At Ye Yahyeon’s answer that there was no set time, Jeok Wigang stared at him in disbelief.
“So we have to wait indefinitely?”
“Yes. How bored do you think we were, that we went out and tried conquering the martial world?”
Ah. So that was why the martial world had fallen into such chaos.
It had nearly been conquered by bastards ranked only somewhere between fiftieth and sixtieth.
That made it clear just how complacently the martial world of the Central Plains had been living, like frogs at the bottom of a well.
Well, thanks to that, the martial-world people had clenched their teeth and trained, and their overall level had risen by leaps and bounds.
Since it had actually turned into a blessing in disguise, perhaps they ought to thank the Four Divine Demons.
“Is there no way to contact them?”
“There is. They hand out dimensional travel scrolls for reports.”
“Where are they?”
“We already used them all.”
Jeok Wigang looked at the Death-Mandate Divine Demon.
“I used all of mine as well.”
They truly were hopeless bastards.
“How were you planning to go back after using them all?”
“We thought the Heaven Lord would come to the Central Plains eventually, so we could just wait until then.”
“What sort of being is this Heaven Lord?”
At that question, the Death-Mandate Divine Demon and Ye Yahyeon looked at each other.
“Well. I have never met him even once....”
“We have not seen the faces of the higher rankings, let alone the Heaven Lord.”
“Is this Heaven Lord strong?”
At Jeok Wigang’s question, the two men stiffened and nodded.
“He is a being whom all the demons of White Horse Heaven could charge at together and still fail to defeat.”
“You said you never saw him, so how do you know that?”
“If you are in White Horse Heaven, you can feel the Heaven Lord’s qi anywhere. Demons who feel that qi can never even think of resisting him. The qi merely leaking from him is enough to make chills run over the entire body and make all will to fight disappear.”
“Oh-ho!”
At the word “strong,” Jeok Wigang’s eyes sparkled.
“Would I be unable to beat him even if I went all out?”
At the words “all out,” Ye Yahyeon asked,
“Have you ever gone all out before?”
“No. Not even once.”
“Then how much strength did you use when fighting us?”
“Hmm. One-tenth?”
Ye Yahyeon stared at Jeok Wigang with an incredulous expression.
The Death-Mandate Divine Demon, unsure of what he had just heard, asked again.
“W-wait a moment. So you mean... when facing the Poison-Mandate Divine Demon, you used only one-tenth of your strength?”
“No.”
“No?”
“It was one-tenth to face four of you.”
“By four, you mean....”
“All of the Four Divine Demons.”
As if recalling that time, Ye Yahyeon squeezed his eyes shut, and the Death-Mandate Divine Demon’s jaw dropped in utter shock.
How could this be?
“And after turning into a baby and growing up again, I became even stronger than I was then. I am still getting stronger now.”
Insane.
After hearing Jeok Wigang’s words, Ye Yahyeon shook his head with a sickened expression.
The Death-Mandate Divine Demon’s legs seemed to give out, and he sank down onto the floor.
“What do you think? Compared to the Heaven Lord?”
“I do not know. I have not seen the Heaven Lord’s full power either.”
“In your opinion, we seem about equal?”
“Yes....”
He answered while watching Jeok Wigang’s expression, in case Jeok Wigang might take offense.
“Really? Now I am looking forward to it.”
Unexpectedly, Jeok Wigang was enjoying this.
“What?”
“Isn’t it a joyful thing to have an opponent I can fight with everything I have? No. He might be stronger, so I should be nervous. Ah! My heart is pounding.”
“Your heart is pounding?”
“Yes. This is something. Should I train too? Since I cannot cultivate inner qi, what kind of training should I do?”
The Death-Mandate Divine Demon and Ye Yahyeon looked at him in disbelief.
“If the Heaven Lord descends into this world, this world is finished. It will be annihilation.”
At Ye Yahyeon’s words, Jeok Wigang grinned and said,
“Will the world be annihilated? Or... will this Heaven Lord disappear? Aren’t you curious?”
A battle between Jeok Wigang and the Heaven Lord.
