Chapter 187
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Cave (2)
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Kugugung──!
A rough slamming sound echoed from behind me as the incredibly thick iron door, forged from millennial cold iron, shut tight.
My vision blacked out for a moment, then...
Paat─ Paat─ Paat─
As if the mechanisms had linked up, the extinguished braziers roared to life, flaring up and illuminating my darkened sight in an instant.
And what came into view...
“......A tower?”
“Yeah. Up to the tenth floor.”
What the hell kind of RPG game is this?
Even in a world with no solid lore, was this really right?
......Not exactly a fitting remark from someone who'd sucked down all that sweet nectar from the Northern Bright Grotto.
“Anyway, only one person at a time, right?”
“Yeah. Successor only.”
“......But is it really okay for me to go in?”
Instead of answering, Luri clutched her wolf pup tight and toddled forward.
She stopped before the stone door engraved with the number one.
“Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Open.”
She even added a very polite explanation.
Open Sesame turned into Open, Heavenly Demon?
“What about you?”
“I'm tired.”
With that...
“Kyau!”
Luri poked the wolf pup until it grew bigger, then leaned her back against its body, hugged its tail, and flopped down to lie there.
“Come back safe.”
“......Ha, is this for real?”
Watching the vice leader's utterly carefree pose, I almost regretted my past self who'd gone all-in on Demonic Cult coins.
But she was cute, so I decided to grant her a full pardon.
In a world where not even rats showed up, what kept a seemingly useless cat carrying on in name only?
One that didn't even show loyalty to its owner like a dog and was always plotting to bolt out the door—a total ungrateful beast.
One reason: pure cuteness. That was it.
If Kerr weren't a cat beastkin but something else, Saintess Ustiara would've punished her ages ago.
That's just how the world worked...
“Whew, I'm off.”
“Yeah. Do your best.”
After a quick farewell with Luri...
I stood tall at the entrance to the first floor of the Heavenly Demon Cave and circulated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Then...
Kururung......!
As if resonating with my demonic qi, the door blazed with black and red light, slowly grinding open.
Now that I'd come this far, what was there to hesitate over?
I took my first bold step forward.
* * *
“Whew......”
Right after breaking through the fourth gate of the Heavenly Demon Cave, I engraved the Heavenly Demon Divine Art formula carved into the wall into my mind and steadied my breathing.
Indeed.
They'd said the essence of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art lay within the cave, and Luri hadn't lied.
“......Why hide the formulas here, though......”
The basic Heavenly Demon Divine Art was truly just for initiation—the real meat was all here.
Once I engraved the formula and stomped my foot...
Kugugung──!
Pababat......!
My steps were no longer Luri's cutesy Heavenly Demon Pop, but the genuine article: Heavenly Demon Supremacy Step, spreading thick demonic qi and an overwhelming pressure around me.
Indeed.
Even as one of the strongest martial arts out there, I'd wondered if its performance had softened because Luri was too squishy.
Turned out it was just that Luri hadn't passed the fourth gate, making even the art itself all soft and mushy.
At least the Heavenly Death Beam—precisely, the Heavenly Demon Finger formula—was on the third gate, which she'd cleared.
If not, Luri really would've topped out at cute-only soft cult leader performance.
Anyway.
Time was short.
Of course, by my sharp wits, forcing entry from outside seemed damn near impossible.
It was guarded by meticulously designed mechanisms, and from what that loose-lipped guy had said, Cheon Siu was away negotiating with northern warriors.
Still, to escape safely, I needed to clear the cave as fast as possible.
No matter how flawlessly I'd cosplayed Heavenly Peter, who knew what rumors were flying outside.
So.
The faster I cleanly looted the whole cave and bolted, the safer.
With that resolve...
I climbed the stairs and faced the fifth gate.
Honestly, nothing tough so far.
But with the warnings that difficulty spiked exponentially per floor, my body tensed up on instinct.
Yeah.
This life-or-death game vibe.
Conquering the whole tower, and I'd be swinging Heavenly Demon=Starburst Stream in no time—my will surged.
Kugugugu......!
The door opened, I advanced boldly, and it shut behind me again.
Then silence rushed in.
“Hm......?”
The fourth gate had a room full of intricate mechanisms testing if you were worthy of the true Heavenly Demon Supremacy Step.
