Possessing Nothing

Geniella certainly was now labeling Lee Sungmin as an enemy.

But it was nothing new, really. Geniella had always wanted the emergence of the Predator of Massacre.

Even if the real Predator of Massacre was extinguished by Lee Sungmin, it did not change the fact that it had ruined what Geniella had wanted.

In fact, Geniella had somehow deduced the fact that Lee Sungmin should have been the Predator of Massacre, and she had been waiting for an entire year of silence to see what the outcome would be.

Geniella was destined to become an enemy with Lee Sungmin from the moment she had even said that the future she wanted involved the Predator of Massacre.

The appearance of the Predator of Massacre was something that would symbolize part of the Apocalypse, and Lee Sungmin was trying to prevent this world from meeting its end.

Lee Sungmin looked at Baek Sogo who was resting silently on his shoulder throughout all of this, and it made him somewhat relieved.

If he had come all this way to find Baek Sogo and didn’t end up finding her… along with fighting Geniella?

It would have been an incredibly frustrating situation for him if that had happened, but at least he was able to know now that Baek Sogo was safe.

It didn’t mean the situation was favorable by any means, but it did allow Lee Sungmin to at least know what to do next.

[I don’t know if you would be able to survive this if it were just us, but now you at least have Yana and Scarlett by your side.]

Heoju spoke the truth.

[Yana’s power and Geniella’s power…… It remains to be seen which side will be stronger. But objectively speaking, I would bet on Geniella being stronger than Yana if you compared their strength to each other.]

Lee Sungmin also agreed. It was certain that Yana was a Gumiho with incredible power, but Geniella was something like the progenitor vampire of all vampires in Eria.

[Not only that, but Geniella’s first direct descendants. It’s my first time seeing them in person as well.… Gemini, she’s got a lot of power. You’d better be on your guard.]

Lee Sungmin nodded his head slightly in recognition. It was Gemini who created this entire situation. Lee Sungmin came to the mansion, and Gemini came to meet him.

Geniella who had been in seclusion clearly came out at the disturbance of Lee Sungmin coming to retrieve Baek Sogo and Gemini facilitated all of it without interfering.

But was that really the case?

Gemini seemed to have an agenda that nobody could perceive. Lee Sungmin had no clue who’s side she was on.

It was because Gemini hadn’t stopped Lee Sungmin from getting Baek Sogo at all. She even spoke derisively about her own queen.

Why would she let Lee Sungmin have Baek Sogo? If she had blocked him from getting her in this situation, the Queen would have had a much easier time since Lee Sungmin would be fighting without even being able to guarantee his objective. Regardless of whether she knew Lee Sungmin’s rampaging thoughts, Gemini just smiled at him.

“The Predator of Massacre.”

Geniella opened her mouth.

“Killing everything and eating everything in sight. That’s what you call a true Predator of Massacre, you know? I’ve always wanted to see you in despair. You were always in conflict with your own body becoming more and more like a monster’s, with you desperately trying to maintain your own humanity. I loved seeing you despair and agonizing how you would fix your problem and eventually come running to me; begging me for help.”

It was Geniella’s sadistic taste. All of her direct descendants had gone through similar experiences like the Bloody Heavenly Demon.

The only exception to this was Gemini, Geniella’s first direct descendant.

“That’s true even now. I wonder what you’ll look like as you wallow in despair. Will you become a savage to protect the ones you love? Will you willingly become a monster in mind along with your body?”

Geniella’s hand turned forward.

“If you lose your comrades, friends or loved ones… Will you despair? It sounds quite interesting now that I think about it, so maybe I should help you out, don’t you think?”

“Do you want to make me the Predator of Massacre?”Lee Sungmin replied in a curt and lowered voice.

“That wouldn’t be bad either. It really just comes down to what would make you have that ecstatic look of despair on your face. Methods don’t really matter to me.”

Geniella’s fingers snapped at that moment.

BOOM!The red mana swirling in her hands burst into flames. Yana’s nine tails jutted forward immediately towards the explosion.

KRUNGGG!

The entire space reverberated with shockwaves from the impact and Yana let out a slight groan. The beautiful and colorful golden tail that blocked the explosion was dyed red at the tip from blood.

Luckily it was only a shallow wound, so Yana’s tail regenerated in an instant. But…. Yana narrowed her eyes.

It was because she never imagined that the Vampire Queen of the North would be this strong.

“Mr. Scarlett.”

First of all, they had to find a way to break through their predicament. Although the Pegasus would be risky to take, they would have to use it. Not only that, it would take time to get enough space for four people to get atop of it. Therefore, someone had to buy time.

Lee Sungmin handed Baek Sogo carefully over to Scarlett. Scarlett nodded her head and moved her hands quickly.

Every place where her hand passed by was engraved with a sparkling rune. A barrier of runes was quickly erected around her and Baek Sogo.

After the minimum amount of safety was confirmed, Lee Sungmin grabbed his spear. This would be the first time he would go all out since awakening in his newly transformed body from the seal.

There may have been several fights leading up to this point in time, but they were too easy to be called fights.

