The Descent of the Heavenly Demon
Zzzzt!
If not for the blink of Echo Walker, my heart would have been in Jang Wonryong's hand right now.
Whoosh!
He shouldn't have been able to see my blink. An ordinary person would have been staring at my afterimage.
But Jang Wonryong looked right at me, as if he already knew where I was going to appear.
Slowly...
Jang Wonryong looked down at his hand again.
"This vessel cannot keep up."
Grit.
As Jang Wonryong clenched his fist, his arm shook violently, as if it couldn't handle its own power.
Tremble.
...That's not Jang Wonryong.
Indeed. His tone, his gaze, even the air flowing around him was different.
I was usually slow on the uptake, but even I could feel it.
That thing... was not human.
"It seems what we thought was a gateway was actually a seal," Choi Muryeong said, his voice tense.
His judgment was quick. As expected of a Hunter who had cleared the tower thousands of times.
"Then what do we do?" I asked.
All the Chinese Hunters were dead. Was this something we could handle on our own?
"He said his vessel cannot keep up. We will exploit that."
Easy to say.
"Isn't the problem that he wiped out the Chinese Hunters in an instant even with a failing vessel?"
"..."
Instead of answering, Choi Muryeong adjusted his grip on his sword.
And then,
"We can do it," he muttered.
Four swords rose behind his back, pointing downward.
At the same time, Choi Muryeong dashed forward.
Clang! Clang! Screeech!
The four swords moving freely, and the one sword Choi Muryeong held firmly in his hand.
A total of five swords began to corner Jang Wonryong as if they were alive.
Thud! Screeech! Crack!
Jang Wonryong blocked all of Choi Muryeong's attacks with his bare body.
It was like striking a steel pillar; Choi Muryeong's swords couldn't leave a single scratch on him.
Clearly, Choi Muryeong's skill was overwhelming. That was the difference between World No. 3 and No. 8.
But for some reason, Jang Wonryong was the one dominating Choi Muryeong now.
Deflecting the sword with the back of his hand, evading with a half-step, redirecting the blade with two fingers.
Screeeeech!
Before long, Choi Muryeong was forced onto the defensive, blocking his own redirected blades.
And then, chills ran down my spine.
It felt as if someone had grabbed me by the hair, a terrifying sensation squeezing my entire body.
Whoosh!
There was no time to think. I moved instinctively.
Hummmm...
The moment Choi Muryeong's sword vibrated with a strange hum,
Swish!
I slipped between Jang Wonryong and Choi Muryeong.
Flash!
With a single flick of Jang Wonryong's hand, a blade flew toward Choi Muryeong's heart.
Clang!
I parried the strike.
Crash!
The recoil sent us flying, and Choi Muryeong and I tumbled across the floor.
Choi Muryeong's swords clattered to the ground.
And then,
"Oh ho..."
Jang Wonryong looked down at me with a smile. "How did you know?"
His eyes, glowing red unlike before, locked onto me.
At that moment,
Kill him!
Kill him!
Kill him!
An intense urge seized me, making my head feel like it was going to split.
And then...
Static... Flicker...
The system window flickered and glitched. Unknown characters appeared and disappeared before finally forming a sentence.
Eliminate the Heavenly Demon
"...The Heavenly Demon?" I muttered.
Rumble...
The collapsed Bongma Dojo.
The black vortex covering the sky raged violently, as if welcoming the return of the Heavenly Demon.
Swirling demonic energy.
An ordinary human would have died instantly just by facing it.
Despite waking up in an incomplete vessel, the Heavenly Demon was overwhelming.
Though currently contained in the temporary body of Jang Wonryong, if he regained his original power, he would surely destroy even the Babel Tower.
To do that, the first thing he needed to do was escape this space created under the tower's control.
However...
"Wow, even if this is a special floor, isn't this a bit too much?"
The human standing before him, radiating a bizarre aura, was somehow irritating the Heavenly Demon.
"..."
The other humans were just 'humans' in the end. But this one was different.
From head to toe, he was an existence made entirely of slaughter.
Though he didn't seem to know how to properly control that power yet...
It would be best not to let him live.
If left alive, he would surely become a nuisance in the future.
The Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly Slaughter Star seemed similar at a glance, but in reality, they were polar opposites.
So surely...
You must want to cut down this body.
The heaven-sent killer. How could such a being not want to kill the one who defied heaven?
Therefore...
I must kill him first.
He had to wring the neck of this young bird before it could break out of its shell. Only then could he stand above the heavens once more.
The Heavenly Demon stabilized his energy. If he unleashed too much power in this incomplete body, his soul might lose its vessel.
Rumble...
As the Heavenly Demon took a step, the ground turned black.
But there was one spot. The ground where Lee Taepyeong stood remained clean, as if cut away from the corruption.
Swish.
The Heavenly Demon reached out. One of Choi Muryeong's discarded swords flew into his hand.
