Chapter 187: My goodness. The sea, the sea! (13)

Slash.

The team leader moved first.

His iron sword cut off the edges of the blue aura. It then dug into the gap and created a path to the Blood Demon.

"...."

The Blood Demon felt this more sensitively than any others.

Her body had been tied down and she could not even breathe properly because of Cale's aura.

She still felt that way.

However, she could not just sit here and do nothing.

To think that she could not do anything because she was suppressed by this feeble person's aura…

"That-"

Absolutely.

"Makes no sense."

Grind.

The Blood Demon clenched her teeth.

Blood dripped over her lip. Some injuries appeared inside her cheek and started bleeding as well.

Her blood looked somewhat blue.

Slash.

The Blood Demon could feel the footsteps of the person who was slowly slashing away her aura and getting closer.

However, her body was still in fear.

All because of a single man who was looking up at her.

"...."

The Blood Demon raised her hand.

Cale saw this and flinched.

Chhhhhhhhh-!

The blue blood scattered in the air.

The Blood Demon channeled her aura into her fingertips and scratched at her arm.

Five thin scratches were in her left arm.

But that was not the end.

Chhhhhhhhh-!

She used her other hand to create the same scratches in her right arm.

The ten long scratches…

Blue blood flowed down through them.

The Blood Demon relaxed both arms.

Drip. Drip.

Blood started dripping.

However, she finally smiled.

"That's more like it."

The goosebumps that had been on her arm from being scared of Cale's aura were gone.

The goosebumps disappeared after the pain and being covered in her blood.

There were no traces of her having been scared.

"Haha."

The Blood Demon was finally able to turn her head away from the aura suppressing her.

'Yes, avoiding it is not the answer.'

She should not run away from or avoid the gaze of this man with the black Dragon.

But before that-

'I'm just trying to get rid of those pesky hindrances first!'

The Blood Demon said that to herself as she turned toward the slowly approaching team leader.

Drip.

She must have bit down even harder on her lips as more blood was flowing from her mouth.

"Yes, I am not running away."

She looked at the blue aura surrounding her. How hard had she worked to build this up?

'I will not submit anymore.'

Blue aura fluctuated around her eyes.

It then roared loudly. The aura was violently fluctuating as if it carried the emotions in her mind. The Blood Demon saw something through those fluctuations.

'Are you this generation's Blood Demon?'

'Fine. Your will is strong so I will happily lend a hand.'

It was the Blood Demon during her youth with her head bowed.

There was a strong existence looking down at her. His purple eyes…

His gaze that was looking down at her as if she was basically an ant…

How she had lowered her head to avoid that gaze…

"…No."

'This is an illusion.'

The Blood Demon raised her hand.

She drew a line in the air.

The action was smooth as she had done this move tens, no, hundreds of thousands of times.

A smooth yet majestic aura gathered in her movement.

However, it was a bit unnatural.

'Fuck!'

The Blood Demon's body was finding it a bit awkward to move her aura because she had not managed to completely get rid of the fear of this strong aura binding her.

However, the Blood Demon ignored it.

How hard had she worked to stand in front of a Dragon, to fight against them?

She released as much strength as possible based on how much of this fear she managed to overcome.

'Yes, I can win. I will not submit.'

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-

A gust of wind gathered around her fingertips again.

The blue aura started getting carried by that gust of wind.

The blue aura that resembled the sea or a swamp instantly flew toward the illusion and the team leader behind it.

This was basically as strong as the aura that tried to overwhelm Cale.

It felt as if a large tsunami was attacking Sui Khan.

Smile.

The Blood Demon started to smile.

She had figured out this person's power earlier.

She had no idea what kind of ability he was using with that iron sword despite not having any internal ki or aura, but…

She was pretty much aware of his limits.

That was why she was certain.

This guy was unable to block this strong power.

Chhh-

The blue aura slashed through the illusion.

It then charged toward Sui Khan behind it.

As the smile on the Blood Demon's face was about to get bigger…

"!"

The two of them made eye contact.

Sui Khan was slowly walking forward with the iron sword in his hand. His pupils were not shaking at all.

He was not scared and fear was not holding him back.

He was simply looking at her.

'Now that I think about it…'

She suddenly had a thought.

After she blasted the person who created the white yong away, this man had just been breathing with his sword pointed down.

He even had his head down.

She had assumed that he had been scared.

After consuming the auras of countless people, her existence was too overbearing to call human.

However, she now thought that he might not have been scared.

The eyes she saw just now showed no signs of fear at all.

"Why is it that you do not fear me?"

Sui Khan raised his sword the moment the Blood Demon asked that question.

He then slashed down from top to bottom with a slightly tired face.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The large blue aura that pushed forward like the wind…

He used this old iron sword that had cracked during the fight to make a single slash against this tsunami-like aura.

Slash.

