It was Geom Woojin's Great Annihilation Form.
His father's evil spirits had finished multiplying in an instant.
The moment Geom Mugeuk saw it, he knew.
'It's different now.'
There was a time when his father had shown him the Great Annihilation Form.
On that day, his father's Great Annihilation Form had clashed with his own.
A clash of forty-four against forty-four.
On that day, his own evil spirits had been annihilated by his father's.
He had pushed his protective energy to its limits and fought to the very end.
Although his own evil spirits were much stronger now than back then, the same was true for his father.
His father's evil spirits were larger than before and looked far more powerful.
Just from the demonic energy they emanated, he could tell they had grown stronger.
'Father's Nine Calamities Demon Art has surpassed Ten-Star Great Mastery and is entering a new level of mastery!'
Geom Mugeuk spoke to his own evil spirits.
'You all need to eat more and grow bigger.'
If that was the case, what must the pressure felt by Soul Demon and the other remaining masters have been like?
Wooooo.
The demonic energy radiating from the lined-up evil spirits, accompanied by a low rumble, sent shivers down their spines.
Soul Demon felt that they could never block the martial art now being unleashed.
“It's the Nine Calamities Demon Art! Towards the Young Cult Master!”
Soul Demon desperately threw his body forward.
The other four masters moved with him.
They couldn't escape by breaking through the walls or ceiling.
When the Great Annihilation Form was unleashed, the powerful demonic energy emitted by the summoned evil spirits would dominate the space.
It was impossible to escape the area lined with evil spirits, as if trapped by an invisible wall.
Since Soul Demon and the four masters had moved, Geom Mugeuk expected his father to stop the Great Annihilation Form and change its direction before unleashing it again.
But then, an unexpected sight unfolded.
Swoosh.
The lined-up evil spirits changed direction.
Geom Mugeuk was startled by the sight.
The Great Annihilation Form he unleashed involved multiplying and then pushing straight forward.
But his father's Great Annihilation Form had the evil spirits changing their direction.
Geom Mugeuk realized that the reason his father hadn't immediately pushed them back before they could flee was to show him this.
If such a change was already possible, he truly couldn't imagine what the Nine Calamities Demon Art would look like once it reached Twelve-Star Great Mastery.
Of course, an immense amount of inner energy must be being consumed at this very moment.
Gazing at the swords of the evil spirits pointed at him, Soul Demon felt his entire body freeze.
His gaze turned to Gyo Cheon, far in the distance.
-Are you just going to stand there and watch? Use what you've prepared.
Despite the telepathic message, Gyo Cheon simply watched the situation unfold without a word.
From his reaction, Soul Demon understood.
Gyo Cheon had intended to use them all as consumables from the start.
His plan was to make them expend as much inner energy as possible, and then he would deliver the final blow.
Gyo Cheon had sought him out when he was living alone in retirement.
A man he thought was dead.
The first thing he had said upon seeing him was this.
-Let us take this Martial World together.
When he heard those words, he should have refused him with a single word, calling it madness.
He should have told him to leave, saying he wouldn't report him to the Sect out of consideration for their friendship.
-Why can't we have such dreams? Why are such grand dreams only for them?
His heart had fluttered at those words.
A thought had crossed his mind.
If I can make good use of this man's thirst for revenge, perhaps I can spend the final chapter of my life in glory.
You only live once, after all.
And he had already lived long enough.
He couldn't resist this powerful temptation.
In his retirement, he had been living such a dull and boring life.
At an age when desire should have been let to flow like water, it burned through his body like fire.
And now, as Soul Demon looked at the evil spirits lined up before him, he awoke from his dream.
'I thought I was using him, but in the end, I was the one being used.'
For Gyo Cheon, it was all about revenge.
His goal must have been to make the Cult Master expend his inner energy, even if it meant sacrificing everyone, and then step in at the end to exact his revenge.
Could he really have prepared all this just to end it with revenge? It must have been so difficult to gather these people.
But it seemed that was the case.
He was merely an Incarnation of Vengeance who had scraped together old desires.
It was only at this moment that Soul Demon realized it.
Now, he could only believe in one thing.
“Cult Master, retract your anger. Surely you don't intend to unleash the Nine Calamities Demon Art with your son present, do you?”
Geom Woojin stared at Soul Demon with an unreadable expression.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk spoke from behind.
“That's because you don't know how heartless our father is.”
Ignoring Geom Mugeuk's words, Soul Demon said to everyone.
“As long as the Young Cult Master is here, he will never unleash it.”
Half of the four masters kept their guard up, wary of Geom Mugeuk and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon attacking them from behind.
