Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

Occasionally, very rarely, there are certain things… 

Things that you would rather see broken than intact. Or things that you want to see completely destroyed, shattered beyond recognition. 

It bothers me.

For Woon-seong, it was the wall around the Martial Alliance. 

300 meters across, 300 meters long. 

The stone wall was even dozens of meters in height. 

It was a stone wall he had longed to break down. Woon-seong clenched his fists, as if he finally had the chance to fulfill his dream. 

Woon-seong’s shoulders hooked backwards for a moment, like he was loading something up. 

At the same time, a vortex formed around his fist. 

The Divine Flame twisted through the vortex, tendrils of flame igniting the air around it. 

“Huff!”

Knocked over by the wind, a nearby demonic practitioner stumbled back and gasped for breath. Was the Divine Flame consuming all the air around it?

No, it was not. 

The vortex was drawing in all the air. 

So the surrounding air disappeared. 

The sand dust on the floor rose and swirled, sucked into Woon-seong’s fist. 

Stone pieces, leaves, branches — there was no need to distinguish. Everything was sucked into his palms, like the whole world was contained within his fist!

Woon-seong punched forward. 

Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon – Heavenly Demon’s Divine Fist (天魔神拳)!

At least, everyone watching thought it was so. 

The Divine Fist of the Heavenly Demon would indeed look like so. 

But Woon-seong shook his head quietly. 

His lips curled as he remembered the name he had given this move.

“Annihilation in a Thousand Battles.”

Just like the name of the move, a feast of a thousand blows that brought about destruction, concentrating all of the strength into a single point!

A great disaster swept the earth. 

The ground was stripped of its husk. 

Kuakuakua— 

A chunk of rock rose, the earth crumbled, boulders split apart. 

A huge furrow was dug into the ground. One giant trail of destruction!

“Ahh! Aah!”

“No, stop!”

There were frantic screams from beyond the walls. 

As soon as they heard a sound, a few martial artists flew into the air. Then, each one of them surrounded in a splendid light and weapons ready, blocked the oncoming apocalypse. 

No matter how powerful the blow may be, they had to stop it here. It may be difficult alone, but if they worked together, it was possible!

They seemed to think that, at least. 

“Hiya!”

“Chaaaaaaaa, Steel Wall Sword!”

Some people swung in silence, others called out the names of their moves. 

Kung—

There were some people who somersaulted over the walls with a seriousness. From the perspective of the Martial Alliance, they might have looked like heroes.

Like moths to a flame.

But to Woon-seong, they were like moths rushing towards their deaths. 

Kuakuakua—

“Cough!”

“Huff-puff!”

The destruction devoured them all. 

The force remained unaffected and advanced forward. 

Kwarneeee—

The moment the apocalypse finally hit the walls of the Martial Alliance, the whole world seemed to be set ablaze!

Rrrrrrrrr!

The ground shook violently. 

White light covered the world. 

Then came pure darkness; light was extinct. 

Only Woon-seong remained, staring at the Martial Alliance. 

The earth peeled off its crust, the earth collapsed in an explosion, and the earth burned with heat. 

Kwaaaaaa—

When the light and darkness which had destroyed the world finally disappeared, the people gathered there could see how devastating a single move could be. 

There was a clear trace of lava flowing through the earth. At the end, along with marks of explosions, one side of the wall had completely collapsed. 

There were enormous holes in the earth, large enough to fit hundreds of people inside. 

Beyond that were the remains of the bodies of martial artists defending the Martial Alliance strewn throughout the landscape. 

Seeing that, one of the demonic practitioners muttered, “What in the… Heaven Annihilation?”

When Woon-seong heard that, he laughed. “I guess it is similar.”

As the man said, Woon-seong had included ‘Millenia of Heaven Annihilation’ in that move just now. 

Of course, that wasn’t the only skill. 

To control the landscape, he had added in ‘Flow of the Divine Dragon’ and other moves, taking the trouble to mix them all together and turn them into something new. 

This move could be considered complete. 

Currently, it was also the most ferocious technique that Woon-seong could use. 

But there is still a long way to go. 

Woon-seong repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists. 

Meanwhile, Sang Gwan-chuk walked by his side. “The way has been opened. I am going in.”

Woon-seong nodded. 

“From now on, the Martial Alliance is a battlefield.”

The war between the Cult of the Heavenly Demon and Orthodox Murim had reached the headquarters of the Martial Alliance. 

It was the Lotus Demon Ballad Sovereign that entered right after Woon-seong. 

As she waved her arms, there was the sound of bells. 

Ting, ting, ting. 

At the sound of these bells, a beautiful poem began to flow from her mouth. 

“The moon above the Han Palace and the land of Qin, sheds a flood of silvery light, bidding the radiant lady farewell. 

She sets out on the road to the Jade Gate, a road she will not travel back. 

The moon above the Han Palace rises from the eastern seas, but the radiant lady wed in the west will return nevermore.” 

…

‘Wang Zhaojun’. [1]

A poem about the legendary beauty Mingfei (‘radiant lady’), who played such beautiful music that even geese forgot to flap their wings. 

It was actually a sorrowful poem that sang to Wang Zhaojun’s heart. 

The Lotus Demon Ballad Sovereign’s voice was beautiful, but her poem wasn’t just emotional.

