Time seems to stand still as everything falls silent.

It feels like the blockages in my blood are breaking free.

Right now, I feel like I can do anything.

“Stop your tricks…!”

The tendrils paused under the deluge of light pouring from the sky.

Ketchalgoatal’s sharp shout snapped them back to their purpose, and they resumed their attacks.

Countless tendrils stretched toward me, each strong enough to toy with my life.

Ketchalgoatal knew well enough not to approach me directly, instead opting to send his tendrils across the battlefield.

These tendrils originated from Tae-Sae's power.

Even if I had gained enlightenment, I hadn't surpassed Ketchalgoatal, who borrowed Tae-Sae's strength.

The gap between us was still as vast as the sky and the earth.

Ketchalgoatal was undoubtedly aware of this.

*Bam!*

I struck the ground with rapid speed.

I pierced through the encircling tendrils and reached Ketchalgoatal.

With that one decisive swing,

“Not bad!”

*Bam!*

Ketchalgoatal accelerated further, dodging my attack with ease.

The cost of failing to land my hit was a retaliation as sharp as a blade.

Tendrils shot toward me once again.

*Grrr…*

*Bam!*

A tremendous number of tendrils overwhelmed me.

In response, I raised my right hand.

*Swish!*

Like a snake, I twisted the trajectory of all incoming attacks.

*Boom!*

I may have parried the tendril strikes, but Ketchalgoatal still remained.

His twisted smile shone down on me.

In response, I raised my left hand.

That move had been shown to me when I faced the Snake Queen.

Ketchalgoatal's speed far surpassed my own now.

Reacting to his attacks seemed almost impossible.

I wouldn’t react.

I merely thrust forward, mimicking the movement of a hawk's talon.

*Swish!*

“Gah!”

I struck where Ketchalgoatal would arrive.

While I couldn’t react, I could anticipate.

Ketchalgoatal recoiled in shock and changed direction.

His extraordinary reflexes allowed him to move just before my strike landed.

*Swish!*

As I swung my tail for a follow-up attack, he hastily withdrew.

“Are you playing tricks on me?”

Ketchalgoatal must have gauged my strength.

If he were to carelessly approach me, he could suffer an unexpected blow.

And this meant he would likely employ an entirely different attack than what he had shown thus far.

*Whoosh…*

A storm began to brew.

Countless tendrils transformed into shadows of darkness.

The power of Tae-Sae combined with Ketchalgoatal’s innate strength.

This would be a powerful strike.

*Grrr…*

The speed of the attack appeared slow.

No, it seemed slow.

But once caught in that storm, my body would be torn apart.

Yet there was no way to escape the tempest.

The only option I had was to face it head-on.

What I had learned was not just how to wield power.

I could faintly recall the numerous murals I had seen.

The phrases left by the First Heavenly Demon for future generations.

I began to understand what they truly meant.

I took a deep breath.

In my left hand, I held the essence of the bird.

In my right, the essence of the snake.

*Swish!*

Like a viper and a hawk fighting for their lives.

The martial art inscribed by the First Heavenly Demon on the rock.

*Eagle-Snake Life-and-Death Struggle (鷹蛇生死搏).*

My heart pounded.

All of my inner energy concentrated in my hands.

*Boom!*

*Crash!*

I parried one strike and immediately blocked another.

A flurry of dozens, perhaps hundreds of movements.

*Slap!*

*Bang!*

The black shadows of Tae-Sae relentlessly assaulted me, but I continuously repelled them with *Eagle-Snake Life-and-Death Struggle*.

*Bang!*

With my right hand, resembling a snake’s head, I pierced through the storm.

With my left, resembling the talons of a hawk, I repelled the shadow of Tae-Sae.

*Whoosh!*

The black storm turned into a gentle breeze.

“So you were hiding your strength.”

Ketchalgoatal halted his attacks and stepped back.

He realized that while I was using *Eagle-Snake Life-and-Death Struggle*, he couldn’t deal damage with that black storm.

“If that’s not it, are you drawing upon innate energy?”

It was an absurd thought.

The lizard that could barely cope with one tendril had just batted away hundreds of them.

“Such a pointless struggle, but how entertaining!”

His previously confident demeanor faded.

*Whoosh!*

I hurriedly raised my hands to block his techniques.

“Too bad! How unfortunate!”

*Slash!*

*Bang!*

Despite using the essence of the snake and the hawk simultaneously, I was barely keeping up with his onslaught.

I was far larger than him, yet he held all the advantages in speed and power. My massive size worked against me.

“You could have become a dragon, yet you wish to die by my hand!”

*Whoosh!*

Ketchalgoatal’s techniques pierced through my defenses.

*Boom!*

The cost of allowing an attack struck me hard, and I instantly coughed up blood.

