Chapter 192: Three Calamities (7)

Tap, tap, tap.

A fine rain fell.

The fervor in the courtyard began to cool.

The entire Demonic Cult prostrated themselves in the five-body throw-down position, paying homage to Biyeon.

But Biyeon couldn’t hear any of it. She was holding the Heavenly Demon up with her own body. The two women overlapped, forming the shape of a person (人).

In that position, the Heavenly Demon wore a faint smile.

“Can you hear them, Biyeon?”

It was a voice that sounded like it might flicker out at any moment. Perhaps her final words. Biyeon ground her teeth.

“…Why.”

Her words dripped with resentment.

“Why? Why did you let something like inner demon possession take hold of you… You’re the Heavenly Demon. You could have overcome it just like that. If you’d willed it, you could have snuffed it out like a candle.”

“…Hahaha. You’re overestimating a loser.”

The warmth against Biyeon’s cheek was fading. The Heavenly Demon’s voice grew colder with it. She mustered her last strength to continue.

“Listen well, Biyeon. Just as not all colds are the same, not all heart demons are equal. The one that hit me… well, it was a particularly vicious flu.”

“……”

“And the name of that flu is ‘envy’.”

“You… you who divides the martial world in two… who could you possibly envy…?”

“Indeed, even a single word from you carries transcendent energy. I raised you well.”

The Heavenly Demon let out a hollow chuckle. Then came a harsh cough. Blood splattered onto the ground, staining it red.

“Healer—!”

“I know my own body better than anyone. Even if they called one, they couldn’t do a thing. Then the elders would just kill the healer out of necessity. That’s how they are—they have to pin blame somewhere.”

As Biyeon tried to pull away, the Heavenly Demon clung to her neck. Her skin was unbelievably cold where they touched so closely.

“…The name of the heart flu I caught is envy. They say every martial artist goes through it at least once. Shamefully, I’d never experienced it in my life. So maybe I lacked the immunity.”

The woman known as the Heavenly Demon was strong. The Demonic Cult’s willful elders couldn’t openly rebel against her. The entire world, led by the Murim Alliance, tensed at her every minor action.

Her power wasn’t the kind gained through enlightenment. From the moment she emerged from her mother’s womb and beheld the world, she had been innately mighty.

The Heavenly Demon continued her self-mocking words.

“Biyeon. Do you know what I saw when I first laid eyes on you?”

Biyeon’s nose stung.

“…What?”

“I saw a mirror.”

The Heavenly Demon caressed her cheek with corpse-like hands.

“In you, I saw my younger self. That day, I’d been wandering the jianghu and gotten drenched in bloodshed.”

Biyeon still remembered the thick scent of blood that clung to the Heavenly Demon.

“I don’t even recall their names. Just some street thugs who tried to have their way with me. Still, I went back to bury them in a field of corpses.”

It had been a mere whim.

“That’s where I found you. A crow’s companion rummaging through the bodies. My past self.”

“……”

Even as the two conversed intimately, the surroundings buzzed with noise. The crows circling the sky smacked their beaks enviously before scattering. The Demonic Cult wanted to proclaim the birth of a new Heavenly Demon to the world.

“Biyeon. I thought of you as myself. So I wondered. If I took you in and nurtured you with affection… what kind of life would you lead? I was curious.”

“You raised me well.”

Biyeon swallowed a sob.

“You did! So what more is there to envy?! Once I grew up, did I just look too happy to you?! What kind of twisted heart is that?!”

“Hahaha. That might sting a bit. But it didn’t bother me. Your smile kept me full even after ten days of fasting.”

Come to think of it, the Heavenly Demon always yielded her meals to Biyeon. She’d lounge sideways, watching Biyeon eat her fill.

Her eyes said that was enough to sate her. Back then, Biyeon had sulked, thinking she should just come back after a hearty lunch.

“What I envied was your ‘talent’.”

“What talent do I even have…?”

“Listen closely, Biyeon. Your lack of talent isn’t heaven-sent.”

“…What?”

“You are heaven itself, Biyeon.”

Biyeon was stunned.

It was in that instant.

Whoosh.

The fine drizzle turned into a downpour. Raindrops painted colors onto the blank canvas of Biyeon’s mind.

“You weren’t born from death.”

The Heavenly Demon’s hand stroked the back of Biyeon’s head.

“Your life force is so immense that heaven left you in that field of death. Absorb even a sliver of the world’s vital energy, and the cosmic order would crumble.”

“Me… little old me…?”

“Self-pity is my domain, Biyeon. Look at what’s in your hand.”

Biyeon glanced down.

The mind sword in her grasp remained steadfast. Even as her mind roiled and her spirit shook. An impossible phenomenon.

“Even this mind sword is just a step in your journey.”

“So you couldn’t tolerate someone stronger than yourself?”

“You know my personality is twisted. Plus, I was taken in by the cult from a young age. Raised in this environment, how could my pride not skyrocket?”

“…So you’re blaming me in the end.”

