Today, Heavenly Demon didn’t come.
That’s because since morning, she’s been preparing to meet Oh Myeongseong and Gu Milmil after receiving reports of their arrival from the Death Scroll Hall Master.
It’s strange that everything is being leaked even though Oh Myeongseong must be following Gu Milmil, who knows this area’s geography well, to enter secretly.
Plus there’s one more puzzling thing.
You’d think Heavenly Demon would eliminate them before they arrive, but she’s letting them come.
That’s what I’d guess based on memories from when Heavenly Demon was a man, but I’m not sure what she’s thinking now.
It was Heavenly Demon who killed Gu Milmil’s father.
It’s strange there’s no conflict.
When they meet, it wouldn’t be strange if something happens.
A big incident is about to occur at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has been quiet until now. There have been many movements within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Gapjae.
He finally revealed all his abilities and demanded a higher position. But rather than making random demands, he said he would wait for a ranking battle like the one Heavenly Demon held before, and diligently does his duties.
Meanwhile, Byeongil is thoroughly crushing his faction, the Mountain Stone Hall, with violence.
Mountain Stone Hall. This is a faction related to mining.
It’s mainly a place that deals with criminals. Of course, criminals by Heavenly Demon Divine Cult standards.
They put insects in their heads to destroy their intelligence, then mine silver in the silver mines.
The main executives here didn’t acknowledge Byeongil and refused to share the resources that came from it. In short, it was a silent protest saying they wouldn’t recognize him as the Mountain Stone Hall Master.
However, Byeongil was a believer in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. He was someone skilled enough to hold the position of Protector.
Byeongil visited the resisting executives, asked about their submission, and killed those who refused to submit.
Originally, each hall operates independently and the principle is non-interference, so normally this would be fine. But the problem is Byeongil killed too many.
Among them were people dispatched from other halls who controlled the insects, and when they died, the insects in the criminals’ heads went berserk, killing more than half of the mine workers.
In other words, productivity dropped, and people borrowed from other halls died too.
Yes. A big problem arose. So Byeongil is on the verge of being politically expelled from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
This is Byeongil’s current situation.
And as I hoped from people, the Protector of the Heaven Palace Hall is thinking of advancing further. While outwardly showing loyalty to the Heaven Palace Hall Master, he’s secretly looking for other paths.
The place he’s contacting is the Earth Management Hall.
Like Gapjae did, he’s aiming to connect with the Earth Management Hall.
And there’s a reason for this. Because the Earth Management Hall is where they produce pills that make you stronger just by eating them.
Of course, the Moon Emperor Hall’s techniques went into that.
Yes, that’s right. It’s technology that flowed in from the Great Kraken’s side. But that doesn’t mean the Earth Management Hall Master is from the Severance Religion or Blood Vessel Secret Religion.
This one is closer to an elder. A master who has long been part of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It means the Earth Management Hall Master is an elder of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult who manages strengthening medicines.
So it seems people who want to rise higher or have something happen meet with them.
But the Heaven Palace Hall’s Protector isn’t trying to rise higher within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. He’s trying to get a mission that will let him leave.
Because the Heaven Palace Hall’s Protector, Jung Jaewoo, realized the insect in his body disappeared when he became a harvester, and is thinking of leaving the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Everyone has their own circumstances.
Meanwhile, Moon Emperor Hall Master Yin Simwon is similar to Byeongil. He too is going around killing his subordinates. But his reason is different from Byeongil’s.
People who have mutated too much and are about to become monsters.
He’s disposing of them.
I told them to run away, but it seems they decided to stay at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. They probably didn’t see the Great Kraken die, but did they figure out who won when they saw Heavenly Demon return?
If that’s his choice, it should be respected.
It’s not like I’m in a position to tell them to do something else anyway…
I want to praise him.
Why, you ask?
Because most of the people he killed were those who used special techniques when summoning me.
Though not all information is gathered, if this is divided well, there’s a possibility of interpreting the summoning method.
Searching through memories is like putting together puzzle pieces – the more pieces you have, the clearer it becomes what to look for where. If I try hard, I might be able to extract the necessary techniques.
Anyway.
Looking at the overall picture, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult is in a very chaotic situation.
In this situation, Oh Myeongseong and Gu Milmil. These two people meet with Heavenly Demon.
I wonder what will happen.
“What are you doing in front of the fire in this heat?”
As I sat near the hearth blankly staring at the fire, Soo-oh approached me, not hiding her boredom.
After waiting for Heavenly Demon and receiving a small note from her saying it was free time, she played around, but seems tired of having nothing to do.
But Soo-oh, who usually clings to me, stands a few steps away from me and strangely examines my expression. Is she trying to read the situation?
Ah, come to think of it, I was a bit strange yesterday.
I never expected to be mocked by a beast that had become a monster.
Yes.
If you die, you don’t need to be cold. Unlike me who cannot die.
“I’m just thinking about what to do from now on.”
“What to do? About what?”
I got up and took Soo-oh to the porch.
Right now, Heavenly Demon is heading alone to meet Oh Myeongseong and Gu Milmil.
They’ll meet at the forest’s edge.
Since I can see what’s happening through Heavenly Demon’s eyes, there’s no need to go there. So I’ll prepare dinner with Soo-oh, clean up, and go to sleep.
I looked up at the sky.
The sky is darker than usual now. It’s partly because it’s close to evening, but clouds are gathering as if it will rain soon.
