Absolute Regression

Chapter 714: It was Too Dark to See Properly

No sound could be heard.

No matter how loud the fighting was outside, Geom Mugeuk did not hear it.

Right now, Geom Mugeuk was lost in his own world.

As he melted the energy of the Flying Blood Serpent into his internal energy, only thoughts related to internal energy and martial arts filled his mind.

Usually, the state of selflessness came as a rare opportunity during martial arts training or when attaining some profound enlightenment.

But now, he had fallen into that state of selflessness while melting the energy of the Flying Blood Serpent into his internal energy.

Perhaps it was because the process of melting it down was too dramatic, and also because the energy itself was too immense.

An internal energy greater than any elixir he had ever consumed began to accumulate in his danjeon. No matter how much he melted, it never seemed to end.

As a martial artist, could there be any greater joy than this?

Geom Mugeuk struggled not to let go of even a single grain of the gift fate had given him. It was a rare opportunity born from the fact that the Evil Smiling Demon had stabbed him in the heart.

And what he gained from this was not merely internal energy.

First of all, in the process of capturing the Flying Blood Serpent, he came to learn many new blood pathways. He discovered ways to move qi that he had never thought of before, and thanks to that, he was now able to execute techniques more efficiently.

Slightly faster, slightly stronger techniques.

At Geom Mugeuk’s level, ‘slightly more’ was enough to determine victory or defeat many times over.

And there was one more thing.

The process of protecting his heart and enduring until the very end had been a truly great experience for Geom Mugeuk.

It was the worst, and because it was the worst, it helped him. Otherwise, how could Geom Mugeuk, who was more accustomed to enduring pain than anyone else, have fallen into a heart-demon state?

By experiencing his limits, Geom Mugeuk had matured and grown stronger.

Geom Mugeuk could feel it instinctively.

He had taken one great step closer to the mastery of the Nine Calamities Demon Art, which had always seemed so vague and distant.

Perhaps it had not been a coincidence that he saw the Heavenly Demon Spirit within the heart-demon state.

‘Ah, so this was the feeling. This was why Father had entered seclusion.’

He felt as if, by reaching out his hand, he could achieve mastery. Only the final training remained.

Uuuuuung.

Thus, Geom Mugeuk, completely immersed in his own world, was absorbing every last trace of the Flying Blood Serpent’s energy into his internal energy.

*         *         *

Chwaaaak.

The Evil Smiling Demon flicked the blood from his dagger.

The Faceless Swordsmen, watching him cut down the Bamboo Hat martial artists, had their eyes filled with respect.

In contrast, Hwa Do-myeong’s expression had hardened coldly.

It had been a combined assault from two men who had trained in the Dark Demonic Art. He had never thought they would lose, and even if they did, he believed they would at least inflict fatal injuries on the Evil Smiling Demon before dying. At the very least, he thought they would exhaust his internal energy completely.

But not a single drop of blood had splattered onto the Evil Smiling Demon’s pure white mask.

Now the smiling mask of the Evil Smiling Demon was the smile of a reaper.

At the chill of death that stepped closer, Hwa Do-myeong’s heart grew calm. To stand against death, he too needed to be just as terrifying.

He lightly fluttered his fan and spoke.

“I am not someone you can carelessly touch.”

A flash of ridicule passed through the eyes of the Evil Smiling Demon.

“Then is our Young Cult Leader someone who can be touched carelessly?”

Hwa Do-myeong could not refute those words.

The Evil Smiling Demon slowly walked toward Hwa Do-myeong.

“If you touch me, my main family will surely kill you.”

No threat could make that white smiling death retreat.

“Then it seems I must kill you. Before the Young Cult Leader awakens.”

It was the Evil Smiling Demon’s will not to allow Geom Mugeuk to become the target of vengeance.

Hwa Do-myeong could feel it. That the Evil Smiling Demon was determined to kill him. There was no choice left.

Hwa Do-myeong drew a small medicine bottle from his robes.

After removing the stopper, he lifted it and poured the contents over his face.

Swoooosh.

The liquid that streamed down began to wash away the white makeup.

