Chapter 1
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Fiend Demon's Final Wish
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A mountain of corpses, a river of blood.
Blood flowed with the man's every step.
Y-You demon!
Warriors shrieked as they charged, but it was useless.
Even the Sword Dragon Brigade, the Murim Alliance's most elite combat unit.
Even the Hidden Sword Society, a gathering of elders from the Nine Sects and One Clan.
Even the Ten Guests, known as the Ten Great Masters of the Orthodox Faction.
They were all powerless before the overwhelming violence the man wielded.
Fiend Demon.
A crazed murderer, he was counted among the Three Calamities, alongside the Heavenly Demon and the Blood Demon.
I-It cant be. Even for one of the Three Calamities, even for one of the Seven Strongest in the Divine Continent, how could this?
Countless masters had gathered today to stop the Fiend Demon.
This was no gathering of common grunts.
Numerous masters, renowned wherever they went, had assembled. Among them were the Ten Guests, the Ten Great Masters of the Orthodox Faction.
And yet, they were all slaughtered at the hands of the Fiend Demon.
The Fiend Demon, who had orchestrated a bloodbath that would be etched into the history of the martial world, headed for a massive estate.
Above the countless corpses he had piled up, the shattered sign bearing the name White Immortal Medical House could be seen.
That was right.
Unexpectedly, the target of the Fiend Demon's slaughter was a medical house.
And not just any, but the White Immortal Medical House, called the World's Greatest Medical House of its time.
W-Why are you doing this to us? What did our White Immortal Medical House ever do to you?!
Jo Baek-il, the last survivor and head of the White Immortal Medical House, cried out in anguish.
The Fiend Demon merely offered a chilling gaze from beneath his disheveled hair.
Was it like the rumors say? Did a physician from our White Immortal Medical House mistreat your family? Even if that were true, it would have been an unavoidable part of the patients treatment! So why?!
That is not the reason. As one who once walked the path of medicine, I know full well that a physicians results are in the hands of heaven.
What?
At the Fiend Demon's reply, Jo Baek-il's face went blank for a moment.
It was a clear voice, hard to imagine coming from such a terrible demon.
Moreover, he once walked the path of medicine?
Just then, the Fiend Demon pushed back his shaggy hair.
A face full of scars, yet one that felt vaguely familiar for some reason.
It has been a long time, elder. Or should I call you uncle? Didnt you tell me to feel free to call you uncle?
Y-You, you, you are!!
Jo Baek-il's voice trembled like an aspen leaf.
Only then did he realize.
The good-for-nothing from the Medical Immortal Medical House!!
The Medical Immortal Medical House.
A family once called the World's Greatest Medical House, but after a gradual decline, they dabbled in forbidden dark arts, were branded public enemies of the martial world, and had their clan annihilated.
The physicians of the White Immortal Medical House played a major role in exposing the heinous misdeeds of the Medical Immortal Medical House. With the great renown they gained at the time, the White Immortal Medical House eventually succeeded in becoming the World's Greatest Medical House.
At that time, there was an inside informant who cooperated with the White Immortal Medical House: Wi Ji-cheon, the youngest son of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
Unlike his outstanding siblings, he was pointed at as a good-for-nothing, but in the end, many in the martial world applauded his righteous cooperation in correcting his family's injustice.
However, Wi Ji-cheon's whereabouts became unknown afterward, and he vanished from everyone's memory.
Y-Youre Wi Ji-cheon??
Yes, I am Wi Ji-cheon. The most hideously unfilial son under heaven, who was deceived by your cunning tongue and cast his family into the fiery pits of hell.
I, I!! I mean! Its all a misunderstanding!
A misunderstanding?
The Fiend Demon, Wi Ji-cheon, spat out in a voice boiling with rage.
Even now, when I close my eyes, I can vividly see the bloody tears of my father, my older brother, my older sister, my family. And you call it a misunderstanding?
!!
Do you know whats even more tragic? My family didnt resent me, even after I committed such a foolish act. Instead, they said they were glad that at least I was safe. Do you have any idea how I felt when I heard that? Do you know why I went mad?!
Fwoosh! Craaack!!
