SSS-Class Revival Hunter

Chapter 66: The Heavenly Demon (1)

“Lady Heavenly Demon, it won’t work.”

“Lady Heavenly Demon, half of the Blood Demon Unit is dead! The elders were spread all over the world, but we already lost contact with them. This is not the time to fight those idiots of the Righteous Faction. The cult might be in danger—no, maybe the entire world is in danger. The people of the Beggar Gang...”

“Lady Heavenly Demon, as you ordered, we set up clinics in every sect. The head of the Sichuang Tang Sect and experts from the Mount Mao Sect are here too. We’re planning to capture several jiangshi soldiers and experiment on them, so we’ll see results soon...”

“...Lady Heavenly Demon, the Moonlight and Blood Demon Kings are down. Even if we manage to kill a hundred jiangshi, a thousand more are made the next day. This plague is out of our control! The doctors in the clinics say that it’s possible to put them to sleep if we protect their upper dantian by blocking the Yamen acupoint and the Tianshu acupoint, but...”

“...Lady Heavenly Demon, seek shelter. Go to a remote island and seclude yourself. Even if there are ten million jiangshi, they won’t be able to cross the ocean. I’m pretty sure that this isn’t the only murim in the world. Anywhere you, our cult’s leader, are will be murim.... “

“...Lady Heavenly Demon, the oath of the great war isn’t important anymore. It was made before this chaos began. The laws of nature have changed, so humans’ duties can no longer be set in stone. Please forget the oath you made with the Murim Alliance's leader and retreat so you can rise again...”

“Lady Heavenly Demon.”

“Lady Heavenly Demon.”

***

The cave was weighed down by a long silence.

“...How did you endure it?” I eventually asked.

The world was ending, and all of humanity had become walking corpses. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader were half-corpses themselves. If their circulation of qi paused for even a moment, their hearts would stop. How could they have endured that for three long years?

The two martial artists seemed to struggle to find an answer to my question. They exchanged an enigmatic look, and then nodded together.

“Follow us.”

The pair exited the cave and I followed. We didn’t talk and walked carefully so as not to wake the others up. The silence hung in the air for a long time.

Right after we exited the cave, the Heavenly Demon broke the silence.

“Everyone dies someday.”

Dawn was coming.

“There is a funny story told in murim. A peak master had Ten Thousand Poison Immunity and the Indestructible Body. No poison could scourge his innards, and no sword was able to pierce his skin.” The Heavenly Demon’s breath emerged as white puffs in the cold air. “It was no exaggeration to say that he was almost invincible. The world’s most lethal poison couldn’t harm him, nor could the sharpest sword, so it was practically impossible for his enemies to kill him.”

The dawning sun brought a faint blue back to the sky and cast wan shadows across the earth.

“But there is one thing that the old tales never tolerate—invincibility.”

The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader slowly walked through the pale shadows one step after another. It was the humans’ footsteps that distinguished the sky and the earth. The earth was where the footsteps reached, and the sky began where the footsteps didn’t touch.

“Child.” The Heavenly Demon glanced back at me.

We were outside the cave and were walking toward the snowfield where we had been surrounded by the zombies yesterday.

“Can you tell how the master died?”

“How did he die?” I asked.

“He died from bedding a Lust Demon.” The Heavenly Demon smirked. “The pleasure from the unification of yin and yang isn’t poison. It’s also far from a sword.”

“Uhh... But isn’t too much pleasure poisonous?”

“You’re right. That was why the Lust Demon didn’t drown the master in pleasure from the start. She was skillful and took time to tame him. The pleasure was very faint at first, but he eventually became obsessed and sought more—even the most lethal one.”

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The sun slowly came up and brightened the snowfield, sweeping away the gray until it was white like the Heavenly Demon’s breath.

“The master no longer perceived the Lust Demon’s slaps during their intercourse as pain. The whip she swung was just another pleasure. The Lust Demon’s every move was just the master’s source of happiness.” The Heavenly Demon held up her hand and stroked her neck. “At the last moment, the Lust Demon lightly—very lightly—choked the master.

“She didn’t need a supreme understanding of martial arts, nor did she use a profound amount of qi either. It was just her two hands around his neck. As she suffocated him, the master smiled, drenched in pleasure.” The Heavenly Demon giggled. “He died at the peak like the peak master he was. It wasn’t an unhappy death after all.”

I saw corpses in the snowfield that moved as if they weren’t dead. They stood still under the dawn light, creating a forest of shadows across the snow.

“The lesson of this story is simple.”

“Never fool around with a Lust Demon!” the Murim Alliance's leader grumbled. “It isn’t just an old tale, that actually happened. Tsk, tsk! The Sichuang Tang Sect moved heaven and earth to train him, but that wench secretly sent a Lust Demon to assassinate him.”

“Haha.”

The zombies were still scattered across the snowfield.

“Most of the greenhorns that first go out to gangho believe that the goal of martial artists is to be invincible. They learn martial arts so they can be immortal.” The Heavenly Demon approached the zombies and picked up one of them with a grunt. “It’s nonsense.”

