Chapter 99. It Wasn’t a Bird
Terrifying baleful qi (邪氣). Light burst through a space filled with violet mist.
Jjeong, jjeojeojeong—!
A clash of damp, ominous violet and blue flashes.
As blue lightning shot up into the sky, a thunderous roar that shook the earth exploded.
Bang! Kwa-gwang! Bang! Bang!
<…Kgh!>
Under the relentless barrage of consecutive strikes, the Emperor chewed down a groan of pain.
Blows that shook the bones. He’d wrapped both arms in layers of baleful qi (邪氣), but the shock still reached the bone.
‘How…’
The moment he opened the power of Destrow, the gap between them widened even more.
Tzuzuz, chyu-reuk.
His arms crossed. Over his forearms, the bindings of overturning heaven (逆天) rippled. This damned suppression was still there, but even so, it wasn’t as if he couldn’t handle a mere mortal like that.
‘Then why!’
Bang!
At the timing when the rhythm of the barrage broke, the Emperor seized the back of Aster’s neck and slammed him straight into the earth.
“…Kheok!”
His body sprang up from the recoil. His frame bent like a bow. A mouth gaping wide spat out a mouthful of fresh blood—only for it to be instantly evaporated by the blue lightning and vanish.
<Isn’t this… such a frail body!>
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
As if venting his anger, the Emperor stomped Aster mercilessly. With each kick, the ground trembled.
Coughing up blood that burst out like wringing a sponge soaked with water!
Udeudeuk!
It was then, at that distant pain, that the Emperor screamed.
<…Kaaak!>
An ankle bent at a grotesque angle. It dangled. Then—flash—his vision lit up with a crack of sound.
Aster had sprung up and smashed his jaw.
But the Emperor was Destrow.
Udeudeuk, uduk.
That ankle returned to normal as if time had been rewound, and the consciousness that had drifted away snapped back like a roly-poly.
His vision returned.
Aster’s face filled his view, grinning, and then again—
Jjeo-eong!
<Kgh!>
A savage headbutt forced the Emperor back two steps. Shraaaak! Violet baleful qi sprayed out instead of blood as he forced his muddled mind back into place.
<You brainless thing! Do you have no pride!>
No matter how much a worm he was, the opponent was the current master of overturning heaven (逆天).
The great journey called magic—he possessed the qualification to reach its very end.
What even the greatest genius in the world would pine for! What a talentless dullard would sell his soul to buy!
Across all of history, the greatest privilege!
And the one who held it—how could he…!
“Pride? What’s that?”
<…!>
The Emperor hurriedly thrust both hands downward. A shin flying straight for his groin!
Thak!
Sparks flew in the Emperor’s eyes as he blocked Aster’s kick.
<You dog-like—!>
That damned thing’s fighting was mostly like this.
He poured out means that even back-alley thugs would be ashamed of, without hesitation, like breathing.
Mana control worthy of awe even from an enemy. A terrifying battle sense and wildness—yet every single action was scraping the very bottom in terms of level.
So how could the Emperor not be enraged?
<First, I’ll shatter that leg!>
The Emperor poured baleful qi (邪氣) into the hands gripping Aster’s shin.
Pajijik, pajik!
The mana lightning wrapping Aster’s body faltered for a moment, and the shin bent at a grotesque angle.
“Guh…!”
Bones crushed. As the baleful qi (邪氣) seeped in and a distant pain invaded his mind, Aster didn’t stay still either.
<…You!>
At Aster’s hand grabbing his shoulder, the Emperor reflexively lowered his head.
Normally, what came next was a headbutt. He’d learned the pattern, in his own way.
But only for a moment.
The Emperor’s lowered head whipped back.
<Guuaaaaaaak—!>
A deep scream surged from the pit of his belly.
Kkudeudeuk!
His collarbone was crushed. The grip was so strong it compressed bone while grinding flesh.
He hurriedly tried to wrap baleful qi (邪氣) around himself to block the intrusion, but why—did it scatter so weakly!
Pas-seuk, pat!
A few blue sparks snapped, and the gathered baleful qi was cleanly dispersed.
