Possessing Nothing
chapter-378

TL: Yul

PR: Gort

–

Before the Sword Saint fell…

Lee Sungmin stabbed Aine, whose entire body was covered in flames.

When Lee Sungmin’s spear moved, flames bared their teeth and flickered their tongues, trying to eat it.

However, the electricity running rampant around the spear crushed the flames; they faintly flared, unable to handle Lee Sungmin’s attacks.

Aine, who was curled up in a ball in the midst of the flames, felt her heart beating as though it was about to burst. This strong impulse made Aine, who had already consumed dozens of hearts, feel so hungry that she felt like she was going crazy.

She swallowed her saliva as she imagined Lee Sungmin’s heart, which she still couldn’t pluck out and eat. That taste, without a doubt, would be a completely unique taste, different from what she had eaten before. And it would be incredibly delicious.

‘Of course it would be. It’s the same as the one in my body.’

Her mouth was filled with saliva; she couldn’t wait to eat it. However, it wasn’t something that she could easily eat.

–

He had to kill Aine here.

Lee Sungmin realized that fact. Right now, when the Sword Saint was holding back Geniella, was the best time.

Geniella was trying to make Aine into the new Predator of Massacre. It was an undeniable fact.

Aine, who had even devoured the Flame Spirit King, had infinite potential to become a monster equivalent to the Predator of Massacre, even if she had not been destined to become one like Lee Sungmin.

[I think I know why Geniella came over here… she wants to feed the Sword Saint to that bitch.]

‘I don’t understand Geniella,’ Lee Sungmin replied to Heoju’s complaints as he performed a movement technique to flow past the oncoming wave of fire.

‘Why does she make Aine do everything? Isn’t it easier for her to step in and do it herself?’

[How would I know what that crazy bitch is thinking… though she revealed too much for me to say that.]

Heoju muttered.

[That bitch wants to watch what happens rather than do it herself. She saw too much through the Future-Seeing Demon Eye, and for hundreds of years, she acted to bring what she saw into reality. Since the original Predator of Massacre cannot appear, she’s trying to create one with her hands. For her, it’s a given that this world will fall.]

‘So she wants to spectate what happens.’

[Right. If you kill Aine here… you might really see that bitch go crazy. If that little monster dies, the future that Geniella saw will be completely crushed. However, in the end, it won’t change anything.]

[If that happens, Geniella will start acting very recklessly. Until now, she has taken actions to make the future she saw a reality rather than take actions directly. The reason she attacked this mountain was to increase the power of that little monster, but what if it disappeared? How will she act then?]

Heoju offered a different viewpoint than Lee Sungmin’s view of the situation. However, that was why he had to take his words into account. He couldn’t ignore Heoju’s advice.

As he said, the reason why Geniella moved quietly without making a loud commotion was to create a perfect Predator of Massacre from Aine.

Because of that, there was still hope. If Geniella had come forward and acted from the very beginning…

[The world would have ended during the 10 years you were sealed.

There was no hesitation in Heoju’s voice, and Lee Sungmin couldn’t help but agree. As of now, no one could stop Geniella alone.

[You must think that you have to kill that bitch right now, but this old man doesn’t think that’s necessary. Because that child exists, Geniella’s actions are more or less limited.]

‘She’s too dangerous to be left alive just because of that.’

[That’s true. The Sword Saint will probably die in Geniella’s hands. And if everything goes as Geniella planned, that child would eat the Sword Saint’s corpse. Unlike you, she doesn’t hesitate with predating; she’s more efficient, too.]

KWAAAAAAAA!

The rising flames stuck together and expanded as Aine raised her body from her curled-up position.

A gigantic wall of flames arose; it traveled toward Lee Sungmin, burning everything in its path.

Lee Sungmin spun his spear on his palm while taking a few steps back.

[[Run away.]] (I mentioned this a while ago, but [] is Heoju speaking, while [[]] is a mental transmission.)

First, he sent the Wudang Sect’s Sect Leader a mental transmission. The Sect Leader tried to object, but Lee Sungmin did not let him speak.

[[This is the will of Senior Sword Saint. Run away. Leave this mountain and run as far away as possible.]

Lee Sungmin did not mention that the Sword Saint was probably dead, as he thought the Sect Leader wasn’t the type of man to back down quietly after hearing that.

Rather, he would go on a rampage to avenge his master’s death. However, that was not what the Sword Saint would have wanted.

His energy opened a road. In the middle of the wall of fire, a gigantic hole appeared. However, the flames instantly covered the hole right before he could perform his martial arts.

