Chapter 572

The moment I declared myself the Heavenly Demon and clasped my hands behind my back—

“The Heavenly Demon?”

“He says he’s the Heavenly Demon...?”

The Sky-Crushing Palace remnants inside the inn hesitated at my words. They stood frozen for a few seconds.

Then—

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

“What the hell is that bastard talking about?”

“He’s insane.”

They burst into laughter together. It was so loud that it filled the entire inn.

“A lunatic came strolling in during the middle of the night. Says he’s the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon.”

“Oh my. What brings the Cult Leader to a place like this at night?”

“A truly honored guest has arrived.”

[...]

Ah. This was embarrassing.

I had hesitated for quite a while before saying it, which only made it worse.

My ears probably had turned red. Thankfully, the mask kept it from showing.

“And why would someone so exalted hide his face?”

A man came toward me with a snickering laugh, sword in hand.

[Because you are not worthy to look upon my face.]

“Listen to that. How magnificent. And how did our Heavenly Demon happen to find this miserable little place?”

So they knew it was miserable themselves.

I loosened up slightly and answered.

[Funny. I had no idea vermin like you had built such a miserable place here.]

“What are you talking about?”

[Are you too stupid to understand?]

Then I would spell it out for them.

[Why is Sky-Crushing Palace trash gathered here? That was my question.]

“...!”

The men stirred at my words. Their expressions changed. Tension spread across the faces of those who had been laughing so freely just moments ago.

“...Get him.”

Someone in the back spoke quietly.

The moment the order came down, their demeanor shifted. Killing intent burst forth in an instant.

Apparently, they had been deliberately acting relaxed until now.

As expected.

There really was something here. I could not sense much from inside the inn itself. There were too many other things at work, making it difficult to tell.

CRAAASH—!!!

Martial artists rushed at me through the narrow passage.

I moved as well, assessing them. Whether I could kill them or not.

Human life was precious. It deserved respect. I wanted to avoid killing whenever possible.

But there are things I have to adapt to.

The ones who needed killing, I killed. Ever since I had fallen into this world, that was the one thing I had found tolerable.

Clink.

I drew my sword.

They had pointed theirs at me first. There was no reason to hesitate.

Still, using the Azure Moon Sword Dance would be a bad idea.

Then—

I’ll use what I can.

WOOOOONG—!

Spiritual energy and demonic qi mixed together. The clashing energies flowed through my meridians. It still felt unpleasant, but that did not matter.

“Hup!”

One of them thrust his sword at me. Judging by the speed of his downward slash, he was not weak.

First-rate? Somewhere between second-rate and first-rate, perhaps.

Without Moon Eye, I could not clearly see the sword path.

That discomfort lingered.

I had grown accustomed to always using the Moon Immortal sword path.

That’s a bad habit.

It was the sensation of having become used to letting it see the sword path for me. Using it was fine, but relying on it was not.

CLANG—!!

I poured hard aura into the hilt and struck his blade aside.

“Urk!”

The backlash threw him off balance.

I moved the moment I saw it.

Slash.

“Argh—”

Before he could even scream, his throat was cut, and he collapsed. As one man fell, the men behind him came into view.

They kept charging even as their comrade died.

SSSSSH—!!!

I wrapped my body in demonic qi. I did not activate Heavenly Demon Divine Arts. The biggest reason was that I still was not accustomed to it.

It did not matter that I could not use it, or that I could not use the Azure Moon Sword Dance.

If I don’t have them...

Then I would manage without them. If I had no teeth, I would chew with my gums.

I wrapped the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword in hard aura. Perhaps because it was demonic qi, the hard aura itself was black.

Could I even use this?

The question did not last long.

CRACK—!

“Huh!?”

The Heavenly Demon Divine Sword shattered the other man’s blade outright.

Fortunately, it seemed to work just fine.

Leaving the broken sword behind, I pressed the attack.

SLASH—!!

“AAARGH!”

“Ghk!”

“AAAAARGH!”

Blood sprayed everywhere. Every strike aimed at a vital point cut them down.

My feet never stopped moving. Even though dozens came at me, the passage was narrow. That only made it easier for me to move.

Blood splattered across the walls.

Then—

BANG!

The wall to my left suddenly collapsed, and someone burst through it.

“You bastard!”

A man as huge as a mountain came at me with a mace.

I did not even look his way.

I already knew he was there.

I struck one of the flying fragments, pouring hard aura into it as I did.

The stone shard ricocheted into the giant’s eye.

CRACK—!

“AAAAARGH!!!”

The fragment smashed into his left eye, taking half his vision from him. He staggered.

I did not miss the opening.

Thrust.

The Divine Sword pierced his chest and cut straight through.

Slash.

It felt like slicing tofu.

There should have been bones inside a human body, but I felt none.

That was thanks to the sharpness of a special-grade weapon combined with hard aura.

His upper body split apart, and the giant died as he collapsed forward.

There was no time to shake the blood from my blade.

“Y-you monster...!”

Dozens had died in an instant. Only now did they begin to hesitate.

[What is it?]

My steps did not stop.

[Have you no intention of coming?]

I could feel souls. Souls streamed out of the dead.

Before they could pass on peacefully—

—AAAAARGH!

—AAAHHH!

Just as had happened to the Sky-Crushing Palace men before, the curse-like thing bound to their bodies devoured them and erased them.

I left them behind.

[If you will not come,]

I only needed to look at the people in front of me.

[Then I must go to you.]

[...Tsk.]

