Chapter 3
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Became the Heavenly Demon's Terminal Master (3)
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Biwol and I left the sect and boarded a carriage heading west. It had been quite some time since I'd last ventured out of the martial world like this.
"Master, what sort of place is the Western Regions?"
Biwol asked the question with eyes brimming with anticipation. She must have been harboring some fantasies about her first real trip.
"On a grand scale, it's no different from the martial world. Places where people gather to live are all much the same."
But regrettably, I was the original author who had written this fantasy world.
Back then, still young and immature, I'd loved crafting gloomy, despair-filled worlds.
I'd added settings like monster-infested northern regions and, beyond them, a demon realm continent ruled by the Demon King, turning it into a dark fantasy world.
"No different...?"
"No matter where you go, there will be countless hands reaching out for our help, Biwol."
I let out a deep sigh, forced to shatter her expectations.
If I'd known the novel's world would become reality like this, I would've written something brighter and more hopeful.
"Are those words truly sincere?"
In the jostling carriage, Biwol pressed close to my side and whispered softly into my ear.
"I've heard the Western Regions are full of mysterious Taoists wielding sorcery and swordsmen who infuse their blades with qi everywhere."
Her small, warm breath tickled my ear, startling me into shifting away. She just beamed and scooted after me.
Her closeness was sometimes unnervingly intimate. Was this how a master-disciple relationship was supposed to be?
"Qi is replaced there by something called 'mana.' Like the dantian where inner energy gathers, they have a 'mana core' in their hearts that lets them turn imagination into reality."
I pressed my palm against Biwol's cheek and pushed her back. The soft, yielding sensation made her puff out her cheeks in a pout.
"Master, why are you dodging?"
"You're too close. What if others misunderstand?"
Honestly, to me, Biwol was like a daughter. She was a being born from the words I'd penned, a fragment of my very soul.
"...I don't mind if they misunderstand."
"I do! I'm the sect leader of a renowned faction. What if rumors spread that I'm meddling with my disciple?!"
I grabbed both her cheeks and stretched them with my fingers.
They were soft like glutinous rice cakes—so adorable. She looked just like a hamster stuffed with sunflower seeds.
"Mashter, pwease wet go."
Watching her mangled pronunciation, I couldn't hold back and chuckled softly.
"Will you never do it again?"
"Yes, so please don't handle me so roughly."
Biwol rubbed her sore cheeks with both hands, her face all sulky. Seeing her like this, she didn't seem like the Heavenly Killing Star burdened with a karma that demanded killing to survive—just an ordinary girl.
'If I can see this side of her, maybe I can change Verdandi and Azazel's fates too.'
I gently curved my lips upward and smoothed back Biwol's tousled hair, tucking it behind her ear.
A frenzied hero consumed by justice, slaughtering people left and right. A saintess who contracted with an outer god just to be loved.
For a creator, the greatest honor was seeing characters come alive.
'I want to give them all happy endings, as happily as possible.'
Now that it was reality, not fiction, it was time to do what I could. Not as a mere reader, but as their author—as someone connected to them, not a bystander.
"By the way, Master, is that 'little sister disciple' someone you've known for a long time? I didn't get a proper explanation last time..."
Biwol looked up at me, her posture like a kitten gazing from below.
She wrapped her arms around mine, clinging tight like a puppy marking its scent.
"She's like a daughter to me. And not just one—there are two such girls in this world."
"...Pardon?"
In that instant, a chilling killing intent radiated from Biwol, enveloping her entirely. The horse pulling the carriage reared up with a loud snort, hooves kicking forward in fright.
"...Biwol, rein in your killing intent."
"But, but..."
I stroked her head and spoke softly, scattering yin energy around us to contain her aura from spreading further.
Otherwise, the coachman and even the horse would faint, derailing our journey to the Western Regions.
"I told you not to let your emotions show so easily. A blade without purpose and killing intent without direction only harm yourself."
I had no intention of scolding her for unleashing killing intent rashly.
Biwol's deep attachment and dependence on me made it natural for her to fear being abandoned with a new little sister disciple entering the picture.
"I called her my daughter because, like you, she's lived a life of misfortune due to my failings, Biwol."
"Why do you call it your fault, Master? You've done nothing wrong."
No, it's all my fault.
"I had the power of martial prowess to save a grieving child, and the chivalrous heart to pity them."
A bitter taste lingered in my mouth. As this world's creator, I could have granted them happy endings.
"But in the past, I turned a blind eye to that injustice. Simply because my own survival came first, I excused myself by saying they were just unlucky."
But I hadn't. To me, the final boss was an antagonist meant to block the protagonists' path.
"You mustn't say such things, Ice Dragon—you who shattered the apostle group that imprisoned me."
She was a being the protagonists had to kill.
"...I could have saved them sooner. Saved more children. If my feet had been swifter, my senses sharper, I could have found you faster."
