Chapter 1197 – 1197. The Ascension To The Light
[The Ascension to the Light] is a game world that combines six different creations.
The backdrop, the Ascension to the Light, is a Xianxia world, but the other worlds are all Wuxia. So, of course, the Demonic Cult exists.
‘In a way, the Demonic Cult is the most important. Four out of the six worlds are related to the Demonic Lord.’
I will join the Demonic Cult.
The start of this plan was impulsive. I am the Demonic Lord. As the Demonic Lord, I wanted the Demonic Cult, a force worthy of me.
‘There are ways to build a force… but that would take too long.’
How much time would it take to build a force on par with the Demonic Cult from scratch? And would time alone solve it? It would be faster and easier to swallow the Demonic Cult whole.
‘Initially, my goal was to cause some trouble near the Demonic Cult, fight them to prove my strength, and then join the Demonic Cult.’
The Demonic Cult basically, and officially, follows the law of the strong preying on the weak. They would try to appease me, a strong individual, rather than kill me, and I would pretend to give in and join the Demonic Cult. Unlike the orthodox sects, the Demonic Cult was relatively free, so it was a plan that had a good chance of succeeding. However, unlike joining, leaving wouldn’t be so free.
Before executing this first plan, I gathered information about the Demonic Cult.
Thanks to Gongbi, the Flower Moon Pavilion Master, I was able to obtain high-level information about the Demonic Cult. Of course, I also knew how the Demonic Cult was currently operating internally.
After checking the information about the Demonic Cult, a better plan came to mind. A plan that would allow me to enter the core of the Demonic Cult faster and more reliably.
Getting permission from my master, Wiyu, was essential before leaving for the Demonic Cult.
Surprisingly, she gave her permission right away. Perhaps it was because I often visited Falling Moon Mountain even when I was at the Myriad Tower. I had a space-moving scroll and the Heavenly Gang Star System’s space transfer system. No matter how far apart we were, we could meet in an instant.
Namgung Seol pouted, but eventually gave her permission. Getting permission from Milyeong and Namgung Rin wasn’t difficult.
“You’re saying you’re leaving for the Demonic Cult… but it’s not like you’re leaving forever, so it feels like I’m seeing my husband off on a business trip. Work hard and provide for us, my dear!”
That day, Milyeong said in a cheerful voice, trying to lighten the slightly gloomy atmosphere. I grinned. Milyeong’s help was also needed for this plan. There were few sorcerers with skills as excellent as Milyeong.
And Milyeong had been playing for too long, so it was about time she started working. Well, of course, I didn’t need her right away.
After preparing for several years in the time of the [Ascension to the Light] world, I headed to the Demonic Cult. The Demonic Cult was located in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains in the north of the continent.
The distance between Falling Moon Mountain and the Demonic Cult was estimated to be about 25,000 km. As expected of a Xianxia world, it was an enormous distance. For reference, the distance between Seoul and New York is about 11,000 km.
It was very far, but with Milyeong’s help, it was a distance that could be covered in a few days. Once we covered it, we could freely travel back and forth using the space transfer system, so it wasn’t a problem.
Now that the minor issues were resolved, it was time to start the plan.
***
I didn’t head straight to the Demonic Cult.
I headed to a village about 30 days away from the Demonic Cult by horse. A village called Nando.
It wasn’t an ordinary village.
It was a bandit village.
It was a village created by bandits. The entire village was in cahoots. They would strip and rob any easy targets passing by the village. Their main prey were wannabe martial artists trying to make a name for themselves while traveling the Jianghu and merchants.
I didn’t enter the village, but set up a tent nearby and watched the village.
Four days later, smoke billowed from the center of the village.
I grinned and nodded.
‘As planned… no, as in the original story.’
The sound of weapons clashing echoed from the village. A civil war was breaking out among the bandits.
“You trash! I fed you and gave you a place to sleep, and you dare to bare your teeth at me?!”
“Fed us? You give us one meal a week, and you call that feeding us? You’re full of crap! Do you think we don’t know you have rice piled up in your house?!”
“Do you know what my son says when he wakes up in the morning? He says he’s hungry. He says he’s hungry! I won’t let my son go hungry!!”
“What, what are you doing! Kill these bastards!!”
The sun set, and it became evening.
The sounds of battle subsided, but the village was burning even more fiercely.
A man staggered out of the burning village. Only then did I move. I walked towards the man crawling out.
“Wh, who are you?”
A sturdy man raised his head. His blood-stained clothes were half-torn, and a red demon tattoo was engraved on his back.
“Yeom Guseok, right?”
“Y, yes. I am Yeom Guseok. Who are you?”
Yeom Guseok, a martial artist barely at the entry level, growled at me while glaring. His hand reached for his waist. He tightly gripped the hilt of his broken sword.
“It’s nothing much… but you’re going to have to die here.”
Swish.
As I drew my sword, Yeom Guseok’s face contorted.
“Who… who told you to kill me?! Was the infighting in the village your doing?!”
“You seem to be misunderstanding something. I’m not an assassin. The infighting in your village happened because your father was greedy.”
“…What’s your purpose?”
“Your life. I will become you.”
“Bullshit!!”
Yeom Guseok jumped up and charged at me. The tip of his sword was aimed directly at my solar plexus.
But it was too slow.
Slow enough to make me yawn.
Thud.
My sword pierced Yeom Guseok’s neck.
