Absolute Regression

Chapter 516: I Want to See More

Truly, it was an arrogant thing to say.

Who would dare say such a thing in front of experts of this caliber?

And yet, not a single person present openly ridiculed him.

That was because the opponent was the current Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

The demonic energy swaying around his body was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. A powerful aura that seemed to incinerate everything it touched.

Of course, that didn’t mean the gathered experts were intimidated. From the beginning, the ones gathered here were far too formidable. Their number reached a full twelve.

Gyo Cheon burst into laughter. It wasn’t the hoarse laugh of an old man scraping metal, but a loud and powerful one imbued with internal energy. He laughed this way deliberately to suppress Geom Woojin’s momentum.

“Do you even know who these people are, to spout such arrogance?”

Geom Woojin responded calmly. He still showed courtesy, mindful of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. He believed only the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had the right to disregard this etiquette.

“Weren’t these the people you summoned?”

The wrinkles near Gyo Cheon’s eyes twitched. To him, those words sounded like, ‘Aren’t they just the people you managed to gather?’

“Yes, you’ve been arrogant since you were young.”

As the two exchanged words, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon observed the faces of those who had appeared.

Some among them could be identified by appearance alone.

First, the man who had stood behind Mad Thousand Slaughterer when the wall collapsed.

His entire face was red. Not merely flushed—but as if drenched in blood. Among those with enough skill to stand here, there was only one man with such a red face.

Red-Faced Noble.

A lunatic who claimed his face turned red from all the blood that had splattered on him from the enemies he killed. Despite the name “Noble,” he was a monstrous old man in his seventies.

A bit off to the side stood another figure.

His identity was apparent from the sword he wore. The scabbard and hilt were decorated with a vivid image of a ghost in vibrant colors.

Ghost Sword Disciple.

A killing fiend said to leave no survivors once the Ghost Sword cried out.

These two were no less skilled than the Black Emperor or the Qilian Demonic Enchantress who had appeared earlier.

Even if his master had once held the title of Demon Supreme and had prepared for years, gathering such individuals under one banner was no easy feat. These were not people who would readily serve under anyone.

‘What did you promise them?’

Whatever it was, that must have been the reason such masters had gathered here.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon now turned to look at Geom Woojin.

There was no trace of fear coming from the Cult Leader.

He was enjoying himself. The heat burning in his eyes as he looked at them was unlike anything seen from him before.

This was the Cult Leader as he stood on the battlefield.

It was clear that he hadn’t broken down the wall simply to show off his strength. There was never any pretense in his battles—or in his life.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon could grasp the Cult Leader’s intent.

It would have been easier to face them one by one, but doing so would have turned the battle into a series of duels.

That meant he would have to expend internal energy equal to the number of opponents.

However, by fighting them all at once like this, he might be able to kill two—or more—at once.

Of course, the risk would be just as great.

Geom Woojin slowly drew the Heavenly Demon Sword.

A draw that was neither fast nor slow.

As the blade extended, a stream of murderous energy flowed along the sword’s edge and then glimmered at the tip. At that moment, the Heavenly Demon Sword began to wail. 𝐫áΝ𝐨ＢĘş

Gooooooooooh.

It sounded like a deep echo from the bottomless pits of hell.

Hearing the wail of the Heavenly Demon Sword for the first time in ages made the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s heart pound. He wanted to fight alongside the Cult Leader. Just as the Fist Demon King and the Cult Leader had once fought together in their youth, he too longed to fight at his side.

But this battle belonged to the Cult Leader. It was not his place to step in.

Gooooooooooh.

As the Heavenly Demon Sword wailed, Mad Thousand Slaughterer suddenly shot to his feet. A man who had lived his life being called a mad butcher, he had nothing to fear. Even when the Cult Leader had said "Come all at once," he had boldly stayed seated.

But the cry of the Heavenly Demon Sword stirred a feeling within him that he had never experienced before.

Fear.

He was startled and flustered by this unfamiliar emotion. He looked down at his hands. They were trembling.

‘Just because a sword cried out… my hands are shaking?’

This fear wasn’t coming from his mind or heart.

He had lived his whole life thinking, ‘Life ends anyway, there’s nothing to fear.’

But the trembling he now felt wasn’t of the heart—it was fear his body itself experienced.

To get rid of fear, there were only two ways: either run away and distance oneself from it, or eliminate the source of it.

He had always chosen the latter path.

But his body wouldn’t move.

“Damn it!”

