Absolute Regression

Did the two look alike?

Even if the Poison King jumped in protest, there wasn’t a single resemblance between them.

I only said it on the spur of the moment to divert Jindok Geosa’s attention to me.

The goal was achieved. Jindok Geosa’s focus shifted from the Poison King to me. Yes, face me instead.

“Isn’t it annoying when you see someone who looks like you?”

The look in the Poison King’s eyes said it all.

With this ugly guy?

Jindok Geosa had the same question.

“What part of us looks alike?”

“To me, you look quite similar. Even your gaze and the aura you exude are the same. There’s something rebellious about it, and yet, there’s depth.”

Jindok Geosa frowned. His expression seemed to say, ‘Are you really spouting this nonsense right now? Rebellious? Depth? In this underground dungeon where people are dying?’

“When you were young, weren’t you this handsome?”

What’s so upsetting about being compared to someone handsome?

The problem was that he didn’t believe a word I said.

“Enough nonsense. Tell me why you’re risking your life to save this man.”

Jindok Geosa openly displayed his killing intent. It was clear that if I said something ridiculous, he’d use me as an example.

“He helped me in the dungeon.”

“How much help could he have been for you to risk your life?”

My gaze turned towards the Poison King.

“When I was fighting like a dog, that man fought like a dog alongside me.”

The Poison King’s face showed surprise and intense emotion; he hadn’t expected me to give that reason.

Fortunately, that explanation worked better than any long-winded one with Jindok Geosa.

“What kind of loyalty are you talking about, coming from prisoners? Step out of line one more time, and you’ll disappear into a puddle of blood.”

“Yes, I’ll be careful.”

Jindok Geosa looked back and forth between the Poison King and me with dissatisfaction, but he didn’t escalate things further. After all, every single one of us was an important test subject.

Jindok Geosa locked the Poison King back in the dungeon and then left.

I sent a telepathic message to the Poison King.

—You did well to hold back.

—Why did you intervene? I could have handled it myself.

—I know.

—You think I would cause a scene?

—No.

—Don’t lie!

After a brief pause, I spoke to him.

—I was worried you’d hold back too much instead.

—!

The Poison King looked at me with a shocked expression.

—I was worried you’d hold back. That you’d endure even if slapped, even if humiliated by that bastard. You’d probably endure for the sake of our plan.

The Poison King’s clear, large eyes widened even more.

—What if your flattery about us looking alike didn’t work, and that bastard tried to kill you?

—Then I’d have to turn the tables. I’d have to sloppily manipulate evidence so that it would look like he died from the side effects of his own Berserk and flee after killing everyone here.

—And Aechak? He’s the type who barely ever leaves his hideout.

—We’ll figure something out when we get there.

—You’re telling me you took all this risk… just because you didn’t want to see me suffer?

—Why do you say ‘just’? It’s a really important reason. It’s worth risking everything and leaving everything behind.

Seeing the look in his eyes that seemed to question if I was flattering him again, I revealed my true feelings.

—The balance between flattery and sincerity is shifting more towards sincerity.

The Poison King, who had been silently staring at me, disappeared from the small window.

* * *

Every day, prisoners died.

Each time it happened, Jindok Geosa came to the dungeon to confirm their deaths and glared at the Poison King before leaving. It seemed the Poison King’s existence was still like a thorn in his side.

He should have trusted his instincts more. Those clear eyes of the Poison King—why did they bother him so much?

However, exhausted by his repeated research failures, he failed to pay attention to the persistent signals of impending danger.

Instead, he was gradually becoming addicted to Berserk day by day. The Poison King had poisoned him so subtly and expertly, and because Jindok Geosa rarely used his internal energy vigorously, he didn’t realize what was happening.

After Jindok Geosa left, the Poison King asked me.

—If things go according to our plan, do you think Aechak will show up here?

—He definitely will. According to Advisor Go’s investigation, Aechak and Jindok Geosa don’t get along. If he hears that the experiment succeeded, he’ll want to come verify it himself.

—Based on the current trend, we should have a conclusion in about ten days.

The end was in sight.

