Mok-geum, King Of The Dream Moths.

Before his mind could register it, his body reacted first.

He stepped forward.

His body rose into the air.

“That is why, no matter how many times you do it, the result is the same.”

The yokai immortal floated up leisurely.

At that moment, Gyo-ha’s body spun.

Gyo-ha swung his leg toward the air.

A gust of wind roared out with it.

Mara Twenty-Four Forms.

Fourth Form, Knocking Down Birds.

“What!”

Like being caught in a net, the yokai immortal’s body dropped to the ground.

But only for a moment.

When he beat his wings, the thin nets tore apart.

The yokai immortal rose back into the sky.

‘Still not enough.’

Gyo-ha clicked his tongue briefly.

With the yokai power he currently had, this was his limit.

He couldn’t completely knock down a single butterfly, much less a bird.

But a different effect appeared.

“…How dare you.”

The body of the yokai immortal floating in midair trembled.

“How dare a mere human.”

His wingbeats grew rough. The yokai immortal’s body was swelling.

“You dare try to insult me with yokai power?”

In his large black eyes, a dark red energy swirled.

“To me, Mok-geum, King of Butterflies?”

His Daoist robe tore apart and a gigantic butterfly revealed itself.

The yokai was so huge it could blot out the sun.

The King of the Dream Moths who played within dreams.

It was a name even the yokai of the lower realm had feared before they rose to the Immortal Realm.

Every time he flapped his wings, the wind shook Gyo-ha’s body.

It was hard even to stay standing.

At that sight, Gyo-ha folded his arms.

“So what are you going to do. Use talismans again?”

“…”

Gyo-ha provoked him.

He couldn’t read the butterfly’s face, but one thing was certain.

Mok-geum was furious.

A human like Gyo-ha used yokai power, while a yokai like him used sorcery?

Would he be able to accept that?

‘He cannot.’

Gyo-ha’s eyes gleamed. If he couldn’t knock the opponent down, then he just had to make him come down.

And Mok-geum reacted to Gyo-ha’s provocation.

[Good. I will personally suck you dry, down to your bodily fluids.]

The gigantic butterfly rushed toward Gyo-ha.

The butterfly closed in in an instant.

Seen up close, it was even more terrifying.

It was by no means dull just because it was big.

Gyo-ha rolled across the ground to evade it.

And the ground where Gyo-ha had been split open.

‘Those are not wings but blades.’

The marks looked as if they had been sliced by sword qi.

The wings themselves were weapons.

But there had not been no result.

A hole had formed in one of Mok-geum’s wings as he took off again.

It was where Gyo-ha’s fist had passed through.

Gyo-ha had not only dodged.

It was a small wound compared to the huge wing.

But the important thing was that he could wound it.

Unlike their sharpness, the wings themselves were not sturdy.

What mattered was that his attack worked.

‘Good. In that case…’

Gyo-ha’s eyes shone, then he let out a dry laugh.

The wound that had been there was healing.

Soon the wing was cleanly healed, as if nothing had ever happened.

At that sight, he scratched his cheek.

He wanted to cry foul, but he wasn’t exactly one to talk.

‘So this is how others must have felt.’

He could now understand how those who had faced him until now had felt.

Seeing the butterfly rush at him again, Gyo-ha clenched his fist.

‘If small wounds are not enough…’

He stepped forward.

He drew back his fist.

At that moment, the butterfly spun.

A cloud of dust covered Gyo-ha.

The wind jolted his body. Gyo-ha quickly drove both hands into the ground.

At that instant, a sharp sound rang out.

A wing flew through the dust, cutting it apart.

‘Ah-cha.’

Gyo-ha pulled out the hands he had planted.

He didn’t just pull them out.

The ground shot upward, exposing the earth.

The earth was sliced like tofu.

But thanks to that, he earned a brief opening.

“Ut-cha.”

When he bent his body backward, the wing passed right above him.

He could see his hair, which had floated up, being cut right off.

Just seeing it sent a chill down his spine.

The butterfly took off again.

Seeing that, Gyo-ha realized something.

‘…It dodged a frontal attack?’

If it had read Gyo-ha’s memories, it would also know what he was trying to do.

It had paused once before attacking, so its speed was slower than before.

Even with such healing, it had tried to avoid Gyo-ha’s attack.

Did that mean Radiant Burst Strike was a threat?

Or maybe…

‘…Fist Qi.’

Did it mean attacks imbued with internal energy were effective?

It might be both.

Gyo-ha licked his lips. Either way was fine for him.

‘I just have to test it.’

Gyo-ha settled into a stance.