That very makeup had been the seal that restrained him.

When he had been injured earlier, he had resolved that even if it meant releasing the seal, he would resolve this matter. But he had not thought he would truly be forced to release it.

There was no helping it. The martial might of the Evil Smiling Demon was beyond imagination.

As the makeup was wiped away, his true face was revealed.

Countless faint lines were etched across his face. Not only the lines and circles that had appeared earlier when the Bamboo Hat martial artists used the Dark Demonic Art, but many others as well.

It looked as if his face had been pieced together in fragments.

Lines ran vertically, diagonally, creating various patterns here and there. Some formed recognizable whirlwinds, while others were unidentifiable.

Strangely, it was because the lines were faint that they looked even more unsettling. They seemed like wrinkles, yet also like scars.

They were the brands left by greed.

Hwa Do-myeong, in his desire to grow stronger while cultivating the Dark Demonic Art, had gained these side effects.

To hide these marks, he had always worn heavy makeup.

Saaaaaak.

Now those faint lines began to darken.

The line running across his cheek grew darker, the circle overlapping it deepened, and even the diagonal stroke beside it thickened.

Watching this, one of the Bamboo Hat martial artists sent him a voice transmission.

— You must not overlap them like that.

Hwa Do-myeong then sent back a low voice transmission.

— If I don’t? Shall I just die to that Evil Smiling Demon instead?

In that moment, all the lines across his face had darkened.

Chwaaak.

When he unfolded his fan, it had already changed.

A Black Fan.

The fan’s color also turned pitch-black. Where once a beautiful woman had been painted, now a terrifying evil spirit was depicted.

The change was not merely external. Hwa Do-myeong’s very qi had completely transformed. In his eyes, which now shone with an intense light, the power of darkness rippled.

“Now, hand over my Young Cult Leader!”

Chwaaaak!

The moment the fan spread open!

Papapapapak!

Blades of qi swept through the spot where the Evil Smiling Demon had been standing.

As the Evil Smiling Demon leapt aside, Hwa Do-myeong suddenly appeared before him. It was as if a ghost had materialized out of thin air.

If the Dark Ghost Step the Bamboo Hat woman had displayed earlier had been at the first stage, then what he was using now was at the third stage.

Swaeeek.

Puh-uk!

Struck by the fan, the Evil Smiling Demon slid back across the ground.

Hwa Do-myeong followed like a shadow.

Swaek! Swaeeek!

He stabbed rapidly at the Evil Smiling Demon’s vital points with the folded Black Fan. The thrusting fan was as sharp and powerful as a treasured sword.

The faster Hwa Do-myeong drove the fan forward, the more the three lines used in the Dark Ghost Step began to glow red.

The lines turning red was a warning signal that he was pushing beyond the limits of what he could safely wield.

Yet Hwa Do-myeong only quickened his assault. The third stage of the Dark Ghost Step was surpassing even the speed of the Evil Smiling Demon.

Puh-uk!

The Evil Smiling Demon was struck once more.

Had it not been for his Protective Energy, the blow would have shattered his shoulder blade.

As the Evil Smiling Demon staggered backward, Hwa Do-myeong sensed an opening and charged in.

Shuuk!

A sudden blast of wind struck toward Hwa Do-myeong’s face.

Puh-uk!

He twisted his fan just in time to barely block it. A moment later and his forehead would have been pierced through.

Enraged, Hwa Do-myeong unleashed a counterattack.

Huuuung!

Winds howled.

But this was no ordinary wind. Within it swirled invisible qi — the Dark Chaotic Current.

The Evil Smiling Demon ignited his Protective Energy and hurled his body away.

Sreureuk.

The trees behind him did not merely break apart but were sliced soundlessly, collapsing without a crash. The wind was a silent assassin.

Sreureuk, sreureuk!

Wherever the Evil Smiling Demon dodged, the wind followed, and trees and rocks were cleanly cut apart without a sound.

This time, the pattern symbolizing the Dark Chaotic Current flared red.

