Chapter 114: Mad Demon, The Mass Murderer's Escape
Mad Demon, The Mass Murderer's Escape
Chapter 114: Mad Demon, The Mass Murderer's Escape
Clang—
Following the metallic sound, a small rectangular opening appeared at the top of the thick iron door. Through the gap, Heavenly Demon called out to Mad Demon.
"Mad Demon."
A moment later, Mad Demon's eyes appeared on the other side of the opening. Despite his infamous moniker, his eyes were unexpectedly clear, devoid of even a single blood vessel—small and pristine.
"Who's there? Your eyes look shifty."
"It's me. Wi Ji-cheon."
BANG!
The moment Mad Demon heard the name Wi Ji-cheon, he headbutted the iron door once. Heavenly Demon let out an incredulous chuckle.
"You crazy bastard."
Mad Demon spoke in a displeased tone.
"What brings you here? Did you get a job as a jailer, you one-eyed freak? I remember one of your eyes being red—why's it normal now? Did you get stronger?"
"Still as talkative as ever. Want me to break you out?"
Mad Demon narrowed his eyes at Heavenly Demon's question.
"What scheme are you cooking up now? Is that iron-clad lackey of yours around?"
"Since when is Sword Demon my lackey? And don't say things like that—he's blind now. He's become quite sensitive."
"Heh heh heh, Sword Demon went blind?"
"Blade Emperor got to him."
"And Blade Emperor?"
"Dead, of course."
Mad Demon blinked.
"Impressive. No—wait, there's no way it was that impressive. You must've pulled some strings again, you conniving bastard. I'd love to tear you apart right now—you sure you're okay with that if you let me out?"
Heavenly Demon replied calmly.
"You don't have the strength for that right now, so let's save it for later."
"Why? Why wouldn't I have the strength?"
Heavenly Demon smirked.
"Rumor has it you got captured after losing to a cat. Mad Demon, you're the one dragging our reputation through the mud."
"Who said that? That perverted brat Young Palace Master? You idiot, it wasn't a cat—it was the Guardian Tiger Spirit, a divine beast. What would you know?"
"So, do you want revenge or not? Getting captured means you lost."
"You wouldn't be doing this just because you want me to seek revenge. Spit it out. If I like what I hear, I'll agree to the escape."
Heavenly Demon answered immediately.
"What else would I want? To kill a few of our old comrades. Young Palace Master's been getting on my nerves too."
Mad Demon said:
"Open the door."
At his words, Heavenly Demon lifted a long, thick iron rod and drove it into the door's locking mechanism. Channeling his internal energy, he twisted it—and with a heavy clunk, the horizontal bolt slid vertically upward.
Mad Demon pushed the rectangular iron door open with both hands. Even if the door was unlocked, escaping would have been impossible for anyone without sufficient internal energy or martial prowess. The sheer weight of the door required overwhelming strength to move.
Once Mad Demon fully pushed the door open and stepped out, Heavenly Demon took a step back.
Mad Demon stood a full head taller than Heavenly Demon.
His frame was nearly twice as broad.
His long, disheveled hair had taken on a grayish hue, as if stained with dust. Originally, his hair had turned white after mastering demonic arts, but even without them, his monstrous physique—built for tearing apart masters barehanded—would have made him a terror regardless.
There was no other title that suited him besides Mad Demon—the Mad Demon.
After briefly studying Heavenly Demon, Mad Demon spoke.
"Wi Ji-cheon, you've gotten stronger."
Heavenly Demon smiled faintly.
"Flattery will get you nowhere."
Mad Demon glanced down the corridor.
The guards who had occasionally watched over him during meal rotations were all corpses now.
"Did you kill them all?"
"Of course not. But I'll let you take the blame for it."
Mad Demon sniffed the air dismissively, as if he couldn't care less.
"By the way, I smell a rat... and the stench of moldy bandages. You keeping an assassin around?"
When Mad Demon mentioned Right Envoy, Heavenly Demon replied:
"He's my subordinate. Don't worry about him."