It was not Radiant Burst Strike.

The butterfly turned once in the air and came at Gyo-ha again.

Gyo-ha also ran toward the butterfly.

And when the butterfly drew near, he jumped.

‘I hit it.’

Red Blossom Palm.

He could see the wing crumple.

In the instant he rejoiced, a stick-like limb struck Gyo-ha from the side.

Kwaang!

Gyo-ha was slammed into the ground.

When he raised his body, he could see the butterfly lifting into the air.

‘…The wings are not all I need to watch out for.’

What had attacked him was the butterfly’s leg.

It felt like being beaten with a club.

But the butterfly was not unscathed either. It couldn’t fly properly.

The wound was not healing.

No, looking closely, it was healing bit by bit.

But the speed was slower than before.

There was a chance of victory.

Gyo-ha’s eyes flashed.

However.

“…Huh?”

Even when he waited, it didn’t come down.

Mok-geum stayed aloft, beating his wings.

‘No way.’

Was it planning not to come down until that wound healed?

Bewilderment appeared on Gyo-ha’s face.

---

“…Are you seriously going to do this?”

[…]

The butterfly didn’t answer Gyo-ha’s question.

As much as the butterfly rested, Gyo-ha could also catch his breath.

But he couldn’t just wait forever.

‘Here, it’s like that tree.’

Slower than back then, but his strength was still draining away little by little.

As Mok-geum had said, the dream was his domain.

If time dragged on, it would work against Gyo-ha.

He had to try something.

Clicking his tongue briefly, Gyo-ha leaped again.

Mara Twenty-Four Forms.

Fourth Form, Knocking Down Birds.

But it was different from before.

Far from knocking him down, it only made him hesitate slightly.

Now that he had revealed his true form, Gyo-ha’s yokai power didn’t fully take hold.

‘No. It’s working.’

For just a moment, Mok-geum’s movements stopped.

Even though Gyo-ha had used yokai power, Mok-geum stayed still this time.

Gyo-ha watched Mok-geum and sank into thought.

‘Should I try it?’

His hesitation was brief. Trying something was better than waiting like this.

Gyo-ha picked up a stone rolling on the ground.

Then he jumped.

Once more, Knocking Down Birds.

Caught in the net of yokai power and halted, Mok-geum sneered at Gyo-ha.

‘Is he thinking of throwing a rock? How foolish.’

Even if he threw it imbued with internal energy, it was not wrapped around him, so he would recover quickly.

But Gyo-ha’s actions were different from Mok-geum’s expectations.

He placed his foot on the stone he had thrown.

And then.

Flying Dragon Chasing Lightning.

Pung!

Gyo-ha’s figure pierced through the wind and flew.

[…!]

Mok-geum was startled, but soon let out a laugh.

[Stupid fool.]

It was because Gyo-ha’s body passed by his side.

After flying for quite a distance, he fell to the ground.

Standing up, Gyo-ha kneaded his own body.

He ached all over.

“As expected, that doesn’t work.”

It was hard to adjust his angle just by stepping on a stone in midair.

Even at this very moment, Mok-geum’s wounds were healing.

Unlike that, Gyo-ha’s body was in shambles.

As he clicked his tongue, something entered Gyo-ha’s sight.

A gouge.

It was a mark left when the stone he had stepped on bounced into the ground.

‘Hmm.’

A new method came to Gyo-ha’s mind.

But even if a stone made a wound, it would soon heal.

‘If it’s only one, that is.’

Gyo-ha looked up.

Mok-geum still showed no intention of coming down.

This was his only chance. Gyo-ha looked around.

And he found something suitable.

A stone about twice the size of Gyo-ha’s head.

Gyo-ha lightly punched the stone.

Koong.

The stone shook.

Cracks spiderwebbed across it.

He threw the cracked stone upward and lifted his body.

Gyo-ha’s body spun once in midair.

And his foot struck the stone.

Flying Dragon Chasing Lightning.

Kwaang!

In an instant, Gyo-ha’s body was driven into the ground.

Gyo-ha forced himself to stand up.

‘Urgh, I thought my neck was going to break.’

His neck wouldn’t move properly.

If the ground had been a little harder, his neck really would have broken.

It was not something he could do twice.

But the attempt had been worthwhile. Mok-geum was staggering.

There were countless holes in his wings.

It was easier to hit by launching stones like this than by leaping himself.

And Gyo-ha didn’t waste the opportunity he had worked so hard to create.

Mara Twenty-Four Forms.

Fourth Form, Knocking Down Birds.

It worked. Mok-geum plummeted at high speed.

