Dancing on the golden ashes-Chapter 263: Refining Jeong Suhan
I watched Jeong Suhan, the reason for all of my past suffering, drop his hands in defeat. His body drifted slowly in the endless void of space. He wasn't defeated physically—no, he had been defeated mentally. The blow to his ego was far worse. Perhaps that would break him, or perhaps it would make him stronger. But why should I care? To me, he had never been a real threat. Now, without the world's support, his battle prowess had dropped below the level of a Heavenly Soul. It made me wonder just how much of his strength had come from the world itself, a crutch he leaned on to keep his title as the strongest.
But now, the world—despite its death—must have been relieved. It no longer had to be a slave to a mad scientist and his pet dog.
Strangely, the one who was supposed to protect this place, the one whose role was to prevent such a catastrophe, didn't even bother with it. Did he think Jeong Suhan was enough to save it? Or had he foreseen this and decided to let fate take the reins? Interesting…
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Well, now I had the chance to do what I wanted. I could kill Jeong Suhan and put him out of his misery, let him rest in peace… No, I'm joking. Even without a heart, I could still joke about such things. Though, I couldn't say if it was funny or not. The old me might have been rolling on the ground laughing, but now? I didn't feel the same way.
"I will not kill him," I said aloud, my voice as flat as ever. "Oh no... I will let him suffer for all eternity to come."
"Do you want me to deal with him?" Seong-hoon's voice brushed against my ear gently, but it didn't feel kind. It felt like an intrusion.
"Too close," I muttered, before sending a fist straight into his face. The impact sent him flying far away into the cosmos, far enough that I hoped he'd never come back. It was strange. Someone blowing into your ear didn't require feelings to get a punch in, did it?
"Eun-woo, could you please catch that idiot Seong-hoon and beat him up for me?" I asked, turning to the one I trusted the most to handle his brother. They had always been on good terms, and now that they were reunited, I could depend on Eun-woo to discipline that fool. I should have asked him to do it earlier, but it was a bit late now.
"Hhahaha!" Eun-woo boomed with laughter, his voice a stark contrast to the seriousness of the moment. "That's not a problem at all! Let me go collect him."
And with that, he disappeared in a streak of green light, leaving a trail of stars in his wake.
I extended my hand, my demons standing silently by my side, watching with eager anticipation. As I focused, I pulled the broken soul of Jeong Suhan toward me. He tried to resist, but did he really think he could do anything? How pathetic.
I easily restrained him, and soon the small bell of fire bloomed around him, its flames glowing with a heat that would burn away his very soul. Trapping him inside the fire, I watched as it slowly began cooking him from the inside out. The pain was slow and excruciating, but I didn't care. I kept feeding him soul energy, keeping him alive just enough to prolong the torment.
I had to think of a way to make it automatic. I couldn't waste any more time on trash like him. After all, I had to figure out how to open the rift to the demon world, the one that I saw in a vision, maybe I should have kept this world for a little longer... hmmm...
But now, it was too late for regrets. The world that once housed us, the world that had witnessed our rise and fall, was no more. It was nothing but cosmic dust and shattered memories, fading into the abyss of time.
"Big sister, how come we can easily breathe in the space where there is no air?" Jieun asked, her voice light and carefree as she floated around. She was seemingly weightless, drifting with a joy that contrasted sharply with the grimness of everything that had just transpired. Her laughter echoed through the void, and for a brief moment, it felt like time had slowed.
She was enjoying herself so much, completely unburdened by the weight of what had happened. I couldn't help but wonder if the feeling of freedom—of being untethered from a dying world—truly felt that good. Was she really so unphased, or was it just her innocence at play? It must be nice, I thought. But for me, the feeling was hollow, distant.
"I guess it's because we can use the cosmic energy as a replacement," I explained, my voice steady and measured. The concept felt simple, yet there was something almost soothing in the thought that we were no longer confined by the laws of the world we had just destroyed. The cosmic energy, endless and vast, became our new breath, our new lifeblood, keeping us alive in this boundless expanse.
Suddenly, my train of thought was shattered by a scream, loud and raw.
"AAARRRHHH!" Jeong Suhan's scream echoed through the void, a desperate, anguished cry.
I didn't even spare him a glance, rolling my eyes instead. Always the drama, I thought. His screams were nothing more than the pathetic remnants of someone who knew he had lost everything. But I didn't need to acknowledge him—his pain wasn't my concern.
"Anyway," I continued, my tone as flat and emotionless as ever, "right now we need to assimilate to this new power, adapt to this new reality. We need to find a way to travel to the place I once had a dream about. It's the place for all of us, the home of the demons, the home to souls like us—far away from the Creator."
The words hung in the air, weighty but detached, as I spoke, "Until the day I can fight him, until the day I can kill him. At that point, I know that we will most likely reach the point of no return. The secrets will be revealed, and none of us will ever be the same."
I could feel the eyes of my demons on me, their faces filled with confusion, but I didn't expect them to understand—not yet. I didn't even fully understand what I had seen, or if it had been real. The vision, the dream, the place I had seen—it felt so distant now, so uncertain. I didn't know if the demon world even existed or if the throne of eternity truly stood somewhere out there in the cosmos. But one thing was clear—I was going to aim for it.
"If the man who calls himself the Creator wants it," I said, my voice still, unshaken, "then I will take it from him."
It wasn't a declaration of vengeance or rage—just a simple fact. The world might have ended, but for me, it was only the beginning.
