Like falling drops of blood, a viscous mass of Demonic Qi descended from the sky.
The Demonic Cultists hidden within it revealed themselves one by one.
The reason we had never encountered them until now was surely because they had all gathered here.
As if to prove that thought, the number of Demonic Cultists walking out of the mass of Demonic Qi was considerable.
No, if it were only their numbers, it would have been fine.
Those behind me were the finest elites selected from across the Central Plains—at minimum, Peak Realm masters.
Naturally, even if we were outnumbered, our overall martial level was at a terrifying standard…
Whatever the Heavenly Demon had done, the Demonic Cultists had likewise reached a level that was not far behind.
Of course, they were not proper masters who had achieved their strength without any price.
Blazing red eyes, raw Demonic Qi spilling out unchecked, and movements that seemed like they were wearing clothes that did not fit them.
Even compared to the Demonic Cultists I had seen before—those whose martial levels had been forcibly raised—these ones looked even more unstable.
But that was not what mattered. The only thing that mattered was that they were blocking the stairs leading to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
"We'll break through in one go!"
BOOM!
A sound like thunder rang out as a body that had kicked off the ground accelerated in an instant.
Before I could even blink, I stood before the demon cultists. Their eyes, stained red but hollow, surrendered to murderous intent and moved to unleash their martial arts.
But my sword was faster.
Swoosh.
A blade blazing white-hot. The sword that had condensed internal energy and Intent into a single point and even cut through the Heavenly Demon's Demonic Qi found it a trivial matter to cleave through a half-baked Peak Realm martial artist.
I stepped past the falling corpse and raised my sword to cut down the next demon cultist blocking my path.
Thrum—
The corpse, which should have been dead, began absorbing the Demonic Qi around it, swelling to several times its size.
"Surely not?"
I pulled my body back quickly, thinking, "Not this again."
A moment later, a violent storm of Demonic Qi erupted.
Most of it was blocked by my Protective Qi and didn't deal much damage, but… it felt different from the Blood Explosion Art I had faced at Haomun.
The Blood Explosion Art was a martial art that, at best, caused one's own internal energy to run wild, turning the user into a bomb.
But the Demonic Qi that had just erupted seemed to distinguish friend from foe—it had no effect on the other Demonic Cultists, and it was far too pure to have come from the fallen one.
It was just like the Demonic Qi of the Heavenly Demon I had cut down moments ago…
"Ah."
Come to think of it, he had been hiding within the Demonic Qi created by the Heavenly Demon all along. It was clear that he had directly absorbed the Heavenly Demon's energy within it.
After all, the Heavenly Demon was overflowing with internal energy, so this wouldn't be too difficult. On the other hand, the Demonic Cultists would completely lose their reason, but since they'd become stronger more reliably than through any sorcery or trick, they'd have no reason to refuse.
Above all, if he had been assimilating the energy over a long period of time, or if the Heavenly Demon was personally lending a hand, then it made sense that the explosion of Demonic Qi would have little effect on fellow Demonic Cultists.
"How troublesome."
But it was troublesome in the literal sense only. With my current strength, I could cut them down in a single stroke and carve a path through.
The drain would be severe… but I couldn't keep being held back here, so I had no choice but to endure it.
With that thought, I lowered my sword slightly. Intent concentrated along the blade. All I needed was the fundamental principle of cutting straight through.
It was the moment I was about to recreate the sword strike that had cut down several Slaughter Kings before.
"Leave this place to this monk and the others."
"Great Master Jeonghyeon…"
Great Master Jeonghyeon, who had appeared from behind, held me back.
"That is not why we gathered people here. Preserve your strength as much as possible."
"…Yes."
I nodded and withdrew the Intent I had been concentrating. As if they had been waiting for that, the martial artists of the Orthodox-Unorthodox Alliance passed by me and began fighting the Demonic Cultists.
I slipped my sword through the relatively loosened gaps and threw my body into them.
I absorbed the hostility felt from all directions and the erupting Demonic Qi with my Protective Qi, focusing solely on carving a path forward.
As I swung my sword again and again, before I knew it, I had broken through the wall of Demonic Cultists. The suffocating feeling receded, and the stairs leading upward came into view.
To avoid being caught again, I climbed the stairs without pause, and before long, the others who had likewise just broken free from the Demonic Cultists began to appear one by one.
Seol Ri-hyang, Seomun Hwa-rin, the Murim Alliance Leader, the Lord of the Black Alliance, and the Sword King.
No one else came. Only these five would ascend the stairs to the Heavenly Demon Hall alongside me.
There were still many Harmony Realm martial artists gathered here, so I asked Seomun Hwa-rin with some regret.
"Are the others not coming?"
"It seems they cannot come even if they wish to. There are quite a few formidable ones among the Demonic Cultists."
I see. I understood. Though they were said to be at half my level or less, I had seen quite a few Demonic Cultists who had reached the Harmony Realm.
The Sword Demon, the Slaughter King, and even the disciples of the Blood Flame Fist Demon I had seen at Haomun.
I already knew they were producing incomplete Harmony Realm martial artists through some method, so there was nothing surprising about it.
The only problem was that there were more of them than I had expected, and they were trickier to deal with than I had anticipated.
Because of that, the number of people who could face the Heavenly Demon alongside me had dwindled somewhat…
"There's no helping it. Let's proceed as we are."
It truly was unavoidable. After all, this was only possible because of the Heavenly Demon's knowledge and power, so I supposed I should consider it as facing the Heavenly Demon in another form.
