Goeun knelt with both arms braced against the weight. The air pressed down on her back. Compared to the outside, the gravity here had to be at least three times stronger.

Sweat dripped thickly from her chin. The drops fell with a tap, tap, tap, rippling the water’s surface. The woman’s face distorted in the wavering reflection.

“It’s been a while, Hwaryeon.”

The voice stabbed into the crown of Goeun’s bowed head. She bit her lip and squeezed out words with great effort.

“…Hwaryeon greets you.”

“After going round and round, you’ve ended up before me after all.”

The voice carried such overwhelming dignity that it permeated the vast chamber. Yet the only disturbance in this shallow lake was Goeun’s sweat drops.

“All of this… cough! Haa… haa… is thanks to your grace, Cult Leader. Without it, I, Hwaryeon, wouldn’t have survived this long…”

“That wasn’t mercy—it was the last chance I gave you. Making exceptions isn’t good for the cult, but you’re meaningful to me. That’s why I watched over you for so long, despite the opposition from the Left and Right Guardians.”

“Then why dispose of me now, Cult Leader? If I may be so bold, before I leave this world, I wish to know one thing as a parting gift.”

“Still the same as ever.”

Along with the reply came a gaze both aloof and noble.

“You’re clumsy at hiding your true intentions.”

“…I just wanted confirmation.”

Goeun barely lifted her forehead. The sweat beading on it poured down at once, soaking her face.

Resisting with her magic was futile. ‘Her’ presence and Magic Power were immense.

This city—no, this entire world—is too small a vessel to contain her.

Moreover, this area was her domain. The floor was a lake, and towering above her was a massive bodhi tree casting its shadow.

Its branches jutted out jaggedly, like sinners trying to escape hell’s cauldron, while one ‘being’ sat cross-legged amid the flames of the hearth.

The thin shadows of the twigs cradled the face and chest. It was impossible to discern the gender. The slender lines of the body contributed to that as well.

Hwoooo…

Contrary to the monk-like figure, the space, her mental world, was utterly bleak and desolate.

Like a devil or demon king mimicking the austerities of a sage seeking enlightenment. It resembled Mara Papiyas.

Heavenly Demon Reincarnation

Ten Thousand Demons Submit

Master of Megacorp Kergel Magic Tower.

Myo, Heavenly Demon of the Three Calamities. She smiled faintly.

“Isn’t the answer right beside you?”

“…”

Goeun glanced sideways. Right next to her, Lee Taebaek lay with his eyes closed.

Her [Presence Detection] picked up faint vital signs. He was still breathing. Barely.

Lee Taebaek’s soul and body had separated. He was in a state of apparent death. Even that was the Heavenly Demon’s mercy.

Crunch.

Goeun’s front teeth stained red.

“I can take the punishment alone, Cult Leader. He hasn’t done anything wrong…!”

“Is that truly the case?”

With a snap of the Heavenly Demon’s fingers, the lake transformed. The mirror reflecting Goeun now showed three Ten Wings locked in fierce combat.

Kaboom!

The abandoned factory’s steel beams collapsed all too easily. The wind from a fist didn’t just snap the girders—it pulverized them to dust. Just as the acrid dust seemed about to burst through the screen and engulf Goeun…

Tap.

The scene froze. The Heavenly Demon spoke again to Goeun, like a statue come to life.

“Wasn’t it Hwaryeon, and that man beside you, who caused this mess? The Left Guardian is the pillar of our Magic Tower. Yet because of that man, we’re about to lose our pillar. He should bear the responsibility.”

A sly curve formed in the shadows at her lips.

She knows everything, yet says such things.

The Heavenly Demon’s [Presence Detection] had reached its zenith. At that peak, it could hear the world’s whispers. It could even glimpse the future in hazy outlines.

The Heavenly Demon knew.

That Lee Taebaek and the Illusion Master would cross paths by chance.

That it would drive her own left arm to the brink.

And that afterward, Lee Taebaek would bring Goeun and come seeking the Heavenly Demon.

At this point, Goeun felt no anger or resentment. Not even injustice.

Even the universe makes mistakes sometimes. Otherwise, a being like her couldn’t exist in this era.

“…Kill me.”

Goeun said.

“Just kill me and be done. I beg you. See my blood and spare him.”

“Aren’t you overvaluing your life? Do you think your blood can substitute for a traitor and the Left Guardian?”

“I’ll do anything. Use me as a slave or a magic test subject.”

“Why go so far to protect him?”

She didn’t know.

“Do you love him?”

It wasn’t that simple.

“Does he feel like family?”

Close, but not quite.

“Then what is it?”

The Heavenly Demon’s voice carried a viscous scent. The smell of death.

I see.

Only then did Goeun realize. This resistance wasn’t born of emotion.

She was a mage. She’d long since drawn a line and discarded such soft concepts.

Resistance for the sake of resistance.

Lee Taebaek was always nitpicking everything. To others, he seemed like a quarrelsome fool, but he went beyond mere personality.

