No sound could be heard.
No matter how loudly the battle raged outside, Geom Mugeuk could not hear it.
At this moment, Geom Mugeuk was lost in a world of his own.
As he melted the energy of the Flying Blood Snake into his inner energy, only thoughts related to his inner energy and martial arts filled his mind.
Usually, the state of selflessness was a fortunate opportunity that came while training in martial arts or attaining some martial enlightenment.
But now, he had fallen into this state while melting the energy of the Flying Blood Snake.
Perhaps it was because the process of melting it was so dramatic, and also because the energy was so immense.
An amount of inner energy far greater than any elixir he had ever consumed began to accumulate in his energy core.
No matter how much he melted, there seemed to be no end.
For a martial artist, could there be any greater joy?
Geom Mugeuk struggled not to miss even a single handful of the gift that fate had given him.
It was an opportunity that had even been made possible by the Evil Heart Laughing Demon stabbing him in the heart.
And inner energy was not the only thing he had gained from this incident.
First, in the process of capturing the Flying Blood Snake, he had learned of many new meridian pathways.
He could now move his energy in ways he had never considered before, which allowed him to execute his forms more efficiently.
A slightly faster and slightly stronger form.
At Geom Mugeuk's level of mastery, 'slightly more' was enough to decide victory and defeat several times over.
And one more thing.
The process of protecting his heart and enduring until the very end was a truly great experience for Geom Mugeuk.
It was helpful because it was the worst.
It was so severe that even Geom Mugeuk, more accustomed to enduring pain than anyone, nearly fell to his inner demons.
By experiencing his own limits, Geom Mugeuk had matured and grown stronger.
Geom Mugeuk could feel it instinctively.
He had taken another large step closer to the Great Mastery of the Nine Calamities Demon Art, which had once seemed so vague.
The thought occurred to him that seeing the Heavenly Demon Soul within his inner demons might not have been a coincidence.
'Ah, so this is what you felt. The reason Father went into seclusion.’
He had a premonition that if he just reached out his hand, he could achieve Great Mastery.
He needed one final training session.
Wooooong.
And so, Geom Mugeuk, completely immersed in his own world, was absorbing every last bit of the remaining energy of the Flying Blood Snake into his inner energy.
Chwaaaak.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon flicked the blood off his dagger.
The eyes of the Faceless Ones, who had watched him dispatch the bamboo hat-wearing martial artists, were filled with reverence.
In contrast, Hwa Do-myeong’s expression hardened, becoming as cold as ice.
It had been a joint attack by two men who had learned the Dark Arts.
He had never imagined they would lose, and even if they did, he thought they would die after inflicting a fatal wound on the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
At the very least, he believed they would deplete all of his inner energy.
But not a single drop of blood had splattered on the Evil Heart Laughing Demon’s pure white mask.
Now, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon's smiling mask was the smile of the god of death.
As the chill of death loomed, Hwa Do-myeong's heart grew calm.
To face death, he supposed he had to become just as terrifying.
He spoke, fanning himself lightly.
"I am a person you should not touch so carelessly."
A look of contempt flashed in the Evil Heart Laughing Demon's eyes.
"Then is our Young Cult Master someone you can touch carelessly?"
Hwa Do-myeong could not refute that.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon slowly walked toward Hwa Do-myeong.
"If you touch me, my clan will surely kill you."
No threat could make the white, smiling death retreat.
"Then I must be the one to kill you. Before the Young Cult Master awakens.”
It was the Evil Heart Laughing Demon’s will to prevent Geom Mugeuk from becoming a target of revenge.
Hwa Do-myeong could feel it.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon was determined to kill him.
There was no other choice now.
Hwa Do-myeong took a small bottle from his robes.
After uncorking it, he lifted it and poured the contents onto his face.
Swishhh.
The liquid that trickled down began to erase the thick white makeup.
This very makeup was the seal that controlled him.
When he was injured earlier, he had resolved to solve this matter even if it meant breaking the seal, but he had not expected to actually do it.
He had no choice.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon’s martial prowess was beyond imagination.
As the makeup washed away, his true face was revealed.
Countless faint lines were drawn across his face.
Not only the lines and circles that had appeared on the faces of the bamboo hat-wearing martial artists when they used the Dark Arts, but many other lines as well.
It looked as if his face had been pieced together from fragments.
Lines drawn vertically, diagonally, lines forming various patterns here and there.
Some patterns were recognizable, like a whirlwind, while others were completely unidentifiable.
The fact that the lines were faint made it even stranger.
They looked like wrinkles, and also like scars.
It was a brand created by greed.
In the process of learning the Dark Arts, Hwa Do-myeong's greed to become too strong had resulted in this side effect.
He wore heavy makeup to hide these marks.
Saaaaak.
Now, those faint lines began to darken.
The line crossing his cheek darkened, the circle overlapping it darkened, and the diagonal line beside it darkened as well.
A bamboo hat-wearing martial artist watching this sent a telepathic message.
-You must not overlap them like that.
Hwa Do-myeong replied softly in a telepathic message.
─And if I don’t? Should I just die at the hands of that Evil Heart Laughing Demon?
