Heavenly Demon (3)
‘I thought it would last at most a week…….’
A white-haired old woman. No, the Heavenly Demon gazed at Yun-seok with complicated eyes.
Right now, Yun-seok looked astonishingly gaunt. It was inevitable.
The waiting room where his body healed was different from the circular arena. Here, he felt hunger and thirst, and as fatigue piled up, he even succumbed to drowsiness at times.
Yet Yun-seok, aside from the occasional blackout, hadn’t slept a wink. He threw himself into training. And it had already been two weeks of this.
‘Incredible, truly incredible!’
Who could have predicted it?
That Yun-seok would have the mental fortitude to swing his sword nonstop for two weeks without food or drink.
But the truly astonishing part was something else. It was that praiseworthy tenacity and resolve.
However……
‘Now I see—even that tenacity was nothing!’
A talent blooming brilliantly. Watching his steep growth curve, even the Heavenly Demon felt awe.
‘He said he first picked up a sword here?’
When she first heard that, she’d thought a child was puffing himself up with lies. From the perspective of the Heavenly Demon, who had grown up hearing “genius” endlessly, Yun-seok’s fundamentals couldn’t have been built in just a day or two.
But after witnessing his real-time growth with her own eyes, she realized it was true.
‘Though not from the same homeland, he possesses the qualities of a warrior surpassing any child.’
It wasn’t just talent or perseverance. It was his attitude toward martial arts, his passion, his inquisitive mind, and even his innate ability to truly enjoy achievements earned through sweat.
‘If we hadn’t met here, I would have taken him as a disciple…….’
Clang! As Yun-seok’s sword flew in, the Heavenly Demon blocked it and snapped out of her reverie. Unlike the day before, which had been light, the momentum behind it was heavy.
“To disturb this church leader’s composure—you’ve achieved another breakthrough already!”
The Heavenly Demon voiced her admiration without hiding it, but……
Yun-seok remained utterly silent. He simply kept swinging his sword without pause, as always.
At this moment, Yun-seok was no different from a beast wielding a single blade.
“Haha! Let’s see you handle this!”
These days, the Heavenly Demon no longer pointed out flaws or offered advice during their spars with Yun-seok. There was no need. He had already become a true warrior, and warriors spoke through their swords—no lengthy words required.
If she spotted a flaw, she corrected it with her own blade, and that was enough. Just exchanging blows continuously was enough for Yun-seok’s swordplay to evolve on its own, filling its own gaps.
Yet Yun-seok’s eyes remained the same. Eyes desperately craving something.
In response, the Heavenly Demon asked,
“Still not satisfied?”
Prolonged hunger and thirst. Relentless, grueling spars without rest. A sip of water would be a godsend, a moment’s sleep worth its weight in gold—yet what Yun-seok sought remained unchanged from the start. Not mere crumbs of bread, but something more.
“What is it that you lack so? What drives you to this?”
In a cracked voice, Yun-seok replied,
“I… don’t want… to lose… anymore……”
“Don’t want to lose?”
It was a driving force she hadn’t anticipated at all.
If he’d said it was for wealth, fame, or survival, it would have been a practical reason, easy enough to accept. But victory itself? What on earth had happened in this boy’s life?
What had forged him into this? Why did he fear defeat so much and cling to victory?
She couldn’t know. Nor did it matter.
“Then block this!”
The Heavenly Demon roared and thrust her sword forward.
Yun-seok deflected it sideways with his own blade. Notably, no characteristic clang of clashing steel rang out.
He had employed the basic principle of flowing swordplay: the subtle art of sticking and adhering.
The blades clung together as if glued. Yun-seok’s stubborn nature shone through in that tenacity. But the Heavenly Demon leisurely altered her sword’s flow, turning the tables with a counterattack.
Yet Yun-seok was no pushover. He instantly realized he couldn’t hold on and smoothly redirected her blade aside without hesitation.
The Heavenly Demon was dumbfounded.
“To use the redirected force—not quite stealing flowers to graft wood, but close enough!”
No one would believe it if she placed the Yun-seok from a week ago next to the current one. How could they be the same person?
“Use… the redirected… force……?”
Yun-seok, mid-charge, suddenly halted. He stood still, mulling over the Heavenly Demon’s mutterings.
Such moments during spars were routine, so the Heavenly Demon habitually stepped back and waited in silence.
‘How many insights has this been already……? The more I watch, the more absurd it seems.’
When Yun-seok fell into contemplation, one of two things happened: he achieved a breakthrough, or he grasped a clue. Astonishingly, the former was overwhelmingly common, and even in the latter case, he soon gained new enlightenment through continued sparring.
This time, it was the latter.
“I kinda… get it… but not quite… Need to… try more……”
His eyes, shut like those of the dead, snapped open. Simultaneously, his sword, pointed at the ground, lifted back up.