Sui Khan's sword made a line into the large tsunami.

However, it was not enough to slash through the tsunami.

But that did not matter.

He just had to do it again.

Slash.

The iron sword created another line.

Slash, slash.

And again without any rest.

A line appeared on top of the line before that and then another one on top of that.

The speed of his sword was quick without any hesitation.

Chhh-

The more lines he made on top of each other, every time he swung the sword, the line became deeper.

As if it was creating its own surface…

The line created its own surface as it sliced through the blue aura.

"How-?!"

Sui Khan heard the Blood Demon's voice again.

Her voice, which was louder than earlier, was full of confusion and desperation.

Sui Khan chuckled.

'I worked next to a god. Why would I be scared at this level of power?'

He did not answer the Blood Demon's question out loud.

There was no need for him to resolve his enemy's curiosity.

Instead, he said the following.

"Hey Han."

He felt a presence behind him.

"You do the attacking."

Choi Han clenched his sword after hearing that.

Sui Khan had created a large line cutting through the blue aura.

That line had turned into a surface and was creating a path.

A path cutting through this large tsunami would soon be created.

Choi Han thought to himself.

'I need to follow that path.'

It was his responsibility to attack the Blood Demon.

He could not ruin the path that Sui Khan worked so hard to create.

"...."

However, Choi Han had to think for a bit after seeing the Blood Demon on the other side of the path.

A large amount of blue aura was still surrounding her.

This aura would have attacked Choi Han if Cale had not held the Blood Demon down.

This thing that was created with hundreds of thousands of lives-

'How am I supposed to get rid of that?'

This was not fear or hesitation.

It was simply a problem of possibility.

SLAP!

He heard a slap at that moment.

"Shit."

Choi Han saw the Blood Demon slapping herself.

Shaaaaaaaaaaa-

The blue aura surrounding her started roaring fiercely.

"We need to hurry."

He heard Sui Khan's voice and his iron sword swung forward even faster.

Ooooooooong-

The Blood Demon raised both hands into the air.

The blue aura created an even larger tsunami. As if the one earlier was just a tiny wave, this tsunami was even larger than Cale's tsunami back in Yunnan.

Choi Han could feel the thing within that aura.

Although this looked like the sea…

It was a swamp.

If things went wrong, they would all be swallowed by this swamp.

'Even Choi Jung Soo's white yong was swallowed by this swamp.'

It had then disappeared.

'Will mine be able to survive?'

Would his power be enough?

Would it be able to defeat and destroy this tsunami?

Choi Han's mind became complicated.

It was at that moment.

"Why are you contemplating so much?"

He heard a calm voice.

He raised his head thinking it was Cale only to see Sui Khan's back.

Sui Khan walked forward as he spoke.

"The sea is just the combination of a countless number of waterdrops."

"Ah."

Choi Han let out a short gasp before he looked past Sui Khan's shoulder to the large blue aura.

Sui Khan continued to speak.

"It is the same with that aura. It is not one. It is an aura created by gathering a countless number of life forces. A path will open if you slash them one by one."

Choi Han realized how Sui Khan was creating this path.

He was not slashing this tsunami, he was slashing the water drops within it one by one.

'Something-'

Choi Han felt as if he sort of figured it out.

It was not just one large component making up that power.

It looked like one but it was a combination of many things.

Squeeze.

He tightly clasped down on his sword.

He felt like he was about to figure something out.

It was at that moment.

"Han. It looks like you won't need to step in first."

Choi Han felt a familiar aura.

Someone was charging into the path that Sui Khan had created.

It was Choi Jung Soo.

Choi Jung Soo's whole body was covered in dust but he seemed fine.

'Is he just tenacious?'

Choi Han chuckled.

He then made eye contact with Choi Jung Soo who turned around.

"Uncle, are you not coming?"

Choi Han immediately started walking as if he was responding to that.

He walked past Sui Khan and ran into the path that had been created.

That path had cut through all of the blue tsunami, reaching all the way to the Blood Demon who was creating another tsunami.

Choi Han was behind Choi Jung Soo and could hear his voice.

"Uncle, I will block that aura so please use that time to attack the Blood Demon."

He would stop that other blue tsunami for a moment so use that moment to attack.

Choi Han stared at Choi Jung Soo's back after hearing that.

It was because blocking that aura would be the harder task.

Had he noticed his aura?

"That's the right thing to do. Your attack is the strongest out of the three of us, uncle."

Choi Jung Soo raised his sword as he said that.

Shhhh–

A white aura shot up and a white yong started appearing at the tip of his sword.

The white yong was slowly getting more detailed.

Choi Han watched for a bit before quickly channeling his own aura.

"Ha! You are coming at me again!"

The Blood Demon sneered and Choi Jung Soo's white yong charged into the aura in front of the Blood Demon.

