<h4>Chapter 403 - The Battle Is Already Over</h4>


    “What the hell did you do?” Oh Kang-Woo asked as he frowned.


    Tai Wuji tastedpletely different from before. He had tasted as refined as the finest cuisine, but his energy suddenly turned crude and disorderly. Rather than change, it was more apt to say it had deteriorated.


    Kang-Woo covered his face with his hands and pushed the zing mes away to see.


    “The hell?” He frowned after seeing what Tai Wuji had be. He saw bat wings on his back and goat horns on his forehead. Kang-Woo expressed in disappointment, “... No way. Did you be a demon?”


    Kang-Woo gritted his teeth aggressively.


    “What the f...” he cursed as he stomped his feet in dissatisfaction. “Why... Why did you be a demon, you dumbass?!”


    Kang-Woo had been satiating himself within the priceless pleasure and madness brought by the great battle, but...


    “If you became a demon...”


    If Tai Wuji put down his sword and reduced himself to a demon...


    “The battle is already over.”


    Kang-Woo stared at Tai Wuji in disappointment— no, despair.


    <i>‘Just a little longer... If we had fought for just a little longer...’</i>


    Kang-Woo looked down at himself. He was covered in the mes of Voracity, the gold and ck fire created through the merging of every single Authority that he had gained through the eating of demons.


    <i>‘I would’ve been able to perfect it.’</i>


    The mes covering Kang-Woo were getting weaker. A feeling of vanity swept over him like a wet nket. He looked down in disappointment at the mes of Voracity, which had been reduced to a small ember.


    The Authority of ze used by Prince Mammon could not even bepared to the mes of Voracity, made through the merging of all the Authorities within the Demonic Sea, sacred power, and demonic energy. Not even the explosion that he had created through the Chaos skill could bepared to it.


    Kang-Woo stared in disappointment as the mes powerful enough to burn the entire world to a crisp disappeared from his fingertips. He clicked his tongue.


    <i>‘Well, at the very least...’</i>


    Kang-Woo lightly waved his hand, and it turned into gold and ck mes.


    <i>‘It hasn’t disappearedpletely.’</i>


    He was able to mimic the mes of Voracity to an extent.


    <i>‘This is good enough for now.’</i>


    mes of this level were more than enough to face Tai Wuji; no, he honestly did not need the mes of Voracity to face Tai Wuji anymore.


    <i>‘With the way he is now...’</i>


    Kang-Woo was confident that he would be able to defeat him even with the second Door closed. That was how weak Tai Wuji felt to him.


    “What... the...” Tai Wuji stared at Kang-Woo iprehensibly as his eyes shook. “Why...?”


    He had surely be stronger; he was surging with power that had rushed into him through the unleashing of the Demon God’s Deific Essence. He now possessed enough power to vaporize an entire star.


    <i>‘So why...’</i>


    Why was he still no match for that monster? Tai Wuji trembled and bit his lip as he clenched what remained of his other arm after the monster ate it.


    “What do you mean... the battle is already over?” Tai Wuji asked while ring at Kang-Woo.


    The battle was not over yet. He had gained power iparable to what he had before unleashing the Deific Essence. He should be the one saying that the battle was already over.


    “I mean exactly what I said,” Kang-Woo answered uninterestedly. He stared at Tai Wuji, who had be a demon, deplorably and continued, “You were stronger before you turned into a demon.”


    Before turning into a demon, Tai Wuji had been magnificent and thrill-inducing. However...


    “Now, you’re nothing but a strong dumbass.”


    “Bullshit!”


    <i>Boom!</i>


    Tai Wuji aggressively stomped his feet. Suffocating power poured out from him; it was the power that Demon God Bauli had granted him. The Transcendent-rank Deific Essence only possessed by Titans, beings that have existed since before the era of myths, was now in his hands.


    <i>‘A strong dumbass, you say?’</i>


    That was impossible. Tai Wuji refused to believe it was possible since he had to let go of the martial arts that he had spent all his life training to gain this power. He gritted his teeth and extended his remaining arm toward Kang-Woo.


    “That’s impossible!!”


    <i>Rumble!!</i>


    A storm of ck waves, formed by the immense demonic energy Tai Wuji had earned through unleashing the Demon God’s Deific Essence, shot at Kang-Woo. The wave of demonic energy was so powerful that it could vaporize the entire continent of Aernor. However...


    “What’s so impossible about it, man?” Kang-Woo mentioned.


    <i>Poof.</i>


    The wave of demonic energy vanished without a trace. It brought about no change whatsoever as if one had poured a bucket of water into an ocean.


    Kang-Woo spat in dissatisfaction. “See? It tastes like shit.”


    Tai Wuji’s expression dyed in shock. The surging sense of vanity drained him of his strength. He copsed down to his knees and lowered his head with nk eyes.


    “Just... why?”


    “Do you still not understand?” Kang-Woo stared at Tai Wuji in disdain. “Did you seriously think you were beating me because you were strong?”


    Kang-Woo smirked and shook his head. The reason why he had not been able to surpass Tai Wuji was not just because Tai Wuji was strong. If that was the only reason, Kang-Woo would have won the moment he opened the first Door of the Demonic Sea since the power contained by the Demonic Sea was nearly infinite.


    <i>‘But...’</i>


    He was not able to surpass Tai Wuji; he had lost so miserably that he had no choice but to open the second Door while risking his life. In the first ce, Tai Wuji was not able to defeat him because he was strong.


    “No, there’s no way that’s the case,” Kang-Woo remarked.


    Tai Wuji had only been able to overpower Kang-Woo so one-sidedly because the realm of martial arts that he reached through endless training had been so incredibly high.