I hope it’s not a sign of something happening.
Ah, right.
There’s something I need to tell Soo-oh in advance. Heavenly Demon knows too, so it would be troublesome if she asks later why I didn’t tell her. And excluding her would be wrong, right?
I had Soo-oh sit in front of me.
“What’s wrong?”
Soo-oh looks anxious. I told her about what’s to come.
“Soo-oh. In 4 years, I’m leaving here.”
“Huh?”
Soo-oh’s eyes widened.
“Where are you going?”
Soo-oh rushed over and grabbed my clothes. Is it such a surprising thing?
“Outside the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
If possible, a place with many people.
A place where I can produce harvesters.
Soo-oh looks at my expression and then around.
“Isn’t here enough?”
“It’s enough for living. But I have something I want to do, so I’ll leave.”
Soo-oh crossed her arms.
“Yeah, but with Master here, and just us two women going out alone seems really dangerous? I learned that women traveling alone can easily get into big trouble.”
Well, given how the world is, there are many immoral people.
Oh Myeongseong has caught someone called a pervert before too.
Sexual desire is hard to separate from humans after all.
But Soo-oh seems to have a misunderstanding.
“Soo-oh. I’m leaving alone.”
Soo-oh’s eyes grew enormously.
“No, why. Why are you doing this? Did something suddenly happen? Did I do something wrong?”
Wow, Soo-oh is using formal speech. She looks up at me with an expression like she’s about to cry. Like an abandoned puppy.
“No. Soo-oh hasn’t done anything wrong. How could there be anything wrong when you’re growing up so well like this?”
“Then why are you saying you’ll leave alone?”
Even if she asks why I’m leaving alone, even in 4 years Soo-oh will still be a child, so taking her to a dangerous place would be concerning.
“Even in 4 years, Soo-oh will still be young. If I leave, Heavenly Demon will take care of you. Then when time passes and you become an adult, that’s when Soo-oh should do what she wants to do. Not staying alone in a remote place like this.”
Soo-oh approached me with a face about to cry.
And very hesitantly, carefully grabbed the edge of my clothes. She used to run to me without hesitation but now she’s like this.
“Can’t you not go?”
Soo-oh’s voice trembles. Where did I fail in communicating? This isn’t such a sad story.
“I’m not leaving right away. Soo-oh. We have 4 years ahead. That’s plenty of time. We’ve only lived together for 1 year, right? We need to repeat the time we’ve spent together 4 more times. When that time comes, Soo-oh might even tell me to leave quickly?”
Soo-oh shakes her head left and right.
She’s dropping tears.
Hmm.
Was it too early? No. At this age, is it the age to cry over parting with friends saying it’s too late?
I remember girls developed a bit faster.
Or maybe it’s because she only interacts with two people.
Lack of social skills, what should I do about this?
Can’t be helped.
I’ll have to give her enough strength to live even with slightly lacking social skills.
Fortunately, there’s a situation to build strength. Because after Heavenly Demon met the two people, a fight didn’t break out. If Heavenly Demon is here, Soo-oh will become stronger too.
Now.
After meeting Oh Myeongseong, surprisingly, Heavenly Demon invited them to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
When Gu Milmil asked what her intentions were, Heavenly Demon answered that she no longer has interest in the position of Heavenly Demon.
And she returns to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult with them.
Only after hearing Oh Myeongseong asking Heavenly Demon about his condition while walking, I realized something.
Whether it’s because of the white skin and purple hair being an issue, or if some people who can recognize my identity from my parts are spreading rumors, they specifically call him a Demon Head.
Soo-oh falls under that category too.
There’s a lot to resolve when leaving. While I’m thinking about how to explain this, a faded man’s memory suddenly pulled out one word.
Hug.
Thinking about showing the word meaning embrace, I grabbed Soo-oh’s arms and held her in my arms according to the memory. Unlike last year when she was skinny, Choseol who now has proper fat is a properly tall woman. So even though it’s hot when hugging, it shouldn’t be uncomfortable.
“Don’t think of it as parting, but as the time coming when you must stand alone.”
“Why? Can’t we just go together?”
Ah, she’s back to informal speech.
That’s good.
“I want Soo-oh to grow a bit more.”
If possible.
Why is this? It’s all warmth, and even if Soo-oh dies suddenly, I’ll just say I got warmth and forget about it for sure.
“Learn from Heavenly Demon, and if possible from other people too, and become strong. Become very very very strong, so you can become a Soo-oh who can do whatever you want.”
Some called me an outer god;
Some called me an evil god;
Some called me a monster.
And this child called me a person. Just that much.
Accepting just that much of a wish.
“Then, this world is yours. In this world’s terms…”
Yes. There’s an easy expression. The word that faded man’s memories threw out as soon as they heard Soo-oh’s name. Perfect, that word fits just right.
“What do you mean?”
Soo-oh lifts her face from my embrace to ask. Only half her face is visible as it’s pressed against my chest. Now the sad expression isn’t visible anymore. Hugging is good for redirecting thoughts.
“This world we’re in now is called the martial world. So, just as you saw me as a person, I’ll speak like a person too.”
And I held both of Soo-oh’s cheeks and said this.
“Soo-oh’s Martial World.”
Embedding the meaning that from now on, you should become a free person who can do whatever you want in this world.
Dozens of memories of a man bursting into laughter sparkle in the faded memories.