Reunited with the Heavenly Demon
"This should be enough for you to be discharged."
I'd been sucking honey in the treatment room, but the healer's words included the word discharge. Yeah, time to get back to work. The Heavenly Demon had popped in occasionally, but we hadn't built much rapport.
But that woman's recovery... what the hell?
The Heavenly Demon had taken wounds from my attacks, yet they healed completely in a single day, and she headed back to the battlefield.
"Mm! Fully healed!"
As I prepared for discharge, her voice came from behind me. She grinned seeing me getting ready.
"I can't wait to rampage through the battlefield with you!"
A battle maniac through and through. That kind of personality builds fondness fast. But only as friends. The problem was winning her over as a man.
First, friends.
Take it slow. The protagonist and heroine were still enemies. No need to rush.
But don't get too complacent either.
The Heavenly Demon approached and clapped my shoulder.
"Looking forward to tomorrow."
She left after handling her business. Given her personality, she wouldn't bother with easy fights.
Tomorrow's gonna be hell.
One-way ticket to hell confirmed.
The next day, the Heavenly Demon came personally.
"Hahaha! Let's go!"
She grabbed my collar like dragging a dog and hauled me along. Am I a subordinate? Or a pet? Lost in pointless thoughts, we arrived at the battlefield before I knew it.
Her spot was the front lines.
That's why I hadn't seen her.
Humans against humans. Humans against yokai. A tangled mess of lives clashing.
"Hahaha! The Heavenly Demon's back!"
Without hesitation, she charged in.
Is this how Chun-sik felt?
Watching her dive straight in, I saw myself in her.
Not the time for that.
To keep her attention, I needed to rack up achievements on the battlefield.
Of all people, a battle junkie...
This conquest would tax my brain and body.
"I like what I see."
The Heavenly Demon returned after tearing through the field, apparently observing me the whole time.
"Gotta do at least this much to learn your name, Lady Heavenly Demon."
I declared my ambition to uncover her name.
People like her admire boldness.
"Right, a real man needs that kind of drive!"
As expected, she was pleased.
After that, we kept hitting the battlefield.
"Hmmm..."
She puffed her cheeks, looking sullen.
"Something wrong?"
"It's boring."
The Heavenly Demon voiced her dissatisfaction.
"No strong ones."
Yokai side, righteous faction side—no strong opponents, she complained.
"Why aren't they coming?"
"Who?"
"Baekgang."
She said he was the only one worth fighting.
Now that she mentioned it, something felt off. There were occasional foes strong enough to trigger battle growth, but rarely. No major powers from yokai or righteous factions, as she said.
Thanks to that, the Demonic Cult held the advantage.
"It's weird."
Nothing as unsettling as a quiet battlefield.
"The yokai side's acting strange."
She shared her analysis.
"They go all-out against us but half-ass it against the righteous faction."
That screams collusion.
She seemed to think the same.
"Yokai and righteous faction allied...?"
She stood, muttering to herself.
"Assemble everyone!"
At her shout, cultists—hiding near her, precisely—mobilized.
"You come too."
I wasn't high enough for cult meetings yet, but she dragged me along.
Whoa, check those glares.
Walking beside her, the cultists' stares stung like daggers.
Ignoring them, she started the meeting.
Pooling intel, they concluded yokai and righteous factions had allied.
This deviated from my expected scenario.
What the hell?
With Heavenly Demon as heroine, it should be Demonic Cult and righteous factions allying... Why team with yokai, suspected of hiding the Demon King?
"Ugh..."
No point brooding. Time to sleep. Rest is best for a complicated head.
Morning broke, and her hand dragged me to the battlefield again.
This Heavenly Demon... I thought she cared for her subordinate at first.
She's raising a toy.
Seeing her creepy smile every time battle growth triggered confirmed it. She planned to train me until I matched her.
"Oh—! Finally gracing us."
A silhouette in the distance. Seen only once, but unforgettable.
