<h4>Chapter 315 - I Am</h4>


    Oh Kang-Woo sped his hands together. He forced together the two energies that were violently rejecting one another.


    <i>‘Molting.’</i>


    And then, he slightly opened one of the Doors of the Ten Thousand Demon Core. It did not take long for him to feel a response.


    <i>Crunch—! Crunch!</i>


    “Kargh, hurgh!”


    Kang-Woo’s vision flickered along with unimaginable pain. His skin was tearing open along with the chilling sound of breaking bone.


    <i>‘Fuuuuuuuuck.’</i>


    He writhed in pain that he could never get used to, being put on the threshold of death.


    <i>‘Please let me be right.’</i>


    He had realized not long ago that the opposing force frombining demonic energy and sacred power felt simr to when he used molting.


    “Kurgh, kargh!”


    He twisted around. Molting could not be considered a technique; to put it simply, it was a failure that had no positive effects, destructive capabilities, or degree of perfection. The only reason why he used it was because it improved his demonic energy control in exchange for being put on the verge of death. To give aparison, it was like ingesting a deadly poison to raise one’s poison resistance.


    <i>‘But...’</i>


    Molting was indeed a failure. To be more precise, it was a technique that he had not been able to perfect.


    “Haaa, haaa, haaa,” Kang-Woo panted heavily.


    The demonic energy of the Ten Thousand Demon Core surged. He added sacred power to the extremely rampant demonic energy. The amount of sacred power added to his near-infinite demonic energy was like pouring a bucket of water into a gigantic sea. However, its effect had been far above his imagination.


    [You have learned ‘Chaos - Burst’, a bottom-rank skill of ‘Chaos’.]


    A message window popped up. Kang-Woo smirked.


    “Graaaaaahh!”


    <i>Boom! Boom! Boom!</i>


    A giant bull charged toward him while shaking the earth. Two horns the size of a building, wrapped in ck mes, pointed at Kang-Woo.


    “Huuup,” Kang-Woo inhaled.


    He imbued the gray energy that he had created by sping his hands together, on his right fist. The energy that he had never felt before raged within him; it was violent, disordered, and wild, truly befitting the name <i>Chaos</i>.


    <i>‘I never thought there’d be energy more insane than demonic energy.’</i>


    Kang-Woo smirked. The energy formed bybining sacred power and demonic energy was running wild, trying to separate like water being poured into boiling oil.


    ‘But still...’


    Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes, gleaming with a strange sense of delight.


    <i>‘This thing’s really rousing my pride.’</i>


    The corners of his mouth went up as he stared at the gray energy on his right hand. He was extremely used to keeping in check energy that would burst as soon as he let up for even a moment. He had done so for ten whole millennia without rest.


    <i>Rumble—!</i>


    “H-Hyung-nim!”


    “Kyaaaah! M-Master Kang-Woo!”


    “My king!”


    Kang-Woo could hear Kim Si-Hun, Halcyon and Balrog’s shouts.


    <i>‘Focus.’</i>


    He ignored them. He took a very deep breath and lowered his stance. He pulled back his right fist imbued with the gray energy. Twisting his body even slightly raised the burden on his body in folds.


    <i>‘And here...’</i>


    Boom!


    Kang-Woo aggressively stomped on the ground and used a technique that could be considered a martial art technique despite him having absolutely no knack for martial arts.


    <i>‘Skybreaker.’</i>


    He stepped forward with his left foot, twisted his waist, and swung his right fist with all his might.


    “Graaaaaaahhh!”


    The hundred-meter king of demonic beasts and the king of demons that wasn’t even two meters tall shed.


    ━━━━━━━!!


    Sound disappeared. The ground copsed hundreds of meters, and the atmosphere around them burned up so hot that it was bubbling. An overwhelming recoil shot Kang-Woo away like a cannon.


    “Kurgh!”


    He was shot back as he destroyed the ground that he skid over.


    “Hyung-nim!”


    Si-Hun quickly ran to catch Kang-Woo as he was blown back.


    “Kuh,” Kang-Woo grimaced while scrunched up and clenching his right arm.


    His right arm that had been imbued with the gray energy had beenpletely mangled. He instinctively used the Authority of Regeneration.


    “Fu...ck.”


    The wound was not regenerating. Kang-Woo tried to get up while biting his lip, but lost his bnce.


    “A-Are you okay, hyung-nim?!” Si-Hun shouted while tightening his hold on Kang-Woo.


    Kang-Woo was not only injured on his right arm; a fragment of Behemoth’s horn was piercing his chest. Si-Hun quickly grabbed the fragment and pulled it out, Kang-Woo’s blood pouring out like a fountain.


    <i>Rip!</i>


    Si-Hun tore his clothes without hesitation to apply pressure on Kang-Woo’s wound.


    “Haaa, haaa.”


    The Authority of Regeneration was activated as soon as the horn fragment had been taken out, but the deep wound that had been formed by it could not be healed.


    “Cough, cough!”


    “Hyung-nim!”


    Kang-Woo vomited ck blood. He stood up while being supported by Si-Hun. He was not the only one who was injured.


    “Graaaaaaaaahhh!!”


    Behemoth thrashed about, his left hornpletely broken off. Kang-Woo looked down at his right fist, which had been fully healed with the Authority of Regeneration, in surprise.


    <i>‘I never thought his horn would break.’</i>


    Kang-Woo had heard countless legends about Behemoth, especially about his horns, which had been known to be able to kill even gods. One of Behemoth’s horns, which had not even suffered the tiniest scratch during his entire existence, had been destroyed.


    “Grrrrk! Grrk!”


