The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 289

“Haa… haa…”

Catching her breath with difficulty, Hwa-ryeong Byeok stared ahead.

A woman standing still, a sword hanging from her hand.

She looked exactly like herself, as if they were twins.

After passing through seven gates in succession, only the final gate remained.

But the final gate was on a different level from anything before.

It wasn’t called hell for nothing.

She had been prepared to some extent, knowing that no one had ever passed through, but this was beyond expectations.

This was not a gate designed to be passed.

With each gate passed, her five senses were sequentially taken away.

Yet even that was merely a device to draw out the current illusion.

Such powerful self-hypnosis!

The reason she could clearly perceive the opponent in front of her in the pitch-black darkness, where she couldn’t see an inch ahead, was because of this.

Clearly, her mind recognized that it wasn’t reality, but her body and heart did not.

Moreover….

‘It wasn’t a simple illusion.’

At first, she thought it was a kind of inner demon created by distorted senses.

But it wasn’t.

The killing intent contained in each stance the opponent wielded was real, and the connection of the stances was so precise and flawless that even she, who had practiced the Namhae Thirty-Six Swordsmanship [a renowned sword art] her whole life, felt chills.

Above all….

If it were a simple hallucination or mental image, her arm wouldn’t have been blown away like this.

Hwa-ryeong Byeok, confirming her left arm neatly severed below the elbow, wore a bitter smile.

Once again, she was disgusted by the talent and malice of the Ghost Hand [a master architect and diviner] who designed this trap.

How was she supposed to break through this?

An indescribable sense of deep despair washed over her.

‘Is this the end….’

Hwa-ryeong Byeok slowly lowered her sword.

It was then.

“Where is my woman!”

A thunderous voice rang out from somewhere.

The moment Hwa-ryeong Byeok realized it was Beom Gye-wi’s voice, she trembled.

‘Is he even bringing out Beom Gye-wi now?’

Hwa-ryeong Byeok suddenly became angry.

But soon, she felt sorrowful.

She felt utterly pathetic because of her helplessness to break through the final gate.

She had already lost one arm.

Moreover, her true energy was already exhausted, leaving her with no strength to even move a finger.

Nevertheless, at this moment, Hwa-ryeong Byeok desperately wanted to see Beom Gye-wi.

Even if it was just a hallucination, she wanted to hear his voice one more time.

Beyond the intense longing, she also felt a sense of relief.

The only reason she had entered the Eight Gates of Hell was to avoid becoming Beom Gye-wi’s weakness.

Either she would pass through this place and become stronger, or she would face death.

Sadly, in the current situation, it was clear that she would end in death.

Still, it didn’t matter.

At least she wouldn’t become Beom Gye-wi’s weakness and hold him back.

“Let’s end this.”

She couldn’t just stand there in a state of self-abandonment forever.

She didn’t want to give up everything and face death helplessly.

Even if she were to meet Beom Gye-wi again in the distant future, she wanted to confidently say that she had done her best until the end.

Clenching her teeth, Hwa-ryeong Byeok raised her sword and pointed it at her opponent.

Then, the opponent also raised her sword in the same stance.

‘How annoying!’

Even though they were taking the same stance, she couldn’t find any openings.

On the other hand, she was exhausted.

Moreover, she was even more disadvantaged because she had lost one arm.

But Hwa-ryeong Byeok didn’t hesitate and launched her figure.

Tsutsutsu!

The sword energy, squeezed out with her last strength and placed on the tip of her sword, tore through the air and rushed towards her opponent.

The opponent also swung her sword with the same stance.

It felt like fighting herself in a mirror.

The problem was that the opponent’s swordsmanship was more precise and superior.

“……!”

A sword filled her vision.

At that moment, Hwa-ryeong Byeok sensed her death.

Her balance was subtly thrown off by the loss of one arm, and there was no way to block the sword that had slipped through that tiny gap.

No matter how much she prided herself on being the best swordsman in the Hainam Sword Sect, there was a clear limit.

Once she realized that she couldn’t leave this place alive, Hwa-ryeong Byeok let go of everything.

‘I’m sorry, Beom Gye-wi.’

She left a message for him in her heart, even though it might not reach him.

