C187
Crack.
The first to move was the Team Leader, Sui Khan.
His steel sword cut through the tip of the blue energy. And, penetrating that space, it opened a path toward the Blood Demon.
"..."
The one who sensed it most keenly was the Blood Demon herself.
It felt as if her entire body were bound by Cale's energy, and she couldn't even breathe properly.
That remained the case now.
But she couldn't stay still like this.
Being unable to do anything against that small man...
"That-"
The Blood Demon snapped with force.
Blood dripped from her lips. Even on her cheeks, wounds appeared, and blood flowed.
And that blood color was blue.
Crack.
Still, the Blood Demon, while unraveling her energy bit by bit, felt the approaching steps.
Nevertheless, her body still trembled in fear.
All because of that small man who was looking at her.
"..."
The Blood Demon raised her hand.
Cale stopped upon seeing it.
Woosh!
And the blue blood scattered in the air.
The Blood Demon focused her energy on her nails and cut her own arm.
Five long wounds engraved on her left arm.
That wasn't all.
Slash!
Using her other hand, she created the same wounds on her right arm.
Ten long lines.
Along those scars, blue blood flowed.
The Blood Demon stretched her arms.
Thud. Thump.
Blood dripped.
But she was now smiling faintly.
"Now, that's interesting."
The goosebumps on her arm, caused by Cale's energy, were no longer visible.
Covered in her own blood, the discomfort of the Blood Demon disappeared.
The marks of fear were also gone.
"Haha."
Finally, the Blood Demon could look away from the energy surrounding her.
'Yes, it's not about avoiding.'
Escaping from that man with the Black Dragon, averting her gaze from him, wasn't that.
Just before that:
'It's just getting rid of nuisances!'
While telling herself that, the Blood Demon turned to Team Leader Sui Khan, who was approaching slowly.
Sssk~
In the midst of that, perhaps because she had bitten her lips harder, more blood flowed from the Blood Demon's mouth.
"Yes, I'm not running away."
She looked at the blue energy enveloping her. How much had she worked to accumulate that?
'Now I won't submit.'
In her eyes, the blue energy flickered. At the same time, the blue energy also stirred strongly. An energy that seemed rough, as if carrying the feelings of the Blood Demon. Amidst those ripples, the Blood Demon momentarily glimpsed a scene.
Dragon Lord: 'This time, are you the great Blood Demon?'
Dragon Lord: 'Alright. Your will is admirable. I will gladly help you.'
A young Blood Demon lowered her head. The indifferent gaze of the giant purple-eyed being, as if caring about nothing, descended upon her. And she, trying to avoid that gaze, lowered her head.
"...No."
This is an illusion.
Then, the Blood Demon raised her hand. And drew a line. The movement didn't distort at all because she had accumulated this thousands, tens of thousands of times. A gentle but strong energy was infused in that gesture. But it was a bit unnatural.
'Damn!'
The body of the Blood Demon, who couldn't completely shake off the fear of this enormous energy pressing down on her, moved a bit clumsily in manipulating the energy. But the Blood Demon ignored it.
In front of a Dragon, to fight against him, how much effort had she put in?
Now, she unleashed all the power she could muster to overcome that fear.
'Yes, I can win. I won't submit.'
Swoosh~
The wind blew again from the tips of her fingers. Blue energy was carried by that wind. In an instant, the blue energy, resembling a sea or swamp, flew towards the illusion and beyond the illusion, towards Team Leader Sui Khan. This rivaled the strength trying to cover Cale. It was as if a gigantic tsunami was covering Sui Khan.
Jiiik~
The corner of the Blood Demon's mouth lifted. Earlier, she had understood the power of that person. She didn't know what skill he was using with his ordinary iron sword, without qi or energy, but she had perceived its limits to some extent. Therefore, the Blood Demon was sure.
That guy couldn't stop this immense power.
Kwak~
The blue energy tore through the illusion. And it headed towards Sui Khan beyond that.
Just as the smile intensified at the corner of the Blood Demon's lips...
"!"
Their eyes met.
Sui Khan advanced slowly with a sword in hand. His pupils showed not the slightest tremor.
He wasn't afraid, not captivated by fear. He simply stared.
'By the way-'
Suddenly, he remembered.
After expelling the one who created the White Dragon, that man simply held the sword and breathed heavily with his head bowed.
Naturally, she thought he was scared.
His presence, infused with the energy of countless people, was already overwhelming enough to call it inhuman.
But now, looking into those eyes, the Blood Demon thought maybe he wasn't scared. Because there was not the slightest fear in those eyes she was facing right now.
"Why aren't you afraid?"
The moment the doubt left the lips of the Blood Demon, Sui Khan raised the sword. And with a somewhat weary face, he swung it from top to bottom.
