Chapter 9 - The Heavenly Demon’s Conquest
Come to think of it, I need a sword.
Approaching the swordsman sitting at the nearest table, I drove a fist into his solar plexus and snatched the sword from his grip—
“Get that bastard!”
And thus, the brawl in the Adventurer’s Guild began.
The first strike came from a knight seated at the same table as the swordsman, swinging his mace downward toward my head.
I twisted my body slightly to evade, then wrapped the blade around the chain of the mace and—
“Uh, uh—”
—hurled it, still gripped in my hand, straight into the crowd of adventurers.
With a crashing sound, three more collapsed where the knight had landed.
As I sprinted along the walls of the first-floor lobby, dodging the adventurers lunging at me, I counted their numbers with my heightened senses.
One, two, three… sixty-three.
Excluding the village chief’s party hesitating in the back, fifty-nine. Minus the five I just took down—fifty-four.
This should be enough for a warm-up.
Now, let’s begin the real hunt.
Swords, arrows, hammers, axes, shields, throwing stars, and even magic—
Dozens of attacks rained down upon me, all aimed at killing the Heavenly Demon.
There was no coordination, no commander directing them—just chaos. Occasionally, their strikes even hit their own allies.
But each blow was delivered with the full force of hardened adventurers who had survived countless battles, making them a genuine threat.
Yet Millein saw it clearly.
Amidst the storm of attacks, the Heavenly Demon dodged them all with steps so bizarrely elegant they defied comprehension.
He wasn’t retreating.
Like a brawler closing in for infighting, he didn’t create distance—he narrowed it, stepping so close to his attackers that their weapons became useless.
And then, something beyond common sense unfolded.
“Don’t back down, you bastards in front!”
“It’s not like I want to do this either!”
The adventurers who had been pressing forward with their weapons began to falter, hesitating, stepping back.
The Heavenly Demon hadn’t even swung his sword—he merely held it, dodging and stepping, yet his presence alone forced them into retreat.
Tap-tap-tap—!
His footsteps grew lighter, faster, skimming across the floor as he began encircling the adventurers, herding them inward like sheep into a pen.
By now, the adventurers had abandoned all thought of attacking—they could only scramble backward, packed tighter and tighter.
“…!”
Millein, forced to watch from a distance, could do nothing.
Then, for the briefest moment, she saw it—
The Heavenly Demon’s mocking gaze flicked toward her.
The meaning was clear: he had left her untouched on purpose.
‘What do I do? Should I intervene now? No… Maybe that’s exactly what he wants.’
Frantically scanning the battlefield, Millein suddenly realized—
This scene resembled something familiar.
A sheepdog corralling its flock.
“Scatter! Now!”
But before her desperate shout could spur the adventurers into action—
Swoosh—
The Heavenly Demon, now standing before the tightly packed crowd, raised his sword with one hand.
“—Heavenly Demon Sword Art, First Form: Inversion of Heaven and Earth.”
Dragging the blade along the ground, he then swung upward with all his might.
A wave of sword energy erupted, tearing through the floor as it surged forward.
KABOOM!
The shockwave, along with the shattered debris of the guild hall, swallowed the adventurers whole.
“NO!!!”
The guildmaster’s anguished scream echoed through the chaos.
…
“Huh?”
Look closely. Your men aren’t dead.
“…What?”
“I—I thought we were done for…”
The adventurers, too, were stunned, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
“…My god.”
Only a few among them noticed—
The floor had been obliterated, the walls behind them blown open by the sword energy.
Yet where they stood remained untouched, an island amidst total devastation.
“What kind of sick joke is this?”
Ah, so the guildmaster caught on first. She realized I deliberately avoided hitting them.
“You’ll understand when the time comes.”
I raised my sword, pointing it at her.
“Now it’s your turn.”
Millein, silent, drew her own blade and stepped forward.
‘So… this is how Jakteain’s party must have felt.’
Even knowing the gap in power was insurmountable, even knowing she was being toyed with—she had no choice but to raise her sword.
Why hadn’t the Heavenly Demon killed Jakteain’s party, the adventurers… or even her?
If his goal was to demonstrate his power, he could have simply cut them all down in one stroke.
The mere fact that an entire guild of adventurers had been slaughtered would have been enough to make the entire region fear him.
