Chapter 204: Heavenly Demon Founder (2)
The one who answered that question was Cheon Yura.
“I came because I wanted to know what lies beyond the door.”
“Hm. So you're saying you didn’t know what was here?”
“Yes.”
“That’s correct.”
He stared intently at the two of us, then gave a small nod.
“You’re not lying.”
With his ability, discerning truth from falsehood was likely a simple matter.
“This place is a tomb.”
“…A tomb?”
“Seeing it once is better than hearing it a hundred times.”
Snap!
When the Heavenly Demon Founder snapped his fingers, both Cheon Yura and I floated into the air.
‘Telekinesis?!’
This wasn’t some simple telekinesis.
To perfectly subdue two conscious masters capable of using intent with just a snap of the fingers—this was no different from total suppression!
Our bodies shot up into the sky.
“Now, look over there.”
The Heavenly Demon Founder pointed across the river.
“…That is!”
Cheon Yura and I both turned toward the direction of his finger.
And we couldn’t believe our eyes.
What lay there was the skeletal remains of a giant’s corpse!
Even with all the monsters and giants I’d seen in my first life, this was a size rarely encountered!
“Whose corpse is that?”
Even Cheon Yura couldn’t hide her excitement as she asked in a trembling voice.
The Heavenly Demon Founder, who had been smiling until now, spoke with a quiet, solemn expression.
“That is the being once called the primordial evil.”
Heavenly Evil (天惡)!
I had heard that reviving that thing was the final goal of the Heaven-Defying Society.
If that thing were alive, it would surely stride across the continent and walk among the clouds.
Cheon Yura asked curiously.
“That doesn’t particularly look evil, though.”
In fact, a divine aura swirled around the corpse.
I agreed with her deep down.
Especially since I had faced a mad god before, I understood all too well how dreadful and wicked such beings could be.
But the Heavenly Demon Founder offered us a lesson.
“You must not judge by appearance alone. Evil (惡) and Demonic (魔) are often seen together, but their concepts must be clearly distinguished.”
‘…Ah, damn.’
The moment I heard those words, I realized I had been trapped by prejudice.
Hadn’t I once pompously lectured Song Yangja about this very thing, yet here I was, still clinging to my own bias?
‘Divine does not mean good, and darkness does not always equate to evil.’
To catch the Heaven-Defying Society members hidden within the central martial world, I absolutely couldn’t rely on what the eye could see.
“Founder, have you been guarding this place all this time?”
“…Heh.”
He chuckled briefly before replying.
“I am not the original. I may be someone different from the Heavenly Demon Founder you know.”
Someone different.
A rather loaded statement.
I asked him absentmindedly,
“What are your thoughts on your first disciple, Yujeon?”
“Jeon… is a talented child.”
He nodded with a pleased smile.
“I’ve taken on many disciples, but the only one truly worthy of inheriting everything from me is that child.”
Like a proud parent looking at their beloved offspring.
From that look, I confirmed one thing.
‘This Founder split off before the time I witnessed him in.’
Otherwise, he was the greatest actor in the world.
The Heavenly Demon Founder continued.
“That corpse is a being that perished at the end of the so-called Mythic Era, slain by the Adversary. With its fall, the Mythic Era came to an end, and the age of primitive humans—the Xia—began.”
The eras that followed, though occasionally disconnected, continued similarly to the history we know.
After we had finished observing the corpse of the Heavenly Evil, we returned to the surface.
“Founder, about—”
“Wait.”
He raised his index finger to his lips.
I shut my mouth at his gesture.
Then, after a short while had passed—
“……!”
Suddenly, the surrounding scenery changed.
The bright, clear sky vanished, and a black expanse dotted with tightly packed starlight took its place.
This was the space outside the planet—in other words, what they called the universe.
‘No, wait!’
But something felt off.
Although the scenery had changed entirely, the flow of the world enveloping me hadn’t shifted much.
This place was still where the Heaven of Sacred Spirits flowed!
The being before me had simply manipulated something and extracted me alone from the original space!
“Heh, even with the scenery altered, you did not miss the essence. Impressive.”
“Do you have something you wish to say to me alone?”
Nod!
“Others wouldn’t understand, but with you, a private conversation is necessary.”
His gaze, as if penetrating the nature of all things, locked directly onto mine.
“Before you ask, let me say this.”
“…Yes.”
“I know you have many questions. But I cannot answer all of them. That’s simply the nature of a divided self.”
“I understand.”
A divided self could never overcome the constraints set by the original body.
“Three. I will answer only three of your questions. That is the reward for you who came here through the key.”
“……”
Three questions, huh.
Far too few.
There were so many things I wanted to ask.
What was your true origin?
What exactly happened between you and your first disciple a thousand years ago?
Your connection to the Sun and Moon Divince Sect, your relationship with the Grand Heavenly Lord at the time, and so on and so forth…
But.
Now wasn't the time to ask those things.
Personal curiosities unrelated to what lay ahead had to be set aside for now.
“I thank you for your generosity, Founder.”
I exhaled deeply,
And without hesitation, spoke my first question.
“Is the [Gate] here the only one of its kind?”
At my question, the Heavenly Demon Founder's smile deepened.
“No. There are a few more gates scattered across the world.”
So there were more gates.
That wasn’t quite the answer I had hoped for.
I immediately followed up with the next question.
“Do those gates share the same timeline and space as this one?”
“Again, no. They exist in different locations of different times. In those places, there will be different versions of ‘me’.”
“Then, for the final question…”
Praying that this would be the one that yielded the answer I needed, I asked,
“Is the primordial Heavenly Evil completely dead?”
“……”
The Heavenly Demon Founder paused briefly, then replied cheerfully.
“It is not dead yet.”
“Sigh, I knew it.”
