The Heavenly Demon Becomes a Magical Girl
Martial artists are, for the most part, missing a screw or two in their heads. They train day and night to become stronger than anyone else. They sit in lotus position from dawn till dusk, motionless, just to increase their internal energy. It’s obvious that doing that for even an hour would drive a person insane. Yet these people do it all day long. In truth, what they call training is little more than torture disguised as cultivation. Is that why the Murim Alliance, which proudly calls itself the home of righteous heroes, only claims to stand for justice? When you look at them coldly, they aren’t all that different from the Heavenly Demon Cult or the unorthodox factions. They pretend to be virtuous on the surface, but the moment a fight breaks out they don’t care who gets caught in the crossfire, and they even take money under the table. It’s no wonder some of the Alliance’s top experts have the word “pervert” tacked onto their nicknames. Of course, I have no right to criticize them. I may have done it to survive, but I slaughtered countless martial artists. Every time I killed one, my name spread further across the world. As a result, followers began to gather around me, and before long an entire faction had formed. That faction is now known as the Heavenly Demon Cult.
“Hoo…”
I let out a long breath, lost in old memories as I gazed at the cliffside scenery for the first time in ages. In the past, a view like this wouldn’t have stirred any emotion in me. Every single day had felt like hell. But now I was utterly relaxed. Having reached a level of power that overwhelmed everyone else, no situation could threaten me anymore.
“The weather really is perfect today.”
I stood with my hands clasped behind my back, admiring the landscape, when I sensed a presence behind me. I ignored it and continued staring at the view. A short while later—
“So this is where you were, Heavenly Demon.”
A familiar voice finally reached my ear. The speaker must have finished his preparations. When I turned my head, I saw a man wearing a sly smile. Waist-length purple hair and a face that looked suspicious no matter who laid eyes on it. The man before me was Sim Jin-myeong, the second-in-command of the Heavenly Demon Cult and one of its leaders.
“You’ve prepared quite a lot. Quite a lot indeed.”
Behind him, a countless number of martial artists stood waiting, fully armed. It was as if they had been waiting for me to be left alone.
“Hmm.”
I slowly scanned them. They ranged from second-class warriors all the way up to several peak experts. On top of that, all five of the Great Masters—including Sim Jin-myeong—had gathered.
“Did you really go to all this trouble just to catch me?”
“Of course we had to prepare at least this much if we wanted to capture you, didn’t we?”
“Hmm. All this… just to catch me…”
Well, I suppose it wasn’t an unreasonable thing to say. I, too, was one of the Five Great Masters along with the leader of the Murim Alliance and Sim Jin-myeong. But even among the Five, there were differences in strength. They had only reached the peak of the Harmony Realm, while I had attained the extreme pinnacle of that same realm. The higher one climbed, the more overwhelming each stage became. So it was only natural that they would prepare like this. Of course, from my perspective it was all rather pointless.
“So, is this everything you’ve got?”
“…Pardon?”
At my question, the fool made a stupid face. I gathered internal energy into my hand. Then I flicked my finger.
—Vrrrrrm.
“What?”
“What the—?!”
“Huh? The swords…?!”
Every weapon they held rose into the air and floated gently. Soon, all the blades turned to point at the martial artists. Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
“T-telekinetic swords?”
“He can control that many at once?”
“This is insane…”
It was well known that anyone who reached the profound realm could use telekinetic swords. But even then, three or four was usually the limit. In contrast, I could easily handle over a hundred. And that wasn’t all.
—Vrrrrrm.
“Eh?”
“Void Step?!”
I could also use the ultimate movement technique known as Void Step with perfect ease. I quietly looked down at them from above. Below me, the martial artists stared up in terror. Even the Five Great Masters—including Sim Jin-myeong—looked utterly horrified. It seemed they hadn’t expected me to display this level of martial prowess. The situation was so familiar that I casually cleaned my ear with my pinky before speaking.
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
The moment I finished speaking, countless swords rained down.
About a day had passed since then. The once-beautiful scenery had turned back into hell in the blink of an eye. What had smelled of nature before now reeked of rotting corpses.
“Huff… huff…”
“Haah… haah…”
Sim Jin-myeong and Cheon Pyeong-sa, the leader of the Murim Alliance, stared up at Lee Ji-sang—the one called the Heavenly Demon—with expressions of utter disbelief. To be honest, no matter how strong he was, I had believed that with this much firepower we could win. But that had been far too naïve. The power he displayed was inhuman. I had sparred with countless experts over the years, yet I had never seen anyone with such overwhelming strength.