The more he overextended, the more shock it inflicted upon his body, but Hwa Do-myeong did not stop attacking. Truly, had his opponent not been the Evil Smiling Demon, he never would have gone to such reckless lengths.

Hwiryurururururu!

Hwa Do-myeong spun rapidly in place. As the lines of the Dark Ghost Step glowed redder, the spiral patterns carved on his face deepened further.

Whrrr! Whirrrr!

From the main vortex, more than a dozen whirlwinds branched out like limbs.

They were not ordinary whirlwinds. Each one was a violent storm of qi, powerful enough to shatter flesh and bone with just a touch.

It was the manifestation of one of the Dark Demonic Arts — the Dark Revolving Wheel.

The whirlwinds clung to the Evil Smiling Demon as if they were living creatures.

The Evil Smiling Demon fled swiftly to avoid them and launched a Blood Disaster Finger at the central vortex.

Shuuk!

But it failed to pierce through the spinning force and was deflected away.

The Frantic Demonic Palm that followed was also repelled. Because they were deflected in random directions, he could not recklessly attack again.

Hwiryurururururu!

The whirlwinds were growing larger and larger.

At this rate, even the spot where Geom Mugeuk was sitting would be caught in the devastation. That was precisely what Hwa Do-myeong intended. The flustered Evil Smiling Demon would inevitably expose an opening.

Just as the smaller whirlwinds pressed in on the Evil Smiling Demon from all sides—

His body shot upward.

The small whirlwinds suddenly stretched toward Geom Mugeuk.

The Evil Smiling Demon’s true target was the central vortex.

Specifically, its very top!

And indeed, there was no whirlwind there.

Looking down at Hwa Do-myeong’s startled face at the vortex’s center—

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwaang!

He unleashed the Frantic Demonic Palm into it.

Kwaaaang!

With a tremendous roar, the whirlwind exploded.

When the dust finally settled, Hwa Do-myeong’s figure was revealed.

Walkaak.

Blood spewed from his mouth, his face now covered with crimson lines. He had overextended himself once again by manifesting the Dark Revolving Wheel. His face twisted in agony.

He was straining himself.

But he had no choice. Even if he risked death from such exertion, the Evil Smiling Demon did not die and continued charging at him.

Hwa Do-myeong poured out the last of his strength.

Shwik-shwik-shwik-shwik-shwik!

Fan and dagger flew at lightning speed to stab his opponent.

More red lines etched themselves across Hwa Do-myeong’s face.

The fan unfolded and folded, thrusting and deflecting. His movements were truly like flashes of lightning.

Though his speed clearly surpassed his opponent’s, he could not capture the Evil Smiling Demon. His power was not lacking either.

And yet, he could not catch the Evil Smiling Demon.

He did not realize there was something he could not match.

That was the Evil Smiling Demon’s battle experience.

While Hwa Do-myeong had been wrecking his own body as he delved into the Dark Demonic Art, the Evil Smiling Demon had been fighting life-and-death battles alongside Geom Mugeuk.

The Evil Smiling Demon had already read Hwa Do-myeong’s attack patterns and habits.

Puaak!

The Evil Smiling Demon’s dagger slashed Hwa Do-myeong’s arm, blood spraying.

In that instant, Hwa Do-myeong saw it.

Through the blood flying in the air came the white mask, dagger driving straight for his heart. The eyes behind the mask were smiling.

He thought it was the end—

Fhuaaaak!

Suddenly, a curtain of darkness engulfed the Evil Smiling Demon.

The one who cast the curtain was the last remaining Bamboo Hat martial artist. Thick black lines were painted across his forehead, and over them was drawn a red circle.

The Dark Barrier.

It was his hidden trump card.

“I cannot hold it for long.”

He too disappeared as if melting into the darkness.

Hwa Do-myeong was no exception in being unable to endure for long.

Now his face was completely covered in crimson lines.

He began walking toward where Geom Mugeuk sat. His plan was to kill all the Faceless Swordsmen, suppress Geom Mugeuk’s internal energy, and then flee. It was his final chance at reversal.

The Faceless Swordsmen exchanged glances. They knew well what kind of might Hwa Do-myeong had just displayed.

