Chapter 263
The Heavenly Demon, having lost control of the body, could not accept the situation.
He had let his guard down because of Charpham, but even so, this made no sense.
It was not simply that control had been snatched away.
With Park Chan-woo’s abilities alone, he could never have delivered that ‘one blow’ to Taebaek.
To strengthen the body, the Heavenly Demon had forcibly transferred a sliver of his own existence into Park Chan-woo’s body.
That went far beyond ordinary possession.
It was not something that could be stolen away just by seizing control.
And just moments ago, the Heavenly Demon had clearly drawn out and used the power of Dragon God Sephiro.
Yet all of it had been an illusion. A hallucination.
…How?
‘[Dominion Magic].’
The answer came in an instant.
Park Chan-woo, who contained the Heavenly Demon’s existence, had manifested that magic.
And it was [Dominion Magic] of an extremely high rank.
Yet it was a miraculous spell that Park Chan-woo, at his current level, absolutely could not have used.
The Heavenly Demon naturally knew that the kinds of magic this body could wield were few to begin with, and none of them were especially high-rank.
There was only one possible explanation.
‘It must be the magic engraved into Dragon God Sephiro’s heart…!’
The moment the Heavenly Demon used the heart’s mana, the magic engraved into it had manifested as well.
And once [Dominion Magic] surfaced, Park Chan-woo seized it and wielded it.
Along with the heart, he had dominated even the Heavenly Demon’s existence.
…The very idea was ridiculous.
That was magic that ruled over Sephiro’s heart itself.
Unless one were the being who engraved that magic, one could not even touch it.
Then… had Park Chan-woo personally used [Dominion Magic] to dominate Sephiro’s heart?
The heart, which was the core of a Transcendent Dragon?
Impossible.
And yet… perhaps possible.
Park Chan-woo was an Anomaly.
A Great Anomaly, no less—enough to summon even himself.
‘If it is impossible now, but possible in the future…’
Then perhaps the order had simply been reversed.
A future Park Chan-woo had dominated Sephiro’s heart.
And if that heart, together with the magic engraved into it, had then been passed down to the Park Chan-woo of the past…
In other words—
‘He returned from the future.’
A Regressor!
Nothing else made sense.
An absurd conclusion.
Rewinding time itself went against every law.
Regression was a miracle no one—not even the Heavenly Demon—could perform.
Even if every miracle in the Abyss were gathered together, they still could not compare to a single regression.
And if such a thing were possible, then the being that made it possible would also have to be singular in the entire Abyss.
‘The Creator…’
If it were the Creator who made the Abyss, could it be possible?
Even that was absurd.
In the end, he could not know the true identity of the human called Park Chan-woo.
And more than that—
“I’m the weakest?”
That insignificant Anomaly had dared call him weak.
That one remark from Park Chan-woo scraped against the Heavenly Demon’s nerves.
He was the strongest.
He had always been the strongest.
Never once had he lost his place at the summit.
The Heavenly Demon stretched out his hand.
He would seize control again and throw Park Chan-woo back into the gutter.
Clatterrrrr!
At that moment, chains shot out from the [Sealed Demon God’s Grail] and bound the Heavenly Demon’s existence.
His allotted time was over.
“…Let go.”
He could not be dragged away like this.
He had not yet delivered his ‘one blow.’
He had not yet carved into everyone that he stood at the peak.
He had won everything until now.
“Don’t get arrogant just because you won once.”
At the very end, he had lost control only a single time.
And even that had been because of the variable called Charpham and the [Dominion Magic] engraved into the heart.
Aside from that, he had won every exchange.
If he were dragged away like this, then it would end as Park Chan-woo’s victory.
Lose ninety-nine times, win once at the very end, and then dare to mock him with it?
What nonsense was this weakest of creatures spouting to the strongest?
“Let’s do it again. This time, I won’t let my guard down—”
Sssssss!
His words were cut off.
The chains had completely wrapped around his body.
His insides boiled.
He had never felt anything like this before.
The [Sealed Demon God’s Grail] forcibly dragged the Heavenly Demon away.
And then—
-So you are not the strongest after all?
A heavy voice echoed out.
From within the grail.
From somewhere deeper and deeper below.
Outside the grail, the Heavenly Demon could be the strongest.
…But here, inside the grail, there were beings stronger than the Heavenly Demon.
===
‘The density of power is different.’
That was Park Chan-woo’s first thought after briefly seizing the Heavenly Demon’s existence and regaining control of his body.
The energy swirling through him now was on an entirely different level of density.
Mana so vast it felt nearly infinite.
In an instant, he understood.
If he used this power, he could destroy both Taebaek and the Immortal Realm.
And he would die with them.
Sephiro’s heart still lay inside him.
The [Dominion Magic] engraved into it was still intact.
And beyond that, even the Heavenly Demon’s unique mana lingered faintly around him.
It was a vast amount, more than he could ever hope to reach in a lifetime of training.
And yet even that felt like no more than a drop compared to the whole.
Park Chan-woo looked around.
Silence had fallen over the world.
Every Taoist and Immortal stood frozen, as though time itself had paused.
But fear flickered uniformly in all their eyes.
Not just them.
Chiwoo, Han Mir, even the shadow spirit Chronos.
All of them trembled in fear, unable to move an inch.
Tap.
