Chapter 417 – The Final Battle (完)

The wind stirred.

In an enclosed space with no air circulating, the two opponents faced each other.

– Creak, creak.

Siheon’s face, with his head bent, was barely visible to Radiata, an executive of Flower.

“Impossible.”

Pianhua instantly regenerated his pierced heart. His body was near immortal.

If one were to choose the individual with the least connection to death among all of Flower’s executives, it would be Pianhua himself.

Yet, he felt the chilling sensation of death.

“No… It couldn’t be.”

A stage called Gyeongji. There were a few executives of Flower who had reached it.

Like Sistus, there were beings who could exhibit power similar to the Gyeongji stage, depending on their abilities.

However, the Gyeongji stage was not a level that could be reached in just a few years. But the sight before them was, by all appearances, that of someone who had surpassed their limits.

– Click.

Lee Si-heon’s hand spasmed once, a brief twitch. That was the last thing Pianhua saw.

– Crash!

Lee Si-heon’s body vanished entirely. Pianhua was flung backward.

“Ugh-ack!”

A vile scream burst from his mouth.
Both arms and legs were torn apart simultaneously, his heart wrenched out.

The magical characteristics were utterly unreadable.
He couldn’t muster any strength.

Despite witnessing it with his own eyes, Pianhua denied it.

“It can’t be…”

Humans cannot reach such heights. It’s an undeniable truth.
But why?

Pianhua moved his creaking neck and stared straight ahead. Lee Si-heon’s body disappeared from sight once again.

“He wouldn’t have used the crown—Gasp!?”

– Wham!

Pianhua’s body was slammed to the left, then yanked out and immediately hurled against the right wall.

When the extracted heart regenerated, it was pulled out once more. As this process repeated, the torn limbs tumbled about haphazardly.

– Ugh!

Lee Si-heon removed Pianhwa’s body, which was lodged in the tunnel wall, and thrust it downward. The collapsing skull and the leaking brain fluid accompanied the act. A stifled groan emerged from Pianhwa’s mouth.

Four large spikes sprouted from both of Lee Si-heon’s shoulders. Upon closer inspection, they were not horns but rather thorns.

“Khup, Kahak!”

Pianhwa, spewing black blood from his mouth, seized Lee Si-heon’s arm—the hand embedded in his own chest.

【Root Absorption】

It snatched away all of Lee Si-heon’s mana. The power to drain a considerably potent mage’s mana in a single breath. Lee Si-heon’s dark mana writhed as it was absorbed into Pianhwa’s body.

– Stirred.

Pianhwa’s body flickered towards Lee Si-heon and was then slammed down.

– Crash!

The head shattered, and the back was impaled by the thorns that erupted from the ground.

-Throb!

Despite his immense magical power being drained, Lee Si-heon’s eyes rolled back, unable to discern the situation. Pianhua attempted to exploit this opening.

‘If only I could use the Blossoming technique…!?’

-Kwaaang!

Yet, the ceaseless flow of magical power continued, no matter how much was extracted.

“Agh!”

Bricks shattered, foundations were dug into, and the earth’s crust eroded. The tunnel’s interior reverberated with the rumbling of the ground splitting apart. The ceiling collapsed, and a brick fell onto Lee Si-heon’s head.

Pianhua’s eyes widened as she thrust her fingers into the veins of Lee Si-heon’s forearm.

“Blossoming–”

-Throb!!

Even so, Lee Si-heon remained unfazed.

-Kwaaaaang!!!

He repeated the downward strike countless times.

Blood accumulated in Pianhua’s corpse, raising the liquid level until the pit was filled. A gurgling sound, like boiling blood, emanated from Pianhua.

Lee Si-heon’s pupils were extremely constricted.

A point stained red. Irises trembling with rage.

A catalyst to surpass limits. Either change the race to lower the threshold or have emotions, reason, and abilities leap beyond their breaking points.

Sometimes, an unprecedented fury provides the spark.

Especially for a man who had repeatedly endured and suppressed it.

The emotions that had festered in solitude erupted in an instant, and Lee Si-heon moved his body, heedless of the strain on his Danjeon.