Five of them split to the sides and rushed toward him.

The other five lined up in a row in front of Geom Mugeuk. They transferred their internal energy forward, from the one behind to the one ahead, gathering it into the man at the very front.

Hwa Do-myeong fiercely swung his fan.

“Annoying pests! All of you, begone!”

From his fan burst forth qi, surging toward the Faceless Swordsmen with overwhelming force.

Swaeeeeeek!

The one at the front struck out with a palm strike, blocking the qi.

Kwaaaang!

The attack shook the very earth, but because the power of five men’s internal energy had been gathered together, they withstood it.

Gulp.

The first Faceless Swordsman spat blood, his insides injured, and retreated to the back while another took his place at the front.

Meanwhile, the five who had rushed ahead — Crescent Moon, Spider, Cloud, Wolf, and Flame — attacked him from all directions.

Had he not overexerted himself in the fight against the Evil Smiling Demon, he could have easily won even while using the Dark Demonic Art.

But his body was no longer in normal condition, and worse, his mind was in a rush.

Puk!

Flame was struck and rolled across the ground. Crescent Moon leapt to catch him, tumbling together.

Hwa Do-myeong tried to at least kill one of them for certain, but the others did not remain idle.

Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!

The Faceless Swordsmen unleashed a barrage of wind strikes all at once.

Unable to block them all, the gusts slammed into his Protective Energy.

As the fight refused to go his way, Hwa Do-myeong grew more frenzied. His face flushed so red it seemed ready to burst. He was nearly at his limit.

Hwa Do-myeong unleashed his final move.

Even as he took the Faceless Swordsmen’s attacks, he simply forced his way forward.

He pushed ahead while manifesting the Dark Iron Body to its extreme, just as the Bamboo Hat man had shown before. Three crimson circles glowed blood-red upon him.

Kang! Kaang! Kaaaang! Kang!

Neither wind strikes nor daggers could pierce him.

Hwa Do-myeong shoved aside the Faceless Swordsmen with his body and continued pushing forward.

‘It’s done!’

At the moment he leapt, reaching to snatch Geom Mugeuk—

Puuuk!

With the sound of flesh tearing, silence fell over the place.

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Hwa Do-myeong lowered his gaze to his chest.

A dagger was embedded in his chest.

In the air, a black circle appeared, and from it an arm emerged to stab him.

Sseuseuseuseuseu.

The circle with the arm extended grew wider, and a figure stepped out.

It was the Evil Smiling Demon. In his other hand, the one not holding the dagger, dangled the severed head of the Bamboo Hat man.

The Evil Smiling Demon had broken through the Dark Barrier and emerged outside. As he stepped out, the surrounding darkness dissipated.

With a face covered in crimson lines, Hwa Do-myeong spoke with difficulty. Still, he wanted to live. If he survived, one day he could take this revenge.

“If you spare me…”

Before the words of bargaining could leave his lips, the Evil Smiling Demon cut him off.

“I couldn’t see clearly in the dark.”

With those inexplicable words—

The Evil Smiling Demon swiftly pulled the dagger from his chest and drove it straight into his heart again, deeper.

Puuuk!

Hwa Do-myeong died instantly, collapsing where he stood.

The Evil Smiling Demon threw the severed head he had been holding beside Hwa Do-myeong’s corpse. It was the moment when every enemy present met death.

The Evil Smiling Demon looked back at his subordinates. He said nothing, but his eyes conveyed the message.

Well done.

Then he sat down in front of Geom Mugeuk. Just as he had been there when Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes, he would be there when he opened them. He knew better than anyone how hard Geom Mugeuk had struggled to reach this point.

“Rest easy and sleep without worry.”

The Faceless Swordsmen dispersed around them.

Some treated their own wounds, while others tended to their comrades’ injuries. One leaned against a tree and fell asleep, while another stood upon its branches, gazing off into the distant forest. Yet another crouched on the ground, quietly looking up at the moon.

Amid the corpses and the rivers of blood that ran like streams, they waited silently for Geom Mugeuk to awaken.