Chapter 697

“How unfortunate. It’s already too late.”

A languid voice burrowed into my ear. No—not just mine. Everyone present could hear it.

A harbinger announcing the arrival of something fatally alluring, and even more dangerously so.

“Southern Demon Empress!”

I turned at the thunderous shout. Above the heads of everyone frozen like statues in this sudden upheaval, voluminous robes fluttered atop a palace rising high into the sky.

Cat-like eyes gazing down at the earth curved into crescent moons.

“Oh my, who might this be?”

An unfamiliar face, yet an unforgettable voice and a unique aura.

No doubt about it. I spat the words as if chewing them to pieces.

“It’s me, you bitch.”

My stomach churned, scorching hot, like I’d swallowed lava.

The fingers gripping my spear trembled faintly, and my chest pounded.

A maelstrom of emotions far fiercer than when facing Baek Sang.

But what seized me now wasn’t just animosity and rage.

‘Strong.’

Was she always this strong?

Just meeting her gaze made a corner of my heart sink.

Several months had passed since the incident in Hubei Province.

In that time, I’d gained some insight into her true nature, but the Southern Demon Empress I faced again today was a monster beyond imagination.

A realm no one here could even fathom.

Yet my eyes—my senses sharpened to the utmost—were probing the power she concealed.

The ferocity hidden beneath softly curved eyes, and the immense darkness crouching within her slender frame.

“You dog-like bitch.”

“Ahahaha! Indeed. Indeed!”

As if it were genuinely amusing, the Southern Demon Empress clutched her stomach and laughed heartily despite my curse, then curled the corners of her lips at me.

“You’re so straightforward. That’s why I like my benefactor so much.”

“What did you say?”

“Have you already forgotten? Who saved me that day, in the cold Dongting Lake where corpses floated?”

I could never forget.

Because I’d regretted it so many times since then—dozens of times—replaying that moment.

Because I saved the Southern Demon Empress with my own hands?

Wrong. What I saved that day wasn’t the Southern Demon Empress, but Hong Ran.

The Southern Demon Empress in Hubei had been nothing more than a beautiful courtesan favored by some foolish imperial relative.

She had approached me deliberately from beginning to end, and she would have survived even if I hadn’t shown up.

The one thing I truly regretted was my stupidity—failing to recognize the culprit when she was right in front of my eyes.

Anger at myself for not seeing through the manipulation that was nothing but a game to her, and the self-reproach for not preventing an even greater sacrifice.

Swoosh.

“Now, I can finally greet you with proper etiquette.”

Lifting her voluminous robes, Hong Ran—no, the Southern Demon Empress—bowed gracefully.

“This lowly woman, Hong Ran, greets her benefactor.”

At that moment, I thrust out a palm like lightning.

Bang!

Moisture evaporated in an instant.

The Palm Energy of the Flame God Palm, imbued with terrifying heat, reached her in the blink of an eye.

But—

Swoosh!

The time it took for that powerful Palm Energy—something even Baek Sang couldn’t easily block—to be split in half like tofu was even shorter.

Boom!

Beneath the sky already choked with dark clouds, the Palm Energy, deflected in two directions, detonated in midair.

Gasps burst out from all around at the unbelievable sight.

“W-What is this…?”

“W-What did I just see? That woman just now…”

“Southern Demon Empress. She definitely said Southern Demon Empress.”

Some knew that title, and some didn’t.

It didn’t matter.

They would all learn soon enough who the Southern Demon Empress was—and just how vicious, how terrifyingly powerful the monster she hid truly was.

With cold, hardened eyes, I stared at the edge of the towering palace.

There, a woman too beautiful to be called a monster was smoothing her disheveled palace robes.

“Hmm. I was trying to be polite, but I don’t particularly like the way you’re responding to my greeting. Still, I’ll let it slide with a generous heart. After all, I can’t very well gouge out my benefactor’s eyes right now, considering the life-saving grace I received.”

Killing intent seeped through her innocent voice.

My mind cooled, and I replied.

“Shut your mouth.”

“Such harsh words. ‘Mouth’ is a word you use for beasts. For example…”

Her words trailed off as her gaze dipped.

At the end of it stood a massive White Tiger, baring its teeth.

“Yes. It’s the perfect word for that hideous beast.”

Grrr.

The Guardian Spirit let out a low growl, glaring up at the Southern Demon Empress. I could feel its muscles tighten beneath me.

– A hideous beast, you say. Then what should we call a human like you?

If its Telepathy until now had felt like a private channel, this time it rang out like a voice everyone could hear.

As the warriors gathered around the Inner Palace sucked in breath, the Southern Demon Empress widened her eyes, then soon chuckled and looked at me.

“I must correct myself. Not just hideous—interesting, too.”