One misstep, and you'd take a fatal wound—that brutal setup.
I'd passed it chanting I'm Heavenly Michael Jackson over and over, with footwork like no other.
But now?
Nothing happened.
Absolutely nothing.
“Hmm......”
Just a vast, empty room—seemed like all I had to do was cross to the other side. Simple as that.
So.
I walked.
Thud──
With manly strides.
Thud──
Walked and walked, but still nothing.
What? Free pass?
Or some insane trap waiting?
But even after reaching the opposite exit...
Really, nothing happened.
Something wrong? I turned back.
“Ah.”
I finally understood why I'd passed the fifth gate unscathed.
My martial arts foundation was the Northern Bright Divine Art.
The Northern Bright Divine Art let me commune with all qi flowing through nature itself, beyond my body's own, and draw it in.
Thus.
Even after learning the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it was just a tenant in the massive dantian=apartment complex built by the Northern Bright.
The path I'd just crossed reeked of thick demonic qi.
Thick, sticky stuff that'd send any normal warrior straight to the afterlife just from a whiff.
In other words.
The fifth gate itself was the trial—enduring and passing through that demonic qi.
A stage to test if you could properly accept it.
I'd slipped through that chemical weapons nightmare unscathed thanks to the Northern Bright Divine Art pulling its weight.
“Hmm......”
I gauged the time.
Still some leeway.
“Can't just waste this opportunity.”
I moonwalked back to the center of the fifth gate with my Heavenly Michael Jackson-style Heavenly Demon Moon Step.
Sat cross-legged and closed my eyes.
Yoma. And the new cult's Grand Protector.
Hoyeonhwa let out a deep sigh.
“......You're seriously reporting that bullshit for me to believe? Seven Elder, did you gobble down a shitload of drugs and start hallucinating?”
“But...... it was definitely the Heavenly Demon Divine Art......!”
Geum Sihyeon—currently Heavenly Peter's—prophecy of the future had been spot on.
In the wilderness, Seok Chungmyeong had denied Heavenly Peter's existence three times.
But instead of repenting, the moment he returned to the cult, he'd denied it once more—completing the cycle hit.
A true reincarnation of Judas.
But.
“No sane vice leader would set foot here, and you think the Cheon bloodline is that common? Heavenly Peter? Are you actually insane? That's an insult to the Heavenly Demon!”
Cheon Yohwa had wandered the world with Cheon Siu and even encountered that Yahweh faith they believed in out in the far western regions.
Peter was Yahweh's first apostle.
How could a Central Plains man claim such a name—let alone wield the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?
Utterly unbelievable.
“No, I saw it clear as day with my own eyes......!”
But Seok Chungmyeong was wronged.
Seething with rage.
He'd reported nothing but the pure truth—why was he being treated like some drugged-up lunatic?
The more the injustice piled up...
The more the legend of the reincarnated Heavenly Demon bubbled up in Seok Chungmyeong's heart as possibly true.
A lightning bolt of betrayal!
“Ha...... Fine. You Blood Sword Squad—did your captain go mad, or are you all──”
“Five Elder—no, Grand Protector......!”
But the loop of doubt didn't last forever.
One of Yoma's subordinates, face drained pale, dared to burst through the door without knocking.
Before she could even chew him out for the rudeness...
“The Heavenly Demon Cave—the Heavenly Demon Cave has opened......!”
“What......?”
Ignoring Seok Chungmyeong's See, what'd I tell you! gloating glare, Yoma shot to her feet.
“No way—no way that's possible......?”
Her mouth kept spouting denials, but before she knew it, she was racing toward the cave.
Moments later.
“......Why is it real......?”
A telltale sign that someone was training inside the Heavenly Demon Cave.
Yoma beheld dark flames—the symbol of the Heavenly Demon—blazing high atop the towering cave.
Her master.
Cheon Siu had definitely exited the cave not long ago and was now away from the cult, negotiating with northern warriors.
Then really... had the vice leader returned?
“......You're absolutely sure former leader Cheon Yuri didn't come with her?”
“I saw it clear as day with my own eyes......! Former leader Cheon Yuri wasn't there!”
Amid Seok Chungmyeong's aggrieved shout...
Yoma plunged into chaos.