The Path of the Heavenly Demon
9. The Path of the Heavenly Demon.
My clone was heading toward the temple.
At the center of the temple stood a single enormous stone statue — a man with wings upon his back. And that statue, too, began to move. Amazingly, the statue had come to life.
Light radiated from its entire body as it locked its gaze on the Heavenly Demon. It seemed to have immediately recognized her as a formidable foe.
Soon, monsters began pouring toward her.
Kwooooor—!!
Kyaaaaah—!!
As if the statue absolutely had to be protected. The monsters threw themselves at the Heavenly Demon with desperate fury.
But even witnessing that, my clone did not stop walking. Instead, she simply kept murmuring strange words.
"The Heavenly Demon's footsteps are never halted by the will of another."
With that, she continued to advance.
Thud.
Thud.
Her pace never changed.
In that moment, the monsters' assault began. Every last one of them bared its fangs and lunged at the Heavenly Demon. Yet even then, her footsteps did not stop. She simply kept walking forward.
And then something unbelievable happened.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
She was clearly just walking. Simply walking. And yet the heads of the monsters charging her in real time exploded. It wasn't just one of them. The heads of every monster that approached her vanished one after another.
"W-what is this…"
I watched in a daze.
She's that strong?
I had known she would be powerful. She was the Heavenly Demon, after all — I'd understood from the start that she would be strong. But I never imagined it would be to this degree.
Every time she took a step, a monster's head burst apart. She still just kept walking. She showed no other movement. Her gaze remained fixed solely on the statue. And yet the monsters died one after another. I couldn't believe it even as I watched.
BOOM—!
BOOM—!
In an instant, monster corpses piled high. Their blood soaked the desert sand in a dark, wet sheen. The Heavenly Demon's footsteps never stopped. Just as she had declared, she continued stepping forward.
Then, at last, the statue that had been standing still made its move. Suddenly its wings flared wide open, and in that state the statue took to the sky.
Fast.
The statue's movements were incredibly swift — hard to believe it was made of stone. It moved like a jet fighter.
WHOOSH—!
WHOOSH—!
The sky screamed as if being torn apart. Sonic booms filled every direction. The statue weaved wildly through the air, trying to scatter the Heavenly Demon's focus.
But she simply kept walking forward — as if that was simply what she had to do.
Then—
Danger!
WHOOSH—!
In an instant, the statue charged at the Heavenly Demon at tremendous speed. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of her. Yet even then, the Heavenly Demon looked serene — almost unnaturally so.
And there was a reason for that.
BOOOOOOM—!!
I blinked. Suddenly the statue's head was gone.
CRASH—!
The headless statue collapsed to the ground. I still hadn't properly seen the Heavenly Demon move. An absurd level of skill.
I stared at her blankly. Then the path she had walked came into view. Originally, there had been no path in the desert. But at some point, a long road of vivid red blood had formed.
"This is the Path of the Heavenly Demon."
Her voice reached my ears. As if by magic, it carried clearly even from that great distance. I nodded with a blank expression.
"This is the Heavenly Demon…"
Honestly, I'd had slight doubts about her. Even calling her the Heavenly Demon, it hadn't felt real. But I never thought she'd be this strong. Someone who could shatter the very rules of a dungeon…
Then, suddenly, the surroundings began to shake.
"Ah!"
It felt like an earthquake. And in that moment, I felt something pulling me.
This is?!
I'd heard about it roughly — a phenomenon that appears when you clear each floor.
Flash—!
My vision flared white. Without realizing it, I closed my eyes. Then I opened them slightly — and startled soldiers came into view. I had returned to where the portal had been.
Among them, a man who appeared to be the commander approached me.
"Why have you returned so quickly? Don't tell me you found an exit in that short time?"
"…No."
"Then, did you clear the floor?"
I nodded. Looking at it any way, that was the only possibility.
"Hmm… I see."
But the commander didn't look like he believed me. His face suggested I was hiding something.
No, it's the truth!
I wanted to shout, but held back. Even if I were in the commander's position, I wouldn't believe it either.
Anyway, I quickly filled out some paperwork, went upstairs, returned the gun, and left the building. My face was still blank. I muttered while looking up at the bright sun.
