Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

The Heavenly Mountain Range was vast, with thousands of tall peaks and many more deep valleys. 

Just as one could stand upon a peak and overlook the world, one could also tightly hide within a valley. 

Not even the Cult of the Heavenly Demon knew all of the secrets within the depths of these mountains. 

It was in one of those valleys that the Demonic Emperor of Oblivion currently hid.

He was in a dark cave protected by marshland.

He dove behind a large rock then coughed out a harsh breath. 

“Hup!”

Some blood trickled out of his nose. 

The ‘mind ghost’ he had planted in Shadow had been forcefully killed since its host died and the sudden disconnection caused a damage rebound. 

Of course, it wasn’t a very powerful rebound. 

Except, he would have a hard time breathing and exerting any power for a while. 

Naturally, this cave was the best place for him to hide.

He moved someone else’s body to deceive, harass, and humiliate allies and enemies alike. 

Truly, the word ‘oblivion’ did him no justice. 

“He killed him. Hee-hee.”

Moreover, the Demonic Emperor of Oblivion enjoyed such behavior. 

After laughing some more, his throat could no longer take it and he broke into a fit of coughing. 

Hwan Dok had lost a spiritual puppet, but he had gotten a large harvest. 

“I didn’t expect my insurance of planting a ‘mind ghost’ in one of the demonic practitioners would have paid off like this.”

I confirmed the Heavenly Demon’s illness. On top of that, his state is way beyond treatable. He was stabbed in the stomach on top of being heavily poisoned. Even the mighty Heavenly Demon shall not last longer than two weeks.

“Hahahahaha!”

He could not help but laugh as his excitement from killing the Heavenly Demon bubbled up. 

I failed in making Joo Moon-baek the leader, but I succeeded in eliminating the top martial artist of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon. 

The ‘Twin Stars and One Demon’. 

A total of three martial artists in the realm of Semi-Divinity existed. Two were in the Orthodox sects, one in the Demonic Cult. 

But that number was now about to decrease from three to two. 

I should report this to the Imperial Court immediately.

He immediately pulled a piece of paper out and scribbled down a letter.

Then he whistled into the air. No sound could be heard, for humans were unable to hear it. Of course, birds would be able to catch the frequency though. 

Caw—!

A hawk soon descended into the valley where the Demonic Emperor of Oblivion was hiding.

After familiarizing himself with the hawk, he tied the letter to its leg and sent it back into the sky. 

“Hee-hee.”

Watching the bird leave, the man truly could not stop laughing to himself like a lunatic. 

On the letter being sent, there were only three words. 

“Heavenly Demon, dead.”

Well, technically, he’s not dead yet. But he only has two weeks, at most. 

By the time that letter reaches the Court, he shall no longer be a man of this world. 

“Ugh.” 

Chun Hwi unknowingly let out a faint groan. 

Feeling a weird sensation, he looked down at his waist. 

I stopped the blood, but the wound is too deep. It’s gotten worse… Is it because of the stab wound?

The wound seemed to make the poison return with an even greater intensity. The pain was excruciating. 

As the blood within him boiled with toxins, Chun Hwi was forced to cough some of the blood out. 

No… Not yet.

Chun Hwi closed his eyes and suppressed the poison with all of his strength. 

How much longer can I bear with this…?

Maybe more than five days… But no longer than two weeks. 

I must take care of everything before that.

He slowly opened his eyes. 

“Demonic Teacher. Listen to my words.”

“Lee Shin-jung, at your service, sir.”

“When you go down, contact the Senior Strategist and tell him to proceed with the plans I have told him ahead of time. That will be all.”

“Yes, sir.”

Everyone wanted to know what that was supposed to mean, but no one asked. 

That was because the countenance of the Heavenly Demon was growing paler and paler with each word he spoke. 

Chun A-young could not help but notice and shouted in a trembling voice.

“Father! You don’t look well…!”

Her shout brought his attention to her. 

“I am fine.”

Chun Hwi waved his hands in a dismissive sign, but no one believed him. 

He can’t be fine, grit Woon-seong. His blood is so full of poison that it even melts the ground and he has a stab wound on top of that. I can’t even imagine what kind of pain he’s bearing right now. 

Chun A-young was thinking much the same thing. Her eyes sparkled with unshed tears. Father…

Chun Hwi gazed at her for a long time. It was as if he was trying to etch her image into his mind, to remember her until eternity. The man’s eyes held a thousand different words, but he was unable to say anything other than, “You have done well.”

