The remaining right half of the Violet Thunder Demon’s body began to swell.
His entire body had already turned a deep violet, to the point where calling him human was no longer accurate. The sight of his flesh half-fused with crackling lightning was something that would’ve driven any evolutionary biologist to despair—or perhaps ecstasy—over this grotesque expansion of biology.
Krrrrk…!
By this point, Seo-jun couldn’t afford to ignore him completely. He postponed his conversation with Nokyo for later and focused his gaze on the New Violet Thunder Demon.
‘Why do all demonic cultivators have a second phase unless you finish them off cleanly?’
Seo-jun suddenly felt a surge of respect for Talhonma, the senior martial artist who had gifted him the Absorption Technique.
No second phases, no lingering grudges—just giving what was needed and leaving gracefully.
Seo-jun patted Nokyo’s head.
“There are more peaches in the bag. Go eat.”
“Peach! Got it.”
Nokyo abandoned Seo-jun without hesitation and rummaged through the bag to dig out another peach.
Meanwhile, Seo-jun enveloped his body with demonic energy and stepped toward the New Violet Thunder Demon.
‘Looks like he’s lost his mind completely. In that case…’
Seo-jun deliberately infused authority into his voice and commanded:
“Hand.”
The New Violet Thunder Demon instinctively raised his hand. But then, as if realizing something was wrong, he tilted his head before unleashing a thunderous roar and charging at Seo-jun.
KRAAAAAH—!!!
Nearly half of his body had turned into raw lightning, making him faster than before. The way his form moved reminded Seo-jun of Demon Nerves.
Unable to resist his curiosity, Seo-jun extended his hand.
Crackle—!
The moment the demon’s palm clashed against Seo-jun’s—
Whoosh!
The demon’s body shriveled, staggering violently. Seo-jun had absorbed his lightning energy using the Absorption Technique.
“Oh-ho.”
Seo-jun examined the Violet Demonic Qi swirling in his hand—then promptly slammed it back into the demon’s body.
BOOM!
Crackle-crackle—! The demon swelled up again, releasing a ferocious roar.
KRAAAAAHH—!!
Fascinating. Had this thing completely shed its humanity?
Seo-jun continued experimenting with the Violet Thunder Demon like a curious scientist.
Even in his berserk state, the demon still used the same martial techniques as before, making it easy for Seo-jun to observe and replicate the Violet Thunder Demonic Arts.
“Hey, mister.”
While Seo-jun was conducting his experiments, Nokyo approached.
“I ate all the peaches.”
“There are more inside the bag.”
“I ate all of those too.”
Glancing back, Seo-jun saw the bag overturned, peach pits scattered everywhere.
‘Is this kid actually some kind of wild animal?’
Scratching his head, Seo-jun grabbed the demon’s head and drained the last remnants of his energy.
Graaahh…
The Violet Thunder Demon finally collapsed, reduced to nothing more than a demonic husk. Crushing his skull to finish the job, Seo-jun let out a sigh and began repacking his scattered belongings.
“Hey. Don’t go digging through people’s stuff like that.”
“It’s fine?”
“What’s fine?”
“Someone else will clean it up anyway?”
“You want me to hit you?”
“Why are you copying my speech?”“Is that a problem?”
“Even gentle Nokyo knows how to get angry!”
Nokyo stomped her feet, causing her horns to vibrate with a low hum. Apparently, her horns resonated when she was angry.
Seo-jun clicked his tongue.
“Alright, alright, kiddo. I’ll take you back to your mom, so tell me where your house is.”
“You’re not supposed to bring strangers home.”
“Then are you going to go by yourself?”
“I don’t want that.”
“Then what do you expect me to do?”
“Carry me?”
Without waiting for an answer, Nokyo clambered up Seo-jun’s back and settled herself there.
“Let’s go!”
Seo-jun resisted the urge to flick her forehead.
*****
Following Nokyo’s directions, Seo-jun made his way toward her home while organizing his thoughts.
‘Could her mom be at the Extreme Demonic Level?’
