A smile appeared on my face even as a chill went down my spine. Thinking about it, I'd also felt a shiver when reading the first part of this book, but the emotion I felt then was distinctly different from now.
The second part of the book was in the form of an autobiography. In other words, I was thrilled to see the life of Senior Sister Tian, her attitude toward life, her struggles, and the process through which she arrived at her answer.
How many lives in this world could move someone to the point of goosebumps? It was in a positive way, though.
Senior Sister Tian had accepted her fate perfectly. She'd had a hopeless childhood, lost her senses, and had her mind polluted. Nevertheless, she hadn't denied that the demonic path was her foundation. She hadn't turned away.
I was in awe of such an action. Compared to the noble choice of my senior sister, I'd become disappointed in my family after not receiving any blessings. My frustration and despair at that time now felt like child's play.
As I read the book, I came to realize there was nothing that couldn't be changed as long as one had the will.
Later, Senior Sister Tian called herself Heavenly Demon. She cut out the rotten roots of the church, planted something new in their place, and waited for them to grow. Thus, she changed the very foundation of the Heavenly Demon God Sect, which was once full of vileness and ugliness.
...I swear to walk the path of salvation bearing the name Heavenly Demon.
I could almost hear my senior sister's voice saying this, so I couldn't help laughing.
Even if she had been born in the Badniker family without receiving any blessings, I thought this person would've acquired the same disposition and strength she had now. It was because humans themselves were strong.
From that point on, the book transformed into a chronicle of her journey to become a true Heavenly Demon.
She never entered the martial world. Instead, she wandered in the darkness of the world, venturing to places that were lairs of demonic energy, forsaken lands beyond the reach of the government, and black depths even the eyes of the powerful couldn't pierce.
She subdued beings beyond this world, as well as pieces of garbage who were born as humans but abandoned their humanity. There were also those who had never been human to begin with.
She called that period a bloody subjugation. To me, it felt like a sacred pilgrimage through the evil path.
My senior sister wandered through demon realms and fought against powerful gods, or creatures so strange that it wouldn't be weird to find them in the Classic of Mountains and Seas book. Some were so strange that she even depicted them with illustrations.
They were called evil creatures, but to those who hadn't learned martial arts, they were no different from gods.
Afterward, she had no opponents in the world.
Even the ten grandmasters of the martial world couldn't defeat these evil creatures, who were more vicious than any monster I had ever seen in my world. Nevertheless, Senior Sister Tian continued her winning streak against them.
Of course, not every hunt was easy.
At that time, she became the number one person in the world.
In this section, the concept of the Qi Men Dun Jia that my senior sister understood was summarized in detail, but I honestly couldn't understand much. It was probably because spell-based martial arts weren't suited for me. Still, maybe I'd be able to use it as a trading item if I translated it and showed it to Lise later.
I thought this was the end of the book, but there were still some pages left. I continued to read about my senior sister's subjugation records.
Even after she'd become the strongest under the heavens, there were still powerful beings in the world. It was said that the world at that time was in unprecedented chaos.
I read about the various powerful beings with interest, but froze at some point.
I read the familiar description and was stunned when I saw the accompanying illustration on the right page. The art style was different, but I was certain.
The bizarre tiger creature that Professor Alex of the academy had seen on Spirit Mountain was drawn right here in this book.
***
I continued to read the book.
"Seventy-two?" I couldn't help murmuring to myself. The number seventy-two was familiar to those living in the empire.
I turned the page again but was soon disappointed. The part I'd read just now was the last chapter. Doubts rose in me like clouds. I briefly considered using my blessing to ask my senior sister a few questions, but talking to myself in a narrow carriage would just make me look insane.
Forget it for now. I had already obtained a lot of information. I closed my eyes and calmed my confused mind.
There had to be a reason why the book revealed this information to me at this time. Therefore, the back pages would be filled up someday.
***
The journey from the capital to Teper had been uneventful except for a slight delay in the schedule due to heavy rain.
In contrast, an incident occurred on the first day of our journey to the north. Just as we were about to cross the mountain, we were attacked by a group of feral goblins. We reflexively looked at Ramon before starting to fight, but he calmly plunged his sword into a feral goblin.
It took less than five minutes to kill the attacking feral goblins. In fairness, they were among the weakest of monsters.
"Senior, are you okay?" I asked Ramon after the battle.
He was wiping the blood off his face, but he couldn't help smiling when he saw my expression. "Of course, I am fine."
"Um." Was he really fine or was he just pretending? I hesitated slightly.
Meanwhile, Ramon looked at the feral goblin corpses around us with slightly distant eyes. "Many people say we view monsters as our kin. However, how can I sympathize with these mindless beasts? That is just a prejudiced idea."
"Is that so?"
"Young Master, do you know about lycanthropes?"
"Ah, I think I've heard of them. Aren't they those filthy beast-type monsters found in mountains, swamps, and sometimes the sewers of big cities?"
Lycanthropes moved both in groups and alone. I'd heard they were fast, violent, and dangerous; even one bite or scratch could cause rabies-like symptoms.
Ramon said, "I read a paper published by the magic tower. Apparently, the genetic similarity between them and the beastmen is over 99.9%."
"What is genetic similarity?"
"It is like biological information. In short, the difference between beastmen and lycanthropes is smaller than the difference between lesser races." Ramon laughed before continuing, "However, not a single beastman sees lycanthropes as kin. This should help you understand how we feel."
