Chapter 401: Moth

The Door opened and out flooded the black sea. Immense power surged into Oh Kang-Woo. He felt like he was about to burst like a balloon overfilled with air.

Squelch.

His skin turned into black mucus and then returned to normal. Kang-Woo crouched and then stomped on thin air.

Boom!

A black wave spread out spherically. He was no longer emitting radiant golden energy; he was surrounded by darkness as thick as the abyss.

"You've finally shown your true colors," Tai Wuji remarked lowly.

No way could sound be transmitted in outer space, but Tai Wuji could communicate by infusing his voice with Qi. He gripped his sword tighter and stared at the monster enveloped in darkness.

'That's... the monster of the Demonic Sea's true form.'

He had a feeling that he could understand what the monster meant by opening the Doors. He got goosebumps when the monster's body had turned into mucus momentarily.

"Fuuu," Tai Wuji breathed in by using his Qi infused with Divinity.

He was not breathing in oxygen, but its effect was similar. He got fired up as he used Void Steps to move in outer space.

Swish!

Tai Wuji disappeared in a flash and appeared in front of Kang-Woo as if he had teleported.

'Heavenly Dragon Rampage.'

Tai Wuji's dark blue sword split into thousands of blades that filled the entirety of outer space.

Slash! Slash—!

Kang-Woo was split in half, and those halves were split in half. The dragon's rampage continued to slash Kang-Woo's body over and over again.

Squelch.

"What are you doing?"

However, Kang-Woo's fragmented body turned into black mucus. He extended his arm which had returned to its normal shape, and a giant mouth appeared from the hand. Tai Wuji frowned.

"You know it's pointless," remarked Kang-Woo as he swung the extended arm horizontally, the giant mouth aiming for Tai Wuji.

Tai Wuji reflexively raised his sword, clashing with the monster's teeth.

━━━━━━!

Although there was no sound, the shockwave was powerful enough to bend space. Intense heat was created from the clashing of monsters who had surpassed the limits of living organisms. Tai Wuji grimaced.

'It's uncomfortable.'

He had experienced many battles since the era of myths, but he had never fought in outer space before. Not only were there any footholds, but his limbs were not moving as he wanted them to, making the battle extremely uncomfortable.

'Moreover...'

Tai Wuji narrowed his eyes. He was able to make do with everything else, but as a martial artist, not being able to hear sound became a fatal disadvantage.

'I need to change locations.'

Tai Wuji turned upside down and leaped toward Aernor to go back to where they had been. He fell toward the ground like a meteor.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kang-Woo stomped his feet.

Black mucus spread out like a net and fired at Tai Wuji.

"Kuh," Tai Wuji grunted.

He gave up on getting to the ground due to the speed at which the black mucus was following him and turned around. He raised his sword.

Fwoosh!

The sword blazing with dark blue flames split the black mucus.

Splash!

Tai Wuji could hear the black mucus being slashed because they had entered the atmosphere. He gave up on going any lower and turned to face Kang-Woo.

Bam!

Thick clouds underneath him evaporated along with the sound of compressed air bursting. Tai Wuji raised his sword and severed the monster's head and limbs, stabbed his heart, and carved out his organs.

Squelch.

"I told you... It's... useless," the monster said as he smiled.

Tai Wuji snorted as he looked at the monster. "I wouldn't say it's useless." He continued as if mocking the monster, "I wonder for how long you can keep up that immortality?"

Although he had failed to damage the monster's mind using Kim Si-Hun, it did not change the fact that the monster's immortality was unstable.

Kang-Woo remained silent. "You..." He smiled. "You knew, huh?"

Tai Wuji seemed to have figured out what the weakness of the Doors was. The more Kang-Woo died, the more his sanity was devoured by the Demonic Sea. Tai Wuji knew that Kang-Woo's control over the Demonic Sea would fall apart and that he would disappear into the black sea.

"Haaah," Kang-Woo exhaled heatedly. His heart beat rapidly along with sparks of thrill spreading all over him. "Yeah, this is more like it."

If Tai Wuji thought that Kang-Woo's immortality was infinite, he would just give up on the fight since fighting an immortal enemy that never died was pointless. However, if Tai Wuji knew the limits of Kang-Woo's immortality and that it did not last forever...

'He wouldn't give up.'

Kang-Woo spread his arms out and split himself in half from the tip of his chin to his groin. Black mucus filled with sharp teeth and wide-open mouths burst out from the split areas and shot toward Tai Wuji.

"Fuuu," Tai Wuji inhaled.

He sheathed his sword and crouched. He pulled his butt back, widened his stance, and concentrated his Qi into a single point.

'I'll end it with this attack.'

"Heavenly Dragon Extinction," he muttered as he unsheathed his sword.

Dark blue light split the world in half. A wave of dark blue light swept along the path of the slash like a tsunami. The dark blue light in the form of a dragon devoured the black mucus.

Fwoosh!

The black mucus engulfed by the dark blue dragon turned to ash and dissipated in the air.