Swoosh-
A gigantic blue energy rushed like the wind. Towards the energy approaching like a tsunami, he drew a line with the sword worn out from the fight.
Seugguk~
Sui Khan engraved a line on the giant blue tsunami. But it wasn't enough to cut through the tsunami. No matter. He just needed to do it once more.
Seugguk.
The sword traced another line.
Seugguk, seugguk.
Unceasingly.
On the line being drawn, another line was carved, and again on that line, another was carved.
The speed of wielding the sword was fast and unstoppable.
Jjik-
And as more lines were added, each time he swung the sword, those lines became deeper. As if he was forming a surface.
The lines were creating a single surface that divided the blue energy.
"How...!"
The voice of the Blood Demon reached Sui Khan's ears again. A voice louder than before, full of doubt and desperation.
To which Sui Khan let out a mocking laugh.
'Working in the service of the Gods and fearing only that force?'
He didn't utter a response to the Blood Demon's question. There was no reason to satisfy the curiosity of the enemy. Instead, he opened his mouth.
"Han-ah."
A signal was felt on his back.
"Attack."
Upon hearing those words, Choi Han tightened the sword in his hand. Sui Khan had created a huge line that divided the blue energy. That line turned into a surface and was finally creating a path. Just a bit more and a path that would cross the immense tsunami would form.
Choi Han thought: I must follow this path.
Attacking the Blood Demon was his responsibility. He couldn't mess up the path that Sui Khan had just created. However, when he saw the Blood Demon on the other side of the path, Choi Han hesitated for a moment. She was still enveloped in immense blue energy. The power that could have covered him if Cale hadn't stopped the Blood Demon. That force created with the lives of tens of thousands.
'How can I destroy that?'
It wasn't fear or hesitation. It was just a matter of possibility.
Zhaak!
At that moment, a sharp sound was heard.
"Wow."
Choi Han saw the Blood Demon slapping her cheek.
Shooooo---
At the same time, the blue energy surrounding her began to ripple fiercely.
"I'll have to hurry."
Sui Khan's voice echoed, and his sword moved faster forward.
Wooooong---
At the same time, the Blood Demon raised both hands. The blue energy created an even larger giant wave. Choi Han could feel something inside that energy.
It was like the sea, but not. It was a swamp.
If he made a mistake, everyone would be trapped and become food for that swamp.
'Even Choi Jung Soo's White Dragon was devoured by that swamp.'
And then disappeared.
'Will mine hold up?'
Can my power withstand it?
Can it overcome and break that tsunami?
Choi Han's mind became complicated.
It was then...
"Why are you so indecisive?"
A calm voice was heard. He suddenly thought it was Cale, so Choi Han raised his head, but he saw Sui Khan's back.
Sui Khan said as he took a step forward.
"In the end, the ocean is formed by countless water droplets."
Ah, with a brief sigh from Choi Han, his gaze went beyond Sui Khan's shoulder to the immense blue energy. Sui Khan's voice continued.
"That energy is similar too. It's not a single one. It's an energy created by the gathering of countless lives. By cutting them one by one, the path opens."
Choi Han understood how Sui Khan was creating the path. He wasn't cutting through the tide, but pulling out each water droplet contained in it.
'Something...'
Choi Han felt like he knew something. The immense force wasn't ultimately a single entity. Although it seemed to be one, ultimately, it was a blend of various things.
Kwaak~
The hand holding the sword hilt tensed. It seemed like he was about to realize something. It was at that moment...
"Han-ah, you don't need to advance first."
Choi Han instantly felt a familiar sensation. Someone leaped onto the path created by Sui Khan. It was Choi Jung Soo. It wasn't known where he came from; only his body was covered in dust, but he seemed to be in good condition.
'Resistance is good, huh?'
Choi Han chuckled for a moment. Then, looking back, he met Choi Jung Soo's gaze.
"Uncle, aren't you coming?"
Choi Han responded to that call, moving immediately. He passed in front of Sui Khan and leaped onto the path he had created. Imperceptibly, the path pierced through the blue tsunami and reached the Blood Demon, who was creating another tsunami. Behind Choi Jung Soo, Choi Han could hear his voice.
"I'll deal with that energy. Meanwhile, attack the Blood Demon, Uncle."
Dealing with that energy...
At those words, Choi Han looked at Choi Jung Soo cautiously, perhaps because he knew that blocking that energy would be a more challenging task.
"Yes, that's right. Uncle has the strongest attack power among us."
Choi Jung Soo said that while raising his sword.
Suush--
A white energy rose, and at the tip of his advancing sword, a White Dragon began to appear. A White Dragon becoming more refined each time. Choi Han looked at that and quickly raised his own energy.
