Chapter 5
The storm that had swallowed the heavens and the earth disappeared as if it had been a lie. The dim dawn replaced the vanished clouds.
Dawn also came to the Blood Emperor's Tomb, which had been directly struck by a huge bolt of lightning.
The large rock, split as if struck by an axe, and the burnt remains were eerie.
Next to the split rock, a red cocoon still floated in the air, flickering.
[You bastard!]
Rumble!
In a space where red and blue were mixed together, a deafening lion's roar echoed.
In the middle of the red space, a middle-aged man in a dragon robe stood firm.
In the blue space on the opposite side, a young man in his early twenties stood with difficulty, panting for breath.
It was Cheongun and the Blood Emperor, whose seal had been broken from the Blood Emperor's Rock.
The space they were in was not the real world. It was the mental space where Cheongun's soul resided.
The Blood Emperor's soul had entered there and was fighting with Cheongun's soul. To be precise, they were fighting over Cheongun's body.
[Get out of the way!]
"I can't. This is my body!"
[Shut up! If I saved a dead man, you should at least give me your body. Where do you get off resisting!]
"Are you telling me to hand over the goods because you saved me? If I hadn't cut the rope, the seal probably wouldn't have been broken even if the lightning had struck! Since I saved you who was trapped, shouldn't I be the one demanding the goods?"
It was impossible to know whether it was true or not. But there were words on the wooden board telling him not to cut, and as soon as the rope was cut, the lightning had struck the rock.
After that, the monster-like soul in front of him was released from the seal and was trying to take his body.
"I will never give it to you!"
[You, you bastard...!]
Flames erupted from the Blood Emperor's red eyes.
He was more stubborn than he looked.
Wasn't he a guy who was on the verge of death? He thought he would be annihilated with a single gesture. But he had been stubbornly holding on for several hours.
Thanks to that, the Blood Emperor was furious.
He had tried to heal Cheongun's dying body and take it over, but the situation was going in an unexpected direction.
He was clearly a guy who had never even exercised, let alone knew the 'm' of martial arts, but the weak-looking guy was as stubborn as an ox.
Is that guy the problem, or is the lightning energy the problem?
It was a part he had been worried about from the beginning.
Cheongun was holding the energy of lightning, which had the effect of exorcism. The energy of the lightning that fell from the sky did not scatter and remained in Cheongun's body.
Originally, it was an energy that should have scattered into nature without being able to stay due to the characteristics of lightning energy.
But when the Blood Emperor unfolded the Strange Art to save Cheongun, the scattering lightning energy settled in Cheongun's body along with the blood energy.
[Damn it, I thought I could scatter it enough.]
No matter how much lightning energy had the power of exorcism, he was confident that he could drive it out.
But the problem was that he had only thought about the lightning energy in Cheongun's body and did not know Cheongun's stubborn personality.
In a situation where he felt like he was going to die, the clear energy of lightning had wrapped around his body along with the hot blood energy.
Cheongun, who had come to his senses, focused his mind on the clear and cool lightning energy rather than the sticky blood energy. Thanks to that, the lightning energy that was about to scatter settled in Cheongun's body and was even able to absorb the vast amount of energy scattered around.
[This is your last chance, you bastard! If you don't want your soul to be torn apart and annihilated, get out of the way!]
The Blood Emperor, who had urged Cheongun, gritted his teeth.
Cheongun's legs trembled at the sight of the Blood Emperor, who had transformed into a vicious demon.
But he couldn't back down.
He chewed on the words of the ancient sages that if you just kept your wits about you, even when death was at your doorstep, you would be fine.
Moreover, he had something he had to do.
"If you're going to kill me, kill me! I can't back down like this out of frustration!"
[Frustrated? What are you frustrated about! Weren't you a guy who was going to die from being struck by lightning anyway?]
"In any case, since I'm alive, I can't just die!"
The Blood Emperor's face crumpled as he looked at Cheongun, who was strongly resisting.
He could feel that Cheongun would never back down. In that case, there was no need to drag it out any longer.