    <i>‘I barely know martial arts.’</i>


    He had learned a little from Kim Si-Hun, but what he had learned was barely the tip of the iceberg. Compared to Tai Wuji’s knowledge of martial arts, it was fair to say that Kang-Woo knew nothing about martial arts.


    <i>‘Even if I dedicate my life to martial arts...’</i>


    He would never be able to reach the realm that Tai Wuji had reached; that was how impressive Tai Wuji had been.


    “But you threw all that away?” Kang-Woo sighed deeply and clicked his tongue.


    The moment Tai Wuji abandoned his sword and became a demon, he practically challenged Kang-Woo to a battle of pure strength using demonic energy.


    <i>‘And...’</i>


    There was no way Kang-Woo would lose in such a battle.


    “Fucking dumbass,” Kang-Woo said in condemnation with no intent to mock Tai Wuji in any way.


    Tai Wuji looked down at himself nkly in shock. He had gained this power by giving up everything that he had umted until now.


    <i>‘But...’</i>


    He had lost the hope of being able to defeat that monster exactly because he had given everything up. His head was burning up, and he was having trouble breathing due to the horrible sense of regret. His vision blurred as he was filled with uncontroble fury.


    “Shut... up.”


    Tai Wuji stood up. He did not acknowledge— no, could not acknowledge his blunder. He had no choice but to be a monster himself to face that monster. There had been no other way than to let go of his sword.


    “Let us see how long you can pretend to be in leisure,” said Tai Wuji as he stood up while fluttering his bat wings.


    Kang-Woo chuckled. “What, are you going so far as to fabricate your memories now?”


    There was no way Tai Wuji wouldn’t know that the gap between them had widened after he became a demon. Kang-Woo could easily guess why Tai Wuji was not acknowledging the fact that he had made the irreversible blunder of abandoning his martial arts.


    “Sick bastard,” Kang-Woo red at Tai Wuji in contempt and shook his head in disappointment. “You just fabricate any memory that you don’t like, huh?”


    Tai Wuji was just consoling himself that he was not wrong and that he had made the right choice. It could not be any more pathetic. Tai Wuji’s shamelessness disgusted Kang-Woo.


    <i>Riiing.</i>


    [I mean, you’re not one to talk—]


    “I’m disappointed in you, Tai Wuji.”


    Kang-Woo clenched his fists.


    <i>Fwoosh.</i>


    The mes of Voracity covered his fists; the gold and ck mes burned fiercely as if they wanted to eat some more.


    “How can one who barely knows himself ever hope to know his enemies?” Kang-Woo said as if criticizing Tai Wuji.


    <i>Riiing.</i>


    [Like I said, you’re not one to t—]


    <i>Bam!</i>


    Kang-Woo stomped his feet and swung his fist, and the mes of Voracity extended in the direction of his swing.


    “Grrrrrrrrr!!” Tai Wuji growled like a beast and raised his arm.


    <i>Rumble—!!</i>


    He burst with demonic energy while protecting himself with his bat wings.


    <i>Fwoosh!</i>


    “Kurgh!”


    However, the surging demonic energy was all too easily devoured by the mes of Voracity and disappeared.


    <i>‘What an insane technique...!’ </i>Tai Wuji thought.


    He stepped back in shock. The mes that the monster had made were monstrous beyond belief. Attacks were meaningless before those mes because they devoured everything in their path. It was as useless as shooting a water gun at a giant tsunami.


    The mes of Voracity grewrger after eating the demonic energy and continued to aim for Tai Wuji.


    <i>‘To get through those mes and kill that monster...’</i>


    There was no other way than to attack with power that the mes of Voracity could not absorb all at once.


    <i>‘But how?’</i>


    Tai Wuji had not been able to ovee those mes with either the strongest sword attack he had or the power he had acquired after unleashing the Demon God’s Deific Essence.


    <i>‘There isn’t a way.’</i>


    Tai Wuji lowered his head. However much he thought, he could not think of a way to kill that monster. Just then...


    <i>Wriggle.</i>


    “Huh?”


    Tai Wuji’s eyes widened. He could feel something squirming on his chest.


    <i>‘Could it be...?’</i>


    His eyes shone as he took out the object with his one remaining arm.


    “A-Aaaahh.”


    In his hand was a ck lump squirming as if it was alive. The lump was absorbing the energy that was fiercely reverberating around them.


    “The Key of the Demonic Sea...”


    The Demon God’s legacy was on the verge of beingpleted. Tai Wuji stared at the pulsing ck lump with shaking eyes. A ray of hope lit up his eyes.


    <i>‘If it’s the Demon God’s legacy... With this ck lump that contains Demon God Bauli’s power... I’ll be able to kill that monster.’</i>


    Tai Wuji grasped the ck lump while smiling ecstatically.


    “Ha... Hahahahahaha!” he burst intoughter.


    He could feel the overwhelming power from the Demon God’s legacy. Power even greater than what he had obtained after unleashing the Demon God’s Deific Essence flowed into him. It was so massive that he felt unbeatable. He had a feeling that he would be able to extinguish that monster’s mes with ease.


    Tai Wuji tried to pull in the ck lump while bursting intoughter, but...


    “Huh?”


    It was not budging. The ck lump was squirming in his hand as if it was unhappy. Immense pressure spread his fingers apart.


    “W-Wait!”


    The Demon God’s legacy escaped Tai Wuji’s grasp and moved on its own in the air.


    “N-No...”


    The ck lump flew toward Kang-Woo like a dog running to its owner. Tai Wuji’s face dyed with despair.


    “Nooooooooo!!”


    Kang-Woo caught the ck lump that flew toward him. It squirmed in Kang-Woo’s hand happily like a dog begging to be pet by its owner.


    “The hell is this thing?” Kang-Woo tilted his head.