– Drrrrr!

Caught in Pianhua’s grip, Lee Si-heon’s tendons snapped, and blood vessels bulged out of his muscles. His body stiffened momentarily.

Had Pianhua’s absorption finally taken effect?

A faint smile graced the lips of the regenerated Pianhua.

“….”

Yet, even as his entire body seemed to shatter and decay, he did not hesitate to swing his fist. Another blow with his creaking fist.

– Bam!

Pianhua’s brain was crushed and exploded.

He was unmistakably dominating Flower’s higher-ups.

“Ugh… gasp.”

Lee Si-heon’s ashen face was drenched in blood amidst the wreckage, dripping with sweat and tears.

Dozens of blood blossoms sprouted from the ground.
It wasn’t over.

The blood blossom, mistaking itself for a corpse, shoved Lee Si-heon away.
Thud!
The near-instantaneous clash unfolded. The blood blossom’s foot struck Lee Si-heon’s body, and Lee Si-heon grabbed it, twisting and yanking it out.

– Crunch!

Lee Si-heon, sent reeling to the opposite wall, let go of his foe’s leg.

In the pitch-black tunnel, an array of lights began to swirl.
The blood blossoms sprouting from the floor resonated, absorbing Lee Si-heon’s magical power and vitality at a quicker pace than before.

“…haa. haa.”

Despite being crushed multiple times, the blood blossom tenaciously stood up and regenerated its body.
Its form was covered in flower-shaped spots.

[This is the first time he has shown this power.]

The ability of ‘Bloom’.
Just as Sisyphus shattered Heaven’s body, Radiata, the Pianhua, also gave it her all.

A person from the past was reflected in his eyes.

Lee Si-heon had also lost someone precious, but Pianhua, who entered the Flower, was a man who chose eternal life to wait for someone he loved.
There is no one without a story.

Just.

Lee Si-heon and Pianhua didn’t need to know each other’s stories.
What does it matter who lost what and who was a lover?

No one watches the battle.
Here, the dead can eliminate the evidence and take a step closer to their goal in the world.

They clashed to survive.

– Pabat!

[…!]

Lee Si-heon’s body disappears once again.
Thinking he was coming with taijutsu, but needle-like objects sprang up from the floor and struck Pianhua.

Countless thorns infused with black magic.
If stabbed, it’s difficult even to regenerate.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Every time he stepped back, new thorns lunged forward.

Countless enormous thorn bushes sprouted up, each thorn seemingly possessing a life of its own.

And a being with the formidable power of the Heavenly Demon approached White Peach.

Lee Si-heon, with pulsating black thorns on his back, aimed for White Peach’s breath.

– Flash!

Now he could keep up with her movements. White Peach conjured flowers in her hands to gather her magical power, while Lee Si-heon unfurled his fists, unleashing his own mystical energy.

A straight punch connected them. The amassed magic erupted in an instant, shaking the heavens and the earth.

The entire field of vision distorted, and space vanished. It was as if these ruins had never existed in the first place.

【 Heavenly Demon Divine Skill, Advance, White Peach (白桃) 】

Particles shattered and scattered. Fragments resembling sunlight-dappled scales fell to the ground.

The blood petals blossoming within the tunnel vanished, and white peach flowers fluttered in their stead. Radiata, the core being, was also entwined within the white peach, its entire body turning to powder and beginning to crumble.

The protective barrier had long since been breached.

[ Gulp! ]

Coughing up blood, he stumbled and fell backward.

Yet, he stubbornly regenerated his body. The flesh particles dispersed in the air gathered once more, assuming a human shape.

Having restored his body using the magic and vitality leeched from Lee Si-heon, he engaged in battle with Lee Si-heon, wielding daggers in both hands.

Pianhua’s left blade pierced Lee Si-heon. Lee Si-heon’s right fist shattered his opponent’s arm.

A relentless assault without conceding an inch. An exchange of blows.

As their bodies were completely shattered, the two adversaries retreated. Pianhua sensed it instinctively.

