“Bring it, old hag. I’m going to beat you until your voice gives out and you can't sing another note.”
Luo Hao’s eyes curved like crescent moons at my provocation. It was the smile of a predator before its prey.
“Very well. Let us see how long that bravado lasts. I wonder if a single scrap of your bone will remain once the dance of Luo Hao is finished!”
Once again, three massive auras collided above the Heaven Lake of Mount Paektu.
*...I said that to sound tough, but...*
I felt sweat slicking my palm as it gripped the shaft of Pāoa. Honestly, the situation was at its absolute worst. No, it was a complete and utter disaster.
That woman, Luo Hao, was a monster—a master of martial arts with a literal Diamond Body. The Mysterious Lady was an infinite-motion fortress using this entire mountain range as her battery. No matter how much of a god-slaying Devil King I was, trying to take them both on simultaneously in this chaotic brawl was nothing short of suicidal.
A shrimp caught in a whale fight? No, I was a cockroach that had wandered into a nuclear testing ground. I was confident in my ability to endure, but if I kept up this test of strength, Mount Paektu would crumble, the Mysterious Lady would collapse from exhaustion, and a perfectly fresh Luo Hao would be left to cook me alive.
*It’s all or nothing. I have no chance of winning if I take them on separately.*
I spat out a mouthful of blood and let my mind race with every desperate scheme I could muster. Pride was a luxury I couldn’t afford right now; I had to use any means necessary.
How could I coax that high-and-mighty goddess into breaking through this impasse? There was only one answer.
KRA-BOOM—!
The fists of the Diamond Guardians struck the earth once more. The solid bedrock of Mount Paektu was crushed like tofu, and every fragment that flew up scattered in all directions like artillery shells.
I wrapped myself in Tāwhirimātea’s winds to deflect the debris while backing away. Beside me, a massive rock arm controlled by the Mysterious Lady descended upon Luo Hao, but she didn’t even bother to dodge.
“Weak! Too weak!”
Thwack!
Her small fist pulverized the stone giant’s arm. The strike, infused with internal energy, seemed to sever the very molecular bonds of the rock. Luo Hao dove through the clouds of dust like a dancer weaving through silk.
“You wretched girl...!”
The Mysterious Lady shrieked as she launched nine flying swords, but Luo Hao avoided their trajectories like a phantom, closing the distance to deliver a palm strike right to the goddess’s face. Crack! The Mysterious Lady’s defensive barrier shattered, and her body was sent flying like a cannonball.
*This won't work.*
No matter how much the Mysterious Lady could regenerate, Luo Hao’s momentum showed no sign of slowing. If the goddess fell, I was the next target. Fighting them one by one would only lead to me getting picked off.
I bit my lip and unleashed the Authority of the storm. I had to divert that monster’s attention, even for just a second.
“Father of Storms, rend the firmament and descend to strike with your spear!”
Rumble—!
Blue lightning began to rain down from the dark, overcast sky. Tāwhirimātea’s Authority wasn't limited to the wind. The thunderbolts plunging through the tempest were also his weapons.
Dozens of lightning bolts surged forward to blind Luo Hao and pin her down.
“Ho, lightning. A decent enough spectacle, I suppose.”
Luo Hao used the protection of her Diamond Guardians to block the falling bolts. In that moment, her gaze wavered slightly as she focused on the flashes. That was the opening I had been waiting for.
I screamed toward the battlefield at the top of my lungs.
“Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens! Do you want to cling to your pride and get beaten to death by that woman, or do you want to work with me just this once?”
“...What did you say?”
“Pin her down for exactly one second! I’ll find a way to pierce that Diamond Body of hers!”
The Mysterious Lady’s face twisted at my proposal. It was the humiliation of a god being asked to cooperate with a Devil King. However, the overwhelming martial prowess Luo Hao displayed through the raining lightning was enough to break the goddess’s stubbornness.
“...If you fail, I will pull out your soul and cast it into the fires of hell, Devil King!”
“Just pay me a service fee if I succeed!”
As if reaching a decision, the Mysterious Lady crossed her hands in prayer. A jade-colored divine energy erupted from her entire body like an explosion.
“Laws of Heaven and Earth, become the weight of the Great Mountain and crush the arrogant!”
VROOOOM—!
Space itself shrieked. The atmosphere around Luo Hao hardened into something as viscous as jelly, and the entire gravitational force of Mount Paektu was concentrated onto a single point.
“Urgh...?”
Luo Hao’s movements came to a grinding halt. Even the world’s greatest Martial God found her knees buckling slightly under the pressure of an entire mountain pressing down on her shoulders.
*Now.*
I didn’t miss that split-second opening. Using Tāwhirimātea’s lightning to distract her and provoking the Mysterious Lady had all been for this one strike.
Simple fire wouldn't be enough. That woman’s Diamond Body possessed a physical durability that was practically infinite. In that case, I had to melt the very concept of ‘sturdiness’ itself.
I adjusted my grip on my spear and exhaled the Incantation containing the essence of my Authority.
