Into the Creations 1828

Chapter 1828 – 1828. Ascension To The Light

The space shifted abruptly.

Suddenly, the stench of blood hit them. The Heavenly Demons, including the First Heavenly Demon, tensed up without realizing it.

They instinctively knew that this place was fundamentally different. It was dangerous here. They could die.

‘This is bad.’

The Second Heavenly Demon, Yu Heo-gun, broke out in a cold sweat.

They were already dead, existing as souls. Knowing they wouldn’t receive good treatment in the underworld after death, they had chosen to be enshrined in coffins. According to the First Heavenly Demon, they could be resurrected with new bodies on the day the heavens opened. Passing on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to a new Heavenly Demon was a secondary reason.

‘Already a soul. If I die here, it’s over.’

He didn’t care if the other Heavenly Demons died. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to live. While he respected the First Heavenly Demon, he had no loyalty to him.

Given the chance, he wanted to escape this place. The problem was, he didn’t know when that chance would come.

‘If I can make a deal with the owner of this mental landscape, I’ll gladly hand over the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.’

He decided to quietly bide his time.

The First Heavenly Demon walked forward. The ground was sticky. Blood, from an unknown source, soaked the ground. The mud, a mixture of blood and dirt, was incredibly unpleasant.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

“Kaaaaaaaargh!”

Screams echoed. They were filled with such terrible pain that the Heavenly Demons were startled.

People were visible. Or rather, could they be called people? Some were too short, others had animal ears and tails, some had long ears, and others had wings on their backs. Of course, there were also ordinary people mixed in.

They were all impaled on swords, bleeding and spilling their entrails as they wailed. Pain. There was only pain. If there was a hell, this was it.

“Pleaaseee! I was wrong! I was wrong! Please kill me!”

“I will never dream of rebellion again!”

“I will offer my daughter!”

“Your Majesty! I beg you! Have mercy!”

“Mercy!!”

They begged, looking up at the sky.

Unlike the ground, which was covered in blood and flesh, the sky was dazzlingly clear.

“Is this hell…?”

“Even though they look like corpses, they are all alive, impaled on swords. It’s clear this is a mental landscape, where common sense doesn’t apply, but this sight is astonishing.”

“…That brat went through such a terrible hell?”

“Thinking about it, I’m curious. What was his childhood like?”

“Who is the Emperor? Could they be talking about the current Emperor? I heard he was a benevolent ruler?”

“That’s just the information the 18th Heavenly Demon and Cheon Yu-un had. They never had a proper conversation with the Emperor. They don’t know the real face of the Emperor.”

“Be quiet.”

The First Heavenly Demon raised his hand. His voice was serious.

“Can’t you feel it? The enormous presence in front of us. Everyone, shut your mouths and be alert. We might have to fight with all our strength.”

“…Yes.”

Even if the First Heavenly Demon hadn’t said it, the other three Heavenly Demons were already on edge. Despite their youthful appearances, they were old monsters who had lived for at least 500 years. Even without the First Heavenly Demon’s warning, they understood the gravity of the situation.

Then, at some point, the smell of blood disappeared. The terrible screams filled with pain also vanished.

Thud.

The First Heavenly Demon stopped. His eyes, which hadn’t even twitched when the later Heavenly Demons died, were now shaking violently. The sight before him was that shocking.

It was a garden.

And there were women.

Only women.

Each one was exceptionally beautiful, and they were displayed as part of the garden. If they were corpses, it would have been understandable. There were many crazy people in the world, so he had seen some who decorated their rooms with corpses or made furniture out of them.

But these women were all alive. They were alive and maintaining the garden. Naked women were spreading their arms to represent trees, while others lay on their backs on the ground, pulling their legs up to emphasize their genitals. A pretty flower was inserted into the opening of their vaginas. Next to the flower, a dewy fluid dripped down.

Beautiful women stood like statues along the paths. And on some trees, women hung like fruit. Their buttocks were positioned perfectly, as if they were the fruit.

There were also gardeners. These scantily clad women wore aprons and tended to the garden. They polished the statues, watered the vaginas, and checked each vagina fruit.

“East to west! Controlling the world! The Emperor is coming! The thunder used by the gods! Today, the Emperor uses it!”

Winged women flew overhead, singing. A song praising the Emperor. It was strangely addictive and hard to forget.

“Hmm.”

The First Heavenly Demon groaned and walked forward. The other Heavenly Demons followed behind him, all with disgusted expressions.

“Is this the Emperor’s doing? The Emperor must be insane.”

“Even if he can do whatever he wants with beautiful women… this is too much.”

“…Huh.”

At the end of the garden, a man sat on a throne. He crossed his legs and placed his clasped hands on his knee. He greeted the uninvited guests with a sly smile.

The man was Sung Yu-jin. However, his aura was slightly different from the Sung Yu-jin they knew.

“Welcome, vermin. It’s the first time a man has entered my garden. So, I’ll charge an entrance fee.”

