The Heavenly Demon Goes to Crush the Murim Alliance (5)

The bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader stood tall even while drenched in cold sweat beneath the weight of my steps. Heh.

No matter how low the realm of his physical body, enduring this pressure could not be easy. As expected of that bastard’s bloodline. So he really is a skilled martial artist? Perhaps this boy is the future of the Murim Alliance. Haha. In that case, if I severed his neck right here and now, would I be erasing the Murim Alliance’s future? What a tempting thought.

“How arrogant.”

The bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader took a deep breath and spoke.

“An outsider claiming a seat for himself. Declaring that you will set an example for the Murim Alliance—both are far too arrogant.”

“If one has the skill to match, arrogance is no sin.”

Arrogance is only a sin for worthless mutts who don’t know their place and run wild. For an overwhelmingly superior expert, arrogance is simply a natural right.

“You claim to have the power to suppress the entire Murim Alliance?”

“You think I don’t? Then prove it.”

The method of proof was ridiculously simple. Just defeat me. Trample my martial arts with your own and be done with it. Then I become an arrogant fool, and you become a hero of the Murim Alliance. What a charming tale.

Instead of answering, the bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader simply took up a stance. It was the Peng family’s form. I knew it well. The honest, upright Tyrant Blade had belonged to the previous Murim Alliance Leader who once chased me across the distant past.

I waited with the attitude of try it if you dare, when martial artists began appearing one by one around us. Every last one of them was exhausting their mental strength just to endure my steps.

“Planning a joint attack? That’s not very Peng-family-like.”

“Justice is unnecessary when subduing evil.”

Correct. Few words are as useless as “fair and square.” In battle, the only justice is victory. If you can survive and win, that is enough. I agree with what you say. Therefore, I have no reason to play along with every one of your little schemes, do I?

With the pipe still in my mouth, I moved my internal energy. The martial artists surrounding me rose into the air one after another.

It was the Heavenly Demon Levitation Skill. The divine art’s ferocious internal energy lifts everything around it into the air. It was never meant for use on humans, but it was more than enough to toy with these fools already weakened from resisting my steps.

“This bastard!”

Perhaps sensing what I was about to do, the bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader charged straight at me. Qiankun Divine Palm. A palm technique woven from the harmony of heaven and earth—one of the Peng family’s divine arts. The principles contained ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠within it were truly profound, worthy of the name divine art. Yet using it against me was hardly a wise choice.

Who had I fought most often while exacting revenge on the Orthodox faction in the past? The Murim Alliance Leader himself. The Qiankun Divine Palm that bastard used was a martial art I had faced until I grew sick of it. I knew both its strengths and weaknesses like the back of my hand.

Watching the bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader extend his palm as he rushed in, I unfolded the Qiankun Divine Palm as well. An upright Tyrant Blade palm met another ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠palm; there was no room for tricks. Victory would go to the one who possessed the higher Tyrant Blade.

But tell me—in this entire Murim world, was there any human whose Tyrant Blade stood higher than mine?

At first the bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader had thrust his palm with desperate force, but it didn’t take long for him to sense something was wrong. He stared at me with eyes full of shock. Only now do you understand your level?

With a laugh, I sent the bloodline of the Murim Alliance Leader flying and turned my gaze to the martial artists still floating in the air. I met their eyes—eyes filled with terror as they looked at me. How very familiar.

Yes. This is the gaze that suits me. It seems showing my face in the world of Hwaryong Muin will become difficult from now on. Starting this very moment, I will be a public enemy of the Orthodox faction.

I knew that, yet I had no intention of stopping here.

It was far from efficient, so I did not particularly favor it, but no other technique was better for planting terror.

The moment I tried to ignite their internal energy as the wick—

“Stop right there!”

A voice rang out. Baek-il stood at the entrance of the Murim Alliance.

So you’ve finally shown yourself.

Baek-il stood in the middle of the Murim Alliance, staring at Minga as she smoked her pipe. The sight was painfully familiar to him. The eyes thick with murderous intent. The tyrannical aura of the divine art swirling around her. The instinctive terror in the eyes of everyone looking at her.

