Chapter 332 – The Black and White Flower (3)

It was an intensely emotional action.
The moment the name White Peach escaped his lips, I couldn’t just stand there and listen.

I knew better than anyone that I would become a target after returning from the past.
I couldn’t afford to reveal my weaknesses too easily.
My plan was to gradually build my strength and influence for at least three years.

Yet, I couldn’t quite understand my own reflexive reaction.

– Next is White Peach. Kill that wench.
– No, don’t just kill her. Savor it slowly. Muffle her cries and ravish her!

Blood oozed from the nails digging into my clenched fist.

The unknown future always filled me with anxiety.
It was a tragedy, uncertain of when or where it would strike. Even when sleeping, I found myself waking to the slightest alarm on my phone.

It felt as if I had been struck hard on the head.

The heart pounded fiercely. The sound of the swelling heartbeat loudly reverberated in the head.

The irregular, labored breathing was agonizing. A sudden burst—something exploded inside the head. Emotions beyond control caused the face to turn cold and rigid. The brow twitched, blood vessels protruded from the forehead, and the face flushed a deep crimson.

Veins surfaced on the clenched fists.

A warm hand brushed the face, pushing back the previously cumbersome hair and revealing a tidy appearance.

“…”

The mouth wouldn’t open.

One step away, Plum was gazed upon with unblinking eyes, having crumpled to the ground.

“…Huh?”

Plum, still unable to grasp the situation, uttered a confused sound.

Unwavering, the shadowy figure never took their eyes off Plum. Emotions that should have erupted remained trapped within, unable to escape. Yet, the fleeting anger sank deep within, becoming a hidden reservoir of strength.

‘This one…’

It must not be allowed to live.

– Twitch.

The hand that had shown no movement now writhed.

* * * * * * * * *

Dark magic surged from Lee Si-heon’s body.

Beneath the night sky and within Plum’s line of sight, he was consumed by terror, unable to even twitch a finger.

“…”

The face of the man concealed in the shadows was barely visible. Nonetheless, his bulging eyes and bloodshot pupils were striking enough to send chills down one’s spine.

– ….

It felt as if two eyeballs were emerging from the impenetrable darkness, staring directly at him.

The sight was enough to induce instant nausea, as the malevolent energy blanketing the sky weighed heavily on his muscles.

In a space devoid of light, Maehwa was enduring a mental anguish that no one could perceive.

“…Huff, ugh.”

The urge to vomit surged, but he had to resist. Maehwa’s throat convulsed repeatedly, and bile trickled from the corner of his mouth.

“How did I even get this far…?”

A burgeoning defiance originated from the pit of his stomach, gradually ascending until it reached the back of his throat.

Maehwa’s eyes trembled. Their reddish glow burned brightly as he regained his lucidity.

“Ha, haha.”

That’s right. It had to come to this. Maehwa, suppressing his fear by force, unleashed his latent power without restraint.

A pure, white energy slithered forth, enveloping Maehwa’s entire body.

“…It feels like death is imminent.”

An ethereal, white magical force erupted from the ground. The spreading petals engulfed Maehwa’s body and, in an instant, swallowed Lee Si-heon’s form as well.

Now, he had advanced a little further than before.

Maehwa’s potential surpassed that of any other character.

His eyes widened, and a smile graced his lips.

“By killing you, I grow stronger.”

The swirling petals rode the air current along one side of his arm, stretching out in a straight line. White Peach – a power refined in its own form, boasting to be much stronger than anyone else’s.

At the moment when Maehwa’s White Peach was about to pierce Lee Si-heon’s body, he gently raised his hand and wrapped his mana around him. A hint of magical energy enveloped his palm.

– Kwang!

A storm erupted. Peach blossoms and plum blossoms reached the nearby hotel, stretching towards the distant sky.

Far enough for the people on the mountain and everyone in the Foundation to recognize –

The petals, rising with the whirlwind, shimmered in the moonlight before scattering.

The falling petals drifted down towards Saku and Soo-yeon, who were watching the spectacle with hardened expressions.

– Hwak!

Beneath the scattering petals, two individuals stood facing each other’s fists. Plum’s pupils were focused on his own clenched hands.

Lee Si-heon’s right hand, having lightly caught the blow, shattered Plum’s fist. Black lacerations spread from his fist up the inside of his arm.

