“Ugh…”
Bu Eunseol clutched his head and began to suffer in agony.
It felt as if one side of his skull was being torn apart.
[So get out of my body.]
The voice rang inside his head once again.
“Nonsense. This body was originally mine.”
Bu Eunseol now gripped his head with both hands and groaned in pain.
The moment the bizarre voice echoed from within his mind, it became unbearable.
It felt as though something clinging to the crown of his head had become tangled and was slowly sliding down toward his face, blocking his airway.
“I’d rather separate this tangled mess!”
Crack.
The moment he made up his mind, the sound of bones grinding came from Bu Eunseol’s body.
An endlessly black light bloomed in his eyes, and his hair turned pure white like snowflakes.
“Ah…”
Bu Eunseol let out a laugh and exclamation mixed with ecstasy.
“This turned out well. It became a blessing in disguise.”
[…….]
“I’ve been feeling suffocated because we were mixed together all this time.”
That smile and those eyes.
Were they not the exact same extremely vicious and cruel appearance Bu Eunseol had shown when he brutally beat the Martial God Heavenly Lord to death not long ago?
“Let’s forget the name Bu Eunseol now.”
Bu Eunseol turned his head to look at the mirror and wore an excited smile.
“I am not Bu Eunseol. I am Baekri Geomha.”
Baekri Geomha.
The existence hidden inside Bu Eunseol’s personality was calling himself Baekri Geomha.
“From now on, I will live as Baekri Geomha.”
Bu Eunseol—no, Baekri Geomha—looked into the mirror.
The moment he bared his fangs and smiled, something strange happened again.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, white mist began to rise before Baekri Geomha’s eyes.
A faint illusion slowly took shape right in front of him.
It was an absolutely handsome man with red, heated eyes and an endlessly lonely gaze.
It was the original Bu Eunseol.
Step. Step.
Bu Eunseol, whose body was blurry like a ghost, slowly approached and looked at Baekri Geomha before asking,
[How were you able to steal my body?]
Baekri Geomha snorted coldly.
“What nonsense. This body was originally mine.”
[Your body?]
“You don’t know, do you?”
Baekri Geomha wore a cold sneer.
“Well, there’s no need for a parasite like you, clinging to someone else’s body like a ghost, to know.”
He spread one arm wide.
“There’s no need for long words. Just die.”
Flash!
A pitch-black radiance that could cover the entire world poured out from Baekri Geomha’s body.
It carried the power of the end—capable of burning the traces of time and twisting the boundaries of space.
Flash!
At that moment, brilliant light also poured from the illusory form of Bu Eunseol.
It was the power of Harmony unfolded through the profound principles of martial arts.
Boom!
If the burning torch of Harmony was one force, the black mist was like an endlessly spreading sea.
The light that filled all directions of heaven and earth vanished in an instant, replaced by pitch-black darkness.
And the power of Harmony could not withstand the black light poured out by Baekri Geomha.
Swish.
But at that moment, the black light split into two pieces, and Bu Eunseol burst out from between them, swinging the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
In truth, neither his sword nor his body actually existed.
Right now, he was a personality existing within Baekri Geomha’s soul, who had taken control of the body.
In other words, the fight between the two was not taking place in the real world, but inside the soul.
Rumble!
Before they knew it, the surrounding scenery had transformed into an endlessly vast universe.
The battle between two different personalities truly seemed to display the creation and destruction of the universe.
Bu Eunseol used pure white power.
Every time he extended his hand, brilliant life force bloomed, and warm yet hot light caressed the entire world.
In contrast, Baekri Geomha endlessly poured out dark red light and sharp, sword-like flames.
His power withered all things and spread infinite hatred, craving, and ominous fear.
This fight was the process of two personalities existing in one body trying to seize the physical form.
That was why it was more desperate than any other battle, and every clash of their powers violently shook the body.
“I don’t understand.”
Baekri Geomha, who had paused the fight for a moment, snorted.
“I’m saying I will solve all the problems that your weakness couldn’t handle.”
He created another black orb with one hand and spoke.
“You should just stay quiet and watch. Why are you interfering?”
[Nonsense.]
Bu Eunseol said coldly.
[Even if I take revenge for my grandfather, what meaning is there if everyone I cherish ends up dead?]
“What?”
[If they all leave me, what meaning does it have?]
“Hahahaha!”
Baekri Geomha laughed mockingly.
“You’re still like a child.”
[…….]
“Are you still afraid of being alone?”
[Still?]
Instead of answering, Baekri Geomha shook his head.