"Aha." I nodded in agreement.
I had the blood of a Dark Fairy, but I didn't really feel like fairies were my own kind. I thought of myself as human. I figured it was probably similar to that.
In any case, there were no more attacks that day. However, it was an area where monsters appeared, so we had to stand guard.
I somehow ended up being the first to stand guard. I was sitting by the fire when Verita approached me.
"Brother, the mission information has been sorted out to some extent."
"Really?"
"Before I explain, do you know the types of missions assigned by the Hero Society?"
"I don't know. I only know that the categories go from D-class to S-class," I replied while poking at the fire.
"Okay. Then let me explain the criteria for each mission class," Verita said with a nod before breaking down the categories.
D-class missions usually involved resolving inconveniences affecting a village. They included things like monsters appearing on important roads, or a few villagers being injured or going missing, and many more trivial things of that sort. Those were the kinds of chores Corrupted took on.
C-class missions were cases where the damage was more direct and significant. For example, there were dozens of casualties, or the local Hero Society branch couldn't solve the problem.
B-class missions involved direct threats to the empire. Heroes from different branches usually worked together, or reinforcements were sent from headquarters.
I didn't know what the believers of the Golden Horn were up to, but the damage to the north was already serious. It was at a level that would pose a direct threat to the empire. If similar damage had occurred in other parts of the nation, the rumors would've spread much faster.
"This mission is rated A-class, but the actual difficulty might be much higher," Verita explained.
"Why?"
"The number of participants is lower than I expected. The documents state that cooperation with other organizations is necessary. The groups under consideration are the imperial family, the inquisitors of the Seventy-Two Churches, the Fish Tower, the local warrior tribes, and even the mercenaries."
"Mm."
There were mercenaries in the north as well. In fact, mercenaries were everywhere. They were just most concentrated in the south.
Verita said with a troubled expression, "The problem with joint missions is internal conflict. It wouldn't be an issue if everyone worked together smoothly, but since each group approaches the work differently, clashes are constant. Besides..."
She trailed off as she glanced at the tent.
"Ah. Indeed."
Verita was referring to discrimination against lesser races. Unlike the Hero Society, which tolerated their existence despite the dirty tricks played on them, those we met in the future could draw their weapons the moment they saw a member of a lesser race.
That was especially true for those from the imperial family. It was obvious how people like the Imperial Knights or Barter of the Special Forces would react when seeing lesser races.
It was the same for magicians and mercenaries. In particular, mercenaries had long believed in superstitions and nonsense. Surprisingly, there were many cowards among them.
Strangely, it was the Seventy-Two Churches that were most tolerant of the lesser races. The only ones they truly hated were Dark Church members and demons. For everything else, whether beasts or monsters, they prayed after killing them. That was probably why Verita didn't have much objection to Corrupted.
Of course, her true identity was completely different.
Verita told me, "Finally, the mission start date is April 1st. Today is March 5th, so we have around a month to spare."
"That's more time than I expected."
"Not necessarily. The main forces, including the captain, will need to request cooperation from other forces. If they arrive early, they will conduct a separate investigation on the spot. Then from April 1st, the full-scale battle against the church will begin."
If that was the case, there seemed to be no time to procrastinate. Ramon had said that this journey could take up to twenty days in the worst case scenario.
In any case, the night passed without any incidents, and the journey continued.
We were attacked a least twice a day, and sometimes as many as six times a day. However, it was only ever a nuisance and not a crisis.
Every time our paths crossed a town or village, we stayed there overnight. If that wasn't possible, we had to camp in the open.
Time passed quietly, and I got quite familiar with the unique people I was with.
In particular, I learned about Ramon's true skills. He was a professional at camping. Even the day after it rained, he could miraculously find dry firewood. He could set up and take down tents incredibly quickly.
Despite his rough appearance, he was neat, meticulous, and above all, an extraordinary cook. Cooking outdoors was several times more difficult, but he always managed to serve meals that satisfied me.
I told him, "You could be a chef."
" Haha. That is flattering."
Verita was surprisingly silent. I'd initially treated her like a half-ticking time bomb, but during the journey, she showed the appearance of a faithful nun. She barely talked, and occasionally, she could be seen reading a small leather book that looked like a bible or offering a prayer.
If I didn't know her identity, I'd have just taken her for a mysteriously devout nun.
Lastly, there was Lanfero. Honestly, I didn't understand this guy.
I didn't want him to overwork himself, so I sometimes took the reins from him. Even if I wasn't driving, I would sit next to him and look around. It wasn't particularly awkward, but it wasn't comfortable either.
It was just a feeling, but somehow it felt like Lanfero still had more secrets to hide.
Thanks to this eccentric group, the journey was tedious but not boring. I eventually got used to sleeping on hard ground or in the carriage.
I was briefly dozing off in the carriage when I suddenly felt a chill and opened my eyes.
"Hah..." I rubbed my forearms and exhaled. A pure white breath came out.
I heard the horses' hooves trampling on the snow. I looked out the carriage and saw a pure white snowfield, so bright that it could make one go blind. It felt like spring, which had just arrived, had run away again.
"Ah," Mir murmured in a dazed voice. "It's the north."
There was a strange sadness in her voice.
I exhaled again and tightened my collar, then responded, "Yes, we've reached the north."
Exactly seven days after leaving Teper, we set foot in the northern part of the empire.
1. Refers to the Four Perils in Chinese mythology. ☜