Episode 409

I left Verita behind and headed to the third-floor lounge, the temporary meeting point I had picked.

The cramped room held far more people than I had expected. The number had clearly increased compared to when we had parted ways. Even so, they were surprisingly well-disciplined. There were no signs of confusion, so it was better than I had expected.

I scanned the faces of the guards and my gaze soon fell on someone.

"You..." Jisal looked at me with surprised eyes and muttered something under his breath.

A wound marked his forehead, one I hadn't noticed when we had parted. Given his exhausted appearance, it was clear that a great deal had happened in a very short time.

I could also sense the restless atmosphere in the room beside the lounge. Those were probably the prisoners. The model prisoners were staying in this room, while the prisoners over there were the ones who had truly committed crimes and had been sent to the punishment building for confinement.

"What is the situation like in the next room?" I asked.

"It is quieter than I thought. Most of them seem to have seen the monster. They know that this isn't the time for them to make a fuss," Jisal replied.

I had expected as much. No matter how heinous the criminal, this opponent was a demon king. No matter how much twisted pride one took in their infamy, anyone would be intimidated when facing the real thing.

"A few prisoners tried to escape, but they soon gave up," Jisal said. "More importantly, what's going on with you? Are things going well?"

"They're not going bad," I lied without changing my expression.

Sighs of relief escaped the people who were concentrating on my words.

I felt a bit of guilt, but it was better than saying something along the lines of, "We are all going to die, so think about what you want to put in your will."

I looked around and got to the point. "Are all the survivors gathered here?"

"I don't know. I didn't look upstairs," Jisal replied vaguely.

I was pretty sure that everyone who could still move had gathered on the third floor. There could still be survivors on the upper floors, but they would all be frozen in place. In that case, there was no reason to delay my plan.

My plan was simple: I was going to smash this tower myself.

No matter how firmly the tower had been anchored, I could still break it with my strength. After all, White Sun Eclipse was a technique created purely for destruction. Besides, this wasn't a case of me being low on internal energy and needing to conserve it.

If someone asked why I hadn't tried to destroy the tower earlier, the answer was simple: too many people had still been alive inside. My technique wasn't refined enough to handle the aftermath of such destruction, and the number of people involved had made the risk unacceptable. Now, however, there was a way to eliminate those concerns.

"Berwick."

"Yeah?"

"Come here," I ordered.

Berwick approached me with a sullen expression. "What is it? What are you trying to make me do now? It is ridiculous. Hey. I did everything you told me to do. I was the one who found the guards wandering elsewhere and adjusted the route so that we wouldn't run into that monster. Ask them yourself. I was about to hit them in the back of the head—"

"I admit that you did a good job. Thank you."

Berwick, who had been speaking quickly as a machine gun, froze upon hearing my reply. His expression hardened, and he bit his lower lip hard for some reason. "Fuck. I feel upset for some reason."

"In that case, let me ask you one more thing."

"What now?"

"Shout that word, would you?"

"That word?" he asked in utter confusion.

"A word that can make you invincible."

Berwick's expression became even more confused.

***

What I wanted to know was whether the participants in the frozen state could block all attacks. If they could only block Tantata's attacks, it would be meaningless. To answer that question, I conducted an experiment with Berwick. I used that drinker of fresh blood as my personal punching bag.

Naturally, his face turned pale as I approached him with the Black Dragon Fang in hand.

"A-are you going to swing that at me?" he stammered.

"You won't die," I said confidently.

"Die?! I will die! Even if I don't, it will hurt!" he argued frantically.

"Endure it. Be strong," I said.

"You son of a—"

The experiment was successful. The Black Dragon Fang I swung bounced off Berwick without hitting him. This meant that the physical force that the ice could withstand wasn't limited solely to Tantata's attacks.

If so, it would be okay. There would be no casualties even if I destroyed the punishment building. Anyone crushed beneath the wreckage wouldn't die. At worst, they would suffocate from a lack of air if they were unlucky. This much risk was worth taking.

In the meantime, I came up with an even better idea involving a hole drilled straight through from top to bottom. I recalled the moment the tower had suffered devastating damage. Tantata had caused it. Maybe he could also nullify the tower's defenses. If locking the door alone wasn't enough to trap the participants, the game would become far too disadvantageous for the tagger. That was Plan A.

***

Rumble...

The tower collapsed completely, even though I hadn't thought it would. I dodged or pushed off the pouring rubble and took care of Verita first.

I was left speechless upon seeing her up close. She was in a far more miserable state than I had anticipated. Even the toughest martial artist would have died a hundred times over if they had suffered her wounds, yet Verita was still alive. Her broken bones and torn muscles were rapidly healing.

I supported Verita while using my remaining hand to unleash the White Sun Eclipse and deflect the falling rubble.

It was a fairly large building, but the collapse soon came to an end. For the first time in ages, I saw the world outside. Complete darkness stretched in every direction. It wasn't nightfall. It wasn't ordinary darkness, but a true black curtain that surrounded everything.

