My heart pounded rapidly, pumping blood.

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The beating in my chest echoed in my head.

I sheathed the Sword of Spring. Although the Sword of Spring was an S-ranked national treasure, it risked breaking here.

‘It probably won’t even work.’

The power to breathe life and reverse death wouldn’t work on the current Demon.

The scenery changed.

The blood-drenched sky turned into a black sky. The black earth below formed a 100-meter circle, engraved with the faces of demonic beasts.

What’s worse was the Demon’s magic power was strongly affecting us.

I was unaffected, but Sung Han-byul’s complexion paled as soon as he arrived here.

“Good heavens… Such a vast imagination.”

Sung Han-byul spoke in a voice filled with despair.

…It was a different problem. If it’s this big, it’s really big.

-The owner is abnormal. Just this alone would make one a genius of a thousand years.

-An endlessly spread black sea or sky cannot even compare.

Eternal Heaven and Black Heaven murmured in response to my words.

“This place is where I summon the armies I’ve hunted. Do you know? A Demon can exert such power as a condition for being bound here.”

Flauros spoke with a pleased expression.

I watched indifferently.

‘Divine Sight.’

Click.

Something switched on within the imagination, and the world’s colors shifted. The blue colors were being devoured by black. The magical power screamed as it’s eroded by the magic.

[Divine Sight contemplates the imagination.]

[The size of the imagination grows. Its completion improves.]

‘This is a tough space for Sung Han-byul to exert her power.’

It was difficult to use magic here. Magic relied on external mana, unlike martial arts, which efficiently drew power from within.

Kim Seo-hyun watched Flauros closely.

“You look tense. To think you haven’t given up to despair yet, heh… Your emotions would taste quite good.”

Flauros took a step forward.

A corrupt magical energy writhed. The miasma rising from under his feet seemed to gorge on human emotions, giving off a sinister vibe. And that magic…

‘It’s similar to my power.’

The Energy of Defying Heaven.

Realizing this power symbolized a corrupt force, I could be certain with eyes that achieved 100 in that stat.

The Energy of Defying Heaven and this magic were similar.

Their sources were different, but ultimately, they wer ethe same type of negating force.

“I’ll buy us some time.”

“No, it’s okay.”

I wanted to knock Sung Han-byul unconscious because I’d have to expose all my power.

But that would be dangerous. The opponent required combined strength to stand a chance.

‘There’s no help from the guild members.’

As soon as I saw it through Divine Sight, I realized. This imagination differed from any power seen before. While ordinary imaginations could be shattered, this one, spawned from the Tower of Demons, was tough to break.

‘I’ll have to kill the Demon.’

Countless magical energies emanating from the Tower of Demons augmented Flauros’s power.

As time passed, it became increasingly disadvantageous for us.

He removed his cumbersome mask.

“…Lee Seo-ha?”

Sung Han-byul wore a shocked expression.

He tucked the White Rouge into his waistband.

“Hooh. Quite the handsome one indeed.”

“Did you really seduce him?”

Kim Seo-hyun’s incredulous voice. Her expression, filled with a peculiar smile, told me she was joking to ease my tension.

At the same time, Flauros’s red eyes sparkled dangerously. The Sword Demon’s senses warned of danger. I retreated with Black Flash Step.

Whooosh!

Crimson flames marked the spot I had just vacated.

‘The flames themselves aren’t particularly strong.’

Was it because this is the world of imagination? The fact that flames could arise from just will was an annoying issue.

“Are you ignoring me?”

A radiant light enveloped the pure white sword.

From the sword imbued with radiance, a dragon burst forth.

I drew the Black Heaven.

The power of Black Heaven, enhanced by the White Rouge, was infused into the sword’s energy, combined with spirit. A black crescent moon aimed to slice through Flauros.

-Aaaaaaaaaaah…!

Flauros’s reaction was peculiar. As soon as he witnessed the Energy of Defying Heaven, he looked at me with a rapturous gaze, as if he were an apostle encountering a god.

He dodged the crescent moon sword energy created by the Energy of Defying Heaven.

“You are, you couldn’t possibly be! Kha-ha!”

Flauros burst into maniacal laughter. The imagination was stirred. Countless demonic beasts embedded in the ground rose up.

The number was staggering, and the varieties were diverse. Thousands of demonic beasts rose up. Some appeared to be over 20 meters tall, while others were small beings not even 30 cm tall.

“Ah, this was a trial! Then I, Flauros the Leopard! Shall sacrifice myself to become the trial in your celestial existence!”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Flauros swelled up. His back burst open as if exploding, and shadows began to devour the demonic beasts.

Flauros’s body began to grow. His 3-meter body absorbed all the demonic beasts and transformed into a muscular 10-meter tall man. The blades on his hands were infinitely condensed.