Mad Thousand Slaughterer clenched his fist tight as though it might explode, muttering a low curse. It was directed at both himself and Geom Woojin.

Behind him, the sword of the Ghost Sword Disciple let out an eerie ghostly wail.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiii.

In that instant, the Ghost Sword Disciple realized—this wail was unlike its usual cry.

‘The Ghost Sword is afraid!’

It was the first time the Ghost Sword, which had terrified opponents all his life, had ever shown fear.

‘To that sword’s wail.’

The Ghost Sword Disciple began injecting internal energy to soothe the Ghost Sword.

But there was one who reacted in the complete opposite way from the two of them.

Slowly, a man stepped forward. He was someone who had never been overwhelmed by anyone’s aura in his life. He was the kind of man who couldn’t tolerate being ordered around.

“If you’re called out, then you come out.”

He was a large man, built like a Demonic Army warrior, and his shirtless muscular frame made him resemble a Vajra Guardian.

Color Soul Vajra.

A man known to possess a body that couldn’t be cut even by sword qi or blade force. A master with monstrous strength, known to shatter boulders with his bare fists and break treasured swords.

He crushed the skulls of countless martial artists with his bare hands. What made his infamy so great was the fact that he did it simply for amusement.

But the true culmination of his evil was shown in the tattoos that covered his body.

On his massive body were small tattoos—images of women. Detailed illustrations of their features.

He tattooed the appearance of the women he had raped and murdered. And when assaulting a new woman, he would point to the tattoos and say, "This one was like this, and that one was like that." He was that kind of madman.

So it was no surprise that he would utter something as vile as this:

“If the Cult Leader had been a woman, what a beauty you would’ve made.”

At that moment, another figure moved from the back.

“Truly, you impudent bastards of the Demonic Cult!”

The voice belonged to an elderly man whose presence alone made it clear he was no ordinary person.

“Even if your father were here, he wouldn’t dare speak carelessly to me, Star-Patterned Burial Lord. And you dare wag your tongue, telling us to come out?”

He too was a master of the previous generation, notorious throughout the martial world. Though his martial arts were powerful, he was equally known for his cunning and sharp mind.

Even now, as he raised his voice, he subtly kept himself half-covered behind Color Soul Vajra, cleverly hiding his body.

If Geom Woojin launched a surprise attack, he would take cover behind Color Soul Vajra. As long as Color Soul Vajra served as his shield, there was no chance of him dying.

As the two stepped forward, the rest slowly began to move as well, lining up beside them. Their momentum seemed to rise with their advance, but Gyo Cheon stopped them.

“Wait! Proceed as planned.”

At those words, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked his master,

“Did you set an order for who would enter the fight?”

Gyo Cheon gave no reply. The one who answered was Color Soul Vajra.

“Everyone wanted to avoid being first and last. It’s hard to kill you when you’re full of energy at the start, and going last means you miss out on the glory of killing the Cult Leader.”

That remark implied that many of them would die, but in the end, someone among them would kill the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

‘You’re still just a man. Can you really endure this much internal energy? Eventually, your energy will run dry.’

This was their strategy for dealing with Geom Woojin.

“So, Cult Leader, stop acting so arrogant and quietly accept your turn to die. It’d be best if you died by my hand, but unfortunately, the number I drew was eight. Can you last until my turn?”

To this provocation from Color Soul Vajra, Geom Woojin replied.

“No, you’re second.”

Second? Not first—second?

Color Soul Vajra couldn’t understand it. If he was supposed to get angry at the provocation, shouldn’t he have said first?

At that very moment!

Suddenly, everything went dark.

It was as if someone had blown out a lantern. The world was swallowed by darkness. Even the enhanced sight of these top-tier experts couldn’t see ahead.

Gyo Cheon quickly pulled out a Night Pearl and shouted,

“Prepare for an ambush!”

Then something incredible happened. Just as the light of the Night Pearl illuminated the surroundings, the darkness began to swallow the light again.

‘The Night Pearl isn’t working?’

It was a darkness no light could penetrate. A darkness they were experiencing for the first time.

Then, in the next moment, the world returned to normal, as though nothing had happened. It had been so brief that one might have thought it a momentary illusion.

Gyo Cheon looked around. No one seemed to be injured or had collapsed.

Then, Star-Patterned Burial Lord tilted his head and muttered,

“I thought I heard something?”

He looked around. During the darkness, he had clearly heard it. A sharp crack, like ice shattering, rang in his ear.

‘What was that sound?’