The Heavenly Demon murmured softly,
“Our time is up.”
What she’d expected to last a week had dragged on for two. As mentioned before, in the arena, hunger, thirst, and accumulating mental fatigue set in over time.
But one didn’t die from not eating, drinking, or sleeping. The space itself was designed that way.
Even knowing this from experiments, she’d predicted a week. Human mental fortitude had limits.
Indeed, a challenger she’d once restrained from suicide—while eagerly exploring the space—had gone mad after just a week. Begging for death amid unbearable agony, he eventually lost his mind entirely. She’d kept him for a month after, delving deeper into the space’s secrets before killing him. What happened next, she didn’t know.
“I… can do… more……”
“You can’t even speak properly?”
Thirst didn’t cover it. His parched throat was ruined, barely able to produce sound. Each word must feel like scraping metal.
And the hunger? Humans grew irritable after a single day without food, yet Yun-seok had fasted for fourteen. He’d probably kill for a mouthful of dirt by now.
On top of that, no proper sleep. Headaches that would shatter sanity must have been constant companions.
“I’m… fine……”
This place defied reality’s laws. Thus, pain had no limits. What ordinary people would die without tasting compounded endlessly, like interest on a loan.
Yet Yun-seok claimed he was fine. That he could endure.
At this point, perhaps his mental fortitude outshone even that radiant talent……
But the Heavenly Demon shook her head firmly.
“It’s not your mind. Your stamina has reached its end.”
No eating, drinking, excreting, or sleeping wouldn’t kill you here. But zero stamina would.
Thanks to Blood Oath, Yun-seok recovered quickly from injuries mid-spar, but stamina loss wasn’t zero. After two weeks of sleepless sword-swinging, his was depleted.
At best, one or two more exchanges.
“So the spar ends here.”
Her tone left no room for argument, and disappointment flickered across Yun-seok’s face.
A chance at release from pain, yet disappointment? By now, even the Heavenly Demon just accepted it. Without this stubbornness, he wouldn’t have lasted this long.
So she prepared a final gift. One he, at least, would find satisfying.
“Now, this church leader will kill you.”
The Heavenly Demon raised her sword, infusing it with killing intent.
Yun-seok shivered.
“If you don’t wish to die……”
Life-or-Death Duel. Not a spar, but a fight to the death.
As if it triggered something, a faint click echoed from somewhere.
And at that moment……
“Kill this church leader!”
Yun-seok’s sword, too, brimmed with viscous killing intent.
* * *
This duel was worlds apart from their previous spars.
They faced off, swords pointed, maintaining distance. Neither moved until a split-second opening appeared.
“……”
Only silence and killing intent filled the stalemate.
The Heavenly Demon’s stance was steady. One hand behind her back, her right gripping the sword aimed at Yun-seok.
But Yun-seok’s opposite stance shifted subtly and continuously. Two-handed grip, then one-handed; sometimes twisting sideways like fencers.
The reason was simple.
“So many thoughts swirling in your head.”
No openings visible.
The more he learned, the clearer her monstrous nature became. She was a mountain, an ocean, the sky itself. An unbeatable force of nature—or divinity—beyond human grasp.
“How many times have you died already?”
Countless. All imagined battles in his mind, without a single real swing.
A hundred charges, a hundred deaths.
“I’ll ask again. How many?”
The question seemed similar, but Yun-seok instantly grasped her meaning.
He answered honestly.
“Three times……”
Just three.
No matter the stance or first strike, he died within three exchanges. It started as one, but adjusting mid-fight bumped it to three.
The Heavenly Demon chuckled.
“To withstand this church leader’s sword three times……”
Even as avatars with base stats, it was arrogant for a swordsman of barely two weeks.
Her other name, carried half a lifetime, was none other than Heavenly Demon.
“Prove it.”
“……?”
“Inflict even a scratch on this church leader’s body. Or, as you claim, withstand three strikes—and it’s your victory.”
“……”
Yun-seok didn’t reply. He simply thought.
Could he really do it three times? In his mental simulations, yes. Pure swordsmanship fell short, but deploying every technique yielded that result.
And reality might differ vastly.
But……
‘It’s not about can or can’t.’
Some things in life must be done. Excuses of lacking courage had led to his wretched past.
But it turned out winning or losing didn’t matter. The world didn’t shift a millimeter for such trifles.
Having severed earthly ties, Yun-seok now knew that too.
Yet when the Heavenly Demon last asked what drove him, and he answered “I don’t want to lose anymore,” there was one reason.
The opponent was none other than himself.
Ten thousand losses? Fine—as long as he never yielded to himself.
With no shame, head held high, he could advance unbroken.
“……”
A faint smile on his lips, Yun-seok quietly opened his eyes.
And that……
Was answer enough.