Chapter 68: Heavenly Demon Seol Cheon-sang

I am a body that has experienced the Great War of Righteousness and Evil and returned.

As an agent of the Secret Pavilion that dealt with information, I had roamed all sorts of battlefields, so I was bound to know a lot about the Demonic Cult. It was because an information organization was bound to tenaciously dig up information about its sworn enemy.

Therefore, I inevitably know a lot about the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Perhaps I know the Demonic Cult better than the Demonic Cult followers themselves.

I know the characteristics of demonic arts, and I know their nature.

I know the blind faith of the Demonic Cult followers, and I know their fanaticism.

I know the hierarchy of the Demonic Cult, and I know its key figures.

I also know to some extent about the spies who are active in the Central Plains Murim, whose identities will be revealed in the future.

But…….

There was one thing I absolutely had to know to claim to know the Demonic Cult, but I didn’t know it at all.

The Supreme One of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the object of the fanaticism that the Demonic Cult followers pledged their lives to, the Heavenly Demon.

It was about him.

In fact, this could be called a story close to a contradiction.

The Heavenly Demon meant the Demonic Cult itself.

The Heavenly Demon was the symbol and focal point of the Demonic Cult, and a living god.

To know the Demonic Cult, one must know the Heavenly Demon.

But I don’t know the Heavenly Demon.

It wasn’t a problem of my status being low and having no access to information.

It would be right to answer that it was because the Heavenly Demon had never shown himself even once in that long and fierce Great War of Righteousness and Evil.

I don’t know the Heavenly Demon.

I don’t know his appearance, and I don’t know his nature.

His gender, age, name, etc. I don’t know anything.

It was because information about him was completely erased, as if it had been thoroughly purged, and was not caught by the Secret Pavilion at all.

For reference, the statement that the Secret Pavilion doesn’t know would be the same as saying that no one in the Central Plains Murim knows.

But…….

Looking at the irresistible death standing alone, trampling the sky, I couldn’t not know.

I know who that existence is.

“……Heavenly Demon.”

That existence was surely the Supreme One of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Heavenly Demon of this era.

Since my spirit had informed me that that existence was an irresistible death, what other existence in the current Murim besides the Heavenly Demon could be so?

It was a mutter close to a soliloquy, but the five senses of my colleagues who had reached the State of Harmony did not miss it.

“……!”

Heavenly Demon.

The hall became rigid at those two words.

In fact, wasn’t it a situation where they hadn’t even figured out the reason why the eleven intruders had invaded the Dancheon Clan?

But in the midst of that, the Heavenly Demon, who could be called the biggest of the big shots, had suddenly appeared, so it would be stranger if they were calm.

The Heavenly Demon’s gaze swept over the crowd.

It was a dark eye like a bottomless pit.

They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, so I would be good at reading others’ minds with my vision trained since my time as Myeong-gae.

But I couldn’t read anything from the Heavenly Demon’s eyes.

It wasn’t something like the void that the Kunlun often talks about.

It would be right to describe it as the abyss itself.

The bottom of an abyss that an ordinary person could not imagine was located in the Heavenly Demon’s mind.

Knowing meant reading and analyzing the fragments of what the other person had shown, but there was nothing to read from the bottomless pit that consumed everything.

So I was afraid.

Weren’t humans beings who feel fear from the unknown?

“You’ve worked hard.”

The Heavenly Demon, who had dominated the space with his mere presence, said to the Iron Mountain Demon Lord.

At the same time, the Iron Mountain Demon Lord was swept up in passion. I wonder if the appearance of a messenger chosen by God would be like that.

One of the many forms that fear has would be awe, and the loyalty of the Iron Mountain Demon Lord towards the Heavenly Demon was like that.

The believer who had an audience with his god and received praise prostrated himself on the ground.

The Demon Lord who had reached the Demonic Transformation.

Even he, who had set foot in a supreme realm, was a mere commoner in front of the Heavenly Demon.

“O Heavenly Demon, I have successfully completed what you have commanded.”

Hearing those words, I knew the source of the satisfaction that had been in the Iron Mountain Demon Lord’s eyes.

I also knew the reason why the ten extreme demonic masters had been defeated one by one like a disorganized mob.