But not now. If he didn’t do his best, it would end up being as Geniella said. He would wallow in despair if Baek Sogo and Scarlett died. Lee Sungmin was going to go all out for that very reason.

[Isn’t it too early for you to be in despair?]

Heoju grumbled as if he couldn’t even believe it was worth mentioning.

Lee Sungmin also agreed with that statement.

“Queen!”

Gemini, who was watching the situation, suddenly shouted as her eyes widened in surprise. Lee Sungmin’s movement was so explosive that Gemini, who had been all smiles and laughs up until then, was shocked as she could barely keep track of his speed.

The body of a fully transformed monster that was mixed with demonic energy from Kim Jonghyun’s spell of reversion. It was the perfect and completed vessel that the Predator of Massacre should have taken over. The Predator of Massacre should have had this very body and would have already been enough to be considered the Final Catastrophe. However… the Predator of Massacre did not know martial arts.

Even if Lee Sungmin was still not quite sure of the extent of which his body’s limits were, he felt that he would be able to finally unleash everything in his power and not have to worry about backlash. The only downside was that he still had a bit more practical knowledge and experience to harness from Sima Ryunju’s martial sea, but that was no worry as he would have plenty of experience going forward.

It was already much better than the state his body was in when he inherited his master’s martial sea of knowledge in the Forest of Fairies.

‘I can see it.’

Lee Sungmin’s golden eyes gleamed. He could catch every minute detail within his vision. His eyes were seeing a completely new world as his internal energy output started to skyrocket to the max inside of his dantian.

Lee Sungmin’s eyes were following the flow of mana in the air.

Naturally, his sight followed the source of this raging mana. It was Geniella. She was much more powerful than Kim Jonghyun and Volander. It was something incomprehensible, but it was also something Lee Sungmin didn’t think he would die to immediately.

Then his eyes looked towards Kunn and Chen. The power they contained in their bodies was great as well. It was to the degree that if Lee Sungmin had to compare it to someone, it would be similar to the early stage Transcendent Realm Martial Artist that was the disciple of Geom-Seong from the Wudang.

Next, his eyes locked on Gemini. Gemini’s power was also incredible. It far exceeded the power of Kunn and Chen. She was not as powerful as Genniella, but she was certainly capable enough of being called the first direct descendant of the Queen.

Lee Sungmin had no choice but to admit it. Just like Geniella had been laughing at Beyond the Heavens, it was the same for Lee Sungmin and all his encounters with Geniella up until that point. He had only survived each time at the mercy of her.

Even if it was just Geniella and the direct descendants of hers that were present right now, they alone, would have been enough to rival a force equal to the Six Divinities of Beyond the Heavens.

Even so, Lee Sungmin had to stand before her. His conviction would not allow him to put Baek Sogo or Scarlett in harm’s way.

If he fell down here, it’s would be all over. Regardless, he couldn’t fall here. Not yet.

The Predator of Massacre was not killed for him to just die at the hands of Geniella. Just like he didn’t come all the way here to lose Baek Sogo and to fall into despair. He was going to fight.

‘If it were Sima Ryunju…

No, it has to be me.

I don’t have to live in anyone else’s shadow any longer.

Yeah, I just need to be myself.’

With these thoughts, Lee Sungmin’s spear was already in the air.

Geniella reached out to the spear that swung through the air and pierced her head in. Her endless ominous magic rose with a single flick of her wrist and her head regenerated back in an instant.

Even on a night that did not have the full moon, she was a monster of phenomenal power. Just as Gemini had warned.

Geniella let the torrent of mana swing through the air and looked at the end of the spear. She could see it. At that moment, Geniella smiled.

“Ah the vessel.”

Geniella recognized that Lee Sungmin’s body had already become the vessel of the thing she wanted most : The Predator of Massacre.

WHA-BANG!

Geniella’s body was shoved back with a huge force from the end of the spear. The crash didn’t hurt her in the slightest though.

Her magic was too strong and her regenerative abilities were on a completely different level from anything Lee Sungmin had faced. It was enough to make Lee Sungmin reflexively step back in vigilance despite having taken a positional advantage.

Chenn and Kun, who popped out to help Geniella, were exposed to the speartip. They twisted themselves stiffly mid-air. Their arms twisted irregularly but successfully blocked the spear.

They couldn’t afford to counterattack however.

KRA-KRACK!

Their arms were torn with a terrible sound. The space through the window fluctuates violently.

Lee Sungmin had put a lot of internal energy into the attack and used a considerable amount of borrowed power from his dantian sourcing from Heoju. Despite this, Lee Sungmin smiled briefly as he didn’t feel even the slightest of headaches. 

It was incredible.. Being a complete monster in body gave Lee Sungmin a lot to work with. To be exact, it finally allowed him to use what he always had but this time without any repercussions or anything to hold him back. 

Even before this, he was never able to perfectly replicate the true firepower of everything in his aresenal because of the conflicting nature of the energies residing in his body : Sima Ryunju’s Dark Storm Arts, the Draconic mana, the fear-based mana from the City of Endless Night. He had finally found a body that would allow him to work with all of these powers in complete harmony.

