Chapter 116
A floating sensation and drowsiness, as if I had fallen into deep water, took hold of my body.
There was nothing visible around me.
As if it were a void where nothing existed at all.
My consciousness slowly sank deeper and deeper, toward the depths of sleep.
It was the first time I had ever felt such warmth, and I found myself wanting to surrender to it.
It felt as though my very existence was fading and scattering away.
Who I was, and where this place was—none of it mattered.
At the very edge of a deep, pitch-black darkness.
I saw something faintly emitting light.
As if entranced, I began swimming toward it.
Before long, I was able to make out what was emitting that light.
The source of the light… was a set of weapons.
Ten armaments shining within the pitch-black space.
Those ten weapons were piercing through various parts of the body of something shaped like a person.
It looked as though some kind of being had been sealed.
I focused, wanting to confirm exactly what had been sealed, but it was difficult to clearly perceive its form.
It felt as though it had been covered in a mosaic.
At that moment.
I felt as though our eyes met.
It was still hazy like fog, but I could clearly feel its gaze directed at me.
I stared intently at it, and gradually, some of the noise that obscured it like mist began to fade.
At the same time, an overwhelming sense of rejection wrapped around my entire body, and my heart seemed to drop with a heavy thud.
Goosebumps rose all over my body, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from those eyes.
Golden eyes radiating brilliance like blazing flames.
Those golden eyes grew larger and larger, until they became like a massive sun.
At the same time, the jaws of an enormous beast appeared and swallowed me whole.
As my consciousness rose back to the surface, I snapped back to reality as if being flung upward.
“Ghaaaaah!”
My heart pounded loudly, and my entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
I hurriedly looked around.
A familiar space came into view.
A trembling bed and a wooden desk.
Various weapons lined across the walls.
“This is……”
It was my room within the residence of the Heavenly Demon.
More precisely, it was the room I used before possession.
Was it all just a dream?
I steadied my ragged breathing.
It was an unsettling, yet strangely vivid dream.
Feeling as though I had just woken from a long sleep, I wiped my face dry.
What kind of dream was that, to be so vivid?
My memories felt hazy, as if covered in fog.
I slowly retraced my previous memories.
I clearly remembered coming out for training with the Heavenly Demon.
Was it because of that overly vivid dream?
A sudden question arose.
From where exactly did it become a dream?
Could it be that even the game of tag with the Heavenly Demon was part of the dream?
At the ambiguous boundary between dream and reality, I gathered my thoughts for a moment.
As I looked for water to quench my thirst, I made eye contact with the little girl.
“Ah.”
“……”
A brief silence passed.
“I-I’m sorry! The Heavenly Demon told me to check on your condition… I came in without permission!”
The child bowed deeply, her waist nearly folding, and hurriedly tried to leave the room.
“Hey, wait a second!”
My voice came out hoarse, probably from dehydration.
Her name was… Wol-ah, I think.
She was the attendant brought in to replace me.
The girl looked at me with trembling eyes.
Like a kitten seeing someone other than its owner for the first time.
“I’m thirsty… could you bring me some water?”
“Y-Yes!”
She quickly scurried out of the room on her short legs.
Staring at the empty space she left behind, I traced my faint memories.
Was the training with the Heavenly Demon real?
Since I had lost consciousness at some point, it was hard to tell where reality ended.
Still, I clearly remembered completing Asura Descent at the end.
I should have asked the girl how much time had passed.
If the training was real, that meant a whole month had flown by in a blur.
Did a full month really pass?
It wasn’t like I had checked a calendar or a smartphone—I had only counted the cycles of the sun and moon.
I wasn’t even sure if I had counted properly.
However, I was able to find the answer easily.
Ever since I had been possessed into the game, a blue notification window had always occupied the corner of my vision.
The moment I touched it, countless message windows exploded and completely filled my view.
“Holy shit.”
It wasn’t a dream.
The messages filling my vision proved it.
I slowly read through the messages, checking my growth.
My mana and stats had increased even further, and I had gained a new authority.
【Sky Cleaving】—what a grandiose name.
Though it didn’t seem to work at all against the Heavenly Demon.
On top of that, I had completely subjugated Gehenna’s authority, and Asura Descent had also been perfected into True Asura Descent.
But that wasn’t the highlight.
Trait: Demon’s Body.
Upon confirming it, I smiled.
The Power of Restoration, which had been an active skill, had changed into a passive.
More than anything, the phrase I liked the most was this:
“As long as I have enough mana, death does not exist for me.”
It had a truly pleasing resonance.
Satisfied with the rewards of my efforts, I continued reading through the messages.
That was when a particular message caught my attention.
【Corrosion Rate has reached 5%.】
【SS-grade skill 【Lamb】 awakens.】
Suddenly, the nightmare I had just experienced came to mind.
That abyss-like space, and the being that existed at its bottom.
Those golden eyes were still vividly etched into my mind.
The moment the Corrosion Rate reached 5%, I had such an ominous nightmare—was it really just a coincidence?
The Corrosion Rate definitely increased as Demonic Authority grew stronger.
It had risen every time I gained new authority through 【Lamb】 or combined authorities.