Lee Sungmin thought coldly.

He was thinking of killing Aine.

However, what would he do after her death? How could he deal with Geniella?

It was true that Aine’s existence restricted Geniella by a small amount. If Aine died, then Geniella would step forward to bring the end of the world herself.

Time.

Lee Sungmin needed time. He had to earn as much time as possible. Killing Aine would turn Geniella into a new disaster, and the current Lee Sungmin could not handle Geniella.

Variables.

He needed to create variables. If he couldn’t, he needed to forcefully.

[What will you do?]

Heoju asked. Before Lee Sungmin could answer, he felt a dangerous aura approaching him.

He instantly twisted his body, sweeping his spear widely. Chen and Kuhn, who sneakily attacked while hiding behind the flames, were pushed back.

The vampires, who had only been watching until now, began to act. This showed Aine’s importance in Geniella’s plans.

[Ho…]

Listening to Lee Sungmin’s thoughts, Heoju let out a laugh.

[It might become a handshake?]**

‘It is a variable.’

[Crazy bastard!]

Heoju cackled.

Lee Sungmin faced Aine, Chen, and Kuhn.

There were 3 enemies while he was alone. That wasn’t a problem… unless Geniella, no, Gemini was added.

“Huu…”

Lee Sungmin swallowed his breath. He was aware of the spear in his hand. Ever since Lee Sungmin performed the Nine Heavenly Spear Technique’s final technique, Martial End, he had felt the heaviness of the spear.

The Spear King had called this the start of One with the Divine Spear. Knowing the spear’s weight, knowing the spear itself, and acknowledging that one is holding it.

When one becomes the spear, and the spear becomes oneself…

Lee Sungmin had asked what comes after…

“How would I know, you bastard? Are you looking down on me because I only got this far with the title of Spear King? If you have any questions, ask your dead teacher!”

He had heard words like that. It meant that the Spear King himself hadn’t reached the state above One with the Divine Spear. Even though the Spear King had been able to imitate the stage Yang Il-Chun had shown during his fight with the Martial God, just imitating that stage was enough for him to cough blood.

That meant that by becoming One with the Divine Spear, Lee Sungmin had gotten closer to his master’s level.

‘Thrust.’

Stick to the basics and thrust with the heavy spear. That was it.

PUHWAK!

A big hole appeared in the fluttering flames, and Chen’s face was visible beyond it.

His expressionless face changed as his eyes widened.

KWADUDUK!

The spear, thrust with immense strength, shot through Chen’s shoulder joint.

“Kuk!”

Lee Sungmin twisted and pulled on the spear that was stuck to Chen’s body. Then, instantly, he turned to attack Kuhn, who was trying to attack from beside Chen.

CRACK!

Kuhn’s body, hit by the spear shaft, staggered greatly. Just as Lee Sungmin was about to deliver the final blow, Aine attacked from behind.

Aine’s flame-covered claws reached his back. Lee Sungmin, even without turning around, felt it. After performing Martial End, his senses had sharpened to a new degree.

Instantaneously.

Aine’s hands fluttered and scratched the air. In an instant, her arms were shattered, and a large hole appeared in the middle of her chest.

Chen and Kuhn, who had healed from their injuries, gritted their teeth and shot toward Lee Sungmin.

These two vampires were 3rd and 4th in Geniella’s bloodline.

However, there was a massive difference compared to the 2nd, the Blood Demon.

They could easily deal with half-baked Transcendent martial artists on their own, but Lee Sungmin was anything but.

Even though the moon was high in the night sky, they were much weaker than the Blood Demon.

The Blood Demon was incomparable to these two. Even if those two fought together, they weren’t enough to hold back Lee Sungmin.

And vampires weren’t the only ones to receive the moon’s blessing.

Although not as much as the vampires, yokai also received the blessing of the moon to some degree.

His senses became sharper, his temper more violent, his muscles stronger, his movements faster, and his internal energy more potent.

RUMMBLEE!!!

His energy boiled, and his yokai powers awakened. Lee Sungmin’s internal energy whipped across and enveloped the surrounding area.

Chen and Kuhn’s white faces turned even paler. Aine’s flames, which had been burning ceaselessly, stopped for a moment.

The yokai powers that Lee Sungmin decisively unleashed stopped their sense of time, even if only momentarily.

Time continued, but everyone except Lee Sungmin couldn’t move. His yokai powers, created by the Great Yokai using yokai energy, did not follow common sense.

