Myst, Might, Mayhem

Chapter 498.4 – Side Story 7 Part 2

Oblivion (2)

“Heavenly Demon!”

The Golden Nine-Tailed Fox bit her lip as she watched the Heavenly Demon’s back disappear through the ceiling of the lava cave.

That tremendous roar just now.

It spread an ominous energy in all directions, but this was just a prelude.

‘It hasn’t completely exploded yet.’

She could instinctively sense it.

This was happening as the energy was compressed to its limit just before a massive explosion.

Otherwise, such an incredible energy wouldn’t be felt even in this deep underground place.

“Kuhehehehe. It’s over. No one can stop it.”

Even as he was dying with all his internal organs crushed, Hong Hae-a muttered as if satisfied.

At that moment, someone rushed towards him.

It was the great spirit Iron Fan Immortal, Hong Hae-a’s mother.

“Child. Can you hold on?”

“Mother…”

“This mother will surely save you.”

She thought this moment, when the monstrous Heavenly Demon had disappeared, was the only chance to escape.

But there was one being she had overlooked.

It was none other than,

“Where do you think you’re going after causing all this?”

“Nine-Tailed…”

Jjeojeojeojeojeojeok!

“Mother!”

Hong Hae-a screamed as he watched Iron Fan Immortal rapidly turning to stone.

The one who turned her into stone, or rather a killing stone, was none other than the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox.

She sneered genuinely at Hong Hae-a, who glared at her as if cursing her.

“You… Huu. You’re not my share, so you’d better prepare yourself.”

Pat!

With those words, the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox flew through the hole in the ceiling made by the Heavenly Demon.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwang!

The Heavenly Demon’s expression was heavy as he burst through from the lava cave to the ground surface in one go.

As soon as he emerged, he spotted Cheong-ryeong on the ground.

Fortunately, she was safe.

But that wasn’t the problem.

Upon reaching the surface, he saw a red sphere glowing brightly in the sky about 30 li away, emitting an energy beyond imagination.

Goooooooo!

‘It hasn’t exploded. That’s…’

The energy was in an extremely condensed state.

The space around the red sphere was distorting due to the tremendous energy, causing lightning.

It was on the verge of exploding.

If the sphere was clearly visible from this far away, it was impossible to imagine how far the aftermath would spread if it wasn’t stopped immediately.

It was astonishing that such an alien energy was condensed in a single precious treasure.

Pachik! Pachik!

At that moment,

The light of the red sphere intensified, showing signs of bursting.

Hong Hae-a’s words flashed through the Heavenly Demon’s mind.

[“The Kunlun Mirror… will explode… When the heat wave… covers the entire Central Plains… everyone will fall into oblivion.”]

[“What nonsense are you talking about, oblivion?”]

[“The flame of… the Kunlun Mirror… is the Samadhi True Fire of oblivion… It burns the memories in one’s mind.”]

If those words were true, although it was uncertain how far the power of that explosion would spread, if it wasn’t stopped, the worst disaster of regression due to memory loss might occur.

There was only one way to stop it.

The Supreme Heavenly Demonic Sword that could cut through everything in existence.

But here, a problem arose.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaaang!

In a split second, the explosion had already occurred.

‘Oh no!’

Even though the Supreme Heavenly Demonic Sword could cut through everything, it still needed some distance.

With his eyes opened at the moment of the explosion, the Heavenly Demon saw the heat of the explosion spreading in all directions in an instant.

The speed was beyond imagination, spreading to a distance of thirty li in the blink of an eye.

Schwaaaaaaaa!

‘No!’

In a split second, the Heavenly Demon’s form blurred,

Seureuk!

With ultra-high-speed movement, he went down to the ground in the blink of an eye and embraced Cheong-ryeong.

“Mortal!”

“Hold your breath!”

Paaaaaaaaak!

Moving at ultra-high speed to escape the aftermath of the explosion by tearing through space, the Heavenly Demon sensed the heat of the explosion catching up to him.

Even for him, it was impossible to completely surpass this speed.

In that brief moment, the Heavenly Demon’s mind calculated numerous methods and came up with a single, unique solution.

Paaaaaaaaa!

The Heavenly Demon, who was using his lightness skill at an incredible speed, pointed behind him with his index finger.

