The Inheritance of the Mad Demon
As I placed my hand on the memory transfer orb, the information contained within surged into my mind. I felt none of the Mad Demon’s intense ego that should have been lingering there. Since such things had already been filtered out by my [Flawless Spirit (S)], I was able to absorb only the pure enlightenment. The Mad Demon who left this trial must have wanted a successor with a spirit strong enough to endure and overcome his own ego, which would have invaded the mind. But my talent was not at a level where common sense applied. The process went so smoothly that it could hardly be called a trial.
Having absorbed all the enlightenment without any hindrance, I slowly opened my eyes. A sense of overwhelming fulfillment flooded my entire body. I wanted to savor the feeling for a long time, but the scene that greeted me the moment I opened my eyes made it all vanish instantly. Lee Yeon-woo had approached me at some point, her eyes shining with intense curiosity.
"What was the predecessor's trial? Can you explain how the orb worked?"
Lee Yeon-woo kept firing questions at me, notebook and pen already in hand. Her scholar's spirit had been fully activated. "What was the enlightenment the Mad Demon left behind? You can explain it slowly. I don't mind if it takes hours...!"
"Please, calm down for a second. I think I'll have to answer your questions later."
Explaining it wasn't a problem, but there was something I had to resolve first. Hummm... A powerful energy was radiating from the stone monument to my side. The source of the energy was the very center of the monument. There, mana was continuously expanding without any buffer mechanism. The mana, growing without end, emitted a precarious ripple. If I didn't take action now, the force of that concentrated mana would eventually lead to a massive explosion. And that explosion would be large enough to blow this ruin away without leaving a trace.
"Uh, uh...? Why is this suddenly...!"
Lee Yeon-woo, only now noticing the anomaly, spoke in a trembling voice. I stopped her as she started to run toward the monument as if to do something, and said, "Stay back. I know how to solve this."
After sending Lee Yeon-woo away, I approached the monument where the power was gathering. The solution to this situation was in the memories I had just accepted. 'If you didn't learn it properly, you're just supposed to die? That fits the name Mad Demon perfectly.' Surviving the monument, which could only be destroyed by using the enlightenment contained in the memory transfer orb, was part of the trial. It was a brutal test, demanding that I immediately put the enlightenment I had just gained into practice.
'Just what I wanted. I couldn't have stood not testing this myself.'
I stood before the monument, closed my eyes, and inhaled. With my consciousness sinking deep, the mana surged, pulling up a silent heat. Step. I took a step forward with my left foot and lowered my stance. My pulled-back right fist was filled with compressed internal energy.
BOOM!
The moment it crossed the limits of the human body, the released energy wave surpassed the reproduction of the distant past. Unlike other martial arts created by mixing various intentions, the intent contained in the Ilshin Pacheon-gong was pure destruction. Since I had fully accepted even that, the result of the evolved Ilshin Pacheon-gong was the manifestation of a disaster.
Ilshin Pacheon-gong: Mad Wave Strike
KWA-A-A-A-A-A!!
The delayed sound of air being torn followed the fist strike that had connected like lightning in an instant. The massive vortex generated from my grip swallowed the earth, leaving a deep scar. At the same time, the red energy that bloomed vividly at the center of the storm carried the soul of heaven-shattering power, and there was nothing that dared to stand in its way. Fiss-s-s-s... Someday, even the existences high above in the sky would bow before me.
"Hoo..."
After the sand that had risen high finally settled, I looked at the spot where the monument had stood. But there was nothing there except sand. It was as if nothing had ever been there to begin with. The towering monument had been pulverized to the point of not even leaving a trace, which meant the predecessor's trial left by the Mad Demon had officially ended.
'Ugh...'
As soon as the intense tension vanished, a burning pain rose from the mana circuits throughout my body. It was because I had pushed my mana circuits beyond their limits in the process of creating that last strike. I had to avoid using them until they were fully recovered. It would probably take about half a day. My muscles were in a mess, too, though not as bad as the circuits. If I had pushed even a little further, they likely would have ruptured.
