Chapter 348: Interlude - Not a Regressor (3)

Flames danced wildly.

Fwoosh!

They blazed through the subconscious realm as if they would consume the entire world.

“

Haa, haa...

” Sweat streamed down Kwon Oh-Jin’s back.

Now completely engulfed in black clouds, the Heavenly Demon attacked as cunningly as a venomous snake and as savagely as a starving beast.

I have to endure it.

If he died here, everything he had confessed to Vega would have been for nothing. Kwon Oh-Jin struggled to catch his breath and glared sharply at the Heavenly Demon.

If they had fought in the real world, Kwon Oh-Jin wouldn't have stood a chance.

But this is my subconscious.

This wasn’t reality, but a space within his own mind. Even if the power gap between them was as great as an ant and an anteater, Kwon Oh-Jin was the owner of this place at the very least.

If I can control the space based on my will...

Kwon Oh-Jin stared at the black flames rushing toward him and snapped his fingers.

Rumble!

A wall of black clouds shot up, cutting off the flames.

“That’s more like it!”

He didn’t need to use any lightning or force his way through like in the real world. This was his subconscious realm. The black clouds covering everything didn’t belong to the Heavenly Demon. They came from Kwon Oh-Jin’s own Black Heaven.

“

Hup!”

Kwon Oh-Jin stomped the ground and sharply inhaled.

Thud!

Rumble! Rumble!

The clouds churned and crashed down on the Heavenly Demon. Kwon Oh-Jin could feel the Heavenly Demon’s energy being absorbed through the Black Heaven’s clouds.

“Stop resisting. It’s pointless.” The Heavenly Demon frowned and casually waved his hand.

In the blink of an eye, Kwon Oh-Jin’s black clouds dispersed.

He had nullified one of Kwon Oh-Jin’s attacks, but his expression remained cold. Even he couldn’t fully exert his power inside someone else’s subconscious, especially when Kwon Oh-Jin possessed a more complete Black Heaven. It felt like fighting with iron weights strapped on.

“Still...” the Heavenly Demon trailed off and exhaled quietly. His eyes glowed with ghostly blue flames as he turned to Kwon Oh-Jin. His body, made of black clouds, split to reveal a set of gleaming white teeth. “You’ve still got a long way to go.”

The Heavenly Demon shot toward Kwon Oh-Jin.

Rumblllleee!

In an instant, he closed the distance and drove his fist of black clouds straight into Kwon Oh-Jin’s chest.

“

Kugh!

” Kwon Oh-Jin folded like a shrimp and flew back.

His internal organs burst from the single punch, causing him to cough out blood.

No.

This wasn’t the real world, but merely a space within the mind. No actual organs could burst.

These wounds are just illusions I’ve created myself.

Just like when he lied to himself while training, he wasn’t actually hurt. His mind only made the damage seem real.

In that case...

Kwon Oh-Jin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If all of this was a lie he had made up, then he simply needed to layer a new lie on top of it.

“I am invincible and immortal. I feel no pain.”

The Heavenly Demon stared at him in disbelief. “What the hell are you doing?”

Seeing Kwon Oh-Jin suddenly mutter absurd things like being invincible and immortal made him laugh.

“I’m faster than light and harder than steel.”

“Instead of wasting time on nonsense, why don’t you focus on—”

A deafening roar exploded as Kwon Oh-Jin launched forward.

Booooom!

He moved faster than the speed of sound, splitting the subconscious space of black clouds like the Red Sea. He moved even faster than he could in reality.

Kwon Oh-Jin drove his fist into the Heavenly Demon’s face.

Booooom!

It didn’t sound like a punch from a human at all. The ground, made up of black clouds, caved in for thousands of meters from the impact.

The Heavenly Demon flew back like a cannonball and bounced across the ground like a skipping stone.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Half of the Heavenly Demon’s body, formed from black clouds, disappeared from that single blow. Of course, it regenerated quickly within seconds.

Rumble! Rumble!

“

Kugh! Kugh!”

Although he regenerated, the shock he had experienced couldn’t be erased completely.

Clutching his chest, the Heavenly Demon gasped for air. “W-What the hell?”

He looked at Kwon Oh-Jin in disbelief.

One moment, Kwon Oh-Jin had been rambling nonsense. Then, he suddenly wielded overwhelming power like a completely different person.

“What, you don’t know how to use this?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“Use what?”

“The lie.”

The Heavenly Demon frowned and cocked his head. What the hell was he talking about? What lies?

“Oh, right. I guess it makes sense. It took me forever to get used to it too.”

He figured that the Heavenly Demon naturally couldn’t use it, especially without undergoing the kind of training he had. Even if they were both Kwon Oh-Jin, he couldn’t do everything the Heavenly Demon could. The reverse held true as well.

The Heavenly Demon mulled over Kwon Oh-Jin’s words and stared at him in disbelief. “You’re telling me you’re able to control your subconscious by lying to yourself...?”

