Holy Relic [Seonghwa]!!!
"Whoa!"
Opulence taken to its absolute limit.
A magnificent hall filled my vision—the kind of building that screamed money had been thrown at it without a second thought.
"So this is the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons…!"
Honestly, from the name alone I'd expected some kind of cursed technique straight out of a comic or novel. Sadly, that wasn't the case.
I wanted to pull off something like a Domain Expansion too…
I swallowed the disappointment and, for now, slowly surveyed my surroundings as I stepped inside the hall.
"Man, this is something else…"
The interior was vast. Broad enough that I could dump a full set of gym equipment in here and call it a day. In a way, it was like I'd just gained a personal inventory of my own.
"Guess I don't have to worry about luggage whenever I go somewhere anymore!"
As a reward, this was way more useful than some random technique.
I headed deeper into the building to the left and found a secluded chamber that looked lived-in.
"Hmm. This looks like a place to rest. Could this be the Heavenly Demon's quarters?"
Books lined the wall cabinets in tight rows. I pulled one out and tried to read it.
"Ugh… it's in Chinese characters. I can't read this!"
Zero consideration for Koreans, apparently. Chinese characters? The last time I'd seen those was elementary school. Did they assume that just because this body was the Heavenly Demon, I was Chinese or something?
A little disappointing.
I left the inner chamber and this time moved toward the right. The surroundings gradually grew darker.
"Wow… why is it so creepy in here?"
Being a demonic cult didn't mean everything had to be pitch-black, right? It was so oppressively dark that any schoolteacher who saw it would immediately start muttering about children of the darkness.
"I should buy some lightbulbs later and flood this place with light."
Not that I was scared or anything.
As I pressed deeper toward the center, an enormous hall opened up before me. This had to be the heart of the entire space. The solemn atmosphere and overwhelming presence raised goosebumps along my back.
And at the far end of that central chamber, raised high above everything else, sat a throne that anyone could tell was meant for a supreme ruler.
"Now that is impressive…!"
Is this where they used to scheme about conquering the Central Plains?
I climbed the stairs in one go and sat down.
"Heh heh heh! So this is the view of a supreme being!"
Looking down from such a high seat gave me a strangely intoxicating thrill.
That was when it happened.
"This Heavenly Demon seems rather young."
"!"
There wasn't a single presence my senses could catch, and yet a voice had reached me.
"Who's there?!"
I yelped and spun around, releasing Demonic Energy as I scanned the area in a panic.
"Over here."
I turned toward the voice again—and a translucent woman gradually came into focus.
"Who are you, miss?!"
Her dark, hazy form had me spooked. I raised my voice on purpose so I wouldn't sound like a coward.
"So this is the Heavenly Demon of the present age…"
The woman approached slowly out of the darkness.
Pure silver hair. Deep crimson eyes. Features as delicate as a rabbit's—and a body that matched this form's ideal type down to the last detail.
"Ahem…!"
For a second I wondered if the skill had just materialized my perfect woman.
"It's not that, so don't get any weird ideas."
"!"
She read my mind?
"I am Seonghwa. The faith of this cult, and its most sacred holy relic."
She went on to explain that within this space, she could see straight through my thoughts.
"A holy relic that looks like a person…?"
"I selected and imitated only the parts from the appearances of past Holy Maidens that most perfectly match your tastes."
Did she have to say something so embarrassing out loud…?
I pulled myself together and asked Seonghwa what she wanted.
"So… why did you suddenly appear and speak to me?"
Meeting a woman who hit every one of my preferences so perfectly made polite speech slip out before I could stop it—very unlike me.
"Think of me as the caretaker of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, and as a special helper for your growth—separate from the Tower."
"A helper?"
"Yeah. Your skills are still pretty lacking."
"…"
Hearing that this body was lacking—having my limits pointed out before I'd even felt them myself—sparked a stubborn flicker of defiance.
"Well, I'm not trying to scold you too hard."
She added that, for someone who had only just awakened the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, I was using it remarkably well.
"That said, at your current level, clearing past the sixth floor on hard mode is going to be tough."
"I get stuck at the sixth floor?"
"Yeah. You're still pretty weak."
Weak.
Me?
Apart from the rebellion rising inside me, she explained that was exactly why she had appeared—to help with my climb of the Tower.
"Of course, with your current number of believers, I can't offer you much help just yet."
"Believers? Wait—you mean subscribers?"
"That's right. The believers you gathered with that bizarre training of yours."
"And that's still not enough?"
"Obviously. The Heavenly Demon is the master of Mount Heaven. Even counting only the ordinary believers who live there—excluding martial artists—you're looking at several million at the very least."
I'd been so pleased about crossing thirty thousand… and now the bar had been raised again.
I let out a sigh at the new hurdle, and Seonghwa clapped her hands as she watched me.
"I suppose I should give you an example of how I can help you grow."
The scenery changed in an instant.
"Hah?! What the—?"
A training ground so vast that a hundred adults could run wild without crowding one another.
"This is going to be a very important experience for you."
The moment she clapped again, a figure appeared at the far end of the training ground.
Dark clothes. Sharp, piercing eyes. Shaggy dark brown hair.
"That's the 10th Heavenly Demon."
"The 10th Heavenly Demon…?"
