Chapter 264

All Arahan felt the mountain tremble.

Along with it came a destructive force that seemed capable of shattering the world.

Then, when a massive hole was torn open near the summit of the mountain—

“…What am I looking at right now?”

“Could someone have attacked the Hall of all Gods?”

No one could believe it.

Since the Mountain of Practitioners had come to exist, nothing like this had ever happened.

The Nine Families were thrown into an uproar as well.

The mountain had been breached by a sudden, inexplicable attack, with no chance to defend against it.

And it was strong enough to make the entire mountain shake.

“Was it demons?”

“It must be a demonic invasion.”

“Undead Sect! Was this your doing?”

The first target of suspicion was the Undead Sect.

Anton had already drawn attention because of the Demon Jiangshi incident, only to vanish without warning.

Since they had no idea Chiwoo had abducted him, it was only natural for them to suspect the Undead Sect had erased the witness to bury the matter.

And that was not all.

Gang Si-chan.

The fact that one of the Nine Dragons, and the Undead Sect’s own successor, had been exposed as an Incarnation of a demon was already enough to send the situation spiraling out of control.

So when an attack of unknown origin happened on top of that, the Undead Sect naturally became the prime suspect.

“Do not slander the Undead Sect without proof.”

“Anton committed his crimes on his own, and Gang Si-chan, who made a pact with a demon, has already been excommunicated. Neither of them has anything to do with the Undead Sect.”

“From the start, Gang Si-chan and Anton were working together.”

Naturally, the Undead Sect refused to budge.

They vehemently insisted they had nothing to do with any of these incidents.

Their standing might suffer, but admitting ties to demons would bring far more than disgrace.

It would be catastrophic.

And above all, there was no evidence. The witnesses had disappeared.

Still, something felt strange.

‘Something this big happened, yet the Immortal Realm hasn’t moved?’

‘Even if the Immortals usually stay out of the mountain’s affairs, the Hall of all Gods was attacked.’

Of course, the Immortal Realm and the Mountain of Practitioners were separate Abysses.

Though the Immortal Realm was connected to the Hall of all Gods, it was only through [Warp], not by direct contact.

But the Hall of all Gods, at the very summit, had been struck.

For the sake of Taebaek’s authority, the Immortal Realm should have responded.

And yet it remained silent.

Taebaek’s shadows were far too quiet.

Which meant one thing.

‘Either something happened to Taebaek’s divine body.’

‘Or they no longer care about Taebaek’s authority…!’

It had to be one of those two.

And either way, it was a golden opportunity.

If the Immortal Realm would not intervene, then the throne of the Hall of all Gods was effectively vacant.

That meant one of the Nine Families could become its new master.

The families that realized this began pressing the Undead Sect even harder.

But they still could not bring it down.

As already stated, they had no proof.

“Evidence? I have it.”

That was when.

A woman climbed to the upper levels of the mountain and presented decisive proof.

Arisa.

Just as planned, she contacted the Mir Sect and dragged the Undead Sect to the stand.

“What evidence could you possibly have? If you present something false or fabricated, your Hidden Realm will not escape the consequences either.”

The Deputy Sect Leader of the Undead Sect appeared and issued an open threat.

With all the other families watching, this was the one chance to strike.

If this failed, the Undead Sect would instead emerge with immunity from every accusation.

Worse, they would tie the Hidden Realm and the Mir Sect together and counterattack.

Arisa drew a book from her robe.

“…This is Anton’s research journal. It clearly records that the Undead Sect used demons to create Jiangshi and even employed a Demon Lord.”

“What absurd nonsense! No such thing exists! And even if it did, how do you prove it wasn’t fabricated?”

“If you read what is written in the journal, you will see that the entire Undead Sect was involved.”

“Ridiculous! A mere journal has no evidentiary value!”

“…Then if Anton himself testifies, will you believe it?”

“…What?”

Panic flashed briefly across the Deputy Sect Leader’s face.

If Anton testified in person, there would be no room left for excuses.

But Anton had vanished without a trace.

The Undead Sect had searched for him with everything they had and still failed to find him.

He had disappeared so completely that they assumed he was dead.

But was he alive after all?

And had Arisa been hiding him?

“I-I will testify.”

At once, murmurs spread everywhere.

Because the one who stepped forward really was Anton.

The Deputy Sect Leader’s face went pale.

The same was true for the others from the Undead Sect.

And all of this was only possible because—

‘It’s all thanks to you, Park Chan-woo.’

Park Chan-woo had arranged everything.

If that one-in-ten-thousand situation ever came to pass, he had made sure Arisa would be able to find everything.

He had hidden the secret journal and the method to open the gate to Avici Hell in a place only she could access.

‘I never imagined he would hide it inside the trial of the Sacred Site…’

The Sanctum of the Sword.

Inside the trial grounds of that Sacred Site, he had left clues Arisa would recognize.

Since she regularly checked the trial grounds there, she was able to find them easily.

It was proof of how much he trusted her.