Gripping the drawn sword a little tighter, I climbed the stairs.
The path leading to the Heavenly Demon Hall was needlessly long and high. It felt less like climbing a moderately tall mountain peak and more like advancing toward a hall suspended in midair.
Even with my Lightness Skill active, it took considerable time, so I remained wary of a possible ambush on the stairs, but…
Surprisingly, nothing happened as we climbed the entire length of those long stairs and arrived at the Heavenly Demon Hall.
I looked at the tightly shut doors of the hall, nodded, and slowly pushed them open.
Though it had looked like a hall from the outside, the interior was a vast audience chamber.
No corridors, no side rooms, not even a staircase leading upward.
Just a large, wide space lined with rows upon rows of pillars.
Had it not been for the ink-colored chair placed at the far end, I might have mistaken it for a warehouse rather than an audience chamber.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed through the wide but empty space. As we crossed that empty expanse and reached the far end, only then did the Heavenly Demon come into view.
The Heavenly Demon stood with his back to us, quietly gazing at a large Buddhist painting hanging on the wall.
Naturally, I found myself studying the painting he was looking at as well.
The painting depicted a black demon descending from the heavens, slaughtering the chaotic people of the earth as they fled in disarray.
At first glance, it seemed to be a painting of one of the hells described in Buddhism, but…
The knowledge I had naturally acquired through my close association with Great Masters Jeonghyeon and Gakjeong denied that notion.
The painting before me merely gave off the atmosphere of a Buddhist painting—strictly speaking, it was not one at all.
No matter how much it resembled a scene from hell, there was not a single clue revealing which hell it was, or who the demon punishing those people might be.
Even the demon's appearance, and the object it held high above its head, offered nothing.
No matter how long I looked, I could feel the awkwardness of something—as if powerful elements had been ripped from various other Buddhist paintings and forcibly stitched together here.
Something that merely followed the style of a Buddhist painting.
Once I thought of it that way, I immediately understood what the painting before me meant.
"The Heavenly Demon."
"You know it well. Yes. This is how the cultists of old envisioned the Heavenly Demon. Not me—the transcendent being they worshipped and had faith in."
Still keeping his back turned to me, the Heavenly Demon continued in a calm voice.
"There was much that had piled up. Their own strength was lacking, so they sought a being who would vent their grievances for them, and punish the wicked in their stead."
"There were many who existed for that very purpose."
"The Sword Demon speaks the truth. Even before the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult came to be, there were many deities and immortals who would right wrongs and uphold justice. …But the people of that time must have been unable to trust anyone."
That was right. No matter how loudly they cried out their grievances, no one would listen—so they had fled the Central Plains and holed up in the remote mountain valleys of the frontier, where survival itself was a struggle.
"They say the first believers weren't dreaming of revenge. They simply needed something to lean on, to soothe even a fraction of the resentment burning in their hearts. Not the useless things that had turned their backs on them all along, but a new being who would acknowledge their suffering."
"And that being was the Heavenly Demon."
"Correct. A god stitched together from every powerful being they had ever heard of, patched up as best they could remember. That was the Heavenly Demon in the minds of the Cult's followers. …Quite amusing, isn't it?"
"What is?"
"They knew it was a falsehood of their own making. And yet they believed—truly believed in the Heavenly Demon's existence… in the divine punishment he would one day deliver."
"Because people aren't that strong. Not like you."
"Is that so? My thoughts differ slightly. Clinging to a falsehood while knowing it to be false—perhaps it was because they could not bear to let go, or perhaps because it did not matter whether it was false or not… or perhaps because they believed that one day, the falsehood would become the truth."
Having said this, the Heavenly Demon clasped his hands behind his back and turned around to face this way—no, to face me.
"At this very moment. Which do you think it is, Sword Demon, that has brought you before me?"
"How would I know that?"
"Indeed. How would you know. It is a matter from a past too distant for me, and you, Sword Demon, are the kind of person who pays no mind to such things and remembers only the scenery before your eyes."
The Heavenly Demon nodded, then unclasped his hands and lightly raised one.
Following that seemingly insignificant motion, the scenery around us shifted. No—so immense was the Demonic Qi that it obeyed the Heavenly Demon's will so naturally that one might mistake it for an illusion.
"However, even to this old man, one thing remains certain. That all that is left is to prove oneself—that is precisely the truth."
The swirling Demonic Qi coiled around the Heavenly Demon's body and transformed into Aura. A martial art that seemed beyond human—the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, created precisely to face those who were not human, revealed itself.
Thus, what covered the Heavenly Demon's entire body was the form of an Ink Color demon resembling a guardian statue.
An immense Aura that seemed to press down on one's shoulders. But unlike before, it was not overwhelming enough to crush me. It would pose no hindrance to swinging my sword.
Just before the Heavenly Demon was completely swallowed by the demonic form made of Aura, his raised hand pointed at me.
"Since this may well be the last time, I shall ask. Sword Demon. With what heart do you now stand before me?"
"With what heart."
In that instant, more than one or two emotions flashed through my mind.
Regret, anger, vengeance, admiration, fear, pity—and more.
But in the end, only one thing remained.
"When I wield a sword, I think of nothing."
If it were before I drew the blade, perhaps. But once it was out, I simply swung it. The time for deliberation had long passed.
—Sword Demon. You are always the same.
The Heavenly Demon's voice sounded strangely satisfied.
Then the sky, stained black, came crashing down with such overwhelming Demonic Qi that one could mistake it for the heavens themselves falling.
And so, I swung my sword as well.