I let out a sigh and covered my face with my palm.
I had hoped this would be easier somehow, but of course, things never went that way.
‘There’s no way a being of divine nature would be utterly destroyed just because its physical body was annihilated.’
The Heavenly Demon Founder cast an odd look at me.
“You're quite the interesting person. To suppress your curiosity in that moment.”
“Because it has nothing to do with what must be done going forward.”
“And yet, countless humans have lost their chances for failing to suppress that very curiosity.”
A chance, huh?
Shhkk.
At some point, a sword appeared in the Heavenly Demon Founder’s hand.
‘Heavenly Demon Sacred Sword!’
I didn’t know whether it was Cheon Yura’s or not, but the fact that a sword was now in his hand—it was a threat on a completely different level.
“Even though you have the qualifications, you're unable to break through the wall because you haven’t resolved your inner contradictions.”
“You knew?”
Well, if even my Master figured it out, there was no way this so-called Founder wouldn’t know.
“To overcome the trials that await you, your current level of power is nowhere near enough. I assume you're aware of that?”
“…Of course.”
“Then, for the sake of a worthy descendant, I shall lend a bit of assistance.”
Whoosh!
The Heavenly Demon Sacred Sword ignited in black flames.
“The power of another world. The power of the Heavenly Demon. And your own power. The size of each is massive, but more than that, the karma they contain is too great to easily allow fusion.”
…Gulp!
“You seem to be thinking that everything will naturally align through the unification of mind, energy, and body—but though that is a valid path, there is a faster one.”
I instinctively understood what the Heavenly Demon Founder was saying.
“Let’s first forcibly tear down that wall. Now is not the time for you to be stagnant.”
Flash!
At that moment—
My head was forcibly separated from my body and soared into the sky.
***
Black Lotus Union, Temporary Headquarters.
‘Those damned bastards! Half a day, my ass!’
Baek Sang-ah seethed with frustration over the group that hadn’t sent any word for over three days.
‘Something definitely happened!’
This wasn’t the Yongdam Blood Cavern of Luoyang’s inner city. To go three days without contact clearly meant something serious had occurred.
‘Should I rally our forces and launch a surprise raid on the inner city? To hell with the Black Lotus Union—if something happened to those two, I…’
Doing something like that would bring irreversible consequences, but even that was better than losing her comrades entirely.
It was then—
“L-Lord of the Lotus! Bad news!”
A martial officer of squad leader rank from the Black Lotus Union burst into the main conference hall with a pale face.
“You bastard! You still haven’t broken that habit from your vagabond days—”
“The Leader of the Murim Alliance has appeared!”
The harsh rebuke from a Guardian was completely scattered like dandelion seeds by the single phrase: “Leader of the Murim Alliance.”
“T-The Leader…?”
“And that’s not all! Surrounding him are over a hundred martial artists in yellow robes! I-I’m certain those are—!”
“The Golden Dragon Heavenly Sword Squad!”
Terror swept across the room in an instant.
The strongest unit under the Murim Alliance, and practically the symbol of the Orthodox Sect’s might.
The Luoyang Five Ghosts, the high-tier masters who joined at the founding of the Black Lotus Union, were at the late Master Level.
But even a single member of the Golden Dragon Heavenly Sword Squad was more than a match for them.
Compared to them, even the Yacha Heavenly Blade Unit, the personal guards of the Ten Thousand Evils King, or the elite Myunggeuk Death Commanders of the Evil Sect’s Holy Capital paled in comparison.
Among single combat units, the only ones that could be compared to the Golden Dragon Heavenly Sword Squad were perhaps the Guardians of the Heavenly Demon Cult, or one or two of the Thirty-Four Demon Squads at most.
Their arrival was effectively a death sentence for the Black Lotus Union, which hadn’t even finished establishing its organizational structure.
“W-We must escape immediately…!”
A terrified Guardian tried to rise from his seat—
“Sit down and shut up.”
The cold, cutting voice of the Lotus Lord, Demonic Sword Flower, rang throughout the chamber.
“Even if the Golden Dragon Heavenly Sword Squad is renowned, they are still just one of the many forces within the Murim Alliance. Are the so-called leaders of the great Black Lotus Union truly quaking like cowards over the arrival of a single group?”
“……”
“……”
Demonic Sword Flower turned to speak to the Second Strategist, who wore a black mask nearby.
“Black Lotus Strategist.”
“Yes, Lord of the Lotus.”
“Rally the martial artists and summon the Left and Right Guardians. Since the Murim Alliance has come to welcome the opening of the Black Lotus Union, there’s no reason to refuse them.”
The Black Lotus Strategist replied without the slightest sign of panic.
“I shall carry out your will, Lord of the Lotus.”
She even let out a composed smile and said,
“Hehe, a meeting between the Leader of the Murim Alliance and our Lotus Lord. It will surely be a historic encounter.”
“……”
“Even if a fight were to break out, this Black Lotus Strategist is a hundred percent certain of our Lotus Lord’s victory. So, everyone, there is no need at all to fear the ‘Leader of the Murim Alliance’.”
At her confident declaration, the unease faded from the faces of the leadership, replaced by awe.
‘As expected, those granted the mask are different!’
Lotus Lord Demonic Sword Flower, the Left and Right Guardians of the Black Heavens, First and Second Strategists.
To those present, the black mask worn by these individuals was proof they were the true leadership of the Black Lotus Union.
‘I’ll make merit and earn that mask!’
‘The Black Heavenly Mask, symbol of the Black Lotus Union! One day, I too…!’
As the rest of the leaders reaffirmed their loyalty and strengthened their sense of belonging—
“…Refrain from unnecessary words, Second Strategist.”
The Lotus Lord, Demonic Sword Flower, let out a sigh, exhaling a complex blend of emotions.