“We’ll see.”

I tightened my grip on the spear.

Dozens of movements and techniques flashed through my mind.

Ways to tear out her windpipe with the fastest, most lethal strike.

“It’ll get more interesting soon. Because this guy is going to bite your throat out.”

“A beast is just a beast. Just like that foolish Imoogi who was waiting for Heaven’s Will.”

He was not foolish, but merely kind. Kind enough to sacrifice even his own life, along with the flood control he had built up over hundreds of years.

The Guardian Spirit stared at the Southern Demon Empress with blue-white eyes that seemed to pierce through everything.

– I know you.

A faint smile formed on the Southern Demon Empress’s lips.

“Not exactly welcome news. I have no interest in smelly beasts.”

– I saw you in the Imoogi’s memories. A human endlessly dark, overflowing with malice.

“Memories?”

– Everything that makes up the world has essence and traces. And in that sense, the you in those memories…

“Must have been beautiful. Dazzlingly so.”

– Was old and hideous. So much so that it was hard to believe you were human.

The moment the Guardian Spirit’s Telepathy ended, silence fell.

Even the people who had been buzzing in shock, even the many beasts that had been growling low, held their breath and sank closer to the ground.

And at the center of it all—

Whoosh!

The sleeves of her voluminous palace robes swelled as if about to burst.

A terrifying aura, immense as a mountain, pressed down on all sides, freezing everything that lived.

Crack. Crack.

The wind stopped.

The roof of the palace, unable to withstand the pressure, began to collapse.

“…Is that so?”

The smile vanished from her lips. Deeply sunken eyes looked down at the world spread beneath her feet.

“Old and hideous. I see. So that’s what it is.”

Then the Southern Demon Empress calmly turned her head and stared at me.

“I’ll give you credit for coming this far. If you had been just half a day—no, even half a day earlier—even I couldn’t have guaranteed the outcome.”

Different.

Her tone, her presence—everything was different.

But my mind only grew calmer.

A person is scariest when they never show their true colors. The moment they lose the smile and composure they cling to, a crack finally appears.

‘Besides.’

I still had a hidden card.

Even if the worst-case scenario unfolded, I had a move that could turn the table.

That was why I could say it.

“Yeah. I’m really curious about this, though.”

Like right now.

“How messed up does your face have to be to hear that and not lose it?”

“Were you a mortar in your past life or something?”

The next moment—

“I’ll make you regret those words.”

A chilling voice shattered the brief silence, and the dark clouds thickened, swallowing the sky.

And—

Swish!

From the massive cliff that embraced the rear of the Inner Palace, a swarm of jet-black light began to pour out.

‘That is…’

Just looking at it was suffocating.

Yes.

That was a Gate.

Thrum!

The earth—no, the world—trembled.

The massive cliff that had stood there for hundreds, no, thousands of years began to split open with a deafening roar.

“Ah… Ah…”

Someone gasped in horror at the bizarre, frightening sight.

‘So it has come to this. In the end.’

Someone else murmured despair in their heart.

“It’s over. All of it.”

And someone else, consumed by rage, watched the spectacle they had brought about with eyes shining with joy.

‘Finally. Finally!’

The Southern Demon Empress trembled, forgetting even the anger from a moment ago.

How could she not?

This was the result of a long endurance.

A Gate far larger and more powerful than the one in Hubei Province—her own creation.

And the moment the omnipotent Heavenly Lord would descend upon this land.

Crack!

A whirlwind like a blade swept in every direction.

From the widening fissure in the cliff, an extremely dark, viscous energy began to crawl out, devouring the world.

Demonic Energy that would taint life and claim this land.

Keuk, keureureuk!

Kyawoo!

“Cough. Keheok!”

“H-Hey! Why suddenly… keureuk!”

Even though the Gate hadn’t fully opened, its power was already spreading outward.

Look.

Beasts and humans alike writhed, the whites of their eyes showing as the surging darkness swallowed them, waiting for a new change.

And the change brought by the Gate would begin soon.

No—no, it wasn’t.

This wasn’t change.

It was evolution.

A process of being reborn into a more powerful, more beautiful being, and at the same time, a blessing bestowed upon insignificant creatures by the omnipotent Heavenly Lord.

The Southern Demon Empress, a thick smile now on her lips, turned her gaze to one person.

‘Jin Taekyung.’

A young man standing tall, staring at the unbelievable, distant sight unfolding before his eyes.

To the Southern Demon Empress, it was ridiculous.

Pitiful enough to make her want to seize his throat and tear it out in an instant.

‘You… should not have come here.’

Muttering to herself, the Southern Demon Empress launched toward Jin Taekyung.

No—it was the moment she was about to—

Boom!

A massive radiance bursting from somewhere swallowed the darkness.