The Murim Alliance's leader also lifted a zombie and moved it.

“Those who obtained Ten Thousand Poison Immunity are killed by something other than poison. The same goes for the people that have the Indestructible Body. It’s just the sword that can’t kill them, not everything.” The Heavenly Demon heaved the zombie into position. “Do you get it? When people choose which martial arts to learn, they not only decide what kind of martial artist they’ll be but also how they shall die.”

She moved slowly with the zombie in her arms. Like a delivery man with a heavy package, she kept putting the zombie down after a while, taking a deep breath, and moving again.

“We know that everyone dies someday, so it can’t bring us sorrow.”

The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader gathered together the scattered zombies. It looked like the zombies had been moving around last night.

“...But this isn’t the death we wanted,” the Heavenly Demon quietly lamented.

It took a long time. Their stamina was poor and there were too many zombies.

“Assassination is good. Getting poisoned is also good. My enemies forming the Divine Net and attacking me together seems nice. I’m also good with the idiotic monks of the Shaolin Temple catching me off guard. Being betrayed by my loyal subordinates is also fine. Dying in a challenge from a rising star of the new generation is perfect.”

By the time the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader had put the zombies back in their places, the sun was high in the sky and the snowfield was covered in their footsteps.

“However, this isn’t a death we can tolerate.” The Heavenly Demon looked at me, panting. “You asked earlier how we endured it? We just want to die on our own terms.”

The Murim Alliance's leader and the Heavenly Demon lined up hundreds of zombies in orderly ranks, like two about to join battle. It made me remember a conversation I’d had with the other Hunters. When we had arrived in this apocalyptic book and witnessed the zombies for the first time, we had examined the forest of corpses.

“Although they all died from the same cause, their time of death is all different. ...The only possible conclusion I can reach right now is someone intentionally moved the corpses here...”

“Is this some sort of graveyard?”

“A graveyard, huh? It does look like a terracotta army from afar.”

The zombies moved around as they pleased at night, but over a thousand zombies were assembled in one spot. It was actually very strange if I thought about it—yes, it wasn’t possible unless someone gathered the zombies here on purpose.

“Phew...” The Heavenly Demon sighed.

“Hmm.” The Murim Alliance's leader wiped his forehead off.

“Not many of them went far today.”

“The moon was bright yesterday. It isn’t as effective as sunlight, but it still works on them...”

They were five hundred people from the Heavenly Demon Cult, and another five hundred from the Righteous faction. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader were bringing their respective forces together.

It took half a day, but the two people continued to hustle about as if it were a normal part of their daily lives.

“This is how we’re fighting the Great War of Right and Evil.”

“It’s already been three years.”

It snowed, and people were dead. All of the Nine Sects, Five Clans, and One Gang disappeared. All of their martial arts manuals were covered in dust because no one could read them.

“The Righteous Faction’s murim shall never fall because of mere jiangshi,” the Murim Alliance's leader loudly declared.

“Nor is the fate of my cult something that corpses can eat away.”

“If my Righteous Faction should end, it has to be brought down by the Heavenly Demon Cult’s evil hands.”

“When my cult disappears, it will be under the Righteous Faction’s sword,” the Heavenly Demon chimed in.

Still, the world wasn’t finished. These two martial artists had to die before that happened. If the last one took their own life in the world where ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine out of one billion people died from a plague, the cause of the world’s death was suicide, not illness. That was what the leader of the Murim Alliance and heaven of the Heavenly Demon Cult believed.

“I’m Namgung Woon.” The man gave a fist and palm salute. “I’m currently leading the Murim Alliance and hold the title of Grand Patriarch in the Namgung Clan. I also go by the name of Buwolseon.”

“I’m Soh Baekhyang.” The woman returned the salute. “I lead the Heavenly Demon Cult and also go by the name of Heavenly Demon.”

It was already past noon—and it had been years since these two were left alone in this world. They had spent the years deciding how their world would die. It was either one of two ways: the Murim Alliance's leader was going to end the Heavenly Demon Cult, or the Heavenly Demon would bring down the Righteous Faction.

“I challenge you for the 990th time,” the Righteous Faction solemnly informed her.

“Shall we fight until our death or one of us is no longer able to fight?

“We shall fight to the death.”

The Heavenly Demon nodded with a grim expression. “I accept your challenge.”

The two martial artists ended their salutes and threw themselves at each other, surrounded by five hundred of the Righteous Faction and another five hundred from the Heavenly Demon Cult.

I still couldn’t understand the martial arts they were using. In my eyes, they were struggling to just stay standing. It was too taxing for them to extend their arms; their footwork was so slow that they wouldn’t be able to catch up to a child; they couldn’t crush a tangerine with their weak grips.

This declining world of the apocalyptic book from a declining genre was dying over 990 days.

“It...” I blurted out as I watched their duel from afar. “It shouldn’t be like this.”

It didn’t feel right in my heart.

“It’s unfair.”

The Guardian remained silent.