"Yeah. The weakest Heavenly Demon in history."
The Heavenly Demon was supposed to be the strongest of the strong. And yet—the weakest of the strongest?
"So what am I supposed to do?"
"Fight him. Don't you need to understand your own level?"
"Fight him? Just like that?"
A sudden fight. For a second I almost mistook Heavenly Demons for some kind of battle-obsessed race.
"Yeah. You won't die, at least. So give it everything you've got."
At that moment, a quest window appeared before my eyes.
Trial of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons
The Hall of Ten Thousand Demons is a space where the martial arts, experience, and paths walked by past Heavenly Demons are recorded.
Prove your qualification as Heavenly Demon.
🎯 Objective: Duel the phantom of the 10th Heavenly Demon.
🎁 Reward: Partial unlocking of Hall of Ten Thousand Demons functions
* You cannot die inside the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.
* You may end the quest at any time by fainting or surrendering.
Fine.
I'd already been dismissed—so all that was left was to show what I could do. Besides, I'd been curious myself about where exactly my limits lay. The sudden fight had thrown me off, sure, but a quest changing the stakes was a different story.
I hit accept without hesitation.
"Give it your all, 11th Heavenly Demon."
"Wait—11th?"
The moment I let my guard down to ask that, the 10th Heavenly Demon closed the distance as if folding space itself.
"Guh…!"
A fist drove straight into my solar plexus while I was completely unprepared. No stance, no wind-up—just a punch launched raw—and the impact still hit like a missile.
Thud—! Whoooosh—
My body shot through the air like a cannonball and smashed into the far wall of the training ground. I swept the floating dust aside and clutched the spot where I'd been hit.
"Khh… damn it."
Attacking while I was off-guard like that.
One hit isn't enough to make me quit.
Judging from that strike—taking a direct hit to a vital point and still not blacking out—the gap in raw physical ability between us wasn't that huge.
I got up at once and charged.
Our figures crossed. He slipped past every attack I threw as if it were nothing. Not a single wasted movement. Minimal motion to evade—then counter. A simple pattern, yet impossible to answer. I started taking hits with no way to stop them.
"Kh…!"
An absolute gulf in experience, and martial skill to match. That left me only one choice.
All I can do is endure…
To burn his movements into my eyes somehow, I wrapped the Demonic Energy I'd been spending on attacks around my body for defense, and poured as much of it as I could into my eyesight.
"I'll strip you down to the bone…!"
Bloodshot eyes began to capture every detail of his motion. Like a turtle pulled into its shell, I covered every vital point and committed myself entirely to evasion—a pure act of desperate resistance.
After a long stretch of being treated like a human punching bag, understanding gradually began to settle in.
The meaning woven into his movements.
The Heavenly Demon Divine Art wasn't just about circulating Demonic Energy to amplify it. He was constructing a domain of his own.
The Heavenly Demon was one who dominated—and made others submit. A divine art that, as an absolute being, carried his own path of supremacy. Imbuing that supremacy into Demonic Energy and using it to rule everything around him.
That was the true essence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
"Hup…!"
It felt like a new field of vision had opened. As the thrill of enlightenment surged, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art itself began to answer.
"I more or less get how he moves now…!"
I changed my approach. Casting aside the old, clumsy method—becoming more like a Heavenly Demon.
"Brace yourself!"
I poured my own supremacy into every single punch.
Boom.
Boom.
Wherever we passed, the space itself dented, and cracks began spidering across the training ground.
I can do this…!
My way of shrinking his control of the field. Where he restrained an opponent's movement with refined precision, I bound him with absolute force.
In response, the 10th Heavenly Demon began to raise his own Demonic Energy.
"Heh heh heh…!"
The repeated blows had left me with internal injuries that made my insides feel like they were flipping over. Blood I couldn't swallow spilled from the corner of my mouth in thick drops—but my mind stayed razor-sharp.
The ultra-high-speed brawl resumed. When I twisted my waist to dodge, a palm stabbed into my shoulder. When I slipped past an elbow, a knee drove into my side. Even so, I was catching up—bit by bit.
At first I couldn't even graze his clothes. Then a sleeve tore. After that, I clipped his shoulder. Through it all I was beaten so savagely that my entire body turned into one giant bruise—but at last—
"Heh… finally blocked one, huh?"
The 10th Heavenly Demon, who had been relying purely on evasion, stopped the fist I threw.
"Heavenly Demon Chain Explosion…!"
This body's secret technique, built through the Multi-Weight Hand Method.
But—
"…!"
My extended hand wouldn't move. I'd put everything I had into it, and yet it was stuck fast—like a fly caught in a pitcher plant. In that instant I realized this was a trap.
"No way—"
My Demonic Energy was draining.
"Damn it—this is a counter…!"
Through the hand he'd seized, my Demonic Energy began pouring into him in an uncontrollable flood.
"The Great Energy Absorption Art…!"
The pinnacle of demonic arts for devouring an opponent's inner energy. Because of the Absorption Seal of the Great Energy Absorption Art, my hand wouldn't come free—and the Demonic Energy kept dwindling along that connection.
In the end, after losing more than a critical amount of Demonic Energy, I couldn't hold on to consciousness. My eyelids fell shut, and I blacked out.