Interference Style (干涉式). A technique that had once dispersed Kalahen’s barrier. Mana control that matched the opponent’s mana wavelength and scattered it—now applied even to Destrow’s baleful qi (邪氣).
Udeudeuk, uduk!
A strange standoff. Each crushed the other’s bones. And neither backed down.
<Guuuuuuuh!>
Even as the Emperor rolled his eyes in pain, he poured strength into crushing—no, tearing off—Aster’s shin.
“Heh heh.”
Aster bared red teeth smeared with blood and wrenched the Emperor’s shoulder with force.
A distant pain.
‘Truly…’
With eyes he could barely pry open, the Emperor fixed Aster in his view.
He couldn’t understand it.
Unless he was an idiot, he would know there was no hope in a war of attrition like this.
No—even an idiot would understand.
Bones get crushed—so what!
As long as baleful qi (邪氣) was abundant, he had a body that endlessly restored itself, a body infinitely close to immortality (不死).
‘And yet, with me…!’
A war of attrition like this? Something you couldn’t do unless you were insane!
When the Emperor reached that thought—
<Trusting overturning heaven… you… are… kaaAAAK!>
Tutuk, tteudeudeuk!
With a chilling tearing sound came a burning pain. No—like someone had pried open his skull and poured molten metal inside.
And then—
Shraaaaaaak—!
Baleful qi (邪氣) thickly rose in all directions. Violet mist scattered like a demon’s wings in a fan shape.
Thud, thud.
On the earth, the Emperor’s torn-off arms tumbled.
<Guuuh… guh…!>
It was pain he had never felt in life.
Even if he’d lived through ten thousand battlefields, when would he ever experience the pain of having both arms ripped off while alive!
No—more than that, the Emperor had never been used to pain.
Because he had been that overwhelming. Because from a height no one could reach, he had looked down on everything.
But—
<Ghk… guuuuuuh…!>
Pressing down that mind-numbing agony with difficulty, the Emperor glared ahead with bloodshot eyes.
Excruciating pain—miserable. It felt like he was going insane. But there was something more miserable than that.
Uduk, udeudeuk.
The opponent had retreated, sat down calmly, and was stroking his own leg.
Then, when their eyes met—
“……”
Hitch.
A grin.
Yes. That.
This pain, this shitty situation, this battle where nothing went the way he wanted—
Everything boiled his insides into flames, but that smile was the greatest pain. No—his pride being gouged out by that smile, the pain of it being shredded to pieces, was the worst.
<Overturning heaven… do you… trust overturning heaven?>
Kkudeudeuk, kkudeuk.
Waiting for his arms to regenerate, the Emperor glared at Aster.
But there was no answer.
“……”
He simply kept—udeudeuk, uduk—stroking the crushed bone, though there was no way crushed bones could knit back together like that.
The smile he held. The corners of his mouth, slightly curled up, twisted now and then, but it was as if he felt no pain at all. A chilling sight.
That mouth opened not long after.
“That just now was Collision Style (衝突式). And this is….”
<…!>
Pajijik!
A wavering mass of light in front of him—recognizing it, the Emperor threw his body aside at once. There was no time to wait for even his forearms to regenerate.
“…Explosive annihilation.”
<You dog-like—!>
The Emperor rolled across the ground, and the instant he stopped, he spread his barrier.
Flash—! Kwa-deudeuk—!
A shock that hammered the barrier like a storm. Facing that fierce wave, the Emperor couldn’t hide his alarm.
‘Me…!’
Toying with me?
He dragged every fight exactly as he pleased.
He forced his way in and dragged it into a brawl, then when all attention was focused there, a shock like this exploded once in a while.
The anger that had already been boiling surged without end.
But there was nothing the Emperor could do.
‘Victory…? That was a sequence decided from the beginning.’
A ferocity like a beast. It didn’t break—but that was all it was.
The Emperor knew.
That bastard was still dying.
‘No matter if overturning heaven (逆天) drives out the baleful qi… complete immunity will be impossible.’
The places he was struck. A single joint of bone. A piece of flesh—baleful qi would seep in. It would pile and pile, rotting the body from the inside.
Unlike what the surface looked like, the Emperor had been crushing Aster from start to finish.
And yet.