Heavenly Demon found Mad Demon strange. Even Blade Emperor hadn't detected Right Envoy's stealth techniques—yet Mad Demon had. He was less of a man and more of a beast in human skin. That was why his martial arts were so fundamentally different from Heavenly Demon's.
Mad Demon spat on the ground.
"Disgusting as always. Even raising rats now. I need to eat first."
Heavenly Demon said:
"You should run now."
Mad Demon let out a hoarse laugh.
"Why would I take orders from you? Wi Ji-cheon, you dumb bastard. When Mad Demon says he's eating, he eats. You still don't understand what's important, do you? Pathetic. Even after all this time, you're as insufferable as ever. Heh heh heh..."
Heavenly Demon followed behind Mad Demon, hands clasped behind his back.
"Mad Demon, the palace lords or the grandmasters might show up."
"They're slacking off. What time is it?"
"Probably around midnight."
"The palace lord's rolling around with his cat, and the grandmasters are still reading. No one should disturb the daily lives of us madmen. Therefore, I will eat."
Mad Demon was thoroughly enjoying his meal.
Across from him, Sword Demon held his forehead. He had briefly removed his eyepatch to look at Mad Demon, only to see something strange—prompting him to hastily cover his eye again.
They had agreed to help him escape, but now he was eating at their quarters. Sword Demon couldn't help but feel exasperated. Heavenly Demon, too, seemed to have given up, waiting patiently for Mad Demon to finish.
Midway through his meal, Mad Demon glanced at Eon, who was serving him.
"Sword Demon, this your woman?"
When Sword Demon nodded, Mad Demon said:
"Then I'm not interested."
Sword Demon let out a long sigh. Mad Demon asked again:
"What's with the eyepatch? Heard you went blind—do blind people wear those?"
Sword Demon tilted his head slightly before replying in a dull tone:
"Shut up and finish your damn food."
Mad Demon held out his empty bowl to Eon.
"More."
"Yes, sir."
This time, both Heavenly Demon and Sword Demon sighed simultaneously.
Mad Demon spoke between bites.
"The palace lord won't care about this commotion. The grandmasters? They wouldn't bother with kids' squabbles. This isn't the Murim Alliance. Prisoners escape, get caught, get killed—comrades fight each other. That's how it's always been in Ten Thousand Demon Palace. A den of demons doesn't bother with formalities, you idiots."
As he accepted another bowl of rice, he continued:
"Yeon Ja-heun, you lost your eyes because you played with this schemer. What's next? Ah... with Blade Immunity, there's nothing left to lose. After your eyes, you'll just die. Right? Anyway, you two are a match made in hell—a pair of fools dancing to destruction. I'm curious who'll die first."
Heavenly Demon asked:
"So, who do you think will die first?"
Mad Demon lifted a bowl of soup and dumped its contents—broth and vegetables—into his mouth.
Chewing loudly, he swallowed before answering:
"No idea. Wi Ji-cheon, you're always self-destructive with your fate. Yeon Ja-heun... you've still got room to grow. My bet? You'll both get too full of yourselves and get torn apart by the Three Gods. Wi Ji-cheon, just like your father. That's the fate of your bloodline—living arrogantly only to die with your limbs ripped off. You should be grateful for each other. At least you've got one friend in this wretched world."
Sword Demon muttered under his breath:
"What a prophet. Should've been a fortune-teller. Why even bother with martial arts, you lunatic?"
Mad Demon grinned.
"Boys, waiting for the Three Gods to die must be eating you alive, huh? That's why you're doing all this? Fighting isn't just about internal energy. You're worse than mosquitoes, sucking others' strength dry."
Heavenly Demon replied smoothly:
"Spoken like the idiot who got captured by Young Palace Master."
Mad Demon stared at him.
"Moron, if you're so confident, let's fight right here. Why so quiet? Confused? Of course you are. You only pick fights you know you can win. Always holding back. In that regard, the blind man here is more of a man than you."
Finishing his meal, Mad Demon placed his massive hands on the table.
"Heavenly Demon, Sword Demon. Listen well."
