Possessing Nothing

TL: Yul, xLordFifth

PR: Gort

*****

The darkness vanished. The night sky was tinged a red deeper than dusk, and under the huge full moon, Geniella spread her arms wide, confronting Lee Sungmin.

The queen of the monsters, who had lived for hundreds of years, would show no mercy this time.

Lee Sungmin knew he couldn’t run away today. Running away held no meaning.

Since he had already exposed the fact that he had killed Aine, if they failed to kill Geniella here and fled, then…

Geniella would become the harbinger of doom herself. She would certainly turn into a monster that would end this world.

Even before Greed, which lay deep in a slumbering forest, awoke, Geniella would destroy this world.

Geniella was stronger than anyone else in this world at this moment, and if she planned to continue feeding on blood and amassing an army while strengthening herself, even the faintest possibility of stopping her would be completely erased.

Thus, she needed to be stopped here.

Running was not an option.

Having told Wijihoyeon that he was here and to believe in him, he didn’t want to turn those words into a lie or become a coward who fled in terror.

He observed Geniella’s rounded eyes; narrowed pupils filled with anticipation looked at Lee Sungmin.

Oslo spread her two wings wide. She clasped her hands, brought together in front of her chest as if in prayer.

The light emanating from Oslo’s wings enveloped Lee Sungmin’s body.

The Fairy Queen’s blessing descended upon him. The suppressed fear disappeared.

The blessing of the Fairy Queen shielded his mind from Geniella’s destructive magic, which could shatter his mind merely by looking at it. Yet, his heart throbbed as if it would burst, still carrying a sense of unease.

“Ahhhhh!”

The spear was heavy. Lee Sungmin roared, kicking off the ground into the air. Dark Storm Arts, imbued with adrenaline, unleashed as violet qi struck around him like lightning. 

Since it wasn’t achieved through mental awakening, his body transformation was incomplete. His entire body didn’t transform into a dantian like his master had told him. 

Even so, his already fast speed reached an unprecedented level.

CRACKLE!!!

Lee Sungmin, transforming into a bolt of lightning, rushed toward Geniella, who laughed gleefully, and opened arms wide, welcoming him.

BOOM!

Lee Sungmin’s spear pierced through Geniella’s magical power. Geniella’s body, impaled through her chest, was forced backward.

Blood surged from her throat, staining her lips an even deeper red. Geniella smiled, showing her blood-stained teeth.

“Good.”

Geniella spoke in an excited voice. Her uncontrolled magic went wild. A red explosion erupted between Lee Sungmin and Geniella.

Before being caught in the explosion, Lee Sungmin leaped through space.

Demonic Emperor’s Dark Storm Arts: Lightning Gale (疾風迅雷)

His head felt as if it would explode.

The sudden influx of visual information rammed into his mind due to the high speed he was traveling. The broad, red light enveloped Lee Sungmin.

He pushed back the spear gripped tightly in his hands, then thrust forward.

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques, 6th Art: Thunder Void (空道)*

Thunder Void, which had always opened the way in any situation, collided with Geniella’s magic.

The spear, thrust with full force, created a thin hole. Lee Sungmin spun the spear to expand the hole further.

BOOM!

Magic burst forth. From beyond, Geniella was aiming her index finger at Lee Sungmin. The world exploded once again.

Boom!

An immense weight and pressure bore down on Lee Sungmin’s body. With eyes glaring forward, Lee Sungmin gathered his yokai essence.

The magical power filling his body erupted outward. Silence ensued The collision between magic and his own power produced nothing.

Lee Sungmin moved his body, feeling the pressure lift off him.

[That’s your problem.]

Heoju spat out.

[You think too little of yourself. You are by no means weak. No talent? Damn it, you’ve endured enough hardship and received enough serendipity to make up for any lack of talent.]

It wasn’t just Geniella who received the blessing of the full moon. Lee Sungmin, who possessed the body of a yokai, also benefited from the full moon’s blessing.

[Think about the source of your yokai power!]

Heoju’s shout echoed. A boiling sensation rose within Lee Sungmin’s body. Ten years earlier, Lee Sungmin had absorbed the yokai power from the City of Endless Night.

Aine, who had shared the power with him, had died, and Lee Sungmin was unable to utilize most of the yokai energy he possessed.

However, Heoju wasn’t referring to the yokai energy from the City of Endless Night. Heoju’s consciousness surfaced.

Heoju had rarely intervened directly in battles like this, but this time was different.

[Do you know who this old man is!]

Heoju.

The great yokai who had been suppressed 400 years ago.

