CFZ

Pama.
A power that repels and obliterates demonic energy, delivering fatal blows to those imbued with it.
This was the very reason the Sacred Sword and her blade regiment were formed, and why she became a beacon of hope in the war against the Demonic Cult.

The sole hope.
The light of Zhongyuan.
A miracle capable of opposing the Cheonma, the absolute ruler, and bringing about victory.
That was Pama.

A force that demonstrated absolute power over demonic energy.
A power only the Sacred Sword, Wi Seol-ah, had ever possessed.
‘How did this end up happening?’
How did I come to wield such power?

I stared at the white flames coiling around my hand, lost in thought.
"No... no..."
The Celestial Stream Sect’s Master was trembling, his despair evident.
He looked pitiful.

The enormous frame that had once towered over eight feet tall, and the skin that seemed inhuman, had both reverted to their original forms.
No, it was worse than his original state.
He’d lost even the robust physique he once had. Despite being a martial artist, his body was now so emaciated it seemed like a brittle twig that might snap with a touch.

He had lost all vitality. The Celestial Stream Sect’s Master was in no condition to be called normal. His appearance resembled someone who had...
‘Lost their innate energy.’
The very source of life that all humans possess. He looked like someone who had been almost completely drained of it.

Why had this happened?
It must have been my flames.
‘I meant to incinerate him completely.’

I’d intended to burn him to nothing, leaving no trace of even his bones. But instead, something else had been burned away.
Perhaps the unknown energy that had warped his body.
My flames had consumed only that energy, leaving his body weakened and pathetic.

This is why I now called the energy within my flames Pama.
‘It’s similar to the power Pama displayed.’
I recalled the Sacred Sword in my previous life, wielding her power against the demonic beings.

She used the Moonlight Slash Sword to summon countless blade techniques imbued with Pama, effortlessly dispatching the demonic beings.
When demonic energy encountered Pama, it was destroyed. For those whose bodies were saturated with demonic energy, the destruction of that energy was tantamount to death.
Thus, when the Sacred Sword appeared, the Demon Sword Queen would often appear to face her.
Although the Demon Sword Queen was called a demonic being, she had never received the Cheonma’s blessing, which made her uniquely suited to face the Sacred Sword.

A power that exists solely to counter demonic energy.
That was Pama.
‘...Can this be called Pama?’

I viewed my power as Pama, yet I couldn’t be certain.
The reason was simple.
‘This isn’t destruction.’

What I had just demonstrated wasn’t destruction but rather erasure.
If it had been destruction, the Celestial Stream Sect’s Master would be dead.
But he wasn’t. The alien energy in his body had simply been erased, leaving him human once more.

Could this still be called Pama?
What’s more...
‘His energy wasn’t demonic.’

The Celestial Stream Sect’s transformation wasn’t caused by demonic energy. Even so, my flames had erased it.
Should that still be considered Pama?
It didn’t make sense to me. But...

‘I am certain of one thing.’
Something unusual had happened to my flames.
‘...And it isn’t so different from what my father once demonstrated.’

I vaguely recalled a moment when my father confronted the Heavenly Elder.
Back then, he had reached out and erased something, after which the Heavenly Elder’s erratic personality had suddenly stabilized.
‘So this was always a latent ability of the Flames Firewheeln Technique.’
This must be the transformation that occurs upon reaching mastery.

‘When the Flames Firewheel Technique reaches mastery, it gains the ability to burn away foreign energies.’
But what about the power my father displayed in the Northern Seas?
The way he erased a White-Rank beast in an instant.

What was that power my father referred to as the future ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) I must reach?
And then there was the question of...
Whoosh—!

‘Why did the color of my flames change again?’
The new abilities and the altered color of my flames were mysteries I needed to unravel.
"...Please... I..."

"Hey."
I approached the trembling old man, crouching down to meet his gaze.
As our eyes locked, the Celestial Stream Sect’s Master flinched.

A moment later, rage filled his expression.
"You—!"
Smack!

"Guh!"
Before he could say another word, I slapped him across the face.
His frail body toppled over as if caught in the wind.

"Don’t we have some things to discuss?"
"...You... you..."
I hadn’t used internal energy in the strike; I didn’t want him dying too easily.

Grabbing his hair, I forced him upright.
"Guhk..."
There were many things I needed to figure out. Luckily, some of them could be answered immediately.

As I raised my hand, preparing to touch the Celestial Stream Sect’s Master—
Ssssss---!
"Hm."

I sensed movement by the door and glanced toward it.
It seemed someone had arrived.
"Welcome."

"I apologize for being late. It took some time to find this place."
The figure approaching the entrance was none other than the Shadow King.
"Everything has been dealt with, as you instructed."