“I did blame you. For a fleeting moment…”

The Heavenly Demon rubbed her cheek against Biyeon’s like a cat, hugging her tighter as she whispered.

“But I loathed that version of myself so much. That worm kept gnawing at me until I reached my limit.”

And that limit was today.

“I’m sorry.”

Drip, drip.

Tears mixed with rain fell mercilessly to the ground.

“Because of me, you…”

“Biyeon, my Biyeon.”

The Heavenly Demon pulled her face away. Her complexion was utterly drained, ghostly pale.

Yet she wore a thin, tender smile.

“My child, born under a cruel fate.”

“……”

“You will be profoundly lonely from now on. Your emotions and memories will dry up bit by bit.”

Biyeon wiped her eyes with her thumb.

“Are you cursing me?”

“This is advice from someone who’s been through life. The pinnacle of martial arts is emptiness. You’ll grow stronger by the day, until only the dregs of emotion remain.”

Biyeon couldn’t comprehend it then.

“Life becomes arduous that way. You need an anchor. Memories, bonds—the things the Demonic Cult calls weak and taboo.”

“What was yours?”

“Don’t ask the obvious.”

Her face was cold.

But the Heavenly Demon smiled with utmost warmth.

“You were mine.”

“……”

Biyeon choked up.

“You’re all I have too.”

“*Haa*… I know. Of course I know…”

The reaper drew near.

“But *haa* memories fade in time. This grief you’re feeling now will one day become a hazy recollection.”

“Then don’t die.”

“Haha. I want to, but my body won’t hold. Even standing is a struggle.”

Biyeon’s chest ached.

“That’s why, as a parent, I wanted to leave something behind. *Haa* But as you know, I’m *haa* no good with words *haa*. All I could think of was blood and steel.”

“You… don’t tell me.”

Only then did the surroundings sharpen into focus.

“The Divine Cult is invincible! Ten Thousand Demons Submit!”

“The Sacred Cult reigns supreme! The Heavenly Demon returns!”

Cheers erupted from every corner of the Demonic Cult.

“Hear that, Biyeon?”

The Heavenly Demon spoke even as she collapsed limply. Biyeon cradled her head in her lap.

“These voices celebrating your birth.”

The Heavenly Demon gazed at the sky with clouded eyes.

“…Happy birthday, my daughter…”

Thud.

The Heavenly Demon’s arm fell limp.

Biyeon stared blankly at the cooling body with expressionless eyes. Then she gently closed them with her hand.

She rose, supporting herself on the wet ground. The crowd fell silent.

Caw, caw.

Only the crows cried ominously.

“From this day forward.”

Under everyone’s gaze, Biyeon licked her dry lips.

“I am the Cult Leader of the Headquarters.”

The former Heavenly Demon died like that.

The funeral was modest. Not even in the main hall—just a shabby tent that was little more than a shed where incense was lit.

“She’s the Cult Leader who nearly brought ruin to the Headquarters. This is more than enough respect for the dead.”

“…Yes.”

The disciple’s throat tightened at the elder’s words. The two, dressed in mourning garb, attended the rites.

No elders came. Only a few from the Divine Cult who had personal ties to the Heavenly Demon showed up.

The Demonic Cult operated on the law of the jungle. The weak were culled without mercy.

The former Heavenly Demon had lost to herself and to others. To Demonic Cultists, defeat meant suicide. As the elder said, holding any funeral at all was a miracle.

‘But still…’

No matter how you sliced it.

“…I still don’t understand.”

“What’s your grievance?”

“She was at fault, yes, but treating her like a criminal is too much! How many Cult Leaders have fallen to heart demons? This is excessive.”

The disciple’s clenched fists trembled. The elder shot him a glance and sighed.

“Do you really think she’s being shunned just because she fell to a heart demon?”

“If not, I can’t make sense of it.”

“Then you don’t grasp the Headquarters’ doctrines.”

“What… do you mean?”

“The elders all know. The former Heavenly Demon deliberately fell to inner demon possession—for the sake of the current Cult Leader.”

“…Pardon?”

The disciple nearly fainted.

The elder spoke flatly.

“She used the entire Demonic Cult for her personal desires. To elders who prioritize the Headquarters above all, that’s unforgivable. But they can’t rebel against the current Cult Leader.”

So this was their way of resisting.

“…I understand now.”

“Good. That’s settled.”

“By the way, what is the current Cult Leader doing? She hasn’t even shown her face…”

He understood the circumstances.

But the disciple still looked sullen.

Fine for the elders, but to skip the funeral of the Heavenly Demon who took all the blame for her sake?

It defied heaven’s mandate.

“She’s making preparations.”

The elder stared at the flickering incense smoke as he replied.

“What kind of preparations?”

“She plans to move the entire Headquarters.”

“Wh-where to…?”

“Lake City. Though not right away. She wants at least ten years to focus on training.”

Ten years from now…

By the elder’s estimate, Biyeon would be the undisputed World’s Greatest by then.

“Why?”

The elder added indifferently.

“She said she doesn’t want to live in a grave anymore.”