1200——————==

Soul of the Evil God

The Heavenly Demon spoke.

“Ah, the miserable rebellion of someone who has relied on my kindness for the freedom of their body. So, what will you do now?”

Boom!

As the Heavenly Demon unleashed a golden aura, I felt a tightening grip on my whole body again and realized I couldn’t do anything. The Heavenly Demon continued to speak while binding me.

“I also share the memories of Sagong Lin. So, you know the obsidian memories you’ve instilled in her. You must have known over twenty ways to commit suicide by now, right?”

“……”

Right? With my finger held up, I fell silent, and he gave a sly smile as he continued.

“Among those methods, there are only three or so that could dodge the powers of the Three Sovereigns for a suicide attempt. However, if I, the Heavenly Demon, descend, I can nullify them all. After all, your death cannot be immediate since you have inherited the power of the Wheel King.”

“And so?”

Swoosh!

The Heavenly Demon slowly approached and bent my finger to form a fist. Then he said,

“Stop the useless struggling. Reborn One.”

In that moment, I stared at the Heavenly Demon and opened my mouth.

“Time is running out, right?”

“……”

The Heavenly Demon didn’t answer my question. But the very fact that he didn’t respond gave me assurance, so I murmured on.

“It’s been strange from the start. Although you personally descended to prevent my death, why are you going to such lengths to persuade me? If you possessed immense power, you could simply distort space-time and torture me instead.”

The Heavenly Demon remained silent. Instead, he looked at me as if to urge me to continue, and I gradually brightened my finger.

“Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen! You can read the law of cause and effect. It’s not much different from knowing the future. However…”

“But what?”

“The fact that you directly intervened means you cannot read from [this point] onward. If you could, you wouldn’t need to meddle or send minions to torture or persuade me.”

“……”

“Right? Isn’t it strange that you’ve come here in person, with your name on the line, to convince me?”

This intuition arose from my long experience in negotiations.

The actions of Emperor Gong Sun Xuanwen were something that should not be done from the complete superior position of a negotiator. However, expecting any inner goodness from a figure like the Emperor was just futile; he was far too shrewd and ancient.

The Heavenly Demon replied to my question in a cold tone.

“I merely extended the courtesy due to a reborn one, yet your speculation is quite foolish. Do you think treating you politely has improved your situation?”

“No. Something is definitely different…”

I continued to speak while looking straight at the Heavenly Demon.

“I’m not the only one cornered as the [End] begins. You’re just as pressed!!”

Ugh!

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon’s hand sliced through my solar plexus.

“Ugh!”

I stifled a scream while rapidly channeling my mental strength to suppress the pain. The Heavenly Demon, who had inflicted a fatal wound without much care, said with an emotionless voice.

“It’s not that I can’t torture you. As the one who stands at the peak of Heaven and Earth, I simply don’t wish to engage in such lowly acts.”

“Ugh… cough…”

“But if you wish for my wrath, I could tear you apart like an Asura countless times.”

It felt like I was about to go insane from the pain. I could feel him intentionally twisting his hand technique to amplify my agony.

Nevertheless, I suppressed the intense pain and forced a laugh.

“Cough, cough, cough… Go ahead!! Why didn’t you do this earlier… you bastard!”

As the Heavenly Demon’s face hardened from my curse, I shouted out in triumph.

“Your noble demeanor and authority have crumbled before this blow! In the end, all you’ve proven is how anxious and uneasy you are!”

Boom!

In the next moment, my entire body exploded. The force of destruction radiated outward from my core at the speed of light, and I felt every single cell bursting apart.

“……!!”

Boom!

It felt like I was dying horrifically in an instant, yet the next moment, I returned to my original state. The level of pain I had just experienced was so intense that I found myself drooling and collapsed to the floor.

Thud!

Was the Heavenly Demon temporarily granting me freedom of body to deliver pain on purpose? His golden eyes shone as he spoke.

“You have remarkable resilience against pain, but you can never transcend Asura-level control over yourself. Did you think you could withstand what would have crushed an Asura hundreds of times?”

“……”

“Humans are inherently weak against pain. When negotiating with [Old Rulers], the Three Sovereigns agreed to this. If you’re weak to pain, fear is easily instigated, and reverence for the divine is lessened.”

“What are you saying…?”

“I made humans that way.”

The Heavenly Demon stroked my cheek, grinning.

“And I have been observing humans for a very long time. Only one [Old Ruler] understands humans better than me.”

“What…?”

“From my perspective, all it would take is twenty instances of pain for you to descend into madness, and another twenty for you to weep tears while licking my heels.”