    Behemoth struggled in pain that he had never felt before and scratched the ground with his intact right horn like a giant excavator. Kang-Woo’s eyes shone.


    <i>‘This is my chance.’</i>


    He felt like he would be able to kill Behemoth if he pushed himself a little more.


    “My king! We have secured an escape route!”


    “Kang-Woo! The Rift is getting smaller! Please hurry!”


    Just then, he heard Balrog and Han Seol-Ah’s voices. Kang-Woo frowned.


    <i>‘Shit.’</i>


    There was not much time. No, time was not the only issue.


    “Seol-Ah! H-Hyung-nim’s injury is...!”


    The deep wound from being pierced in the chest by Behemoth’s horn fragment was not being healed by the Authority of Regeneration, causing him to bleed profusely.


    <i>‘My injury is too serious.’</i>


    Behemoth had not been the only one to have received a critical injury. Kang-Woo would need to use <i>Chaos - Burst</i> again to kill Behemoth, but there was a high chance that he would be unable to control the energy if he used such a technique at his current physical state.


    “Let’s... Run.”


    Kang-Woo trampled on his boiling desire to devour Behemoth right here and now. Running away was a wise decision.


    “Cough! Kuh, argh.”


    Kang-Woo clenched his chest, and vomited ck blood again.


    <i>- A-Arrgghh.</i>


    Just then, he heard someone’s faint groan, but he was in no position to pay it any mind.


    “Si-Hun! Bring Kang-Woo here quickly!” Seol-Ah shouted, her face pale from having seen how badly Kang-Woo was injured.


    Si-Hun nodded. “Hold on tight, hyung-nim.”


    He supported Kang-Woo’s back with one arm and put his other arm under Kang-Woo’s knees, a positionmonly known as the princess carry. Si-Hun used the Heavenly Dragon Movement Technique to its absolute limit. Just then...


    <i>Rumble—!</i>


    “Graaaaahhh!”


    The split ground crumbled, and the thrashing Behemoth shot ck mes toward them. An intense heat was chasing after them.


    <i>‘We have to run.’</i> Si-Hun thought.


    Kang-Woo would die for sure if he was struck by those mes.


    “Aaaaaaahhh!”


    Si-Hun ran on the copsing ground. In front of him was the crumbling earth, and behind him were enormous mes being shot out by Behemoth.


    <i>‘Shit!’</i>


    Si-Hun bit his lip anxiously. He wanted to create a bridge using Sword Control, but there were no weapons that he could create a bridge with.


    <i>Crumble—!</i>


    “Kuh!”


    “Kang-Woo!” Seol-Ah shouted.


    Si-Hun ran out of things to step on, and was pulled down by gravity.


    “Shit, shit, shit!” he cursed.


    He refused to die so pathetically in a ce like this.


    “Raaaaaaaahhh!” Si-Hun screamed like a madman.


    <i>‘If there are no weapons...’</i>


    He just needed to create them. He drew out his Qi to make objects in the form of swords. They had been made in a hurry, so they were poor in both form and power, but that did not matter since what he needed right now were not weapons but footholds for him to step on.


    <i>Boom! Boom! Boom!</i>


    Si-Hun soared in the air while stepping on the swords in the air made with Qi. He looked as if he was running in midair.


    <i>Riiing.</i>


    [Raising assimtion with Martial God Tian Taihuang from 51.2% to 60.8%!]


    [Raising proficiency of Heavenly Dragon Movement Technique!]


    [You have learned Void Steps!]


    [You have learned the basics of Formless Sword!]


    Message windows popped up in front of Si-Hun., but he did not have the leeway to care.


    “Hurry!!”


    The purple Rift was shrinking more and more; it was now only three metersrge. The party members were in front of the Rift, anxiously looking at Si-Hun and Kang-Woo.


    “Go on ahead of us!” Si-Hun shouted.


    It was stupid to huddle around the Rift when it was getting smaller by the second.


    “... I leave the king to you, human,” Balrog remarked as he jumped out of the Rift with his eyes clenched shut.


    The others also looked back in anxiety as they went through the Rift.


    “Haaa, haaa!” Si-Hun panted heavily.


    The Rift was now only two metersrge.


    <i>‘I can do it.’</i>


    1.8 meters...


    <i>‘Just a little more.’</i>


    1.5 meters...


    <i>‘Just a little faster!!’</i>


    1.11 meters...


    “Kuh!”


    Si-Hun threw himself into the tiny Rift. <i>Thump. </i>The Rift closed the moment both he and Kang-Woo went through it.


    ***


    <i>Rumble!</i>


    The deste world with a gray sky and aridnd was crumbling.


    [The end of the satellite world Shade has begun.]


    “Hmm,” a low voice echoed within the copsing world. “To think he would destroy Behemoth’s horn... Hah, he sure is unfathomable.”


    <i>Step, step.</i>


    A hunchback wearing a robe akin to a straw mat and holding a cane exuding ck light was walking through the copsing world. As he was leisurely walking on the violently shaking earth, he stopped in his tracks; it was the ce where Kang-Woo had coughed blood.


    “Oh?” Eyes shone from within the old robe. “Hahaha! Wow, the demon king is impressive, but... so are you, in your own right.”


    The being put his hand on the ck blood that Kang-Woo had coughed out, and grabbed a ck gem made of crystallized demonic energy that had melted down to the size of a fingernail.


    <i>- U-Urrgghh.</i>


    A groan came out from the back gem.


    <i>- I-I am...</i>


    “I know very well who you are.” The being snickered in an extremely displeasing way. “It is an honor to see you again, Lord Satan.”