Path of Radiant Ascension
No. I can't collapse here.
She screamed the refusal inside her own mind, yet she could not pull back the hand frozen in midair.
Yeon Ye-ha's image flickered before her eyes.
During the Baeksan War, Yeon Ye-ha had cut down her enemies with a blank face and a swinging blade. She had been strong—less a woman than a martial artist. Neither the hulking, muscle-bound men nor the ones who fought dirty had been able to best her. When Yeon Ye-ha's sword moved, enemies fell. Seomun So-ryeo had admired her.
And Seomun So-ryeo knew reality. She and Yeon Ye-ha came from completely different worlds.
Yeon Ye-ha was the daughter of the Sword Demon, Third Elder of the Heavenly Demon Cult. Seomun So-ryeo, by contrast, had merely been lucky enough to learn martial arts from a reclusive master. She did not even know that master's name, nor the name of the sect from which her arts descended.
The gap was enormous.
And with every passing day, that gap would only widen.
To close that difference… I'll have to give something up.
Seomun So-ryeo's gaze drifted to the Demonic Essence Pills.
She knew the truth. This time she had been lucky. In the first-minute bracket she had barely done anything of note. Next examination she might well be demoted from Group One to Group Two. In the fourth and final exam she might even be expelled.
Number 88 had told her she had talent. She herself believed it—the reclusive master who had taught her had called her a genius. But the world she knew was not a place where talent alone was enough.
If I turn down Number 123's offer… I think I'll regret it later.
If she failed the third exam and only then thought, If only I'd taken the Earth Spirit Pill back then. If only I'd taken one more Demonic Essence Pill—she might spend the rest of her life regretting it.
She had no confidence she would not. The moment she graduated from Ipmaso with mediocre results, she would become nothing more than an ordinary female martial artist.
Taking the elixirs and simply ignoring Number 123's proposal was also an option. She could not flee Ipmaso, but inside its walls Number 123 could not attack her.
That I'm even thinking this… pathetic.
Self-loathing washed through her. She exhaled and resolved to abandon the elixirs. She would refuse Number 123's offer. She would keep her principles and her chastity. With her talent, she could manage.
…Can I really?
Could talent alone carry her to success? If her next exam scores were poor and she was demoted, she would end up as just another mediocre martial artist.
…From the moment I decided to learn martial arts and live as a martial artist, I already gave up being a woman.
She would live as a martial artist and die as a martial artist. That had been the vow she made when she began training.
I already abandoned a woman's life. Does chastity even matter?
Plenty of men had lusted after her body over the years. Every one of them had tried to rape her. Some had even tried to buy her for pocket change.
Number 123 put Demonic Essence Pills and an Earth Spirit Pill on the table for my body.
In pure monetary value, those elixirs could buy not merely the finest courtesan but an entire glittering pleasure house in a single stroke.
And it's not as if I'm selling myself forever. I only have to give him my body for a month—exactly as he wants. Just one month.
If she simply discarded the idea of protecting her chastity, the gains would be enormous. This was not merely a profitable deal. With this she could climb to a higher realm. Yeon Ye-ha's distant back suddenly felt close enough to touch.
"Haa… haah… haa…"
Her breathing turned ragged.
Take the Earth Spirit Pill and break through to the Chulji realm. Then take two Demonic Essence Pills… and I should reach at least the third stage of Chulji. Even if I don't break through that far, I'll still have more demonic energy—and purer—than anyone else!
Greed.
The hunger to grow stronger goaded her again and again. Cold sweat streamed down her face.
This isn't rape. I'm choosing this myself. And what good is chastity anyway? It'll never happen, but… if. If I really met a man, became his lover, and gave him my chastity… would that be so precious? More precious than becoming strong? Of course not…!
In the end, her trembling hand closed around the Earth Spirit Pill. The instant she felt its spiritual energy, her breathing steadied and her mind grew calm. She had steeled herself. She had decided.
Seomun So-ryeo placed the Earth Spirit Pill in her mouth, settled into a cross-legged seat on the floor, and began circulating the Soul-Subduing Demonic Art. The spiritual energy surged inside her body. It was time to break through the wall.
I went out to the place where I had met Seomun So-ryeo the day before. I had arrived a little early, so she was nowhere in sight.