Humm.
He created a black orb in his other hand as well.
“Stop being annoying and just crouch in the darkness.”
Baekri Geomha said firmly.
“I will solve everything.”
[You cannot solve anything.]
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
[Nothing at all.]
“Shut up.”
Boom!
When he threw the black orb, a massive wave spread out, and everything lost its form under that light.
Slide.
Bu Eunseol disappeared, but soon reappeared like a ghost.
“I can erase you as many times as I want.”
Boom!
The second wave was even more intense.
The black light filled with cold despair had the power to cross spatial boundaries and alter the structure of all things.
[It’s useless.]
Bu Eunseol, who had reconstructed his body once again, said coldly.
[This is merely a space within the soul. It is not real.]
“Oh, is that so?”
Baekri Geomha showed a wicked smile.
“But I can wield this power infinitely, whether in the soul or in reality?”
Boom!
He poured out light continuously.
It was power capable of destroying the very essence that made up the world.
Buried in the light, Bu Eunseol even forgot who he was.
His identity was erased, and even the essence of his mind and spirit was disassembled without a trace.
[I am…]
“Yes, who are you?”
At Baekri Geomha’s words, Bu Eunseol placed a hand on his forehead and shook his head.
He could no longer remember who he was.
“Yes, it’s better if you just forget like that.”
Baekri Geomha said with a bright smile.
“There is nothing more comfortable than knowing nothing.”
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
[There is one thing I can know.]
“What is it?”
[That you will die soon.]
“What?”
With a dazed expression, Bu Eunseol extended his finger and pointed behind Baekri Geomha.
[How are you going to fill that hole?]
When Baekri Geomha turned around, he saw a small crack and a hole that had formed at some point.
That hole was the hole in his heart created by his grandfather’s death.
And inside that hole in his soul lay infinite potential and possibility, while also being filled with endless emptiness.
“Why should I fill it?”
Baekri Geomha snorted.
“Whether a hole is pierced or everything falls away, it’s none of my business.”
[Ah.]
At that answer, the dim light in Bu Eunseol’s eyes sparkled again.
[Yes. That’s why you can’t do it.]
Crack.
Suddenly, the small crack behind Baekri Geomha’s back expanded in an instant and became a massive hole.
It looked like the mouth of a monster trying to swallow the world.
The edges of the hole constantly crumbled and expanded, and its depth seemed immeasurably profound.
Rumble rumble.
At the same time, an overwhelming suction force began to erupt from the deep, deep abyss.
A wind like a gale blew, sucking in everything that existed within the soul.
“Hmph.”
Baekri Geomha poured out his black power and began to gradually fill the hole.
“You must not forget that this is my soul.”
But the screams pouring from the hole became a roar, and the swirling suction force began to distort the space.
No matter how much power Baekri Geomha used, the hole would not be filled.
[If you could have filled it, this would never have happened.]
“What?”
[That hole… has been growing endlessly, endlessly larger.]
Just as Bu Eunseol said, the hole continued to grow larger.
Before long, even the black darkness spread everywhere was being sucked into that massive void.
An absolute abyss from which even light could not escape.
It was sucking Baekri Geomha in.
“Ugh.”
Baekri Geomha poured out all his strength once more.
The space twisted, and strange patterns formed around the hole.
Boom. Boom.
But like the heartbeat of the universe, the hole repeatedly contracted and expanded in a regular rhythm.
Each time, an even stronger suction force occurred, and eventually he began to be slowly drawn into the abyss.
“You!”
Baekri Geomha shouted as if wronged.
“Why aren’t you being sucked in?”
[I cannot go.]
Bu Eunseol said, turning to look behind himself.
[Because I am carrying far too much.]
Baekri Geomha’s eyes widened.
Only then did he begin to see the enormous things attached to Bu Eunseol’s back.
They carried tremendous weight.
Thousands of invisible threads bound him so he would not be sucked into the darkness.
They were the weight of countless responsibilities, connections, and favors and grudges.
The promise with his grandfather who had breathed his last because of him, and revenge.
The infinite trust and hearts sent by his close friends and subordinates.
And the resentment and will of the countless people who had died by his hands until now…
All of those things were weighing Bu Eunseol down, preventing him from being dragged into the abyss.
“You madman!”
Baekri Geomha shouted with an aggrieved expression.
“You think just because you’ve accumulated many grudges and favors, you won’t be sucked into this hole?”
[Is that how it looks to you?]
“What?”
[I am not fighting alone.]
Bu Eunseol said calmly.
[I have been together with them all along.]