"It was an unavoidable situation. No one can blame you, Master."
Biwol uttered the words "it couldn't be helped." Yes, making excuses like that eases the mind.
They were just fictional villains in a story—mere words without soul or flesh before I possessed this body.
But,
"Words are endlessly light and easy, Biwol. If I hadn't saved you, do you know how many children would have turned to blood and flesh?"
The situation had changed now. Everything in this world breathed, each with its own life.
All because of a few inept lines from my unworthy hand.
"......"
"Biwol, my disciple as radiant as the bright moon in the night sky. Never forget that the master you follow and serve is a flawed man only now facing his past."
I couldn't tell Biwol everything, but I could convey it in circles as best I could.
If I'd finished the serialization instead of abandoning it midway, none of this would have happened.
"Yes, I will keep it in mind..."
Whether she understood, Biwol grabbed my wrist with both hands, pressing her head harder into my stroking palm.
The Heavenly Demon who'd exuded killing intent moments ago was gone, replaced by a spoiled little girl.
"The first little sister you'll meet is a poor child devoured by justice."
"Justice, you say..."
"To put it simply, she's a powerhouse who tries to kill anyone violating chivalry without fail."
I explained Verdandi to Biwol like that. She judges newcomers as villains using [Scales of Justice] and [Truth-Seeing Eye].
The problem was how feather-light that "villain" label was.
"...No need for questions?"
A child stealing potatoes from the neighbor during famine, a mother disciplining her child harshly with a switch.
"Yes, to that girl, killing intent weighs next to nothing."
To Verdandi, they were all villains committing evil deeds. That was the setting I'd given her.
The final boss in a novel had to be stronger than anyone, absolutely evil.
In Biwol's case, she'd simply been lucky enough to be saved.
"Now I finally understand everything."
Biwol clenched her fists, nodding vigorously. Thankfully, she seemed to empathize with Verdandi's story.
"You're trying to share your boundless grace with that little sister too!"
"...?"
Biwol's words, spoken with half-lidded eyes, were a bit off the mark, but at least she hadn't misunderstood my intent.
"This unworthy disciple feared she might be some illegitimate child you'd hidden away. Of course not! The one I follow and revere above all wouldn't share his heart with some random woman..."
Biwol let out a gleeful "ehehe," her mouth stretched wide in a grin as she clutched her cheeks, beaming with happiness.
"...Wait, Biwol. Do you hear something?"
It was then.
A scraping sound—charruk, charruk—grated at our ears from all around. Too odd for mere horse hooves.
"Doesn't sound good."
At my warning, Biwol scanned our surroundings, sensing the anomaly. She immediately assumed a stance, ready to leap from the carriage.
"...Definitely the sound of dragging iron chains. Biwol, can you sense how many are approaching?"
I tasked her naturally sharp senses with scouting the enemies.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you'll win every battle—gauging their strength was key.
"Three burly men with iron flails, five stout ones with clubs, two who look like escorts wielding large swords, and finally... one leader type with an axe."
Biwol closed her eyes briefly, perceiving the bandit gang closing in.
They were using chains to block the horse's path, aiming to rob us of goods and lives in the chaos.
"Eleven in total. Good."
At her response, I leaped from the moving carriage before she could.
Ice White Divine Art, First Form: Ice Shattering Fist
A fist technique condensing frigid energy in the hand and exploding it outward. Targets freeze internally; alternatively, creates icy pillars from the ground.
I spun my body once and slammed my fist into the earth. With a tremendous crunch—ice pillars erupted skyward.
"M-Master?!"
Seeing me move first, Biwol yelped in surprise and chased after me. Demonic energy from the Heavenly Demon Divine Art cloaked her form.
We'd secured the advantageous position for swift combat when,
"This is territory managed by the Green Forest Bandits' 72 Branches! Pay the toll if you want to pass!"
We faced a man with a bushy beard and a physique like a mountain, exuding intimidation just by standing there.
"This is Tall Golden Axe Sanpo, one of the branch leaders of the Green Forest Bandits!"
The bandit swung his massive axe, slicing through the air with whistling sounds.
"Hahaha!! Unless you wanna get chopped by our boss's axe, leave the woman and money here!!"
"Yeah! Our toll's expensive!"
Sanpo and his bandits sneered at us, unable to stifle their cackling laughter.
But I remained unshaken by their mockery, slowly curling my lips upward.
"...You lot must not have heard the name Ice Dragon."
My cold voice sliced the air, instantly silencing the bandits' laughter.
"Ice Dragon? That martial arts master from the Righteous-Demonic Great War?"
"Wait, no way..."
Discomfort and unease flickered across the bandits' faces. Seeing it, I smiled inwardly.
I desperately needed money for the Western Regions trip, and here were walking piles of gold delivering themselves right to me.