“Kuh, keuh!”

For the first time, screams erupted on the battlefield. Despite being accustomed to such pain, Plum foamed at the mouth and clenched his fist in agony, as if on the verge of losing his grip on reality.

The scene was observed by onlookers.

Plum had previously laughed in the face of any attack. Yet now, in this pitiful state, Lee Si-heon continued to stare at him with an unyielding expression.

“…It can’t be. No way.”

Soo-yeon, who had been watching, released the emotions she had been holding back. Her words carried a sense of relief, but also a hint of awe from the corner of her astonished tone.

“No.”

Plum denied the situation unfolding before him. His trembling right hand was devoid of any magical power.

The tissue was ruptured, unable to regenerate. Despite possessing a high-level recovery ability that killed many trees, the conduit for magical power was completely sealed.

Sweat droplets formed and fell from the chin.

– Clench.

Plum’s teeth were tightly clenched together. Anger was etched on his trembling jaw and eyes.

‘Something like this.’

Plum grasped his right arm, which was crying out in pain, with his left hand. A smile appeared on his lips as strength flowed into his left hand, causing his right arm to be severed.

– Thud!

His hand dropped to the floor. The writhing forearm transformed into flower petals and vanished. Plum, who had been spraying blood, bowed his head to the floor, enduring the pain. Soon, he glared viciously at Lee Si-heon.

In those moments, Plum’s body gradually adapted to the magical energy. If done right, it could be stolen. Did he think that? White petals clung to his entire body.

“Free-“

Liberation.

The divine power, unattainable by humans who unleash the force of a wooden being.
Just as Maehwa was about to proudly exert his own strength,

A large wooden armor began to fasten itself to his body. His words were abruptly cut off.

– Quaang!

The forming wooden armor shattered into pieces.

Black peach blossoms intermingled amidst the plum blossoms that poured down like a heavy snowfall. Petals swallowed petals.

The moment Si-heon Lee’s fist pierced Maehwa’s heart, his eyes turned a vivid red.
A single strike.
The white aura materialized without extending the arm backward.

Lee Si-heon’s mana surged a second time into the heart that had already been shocked once by his fist.

【Heavenly Demon God Technique, White Peach】

– Quaaaaaang!

Heaven and earth trembled.

A force capable of piercing the sky.
It enveloped Maehwa’s entire body. His form soared as if it could penetrate a mountain, shattering the hotel’s outer wall.

– Coo-goo-goo!

The building crumbles under the force of the brutal impact.
A third of the enormous hotel’s structure shatters, with steel beams and concrete raining down upon Maehwa’s body.

As they scatter, pristine white peach blossoms dance in the air.
The beautiful petals form a long, delicate carpet across the floor.

– Kkudeuk, kkeudeuk.

Among the collapsed debris, tree roots and flower petals emerge and ascend.
His body bursts forth through the rubble.

“Lee Si-heon!!!”

The stump of his severed hand is enveloped by a layer of bark, regenerating a new hand.
Tree roots slither into the corners of his mouth, and Maehwa’s frenzied eyes lock onto Lee Si-heon.

– Puong!

Before he can even tend to his injuries, Lee Si-heon, propelled by the force, kicks Maehwa squarely in the head.
The bark armor is ripped away once more as his body soars into the heavens.

‘I can obtain that power.’

With unyielding intensity, Maehwa’s eyes fixate on the spot where Lee Si-heon once stood.

Read and replicate the stratagem. By following this method and gradually growing stronger, it is possible to surmount this very moment.

It ought to have been, yet Lee Si-heon’s movements were nowhere to be seen.

*Thud!*

Just before reacting to the presence sensed behind him, Lee Si-heon’s hand seized Maehwa’s head. Maehwa’s head was lifted upward, and the heel of the foot that had been raised occupied its previous position.

*Squawk!*

Maehwa’s body was thrust back into the debris with a strike descending from the heavens. Briefly losing consciousness due to the agonizing pain of his face being crushed, Maehwa revitalized his sightless eyes and gazed at the location where Lee Si-heon had been.

“White Peach. Lee Si-heon!”

Blood welled up and poured from his mouth, accompanied by a guttural, metallic sound. The man showed no reaction to Maehwa’s plight. Instead, he persistently unleashed his martial prowess.

