Chapter 207
Chapter 207
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 207
Chapter Title: The Demon-Slaying Fairy Woo Jiyeon
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The Demon-Slaying Fairy, Woo Jiyeon.
Having lost her parents to the Demonic Cult's fiends, she etched a deep-seated hatred for the cult into her very bones and was adopted into the Woo Family Estate. The estate housed many orphans with tragic pasts like hers, but her talents were exceptional enough to make vengeance a real possibility.
After leaving the estate, she wandered not the martial world, but the frontlines and the Demon Realm. She occasionally hunted demonic beasts, but her true quarry was the fiends.
Survival in the frontlines and Demon Realm wasn't limited to demonic beasts. There were fiends as well—renegades who abandoned righteousness and succumbed to evil, or the Demonic Cult's "released" experiments. Some had even become bloodlight fiends, seduced by the promise of easy power.
They were as dangerous as demonic beasts, sometimes more so. Those enthralled by evil strove to build infamy to catch the Demonic Cult's eye, often making the frontlines their base. It lacked the abundance of beasts in the Demon Realm, but it drew careless martial artists seeking enlightenment and desperate folk with no choice but to eke out a living in that perilous land. It was a perfect playground for villains to sate their desires.
Bloodlight fiends. Most were those who lusted after power beyond their station—mediocre talents blinded by grudges or revenge, ultimately forsaking their humanity.
Such wretches came to the frontlines or Demon Realm clutching bloodlight pills. Fiends and bloodlight fiends were immune to beast attacks. Swallow a bloodlight pill, and it was one or the other: become a bloodlight fiend and die, or regain sanity and become a fiend. The odds of survival were slightly better turning in the Demon Realm than amid human crowds.
Woo Jiyeon hunted them. She killed villains hoping to join the Demonic Cult and mindless bloodlight fiends, capturing and torturing fiends to death. Death was death either way. Her burning grudge never faded, earning her the moniker Demon-Slaying Fairy.
Most veterans knew the Demon-Slaying Fairy from before she became the Wailing Ghost Demon. Some had even met her. Contrary to her blood-and-death epithet, she was an astonishingly beautiful woman.
That Demon-Slaying Fairy had died forty years ago. She volunteered with the Martial Alliance to infiltrate the Demonic Cult as a spy, successfully crossing deep into the Demon Realm... and getting captured. But she never became the spy she wanted.
“I don't know what happened to the Demon-Slaying Fairy in the Demonic Cult. I looked into it out of personal curiosity while I was there, but... couldn't find out. Anyway, I've never met the Demon-Slaying Fairy, but I have encountered the Wailing Ghost Demon. Only a few times, but one thing was clear.”
Yeomyeong shook his head slowly.
“The Wailing Ghost Demon was the maddest of the Ten Demons. Not a mindless lunatic—her very reason was steeped in insanity. Even fellow cultists avoided approaching her.”
“......”
Woo Huira's eyes trembled faintly. Veterans who remembered the Demon-Slaying Fairy let out long sighs.
“...Even so, the Wailing Ghost Demon had a compatible partner. The Tiger Calamity.”
“Tiger Calamity...”
“Birds of a feather, you might say.”
At the murmur, many glanced at Paeng Yeonhwa, fearing an outburst. But her face was serene. She'd already heard this from Yeomyeong.
“I pride myself on being quite mad, but their madness made mine seem shallow. They shared one body by devouring...”
“What?”
“Devouring each other's bodies. The Tiger Calamity, who became one of the Ten Demons in place of the Blood Devourer Demon, enjoyed cannibalism, so they got along well.”
The word "cannibalism" hit Wi Sungcheon with intense revulsion. He wasn't alone; Woo Hayeon covered her mouth from afar, and Ha Jieun furrowed her brows.
“The Vampire Ghost only eats blood, or so they say. The Vampire Ghost would suck the blood dry, and the Tiger Calamity would sample the remaining flesh first... If it was tasty, he'd offer some to the Wailing Ghost Demon. I once saw them at a meal... Ah, how? The Vampire Ghost invited me to one of their feasts. He asked me this: through medicine, soften a corpse gone rigid in death...”
“No need for that story.”
The Silent Venom Duke, who had kept silent, spat irritably. Yeomyeong flinched and shrank back.
“Ahem, got it. Let's change topics. The leader among the Ten Demons is the Bloodbath Demon Lord. He claims to be the Heavenly Demon's confidant, commanding the others...”
“Isn't the Immortal Demon Lord the eldest?”
“Age doesn't mean strongest.”
Yeomyeong replied glumly.
“Even so, the Bloodbath Demon Lord greatly respected the Immortal Demon Lord, but after the Heavenly Demon killed the Demon King, they clashed often. If the Bloodbath Demon Lord is the Heavenly Demon's man, the Immortal Demon Lord was close to the bishops upholding doctrine.”
The Heavenly Demon's slaying of the Demon King sparked backlash from the bishops and followers. They truly believed the Demon King a god awaiting descent. To them, the Heavenly Demon being stronger meant nothing.
No matter that he'd killed the Demon King with his own hands. Heavenly Demon Hyeok Wolun was human, not divine.
“The Heavenly Demon is the Demonic Cult's leader and high priest, but the qualification for becoming Heavenly Demon is power, not true faith in god. Thus, the cult has denominations beyond the Heavenly Demon ruling devotees through faith. The grand bishops lead these denominations—they rank below the Heavenly Demon, but faith-maddened followers trust them more.”