But then.

In a moment of utter stillness in her mind, having let go of everything.

“Hwa-ryeong!”

Once again, Beom Gye-wi’s voice was heard.

Even though death was imminent, Hwa-ryeong Byeok could smile brightly.

Was her last wish reaching the heavens?

‘I still wanted to get married.’

An unknown sadness washed over Hwa-ryeong Byeok as she thought of Beom Gye-wi’s face.

She would no longer be able to hear Beom Gye-wi’s voice, nor would she be able to see his gruff but cute face if you looked closely.

Thinking that way, an inexplicable sense of injustice and anger filled her chest.

And this soon became stubbornness, dominating Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s mind and body.

At the same time, a stream of unprecedented energy surged from her dantian [energy center], following that stubbornness.

Uuung!

The sword held in Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s hand let out a magnificent cry.

Flash!

In an instant, everything in front of her was cut and split.

Ten thousand waves of blue water.

Through Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s sword, the ultimate move of the Namhae Thirty-Six Swordsmanship, Ten Thousand Acres of Azure Waves, revealed its divine power.

“Ah!”

An exclamation burst from Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s lips.

A sense of elation that was hard to express!

This soon filled her chest with endless joy.

Everything that had tormented her so much was being cut away piece by piece in the face of the endless waves of sword energy.

Hwa-ryeong Byeok finally realized that there was a limit to this terrible formation.

Ten Thousand Acres of Azure Waves, the last move of the Namhae Thirty-Six Swordsmanship.

No matter how much of a genius the Ghost Hand, the designer of the Eight Gates of Hell, was, he could not have incorporated into the formation a move that no one had ever reached before.

A sudden realization.

The moment she broke through the limits and crossed the wall, the Eight Gates of Hell could no longer bind her.

It was then that a voice flew from behind her.

“Well done! My woman!”

“Beom Gye-wi?”

Hwa-ryeong Byeok turned around in surprise and saw Beom Gye-wi standing there as if by a lie, through the collapsed wall.

No matter how many times she rubbed her eyes and looked again, it was definitely Beom Gye-wi.

“Really… Beom Gye-wi?”

“Yes. I… Heok!”

Beom Gye-wi, who was approaching Hwa-ryeong Byeok with his arms open, gasped for air.

Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s eyes turned cold for a moment, and then an enormous wave of sword energy endlessly surged towards him.

“Why?”

While frantically dodging the sword energy, Beom Gye-wi suddenly realized.

“I’m sorry! I did my best! I didn’t want to be late!”

Beom Gye-wi was quite wronged.

The process of breaking through the gates themselves and reaching this place was by no means easy.

But first, he had to appease Hwa-ryeong Byeok.

Beom Gye-wi moved forward, enduring countless sword energies with his bare body.

The clothes he wore were instantly reduced to rags, and red lines were drawn all over his skin.

Enduring the sharp pain, Beom Gye-wi approached Hwa-ryeong Byeok and hugged her tightly.

“……!”

Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s eyes wavered.

The strong arms that made her unable to move and the pair of eyes that were like blazing fire right in front of her.

Moreover, she finally realized that the Beom Gye-wi in front of her was not an illusion created by the gate, thanks to the warmth that directly touched her skin.

“Gye-wi!”

Hwa-ryeong Byeok hugged Beom Gye-wi’s waist.

Then, she looked up at him and smiled sadly.

“Although I lost one arm, I gained the last move of the Namhae Thirty-Six Swordsmanship.”

“Huh? Lost an arm?”

Beom Gye-wi was bewildered.

He couldn’t understand how the arm that was supposed to be blown away was hugging his waist.

“Ah!”

It was then that an exclamation burst from Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s lips.

She belatedly realized that the arm that had been cut off was perfectly attached.

‘Even that was an illusion!’

The eerie pain of when her arm was cut off was still vivid in her mind, how terrible the suggestion was.

But what if she hadn’t passed the final gate?

The illusion would not have ended as an illusion.

If she had died in it, she would have faced death in reality as well.

Hwa-ryeong Byeok looked around.

The broken wooden swords and destroyed mechanical devices scattered everywhere came into view.

She almost lost her life to such insignificant devices.