Nodding at his calm words, I watched as the Shadow King surveyed the space, his gaze shifting between the Celestial Stream Sect’s Master and me.
"Do you require assistance?"
I wasn’t sure what kind of help he was offering, but anything from the Shadow King tended to be terrifying.

I shook my head.
"No, I’m fine."
"Understood. Then..."

After a brief pause, the Shadow King continued.
"There’s something you need to check."
I tilted my head in curiosity.

   *************
   
I followed the Shadow King up to a higher level of the structure.
“There appears to be a special formation embedded in this space. That’s why it took me so long to locate you,” he explained.

“Is that so?”
When I’d asked the Shadow King to handle the task, I’d also requested he return to me immediately after finishing. I’d wondered why he was delayed.
‘Seems like there’s something strange here.’

It appeared there was a formation spread across the entirety of this space. For me, the sensation had been faint and unfamiliar, but it hadn’t been difficult to reach my destination.
“Yes. If I hadn’t sensed the energy from the lower level, it would’ve taken me even longer.”
The energy he mentioned was likely the flames I had unleashed earlier.

‘Even the Shadow King couldn’t detect it?’
What kind of barrier could block the senses of someone as formidable as the Shadow King?
“How about now? Can you still sense it?”

“No. It seems the formation has been deactivated.”
His response narrowed my focus.
The fact that it had been released implied there was a trigger.

‘If there’s a trigger...’
One thing came to mind—the tree.
The sapling with its white leaves.

Could that be the cause? If so...
‘It might have something to do with the changes that occurred after I absorbed the leaves.’
Perhaps deactivating the formation was one of those effects. Of course, I couldn’t be certain.

As I continued following the Shadow King, we came to a room at the end of the hallway.
The door was smaller than the iron gate I’d seen below, but it was still sizable.
And then—

‘The smell of blood.’
As soon as I saw the door, the scent of blood hit me. I immediately stepped inside.
The door was already ajar.

When I entered, I saw the source of the stench.
The room was filled with bodies, slaughtered beyond recognition.
Blood had pooled on the floor, soaking every inch of the space.

And yet...
“These things...”
The corpses were odd.

Dozens of mutilated bodies lay scattered, their forms eerily similar to the grotesque transformation the Celestial Stream Sect’s Master had undergone.
I turned to the Shadow King, who, as if anticipating my question, spoke.
“They consumed an unknown internal core, which triggered their transformation. I managed to eliminate some before they could transform fully, but for others, I was too late.”

Indeed, some of the bodies still retained a human appearance.
In any case, he had killed them all.
‘They ate some kind of core.’

I turned to the others behind me.
“And what about that one?”
By “that one,” I meant the Celestial Stream Sect’s Master, whom I’d incapacitated earlier.

“Yes. He consumed something... and then started to transform.”
I nodded.
I see.

‘So their transformation was induced by ingestion, not a natural process.’
If they ate something, it was likely the same thing I had absorbed earlier.
I looked back at the Shadow King and asked, “Do you know what it is?”

“I do not. However...”
He gestured to the bodies he had slain.
“They appear to have been afflicted by a curse similar to mine.”

His words came as a telepathic message, his voice tinged with both malice and disdain.
I agreed with his assessment.
Though slightly different, the forms of these creatures unmistakably resembled...

‘Dragons.’
Beings similar to me. Or perhaps, similar to the Shadow King.
While their transformation wasn’t complete, it was clear enough.

These things were dragons.
The Celestial Stream Sect’s Master’s mutated form and the creatures lying dead in this room—they were all the same.
‘They consumed something and became dragons.’

An artificial transformation.
How could such a thing even be possible?
“Are there more of them elsewhere?”

“All confirmed targets have been eliminated.”
“Is there a possibility there are others?”
“There are none within the range of my senses.”

If that was the case, they were either extremely far away or this was the entirety of them.
I trusted the Shadow King’s ability to sense them, but...
‘This place is full of too many uncertainties.’

Nothing here could be taken at face value.
Splash.
I stepped further into the room, the blood squelching beneath my feet.

‘What kind of place is this?’
What was the purpose of this room?
Judging by the state of things, it wasn’t much different from what I’d seen in the underground chamber.

The room was smaller, but the presence of furniture hinted that it might have served as a resting area.
As I surveyed the space, something caught my eye in the center of the room.
‘A pond?’

A small pond lay there.
Why was there a pond in a place like this?
It was strange at first glance.

Approaching it cautiously, I peered into the water.
“...!”
The moment I saw it, my eyes widened.

Beneath the surface was something massive.
Something far beyond imagination.