Apparently, the way I spoke offended the real Heavenly Demon. He clicked his tongue.

I ignored him. I needed to focus on this nonsense right now.

[You have an exceptional talent for dishonoring the dead. Worth learning from.]

Even his insults have style. Pointlessly so.

I did not care about indirect jabs like that. That was simply my temperament.

I reminded myself of that and kept moving.

Then I picked up speed.

BOOM—!

The men flinched at my sudden acceleration.

“Urk!”

“Don’t fall back!”

“D-don’t retreat—!”

I cut down the man who had been shouting.

I put strength into my sword. The manifested hard aura surged out with the force of my momentum.

A slash.

Sword wind swept straight ahead.

AAAAARGH—!!!

Those who could not block it had their upper bodies cut apart and died. The swords of those who barely managed to stop the hard aura were ruined.

“He really is a monster...!”

“A master... He’s a real master...!”

“Leader...! This is... this—ghk.”

I trampled over the fallen corpses. Blood covered the floor.

There were fewer than five left.

“Ghk... ngh.”

“W-what do we do...?”

The men holding swords froze. Their eyes shook wildly as they stared at their dead comrades.

The moment I took another step—

“AAAAH!”

One of them, overcome by fear, turned and ran.

No. He tried to.

Slash—!!

“Ghk!”

His throat was cut, and he fell.

“What do you think you’re doing, running while the enemy is still here?!”

The man standing in the rear—the one who seemed to be their leader—had killed his own subordinate.

“L-Leader, why...?!”

“How are we supposed to catch him?!”

“You think running will change anything? Once our commander learns of this, we are all dead anyway! Fight him!”

Coming from a man who had stayed in the back the entire time, it was almost funny.

Only then did he step forward.

A shield?

He carried a shield.

It was an unfamiliar stance. Very few swordsmen carried shields.

“Useless trash. To think I have to step in myself.”

WOOOOONG.

Energy gathered around the shield. Its concentration was formidable.

“I never thought I would live to see a madman impersonate the Heavenly Demon. You. What exactly are you?”

[An impersonator...? Do I still look fake to you?]

“Hah! Of course you are fake. Do you expect me to think otherwise? You seem to be an expert, but you cannot impersonate the Heavenly Demon.”

He raised his shield and leveled his sword at me.

“If you were truly the Heavenly Demon, this place would have become hell with a flick of your hand. You would not need to swing a sword around like this.”

[A clever one. I like him.]

The Heavenly Demon cut in approvingly.

He always showed himself when someone praised him instead of staying quiet.

Is that really important right now?

Was he pleased because the man had spoken so highly of him? Crazy old man.

[You know a surprising amount for someone like you.]

“I do not merely know. You must be some child who never even participated in the war.”

[...]

I had not expected him to figure out that much.

“Looks like I was right. Otherwise, you would never impersonate the Heavenly Demon. Even if the Heavenly Demon is dead, that monster is feared too much for anyone to casually speak his name!”

BANG—!

He spoke as he charged.

I prepared to block him.

Then he threw something from his hand.

Whoosh!

Sand.

[...]

He had grabbed a fistful of dirt and flung it at me.

What is this bastard’s deal?

The trick was far cruder than I had expected.

I avoided it. Then the shield came into view.

He swung the hard-aura-coated shield at me.

BANG—!!!

I raised my sword to defend, but I was pushed back slightly.

He’s strong.

I understood the moment we traded blows.

This bastard was a master.

He had easily surpassed the peak realm.

“...So you are not some ordinary nobody.”

He seemed to realize something as well after seeing me block him.

“You know about Sky-Crushing Palace, yet you came alone? Then you are not from the Demonic Cult...? Could you be one of those orthodox bastards who arrived recently? But that does not quite fit...”

He stared at me as if sorting through the possibilities.

That was the more likely answer.

“But you use demonic qi.”

Demonic qi still wrapped around my body.

“You are from the Holy Cult, so what the hell are you? Whose orders did you come under?”

[You talk too much.]

I could not let this continue.

[Figure it out for yourself. The weak ones are always the most talkative.]

“...Arrogant bastard. I will rip that mask off and tear your mouth apart. After I have heard everything you have to say—”

Crunch.

The ground cracked beneath him as he charged, shield leading the way.

[...]

I steadied my breathing.

I stirred the spiritual energy inside me. Tangled with demonic qi, it began to respond little by little.

WOOOOONG.

A sword cry rang out.

After finally stabilizing my breathing, I took a step.

It was my first time using demonic qi this way, so I was not certain whether it would work.

Whoosh.

Time slowed.

Body-and-sword unity.

All sound stopped.

In the real world, stripped of the Moon Immortal sword path, I stared ahead.

The man charging at me came into view.

I could not see anything.

Yet within that emptiness, I found something.

No. Rather than finding it, I simply felt that it was there.

There.

The place I needed to cut.

I thrust out my sword, focused on nothing but that point.

Then I felt the hard aura gathered around the sword loosen slightly.

Why?

Would that not weaken its sharpness?

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

Slash.

[...]

The sword cut through everything without trouble.

“Uh... urk.”

The shield was carved apart, and the man’s body collapsed.

Tap.

His upper body split vertically in two, and he died where he fell.

[This is a problem.]

I had won the fight too easily, yet I bit my lip as though troubled.

[...I should not have killed him.]

There had been much I needed to ask him, but I had simply gone and killed him.

This complicated things.

[...You idiot.]

The Heavenly Demon insulted me, unusually enough.

He sounded as if I were truly beyond help.