The Myth of the Greek Heavenly Demon

Chapter 1 – Murim: The Demonic Cult’s Way Union

When was it?
Was it a memory from the distant past, in 21st-century South Korea?
Or was it a memory from the time when I was training, spitting blood between life and death?
Anyway, it had been a long time since I had lightly fallen asleep.

“…Divine Emperor. Have you awakened?”

“Have we arrived?”

The dream receded at the sound of her delicate voice, prostrated outside the palanquin without a sound, and the slowly swaying Divine Chariot came into view.

-Kugugugu…

Outside the slightly turned carriage, massive mountain ranges rolled past, and when I widened my senses to scan the surroundings, I felt the demonic energy of numerous devotees prostrating towards the Divine Chariot that I was riding.

“I am still not comfortable with all this.”

“Stop with the stiff tone. If you want to make people follow you, you should try to break them with intellect, not force. Where did the Gwi Hyun-sa who used to test that go?”

At my words, the shadow beyond the door flinched, and I could feel it trembling as if trying to suppress the eccentric nature it had.

“Eunnsssss… eurrkkkkk…”

“Until when, you ask? Until the body turns to dust and the soul becomes powder.”

Rejecting the envoy I sent for her, and even when I directly went myself, declaring that she wouldn’t remove the screen in the middle of the room unless I persuaded her, I—the greatest genius in the history of the Demonic Cult.
Gwi Hyun-sa.
In the end, she became my follower after half a day of questioning and the conditions I set forth for her.
I still haven’t forgotten her boastful words from behind the screen that day.

A dark history should always be brought up after every cooldown to double the fun.
I quietly chuckled and stood up from my seat.

“No matter how much of a fool the previous Cult Leader was to start this war, the public opinion within the Cult has already become quite heated after a year of stalemate in the situation. Even if I declare to stop the war now, do you think the followers will listen to me?”

Moreover, due to the scheming of the Justice Faction, which already manipulated the previous Cult Leader, countless followers lost their lives in vain.
Even though I currently had complete control over the Cult, if I were to make a truce with the Justice Faction in this situation, it was highly likely that internal strife would arise within the Cult.

“But…”

“The decision has already been made, and anyway, it can’t be undone now.”

In my previous life, if I were an ordinary person who knew nothing about fighting, I would have screamed at the decision I made now.
How could I, who was always so close yet so far from the concept of war, ever attempt to commit such atrocious acts that humans were capable of?
However, at the edge of purgatory, where even time has stopped for me, I inherited the vision of the Twelve Divine Demons.
After enduring countless bloody battles and conspiracies over the past ten years, I finally became the Lord of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and could firmly declare my decision.

“If you do not fight, you will only be robbed.”

No matter how much humanity builds structures taller than mountains.
No matter how much they develop technologies to communicate with the world with just a flick of a finger.
The greed inherent beneath the thin mask of civilization would eventually drive humans into the deeds of beasts.

-Kugoong!

“We have arrived.”

Gradually, the Divine Chariot I was riding came to a complete halt, and at my gesture, the doors that were tightly closed by telekinesis opened all at once.

“Watch. Just as I promised you, see how the Justice Faction bastards who trampled on you and your family crumble now.”

Without looking back at Gwi Hyun-sa, who was staring at me, I slowly moved forward, focusing only on what lay ahead.

There were three doors open in front of me.
Heaven, Land, and Human.
Passing through the doors symbolizing the three fundamental elements that make up the world, I stepped outside the Divine Chariot. The colossal Great Heaven, which was almost like a moving palace, was surrounded by prostrating disciples, and in the distance, the bastards of the Justice Faction formed a frontline around Mount Kunlun, swarming like ants.

“Now, let’s have some fun.”

Like a predator before a flock of sheep, my lips twisted unknowingly at the hypocritical aura filling the mountain beyond the frontline.
Since they started this war, there was no need for me to hold back either.
After the civil war with the corrupt Cult Leader’s family, my masters and the True Demonic Qi of the Twelve Divine Demons, who had been writhing in frustration to fight, were crying out in agony.
Was there any need to refuse the fight?

The corrupt former Cult Leader who defied the law of the strong, forcibly occupied the position of Cult Leader, which should be passed on to the next strong person in every generation, and tried to turn it into a hereditary system to rule for eternity.
He manipulated the Justice Faction members through backdoor deals to instigate the final showdown, aiming to eliminate the hostile forces against him and turn the unfavorable opinions within the Cult in his favor. This was the frontline of the Great War between the justice and the demonic forces.

Seizing this ridiculous farce as an opportunity, the million demons hiding in the Ten Thousand Mountains would eventually engulf the Central Plains.

“They are coming.”

Perhaps sensing the anomaly in our unusually quiet camp due to my appearance.
Five distinct figures were rushing towards us from the opposing camp.

“One shaved monk, three Taoists in robes, and one black swordsman.”

“They are masters of the Supreme Realm, called the Five Great Warriors in the current Justice Faction’s martial arts world. As they joined the frontlines, our forces suffered significant casualties. Among them, Hye Kwang from Shaolin conspired with the traitors of our Cult, whom the Heavenly Demon eradicated, and was the one responsible for abducting and murdering the loyal Blood Flower Troops and Moonlight Troops of our Cult.”

Gwi Hyun-sa barely managed to maintain her composure while providing me with the information she had.
Her breath and hands were trembling with rage.

