The Poison Lady was strong.
She was a martial artist who had survived countless real battles even after reaching the Harmony Realm, and her poison art had reached an unfathomable height.
The ground her poison touched blackened and died in an instant. The poisonous mist that blanketed the surrounding area didn't miss so much as a single small insect, and even the most renowned masters of the Demonic Cult melted away without a chance to resist, reduced to a handful of poison ashes.
Tang So-wol had never known anyone who wielded poison this powerful.
Even Tang Jincheon, called the Poison King, could not compare to what she saw before her now.
The Poison Lady's poison, and the martial art that wielded it, stood far above even the ideal Tang So-wol had only ever pictured in her mind.
As if copying an answer sheet someone had presented to her, Tang So-wol found herself staring wide-eyed at the Poison Lady's breathing, her footsteps, her combinations of poisons—even her trivial habits.
This was only natural, as she had trained in the same constitution and the same martial art.
And so Tang So-wol watched the Poison Lady, her heart filled with quiet expectation.
She knew the Heavenly Demon was strong, but surely someone of this caliber could stand against him.
After all, wasn't this a situation where the remnants of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance had nowhere left to flee, forcing them into an all-out battle?
Her reasoning was simple: if they could wear down the Heavenly Demon—already weakened by poison—with wave after wave of attacks, they might just bring him down.
But it was a vain hope.
The Poison Lady was undoubtedly powerful, but the Heavenly Demon was stronger still.
His martial might was incomprehensible—so overwhelming it defied all reason.
The ultimate pinnacle of the Myriad Streams Return to Origin Divine Art—a technique that melts away everything in the world and draws it toward a single destination. And the vengeful imagery and intent that Tang So-wol had nurtured all this time…
They could only wither away beneath the black-stained sky of the demonic energy.
"Ah…"
A sigh that escaped unbidden.
Tang So-wol, who had been watching in rapt focus, was not the only one. Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin, who had been watching Cheon Hwi with worried eyes as he held off the other Demonic Cultists alone from a short distance away—
No matter where they had been looking, all of them were forced to raise their eyes to the sky at the same time.
The sky, stained black by the roiling Demonic Qi. Even knowing that the pressure emanating from that massive mass of Aura was merely a replay of a memory, it was enough to send cold sweat running down their backs.
"Is this even martial art…?"
"No matter how strong the Force Qi Skill is, how could it be this powerful?!"
"We're supposed to face someone like this?"
All three of them were astonished in their own ways, but the most intense reaction came from Seomun Hwa-rin.
Perhaps it was because she had briefly fought the Heavenly Demon before. She had never imagined that the already-powerful Heavenly Demon would become a monster to this degree.
"I had heard that he defeated the combined attacks of Harmony Realm martial artists, but… is this truly the martial art of a human being?"
"…No. Perhaps it isn't a power built purely through human talent and effort, Hwa-rin unni."
Tang So-wol shook her head at Seomun Hwa-rin's shocked words.
What flashed through her mind were the questions Cheon Hwi had once asked the Illusion Witch.
"Defying Heaven."
"Hmm?"
"The Illusion Witch said that no matter how much one hones their martial arts, there is a limit to the power a person can possess."
"Well. It's hard to put faith in the words of a sorcerer who hasn't even glimpsed the end of martial arts."
"Ah, that's not what I meant. I don't fully understand it myself, but… to put it in a crude analogy, it's a matter of realm. Like how one cannot manifest Aura without reaching the Harmony Realm."
"Hmm. If that's the case, then I suppose."
Seomun Hwa-rin nodded reluctantly. Seeing her like that, Tang So-wol calmly continued her explanation.
"But that's only when one trains through orthodox means. Young hero Cheon suspected that if anyone could find a way, it would be a Heavenly Demon who walks the demonic path beyond the heretical one—and the Illusion Witch named the Karmic Sin of Killing as the most plausible method."
"…You speak of the Karmic Sin of Killing?"
"Yes. A Karmic Sin of Killing that reaches the heavens. Death that defies the natural order—so much so that the heavens, which merely follow the principles of the world without judging by human standards, cannot help but take notice. Through this, if one achieves Defying Heaven, they can possess power that surpasses all limits."
"Karmic Sin of Killing… power beyond limits…"
"Defying Heaven, a death piled high enough that the heavens cannot help but turn their gaze…"
As the two murmured these words, Seol Ri-hyang and Seomun Hwa-rin widened their eyes at the same time.
They had recalled how the Heavenly Demon had shattered the martial world of the Central Plains, killing countless people.
Strictly speaking, that was incorrect. Even if one offered every person in the Central Plains as a sacrifice, the limit that could be surpassed would be negligible.
