Chapter 1841 – 1841. The Ascension Of Guangming
There was a possibility that Cheon Yu-un had some idea of Baek Ran’s and my plan. So, Cheon Yu-un might have been preparing for something. I shouldn’t think that things would just go smoothly.
‘If I crush everything Cheon Yu-un has prepared and kill him, I win.’
Conversely, if I fail to kill Cheon Yu-un, I lose. I can’t stay in the Demonic Cult. Cheon Yu-un will try to kill me no matter what, and most of the Demonic Cult is on Cheon Yu-un’s side. Even if I have the Demonic Divine Art, what I did is close to treason.
‘Failure of treason is a purge.’
I looked around the Demonic Cult. I saw many people. Most of them were ordinary people. The Demonic Cult wasn’t just made up of martial artists who had mastered demonic arts. The economy couldn’t run on martial artists alone. The vast majority of the Demonic Cult were ordinary people.
‘In the future, they’ll be the ones I rule.’
Where is Cheon Yu-un right now?
I recalled what I had heard before parting with Baek Ran. Cheon Yu-un would probably be under house arrest. So, Cheon Yu-un wouldn’t be in the Yama Unit, which could be considered his affiliation.
This was also part of Baek Ran’s plan. The Yama Unit was one of the top elite forces in the Demonic Cult. Even if the number of Yama Unit members remaining was small, it would be difficult for me to face them alone.
‘It’s a relief he’s under house arrest. Or, was it orchestrated for him to be under house arrest?’
Even if Baek Ran was a Regressor Heavenly Demon, seeing her plan and execute it while thoroughly understanding the current situation of the Demonic Cult was amazing.
I headed to the Small Heavenly Demon Palace where Cheon Yu-un resided. Cheon Yu-un was under house arrest, so he would be there.
There was a lot at stake, so I was a bit nervous. I adjusted my tension by fiddling with the hilt of the sword at my waist. It would be good to have the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers, but the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers were currently cracked. If I swung them around carelessly, they might really break. Until the Hwaryeon Flying Daggers were repaired, I planned to use another sword.
‘Stormbreaker isn’t bad, but the feel isn’t quite right.’
In my opinion, Stormbreaker was more of a piece of armor than a weapon. It was more efficient to use it as armor.
As I walked while thinking about this and that, I arrived at the Small Heavenly Demon Palace before I knew it. Four martial artists were guarding the gate in front of the Small Heavenly Demon Palace. All four of them were martial artists who had reached the realm of Aura.
‘All four are early-stage Aura. They haven’t been in the Aura realm for long.’
Martial artists of the Aura realm were rare. They were treated well even in the Demonic Cult. They were considered both elite and main forces. To have such martial artists as gatekeepers?
‘Even if he’s the Small Heavenly Demon, does he have the authority to do that…?’
Suddenly, the contents of the original work came to mind. Cheon Yu-un was a sly guy who built his foundation. He recognized talented martial artists early on, supported them, instilled loyalty, and secretly cultivated martial artists who followed him.
‘These four must be the successful ones among the martial artists Cheon Yu-un is cultivating.’
One guy stood out. He was the one with his right arm wrapped in a red cloth. He was definitely Lyeo Hak, the Fallen Sword.
In the original work, he was the most loyal and most talented of the martial artists cultivated by Cheon Yu-un. The reason he was loyal to Cheon Yu-un was because Cheon Yu-un helped him avenge his brother.
I approached the Small Heavenly Demon Palace without stopping. I could feel the presence of a barrier. As expected, Cheon Yu-un had noticed the situation and was thoroughly prepared.
“The Small Heavenly Demon is under house arrest. No one can enter the Small Heavenly Demon Palace. If you have anything to tell the Small Heavenly Demon, tell me. If you have any letters, I will deliver them to the Small Heavenly Demon.”
Lyeo Hak blocked my path and spoke like a machine. Judging by how he spoke without hesitation, it seemed he had experienced this more than once or twice.
“I am Yeom Gu-seok of the Lightning Flash. I have come to see the Lord. It is an important report. I must report directly to the Lord. Open the gate.”
“There are no exceptions. No one can enter the Small Heavenly Demon Palace.”
“Not even Jegal Mo-sun?”
“……”
Lyeo Hak closed his mouth. Jegal Mo-sun was Cheon Yu-un’s closest aide. He was likely inside with him.
“Tell the Lord that I have arrived. Isn’t that what you gatekeepers are supposed to do? You’re being presumptuous for a gatekeeper. For a gatekeeper.”
I chewed them out. Having Aura martial artists act as gatekeepers was like using a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken. They knew that too, so they frowned at my sarcasm.
“…I will inform the Lord. Please wait.”
One of the four went into the palace. He came back out in three minutes.
“The Small Heavenly Demon said that he will call for you later. Until then, go back and wait.”
“……”
My mind started to race. Cheon Yu-un collects talent and manages information through the original novel he read. The reason why the meticulous Cheon Yu-un trusts Yeom Gu-seok is also because of that. The fact that that trust is wavering now means that he has started to suspect me.
‘This can’t be helped. The fact that the incident happened, and I suddenly disappeared, and the timing of my return all match up perfectly.’
Even Jegal Mo-sun, who would later be called the Demon Brain, was by Cheon Yu-un’s side.
‘It would be difficult to get close under the guise of reporting and then quickly strike. I’ll just go with the direct approach.’