He was not fighting alone.
His grandfather watching over him from the nine heavens.
Seok Woohaeng, who had chosen death because he wanted to possess the same talent as him even for a single day.
The Nine Deaths Squad Leader So Jamyeong and countless warriors who had willingly died for him…
Bu Eunseol had never once forgotten their lives until now and had been carrying their will and hearts one by one.
“Don’t make me laugh.”
Baekri Geomha gritted his teeth.
“You’re not the real one, are you?”
Then he shouted,
“You too, in the end… Ugh… Aaaaaah!”
But his words did not continue.
He was slowly sucked into the black darkness and began to scatter as black dust.
“Do you think you’ve won? But I will not die! In the end, the victor will be me!”
Even as half of Baekri Geomha’s face had turned into black powder, he still screamed at the top of his lungs.
“I am the real Baekri Geomha. They merely sealed me!”
He cried out desperately.
“You want to regain your memories? A mere personality that is nothing but an illusion created by someone else?”
Baekri Geomha opened his large mouth wide.
“Everything in your head is my memories! You will never be able to find them!”
Rumble!
At the same time, Baekri Geomha’s shadow broke into hundreds of black fragments and began to be sucked into the abyss.
Flash!
Everything disappeared.
Nothing remained inside the soul.
Neither Baekri Geomha nor Bu Eunseol, nor their traces, nor their voices.
Only an endlessly vast emptiness stretched out.
Flash.
At the same time, Bu Eunseol in reality opened his eyes.
His eyes were filled with endless loneliness, and his gaze was infinitely deep, as if looking at the boundary at the end of the universe.
Bu Eunseol.
He had finally pushed the personality that had driven his soul into chaos into the abyss and returned to his original self.
“So that was it.”
Only now did Bu Eunseol realize one secret.
“It wasn’t that my memories weren’t returning. It was that my other personality… was holding onto them.”
All this time, he had thought his martial prowess was insignificant compared to his father or the supreme experts of the martial world, which was why his memories weren’t returning.
But now he realized.
There had been another personality inside his head, and that cruel bastard had been holding onto everything.
“Can I no longer find them?”
Unless the personality who called himself Baekri Geomha told him, he would never be able to regain his past memories.
“No, perhaps…”
He wondered if fusing with Baekri Geomha would allow him to regain all the memories.
Crack crack.
At that moment, cracks began to form on the ceiling. Faint light flowed out from there.
“You’ve suffered.”
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“All of you.”
Rumble. Drip…
Suddenly the entire ceiling collapsed, and soon the whole building began to melt like water.
At the same time, an astonishing scene unfolded.
Bu Eunseol was still standing in the main training grounds of the Suppressed Demon Pavilion.
There, the Death Shadow Corps warriors had their eyes wide open, blood flowing from the corners of their mouths.
At the four corners of the training grounds, Myo Cheonwoo, Jo Namcheon, Wi Cheongyeong, and Won Semun were trembling violently.
Behind Bu Eunseol stood Yoo Unryong. In front of him, Yeon Soha stood bleeding while holding a mysteriously shining treasured artifact.
“I’m sorry.”
When Bu Eunseol looked at Yeon Soha and murmured softly, she responded with a bright smile instead of words.
She had finally realized that he had regained his complete personality.
Thud.
But the woman holding the treasured artifact turned deathly pale and eventually fainted.
“Young Palace Master.”
Startled, Bu Eunseol quickly caught her in his arms.
Humm.
He infused pure Ban-Geuk Method energy into her, but she did not open her eyes.
“Unryong. Bring the Blue Spirit Stone Elixir.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Yoo Unryong shook his head.
“It’s fine. She’s just exhausted.”
He continued calmly,
“Because we overlapped the Heart Mirror Technique.”
“Overlapped… I see.”
Overlapping the illusory world.
It was something they had never attempted before.
No, it was a dangerous act that could not even be attempted.
But knowing that Bu Eunseol would notice immediately otherwise, they had staked their lives to attempt the overlap.
“The Young Palace Master knew. She knew that you had not chosen to change your personality like this.”
Yoo Unryong explained again.
“So after much deliberation, she overlapped the Heart Mirror Technique and brought all the Immortal Treasures from the Divine Maiden Palace to draw out the essence of your soul.”
Immortal Treasures were artifacts used by immortals and possessed tremendous power, but it was known that humans had to consume their life force or vital blood to use them.
And Yeon Soha had taken on the final role of controlling the treasured artifacts at the center of the Heart Mirror Technique in order to bring Bu Eunseol back.