Baekgang appeared on the battlefield.
A woman stood beside him. Not a sub-heroine, apparently.
If she were, I'd have intel as a conquest target.
No info on her. Fox ears on her head, nine tails at her rear. Probably a yokai the Demon King assigned the protagonist.
Baekgang approached slowly, stopping before me and the Heavenly Demon. Other cultists tried blocking, but yokai and righteous faction blocked them.
He reached us without effort.
"Heavenly Demon, be my woman quietly."
Baekgang spouted nonsense. Like Kang Hyeok... Anyone tied to the Demon King goes full throttle.
"Hah..."
She let out a hollow laugh at his rush.
"Think of it as a political marriage."
"Ridiculous."
Her face soured.
"You allied with the Yokai King?"
Here, the Demon King was called Yokai King.
"Temporary alliance. Subdue you here, take your purity, solidify the alliance—then backstab."
"Pathetic, thinking I respected you even a bit."
She pulled back her fist into stance.
Baekgang mirrored her, fist back.
"Heavenly Demon Art?"
Black energy coiled around them both.
They thrust fists simultaneously.
KABOOOM—!
The Heavenly Demon Wave Heaven Fist she'd used on me collided.
"Truly Heavenly Demon Art."
Same stance, energy, power. She had to acknowledge it.
"Miho."
"Yess~!"
The woman with him replied.
"Capture that one alive. I have questions. We're moving."
Baekgang turned and left. The Heavenly Demon followed.
"Hmmm~"
Miho hummed, tails swishing as she stared me down.
"Too bad~ Such a handsome face, my type..."
"Baekgang plans to backstab the Yokai King. You cool with that?"
She looked every bit yokai. Name like Miho from gumiho—definitely.
"Oh, don't worry. Yokai side's hopeless, so we joined Baekgang."
Blushing as she spoke—not hopeless, she's smitten and betraying.
"Well, shame, but to earn praise from my strong boy..."
She brought her hand to her mouth.
I summoned Cream immediately. Gumiho means spells, mind control—her counter, the saintess.
"Sig!"
Cream materialized in midair. Miho blew from her palm.
Pink mist billowed toward us.
Cream's face hardened, erecting a holy barrier.
"How dare you..."
Cream trembled, fists clenched.
"Flirt with my man?"
She glared, eyes bulging. Miho recoiled briefly.
Regaining composure, she unleashed more spells. Blue flames at her nine tails' tips flew at Cream.
"Pathetic!"
Cream swung her staff, snuffing them out.
Yokai spells were evil at core. Cream purified evil. Hard counter.
Would've been dangerous alone.
Strong physically, but no mental resistance. Lesson learned—I watched Cream.
She advanced with a savage scowl. Miho hurled spells to block.
Cream shattered them all, reaching her.
"Ha! Die!"
Miho clawed with sharpened nails.
"Hmph!"
Cream twisted away.
Miho's spell focus left her weak in close combat, but credit to Choi Rin's training—summoned together for bonding, she taught evasion.
Cream swung her staff using waist torque.
THWACK—!
The thick staff smashed Miho's face. Lips split, nose bled. One shot KO—fragile or solid hit, who knows.
"Whew—!"
Cream wiped sweat, relieved.
She turned, hugging me.
"Sniff!"
Deep inhale of my scent. I stroked her head.
"Cream, sorry—watch her for me."
"Another... girl?"
"Yeah, sorry."
She nuzzled my chest like a cat.
"Can't be helped. It's Sig's fate."
She pulled back, lips out.
"Kiss instead."
Deep kiss as requested, then headed where massive energy clashed.
"Whoa, terrain changed."
Heavenly Demon Arts colliding warped the land.
"Heavenly Demon's losing?"
She used pure Heavenly Demon Art. Baekgang mixed Four Great Martial Styles.
Naturally, she was pushed.
Try the white knight on horseback?
Save her in crisis. Simple, effective.
Stifled presence, waited for the moment.