The sudden gravity in the madman's voice made Heavenly Demon, Sword Demon, and even Eon stare intently. His words carried an undeniable weight.
Mad Demon continued:
"It's been over twenty years since the Demonic Path fell. If this continues, Ten Thousand Demon Palace might have to step in. Of course, we'd ditch the name 'Ten Thousand Demon Palace' and call ourselves something stupid like 'Demon Cult' or 'Heavenly Demon Sect.' Names are just names. The real problem is the Three Gods. Even if Ten Thousand Demon Palace moves, the grandmasters won't. So who deals with the Three Gods? That's the question. My guess? The palace lord will handle one—probably the Sword God."
He went on:
"The white cat will take another. But the last one... that's the real issue. If Mad God is still around, that is. Until a master strong enough to face him appears, all of this is just the palace lord's game. That's why it doesn't matter how much chaos we cause. Ten Thousand Demon Palace is waiting for that one person. Who will it be?"
Mad Demon stood from the table.
"I'm curious too. But I won't play the palace lord's game—I'll be gone for a while. See you if we're both alive, you idiots. Hahahaha!"
After his unexpectedly serious speech, Mad Demon left. Heavenly Demon glanced at Sword Demon.
"Still the same madman, just with gravitas."
Sword Demon nodded.
"That's Mad Demon for you."
Suddenly, Sword Demon removed his eyepatch and stared at Mad Demon's retreating figure.
Again, something seemed off.
In his memories, Mad Demon was a towering giant—yet through the Abyss Eye, he saw a scholar in Confucian robes walking away.
Frustrated, Sword Demon asked Eon:
"What's Mad Demon wearing? Is it scholar's robes?"
Eon replied:
"No."
"Then?"
"Just... very dirty clothes."
"I see."
Heavenly Demon clarified:
"Dirty is an understatement. He's draped in rags not even fit for a mop."
Eon nodded.
"That's true."
When Heavenly Demon looked at her, she quickly bowed her head.
"My apologies."
Just then, a long, drawn-out scream echoed from the direction Mad Demon had gone. The night's silence shattered as chaos erupted.
Mad Demon was leaving Ten Thousand Demon Palace.
And with his departure, someone blew a horn—a signal that something monumental had happened.
The moment Mad Demon escaped Ten Thousand Demon Palace, he stole clothes from a civilian home. Most didn't fit, so he robbed a merchant next, taking just enough money to buy a robe that barely accommodated his frame. Most people fainted at the sight of him, so violence was hardly necessary—money piled up effortlessly.
Once he had enough for travel, he headed east.
Whether a chase had begun, whether Heavenly Demon and Sword Demon had killed their old comrades during it—none of that mattered to him.
This man cared only for two things:
Food and women.
Feasting and lust.
Once those were satisfied, he sought battle.
Naturally, trouble followed wherever he went.
After leaving Ten Thousand Demon Palace, he passed through Joksan, Banghyeong, and Yangyang, moving east—but upon spotting Murim Alliance forces nearby, he detoured south before resuming his journey.
Along the way, he piled up sins like trophies.
He slaughtered his way through large and small factions—some of which belonged to the Merchant Alliance's escort bureaus and trade groups. Before long, reports reached Dan Woo-sung, the alliance leader.
Mad Demon intended to travel as far as Zhejiang or Fujian.
His reason was simple:
He wanted to see the ocean.
Why a madman longed for the sea, no one could say.
He simply wanted to see it—and so he moved.
His only concern was the grandmasters.
They were the teachers of Heavenly Demon, Sword Demon, and Mad Demon himself—and the only beings he feared. That fear stemmed from his inability to understand them. He could read Heavenly Demon and Sword Demon, but the grandmasters felt like an entirely different species.
So Mad Demon planned to train far from Ten Thousand Demon Palace and the Murim Alliance.
Eating, sleeping, killing—until his return.
Meanwhile, the reborn Fist King, Dan Woo-sung, set out alone upon receiving the Merchant Alliance's reports. The killer's trail was consistent across all accounts.
"Heading east from Hubei."
Dan Woo-sung followed the trail eastward.