He continuously breathed new life into this city that forced people to become cogs in its machine. The conflicts with the Dark Master, Illusion Master, and Bow Master proved it.

“It’s because of you.”

Goeun staggered to her feet on unsteady legs. Like an ape shedding its beastly shell to walk upright.

“You’re the one who—”

It happened simultaneously.

Hummmmm…

Ripples spread across the water scales.

“…?!”

Not wind—as expected, it originated from the side, from Lee Taebaek. Goeun’s dazed eyes snapped forward.

A glint from the shadow of his hair. He’d revealed his emotions.

Indeed.

Even the Heavenly Demon hadn’t foreseen this.

Lee Taebaek floated up from his lying position. The weight of death lightened, while the volume of life expanded.

Slither.

His consciousness rose smoothly above the water. The recumbent Lee Taebaek now stood proudly in midair.

He opened his eyes. His pupils were hazy, but the light they emitted rivaled the Heavenly Demon’s gaze.

“In my world, get out of—”

He swept his gaze around.

Then, as if still half-asleep,

“—my sight.”

Finally, the Operator spoke.

The lake vanished in an instant. The bodhi tree’s branches withered from the tips, curling like squid on a grill.

The Heavenly Demon’s mental world evaporated, giving way to a desert projecting a parched voice.

“You.”

The Heavenly Demon rose as she spoke.

“What are you?”

Lee Taebaek formed a hand seal and cut her off.

“Kneel.”

Thud.

“Your head is too high.”

The sand trembled faintly.

The abandoned factory, where the three Ten Wings had been fighting tooth and nail, suddenly reached a stalemate. Amid the subtle tension, the three caught their breath.

The factory was a wreck, of course, and the surrounding area had become a wasteland. Only sparse weeds poked through the debris. District 47—what had been a small company’s factory zone until today—would forever be etched in people’s minds as ruins.

“Urgh… I’m dying.”

The Bow Master groaned. Squeezing the wound on his arm sent green liquid squirting like a water gun.

It was deadly poison.

The Bow Master had achieved poison immunity ten long years ago.

Yet his accomplishment meant nothing; the Poison Master’s toxin had infiltrated his veins. Still, true to his immunity, it hadn’t reached his organs.

“Tch.”

Without quick treatment, it could’ve been dangerous.

The Bow Master glared at the Poison Master, who was similarly assessing his condition from afar. Then, with a resigned chuckle, he addressed him familiarly out of the blue.

“Long time no see, and instead of a gift, you start with poison! What kind of man does that? Relying on that stuff isn’t right! And you—you’re from the Orthodox Sects!”

“Shut up, you monkey bastard!”

The Poison Master glared fiercely.

“Whoa, you scared me. Why are you yelling like a madman, you little chick! Shout with your internal energy like that, and your throat might tear!”

“I’ve long discarded that orthodox hat!”

“Oh? Since when?”

Arrogant and irreverent. That was the Bow Master’s nature.

“Since you took everything from me!”

“You say I took everything, yet you’re still alive. Must be lingering attachments to life, huh?”

“Shut up!”

While the monkey and chicken bickered, the pig, Illusion Master, clicked his tongue inwardly.

We’ve reached a standoff.

But in reality, he was on the verge of collapse. As a mage by constitution, he naturally fell short in raw power against these two Ten Wings who vied for supremacy.

His reserves would run dry soon. He couldn’t become a guest of no return like this.

“Lee Taebaek…”

He couldn’t die until he crushed that snake bastard. He’d manifest the most horrific scene imaginable in Cyber Space and gift it to him.

For that, he needed those two Ten Wings’ cooperation. Not overtly like “lend a hand,” but more subtly.

He’d already decided where to start.

That archer over there. A shameless monkey with the worst personality in the city—second to none.

The Illusion Master’s own character wasn’t much better, but the monkey’s was five degrees worse.

To kill that guy.

His obsession severed his thoughts. Rage toward the deeply rooted Lee Taebaek seized the Illusion Master’s reason.

“Listen up.”

“Can’t you see we’re talking?”

Madman. Is that even a conversation?

“Why so prickly, Brother Hwang?”

“Mages hide ten schemes in every word. Rip out that tongue-fork first, then speak. Or should I cut it out for you?”

“Don’t get so heated—hear me out.”

“What have you been asking me to hear this whole time?”

The Illusion Master pressed down the throbbing veins on his jaw and continued.

“The true culprit behind all this is someone else. Why we’re clashing like this, or why Brother Hwang suffered in Siesta—it’s all because of him.”

“You wanna die.”

“Poor choice of words. What I mean is, the blame for Brother Hwang’s misfortune lies not with me, but with ‘another’.”

“Who is this ‘other’?”

He bit. Monkey bastard.

“His name is…”

Wind rustled through the weeds. Then, with a tearing of the air, the three jerked their heads up.

A sudden rift appeared. The night sky split open like a gaping maw, generating suction as if to devour the world.

“The one I must hold accountable.”

The Bow Master looked back at the Illusion Master.

“…You mean the Kergel Magic Tower Master?”