"...Not worth letting live."
The moment that single remark was spat out, the world instantly became quiet.
Drop.
Along with a single teardrop, pitch-black darkness bloomed from his heart.
As if a drop of ink had fallen into clear water, darkness instantly encroached upon his entire body.
Crack, cr-cr-crack.
The sound of every bone in his body twisting and muscles rupturing echoed gruesomely.
A power his physical body could not withstand was restructuring his very existence.
The black energy tore his flesh, burned his blood vessels, and finally swallowed even his soul.
The pain was hotter than the flames of hell, but a desperate smile was drawn on the corners of Baekri Geomha's mouth.
"Hehehehe."
Because compared to the sorrow he was feeling, the pain of his physical body breaking apart was nothing at all.
Rumble! Ruuuumble!
When Baekri Geomha burst into a desperate smile, as if responding to it, the earth cried out and the heavens wailed.
Woooosh.
The black storm, the demonic energy, that burst from his body swallowed the vitality of all living things and covered the sky.
The moonlight vanished before anyone realized, and the world seemed trapped in an eternal night. At the center of the black storm, Baekri Geomha slowly raised his head.
His appearance was no longer that of a human.
The torn flesh was reborn in a flawless, perfect form, but his skin shone pale and his hair was dyed the color of the pitch-black night.
And his two eyes.
His pupils no longer contained the joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure of a human.
Only deep darkness and desolation.
And only absolute terror and the aura of an absolute being that overwhelms everything simply by existing spread out.
Flash!
Suddenly, the head of the man in black clothing standing before him bounced into the empty air, creating a fountain of blood.
Countless people were present here, but.
No one had seen how Baekri Geomha had severed the man in black clothing's neck.
"Because of bastards like you."
A blood fog more desperate than tears of blood spread from Baekri Geomha's pupils.
"I have come to believe that the world must disappear!"
Flash! Flash!
Wherever his gaze reached, the heads of the men in black clothing bounced into the sky.
The Heaven-Dark Star.
A being possessing the will to return everything to nothingness.
The demonic god of destruction, who exterminates all things in the world, had descended upon this land.
Flash! Flash!
Before long, thirty-odd men in black clothing had become headless corpses.
Meanwhile, Baekri Geomha's entire body was dyed black.
A black storm that seemed to condense the power of the entire world began to whip around him.
"He was the Heaven-Dark Star."
The leader trembled.
Having seen through the power Baekri Geomha possessed, he realized that he could not kill him by any means.
"If it's the Heaven-Dark Star, the Baekmyeol would be trivial enough to handle."
Even the experts of the Baekri Family would have to lead at least a battalion-level force to strike this Earthen Chamber.
Because a mighty Soul Demon Dharma Energy flowed here.
But an awakened Heaven-Dark Star? He was unaffected by that power, so there was no method to deal with him at all.
Drip.
In an instant, Baekri Geomha's pupils were dyed black, and he began to grab and twist the space around the leader.
As the air turned sticky and a terrible pressure poured down, making his vision distort like a haze,
"Do you really think you can kill me?"
The leader, having recalled a brilliant idea, quickly shouted.
"From the looks of it, you seem to have quite an affectionate personality, don't you?"
The man in black clothing forced a smile while enduring a pressure that felt as if his body would burst.
"Are you saying you are going to kill all the Earthen Figures left here!"
When the pressure Baekri Geomha was pouring out loosened slightly at those words,
Swish.
He quickly reached his hand toward the empty air.
Then, a terrible thing occurred.
Crrrack.
The skin of the hundreds of Earthen Figures inside the Earthen Chamber cracked,
Sssshhh.
And along with fountains of blood, they began to spew out a black fog.
At the same time, their bodies lost their form and, becoming a muddy black fog, began to move following the hand gestures of the man in black clothing.
It was only that their bodies were weak, so they were not chosen as martial artists.
The Earthen Figures were the blood relatives of the House of the True Demon harboring powerful Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
Therefore, using their Soul Demon Dharma Energy, they could be used as explosives capable of bursting enemies.
They could also be made into sacrifices that gather all their power into one place to unleash a mighty dharma art, just like now.
Ssssssss...
The hundreds of Earthen Figures became a fog of death and created a massive whirlpool centered around Baekri Geomha.
"You tried so hard to protect those Earthen Figures, didn't you?"
The man in black clothing raised the corners of his mouth.
"Now try killing them directly with your own hands."
As the man in black clothing twitched his finger, the air twisted with that single movement.
In an instant, the black fog rippled and clung to the bodies of the girls.
Brrrrr.
Their bodies stiffened as if their acupoints had been struck, and black cracks appeared over their flesh.
Through the cracked gaps, pitch-black smoke, not blood, crept out.
The smoke writhed as if it were a living creature, and soon transformed into thin, sharp spears.
Swoosh!
As the spears floated into the air,
Whoooosh!
Along with a roar that tore through space, they surged toward Baekri Geomha.
Ruuuumble!