Tak Yo-shin, who was called Mu Bulneungyo (Nothing He Cannot Do) [a title signifying unmatched skill].

He was called an unparalleled genius, and there was indeed a reason why he was still considered and revered as the best in architecture and divination.

As Hwa-ryeong Byeok hugged his waist even tighter, Beom Gye-wi sighed.

“This is the last time.”

“Yes? What do you mean by the last time?”

Beom Gye-wi looked at the puzzled Hwa-ryeong Byeok with complicated eyes.

“Don’t ever do this again without my permission.”

Hwa-ryeong Byeok smiled and buried her face in Beom Gye-wi’s chest.

“Thank you for worrying about me.”

However, what Beom Gye-wi was really worried about was something else.

‘It’s going to be a problem if she gets stronger.’

To be honest, even the attack just now made his heart drop.

But what if she gets even stronger here?

He wasn’t confident that he could handle it.

As Beom Gye-wi and Hwa-ryeong Byeok stepped out of the cave, Byeok Dae-gyeong, who had been waiting anxiously, was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

He wanted to rush over and check on his daughter’s safety once again, but the words he had to say first came to mind.

“Prepare for the wedding of the two.”

No sooner had Byeok Dae-gyeong’s words fallen than cheers rang out throughout the island.

Whether it was because of the return of the Deputy Sect Leader, who was thought to be dead, or because of the wedding, the warriors’ cheers were filled with more joy than ever before.

“Waaa!”

“Finally!”

Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s eyebrows twitched as she carefully watched the scene.

“What? I’m the one getting married, so why are you guys so happy?”

“Th, that’s….”

Hwa-ryeong Byeok smiled as she saw her subordinates hastily swallowing their words.

The warriors of the Hainam Sect, who had faced that smile several times before, felt their hearts sink.

As expected.

“I’m still going to be here even after I get married.”

“……!”

The expressions of the warriors who had been cheering turned sour.

Regardless.

Hwa-ryeong Byeok continued.

“I gained enlightenment inside. Even if I’m leaving, I have to properly pass on the teachings. So that the sect’s unique skills don’t die out.”

And at Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s words that followed, the Hainam Sect warriors wore mournful expressions.

“Look forward to it. Because starting tomorrow, it’s special training.”

The Hainam Sect warriors were already sighing with world-weary eyes.

That night.

Byeok Dae-gyeong quietly called Beom Gye-wi and Hwa-ryeong Byeok out separately.

“Please take good care of my daughter.”

Originally, it was a marriage that would have had to go through a rather complicated process.

Starting with Napchae (納采) [formal proposal], where the man’s family formally proposes marriage and the woman’s family accepts it, it was common to go through six rites (六禮) such as Munmyeong (問名) [asking the bride’s name and birthdate], Napgil (納吉) [announcing the wedding date], Napbye (納幣) [sending betrothal gifts], Cheonggi (請期) [setting the wedding date], and Chinyeong (親迎) [groom welcoming the bride].

Moreover, as it was the marriage of Hwa-ryeong Byeok, the daughter of the Hainam Sword Sect Leader and the Deputy Sect Leader, it should not have proceeded as hastily as cooking beans in a fire.

However, Byeok Dae-gyeong boldly omitted all the processes.

He heard that the rice was already cooked and had become rice [a metaphor for the relationship being consummated].

He had already thoroughly checked their compatibility, so there was no need to check their fortunes separately.

All that was left was to pick a day without bad luck and set the date.

Beom Gye-wi, who received the glass of wine that Byeok Dae-gyeong handed him, emptied it in one gulp.

It was the sixty-five-year-old Yeoahong [a type of wine] that he had only heard about.

A rare old liquor (老酒) that Cho Ak-ryang would have lamented over and over again for not being at this place.

It was a wine that Byeok Dae-gyeong had saved to open when he found Hwa-ryeong Byeok’s spouse.

Indeed, the taste of the wine was so excellent that even Beom Gye-wi, who didn’t know much about the taste of wine, couldn’t help but exclaim.

Beom Gye-wi smiled at Byeok Dae-gyeong.

“Is Hwa-ryeong mine now?”

“Yes. She’s yours.”