At the Fiend Demon's roar, a violent gale swept through the area.
Overwhelmed by the Fiend Demon's immense aura, Jo Baek-il coughed up blood, his complexion turning deathly pale.
He had already been mortally wounded before their conversation, and now the Fiend Demon's aura had inflicted another severe internal injury.
He would soon meet his end.
Repent your sins in the face of impending death.
The Fiend Demon, Wi Ji-cheon, turned his back.
At last, his revenge was complete.
However, he felt no sense of relief.
Perhaps because even with revenge, his precious ones would not return.
Father, older brother, older sister.
The faces of his family flashed through his mind.
-You brat! Are you slacking off again?!
-Haha, Gang-ah, don't be so hard on him. Isn't Cheon still young?
-Hah. It's because you always coddle him that he acts like this, Father.
-Tsk.
He missed them.
Desperately.
I will see them soon. Having burned all my true origin energy, my life is nearing its end. Ah, but I am bound for hell, so perhaps I cannot meet them after all.
Wi Ji-cheon let out a dry laugh as he felt his vision gradually darkening.
He could recover if he rested well, but he had no intention of doing so.
His revenge was over anyway. What was the point of clinging to life in a world where he had nothing precious left?
He planned to go to a quiet place and await death.
But just when he thought it was all over
Something he had never anticipated began to happen.
Kekeke, you foolish bastard. They may call you one of the Seven Strongest in the Divine Continent or one of the Three Calamities, but youre just as stupid as you were before.
What?
It was the dying Jo Baek-il.
What do you mean?
Did you think I was the only one who coveted the Medical Immortal Arts... no, the Heavenly Immortal Divine Arts? A miraculous divine art with the power to turn a worthless wretch like you into one of the Three Calamities?
Wi Ji-cheon's face hardened.
The Medical Immortal Arts.
It was the martial art of his family, the Medical Immortal Medical House.
But the Medical Immortal Arts held a secret. One that even the members of the Medical Immortal Medical House did not know.
Who is it? Who else was behind this besides you?
Kekeke.
Jo Baek-il let out a laugh.
In the first place, it was all your Medical Immortal Medical House's fault for possessing a treasure beyond your station. Even if it hadnt been me, they would not have left you alone.
He had spoken up to that point.
Thwip!
A streak of light flashed, and a dagger embedded itself in Jo Baek-il's forehead.
!!
Wi Ji-cheon's gaze grew cold.
To be unable to perceive a flying dagger, no matter how bad his condition?
The impossible had happened.
There was only one person in the entire martial world capable of such a feat.
Come out.
Shhhk.
A figure appeared out of thin air.
A person clad in black night gear, their face covered by a mask.
Their age and gender were impossible to guess, but Wi Ji-cheon knew the person's identity.
It wasn't that he felt their aura.
On the contrary, he could feel no aura from them at all.
As if they were visible before his eyes, yet did not exist.
The State of No Shadow, where even one's shadow disappears.
A person who had reached the pinnacle of assassination.
Slaughter Demon.
One of the Ten Evils, the Ten Great Masters of the Unorthodox Faction, and a master who had reached the pinnacle of demonic arts.
This is not good.
Under normal circumstances, the Slaughter Demon would be no match for Wi Ji-cheon.
But right now, Wi Ji-cheon's origin energy was severely damaged. He was in no condition to face the Slaughter Demon.
Whose request did you take? Are you also connected to the ones this bastard was talking about?
No answer came, but Wi Ji-cheon sensed that the Slaughter Demon was also one of the conspirators who had caused the annihilation of the Medical Immortal Medical House.
What in the world?
Wi Ji-cheon's expression grew heavy.
He intuited that the identity of the mastermind was beyond imagination.
Well, it doesnt matter. Ill just hunt them all down and kill them.
Fwoosh!
Wi Ji-cheon's aura flared up as if catching fire.
And so.
The two great demons clashed.
In the end, Wi Ji-cheon succeeded in striking down the Slaughter Demon.
But that was as far as he could go.
He was dying.
That last strike that targeted me. It was definitely a Heart Sword.
Just as the battle with the Slaughter Demon was decided.