Thud.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon planted the Heaven-Slaying Blade in front of Geom Mugeuk.
“This won't be able to block it, but it should help a little.”
Geom Mugeuk said to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“As expected, Elder, you know my father all too well.”
He meant that he believed his father would unleash it even with his son present.
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's reaction, Soul Demon grew even more desperate.
“Cult Master, withdraw the Nine Calamities Demon Art. If we attack simultaneously, the Young Cult Master will not survive. You must think of your son!”
But he was not a man who could be swayed by threats.
The moment the corner of Geom Woojin's mouth curled up slightly, the Great Annihilation Form was unleashed.
Craaaaaash!
The evil spirits surged forward all at once.
Soul Demon, as well as the remaining masters, raised their protective energy and unleashed their force.
Shwaaack! Shwick! Shwaaaack!
Pow! Kraang! Boom! Thud!
The torrent of force they unleashed collided with the evil spirits.
Their attacks held the power to pulverize boulders.
But the evil spirits merely staggered for a moment, not dissipating, and continued to push forward.
“No!”
An evil spirit struck Soul Demon.
He could not block this powerful mass of force created by the Nine Calamities Demon Art.
Pow-pow-pow-pow!
Soul Demon's bones and flesh were shattered, scattering in all directions.
The other four masters met the same fate, though with a slight delay.
They swung their swords, but they broke.
They held on with their protective energy, but it was torn to shreds.
They threw their bodies to escape, but they were dragged back by the demonic energy and torn to pieces.
Craaash!
Having swept them all away, the evil spirits surged toward Geom Mugeuk and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon behind them.
Geom Mugeuk stood still, watching the evil spirits of the Great Annihilation Form rushing toward him.
The terrifying evil spirits were surging in like a tidal wave.
The demonic energy they emanated was so intense that even he, a practitioner of demonic arts, felt his breath catch.
'So this is what it feels like to be hit by the Great Annihilation Form.'
Craaaaaaaash!
The surging evil spirits broke through the entire wall behind where the two of them stood.
A single evil spirit stopped.
An evil spirit had stopped in front of Geom Mugeuk and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
It was a larger evil spirit than the Heaven-Slaying Blade planted before them.
His father had stopped only the evil spirit in the path of his son and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at the evil spirit and respectfully bowed, paying homage to the Nine Calamities Demon Art.
Geom Mugeuk silently stared at the evil spirit before him.
The evil spirit stared straight ahead with a terrifying and cold gaze.
The evil spirit looked as if it had just emerged from hell.
He had originally intended to raise the Great Demon Wall.
But at the last moment, he had changed his mind.
Surely his father wouldn't kill his own son, would he? He trusted his father.
Sssss.
The proudly standing evil spirit slowly faded away.
Just before it disappeared, he had the illusion that the evil spirit lowered its eyes and glanced at him.
Once the evil spirit vanished, the scene inside the hall was revealed.
In the silence left by death, blood that had not yet cooled was flowing.
The twelve masters who had been here were all killed by Geom Woojin.
Now, it was impossible to even tell how many there had been in the first place.
The only person left was Gyo Cheon.
“Kehahahahaha!”
Gyo Cheon laughed.
His reflection in the puddle of blood made him look like a madman.
He also looked like a man who had given up on everything, and at the same time, like he had known this would happen.
Geom Woojin's gaze turned to Gyo Cheon.
Geom Mugeuk and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon behind him also looked at him.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked Gyo Cheon in a loud voice.
“Did you truly not know it would come to this?”
Gyo Cheon stopped laughing abruptly and stared at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon with sunken eyes.
His eyes seemed to have something to say, but he remained silent.
Just then, Geom Woojin turned to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and said.
“Leave the rest to me.”
Geom Mugeuk understood.
It wasn't just about what final move Gyo Cheon had prepared or the danger it posed; it was to prevent the Blood Heaven Blade Demon from having to endure the fate of killing his master again.
Even if he didn't show it outwardly, he could feel that his father was looking out for the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
With his sword hanging loosely, Geom Woojin slowly walked toward Gyo Cheon.
He was thinking of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon until the very end.
He intended to leave a clean corpse.
“Do you have any last words for your disciple?”
Gyo Cheon glanced at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and scoffed.
Then, with a meaningful look, he asked back.
“And you? Do you have any last words for your son?”
The moment his words ended.
Poof!
Gyo Cheon's form vanished like smoke.
Simultaneously, everything around them began to disappear.
The walls, the tables, the chairs, the corpses on the floor.
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Even Geom Mugeuk and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Everything scattered like smoke.
