The Beast of Destruction
In the deepest depths of the Underground Great Waterway.
The vast subterranean chamber, shaped like a colossal gourd, seethed with the demonic qi of the Demonic Cult.
Whether ordinary mortal or one who had cultivated internal qi, mere contact or observation was enough. Flesh would erode, mind would corrode, and one would inevitably become a madman. Such was the nature of the Demonic Cult’s demonic qi.
It was for this very reason that the veterans of the Demon-Slaying Unit—men who had hunted the Demonic Cult for years—had half-turned into raving lunatics.
And the source, the very root and foundation of the demonic qi that the Cult had cultivated while hiding within Luoyang, was this place.
The deepest core of the Underground Great Waterway.
But—
“Wh-what?!”
The aberrant existence shuddered.
Gooooooo—
The demonic qi surging from Amcheonjonza’s body reverse-eroded the Demonic Cult’s qi that filled the air to a suffocating density.
“You bastard—”
The aberrant existence was a fusion of countless corpses. The mouths of the bodies tangled across its form opened as one and began to suck in the surrounding demonic qi. That stolen power gathered into the organ that served as its maw—and fired straight at Amcheonjonza.
The blast shook the gourd-shaped deepest chamber beyond control. Even the vast Underground Great Waterway that stretched beneath nearly the whole of Luoyang trembled as though struck by an earthquake.
So overwhelming was the force it unleashed that the aberrant existence itself was driven backward by its own recoil. Hundreds of feet scraped the floor, throwing sparks.
Krrrk, krrrrrk.
Yet the demonic qi of the Jeam Jincheon Scripture—its reins of Yang-Yi Heart Technique completely thrown off—transcended all imagination.
“Is that all you have?”
In the heart of the swirling dust and demonic vortex, Amcheonjonza’s blue ghost-fire eyes flared. A pure white hand shot out.
It seized the lower jaw of the gaping maw and tore it free in one long, wet rip.
This was no longer mere grip strength. Just as he had walked while ripping free every corpse that formed the passageway, Amcheonjonza plucked the tangled bodies that composed the maw straight out of that mountainous form.
Puhwahk—!
Black blood, long dead of any vitality, fountained from the torn surface.
“Guooooo—!”
What pain could the desiccated, rotting nerves of a corpse pile possibly feel? Yet the aberrant existence howled in agony—proof that the Jeam Jincheon Scripture’s demonic qi was reverse-eroding it.
Boom. Thud.
The massive body staggered back under that pain, and the underground chamber itself shuddered from the motion alone.
“You goad and delude those ignorant fools, trapping them in suffering where they can neither live nor die—”
Thud!
Amcheonjonza scrambled up the colossal form on all fours and sneered coldly from atop its head.
“Yet you yourself howl at mere pain of this degree?”
This time it was the upper jaw. Claws forged of Jeam Jincheon Scripture demonic qi sank deep into the bone.
“Kyaaaaah—!”
“Kraaaa—!”
The corpses that formed the aberrant existence screamed in torment. An ordinary man present would have had his eardrums burst and his brain concussed by those cries alone. To Amcheonjonza they were nothing more than song.
Crunch.
Feet planted firmly on the head, Amcheonjonza gripped the upper jaw and began to tear it free.
Crrrk.
Greater force drove into his feet; corpses crushed beneath them shrieked.
“Gyaaaaah—!”
The bodies tangled into the upper jaw clung desperately to one another, refusing to fall—yet as Amcheonjonza bent the jaw backward and ripped it free, their arms and legs tore away instead. Waists were ripped out, chests split open, and eternally rotting innards poured forth in streams.
Crrrrunch—!
“Uoooooo—!”
Only then did the aberrant existence, mind clearing amid the agony, slam its massive hands together like a clap toward the figure on its head.
Boom—.
The air itself screamed under the force; the underground space quaked. The impact crushed every corpse forming those hands into pulp. Shattered flesh rained to the floor.
But Amcheonjonza was already gone from that place.
“You claimed you would topple the Central Plains and destroy the world—”
His voice rose from below.
“Is that all the grudge and resolve you could muster?”
Corpses of the lower body reached for his hem.
“Gyaah!”
The hands that seized the cloth began to burn away.
“Resenting the pain you yourselves suffered, you would make even the innocent howl—”
Amcheonjonza raced low between the massive body and the ground. Each time his hook-like hands swept out, whatever they caught was torn free without discrimination. Legs that supported the aberrant existence sheared away in great chunks.
“Pouring out directionless rage, resenting those who even now strive to live righteously—”
“Uwaaaa—!”
Having lost more than half its forest of legs, the aberrant existence could no longer bear its own immense weight.
Thuuud—.
The colossal form collapsed where it stood. The remaining legs were crushed flat beneath it.
“Those who cannot even support their own weight dare speak of the weight of the world with those mouths.”
“Amcheonjonza—!”
Enraged by the naked mockery, the aberrant existence roared from its ruined maw. Faces hanging from the torso screamed with it.
“Not yet! I…!”
“We are not finished yet!”