If that were the case, it’d actually be a good thing. Seeing such a level of power up close might give him new insights.
After all, his main reason for coming to the Demonic Cult’s territory was to witness Extreme Demonic Techniques firsthand.
Even if her mother tried to kill him, he was confident he could at least escape—or maybe even take her head instead.
‘No, wait. Killing a kid’s mom in front of her would be kind of messed up.’
That wouldn’t be easy, even for Seo-jun. He still had some semblance of humanity left.
“So, kid.”
“What?”
“Does your mom have horns like you?”
“Of course?”
Wait—did female deer even have antlers?
“What about your dad?”
“He has horns too?”
“What the hell?”
Seo-jun decided to stop thinking about it. They were deerfolk, so maybe their biology was just different.
It wasn’t like having horns on a female deer was some world-ending issue.
Seo-jun continued running with Nokyo comfortably napping on his back.
“Zzz…”
The carefree little girl fell asleep somewhere along the way.
Seo-jun followed the path she’d described until he reached an unexpectedly dense forest.
“Is this the place?”
He shook Nokyo awake.
“Wha—? What’s going on?”
“Is this your home?”
“Oh! Yeah, it is!”
Climbing down from Seo-jun’s back, Nokyo cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted:
“Nokyo’s back—!”
Her voice echoed through the forest.
Rustle—
The bushes parted, and a deer stepped out—not a deerfolk, just a regular deer.
Snort—!
The deer shook its head confidently before striding toward Seo-jun.
WEEEEEEEEEEEK—!!
A loud cry rang out, piercing Seo-jun’s ears.
Hearing a deer cry for the first time, Seo-jun stared at it blankly.
‘Why does it sound like a whale call?’
Seo-jun hesitated, then gave the deer a slight nod.
“Uh… Hello?”
The deer returned the nod before bowing its head toward Nokyo. But instead of greeting her, it used its large antlers to hook her by the clothes and lifted her onto its back.
Completely at ease, Nokyo patted the deer’s side.
“This is my dad!”
Seo-jun couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
*****
“He’s already gone.”
The man atop his horse poured the last drop of his liquor onto the ground. The damp soil drank it up, leaving a dark stain.
The man dismounted and scanned the surroundings. Evidence of a one-sided battle littered the area. Surprisingly, the hunted party had been the Violet Thunder Demon.
‘Came here for a drink, and what do I find?’
The Violet Thunder Demon had been a decent drinking buddy. A bit eccentric, sure, but as far as Tian Shan drinking companions went, he’d been one of the better ones.
The man examined the traces of the fight left on the earth, rocks, and trees before climbing back onto his horse.
“I’ll avenge you. And enjoy myself in the process.”
The man smirked and pulled his woven hat down low. He shoved the sword he carried into the saddle strap and tossed the empty liquor bottle far into the distance.
‘Whoever did this used techniques I’ve never seen around here.’
He had no way of knowing how strong the opponent was—only that they were clearly stronger than the Violet Thunder Demon.
But he didn’t care. Around these parts, people called him the Heavenly Wandering Blade.
His swordsmanship was said to be otherworldly, and countless experts had lost their lives to his blade.
Even if this new opponent was stronger, it wouldn’t change anything. Heavenly Wandering Blade trusted in his talent.
Before he’d even reached thirty, he had already attained the Transcendent Realm and now, at less than seventy, he was knocking on the door of Extreme Demonic Mastery.
‘Maybe this is the fight that’ll finally push me past that limit.’
He slapped the horse’s side.
“Hyah!”
Neigh—!
The horse galloped forward, its speed amplified by the man’s demonic energy.
Trailing a cloud of dust behind him, his silhouette vanished into the setting sun.
*****
Riding on Nokyo’s father’s back, Seo-jun followed the path through the forest.
The majestic deer walked gracefully, its long legs striding through the woods, while chewing a mouthful of bok choy. Seo-jun glanced at Nokyo, who was also munching bok choy, and asked:
“Do bok choy normally grow in summer?”
