Overlord of Sichuan

Chapter 286: Fortunate Across Two Lives (1)

Every inch of space within sight was dyed a deep crimson.

It was a transformed landscape, altered by the power pouring out from Blood Wheel Asura, who had crossed the threshold of the Life and Death Realm and reached full maturity.

Blood Wheel Asura formed a chilling smile.

The massive Blood Wheels held in both of his hands flashed with the same deep crimson hue.

In his eyes, along with rage, dwelled a madness steeped in killing intent.

“I will tear your limbs apart and offer you as a sacrifice to The Master!”

Blood Wheel Asura’s voice resembled the beastly roar of a predator charging toward its prey.

Blood Wheel Asura lunged straight at Sewoon.

Shaaah!

Chwaaah!

The formless might radiating from his aura in that instant was incomparably greater than even Gu Eum Majon, who had once served as the Left Protector.

His body, having accepted the power of the Blood Demon, spewed forth a destructive Demonic Qi that seemed capable of devouring everything.

Yet Sewoon did not flinch.

That was because he already knew of his opponent’s presence.

Across both before and after the regression, Blood Wheel Asura had been the most deranged fanatic within the Blood Cult.

He was the being who, after the Blood Demon, had orchestrated the greatest number of horrific massacres.

To the martial artists who opposed the Blood Cult, he had been nothing short of a calamity.

However, to Sewoon, Blood Wheel Asura carried a different meaning.

He was the one who had engraved an unforgettable, horrific memory deep into Sewoon’s mind.

-“…If only I had truly known you just a little earlier…”

That was right. Before the regression, Blood Wheel Asura had been the one who killed Sword Queen Do Ha-yeong.

As Sewoon narrowly evaded the incoming Blood Wheels, his gaze instinctively flicked toward one side of the battlefield.

“Everyone, hold on! If we endure just a little longer, the tide will surely turn!”

His eyes landed on Ha-yeong, who was fighting alongside Geumhwa Satae on the battlefield of the Mount Emei Sect.

The Burning Blood Sword Technique unfolding through Ha-yeong’s Thin Sword Flux was breathtakingly beautiful, yet at the same time it emitted a razor-sharp aura.

Sewoon recalled memories of Ha-yeong that he had long buried.

Even before the regression, she had wagered everything she had to fight against the Blood Cult.

Yet her end had been unbearably tragic.

She had met her death through Blood Wheel Asura’s schemes.

And—

Sewoon had not even been able to carry out her final revenge.

Memories from before the regression resurfaced—memories of him gnashing his teeth at his own powerlessness.

Before the regression, Ha-yeong and Sewoon had crossed paths countless times on the battlefield, bound by a chain of ill fate.

To Sword Queen Do Ha-yeong, one of the Three Alliance Leaders of the Anti-Blood Alliance, Sewoon was a traitor who had betrayed the Orthodox Path and an unforgivable villain.

Every encounter between them ended in nothing but clashes of blades and blood-soaked carnage.

“An evil enemy who betrayed the righteous path and threw himself into the Demonic Path!”

“I will never forgive you!!”

Ha-yeong’s voice had been cold and merciless.

She despised Sewoon with every fiber of her being.

Yet Sewoon never offered her a single word in response—no excuses, no explanations.

Because at the time, he believed her words were entirely correct.

Thus, all he did was silently guard her back and secretly aid her and the Anti-Blood Alliance from the shadows.

Each time she fell into a Blood Cult trap, he risked his life to save her.

As their ill-fated bond deepened, Sewoon’s feelings for her continued to grow.

In her unwavering integrity and upright heart, Sewoon saw the reflection of the past he had lost.

“What exactly are you?”

“Are you… helping us?”

“H-Hey, wait! Say something!”

Though he never wished to reveal it, as the battles dragged on and their encounters grew more frequent, Ha-yeong began to harbor doubts.

She could not help but notice it.

Whenever Sewoon participated in a battle, casualties were always at their lowest, and they managed to secure at least a small victory.

Instinctively, Ha-yeong realized that Sewoon was not merely a fiend who sought destruction and slaughter.

But just as she began to cast aside her misunderstanding, tragedy struck.

As the Anti-Blood Alliance grew stronger, Blood Wheel Asura personally took action.

Caught in his trap, Ha-yeong suffered a fatal wound and fell from the cliff of Heavenly Severance.

To save her, Sewoon slaughtered every surrounding enemy at great risk, erased all witnesses, and then leapt off the cliff after her.

By a miracle, Ha-yeong had fallen into a cavern.

There, while treating her grievous injuries, the two formed a bond of fate.

Without exaggeration, those three months were the happiest moments of Sewoon’s life before the regression.

“Why… do you keep saving me?”

At first, Ha-yeong’s voice was still filled with wariness.

To her, Sewoon remained an incomprehensible existence.

“Then why is it that whenever you could have killed me, you always turned your blade aside?”

“…!”

Ha-yeong could not answer.

“I am not the villain you believe me to be.”

“Then… why did you commit such monstrous acts? Why did you join hands with the Blood Cult?!”

Tears welled up in Ha-yeong’s eyes.

Her rage and sorrow pierced straight through Sewoon’s heart.

“I… chose this path… to protect everyone…”

“!!”

Sewoon answered in a low voice.

Deep anguish was etched into his tone.

No further words were necessary.

Their true feelings had crossed.

Those three months were enough to unravel every misunderstanding between them.

Ha-yeong came to understand how lonely and grueling the path Sewoon walked truly was, and through her warmth, Sewoon once again felt the heat of humanity.

They soothed each other’s wounds and confirmed one another’s hearts.

But the moment of parting arrived far too swiftly.