That was something to be curious about.
“No, wait. Thinking about it, if he is that strong, shouldn’t he simply descend himself? Why send you all to gather information and try to drive a wedge between the authorities and the martial world like this?”
“Because martial-world people are stronger than expected. It would take time to deal with them, so the plan was to reduce their strength as much as possible beforehand.”
“No, you said he has enough power to annihilate the world. He could just blow everything away.”
“Come now. If that were the case, why would he bother descending? He is coming in order to make this beautiful world wholly ours.”
“So the place where White Horse Heaven is must be barren.”
“Yes. It is not merely barren. It is a difficult place to live. Cold, with nothing to eat.”
“Then could you not just live peacefully together?”
“As I said, White Horse Heaven does not consist only of humans. There are far more monsters hostile to humans. They would regard humans as livestock and devour them.”
“They eat humans?”
“Yes. There are mad bastards obsessed with human flesh.”
Jeok Wigang made up his mind.
Those bastards would be blasted away on the spot.
“You are human too, aren’t you? You were not eaten.”
“Strictly speaking, I am not human either. I am of the demon race. I merely have a human form.”
“Then your martial arts must be different from a human’s too.”
“That is correct. The demon race is specialized for battle, so we learn martial arts more quickly than humans and can unleash them with greater power.”
“Then the Heaven Lord must be of the demon race too.”
“Yes. Some call him a demon god.”
“In short... White Horse Heaven is the demon realm.”
“From a human perspective, yes.”
Only now did the true shape of White Horse Heaven begin to emerge.
“Then is the reason you are after the Central Plains because it looks like a good place to live?”
“That is correct. After the Heaven Lord examined many dimensions, he appears to have judged the Central Plains the most suitable place to live. That was why he sent us here first, and we have already sent all the information about the Central Plains.”
“What about information on me?”
“We did not send it.”
“Why?”
“If they came swarming in, they would look for us, and once they found us, it would be obvious they would tell us to guide them to Big Brother....”
“So you kept quiet in order to avoid me?”
“That is correct.”
At Ye Yahyeon’s words, the Death-Mandate Divine Demon continued to be astonished.
The first four demons dispatched to the Central Plains, the Four Divine Demons, had feared one human so much that they had hidden his identity and fled around to avoid facing him.
As the Death-Mandate Divine Demon looked at Jeok Wigang, he understood the Four Divine Demons.
He would have done the same.
Isn’t he truly on the same level as the Heaven Lord?
He even had that thought.
Then what should he do?
When the Heaven Lord descended later, whose back should he stand behind?
If he stood behind the Heaven Lord and this human beat the Heaven Lord?
He was screwed.
The opposite?
That was the same.
“Hey, hey. Decide which side you will stand on later. Your eyes are going to fall out.”
“What? Ah, no. That is not it.”
“Not it? It is all showing.”
The Death-Mandate Divine Demon lowered his head deeply, embarrassed.
“How strong are the higher rankings?”
“From fiftieth upward, they are classified as nobles even among the demon race, and they are truly strong. To the point that we are no match for them.”
“Really? They are that strong? I hope they come soon too. Hm, could we not send a fake letter? Say there is an existence we cannot handle and ask for support. Then they might come. Or could I just go to the demon realm myself and meet the demons of White Horse Heaven?”
White Horse Heaven was supposed to be the terror of the world, yet to Jeok Wigang, it was becoming a place filled with dreams and delight.
“Can you not recognize one another? From what I saw, you seemed to recognize each other roughly.”
“That is only when it is someone we already know or a Divine Demon we have met at least once. And we can sense the unique qi of the demon race. However, beings that are not of the demon race have different qi, so if we do not know them, we may not recognize them.”
“Hmm. Is that so? Then you cannot recognize those who are not of the demon race.”
“That is correct.”
“And you do not know how many have come down?”
“No.”
“It cannot be helped. I thought I might be able to find them a little more easily.”
“I apologize.”
“Enough. Finding the bastards hiding here and there is rather fun in its own way. I should enjoy it.”
