Chapter 346: Interlude - Not a Regressor (1)

It felt like time had stopped.

Vega turned to Kwon Oh-Jin with a stiff expression. “W-What are you talking about?”

He wasn’t a Regressor? What in the world did that mean?

“Answer me!” Vega shouted, her face filled with unease.

She recalled when they first met—the young man who had boldly claimed to be a Regressor. He knew of a past life she herself could not remember. Their encounter had only been a brief flicker in the span of her long, thousand years of life.

I missed you, Vega.

She recalled the tenderness in his eyes as he looked at her and his trembling voice that called her name. How could she possibly forget? Now, he was saying that it had all been a lie?

“S-Stop lying.” Vega shook her head and forced an awkward smile.

She could guess why he suddenly said something so absurd.

“Did you think saying that would make me withdraw the Sacred Ground?” She shook her head again as if to reject the thought. “I told you, no matter what happens, I’ll protect—”

“Vega,” Kwon Oh-Jin cut her off, looking at her with serious sunken eyes. “It’s not a lie.”

“Don’t say such nonsense—!”

“You can tell just by looking at me.” The Black Heaven had enveloped him.

To be exact, parts of his body had literally transformed into the Black Heaven.

“T-The Heavenly Demon has—”

“No.”

She couldn’t possibly mistake the difference between the Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven and the one Kwon Oh-Jin possessed.

“Vega.” With a bitter smile, he gently placed his hand on her cheek. “I’m not a Regressor.”

Once again, he spat out the truth he had long hidden and ignored.

“Everything... From saying that I knew the future to claiming that I had a special relationship with you in my past life, it was all a lie to deceive you.”

“S-Stop. Stop talking!”

Each word from his lips pierced her heart like a knife.

Vega’s eyes brimmed with tears as she shouted, “D-Didn’t you actually know what would happen in the future?”

He had used Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories to fool Vega completely. After all, predicting the future was something only a true Regressor could do.

“I’m sorry, Vega.” He didn’t bother explaining how he had used Lee Shin-Hyuk’s memories.

She could already tell from the state of his body being merged with the Black Heaven. He had mastered the same power as the Heavenly Demon.

Vega bit her lip and stared at him with trembling eyes. She slapped away his hand resting on her cheek.

Smack!

“You...” She trailed off as the sting of betrayal cut deep into her heart. “You really weren’t a Regressor? This whole time, you were lying to me?”

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She had trusted him more than anyone. He was the only one she had ever given her heart to in her entire life. The shattered pieces of trust turned into sharp shards, stabbing her soul.

Rumble!

The black clouds overhead roared as the wave of darkness loomed ahead.

Kwon Oh-Jin walked past Vega and quietly said, “Yeah. I lied to use your power.”

So...

“There’s no reason for you to sacrifice yourself for me,” he said coldly, reaching out toward Vega.

Black lightning poured down toward her.

Crackle!

Vega staggered back to avoid it. “

Urgh!

”

Empowered by his tenth enlightenment, Kwon Oh-Jin’s Black Heaven had grown strong enough to easily push back Vega even within her Sacred Ground.

“M-My child...!” She rushed forward to reach him, but suddenly halted.

Her hand trembled as the sting of betrayal pierced her heart. It turned into shackles that rooted her in place.

Kwon Oh-Jin glanced back at Vega with a faint smile.

That’s it. This is how it should be.

He buried the words that formed in his mind and turned toward the black clouds.

Rumble!

Kwon Oh-Jin stretched his arms out toward the wave of darkness and focused on the approaching black clouds.

“

Hup!

”

With an explosive surge, the Black Heaven’s clouds burst forth. Compared to the Heavenly Demon’s, Kwon Oh-Jin only possessed a pitiful amount.

However, my Black Heaven is superior in terms of quality.

Rumble!

His Black Heaven clashed against the Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven. The ground twisted and tore apart like paper.

A violent shock rocked him. “

Kugh!

”

Was this what it felt like to face a typhoon or tsunami barehanded? He let out a hollow laugh at the overwhelming disparity.

“S-Shit...” This sheer quantity made any claim of superior quality laughable. “Just how much... have you devoured?”

He believed that he had absorbed a fair amount through his own Black Heaven, but now, he felt utterly insignificant compared to the Heavenly Demon.

“

Haa, haa!