But for the Heavenly Demon, who repeated the Karmic Sin of Killing through countless regressions, even that negligible amount was enough.
Their guess was slightly off, but they had at least figured out where the Heavenly Demon's strength came from.
And so, while the three of them watched with eyes trembling in shock and unease—
The battle between the Heavenly Demon and the Poison Lady was gradually racing toward its end.
For a fight between Harmony Realm martial artists, it had been far too short a time.
One might wonder whether the current Heavenly Demon could truly be called a mere Harmony Realm martial artist… but in the end, it was only a difference in scale and sophistication—everything he could do, other Harmony Realm martial artists could do as well.
Of course, that difference in scale and sophistication was overwhelming.
The final poison the Poison Lady had created by staking everything she had.
Even though Tang So-wol had watched every single step of its creation, the Extreme Poison she could not comprehend stained the Heavenly Demon's arm a deep green.
And he carved a small scar, not unlike a burn mark. That was the end of it.
No matter how vicious the poison, having broken through the Heavenly Demon's Protective Qi, it had lost most of its power.
Sensing defeat, the Poison Lady looked at Cheon Hwi, who was fighting a short distance away.
Even in the midst of battle, Cheon Hwi had been keeping an eye on the Heavenly Demon and the Poison Lady. It was only natural that their eyes would meet.
An awkward smile bloomed on the Poison Lady's face as she held Cheon Hwi in her deep green eyes.
And then came a whisper, formed only by the shape of her lips.
'Please live.'
With those words as her last, Tang So-wol gathered every last drop of poison remaining in her and reached out her hand.
Poison so extreme that it could melt even the body of the most powerful Poison Human in the history of the Tang Clan—one born through the Poison Spirit Constitution and reborn through Bone-Exchange Rebirth.
Like a cornered martial artist unleashing their Innate True Qi, Tang So-wol sent all the poison she had accumulated over her lifetime into a simultaneous rampage.
Her strike carried power worthy of being called, quite literally, her final blow.
Indeed, the Heavenly Demon's skin, exposed to the Poison Mist, began to burn across an even wider area, but…
Thud!
With a single heavy step from the Heavenly Demon, the poison that the Poison Lady had built up over a lifetime scattered into nothing. And then—
Boom!
The sound of something bursting. She had allowed only a single clean hit, yet that alone was enough to punch a massive hole through the Poison Lady's chest.
A death that was hollow if hollow, and glorious if glorious—such was the Poison Lady's end.
And so, the three women came to understand.
Why Cheon Hwi hated the Heavenly Demon, and why he regarded the Demonic Cult as his sworn enemy.
Blood poured from the hollow wound.
Cheon Hwi's world came crashing down.
"…Ah."
After the Iron Blood Faction's extermination, tears that Cheon Hwi had never shed now streamed down his face, hot enough to scald.
The acrid scent of poison rose from the Poison Lady's body as it dissolved into her own venom. The roar of a beast that had lost what it was meant to protect. And a single sword, ever at Cheon Hwi's side.
His face twisted like a murderous fiend, Cheon Hwi's killing intent momentarily pushed back the Heavenly Demon's Aura that had dominated the surroundings. It was killing intent that pure and fierce.
"I'll kill you!!"
Despite having clearly been told to live, Cheon Hwi leaped toward his opponent without hesitation.
Burning everything he had left—internal energy, lifespan, reason, all of it—he charged forward in a straight line.
A thrust carrying everything he was permitted to give.
A simple, swift sword shot toward the Heavenly Demon's heart.
The blade blazing with blood-red Qi Flame pierced through the Protective Qi the Heavenly Demon had wrapped around himself.
It drove in… and stopped before even half of it had penetrated.
It was a martial level that hardly seemed worthy of a Transcendent Peak expert, but before the Heavenly Demon, it held no meaning at all.
With eyes barren beyond measure, Cheon Hwi met the Heavenly Demon's gaze and, as if in a final flailing, unleashed even his Innate True Qi. And then.
The Heavenly Demon, his expression still one of weariness, merely twitched a finger.
Wooong—!
A massive surge of Ink Color Aura descended upon Cheon Hwi's head.
It was as if the very heavens were collapsing upon him.
In response, Cheon Hwi could only clench his sword until his fingers creaked, grinding his teeth.
"…I couldn't reach him."
If only he had a bit more talent, a bit more time, a bit better martial art to master.
A face filled with the poignant regret of wondering whether things might have turned out differently.
And so Cheon Hwi, pierced by the falling Aura, pitched headfirst into a pool of blood and collapsed.
A death beyond any doubt.
And so Cheon Hwi died. Realizing too late that he was a human, not a beast; knowing too late that he could hold someone in his arms; and even the love that had come to him once more, he could only let go.
