Chapter 25
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Oh...!”
Exclamations of awe spilled out.
Was this body of mine always so robust?
Was it always so magnificent?
Having passed the trials of the Twelve Divine Demons before the Styx of the underworld.
Having swept away the church leader's family—those vermin gnawing at the cult from within—and the rotten bishops.
This body, forged endlessly like steel through countless slashes, stabs, and blows—the one I'd longed for so desperately!
“Uahahaaha!!”
The joy of reuniting with the body I'd long thought lost forever made laughter burst from me.
“Uwaaaak!”
“Hm?”
Suddenly, a bloodstained blade lunged for my throat with a guttural roar.
I caught it lightly between my index and middle fingers, as if snaring a butterfly, and traced it up with my eyes to find Atalanta glaring at me, her face twisted in fury, sword aimed my way.
“Uuuuugh!! Uwaaaak!!”
“Tch, possessed by a heart demon, are you?”
Her eyes, dark and devoid of any spark of life, and the savage killing intent surging from her entire body.
The classic look of a madman consumed by a heart demon.
Likely, when the heart demon that had manifested in her own likeness vanished moments ago, she couldn't contain her loathing and murderous rage with nowhere else to go, and it had devoured her in the end.
I released the blade, wondering what to do with her, and like she'd been waiting, she charged at me again.
“Uwaaaak!”
“What a handful.”
She'd lost all reason and control, thrashing about like a feral beast.
Yet the tales of her being taught by the king of the mountains and blessed by the goddess of the hunt weren't exaggeration—her destructive power and ferocity were like watching a hunting bear in action.
“But a beast steeped in bloodlust soon meets its end at human hands.”
Three steps.
It took only three steps for me to slip inside her assault and seize both her wrists.
“Kyaaaak!”
“What do you think you're seeing? What do you loathe, what do you hate? Do you even remember as you rampage?”
Atalanta dangled in the air, her wrists gripped in my hands.
She flailed like a fish dragged from the water, kicking desperately to strike me somehow, and I couldn't help but sigh.
“Sigh... What am I even doing with someone out of her mind?”
Why had I suddenly shifted from Dianes's form to my past life's Heavenly Demon visage?
The answer was simple.
This space was where Atalanta's nightmare intertwined with my lingering thoughts, connected through the energy guided by the Ghostless Heart Art.
In other words, it was her nightmare and my inner world at the same time.
I'd let the nightmare flow unchecked to trace the heart demon's origin,
but when I twisted its conclusion and pulled the mental flow toward myself, I reverted to the true form etched in my memory.
“First, let's change locations.”
I'd witnessed all sorts of hellish realms beyond human comprehension, but this scene—eyeballs bulging everywhere, tongues flicking out—was among the most grotesque.
“Something light like this, for starters?”
Majestic demonic energy flowed freely from my lower dantian, through the middle and upper, coursing at will.
The thrill of that omnipotence, felt after so long, raced up my spine, and my lips curled into a grin.
“Yeah, this is the feeling.”
-Groooaaarrr!!
“...!!”
Just summoning my demonic energy made the nightmare tremble.
Sensing the threat, Atalanta—who'd been flopping like a mackerel—went still,
and the eyeballs and tongues around us writhed in frenzy, lunging toward me.
“Futile.”
The martial arts of the Twelve Divine Demons and the formulas of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art flashed through my mind.
But using their true transmissions or the cult's ultimate secrets against these mere phantoms was absurd.
For this Atalanta in my grasp, or for me standing in this horrific space.
What I needed now was one thing alone.
Simply taking a single step forward.
Worried the limp Atalanta—sodden as a waterlogged sponge—might get caught in the aftermath,
I carefully cradled her to my chest and slowly advanced into the heart of the grotesque nightmare.
I'd entered with three steps, so three would suffice to leave.
"Make way."
-Boom!
One step—the step of the Demon Emperor that subjugates kings and emperors.
-Kyaaaaaak!!
The ominous phantoms vanished like morning dew before the Demon Emperor's stride that forces all under heaven to kneel.
-Step.
Two steps—the divine demon's tread that conquers the earth and underworld alike.
-Uwaaaaaah!!
The nightmare enveloping everything tore to shreds beneath the divine demon's earth-shattering steps.
And the final third step.
I stood atop a towering mountain peak, carefully holding the sweat-soaked Atalanta to my chest.
