Several strong storms fused together with each other to form a ring. The size of the storm increased to make a huge entity. Dozens of rings rotating violently swept across. Crazy Heavenly Demon stood in the eye of the bloody storm with both hands raised and a grave expression.
'I didn't intend to kill you... '
He just wanted to have some fun fighting. Although the moves that the two of them exchanged were too intense to be called a mere duel, the reason Crazy Heavenly Demon had lasted this long without killing him was that it had been a long time since he had enjoyed a fight in his right mind.
But not now. It was already late. Crazy Heavenly Demon performed the Blood Gale Nova of the Heavenly Demon Blood Rings, and this fatal storm would tear Lee Sungmin into thousands of pieces of flesh. So far, that had always been the result of him using the move.
'It's a shame. Such martial arts... it's a waste to just kill him like this. After 10 more years, he might even be stronger than me now... '
Crazy Heavenly Demon said with a sigh. He felt a keen murderous intent from the storm. It wasn't an illusion. Pu-hwak! A straight spear shot at him through the gale. Void Rendering – The sixth move of the Nine Heavenly Spears technique broke through the bloody storms.
'Ridiculous!'
Crazy Heavenly Demon moved his hands with astonishment. The flow of gusts was incredibly strong and filled the space that was pierced through. However, the straight path cleared by Lee Sungmin's Void Rendering move was not immediately filled. Nine Dragons Spirit swooped in through the cleared path. In the end, the nine dragons failed to penetrate the blood ring.
Before the gap was filled. Crazy Heavenly Demon saw Lee Sungmin. He stretched out his spear amidst the crazy winds. Gasping with cold, sunken eyes. His eyes that had been roaming somewhere beyond were suddenly facing Crazy Heavenly Demon.
"... haha!"
Crazy Heavenly Demon laughed, and the blood ring exploded. The scattered red storm became fog and spread everywhere. Crazy Heavenly Demon raised his head to look up at the reddish sky and then looked down.
Not far away, Lee Sungmin fell down. His limbs remained intact despite the fact that he had suffered from the blood ring explosion. No matter how much armor he wore, his internal organs must have burst in the midst of such an intense storm. Of course, Crazy Heavenly Demon thought that would be the case.
"Looks like I killed the poor guy."
Crazy Heavenly Demon muttered as he approached Lee Sungmin. Although he fought Lee Sungmin out of self-interest, he felt a little regretful killing him. There was no such thing as a way to bring the dead back to life. However, he wanted to preserve the body.
Crazy Heavenly Demon was a few steps closer. Lee Sungmin's body shook greatly. Was he still alive? Crazy Heavenly Demon's eyes trembled. Lee Sungmin's body shook even more. And suddenly, Lee Sungmin woke up.
"What the... "
Even though he was hit by the blood ring blast earlier, there was no wound? Crazy Heavenly Demon's mouth opened wide. However, it wasn't long before he realized that the strange "atmosphere" that he had felt earlier suddenly deepened.
Lee Sungmin opened his mouth. Ah, ah. He made such a noise and turned his body. Crazy Heavenly Demon met Lee Sungmin's gaze with wide-open eyes. Different... It was so different that he couldn't believe it was the same person he had fought just a moment ago. Do those eyes burning with red flames belong to such a human?
"... Ugh... "
His heart was trembling. Crazy Heavenly Demon staggered and stepped back, feeling dizzy. His heart was thumping, and his hair was standing on end. Crazy Heavenly Demon was surprised because he did not know what to make of the emotions he was feeling.
"You impudent son of a bitch... "
Lee Sungmin spat through gritted teeth. The voice belonged to Lee Sungmin, but the words did not. On behalf of Lee Sungmin, who had lost consciousness, Heoju had taken over his body. As evidence of this, the armor that Lee Sungmin was wearing seemed to give off a strange purple aura.
"There are many things I want to ask you."
Heoju snapped. Crazy Heavenly Demon stared at Heoju, who had taken over Lee Sungmin's body with cold sweat running down his back. Heoju did not explain, but he instinctively knew. This was a completely different person than before. Heoju stared back at Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was staring at him. He glanced at the spear in his right hand and put it down without hesitation. It wasn't a weapon he used in the first place.
A powerful aura exploded from Heoju's body. The aura that burst forth in full force was much more sinister than Defense Aura that belonged to Lee Sungmin, and it was incomparably violent. Crazy Heavenly Demon's expression was distorted. He did not know what the hell was going on, but he was furious because of the strange feeling that he felt.
"You!"
Crazy Heavenly Demon screamed and ran forward. Heoju stood up with bare hands and slowly raised his right hand. Kuoooh! A tremendous amount of power wrapped around Heoju's right hand. Lee Sungmin's body would not have been able to handle such a force before, but not now. As Heoju took over Lee Sungmin's body, he could use his powers as he willed without any problems.
Crazy Heavenly Demon roared and charged ahead. Red blood storms were created behind him as he moved forward. Heoju laughed seeing the storm of strong wind and shook his right hand. It seemed to have been a thoughtless action, but the force around his hand burst out and suppressed all the storms of the Blood Gale Nova.
"Heuk!"
Crazy Heavenly Demon roared at the sight in front of his eyes. Even so, he did not retreat. He opened his eyes wide and prepared another series of moves in rapid succession. The martial arts he chose was the Heavenly Demon Blood Ring, which defeated Lee Sungmin before. The red aura soared higher and higher, creating several bloody rings. Soon it took the form of a huge whirlpool.
Heoju stepped forward towards the threatening blood ring blast. The aura covering his body soared upward like smoke and expanded greatly. He clenched his right fist and struck forward once. The blood rings were smashed. Heoju ran forward toward Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was standing with his mouth open. In a flash, he jumped in front of Crazy Heavenly Demon, and grabbed him by the ear and flung him. ㅡKkwaaang! Soon after, Crazy Heavenly Demon's body plunged to the ground.
