Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: The Eye of the Storm
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Heavenly Demon.
The meaning behind that word was anything but light.
The revival of the Heavenly Demon meant the revival of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Yet no one had expected it to be mentioned now, in this very place.
And from the mouth of a cadet, the next in line to lead the Illusory Heaven Gate, which wielded the Sacred Black Flame, no less.
Since ancient times, the Illusory Heaven Gate had demonstrated its divine power through the Sacred Black Flame left behind by the founding Heavenly Demon.
Thus, not even the Cult Leader could treat the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate and her successor carelessly.
That was why no one dared to step forward and stop her now.
“Can you not hear me?! Everyone, on the ground at once! Show your respect to the current Heavenly Demon!”
She shrieked, her gaze sweeping across the audience and the VIP seats.
Her look was too clear and confident to be a lie.
Her eyes were filled with conviction.
Finally, unable to watch any longer, the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate stepped forward.
“Cheon-hwa! Do you have any idea what you are saying right now?!”
“Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate, how can *you* not recognize him? The prophecy I saw through the Sacred Black Flame! Its subject is right before our eyes.”
“D-Don't tell me?”
“Yes, that's right. This is the man I saw in the prophecy. He wields the Heavenly Demon Sword in his right hand and uses fist techniques with his left. Doesn't that fit perfectly?”
“…There is certainly some merit to your words, but that alone is not enough to be certain. We must go through the process of verifying it directly with the Sacred Black Flame.”
When even the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate showed such a noncommittal attitude, everyone in the training grounds stared wide-eyed.
It was understandable. The man they thought was a mere cadet was now being called the Heavenly Demon; it was a hard situation to believe.
If anything, Hwan Cheon-hwa's unwavering confidence seemed strange.
The Cult Leader must have felt the same, as he questioned Hwan Cheon-hwa.
“What is this prophecy that makes you so certain without even verifying it with the Sacred Black Flame!”
“Because I felt it.”
As Hwan Cheon-hwa replied, she crossed her arms, caressed her shoulders, and blushed.
Watching her bizarre display, Maeng Ak felt an inexplicable shiver run down his spine.
‘I think I've gotten myself into something bad… I hope this doesn't complicate things.’
Honestly, he wasn't afraid of the Cult Leader, the Great Guardian, or the Great Elder.
But that unhinged-looking Hwan Cheon-hwa was a different story.
Then and now, those with a screw loose were always unpredictable.
The Cult Leader also sensed her strangeness.
Her absurd answer also made him uncontrollably angry.
“Felt it? You dare obstruct me over something so trivial?!”
“It is not trivial. You may not know this, Cult Leader, but those chosen by the Sacred Black Flame, like myself, occasionally receive prophecies. And sometimes, we feel something from those prophecies.”
“So what was it you felt!”
“An aura.”
“…What? An aura?”
The second absurd answer was enough to give even the Cult Leader goosebumps.
However, Hwan Cheon-hwa paid him no mind and continued.
“Yes. The Heavenly Demon I saw in the prophecy had been resurrected in a new body. He held the Heavenly Demon Sword in his right hand and a fist in his left. Most notably, a uniquely sinister yet heavy demonic energy emanated from his entire body.”
“A sinister and heavy demonic energy…?”
The Cult Leader muttered, repeating Hwan Cheon-hwa's words.
At the same time, everyone's gazes gathered on one person.
There stood Maeng Ak, the man who had been fighting just moments ago using the very energy Hwan Cheon-hwa described.
“I-I cannot accept this!”
Feeling the tide of opinion turning, the Cult Leader had to stop it at all costs.
Urgency and anger were palpable in his voice.
However, before he could continue, the deliberating Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate stepped forward.
“This is a separate matter from your acceptance, Cult Leader. The Sacred Black Flame will reveal the truth.”
“Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate…! I warn you, do not do something you will regret!”
The Cult Leader was afraid.
‘If, as she says, the Sacred Black Flame officially confirms that man as the successor to the founding Heavenly Demon's will, my grand plan will be utterly ruined. That must never happen.’