How could he possibly forget? It was the most horrific ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠memory of his entire life. The nightmare of that day that still stole his sleep. The ugliness of himself fleeing while his comrades died.

The Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon was standing right there. There was no mistake. Minga’s appearance was identical to the Heavenly Demon he had met countless times in his dreams.

When he had seen her before, he had thought she resembled the Heavenly Demon. But Minga had been an outsider, and she lacked the sharp, blade-like aura unique to the Heavenly Demon, so he had dismissed it as mere coincidence.

He should not have. He should have realized back then. He should have understood what it meant for someone who resembled the Heavenly Demon to wield the Heavenly Demon’s divine art.

Look at her. Minga had simply kept what she possessed hidden deep inside. She had been suppressing the devil dwelling within her.

He did not know how she had managed it. But that was not important right now. What mattered was that he had failed to notice that devil. Because he had judged the situation too lightly, he had unwittingly summoned the hidden monster.

He regretted his blunder, but regret would not change the situation. Now was the time to take responsibility. He, the root of all this evil.

“You’re late, Baek-il.”

“I’m sorry. Mount Hua Sect Leader. The story… Will you not listen to what I have to say?”

“I have nothing to hear from you.”

Even though Minga spoke coldly, Baek-il dropped to his knees, pressed his forehead to the ground, and shouted.

“Everything is my fault! It was all my arbitrary decision! So please, use this old man’s neck to spare the lives of the others!”

“Elder Baek-il!”

Someone cried out, but Baek-il did not raise his head. He simply waited for the Heavenly Demon’s verdict.

In the long silence, footsteps filled the world. Thud. Thud.

Even as the footsteps drew closer, Baek-il somehow felt relieved. With death standing before him, how could he not be afraid? Perhaps he had been waiting for this day all along.

“Raise your head.”

When he lifted his head at the voice, Baek-il saw Minga looking down at him. In those ice-cold eyes, he could read no emotion whatsoever.

“I have no intention of killing you.”

The words that left her mouth were completely different from anything Baek-il had expected. Mercy? No. Impossible. Someone with the eyes of the Heavenly Demon would never show mercy to others.

“Paying for one’s sins with death is far too comfortable an ending, don’t you think?”

Minga spoke, then used Empty Space Grasping to lift Baek-il’s body. She pressed his acupoints and continued.

“The dead are eventually forgotten, but the living are not. From now on, you shall become a living example.”

“The internal energy you spent your whole life accumulating will vanish. By sealing your dantian, you will never be able to gather internal energy again. Furthermore, I have blocked the acupoints in your arms and legs. You will live the rest of your life as a cripple.”

“You will live, yet you will only live. And others who see you will learn. They will learn what happens when they dare touch me.”

The moment Minga pressed the final acupoint, agony flooded Baek-il’s body and he screamed.

After the sun had climbed high into the sky, Apis pro gamer Han Seo-woo woke up, stared blankly at the unfamiliar room, and finally realized the season had ended and he had returned home for a while.

Having spent the last several months shut inside the team dorm—sleep, game, sleep, game—the house no longer felt like home.

Maybe I should bring Sera here next season too.

With that thought, he turned on his smartphone and entered an internet community. Not the Apis one. The number of people who hated him was equal to those who liked him; just reading it would open old wounds.

Instead, he went to the Hwaryong Muin community.

It wasn’t widely known, but he was one of the game’s hardcore users. The very reason he had chosen the Heavenly Demon character in Apis was because he had first learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Art inside Hwaryong Muin. In a way, his roots belonged to Hwaryong Muin.

He had barely logged in lately because of the competition, but he still checked the community every single day.

There had been so many interesting incidents recently. Thanks to the player Hwaryeong—who had descended upon the world of Hwaryong Muin like a comet with her Heavenly Demon concept—the stagnant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠game was undergoing a full-blown revolution.

As a hardcore user, Han Seo-woo couldn’t possibly stay away from the community. The direction of change was exactly the kind he had always wished for.

Come to think of it, I can log in today. Master’s probably going to scold me again for disappearing for so long. I just hope she doesn’t train me too brutally.

With that thought, Han Seo-woo entered the community and immediately realized something enormous had happened from the chaotic state of the hot posts. The center of the firestorm was, of course, Hwaryeong.