Her bells continued to sway and energy built up in the air. This energy began to fluctuate, coagulating into the shape of swords. 

According to her voice, the strength of the swords would flutter. 

Shua, shua. 

The powerful swords flew through the air, destroying enemies. 

The number of qi swords was currently three. 

Each of the swords danced beautifully amongst the enemies, as if dancing to the tune of the poem. 

Shua, shua. 

Blood spilled and splattered. 

At this moment, the Lotus Demon Ballad Sovereign was very concerned about the results of the battle. 

The reason for that was because this was the first time that she would be showing her skills in front of the Heavenly Demon since being named among the Ten Demonic Masters. 

As long as she could catch Woon-seong’s eyes, there was no reason to consider herself at the bottom of the Demonic Masters. 

I can be at the top of the Demonic Masters. 

The Lotus Demon Ballad Sovereign sang more powerfully, the dancing of her swords becoming more intense. 

“Phew.”

Woon-seong breathed for a moment and regained his strength. The destruction had consumed just as much inner qi as the Divine Art of the Heavenly Demon, so it would need time to refill. 

While restoring his strength, he looked over at the Lotus Demon Ballad Sovereign’s fight.

“Not bad.”

Sang Gwan-chuk nodded his head. “She is still lacking, but she can handle being a Demonic Master.”

Sang Gwan-chuk moved his pens without rest. Every time he moved, the Blood Demon Hell Drawing would open up and blood would flow. 

“She would be the strongest woman in the Cult.”

“After her would be the Divine Maiden.”

Woon-seong nodded and found her in the battlefield. 

Cheon Ah-young was swinging her sword vigorously, as if she had forgotten all of her heartache from the previous day. 

Her swordsmanship, in harmony with her divine powers, was a marvel that Zhongyuan had never experienced before. 

But you still don’t have a solid grasp of the martial arts. 

If it could be supplemented, Cheon Ah-young’s martial arts could enter a completely different state, well beyond the boundaries of divination and swordsmanship. 

There was only possibility. 

Woon-seong shook his head. 

There is no correct answer. 

In the history of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, which spanned nearly a thousand years, had there been another Divine Maiden who practiced both divine powers and martial arts?

Probably not. 

In that sense, Cheon Ah-young, who mastered both of them, was already heading towards a path of unpredictability. 

A path entirely your own. 

Woon-seong turned his gaze slightly to the side. Most of his strength consumed by the power of destruction had been restored. 

When he turned, he could see Gwan Tae-ryang fighting with one of the 72 Supreme Masters. 

In the Cave of Latent Demons, that man’s pure talent had been ranked at the very top. Even now, other than Woon-seong and Cheon Ah-young, he was still the best among the graduates of the Cave. 

If he continued forward without arrogance, he would one day make a name for himself amongst the ranks of Demonic Master. 

If so, he would be able to engrave his name in the history of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon. 

Woon-seong noticed Sa Ryong-hui next to Gwan Tae-ryang. The man was busy fighting against a swordsman. 

The opponent crackled with blue lightning and screamed, “You filthy traitor! Even the leader of the New Dragon Battalion has become a dog of the Demonic Cult. Shame on you!”

Sa Ryong-hui flinched. The word ‘traitor’ caused him to freeze.

Seeing his hesitation, the opponent pressed forward. “Are you not ashamed, you traitorous dog of the Cult?!”

“That’s not true!”

“How is it not? Everyone in the world knows you’re a traitor!”

“I-I…”

Thanks to this, the balance that had been maintained was broken and Sa Ryong-hui was pushed to the defensive. 

A frenzied storm of blue lightning blazed past his body. A sword slashed his side, creating a wound. 

Sa Ryong-hui’s expression hardened. 

At that moment, Woon-seong moved his hand. 

Fwoom!

The Divine Flame wrapped around his finger and shot straight. It was an ultra-heat method reminiscent of the Shaolin finger styles, except it originated from the Heavenly Demon. 

The Divine Flame bounced off the sword which had been attacking Sa Ryong-hui, knocking it away. 

“Grrrgh!” the man pulled back. 

Woon-seong’s voice seeped into the confused mind of Sa Ryong-hui. 

— “Do not be deceived. He is out of his mind.”

Sa Ryong-hui raised his head. If the man was out of his mind, then he was spouting nonsense.  

As if to answer Sa Ryong-hui’s unspoken question, Woon-seong continued to speak. 

— “Look at his eyes. Do not be deceived by what he says and look properly at the human being himself.”

Sa Ryong-hui looked into the man’s eyes, searching for something. 

“Can’t you tell? His eyes are vacant.”

Meanwhile, Woon-seong had moved closer to Sa Ryong-hui. 

“This man’s name is Mang Bo-gan. He was originally one of the people in the Martial Alliance who insisted that the factions retreat and regroup.”

And just like Woon-seong said, the man’s eyes really did look empty. 

[1] excerpt from “Wang Zhaojun” by the poet Li Bai; Wang Zhaojun was one of the Four Great Beauties of Ancient China

Original Poem: 漢家秦地月，流影照明妃。 一上玉關道，天涯去不歸。 漢月還從東海出，明妃西嫁無來日。 燕支長寒雪作花，蛾眉憔悴沒胡沙。 生乏黃金枉圖畫，死留青塚使人嗟。