* * *

For the next ten days, I focused solely on the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique.

Sometimes, when the surroundings are chaotic, we manage to tap into an unexpected level of concentration. That was the case for me. In this narrow and dire dungeon, where prisoners died daily, I focused on my training more than ever.

Finally, there was progress with the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique.

It was the combined result of my recent internal energy growth and my relentless training here. Slowly but surely, the technique was moving towards Ten Star mastery.

Once I reached the 9th Star, the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique distinctly felt different. It responded faster and more sensitively to danger, and I felt an even closer connection with it.

Even as I trained, prisoners continued to die.

From the conversations of the martial artists who came and went to bring food to the dungeon, it seemed that if the current experiment failed, they planned to continue by kidnapping regular martial artists. 1

These people didn’t care about human lives if it meant achieving their goals. No, they never valued others’ lives from the start.

They were the epitome of absolute evil. In a place like this, with masters like Jindok Geosa and Aechak conducting secret experiments, who could possibly stop them?

—Stopping such evil is my path as the Heavenly Demon.

And after I mentioned this, I was asked, for the first time, a question regarding the next generation by the Poison King.

—What about after you die? Do you think the next Heavenly Demon will uphold this Demonic Path? Do you think someone like you will come around again?

—Why should I worry about what happens after I die? Those left behind will figure it out on their own.

—You’ve worked so hard to establish a new Demonic Path. Wouldn’t it be a shame if the next generation ruins it?

Yes, it could be ruined. But that’s something beyond my control. In fact, I believed that it was right not to get involved in such matters.

—Do you really think ordering the future generations will work? Do you think they’d listen if we ask? They’ll just look at how we lived. If it seems admirable, they’ll follow. If not, they’ll change things.

Just like I did.

* * *

As the Poison King had predicted, on the tenth day, every prisoner here had died.

Now, only Geom Mugeuk and the Poison King remained.

For several days afterward, food continued to be provided, and naturally, the two of us did not die.

A few days later.

The moment we had been waiting for arrived.

Finally, Aechak appeared in the underground dungeon with Jindok Geosa. It was the first time Aechak, who had been hiding away in his lair, showed himself. 2

“Did it really succeed?”

“It did! See for yourself. We’ve had two successful combinations. With a bit more research, we can stabilize the formula further.”

“Let’s take a look!”

Aechak peered inside through the iron gate hole of the cell where Geom Mugeuk and the Poison King were held.

The joy in his eyes turned into a snake-like gaze.

“They’re both too young. Are you sure it’s not something that only works on young people?”

Jindok Geosa almost cursed on the spot. It was always like this with Aechak, but he hadn’t expected this kind of nonsense today of all days.

“Aren’t you disrespecting me too much?”

A cold tension arose between the two of them.

“I was just saying, no need to get so defensive.”

Aechak made a snide comment and once again alternated his gaze between Geom Mugeuk and the Poison King inside the dungeon.

‘No matter how I look at it, they still look way too young.’

At that moment, Aechak’s heart started pounding. His sense of danger kicked into high gear. What is this? Why does it feel so ominous?

Like a gambling god swapping cards under the gaze of the Gambling Ghost, the pinnacle of Poison King’s martial arts was demonstrated right in front of the top poison expert of the Unorthodox Alliance. One small opening was all it took.

‘!’

Aechak’s expression suddenly hardened. Forcing a smile, he approached Jindok Geosa.

“You’ve truly worked hard!”

Just as he got close enough,

Swish!

Aechak drew his sword with lightning speed and stabbed Jindok Geosa deeply in the arm.

Jindok Geosa was caught off guard by the sudden attack.

As Jindok Geosa reflexively tried to unleash poison, Aechak quickly struck his Devil’s Hole pressure point, stopping him in his tracks.

“Are you insane?”

Jindok Geosa shouted as Aechak grabbed him by the throat.

“What’s wrong with you? Did you take Berserk?”

Jindok Geosa assumed Aechak had gone mad from taking Berserk. Otherwise, there was no reason for him to suddenly try to kill him.