Park Chan-woo took a step forward.
The Taoists and Immortals did not dare block his path.
They all still thought he was the Heavenly Demon.
To them, a calamity had arrived, and the only thing they could do was lower themselves and pray it would pass.
Park Chan-woo walked through the ranks that parted before him like the Red Sea.
And at last, he stopped before the egg.
That impossibly gigantic egg was Taebaek.
“Are you afraid of me?”
He felt the same emotion coming from Taebaek.
For the first time, Taebaek seemed to be feeling fear—fear of an existence that could annihilate him, fear of death.
Right now, it might be possible to destroy him.
But this power held all of Park Chan-woo’s potential and all of his existence.
To use it would mean death.
…And he could not choose death just to destroy Taebaek.
He still had too many things left to do.
So—
“Sleep more deeply. If you awaken, I will come for you immediately.”
Park Chan-woo threatened Taebaek.
Better yet, never awaken at all.
And even if you do awaken, let this fear carved into you remain forever.
He slowly turned his back.
Majestically.
Maintaining the bearing of the strong, he retraced his steps.
Then he opened a [Warp] and moved to the Land of Valhalla.
No one dared move.
(T/N: Scam after scam, this guy is the lord of all scammers hahaha.)
===
Even after he had left with all of his companions, the world seemed frozen for a long time.
Not even the faintest rustle could be heard.
It would be more accurate to say that the presence left behind by the being who had overwhelmed them had drained all strength from their bodies.
The minds of the Immortals were all linked as one.
And for a while, that unified consciousness seemed to have stopped completely.
But soon, they had no choice but to open their eyes wide.
Because the giant being at their center—
Brrrrrrrr!
…Taebaek was trembling.
Only after the Heavenly Demon vanished did he finally begin to shake.
That was how deeply frightened he had been.
For the first time, a being that had known no desire other than growing stronger had awakened to the emotion of fear.
「I… must become stronger.」
Taebaek spoke.
His will drove deep into the Immortals’ minds.
「I must raise my growth limit. If I hatch now, I cannot defeat that monster, the Heavenly Demon.」
It was an absolute command.
A being beyond Demon Gods.
A being designed to surpass even the Great Nine Lords had begun to fear the Heavenly Demon.
And then—
Ziiiiiiing!
The void of the Immortal Realm was forcibly cut open, and a golden [Warp] appeared.
Had the Heavenly Demon crossed over again?
But they quickly realized that was not the case.
The Immortals could not hide their shock.
“…!”
“Sephiro?”
“How did the Dragon God get here?”
The one who had entered the Immortal Realm was none other than Dragon God Sephiro.
But the Immortal Realm was a hidden land connected to the Hall of all Gods.
Unless one was an Immortal, it was impossible to find it or open the door that led there.
Even for Sephiro, it should have been the same.
Sephiro looked down at the Immortals from the void.
In an instant—
“Ghk!”
“O-our [Central Psychic System] was breached…?”
“Kuhk!”
The Immortals vomited blood.
The Taoists collapsed one after another.
With nothing more than a single glance, Sephiro connected to their [Central Psychic System].
And in one sweep, he read all of their thoughts.
Then he tilted his head.
“So the one who stole my heart is some guy called the Heavenly Demon?”
Sephiro had reached the Immortal Realm by following the traces left by his heart.
And from the minds of the Immortals, he had found only one name.
The Heavenly Demon.
That was the problem.
He could sense nothing else.
Ruthless terror.
Fear so absolute it had erased everything but that name.
Sephiro stroked his chin.
The one who had stolen his heart had overwhelmed them all and vanished.
‘The lingering mana resonance here is definitely mine.’
It even seemed that he had used the heart’s mana.
A lunatic.
That made him easier to track, but also far more abnormal than expected.
To dare covet and use a Dragon God’s mana.
That led to another problem.
‘I can’t retrieve the heart personally.’
The fact that he had handled the heart’s mana, even for a moment, meant the heart had temporarily acknowledged him as its master.
In other words—
If the two of them met directly, there was a high chance a true Major Anomaly would occur.
The heart would return to its rightful owner, Sephiro.
But the Great Rift that opened immediately after would be troublesome.
Because it would be a Great Rift opened through the medium of his own heart.
He was curious what might crawl out of it, but not curious enough to actually see it happen.
Sephiro shrugged, then turned his gaze toward Taebaek and smiled faintly.
“…How interesting.”
It seemed he had found an interesting toy.
===
Sssssss!
Park Chan-woo returned everything to its proper place.
He restored all of the mana and resealed the heart exactly as it had been.
Soon, the Heavenly Demon’s presence vanished without a trace.
But Park Chan-woo felt dull and hollow, like a balloon that had been emptied of air.
After touching power from the distant future, there was no way he could feel satisfied with his current self.
Still, it was not as though he had gained nothing.
[Ding!]
[The ‘Heavenly Demon’s’ possession has ended.]
[You have directly experienced distant strength.]
[You have completed ‘Divine Art of Absolute Learning’ 3 stars.]
[The Authority possessed by the ‘Successor of the Void’ Class manifests.]
[You have learned the Heavenly Demon’s secret arts ‘Fist, Sword, Footwork’.]
[Due to the Heavenly Demon’s residual unique mana, ‘Dimensional Interloper Charpham’ begins to evolve.]