The large blue tsunami and this detailed white yong whose scales were all extremely sophisticated…

Choi Han looked at all of this and thought to himself.

'Individual things gathered to become something different.'

The thought he had earlier returned in his mind.

However, he had not stopped moving.

Choi Han channeled his black aura.

Right now was time to fight.

'I-'

He then suddenly looked at his aura.

'What am I a collection of?

My power, what individual things have come together to create it?'

Choi Han had thought about the true nature of his aura during the time before he had created the black yong.

He had thought many times about where his power came from.

There had been a time he had even thought about what was within his power.

However, He had never thought so thoroughly about each individual medium within it.

Ooooooooong-

The violently fluctuating black aura…

The small lights sparkling within it…

"Ah."

Choi Han saw it.

Whether it was the small black dot inside this black aura or these sparkling things… They were all different.

In that case, what were these different things?

'They are all me.'

All of these auras had originated from Choi Han himself.

That meant that these-

'This was created with the different things I have experienced in my life.'

He had realized this last time as well.

His lived experiences, the things he hoped for, were being channeled into his sword.

However, he realized something more this time.

'They are stacking higher.'

He finally realized it.

The reason that his black aura was stronger than before…

The reason the sparkling lights within the aura had increased in number…

'Part of it is because I trained a lot and got stronger, but…

That is not all.

Each and every one of these small things are all-

The path that I have walked, the time I have spent.

In the end, my power stacks up as high as the path I walk.

In that case-'

Choi Han felt as if his mind was clearing up.

'In that case, wouldn't the path to get even stronger be the same?

As I take one step after another, the sights I see, the conversations I have, the battlefields I fight on… These experiences, although small on their own, would all gather together to create who I am.

In the end, my power is me.'

Choi Han looked at his power that was rising from his sword.

The black aura.

This was the black path that was created by the time he spent in the Forest of Darkness.

That was why it was violent and ruthless.

'If that path has become my personality, my nature…

The things sparkling within it are hope. They are the milestones.

The numerous sparkling experiences I have faced end up turning into hope, into my future.'

And that milestone-

'Will be the path I have passed or will soon pass.'

That was how he had lived.

He had experienced one thing after another since meeting Cale-nim and the others.

"Ha-"

Choi Han let out a short laugh.

The traces of how he had swung his sword to protect things and people that were important to him or to give himself hope were all within his power.

And they were all paths he had already walked.

Ooooooooong-

A yong shot out of Choi Han's sword.

This black yong was violent but still had sparkling balls of light within it.

That black yong started to transform.

The rough body became a bit more detailed.

Still, its appearance was still rough and violent.

However, that was not the end.

Ooooooooong-

The black yong and even Choi Han…

The black aura with the balls of light started from the yong and started swirling around Choi Han.

This was not like his usual aura.

It was similar to the Blood Demon's blue aura.

No, it was similar to Cale's invisible and formless aura.

Of course, what was contained within it was different.

This presence surrounding Choi Han and his sword was still faint, making it difficult to clearly feel what was within it.

However, one thing could clearly be felt.

Sui Khan subconsciously stopped slashing his sword and commented.

"…It's firm."

This small aura was firm.

As if no exterior aura could break him… It was small but firm.

Furthermore, it was stable.

It was in complete balance.

Choi Han raised his sword.

He realized something.

'I am creating me…I am creating my life.

The paths I have passed were all me.

I have already stacked a lot of paths along my journey.'

A smile appeared on his face.

Anybody would think that it was a pure smile.

It was also a refreshing smile similar to the confident smile of a young boy who was becoming a teenager.

"Haha-"

The team leader laughed.

"Little Han has found his path."

He continued to speak, almost as if he was mumbling.

"This punk will fight well against the Dragons too."

Dragon Fear, the Dominating Aura…

It was lacking compared to those but what Choi Han had created was an aura he had developed himself.

Choi Han's black yong charged forward.

It moved in front of the white yong that was slowly being swallowed by this blue tsunami or swamp-like aura and ruthlessly charged forward.

Baaaaaaaaaang—–

Choi Han and his violent black yong ran into the blue tsunami with that loud explosion.

They then cut through the tsunami.

Cale heard the Dominating Aura's voice in his mind.

– An aura that was forcibly combined by a cowardly thief who stole from others can never defeat the confirmation, the will that a person has firmly developed through his own life experiences.

The black yong and Choi Han looked like a small dot inside that large tsunami.

However, the ruthlessly charging black dot finally pierced through the tsunami.

It then crashed into the Blood Demon.

Baaaaaaaaaang—–

There was a loud noise with the explosion.

The blue aura and black aura swirled together as they shot up.

Cale was watching as the Dominating Aura spoke in a serious voice again.

– Cale, that child, Choi Han has developed an aura like yours as well.

—

Translator's Comments

Choi Han developing a dominating aura?!

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]