In that time, all the lines on his face had darkened.
Chwaaak.
When he unfolded his fan, it too had changed.
A black fan.
The color of the fan had turned pitch black.
In the place where a beautiful woman had been painted, a fearsome evil spirit was now drawn.
The change was not merely external.
Hwa Do-myeong’s aura was completely different.
From his intensely glowing eyes, the power of darkness flickered.
"Now, hand over my Young Cult Master!"
Chwaaak!
The moment he opened his fan!
Papak! Papapapak!
A wave of force swept through the spot where the Evil Heart Laughing Demon had been standing.
Hwa Do-myeong appeared before the Evil Heart Laughing Demon, who had leaped away to dodge.
He appeared as suddenly as a ghost.
If the Dark Ghost Step used by the female assassin earlier was at the second stage, his was now at the third stage.
Swishhh.
Clang!
Struck by the fan, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon was pushed back.
Hwa Do-myeong followed like a shadow.
Swish! Swish!
With his folded black fan, Hwa Do-myeong rapidly stabbed at the Evil Heart Laughing Demon’s vital points.
The flying black fan was as sharp and powerful as a treasured sword.
The faster Hwa Do-myeong brandished his fan, the redder the three lines used for the Dark Ghost Step became.
The lines turning red was a danger signal, sent when he was using more power than he could handle.
But Hwa Do-myeong increased the speed of his attacks even more.
The third stage of the Dark Ghost Step was surpassing the Evil Heart Laughing Demon's speed.
Thwack!
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon allowed another attack to land.
If not for his protective energy, the force would have shattered his shoulder blade.
As the Evil Heart Laughing Demon staggered back, Hwa Do-myeong saw his chance and charged forward.
Shuk!
A surprise finger technique flew toward Hwa Do-myeong’s face.
Thwack!
Hwa Do-myeong twisted the fan he was brandishing and barely blocked it.
A moment later, and his forehead would have been pierced.
Hwa Do-myeong’s enraged counterattack flew forth.
Whoooooosh!
A fierce wind raged.
It was no ordinary wind.
It was Dark Turbulence, a wind mixed with invisible force.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon threw himself back, raising his protective energy.
Sreuk.
The trees behind him were not shattered, but silently cut down.
The wind was a silent assassin.
Sreuk, sreuk!
Wherever the Evil Heart Laughing Demon moved to evade, the wind followed, and trees and rocks were silently sliced apart.
This time, the pattern signifying Dark Turbulence turned red.
The more he pushed himself, the greater the shock to his body, but Hwa Do-myeong did not stop his assault.
Truly, if his opponent hadn't been the Evil Heart Laughing Demon, he would never have pushed himself this hard.
Hwirururururu!
Hwa Do-myeong spun rapidly in place.
As the lines of the Dark Ghost Step grew even redder, the whirlwind pattern etched on his face began to darken further.
Hwiruru! Hwirurururu!
From the main whirlwind, a dozen smaller whirlwinds branched out like limbs.
They were not ordinary whirlwinds.
They were powerful whirlwinds of force that could tear flesh from bone with a single touch.
One of the Dark Arts, the Dark Revolving Wheel, had been unleashed.
The whirlwinds, like living creatures, pursued the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
Evading them, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon fled swiftly and shot a Blood Calamity Finger at the main whirlwind.
Shuk!
Unable to penetrate the rotating force, the Blood Calamity Finger was deflected.
The Extreme Demon Raging Palm he sent next was also deflected.
Since it was deflected in a random direction, he couldn't attack recklessly.
Hwirurururururu!
The whirlwinds were gradually growing larger.
At this rate, they would cause damage to the spot where Geom Mugeuk was sitting.
That was what Hwa Do-myeong was aiming for.
He knew a flustered Evil Heart Laughing Demon would surely reveal an opening.
Just as the smaller whirlwinds were pressing in on the Evil Heart Laughing Demon from all sides.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon's figure soared into the air.
The smaller whirlwinds all shot toward Geom Mugeuk at once.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon's target was the central whirlwind.
Specifically, the very top!
As expected, there was no whirlwind there.
Toward Hwa Do-myeong, who was looking up at him with a startled expression from the center of the whirlwind below.
Kwakwakwakwakwang!
He unleashed an Extreme Demon Raging Palm into its core.
Kwaaaaaang!
With a deafening roar, the whirlwind exploded.
When the dust settled, Hwa Do-myeong's figure was visible.
Gulp.
His face, from which he coughed up blood, was covered in red lines.
He had overexerted himself again while using the Dark Revolving Wheel.
His face contorted in pain.
He was pushing himself too hard.
But he had no choice.
Even when pushing himself to the brink of death, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon did not die and kept charging at him.
Hwa Do-myeong used his last ounce of strength.
Shikshikshikshikshik!
The fan and the dagger flew swiftly, aiming to pierce their opponent.
More red lines appeared on Hwa Do-myeong's face.
The fan opened and closed, stabbed and deflected, moving like a flash of lightning.
Though his speed was superior, he could not catch the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
His power was not lacking either.
But he could not catch the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
He did not know.
There was something he could not keep up with.