He waved his hand. The garden, which had been confusing their minds, disappeared like a mirage. Instead, swords appeared in the sky.

Tens of millions of swords were all pointed at the Heavenly Demons.

Next to Emperor Sung Yu-jin, a new space appeared. A pitch-black space with no light.

“You want to see the deepest part of this mental landscape, don’t you? Only one of you. I’ll only allow one. The other three will die here.”

“Hah!”

The First Heavenly Demon shouted.

“I can no longer tolerate your arrogant attitude! Heavenly Demons do not compromise!”

“You dare shout at me. Are you that confident? Then show me your spirit.”

Tens of millions of swords began to fall on them. Of course, they weren’t ordinary swords. Each one had the power of an anti-tank missile.

The Heavenly Demons simultaneously drew on their Heavenly Demon Divine Art and extended their arms.

Heavenly Demon Divine Art (天魔神功) Mahura (摩睺羅).

A black, hard, bead-like, translucent barrier spread around them. They naturally combined their strength to make the barrier even stronger. Immediately after, the swords rained down and bounced off.

‘The rebound is incredible. It will deflect most attacks.’

The Emperor unclenched his hands. He rested his arms on the armrests of the throne, as if he had become interested. A few swords flew towards the Emperor, but they stopped in front of him and disappeared.

‘Unlike me, their power is not infinite. Now, can you endure?’

The Emperor watched with a smile.

Tens of millions of swords relentlessly pounded the barrier.

Crack!

When about a million swords were left, cracks began to appear. The swords that had been bouncing off disappeared. The barrier’s rebound had failed. The four Heavenly Demons were sweating profusely, focusing on defense until the very end.

Clang!

The last sword bounced off.

The Emperor was slightly impressed.

“Well done. You are worthy of being called Heavenly Demons.”

“I know you are just a being of this mental landscape! An existence that cannot die even if killed! It is meaningless to settle things with you! Get out of the way! The proof of strength is already over!”

The First Heavenly Demon shouted. Of course, the Emperor didn’t even raise an eyebrow.

“So you’re getting cocky after passing the first stage. Now, for the second stage.”

Snap!

The Emperor snapped his fingers, and the surroundings darkened. While the Heavenly Demons were confused, the First Heavenly Demon was the first to realize that it was a shadow. He looked up and widened his eyes.

The moon was falling.

“First One!”

“First Heavenly Demon!”

“We don’t have the strength to endure! We need time to recover our inner energy!”

“I know, all of you shut up.”

The First Heavenly Demon, drawing his sword from his waist, glared at the moon. Black demonic energy writhed from his body and gathered into the sword. The Emperor focused his eyes. A faint light could be seen through the demonic energy.

‘Is that the power of the stars?’

The Emperor watched the First Heavenly Demon with anticipation. What was gathered in the First Heavenly Demon’s sword was not just simple demonic energy. His existence was contained in the sword, not his body. He had put everything he had into a single sword.

‘Not only that, but the sword has gained weight. At least several thousand tons… no, is it more than that?’

The First Heavenly Demon swung the completed absolute demonic sword.

Heavenly Demon Divine Sword (天魔神劍) Magup (魔劫) Muryang (無量).

The falling moon was split exactly in half. The impact didn’t stop there, it spread throughout the moon, shattering it into pieces. The fragments fell to the ground.

Clap clap clap!

The Emperor clapped. He had seen something interesting, so he could at least give applause.

“Now get out of the way.”

The First Heavenly Demon said, trying to hide his heavy breathing.

“Congratulations on passing the second stage. Now, pass the final third stage.”

The First Heavenly Demon raised his head. The traces of the moon he had shattered were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the sun was falling.

“……”

Speechless, the First Heavenly Demon closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and glared at the Emperor.

“I must see the end of this mental landscape.”

“Go ahead. The other three will die and pay the price.”

The Emperor replied as if he didn’t care. The other Heavenly Demons were shocked by his words.

“First One! Are you abandoning us?!”

“I’ll go! I’ll go!”

“You can’t do this! Are you even worthy of being called the First Heavenly Demon?!!”

The First Heavenly Demon didn’t look back as he ran towards the pitch-black space next to the Emperor.

“I will avenge you! I will definitely kill the owner of this mental landscape! I swear it in my name!”

Swoosh!

As the First Heavenly Demon disappeared into the space, the space closed.

“Aaaaaaaargh!”

“To think I served and respected such a thing as the First Heavenly Demon!!”

“Even in death, I will curse you and the First Heavenly Demon!!”

The Emperor chuckled as he watched the falling sun. The three Heavenly Demons reacted in different ways. Some sat down and screamed, some tried to run away, and some recklessly charged at the Emperor. Of course, they couldn’t reach the Emperor. An invisible wall was blocking them.

“I will make good use of your deaths. Be grateful that your deaths are not meaningless.”

The sun fell.