Shocks like falling lightning exploded in succession.
Ziiing.
Fortunately, thanks to the power of the Heaven-Dark Star having returned perfectly.
By forming a black barrier like protective astral energy around his body, he barely prevented his physical body from being pierced, but.
The shockwaves seeped entirely into his body.
Crack. Crcrack.
Along with the pain of his bones breaking, Baekri Geomha vomited black blood from his mouth.
To break those spears was to extinguish the Soul Demon Dharma Energy of the stiffened boys and girls.
Because he knew that all too well.
Baekri Geomha did not resist, and was receiving the pouring attacks with his entire body.
Cr-crack.
Eventually, cracks began to appear even on the black barrier created with the power of the Heaven-Dark Star.
If this continued, it was only a matter of time before his body was torn to pieces.
'Am I only capable of this much?'
Lethargy and despair bound his entire body.
Even after awakening the power of the Heaven-Dark Star capable of destroying the entire world, he could not save them?
Thud.
At that moment, the face of the girl who had collapsed beside Baekri Geomha was turning snow-white.
Fortunately, the Soul Demon Dharma Energy in her body had almost disappeared, so she was no longer losing energy to the magic arts of the man in black clothing, but.
Even as her breath was fading, she was feeling the desperate pain of her physical body melting away.
'I am...'
The delicate girl he had wanted to protect was dying.
The pure soul who had done her best without resentment or despair despite her miserable fate of transmitting vitality.
Even in her final moments, she was slowly fading away in pain and suffering.
"Uuuggh."
A terrible sense of disgust and self-reproach arose.
What use was a power that destroys the world?
When he couldn't even save the little girl right in front of him, what was the Heaven-Dark Star and what was an Extinction-Bringer?
Snap.
At that moment, something snapped within Baekri Geomha's heart.
"Hehehehe... Hahahaha."
Laughter bursts out.
It was the very first scream bursting from the soul of Baekri Geomha.
Who had never once truly empathized with the pain of others.
"Gahahaha!"
It was also his tragic indignation toward his helpless self who could not protect what he had to protect.
And a piercing shout directed at the absurdity of a world that treated lives like toys.
Whoooosh.
At that moment, Baekri Geomha's spirit.
Perfectly aligned with the source of the desperate desire for revenge that had been latent within Bu Eunseol's spirit.
―'If I had thought a little more thoughtfully, this wouldn't have happened.'
―'If I had been a little stronger, this kind of thing wouldn't have occurred.'
Following that, an unbearable, terrible regret covered his spirit.
―'If I hadn't been born, nothing would have happened to the Saha Manor or to my parents...'
Booooom!
The moment the anger that started deep within his heart exploded.
Suddenly, an intense energy burst from his Naohu acupoint.
It was neither the Heaven-Dark Star nor the Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
It was a holy blue light blooming, tearing through the pitch-black despair.
Paaaaaaaah!
A dazzling radiance exploded, forming the shape of a massive blue dragon.
As the roar of the dragon shook the entire Earthen Chamber.
The evil fog-like energies made of Soul Demon Dharma Energy began to scatter backward as if frightened.
Seeing this, the eyes of the leader were dyed with shock.
"What on earth are you."
Regaining his senses, he reached out his hand.
"Die!"
Swoosh!
Then, the black spears surged toward his body once again.
Step.
Baekri Geomha, wrapped in blue energy, no longer defended.
He walked head-on toward the surging black spears.
Sssssizzle!
The moment the black spears touched the blue light wrapped around his body.
The energies of the Soul Demon Dharma Energy were sucked into the blue energy as if seeping in.
"This is."
The man in black clothing widened his eyes.
Only then did he recall one of the legends of the martial world passed down since the beginning of time.
"The Heavenly-Mandate Star!"
That blue energy. It was another power that had been asleep deep within Baekri Geomha's personality.
It was precisely the energy of the Heavenly-Mandate Star.
If the Heaven-Dark Star was the power of the end that symbolized extinction.
The Heavenly-Mandate Star was the heavens themselves, the power of Harmony that encompasses everything.
In other words, he was an omnipotent being capable of wielding all the powers of the world.
"I want to destroy."
Before he knew it, blue light was spreading from Baekri Geomha's eyes, which had been dyed black.
"And I want to regenerate them."
Rumble!
Then, the skin of the boys and girls, who had stiffened after their Soul Demon Dharma Energy was stolen, slowly turned soft.
Soon, their bodies began to shine as if being purified.
He was transforming the power of the cursed Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
The power of evil headed toward death, into pure vitality.
Swoooosh.
As the children loosened their stiff bodies and moved, the trembling figure of the leader was revealed.
His confident face was already filled with shock and terror.
Rumble!
As Baekri Geomha reached out his hand,
"Uuuuuggh."
The leader trembled with a painful expression.
The massive Soul Demon Dharma Energy contained within his body had turned into a cluster of blue light and began to be expelled.
"Aaaaah!"
That light became a black fog, flew toward the scattered boys and girls, and gently seeped into them.