It was the Evil Heart Laughing Demon's combat experience.
While he was ruining his body, lost in the Dark Arts, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon had been fighting life-or-death battles alongside Geom Mugeuk.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon had already read Hwa Do-myeong's attack patterns and habits.
Puuak!
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon's dagger sliced Hwa Do-myeong's arm, sending blood spraying.
At that moment, Hwa Do-myeong saw it.
A white mask breaking through the flying blood, trying to plunge a dagger into his heart.
The eyes behind the mask were smiling.
Just when he thought it was the end!
Hwaaaak!
A suddenly appearing curtain of darkness swallowed the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
The one who had unfurled the curtain was the last bamboo hat-wearing martial artist.
A thick black line was painted on his forehead, with a red circle drawn on top of it.
Dark Barrier.
His final trump card had been played.
"I can't hold him for long."
He too vanished, as if seeping into the darkness.
Hwa Do-myeong couldn't last much longer either.
By now, Hwa Do-myeong's face was completely covered in red lines.
He walked toward where Geom Mugeuk was.
His plan was to kill all the Faceless Ones, suppress Geom Mugeuk's inner energy, and escape.
It was his last chance for a comeback.
The Faceless Ones glanced at each other, exchanging looks.
They knew well what kind of power Hwa Do-myeong had just displayed.
Five of the Faceless Ones split to the left and right and rushed toward him.
The remaining five Faceless Ones stood in a single file line in front of Geom Mugeuk.
They infused their inner energy from the back to the front, channeling it all into the person at the very front.
Hwa Do-myeong waved his fan forcefully.
"Annoying bastards! All of you, get lost!"
The force emanating from the fan flew toward the Faceless Ones with tremendous momentum.
Swish!
The Faceless One at the front struck out with a palm, blocking the force.
Kwaang!
It was an earth-shaking attack, but with the combined inner energy of five people, they managed to block his attack.
Gag.
As the first Faceless One coughed up blood from an internal injury, the one behind him took his place, and the injured one moved to the very back.
In that time, the five Faceless Ones who had rushed forward—Crescent Moon, the spider, the cloud, the wolf, and the flames—attacked him from all sides.
If he had not overexerted himself in the fight against the Evil Heart Laughing Demon, he would have won easily with his Dark Arts.
But his body was not in a normal state, and moreover, his mind was rushed.
Thwack!
The flames, struck by an attack, rolled on the ground.
Crescent Moon was sent flying by the next attack and rolled together with the flames in his arms.
Hwa Do-myeong tried to kill at least one of them for sure, but the other Faceless Ones did not stand by idly.
Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!
The Faceless Ones all launched finger techniques at once.
Unable to block all the incoming finger techniques, they embedded themselves in his protective energy.
As the fight did not go as he wished, Hwa Do-myeong grew more agitated.
His face turned red as if it would burst.
He had almost reached his limit.
Hwa Do-myeong unleashed his final move.
He simply pushed forward, taking the attacks of the Faceless Ones.
He was pushing forward by using the Dark Iron Body Art, the same technique the man in the bamboo hat had used, to its absolute limit.
The three red circles on him glowed a blood-red.
Kang! Kaang! Kaaang! Kang!
Neither finger techniques nor daggers could penetrate.
Hwa Do-myeong pushed through, knocking aside the Faceless Ones who stood in his way.
"I've got him!"
Just as Hwa Do-myeong leaped to snatch Geom Mugeuk.
Puuuk!
With the sound of tearing flesh, a silence fell over the place.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Hwa Do-myeong looked down at his own chest.
A dagger was embedded in it.
There was a black circle in the air, and only an arm had emerged from it to stab him.
Ssssssssss.
The black circle from which the arm protruded grew larger, and a person emerged.
It was the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
In his other hand, which did not hold the dagger, was the head of the man in the bamboo hat.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon had broken the Dark Barrier and come out.
As he emerged, the surrounding darkness vanished.
With his face covered in red lines, Hwa Do-myeong spoke with difficulty.
He still wanted to live.
If he survived, he believed he could one day have his revenge.
"If you let me live…"
Before he could state his terms, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon cut him off.
"It was dark, so I couldn't see well."
After saying those incomprehensible words.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon quickly pulled the dagger from his chest and plunged it properly into his heart.
Puuk!
Hwa Do-myeong died instantly and collapsed.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon tossed the head he was holding next to Hwa Do-myeong's corpse.
It was the moment when every enemy here had met their end.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon looked back at his subordinates.
He said nothing, but his gaze spoke for him.
You all went through a lot.
Then he sat down in front of Geom Mugeuk.
As he had been there when Geom Mugeuk closed his eyes, he wanted to be there when he opened them.
He knew better than anyone how hard Geom Mugeuk had worked to get this far.
"Don't worry about anything, just rest well."
The Faceless Ones scattered around the area.
Some treated their own wounds, while others treated the wounds of their comrades.
One leaned against a tree and fell asleep, while another stood on a branch of that tree, gazing at the forest in the distance.
Yet another squatted on the ground and looked up at the moon.
In that place filled with corpses and flowing with blood like a river, they all rested quietly, waiting for Geom Mugeuk to awaken.