The Fact That the Heavenly Demon Is a Woman Is Written in the Kojiki Too (3)
Thirin muttered blankly to herself.
“...Heavenly Demon Divine Art?”
What the hell was this supposed to mean?
From what Thirin had experienced so far, martial arts—especially Physical Realization—never created something from nothing. This damn DLC called Martial Arts in Fantasy Land was closer to a process that filtered and reinterpreted the magic, divine power, mysteries, and techniques of this fantasy world through the lens of wuxia.
Sharpness. Hardness. Flow.
Heres’s lightning-fast stabs had become Sharpness. Gordo’s brutish strength had become Hardness. And Bjorn’s dizzying Illusion Sword had become Flow.
It took certain characteristics from the original technique and translated them into martial forms. So this so-called Heavenly Demon Divine Art had to work the same way. Its source had to be the belly punch that crazy priestess had just thrown at her.
What kind of punch could possibly turn into the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?
Basic Form — ‘Break (破)’ Acquired!
Basic Form — ‘Point (點)’ Acquired!
Basic Form — ‘Connect (緣)’ Acquired!
What the hell were these techniques even supposed to be?
“Heavenly Demon...”
The demon of the heavens.
“Just now...”
The priestess’s voice cut through Thirin’s thoughts.
“What did you just say?”
“...!”
Goosebumps erupted across Thirin’s entire body. The kind, smiling face that had been cheerfully talking about pregnancy just moments ago had completely vanished. The priestess’s green eyes now stared at her with zero trace of amusement.
The once peaceful atmosphere had frozen solid. It was like she had become an entirely different person. Thirin’s skin prickled. This woman was radiating pure, unfiltered hostility toward her right now.
“It seems you didn’t come here simply for medical treatment after all.”
There was more than just wariness in the priestess’s voice. Thirin’s sharp senses were screaming danger. For the first time in a long while, Thirin genuinely felt that this was dangerous.
It was a threat she hadn’t felt from any of the heinous criminals or werewolves she’d encountered before.
She’s strong.
Thirin instinctively understood. This woman was powerful. If she weren’t, there was no way she could have set up a clinic alone in a shabby building on the outskirts of the city, constantly watched by the eyes of the Pantheon while still going around providing free medical care.
Thirin quickly organized her thoughts.
Lame excuses won’t work here.
This woman had enough insight to see through nonsense like a hysterectomy at a glance. In that case...
Thirin decided to charge straight ahead.
“...Yeah. I didn’t come for treatment.”
The moment those words left her mouth, blue energy rose like mist from the priestess’s clenched fist. Thirin had seen something like this before. When that idiot Gordo had smashed a rock, he’d wrapped the same kind of energy around his fist.
Instinctively, Thirin realized it was similar to the flames she possessed—her internal energy. Whatever this woman was, she was clearly on a higher level than Thirin!
The priestess asked in a low voice.
“The Empire clearly stated it would not involve itself with us. Are you from the Holy Knight Order, then?”
“......?”
What was she talking about? Holy Knight Order? The Empire?
It looked like the priestess was seriously misunderstanding something. Thirin quickly continued.
“No, no, no. I came here on a referral from the guild. I wanted to ask about the Divine Core.”
The blue energy around the priestess’s fist faltered.
“Divine Core...?”
The priestess tilted her head in confusion. Pure bewilderment appeared in her clear green eyes.
Thirin pondered for a moment. Was it okay to tell this woman everything? She had come here for help in the first place, but now that she was here, this crazy woman who claimed pregnancy was the best cure for period cramps—and a good belly punch was the second-best option—stood before her.
“......”
Thirin’s hesitation didn’t last long. Hesitation wasn’t her style. Besides, she wasn’t the type of person to repay kindness with deception. Although the priestess’s treatment methods were beyond bizarre, they had been effective, and she even went around providing free medical services. She might be a bit twisted, but a good person was still a good person.
Having made that judgment, Thirin laid out her purpose very concisely, clearly, and honestly.
“I killed a cultist’s god and ate its core. I want to know how to use this thing.”
“......”
The priestess remained silent for a while. Her expression was... how should Thirin put it?
She looks kind of stupid right now.
The priestess’s face had gone completely blank. The condensed energy around her fist had already dissipated. She asked again, extremely carefully and with utmost politeness, as if she had no intention of provoking Thirin at all.
“...Sister. May I ask a question just to confirm whether I understood your words correctly?”
“Sure.”
“You just said... you killed a god and ate its core?”