Even in that brief time, his wings were rapidly healing.

In the end, he stopped before hitting the ground.

But that was enough.

Gyo-ha had already reached the spot where he would fall.

Radiant Burst Strike.

It was a hastily thrown attack, so it didn’t carry his full strength.

Even so, the destructive power was enough.

Kwaang!

Mok-geum’s body shook.

[You human wretch!]

“Kkieeeek!”

A shriek and an old man’s roar rang out from his mouth at the same time.

“Kh!”

Puk! Pubuk!

Mok-geum’s legs stabbed into Gyo-ha’s body.

But compared to the stings of the bees, they were not as sharp.

Gyo-ha didn’t dodge and pressed forward.

If he retreated like this, everything would become meaningless.

Whirling Lotus Kick.

Gyo-ha’s foot sliced off Mok-geum’s wing.

And he thrust out his palm so it couldn’t heal.

Red Blossom Palm.

Kwajijik.

The wing crumpled.

At the same time, an impact struck his side.

Kwaang!

Gyo-ha’s body was flung away.

He could only stand up after rolling across the ground several times.

His body was a wreck.

There were holes all over.

It was hard even to stand properly.

Yet Gyo-ha could still smile.

He could see Mok-geum in the distance.

The wounds from the rock had healed, but one wing had been severed.

On top of that, the other wing had not fully recovered either.

In that state, he wouldn’t be able to fly for a while.

“Now it’s a bit fair.”

The battlefield had changed.

It was no longer in the sky, but on the ground.

Gyo-ha hurled himself toward Mok-geum.

[Do you think that just because I cannot fly, I will lose to a mere human!]

The world changed.

From forest to sand, from sand to a cliff.

Sometimes even the sky flipped.

But it couldn’t stop Gyo-ha.

Every time it changed, his body reacted. He adapted at once.

Even so, it couldn’t change to sky or sea.

Because it was on the same ground as Gyo-ha.

Mok-geum was not free from the changes either.

‘If it had been like that from the start, it would be different.’

He had either been careless or had some reason he couldn’t do it.

In this way, Gyo-ha closed the distance in an instant.

Soon Gyo-ha’s fist and Mok-geum’s leg collided.

What broke was Mok-geum’s leg.

Mok-geum’s body was not as hard as a bee’s.

But Mok-geum had three pairs of legs.

Two legs supported his body and the remaining three went for Gyo-ha.

Gyo-ha couldn’t block every attack.

But he dealt with them steadily, one by one.

Red Blossom Palm.

The leg that his hand touched bent at a strange angle and fell off.

Before he knew it, only three legs remained.

On top of that, two of them were busy holding up the body.

Gyo-ha grabbed the leg going for his head.

“Got you.”

Kkwajik.

He snapped the leg off.

At that moment.

Hwirik.

Something flew at him.

As he twisted his head to dodge, he could see a long tube pass by his side.

If he had been even a little late, it would have pierced his head.

But Gyo-ha had already anticipated it.

‘After sending such an obvious look that you were aiming for something.’

He had seen through it all.

Mok-geum might have much battle experience, but he had rarely fought at such close range.

Much less when the opponent in front of him was none other than Gyo-ha.

He had already grown used to Mok-geum’s movements.

Gyo-ha’s fist sank into Mok-geum’s head.

Mok-geum’s head was driven backward.

Thanks to that, his belly was laid bare.

Mok-geum flapped his wings, as if they had now healed.

But Gyo-ha’s hand was faster.

His belly was softer than his wings or the rest of his body.

Gyo-ha’s palm burrowed into his belly.

Sensing what was about to happen, Mok-geum’s eyes trembled.

And then.

Red Blossom Palm was unleashed inside Mok-geum’s belly.

Gideudeudeudeuk.

A bizarre noise echoed from inside his belly.

“Kkieeeeeeeeeeeek!”

Mok-geum writhed in agony.

Thanks to that, Gyo-ha gained some leeway and prepared the finishing blow.

This time his fist fell on Mok-geum’s head.

Radiant Burst Strike.

Kwagagagang!

Mok-geum’s flesh and bodily fluids splattered in all directions.

Mok-geum twitched, then stopped moving.

Gyo-ha plopped down.

“Wow, I’m going to die.”

Contrary to his words, a broad grin spread across Gyo-ha’s face.

It had been a fun fight.

He had been able to enjoy such a fight for the first time in a while.

There was no need to check directly whether Mok-geum was dead.

New power was accumulating within Gyo-ha’s body.

The power called yokai energy or yokai power.

And the world itself was collapsing.

It was time to go home.