But…

‘…He went to the Immortal Realm and then vanished.’

Park Chan-woo and Chiwoo had headed for the Immortal Realm.

A massive hole had appeared right beside the Hall of all Gods.

The Immortals were silent.

And Han Mir, one of the successors of the Mir Family, had vanished as well.

Taken together, all the signs pointed to something ominous unfolding on this mountain.

Something massive, tied to demons—or something even greater.

A disaster so enormous that even the Undead Sect’s use of a Demon Lord to create Jiangshi would pale in comparison.

‘I just hope he’s safe.’

But more than anything else, the one thing she wanted to know was Park Chan-woo’s fate.

No word had come from him since he went to the Immortal Realm with Chiwoo.

He had trusted her enough to entrust everything to her.

If anything had happened to him—

‘Just stay alive. I’ll find you. No matter what.’

If he was still alive, they could meet again.

The thought that he might be dead left an empty ache in her chest.

They had not spent long together, but in that short time, every one of his actions had changed everything.

If not for him, she never would have come this far.

She might have remained on the mountainside forever.

‘Hall of all Gods.’

Arisa had already decided her next destination.

She would ascend to the very heart of the Hall of all Gods.

She had no intention of stopping at the upper levels.

The Mir Sect had also agreed to fully support her, so there would never be a better time.

She would climb to the Hall of all Gods, master every martial art, and then head for the Immortal Realm.

Even if he was not there—

‘…I will find him. No matter what.’

===

The Land of Valhalla.

The party that had crossed into that vast warrior’s territory through [Warp] could only stand there in a daze.

They had practically been abducted.

Honestly, none of them had yet decided whether this was reality or some kind of dream.

‘So he wasn’t the Successor after all…!’

Chiwoo, in particular, felt as though his mind and soul had split from his body.

His thoughts could not keep up with what had happened.

Chiwoo had believed Park Chan-woo was the Successor of the Heavenly Demon.

Or rather, he had wanted to believe it.

But what Park Chan-woo had shown in the Immortal Realm—his martial prowess, his presence…

And when combined with the reactions of all the Immortals—

‘Heavenly Demon…’

Could it be that Park Chan-woo was actually the Heavenly Demon himself?

The true Absolute Being.

That thought had now taken root in Chiwoo’s mind.

Otherwise, there was no explanation.

Fist techniques, sword techniques, footwork techniques, even domain expansion.

Every one of them was a power only the Heavenly Demon himself should have possessed.

And yet it went far beyond the level of strength Chiwoo had ever sensed from Park Chan-woo before.

‘Was it sealed?’

Perhaps, like that ominous beast, the Heavenly Demon’s power had been sealed inside Park Chan-woo.

And perhaps he had only released it for a moment in order to overwhelm the entire Immortal Realm.

“Wh-where is this?”

That was when a voice spoke from beside him.

Han Mir.

The last survivor of the Pandarian tribe and one of the successors of the Mir Sect.

She had been swept up in everything and dragged here along with them.

Once she regained her senses and looked around, confusion was inevitable.

This place was neither the Immortal Realm nor the Mountain of Practitioners.

But that confusion was nothing compared to what happened next.

“You have returned! O Great One!”

Thud! Thud! Thoom!

A colossal figure.

Jet-black scales and a presence that crushed the surroundings beneath it.

“Dr-Dragonkin…!!!”

At the sight of Black Dragon Ataraxia, Han Mir trembled from head to toe.

Dragonkin stood at the highest rank among the Twelve Species.

And the dragon before her eyes was no ordinary one.

Yet such a being was calling Park Chan-woo ‘Great One.’

But even that was only the beginning.

News of Park Chan-woo’s return spread through the entire domain of Valhalla in an instant.

Flap! Flap!

「Father. I am relieved that you have returned safely.」

Another giant beast appeared from the sky.

Though calling it a beast hardly felt right.

It possessed an indescribable aura.

It was similar in size to a dragon, yet it had clearly torn through the sky of the Abyss to appear.

That meant—

“A Mystique…”

A Mystique.

A being at the peak of the Abyssian hierarchy, one that dwelled in rifts and fed on the Abyss itself.

And that Mystique called Park Chan-woo ‘Father.’

Thud!

Rumble!

At that moment, the ground erupted in chaos, as if an earthquake had struck.

When they turned toward the source—

‘Golems?’

An enormous army of Golems was advancing toward them.

Hundreds of them.

No, perhaps over a thousand.

A sight so absurd it was hard to believe—an army made entirely of the highest-grade Golems.

And that was not all.

Among them was an even larger ‘dragon.’

Far larger than the black dragon they had just seen.

The terrifying mana radiating from it was enough to make even Chiwoo groan.

And on its shoulder sat a woman.

The moment Han Mir recognized Adora, she could not help but shudder instinctively.

Because the Pandarian tribe and witches were natural opposites.

“Wh-what place is this…?”

Just what kind of place was this?

…And just who was that man, revered by all of them?