"The Heavenly Demon really is strong."
"Have you finally found the motivation to train diligently in martial arts?"
Apparently the Heavenly Demon had shown me this display to inspire my drive. And it had been very effective — my heart was genuinely stirred. But another thought came at the same time.
But if my clone is already that strong, do I really need to learn martial arts?
That level was S-rank superhuman territory. Maybe even S+. In that situation, did I really need to learn martial arts? Wouldn't it be better to just pretend to train and kill time?
But had she seen right through me?
"However, from now on I do not intend to step forward any further."
"Huh? You're not going to step in?"
"Yes. That is how Master's skill will grow."
"No, that won't work…!"
She wanted me to face those monsters? Absolutely impossible. But the Heavenly Demon's expression was firm.
"If the situation becomes extremely dangerous, I will intervene. But that will rarely happen."
"What if I order you? You still won't obey?"
At the word "order," the Heavenly Demon's expression wavered briefly. But she squeezed her eyes shut and said firmly.
"…Yes. Absolutely not."
"Ugh."
At this rate, I'd have to cancel dungeon raids entirely. This was a matter of my life.
"And you must enter a dungeon at least once a week without fail."
"Once a week? That's too soon…"
"Without fail."
The Heavenly Demon's expression was resolute. When she looked like this, she never bent her will.
I'm screwed.
This was the downside of having a clone stronger than the original. But what could I do? In the end, you have to listen to the strong one. I reluctantly nodded.
"…Fine."
"A wise decision."
The Heavenly Demon smiled brightly at me. It seemed like the first time she'd shown me a smile.
More importantly, I really need to train properly in martial arts.
Starting next weekend, I'd have to hunt monsters myself. I had no choice but to work hard. I trudged along with a doomed look on my face.
Haa, I never thought it'd come to this…
To establish the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, me becoming the Heavenly Demon was non-negotiable. I'd realized that this time. Anyway, I walked forward with a dying expression on my face.
Then someone appeared in front of me.
"Huh? Isn't that Mr. Kim Sinhyeok? Why are you out already?"
Dungeon raids normally take a full day. Most people don't last more than a day due to dungeon corrosion, but they still usually come out after filling about a day. But I'd reappeared in less than two hours. That was why Geum Seongho looked puzzled.
Then Geum Seongho's expression brightened — as if he'd had some great realization.
"Don't tell me?! Did you not enter the dungeon at all?"
"……"
I didn't bother answering. This wasn't the time to play along with Geum Seongho. But he seemed not to have forgotten his earlier humiliation. He kept needling me.
"Surely you didn't declare a dungeon raid on stream and then chicken out because you were scared?"
It was absurd. I shook my head with a smile.
"No?"
"Ah, so you didn't chicken out from fear. Perhaps you're feeling unwell?"
"I didn't give up… Sigh, whatever. Just get out of the way."
I glanced at the Heavenly Demon. She stepped forward first. Geum Seongho flinched and quickly backed away. Having experienced it firsthand, he knew well how terrifying the Heavenly Demon was.
I moved along the path she opened, and fell into thought.
Wait. Isn't this a good opportunity?
Geum Seongho would definitely upload a video slandering me. That much was obvious. And the wreckers would follow suit with similar videos. But my smartphone already had footage filmed inside the dungeon. I'd been too shocked to film perfectly, but it was still recognizable enough.
So if I uploaded the real original footage in that situation? All hell would break loose.
The wreckers who slandered me would fall into the abyss.
The wreckers already had a history of attacking me once — the incident where they framed me as a fake superhuman. But that was quite a while ago, so it never became a huge issue. This time was different. It would definitely become a big deal.
I smiled inwardly. Right on cue, Geum Seongho's frantic voice came from behind.
"W-wait a moment! Mr. Kim Sinhyeok!"
But I continued trudging along as if I'd truly failed the dungeon raid. I deliberately hung my head low. Anyone looking would think I'd completely bombed.
Good. Film away.
With this, I could definitely send Geum Seongho to hell. That thought made me feel pretty good.
"Hmm, you seem to be in a good mood? Thinking about properly learning martial arts after all…"
"No, I'm not?!"