His definitive words were chillingly calm, even more frightening because they seemed so close to reality. In truth, my thoughts weren’t far from those of the Heavenly Demon, and I felt an instinctive fear rise up inside me that I couldn’t rationally describe.

Pain…

Though I’d endured it non-stop until now, it was truly a sensation that was hard to build resistance against. I had endured many times, far beyond the capacity of an average person, yet pain was still pain. Especially when torture commenced with intent, I knew the level of agony would exceed imagination.

Nevertheless, I steeled myself once more.

‘I can’t give in.’

Bowing to the Emperor would be the easy path, but I couldn’t submit.

I had decided to trust my companions until the very end.

And I certainly wasn’t going to just take it like this!

Thwack!

Once again, the Heavenly Demon’s hand shot toward me and burrowed beneath my neck. I had no way to dodge, and the next moment, I sensed my brain being penetrated by the blow, feeling the terrible pain drown my consciousness.

“Cough…. Hah….”

Once more, space-time reverted, and when I returned to my original state, I felt my body shaking from the pain. Normally, I would have pressed down the bloodline to block pain, but now the Heavenly Demon was manipulating my blood flow, forcing me to endure the pain.

Drool flowed from my mouth, and tears mixed with blood ran down my eyes, while cold sweat poured from me. It felt like being castrated, but even that couldn’t compare to this pain.

Still.

Still, I couldn’t give up.

I decided to trust my companions…

Trusting my companions meant that no matter how many times I died here, I would endure!

At that moment.

[My lord, you’ve held out well.]

A dark voice reached my ears, and suddenly I felt the Emperor’s binding power that had been suppressing me wash away. I saw the Heavenly Demon’s hand wrapped in a dark mist, no longer advancing, and his entire being was entangled in layers of pitch-black rings.

[I understand the situation. I will do my best to send you to the next rebirth.]

The voice came from about twenty steps away. There stood five figures, with a formidable magical beast emitting a massive amount of magical power at the front, surrounded by darkness.

The figure of the strange creature, clad in pitch-black armor with a somewhat stout body, looked oddly familiar. At that moment, I realized the identity of the being and shouted.

“Zhuge Sha?!”

Why did I think that was Zhuge Sha? That entity bore no resemblance at all to its original form, almost like a being from another realm.

But I instinctively understood at once.

‘Zhuge Sha has become the Demon King!’

That form— it was strikingly similar to Zhuge Sha’s appearance when he reincarnated as the Demon of Landlord Doctrines in the past! The only difference was the absence of two horns; otherwise, the resemblance was nearly identical! And Zhuge Sha merely nodded in agreement with my words before immediately exclaiming.

[I, Zhuge Sha, hereby declare as the Great Demon King, commanding the powers of the Seven Realms! I am the creditor! By the powers of the foreign gods, repay all the debts Sagong Lin owes to me!]

Crackle crackle!!

“……!!”

The dark rings wrapping around the Heavenly Demon constricted tightly for the first time, and I could see the Heavenly Demon stagger back.

He glanced back at Zhuge Sha and said,

“Zhuge Sha. A rather pathetic trick. Did you start scheming since the battle with the laws of the South Pole?”

[…….]

“The magic seal suppressing the power of the Heavenly Sorcerer was simply an excuse, and you intended all along to use this method to ensnare the Heavenly Demon?”

What?

Hearing the Heavenly Demon’s words, I was momentarily confused, and as I dumbly stared, Zhuge Sha burst out laughing.

[Ha ha ha! The prediction that the Heavenly Demon cannot read the cause and effect concerning himself was correct! Indeed, Sagong Lin didn’t pay off all her debts back then!]

“So it was all lies back then.”

[Correct.]

Zhuge Sha’s eyes began to gleam with madness.

[If you want to repay the accumulated debts of mana from that time until now, you’ll need to leave the scene, Your Majesty!]

“Hmm…”

What a shock!

I could understand Zhuge Sha’s words, leaving me dumbstruck.

‘What?! Debt…’

Could it be…?

‘Zhuge Sha was claiming to have paid off his debt while he was suppressing Sagong Lin’s mana in the South Pole, but in reality, the debt remained? And now, while acting like sealing the Heavenly Sorcerer, he was just injecting that debt back into him…’

I felt a shudder with the conclusion that followed.

Yes.

The seal on the neck of the Heavenly Sorcerer was actually a co-signer guarantee!!

As long as the Heavenly Sorcerer existed, the debt wouldn’t revert to Sagong Lin, but when the Emperor eliminated the Heavenly Sorcerer with his power, the moment the co-signer’s seal vanished, the debt returned to the Heavenly Demon!