In the original novel she was the character who confessed to Cheon Yu-un in the mid-story arc and got rejected.
Later she would inherit the title of Spear Demon and rise to an elder's seat in the Heavenly Demon Cult. In the original she was a character who, spurred by Yeon Ye-ha, became obsessed with growing stronger. And the stronger she grew, the bolder her personality became.
Approaching her at this point was still too hasty, wasn't it?
Even so, I had judged that this method would only work now—while she was still raw from Yeon Ye-ha's stimulus. During Ipmaso's third examination Seomun So-ryeo would start seeing Cheon Yu-un as a man. By then it would be too late.
Seomun So-ryeo appeared a little past the appointed time. Her face was calm. I narrowed my eyes. I could feel it. She had broken through the wall and stepped into the Chulji realm.
Before I could speak, she spoke first.
"Number 123. What's your name?"
"…My name? Out of nowhere?"
"I feel grateful to you. I want to get closer. My name is Seomun So-ryeo. Ah—I can speak casually, right?"
"Speak casually. I'm… Yeom Gu-seok."
"Yeom Gu-seok, huh… It reeks of a fake name, but… whatever. Doesn't matter."
Seomun So-ryeo grinned. Yesterday her wariness toward me had been thick; today her face was bold and open.
"Seomun So-ryeo. I want your answer to the proposal."
"You already know what my answer is."
"I want it clear."
She shrugged once and said,
"I took the Earth Spirit Pill you gave me. I'll take the Demonic Essence Pills tomorrow. In short, I'm accepting your proposal—no, your deal."
"Good."
"Exactly thirty days."
"Starting now?"
"Yeah. Starting now."
I strode up to Seomun So-ryeo and pulled her hard into my arms. She flinched in surprise but did not resist. Color flooded her cheeks.
"You're my woman now."
"…Don't get the wrong idea. Not forever—just thirty days."
I cupped her face and stared straight into it. While I savored the shy flush of her features, I kissed her. My hand stroked her startled back as I slipped my tongue between her soft lips. Our tongues tangled. She followed the motion of mine clumsily, awkwardly.
After a long kiss I pulled away. Seomun So-ryeo wore the slightly dazed look of someone experiencing a kiss for the first time in her life. I reached to strip her clothes.
"W-wait."
"What is it?"
"I know your goal is my body. But… even so, doing it right here isn't right."
"This place is secluded enough that no one will catch us… Fine. I'll respect you. Where, then?"
"……Let's go to my room. Doing it in the men's dorm would be weird."
"Understood."
With Seomun So-ryeo's help I slipped unnoticed into her room. It was similar to Yeon Ye-ha's. The other women's rooms were probably much the same.
Rustle. Soft slide of cloth.
While I was still glancing around the room, Seomun So-ryeo had already stripped. I had not expected her to be this proactive; it caught me off guard.
Naked, Seomun So-ryeo still had enough shame left to cover her breasts and sex with both hands. In a trembling voice she said,
"I keep my promises."
"You really are an impressive woman."
I stripped as well until I was bare. The sight of Seomun So-ryeo's naked body made my cock stretch and rise as if waking from a nap. She looked at it, then slowly lowered the hands that had been covering her most private places.
Her breasts were a C-cup. The areolas and nipples were pink and well-proportioned, though the areolas swelled slightly forward.
Like most women of this world, she had a full thatch of pubic hair—a sharp contrast to Yeon Ye-ha's bare sex. Of course, even so, she had less hair than Yeon Ye-ha had before I shaved her.
"Seomun So-ryeo, what position do you prefer?"
"…Position? This is my first time. How would I know what I prefer?"
"Then let's find out which one you like best. Missionary first."
I pushed her onto the bed. Once she was lying down she breathed in short, sharp gasps. I set a hand on her breast. Her heartbeat hammered under my palm.
Far too tense. Does she have some fantasy about sex? Or maybe she's only ever heard ugly rumors about it.
I spread her legs. Between her pale thighs her sex came into view—a neat pink shape half-buried in hair. I brushed the coarse curls aside and touched her. Because I had not used Erogenous Amplification, she was dry.
In cases like this you start slow—caress her until her body heats up.
