The Cunning Treasure Hunter-Chapter 137: Rebirth in Shadows: Magnus’s Fall

Deep beneath southern peak, in the dark abyss of the underground The Dark Cavern, stood Aetheris. And before him, Magnus knelt, his body slumped in confusion and disbelief.

Defeated? Me?

He stared at his severed left arm, the same way he had looked at Aetheris’s dismembered arm moments earlier. His left arm had been torn off, just like that. Dark blood poured from his mouth. The Cherry Blossom Sword—the sword that had been with him for years, covered in his own fingerprints… was now in the hands of Aetheris.

A Beast? A Monster?

But no, this was no ordinary beast. This creature wielded a sword.

From the moment he had lost his sword, the battle was already over. Aetheris had caught him off guard, exploiting his weaknesses in the moment of his deepest confusion.

As the demonic energy surged, threatening to overwhelm his senses, Aetheris struck from behind.

He had been caught from behind.

Magnus, a peak master in his prime—on the edge of Kingdom of Harmony—had been caught from behind by a mere mid-level master, Aetheris. The difference between their levels, despite Aetheris’s recent breakthrough, should have been significant.

Magnus was standing at the threshold of Kingdom of Harmony, nearing the fifty mark, a seasoned and mature martial artist. Yet, Aetheris—at best, a mid-tier peak master—had defeated him soundly.

His inner strength… his power… had been overwhelmed. How could this be?

"This… this can’t be…!"

Coughing violently, blood continued to spill from his mouth, staining his robes until the Cherry Bloom embroidery was indistinguishable.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Aetheris was drawing closer. But something about Aetheris now was different—something monstrous. Magnus could feel the air heavy with the sense of a beast, but this wasn’t a beast as he understood it. It was something far more dangerous. It moved like a beast but fought with the techniques Aetheris had learned.

The Cherry Blossom Sword wasn’t blooming with the same elegance it once had. The sword was twisted now—dark, brutal, and devoid of its original mystical nature. What had once been a sword of profound wisdom was now imbued with terrifying, mind-numbing destruction.

Where Magnus’s sword had once bloomed like a flower, Aetheris’s sword was a shadow—an abyssal beast devouring everything in its path.

The very cave filled with a ghastly aura of death.

Aetheris was coming closer, and Magnus instinctively tried to retreat, but he was stopped. His back slammed into the cold, unyielding wall of the cave. There was no escape.

"You—You bastard! Can’t you even recognize your master!?" he shouted, though it was in vain.

The pure and righteous energy of Clear Mind Technique that should have protected his mind and Core was overwhelmed by the constant demonic pressure.

The demonic energy slowly seeped into his mind and his core, filling his body with unrelenting agony.

"Cough…!"

If only he had become a follower of the dark path. If only he hadn’t been so entrenched in purity. The agony surged through his veins, as if his very blood was being shredded apart.

His Core—it felt as though it was being trampled upon, shattered to pieces.

Magnus couldn’t take it any longer. He collapsed onto the cold ground, his body shuddering as he tried to maintain consciousness. But Aetheris was still, relentlessly, pouring the malevolent energy at him.

His former disciple… the one who had once looked up to him—now turned into this monstrosity.

But through the haze of agony, Magnus could see Aetheris raising the sword once more.

Was this it? Was he about to die?

Usually, Magnus would have accepted his death. He had faced stronger foes and had been ready to die in battle. But now, in this state, his mind clouded by the demonic energy, all he could feel was fear.

"Please… please, spare me!"

The words came out of his mouth in desperation.

But the sword did not strike.

Looking up, Magnus realized with a cold chill that Aetheris wasn’t sparing him out of mercy.

Aetheris’s left hand reached forward, gripping Magnus by the collar, and lifted him effortlessly into the air.

The crushing strength of Aetheris was beyond comprehension.

And with Magnus’s left arm severed, his ability to resist was nonexistent. There was no point in resisting.

He had lost everything—his sword, his arm, and his inner strength. His situation was hopeless.

All he could do now was wait for the inevitable.

"I… I’ve done a lot wrong. Huh? I know I’ve messed up all this time, so…."

But as Magnus stammered, demonic energy began to concentrate in Aetheris’s left arm.

All the demonic energy around him surged into the left arm that had been attached by Young Master’s curse.

