
“That thing he was holding is something I asked him for.”
“……The writing on the paper, you mean.”
“That’s right.”
“And who exactly are you? How did you come to know what was written there?”
“Well, because I’m the one carrying this.”
Do-ha drew out the Book of the Dead and held it up. In truth he still could not read its contents; that was precisely why he had had them transcribed onto paper.
“?!!”
The moment Yomra saw the Book of the Dead, his eyes flew wide. That tome belonged in Anubis’s hands—how in the world had it ended up here?!
A suffocating killing intent poured from Yomra the instant he laid eyes on the book.
“You. What is your true identity?”
In that charged instant, when a fight seemed ready to erupt at any second, Dool frantically threw himself between them.
“Y-Yomra-nim! I will explain everything!”
“Out of the way.”
“Dool, step aside. Sorry for dragging you into this.”
Do-ha gave Dool’s shoulder a light pat. He had followed precisely because he feared something like this might happen to the immortal. A moment later and Dool would have died because of him.
“Do-ha, you calm down too! If you fight Yomra here it’ll be a real disaster!”
“Do-ha……? Don’t tell me—the Absolute One, Baek Do-ha?”
Hearing the name, Yomra tilted his head. He had never met the man in person, yet among the gods the name was famous enough that he knew it well.
“An honor that Yomra himself recognizes me……?”
“……Did you kill Anubis?”
Baek Do-ha was the only being who had ever dared challenge the Demon God. Aside from the Heavenly God, no one else even considered it. And Baek Do-ha had come within a hair of killing the Demon God. Given that, the fact that he now held the Book of the Dead could only mean he had slain Anubis.
“Hmm? Did I kill Anubis?”
Do-ha cocked his head with feigned innocence.
“Do you intend to make enemies of the gods? You fought the Demon God and lost your mind. Now you’re even touching the gods of the Underworld……”
“Make enemies of them, huh…… From the start I’ve never been particularly fond of gods.”
They strutted about as if they were something special to mortals, yet the moment real danger arrived they washed their hands of everything. Just look at the other cults in Belhart. When the Demon God Cult slaughtered the followers of every other faith, the gods had remained silent.
“So how about you just tell me? Tell me what that writing means and I’ll stop making a fuss and leave.”
“Ha……”
Yomra let out a hollow laugh at Do-ha’s words. To hear such a thing from a human. He had sat on the throne of Yomra for tens of thousands of years, yet never once had anyone spoken to him like this.
“D-Do-ha.”
Dool swallowed hard and stared at Baek Do-ha. He knew the truth: Do-ha’s power had waned. He no longer possessed the strength he had wielded as the Absolute One. That was why he must not fight Yomra. The being standing before them was on an entirely different level from the mountain god they had faced before.
“I heard you lost your power fighting the Demon God…… Do you truly believe you can defeat me in that state?”
“How does everyone already know I lost my power? Don’t tell me that Demon God bastard went around bragging about it?”
“…….”
At the words “Demon God bastard,” Yomra momentarily lost the ability to speak. To refer to the Demon God in such a manner…… He could not decide whether it was impressive or simply foolish.
“In your current condition you cannot defeat me.”
“Want to make a bet?”
“A bet?”
“Whether I can beat you or not.”
“Arrogant.”
Yomra’s eyes turned ice-cold. In the past, raw martial might might have been another matter—but now, with his power gone, challenging him was pure madness.
“If I beat you, I’ll tell you how I obtained the Book of the Dead. If you beat me, you tell me what’s written there. And you don’t hold Dool responsible either. How about it?”
“You don’t actually expect me to accept a bet like that, do you?”
“Aww, you’re scared.”
“……What?”
“Dool, you see it too, right? Yomra’s scared he’ll lose.”
“…….”
The casual, almost flippant way Do-ha declared that Yomra was frightened drained the color from Dool’s face. Every time he witnessed it, he could only feel a twisted sort of admiration. How could anyone be this insane? In all his long life he had never seen a being taunt Yomra by calling him a coward.
Crunch.
“You think a single scratch on my arm from a sneak attack makes me look like a joke, do you? Fine. I’ll take your bet.”
Just as I thought.
Watching Yomra’s reaction, Do-ha smiled. That frivolous little provocation about being scared worked every single time.
“What happened a moment ago will not happen twice. If you manage to wound my body again…… I will consider it my defeat.”
Yomra ground his teeth and snarled. How lightly must this man regard him to make such an absurd wager and then dare to provoke him?
“Oh? Really?”
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong
Fifth Step: Yeom-ok-noe-shin-chang
A brilliant flash.
KRA-KOOM—!
“You bastard!”
A colossal bolt of lightning crashed down from the heavens; Yomra dodged it in an instant. Impressive for a human’s power, yet nowhere near enough to even scratch him.
“Dool, stay hidden.”
“Damn it, seriously……”
With a long-suffering sigh, Dool finally slipped into a crevice between the rocks.
Whoosh—!
Hissssss.