He must fight, determined to expend all the magic he had amassed over decades. The toll would be immense, but… it paled in comparison to the value of his life.

Furthermore, if he emerged victorious, he could absorb Lee Si-heon’s body.

[…King Mokryeong!]

Running away was neither possible nor permissible.
I couldn’t just stand by and leave him like this.

If he manages to absorb the power of the king like this, within ten years, Lee Si-heon’s body will become uncontrollable for a single force.

He crouched down and brought his hands together.

[Floral Incantation]

A tricolor flower – the Higanblossom – bloomed on the floor.
The flowerbed spread from the floor to Lee Si-heon’s shins, its roots covering the walls and ceiling of the tunnel, soon forming a barrier.

White, vermilion, pink.

【Floral Incantation · Tricolor Harmony (三色同順)】

Spreading pollen. Lacerations were etched in mid-air.
A curse that required the use of mana and life force accumulated over years, capable of instantly killing its target.

[It’s activated. No matter how much of a king you are, you can’t avoid the damage.]

If he, an executive of the Flower faction, uses it, it will not be easily overcome, no matter how advanced the opponent’s skills.

Either death would come, or a part would rot black and be crippled.

[But… Why?]

The entire body had turned black with decay.
A sign of insufficient magic and vitality. No, the curse itself isn’t working.

As if breaking free from all interference.

[How can this be?]

One reality struck Pianhua’s mind like a thunderbolt.

【Thorns】

Power.

A dramatic increase in physical abilities, lethal spikes, and resistance to interference. Pianhua’s eyes trembled.

Even transcending levels, there has never been a case of manifesting such power so quickly. Is human growth uniquely applied here?

The number of thorns floating behind had reduced to one, but Lee Si-heon’s body remained unharmed.

“…”

Thorns.

A pair of cotyledons, nurtured in the cradle of indifference, failed to flourish.

Lee Si-heon’s mentors were once the mighty dragons of the martial world, writhing amidst the vast foliage of their time. Yet, unlike Si-heon’s expectations, the supposedly unyielding trees of the forest departed without salvation.

All that remained was a solitary wilted flower and a single ring.

Whether the young master’s faded dream could come true, Lee Si-heon knew not. A naïve and youthful dream, yet one that could possibly give rise to even more resplendent blossoms. The only thing they all yearned for was the idyllic world found within fairy tales, a dream every child could share.

Ephemeral.

** **
“Seven Forms. Continuous Rings.”

Lee Si-heon’s body sprang into action. Pianhua hastily adjusted, bolstering his vitality and magical power. However, Si-heon’s movements were ever so slightly faster.

He must protect.

** **
“Garden of Peach Blossoms.”

Even if they never meet again, it must be done.

He could not help but commit himself to that ragged yet beautiful flower.

“……”

The pinnacle, an expression of will beyond mere thought.
A blessing that comes to those transcending the insurmountable barriers of existence.
Something that can be accepted only by overcoming the stepping stone of loss.

The death of Cheondo still haunted his mind.
Perhaps, it would remain unforgettable for his entire life.

Despite that, he pledged to the peach blossom.

– Flash!

I shall become a thorn.
A sharp thorn that protects the flower.

-Kwaaaaaaaa!

The body of Pianhua completely evaporated.

The boundless magic erupting from Lee Si-heon’s fist ravaged the entire underground of Seoul.
Fortunately, there were no casualties since the evacuation had already been completed.
Several kilometers ahead, entire areas vanished in an instant, and rain poured down from the sky.

Amidst the ruins, Lee Si-heon stood in a daze.

The thorns on her back vanished. Her head drooped and her back turned as if she had lost the precious flower she was meant to protect.

Neither clenching his fists, nor shaking his head in denial, nor screaming – he refrained from all the actions one might expect from a man who has lost the one he loves. Emptiness engulfed him.

Dragging his weary body, he sat down before Heaven.

Lee Si-heon extended his scarred hand, embracing her shoulders, and laid his face upon her bloodstained chest. Her body was utterly devoid of warmth.

He held his master close. His eyes lost their light, and he remained motionless.

For quite a long time.