“Dunno? But they grow year-round at home.”
“Nice house.”
“Yup. It has everything except fun stuff to do.”
After finishing her bok choy, Nokyo curled up on her father’s back and fell asleep. She really was no different from a wild animal.
Left without anyone to talk to, Seo-jun absentmindedly observed his surroundings, all the while pondering the Violet Thunder Demonic Art.
‘That technique was part of the Reversal Principles school of demonic arts.’
Reversal Heaven, Reversal Principles, Reversal Yin-Yang.
Three branches out of the seven categories of demonic techniques. The distinctions between them were vague, but Reversal Principles essentially referred to techniques that defied natural laws.
If forced, one could group Reversal Heaven and Reversal Yin-Yang under the same umbrella.
But intuitively, Reversal Heaven felt like the one closest to the essence of these arts.
‘The techniques Gak-yu was practicing also fell under Reversal Heaven.’
Seo-jun recalled the time he had analyzed her martial arts by placing his hand on her chest.
His plan was to reconstruct the fundamentals of Reversal Heaven and refine them into something higher-level.
To put it simply, he intended to reverse-engineer Gak-yu’s low-level martial arts into an advanced version of Reversal Heaven. The idea felt promising.
WEEEEEEEEK—!!
Seo-jun winced and plugged his ears.
“Are we there yet?”
“WEEEK—!”
“…I have no idea what that means.”
“Snort—!”
“Hey, Nokyo. Can you translate?”
Seo-jun shook Nokyo awake. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned before translating the deer’s cries.
“It means we have to walk from here.”
“What? Why?”
“My dad’s not allowed near my mom.”
“…Why not?”
“No idea? That’s just how dads are.”
“…Dads?” Seo-jun’s expression stiffened.
“Wait. Do you have more than one dad?”
“Hmm?”
Nokyo counted on her fingers but quickly frowned.
“I dunno…? There are too many to count?”
“…He’s your biological father, right?”
“Of course?”
Seo-jun felt like he’d fallen down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. While he tried to process this, Nokyo climbed up his shoulders.
“Let’s go!”
*****
They didn’t need to search for a path. The forest parted on its own, guiding Seo-jun forward.
Along the way, he passed herds of deer grazing peacefully. However, his focus soon sharpened as he sensed an overwhelming presence ahead.
‘As expected.’
The sheer pressure confirmed it—it was an Extreme Demonic Master.
Seo-jun tensed slightly, but as he stepped forward, the scenery abruptly shifted.
Whoosh—!
A vast meadow unfolded before him, filled with grazing deer.
And at the center of it all loomed a massive mountain.
Then the mountain opened its eyes.
Eyes larger than Seo-jun’s entire body.
The sun dimmed under the shadow cast by the enormous deer as it spoke.
[Who are you, to bring Nokyo here?]
A mountain could cast a shadow over the sky, or so they said. Seo-jun stared at the creature blankly, its sheer size shattering all sense of normalcy.
Despite her terrifying mass, the voice that resonated through the air carried a strangely delicate tone.
But the demonic energy packed into that monstrous body erased any notions of frailty.
Then again, Seo-jun couldn’t even tell if deer were supposed to look delicate in the first place.
Shaking off his daze, Seo-jun composed himself and answered.
“…I rescued her from the Violet Thunder Demon.”
Playing the part of Cheon Seo-jun seemed like the safest option. After all, the thing in front of him might’ve been a deer, but it could talk—so the usual rules didn’t apply.
[I see.]
The deer lowered its massive neck, bringing its eyes closer to Seo-jun’s level.
Seo-jun could see his reflection in its enormous pupils—an odd sensation, to say the least.
And then, a question popped into his mind.
‘Can I even ask this?’
But he was Cheon Seo-jun right now. Surely, it’d be fine.
“Mind if I ask something?”
[Go ahead.]
“Uh… So, no offense, but… How do you guys even mate? The size difference doesn’t make any sense.”
Seo-jun was genuinely curious.