Damn. I had to admit that this was the worst-case scenario. It was possible that the punishment building itself wasn't the game space. Instead, it was surrounded by some type of force that had fixed this building in the form of a tower. The dark curtain was the true obstacle preventing the participants from escaping. It was the very framework supporting this entire game space.

"Hi, hihit..."

Under the rubble of the building, Tantata stood up.

That bastard had taken an impact strong enough to bring down an entire building, but he didn't have a single scratch on him. The only thing that bled on his body was a piercing wound on his shoulder, but I hadn't caused the wound.

"Brother..." Verita spoke with difficulty. "This weapon... It works on the demon king..."

She was referring to the Yin-Yang Dao. The weapon Senior Brother He Lou had given me didn't have any special anti-demon aptitude, but it seemed to have a great effect on Tantata. After all, blood was still pouring out of that hole in his body.

"Can you join me?" I dared to ask Verita, even though it sounded harsh.

Regardless of whether I had the Yin-Yang Dao or the opponent was in an imperfect state, I wasn't confident enough to fight the demon king alone and last long.

Verita closed her eyes, as if she was checking her physical condition. Then, she said in a deep voice, "Give me three minutes."

It was an incredibly fast recovery speed considering the wounds she had suffered, but my heart felt a bit heavy.

It is quite the sight. Naturally, I didn't say so aloud.

"You know what to do if it is dangerous, right? I will say Tag if necessary," I warned her.

"Yes."

I nodded slightly and stood in front of Tantata.

Tantata immediately burst out laughing and launched a full-body charge.

Speaking nonsense would buy me a few seconds, but it was clear that there was no hope. One look at his face told me that Tantata was completely enraged. Therefore, the attack itself would be simple.

That posture... Is it a straight-on charge?

Baaaaang!

This fleeting prediction had already saved my life once. I had survived because I had resisted the urge to panic after the demon king had vanished from sight and had instead committed to a reckless leap. Naturally, being airborne restricted my movement, but I could compensate for that to some extent with Crowtaker. More importantly, it gave me a much greater advantage: the ability to pinpoint Tantata's location.

I quickly looked around at the battlefield. Tantata was still nowhere to be seen, but the sound of something reaching out echoed. It was a sharp crackling sound reminiscent of a whip.

His tongue?

I saw a green tongue aiming at me. It wasn't blunt, but it had a sharp shape that resembled a thorn. The thing that struck me as strange was that only the tongue was visible. Tantata was nowhere to be seen.

Then, an entire pile of building debris shook, and I detected his location. This bastard was hiding under the rubble of a building, just like a mole.

The rubble suddenly flew upward and countless green tongues burst out.

The sight made me catch my breath, but instead of shrinking back, I steadied myself in the air. The internal energy drawn up from my dantian blazed through my body like dry leaves feeding a flame.

The technique best suited for this situation was a wide-range one, the White Sun Style's 8th Move. My energy flow was completed in an instant and flames erupted from my entire body.

Great Flame Spiral Hand.

Shaped like my own hand, it clashed with the hundreds of tongues. It was the latter half of the White Sun Eclipse, a finishing move with immense, concentrated energy that could incinerate anything it touched.

From now on, it seemed that the demon king's tongues would have to be exempt from that rule. They recoiled for only a moment before soon writhing again. It was as if they each possessed their own will. Now, they furiously tore apart the Great Flame Spiral Hand.

I couldn't help being stunned for a moment as I watched my finishing move being torn to nothing. Then, I felt a chilling touch beneath my left foot and instinctively swung the Yin-Yang Dao.

Slash!

Should I call this one a detached unit? The green tongue moved secretly on its own and aimed for my back, only to be sliced apart. Blood spurted out as it fell.

I almost let out a short, incredulous laugh. The same tongue that hadn't been damaged by the Great Flame Spiral Hand had now been cut cleanly by the Yin-Yang Dao, as though it was a rotting tree branch.

I still have a long way to go. The realization that the path of martial arts that I had walked on so far wasn't worth a single sword left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The fact that this weapon had once belonged to Senior Brother He Lou didn't matter. Of course, that didn't mean I had any reason to hesitate to use the Yin-Yang Dao.

I took out the forgotten Galaxy Sword of the Martial God and cut through the attacking tongues.

In my opinion, this wasn't a bad response. Every time a tongue was severed, green fluid sprayed into the air. If even a drop touched my skin, my flesh would melt away. No matter how skilled I was, cutting through hundreds of tongues without letting a single drop touch me was impossible. The searing pain of melting flesh and the horrific sensations gradually slowed my movements.

How long has it been? Ten minutes, maybe?

Of course, not even a quarter of that time had passed, but this was how I felt.

I crushed the weak impulse to rely on Verita's support and focused completely on wielding the Yin-Yang Dao.

On a deadly battlefield, the sword of concentration didn't dull easily. If anything, every time it seemed like my life would go out, it only grew sharper. However, unlike my internal energy, my stamina was gradually decreasing.

I was unable to use the White Sun Eclipse. I could only rely on unleashing the Galaxy Sword through the Yin-Yang Dao, so this was a special situation even for me.

