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Chapter 7: The Return of the Heavenly Demon

“Heavenly Demon, huh?”

In an instant, the scenery changed, and I found myself back where I began.

I sat by the lakeside, staring blankly ahead.

No matter how much I thought about it, it was definitely the Heavenly Demon.

The smile I had encountered was completely different from the one I’d seen in this life.

This was certainly the Heavenly Demon I had witnessed in my previous life.

“Is this just a delusion?”

It could be a misconception. But.

“No.”

I immediately denied that thought. I might not know about others, but I couldn’t be mistaken.

That was indeed the Heavenly Demon. The gaze that was on me and that faintly smiling face. And.

“That atmosphere from back then.”

The feeling that washed over me at that moment. To think of it as a delusion? That was impossible.

That was the Heavenly Demon I knew.

Then.

“…Why?”

Why did they suddenly appear? Also.

“While choking me.”

What was the reason behind choking me as if to say not to do it? And.

“Had they always been there?”

Was the Heavenly Demon already there, unnoticed? Or perhaps.

“Is there some reason behind this?”

If the Heavenly Demon was like Wi Seol-Ah, absorbed into my body?

“That’s a possibility.”

All possibilities rushed to my mind. The problem was.

“If that’s the case…”

It twisted what I began to think about the current Heavenly Demon being different from the one in my previous life.

I clasped my hands around my heart.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

My heart was pounding like crazy. It was a mix of emotions: anxiety, fear, terror. Everything surged in.

At the same time.

“Whew… Huh…”

Breathing became difficult. Just the one reason of having encountered the Heavenly Demon in my past life was enough to do this to me.

The eyes that looked at me. The sneer that appeared to mock me.

I was sucked into that memory.

Nothing remained in my head except for the Heavenly Demon.

“Whew…”

I barely composed myself. In the past, I would have even felt nauseous. But now, I managed to calm myself down, despite believing I had grown stronger.

It was only achievable by using my energy, but eventually, I regained my composure.

“Gu-In…?”

The spirit approached me, having reappeared.

I raised my hand to signal her to keep her distance. I meant not to let anyone close right now.

The energy was swaying. I couldn’t control it well. It was a state where I couldn’t manage my strength whatsoever.

“Calm down.”

I gritted my teeth trying to soothe myself, but I trembled moment to moment.

As I closed my eyes, straining to control it a bit more.

Suuuuuuu!

Something stirred within me.

I wondered what it was, only to realize it was the energy I had drawn from the Divine Tree. It started to move wildly on its own, beginning to seep into the unsettled energy.

And then.

Wuuuuuu-!!

Before long, the energy had completely settled down.

Surprised, I observed that process.

“What the?”

Not only did my energy calm suddenly, but my mind also cleared up.

The anxiety faded, and while I wouldn’t say I felt sharp, my head felt clear.

“Whew.”

The soft sigh carried all the emotions I had been holding in, scattering them.

I opened my eyes, and stood up.

“Noble Person…”

“That was close.”

I had almost fallen into a state of being enchanted.

Naturally, it wouldn’t have truly happened, but it was a precarious situation.

I wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand.

Then I looked around. I was once again under the tree by the lakeside.

Confirming this, I rolled my eyes. I was searching for the Heavenly Demon, but—

“Nowhere to be found.”

The Heavenly Demon was nowhere to be seen.

Had they not come yet?

I didn’t know when they would come, but I had to wait for the Heavenly Demon for now.

“I must ask.”

I would directly ask her.

What the heck was going on.

Who are you? And what is that space?

And.

“What do I mean to you?”

To ask that, I had to wait for the Heavenly Demon.

But the Heavenly Demon didn’t show up that day.

Not that day alone.

Days passed, and eventually, the Heavenly Demon still didn’t appear.

*

Three whole days went by.

Even after that time, the Heavenly Demon hadn’t appeared. I didn’t know where they had gone or why they suddenly stopped showing up.

If I were to analyze the cause, it was surely the last incident that kept them from appearing.

The events of that time must have become a problem preventing them from showing.

Or perhaps, they simply weren’t emerging.

“What the heck.”

I couldn’t understand. I had mountains of questions, yet they still didn’t appear.

I had been waiting endlessly for several days.

“Tch.”

Holding back my impatience, I moved my body.

Kiki-!

Bang-!!

The axe slammed hard into the ground. The shockwaves reverberated around. I dodged the flying debris and twisted my body.

“Whew!”

I could feel the rough breaths escaping me. Using the Heart Eye, I grasped the incoming paths. I detected every line flying towards me and reached out to grab and twist them.

My hand plunged into the storm of raging energy.

