Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 456 – Supreme (3)

Jin Ye-rin was genuinely amazed.

Mok Gyeong-un’s sword just now possessed truly immeasurable supreme power.

She had thought that the Invisible Sword, called the Sword Extreme, was the pinnacle of swordsmanship.

But to think there was something beyond even that.

‘…He’s truly a genius.’

She had to acknowledge Mok Gyeong-un’s martial talent.

Although she had been told she inherited tremendous talent from her father, it was nothing compared to Mok Gyeong-un’s martial genius.

Was there any point in comparing herself, who hadn’t yet mastered the martial arts inherited from her ancestors, to Mok Gyeong-un, who constantly surpassed his own limits to reach new realms?

‘It’s shameful.’

She had only thought about reviving her family and revenge, but faced with Mok Gyeong-un’s endless progress, she felt ashamed of her own attitude towards martial arts for the first time.

Perhaps it was even more so because someone who had once been far inferior to her had now reached a place she couldn’t touch.

On the other hand,

‘Still not enough.’

Mok Gyeong-un wasn’t satisfied with this.

He had succeeded in raising supreme power in his sword, but he felt something was still lacking.

Though he didn’t know what it was, he still had to keep filling it.

And,

-Shuuuuu!

Heat haze rose from his entire body.

The supreme sword caused even more physical strain than the sword that exerted power into a single point.

Moreover, it required strong will, so the mental consumption was also tremendous.

At the moment he manifested the desired form of the sword, his body was so drained that it reached a state of exhaustion, so it wasn’t yet at a level where he could use it freely.

The corner of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth rose.

‘It’s endless.’

Is this the charm of martial arts?

Even when he had reached the Life and Death Realm and completed the Invisible Sword, the Sword Extreme, he had thought that was the end of swordsmanship, but it wasn’t at all.

This proved it.

There is no end to martial arts.

-Chureureureureu!

At that moment, blood vessels writhed at Mok Gan’s severed neck, trying to regenerate.

Seeing this, a gleam appeared in Mok Gyeong-un’s eyes.

If it was trying to recover even with the entire body blown away, this wasn’t just ordinary regeneration, but close to immortality, wasn’t it?

‘Hmm.’

Looking at this, Mok Gyeong-un thought.

Come to think of it, among the enemies he had faced so far, there were those with such excellent regenerative abilities.

The annoying thing about such people was that they tended to act differently from normal people because they believed in their regenerative abilities.

And unlike ordinary enemies, regeneration changed the nature of the battle itself.

Variables could occur at any time.

‘…Is it impossible to exert supreme power that even surpasses regeneration?’

But power is literally just power.

Regenerative ability was literally just an ability, not the object itself.

This concept wasn’t something that could be dealt with by power alone.

However, while ordinary people would have stopped here, Mok Gyeong-un’s thoughts were reaching higher.

‘Is there no way to make the sword force, sword energy sharper to the point where even regeneration is impossible?’

Mok Gyeong-un’s thoughts didn’t last long.

The reason was that Mok Gan’s body was really trying to regenerate.

-Chureureureureu!

Blood vessels were connecting, bones were growing, and muscles were forming.

Mok Gyeong-un clicked his tongue at the marvelous regenerative ability.

But fortunately, he knew what this person’s weakness was because he had fought him once before.

-Chwak!

As Mok Gyeong-un drew his sword hilt, the regenerating part was cut off.

“Keok!”

After cutting this, Mok Gyeong-un reached for the eye on his forehead.

As he did so, Mok Gan opened his mouth.

“You… Really… Have you… truly… lost… your core… and become… human?”

‘!?’

At those words, Mok Gyeong-un’s hand, which was reaching for the eyeball, paused for a moment.

Staring intently at the eyeball on the forehead, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Did you hear that from Ghost Blade?”

“……”

Mok Gan didn’t deny it.

The first thing he did when he came to the bamboo forest was to subdue Ghost Blade.

Having confirmed that another kindred who had worked with him for a long time had perished, he realized that the bastard was no longer his limb.

That’s why he tried to dig out what the guy had found out.

But the guy’s lips were tight.

Rather, he tried to confuse him.

[Haa… Haa… The Incarnate… can no longer… be your enemy.]

[Can’t be my enemy?]

[Having lost… the core… he chose the path of regression himself.]

[Regression?]

[I saw it clearly with my own eyes. he is no longer the Incarnate that threatens you, but now just an ordinary human. So no more…]

-Kkwak!

[Keok.]

[I don’t know why I can’t feel the core, but you’re still hiding something.]

[Keok… Keok…]

[Do you think a mere ordinary human could stand against me? You’ll have to tell me everything you’re hiding.]

[Keok… You… I have nothing… to say to the likes of you!]

[What?]

[Get… Get away… from Him.]

[……]

Mok Gan was inwardly surprised at Ghost Blade’s words.

It was surprising enough that his will hadn’t perished even after more than a hundred years had passed, let alone that he had even eliminated his kindred in the end, but to think his loyalty towards his master was still alive?

