That meant he was a man the Lord of the Castle had sent.
“Did that damn old man catch on?”
“No. He still doesn’t know you’re the culprit. I’m the only one who knows, basically.”
“Is that true?”
“Yeah. No one else knows yet.”
Gongsun Munryong asked with a look like this was ridiculous.
“Then why are you telling me that? Are you asking me to kill you? Or are you looking down on me? If you think I’m weak just because I sit behind a desk, you’re making a massive mistake.”
“Let’s see....”
As I murmured a mantra, Gongsun Munryong cocked his head.
“A mantra? Spell-arts?”
“Huh. Mystical-View... Stage Three?”
I’d nailed his level immediately.
“Were you a spellcaster?”
“Something like that.”
“This isn’t the time to worry about that. You figured out my realm and you’re still acting this relaxed?”
“Don’t you think there’s a reason I can afford to be relaxed?”
Gongsun Munryong scanned the area.
Maybe the Heavenly Martial Emperor had come here.
He felt no presence at all.
Which meant he only had to kill the rat in front of him.
“You can only bluff so far.”
“Bluff?”
“Heh heh heh. There’s nobody around. Did you think I’d fall for you talking like you have reinforcements?”
“It’s not a bluff.”
“Heh heh heh, enough. I valued your talent and thought I’d raise you, but we’re done here. Just die.”
Gongsun Munryong reached out—and something shot toward me.
SWISH—
I tilted aside and narrowly dodged it.
In that instant, dozens of steel needles burst from the flying object and slammed into my face.
PAP-PAP-PAP-PAP—
I snapped my hand up and caught the needles that struck me.
“Heh heh heh! You idiot! Those needles were coated in Five-Fail Blood Poison. You were fast pulling them out, but it’s already been injected into your body. Heh heh heh!”
“Oh, yeah? I can’t really feel anything.”
“Idiot. Still bluffing.”
I examined the needles, then my eyes widened.
“Star-Extinction Black Iron?”
“Oh? You know Star-Extinction Black Iron? Like I thought—you’re a talent worth taking.”
“Oh, I know it. The legendary meteor-iron said to shatter even Diamond-Body Invulnerability.”
“Heh heh heh. You know your stuff. It doesn’t just break Diamond-Body Invulnerability—it pierces protective qi as well. The weapon you were hit with is a Star-Extinction Black Needle. No matter how strong the expert is, they can’t avoid it.”
“And Five-Fail Blood Poison is a legendary extreme toxin with no antidote.”
“Hoo. You even know Five-Fail Blood Poison. What a waste. Such a waste.”
“You don’t have to waste your breath. I only follow the best. Which means I’m not following you.”
SHHK—
Gongsun Munryong drew his sword.
“Even if I leave you alone you’ll die slowly, but I don’t like your mouth. I’ll educate you myself.”
HUMMMM—
A vivid red blade aura swallowed the sword.
“I’ll cut off your limbs and peel your skin.”
I snorted.
“Try it, if you can. But if you can’t... you have to tell me who you really are.”
“Heh heh heh! You’re curious?”
“Yeah.”
Gongsun Munryong—still smiling as he came at me—suddenly started babbling.
“It’s not hard. You’re dying anyway. Before you die, open your ears wide and ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) listen well. I am ranked ninety-fifth in the Hundred Demon Heaven—Demon-Brain Divine Fiend.”
“Hundred Demon Heaven?”
“Heh heh heh. Yes. Remember it even after you go to the underworld. It’s the name of the great group that will soon rule the world.”
“Yeah? If you’re ranked ninety-fifth out of a hundred, you’re insanely weak.”
At my words, Demon-Brain Divine Fiend’s face warped like a murderous demon.
“You’re saying that because you don’t understand. Ninety-fifth in Hundred Demon Heaven isn’t an extremely weak rank.”
“Come on. It’s extremely weak. You said ninety-fifth out of a hundred. You’re just a pawn. A pawn.”
He suddenly took a deep breath, then smiled again.
“Heh heh heh. If you’re trying to provoke me into leaving an opening, you’re wrong. I don’t fall for something that easily.”
“What do you mean you don’t fall for it? Your face is beet red. Let’s be honest. And Hundred Demon Heaven? Why is the name that stupid?”
“You say that because you don’t know Hundred Demon Heaven. The moment the upper ranks step in, the martial world will vanish in an instant. The Heavenly Martial Emperor? A human like that will become dust in a single move. Understand? How terrifying Hundred Demon Heaven truly is.”
“Then your Heavenly Lord must be insanely strong.”
“Strong? Of course. Our Heavenly Lord is a Demon God. Heh heh heh. The day he awakens, humans will vanish from the world.”
He was spilling everything on his own.
It looked like he’d been bursting to talk and hadn’t been able to.
I listened quietly.
If he was going to hand me information like this, there was no reason to interrupt.
More importantly—when the Heavenly Lord awakens?
So he was still asleep.
“I came out to erase Heavenly Martial Castle, which stands in the way of our great Heavenly Lord. Heh heh heh. I’ll show him my ability. An achievement none of the other divine fiends could accomplish.”
“Where is Hundred Demon Heaven?”
“Heh heh heh. That, I can’t tell you.”
“Why? I’m about to die.”
“Even if I told you, you couldn’t find it. The very dimension is different.”
“Dimension?”
“Only a few of the vanguard crossed the dimension and came out. Until the Demon God awakens, the dimension won’t open.”
“When does he awaken?”
“That, I can’t know. But one thing is certain—the day isn’t far.”
“Not far?”
“Yeah. Heh heh heh. At the latest, within ten years, he will descend upon the world.”
