Chapter 94
Chapter 94.
Yoo Doa only put her sword back into its sheath after confirming the number '1' floating above Lee Ganghan's head.
"Finally done."
The five suicides that shocked everyone.
Yoo Doa's heads rolling on the ground had calm expressions.
Some were even smiling.
"How can someone cut their own neck......?"
"I knew she was a strange person from before......"
"Isn't she...... crazy?"
To the extent that such suspicions arose.
Yoo Doa, who had ruthlessly severed her own neck.
Lee Ganghan spoke with an expression of complete incomprehension.
"Why on earth would you do that? Is there a reason to give up 1st place even by committing suicide?"
In response, Yoo Doa, who had been silently staring at her own head on the ground, turned her head.
Her expression couldn't be read on screen, but her voice came through clearly.
"Because the Heavenly Demon is tiresome."
The same answer as before.
Even if more questions were asked.
It seemed no answer beyond that would come.
As she stopped committing suicide.
"Cough. Hmm......"
"This, it doesn't seem like rankings change quickly just from dying once or twice......"
"Is there really a need to fight?"
People who regained their composure and lost their fighting spirit after seeing Yoo Doa, who had severed her own neck 5 times.
Heavenly Demon Valley, which had been filled with explosive tension just moments ago, entered a lull.
During the 30-minute ranking change period.
The candidates only watched each other warily and didn't cause any major conflicts.
And time passed quickly.
[Ranking change time has ended.]
[Rewards will be distributed according to final rankings.]
When 30 minutes were up.
Messages appeared for each person.
"Ah...... it's S-grade trait after all."
"Where's S-grade? It's still better than having no trait."
"Right...... there's no need to aim for SS-grade by killing people."
"Besides, with Lee Ganghan and Yoo Doa holding out there, what could we do?"
Candidates conversed with voices mixed with regret and relief.
As they checked their rewards.
"Huh......?"
Flash!
Starting from 50th place.
They began disappearing from Heavenly Demon Valley as light, in ascending order from the bottom rankings.
"Those leaving go first from the bottom......"
"I was really sick of this place. Let's never see it again!"
Ptui!
Some, before leaving.
Spat in Heavenly Demon Valley before disappearing.
"It's really over......"
Shin Yuri, who had been watching the rankings, sighed deeply.
"Ganghan, thank you so much......"
Looking at Lee Ganghan with moist eyes, she expressed her gratitude.
"I'll definitely repay you when I return to reality!"
"No need. Stay healthy and well."
"This time I won't forget and will definitely contact you......!"
When leaving Heavenly Demon Valley.
She wouldn't remember what happened here.
But still, she vowed again and again that she would definitely remember this time.
Shin Yuri bid farewell to Lee Ganghan and disappeared as light.
With all candidates gone.
Only Lee Ganghan and Yoo Doa remained in Heavenly Demon Valley.
"They're really playing around."
Yoo Doa spoke after watching Lee Ganghan and Shin Yuri's farewell.
"They'll forget everything anyway when they return. You know that too, right?"
"......Since the Heavenly Demon Valley test is over, maybe they'll remember this time?"
"No, no. They'll definitely forget."
"How can you be so certain?"
To Lee Ganghan's question, she answered slowly.
Her expression was still unreadable, but her voice carried a faint hint of laughter.
"How do I know?"
Snicker.
A short laugh came through the screen.
"I've already played this game once before."
"You've...... played it?"
When Lee Ganghan asked back.
"That's right."
Yoo Doa nodded lightly.
"You've played it...... then there was already a Heavenly Demon? But why select one again?"
"That's because......"
Having no intention of hiding it.
She was about to tell Lee Ganghan the story.
"Ah. It's time for me to go too. I was 2nd place, right?"
As her body began glowing pure white.
She realized it was her turn to leave Heavenly Demon Valley.
"Well...... see you later, Heavenly Demon."
Flaaash......!
Yoo Doa disappeared with pure white light.
Simultaneously, the entire screen flashed white.
['Demon-Conquering Heavenly Ascension Blade' acquired.]
With this message as the last, the screen completely turned off.
***
'She's taken the Heavenly Demon Valley test before.......'
Lee Ganghan stared at the empty air where the screen had disappeared.
The red sword marks had vanished at some point.
'I thought she was an extraordinary existence when I first saw her, but...... this is beyond expectations.'
He mulled over the video's content.
And the words she had said.
-The Heavenly Demon is tiresome.
-I've played this game once before.
She had taken the Heavenly Demon Valley test once before.