A life filled with loss, unable to grasp a single thing, forced to let everything slip through his fingers.
But for some reason, the memories of Cheon Hwi, which should have ended, did not end.
The Heavenly Demon, with a calm demeanor as if nothing of consequence had occurred, took his leave.
What remained behind was nothing but Cheon Hwi's corpse…
Something was crawling toward the blood-soaked body.
In the world dyed red, it was the only thing that maintained its deep green hue.
It was all the enlightenment left behind by the Poison Lady, a peerless poison master, and the final trace created by dissolving her very flesh.
The poison energy contained within was still formidable, but it had lost its master, hadn't it?
Under normal circumstances, it should have slowly dispersed. It should have dissolved into the blood and faded, scattering with the passage of time… Yet for some reason, it remained, moving of its own accord.
"Surely not—is it still alive?!"
"…No. That is not the case."
An Unending Memory. Seol Ri-hyang offered a hopeful observation about the poison that still moved, but Tang So-wol firmly denied it.
Cheon Hwi was dead, and the Poison Lady had not even left behind a proper corpse.
These were unchanging facts. And yet.
"It's still here. The Intent I poured into you."
Cheon Hwi realized this as he cut away his own Simma. He was not a being made entirely of himself.
If he had become who he was now by sharing his heart with countless others, then those figures from before the regression—whom he could never see again anywhere—must also remain within him.
Like the small drop of poison now climbing against the blood toward Cheon Hwi.
As the Illusion Witch had said, through Cheon Hwi's own essence, she was peering into his mindscape… catching a glimpse of the Poison Lady's mindscape contained within it.
To others, it would have been an incomprehensible phenomenon, but for one person alone—Tang So-wol—she could instinctively understand what was happening.
Even if Cheon Hwi's life had come to an end, the Intent that the Poison Lady had held until the very last moment remained, returning to Cheon Hwi.
The Poison Lady's final mindscape contained within that small drop… those emotions seeped into Tang So-wol.
Regret, affection, gratitude, and worry.
"…So that's how it was."
The Poison Lady had never been able to set down her vengeance, but even so, meeting Cheon Hwi had taught her many things.
She was sorry for making him promise something he could not keep, for dragging him into her revenge and putting him in danger.
She had learned that there was someone who loved her, and she had learned that she herself was capable of loving someone.
She was simply grateful for all of it.
But facing death, there was one thing that weighed on her mind.
After she was gone. She worried about how much more Cheon Hwi, already so scarred, would fall apart.
Responding to this intent, the fragments of Tang So-wol stirred… and in that way, they reached Cheon Hwi.
Her body was growing cold. But ignoring the green poison liquid, it coiled around his little finger.
It looked like a ring, or perhaps like a thread wound around his finger.
The poison that would melt everything it touched did not melt Cheon Hwi, but simply clung to him.
Only in death did they finally become one. In the Poison Lady's final moment, Tang So-wol understood.
That this was also a message left behind by Cheon Hwi for someone he would meet in the future.
"Please… take care of him."
She could no longer stay by Cheon Hwi's side, but the other her would be different. Please, make this man happy.
No one else would likely ever notice it. Only Tang So-wol could perceive it—because she was another version of herself.
A message left by Tang So-wol for Tang So-wol.
The moment it was delivered, the three women's bodies began to rise upward, as if there was nothing left to show.
Cheon Hwi's corpse drifted farther and farther away. And the world faded into darkness.
No matter how much one borrowed the power of the secret arts, no one could ever steal a glimpse of the process of regression.
But perhaps it was possible to be together.
The deep green knot etched into Cheon Hwi's pinky finger glimmered faintly in the darkness.
He was, after all, the Cheon Hwi who had triggered his Innate True Qi at the final moment, and then even driven it into a Qi Deviation, letting it run wild.
No matter how intact his body became through regression, the madness was bound to remain.
Yet when he came to his senses, he was perfectly sound.
Just as the poison named Love had once healed his internal injuries.
The Intent left behind by Tang So-wol—that heart which had wound itself around his pinky finger and left its mark on his heart—was the same.
As consciousness stirred, Tang So-wol watched the only light in the now-indistinguishable landscape: Cheon Hwi's finger. And she gave a name to the final poison left by the Poison Lady—a name she could never speak aloud to anyone.
Yearning Without End
Longing, and longing still—unable to forget.
This is so even when life and death part the two, and even when time is turned back, it remains unchanged.
***
Tang So-wol, having come to her senses, spoke with tears streaming down her face.
"Come here, young hero Cheon."
"Hm?"
"This time, I'll lick you all over while I'm awake."
"…First, calm down and think about what you just said."
It's not like we're the only ones here.