“Crazy.”

He’s been scheming since then?!

Crackle!

Crackle!

The dark rings continued to tighten around the Heavenly Demon, as if they intended to engulf him, ultimately engulfing him in darkness where his form was no longer visible.

Boom!

To escape, I staggeringly turned my body and quickly ran toward Zhuge Sha, who addressed me.

[Baek Woong. I too inherited what happened at the end of the [Knot] as a figment of a dream. But I delayed my actions as I needed to prepare.]

“Got it…!!”

[You have withstood the grip of the Emperor’s magical beast. It must not have been an easy task.]

“Can we now suppress the Heavenly Demon?”

After hundreds of years of scheming.

Was this the moment Zhuge Sha’s cunning plan had come to fruition, as he had been saving the final blow while deceiving both Sagong Lin and the Heavenly Sorcerer?

As I spoke with an expectant voice, Zhuge Sha, in the form of the Demon King, crossed his arms and gazed forward.

[Unfortunately, the repayment of that magical power will soon be nullified. It is not an ordinary monster.]

“What?! If that’s the accumulated debt since back then, no matter how much the Emperor…”

[If it’s a being aiming for the ascension of the End, there’s no way it could be easily dismissed. Most likely, it’s using what’s been stored in the Divine Temple…].

Huh?

As I was puzzled by his unexpected words, a familiar face emerged from the four standing behind him, addressing me.

[Baek Woong. I don’t know if we can do this, but I’ll cooperate with Zhuge Sha to hold them off. You need to rely on their help while we buy you time.]

Those familiar words. I called out the name of the being that appeared, now in a half-human half-fox form.

“Miho!!”

[Since it’s the End, I won’t hold back on any cause and effect.]

The air around Miho exuded strange magical power. With her nine tails beginning to shimmer in golden light, she fixed her gaze on the Heavenly Demon and shouted.

[I am the Divine Being and the heir of Nüwa. If Nüwa and Fuxi are supporting me from behind, my strength now rivals that of the Five Emperors!]

For a fleeting moment, was it just my imagination that I saw the apparitions of Nüwa and Fuxi floating behind Miho?

No, it was not a mirage.

Miho truly entered this battle as the last heir of the Three Sovereigns!

Wham!

The next moment, Miho transformed into a golden nine-tailed fox and charged towards the Heavenly Demon, her mouth open wide as she prepared to bite him, before leaping into the air and unleashing beams of silvery light that filled the heavens.

[Disappear, Heavenly Demon!!]

Boomboomboom!

The light beams filled the heavens with light, creating rifts in space-time, momentarily turning the entire sky white to the point where I couldn’t see in front of me. The immense power felt real with Miho’s claim of being comparable to the Five Emperors not feeling exaggerated at all.

It seemed Miho wasn’t done yet, as she continued to exert her power, generating countless silver orbs in the sky, each one exploding and creating destruction reminiscent of a nuclear explosion.

Moreover, synchronizing with Miho, who had remained silent until then, Zhuge Sha extended his hand forward to create a massive Dimension Door, and countless dark demons began to spill out from within.

Roar!

As the sky turned into a fiery explosion due to the combined powers of Miho and Zhuge Sha, a voice came from behind me.

“That’s all just to buy time, Baek Woong.”

“You….”

“The fact is, we will probably all die at the hands of the Heavenly Demon.”

Stepping into view was an unexpected figure. I widened my eyes at the familiar face appearing after such a long time.

“Do you understand? The only solution is to resurrect the Four Great Spirit Deities.”

The current Master of the White Lotus Sect and the head of Fire Spirit Techniques.

Han Baek-ryeong stood there.

An ethereal flame aura began to swirl around her dual swords, before settling down, transforming into a form akin to nothingness. She abruptly crossed the twin swords at her center.

Clang!!

This felt serious.

While she didn’t release an overwhelming aura… looking at Han Baek-ryeong in that state, I felt the presence of an absolute blade being forged from emptiness. It was not an oppressive feeling from mighty intent; I simply couldn’t comprehend what it was.

Then suddenly, I felt something and unconsciously muttered.

“Primordial Spirit…?”

Buzz…

For a short while, a resonance echoed, and one of her swords transformed into a complete silver blade, while the other turned into a black blade. Han Baek-ryeong’s hair, which had been refining energy while crossing the dual swords, had completely turned silver.

“Prepare yourself.”

Han Baek-ryeong’s eyes narrowed.

“I will show you the true power of the Fire Spirit!”