It landed firmly in his grip.
As the Heavenly Demon swung the sword, the black energy spreading across the ground began to surge.
"Heavenly Slaughter Star," he said in a low, mocking voice.
"I shall cut you down."
Swish!
The title of Heavenly Demon was clearly not just for show.
Every time he swung his sword, it felt as if space itself was being sliced apart.
Dash!
Fortunately, I could dodge, but that was it. I couldn't find an opening to counterattack.
Even though Execution Eye was active, the red 'weak points' that usually appeared on opponents were nowhere to be seen.
So I didn't even know where to strike.
Slash, stab, slash again. Only shadows were cut.
Was this the difference in internal energy?
The Heavenly Demon deftly dodged my attacks and countered.
Before I knew it, I was the one being pushed back.
Damn it...!
This was completely different from fighting monsters.
I can't see it. Just keeping up was taking everything I had. At this rate, I would be the one to fall.
Just as the tip of the Heavenly Demon's sword was about to pierce my throat,
Choi Muryeong's sword blocked it.
I retreated and quickly aimed for the Heavenly Demon's back.
The crescent sword grazed his neck, but only cut hair, not flesh.
Through the scattering hair, the Heavenly Demon's hand flew forward.
The next thing I knew, I was rolling on the ground.
Metallic blood trickled from my mouth.
He got me...
I didn't think I'd ever been hit like this before. The name Heavenly Demon wasn't just for show.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stood up.
My solar plexus throbbed where I had been hit. I was lucky to be alive.
The Heavenly Demon, who had already knocked down Choi Muryeong, looked at me and smiled.
"As a final mercy..."
"..."
"I will teach you what true 'slaughter' is."
With each step he took,
the shadows covering the ground flickered.
And then, his sword flashed, poised to pierce the swirling vortex.
It's over. I couldn't block this strike. My instincts already knew it.
The tip of the blade flew through the darkness.
Suddenly, a golden light flashed before my eyes.
The Heavenly Demon's sword fell to the ground.
"Argh!"
A giant golden hand was tightly gripping the Heavenly Demon's body!
"Take up your sword!" the one shouting at me was none other than Tenjin.
The monk, who had never spoken a word due to his vow of silence, was screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Now is the time!"
Tenjin's voice was desperate.
Black shadows were slowly leaking through the fingers of the golden hand holding the Heavenly Demon.
"Even the hand of Buddha cannot hold him much longer!"
The hand of Buddha. That must be Tenjin's skill.
"Hurry!"
At his powerful cry, I picked up the sword the Heavenly Demon had dropped.
"Aaargh!" Realizing what was about to happen, the Heavenly Demon struggled.
I stumbled toward him.
Step. Step. Step.
With every step, the shadows stemming from the Heavenly Demon dispersed.
"...I will teach you what true 'slaughter' is,"
I repeated his own words back to him, raising the sword high.
And then, I thrust it down. The blade tore through bone and flesh, drinking his blood.
"Gah...!"
As the Heavenly Demon's heart—no, Jang Wonryong's heart—was pierced, the Heavenly Demon's soul began to tear away, having lost its anchor.
The Heavenly Demon's trembling hand fell limp.
Impaled by the sword, the Heavenly Demon—Jang Wonryong—collapsed.
The golden hand holding him slowly faded away.
And then...
Special Quest: Eliminate the Heavenly Demon has been completed.
The glitched system window returned to normal, and a quest completion notification popped up.
The incomplete soul of the Heavenly Demon had been completely destroyed.
"Urgh..." And then, "Tenjin!"
Tenjin, who had been hidden behind Jang Wonryong's body, was revealed.
Cough! Just like Jang Wonryong, he had been pierced by the sword.
Yes. The hand of Buddha was holding the Heavenly Demon's soul, but Tenjin himself had been holding Jang Wonryong.
It was only natural that the sword piercing the Heavenly Demon had pierced Tenjin as well.
I rushed to support him, but he stopped me. "It is fine..."
He was losing too much blood.
His face was far paler than when his blood was being drained by the snake statue.
Everyone here knew it. Tenjin was going to die.
"Thank you..." Tenjin said, looking at me.
"Please, use your power for good..."
His voice grew fainter. Then, his head slumped lifelessly.
Suddenly, a reward chest appeared before my eyes.
Unlike the gold, platinum, or diamond chests, this one shone with a brilliant rainbow light.
A special reward for a special floor. It surely contained something amazing.
But I couldn't look at it. My eyes were fixed on Tenjin.
"Taepyeong, in the Babel Tower, some sacrifices are unavoidable..." Ban Haeyeong started to say,
but I ignored her and opened my inventory.
And there it was.
The Resurrection Herb I had obtained from a platinum chest long ago. I had wondered where I would ever use it.
Do you wish to use the Resurrection Herb?
Target: Tenjin
It actually works.