Even if his aim was to send a warning to the Radain Church, this would have sufficed.
“If you keep provoking me, I’ll do the same to you.”
A brutally effective message.
Finally, Millein stood before the Heavenly Demon.
‘…Enough. No more thoughts.’
She banished the doubts from her mind.
Whatever the case, Millein was a warrior facing battle.
Even if this battlefield was nothing more than an execution ground, a warrior’s duty was to raise her sword against the enemy before her.
“Huu—”
Drawing mana from her core, she channeled it through her arms, infusing her blade with a radiant glow.
She was the guild’s sole Swordmaster.
“Millein Betrella, Guildmaster of the Northwestern Branch of the Radain Holy Nation’s Adventurer’s Guild. Here I come!”
Her sword, wreathed in blue mana, shot forward.
The first strike—a diagonal slash.
Swish— CLANG!
The Heavenly Demon deflected it with a tilt of his blade.
Millein pressed on.
Horizontal slashes, furious vertical strikes, sharp thrusts aimed at vital points—
Clang, grind, whoosh!
Yet the Heavenly Demon didn’t block head-on—he guided each strike away with effortless precision.
The watching adventurers slowly realized something.
The Heavenly Demon was overwhelming Millein with pure swordsmanship.
His blade bore no aura—just an ordinary sword that should have shattered upon clashing with hers.
Yet through sheer skill alone, he redirected every one of her aura-infused strikes.
“…”
Finally, Millein dropped her sword.
The duel was over.
And with it, the adventurers’ fighting spirit crumbled completely.
The terrifying power of the Heavenly Demon’s sword energy was one thing—
But what truly broke them was witnessing his swordsmanship surpass even their Swordmaster.
This wasn’t just defeat—it was total submission, forced upon them through the clash of warriors.
“…We are defeated.”
Millein’s quiet declaration spoke for everyone present.
With her surrender, I lowered my sword.
Judging by the adventurers’ expressions, the preparations were complete.
Drawing demonic qi from my dantian, I filled my lungs with it.
“Listen well.”
[Heavenly Demon’s Aura of Supremacy has been activated.]
“!”
At the sound of my qi-infused voice, the adventurers paled—just as the holy knights had.
But that wasn’t all.
[Confirming psychological state of targets affected by Heavenly Demon’s Aura of Supremacy.]
[All targets exhibit ‘fear,’ ‘awe,’ and ‘submission’ toward the user.]
[Additional effects of Heavenly Demon’s Aura of Supremacy have activated!]
[All targets have lost their will to resist. Consciousness levels have degraded from ‘normal’ to ‘confused.’ For the next five minutes, targets will be deeply influenced by the user’s words, altering their subconscious psychology.]
The adventurers must have wondered—
Why go through all this trouble instead of just killing them outright?
This system message was the answer.
“You dared raise your swords against me.”
Instilling fear was easy—just crush them mercilessly.
But awe and submission required something else entirely.
If a swordsman saw a giant bear slaughter his comrades, he would fear its overwhelming strength.
But if he faced a swordsman who subdued him with peerless skill, his heart would hold another emotion.
The helpless acknowledgment that his opponent stood above him—and the subconscious acceptance of that hierarchy.
This entire spectacle was meant to plant seeds of obedience in their hearts.
“Guh… Hrk…”
“Ugh… I didn’t… mean to…”
The adventurers staggered, then one by one, dropped to their knees. Some even babbled desperate excuses for why they had attacked me.
“But I am a patient man. I can forgive insects for their mistakes—once.”
“Thank you… Thank you…!”
Prostrating themselves, they wept tears of gratitude for my mercy.
‘I didn’t expect to see this here too.’
I’d experienced it endlessly in the Heavenly Demon Simulator.
“…You bastard… What the hell… did you do…?!”
“Oh? The guildmaster’s holding out.”
Amidst the groveling, Millein resisted my mental domination. She stabbed her sword into her own foot, biting her lip until it bled.
But it was futile.
Step. Step.
I walked toward her.
“Deep down, you already know. The awe you feel for me.”
“What… nonsense…”
The closer I got, the more her resistance crumbled.
By the time I stood directly before her—
She couldn’t even lift her head, teeth chattering in terror.
“Aah… Aaah…”
“That’s right. You should be bowing.”
I whispered in her ear.
“Now listen carefully to my commands.”