Chapter 197: The Root of the Great Evil
“Ughhh....”
Origin Demonic Qi gathered around the great evil.
Blood burst once more from the wound across its chest, but it paid no attention.
“AAAAAAARGH!”
The great evil roared and swung both hands.
Dark-red Origin Demonic Qi crashed toward me like a raging tidal wave.
I immediately swung the Heavenly Law Sword.
SWAAASH!
Blue flames split the Origin Demonic Qi straight down the middle.
The divided energy was swallowed by the flames and vanished into the air.
The great evil unleashed Origin Demonic Qi several more times after that.
But the result never changed.
Every time the Heavenly Law Sword moved, the dark-red energy was consumed by blue fire.
The rage on the great evil's face slowly began to crumble.
In its place appeared disbelief.
“Why....”
Its voice cracked.
“Why can my power not reach you?!”
Its chest rose and fell violently.
Its ink-black pupils trembled without pause.
Then, at some point—
“More....”
The great evil's gaze shifted toward the black-masked Shadow Corps members.
“I need... more.”
Madness gleamed in its eyes.
“More power...!”
WHOOOOSH!
Dozens of dark-red strands erupted from its body.
Here it comes.
I tightened my grip on the Heavenly Law Sword.
But the strands didn't come toward me.
They shot past my body and spread in every direction.
What?
One of them pierced directly into the back of the nearest black-masked man.
“M-My lord?”
The man turned around in confusion.
Then—
“AAAAAAAGH!”
A horrifying scream erupted.
The dark-red strand wrapped around his entire body.
His vitality and internal energy were rapidly sucked away through it.
His cheeks caved in.
His skin shrank tight against his bones.
Within only a few breaths, the once-healthy body had withered into something resembling a dried corpse.
“Uuugh... ah....”
The man couldn't even finish screaming.
When the final remnants of his strength were drained...
his body collapsed.
Thud.
The stolen vitality and internal energy flowed along the dark-red strand into the great evil.
A vicious light flashed in its eyes.
“More....”
Its lips twisted grotesquely.
“More than this!”
Dozens of dark-red strands shot throughout the underground chamber.
“My lord!”
“What are you doing?!”
“Please spare us!”
Screams erupted from all sides.
The vitality and internal energy of the Shadow Corps members caught by Origin Demonic Qi were forcibly extracted.
Their strong bodies withered in an instant and collapsed to the floor.
Every bit of stolen energy flowed into the great evil.
“More!”
It screamed like a madman.
“MORE!”
At this point, it seemed incapable of seeing anything except the need to steal even greater power.
Then—
one dark-red strand changed direction.
Toward Heo Seongbaek.
His eyes widened.
He stumbled backward with terror on his face.
“M-My lord...?”
The great evil didn't answer.
“It's me! Heo Seongbaek!”
The strand didn't stop.
“My lord! I have devoted everything to you all this time—”
The dark-red strand wrapped around Heo Seongbaek's leg.
“My lord! Wait!”
He swung his sword desperately.
But rather than being cut, the Origin Demonic Qi wrapped around the blade.
Then it climbed over his wrist and up his arm in an instant.
“No! My lord!”
Only then did the great evil look at him.
The emotion in its ink-black eyes was nothing but greed and hideous hunger.
“Remain loyal until the very end.”
Its lips curled.
“With your life.”
WHOOOOSH!
Heo Seongbaek's vitality and internal energy were ripped away in an instant.
“My... lord....”
His voice grew thinner.
A moment later...
his skeletal, withered body collapsed to the floor.
The final trace of his vitality traveled along the dark-red strand and disappeared into the great evil.
WOOOOOOOOOM!
A crushing pressure spread outward from the great evil.
CRAAAAACK!
Fractures shot across the floor beneath its feet.
The nearby iron cages bent with screeching metallic groans.
The enormous amount of stolen vitality and internal energy raged inside the great evil's body.
Black veins bulged hideously across its face and neck.
Instead of blood, dark-red energy leaked from the wounds covering its body.
A chilling smile twisted its lips.
“Yes....”
Enormous amounts of Origin Demonic Qi overflowed from it.
“Now I am finally full.”
I stared at it.
“So in the end, that's all you're capable of?”
The smile vanished instantly.
“What?”
“You even devour your own subordinates to replenish your strength?”
I pointed the Heavenly Law Sword at it.
“You're so afraid of me that you had to swallow the lives of your own followers, and you still dare call yourself the Primordial Heavenly Demon?”
“Han Mujin... how dare you....”
I scoffed.
“The more I think about it, the more ridiculous you become.”
Its black eyes glared at me.
“You stole the name of the Primordial Heavenly Demon.”
"..."
“Then you clung to Moyong Cheonhwi's body.”
Its face slowly twisted.
I glanced at the corpses of the black-masked men scattered across the ground.
“And now you've even stolen the strength of those who followed you.”
I looked back at it.
“In the end, there isn't a single thing you can truly call your own.”
“You bastard....”
Blue flames wrapped around the Heavenly Law Sword.
“Someone else's name.”
“Someone else's body.”
“Someone else's power.”
I aimed the blade at it.
“You only continue existing by depending on what belongs to others.”
Then—
“That's all you are.”
“SHUT UUUUUP!”
The great evil raised both arms.
BOOOOOOM!
All the power it had absorbed erupted at once.
Dark-red energy soared overhead and spread into a massive curtain.
The vitality and internal energy stolen from its followers mixed with Origin Demonic Qi, swelling it even further.
The pressure alone made the entire underground facility feel as though it were being crushed.
CRACK!
Every surge of energy sent new fractures racing across the floor.
The great evil looked at me with a vicious smile.
“Dodge it.”
"..."
Its gaze moved behind me.
“Perhaps you alone can survive.”
Then—
“But everyone behind you will die.”
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A massive flood of dark-red death surged forward to swallow everything.
“Haa.”
I steadied my breathing and gripped the Heavenly Law Sword with both hands.
Strangely enough...
my mind was completely calm despite the overwhelming force approaching me.
If anything, I could feel the sword in my hands and the energy inside my body more clearly than ever before.
Then—
I remembered the sword dance I had performed alongside the embodiment of Immortal Yeonha at Mount Hua.
Two sword paths beginning in different places.
Entwining.
Circling.
And finally becoming one.
Only now did I understand what kind of Flow I wanted my sword to contain.
Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword.
Clear Current Flowing Water rode the Flow.
Mirror Flower Straight Flash pierced its opening.
Snowstorm Spiral Shatter gathered the scattered Flow.
Falling Flower Turning Aside redirected its course.
And the final destination of all those sword paths was—
to return.
Every scattered and twisted Flow.
Back to the source where it belonged.
WOOOOOOOOOM!
The Heavenly Law Sword roared violently in my hands.
At last...
they're connected.
WHOOOOOSH!
Blue flames surged along the blade.
“Flowing Flower Kunlun Sword, Fifth Form.”
The dark-red force was already upon me.
I moved the Heavenly Law Sword.
“Ten Thousand Streams Return to the Source.”
The sword tip traced a smooth semicircle through the air.