It meant that the current situation had been carried out exactly as the Iron Mountain Demon Lord had wanted. To be precise, as per the Heavenly Demon’s orders.

“Hmm.”

The Heavenly Demon’s gaze took in the ten corpses of the extreme demonic masters lying on the ground in turn.

Then, the Heavenly Demon’s gaze turned to the Iron Mountain Demon Lord again.

Slowly, the Heavenly Demon’s mouth opened.

“You are a bit of a waste.”

It seemed like an indifferent word, but it seemed to have been heard differently by the Iron Mountain Demon Lord.

“If I can become fertilizer for the path of the Heavenly Demon, it would be the glory of three lifetimes!”

With a voice filled with strength, the one who had been consistently firm shouted with an agitated voice.

The Heavenly Demon, who had heard those words, quietly nodded his head and ordered.

“Then die.”

As if the Heavenly Demon’s words were a command, the Iron Mountain Demon Lord jumped to his feet.

His sword was aimed at the sky, and then at his own neck.

“O Heavenly Demon! Achieve your great cause!”

Slice.

With a sharp cutting sound.

Thud.

Roll, roll.

The head of the Iron Mountain Demon Lord, separated from his body, rolled on the ground.

Thud.

The body that had been standing tall collapsed pathetically.

I saw it.

The sight of an indescribable, inexpressible joy on the face of the Iron Mountain Demon Lord.

Ecstasy or pleasure.

No, it would be right to describe it as rapture. I don’t think there would be a better expression.

And…….

Slither-

Something began to move in the emptiness of death.

Since I was so flustered that I couldn’t maintain an objective perspective right now, I didn’t know if this was something only I could see, or if everyone could see it.

However, one thing was certain: something was slowly rising from the corpses of the eleven Demonic Cult followers and heading towards the Heavenly Demon.

Even in the midst of this, my excellent insight was analyzing the situation, so my spirit, which had expanded, added the inference that it had captured the souls of the Demonic Cult followers.

The souls reached the Heavenly Demon.

I knew instinctively that it was not a sinister technique like the Star-Sucking Great Art.

The souls simply covered a few of the invisible chains that were binding the Heavenly Demon’s body.

“Hmm.”

The souls and the invisible chains canceled each other out and disappeared.

“This much should be enough to cover the eyes of the heavens for a while.”

Hearing the Heavenly Demon’s words, it seemed that it wasn’t something like a hallucination.

Soon, the Heavenly Demon’s gaze turned to me, and the abyss looked into me.

“Are you the one? The star that must disappear.”

When the abyss asked me.

“I think so.”

I answered without realizing it.

“It’s a pleasure. I am the Heavenly Demon of this era, Seol Cheon-sang.”

“I am Myeong, the second son of the Dancheon Clan.”

Perhaps I was the first person in the entire Jianghu Murim to exchange names with the Heavenly Demon.

***

Now I get it.

All of this must have originated from me.

It didn’t originate from the incidents of the Heuksu Mun or the Blazing Flower Sect, but I think it originated from my existence itself.

To erase me, the Heavenly Demon himself had descended into the heart of the Central Plains Murim.

“Hah.”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

It wasn’t about the current situation.

I laughed at the futility of my thoughts, wondering if there was a need to achieve the Sixth Stage since I had saved the Emperor Breaker without knowing of such an existence.

Even after reaching the Fifth Stage, I was still a frog in a well.

The human body is truly a mysterious thing, so the bitter laugh that had burst out without me realizing it relieved some of the tension that was binding my body.

“Not bad.”

The Heavenly Demon evaluated me so.

If I had devoted myself to the Demonic Path, it might have been the glory of three lifetimes.

“Thank you.”

But I was not a follower of the Demonic Cult, so I took the Heavenly Demon’s evaluation calmly.

At that moment.

Step.

Clan Head Dancheon Gang, holding a sword, stepped forward.

He too was a strong person who was stepping into the realm of intention, so it wasn’t that he didn’t know the authority of the Heavenly Demon.

As proof of that, my father Dancheon Gang’s expression was heavily hardened.

I also knew that although he was trying to hide it, his hand was trembling slightly.