Hmm. Everything that touches his energy corrodes and melts away.
As Yomra’s power erupted, Do-ha rapidly assessed his opponent. The dark-crimson force of the Underworld king was dissolving everything it touched—exactly as if sulfuric acid had been poured over the world.
Shing.
In one hand Do-ha gripped Un-jeop-bi-jang; in the other, the Heaven-Cleaving Blood Demon Sword.
Myeol-hwang Sword Technique
Seventh Form: Moonlit Lake Reflection Sword
Shrrraaaak—!
“Wha—?!”
Yomra, twisting his body to evade, jolted in shock at the bizarrely bending sword energy. The blade-light that had shot forward in a straight line suddenly rippled like silk and came at him from an angle impossible to predict.
“You fiend! So you did have a hidden card!”
KRA-KOOM—!
Yomra’s power surged even more violently, and the very sky began to tremble.
……What am I even looking at right now?
Hidden behind the rocks, Dool watched the two combatants with his mouth hanging open. He already knew the full measure of Yomra’s power, so that was one thing—but Do-ha was fighting far better than he had expected. Of course, as the Absolute One who had nearly slain even the Demon God, excellence in battle was only natural…… yet had he not lost his power? To be holding his own against Yomra with that diminished body was nothing short of astonishing.
But the gap will start to show soon.
Until now Do-ha had been scraping by on pure experience, yet the disparity in raw power was simply too vast. Yomra looked as though he had only just begun to warm up, while Do-ha’s stamina already seemed near its limit.
“Truly remarkable. I never believed a human body could have fought the Demon God…… but now I see it was the truth.”
Yomra offered the praise freely. He had begun the fight in a rage, yet the longer the battle continued the more admiration rose in him. When he first heard of Baek Do-ha he had dismissed the man as nothing more than a brute who used overwhelming strength to pick fights with the gods. Fighting him in person, however, made everything clear.
The Baek Do-ha standing before him was a being who had reached the absolute peak. He was filling the void left by his missing power with experience and intellect alone. Was that even possible? How monstrous must his talent be to bridge such a gulf with nothing but experience and intellect?
Human and god. The difference could neither be expressed nor filled. And yet Baek Do-ha was filling it.
If he were still in the Life-or-Death Realm of his prime……
A chill raced down Yomra’s spine; he swallowed hard. Had Baek Do-ha still stood in the divine realm of Life-or-Death, this fight would already have been Yomra’s defeat.
“Of course, that is not the case now that he has lost his power!”
WHOOOOSH—!
Sizzle.
Blood streamed.
Yomra’s successive attacks carved wound after wound across Do-ha’s body.
“Hoo.”
Bleeding freely, Do-ha steadied his breathing and replenished what stamina he could. Fighting Yomra had shown him exactly where he now stood. It was frustrating and he hated to admit it, but he had indeed grown weaker. His own body was covered in countless cuts, while Yomra had only just finished warming up.
This is fun.
For the first time in a long while Do-ha felt genuine enjoyment and began circulating his energy. If the battle continued any longer his stamina would give out first. He was holding on through the experience of fighting the Demon God, yet the power gap remained crushing. That was precisely why he had not fought Anubis properly before and had simply reverse-summoned him instead.
And yet—even in this situation, even though he was so thoroughly disadvantaged and in such danger—the pounding deep in his chest refused to stop.
Grin.
Feeling Yomra’s killing intent prickle against his skin, Do-ha smiled.
This is fun. The fact that there is still a path higher to climb is truly delightful.
This fight had never been a life-or-death duel. Yet in this single moment it made him forget that fact entirely.
With this attack…… I’ll pour out everything I have.
A vast surge of energy whirled around Do-ha’s body; from his eyes poured a luminous five-colored radiance. Both Yomra and the hidden Dool froze in shock. That aura, that appearance—it was the exact state one entered when breaking through a realm.
“This is bad!”
Seeing Do-ha’s condition, Yomra grew frantic. Leave him like this and the man would once again surpass the wall. Had he truly gained yet another enlightenment through their battle?
“You monster!”
WHOOOOOOSH—!
Yomra’s energy rose like a tidal wave, swallowing everything in its path.
Do-ha’s eyes blazed with five-colored light as he adjusted his grip on Un-jeop-bi-jang and the Heaven-Cleaving Blood Demon Sword.
Myeol-hwang Sword Technique
Fourteenth Form: Hegemon Asura Sword
Shrrrrk—
Behind Do-ha, six colossal golden Heavenly Vajra appeared, each gripping a golden sword.
Slash.
Slashhhhh—
Once.
And then again.
The all-devouring energy of Yomra began to be cut apart.
“……Heh heh.”
Watching his own power gradually severed and annihilated, Yomra let out a hollow laugh. His energy. Space itself. Even the wall of the realm that had stood in Do-ha’s way—everything was being sliced and destroyed before that sword.
And looking upon Baek Do-ha’s blade, Yomra felt it with absolute certainty.
“The Martial God has returned.”
The Absolute One had come back.