Possessing Nothing

The Blood Demon jumped straight into the light of Genesis. The Asura Clan’s Heavenly Martial Art collided with Martial End.

When they connected, the Blood Demon knew.

He knew how much this one strike contained. He couldn’t beat it with his martial arts.

‘I can’t contain it. I can’t handle this.’

The thing he wanted most arrived in front of his eyes.

Even if he had a sudden boost in power, he felt that he couldn’t stop it.

Throughout his life, he had struggled to understand more about the path of martial arts, so he knew.

However, that didn’t mean he would give up.

He knew that even if he struggled, he wouldn’t beat it, yet, he had to struggle.

It wasn’t so he wouldn’t die. No, it was to feel the full weight of the attack.

He did not despair but raised one arm.

In an instant, the power to demolish a mountain was in his hand. However, it seemed… unnatural, different.

The impact didn’t come. The Blood Demon’s energy disappeared, and his fingers dissipated. There was no pain.

The Blood Demon pushed with his arm without hesitation. He watched his arm turn to dust, vaporizing.

‘More…’

He raised his other arm. He clenched his fist and swung. His punch failed to connect.

In front of the light of Martial End, the power of the Blood Demon seemed… weak.

The Blood Demon’s arms were gone; they did not heal.

He raised his leg without hesitation. He used everything he had to see the strength of the attack.

[Stop.]

Heoju warned.

The light disappeared.

Lee Sungmin felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time; his dantian was nearly empty.

This one attack took a near-infinite amount of internal energy and yokai powers.

Lee Sungmin took a deep breath, looking down at his shaking hands and spear. The spear was still heavy.

The final art of the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques: Martial End

He had performed it knowing that there was a possibility of Qi Deviation, but it did not come.

And…

Lee Sungmin gulped.

…the Blood Demon was falling. His incredible regenerative ability did not seem to be able to heal his limbs.

Martial End, which Yang Il Chun had changed, contained not only the energies of the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques but also the profundities of the Demonic Emperor’s Dark Lightning Storm Arts.

He felt exhausted. It felt like when he performed Genesis for the first time.

Kwooooooonnnnnggg….

The Blood Demon crashed into the ground. He tilted his head up, desperately gasping for breath. He didn’t feel anything where his arms and legs were.

The Blood Demon looked left and right. His missing limbs weren’t regenerating. However, the bones that broke from the fall had already healed.

‘How fun.’

The Blood Demon enjoyed how he had been pushed to this state.

Even in a situation where he could no longer fight, the Blood Demon smiled as he saw what had happened to his body.

Everything that he saw and felt would be transmitted to Geniella. That way, she would know the strength of Lee Sungmin’s last attack.

A power that halts the regenerative abilities of a Vampire… was it like a curse? The Blood Demon took another look at his limbless shoulder; it didn’t even have a drop of blood on it.

He was curious why his arms and legs didn’t regenerate, but that wasn’t for him to know.

“Congratulations,” the Blood Demon said to Lee Sungmin, who had floated down from the sky.

Lee Sungmin calmed his shuddering breaths. He performed Martial End. He was able to perform it. He also became one with the spear; he understood the weight of the spear.

Martial End… it was impossible to perform it without following the proper method that his master had created.

The final art of the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques was too hard to use it as he pleased. It was like Genesis when he first used it.

If he used it, a good portion of his energy would disappear.

[You are like this even with a completed body of a yokai. You pitiful thing.]

‘It’s not a problem with my body. It’s a problem with myself.’

[At least you know that. It’s because you are too dumb that you can’t understand the martial arts that you just performed.]

‘Do you understand it?’

[Of course not. It’s not like I used it. You are just like that Spear King, that crazy bastard. If a crow-tit follows a stork, it will break its legs. You can’t fully utilize the pinnacle of the spear with your understanding of martial arts. You can only imitate a portion of it by following the steps.]

‘That…was an… imitation?’

[It was a pretty good one, nonetheless. You did manage to create something by just staring at the instructions.]

…If he didn’t know how Martial End was performed, he probably wouldn’t have been able to perform it…

So, was the thing that he was lacking in his knowledge of martial arts?

What about his body?

Yang Il Chun had said that he underwent body reconstruction while he was a Transcendent, but Lee Sungmin hadn’t gone through it yet.

“You look like you are in deep thought.” The Blood Demon, who was sprawled on the ground, somehow managed to lift his upper body up to look like he was sitting. He took another glance at his arms and legs.

“You look pretty tired. It seems like you can’t fully control it yet.”

“…Your wounds aren’t healing, huh?”

“It is pretty surprising. It’s the first time this happened to me after I became a Vampire.” The Blood Demon laughed.

Lee Sungmin, who looked at the Blood Demon, made a confused face.

“Do you not have any regrets?”

“I’ve lived too long to feel any.”

“You could have escaped.”

“Since I don’t have any regrets, I didn’t see the need to run away.”

“If I question you, will you answer?”

“You can’t force me with a contract; if you tell me to speak the truth, I will lie. You and I both know how that will end,” the Blood Demon spoke with a huge grin.

At that, Lee Sungmin bitterly smiled. As the Blood Demon had no regrets, he wanted to die. He was looking forward to dying. However, Lee Sungmin couldn’t kill him.

If he died, his powers would return to Geniella.