He had to buy time. A single misstep could mean losing all the power he had accumulated to this newcomer. He couldn't help but feel rushed.
Even if it meant he couldn't take Maeng Ak to the Cult Leader's palace, he had no choice.
Right now, the urgent matter was to stop Maeng Ak from heading to the Illusory Heaven Gate's headquarters to be verified by the Sacred Black Flame.
The Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate was not unaware of his intentions, but she took no particular action.
‘Rather than allowing the Cult Leader's power to grow further, it might be better for Maeng Ak to establish himself as the new lord. He seems to have a connection with Cheon-hwa, so at the very least, the Illusory Heaven Gate's position will be secure.’
“Since so many of our cult members are gathered, how about we take him to our Illusory Heaven Gate's headquarters?”
Her statement sent a stir through the audience.
“For even the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate to say that, doesn't it mean there's a possibility!”
“Hah, still, the current Heavenly Demon... I can't believe it.”
“The judgment belongs to the Sacred Black Flame, not to the likes of us. Besides, how can that be the martial skill of a cadet? Unless he is the one who inherited the will of the founding Heavenly Demon.”
“Is that so?”
Most seemed to be going with the flow, accepting Maeng Ak as the current Heavenly Demon.
However, the Cult Leader was not one to stand by and watch.
“Halt! I forbid it! The trials of the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon are still underway. How dare one of the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates interfere!”
He was truly shameless.
To think that the very person who had just interfered, even fighting the Great Elder to do so, could utter such words.
But the Cult Leader was still the Cult Leader.
Among all these cult members, no one dared to voice a rebuttal.
It was then. The man who had always stood behind the Cult Leader, assisting him better than anyone else. The Great Guardian stepped forward.
It was a development no one had anticipated.
“Cult Leader. Forgive my impertinence, but even you cannot ignore the power the title of 'Heavenly Demon' holds. Why not proceed as the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate suggests?”
“What did you say?”
“...”
Feeling betrayed, the Cult Leader ground his teeth and turned to ask again, but the Great Guardian didn't even blink.
Instead, he projected a silent pressure, just as he had with the Great Elder Mad Demon.
‘Ugh, why is this one acting up too!’
Under that immense pressure, even the Cult Leader found himself helpless.
It seemed that even if he stepped forward to object again, it would be futile.
The thought of collapsing so futilely made his vision darken.
But what was this?
The person in question, Maeng Ak, rejected the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate's proposal and sided with the Cult Leader.
“It is still too early for me to face the Sacred Black Flame. I will follow the Cult Leader's words and return to the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon.”
“...!”
Not a single person, including the Cult Leader, was left unsurprised.
It was a chance to be authenticated as the Heavenly Demon and rise to the highest position in the cult in one fell swoop, just by staying quiet.
But no one suspected him because of his refusal.
The prophecies of the Illusory Heaven Gate were never wrong, and both its Head and Hwan Cheon-hwa had personally stepped forward to support Maeng Ak.
They simply thought it was, as Maeng Ak himself said, still too early.
Only the Cult Leader was suspicious of Maeng Ak's words.
‘Why is he postponing it? He was in a position to finish me off right here and now...’
In fact, the Cult Leader's suspicion was justified.
Because Maeng Ak, the man at the center of it all, had been sincerely cheering for the Cult Leader when he was furiously clashing with the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate on his behalf.
‘Phew... Thanks to the Cult Leader, I can breathe a little. To think those two crazy bitches would team up to screw me over.’
Maeng Ak still hadn't figured out why Hwan Cheon-hwa had singled him out as the Heavenly Demon.
Because of that, he certainly didn't think of himself as the Heavenly Demon.
‘This is driving me crazy. Why did she have to run her mouth for no reason?’
Maeng Ak thought, glaring at Hwan Cheon-hwa.
Thanks to her, like it or not, the day would come when he would have to stand before the Sacred Black Flame.