In fact, it was the Blood Emperor who was in a hurry. If he fought while waiting indefinitely, his victory was certain in the end, no matter how much the guy struggled.
But there was a problem.
'There's no time.'
There was not much time left.
Moreover, the dawn was breaking. When the sun rises, the soul is annihilated by the sunlight.
[Since you are the owner of the body, I was going to show you one last act of kindness, but if you refuse the toast and want the penalty, then so be it.]
Hwaaaak!
The red space where the Blood Emperor was standing began to shake.
The entire space rippled.
At the change in the huge flow, Cheongun clenched his two fists.
The thought that this might be the last time crossed his mind.
'Is this it? No, I have to survive somehow! I have to live!'
The red space, which had started to move, slowly began to swirl around the Blood Emperor.
The ground on which the Blood Emperor stood boiled as if it were a lava zone.
Chwaaaak!
Kraaaang!
Huge blood dragons began to burst out of the ground.
Nine blood dragons with massive bodies stood on two feet and thrashed about in all directions.
Blue lightning flashed from Cheongun's two eyes.
"Uwaaaaaa!"
He shouted, squeezing out all the strength in his body.
The blue space where Cheongun was standing began to move. The space that had only been defending responded to Cheongun's urgent heart.
Like a huge, majestically flowing river, it moved quietly at first.
But it slowly began to ripple and then became rough like a violent storm.
Jjeojeojeong!
The blue sky shook, and huge streams of light stretched out from the sky like a spider's web.
As countless bolts of lightning stretched out in all directions, something shot up from the violently churning ground.
It was the legendary mythical creature, the blue dragon. The brilliant blue dragon with blue scales flew in the sky and raised its momentum.
The Blood Emperor sneered.
[You bastard. Not bad! But you can't defeat my blood dragons with just one blue dragon!]
Hwaaaak!
As soon as he finished speaking, the red energy covered the blue energy.
The blood dragons, which were standing firmly on the red ground, also rushed out with their massive bodies thumping.
Cheongun clenched his two fists and put his strength into it, as if squeezing out all the energy in his body.
The blue energies clashed with the red energies that were rushing in.
The huge blue dragon also responded and clashed with the nine blood dragons in front.
Kraaaang!
CRASH!
If the heavens and the earth were to be created anew, it would be like this.
A battle at the end of the world unfolded before his eyes.
All directions exploded, swirled, and were overturned.
Nothing was intact.
Nowhere was safe.
Cheongun, wrapped in a bluish, round membrane, floated in the air.
The Blood Emperor was still in a relaxed state.
Red threads like a haze rippled in all directions.
Shushushuk.
The Blood Emperor's hazes were shot straight at Cheongun. The round membrane that was wrapping around Cheongun rippled at the attack that was as fast as light.
Tidididing!
The sound of needles clashing rang out countless times.
All Cheongun could do was to squeeze out all the energy in his body. It was a long way for Cheongun, who had not learned even a single move of martial arts, to win against the Blood Emperor, the number one demon in the world.
The round protective membrane shook at the violent attack that was clashing relentlessly. It was precarious against the attack that seemed like it would burst at any moment.
The huge blue dragon had already been bitten by the blood dragons, and the blue energy was being encroached upon by the red energy.
The fierce battle that seemed like it would last forever also had an end.
Peng!
With the sound of something bursting, Cheongun's entire body was pierced by red threads. The protective membrane that was protecting Cheongun had burst.
Cheongun's body hung in the air, limp.
"Keuk, keukkeuk."
A gurgling sound flowed out of Cheongun's mouth.
As if a single thread of consciousness remained, he looked down at the Blood Emperor surrounded by the red haze and moved his lips.
"Gi...ve...it...back..."
Jureureuk, a single tear of blood flowed down Cheongun's cheek.
[Stubborn bastard...]
The Blood Emperor made a fed-up expression.
It was a time when his soul would have scattered a hundred times over.
To hold on like this even after the final blow, he was a guy with tremendous mental strength.
