Heaven's Will in My Hand
The sight of the Heavenly Demon advancing endlessly backward while drawing circles was something that remained astonishing no matter how many times one saw it—or even just watched it. Moreover, the circles he drew were flawless without a single distortion, and every movement was executed with absolute precision, devoid of even the slightest trace of humanity. Yet, as time passed, a growing question began to rise: just what in the world was happening here?
The Demonic Cultists had no way of knowing the truth. Even with two minds sharing a body, the external manifestation was a state without a mind, merely repeating the same motions under the command of an emotional expression called "dance." Ji Seungju occasionally cast irreverent glances his way—daring to look away from the Heavenly Demon Sovereign with such disloyal eyes—and the Heavenly Demon felt an immense sense of awkwardness. As the Secret Pavilion Master and Young Demon Brain, he knew nothing. He could only pretend not to feel the gazes that kept prodding him, urging him to say something, anything.
----
The Heavenly Demon had already switched bodies dozens of times and suppressed an equal number of minds. That meant, when it came to matters of the mind, he was the unparalleled authority across the entire world, including the Central Plains and the frontiers. (To Central Plains people, everything outside was merely the frontier.) Compared to that, Seomun Cheong's skill was on the level of setting up a one-room apartment and frying chicken to eat. It was utterly ordinary, with nothing exceptional about it. This much had been done by every previous host of a body. Once a body was taken, it was merely an instinctive defensive technique where a person manifested the place they were most familiar with to protect themselves.
Thus, the Heavenly Demon could not understand it. He could not fathom where the bizarre immortality of Seomun Cheong's mental form originated. He could only guess that the scenery created by Seomun Cheong's mental form was something unfamiliar even in his long life, perhaps belonging to some figure from the distant frontiers beyond the borders. He merely wondered if the barbarians there had developed techniques for handling the mind.
"If a person speaks, at least pretend to listen."
Thud.Thump.
"Shit. Let me talk for once too."
Thud.Thump.
"Aren't you getting tired of this yet? At this point, it's useless—"
"Seriously. Learning ability, my ass."
"Boo, loser."
"If your head's bad, your body suffers."
Thump, thump, thump.
Countless headless corpses lay scattered across the ground.
"You know, if something doesn't work no matter what you do, you have to change the method. I already told you that, didn't I? Like this."
This time, Seomun Cheong's form was nowhere to be seen. The Heavenly Demon's eyes grew sharp as he frantically looked around, searching for the master of this hellish maw.
"Thinking about it, isn't the Divine Bloodline just a continuous line of your children? So what does that make you—both father and son at the same time? Then your wife is basically your mother, right? While preparing for war, when you get bored, do you call up your old memories of your mother and have a go at her?"
"Where—where are you spouting such nonsense from?!"
"What do you think when you look at your child? That since it's a body you'll eventually take over, you should treat it preciously? Well, at least you won't have to bother with character education, so that's convenient. If the kid you were going to die by my hand anyway pisses you off, you don't even have to give them affection."
Seomun Cheong hid among the corpses and played her despicable trick of only moving her mouth. Despite being drenched in blood and pretending to be a corpse, her mouth was the only lively part of her. However, the bodies—all wearing the same clothes and having the same appearance—had piled up in layers across the ground. Finding a single one with a head among them was harder than a "spot the difference" puzzle at hell difficulty. The Heavenly Demon had never even attempted a "spot the difference" puzzle at the level of a seven-year-old party favor, let alone hell difficulty.
Finally, the Heavenly Demon erupted in fury.
"You wench! What do you know! Look at those detestable Central Plains bastards! Look at their descendants! Do they not realize that everything they enjoy—eating well and living well—was built upon the evil deeds of their ancestors?!"
"You want me to atone for my ancestors' sins? That's a bit—"
"Of course it is right! While they naturally enjoy the wealth, connections, and everything their parents left behind as their own, they want to conveniently exclude only the ugly sins and the history of exploitation?!"
"Uh……?"
Seomun Cheong paused. There was…… some logic to it?
"Look at the great orthodox sects! From the moment they're born, they open their meridians, devour rare elixirs, and train in precious martial arts. Even the dullest of them reach the Transcendent realm before they die! The wealth and glory obtained through exploitation have created the eternal rulers of the Central Plains! And you claim they have no sin?!"
"They…… do have sin, I guess?"
Seomun Cheong could not deny that much. There was the island nation that immediately came to mind, and the continent next to it was no different no matter where you pointed. Of course, that did not mean she had nothing to say in return.
"Even so, you don't exactly have the qualifications to punish them."
"No! If there is even one person in this world who has the qualifications, it is me! I am the one who witnessed the sins of the past with my own eyes and lost everything because of those atrocities!"
"That's strange? Is that something a ghost who only possesses other people's bodies—and has never won even once, a professional loser—should be saying? I'm genuinely asking because I don't know."
"What human in this world can transcend death! This is the will of the heavenly god Ahura Mazda, who has descended to correct this twisted world! This is the will of heaven!"
Seomun Cheong snorted. The idea that heaven had created a superhuman to punish the world's evildoers—what was that supposed to mean? Why not just have that Mahura-whatever god speak directly?
"Huh? Heaven made you to bring down divine punishment? Not doing it themselves? No, this is so ridiculous that—"
-I can't listen to any more of this.