"Heh! You're attacking me again!"
With the mocking laughter of the Blood Demon, Choi Jung Soo's White Dragon rushed towards the energy in front of the Blood Demon. A massive blue tsunami and a White Dragon crafted with each visible scale. Watching all this, Choi Han thought.
'One thing turns into another thing when gathered.'
The thought that had occurred to him before resurfaced in his mind. However, that didn't mean his body stopped. Choi Han ignited his black aura. Because now was the time to fight.
'I...'
At that moment, he suddenly looked at his own dark aura.
'What have I gathered?'
What is the essence of my power, what things have come together to create it? Before the Black Dragon formed, Choi Han examined the essence of his own darkness. He had always wondered where his power came from, what was contained in it. However, he had never thought carefully about each entity or the whole set.
Uuuung-
A dark and tumultuous energy. Small lights shone within it.
"Ah."
Choi Han saw.
Even the tiny points within that dark energy and each of those bright lights were unique. So, what were those other things?
'Everything is myself.'
The origin of these energies is Choi Han himself. So, that is...
'Everything I have experienced in my life has been gathered here.'
He had come to this conclusion before. What he has lived through and what he desires are contained in his sword. But this time, he arrived at a slightly different understanding.
'They accumulate.'
He realized just now. The reason why the black energy became stronger than before was...
There are more bright lights in that energy.
Maybe it's because I trained a lot and got stronger.
That's not all.
'Each of these little things-'
This is the path I have traveled and the time I have spent.
In the end, my strengths accumulate along the path I tread.
'Then-'
Choi Han felt his mind becoming clearer.
'Then, isn't this the way to become stronger?'
The landscape you see while walking step by step, the conversations you have, and the battlefield you fight on. All the things created in all those places that would be small experiences if you look at them alone, formed a person.
"My strength comes from myself after all."
Choi Han contemplated the power emanating from his sword.
The Black Aura/Energy.
It was the black path forged by time in the Forest of Darkness. Therefore, it would be violent and unrestrained. And eventually, that path had become his personality, his nature.
Within that darkness, those flashes were hope, that is, signals. The numerous bright experiences he had gone through were finally turning into hope, into the future.
And those signals...
'They will be the path I have traveled or will soon travel.'
Because that's how he has lived. Meeting Cale and companions, growing stronger step by step.
"Haha..."
A brief laugh erupted from Choi Han's lips. All the traces he had left, fighting to protect something valuable or to have hope, were imbued in his own power. And all of that was already a path traveled.
Uuuung--
From Choi Han's sword, a Dragon rose. A Black Dragon wrapped in a bright and wild glow. The Black Dragon began to change. The body, which was once simply rough, became a bit sharper. But still, its form looked rough and wild.
But that wasn't the end.
Uuuung--
The Black Dragon, along with Choi Han, was enveloped in the luminosity that had started from the Dragon. The energy surrounding it wasn't the Black Aura. In fact, it looked more like the blue energy of the Blood Demon. No, it resembled the invisible and intangible energy of Cale. Of course, what was contained in it was different.
The energy surrounding Choi Han and his sword was still so subtle that what it contained couldn't be felt clearly.
Still, something was evident.
Unconsciously, Sui Khan stopped his sword.
"...It's solid."
That small energy was solid. As if no external force could destroy it. Although small, it was firm. It was also complete. It had a center.
Choi Han lifted his sword.
He had understood.
'I am building myself, my own life.'
All the paths I have traveled were mine. And I have already accumulated a lot.
A smile appeared on his lips. A gentle smile that anyone could see. And as if the young man who had grown from a determined child was smiling at himself, it was also a refreshing smile.
"Haha..."
The Team Leader let out a laugh.
"Han-ah found his way."
He continued speaking as if murmuring.
"That kid can fight even against Dragons."
Dragon Fear, the Dominating Aura. Although it was inadequate in comparison, what Choi Han had clearly created was an energy generated by himself. Choi Han's Black Dragon advanced.
Kwaaaaak-
With a thunderous roar, Choi Han, enveloped in a fierce Black Dragon, rushed towards the blue Tsunami. And he crossed the Tsunami. Cale's Dominating Aura echoed in Cale's ears.
-The aura that little thief has accumulated by stealing from others can never surpass the firm conviction and determination with which a person builds their own life.
The Black Dragon and Choi Han seemed to be a small point within the immense Tsunami. But without hesitation, the black point advanced and finally pierced through the Tsunami. And it collided with the Blood Demon.
Kwaaaaak~
There was an explosion along with a thundering noise. The blue and black energies mixed and rose. Seeing this, Cale's Dominating Aura resonated again in Cale's ears.
-Cale, it seems that kid, Choi Han, has also acquired an aura similar to mine.
-