Despite Sewoon’s treatment, her wounds showed not the slightest sign of recovery.

All he could do was prolong her life, moment by moment.

He could not leave the cave to signal others, nor could he go to the Anti-Blood Alliance to summon a physician.

The instant he left her side, she would die in less than one shi.

And in all the world, Sewoon was the most skilled physician still alive.

Thus, Ha-yeong met her inevitable end.

Bearing wounds too deep to survive, Ha-yeong was dying in Sewoon’s arms.

-“…If only I had truly known you just a little earlier…”

Sewoon tried every method and exhausted every ounce of his strength to save her, but nothing worked. In despair, tears streamed down his face.

-If I had… I would have… protected you…

At that moment, warmth touched Sewoon’s cheek.

From her thin, emaciated fingers.

Ha-yeong gently stroked herself as she shed tears.

“If there is a next life… you and I… must meet again….”

And that vivid final warmth pierced deep into Sewoon’s chest like a thorn.

Sewoon returned to reality once more.

Sewoon looked at the Blood Wheel Asura standing before him.

“Where do you think you’re letting your guard down!!”

The Blood Wheel Asura was fiercely swinging his Blood Wheels.

Sewoon lightly evaded.

Although Sewoon had recalled the horrific memories he wanted to forget, his eyes were no longer soaked with regret or sorrow for the past.

After his regression, the new realizations given to him by his father and by Ha-yeong herself were preventing him from ruining everything by being consumed by vengeance.

Sewoon completely drove out his Inner Demons and engraved an unshakable will in their place once more.

He was not fighting for revenge alone.

He was fighting to protect everyone precious who stood behind him.

“Now.”

Sring!

Sewoon gripped his sword.

With every step he took, formless sword qi left behind pure white light.

“I will set everything right.”

Sewoon’s voice shook the battlefield.

There was not the slightest hesitation in his voice.

He was certain of his path.

“Die, Tang Sewoon!”

At that moment, red demonic qi erupted from the Blood Wheel Asura’s Twin Wheels and engulfed the battlefield.

The Blood Wheel Asura’s martial attainment far surpassed that of the Sword Demon Jo Yangpung, reaching a level close to complete mastery of the Life and Death Realm.

His attack was not a simple clash of force.

The dreadful demonic qi scattered by the Blood Wheel Asura raged as if it were a living storm, threatening to devour everything.

Kwarrrrr!

Chwaaaaang!

The Blood Wheels descended toward Sewoon as if a thousand bolts of lightning were striking at once.

Yet Sewoon did not move an inch.

He merely raised Sunyang in his hand.

That seemingly trivial posture was met with ridicule and mockery from the Blood Wheel Asura.

‘That’s enough! A worm so terrified it can’t even draw out its own power!! I can sever his head in a single strike!!’

Satisfied with his own strength, the Blood Wheel Asura sneered.

The demonic qi pouring from his body radiated power that seemed capable of destroying everything.

Though he acknowledged Sewoon’s strength, he was certain that Sewoon could never be stronger than himself.

His Blood Wheels charged toward Sewoon once more.

Pabababat!

Beyond rapid strikes, an endlessly continuing assault of Blood Wheels surged forward, destroying everything around Sewoon.

“Kuhahahahaha!!”

The Blood Wheel Asura let out a mad roar.

At last, the pair of Blood Wheels spun as they flew toward Sewoon’s neck and head.

Like living ferocious beasts, they sought to devour everything that was Sewoon.

A power capable of erasing space itself and all that existed within it.

The Blood Wheel Asura was brimming with confidence.

In his eyes, Jo Yangpung’s defeat was nothing more than a triviality.

After all, he believed himself to be the one who had received the greatest blessing from the Blood Demon.

He was absolutely convinced that he could not lose.

“Die!!”

Kwaaaang!

Jjeojeok!

Space itself twisted as pitch-black demonic qi surged like a storm.

Sewoon lightly swung his sword downward.

The instant the pure white sword radiance collided with the red demonic qi, space warped with a tremendous explosive boom.

It seemed as though the end of everything had arrived.

But then…….

Swaaaaa!

Pasussss!

‘?!’

The Blood Wheel Asura’s pupils trembled violently, as if an earthquake had struck.

Yet Sewoon had effortlessly blocked every attack.

Sewoon had nullified all of the Blood Wheel Asura’s assaults.

Swaaaaa!

Uuuung!

Sewoon’s sword carried the true intent of the Yin-Yang Pattern.

Just like the strike Yoo Jinhak had used to sever the Blood Wheel Asura’s neck before Sewoon’s regression.

Having inherited all of the Sword Emperor’s teachings, Sewoon returned everything to nothingness with a single sword strike.

‘T-That’s impossible!’

“Uaaaaaah!!!”

The Blood Wheel Asura poured out a frenzied barrage of attacks, denying reality.

Pasussss!

Pasusss!

Each time they touched Sewoon’s sword, that destructive power was rendered powerless, vanishing as if into empty air.

Sewoon was not blocking the Blood Wheel Asura’s attacks with brute force.

He was reading the flow of all power and altering that flow according to his own will.

Uuuuuung!

Along with that, the space that had been stained red was purified by his power and began to turn golden.

With every swing of his sword, the crimson space transformed into pure white light.

And then—

Slash!

“Kuaaaagh!!!”

Thud.

With a horrific slicing sound, one of the Blood Wheel Asura’s arms was finally severed.

The arm that fell to the ground spewed red blood, soaking the earth.

Sewoon looked upon that miserable sight with emotionless eyes and spoke.

“Losing one arm each—how fittingly symmetrical we look.”

Sewoon’s cold voice shook the battlefield.