I occasionally used Thunder Stomp Footwork or Crowtaker, but those were merely supporting means at best.

Then, at some point, a strange realization hit me. Normally, the more means one had at their disposal in battle, the easier it would be to deal with the enemy's attack. This was why facing the demon king with only a single sword, a single martial art, should have been an impossible task. In truth, it was. It was hard and dirty work.

I felt that my knees could buckle and the sword could slip from my grasp at any moment. Strangely enough, however, I didn't feel like I lacked any means at all when unleashing the Galaxy Sword. Even though the White Sun Eclipse was sealed and I was unable to use my arms, legs, or even my forehead as a weapon, I still felt complete.

Ah, I see what it is.

I started to faintly understand what the masters meant when they described the state of unity between the sword and the soul. For them, the sword was a perfect medium through which to carry out their will.

They had mastered the form, structure, material, strength, and flaws of the sword that I had once defined as limitations to the limit. That way, they could use all of them perfectly at any time. In contrast, I hadn't fully understood any part of my body.

That is why Master said that.

Bai Luguang had once said that the higher one ascended, the more a barehanded martial artist needed to think about.

He was right. The advantage of having one's whole body as a weapon could actually become a disadvantage at higher realms. Even a lifetime wasn't enough time to fully comprehend a single tool called a sword.

Completely understanding every part of the human body that could function as a weapon was a far more arduous and demanding path. After all, the human body was hundreds or thousands of times more complex than a sword. The human body was a microcosm, and fully understanding it as a martial artist was equivalent to fully understanding a universe.

An overwhelming task suddenly appeared in front of me. Yet rather than despair, I was thrilled.

I gained a clue. It wasn't just enlightenment. It was a feeling of finding a clue that would lead to the next level. I entered a trance as I moved, my sword flowing freely. I fought much better than usual.

Bam!

Actually, a tongue should have shot out and pierced my abdomen much earlier. The fragile balance that I had barely been maintaining collapsed in an instant. The moment I faltered, dozens of remaining tongues whipped my body. I was suspended in mid-air, taking at least a few hundred blows in mere seconds.

If I hadn't wrapped my internal energy around myself like armor, I would've been reduced to a pulp. As these tongues hit me mercilessly, I even bit my tongue by accident.

Damn tongue.

The moment I felt a tingling sensation in my mouth, a tongue wrapped around my entire body. At the same time, Tantata emerged from beneath the rubble.

"Ohuhut, ohuhuhut!"

Tantata laughed as he pulled me toward him. I could feel the tongue wrapped around me growing damp. It wasn't an illusion.

The demon king drooled, and his tongue naturally became wet. "A-at last... this moment has come..."

Tantata looked at me with saliva pouring down like rainwater. "A-ahhh...! D-do you know... how long I have been... waiting for this moment?"

The demon king seemed to find it difficult to exercise self-control. One of the tongues that bound me licked my cheek.

It was an unpleasant sensation that I had never experienced in my life. It would feel better to wash my face with hydrochloric acid.

Tantata, who was overcome with excitement, bounced in place. "H-how should I eat you...? S-slowly savoring every bite... or all at once? Ahhh! It is so difficult...!"

Suddenly, he paused and looked at me in confusion, as a breathless laugh escaped my mouth.

"Do you know something, demon king?"

"W-what?"

"The larger and more precise the mechanism, the easier it is to break if even the smallest part is missing." I laughed. "You missed a rat, you bastard."

"H-huh?"

Plan B was in motion.

At that moment, the sound of wings fluttering beneath the collapsed debris echoed. Then, a dark shape shot upward into the light. A bat soared into the sky without looking back.

Tantata's expression was distorted.

"Fly up..." I murmured softly, almost as if I was singing.

My voice couldn't have reached the bat, who was the vampire Berwick.

Berwick flew up fiercely without looking back. The building had collapsed, and a black curtain blocked every direction. Still, there was a faint gap in the sky, letting a bit of sunlight shine through. It was the place where the chimney had been.

Luzard and Luan couldn't pass through that narrow passage, but it was no problem for Berwick, who could transform into a bat.

A vampire like Berwick could survive the tower's collapse even without using Freeze. Therefore, the existence of a trivial vampire that even the demon king had forgotten about had been my Plan B.

"N-no!" Tantata screamed and waved his hands like a madman.

The remaining tongues lashed after Berwick. Then, Verita, who had remained silent until now, joined the battle and seized a mass of tongues with her bare hands. Light poured from her golden eyes and wrapped around her hands. It was just like when she had fought alongside the other believers in the north. With a fierce motion, she tore them apart. She looked as though she were ripping a green snake to pieces with her bare hands.

"L-let go! I said, let go...!"

The tongues shook and slapped Verita, but she didn't let go. Her muscles tore, and her bones shattered, but she held on tightly, completely stopping the movement of the few remaining tongues.

An urgent, earnest voice that wasn't fit for a demon king came out. "P-please! N-no...!"

At the same time, Berwick's bat-like body vanished into the distance, disappearing through the chimney opening.

Tantata's narrow eyes widened, as if they were about to be torn apart. "Noooooooo!"