-Whiiiiiish!!
The highest peak in the world.
Cloud seas churned and flowed below my feet, distant horizons stretching out beneath me.
“The final third step: the Heavenly Demon's stride that commands ten thousand demons, conquers all under heaven, and reigns supreme over the three realms.”
After those three steps, nothing remained above me.
One who takes those three strides reigns over all under heaven; this is the gait of the Transformation Heaven that dominates the desire realm and human realm.
Thus it is called the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step, and the demonic cultivators prostrated themselves before those feet.
“It's been ages since I've seen this mental realm too.”
The pinnacle of heaven, earth, and man reached by mastering the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step in my past life.
Even cast into another world, living in another body with another name, this realm engraved deep in my soul never faded.
Did this girl Atalanta realize she was enjoying an honor even the most devout followers never knew—sharing the Heavenly Demon's vantage point?
“Waaah...”
Awe-struck by the overwhelming vista overlooking sun, moon, and all creation, Atalanta let out a mesmerized gasp.
“Beautiful, isn't it?”
“...Yes.”
In the end, all things in the world flow and pass.
Good times and bad alike fade away, only to return again.
Forget the good easily, cling to the bad and let it fester, and it becomes a grudge, then a heart demon that returns to haunt you.
Overcoming it, forgetting it, or embracing it until it self-destructs—all fall to one's own hands.
And be it heart demon, grudge, calamity, or fortune, viewed from here, they're but faint ripples smaller than a wisp of those clouds below. Why self-destruct over such trifles?
“With this beautiful world all around you, why fixate only on the heart demon within?”
“......”
Her ruby eyes, shining without a trace of delusion, took in the scene once more.
It would fade from her like a dream's morning dew, but no more nightmares or heart demons would linger within her.
A greater truth had taken root in her mental realm now.
The next morning.
As yesterday, before the sun had even risen, students including myself began gathering at the colosseum one by one.
After the bizarre events yesterday, I'd spent the sleepless night circulating the Ghostless Heart Art, studying the energy within me—which I'd decided to call divine demon energy.
The divine demon energy flowed alongside my inner energy just as the formulas prescribed, invigorating my qi circulation and purifying the impurities in my body.
“Did you see it yesterday?”
“Even Hephaestus would've jumped at that thunderous crash.”
“How thick-skulled do you have to be to tank a hit from Atalanta...?”
“Maybe his head's made of iron?”
“One forged by Hephaestus himself?”
“Nah, no way it's just iron.”
“At least adamantium...”
“Adamantium man, then?”
Everyone seemed to sense some invisible wall around me after yesterday's incident, and the air buzzed with chatter.
Felt like some wild rumor about me was spreading.
“Why the funeral faces this early?”
“Ever think you're way too chipper?”
Heracles swung at my back but whiffed when I dodged lightly.
“Ooh, ooooh, did you see? You saw it, Theseus?”
“Of course, Jason. The path... I finally see the path!”
Jason and Theseus, now stuck to each other like best pals, shoved past Heracles with cryptic mutterings and hooked arms with me on both sides.
“It's you! You're the one! The final piece Zeus sent in answer to our prayers!”
“Pair our wits with your martial prowess, and we might achieve feats unmatched in this forest of heroes today!”
Apparently, Heracles's bungling at the gate yesterday wasn't a one-off.
The two strategists latched onto me fervently, aiming to break through that 'great hero' barrier with me as their champion.
Heracles chuckled beside us, gleefully fanning the flames, and I found the whole scene rather amusing, bursting into laughter.
As we boisterously entered the colosseum, familiar auburn hair blocked our quartet's path.
“O-over there!”
It was Atalanta, her fierce beauty flushed red as if ready to ignite.
“Ooh!”
“Ugh!”
“Eek!”
The trio of Greek heroes scattered like leaves in the wind at the sight of her, a volcano on the verge of eruption.
The other young heroes, sensing something off about Atalanta's expression, slunk away, avoiding both her and me.
“What?”
“Uuuugh... th-that's...”
Bracing subtly in case she lunged like yesterday,
Atalanta rushed right up to me instead and seized my hand.
Her face burned even redder, her eyes inexplicably glistening as she spoke.
“T-today! I'll guide you properly, so... f-follow me closely!”
"...What?"
...Something felt off about how this was unfolding.
In a direction I'd never anticipated.