Chapter 317 – The End is Certain (3)

Thud. Thud.

Finally, it seemed that Gochi had exhausted all his strength and was no longer able to conjure any spells. He collapsed onto the ground.

Seeing him like that, I was able to answer my own question.

At this moment, my dream had come true.

Lost in my thoughts, Hong Yeon-hwa strode confidently towards the helpless Gochi.

“Ha!”

She swung her hand and tore the water in half.

Splat!

Startled by her sudden action, I was able to snap out of my reverie.

Standing next to Hong Yeon-hwa, I looked inside Gochi and saw the upper half of a young man I had never seen before.

Yes, only the upper half.

I didn’t realize he had been cut in half.

Blood oozed out and stuck to the cross-section, regenerating the wound. If I had missed it, he would have recovered from his injuries and become a threat again.

But that wouldn’t happen now.

“Who is this?”

“It’s the Blood Demon himself. Do you remember when he activated the spell engraved on the ceiling after swallowing the main heroine?”

“Oh, you mean when the dungeon collapsed?”

“Yes. The Blood Demon didn’t just create a mountain in the form of a dragon. He first created a structure that concentrated all his blood vessels and energy around himself.”

Come to think of it, he said he would rejuvenate himself instead of changing his body.

He must have used his remaining power to restore his body.

“Well…you regained your youth, but it’s all gone now.”

Hong Yeon-hwa snickered and tore apart the remaining Gochi.

In an instant, the poisonous red color disappeared, leaving only a puddle of water.

The blood that had been healing the wound lost its power, and the young face began to age in real-time. If left alone, he would die on his own.

Did he sense his own end? The Blood Demon, who had been sleeping quietly until now, slowly opened his eyelids.

“How…how did you purify my blood? I couldn’t have escaped from that chain in the first place.”

“Hah! Don’t you know the saying that everything happens for a reason? In the end, everything flows in the right direction.”

“But my fate…um. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

As if resigned, the Blood Demon sighed. Hong Yeon-hwa nodded her head and raised her fist.

“Right. It’s not that important. You’re going to die soon anyway.”

It seemed like she was going to cut off the Blood Demon’s breath right now.

But the Blood Demon calmly raised his head in the face of Hong Yeon-hwa’s ominous aura.

“Oh no. I had a will prepared.”

“Who gave you the time to leave a will?” Hong Yeon-hwa asked, her hand poised to strike.

“Who said I was going to leave a will? I have something to say to the disciple of the Sword Saint,” the Blood Demon replied.

“What…?” Hong Yeon-hwa stopped her hand, looking at me as if to confirm her decision.

She lightly tapped her pink lips and nodded her head. “Let’s hear him out. But if he starts talking nonsense, I’ll cut off his head.”

“Understood!” Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes glared at him as if to say, “Speak up.”

The Blood Demon looked at Hong Yeon-hwa for a moment before turning to me. “First of all, congratulations. I didn’t know you would resort to such a barbaric method, but you succeeded in cutting down the dragon like your master.”

“Dragon? I couldn’t even defeat a normal creature, let alone a dragon. No one would believe me even if I bragged about it,” I replied.

“Is that so? Well, it doesn’t matter. In the end, all creatures, including Yoma, will disappear as time goes by. Even the Inma will disappear in the distant future.”

“What?”

“Don’t you know? The fact that the path to the celestial realm has been cut off doesn’t mean that there is no way to become a higher being. It means that the possibility of humans becoming higher beings has been cut off.”

Ki, the energy that exists everywhere.

Not only humans but also animals, plants, and even minerals can surpass their original limits under the influence of ki.

Just like the Jepyeong Moin who are called superhumans who have surpassed the limits of humans.

But now, the Blood Demon was saying that his ki would gradually disappear.

Just like the world of my past life.

“Of course, ki won’t completely disappear. It just means that unnecessary ki will slowly disappear,” the Blood Demon said.

“So, the natural spirit will disappear, and only each person’s innate talent will remain?” I asked.

“That’s right. At least, that’s what I’m guessing. But now is not the time to talk about this. I have something to say before my time runs out.”

“Oh, right. Your will,” I said.

The Blood Demon, who had turned into a middle-aged man, smiled wryly and opened his mouth. “This world will soon be destroyed.”

“In a land where the guardian has left, nothing can grow. Even if it rains, crops will not sprout, and this vast central plain will slowly become a desert,” said the Blood Demon.

He even uprooted one of the Five Great Mountains, Mount Taishan, so the process will accelerate, the Blood Demon added.

This is insane.

He really left his mark on this world until the end.

I’ll have to confirm the truth through Myeongwoljin later, but if it’s true, it’s not nonsense.

It’s actually helpful to us as it gives us time to prepare.

“…Why are you telling us this?” I asked.

“Kuk kuk. It’s because of the sword I showed you at the end,” the Blood Demon replied.

“What about it?”

“It reminded me of the Sword Saint’s sword.”

Wait, the master is involved here?

Of course. The Cheondung Swordsmanship is a sword technique that frees you from everything.

The sword that is not bound by anything can cut through anything.

The process is different, but if you look at the results, it might look similar to Master’s Cheondung Swordsmanship.

Looking at the Blood Demon with a strange expression, the aging man asked me a question.

“I gave you good information… Can I ask you one question?”

Ah, there was another reason after all.

“Go ahead.”

“How did Gyeomsa live and die…?”

…I didn’t expect him to ask that.

Come to think of it, the Blood Demon only asked about Master’s life and death, not how he lived his life.

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I spoke.

“Master walked the path of justice but passed away.”

Everyone knows it, but it’s hard to put it into practice. That’s justice.

Wouldn’t you feel a sense of betrayal towards the Sage?

But unlike the Blood Demon, who abandoned the name Hansangja and became a Blood Demon, Master abandoned the title of Gyeomsa and Yeodongbin and took on the alias of Gyeongam.

He gave up all resentment and decided to live his own life again.

Even in his second life, Master never lost his integrity.

…But he did leave behind a dark history.

Anyway, did he understand what I wanted to say with that one sentence?

The Blood Demon, who had become like a dying old man, slowly closed his eyes.

“Is that so.”

A faint but clear voice.

“Was it me who became a Yoma blinded by revenge…?”

With that, the Blood Demon’s movements came to a complete stop.

Even the slightest hint of life disappeared, so it seems like his tough life has finally come to an end.

Hong Yeon-hwa, who confirmed this, grabbed my sleeve hesitantly.

“My lady, my lady. What are you thinking of doing now? If you’re thinking of burying him nearby, I can…”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Eung?”

Hong Yeon-hwa blinked her pink eyes wide in surprise at my dramatic reaction.

“That guy was Master’s old friend, but he’s still a bastard even if he died trying to put up a fight, right?!”

“Bastard…?”

Without realizing it, Hong Yeon-hwa was about to say something bad, so I sealed her lips with mine.

Smack.

“Yeah. Anyway, we almost died because of that guy, right? He even tried to steal you away from me. So, what else can we call him but a bastard?”

Rubbing her lips, Hong Yeon-hwa blushed and asked.

“Mu… then, what do you think we should do?”

“Even when we were in the cave, and now, it seems like he prepared everything to not die. Right?”

“Well, he was pretty stubborn.”

“Right? Just in case he comes back to life, let’s dismember his body and burn it with Sammaejin. And the lower half of his body is probably scattered somewhere, so you can go around and purify the area.”

“…”

Hong Yeon-hwa looked at me with a doubtful expression.

Even if she looks at me like that, my thoughts won’t change.

We can’t leave any possibility behind.

We have to finish this for good.