At this rate, just releasing all the energy would completely obliterate Magnus’s upper body.

He clenched his teeth, trying to hold his tongue.

But it didn’t seem like his words were the problem.

The left arm greedily devoured all the surrounding demonic energy, growing blacker by the second.

And then…

It felt as though no demonic energy existed within this underground The Dark Cavern anymore.

"What… What is this…?"

Soon, Aetheris’s left arm released Magnus.

Magnus almost fell flat on his back, but somehow, he managed to regain his balance and stay on his feet.

And then, he locked eyes with Aetheris.

"…This… this is…."

Magnus stared in horror. His eyes—no, his pupils—were gone.

Where his irises had been, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

The light from the torches flickered as it reflected off those empty, blackened eyes.

"A, Aetheris, so… Cough!"

But before he could finish, Young Master’s left arm gripped Magnus’s neck once more.

However, this time, the grip wasn’t for the purpose of killing or threatening.

Instead, the arm detached from Aetheris, falling to the ground.

A chill ran down Magnus’s spine. He had a sinking feeling about what was about to happen.

The severed arm of Aetheris, just like his own severed left arm—this monstrous arm—was gathering all the demonic energy, and Magnus could feel it.

The curse was far worse than anything he had anticipated.

"C, could it be…?"

Though he hated the idea, there was a strange part of him that didn’t mind it.

No, in truth, he had longed for this power.

The power that could break even Magnus himself.

If he gained this strength, perhaps…

Maybe, this was the kind of power that could easily crush even someone standing on the threshold of Kingdom of Harmony.

Wasn’t this the level he had longed to reach?

But deep in his heart, fear surged.

This was the power he had desired, but now his instincts screamed at him to turn away.

It was then that he tried to flee, but the demonic energy that had already seeped into his mind clouded his thoughts.

"...Ah."

In an instant, Magnus’s eyes glazed over, becoming unfocused.

In that moment, Young Master’s left arm, like a scorpion, moved swiftly.

The fingers of the arm curled like legs, and the arm itself crawled up Magnus’s body, moving like a spider.

It approached the severed wound on Magnus’s arm.

From there, everything happened in a flash.

The severed arm of Young Master pressed against Magnus’s wound, and in that instant, his eyes turned completely black, as if even the whites of his eyes had been consumed.

The demonic energy had infiltrated his head, heart, and Core.

To make matters worse, Magnus had lost the protective Silver Needle treatment that Aetheris had once used.

The pure inner strength of Clear Mind Technique, once filling his Core, had also been depleted.

"...Hoo..."

As the left arm, now fully saturated with demonic energy, began to regain its original color, Magnus’s body was overwhelmed with demonic power.

His Core was completely consumed, and even his Innate True energy began to rot. He was losing his very essence as a human.

His heart, his head, and his body were all suffocating under the weight of the demonic energy, completely controlled by Young Master’s terrifying left arm.

And there, before him, Magnus stood—no longer the same person.

A completely different atmosphere radiated from his body, as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut, now controlling Aetheris’s body.

"…I still have a long way to go."

The once-blackened whites of Magnus’s eyes slowly returned to their original color.

From Aetheris’s now lifeless, cold body, he reached out and reclaimed his sword—the Cherry Blossom Sword—from its still, frozen hand.

He was no longer Magnus.

He had taken on Magnus’s memories, skills, and body.

He had revived as Young Master.

Outside of southern peak, at the entrance of the underground The Dark Cavern.

Gideon, a peak master who had crossed the threshold of Kingdom of Harmony, was waiting for Magnus.

Having sensed the subtle shift in energy from within the cave, he realized something had changed.

First, Aetheris was definitely dead. There was no trace of his presence.

Second, Magnus was still alive. His energy was more intense than ever.

Third…

"The demonic energy is gone?"

Gideon furrowed his brows as he stared into the cave.

The cave had returned to normal.

There was no longer any trace of demonic energy filling the space.

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The grotesque and monstrous creatures that had once thrived in the shadows were gone.

But something didn’t make sense.

How could the demonic energy have completely disappeared?

Had Magnus destroyed Young Master’s left arm and sealed the energy, ensuring it would never return?

"...That’s impossible."

Gideon narrowed his eyes, sensing the strange unease in the air.