ALL NOVEL Chapter 463
Chapter 464
“Can you believe I did something like this while unconscious?”
As Yeon-woo swam through the endless darkness, that was the thought crossing his mind. It was a tale from when he faced the Heavenly Demon.
He had passed out after recklessly using the Causality Cutter, and even though he couldn’t remember it, it seemed like he had navigated this situation while still unconscious.
Well, at least back then, he wouldn’t have had to dig this deep. What could possibly be so extraordinary in the Heavenly Demon’s past?
All he had to do was take a quick look around and cut off the endlessly flowing source of mana.
Still, one could say it was quite impressive. No matter what anyone said, he basically swam through the situation while unconscious!
After floundering in the darkness for a while, when relying on the soft light of the Celestial Cloud began to strain his eyes, Yeon-woo’s gaze veered to one side.
“I think I’ve found something.”
Muttering to himself without realizing it, Yeon-woo scratched his head awkwardly. The only downside to the Causality Cutter was that it made his habit of always asking children’s consent seem pretty foolish.
Yeon-woo was gazing at a memory before him. It was the scene from the beginning of a world, where light and darkness existed, and the first humans were born.
“Quite impressive indeed.”
Yeon-woo looked at it. It was a really beautiful sight. Except for the fact that only one of the three transcendent beings endured pain from the moment of their birth.
I’ll skip the finer details. Hwayo’s past isn’t particularly critical to this life.
Ultimately, what matters is the reason behind Hwayo’s immortality. Only by knowing that root can one cut it off.
And Yeon-woo was able to easily discern what that root was.
“How ridiculous.”
It really wasn’t such a difficult issue. Just as mutations sometimes appeared among living beings, Hwayo was one of those.
An immortal with a Celestial Killer’s fate, it would be more accurate to say he was born with an excessive amount of power.
There was no specific cause for it. It was simply that the immense power that burst forth with the birth of the stars had taken refuge in Hwayo.
It’s a ridiculous story. What should be a blessing of the stars has manifested itself as nothing more than a curse to an individual.
Yeon-woo let out a scoff. Well, it didn’t matter. Hwayo’s sorrow was actually of no concern to him.
Whether this act could bring happiness rather than pain to Hwayo was also not his business. Hwayo disappearing and dying would be enough.
There’s no better win-win than that. With such thoughts, Yeon-woo grasped the Celestial Cloud and struck down at the past before him.
With a harsh screech of resistance, the heartless sound echoed, and everything began to fade away.
*
Suddenly, when Yeon-woo opened his eyes, Hwayo’s figure came into view. He had his sword drawn.
His eyes met with the Demon King’s. A hand reached out. Instinctively ducking to avoid it, Yeon-woo shouted loudly.
“Enough, you guys!!”
At Yeon-woo’s shout, his friends’ eyes sparkled. They understood. The moment was finally here to pay back all the humiliation and pain they had endured.
At the same time as Yeon-woo’s shout, the fallen ones stood up as if chanting a resurrection spell. They surged forward like bloodthirsty warriors.
Even Yeon-woo couldn’t help but feel a bit of fear at the sight. After all, having rolled around in this bloodbath, they now came charging with bloodied eyes.
Noel, who had looked somewhat heroic in her shiny and beautiful armor, now appeared utterly ragged and disheveled.
The first to charge was Lucrecia. It made sense since she was in the best shape among the group.
Lucrecia’s fist knocked Hwayo’s jaw back, and the usually calm expression of Hwayo twisted grotesquely as he took the blow.
[…So it turns out what you said wasn’t nonsense?]
“Of course I’m saying it’s done! You think I’d lie!?”
It was a significant pain. Having forgotten the overwhelming influence of immortality, now Hwayo felt pain.
Yeon-woo could see the corners of Hwayo’s mouth twitching. That expression was likely something only Yeon-woo could see.
Undoubtedly a joyful face. Hwayo had now truly grasped the hope that he could actually die.
Reaching out his hand toward Lucrecia, Hwayo’s power remained even after losing his immortality.
The moment he was caught, the murderous intent pierced through his body, shaking his organs and meridians violently.
For the others, it was far too threatening a side effect, even for Yuri, who could barely move after receiving a light blow near her heart.
Yet Lucrecia did not retreat. Instead, she reached out her right hand and grabbed hold of that fearsome grip.
Lucrecia’s right arm was entirely in an Undead state, above the elbow. While other parts of her body may have grown or changed, the Undead part remained static.
“Hey, you can’t grip a woman’s wrist that hard!!”
[Guess I need to eat more.]
It wasn’t that the pain didn’t exist. Hwayo’s grip on her wrist hurt like it was about to shatter, yet something seemed to protect her from being torn into two pieces.