One attack connected to another. Magical power laced with black demonic energy swelled throughout the body and converged at a single point.

【Heavenly Demon Divine Technique · Fifth Form · Gam Bok Temple】

A solid shockwave, akin to the strength of a sword’s steel.
The sharp force plunged into the hotel’s debris, slicing the remaining structure in half.

-Whoosh!

A long, straight groove emerged on the ground.
Plum’s body was cleaved in half, including his heart, with black scorch marks etched just like before.

“Almost- there-”

If only he could go a bit further, he might understand that power.
Plum’s trembling eyes turned a vivid red.

He had to do it. Plum, who had momentarily teetered on the brink of death, once again ignited his dormant potential.

-Creak, groan.

The risen tree roots entwined Plum’s body. The severed halves reattached in an instant, and Plum’s body effortlessly rose to its feet.
Now, it was no longer fitting to refer to him as a pretty flower petal.

-Drip, drip.

He raised his submerged face, unashamedly dripping with viscous blood, and glared at his opponent with a single-minded determination to triumph.

A sly smile still played upon his lips.

Blood tainted the white petals of Plum’s blossoms.

“I can…do it.”

A dry, pain-filled voice burst forth, and his legs began to tremble.

Plum’s magical energy surged eerily, as he gradually followed Lee Si-heon’s movements.

“I can—”

It seemed as if he could grasp the technique, but he needed to move his hands.

– Kwak!

His body refused to obey. Standing there dazed, Plum’s physique allowed Lee Si-heon’s attack once more.

His fist drove into the ground. Black magic erupted ceaselessly, and the lacerations that once marred Plum’s body now appeared on Lee Si-heon’s form.

A continuous barrage unleashed at close range.

【 Heavenly Demon Divine Technique · Sixth Form · Dragon’s Abyss 】

– Flash!

The black blossoms that appeared before Plum’s eyes blurred as they mixed with the rain.

The ground was carved out in a hemispherical shape, as if it had been soaked from the beginning. A crater of a size that wouldn’t be out of place as a lake formed around Plum.

His entire body was torn to shreds.
Muscles failed to maintain their structure and burned away.

The complexly fractured bones were futile in their desperate attempts to find their proper places.
His heart paused for a moment, and the scorched nerves rendered him unable to see.

“Kkeok, kkeok,”

A moan escaped his lips without his realizing.
It was difficult to describe Plum’s body, covered in black lacerations, as harboring life.

The man gripped Plum’s twisted neck and hoisted him up.

Black sleet filled the pit.
The sweeping raindrops intensified, raging like a storm.

The water in the hollow had risen enough to submerge half of the reclining Plum.

The Plum blossoms that had bloomed so beautifully upon their first clash of fists were still fluttering down from the sky.

The fire of life was gradually fading away.

“I. Will win.”

Muttering the short phrase, Plum lifted his unresponsive body. It took only a moment for blood to fill his eyes instead of tears.

With his fist clenched tight, the man continued to gaze slowly upon Plum’s body, his mouth firmly closed.

“White Peach. White- White Peach-“

A state of total collapse. Bloodlines. Heart and brain. Emotions swirling within the eyes. After deciphering all of these, the man concluded that all organs had ceased functioning. With a final thrust, he extended his fist forward once more.

He left no room for doubt.

-Boom!

His head burst apart, and the magic power pressed down upon his entire body, preventing it from maintaining its form. There were no traces left behind, not even remains.

Never again shall this being think of anyone they know.

With the last withering of the plum tree’s stems and roots, the man slowly withdrew his power.

-Whoosh!

A downpour ensues. The heat subsides.
The man stared at Maehwa’s lifeless body for several minutes, standing over the pit.

-Thunk!

He struck the mangled remnants repeatedly with his fist.
The man wiped his blood-stained face.

“Ha, ha…”

The black spots that had bloomed all over his body gradually faded.

His lips quivered. Shivering as if struck by a terrible cold, he still gazed at the grotesque remains of Maehwa.

Siheon’s fingernails scraped the dirt floor. Blood oozed from the broken nails.

Had his senses returned?

With exhaustion etched on his face, he calmed himself by enveloping his entire body in healing power.