“My Hearth is the furnace that melts even the laws of all things. All that is solid shall become as flowing water before my heat! Pierce through, Pāoa!”
Flash—!
The spear left my hand, becoming a white flash of light as it surged toward Luo Hao’s solar plexus. It was a finishing blow that melted space and incinerated the air as it flew.
KRA-BOOM!
Even while suppressed by gravity, Luo Hao instinctively sensed the crisis. Realizing that her Diamond Guardians’ defense would be pierced, she wiped the smile from her lips.
“Hup!”
With a sharp shout, she forcibly twisted her body. Tearing through the mountain goddess’s restraints with sheer strength, she reached out her hand to parry my spear bare-handed. The images of the Twelve Zodiacs overlapped above her palm.
CLANG—!!
A massive shockwave erupted along with a metallic screech.
“Guh!”
The recoil sent both the Mysterious Lady and me tumbling backward across the ground. A mushroom cloud rose from the center of the explosion, shrouding the Heaven Lake in dust. My vision was obscured by the grime.
I shook off the dust and stood up unsteadily. My lungs ached as if they had been shredded, but my eyes remained fixed forward. Did it work?
The wind washed away the dust, revealing Luo Hao standing in the center.
She was still on her feet. However...
Drip. Drip.
From the edge of her torn crimson sleeve, bright red drops of blood were falling to the ground.
The Diamond Body. Against an absolute defense that was said to be impervious even to Divine Artifacts, there was a thin but undeniable wound.
Silence.
A stillness settled over the area, as if the sound of the wind itself had died. Even the Mysterious Lady held her breath as she stared at the sight.
All that remained was Luo Hao’s reaction. Would she be enraged? Or...
“Hahahaha!”
She burst into a hearty laugh that seemed like it would ring throughout the mountain, sounding genuinely delighted. There was no killing intent in that laughter. Instead, it carried pure joy and the thrill of a sensation she hadn’t tasted in far too long.
“Magnificent! Blinding me with lightning, binding my feet with gravity, and then a spear that melts concepts. I was going to curse you as a coward... but I cannot help but acknowledge the sharpness of that coordination.”
She held up her blood-stained arm, staring at me as if she were appraising a rare jewel.
“I thought this was a mere dogfight in the mud, but I have unexpectedly found a gem among the stones. It has been a truly long time since someone has wounded this Luo Hao.”
“...I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I replied, rolling my stiff shoulders while pretending to be relaxed. Inside, my legs were shaking uncontrollably.
Luo Hao snapped her fan open and turned around. The ominous fighting spirit that had surrounded her vanished as if it had never existed.
“I shall withdraw for today.”
“...What?”
“To consume a prey like you on such a cluttered stage, on top of muddy water that has already been spoiled... it would be too much of a waste, would it not?”
For her, combat was both the meaning of life and a form of play. Forcing a conclusion on a ruined board went against her aesthetics. Above all, it seemed my final strike had satisfied her peculiar sense of beauty.
Her body rose into the air, carried by the wind.
“What is your name, boy?”
“Min-jun Jeong.”
“Min-jun Jeong... I shall remember it. I look forward to the day we meet again, when we can dance upon a stage meant only for the two of us, without these tedious interruptions.”
Whoosh—
With a sudden gust, the Empress of China left the battlefield without a hint of lingering attachment.
As she disappeared, the clouds cleared as if by magic, and sunlight broke through.
In the wake of the storm, only the ravaged Heaven Lake, the exhausted Mysterious Lady, and I were left behind.
“...Ha.”
The moment the tension snapped, the suppressed pain flooded back all at once. My joints shrieked, and my veins throbbed from the overheating of my divine energy.
*Dammit, I almost collapsed right there.*
I wanted nothing more than to sprawl out on the ground immediately, but the situation wasn't over. A spiteful goddess was still standing in front of me.
The typhoon named Luo Hao had passed, but the master of this mountain was still very much present. If I showed any sign of exhaustion or a single opening here, that prideful goddess would target my throat without hesitation.
*I’m not interested in fighting anymore. It’s a gamble with no odds of winning.*
I forced strength into my legs and stood my ground. Though I was screaming internally, I shrugged my shoulders with a casual, even leisurely air. This wasn't just a bluff.
It was a desperate performance for survival.
I slowly turned my head to look sideways.
There stood the Mysterious Lady, covered in dirt and breathing heavily.
She was clearly exhausted as well. Her hair was a mess, and her jade armor was cracked. However, perhaps because of our combined attack or the shock she received from Luo Hao, the killing intent in her eyes directed at me had faded slightly.
We stared at each other in silence for a moment. The common enemy was gone. Now, only the two of us remained in this awkward lull.
Leaning on my spear like a walking stick, I stood lopsided and was the first to speak with brazen confidence.
“So, Goddess. Do you want to continue Round 2? Or... shall we call a truce for now?”
My voice didn't waver. It was a provocative proposal that suggested, 'I'm still perfectly fine, so come at me if you want.'
The Mysterious Lady gazed intently at me. Her lips slowly parted.
“...”
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