“Looks like I’ve mostly cleaned up the mess.”
At that moment, Lee Ji-sang slowly descended from the sky. Despite having used that much internal energy, he still looked perfectly relaxed. At this point, one had to wonder if he was even human.
“Jin-myeong. Let me ask you just one thing. Why in the world did you come up with such a stupid idea?”
“……”
At the question, Sim Jin-myeong remained silent. Lee Ji-sang ignored him and shook his head.
“Sigh. Yeah, there are always people like you—people who can’t stand having someone above them. Jin-myeong, if you hated me that much, you should have challenged me properly.”
Who the hell says something like that after we all attacked together and still couldn’t kill him? Is this bastard insane?
Sim Jin-myeong and Cheon Pyeong-sa stared at him with looks of utter absurdity. Sensing their gazes, Lee Ji-sang glared at them.
“What are you two defeated dogs looking at with those eyes? I’ll gouge them out, I swear!”
““……””
It’s because you keep doing insane things!
The two swallowed the words they wanted to say and quickly looked away. Lee Ji-sang quietly gazed at the corpses.
“It’s a sea of bodies.”
Aside from those two, almost everyone had become a corpse. Even two of the Five Great Masters had died just like the rest. Half of the Five Great Masters were now vacant positions because of this battle.
Well, none of that really matters to me.
What did titles like that even mean? Right now the titles attached to him were “one of the Five Great Masters” and “Heavenly Demon.” Because of those titles, people around him either revered or feared him. For someone who simply wanted to live a peaceful daily life, they were completely meaningless.
“So, is this really all you prepared?”
“Kgh!”
The two men glared at me with murderous eyes. The fact that they could only glare told me it really was over.
“How boring. Not even a little touching.”
Lee Ji-sang reached out with a bored expression. A sword that had been stuck in a corpse flew into his hand with a sharp clack. He looked down at the two men with an indifferent face and slowly opened his mouth.
“Let’s end this.”
With those final words, he raised the sword to strike. But at that moment—
—Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrm!!
“?!”
An extraordinary energy surged from the far end of the battlefield. It was powerful enough to shock even Lee Ji-sang, who had reached the extreme of the profound realm. The relaxed expression he had worn until now hardened in an instant. He immediately poured internal energy into the sword. The next moment, black energy erupted from the blade and condensed into an even more solid form. Using sword aura, Lee Ji-sang swung the blade. A black slash shot forward.
—Shraaaaaaaaash!!
The slash devoured the natural energy around it as it hurtled forward, growing larger with every passing second.
—Kwaaaaaaaaang!
An explosion rang out from the opposite side. Lee Ji-sang watched quietly. When the dust settled, the energy had vanished completely. Thinking it was finally over, he slowly withdrew his internal energy. But at that exact moment—
—Vrrrrrm!
“What?”
Strange characters he had never seen before began to appear on the ground. He could feel energy pulsing between the letters. To prepare himself, Lee Ji-sang immediately activated his body protecting qi. The next instant, the energy within the characters enveloped him. Seeing this, Sim Jin-myeong let out a laugh.
“Kuhuhuhuhu. You were so relaxed, yet you still got hit in the end.”
“Was this your doing, you bastard?”
“That’s right. I may not be able to kill you, but I can erase you from this place.”
“What?”
What was he talking about? He couldn’t kill him, but he could erase him? While Lee Ji-sang was still trying to understand, the scenery around him changed in the blink of an eye.
“This place is… hmm?!”
Something was wrong. The voice that came out should have been deep and resonant, yet it sounded thin and delicate. Not only that, his chest suddenly felt strangely heavy.
What the hell happened?
With a sinking feeling, he looked down at his own body. The next moment, clothes mixing black and pink filled his vision. And it wasn’t just the clothes. In his hand was a strange pink wooden stick.
“Hmm?”
At that moment, a large mirror appeared beside him. Lee Ji-sang slowly examined his reflection. The face that looked back was delicate and refined, completely different from before. At the same time, he saw waist-length black hair and a prominently protruding chest. The moment he saw himself, Lee Ji-sang instinctively realized the truth.
He had become a woman from another world!