Seeing the appearance of Clan Head Dancheon Gang now, I knew what the determination of a desperate fight meant.

When I tried to overtake Dancheon Gang again, he blocked my figure.

“This is not a place for you to step forward.”

My father Dancheon Gang was now fulfilling his duty as the Clan Head.

I felt it again.

He was clearly a good father and a good Clan Head.

“Father.”

I called the Clan Head for the first time in a public setting.

The heavily hardened Clan Head’s gaze fell on me.

My father was right now.

As the Clan Head of a prestigious martial family, his appearance was flawless.

But…….

“This fight is mine.”

At the same time, the Clan Head was wrong.

This fight was entirely mine.

The gazes of father and son met.

I was a stubborn person who had once made even the stubborn old beggar Chwipung-gae shake his head, so it wasn’t something my father could break.

“Please take care of the household members.”

At my firm words, Dancheon Gang, who had shaken his head slightly, stepped back.

“Survive.”

They say that a child will eventually leave their parents’ arms.

In my case, it would be right now.

Unlike the life of Myeong-gae, who had reluctantly turned his back on the family, it was due to my own will and choice, so I already had no regrets.

“I will try.”

I couldn’t bring myself to answer, ‘I will.’

It was because I didn’t want to leave my last words as a lie.

However, it wasn’t that I had convinced everyone.

“Let’s attack together.”

Saying so, Brother Chun-baek stood next to me.

“I agree.”

Ma Sok stood next to him.

“I can’t entrust everything of the family to you yet.”

Uncle Yeo Baek, who had made such an excuse, was also with them.

But…….

“Please step back.”

I gently pushed them back.

The existence of the Heavenly Demon was incomprehensible, but everyone in the hall knew.

They knew that there was no way to defeat that existence with just our combined attack.

Their Spirits, which had expanded after reaching the State of Harmony, must have told them so, so it was a fact that they couldn’t not know.

I knew that they were just being brave.

“Please take care of the household members.”

Leaving those words behind…….

Boom!

My figure rushed towards the Heavenly Demon.

If the Heavenly Demon was an irresistible death, it would be right to describe my current actions as an irresistible fate.

***

Boom!

“Not bad, but not outstanding either.”

Boom!

“So I don’t know.”

The Heavenly Demon said he didn’t know, but I did.

It was the fact that the Heavenly Demon was taking my full-power attacks and had not moved a single step.

A battle of thirty exchanges took place in a flash, and there were no effective hits.

Even the endless duels I had with the Emperor Breaker when I first reached the Fifth Stage were not like this.

I didn’t know the source of this vast gap, so I also didn’t see a breakthrough.

But I couldn’t be broken.

This was my home.

It was also because those watching me from behind were my family and friends.

At that moment, as I strengthened my grip on the sword I held while steeling my heart, swords rushed in from all four sides of the Heavenly Demon.

Swish!

Behind was Uncle Yeo Baek, who had lightly taken the Heavenly Demon’s back with his Stepping on Clouds Gait.

On the right was Ma Sok, and on the left was Lee Chun-baek.

Their figures were truly light and swift, and their attacks, clad in Sword Flux, were truly powerful.

Three masters of the State of Harmony had rushed towards the Heavenly Demon, unleashing their lifelong killing moves.

But…….

Thwack!

“Guh!”

“Ugh!”

“Kuh……!”

Crash!

When the Heavenly Demon swung the space, all attacks became useless.

The members, clad in protective auras, could not withstand it and were sent flying more than fifty feet in their respective directions.

“Oh dear. Don’t die. It’s not good for me to accumulate more karma right now.”

Whether the Heavenly Demon’s words were true, the fallen three stirred. Their lives were spared.

But the blow seemed severe, as they couldn’t easily get up.

The Heavenly Demon’s gaze, which had dismissed the masters of the State of Harmony as if swatting away mayflies, turned to me.

Crack.

“……!”

The bones in my left arm shattered into pieces.

I didn’t know the principle.

If I were to guess, it would be an intention that had reached the extreme.

The difference in class between me, who had just reached intention, and him was vast.

“I have many questions for you, so don’t worry about dying with a single blow.”

The Heavenly Demon’s languid yet emotionless voice approached me like a messenger from the underworld.

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