What ensued was a somewhat bizarre struggle of strength between Hwayo trying to crush her and Lucrecia trying to endure.
“I got caught, but I’ve got you, you bastard!!”
Hwayo’s right arm was severed by Yuri’s blade. In other words, with his left arm grasping Lucrecia’s wrist, all Hwayo could use were his two legs.
[How amusing.]
Hwayo smiled faintly but had no intention of releasing the grip of his left hand.
Of course. The Celestial Killer wouldn’t let go of his prey. His instincts were screaming that he had to kill.
Hwayo didn’t seem to have any intention of resisting that instinct. Now stripped of his immortality, unable to love his friend’s children, all that remained for him was his fate as a Celestial Killer.
“Hold on just a bit, sis!!”
Namgung Seong flew up, splattering blood everywhere. Soaring high in the sky, his wings spread out, he truly looked like a king of the skies.
With his sword angled like a beak in front of his face, Namgung Seong wrapped his whole body in his wings.
Like a bullet or missile, he sharply adjusted his stance and shot toward Hwayo.
‘Is that really okay?’
[Looks kinda sketchy, doesn’t it?]
While he realized he was hot-headed, he had to avoid using excessively powerful techniques since Lucrecia was caught.
From the looks of it, he hadn’t considered that at all while executing his most powerful technique from the Skyless Void Swordplay.
“No way! Do I have to clean up your mess even though I don’t even have a hint of mana left?!!”
Seeing Lucrecia’s complexion turn pale, Yeon-woo desperately drew out mana.
Even though it was less effective due to not matching the attribute, he could resolve it by borrowing Tae-oh’s mana.
Of course, there was a need to be cautious as he borrowed Nano Machines. If anything happened to either Lucrecia or Namgung Seong, it would be a problem.
“Please control it, Tae-oh!”
[Leave it to me!!]
With trust in Tae-oh’s confident words, he began weaving a spell. A shadow burst forth from the blood, enveloping Lucrecia’s entire form.
Seeing that it wasn’t shattered by Hwayo’s dreadful grip made it seem like the bone parts were likely fine, so they decided to wrap around that area.
From within the shadow, Lucrecia’s voice shouting, “It’s not breaking, but it still hurts!!” reached him, but Yeon-woo easily ignored it.
What’s the big deal about a little pain? I lost my left arm! It would be a lie to say I didn’t wish her to taste some of this too.
Boom!!
A shockwave erupted from Namgung Seong, crashing down like a meteor.
The Nano Machines swayed precariously, but as a result of Namgung Seong skillfully adjusting how his strength was directed, the barrier didn’t shatter.
Inside the barrier, Lucrecia’s cries of “It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!!” reached him again, but he ignored it once more. Without that barrier, it might have been worse than just pain.
Through the dust raised by the shockwave, Hwayo was seen holding Lucrecia’s arm and lifting his right leg to absorb Namgung Seong’s blow.
He seemed almost calm, but Hwayo wasn’t entirely unaffected, as blood trickled down his mouth.
Conversely, it also meant that he had almost neutralized the force with plain technique.
“This is insane…!!”
[Long time no see, using my legs again.]
Hwayo grinned as he swung his leg sideways. The leg, with the sword embedded in it, moved at an incredible speed, and as the sword was pulled out, Namgung Seong was tossed away once more.
However, Baek In-hwa would never miss the opportunity. Gliding along the thin ice over the blood, she struck the exposed part of Hwayo’s body with a quick jab.
A sound that should never emerge from a human body echoed. Blood flowed from Hwayo’s mouth, freezing as it trickled down. The same went for the wound gushing blood from his right foot after Namgung Seong’s sword was pulled out.
Even if Yeon-woo had no means to peer into a human’s body, he knew that the blood inside would be no different.
The sensation of blood freezing while still alive was something even Yeon-woo struggled to imagine. The level of pain was unimaginable.
[Hehe, haha!]
But Hwayo burst into laughter. Even so, he still wouldn’t die. Despite losing his immortality, the ingrained habits accumulated over long years wouldn’t vanish.
He allowed a strike and retaliated. It was a foolish combat style, but it possessed a power that surpassed that.
“…It’s scarier now than when I wasn’t dying?”
Yeon-woo mumbled that, having nothing to do other than protect his allies by more or less borrowing Tae-oh’s mana.
Feeling the pain of his blood freezing, Hwayo stomped his right leg down hard on the ground. Then, using his left elbow gripping Lucrecia, he slammed Baek In-hwa.
Baek In-hwa, who could hardly imagine he could still move, hurriedly wrapped an ice shield around herself to defend but was pushed back forcefully.
A final struggle before death, perhaps a moment of redemption…
But Hwayo was clearly engraining into them that he was not an easy foe.
(To be continued in the next episode)