As if everything up to now had been an illusion.
Geom Woojin said softly.
“An Illusion Technique!”
When everything had vanished, he was deep in the mountains.
Come to think of it, where was this?
This was Great Heaven Mountain, the home of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.
Geom Woojin knew.
This was the place where he had been hunting that day.
Not only his surroundings, but he himself had changed.
The sword he wore was not the Heavenly Demon Sword.
He drew the sword and saw his reflection in the blade; it was his younger self.
His self before he had learned the Nine Calamities Demon Art.
It was then.
“Woojin.”
Startled, Geom Woojin turned around to see his younger brother standing some distance away.
Geom Woojin's eyes trembled as he looked at him.
His brother was standing there, looking just as he had on that day.
Back then, he had hated him so much.
He was a brother who had not faded from his life, even with the passing of time.
If anything, the traces of his brother had only grown deeper.
His brother said the same words he had said to him that day.
“You knew it would come to this anyway, didn't you?”
A cold killing intent flowed from his brother.
On that day, even though he had known beforehand, he had been enraged to see his brother trying to kill him, but his feelings upon seeing his brother today were different.
“I thought so at the time.”
And for the first time, Geom Woojin let out a sigh.
Just like his younger self who had readily shown his emotions, Geom Woojin revealed his regret.
“There must have been a way, brother.”
It would not have been an easy path, but surely, there must have been a way.
His son had shown him by accomplishing that difficult task himself.
“There is no other path. Neither you nor I would have ever conceded.”
Still, he should have looked for a way.
His younger self back then had failed to find it.
What about now? Now that he had witnessed everything his son had accomplished.
It was then.
Someone appeared from behind.
“Second Young Master, I regret that things have come to this.”
It was Gyo Cheon, holding a great blade.
Not his current, aged appearance, but him in his Blade Demon days, burning with ambition.
But as if this was not an exact reenactment of that day, Gyo Cheon spoke with a meaningful look in his eyes.
“On that day, I failed to kill you because of my disciple's betrayal, but today will be different.”
Killing intent filled Gyo Cheon's eyes.
He had tried to kill him just like this on that day.
Because it was a day that both he and Gyo Cheon remembered, this illusion could be so vividly realized.
Then, a voice came from behind.
“Today is certainly different.”
Another person revealed himself there.
“Because instead of a disciple, a son has come.”
Surprisingly, the one who appeared was none other than Geom Mugeuk.
“Perhaps because of the Nine Calamities Demon Art, I too have entered this illusion.”
The father in his youth and his son stood facing each other.
The two of them stared at each other with intense gazes.
“To see you in your youth, Father, I am truly moved.”
The gaze of Geom Woojin, who was silently looking at his son, was deeper than ever.
Geom Mugeuk's gaze turned to Geom Woojin's brother.
“So this is what my uncle looked like.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at him and bowed respectfully in greeting.
“I greet you for the first time. I am Mugeuk.”
He glared at Geom Mugeuk with a displeased expression.
His reaction was as vivid as if he were a real person.
Geom Mugeuk asked his father.
“What kind of illusion are we trapped in?”
Geom Woojin knew exactly what kind of illusion he was trapped in.
“It's an illusion art called the Illusion Heart Demon Technique. It's a martial art that kills the target by using the person who holds the largest and deepest place in their heart.”
In other words, it could be the person one hated the most, or the person one liked and loved the most.
“So the person who holds the largest place in my father's heart was his brother.”
Although most illusion arts were from the Unorthodox Faction, this Illusion Heart Demon Technique was a martial art passed down in the Righteous Path.
Since all demonic arts were powerless before the supreme demonic art, the Nine Calamities Demon Art, he had unleashed a martial art of the Righteous Path.
He must have trained his entire life to finish his revenge with the Illusion Heart Demon Technique.
“But he didn't account for the variable that is me.”
Geom Mugeuk drew his sword and walked to Geom Woojin's side.
“Father, I know you must be regretful, but let's leave the past behind.”
Geom Woojin nodded and walked forward.
Step, step.
He took a step toward his brother.
In the illusion, only the sound of his footsteps could be heard.
His brother also drew his sword, just like that day, and walked forward.
From the side, Gyo Cheon also walked forward.
Just as Geom Woojin was about to face the two of them simultaneously, something unimaginable happened.
Geom Woojin swung his sword as fast as light.
Swiiiiish.
Puuuk!
The person who coughed up blood as his chest was pierced was Geom Mugeuk.
Like a bolt of lightning, Geom Woojin had spun around and stabbed his son who was behind him.
“...... Father?”