”

The crushing pressure weighed down on him. Was this how Atlas felt, holding up the sky? His legs trembled under the pain. It felt like his bones and flesh were being ground together.

I’m even using Open Heaven, and I’m still like this...!

Open Heaven was an overwhelming power that nullified nearly all physical impacts, but its power failed to shine against another Black Heaven.

Blocking his senses isn’t working either.

Open Heaven could blind and deafen opponents, but this was no use against the black clouds.

“Damn it! Just a little longer...!” He had to buy enough time for Song Ha-Eun and Riarc to escape.

Kwon Oh-Jin desperately fought against the black tide, biting his lip. He wanted to glance back and check how far they had gotten. He wondered if Vega had returned to the Sanctum, but just holding back the tide demanded all his attention. He couldn’t afford to look anywhere else.

“

Gah! Agh!

Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

The massive impact shook the ground.

Rumble!

The ground split and turned for kilometers. The soaring black clouds devoured the sky, which turned pitch-black without a single star in sight. Beneath that darkness, Kwon Oh-Jin stood tall and held back the black clouds with nothing but his own body.

“

Ah, agh.

”

It hurt as his bones cracked and his muscles tore. The pain carved through him. It hurt so much that it could drive him insane.

“

Haa, haa!

”

He had to endure it.

If I’m devoured...

Then, the Black Heaven would also consume the others.

“

Kugh!

”

How much time had passed? It felt like hours or even days, but that was just his perception. His instincts told him that hardly any real time had passed.

How much longer...

Did he have to struggle in this agony?

Rumble.

He could feel the black clouds swallowing him. If the Heavenly Demon’s Black Heaven fully devoured him, what would happen next? Before he could even finish the thought, another wave of agony crashed into him.

“

Gghk, kugh, agh.

”

He had gone past the limits of what he could handle. The pain didn’t even make him scream anymore. Within his flickering consciousness, he heard the black clouds stir.

Rumble.

The Heavenly Demon...?

No, it wasn’t him. This sound was coming from the left side of his chest. Not from the Heavenly Demon, but from his own Black Heaven.

Rumble! Rumble!

The Black Heaven lodged in his heart growled like a beast trapped in a cage. It thrashed violently as if begging to be let out right this moment.

What more do you want me to unleash?

Hadn’t he already used Open Heaven to release it? Kwon Oh-Jin furrowed his brow and stared at his chest.

Rumble.

The Black Heaven imprisoned in his heart spat out black clouds as if to say that it wasn’t enough. It could still let out even more.

There’s... more to release?

Could it be that Open Heaven wasn’t the final stage? Was there something beyond that?

Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lip and placed a hand over the left side of his chest.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Even if I can unlock more of the Black Heaven, what would be the cost?

How many more memories would he lose this time?

His chewed-up lips trembled. If he unshackled the Black Heaven further, more of his memories would be devoured. Perhaps, all of his memories of Song Ha-Eun would disappear.

Just as the dreadful thought crossed his mind, he heard Vega from behind him.

“Oh, Weaver, rising high in the heavens.”

“Ve... ga?”

She hadn’t gone back to the Sanctum?

“Grant your blessing to my child,” she said.

A radiant silver light wrapped around Kwon Oh-Jin.

Rumble!

He could feel the Black Heaven convulsing as if having a seizure. A faint starlight appeared within the flickering blackness of his consciousness.

I can see it.

Kwon Oh-Jin reached for that light in the black sky.

“

Kugh!

”

Just then, with a deafening roar, the black clouds swallowed everything around him.

Rummmble!

He squinted and looked around. “W-What just happened?”

Kwon Oh-Jin found himself in a pitch-black space with not even a speck of light. He had been here once before.

The subconscious.

He snapped his fingers. From the void, a chair and table materialized.

This is my own subconscious.

Unlike the Heavenly Demon, who could intervene in his subconscious, Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t do the same. The fact that he could create things meant that this was his subconscious and not the Heavenly Demon’s.

“

Haaa

.” He sighed and wondered how he had ended up here again.

The air began to churn with black clouds.

Rumble, rumble.

The clouds expanded and contracted erratically until they gathered into a single shape. The thin, young man had the same face as him.

The Heavenly Demon’s face twisted into a demonic snarl as he charged at Kwon Oh-Jin. “You son of a biiiiitch!”