Rather than killing Aine, Lee Sungmin prioritized Geniella’s upper-ranked blood kin, Chen and Kuhn.

It wasn’t easy to kill high-ranking vampires in a night with the moon hanging overhead.

It was also problematic to kill them outright, as Chen and Kuhn’s powers would return to Geniella.

Lee Sungmin knew the solution to that problem… it was just that he didn’t want to think about it, let alone actually do it.

In the first place, predation was not a very efficient act for Lee Sungmin. The power that he could receive through predation was already nearing its limits after he consumed the Dragon Heart.

It was possible that the power could be contained somewhere in his body, not completely wasted, but it wasn’t as thought he could freely use it.

Even though he didn’t want to do it, he didn’t intend to hesitate. He had to do it when he could.

Blindly eating their hearts was not the answer. His priority was to push them to the point where they could no longer regenerate.

Everything happened in an instant.

Everything happened in an instant. Instantly, the movement of everyone other than Lee Sungmin stopped due to the immensely strong pressure on the space surrounding them from his yokai powers. And, instantly, everyone crumbled to the ground as Lee Sungmin’s spear created a bloody arc in the air.

Aine regenerated faster than Chen and Kuhn, yet she couldn’t comprehend what she just experienced.

As Aine eyed Lee Sungmin, he had already thrust twice, each into Chen and Kuhn’s hearts.

As soon as he pulled out the spear, he spun around to raise his guard against Aine. As she dashed forward, her hand outstretched, Lee Sungmin twisted his waist slightly to dodge and moved his feet.

Shadowless Steps: Second Step

Aine was pushed back and ripped apart, flames sprouting, as Lee Sungmin took two more steps.

Shadowless Steps: Third Step

Shadowless Steps: Fourth Step

He focused his yokai powers on Chen and Kuhn, who were dashing forward while shouting, stopping their movements.

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques: Second Art – Lightning Chase

Their bodies became riddled with holes as Lee Sungmin’s spear shot through them.

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques: Third Art – Soul Serpent

His spear lashed forward, crushing Chen’s head.

Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques: Fifth Art – Fate Severing

Lee Sungmin’s spear moved slightly, and Kuhn’s head exploded.

It was overwhelming. Prescan, who was yelling to kill the heart thief just a moment ago, could now only watch the fight without saying anything.

He couldn’t follow the fight with his eyes. Every time purple electricity flew, blood followed, and somebody collapsed.

If they rose again, they fell again.

Prescan saw his daughter, Aine, fall under a flurry of crimson blades multiple times.

“My daughter!” Prescan cried out.

[[The Sword Saint is dead.]]

Lee Sungmin’s body momentarily froze at the voice that rang in his head.

[[I told you to run away. Why are you still here?]]

Gemini complained.

[[Aren’t you fooling around a bit too much?]]

Lee Sungmin tried to find Gemini by spreading his senses. However, even with his enhanced senses, he couldn’t find where she was.

[[Don’t try to find me. If I really want to hide, no one other than the Queen can find me. Anyways, you, why aren’t you running away?]]

Because of you, I had to check over here, Gemini added.

[[I also have a role to fulfill, so if you try to do something more, I’ll have no choice but to step in and stop you.]]

“There must be a good reason why the Queen herself isn’t coming here,” Lee Sungmin muttered as to let himself be heard.

At that, Gemini giggled.

[[That’s right, she can’t come here right now. She already used her Demon Eye. I don’t know in detail, but it seems like the Sword Saint was strong enough to force her to use it.]]

…The Demon Eye that created a full moon.

[[If she uses the third Demon Eye, the Queen will be unable to move. To be precise, she cannot go outside the area of the full moon that she created.]]

Even this time, Gemini answered something that he hadn’t even asked.

Gemini was Geniella’s sister, but unlike other vampires, she did not completely obey or was controlled by Geniella.

Lee Sungmin had no intention of appeasing Gemini, but he clearly remembered what Gemini told him.

[[Back down.]]

It was clear that Gemini had other plans that did not match Geniella’s.

However, this warning was real.

–

**”[악수가 될지도 모른다만?]” was what the raws said. 악수 (as I know it) means handshake. Variable in Korean (변수) and 악수 both end in 수, so it might have been wordplay.

I might say no (I won’t), but give me a week or two, and if I don’t post a new chapter by then, feel free to msg me.

What I mean to say is if you want to TL, then msg me after two weeks or so with no further updates. I can’t promise I’ll have time, what with the end of the semester approaching.