He felt that by tomorrow, rumors would spread that he was the second Heavenly Demon, the successor to the founding Heavenly Demon's will.
‘Since it's come to this, I'll have to become strong enough to survive even after making the entire cult my enemy.’
Maeng Ak figured that the day he followed the Illusory Heaven Gate to stand before the Sacred Black Flame...
...he would surely become a public enemy of the cult.
After all, he hadn't actually inherited the founding Heavenly Demon's will.
‘A bandit chief as the Heavenly Demon? What a load of crap. As expected of these lunatics, this is nuts. Tsk.’
Returning to the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon probably wouldn't help much.
But he had his reasons for wanting to go back.
First, he suspected someone in the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon knew about the founding Heavenly Demon that the Head of the Sword Heaven Gate had mentioned. And he had a hunch as to who that person was.
‘I need to see Dang Hyeon-woo as soon as I get back.’
The person Maeng Ak suspected knew about the Heavenly Demon. It was the Demonic Doctor.
He was practically a living history book, having been active long before the cult's decline.
Meanwhile, the Cult Leader's mood lifted when Maeng Ak unexpectedly decided to follow his declaration and finish the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon trials before the verification.
It was as if Maeng Ak had smoothly cleared a path through a situation where he could have lost everything.
But there was someone else besides the Cult Leader who was even more pleased.
It was none other than the Great Elder Mad Demon.
He had fought the Cult Leader over taking Maeng Ak to the palace and had been forced to back down, but now the trial in the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon was continuing, and Maeng Ak himself had agreed to it.
For him, it was no different from gaining an immediate advantage, even if taking Maeng Ak's body had become more difficult.
Because he felt that Maeng Ak had fallen into his grasp, not the Cult Leader's, with whom he had been the only one to fight over him.
Of course, Maeng Ak's level was so unparalleled that the content of the trials would have to be adjusted.
“Since Maeng Ak himself has said so, I, the Great Elder, also agree with that opinion.”
The Great Elder and the Cult Leader. It felt as if those who were enemies just moments ago had become allies.
Because of this, the other cult members, who had been led by the Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate, were rendered speechless.
The Head of the Illusory Heaven Gate exchanged glances with Hwan Cheon-hwa, then stared intently at Maeng Ak with a look that seemed to ask, "But why?"
However, she soon began to rationalize it, thinking he must have his reasons.
Just as Hwan Cheon-hwa had done at the beginning.
“The trials have been unnecessarily delayed because of me. Let's all head down now. There's still one group left, isn't there?”
At Maeng Ak's nonchalant words as he tried to leave the stage, the people finally remembered the existence of Group 25. And at the same time, they contemplated the aftershocks of all that had just happened.
“Shouldn't the trials be suspended?”
“Indeed, too much has happened between the trials of Group 24 and Group 25.”
“What's going to happen to the Sword Heaven Gate now?”
To hell with the tournament, their minds were filled with turmoil.
However, regardless of their feelings, the tournament continued.
This was due to the influence of the Cult Leader and the Great Elder, who needed to quickly resume the trials to prevent Maeng Ak from changing his mind.
The Cult Leader spoke first.
“First, as for the Sword Heaven Gate, which has lost its Head, we will find an alternative solution through a later meeting. However, since this was an accident that occurred during the trials, Cadet Maeng Ak bears no responsibility. If there is anyone with a complaint...”
His voice trailed off as he glanced at the Great Elder Mad Demon.
“If you have business with a cadet, come to the Council of Elders, the hosts of the Divine Hall of the Latent Demon, first.”
It was as if they had never been at each other's throats; now that their interests aligned, they were perfectly in sync.
With things hastily settled like that, Maeng Ak descended from the training grounds to await the next group's trial.
As he went down, ten cadets from Group 25 came up, but there were no welcoming gazes for them.
All eyes were already fixed on Maeng Ak's disappearing back.
Everyone present knew that while it seemed like the situation was over, it was only just beginning.
Because the eye of the storm that had swept through the entire plaza was still over there, perfectly intact.