“Ten years... then how do you send news back to the Central Plains?”
“There’s a Dimensional Transmission Letter. You write on it and infuse it with internal energy, and it’s transmitted.”
Watching Demon-Brain Divine Fiend talk excitedly, I was honestly stunned.
How badly did he want to talk, to run his mouth like this the moment he got a chance?
I didn’t even need to interrogate him.
He was volunteering everything I wanted—enthusiastically.
How did an idiot like this earn the epithet “Demon-Brain”?
Did he coin it himself?
At this point it wasn’t Demon-Brain—it was No-Brain.
If he were actually smart, his rank would’ve been higher.
For a “strategist,” his work had felt sloppy, and now I understood why.
“I’ve got one more question.”
“What?”
“Where’d the real strategist go? Dead?”
“Heh heh heh. Of course. If I left him alive, he could become a problem later.”
“So your specialty is turning into other people, huh? No matter how I look at it, you don’t seem like the ‘brain’ type.”
“You bastard, to the very end!”
“Isn’t it weird?”
“What is?”
“It’s been long enough for Five-Fail Blood Poison to spread. But I’m fine.”
“Huh?”
Come to think of it, by now his veins should’ve been bulging black-red all over his body—and he should’ve been begging me to kill him through the agony.
But I was fine.
“See? You didn’t notice at all. If you were actually smart, you’d have noticed ages ago. There’s a reason your rank is low. You are weak.”
“You fucking bastard! Looks like you got lucky and avoided the poison! Fine! I’ll kill you myself!”
Demon-Brain Divine Fiend charged at me with a face full of rage.
And then—
THUD—
A massive impact slammed into his right side, forcing him back.
He lowered his gaze slowly.
His entire right upper body was gone.
“What... is this...?”
“I told you. You’re weak.”
“T-that’s... impossible....”
“Sorry, but you’re way too evil. Just die.”
“Grrrk.”
SHHK—
Blood blasted out of his torn body.
THUMP—
He dropped dead on the spot.
I stared at the corpse, thinking.
“Hundred Demon Heaven...”
A Mystical-View Stage Three expert wasn’t just “pretty strong.”
He was the kind of martial artist who could throw the entire martial world into chaos with his own two hands.
And he was only ranked ninety-fifth.
Worse—he’d bragged about it.
If what he said was true, the upper ranks would be monstrously strong.
And the Heavenly Lord—their leader—
I couldn’t even guess.
“Hm. This doesn’t feel normal.”
As I turned, still thinking about Hundred Demon Heaven, the corpse started to change—then warped into the form of a grotesque monster.
“What the hell?”
It was the kind of hideous thing you’d only see in hell.
And then, it crumbled into ash and vanished.
FSSSS—
My expression hardened.
That wasn’t something that belonged in the human world.
Was it really coming from hell?
He said it was another dimension.
Within ten years...
It sounded like time, but it wasn’t certain.
We needed to prepare as much as possible.
But for that, it wouldn’t be enough for True Martial Sect alone to be strong.
The entire martial world of the Central Plains had to grow stronger to withstand the invasion of whatever “Hundred Demon Heaven” was.
I’d blow them apart whenever they showed up—but I couldn’t protect the whole Central Plains alone.
Wait.
Demon-Brain Divine Fiend...
Could the Four Heavenly Demon Fiends be the same kind of things?
Probably not.
But those guys also appeared out of nowhere and threw the martial world into chaos.
When I met them later, I’d ask.
If they knew “Hundred Demon Heaven.”
Their reaction would tell me everything.
And what do I tell my grandfather?
If I say the strategist is dead... will he be sad?
Either way, I have to report it.
I need to see him.
Jeok Mugun stared at me, asking again like he couldn’t believe it.
“Yes. It looked like he’d been dead for a long time.”
“Haa... then the one who’s been pretending to be the strategist—what is he? Who sent him?”
“A place called Hundred Demon Heaven.”
“Hm? He told you everything?”
“Yes.”
“He wouldn’t have said it easily. You must’ve suffered.”
“He said it pretty easily.”
“...Huh?”
“I think he really wanted to talk. He convinced himself I was dying, then spilled everything.”
“What? What kind of idiot does that?”
“That idiot was running Heavenly Martial Castle as its strategist.”
Jeok Mugun’s face twisted in humiliation.
“So this is disgrace. I realize just how indifferent I’ve been toward Heavenly Martial Castle.”
“I’ve stabilized Martial Star Hall, at least. If we scrap the Seven-Star Ascension Method and make it so promotions only happen through the Seven-Star Ascension Tower, it should normalize.”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we stopped Heavenly Martial Castle from collapsing.”
“Come on. A grandson helping his grandfather is just normal.”
No.
Other grandsons didn’t act like Jeok Wigang.
They only watched his mood and rushed to do whatever they were told.
A grandson who stepped forward and solved problems like this—only Jeok Wigang existed.
No matter how he looked at it, there was no one more suited to be the next Lord of the Castle than Jeok Wigang.
Even now—look.
He’d solved Heavenly Martial Castle’s problems in just a few months, and he’d dismantled the fake strategist’s scheme that no one had even known existed.
Jeok Mugun had thought it strange that the strategist kept avoiding him lately... but to think it wasn’t even the same person.
If he’d met him directly, he would’ve noticed.
Peace had lasted too long.
“I’ve grown far too complacent.”
“That’s true. You’ve been slacking on training, too.”
“You little punk?”
Was there anyone in the world who could scold the Heavenly Martial Emperor for slacking on training?
Only one.
Only Jeok Wigang could do it.