The accumulated fatigue exploded all at once.

My bones shattered, and every muscle screamed in agony.

I hadn’t shared equal footing with him; I had only made it seem that way through sheer force of will.

There was no time to even feel pain.

Ketchalgoatal wasn’t satisfied yet.

His wicked energy began to manifest.

Ketchalgoatal’s human form.

Above him, the silhouette of a massive feathered serpent flickered.

As blue flames surrounded my body, the black shadow of Tae-Sae enveloped Ketchalgoatal.

*Thud!*

*Boom!*

The technique meant to end my life approached.

Though it felt slow, a certain death was approaching me.

My vision blurred.

I had gained enlightenment, yet it didn’t erase the damage I had sustained.

The strength I had regained through Ketchalgoatal’s arrogance quickly dwindled.

“Snake Queen! Open your eyes wide and witness the end of your beloved lizard!”

*Thud!*

*Boom!*

*Thud!*

The increasingly accelerated attacks of Ketchalgoatal.

“Watch closely how I bring down that arrogant beast!”

Arrogance.

The notion of *Tenjo Tenge Yuiga Dokuson* was an arrogant statement.

It suggested embracing both heaven and earth.

I squeezed out every last bit of my strength and assumed that earlier stance.

“What a ridiculous posture!”

Ketchalgoatal erupted into laughter.

The death that loomed closer.

One hand pointed to the sky.

The other to the earth.

*Thud!*

*Boom!*

No.

I grasped the sky with one hand.

I gripped the earth with the other.

*Gankon Daenai (乾坤大挪移).*

I would shift the heavens and the earth.

The legendary martial art also known as the greatest technique in the martial world, said to have been left by the First Heavenly Demon.

To simply describe *Gankon Daenai* is to grasp the fundamentals of power.

It allows one to fully elevate their potential and change the direction of their strength freely, truly earning the title of divine martial art.

But there was no way I could replicate that.

*[Gankon Daenai] temporarily acquired.*

What I could do was only reproduce a mere fraction of that power.

*Whoosh!*

“That energy is that of a dragon…!”

*Boom!*

Ketchalgoatal’s speed intensified.

He seemed to decide that rather than gather strength, he needed to reach me before I could harness mine.

That was a wise decision.

*Gankon Daenai* was a technique for elevating potential.

All the elixirs I had consumed thus far resonated with my martial art.

“Do you think I’d just sit idly by?”

Ketchalgoatal’s strike came hurtling toward me.

*Boom!*

A destructive force capable of annihilating whatever it struck.

My body, enveloped in the power of the dragon, was mercilessly torn apart.

I couldn’t dodge that attack.

“Could it be…?”

His strike effortlessly ignored my defenses.

But that wasn’t the result he wanted.

*Cutting the Tail.*

What was struck wasn’t my main body, but the tail that I had severed.

By cutting off my tail, I gained overwhelming speed.

The cost of perfectly dodging was a blade-like counterattack.

I focused all my inner strength into my right hand.

I needed the power of that single blow to pierce through his defenses.

My previous attacks would not suffice.

I had to take another route.

There was only one path for me to walk.

The path of the Gaekka.

The path of the Gaekka meant that the being at the lowest point would grasp the heavens.

Five fingers, imbued with the essence of the Gaekka, swung out.

Not mimicking someone else’s technique, nor learning it from anyone, but a martial art entirely my own.

*Gaekka Shinjo (愾喀神爪).*

*Whoosh!*

*Boom!*

A deafening roar echoed across the skies.

“Gah!”

Ketchalgoatal spat out black blood.

“Gah, ah!”

He howled in agony.

Now was the time to finish him off,

 yet I had no remaining strength.

What I could do was trust the words of the red-eyed woman.

“Do you intend to drink the poisoned wine?”

To say that I was not tempted by humanity would be a lie.

It would also be a lie to say that I was unafraid of death.

There was an easier path.

If I submitted, I could live in peace.

But that wasn’t an option.

I was the partner of the Snake Queen, who had once lost everything and roared from the depths.

I was Hei, Baek Yeon-Yeong’s disciple, a humble lizard striving to reach greater heights.

The lowest beast that aspired to climb to the top, bound by the promise of the Gecko.

“Gaekka (Resolute Roar).”

The lowest creature, crying out as it gazes upward.

“Gaekka (Iron Grip).”

The lowest creature, reaching to grasp what lies above.

“Gaekka (Open Gateway).”

The lowest creature, opening the door for others.

Gaekka was the path I had walked.

Submitting to another was a betrayal of all my bonds, a denial of myself.

The black tendrils lunged toward me.

…

Time seemed to stop as I felt an enormous surge of energy wash over me, an overwhelming clarity.

This was my moment.

With renewed strength and purpose, I would fight.

I would not yield.