During Geniella’s era, Heoju was a formidable and fearsome yokai. If it hadn’t been for the intervention of the Divine Spirit, it would have been impossible to subdue Heoju.

Although most of Heoju’s yokai energy was lost after being subdued, his existence had not vanished and remained within Lee Sungmin.

“Heoju!”

Geniella shouted through loud laughter. Heoju’s yokai energy began to merge with the energy surrounding Lee Sungmin’s body.

The splitting headache that tormented him lessened, thanks to Oslo’s blessing.

“Do you think things will change just because you’ve joined forces? Hahaha! I’ve already surpassed you!”

Geniella’s magical energy exploded. Her hand slashed through the air.

Screeeech!

The space tore apart, releasing a flood of red radiance. Blinding light exploded in all directions. A flawless world of magical energy unfolded.

[Surpassed? Nonsense!]

The thunderous voice echoed within Lee Sungmin’s consciousness, heightening his emotions. He ground his teeth.

Rumble!

A tremendous amount of yokai energy flowed into Lee Sungmin’s spear. The spear, crafted from dragon materials, trembled. Gripping the spear with both hands, Lee Sungmin swung it with all his might.

Flash.

The red world vanished in an instant. The gaps in the dispersing magical energy were filled by Lee Sungmin’s yokai energy.

A change of battlefield was necessary. He had to find the most advantageous place to fight. The yokai energy swirling around the tip of the spear converged into a single point and then expanded in an instant.

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques, 8th Art: Violet World (幻界)

Yokai energy bared its teeth,  swallowing the space. Geniella allowed the illusory realm to unfold.

Through the senses of the Blood Demon, Geniella had already analyzed all of Lee Sungmin’s martial arts from their prior battles. She knew what this technique was. While she didn’t know its name, she understood the phenomenon it caused.

‘It’s closer to magic than martial arts. No, in this case, should be called sorcery?’ (TL Note: sorcery (요술) starts off with the same Yo as in Yokai, so it should be interpreted as magic performed by using yokai energy rather than mana)

The space was filled with yokai energy. Lee Sungmin’s body faded and then disappeared. Thick mist obscured the view.

Even Geniella’s eyes couldn’t penetrate the thick fog. Senses were gradually cut off.

Geniella ignored her now deaf ears and useless sense of smell while spreading her arms wide.

Knowing what was going to happen next prevented her from feeling intimidated by this unknown phenomenon.

Truthfully, even if she hadn’t known beforehand, Geniella wouldn’t have felt intimidated at all.

[Geniella must have known what kind of martial arts this was.]

Beyond the mist of the phantom realm, Lee Sungmin observed Geniella’s movements.

KRRRRRR…

Geniella’s magical power flared up in a crimson blaze. Laughing joyously, she gazed at the space where Lee Sungmin was not present. It did not matter even if she knew.

Demonic Emperor’s Dark Storm Arts: Ten Thousand Thunder (萬雷)

Thundering explosions erupted in all directions. The enveloping space of this phantom realm was filled with the force of ten thousand thunders. Facing the awe-inspiring sight, Geniella only giggled.

BOOM!!

A massive sound echoed as if the world had vanished. Thunders kept exploding continuously.

In the midst of it all, Geniella stood with her arms wide open. Even in this tremendous shock, the red barrier she invoked did not waver.

His firepower was lacking.

Lee Sungmin gritted his teeth. Even with the relentless bursts of thunder, he could not penetrate Geniella’s barrier. Lee Sungmin raised the spear he held in both hands.

The ultimate understanding of transcendence lied in controlling and dominating space. His master, Yang Il-Chun,  imbued that understanding into the 8th art of the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques.

It is not enough. Lee Sungmin’s eyes widened. His racing heart made his blood boil.

His elevated mind peeked arrogantly into the next stage. The Violet World, personalized for him by Wijihoyeon and infused with the understanding from his master, was insufficient.

His brain felt as if it would explode. The perfectly mastered pattern of this illusionary world filled his mind entirely.

It wasn’t enough.

Lee Sungmin’s golden eyes trembled fiercely. It was not that Yang Il-Chun’s understanding was lacking.

The martial arts of the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques, which he had revised, was an unmatched divine martial art that would never again appear in the world. However, in the past, it was limited to where Lee Sungmin of that time could use it sufficiently. For Lee Sungmin now, who had grown incomparably since then, it was insufficient.

Thus.

The patterns of the Violet World were dissected one by one in Lee Sungmin’s mind. 

His master  had said, “If you undergo true body transformation, your comprehension will expand to the point where you can perfectly master any intricate martial arts pattern just by seeing it once.”