And the Heavenly Demon being tiresome means.......
'Could it be that she was the Heavenly Demon in the past?'
The Divine Maiden's power shown in Heavenly Demon Valley was overwhelming.
Even if she took the test several more times.
Her taking 1st place seemed like a foregone conclusion.
If she had displayed such power in the previous Heavenly Demon Valley test.
Yoo Doa would have definitely taken 1st place.
'But why did she make me the Heavenly Demon......?'
The Divine Maiden who gave up being the Heavenly Demon by committing suicide 5 times.
And instead acquired the EX-grade equipment, Demon-Conquering Heavenly Ascension Blade.
Why did she make such a choice?
Was completely incomprehensible at present.
'Besides, what's with being humanity's savior, and why did she become a Divine Maiden?'
If the Heavenly Demon was tiresome, why did the Divine Maiden bother doing it?
In Heavenly Demon Valley, she had been cutting people's necks off so chop chop casually.
But suddenly referring to herself as humanity's savior was also incomprehensible.
Lee Ganghan pondered various questions.
He decided that answers couldn't be reached with current information.
'I'll just have to ask her directly next time.'
Yoo Doa, who was talkative contrary to her cold appearance.
She seemed like she'd give straight answers if poked.
Rather than wracking his brain with insufficient information.
It would be better to ask when they met next time.
'Anyway, Divine Maiden Yoo Doa...... besides mother, another person to be cautious of has appeared.'
Lee Ganghan organized his thoughts this way.
He looked around.
The Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation covers the entire house.
Still completely isolated from the outside.
He was stuck unable to move in this situation.
'Can't even enter towers.'
Then he'd just have to wait here obediently until the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation was absorbed.
But mother said it would be absorbed when he slept and woke up.
'Far from being sleepy, I'm completely alert.'
Like when he previously suffered from sleeping sickness.
He thought he'd fall into irresistible drowsiness.
But now his physical condition was at its peak, like when he activated the 'Arena Promising Player Bracelet.'
'Then I just need to wait for the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation to be absorbed like this.'
But is it being absorbed right now?
When Lee Ganghan harbored such doubts.
Flash......!
Red light spread intensely from the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation.
"Urgh......"
The light began gathering into his body.
Then, from the chest where the demon mark was engraved.
He felt burning pain.
Pain of a different dimension from the heat felt when acquiring the Sacred Fire.
Unable to resist it at all.
His head quickly turned pure white.
'This, it wasn't about sleeping and waking up...... it was about making me faint......?'
Pain so intense it seemed he'd lose consciousness.
Grind......!
Lee Ganghan gritted his teeth.
Right.
If he surrendered his body to the pain and fainted.
He probably wouldn't feel the pain anymore.
'I don't want to...... collapse according to mother's intention.'
-The demon mark engraved on your body will absorb the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation. You'll fall into a long sleep for a while...... rest well during that time.
Just before leaving.
Mother Yoo Eesu had said that.
She probably expected him to collapse from this intense pain and said so.
But Lee Ganghan wanted to maintain consciousness somehow rather than rest well.
For that.
'Heavenly Demon Divine Art...... Heavenly Demon Divine Art......!'
Thud.
Lee Ganghan sat down.
He instinctively recalled the incantation of Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
[In the beginning, righteous正, evil邪, and demonic魔 were not distinguished......]
Dozens of times.
No, the first verse he had recited hundreds of times.
As he recalled and unknowingly recited it.
Ziiiing......!
Light flashed several times from the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation.
Whoosh......
Suddenly the surrounding scenery changed.
"Huh......?"
What is this?
Am I seeing things?
The moment he recited the first incantation of Heavenly Demon Divine Art, what he first saw was a pitch-black dark background.
In the center.
A single light floated in the darkness.
No, this wasn't light.
'It's a...... star.'
Lee Ganghan instinctively realized.
The darkness he was seeing now was the night sky.
And that quiet cluster of light was a star.
Upon recognizing this.
'......'
Lee Ganghan unknowingly held his breath.
What appeared before his eyes was just a star.
A commonly seen star floating in the night sky.
But why, the moment he saw it, did he feel intense pressure along with.
A sense that his very existence as 'me' was becoming faint.
[Heavenly Demon Divine Art %%&$!$(&]
Crackle......
A suddenly appearing message window.
The text after Heavenly Demon Divine Art was garbled.
His vision began to blur.
As all senses became faint.
"The essence of Heavenly Demon Divine Art is Heaven Defying逆天......"
Lee Ganghan was unknowingly.