<…>
Pibibit. Kwa-deudeudeuk!
Waves of mana that battered the barrier without pause.
Flash!
The Emperor watched the barrier tremble under blue lightning that struck now and then.
That bastard… is abnormal.
No matter how brave someone is, his heart should have broken long ago.
His capability? Overwhelming. He might be enduring well, but that mana had limits—and even then, it was only “barely.”
A battle of wits? It didn’t hold. The bastard could only take flesh if he gave bone, while the Emperor was close to immortality (不死).
And yet—
<And yet…>
That bastard didn’t break. As if he were certain he would win.
That was why a huge question rose in the Emperor’s mind.
<Just what are you… saying you are!>
It was then that a voice came.
“What am I?”
<…?>
A storm of mana whipping around—taking that backlash on his whole body, the bastard came closer.
Pik! Pibibit!
Chwa-jak!
Even though it was his own technique, did he not even have the strength to block it? His hair scattered in disarray in the backlash, his body staggering and bending this way and that.
Jjeojeok!
In the end, flesh split open and a fountain of blood poured out.
And in the midst of that—
Thup.
The bastard placed a hand on the barrier.
<…!>
The Emperor’s eyes widened.
“Ah, this is Interference Style. First time I’ve shown you this kind of application, right?”
A strange wave spread from the bastard’s hand through the entire barrier. And then—
Sseureuk.
The barrier died away, powerless.
It was then that baleful qi whipped around the Emperor.
<You…>
Wheeeee—!
As the vortex of baleful qi violently scraped at the surroundings, Aster walked through that vortex, one step, then another.
Limp, limp.
How was he even walking on two feet with crushed bones? The Emperor wasn’t even surprised anymore.
Only—
<…Just die already.>
He clenched both hands hard. Veins bulged on the Emperor’s forehead, and baleful qi surged like an incoming tide, swallowing Aster.
Trying to use baleful qi freely before fully regaining strength consumed no small amount of mental stamina.
But—
Limp.
Aster didn’t stop.
<Ghk… uh…>
The Emperor clenched his hands again, but the limping steps only slowed.
“…Kheok!”
Even as he spat out blood blackened, the steps didn’t stop. One step, one step—limping as he came closer.
And when he arrived within arm’s reach—
“I…”
Thup.
Aster, as if collapsing, placed a hand on the Emperor’s shoulder. His forehead leaned against that shoulder.
Even then, the Emperor didn’t move. He simply poured mental stamina into bursting apart Aster, bound in baleful qi (邪氣), using this hard-won chance.
And into the Emperor’s ear, a ragged voice brushed softly.
“…I.”
What am I?
Aster thought.
‘Troubleshooter?’
No.
‘An academy student?’
No.
‘A Black and White Zone vagrant?’
No.
‘A future Great Sage?’
No.
He couldn’t be defined by any of it.
‘I am….’
Once a Troubleshooter—House Deculan’s son of a bitch—now an academy student of Jenion. Born a Black and White Zone vagrant, a body that would be reborn as a Great Sage in the future.
But he still couldn’t define himself by any of that.
Then…
“I am….”
What?
Eyes half closed. In a hazy mind, the blue sky came into view. Where is this, and who am I. Ah—this is a grave, a place of death (死地). Where I’ll die. But this road is…
Yes.
A road arrived at by rightful freedom.
“I am….”
Kkudeudeudeuk—
Destrow’s pressure intensified. And in that, Aster’s mouth opened.
In the sky of the mental image, a bird flew across the deep blue firmament.
…No.
It wasn’t a bird.
“…It’s a wyvern.”
It was that moment.
Jjeo-eoeoeoeoeoeok—!
A massive tearing sound swept through his mind.
A huge crack spread across one side of Aster’s mental image. Starting as a small fissure, then spreading through the whole—an uncontrollable misalignment!
“…Ah.”
Kkudeudeuk, kkudeuk.
Urk, urk.
The Emperor’s baleful qi, now even stronger.
Blackened blood flowed from nose and mouth, and his organs rotted from the inside.
Aster realized it.
“…I emptied it.”
Drip, drip.
A wall that had stood firm in one corner of his mental image was collapsing.
