Chapter 115

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Male drew his sword and then casually dropped it from his hand.

From above, the immortals started murmuring, but I knew this wasn’t about giving up the fight.

KUNG!

Male stomped his foot on the ground, triggering a powerful earthquake.

GRRROOOOAAARRR!

The Cheonma Church Main Hall shook violently, and flames engulfing the building grew out of control.

Then, the sword that Male had just let go of floated up to eye level. The blade quivered in sync with the world around it.

TCHH.

Suddenly, all vibrations ceased.

But everyone here knew this didn’t mean the end. After all, the floating sword was still trembling without stopping.

And then Male began walking—up into the sky as if stepping on invisible stairs. The sword followed closely behind, vibrating fiercely.

Meanwhile…

No one dared to attack Male.

Male ascended higher than the tallest rooftops and stopped.

As soon as he halted, the immortals wasted no time launching their attacks—some wielding lightning, others summoning wind, fire, water, and more—but not a single strike managed to reach Male.

Male stared at his sword, and it stopped shaking before slowly starting to move. Despite its sluggish pace, it seemed incapable of blocking every incoming attack… at least, that’s how it appeared to me.

A short, precise swing.

With each slash through the air, the scattered attacks either vanished or were deflected back toward the immortals, striking two targets at once.

It was almost like routine work for Male, effortlessly countering everything—even forces like water currents and wind flows that should have been impossible to cut.

Amidst the smoke rising from the burning Cheonma Church beneath dark clouds, Male stood alone, facing off against countless immortals.

Like offering himself as bait, Male closed the distance with fleeing immortals and struck them down with his blade, taking their lives one by one.

Eventually, even the last immortal rushing toward him met their end, transferring warmth to me before disappearing.

We won.

Half of the Twelve Great Immortals under the supreme leader, Original Heavenly Sovereign, were defeated. Alongside them, many other skilled immortals perished. But we couldn’t relax yet—I’d glimpsed something dangerous within their memories.

Unfortunately, I realized too late.

Suddenly, the air around us split cleanly into a square frame.

Male swung his sword wildly, but the space itself flattened into two dimensions, rendering his movements meaningless.

However, the sword managed to pierce through the compressed void, revealing only pitch-black darkness beyond the sliced edges.

The Taegukdo—a powerful artifact shaped like an inscription board capable of trapping enemies and causing them to vanish when folded—had activated.

There was no escape. While the sword could tear through the barrier where light remained visible, Male’s body seemed trapped by some invisible wall.

Male gazed far away at the person holding the artifact, somehow identifying the culprit despite lacking any prior information.

In an instant, the sword shot forward and pierced straight through the head of the man wielding the Taegukdo.

Victory.

Or so I thought… until Male’s vision suddenly plunged into darkness.

In that final moment, what Male saw was the young boy standing beside the decapitated corpse, folding the scroll inscribed with Male’s figure.

Realizing the location of the Taegukdo, I instinctively rushed toward it.

Meanwhile…

Male flailed helplessly against the confines of the shrinking space. Each attempt to break free only met solid resistance as the walls gradually closed in.

Finally, Male stopped resisting and exhaled deeply.

After inhaling again, he paused mid-breath, raising both hands wide apart—one upward, the other downward—and brought them together in unison before reversing the motion. A vivid violet light erupted between his palms.

Yes.

Light.

Through Male’s eyes, I witnessed the radiant light emanating from him.

Could light exist outside the boundaries of human perception?

Isn’t light supposed to be tied to the soul?

My questions went unanswered.

Male pressed his hands together prayer-like, creating pressure—or perhaps volume—that caused his palms to glow white.

As the brightness intensified, the light in front of him thinned dramatically.

Something extraordinary was happening, yet it felt wrong.

Gradually, Male lost sensation in his fingertips. His blurred vision revealed his fingers crumbling into dust-like fragments, scattering into nothingness.

Each fragment shimmered briefly before vanishing entirely.

By the time his arms had disintegrated up to the elbows…

The violet light condensed into a single razor-thin beam.

No, we needed to extract Male immediately.

If the Taegukdo fully closes, the space containing Male will disappear entirely.

If we act fast, we can retrieve Male before further damage occurs. I understood how to use the artifact since I’d read the memories of its former owner after killing him.

I sprinted with all my might.

Soon enough, I spotted the youth folding the Taegukdo near the headless corpse, desperately clinging to the artifact.

Just as I prepared to seize it…

Male’s eyes snapped open, and the thin beam of light surged forward like an invisible blade, slicing through empty air.

“Hmph… Who would’ve thought Soo-oh surpassed me? That’s why it wasn’t martial art but heart-art… Yes, that’s right. All you need is your heart to infuse into the blade. However, I’ve already given mine, so heart-art isn’t possible for me.”

Alone in the darkness, Male muttered these words to himself.

“No…”

This wasn’t self-talk.

It was a message directed at someone else.

From a place where no one could hear, Male delivered his final transmission, gripping the light tightly before swinging it downward.

“One Stroke Cheonma Martial Art!”

The heavens themselves split apart.

A jagged scar slashed through reality itself.

In the blink of an eye…

The mighty Taegukdo, along with the boy holding it, vanished completely. In their place lingered a thick shadow akin to overcharged darkness, leaving only a perfectly clean cut across the surroundings.

SPLASH.

In the distance, something hit the ground.

Male’s senses.

The impact of colliding with something solid.

Looking up, I saw what looked like Male rolling off the rooftop.

Despite rushing to catch up, Male fell faster than I could react.

Bouncing off multiple rooftops, Male plummeted downward.

Moments later, I arrived at the scene.

Lying there amidst spreading pools of blood was a woman with violet skin—clearly on her deathbed.

Her life force drained rapidly as crimson liquid spread outward in all directions.

Raindrops began to fall gently from the sky.

They say rain always follows great fires, as airborne ash condenses droplets high above.

Thus…

I found myself face-to-face with a nearly lifeless corpse.

“Male.”

Calling out his name, Male coughed weakly.

Approaching closer, I knelt down and cradled her head in my lap.

“Did you see?”

“Yes.”

I saw it clearly. The memory etched itself into my mind, ready to be passed on whenever needed—a brief yet intense demonstration of the Cheonma Martial Art.

“I guess I was destined to fall. Just like the first time I was reborn.”

Indeed, looking back…

On the day Male became a woman, she’d fallen from great heights much like this, nearing death.

Lying in my arms, Male opened her battered eyes and gazed upward at me. Her mangled face made it impossible to discern whether she was crying or smiling.

Summoning strength from her chest, Male spoke.

“My friend… don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry, Male. These are just raindrops.”

Regrettably, I lacked the emotional capacity to cry. Any sorrow or anger dissipated instantly, drowned out by the relentless urge to stay calm.

“My friend… for someone who claims to be a monster, you’re awfully clumsy. If you want to hide something, try doing it better next time.”

Yet despite her weakened state, Male insisted I was crying, then took a deep breath before closing her eyes.

“I experienced the extremes of masculinity as a man and the depths of love as a woman. Having explored both sides of humanity, I shall now depart. My friend… live according to the wishes you once prayed for. This is the final blessing left behind by Eternal Me.”

With her final breath, the straight line beside her faded slowly, delivering a faint warmth before unraveling into fine threads, eventually dispersing into dust and vanishing altogether.

PATTER PATTER PATTER…

The rain poured harder, drenching the Cheonma Church grounds, washing the corpse clean until it turned pure white.

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