“Heh heh. You moron. You should have just begged for your life.”
“Kuh… S, save me…”
“Too late.”
Yeom Guseok collapsed and died.
I took off the top from Yeom Guseok’s corpse and stared at the back with the red demon engraved on it. Then, I took out my smartphone and ran the game life app.
[Seong Yujin
Level: 81
Strength: 105 Stamina: 100 Agility: 100 Intelligence: 100 Vitality: 110 Mana: 103]
[Available Points: 7,580]
My image was on the smartphone screen. I was standing there naked. Here, I could use points to change my face, increase my height, or set the length and girth of my penis as I pleased.
I turned the body on the screen and added the tattoo to its back. When I thought of the desired tattoo, it appeared naturally.
[Spend 3 points to add a tattoo?]
I added the tattoo.
There was no feeling. The red demon tattoo that was on Yeom Guseok’s back was on my back on the smartphone screen.
I took off my clothes and used the smartphone’s camera to take a picture of my back. The red demon tattoo was on my back.
I smiled with satisfaction and threw Yeom Guseok’s corpse into the flames.
‘The preparation is complete.’
In the original story, Yeom Guseok was the right-hand man of the ‘Possessed Demonic Lord.’
I will become Yeom Guseok and become the closest aide to the ‘Possessed Demonic Lord.’ I will gain the trust of the ‘Possessed Demonic Lord,’ and when the time comes, I will stab him in the back. I will obtain the Demonic Divine Art of the Demonic Cult in this world and become the master of the Demonic Cult.
I took out a notebook from my inventory.
It was a notebook that organized information about Yeom Guseok. From Yeom Guseok’s favorite food and minor habits to Yeom Guseok’s actions in the original story.
To deceive the ‘Possessed Demonic Lord,’ I had to perfectly act as Yeom Guseok.
***
I looked at the entrance to the Demonic Cult’s main headquarters.
Its size was comparable to a large city.
I headed to the Demon Entrance Hall located in a corner of the city.
The Demon Entrance Hall was a place where the Demonic Cult’s lower-ranking warriors were educated and trained. At the same time, it was also a place to weed out the riffraff. In other words, it was the bottom of the Demonic Cult and the starting point.
The doors of the Demon Entrance Hall were open for ten days once a year. And now was that time.
As I entered the Demon Entrance Hall, a man was sitting at a desk. He glanced at me and asked in a businesslike manner.
“What is your name?”
“Yeom Guseok.”
The brush stopped abruptly.
“…You’re a bit short on words.”
“I heard the Demonic Cult respects the strong.”
“So you’re saying… I’m weaker than you?”
He glared at me with a fierce aura. I calmly looked down at him. Our gazes met. The other side was the first to look away. He moved his brush, sweating. Yeom Guseok’s name was written on the paper.
“Ahem. How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Where are you from?”
“Nando.”
“Where is that?”
“It’s a village a little ways from here. It burned down a month ago.”
“Burned down…?”
“A rebellion broke out. My father’s subordinates picked up weapons because they didn’t get enough to eat. Well, I killed them all.”
“Ah, I see.”
After finishing the record, he handed me a piece of paper.
“You will receive education and training at the Demon Entrance Hall for the next year. Only after you successfully complete the education and training at the Demon Entrance Hall will you become a true warrior of the Demonic Cult.”
“Number 123?”
My face hardened. In the original story, Yeom Guseok was number 155. It seemed I had arrived earlier than the original Yeom Guseok.
“Why? Don’t you like the number? You can’t change it even if you throw a tantrum. Or are you starting to get scared now? It’s not too late. Go back the way you came. Then I’ll tear up the paper with your name on it.”
“No, it’s fine. Where do I go?”
The man stood up from his seat and grabbed my collar. He growled and whispered in my ear.
“I know you’ve lived a rough life. You’re probably a bandit or a brigand. But this is the Demonic Cult. There are many more rough and cruel people than you, a country bumpkin. Do you know why we’re called demons? We’re demons because we’ve transcended humanity. Let me give you some advice as your senior. You’re not strong. You’re just one of the many common insects. If you don’t want to die, don’t act cocky and be polite.”
“……Damn. Bad breath.”
I grabbed a brush lying on the desk and stabbed it into his right eye.
“Aaaaaaah!”
The man screamed and let go of my collar. Staggering, he raised his fingernails and swung them at my neck. I easily dodged by tilting my head to the side and then kicked his leg. He fell to the ground, flailing.
“Stop!!”
“Halt!!”
Two warriors appeared and grabbed me. I didn’t resist them and watched the fallen man.
“Anyone can see that you’re the insect.”
“Shut up! You attacked a warrior of the Cult! Do you think you’ll get away with this?!”
Other warriors rushed over and used acupressure to give first aid to the fallen man.
“I just joined the Cult. I’m a member of the Cult. And that bastard started it first.”
“…What did he do wrong?”
“He dared to climb on me without knowing his place.”
“What?”
“He dared to climb on me despite being weak!!”
“…Another crazy bastard has joined.”
A warrior sighed.
Half of the guys who entered the Demonic Cult’s Demon Entrance Hall were criminals. There were many guys like me. And since I didn’t kill him, I wouldn’t be kicked out of the Demon Entrance Hall.
‘There’s no way a guy who just does brushwork here has any backing.’
As I was being dragged away by the warriors, I sneered at the man who was being carried away somewhere, supported by other warriors.