"I will kill you..." Tai Wuji charged while stepping on thin air and stabbed the monster who had split in half. He glared at the monster coldly and continued, "... Until you can no longer come back to life."

"Heh." The monster smiled as he was covered in dark blue flames and extended his arms which were smoking from the cycle of melting and regenerating. "I'm ready when you are."

Tai Wuji frowned at the monster's answer.

He looked up to see the monster's expression; he was smiling ecstatically while being burned alive by the flames as if he were eager to die.

'He's just like... a moth to a flame.'

"Crazy bastard," Tai Wuji muttered again.

There was no other way to describe this monster than that. He frowned in displeasure. He could not be any more disgusted by the monster.

Slash!!

Tai Wuji cut the monster again and slashed before the black mucus could regain its form.

Slash! Slash! Slash—!

He cut the monster over and over again to the point that he lost count of how many times he had swung his sword. The monster ended up in little pieces.

Squelch.

The monster no longer had the appearance of a human. The fragmented black mucus wriggled, and each piece of the monster's body trembled intermittently.

"A-Aaaahh," Kang-Woo groaned.

He was being cut apart before he could even get a hold of himself. He could only repeat the cycle of being slashed and regenerating. His remaining sanity was getting devoured by the Demonic Sea.

'Just as I thought...' Kang-Woo stared fixedly at Tai Wuji. 'He's strong.'

The despair that he was facing was insanely powerful. Kang-Woo was dying over and over again without even having a chance to counterattack. At this rate, he would end up being devoured by the Demonic Sea without being able to do anything.

"In that case, how about it?"

Kang-Woo heard a voice; it was the same voice that he heard every time he opened the Doors. The voice was sweet enough to melt his brain. His desire surged to fill the space of his devoured sanity. A powerful sense of hunger set him alight. It felt like he was on fire; no, he felt like he had become fire itself. Kang-Woo smirked.

'Think.'

He needed to think of a way to defeat that despair. He needed a way to surpass his limits. He continued to think while being torn apart by Tai Wuji's sword. He couldn't face Tai Wuji with normal means that entailed no risks whatsoever.

'In that case, I'll have to take risks.'

Kang-Woo needed to jump into the flames burning him alive of his own accord. If he didn't he wouldn't be able to reach Tai Wuji. He spread out his arms and then clasped his hands together.

'Chaos.'

Burst.

━━━━━━!!!

A massive explosion that devoured even sound itself engulfed the surroundings.

"Kurgh!!" Tai Wuji grunted as he was swept into the explosion.

The sword that he had instinctively swung had slightly melted from the heat. If he had not swung his sword to block the explosion, it would have been himself that melted. Chills ran down Tai Wuji's back. He looked up at the monster.

"Argh, kurgh, urgh!" Kang-Woo grunted in pain while clenching his chest.

Tai Wuji had been the one attacked, but Kang-Woo's condition was worse off. He had used a Chaos skill while a Door was open; his control over the Demonic Sea that had already been running out had bottomed out.

"Haaa, haaa," Kang-Woo panted heavily.

His vision was blurring. His sanity had reached its limit and was screaming at him. The black sea was engulfing him whole.

"Cough!" Kang-Woo coughed up blood.

"You..." Tai Wuji glared at Kang-Woo. "I see." He nodded as if he understood. "You're like a moth."

He could tell from the monster's condition how much risk the monster had shouldered with that last attack. The monster had caused that explosion while resolving himself to die. He had jumped into the flames without hesitation.

'Crazy bastard.'

It was not something a sane person could do. Not even Tai Wuji, who had survived countless battles, was able to perform such suicide attacks so nonchalantly.

"Hah," Kang-Woo chuckled.

'A moth, huh?'

He recalled what Lilith had said to him angrily long ago.

"You know, my king... You're like a moth to a flame."

Tai Wuji happened to say the same thing.

"Pfft," Kang-Woo couldn't help but laugh.

He slowly raised his hand— no, what he raised could not even be called a hand. His body, which had been devoured by the Demonic Sea, had turned into something like black clay kneaded hideously.

"You're... wrong about that." Kang-Woo shook his head. He was nothing like a moth to a flame. That sounded like he was living the the sake of dying. "I'm not doing this shit to die, motherfucker."

He was not living or taking risks for the sake of dying. He had never once risked his life while desiring to die.

Kang-Woo placed the hand that he had raised on his heart.

"In that case, how about it?"

Kang-Woo heard the voice again. He closed his eyes. He was not jumping into the flames to die.

'I'm... jumping into the flames to become fire itself.'

Fire so colossal that it could burn the entire world whole.

"How about you open another Door?" the voice continued.

Kang-Woo smiled and answered the voice without hesitation, "Sure."

'Let's open another one.'

The second Door opened.

Riiing.

[The System has identified an error.]

[An error has been detected in Player Oh Kang-Woo's Deific Name.]

[The new Deific Name has been identified.]

[Granting Player Oh Kang-Woo with the Deific Name 'Voracity.']

[Promoting Deific Essence from Intermediate-rank to Top-rank.]