Considering that my body was a vessel meant to contain the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, the rise in Corrosion Rate wasn’t something I could ignore.
For now, it was just a strange nightmare, but who knew what might happen next?
I should search around for some related information.
Anyway, the results of this training were extremely satisfying.
To the point where I wanted to test this power immediately.
To think I could grow this much in just one month.
If I hadn’t experienced it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Honestly, even if I had used game knowledge with dungeons and fragments, this rate of growth would still be unbelievable.
Growth that would shock even veteran players—what an incredible instructor, the Heavenly Demon.
Of course, I did pay the price.
My limbs were torn apart, holes were pierced through my body, and I was scorched by the Flames of Gehenna.
It was a horrific time, to the point that I could say I had experienced every extreme pain possible in life.
If characters in the game were trained this way, they’d collapse immediately.
Even the Sword Empress, known as one of the harshest by Academy standards, would probably be horrified by this method.
Now I understood why the Heavenly Demon never made a contract with a demon.
The demon must have run away.
To lightly test my power, I activated True Asura Descent, limiting it to my hand.
Soon, my hand was dyed red and began emitting intense heat.
Krrrrr!
The slow casting speed and the burden on my body—
All those drawbacks had disappeared, leaving behind perfect heat.
It meant my proficiency in the Asura Divine Art had increased significantly.
“Eek!”
Just as I was getting carried away, unable to hide my excitement over my growth, a sharp scream rang out.
The little girl I had asked to bring water was sitting collapsed in front of the door.
Damn.
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Your hand… f-fire…”
I thought she was from Pandemonium since the Heavenly Demon had brought her as an attendant, but apparently not.
To be startled by this level of technique—was she a complete ordinary person?
I immediately dispelled Asura Descent and ran over to her.
“Sorry. I startled you, didn’t I?”
First, I helped her up from the floor and cleaned up the spilled water bottle.
I’d have to get the water myself.
At that moment, I noticed her clothes were soaked from the spilled water.
I ignited a small flame and dried the moisture from her clothes.
“……Thank you.”
The girl hesitated before thanking me, then distanced herself.
This atmosphere was really awkward.
I had no idea how to deal with a child.
In reality, I had been too busy just trying to survive on my own.
Yoo Sung-woo had been the same.
Everyone around us had grown up in orphanages—no different from wild beasts.
After sending the girl out, I stepped outside.
First, water.
Heading to the well in the yard, I drew water and gulped it down.
It tasted so sweet it rivaled soda.
For an entire month, I hadn’t even been able to properly drink water while being beaten by the Heavenly Demon.
Even though the Power of Restoration let me endure hunger and thirst, it still had its limits.
As I buried my head into the ladle and drank, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“So you’re awake.”
“Master?”
Behind me stood the Heavenly Demon, hands clasped behind her back, wearing a long robe.
“You slept for an entire day.”
“I’m sorry. I must have been really exhausted.”
At my words, she nodded.
“That’s understandable. You forcibly drew out achievement in such a short time. Rest well for a while.”
Her unexpectedly kind tone made me pause.
Normally, she would have scolded me for waking up late, calling me lazy or lacking discipline.
Hearing her tell me to rest was surprisingly out of character.
Well, it was good for me.
While it was great that I had grown stronger over the past month, it also meant I had irresponsibly left the Academy unattended with no information.
I needed to check how my companions were progressing, and whether any orders had come down from Pandemonium.
There was a lot to do.
Then, someone I had forgotten came to mind.
I had promised to contact Lia once a week.
“Then, Master, I’ll rest a bit more in my room since my body hasn’t fully recovered yet.”
“Do so. And for a while, do not use Demonic Authority.”
Just as I was about to head back inside, her final words stopped me.
“Why shouldn’t I use Demonic Authority?”
“Through this training, your mind among the three aspects—body, mind, and spirit—has been greatly damaged. You pushed your body to its limits and repeatedly forced enlightenment at the brink of death. It is only because your mental strength is exceptional that you are still sane. An ordinary person would have already gone mad.”
“What does that have to do with Demonic Authority…?”
Smack!
My vision went white for a moment as pain struck my forehead.
“Ugh!”
“Have you forgotten the nature of Demonic Authority? It is a sinister power tainted by demonic energy. Of course it is harmful to the mind. If you’re not careful, you may be consumed by it and fall into deviation. Be cautious. Make sure to operate the Asura Divine Art.”
At her warning, I nodded.
Moreover, her words seemed related to the Corrosion Rate, so I needed to be careful.
Anyway, that wasn’t the urgent matter.
I immediately returned to my room and grabbed Lia’s Heart Fragment from the drawer.
As I focused mana into it, Lia’s voice soon rang out.
[Hey, you bastard!!!]
Her furious roar blasted into my ears.
“L-Lia? Sorry for contacting you so late—”
[You said you’d contact me once a week! And while I couldn’t reach you, the power I sensed from you suddenly weakened! I thought something really happened!]
“……I have no excuse.”
[Anyway, that’s not the issue! Park Siwoo inside the fragment hasn’t responded for three days now!]
In that instant, my mind went cold.