Chapter 13
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Heart Demon (2)
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Biwol was currently trapped in a state of qi deviation caused by her heart demon.
The affection she'd suppressed for her master all this time, combined with jealousy over the new disciple, had caused her true nature to surface.
Her inner world had grown so powerful from the rampaging internal energy she'd accumulated in her body that even she couldn't predict who would win in a fight against her master, Bing Yeon.
"...I lost consciousness for a moment."
The so-called 'good Biwol,' who had clung to her reason out of fear of being hated by Bing Yeon, had snapped out of it and awakened.
Shwaaa─.
Rain poured down amid scattered blood and corpses, in a space with wooden buildings supported by red pillars.
Biwol knew this place better than anyone.
And for good reason—this was where she'd been before Bing Yeon rescued her.
'This is definitely... the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.'
The cult that had tried to turn Biwol, bearer of the Heavenly Killing Star's karma, into the Heavenly Demon. They'd fed her blood and flesh, even forcing her to befriend other children before killing them.
'Master said he completely wiped them out...?'
This was unmistakably the place that called itself the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. The place where Biwol had been sold by parents whose faces she couldn't even remember, enduring a brutal past alongside other children.
"Awake at last? Master is dealing with me right now."
"You... don't tell me...?"
Standing before Biwol was a woman with the exact same face as hers, but far more mature.
The complete opposite of Biwol in her white training robes, this figure wore black robes and waved casually at her.
"That's right! I'm the 'bad Biwol' who's been talking to you from inside your heart. Though I have no idea why they call me bad."
The bad Biwol looked exactly like Bing Yeon before his possession—the form described in the latter half of the wuxia webnovel Diamond Fist King by Han Do-hyun.
The only differences were her greater height compared to the current Biwol and a body matured in all the right places, marking her as a full-fledged woman.
She exuded an aura so powerful that even Biwol could tell at a glance she was several times stronger—worthy of the title 'Heavenly Demon.'
"...Are you my future self?"
Biwol stared, almost mistaking her for her own future form. Few people had such distinctive red eyes like hers.
"Well, more precisely... I'm the karma you were meant to bear in Master's place..."
The bad Biwol—or Heavenly Killing Star—pressed a finger to her lips thoughtfully, a seductive smile lingering deeply on her face.
"Combined with your love for Master. You can call me a heart demon or the Heavenly Killing Star. I like those names!"
"...Then, Heavenly Killing Star. Where is this place?"
Biwol glanced around and spoke up.
Why were she and the Heavenly Killing Star in this horrific space thick with the smell of rain and blood?
"This is your inner world. Still haven't figured it out?"
The Heavenly Killing Star chuckled at her, noting Biwol's expression—like she recognized the place but didn't want to believe it.
"It's exactly like the cult building where you were imprisoned as a child, right? You left your dead friends' bodies here."
The Heavenly Killing Star pointed to a pile of corpses swarming with maggots and flies. Beside it yawned a massive dirt pit.
That pit hadn't been dug by adults. They'd handed shovels to young children, overworking them to create a burial ground for the bodies.
"...No. This is a dream. It can't be real."
Biwol finally grasped her surroundings and shook her head furiously.
This was a dream—she squeezed her eyes shut, telling herself over and over that when she opened them, her master Bing Yeon would be by her side.
"It's no dream, Biwol. This is where you were originally supposed to escape on your own."
Whoosh─. With a wave of the Heavenly Killing Star's hand, the space around them shifted. The rain fell even harder, and a man in a long robe entered Biwol's view.
- A child bearing the Heavenly Killing Star's karma. I shall take you in.
The leader of the cult that called itself the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. The terrifying man gazed at her with excitement.
- You shall be reborn as a new evil star in our cult.
His goal was to drown the peaceful martial world in a sea of blood—a revenge for losing his child to bandits, his wife and parents to plague and famine.
- Come, let us take vengeance on the heavens that abandoned justice and righteousness.
Biwol squeezed her eyes shut as she watched him. She had feared this man in the past, that much was true.
"Showing me illusions like this is pointless. This man was─"
Bing Yeon had appeared one day and saved her. Even in this inner world, she firmly believed in her master.
He was the man who wouldn't hesitate to take a blade for her sake, smiling through his own blood and telling her not to worry.
But,
"Master? You mean Bing Yeon Master? No, look closely. This is the 'future' we were meant to have."
As if mocking her hopes, the Heavenly Killing Star flashed a chilling smile and glared at Biwol.
And then,
Slash─. A sharp sound rang out,
"Eh...?"
Biwol's own hand severed the cult leader's head. A motion she hadn't even registered.
It felt like her body and mind were disconnected, as if someone else was puppeteering her.
"You were supposed to be reborn as the Heavenly Demon there. Kill that man and ascend as the new leader."
The Heavenly Killing Star kept talking relentlessly to Biwol, who trembled helplessly amid the splattered blood and the warm sensation lingering on her hand.
"To avenge your friends who offered their blood and flesh for you, you should've smashed the heavens that never saved you, even once."
With every word she spoke, the scene before Biwol's eyes changed.
Human entrails, blood, and chunks of flesh filled her vision.
This time, to sate her hunger, she devoured human blood and flesh like water and rations.
"...Urk, bleeech. Urrgh, uwaaah."
The thick, fishy taste of blood coated her mouth. The tough, hairy flesh was revolting.
"I have to vomit. I need to get it all out..."
Biwol shoved her fingers down her throat, desperate to expel everything, but
"No, without Master, this is how we'd have quenched our hunger and thirst."
The Heavenly Killing Star forced Biwol's head up, making her see what she was eating. It was the dogma the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had drilled into her.