Then Star-Patterned Burial Lord suddenly flinched.

‘Why are they looking at me like that?’

Everyone was staring at him. Their eyes were fixed on his body.

He slowly looked down at himself.

A flicker of confusion crossed his eyes.

His body was misaligned.

A single clean line stretched from his right shoulder down to his left waist.

His upper body began to slide along that line.

‘Huh? Huhhh?’

Sllllip.

‘I’ve been cut?’

There was no pain. He hadn’t even felt like he’d been struck by a sword.

And more than anything, he had been standing behind Color Soul Vajra.

He looked toward Geom Woojin.

‘How...?’

The speed of his fall accelerated, and soon his vision lowered. What had been a fleeting darkness now became eternal night for him. Blood gushed from his body, drenching the surroundings.

Color Soul Vajra was just as stunned.

‘I was standing in front…’

Could it be? Was the Cult Leader’s strike capable of cutting through obstacles?

But unfortunately for him, this strike wasn’t one that ignored obstacles.

Chiiik.

A red diagonal line began to etch itself from his shoulder to his side.

His eyes widened.

‘No way!’

Sllllip.

His body too began to split, slowly sliding apart. Though both had been cut, it was only now that the effect reached him—delayed because of his sturdy body.

A body said to be impervious to sword qi and blade force.

But the cuts weren’t just one.

Tchik, Chiiik, Chiiiiik.

His arms, his waist, his shoulders—red lines began to form all over his body like a spider’s web.

“Uaaaaargh!”

With a wretched scream, he spewed blood and collapsed on the spot.

At the sight, not just Gyo Cheon but even the other top experts wore expressions of futility.

They hadn’t fought like madmen. The world had simply gone dark and then returned to light.

Then, a flicker passed through their eyes as they looked at the corpse.

Their eyes began to widen.

They weren’t shocked because Geom Woojin had killed someone with a body immune to sword qi and blade force.

Nor because he had known the Star-Patterned Burial Lord would die first, and said that Color Soul Vajra would be "second."

Their eyes were fixed on the floor.

On his dismembered body, the images of the women remained.

The Cult Leader had not cut him apart randomly. He had shattered the body while leaving the tattoos of the women untouched. Every single face remained intact.

Floating in the blood, the women looked as if they had finally found peace, as if their grudges had been resolved.

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon understood—it was the Cult Leader’s own way of paying tribute to them.

All eyes turned to Geom Woojin.

In that brief instant, in that darkness, without a single sound reaching the others—

He had killed the man without damaging the images of the women.

Fourth Form of the Nine Calamities Demon Art: Dark Flash.

This was Geom Woojin’s *Dark Flash*, brought to perfection.

The silence that weighed heavily over them was broken by Gyo Cheon.

“Did you not expect him to be strong? Each time he uses the Nine Calamities Demon Art, it consumes a vast amount of internal energy. So do not fear!”

It was at that moment that someone’s voice rang out.

“You should be afraid.”

At that very moment, the man who descended from the rear was none other than Geom Mugeuk.

When Geom Mugeuk had returned to the safe house with Seo Daeryong, his father had left word for him to come here.

Geom Mugeuk had raced like the wind using Star Light Step, quietly concealing himself as he watched his father’s battle.

After offering a respectful bow to both his father and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, Geom Mugeuk turned toward the enemies and spoke.

“Why do you think Father broke the wall? Just to avoid a series of one-on-one fights? If you thought that, you underestimated him far too much.”

At that, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon flinched. Geom Mugeuk didn’t miss that expression.

“So that’s what you thought, Elder.”

The flustered Blood Heaven Blade Demon showed a troubled look.

“Our earnest, upright Elder can’t even tell a lie and say no!”

The Blood Heaven Blade Demon gave him a dumbfounded look.

‘You brat, you’re joking around even in a situation like this?’

And then, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon let out a faint smile. Yes, if it’s Geom Mugeuk, he’d be cracking jokes even now.

Geom Mugeuk’s gaze returned to the enemies. He understood his father’s intent precisely.

“Father was calculating. Trying to grasp your capabilities and allocate his internal energy accordingly. How to kill this one, how to kill that one—he’s already laid out the full blueprint for today’s battle.”

With a face devoid of any playfulness, Geom Mugeuk spoke to his father.

“I will not miss a single move or breath you make.”

Even if no one else understood, he knew that watching his father’s fight was a greater opportunity than any fortune found in the martial world.

“So please, show me more. I want to see more of your fight, Father.”