Then,

Paaaaaaaaak!

At that moment, about ten jang behind the Heavenly Demon, space seemed to compress into a single point, and the aftermath of the explosion was sucked into it.

‘Space Suppression Technique!’

This was another technique of the Eight Thought-Shattering Techniques.

It was a method that instantly pressed about four jang of space in the desired direction.

The distortion of space meant that an enormous gravitational force occurred in that part, and that force could even attract light.

“Mortal, this is…”

“Trust me!”

Without stopping here, the Heavenly Demon took out the artifact given by the Diviner Yeo Surin from his bosom, put it on his finger, and rotated it in a circle.

Responding to the spell power, the artifact resonated, and eventually, a gray mist arose.

Ssssssss!

The gray mist that arose formed a circular connection, creating a gate linked to another space.

The place connected by that gate was none other than the main hall of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Ttak!

The Heavenly Demon pushed Cheong-ryeong into it.

“Mortal!”

Feeling something uneasy here, Cheong-ryeong cried out with reddened eyes.

“Mortal, what are you trying to…”

“I’ll resolve this soon.”

The Heavenly Demon smiled as if to reassure her.

However, that smile hid a determination.

It was a sad determination that he might forget the love he had just gained.

Although he tried his best not to show it, had Cheong-ryeong read this determination of the Heavenly Demon?

“No! No!”

Cheong-ryeong urgently tried to grab him.

But the Heavenly Demon pushed her away with his energy, preventing her from approaching the misty gate.

Paaaang!

After pushing her away, the Heavenly Demon hurriedly closed the misty gate.

Seeing Cheong-ryeong desperately running towards the closing gate, the Heavenly Demon’s heart ached, but he had no choice.

He couldn’t put her in danger.

But just as the gate was almost closed,

Jjeojeojeojeojeojeok!

The Heavenly Demon’s body suddenly stiffened, and his entire body began rapidly turning to stone.

‘!?’

The Heavenly Demon turned his head with a stiffened face.

There, he saw the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox pressing her fox bead against his back.

“What are you doing?”

“I’ll do it.”

“You!”

Did she understand what she was saying?

To stop the explosion of the Kunlun Mirror, one had to head to its center, enduring the aftermath of the explosion over a distance of thirty li.

If it were an ordinary explosion, neither she nor the Heavenly Demon would have trouble enduring it.

This was the Samadhi True Fire of oblivion.

The aftermath would cause memory loss.

“Stop. This is…”

“You absolutely can’t forget, right?”

At these words from the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox, the Heavenly Demon’s eyes, which had been trying to resist becoming a killing stone by raising demonic energy, wavered.

To him, the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox smiled and said, “So you don’t have to sacrifice yourself. I’ll do it.” With those words, she gently embraced the Heavenly Demon, who had turned to stone up to just below his neck.

“In return, you can grant me this much favor, right? Ah, it feels good.”

Even though she couldn’t feel his body heat as he had turned to stone, she wore a happy expression as if feeling warmth.

Seeing her like this, the Heavenly Demon’s expression became subtle.

“I wished I could have been that precious someone by your side. This is sincere.”

Wuuuuung!

Meanwhile, the Space Suppression Technique was gradually diminishing.

At this, the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox released her embrace and caressed the cheek of the Heavenly Demon, who was turning to stone above his neck, and said,

“Don’t forget me.”

Jjeojeojeojeojeojeok!

The last thing reflected in the Heavenly Demon’s eyes as he turned to stone was the face of the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox, looking at him tenderly with reddened eyes.

And so, the Heavenly Demon completely turned into a killing stone.

At that moment, the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox flew upwards.

Paaaaaaang!

As the heat enveloped her body, for a split second, the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox recalled:

[“Dalgi, no, Golden Nine-Tailed Fox. You will one day meet a human who is the embodiment of demon itself.”]

[“Human? How can a human be the embodiment of demon? You said humans are imperfect beings, neither good nor evil.”]

[“That’s right. But even this old man can’t understand all the heavenly secrets.”]

[“Damn you. What’s the point of telling me something you don’t even understand well?”]

[“Find that person. That person will bring you what you desire most.”]

[“…Bring me what I want?”]

[“Yes.”]

[“Then how can I meet that person? With your fancy ability to read heavenly secrets, shouldn’t you know?”]