Controlling his subconscious by deceiving himself with lies? The Heavenly Demon had spent an eternity in the subconscious realm and knew better than anyone how ridiculous that was.

One couldn’t control the subconscious at will. It was like when someone said, “Don’t think of an elephant.” An elephant would inevitably pop up. Despite trying not to, the subconscious thought of it anyway.

Getting injured in this subconscious world worked the same way. This wasn’t the real world, and no injuries were physical. However, if the subconscious believed it, the damage would manifest in this realm of thoughts.

And yet...

Kwon Oh-Jin completely controlled his subconscious through lies.

“You’re right.” The Heavenly Demon nodded with a twisted smile. “You aren’t me, after all.”

He dropped his arms after realizing that Kwon Oh-Jin could do something he couldn’t. The violent black flames raging around him were sucked back into him.

Fwoosh.

“I thought you came here to kill me?” Kwon Oh-Jin asked.

“I will, but...”

Killing him wasn’t possible here, not in Kwon Oh-Jin’s subconscious. This realm didn’t belong to the Heavenly Demon. With Kwon Oh-Jin in control of his own subconscious, he couldn’t do much.

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes and glared at him. “You want to kill me in the real world?”

He tried to act calm, but felt incredibly nervous. His throat burned dry at the thought. In the real world, he had no way of defeating the Heavenly Demon.

“But even that won’t be easy for a while.” The Heavenly Demon bitterly placed his hand over his chest.

Rumble!

Too much time had passed, and the Black Heaven had taken root too deeply. Even if he returned to reality, regaining control of himself would take time.

“Well, in the end, it’s just a matter of sooner or later.” The Heavenly Demon looked straight at Kwon Oh-Jin with ghostly blue flames in his eyes. “You’re not worthy of protecting Ha-Eun.”

Now that he knew Kwon Oh-Jin was different, Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t be allowed near Song Ha-Eun.

“We’ll meet again.”

Rumble.

Like the slow break of dawn, the dark clouds began to disperse. Light seeped in through the cracks.

“I’ll come find you.” With those last words, the Heavenly Demon dissolved into the air like mist.

As the black clouds vanished, Kwon Oh-Jin’s subconsciousness was forcefully yanked back to reality.

“

Agh!

” He opened his tightly shut eyes and saw the ruins of Niflheim before him.

The towering wave of black clouds that looked ready to consume the world had disappeared without a trace.

Where did he go?

Kwon Oh-Jin furrowed his brow and activated the Stigma of Canes Venatici, scanning the area. Not a single trace of the Heavenly Demon remained.

“

Haaa

.”

As the tension released, an overwhelming fatigue crashed down on him.

“O-Oh-Jin!” From afar, he saw Song Ha-Eun running toward him.

“Ha-Eun?”

“Y-You little brat! You disappeared all of a sudden, but this is where you were?!” Song Ha-Eun grabbed him by the collar, her face twisted in anger.

When she heard from Riarc that he had gone to stop the tide of black clouds alone, her heart nearly dropped out of her chest.

“

Sniff... hic...

Do you want my heart to end up like gum on the side of the road, you jerk?!”

“What are you talking about...?”

Song Ha-Eun hugged him tight and cried sorrowfully.

With a faint smile, Kwon Oh-Jin placed a hand on her back and gently patted her.

The Heavenly Demon’s words echoed sharply in his head.

“You’re not worthy of protecting Ha-Eun.”

Maybe he’s right.

Maybe he really had grown too greedy. Maybe he had tried to carry too much on his own.

“Ha-Eun...”

“

Hmm?

Yeah?” Song Ha-Eun blew her nose loudly into his clothes.

Then, she looked up at him with teary eyes.

Ew, what the hell is this woman doing, seriously?

Kwon Oh-Jin grimaced as he glanced down at the thick snot now smeared on his shirt. Then, he chuckled. If anything, this unfiltered side of her, messy and honest, was what made Song Ha-Eun, Song Ha-Eun.

He pulled her in tighter by the waist.

I’m sorry, but—

He had no intention of distancing himself from her.

“Stay by my side, always.”

Even if another version of me appears someday.

He swallowed the bitter thoughts and rested his forehead on her shoulder.

Song Ha-Eun’s eyes darted back and forth in a panic. “

U-Uh, huh?

D-Did you just...

uh...

propose?”

That’s not exactly what I meant, but—

“Y-You little punk! This kind of thing—You’re supposed to do it properly! You know, at a fancy place! With a ring or something! How can you just say that here?!”

Again, he wasn’t proposing.

“I-I swear, you’re always blurting out weird things.” Song Ha-Eun fanned her burning red cheeks with both hands. She looked away nervously in multiple directions. Then, she took a tiny step back and quietly said, “

Um...

I-I do.”

He hadn’t really meant to propose.

I guess I’ll just let this play out as it is.

Smiling faintly, Kwon Oh-Jin leaned in and kissed her softly.

Not everything had been resolved. In fact, nothing had been resolved yet.

“Let’s go home.”

It was time to put a period at the end of their long journey in the Demonic District.