Seomun Cheong's voice suddenly echoed from the sky. It was a thunderous sound that filled the entire world. The Heavenly Demon raised his head. Above, in the sky, he saw a massive rectangular frame. It was a window hanging in the heavens, reflecting a higher world. Beyond it appeared a gigantic face—Seomun Cheong's gaze looked down upon the earth, unable to hide her contempt.
"W-what is this……"
-What do you think. You're in the palm of the Buddha's hand.
The world shattered into sharp fragments and poured down. The countless corpses and the sticky blood were gone. The revealed earth now showed its true form as a white, smooth palm. Seomun Cheong looked down at the Heavenly Demon upon her palm.
The Heavenly Demon screamed in rage.
"This is impossible! How could your insignificant consciousness be greater than mine! With only the lowly realm of Peak—!"
-I don't know either. It just became like this after I died once.
Seomun Cheong smiled faintly in her god-like colossal form.
-So, try claiming it again. Heaven's what?
The Heavenly Demon gritted his teeth.
"If not heaven, then who could possibly revive the dead! It is me! I have received the heavenly mandate!"
Seomun Cheong laughed as she replied.
-Well. If you say so, then I guess that's how it is. So you're the will of heaven, then. But do you know something? Where the will of heaven is right now.
"That will resides in me! I am the will of heaven itself!"
And that will of heaven was now in Seomun Cheong's hand. Pillars and mountain ranges of flesh rose from the ground where the Heavenly Demon stood. It was because Seomun Cheong had clenched her fist tightly. He was merely an insect on a palm. A trivial thing that would be crushed lightly, with only a few drops of blood remaining that did not even flow out.
Finally, Seomun Cheong, now alone, chuckled.
"Too bad. The will of heaven ends here. Heaven's not all that special, huh."
At the same time, Seomun Cheong saw a transparent window. It was the message that had been hovering in front of her, annoying her, ever since she absorbed the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Currently progressing in Heavenly Demon form.
Release of Heavenly Demon form is possible.
Would you like to release it? Yes/No
*If you select No, your journey will end and lead to the Heavenly Demon Cult ending.
Soon, the word "Yes" flickered several times before the status window slowly faded away. Seomun Cheong thought to herself. So the game had prepared a hidden ending where the body gets taken over? She did not know why release had been possible. Maybe they made it so players could choose because some people would get angry if they were suddenly hit with a game over. Or perhaps she had already met certain conditions that allowed immediate release. For example, the Heavenly Solitary Star constitution, or the Corpse-Blood Poison Person constitution being treated as poisoning and thus allowing release. Or it could have been thanks to the martial arts she had learned. Perhaps the Daejeong Seongong of Buddhism, which established the law of self, had an effect. Or perhaps the Wolnyeo Mind Method of the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden, who governed the boundary between the Nine Heavens above and below, had exerted its power.
But in the end, Seomun Cheong did not know. She was not particularly curious about the reason either. Seomun Su-rin might have thought differently. The Cult of the Blazing Flower worshipped fire, and the sacred fire referred to Ahura Mazda, the sun god. The destructive god Angra Mainyu represented pitch-black darkness, the primordial night that humans feared. Since the sun illuminates the night, Angra Mainyu was merely a subordinate god who could not dare to oppose the sun god and could only grovel. And the Juyang Heart Scripture was the mental image of the Flame Emperor. The Flame Emperor was the sun god worshipped by the Chinese people. So the outcome had been decided from the very beginning, had it not?
Seomun Cheong did not possess that level of scholarship. However, if she only knew that it was possible, was that not what mattered—that she knew she could do it?
"Give me back my body, you bastard."
----
The Heavenly Demon, who had been displaying movements ahead of his time, finally stopped and stood in place. Then, as he took slow, deliberate steps, he found himself once again before the old man Choe-ri-ong. Choe-ri-ong's dazed eyes wandered around his feet. That was when it happened. Suddenly, the Heavenly Demon's foot moved, aiming for the lower abdomen of the Jijon, whom Choe-ri-ong had pinned to the ground.
Thud!!!
"Aaaagh!"
The Jijon's mind snapped awake from the pain of his dantian being destroyed. This was the essence of medicine that could even revive a dead mind—physical therapy.
"You fucking bastard. I told you I wouldn't let this slide, didn't I? Huh? Or did I not? Didn't say it out loud?"
Seomun Cheong continued with a vicious smile.
"What? The Nature Realm this, the Nature Realm that, you made up your mind or whatever? Now that your dantian's broken too, how does it feel to become a natural person instead of a Nature Realm expert, you bastard?"
At that, Choe-ri-ong also came to his senses. Physical therapy was originally highly effective not only for the recipient but also for any prospective patients watching from the sidelines.
"My child, Cheong, is it Cheong?"
"Huh? Gramps? You came back to your senses? Stop getting confused about whether I'm your daughter or whatever. Why do you keep messing with other people's family registers? Mm. I want to eat jokbal bossam."
She should have ordered it when she imagined it earlier. These kinds of things never came to mind when she needed them. Seomun Cheong felt regret, but it was only a mild disappointment. After all, it was not like she was no longer attached to hometown food or anything—jokbal bossam existed in the Central Plains too. There was no culture of simultaneously enjoying the original jokbal from Hong Sojeoje and the original bossam, Dongpo Pork, along with original bibim guksu. But that was up to the person ordering, was it not? She could order some cheongju with it and just down it all.
"You!"
Seomun Cheong was in the middle of spreading her wings of gourmet imagination and swallowing her saliva when a sharp, insolent child's voice rang out. She turned her head. With a triumphant smile.
"Ah. The kid. Right. You were here too."