The ten years he was sealed for allowed his body to finally complete it’s mutations to perfectly fit the usage of every single power lying within his body. The only thing that fell short from the harmony of mind, technique and body, was technique. He was still adapting the martial arts of the Dark Storm Arts from a weaponless martial art, to fit his spear techniques.

‘Still, it’s not like I’m not too far off from completing it anyways.’Lee Sungmin would be able to complete that part with more fights and more battles.

“Full throttle.”

Lee Sungmin smacked his lips with a grin.. With a single shift in trajectory with the spear, purple and golden lightning flashed as the trajectory changed slightly.

The whole space started to shake as the lightning from Lee Sungmin’s spear started to crackle and surround the entire area. Geniella smiled and raised her hand and circulated the mana inside of her.

Gemini quickly hid behind Geniella. The same was true of Chen and Kunn. A bright red curtain of blood was suddenly created out of thin air in front of Geniella.

Shi-shi-shi-shik!

The tip of the spear coated in lightning and the curtain of blood clashed. The sound was horrendous to listen to as neither side budged an inch. The spear wrapped in lightning relentlessly drilled at the curtain of blood.

Then Lee Sungmin, who was trying to swing the spear, paused. The end of the spear had been cracked. It wasn’t just the end of the speartip either. The entire shaft of the spear was filled with cracks.

“Why is this so weak?”’

No, was his strength too much? It was a spear that was made to work as a replacement for his Dragon Bone Spear and was not made half-assedly. Even still, just a few more swings and it seemed like it would be finished.

Lee Sungmin was sure he was going to get an earful from Selgerus if he destroyed this spear that he was borrowing till his new one was completed but…. He poured even more internal energy into the spear.

The spear shivered and trembled from the raw amount of internal energy being pumped into it. Lee Sungmin pumped as much internal energy as he could into the spear before he was sure it was going to break and then threw the spear with all his might at Geniella. (T/N : Why do I find this so funny? Like I can’t stop picturing LSM being such a brat to Selgerus by doing this haha)

Kwa-kwang!

The space where the spear was shot was torn apart. The red curtain was still up and blocking the spear despite taking the full onslaught of Lee Sungmin’s spear.

Beyond that, Lee Sungmin could see Geniella smiling. She made no other attacks, and only maintained the blood curtain.

It was a little disturbing, but at least an opportunity to escape was created. Lee Sungmin stopped Yana, who was about to attack further, and ran toward Scarlett and Baek Sogo. Immediately upon reaching them, Lee Sungmin summoned the Pegasus and hopped on.

“I’ll let you go.”

Geniella’s voice was heard behind his back.

“But only for today…”

There won’t be a next time.Geniella didn’t bother to finish and speak those words, but the message she wanted to convey was properly conveyed. It didn’t matter to Lee Sungmin since he didn’t want to ever see her again. Lee Sungmin took the reins of the Pegasus with that thought.

Even though four people were on board, the Pegasus did not make any fuss. Lee Sungmin was relieved as it seemed the Pegasus would be able to transport all 4 of them.

Lee Sungmin briefly thought of a place to head back to. It was the safest place in the world that he could imagine.

“Hup-…! “

As soon as the space distorted and the surroundings changed to the Forest of Fairies, Lee Sungmin vomited all over the ground. Even if he had the perfect vessel that the Predator of Massacre was supposed to obtain, the aftermath of taking four warps was inevitable.

It was the same with Yana. Even if she wasn’t retching as loud as Lee Sungmin, Yana refrained from attracting attention and then spilled the contents of her stomach out in a bush.

“I thought I was going to die.”

Scarlett’s expression was not so comfortable either. It was because she was a human and not a monster, so her body could also barely handle 2 warps. She sighed deeply and glanced at Baek Sogo’s face as she was helping Lee Sungmin get his balance.

“Why did you come back so fast?”

Lee Sungmin heard the confused voice of Oslo. When he turned his head up after wiping his mouth, he could see Oslo approaching the group as a cluster of fairies were dancing around her.

She clicked her tongue as she saw the contents of what Yana and Lee Sungmin vomited. The Fairies surrounding her were no different as they all held their noses and stuck out their tongues like little children.

“I told you, no matter how great your new body may be, continuous warp leaps would put too much strain on you. If it were not for luck, your body and soul would have been separated already.”

“It was inevitable. It would have been just as dangerous if we hadn’t taken a warp leap at that moment.”

Geniella intentionally let Lee Sungmin and his party run away. What would have happened if they had kept fighting? Geniella wasn’t seriously invested in the fight and Gemini didn’t interfere once. If they both had turned serious, there was no way they would have been able to get out of there with Baek Sogo without losing one or multiple members of the party.

“So…… How is her condition?”

asked Oslo, glancing at Baek Sogo. Baek Sogo was still unconscious as her eyes were closed throughout the entire endeavor.

“What do you think, Oslo?”

“Don’t answer my questions with more questions.”

Oslo, replied with a pout.

“She hasn’t turned into a vampire. I don’t think there’s any spells cast on her either…… Poison… and silver? I’ll have to take a closer look at it.’”

“Please.”

“Stop making such a fuss out of it, gosh!”

Oslo complained and grabbed Baek Sogo’s wrist as she examined her condition more closely.