I also remembered the two names, Blood Flower Troops and Moonlight Troops.
The two groups, composed of only women, visited the orphanage where they grew up, located in the gray area between the Justice and Demonic factions, while returning from a mission.
Having heard this through the former Cult Leader, Shaolin quietly infiltrated the land, slaughtered all the orphans in the orphanage, and in the midst of their shock, launched a surprise attack, causing many deaths and leaving even the survivors to die in a lightless prison.
And the Blood Flower Troops’ Leader and the Moonlight Troops’ Leader were sworn sisters of Gwi Hyun-sa, who, upon hearing of their deaths from me, joined me, fueled by her revenge.

“Now, my dear friend. Tell me. How shall we kill those hypocrites there?”

“As promised, tear off their limbs and leave them barely alive for me.”

She followed me across Heaven and Land, but unable to cross Human, Gwi Hyun-sa hid quietly behind me and bowed tearfully.

“If you could allow them to suffer in agony for decades, unable to live or die, and bow their heads in disgrace before their fake justice, I would offer you everything I have.”

“…”

When I first stained my hands with blood, I had a premonition.
That perhaps for the rest of my life, I would go mad yearning for the tranquility and peace of my past life, living a life where everything goes insane.
That premonition, buried under countless events, would still occasionally resurface to remind me of what awaited me.

A woman accompanied by revenge.
A madman who became a god in a living human body.

There was no place for ordinary affection between them.

Seeing the woman bow and weep, I had to give up even my last hope.

To give up everything because I had to, because I had no choice, and because I had to run through the hell where even peace, unrest, and rest were out of reach.
Whatever awaited me at the end, if it was something irreversible, then I had no choice but to unfold my path with blood and iron, without peace or rest.

“Yes, then I’ll just go mad and run to the end.”

As always, from my lower dantian, which formed the root of all martial arts, the demonic qi surged to the middle dantian of my chest, and to the upper dantian of the Hundred Points, as a mighty power flowed through my entire body.

The root of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult revered by all demons.
The last remnant of the mythic era, coveted by those from the Justice Faction, who ran like a pack of dogs, committing all sorts of atrocities to seize it.

The complete incarnation of Heavenly Demon Divine Art had descended on my body.

“The Heavenly Demon is showing his divine might!”

“The Heavenly Demon is showing his divine might!”

The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was a demonic art yet not a demonic art, and a qi art yet not a qi art at the same time.
If an unqualified person laid eyes on it, it was a living force that would blind those eyes.
The remnants of a God imbued power into its manifestation.
As I released my innately dark qi, the surrounding demons became more vigorous in their movement, falling into a trance and chanting the golden words of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

“Demonic Way, Heavenly Demon!”

“Demonic Way, Heavenly Demon!”

The Demonic Way dominates the world, and all demons conquer the Central Plains.

“As it should be.”

I abandoned everything.
I emptied everything within me.
Having abandoned everything that made me a human to reach this place.
The void was so deep and empty that it couldn’t be filled with mere strength.
Only by devouring everything beyond that mountain could this dreadful emptiness be slightly alleviated.

“Amitabha! Today, I purify the wicked demon!”

In an instant, what reached me first across the void was Shaolin’s True Divine Palm.
Like the enormous golden palm of the purest form of Buddha pressing down on a defeated gambler, a massive golden hand of divine qi descended upon me.

-Whoooong!

“Ughhh!”

“….”

The dazzling strike was certainly magnificent and overwhelming, but to me, it felt utterly hollow.
Without exerting much effort, it was something I could block with just one outstretched finger.

“Five Demons Union.”

-Tuk!

My extended forefinger collided with the huge, radiant golden god in midair.

-Pasasak!

“What?!”

Yes, this is what they call the true essence of the righteous path.
With just a small gesture of my finger, the golden god’s palm lost its light, revealing the ugly true face of Shaolin’s living Buddha, nothing more than a flashy, shallow shell.
This was the true face of Shaolin, the leader of the Justice Faction.

“Wh-what kind of sorcery is this?!”

“Hey, Gwi Hyun-sa. I’m sorry, but you have to endure my grumbling, too.”

“…As the Emperor wishes.”

The finger that crushed the golden palm pointed directly at the ugly, sobbing monk of Shaolin.
It was aimed right at the middle of the filthily attached “dots” on his forehead.

“This is the final teaching for Shaolin from the monk of the Podalap Palace.”

Four Demon Finger Snapping Arts, Fourth Stroke.

“Four Demon Finger.”

There was no grand power or mighty energy wave like Shaolin’s Finger Snapping Arts.
A strange monk from the Podalap Palace who pursued only the essence without unnecessary formalities.
The arts he invented were so quiet and simple.

-Whoong.

Did a gentle breeze pass by?
It was so quiet that one might think so.
The monk’s head didn’t explode, nor did another “dot” appear on his forehead.
There was no such dramatic effect.

Just.

-Shwack!

A corpse, its breath cut off, twitched in the air for a moment.
Unable to stand properly before me, the corpse fell helplessly like a leaf, staining the long stairs of the place with blood as it rolled to the ground where it was born.

-Thud!

After rolling down 108 steep steps, the fallen monk of Shaolin was no longer recognizable.
What remained was merely a filthy lump of flesh and blood.

“Not just anyone, but you dared to insult my master’s martial arts as mere sorcery. I can’t let you live after hearing you say that.”

“…”

A step too late, the remnants of the now Four Great Warriors of the Justice Faction stood frozen in disbelief at the unbelievable scene.
The devotees of the Demonic Path silently revered my power, which had turned the living Buddha of Shaolin and the nemesis of the Demonic Cult into a mere lump of flesh with just one move.

“Here, take this.”

Let’s have some fun.
Suppressing the emptiness that filled my heart with determination, I kicked off the ground without looking back.

The 13th martial conquest of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It was the moment when the living god of the Demonic Cult declared a true holy war.