Someone had secretly attacked Wi Ji-cheon.
It was likely the work of the true mastermind, hiding in the shadows.
The problem was the technique the bastard used to attack him.
It was the power of the Heart Sword.
There are only seven people in this martial world, including myself, who are capable of even imitating the Heart Sword.
The Martial Emperor, leader of the Murim Alliance.
The Sword Immortal of the Nine Sects and One Clan.
The Spear King of the Great Families' Alliance.
The Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult.
The Blood Demon of the Blood Cult.
The Hegemon King of the Unorthodox Alliance.
These were the ones known as the Seven Strongest in the Divine Continent, including the Fiend Demon, Wi Ji-cheon.
These were beings beyond the heavens, who looked down on even the Ten Guests, the Ten Evils, and the Ten Devilsthe ten great masters of the Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Demonic Factions.
Which one of them was the mastermind?
Moreover, Jo Baek-il had said the mastermind was they. Meaning there was more than one.
The suspects are practically the entire martial world.
Wi Ji-cheon laughed grimly to himself.
Whoever the mastermind was, it was too late.
Because he would soon be dead.
If only I were given one more chance.
In his final moments, Wi Ji-cheon wished desperately.
If the heavens would grant him a chance.
Then, to his true enemies...
No, thats not whats important.
Wi Ji-cheon clenched his teeth.
I will never again let everyone die so senselessly.
His endlessly warm father.
His strict older brother.
His eccentric older sister, who was more affectionate than anyone on the inside.
All his other precious people.
He would protect them.
Even if he had to become a monster, he would be their shield.
And so, he would support them so that their dream of becoming the World's Greatest Medical Housea family that brings happiness to the world through medicine, just as they all dreamedcould be fulfilled.
Oh, gods of heaven and earth. I beg of you, if you grant me just one more chance, I will devote my everything to you.
It was the moment he made that wish and closed his eyes.
You brat! You still don't know Sucheon, Sohae, and Yangji?! How are you supposed to manage if you're confusing the Analogy Method, the most basic of basics?!
!!
Wi Ji-cheon's eyes flew open.
Unfamiliar.
No, familiar.
He saw a face he thought he would never see again, a face he had desperately longed for.
...Older brother?
That wasn't all.
Heh heh, Gang-ah. Don't push him too hard. Isn't Cheon trying his best? I heard he was commendable enough to study until the Hour of the Rooster yesterday.
That's hardly something to praise, is it?! Only until the Hour of the Rooster?! The Medical Examination Ceremony is just around the corner; he should be pulling all-nighters!
What's wrong with postponing the Medical Examination Ceremony? I'm just proud that Cheon sat at his desk and studied at all.
Tsk.
His father and even his older sister.
Wi Ji-cheon wore a dumbfounded expression.
The wordsabout the Medical Examination Ceremony, the test to qualify as an apprentice physiciannone of it registered.
The only thought in Wi Ji-cheon's mind was.
Am I dreaming? Or is this a memory of the past, the kind they say you see at the moment of death?
Wi Ji-cheon's heart raced.
This must be a dream or a hallucination. Their forms would soon disappear.
So, Wi Ji-cheon said what he had always wanted to say if he ever met his family again.
He brought out the words he had kept buried in his heart.
Father, older brother. And sister Sang-ah. I have something to say.
Hmm?
...Thank you. And, I love you all.
Wi Ji-cheon barely held back the tears that threatened to fall.
They would disappear soon.
Even if it was just a dream or a hallucination, he wanted to send his family off with a smiling face.
But, it was strange.
He thought it was a dream or a hallucination, but his family's forms were too vivid.
They didn't vanish like phantoms.
And.
...Love, all of a sudden?
...Did you eat something strange?
Pfft!
Huh?
You brat, don't tell me you've been drinking in the middle of the day?!
Gang-yi. Don't you think Cheon's acting strange because you scolded him too much?!
Tsk.
Flush!
Wi Ji-cheon's face flushed bright red.
Only then did he realize something was off.
This didn't seem to be a dream or a hallucination.
Could it be?
Unbelievably.
It seemed a miracle had occurred.