The Path of Radiant Ascension
Bae Taek-ju, Director of Ipmaso, was having a busy stretch of days.
The third trial at Ipmaso was underway, and the results of the missions assigned to each recruit were beginning to come in.
"Director. Number Twenty-Five has failed his mission."
An instructor arrived with a report and delivered the summary without preamble.
"What was Twenty-Five's assignment?"
Years of experience had taught Bae Taek-ju that asking the instructor directly was faster than reading the report himself.
"An investigation of Haemil Village, east of the Cult."
"Investigation work is straightforward. Failure rates on those are usually low. What went wrong?"
"The Heavenly Righteous Alliance was present in Haemil Village. Twenty-Five fought one of their martial artists and lost. It appears the entire village has turned to the Alliance."
"Is Twenty-Five dead?"
"Yes. Our informant confirmed the body."
"…Tch. The Heavenly Righteous Alliance. This will have to go upstairs."
Reports like this were nothing new to the Director of Ipmaso. Recruits died every year. Each time he heard one, he felt a twinge of regret over the investment wasted on them—but that did not mean he could stop weeding out the mediocre. The Heavenly Demon Cult demanded only the finest talent.
"The third trial is nearly finished. Who is the top recruit?"
"The finest among them is Number Eighty-Eight. He produced results beyond the scope of his mission. Next is Number Five Hundred Sixty-Seven, Young Lady Yeon Ye-ha. She has already surpassed the skill of our own instructors. After her comes Number Three Hundred Sixty-Six. He excels at strategy and intrigue."
Unlike Yeon Ye-ha, daughter of the Sword Demon, only Bae Taek-ju knew that Number Eighty-Eight was the Young Heavenly Demon.
"Your assessment of Eighty-Eight is thin. Why is he ranked first? Is his martial prowess greater than Five Hundred Sixty-Seven's? Is his mind sharper than Three Hundred Sixty-Six's?"
"…Well. We aren't entirely certain ourselves. Eighty-Eight's strength and intellect are excellent, but not quite enough to call him the absolute best in either. What he does have is a gift for handling people. He has already won over the hearts of nearly every recruit."
The corner of the Director's mouth lifted. He was not mocking Number Eighty-Eight—quite the opposite. The instructor's words pleased him. If the next Heavenly Demon was a man who commanded loyalty, the Heavenly Demon Cult would keep its present order and continue to function without fracture.
"Eighty-Eight was born with something special. But that alone can't be why he ranks first."
"There is a more concrete reason. We judged the recruits solely on results, setting aside ability and background. Five Hundred Sixty-Seven's martial power and Three Hundred Sixty-Six's intellect are merely explanations for why their results turned out the way they did."
"First is Eighty-Eight. Second is Five Hundred Sixty-Seven. Third is Three Hundred Sixty-Six."
"Yes, Director."
"And fourth?"
"From fourth onward it gets murkier. Two candidates. Number One Hundred Twenty-Three and Number Two Hundred Ninety."
"First through fifth—all of them from Eighty-Eight's unit."
"Yes. Eighty-Eight has an exceptional eye for talent. After this is over, couldn't we bring him onto the Ipmaso staff? He would do outstanding work."
"Don't be ridiculous. The upper ranks are already watching the top ten performers."
"I was only half-serious. Personally, I believe Two Hundred Ninety is the better fit for fourth."
"Why?"
"Two Hundred Ninety completed an escort mission without a single flaw. Along the way he encountered a bandit group called the Hohaengchae and annihilated them to the last man. There is nothing to criticize."
"And One Hundred Twenty-Three?"
"…One Hundred Twenty-Three also completed his mission. By difficulty alone, it ranks among the highest. But the method was absurd. Using Thunderbolt Bombs he purchased from the black-market merchant Two Hundred Ninety was escorting, he obliterated the Seon Family Manor so thoroughly that not a single foundation stone remained."
"He leveled the Seon Family Manor in one stroke. The Cult will take Hagashi now that it has no master."
"Yes. A unit has already been dispatched. Purely by results, One Hundred Twenty-Three outranks the other. The problem is the process. Ugly rumors about the Cult are already circulating through Hagashi. That is why I consider Two Hundred Ninety the proper choice for fourth."
"I see. Then I will give you my opinion. One Hundred Twenty-Three is fourth."
The instructors' eyes turned toward Bae Taek-ju. The Director of Ipmaso was an educator. When his instructors had questions, he answered them as a matter of course.
"One Hundred Twenty-Three is a true demon. The kind of talent that belongs in this Cult. Do you understand? As the times have changed, the Cult has grown tame. We watch the Emperor's face and choke ourselves with rules. Without a proper pretext, we cannot even strike a martial sect at will. The Cult today is a tiger with its fangs pulled. In that climate, the existence of someone like One Hundred Twenty-Three will be a healthy jolt. And no—do not take that to mean I am dissatisfied with the Cult as it stands."
"……"
"The real reason is results. The long-term profit the Cult stands to gain from seizing Hagashi is considerable. Ugly rumors about the Cult flowing through the city? Rumors can be smothered with a little work. With the Seon Family Manor—our most troublesome enemy there—wiped out, it will be simple enough."
"But One Hundred Twenty-Three used Thunderbolt Bombs…"
"Instructors."
"…Yes, Director."