An intense battle was being waged in the snowfield. These martial artists should have demonstrated their brilliant martial arts skills in a fight to become the strongest person in murim, but now they were only capable of fighting like children. Eventually, they lost their balance and tumbled into the snow. She grabbed his mustache, and he pulled out her hair.

“To your eyes, Mr. Sword Emperor, it might seem like a really great battle. Yeah, I’m just a beginner in the sword, but even if that children’s fight contains the essence of the greatest martial arts principles...”

The sun began to set as the afternoon slipped away. The Murim Alliance's leader and the Heavenly Demon didn’t stop fighting even for once until evening came.

“This is an insult,” I murmured.

The two martial artists failed to reach an end to their match. They were strong enough to survive in a dying world after the outbreak of an untreatable plague, but not strong enough to take each other’s lives.

“It’s not fair to them.”

The world was cruel because one couldn’t choose how they were born. How, then, was the world where one couldn’t die as they wanted to? That meant that there would be no proper conclusion in the world, and the lives in it would be cut short.

—What are you going to do? the Guardian quietly asked. Are you going to kill the Heavenly Demon and Murim Alliance's leader on their behalf? Well, I guess that can be a mercy in a way. I would certainly do that for them, but we shouldn’t forget that we’re just outsiders here.

“I know.”

The two martial artists weren’t hoping to commit suicide. If they had to die, they hoped that it would be at each other’s hands. It wasn’t a plague that was going to bring down the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Righteous Faction—they were going to bring destruction to each of their factions. That was the proper ending to their lives that they could accept.

Even if I crashed into the fight and killed both of them, that wasn’t a good ending or a merciful gift. It was just a child scribbling on a fairy tale book.

“I’m going to conclude this world in my own way.”

—What is your way?

I didn’t answer the Guardian’s question.

The evening was almost over; dusk had come.

“I-it’s already evening, old man,” the Heavenly Demon panted.

“Maybe because it’s winter... Huff. The day ends very quickly...”

“I’ll end you tomorrow, whatever it takes.”

“I could say the same thing...” the Murim Alliance's leader grumbled between labored breaths.

The Great War of Good and Evil entered a ceasefire for the 990th time. The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader returned to the cave looking more tired than yesterday.

“Where have you been?” the Viper asked.

The other Hunters were waiting for us. While the Viper was standing guard at the cave’s entrance, the Chemist and the Medicine King were hunched over the zombie—the leader of the Wudang Sect that had surprised us yesterday—busy studying it.

“We were looking at the patient,” the Chemist told me. “It was too hectic yesterday...”

“Did you make any progress?”

The Medicine King and the Chemist looked at each other. The Medicine King clicked his tongue. “Not yet.”

“Yeah... I-it’s our first time dealing with a virus like this,” the Chemist agreed.

I’d figured.

The Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader walked away to get some rest.

When they got far enough, I turned my head. “Miss Chemist.”

“Yes?”

“Please be honest with me. How many days, roughly, would it take to make a cure?”

“Oh, uhm... Uhh...” The Chemist hesitated before she answered, “If I’m really honest...it’ll take at least a hundred twenty days.”

“It may take three times longer than that. You’re supposed to schedule enough time for this kind of task because it always takes longer than the schedule,” the Medicine King grumbled.

The Chemist’s head drooped. “...Yes, he’s right. That’s the worst-case scenario, though...”

“So it’s one hundred days at minimum and three hundred days at the longest. Did I understand that correctly?”

“Umm...” The Chemist’s head drooped lower. “I-it might be impossible to create the cure at all. We barely have any facilities or equipment, and the environment isn’t helpful either. I can’t guarantee anything at this point. I’m sorry, Mr. Death King... You brought me here because you trust me...but it’s impossible to create the cure within our time frame.”

I remembered what the Indoor Librarian had said before sending us into the apocalyptic book.

“Once you open your eyes, you’ll find yourselves in the world ten days before the serialization of the Heavenly Demon Chronicle unfortunately discontinues.”

“I hope you’ll show me a great ending.”

In other words, the world would meet its true end after ten days, although I didn’t know what exactly was going to happen. It would kill the Heavenly Demon and the Murim Alliance's leader after all of their struggles to survive. Those ten days were what the Chemist meant by our time frame.

“I’m really sorry...”

I shook my head. “No, that’s good enough.”

“W-what?”

“Don’t worry.” I slowly stroked the handle of the sword hung on my belt. “I’ll take care of the time issue. Please don’t give up—continue with your research. Do you remember what I told you when we first arrived in this world?”

“But this is a world, not a book. And we’re here to save it. You know that, right?”

“...I-I remember. Of course I do, Mr. Death King...” The Chemist nodded cautiously.

I nodded back. “I’ll tell you what I said to you yesterday. The time, the fact that we won’t be able to escape from this world forever if we don’t clear the stage... Please don’t think about any of that. I’ll do my best, so please show me your best too.”

“Don’t think about anything else...”

“Yes—I promise you, I’ll take care of everything else,” I told the future leader of the Alchemist Office. “Please trust me and continue your research.”