“So the Demonic Cult isn't a monolithic fanatic horde.”
“As if all were zealots? Most cultists are simply born into it. Then... they succumb to the cult's faith, or the Heavenly Demon's power. Or adapt to their environment. Anyway, the Immortal Demon Lord, tied to a denomination, couldn't defy the Heavenly Demon but frequently quarreled with the Bloodbath Demon Lord.”
“Is the Immortal Demon Lord the only Ten Demon in a denomination?”
“The Annihilation Demon is too, but he didn't resist as fiercely...”
The Black Demon King pondered Yeomyeong's words. If true, killing the Demon King had fractured the Demonic Cult internally.
“And one more thing. I couldn't pin down their exact nature, but there was a highly anomalous group in the cult.”
“What now?”
“Heretics. They wore bright red robes and stuck together. The denominations picked fights constantly, but the heretics never responded. Honestly, I don't know why they're in the cult. They don't proselytize...”
Yeomyeong rambled on about the cult's realities and the Ten Demons as he'd seen them.
Listening, Wi Sungcheon felt uneasy. Not all in the Demonic Cult ate people. Not all awaited the Demon King's descent. Not all were fiends. As Yeomyeong said, most were just born there.
Meaning not all were evil. Of course. But among the countless cultists, how to distinguish evil from good? What measure for virtue and vice?
He wasn't alone in that thought. These were truths one might prefer not to know. Realizing cultists were human too... reminded you of inescapable duties.
“That's enough for today.”
As dawn neared, the Black Demon King spoke.
“We've shared much, giving plenty to ponder.”
“No conclusion yet.”
“Don't rush, Cheonin. You know it's not for hasty decisions. We'll reconvene in two days.”
The Black Demon King rose.
“Then, just us elders. Of course, Cheonin too.”
At that, Yeomyeong bolted out of Black Star first. Jicheon Dojang chased hastily, but couldn't catch him with lighter footwork.
[Come with.]
The White Flame Witch transmitted suddenly. Perched on the railing, she turned to Wi Sungcheon. Her blatant gaze drew murmurs, but she held it. Finally, he stood quietly.
“Then, see you later.”
He gave Paeng Yeonhwa, staring up at him, a wry smile. He'd hoped to chat on the way back since reuniting, but the White Flame Witch's glare made it impossible.
“Hmph.”
Only after he approached did the White Flame Witch snort and leap off the railing. A sheer drop, but trivial to her.
“Ugh.”
Not to Wi Sungcheon. He glanced at the whistling wind below. This height demanded resolve to jump. Steeling himself, he leaped.
A brief float, then freefall. He flailed his legs to slow descent gradually. Meanwhile, the White Flame Witch soared freely, drawing alongside.
“Still can't fly?”
“More strange if wingless humans could.”
“You're immature. Open the upper dantian, and the sky's yours.”
“What principle?”
“Humans can't fly, true. But transcend humanity via upper dantian, and you do the impossible.”
Hard to grasp, but he didn't press. That line between possible and impossible was the wall between Manifestation and Transcendence Realms.
“You falling human-style is natural, but...”
The White Flame Witch squinted at his leg-flailing deceleration.
“Honestly, it's pathetic.”
“Then just drop? This height would shatter legs...”
“Ordinary humans die, not just break legs. Surviving that proves transcendence. But flailing remains pathetic.”
The White Flame Witch clucked her tongue, extending a hand. A strong force pulled Wi Sungcheon to her. Arm around his shoulder, she glanced up. Many watched from the railing. She spotted Paeng Yeonhwa and Baek Ri-hyang first—their expressions most overt.
'No, not quite.'
Geom Bong. Woo Hayeon gazed indifferently, then beamed and bowed upon eye contact.
“Can't you let go?”
“Ungrateful brat.”
“Pardon?”
“Stay put. Listen well.”
The White Flame Witch gripped his shoulder tighter. Teasing the young was fun, but not her sole reason for bringing him.
[The heretics Yeomyeong mentioned. Probably...]
[Asura Blood Cult.]
[Not a fool, eh.]
The White Flame Witch chuckled.
[Thought I'd forgotten revenge on them long ago, but apparently not entirely.]
[Surely not suggesting we go avenge together?]
[No, not that fervent. It has faded.]
Giggling, she patted his back.
[And you? You didn't seek it, but you're carrying the Asura Blood Cult's legacy. No one acknowledges it, but you're their cult leader, in a way.]
[I don't see it that way.]
[You don't, but they will—if they learn you're the doctrine's inheritor.]
[Just keep quiet, Lady White Flame Witch... Ah, damn it.]
Wi Sungcheon's face twisted. Spoiled by this ruthless woman, of course the Asura Blood Cult—if not idiots—would eye him.
[Whether they act alone is questionable. But something nags.]
[I have one too.]
Thud.
Their feet hit ground.
[Nine years ago, the Asura Blood Cult envoy who tried recruiting me said the Tiger Calamity rampaged ungratefully.]
[Yet now Tiger Calamity's with them in the Demonic Cult.]
["Ungrateful rampage"—they told him they gave you power. Naturally, he who rejects his origins as a "favor" exploded.]
The Tiger Calamity should hate the Asura Blood Cult.
Yet now they're together in the Demonic Cult.
The White Flame Witch looked up at Black Star. Paeng Yeonhwa glared down, tail bristling.
[Don't you wonder?]
The White Flame Witch smirked at him.
[Is the Tiger Calamity truly mad... or just pretending?]