Either way, perhaps the emotion within his eyes told her everything.

A-young didn’t say anything else either, she didn’t know what to say. 

Breaking the silence, Chun Hwi spoke to Woon-seong. 

“My apprentice.”

Chun Hwi called out to Woon-seong, but he was still gazing at his daughter.

Woon-seong raised his head, then answered. 

“Yes, Master.” 

I believe you won’t be jealous of this, my old Spear Master Master…, Woon-seong sighed to himself. This person is also my master. 

The Heavenly Demon had also taught and guided him. Through this battle, Woon-seong acknowledged Chun Hwi as a true teacher. 

After all, having multiple teachers was not taboo at all. 

“That is right, my apprentice.” 

Chun Hwi called out to him again, and Woon-seong responded once more. 

“Yes, Master.”

“It is good to hear you call me that way.”

Chun Hwi finally tore his eyes away from A-young and turned towards Woon-seong. In spite of the sweat that now formed a sheen on his otherwise pallid face, he was smiling faintly. 

“I shall do so more often from now on.”

‘From now on’, he says. How much longer do I have… Chun Hwi could not help but close his eyes due to Woon-seong’s words. This pain he felt was proof that he was alive and he wanted to enjoy the ‘now on’. 

But the Heavenly Demon knew that he did not have much time left. He knew his destiny. 

Woon-seong obviously knew this too. 

Nevertheless, Woon-seong saying ‘from now on’ meant that he wished for Chun Hwi to live.

I’ve already lost one master to that poison. 

Woon-seong desperately wished for a miracle within his heart. If there was a god out there, he was praying with all his might that it was a God of Life and Death who was listening. 

If the First Heavenly Demon, the ancestor of all demonic practitioners, had really ascended as a Divine Being, then Woon-seong prayed he would protect his descendants once more. 

Chun Hwi was able to guess Woon-seong’s thoughts, so he spoke in a warm voice. It was neither the despondent voice of king who had lost his crown nor the commanding voice of an emperor, more like a father speaking to a son. 

Just a benevolent ruler speaking to someone he trusted… 

“I see you have acquired the Divine Flame.”

“I was simply lucky.”

Chun Hwi shook his head. Woon-seong’s accomplishments were not something that could be explained with simple luck. 

No Heavenly Demon in the history of the Cult had manifested and controlled the Divine Flame at such a young age. 

Chun Hwi smiled to himself. 

I am confident that this child is capable of leading the Cult.

Soon though, his eyebrows furrowed just slightly. 

But I still wonder what the bitter feelings I sense within him are… I hope they don’t become a problem in the future… Unfortunately, it looks like I won’t have a chance to see the outcomes myself…

Whether Woon-seong would be blessed or whether he would be burdened by his emotions was something that Chun Hwi’s body would not last long enough to see. 

However! As a master, there are some things I can leave for my apprentice. 

“My apprentice.”

“Yes, Master.”

“There is something I need to give you, but this is nt the proper place. Would you follow me?”

Instead of asking what it would be, Woon-seong immediately slung the White Night Spear over his shoulder and prepared to leave. “Do not hesitate to command your apprentice, Master.”

“It will not take long,” Chun Hwi smiled and muttered to himself.

The first one to turn away was the Heavenly Demon.

Woon-seong followed closely behind.

The back of the Heavenly Demon walking ahead looked a little desolate. 

Was it that Woon-seong would be left behind or that the Heavenly Demon had already left?

Somehow, the path forward only seemed lonely. 

Woon-seong imperceptibly shook his head. Master…

At that moment, a single voice grabbed the attention of the Heavenly Demon and Woon-seong. 

“F-Father…”

It was Chun A-young. 

“Father!”

When A-young shouted a second time, Chun Hwi turned to look back at her. 

The same went for Woon-seong. He could not help but notice that A-young was struggling to hold back her tears. 

Soon, she could no longer hold them in and burst into tears. 

The Heavenly Demon did not respond. Neither did Woon-seong. 

A-young shouted loudly once more, uncaring of the way she must have looked. 

“You will come back… right?”

Her father seemed to be walking a path that followed Heaven’s Will, one that would not allow him to return to her side. 

Woon-seong felt the same way. 

He was following behind Chun Hwi, but somehow felt that the Heavenly Demon was walking along a different path. 