Jeok Wigang looked at the Death-Mandate Divine Demon and asked,
“What is your name?”
“What? Yes! My name in the Central Plains is Jung Saheon.”
“Good. Let us get along from now on.”
“Yes!”
“Did you bewitch the military governor with sorcery?”
“That is correct. I will release him at once.”
“No, do not release him. Change him so his loyalty to the Emperor is strong.”
“What? Not loyalty to you, Big Brother?”
“Yes. Raise his loyalty to the Emperor. To the point that if the Emperor told him to drop dead, he would at least pretend to.”
“Understood.”
“Did you bewitch the soldiers you were training too?”
“Yes.”
“Then change those soldiers so they are loyal to the Emperor too.”
“Understood.”
“Have it done. I will call you separately later.”
What did it mean that he would call him separately?
It meant he did not have to go with him.
When Jung Saheon’s expression brightened, Jeok Wigang gave a small laugh.
“Are you that happy not to go with me?”
“Gasp! N-no, I am not.”
“Why? Were you going to run away the moment I left?”
“No, I was not.”
“Not at all. The Four Divine Demons were like that too, and now you as well. Demons truly cannot hide their expressions.”
“I apologize.”
“If you want to run, then run. I would actually prefer it if you ran to White Horse Heaven. There is something I am curious about.”
“What? What are you curious about?”
“I am curious whether the Heavenly Mechanism Seal can tell me about a bastard who fled to another dimension.”
“What is... the Heavenly Mechanism Seal?”
“It is sorcery that tells me where you are, no matter where you go. I left a mark on your body.”
At the words that a mark had been left on him, the pupils of the Death-Mandate Divine Demon, Jung Saheon, trembled.
He had intended to erase all traces and hide himself the instant he left this place.
No.
Now that he knew there was a mark, he could simply erase it.
He did not know where it had been hidden, but he only needed to find it.
He was an outstanding sorcerer.
More than that, he was shocked.
“You know how to use sorcery as well?”
“Yes. Fairly well.”
At the words “fairly well,” Ye Yahyeon said in an incredulous voice,
“Fairly well? You can defeat me with sorcery alone.”
To think he could defeat someone ranked {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} sixty-second in White Horse Heaven with sorcery alone.
“I was defeated without being able to lift a hand.”
Being unable to lift a hand meant he had been overwhelmed completely.
Jung Saheon grew curious.
“Is your sorcery stronger? Or....”
“Come now. Sorcery is just a supplementary method. The real thing is this.”
Jung Saheon thought that perhaps even if he found the mark, he would not be able to erase it.
Ye Yahyeon said to Jung Saheon,
“Do not think too negatively. As long as you do not rebel, he treats you well.”
“Right. You know that well, so why did you resist so much?”
“What can we do when that is our nature? It rises up before we know it. We hate this damned nature too.”
“I am sorry.”
Jeok Wigang suddenly apologized.
Ye Yahyeon asked with a puzzled expression,
“What for?”
“If I had gone harder on you, perhaps that nature of yours might have been fixed. I went easy because I was afraid you would die.”
“Ha....”
“But now it is possible. I created sorcery that keeps you from dying even if I hit you hard.”
As Jeok Wigang smiled brightly and bragged, Ye Yahyeon looked sickened and sent a voice transmission to Jung Saheon.
—You heard him, right? That is the kind of human he is. He is a human more terrifying than the Heaven Lord. So it is better to simply give up any thought of running away. I told you, did I not? If you listen well, he treats you well. On the other hand, if you do not listen... pain beyond anything you can imagine will come for you.
Jung Saheon’s expression stiffened.
He had already experienced that kind of pain. Could there truly be pain worse than that?
—The pain you suffered today was nothing more than a warm-up.
Had he read his mind?
Ye Yahyeon precisely pointed out the part Jung Saheon was wondering about.
With that, all his worries were resolved in one stroke.
I must never run away.
Jung Saheon’s goal was to live comfortably.
“Stay here for the time being, and come running when I call.”
“Yes! Big Brother!”