How could a mere human possess such strong will?

Feeling both wonder and interest here, Mok Gan tried to completely delve into his mind, but at that moment, Jin Ye-rin came out of the formation technique, leading to the current situation.

Mok Gan glared at Mok Gyeong-un and opened his mouth.

“Why… Why did you become human?”

“……”

Mok Gyeong-un gave no answer to Mok Gan’s question.

He too had learned the truth through Ghost Blade, and even now, this fact was still hard to accept.

Therefore, Mok Gyeong-un discarded complicated thoughts.

Whatever his past might have been, he decided to focus on himself now.

“Kuk… Kukukukuk…”

At that moment, Mok Gan suddenly burst into laughter.

It was an utterly bitter, maniacal laughter.

After laughing for a while, his eyes were filled with madness.

He seemed like a different person.

“To become human… Human… Kukuk. I really hate it. I really hate you. No, I loathe you. To think that a being expelled from the clan would become human, even regressing voluntarily. I can see your despicable intentions.”

“Intentions? Say what you want. I…”

“You can’t gain anything. If I can’t obtain it, neither can you.”

“…Nonsense.”

“I’ll give you true despair. I’ll show you pain beyond what I’ve experienced.”

Mok Gyeong-un, seemingly deciding there was no need to listen further to Mok Gan’s words that sounded like curses, reached for the eye on his forehead.

It was to make contact with the eyeball and find out where his main body was.

-Puk!

Since the bastard might self-destruct again, this time he quickly plucked out the eyeball to prevent him from controlling energy,

-Chwa chwa chwa chwa chwak!

He cut off all the visible capillaries in the eyeball.

Looking at how energy flowed through each of those capillaries, they seemed to play a role similar to meridians or energy circulation paths.

So Mok Gyeong-un held the eye and closed his eyes.

Since one of the avatars had died, he should be able to narrow down the dispersed candidates.

But,

‘!!!!!!’

At that moment, in Mok Gyeong-un’s mind, there was a dark hall with a stone throne shrouded in shadows, and a being sitting on that throne was visible.

Though the face wasn’t visible due to the deep shadows, the third eye on the forehead was clear due to its unique radiance.

Could this be the main body?

The mental focus wasn’t dispersed to where the avatars were, but immediately pinpointed this location?

As he was wondering, Mok Gan sitting on the stone throne opened his mouth.

-The time has come.

‘What?’

-It’s not that you found me, but that I revealed myself.

‘……’

What’s his intention?

Even when they clashed at the Heaven and Earth Society, he had talked about avatars and made the tracking disperse to the locations of other avatars to prevent his own location from being detected.

But this time, he didn’t try to self-destruct the avatar’s eye and willingly showed his location.

Here, Mok Gyeong-un couldn’t help but be suspicious.

Then, Mok Gan on the stone throne said,

-I’ll give you one last chance. If you willingly offer your soul and spirit souls, I’ll mercifully grant you a peaceful death.

Mok Gyeong-un snorted at this proposal.

Then he sent his intention.

-Your thoughts differ from mine.

-Our thoughts differ?

-I’m going to torment you thoroughly until you beg to die.

-Kwadeuk!

No sooner had those words ended than the armrest of the stone throne crumbled, and the gleam of the third eye visible between the shadows was tinged with killing intent.

The entire hall gradually shook with tremendous power.

Mok Gan spoke threateningly in a seething voice.

-You’re passing up the opportunity to the very end.

To him, Mok Gyeong-un smirked and replied in an arrogant voice.

-The right to give opportunities belongs to the strong. This doesn’t apply to you.

-Kwang!

As those words ended, the stone throne shattered to pieces and Mok Gan rose from his seat,

-Seureureureuk!

Regardless, Mok Gyeong-un paid no heed to this and stopped the mental tracking.

He had roughly figured out where the bastard was, so further conversation was meaningless.

As the mental image was breaking off, he heard the bastard’s mad cry, but it was none of his concern.

-Kwajik!

Mok Gyeong-un also burst the eye of Mok Gan’s avatar he was holding in his hand.

As the eye burst, the ominous energy flowing from it was also cut off.

Then Cheong-ryeong asked in an expectant voice.

-Did you find him?

-Yes.

-Where! Where is he?

-If I tell you, are you going to go alone again?

-……

Cheong-ryeong was momentarily at a loss for words at Mok Gyeong-un’s sound transmission.

At this, Mok Gyeong-un shrugged and said in a disappointed tone.

-I didn’t think it would be true, but it seems it is. If that’s the case, I don’t think I can tell you. We promised to go together…

-No promise is needed.

-What?

-Even without that, I’ll go with you. Whether it’s the end or whatever, I’ll be with you till the very end. Is that enough now?

-……

Mok Gyeong-un gave no answer to Cheong-ryeong’s words.

Then, sensing Jin Ye-rin approaching, he turned his head with an expressionless face as if nothing had happened.

Seeing this, Jin Ye-rin tilted her head slightly.

She was sure he had been smiling just now.