So, it was impossible to force the Blood Demon to speak.

“You won’t just tell me, right?”

“Definitely not,” the Blood Demon spoke without hesitation.

Lee Sungmin walked towards the Blood Demon. There was nothing else he wanted from him.

The Blood Demon stared up at Lee Sungmin.

“I know you aren’t an idiot.”

The Blood Demon said, shrugging his shoulders.

“If you kill me, my powers will return to Geniella. So, I thought of 2 possibilities: imprisonment… and predation. In terms of efficiency, eating me would be easier. Which one are you going to choose?”

“Predation.”

“I see.”

The Blood Demon nodded, closing his eyes. He did slightly regret not returning to Geniella.

Will you regret it too? The Blood Demon thought of Geniella, who was in the North. Still, she had fulfilled his last wish…

He did everything he could as a father. A slight smile appeared on his face.

[I recommend eating the heart.]

‘Do I have to?’

[Even if you don’t feel like it, eating the heart is probably the best option. Geniella probably knows what happened here. After all, the Blood Demon is one of hers. She can see what he sees. Do you understand?]

‘My strength was exposed.’

He knew that much.

[The Blood Demon’s purpose might have been to do exactly that. He used everything he had to make you use everything you had. Geniella used the Blood Demon to figure out what you were capable of; when you fight in the future, it will be quite disadvantageous for you.]

Lee Sungmin nodded. He felt that it was a trade; Geniella lost the Blood Demon, while Lee Sungmin exposed his strength.

[I told you not to go to the Forest of the Fairies as its location can be revealed.]

‘If it’s Geniella, she probably knows that I use the Forest of the Fairies as a base.’

[That’s why you shouldn’t let her be sure of it.]

Lee Sungmin reached toward the Blood Demon, listening to Heoju. He agreed with what he said.

He did not want to reveal anything else to Geniella.

He had to act naturally, even when doing things he didn’t wish to. In this situation, he had to.

The heart… heart…

It was a good idea not to bring Baek Sogo.

***

Geniella closed her eyes. The sight she was looking at – what the Blood Demon was looking at – rippled.

He did not scream, even when his chest was ripped open, even when his heart was pulled out. At that moment, the Blood Demon felt fulfilled and had a sense of accomplishment.

He wanted death and got it today. His sight shook even more.

Geniella, who looked at the heart disappearing into the mouth, smirked.

“You changed a lot, huh?”

Although they couldn’t hear it, Geniella still muttered.

As long as he had the Black Heart, the easiest way to gain power was to consume hearts. And because he was a yokai, a monster, he did not need to worry about exploding after consumption.

‘Still, I didn’t expect him to actually eat it….’

Because although his body was that of a monster, his mind was still a human’s.

She thought he would reject it.

But she was wrong. That was the only surprising part of the fight.

Geniella blinked, and the scenery returned to normal. The Blood Demon’s eyes turned dull.

He had died.

His power should have returned to Geniella, but it did not.

“That heart thief is very different from Aine.”

Prescan complained.

“Aine, who constructed her body around Black Heart, can add the powers directly to her physical body to become stronger. That isn’t the case for that damned thief. He was a human from the start; even if his body is that of a monster, his efficiency can’t compare with Aine’s.”

That was the biggest difference between Aine, who was a chimera, and Lee Sungmin. Their physical forms were too different.

“Our father died.”

Gemini, who was behind Geniella, spoke.

“Aren’t you sad? He did spend 700 years with us. He turned into a Vampire after me, and he also protected us when we were powerless.”

“I didn’t tell him to die.”

Geniella spoke, giving Gemini a side-long glance. Looking at Gemini, who was smiling with her fangs visible, Geniella reached out and grasped Gemini’s hair.

“The one that wanted to die was Father. If possible, I wanted him to die with us… but if he doesn’t want to, then what’s the point?”

“That’s just how he is. Even though hundreds of years passed, he still thought of himself as a martial artist. He wanted to die fighting.”

“Because of that, we gained valuable information. Although it’s a bit late, it’s better to know than not.”

Geniella spoke from the bottom of her heart. That last attack… ignored the Blood Demon’s regenerative abilities.

It also attacked the soul.

If she faced it head-on, even she, the Lord of All Vampires, might get injured. Geniella felt refreshed at that thought… a thrill of sorts.

“What now?” Gemini spoke. “That human is too strong. It would be fine if he was alone, but he has companions as well….”

“I guess so. Silent Flare seems to be all healed up, and the Gumiho is there as well. The Red Sage… and I heard that the Saintess from the Church joined them as well.”

“Are you going to leave them alone?” Gemini spoke with a curious expression.

Geniella cackled at the question.

“I don’t see a need for me to step up and kill him myself.”

“Why?”

“It’s not like I’m his only enemy.”

Lee Sungmin had too many enemies. As long as his goal was to prevent the Apocalypse, he was bound to have enemies. There was the Spirit Queen, who had not descended yet, and there also was the Divine Spirit, who controlled the Martial God like a puppet.

“That’s why it’s fine.”

Geniella lowered her gaze, looking at Aine. Aine, who had completely digested the Spirit King of the Flames, stood next to her.

Geniella smiled softly.

“We need to finish what we were doing first.”

Their destination was still far away.

“Will the Sword Saint be tasty?”

Aine muttered, tilting her head to the side.