[Your imagination is influenced by the 64th-ranked demon, Flauros the Leopard. It has a slight effect on your Black Sea.]

[The world begins to record your imagination. The world sees and is astonished by your achievements.]

Instinctively,

I realized that Flauros had made such a choice for me. And I could also tell that it was something that would diminish the status of his existence.

By sacrificing his future, he became something that imposes a trial.

Whack!

Light burst forth. Sung Han-byul’s complexion turned pale. It was the aftermath of her activating the Law Book and the Cup of Infinity, consuming her life.

‘Annoying.’

I disliked the situation.

Sung Han-byul was using her life. Kim Seo-hyun was in danger. And my power was insufficient to prevent them from experiencing these things.

Whirl.

The Black Flame Martial Spirit engraved in my heart responded.

Black flames spread out, resonating with my will. The surroundings were engulfed in black flames, beginning to invade the space of imagination. It was possible because Flauros had forcibly expanded his rank.

“Hahat! Hahahaha! Preposterous, utterly preposterous. To dare, to dare tarnish the purity of that power! But, the direction of that tarnishment is ridiculously ideal!”

Flauros laughed maniacally and extended his hand. His expression was filled with ecstasy. I disliked seeing him like that.

I embedded shadows into the black flames.

Wham.

Golden light sprang up beside me. There, I forcefully embedded Struggle.

“…What are you doing?”

“The thing you’d hate the most.”

Demons were deceitful beings.

They beguiled humans and manipulated them to their own ends. I didn’t know why, but Flauros was helping me. I instinctively realized that this would become a deadly poison for me in the far future.

‘It can’t be helped.’

I wanted to extract it in its most perfect state.

[The world records your past.]

[Your current reputation does not exist…]

-Wait a minute! This is dangerous!

-Master. Don’t listen to others.

Eternal Heaven tried to stop me. Black Heaven stood erect and looked at me.

-Once you’ve decided, follow through with your will, even if it costs you your life. A will once broken will eat away at you like poison.

-Are you insane?

‘I will.’

I smiled at Black Heaven’s words.

The energy of Defying Heaven and shadows intertwined.

Alchemy and struggle intertwined.

I forcefully intertwined things that should not be combined. Light bursts forth, intervening in Flauros’s world of imagination.

“Stop it! You shouldn’t be doing this!”

“That’s for Seo-ha to decide!”

Kim Seo-hyun wielded a white sword to block Flauros, while Sung Han-byul activated the Law Book, causing golden chains to emerge and bind Flauros.

However, it was only for a moment.

“It’s useless!”

Thunk!

Flauros crouched and emitted demonic energy. A dragon-like force, characteristic of demons, burned through the chains, and red flames consumed Kim Seo-hyun’s dragon.

They had bought a very brief moment of time.

But it was enough.

[Your world of imagination begins to stir violently.]

It was enough time to retrieve my imagination.

“No! You shouldn’t waste your precious potential on such trivial things!”

“Get lost.”

I flipped him off and mocked Flauros.

Imagination materialization.

And then, darkness swallowed everything.

“…Haah.”

Sung Han-byul felt the demon’s world of imagination breaking apart.

The constricting magical power began to dissipate, allowing her to exert her talents more freely.

“Haah. Haah.”

Her heart was in turmoil, urging her to stop now. Using her talents any further would endanger her life. Sung Han-byul clenched her teeth.

Lee Seo-ha had done something. Light burst forth, shattering the demon’s world of imagination.

What appeared was a vast darkness.

‘What on earth is this?’

It seemed to stretch beyond the horizon, a vast black sea. She stood above this black sea.

Looking up, the sky was filled with black clouds. It felt like an apocalypse that had overturned the world.

‘No, that’s not what’s important right now.’

Sung Han-byul quickly scanned her surroundings. Kim Seo-hyun was visible. The demon was visible. But both were simply standing there, motionless.

-“…“

The demon wore a dazed expression.

“Is this… Is this possible?”

His voice trembled.

The demon was shaking.

Was it ecstasy or fear?

His voice, a mix of the two, stared at the black sky.

‘It’s impossible.’

Sung Han-byul was sensitive to emotions.

Perhaps it was because she had been exposed to various emotions since childhood, or perhaps it was because she had been trembling as a sacrifice in a city occupied by Mines for human offerings.

From then on, Sung Han-byul had become adept at reading others’ emotions. No, it wouldn’t be incorrect to call it the awakening of a talent.

She had awakened a talent.

The talent to read emotions.

‘It’s impossible.’

So, Sung Han-byul felt it.

She thought it was an impossible emotion.

The demon possessed the most primal emotion.

An emotion akin to that of a human who had witnessed a god.

Awe.

That the demon named Flauros was looking at Lee Seo-ha in awe.