[“I don’t know.”]

[“Then there’s no choice. We’ll have to keep fighting.”]

[“…Will you really do this?”]

[“You’re the one who proposed a deal, saying you’d tell me what I wanted. But do you think you can end this fight with such vague words?”]

[“…”]

After pondering, the prophet finally spoke.

[“All this old man can see about that person is a throne stained with blood.”]

[“A throne stained with blood?”]

So she spent a long time searching for the person of the prophecy, and she was convinced it was the Heavenly Demon.

He was the man she had waited for all her life.

Before parting, Kang Sang, who had made the prophecy, asked:

[“Golden Nine-Tailed Fox. But what is it that you desire most?”]

[“What I desire… It’s nothing much. It’s…”]

Jureuk!

A single tear rolled down her cheek as she was being enveloped by the heat of the explosion.

[“I want to love.”]

Her only wish.

She, who had never truly loved anyone, had spent her entire life alone.

That’s why she wanted a lifelong sanctuary to fill that loneliness.

But the prophecy was only half right.

She came to love him, but her wish to be together until the end wasn’t fulfilled.

Still, she didn’t mind.

Because you will remember me until the end.

‘That’s not so bad, is it?’

Schwaaaaaaaa!

And so, her form faded away into the light.

Jjeojeok!

It wasn’t long after the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox had flown away with the aftermath of the explosion.

Cracks appeared in the killing stone, and black flames flowed out.

The Heavenly Demon had circulated the dark flames, which could be called the authority of the Demon King, within his body while turning to stone due to the power of the Spirit Demon Great Precious Tool, the Fox Spirit Bead.

Because of this, he was able to forcibly break out even though he had been completely sealed.

As soon as he escaped, the Heavenly Demon was about to unleash the Supreme Heavenly Demonic Sword but had to stop.

This was because,

Paaaaaaaaaaaa!

The aftermath of the explosion was disappearing.

This meant that the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox had prevented the flames of oblivion from covering the entire Central Plains when the Kunlun Mirror exploded.

As the sky began to clear, the Heavenly Demon’s clenched fist tightened.

Kkwak!

It was what he had intended to do.

But why had she sacrificed herself to do this?

Even though he had treated her so coldly.

Something felt heavy in his chest.

Then he saw something falling from the sky. It was the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox.

She was falling towards the ground unconscious, embracing the shattered fragments of the Kunlun Mirror that had turned to stone.

Ttat!

The Heavenly Demon flew up using his void-treading skill and caught her as she fell.

Ttak!

Even unconscious, she was still so beautiful.

[“Don’t forget me.”]

Those last words she said echoed in his ears.

His heart had ached unbearably when he had resolved to forget Cheong-ryeong.

She must have made the same resolution.

The Heavenly Demon’s gaze, which had been looking at the Golden Nine-Tailed Fox with a bitter expression, soon turned fierce.

“Damn it.”

Hong Hae-a, looking up at the ceiling of the lava cave, couldn’t hide his dismay.

He had hoped for the flames of oblivion to cover the continent, causing all humans to fall into oblivion and regress.

However, it seemed to have failed.

The fact that the aftermath of the explosion didn’t last long meant that its influence likely didn’t spread across the entire continent, resulting in only a short period of memory loss.

At most, perhaps just a few years?

“In the end… is this my defeat?”

What could be done now that he had failed?

He had at least hoped for mutual destruction, but it was just regrettable.

At that moment, he saw someone descending through the hole in the ceiling.

Hong Hae-a’s pupils shook violently as he discovered this.

It was the Heavenly Demon.

Swish!

Hong Hae-a felt a chill down his spine at the approaching Heavenly Demon.

He sensed an enormous killing intent from him, so fierce that it felt as if all his remaining body parts were being torn apart.

The Heavenly Demon descended right in front of him, who was gripped by the terror of the killing intent, and spoke.

“I promise you.”

“What?”

“You will feel an eternal agony, neither living nor dying. Let’s start with the pain of losing your flesh and blood.”

“W-wait…”

Kwadeudeudeuk!

Before Hong Hae-a could finish speaking.

Right before his eyes, the Heavenly Demon crushed the head of Iron Fan Immortal, who had turned into a killing stone.

“Noooooooooo!”