[Using Time Acceleration. Remaining stacks: 7]
Time slows down in a flash. I grabbed the hilt of the sword at my waist with my right hand. Even in the slowed time, they reacted. Their eyes widened, and they tried to draw their weapons. But they were slow.
Demonic Divine Sword (天魔神劍) Illusion Severance (幻絶).
I used the only drawing technique of the Demonic Divine Sword. A black line extended from the scabbard, drawing a horizontal semicircle. Three of them were cut by the sword, but Lyeo Hak managed to get out of range. Judging by his surprised face, it seemed he had dodged it by instinct or something. He was indeed talented.
But the time acceleration was not over yet. I rushed at Lyeo Hak. Lyeo Hak reacted to this. His reaction speed temporarily increased by several levels as he chased after me. It could be called a state of hyper-focus.
The sword that Lyeo Hak raised fell downwards. The reason for the nickname Fallen Sword was because of that falling swordsmanship. Lyeo Hak was particularly good at using falling swords.
‘But the opponent is bad.’
Early-stage Aura and early-stage Three Flowers. The difference cannot be overcome simply with focus and talent. If I had been careless, it might have been different, but I was serious now. I had to kill Cheon Yu-un as quickly as possible.
My sword passed by his neck faster than the one falling from above. The black trajectory drawn by the demonic energy in the sword lingered in the air before disappearing.
[Time Acceleration has ended.]
Lyeo Hak’s head fell with a thud. I passed by the four corpses and grabbed the gate of the Small Heavenly Demon Palace.
Crack!
Electricity sparked and bounced my hand away. It was a barrier.
‘Well, of course there would be one.’
It wasn’t a place where ordinary humans stayed, but a place where the son of the Heavenly Demon stayed. It would have been stranger if there wasn’t a barrier.
I took out a talisman from my pocket. It was a talisman made by Mi-ryeong. It was impossible to break the barrier with just this talisman, but it was possible to enter the barrier. I held the talisman in my hand and opened the gate. It opened without resistance. However, the talisman Mi-ryeong gave me burned to ashes.
As soon as I entered, a garden came into view. The garden with pine trees was quite charming.
‘It’s a garden that will soon be mine… hmm. Not bad.’
The moment I stepped into the garden, the ground under the pine trees began to rumble, and blue-skinned zombies appeared one after another.
‘Are they Blue Zombies? It must be Jegal Mo-sun’s doing.’
Jegal Mo-sun was a zombie necromancer. The reason he was kicked out of the Jegal Clan was because of his zombie research. He came to the Demonic Cult to freely conduct his zombie research.
The Blue Zombies rushed at me. In terms of speed alone, they were a bit faster than Lyeo Hak, whom I had just faced.
‘He must have poured all sorts of precious medicinal herbs into the zombies with Cheon Yu-un’s support. And those corpses wouldn’t have been ordinary martial artists when they were alive.’
Demonic Divine Sword (天魔神劍) Heavenly Rush Asura (天衝修羅).
I slightly lowered my upper body and pointed the tip of my sword forward. I charged forward, enveloping my whole body in demonic energy.
Kwaang!
The Blue Zombies that touched my body couldn’t withstand the impact and were flung away in all directions. Still, the Blue Zombies moved. Unlike humans, they felt no pain and had no thoughts. They simply attacked the enemy as their master ordered.
I split the first one that rushed at me in half from head to groin. Blue blood covered me. It smelled poisonous.
‘It’s most likely poison.’
Demonic Divine Art (天魔神功) Mahoraga (摩睺羅).
I blocked the poison with a barrier that was stronger than a protective aura. Chi-i-i-ik! The barrier that touched the poison melted.
‘If I had used a protective aura instead of Mahoraga, I would have been screwed.’
The bisected zombie crawled on the ground with its arms and legs, approaching me. It was a grotesque movement.
Demonic Divine Sword (天魔神劍) Asura Rampage (修羅亂舞).
Dozens of black sword energies slashed through the surrounding space. The surroundings were a mess of Blue Zombie blood and flesh. Even the charming pine trees were torn into thousands of pieces and lay scattered on the ground.
Feeling a certain gaze, I looked up.
The top floor of the palace. There, Cheon Yu-un and Jegal Mo-sun were looking down at me with serious, hardened expressions. I smiled and ran my thumb across my throat to show them.
Cheon Yu-un’s face contorted. A stream of blood could be seen seeping from his tightly closed lips. It seemed that this situation was incredibly annoying. Or perhaps it was because he had been betrayed by me.
Now that I knew the location of the guy I had to kill, I just had to go and kill him. Just as I was about to jump up, a person fell from the sky with a thud, causing the blue blood, flesh, and dust that had accumulated on the ground to rise up.
Even though I couldn’t see in front of me, I could feel the guy’s aura. An aura that made my skin tingle, an aura that was comparable to mine. No, perhaps he was even stronger than me.
‘At least Three Flowers. So, an Elder.’
The dust settled, and his appearance was revealed.
He was a middle-aged man with a small stature of less than 150cm. His face was long and his snout protruded forward. He looked sneaky, like a rat. It was a face that was hard to call handsome, even as a polite gesture. The most distinctive feature was that his hands were blue.
He was Kwon Man-ok, the Blue Hand Lust Demon (靑手色魔), the Eighth Elder of the Demonic Cult.
“Hehe. Just as the Small Heavenly Demon said, you really came. How did you obtain the Demonic Divine Art?”