It could not have been more different.

Chun Hwi still did not respond, only smiled softly and turned away. 

The place Chun Hwi brought Woon-seong was the Peak of the Heavenly Demon’s Majesty. 

It was not easy to climb the peak.

How many times had Chun Hwi clenched his fist as he stumbled?

“Master, I’ll…”

Every time, Woon-seong ran up to the Heavenly Demon and tried to support him. 

“No. It is okay. I am fine.”

And every time, the Heavenly Demon would grit his teeth and wave him away. 

The Heavenly Demon ascended the Peak of the Heavenly Demon’s Majesty on his own two feet.

Even though his wound was now bleeding and he was barely able to walk, he continued on. 

He was exhausted, but he did not need anyone’s help. 

Even if it was the path to death, Chun Hwi wanted to protect this last sense of pride as the Heavenly Demon. 

Moreover, a teacher needing the help of his disciple? 

As a teacher… as the Heavenly Demon, Chun Hwi could not tolerate it. 

“Ah. So there were scenes like this inside the Heavenly Mountains.”

It was Chun Hwi who spoke, someone who had been climbing these mountains for decades now. 

“I never noticed them when I passed by using movement arts. It is quite the view.”

To some, these words may have been taken as a bluff that protected his pride. 

Was he truly admiring the view, or did he just need a break and was unwilling to say so?

Woon-seong did not care whether it was a bluff or not. For him, Chun Hwi’s words evoked only pride. 

It makes me want to brag to the whole world… That this is my master. This man, who can stand like this even when poisoned and severely wounded, is my master. 

Woon-seong reflected on himself as he stared at the back of the Heavenly Demon. Truly, he could see the image of Nok Yu-on in Chun Hwi. 

My former master’s final moments were like this too. 

Even when he was framed for learning treacherous demonic arts, and even when his body had already reached its limit because of poison, he never stopped preaching harmony in the face of dozens of weapons pointing at him!

People who had achieved a certain realm no longer hesitated to attain their wills and ideals. 

It looks like I still have a lot to learn. 

I may have become as powerful as my old master, but my mind is nowhere as mature as his. 

I’m not even worthy of facing Master Chun Hwi upfront, despite him currently being wounded. 

Woon-seong closed his eyes and chased after Chun Hwi once more. 

He did not want to watch the Heavenly Demon staggering anymore. 

It took them a relatively long time to climb up the peak and reach the Palace.

If it were Woon-seong by himself, it would have taken him less than an hour. Because Chun Hwi walked ahead and Woon-seong followed, it took more than two hours this time. 

“Sigh.”

For the first time, the Heavenly Demon was exhausted after climbing up the peak. He heaved a deep sigh, but soon stood straight.

Woon-seong wanted to run over and help him, but didn’t. 

The Heavenly Demon would have refused his help anyways. 

Instead, Woon-seong captured the last moments of the Heavenly Demon to keep in his memories. 

Like a fire bursting in its last moments, even his last moments suit his title as the Heavenly Demon. 

So this is what it means to be the Heavenly Demon. 

Prideful, honorable, and also lonely. 

It was then that the Heavenly Demon spoke once more. 

“We are almost there.”

Chun Hwi did not turn around, but he was pretty sure that Woon-seong nodded. 

They had come so far, there was not much further to go. 

On the other hand, the place where they were headed was one Woon-seong was familiar with. 

It was a place they used to practice at. 

The Third Gate, the Polymorphic Combat Illusion.

It was only after entering the center of the stone chamber inside the gate that the Heavenly Demon stopped walking. 

Standing at the center of the formation, Chun Hwi turned to look at Woon-seong. 

“You have talent. And although I do not know exactly what the source is, you have firm determination. As a martial artist, having talent and a goal means that you have virtually everything you need to to be strong.”

After a slight pause, he continued. 

“But you are still young. You cannot help the fact that you are lacking the experience only built through time.” 

Chun Hwi observed the youth — the child — before him, one who was barely twenty years of age. 

Truly, too young for the burdens he would soon be bearing. 

“So, to make you the Heavenly Demon, I intend to give you all the experience I have built up until now. Come here and sit.”

When he finished speaking, he called Woon-seong over as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the room. 

The last words that the Heavenly Demon spoke resounded in the ears of Woon-seong. 

“That is why I brought you here.”

TN: i am in tears (╥﹏╥)