But he couldn't just be impressed forever.
There was no time. The sunrise would begin soon. Hundreds of years of waiting would go to waste, and his soul would be scattered to pieces.
The Blood Emperor's hand slowly rose. The red threads like a haze around him raised their heads.
As he waved his hand, the red threads that flew straight away pierced Cheongun's last remaining breath.
Shushushuk-
Peobeobeok!
After a while, the threads of light that were connected to Cheongun scattered in the air.
Cheongun's body fell to the floor with a thud. Cheongun's body, which had fallen to the floor, was slowly buried.
When Cheongun's body had completely disappeared, both the sky and the ground became red.
The Blood Emperor raised his head and looked up.
Even though the whole world had turned red, he could not remove the energy of the blue lightning flowing above the sky.
It still growled and did not obey the Blood Emperor.
[You're the one who's left. This body is already mine. I'll cut off your breath soon enough.]
The Blood Emperor's body, who had muttered towards the lightning energy, slowly became blurry. All things also slowly scattered, but the lightning energy writhed until the very end.
Thus, the Blood Emperor escaped from the mental space.
Flash.
The Blood Emperor, who was floating in the air, opened his eyes. The red cocoon was already gone.
The Blood Emperor, who slowly descended to the floor, looked around.
Nothing had changed.
He lowered his head and looked at his body here and there.
His face automatically contorted. It was an expression of displeasure.
He raised his head and looked at the mountain ridge in the distance.
[How long has it been. To face the sunlight.]
Hundreds of years had passed since his soul was sealed in the red rock because of some Taoist bastard. He had longed for it countless times, wanting to feel the warm sunlight.
But the red dawn was slowly receding. A bright sunlight was rising from beyond the mountain ridge.
The Blood Emperor smiled at the corners of his mouth as he looked at the approaching sunlight.
The sunlight of the rising sun was cast at his feet.
His body trembled with a thrill.
He leaned his upper body back and spread his arms to the sunlight that was gradually wrapping around his entire body.
"Yes, this is it. Hahaha."
A smile automatically formed on his lips at the warmth.
How much he had wanted to feel this sunlight.
"...Huh?"
The Blood Emperor, who had taken over Cheongun's body and was briefly entrusting his body to the sunlight, made a puzzled expression.
Something writhed inside his body with a sizzling sound.
"Hmph! Is it lightning energy? I'll have to get rid of it completely."
The lightning energy that was crouching inside his body writhed. Even though Cheongun's soul had disappeared, the lightning energy was still resisting.
Jjireureureung.
The tingling thrill gradually increased in intensity. Blue static electricity was generated from his body.
Pajijijik.
"You bastard!"
The Blood Emperor, his face contorted, circulated the Blood Emperor Divine Art.
The highest-level divine art that had rebuked the world, so much so that it was called a divine art even though it was a martial art, was unfolded, transcending hundreds of years of time and space.
A red haze slowly rose around Cheongun's body.
Pajijijik.
A blue lightning still flowed through Cheongun's body.
Every time the red haze that was coming out of his body brushed against the blue lightning, it was cut off strand by strand and scattered in the air.
"Keuk."
The Blood Emperor groaned every time a spark flew.
The problem was not the resisting lightning energy. If it were just the lightning energy, he could somehow suppress it with force and scatter it.
But the problem was the sunlight that was drenching his entire body with the sunrise.
"Damn it! I haven't fully adapted to the body yet."
Although he had taken over Cheongun's body, he had not completely assimilated with it.
The lightning energy and the sunlight met and dealt a blow to the Blood Emperor's soul, which had not yet adapted to Cheongun's body.
It was not a simple energy. Both were energies that could destroy the energy of evil.
Shiiiik.
A red smoke began to leak out of Cheongun's body.
Veins bulged on his face, and it contorted like a vicious demon.
It was an unexpected situation, but he was not flustered. He had too much experience from the years he had lived for that. He was the Blood Emperor who had overcome even worse situations than this.
He gathered the scattering blood energy and straightened Cheongun's collapsing body.