In the novel Diamond Fist King, she was supposed to survive on nothing but human flesh and blood.
"You never imagined you could eat hawthorn berry tanghulu or sugar-coated marshmallows, did you?"
As Biwol writhed in agony from the horrific sensation, the Heavenly Killing Star munched on snacks with a crunch.
"Originally, you could only sleep to the sound of people's screams. The cries of newborns, pleas begging for life, wails over lost loved ones."
The moment the Heavenly Killing Star said it, a cacophony invaded Biwol's mind—screams and cries from men, women, young, and old blending into horror.
"That's what you were meant to be. Abandoned by heaven, the Heavenly Demon who would drag it down to ruin."
The opposite of the bed where her master Bing Yeon slept. Biwol lay on bare dirt strewn with sharp, jagged stones, no bedding of leaves or anything.
"But not anymore."
She bit her tongue and strained to regain control of her body, but it was futile.
"Stop, please stop...!!"
"Everything you breathe, everyone you love—it's all thanks to Master's grace."
The Heavenly Killing Star knew this was tormenting Biwol, but she had a duty to make her realize it.
She was the heart demon.
The trial hidden in Biwol's heart.
She knew the karma Biwol was originally meant to bear.
"So don't look away. Watch closely."
The Heavenly Killing Star waved her hand again, and now a horde of people charged toward Biwol.
- The demon leader is there! Form the battle formation!
- She's a pit of hell. Is she even human?
- Peace comes before justice and righteousness! Protect the peace!
- Set aside righteous and demonic grudges for now—unite our strength!
Among them were those bearing the Martial Alliance's emblem, and others from the Demonic Alliance gripping axes in both hands.
"...Wh-who are all these people?"
"They're all here to kill me—or rather, us."
They glared at Biwol with frenzied faces, drawing swords against the young girl, radiating killing intent as they prepared their techniques.
"The Poison Dragon of the Sakya Tang Clan, Infinite Sword Emperor of the Nangong family, Beggar Clan leader, Hao Clan head... who else? Too many to remember."
The Heavenly Killing Star ticked them off one by one, then sighed and shook her head as if giving up.
And understandably so—this was the moment when not just the righteous and demonic factions, but even the unorthodox martial artists had come to slay Biwol.
The future the original Biwol was meant to face,
A destiny now twisted by Bing Yeon.
Knowing all this, the Heavenly Killing Star looked at Biwol with sorrow.
The Heavenly Killing Star was born with karma that demanded murder to survive.
"...Master, where's Master? If it's Master, he can convince these people. It's all a misunderstanding—they've got it wrong."
Even amid the chaos, Biwol searched for a familiar face. The man with white hair and blue eyes.
She spotted Bing Yeon, sect leader of the Ice Dragon Harmony Sect and her master, but
"In my original karma, there is no Master."
It was then.
Thud, roll─.
"...What?"
A dull rolling sound echoed, followed by something bumping into Biwol's foot.
"Bing Yeon was killed by me—the future self bearing the original karma."
Biwol looked down with wide eyes to see Bing Yeon's severed head at her feet.
Biwol's heart demon (who claimed to be her) and I were now seated cross-legged facing each other.
We were meditating side by side to engage in a verbal duel without physical combat—a debate through words.
"Hehe, I never expected Master to prepare such a cute method. A duel with words?"
Biwol let out a soft laugh even before the proper debate began.
"Hasn't it been a while since we had a proper spar?"
I smiled inwardly at her. It was always rewarding to see a disciple try to surpass her master.
It meant she was stepping out of her master's shadow to stand on her own.
"You'll regret yielding three moves to this girl."
"Hmm, even like this, I think you'll still lose."
I couldn't help but smile inside as Biwol took a deep breath, pondering which technique to use first.
I was the author who created her, after all. Every martial art she knew had come from my mind.
A physical duel might end in my loss given my condition, but in this realm, my confidence overflowed.
"Is this... okay?"
"It'll be fine. If we can talk our way out of nearly dying, it's a bargain!"
Wolfram and Verdandi whispered while watching us. The hero, healed by the Gold Tower Lord, looked as lively as ever.
I'd already asked the others not to interfere. I'd noticed Biwol's feelings toward me, but
I'd played dumb until the heart demon surfaced—my fault too.
And there was another reason we had to duel verbally.
"My title is Ice Dragon, sect leader of the Ice Dragon Harmony Sect, heir to the North Sea Ice Palace lineage."
"My title—though given by those cult scum—is Heavenly Demon."
Biwol and I stated our titles, completing our preparations for the duel.
"Then let us begin, Master."
"Very well. What will you start with?"
"With the first form of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Supremacy Step, I shall close the distance to Master by one pace."
"Then I shall counter with the second form of the Ice White Divine Art, Ice Shadow Wall, to block your advance."
"Excellent! I shall then use the second form of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, Heavenly Demon Blood Tribulation Slash with hand blade, to shatter Master's ice wall!"
Visualizing my techniques in her mind, the heart demon grinned brightly and responded.
In the novel Diamond Fist King, I'd described how the protagonist Kim Huhl overcame his heart demon with a special method.
'A verbal duel.'
When tempted by the heart demon and falling into qi deviation, one's original self becomes trapped in their inner world.
'But a verbal duel can pierce into Biwol's inner world.'
This method allowed others to aid those afflicted. True masters could shape reality by imagining and projecting their inner worlds.
"...With the fourth form of the Ice White Divine Art, Ice Binding Roots, I shall fortify myself. I will receive your attack without flinching."
"Master! As expected! You've already blocked my strikes twice without a scratch!"
To save Biwol, I had to battle her heart demon.