"We are not Orthodox rabble. Do not think like those Orthodox dogs. We are the Cult. To win, we do whatever it takes. Understood?"
"We momentarily forgot our place."
"Fourth is One Hundred Twenty-Three. Fifth is Two Hundred Ninety. From sixth onward, decide among yourselves."
In his heart, Bae Taek-ju was certain. Number One Hundred Twenty-Three would be a wind of change for the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Among all the recruits, the first to finish her mission was Yeon Ye-ha.
She was granted rest until the day the third trial officially ended. But rest was not in her nature. Every day she swung her sword in the training yard, then returned to her room, settled into a cross-legged seat, and continued circulating her inner energy.
Her days ran with the regularity of a machine.
Yeon Ye-ha knew her routine was strange. For a martial artist, however, it was ruthlessly efficient. Her life itself was closed-door cultivation.
Human beings are lazy. Stand long enough and you want to sit. Sit long enough and you want to lie down. Yeon Ye-ha was different. She possessed none of the emotions that invited indolence. Without emotion, she could train like a machine.
She continued her energy circulation in a state of no-mind, then quietly opened her eyes.
The effect of the circulation was negligible. Until a month ago she had grown stronger at a startling pace. The Heart-Severing Demonic Sword converted her emotions into inner energy and maximized her training efficiency.
But from the moment the third trial began a month ago, that efficiency had plummeted. The reason was simple: the man who had violated her four or more times a week had vanished.
…He is definitely still inside Ipmaso.
Yeon Ye-ha deliberately thought of him, trying to stoke her hatred. The Heart-Severing Demonic Sword would feed on that hatred and grow stronger—of that she was certain. And indeed, the technique stirred and answered her.
Four primary suspects. Among them, the most suspicious—the one most likely to be the culprit—is…
The Young Heavenly Demon, Cheon Yu-un.
Every circumstantial thread pointed to him.
And yet Yeon Ye-ha could not bring herself to be certain. She had known Cheon Yu-un for a relatively long time. That did not mean they were close, but she understood his character well enough. He had no reason to violate her. If he had wanted her, he would simply have pushed forward the betrothal that had been discussed for years.
If he is not the culprit…
The next two most likely men were Jegal Mo-sun and Yeom Gu-seok.
Jegal Mo-sun was a spellcaster. She had confirmed his skill through a sparring match, but there was always the chance it had been an act.
Yeom Gu-seok was even more likely than Jegal Mo-sun.
Over the past stretch of time, Yeon Ye-ha had been violated more than a hundred times. On a great many of those occasions, the culprit had worn Yeom Gu-seok's voice and face. She remembered the culprit's face at all because he liked burying it between her full breasts—and because she had, little by little, run her hands over that face.
Cheon Yu-un's face and Yeom Gu-seok's face appeared most often.
The culprit was a creature of whim. At least, that was how Yeon Ye-ha saw it. Which meant he would have used his true face on her at least once.
She turned over the questions she had exchanged with him. Nearly every answer pointed to Cheon Yu-un. But more than half of those same answers also fit Yeom Gu-seok—assuming the culprit had not been lying.
…Yeom Gu-seok.
Yeon Ye-ha felt that Yeom Gu-seok was the true identity of her assailant. She had no hard proof. It was a kind of instinct.
She combed through her memory, replaying the man who had taken her again and again, searching for some decisive clue she might have missed.
"Nnh…"
A sudden moan slipped from her lips as her body shuddered. Color flooded her face at the same time.
Yeon Ye-ha looked down at herself in mild surprise. Her nipples prickled; her sex itched. Her body was sexually aroused.
She was flustered—but only for a moment. The Heart-Severing Demonic Sword activated at once. The bewilderment vanished. The arousal in her flesh began to subside.
Then her body grew excited again. The itch between her legs made her hand slide into her trousers before she quite realized what she was doing. She had kept herself carefully bare for a long time, and she could feel sticky wetness seeping from the smooth flesh.
…The Heart-Severing Demonic Sword is active. It is steadily cutting away my emotions. And yet my body is still aroused, which means…
The flesh is ruled by the mind. But Yeon Ye-ha found herself in the opposite condition. Whether it was the unconscious or something else, her mind was feeling lust in response to her body's excitement. She tried to calm the arousal, but her flesh refused to obey.
Cornered by the predicament, she took drastic measures to quiet her body's hunger.
Masturbation.
She stripped the way she did when he took her, lay back on the bed, spread her legs, and pushed her fingers into herself.
A wet sound. Another.
"Hnnngh—?!"
The long-absent jolt of pleasure snapped her head back. Breath spilled from her open mouth. Absurdly, a single thrust of her fingers was enough to bring her to climax.
It was clearly abnormal—so much so that she wondered whether the man had done something to her.
Feeling the arousal that still would not settle, she moved her hand again. The Heart-Severing Demonic Sword kept activating, severing her lust. But that alone could not quiet the hunger in her flesh. It felt exactly the way it did when he took her.
There was only one way to resolve this. She had to satisfy the body's desire.
Yeon Ye-ha began working her fingers in earnest. Fluid sprayed and soaked the sheets. By the time roughly two hours had passed, she was thrusting three fingers into herself.
"Haaahh…!"
At last, she managed to bring the fever in her flesh under control.