'Well, this was bound to happen.'
It was the recoil of using a technique that exceeded my body's current level. The unbelievable power of the Ilshin Pacheon-gong: Mad Wave Strike I had just unleashed was difficult for my still-weak body to handle. However, I had gone all out because I didn't know the passing criteria for the trial and had to prepare for any unforeseen situation. It was entirely possible to adjust the output so it wouldn't strain my body. Though it would be a bit difficult right now.
'Tsk... it hurts quite a bit.'
It had been a long time since I felt pain that didn't stem from training. The feeling was subtle, realizing that the first injury I'd sustained since gaining my talent was caused by my own power. 'Should I be happy about this? I don't know.'
As I raised my head with a bitter smile, I saw Lee Yeon-woo running toward me from the entrance. Reaching me while panting, she asked about my condition first. "Student Kim Ilshin, are you okay...?"
"Yes. As you can see."
Lee Yeon-woo didn't seem reassured by my answer, as she looked me over from head to toe. Only after confirming that I had no visible wounds did she let out a sigh of relief. Then, the questions followed.
"Was that just now... did you do that? The wind and the explosions were going bam-bam-bam."
"That's right. I couldn't have destroyed the monument otherwise."
"Then, is the enlightenment the Mad Demon left behind the method to use that technique?"
"Hmm... something like that."
"Then, then...!"
I was just wondering how to cut off Lee Yeon-woo's endless questions when—
Kugugugu...
The ground began to vibrate violently, as if an earthquake were occurring. At the same time, a ripple starting from the very top of the clear sky spread across the entire space. Lee Yeon-woo, flustered, lowered her stance and asked loudly, "Wh-what is this?! Is the trial not over yet?"
"No. It's certain that the trial is over."
"Then why is it doing this!"
"That is—"
At that moment, the vibration stopped abruptly, and the surrounding scenery changed as if we had teleported. The sun had vanished, replaced by darkness; the hot heat turned into a cool breeze; the blue sky became a dark ceiling; and the sand beneath our feet turned into stone flooring. We were no longer standing in the middle of a vast desert, but inside a huge, dark cave. The only thing that hadn't changed was the passage leading to the outside. That, at least, remained in its original place, unchanged in any way.
'I see what's going on.'
Seeing that, I could grasp the situation. But Lee Yeon-woo spoke first. "It seems they were using the mana contained in the monument to maintain an illusion barrier. But since that's gone, the illusion barrier couldn't hold up and collapsed."
"I thought so, too."
This ruin was created to test the successor of the Ilshin Pacheon-gong and pass on the enlightenment. Since I had passed the entire process, it had served its purpose and no longer had a reason to exist.
'This is incredible.'
The size of the cave revealed after the illusion barrier vanished was truly astonishing. It was a space that looked as if the entire interior of a large mountain had been hollowed out. As I looked around, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
"...But why was it a desert?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm curious why they went as far as using an illusion barrier to create a desert here."
The desert environment wasn't necessary at all for the trial. It meant the presence or absence of the illusion barrier had no effect on the trial whatsoever.
"Hmm..."
Lee Yeon-woo pondered for a moment before offering a plausible answer. "There was a research paper I saw a while ago that suggested the Mad Demon's hometown was in Central Asia. Maybe it's because of that...?"
"...That could be it."
I couldn't know the exact intention. Perhaps he wanted to show his successor the scenery of his hometown, or perhaps there was no reason at all. But one thing was certain: the Mad Demon had passed away without ever achieving his final goal. It was information contained in the memory transfer orb, so I was sure of it. That was the reason he had created this ruin to leave behind his enlightenment. He had been waiting for a successor to carry on his failed will and one day bring down the heavens, and I vowed to fulfill that wish. After all, my final goal also lay beyond the sky.