“All for you alone.”
Originally, overlapping illusory worlds was something only those who specialized in phases or supreme experts who had reached the Limitless Realm could do.
Moreover, Bu Eunseol had not only reached spiritual Harmony but also possessed the power to escape the illusory world instantly. Knowing this well, Yoo Unryong had, after much thought, used the mysterious treasured artifacts and dharma tools of the Divine Maiden Palace, the lives of all the Death Shadow Corps warriors, and Yeon Soha’s sacrifice to control them, overlapping the Heart Mirror Technique.
He had shown Bu Eunseol an illusory world in which everyone except a few—such as Seo Jinha, Soyo, and Tak Ilhon—left him.
If his coldness had been sincere, he would not have batted an eye even if everyone left.
And if it had not been sincere… he would surely regain his original self.
And that gamble had ultimately succeeded, by combining the life force of Yeon Soha and all the Death Shadow Corps warriors through the unprecedented method of overlapping Heart Mirror Technique upon Heart Mirror Technique.
“And even if… your coldness had been sincere, we would have gone to hell with you.”
Yoo Unryong said while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Whether you strike the Martial Alliance, the Martial Soul Society, or dye the world in blood… we would definitely be with you…”
Thud.
Yoo Unryong could not continue and fell to one knee.
“Why didn’t you stop her?”
Bu Eunseol shouted, unable to hide his bewilderment.
“You are the strategist of this hall. How could you stake the lives of the Young Palace Master and the warriors of this hall on such a dangerous act…”
Yoo Unryong, who had wiped the blood from his mouth, smiled faintly.
“If she hadn’t done it, I would have.”
Thud.
At that moment, Yeon Soha completely lost consciousness and her body went limp.
“Young Palace Master.”
Bu Eunseol called her again and infused Ban-Geuk Method energy.
But no matter how much energy he poured in, there was no sign of her regaining consciousness.
‘This is not simple exhaustion.’
Her body was as cold as ice, and her lips were turning purple.
‘And I unintentionally caused her great pain.’
The unconscious Yeon Soha looked as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.
Her complexion was pale, and her long eyelashes, like black butterflies, cast shadows on her cheeks.
Although her eyes were tightly closed, her elegant and peerlessly beautiful appearance remained unchanged.
‘She is a woman who could be loved by anyone, so why does she show such utmost devotion to me?’
Bu Eunseol’s heart ached.
Because his personality had been mixed with Baekri Geomha all this time, he had become so cold, heartless, and tyrannical that even he could not control it.
Especially toward Yeon Soha, he had left deep wounds with cruel words and actions.
‘She must have suffered severe damage to her true origin by using the Immortal Treasures.’
Fortunately, Bu Eunseol had the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet, which could replenish damaged true origin.
He quickly took out a medicine bottle from his chest and placed the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet into Yeon Soha’s mouth.
But because she was unconscious, she could not swallow it.
Bu Eunseol tried to melt it using Crystal Divine Energy.
However, the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet only dissolved in saliva, so no matter how hard he tried, he could not make it dissolve properly in her mouth.
“Use your mouth…”
At that moment, Myo Cheonwoo, who was bleeding from his forehead, approached.
“Haven’t you read any romance novels? When someone can’t swallow a pill, they always chew it mouth-to-mouth and pass it over.”
“No, it’s not to that extent.”
Bu Eunseol once again spread Clear Spirit Energy and tried to force the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet into Yeon Soha’s mouth.
But because her saliva had completely dried up, the pill would not dissolve.
“Command Lord… Isn’t that a bit too much?”
The Death Shadow Corps warriors, who were watching the scene while dripping blood, had dark circles under their eyes.
“Just chew it with your mouth and feed her.”
But when Bu Eunseol turned away from those heated gazes, the captains, including Won Semun, began to swarm forward like ghouls that had found prey.
“The Young Palace Master risked her life for the Command Lord. Is feeding her medicine mouth-to-mouth really that difficult?”
“Why do you keep creating water in your palm?”
“I told you, the Soul-Returning Divine Pellet can only be dissolved with saliva.”
Yoo Unryong, who had been watching the protesting captains, could not stay silent any longer and spoke.
“The captains have a point.”
He also earnestly said to Bu Eunseol,
“Just feed her mouth-to-mouth.”
Bu Eunseol firmly shook his head.
“How can I recklessly defile her pure body just because she has lost consciousness?”
“Hey, just do it already!”
The combined protests from Myo Cheonwoo and the warriors poured down like rain once again.
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