I seized and shook it.

“Gah!?”

The enormous body was slammed down onto the ground.

Boom—!!!

A bigger tremor erupted than before. I slammed my elbow down on the fallen creature’s head, using my weight.

Before the elbow covered in strong energy could hit, it dodged.

Kuaaaaaa!!!

The impact burst forth.

Shards of rock broke apart in mid-air, and I kicked one toward the creature.

“Hwup!”

With a battle cry, it swung its axe.

Flame Burst–!!! The flames swirling around the axe split the air. The incoming rock was swept away by the flames and extinguished.

The monster maintained its stance, but I charged in before it could reform.

My palm made contact with its abdomen.

Thunk-!

I unleashed the energy of the Heavenly Demon Technique from the tips of my fingers.

Chaos born from the friction surged, turning into shockwaves that turned its insides upside down.

“Graaah!!!”

The beast screamed, collapsing onto its knees.

“Kah… huh…”

Its massive body buckled to the ground.

Barely propping itself with its arms, it looked in bad shape.

“Hmph.”

I nodded towards the fallen creature, Duryeong.

“Much weaker than I imagined.”

“Grrk.”

Its shoulders flinched at my light appraisal.

“Damn it…”

The voice was filled with indignation. And of course, that made sense.

“They must know better than anyone.”

It surely knew how much it had weakened.

If it were in its prime, it wouldn’t have had to endure such an attack, nor even be struck at all.

But.

“It can’t even keep itself standing.”

The Duryeong, clearly weaker than it originally was, could no longer control its movements properly.

Was it trapped in the body it once had?

Well, this sort of situation…

“Is oddly similar to the reactions I experienced during my regression.”

It drew from a state of sudden weakness, unable to adapt to its new form. Because of that, it couldn’t display its original abilities due to the memories of its stronger self hindering it.

Of course, considering I had regressed back to the state of a complete nobody, it was odd to compare.

Anyway.

“Then…”

How should I make use of this creature? I had been pondering for a few days.

While I had questions about the missing Heavenly Demon, it wouldn’t be easy to find them even if I searched for them.

“If it’s beyond that dimension, I have no way to enter.”

The purple Demonic Gate.

If it was hiding somewhere in Mankye, I could find it easily. But if it was there, the situation was different.

“…How am I supposed to get there?”

Unless the Heavenly Demon appeared, I had no way to search. So, I figured it was better to address the situation laid out before me.

So, I had been thinking about how to utilize the Duryeong for a while.

“It got complicated.”

Using the Duryeong became a bit tricky.

“It’s definitely not weak.”

But neither was it exceptionally strong. At best, it would be somewhere between a mid-tier and a high-tier martial master.

“This too is definitely not weak.”

In comparison to me now, however, it felt somewhat ambiguous.

“Hmmm.”

I told it to come at me with all its might, but it couldn’t even graze me before falling.

Of course, that was partly because I had become absurdly stronger since coming to Mankye.

“Should I just throw it away?”

The notion of utilizing the Duryeong at full strength felt vague.

“Hmmm.”

After going through the trouble of turning it into a demon, it became weak, making it tough to use.

Could anything be more ridiculous than this?

“Thinking about it, there has to be some way it can be useful.”

I paused for a moment.

“Ugh…”

The creature tried to rise again. Seeing this, I said.

“Sit!”

“Cough!”

At my command, its body knelt down. The demon energy worked effectively.

“Damn it…”

While its loyalty was nonexistent, it merely knelt due to restraint. Nonetheless, it obeyed my command.

“I don’t know if it has to remain in this weakened state.”

But at least at this moment, that was the case.

Compared to the hundred-grade demon I summoned…

“It’s probably similar.”

It couldn’t be claimed that it was entirely the same, but it could be.

For now, it was undoubtedly ambiguous to use it at full strength.

“Tch.”

As I was deep in thought, I clicked my tongue.

Then I looked at it and asked.

“Forget that. Hey.”

“…Grrr.”

“Answer me.”

“What is it?”

“You. Tell me everything you know about the creature that was around you.”

“Surrounding…?”

“That one. What did you call it? The one you referred to as a crow.”

“…”

When it had shouted during the fight, the Duryeong had called the unseen creature a crow.

“Normally, I’d have inquired with the Heavenly Demon about it.”

Since that figure had vanished, I needed to extract the information from the one in front of me.

“Speak. You heard me.”

Wuuuuu-!!

“Grrr!”

It attempted to keep its mouth shut, so I applied the demon energy. The Black Qi surged out and charged toward it.

“Grrr…”

Thanks to that, the creature that was trying to hold back finally opened its mouth.

 

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