"Where did you get it from?"
"Keo-huh-euk!"
Heoju yelled at Crazy Heavenly Demon, whose body was lying on the ground. Crazy Heavenly Demon struggled to escape his grasp, but Heoju did not let go of him.
"I said. My powers. Where did you get it?"
"what... are you say-"
"Don't pretend you don't know!"
Heoju screamed. At the same time, a force slithered out from Heoju's hands, which were grabbing Crazy Heavenly Demon, and was sucked into Crazy Heavenly Demon's body. Then Crazy Heavenly Demon's mouth widened. The power that had entered his body was something that could never be obtained by ordinary humans. The human body was very different from that of yokai, and a yokai's powers were the same as blood to a human. Just like one couldn't inject other kinds of blood in their body, yokai's powers were also the same.
But that wasn't the case for Crazy Heavenly Demon. Despite feeling the pain of his body being torn apart, he did not die. He opened his mouth and screamed silently. Heoju grabbed his struggling body and pushed his powers in. Then something deep in Crazy Heavenly Demon's dantian responded.
"kkeueueu... !"
Crazy Heavenly Demon's eyes turned over. His eyes were bathed in red light. The essence of the power deep in Dantian was awakened by Heoju. Crazy Heavenly Demon's qi deviation and madness were side effects caused by the power at the bottom of his Dantian. The reason why Crazy Heavenly Demon ran to this far North of Travia without rest in a fit of madness was because of Heoju's presence in that place.
"Was he the 'neither human nor monster' you were supposed to meet?"
Heoju said with a puzzled expression. Crazy Heavenly Demon would always start slaughtering everything in his vicinity when he lost consciousness, but it was not like that now. He was staring at Heoju, who had taken over Lee Sungmin's body, even though he had entered another fit of madness. Heoju laughed as he looked into Crazy Heavenly Demon's eyes.
"What the hell just happened... "
Heoju's laughter suddenly stopped. His hands rose up and clutched his neck with stiff hands. Those hands belonged to Lee Sungmin. Heoju frowned at the hands tightening around his neck.
'You crazy bastard... !'
It was Lee Sungmin. Lee Sungmin, who had lost his consciousness, woke up and was trying to regain control over his body that Heoju had taken over. Heoju was taken aback. Lee Sungmin's mental power was much stronger than other human beings.
He already knew it, but even if that was the case, he didn't expect him to regain control once he had taken over.
"No, this elder was not trying to take your body. I couldn't help it since the situation was like that... "
Heoju explained himself quickly, but Lee Sungmin did not listen to him. The hand gripping his neck tightened, applying more strength now. In the end, despite it being his own body, Lee Sungmin did not hold back his strength, not caring that it might break.
It almost did.
"alright. Alright!"
Heoju eventually said that and retreated from Lee Sungmin's body. The power possessing Lee Sungmin's body was sucked into the armor, and his burning red eyes regained its usual color.
"Huuk!"
Lee Sungmin lowered the hand grabbing his neck and took in several rough breaths. He felt like all of his senses had been cut off, and his whole body was throbbing. His throat felt like it had something lodged in it, and he was having trouble breathing. Lee Sungmin flopped down on the spot while breathing hard, feeling a distressing headache coming.
[Bastard... You can't even recognize the one who saved your life!]
"I know."
Lee Sungmin stroked his stuffy neck and snapped. He knew that Heoju had helped him again. When he was caught up in the blood ring blast, it was by his own ability that he was able to grab onto the microscopic gap, but Heoju took out his strength and protected Lee Sungmin's body when the bloody storm exploded afterwards. That's why he barely stopped short of losing his mind. If he had taken the storm head-on, he would have been ripped to pieces already.
"That's that... and this is this."
Lee Sungmin replied as he sat down on the floor. Although he managed to save his life because of Heoju's help, it was unforgivable for Heoju to possess his body without permission. just... Lee Sungmin looked at his hands with a bitter feeling.
Lee Sungmin came to his senses when Heoju smashed the blood ring with one gesture. It was his own body that did it... Even with the same body, Heoju's technique was so high that Lee Sungmin could never imitate it. That intense and sinister demonic aura. A technique that forcibly broke through their connection by pushing in his force into him in the instant the blood ring attack occurred. Heoju could sense Lee Sungmin's feelings.
[If you become a Yokai, you can do it.]
Lee Sungmin ignored those words. He sighed and glanced at Crazy Heavenly Demon. Crazy Heavenly Demon, who was caught in the explosive demonic aura attack, was lying on the ground, without making any fuss.
"... What the hell is it?"
[I don't know this old man. But those were definitely my powers. Deep in his dantian... I sensed the essence of my powers. I thought that my powers were lost when I was sealed 400 years ago, but I guess they aren't.]
Heoju remained silent for a while after saying that.
[From this elder's perspective, that son of a bitch seems to be the 'neither human nor monster' you were supposed to meet in the north. He is a human being, yet has such powers in his possession. As a side effect, he loses his mind frequently... Even so, it's great to be able to handle such powers while still being human.]
Lee Sungmin silently listened to Heoju's words without saying anything. Heoju continued to talk to him.
[I don't know how that son of a bitch is still human despite dealing with such powers. But if you learn his method, I guarantee that you will be able to use it much better than him. You will be able to use my powers without becoming a Yokai, and unlike that rascal, who only has part of my powers, this elder is directly connected to you.]
"... Ugh... "
At the end of Heoju's words, Crazy Heavenly Demon let out a low moan.
[First, listen to what he has to say.]
Crazy Heavenly Demon opened his eyes.