“Yeah.”
Thirin nodded. Was there a problem with that?
Deep exhaustion began to settle in the priestess’s green eyes.
“Sister. I... would like to hear the context behind how you came to say such things in more detail. Would that be alright?”
Although her voice was extremely polite, Thirin could roughly guess what the priestess was thinking.
She’s looking at me like I’m a crazy bitch spouting nonsense.
Understanding of Others has increased!
Raise your comprehension to obtain Enlightenment!
This crazy bitch, who does she think she’s calling—
A strange tension began to flow between the two women, each thinking the other was insane.
The priestess brought Thirin a cup of warm tea. Thirin took a sip and explained why she had come all the way here.
She was a bounty hunter. While tracking kidnapped children, she had encountered cultists who worshipped the Sand Demon God. Somehow, she ended up destroying its manifested divinity and obtaining its Divine Core. It was a long story if told in detail, but a simple one if summarized.
The priestess sometimes nodded, sometimes tilted her head.
“Certified by divine speech. Then it must be true.”
The priestess politely clasped both hands and rested them on her lap. Thanks to that, her large priestess pouch was pressed against her arm and bulged forward like it was about to burst. Thirin glanced at it and continued.
“Anyway, that’s why I got a referral from the guild receptionist Rina and came here. I wanted to ask about the Divine Core.”
“...So that’s how it is. The guild has a long history, so they know many things.”
The priestess muttered something cryptic, then quietly added,
“I had wondered if there might still be demonic energy left in your bones...”
“What?!”
“...”
“...”
Thirin and the priestess both shut their mouths at the same time.
“...You have excellent hearing.”
“...It’s nothing.”
Once again, a strange tension began to flow between the two women who each thought the other was insane.
After that brief battle of nerves, the priestess remained silent for a long time. She seemed lost in deep thought.
...What kind of bullshit is she about to spout now?
Just as Thirin raised her guard internally, the priestess finally spoke.
“Please return for today.”
“...What?”
“My preparations are currently insufficient, so it is difficult for me to answer your questions right now.”
The priestess stood up and spoke politely but firmly.
“I will visit you personally soon.”
It was a clear order to leave.
“......”
Thirin decided to take it positively. For one thing, she herself was mentally exhausted. The system window had been flooded with messages begging to be checked, and above all, she needed to figure out what the hell this Heavenly Demon Divine Art was.
Of course, Thirin’s dual-core cultivation also provided a very modern reason.
She’s promising after-sales service. Customer satisfaction must be important. Well, if a hospital that prescribes pregnancy as treatment for period cramps wants to survive, it better have solid customer service at least.
Thirin was about to stand up when a question suddenly occurred to her.
“What’s so special about the Heavenly Demon that you got so worked up?”
Instead of answering, the priestess simply stared at Thirin for a moment. Her eyes were unreadable, as if she were measuring something.
“...Since you don’t seem to know, I have nothing particular to say.”
She continued,
“However, I would appreciate it if you could at least remember that it is an extremely blasphemous term for us.”
“Hmm.”
Under normal circumstances, Thirin would have pressed the issue a bit, but she simply nodded obediently. After all, she had received treatment. And Thirin was weak to debt.
She stood up. Just as she was about to leave the clinic, her sharp ears caught a faint sound leaking from the inner room.
“Ughhh...”
Groans. There were both male and female moans.
Thirin paused for a second but soon shrugged.
Figures. They must be people groaning after getting belly-punched like me.
What kind of sins had the people of this city committed that they had to receive treatment from a crazy woman like her?
Feeling a twinge of pity, Thirin left the clinic. For some reason, her steps felt lighter than usual.
On her way back to the inn, Thirin thought about it.
The priestess’s behavior had been ridiculous, but on the other hand, it was somewhat understandable. She recalled a certain senile old man from the Salvation Sect. That old man’s Salvation Sect had been closer to something like the “Beggar Almsgiving Movement Headquarters” or the “Homeless Death Prevention Committee.” Even that old fool had some overlap with the attitude of this blonde lunatic.
That old man jumped up and down insisting his sect wasn’t the Romance Sect, but behind the scenes he was thinking about seducing the widow who runs the bakery.
But just because of behavior that shameless, it wouldn’t be called the Romance Sect. Now Thirin finally understood where the Salvation Sect’s notoriety as the Romance Sect had come from.
This place is the real Romance Sect.