They couldn’t throw him away after the experiment succeeded. To prevent such a betrayal, Jindok Geosa made sure that only he knew the method to create Berserk. He hadn’t written it down anywhere; it was all in his head. Knowing this, there was no reason for Aechak to kill him.

“The antidote! Give me the antidote!”

Aechak suddenly coughed up blood.

His face had turned black. Only then did Jindok Geosa realize that Aechak had been poisoned. Aechak misunderstood, believing that Jindok Geosa had poisoned him and attacked.

“You bastard! I knew you’d betray me one day!”

“It wasn’t me! I didn’t do it!”

If the two had gotten along, they might have calmly assessed their surroundings. But since they were already at each other’s throat, they could only think that the other was trying to kill them.

Just then, Aechak’s and Jindok Geosa’s subordinates, who had been waiting outside, burst in.

“What’s going on?”

“Jindok has betrayed us! Kill them all!”

Aechak’s men drew their swords and stabbed Jindok Geosa’s subordinates. The attack happened so quickly, and with the shock of hearing that their own leader had betrayed them, Jindok Geosa’s subordinates couldn’t even retaliate with poison.

After all of Jindok Geosa’s men were killed, Aechak’s subordinates charged towards Aechak, but they fell one after another.

Aechak thought Jindok Geosa’s subordinates had used poison, but in reality, Geom Mugeuk had silently knocked them out by using his internal energy to press their acupoints, controlling the blood flow and putting them to sleep. They were the perfect witnesses to explain what really happened.

Both the earlier poisoning and the suppression of the blood flow were all carried out discreetly from within the dungeon through a small window.

Seeing his subordinates collapse, Aechak’s eyes went wild with fury.

“You traitorous bastard! Give me the antidote before I kill you!”

Aechak tightened his grip around Jindok Geosa’s neck. Just a bit more force, and it would snap. Jindok Geosa gasped for air, choking as he barely managed to speak.

“If I really wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead.”

That much was true, and Aechak was momentarily confused. Right, if he’d intended to kill me, he would’ve used a stronger poison that would have killed me instantly. He wouldn’t have allowed me any chance to fight back.

Just then.

Swish.

The key hanging from the waist of one of Jindok Geosa’s fallen subordinates rose into the air.

Jindok Geosa, who noticed it first, widened his eyes.

The key slowly floated across the air and unlocked the Poison King’s cell.

Click!

Startled by the noise, Aechak turned to look.

The key then crossed the air again and unlocked Geom Mugeuk’s cell.

With the sound of another click, both Aechak and Jindok Geosa’s hearts sank.

As the doors opened, Geom Mugeuk and the Poison King stepped out of the dungeon.

Aechak stood there in disbelief. Was he hallucinating from the poison?

The two masterminds walked side by side towards the two ‘victims’.

Jindok Geosa was the first to understand the situation.

“Kill them! They’re the ones behind this!”

Aechak, regaining his composure, swung his sword at Geom Mugeuk.

But if an ambush wouldn’t have worked before, how could a rushed attack succeed now? Aechak’s sword struck nothing but air, and Geom Mugeuk, using the Underworld King Step, closed the gap and struck Aechak’s Devil’s Hole, immobilizing him too.

Aechak looked at Geom Mugeuk with a stunned expression. He finally realized the gravity of the situation—how badly things had gone wrong. He shouldn’t have restrained Jindok Geosa and stabbed his arm.

The Poison King strode over and opened the poison pouch hanging from Jindok Geosa’s waist. In that moment, Jindok Geosa inwardly rejoiced.

Touching my poison pouch without a care? Yes, go ahead and die!

Of course, he was supposed to die. If someone could mess with it so carelessly, would it really be Jindok Geosa’s poison pouch?

Sadly for him, his opponent handled the poison even more skillfully than he did.

Riding a gust of wind, Jindok Geosa’s poison flew straight into Aechak’s face.

“No!”

Aechak’s desperate shout soon turned into a horrifying scream.

“Aaaaahhhh!”

Since it was a poison unique to Jindok Geosa, Aechak’s death would be attributed to him.