CRACK!!

Lee Sungmin’s lips trembled vigorously as his teeth clenched. The transformation he experienced was not complete.

His comprehension had not expanded entirely, as his master had mentioned. Even so, he had to do it. He crammed the desired structure into the already deciphered structure.

His head, heart, and body felt as if they would burst. The internal energy and yokai energy erupting from his dantian filled his body and poured out beyond his skin.

The world trembled.

The yokai energy engulfing the space moved as Lee Sungmin desired. Amidst the endlessly bursting thunders, Geniella’s eyebrows twitched.

She was contemplating whether to break it. The nature of the yokai energy corroding the space had shifted.

[You……]

Even Heoju was astonished. The spear was heavy, too heavy to wield by hand. His tightly clenched teeth shattered, and blood flowed from his gums.

He poured all the internal energy and yokai energy filling his body into his spear. A single pattern filled his mind.

One with the Spear (신창합일)

Through a complete unification with the spear, the spear became Lee Sungmin, and Lee Sungmin became the spear.

PAAAAAAZZZZZZTTTT!!!

Dozens of cracks formed in the space. Geniella opened her eyes wide within her barrier.

“AHAHAHAHA!”

Geniella laughed loudly, her mouth wide open. In response to that laughter heard from afar, Lee Sungmin thrust his spear forward.

In the air’s cracks, intangible spears were launched. Each of those spears held the force of world-shattering devastation. 

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques, 7th Art: Genesis (開闢) 

Geniella spread her arms within the barrier.

BOOM!!

Dozens of spears imbued with Genesis collided with Geniella’s barrier. Unable to withstand the immense force, the barrier shattered into pieces.

A spear broke through the shattered barrier, engulfing Geniella’s body. Her body left no trace behind—every bit of flesh swept away without a single remnant.

[She’s not dead yet!]

Heoju shouted. Lee Sungmin propelled himself forward, his heart pounding loudly in his ears.

‘I know.’

Lee Sungmin responded in a strained voice. Despite unleashing such a formidable attack, he hadn’t exhausted himself.

The limits of his inner strength and yokai energy were unfathomable. He wondered where such immense power could be hidden within this body.

Geniella’s disintegrated body reconstructed itself. Despite the massive onslaught of attacks, she had taken no damage.

As Geniella’s head reformed, Lee Sungmin was already thrusting his spear towards her face.

Boom!

Geniella’s head exploded. A red mist emerged, enveloping Lee Sungmin’s body as he tried to push the spear forward.

The mist was the very essence of terrifying magical power. Reflexively, Lee Sungmin summoned his protective qi.

Protective Qi (護身罡氣)

[[It’s alright.]]

Oslo’s voice resonated in his ears. Although she had not entered the Violet World, she was observing everything from the outside.

A myriad of radiant colors enveloped Lee Sungmin.

Boom!

The burst of light scattered the mist away. The dispersed mist converged back, revealing Geniella. She emerged with an unscathed face, smiling slightly.

“The Fairy Queen’s blessing… Right, this is her forest.”

Lee Sungmin’s body vanished into the mist again. Annoying place, Geniella thought as she looked toward the sky. The full moon was nowhere to be seen.

Even so, the blessing still applied to her body, only the absence of the moon was irksome.

“I have to destroy it.”

Insufficient.

Merely altering the fundamentals of this illusionary technique was insufficient. Blood dripped from Lee Sungmin’s nose.

A more fundamental approach was needed. Not just dissecting a single technique, but understanding the entirety of this martial art.

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques,  Violet Qi Divine Art*, Dark Storm Arts, Shadowless Steps, and Blood Phantom Demonic Art.

Every martial art Lee Sungmin had mastered unfurled in his mind.

[Be careful!]

Heoju shouted. There was no time to waste.

Crack!

Geniella’s mana exploded, swelling considerably.

Her mana began to erode the illusion realm itself. Geniella wasn’t merely an ancient vampire.

She was also a magician who had mastered the use of mana and magic over centuries. Her invading mana discerned the structure of the Violet World.

‘No.’

Blood burst from both of Lee Sungmin’s eyes, staining them crimson.

‘I’m faster.’

Faster than Geniella could comprehend and decode his martial art, the illusion of his domain changed. 

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques, 8th Art: Violet World (幻界)

—

*: Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques, 6th Art: Thunder Void (空道)

This was previously translated as Thunder Sphere but I thought void was much more fitting because when Lee Sungmin uses it, it acts as a nullifier 

TL Notes: Hey guys, Yul here. Sorry for taking ages to get to this point, but the hype is real.