Prescribing pregnancy to perfectly healthy people at the drop of a hat—it wasn’t normal. It should be called the Breeding Sect instead. Or perhaps the Pregnancy Salvation Faction, a group that forcibly impregnates people to cure their period cramps and thereby “save” them.
“......”
Anyway, the important thing wasn’t that old man or the crazy blonde. Thirin needed to figure out what the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was and what all those messages flooding the system window meant.
Basic Form — ‘Break (破)’ Acquired!
Basic Form — ‘Point (點)’ Acquired!
Basic Form — ‘Connect (緣)’ Acquired!
Heavenly Demon Divine Art, huh...
Heavenly Demon.
Thirin didn’t know much about wuxia, but as a modern person, she had the basic common knowledge. The Heavenly Demon was the leader of the evil faction, a righteous, upright, and ridiculously overpowered being who punished the hypocrites of the righteous sects—especially the Murim Alliance.
In many cases, the Heavenly Demon was a hunter who had returned to modern times. Sometimes he was a chef. Occasionally an idol or an internet broadcast BJ.
Thirin knew a lot more about the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon was a woman. Usually she had a massive internal energy pouch, but sometimes she wore a revealing qipao with deep side slits that exposed not only her pelvis but even the sides of her slender, washboard-like waist.
The Heavenly Demon was the one who used the Moonwalk (Michael Jackson) and the one who used the Death Beam (Darth Vader).
The Heavenly Demon. The strongest under the heavens, the strongest throughout all history. But somehow still a third-rate at times.
Thirin suddenly thought the Heavenly Demon was incredibly cool.
“Heavenly Demon. The Witch of Defiance Against Heaven. So fucking cool.”
Because the Witch of Defiance Against Heaven was just as cool as the Witch of Flames.
“......”
Thirin shook her head. This wasn’t the time to get lost in such random thoughts. The important thing was that, whatever the Heavenly Demon of this fantasy land was, it had apparently granted her some kind of martial art.
Break (破) to shatter. Point (點) to strike. Connect (緣) to link.
The martial art she had realized after being hit by the priestess’s healing belly punch. So far, there had been consistency in how Thirin acquired martial arts.
Heres’s footwork and rapid stabs had become a piercing technique—Sharpness. Gordo’s rock-smashing brute strength had become power that destroys everything—Hardness. Bjorn’s dizzying illusion sword had become an unpredictable flow of blades—Flow.
Martial arts carried the characteristics of their source.
In that case...
Thirin recalled the lightning-fast fist that had struck her, the extreme shock that traveled up her spine and rattled her brain. And the ironic result had been the relief of her pain.
Destruction and healing. By precisely striking and breaking something blocked inside the body, it ultimately healed.
“......!!!”
A fragment of a memory from her beloved home world flashed through Thirin’s mind like lightning. She had experienced it before. A technique that used extremely thin needles to pierce specific points on the body and cure illness. A mysterious medical art with thousands of years of history that governed the flow of qi and blood in the human body.
Thirin realized it. This shared aspects with the only supreme martial art that had survived into the modern era.
“Korean medicine... acupuncture...!”
Divine Korean Medical Art — Life-Saving Needle Technique.
The priestess’s belly punch wasn’t simple violence. It was a highly advanced medical procedure that used a fist like a needle, precisely striking (Point) Thirin’s twisted qi pathways, breaking (Break) what was blocked, and reconnecting (Connect) the severed flow.
Savior Cult Cure Fist.
“......Crazy.”
Thirin unintentionally let out a gasp of admiration. A crazy woman who performed acupuncture with her fists. The talent pool in this fantasy land truly surpassed imagination.
Why the Heavenly Demon had appeared was still a mystery, but it wasn’t that important. If there could be a Returned Hunter Heavenly Demon, a Chef Heavenly Demon, an Idol Heavenly Demon, and an Internet BJ Heavenly Demon, then there was no reason there couldn’t be an Oriental Doctor Heavenly Demon.
In any case, Thirin had perfectly understood the principle behind this bizarre treatment method.
“I completely understand it now.”
She understood absolutely nothing.
Thirin nodded firmly.
“I want to test it out right away.”
There were plenty of places to test it. The back alleys of the city spread like mold, and the thugs served as their hosts, spreading spores everywhere. But Thirin was a modern person. Someone who could find use even in mold.
“The one who extracts penicillin from blue mold. That’s me.”
Thirin nodded in satisfaction and melted into the darkness of the back alleys, searching for a suitable thug—test subject—to try her healing punch on.