Reciting verses of Heavenly Demon Divine Art with his mouth.
A feeling that his body was no longer entirely his own.
To the extent that he missed the burning pain felt in his chest earlier.
Lee Ganghan felt his physical body was slipping from his control.
'This, if I give up here, I won't simply fall asleep. I have a feeling something worse will happen......!'
If he let go of the thread of consciousness here.
Rather than the 24-year-old 'Lee Ganghan.'
Some indescribable, completely different being would inhabit this body.
When Lee Ganghan tried to regain consciousness somehow.
Flaaash......!
Pure white light burst from his chest where the demon mark was engraved.
"......What?!"
Then.
His mouth, which had been automatically reciting Heavenly Demon Divine Art incantations, stopped.
His blurred vision returned to normal.
Then.
[Heavenly Demon Divine Art upgrades to 3-star.]
[Heavenly Demon Divine Art upgrades to 4-star.]
[Skill 'Heavenly Demon Divine Palm天魔神掌' acquired.]
The system messages that had appeared garbled earlier.
Now clearly entered his sight.
'Heavenly Demon Divine Art rose 2 stars at once...... and I even acquired Heavenly Demon Divine Palm.'
All Lee Ganghan had done was.
Recite Heavenly Demon Divine Art and simply see a 'star.'
In that brief moment.
Heavenly Demon Divine Art rose 2 stars and he even acquired a palm technique?
'......What exactly was that star?'
The star floating alone against the dark background.
Though his martial arts level had jumped up as payment for briefly looking at it.
Lee Ganghan didn't dare to look at it again.
The shock of having his body stolen and his existence fading away.
Once was enough.
"Whew......"
Only after getting a moment to breathe.
Lee Ganghan felt his entire body was drenched in sweat.
He was about to take off his shirt.
He recalled the earlier events.
Certainly, when he was trying to hold onto his sanity somehow.
Pure white light had burst from his chest.
Swish.
As he looked toward his chest.
"This character is......"
There, above the demon魔 mark.
A new character was engraved.
As he approached the mirror to confirm what character it was.
There he saw a faintly glowing Conquer剋.
'The meaning is...... the Conquer that means to overcome.'
And this character.
He had also seen in the 2nd place reward from the earlier video, Demon-Conquering Heavenly Ascension Blade剋魔昇天刀.
'I was puzzled that it wasn't Extreme Demon極魔 in Demon-Conquering Heavenly Ascension Blade.'
Referring to demonic power reaching its extreme.
The level called when demonic cultivation reached its peak was exactly Extreme Demon極魔.
But the blade given as 2nd place reward in Heavenly Demon Valley had different characters written on it, which was puzzling.
To think this Conquer character was engraved on his chest.
'......Did Yoo Doa do this?'
Certainly mother was watching too.
Instead of just engraving the demon mark on his chest, had she hidden the Conquer character?
Though he didn't know why she was helping him.
"Thanks to that, I survived......"
Without her arrangement, he couldn't have endured to the end earlier.
Lee Ganghan recalled the helplessness from moments ago and felt cold sweat flow down his spine again.
Then.
Whoosh......
The Conquer character that had appeared on his chest gradually disappeared.
Only the Demon魔 mark remained again.
"......Whew."
Even after acquiring the Heavenly Demon Constitution, he had suffered various hardships.
But he had never felt such a sense of crisis as today.
The power of the Heavenly Demon.
Indeed, it wasn't just purely good.
'Is this why she said the Heavenly Demon is tiresome?'
As Lee Ganghan recalled Yoo Doa's words.
Whoooosh......
The Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation drawn in all directions began disappearing rapidly.
What had been slowly absorbed until just now.
Was now instantly gathering into Lee Ganghan's demon mark.
'There's no...... burdensome feeling at all.'
Perhaps because Heavenly Demon Divine Art had upgraded 2 stars.
Lee Ganghan felt no particular burden from absorbing the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation.
The Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation drawn throughout the room disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Furthermore.
Whoooosh......
Even the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation outside the room, in the living room and entrance area.
Gathered into Lee Ganghan's demon mark in the blink of an eye.
'At this rate, it'll all be absorbed soon?'
As Lee Ganghan expected.
After not even a few minutes, when all the Heavenly Demon Sacred Blood Formation was sucked in.
Pop......!
Electricity came on in the house and lights turned on.
And.
"Huh? The, the house is visible again!"
"Wa, wait a moment!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Heavenly Demon Lord!!! Are you alright?!"
From the entrance.
Shin Yuri's urgent voice could be heard.