That way the woman could enjoy it too. There was no rush, so I decided not to use Erogenous Amplification.
Seomun So-ryeo pushed herself up on her elbows. When I simply kept kneading her sex and breasts without going further, she looked flustered.
"What? Why aren't you putting it in? Don't tell me you… don't know how?"
"I'm pampering your pussy. Stay still."
"……Are you kidding me?"
"Your body is mine."
"…For thirty days only."
Seomun So-ryeo sighed. She flopped back onto the bed as if the fight had gone out of her. I kept caressing her. Her eyes flicked sideways to my cock. The fact that she was not completely uninterested in sex was a relief.
"Haang… nnh… My body's getting hot…"
Under the unhurried caresses she began to grow aroused. Her nipples stood stiff; her sex grew slick and wet. I lowered my face between her thighs and carefully licked her open.
"Th-that's a dirty place… Hnnngh?! Ah, aah… It feels good… Ang…!"
She reported her impressions with blunt honesty. Her reactions were good enough that I kept sucking until her pussy gushed fluid. Preparation was finished. All that remained was penetration.
"I'm putting it in."
"…Okay."
I pushed my cock into her. Her hymen tore; blood soaked the sheets.
"Kh…!"
Seomun So-ryeo bit her lip and endured the pain. Watching her face, I rolled my hips slowly. After a little time she grew used to it; her mouth parted slightly and her eyes went hazy as she began to enjoy the sex.
"Haa… haa… So this is intercourse… Hnng, haaang…! It feels so much better than anything I ever heard…!"
Barely thirty minutes after losing her virginity, she was already moving her own hips and savoring the act.
"Your pussy. Truly delicious."
"…Delicious?"
"When sex feels good, people say it tastes good. A kind of metaphor."
"…I see. Your cock tastes good too."
I huffed a quiet laugh and came.
Thirty days flew by like an arrow.
I sat on the edge of Seomun So-ryeo's bed while she crouched between my legs and sucked my cock. She used her throat to work the thick shaft while her mouth and tongue never stopped moving. Her fellatio technique had reached expert level.
"Ah—I'm about to come."
"Mmph, mmph! Slurp…"
She said something around my cock. Roughly: come in my mouth. The fact that she kept holding me between her lips made it certain. I did as she wanted and came into her mouth and throat.
When I finished, she released me. She licked the cock still glistening with semen and spit, kneaded my balls with one hand, and pressed a kiss to the tip of the glans. Then she opened her mouth, swallowed the head, and rolled it around inside. I felt as if my glans had become a piece of candy, and I spoke.
"Seomun So-ryeo. Do you realize? The thirty days are over. Yesterday was exactly day thirty."
"Hwah… Was it?"
Only then did she spit me out. Her eyes, full of lingering regret, fixed on my cock. From the sex of the woman crouching in front of me, semen mixed with her own fluids was already dripping down.
I glanced toward the window. Dawn was slowly breaking. Not much time remained until reveille, but there was still enough for one more round.
"Will you be my woman?"
"Dream on. You're good at sex, but something like that alone will never make me yours. The promise is finished. We part ways now."
"…A shame."
Seomun So-ryeo stood. The body in front of me was beautiful. Watching my own semen trail from her sex down her thighs filled me with quiet satisfaction.
"One more proposal."
"A proposal? Do you have more elixirs like the Demonic Essence Pills?"
"I have a cock. I won't try to own you. But I'd like us to meet now and then and enjoy ourselves. You like my cock too, don't you?"
"……"
Seomun So-ryeo turned away. Staring at her firm, springy ass, I set my face. I had thought this would be enough… Was this the end?
…Do I need another approach?
She did not walk toward the wardrobe. She walked to the desk, gripped the edge, bent at the waist, and pushed her hips back. Then she gave a little sway to the ass still marked with my handprints. Her pussy fluttered open and spilled wetness.
"What are you waiting for? Reveille's almost here. Put your cock in my pussy already."
I grinned and rose from the bed. She had accepted the proposal.
One hand on her ass, I drove my cock hard into her sex.
Slap!
"Aaang! Your cock really does taste incredible!"
"Your pussy tastes spectacular too."
Today.
I had taken one of Cheon Yu-un's future subordinates into my hands.