“It does not end like this!”
As if answering that cry, howls rose from the passages that fed the deepest chamber.
“Guooooo!”
“Uoooo!”
Fresh corpses began raining from the ceiling. The aberrant existence opened its throat-only mouth and swallowed them like rain. Something like an esophagus gulped them down.
“How unjust!”
“How resentful!”
Lost legs sprouted anew. Corpses tangled and swelled. The already gigantic form grew larger still and formed a fresh snout like that of a beast.
Even before that grotesque spectacle, Amcheonjonza merely snorted.
“A futile effort.”
The aberrant existence hammered the floor with newly forged fists. Stone shattered, walls crumbled, blood and flesh flew—yet not a single drop of Amcheonjonza’s blood or flesh was among them. Ghost-fire trailing from the white mask like a beast’s long tail, he simply watched the creature smash only floor and wall.
“Amcheonjonza!”
Hundreds of voices cried as one.
“We shall see how long you can maintain that demonic qi!”
Blue teeth flashed as Amcheonjonza answered.
“And I shall see how long you can maintain that body.”
Black blood poured. Flesh and entrails flew. Reality twisted by demonic qi kept disgorging corpses through the passages in endless streams. The aberrant existence repaired itself, maintained its bulk—yet Amcheonjonza’s demonic qi showed no sign of waning.
“Uwooooo—!”
With a howl the creature slammed the floor once more.
Boom—!
But a soft shout answered it.
“Hup!”
This time Amcheonjonza met the massive fist head-on. A roar like a heavenly thunderclap shook heaven and earth; the gigantic arm exploded into scattering fragments.
Through hundreds of mouths screaming unintelligible agony, the aberrant existence understood.
Amcheonjonza’s demonic qi had not diminished in the slightest. From the first moment until now, it had only grown.
“How…?!”
The pillar-like leg that voiced the question burst apart.
“Just what are you…?!”
The shoulder that asked was shredded to ribbons.
Screaming with every limb and every inch of its body, the aberrant existence realized the truth.
The demonic qi of the being called Amcheonjonza was not merely eroding its own power.
It was devouring it entirely.
And with every mouthful it grew stronger.
This was no battle.
It was being eaten alive.
“Gyaaaaa—!”
The aberrant existence wrung out every remaining scrap of demonic qi, sprouted four arms in an instant, and slammed floor and walls together.
Boom boom boom boom!
The already half-ruined walls of the deepest chamber began to give way. As the stone that had held back the immense underground pressure cracked and fell, earth and sand beyond poured in like a tidal wave.
I must escape!
The aberrant existence clawed up the collapsing walls with its tattered body, scattering corpses into the air as it climbed.
I must flee from that thing!
For survival it began to run. Wriggling its massive bulk against the cascade of stone and soil as the ceiling fell, it rammed its head into a passage—the same passage Yeon So-hyeon had entered through.
“Gyaaaah!”
Forcing that ridiculous bulk into the narrow tunnel, outer corpses peeled away like skin, screaming.
“Aaaah!”
Crunch. Crrrk.
The moment it succeeded in squeezing inside, it scrambled madly forward. Corpses jammed against the walls were ground to paste; its body shrank accordingly. Still it did not stop.
It could not stop.
Why did I misunderstand…?!
Because Amcheonjonza also leaked demonic qi, it had believed it understood him. It had believed it knew what he was.
“Gyaaaah!”
Agony spiked. The bastard was still seizing the torso that had not yet entered the tunnel and tearing it free.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
The walls it desperately clutched came away in long strips. Though its body was still overwhelmingly larger, it felt as though a giant were hauling it backward.
Yet the desperate struggle bore fruit.
Crrrack—!
Unable to endure the opposing forces, the torso finally snapped and tore free.
Crunch. Crunch.
Behind it came the wet sound of something being chewed. Reduced now to a quarter of its former size, the aberrant existence crawled for its life.
That thing was never our kind…!
It was a demon—yet a demon that fed upon demons. Its appetite had no end.
As the creature stretched long like a snake and writhed desperately through the tunnel, Amcheonjonza tore and rended the remaining torso behind it, pursuing. Laughing madly, he climbed against the current of its own flesh, drawing ever closer to the head. What little body remained was being severed from the rear.
Being eaten.
While it lost body and demonic qi, that thing only grew stronger.
“Hahahahahaha!”
That being—Amcheonjonza—was not their kin.
It was their natural enemy.
That thing is our antithesis…!
It was terror.
“Uwaaaaaah—!”
The scream cut off there.
Puhwahk—!
The last remaining head was ripped and split open. Having torn through the torso and climbed the throat, Amcheonjonza had finally reached the skull.
“Gueeeh…”
Black blood and rotten scraps of entrails soaked him from head to foot. In his hand the final writhing corpse still struggled.
Amcheonjonza’s mouth split wide into a smile.
“Finally caught you.”
A bloated frame as if several men had been fused together, a toad-like face. Even as it continued rotting in real time, Amcheonjonza knew its identity with perfect clarity.
“Geum-jil.”