And who would be the one to kill Jindok Geosa?

Aechak’s sword-wielding hand moved as if controlled by an unseen force.

Thud!

The sword plunged into Jindok Geosa’s chest.

“Aaaaahhhh!”

“Uuurgh!”

Both men screamed in agony at the same time.

Geom Mugeuk walked over and jabbed his finger under Jindok Geosa’s eye, then flicked his nose.

Blood began to flow from Jindok Geosa’s nose and eyes. His body already contained a sufficient amount of the Berserk that the Poison King had administered over time, so it would be concluded that Jindok Geosa went mad from the poison’s side effects and that the two ended up destroying each other.

“…Why?” Jindok Geosa asked with a strained voice.

The Poison King gave a brief reply.

“Because you made your medicine like a dog.”

Geom Mugeuk didn’t add anything to that. He didn’t mention that because of Jindok Geosa’s drugs, people had resorted to violence, innocents had died, and a child had been left alone after losing their family. Such words wouldn’t have mattered to Jindok Geosa. They wouldn’t have left the slightest scratch on his conscience.

Conversely, to someone as proud as Jindok Geosa, the Poison King’s words must have been a deep wound.

Next, Aechak, whose face was melting from the poison, struggled to ask Geom Mugeuk.

“…Who are you? Who are you two?”

Geom Mugeuk gazed at him quietly before speaking in a low voice.

“He is Berserk, and I am Black Queen.” 3

He named the two signature poisons they were known for.

Aechak wanted to say something, but his life ended there. Just a moment before, he couldn’t have imagined that his life would end so meaninglessly.

As Aechak’s head fell, Jindok Geosa spoke to the Poison King.

“…I have something to say.”

The Poison King moved closer to him.

Jindok Geosa bit the inside of his cheek, spewing blood. It was blood mixed with a potent poison.

Splat!

The Poison King casually blocked it with his Fan of Unending Torment.

Blood dripped down the fan. In addition to Jindok Geosa’s blood, the fan bore many marks from previous battles. It seemed that the Poison King didn’t bother to remove or replace these marks but instead left them as they were. 4

“Won’t work. Your third-rate poison tricks are useless.”

Jindok Geosa, who had been thoroughly mocked until the very end, trembled with pain and shame before his head plopped down lifelessly.

Geom Mugeuk silently looked down at the two dead men. Their deaths carried more significance than just eliminating one of Yaryuhan’s four subordinates.

This was the moment that would save countless lives that would have otherwise been lost to Berserk, and it was also the moment that fulfilled the revenge of the boy who had lost his mother and sister. Now, they could tell Seo Daeryong to go back and inform the boy: his revenge had been fulfilled. Tell him that in the face of their cult, no evil goes unpunished. So now, he should live happily, if only for his own sake, and to protect the memories of his family. Such meaning was embodied in the deaths of these men.

Geom Mugeuk bowed respectfully to the Poison King.

“You’ve worked hard.”

He had endured so much in this narrow and stifling place. While Geom Mugeuk himself had spent his time training, it must have been particularly suffocating for the Poison King, who was used to living amidst the natural surroundings of the Thousand Poisons Forest.

“Dealing with poison experts has always been this taxing and dirty.”

“I didn’t mind. I was glad to do it with you, Poison King.”

“Stop using this poison. It’s already more than enough.”

“Pardon?”

The Poison King strode off, leaving Geom Mugeuk bewildered.

Just before leaving the place, Geom Mugeuk locked the cells again, and sent a gust of wind to release the blood flow suppression on Aechak’s subordinates, whom he had put to sleep earlier.

Moments later, from behind, they heard shouts about Jindok Geosa having gone mad, committed betrayal, and calls to inform the higher-ups. Amidst the ensuing chaos, the two quietly disappeared from the scene.

1 : And after that regular peaople, of course. Irredemable trash.

2 : On that point, he’s more of a cowardly turtle than a vicious snake.

3 : I appreciate all his caution. Too many villains were caught by an accidental eavesdropping while they were boasting their evil plans to their dying enemies.

4 : Trophies of his victories and proof of their losses.

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