Then, the Soul Demon Dharma Energy they had lost all this time became vitality in their bodies.
It was once again filling their bodies.
Flash! Paaaaaah!
The Earthen Chamber, which had been filled only with despair, had suddenly become a space of miracles where blue energy revived life.
Drip.
As the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star flowing through his body peaked, eventually, the secret art of darkness unraveled on its own.
Baekri Geomha's original face was revealed.
"You are..."
Meanwhile, the face of the leader of the men in black clothing had become a living skeleton.
He was trembling while pointing his finger at Bu Eunseol.
"So that was it. That was it."
The power of the Profound Divine Technique Qi, which intervenes in causality.
When combined with the Heavenly-Mandate Star, which can wield all things.
Baekri Geomha was exhibiting a power akin to a Primordial Dragon.
"Baekri Geomha."
The man in black clothing spoke as if crying out.
"You are the real Baekri Geomha."
If it had been Bu Eunseol?
He would have wondered what on earth the man in black clothing was talking about and would have tried to unravel it.
But to Baekri Geomha, their circumstances weren't very important.
Sssssss.
As Baekri Geomha's power grew even more intense, the man in black clothing, who had become a skeleton, turned to dust and began to scatter in all directions.
"Bu Eunseol."
The gaze of Baekri Geomha, who had exhibited the Heavenly-Mandate Star for the first time while in the state of the Heaven-Dark Star, had changed.
"Only now do I finally feel you."
Was it because the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star was exhibited?
Or was it because his spirit aligned by understanding Bu Eunseol's sorrow and desire for revenge?
The existence of Bu Eunseol, which had disappeared all along.
Which had not been felt, was now felt from deep within his spirit.
'Now let's use your power a little.'
Step, step.
He approached the collapsed girl.
And he injected the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star overflowing in his body into her.
Then, vitality returned to the frail girl's face, and her fading life force surged up in an instant.
Wong, wong!
Not only that, he used internal energy to open her fine meridians, so that her weak constitution could be changed even a little.
He even injected the internal energy flowing through Bu Eunseol's physical body and the Prajna Great Power.
"Ah."
As the girl finally opened her eyes, Baekri Geomha smiled.
It was a warm smile that could not be seen in Baekri Geomha's personality.
Which had possessed a cold and evil side until now.
"I suppose I can ask for your name now, right?"
The girl opened her large eyes.
Not because Baekri Muha's face had changed to be radiant and beautiful unlike before.
But because his smile felt more dazzling and warm than the sunlight.
"Cheongah."
The girl lowered her gaze and said softly.
"Before coming here, I was called that."
"Cheongah."
Baekri Geomha smiled.
"I will remember that name. For a long time."
He, who showed a bright smile to Cheongah.
Took a deep breath while looking at the boys and girls who were staring at them before he knew it.
'I am not the one who can save them.'
In a world where everything seemed to have stopped, Baekri Geomha looked up at the far-off sky.
'Right now in the martial world, to them... the one they need is you. Bu Eunseol.'
A faint smile hung on the corners of his mouth. It was a refreshing yet lonely smile, as if putting down a long-held burden.
Paaaaaah...
Before he knew it, dazzling points of light began to bloom from his body.
Like the Milky Way in the night sky, hundreds, thousands of stars hovered around him before soaring into the sky.
Baekri Geomha slowly closed his eyes amidst that radiant spectacle.
It was the final ritual of pushing his own existence into the distant abyss.
So that his personality would never encroach upon the physical body again.
He was making it so that Bu Eunseol's complete personality would dwell there.
'When the power of Heavenly-Mandate and Heaven-Dark becomes one within me, I will find you again.'
The final whisper scattered in the cluster of light and mixed with the sound of the wind.
Those lights, like lost fireflies, embroidered the night sky and faded away into the distance.
The girl and the Earthen Figures raised their heads following those points of light.
The person who had clearly saved them was right in front of their eyes, but it felt as if he was fading away somewhere.
Flash!
Finally, when all the points of light disappeared.
The face that had held a distant smile had transformed into a figure with an endlessly lonely and solitary atmosphere.
Baekri Geomha's personality disappeared, and he returned to being Bu Eunseol.
"......."
Bu Eunseol looked down at his own body silently.
Until now, he had been crouching deep in the abyss of his spirit, but he could see and feel all the things Baekri Geomha had experienced.
"Don't worry. I will save everyone."
He murmured low while looking at the distant sky.
There was no response, but.
Perhaps Baekri Geomha would have smiled with satisfaction upon hearing those words.
"Let's go."
Bu Eunseol looked at the girl.
The Soul Demon Dharma Energy had been completely washed away from their bodies, and they were filled with vitality.
They no longer needed to live like consumables under the name of Earthen Figures.
And Bu Eunseol, following Baekri Geomha's will, would risk his life to protect them.
"To the Martial Soul Society."
At Bu Eunseol's low voice,
As if possessed, the boys and girls were slowly gathering around him one by one.
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