Chapter 13: Heart Demon (2)

* * *

Currently, Bi Wol was in a state of demonic possession caused by a Heart Demon.

Her suppressed romantic feelings for her master and jealousy over the new disciple had overlapped, causing her true nature to emerge.

Her internal world had grown so strong that the outcome would be unpredictable if she fought her master Bing Yeon, as the internal energy stored in her body went berserk.

"...I lost consciousness for a moment."

The so-called 'Good Bi Wol,' who had tried to maintain her rationality for fear of earning her master's hatred, regained consciousness.

Swoosh.

A space appeared with rain falling, blood and corpses strewn about, and red-pillared wooden buildings visible around her.

Bi Wol knew this place better than anyone.

Of course she did - this was where she had been before Bing Yeon rescued her.

'This is definitely the Heavenly Demon Cult...'

The cult that had fed her blood and flesh, made her befriend others only to kill them - all to turn her into a Heavenly Demon bearing the karma of the Heaven-Killing Star.

'I heard Master completely destroyed this place...'

This was definitely the place that called itself the Heavenly Demon Cult. The place where Bi Wol, sold by parents whose faces she couldn't even remember, had endured a brutal past along with other children.

"Are you awake? I'm dealing with Master right now."

"You're..."

Before Bi Wol stood a woman who had the same face as her but appeared more mature.

The opposite of Bi Wol in her white uniform, someone wearing black robes waved at her.

"That's right! I'm the 'Bad Bi Wol' who's been talking to you in your mind. Well, I don't know why you call me bad though."

Bad Bi Wol's appearance matched exactly how Han Do-hyeon, the author of the martial arts web novel "The King of the Vajra Fist" before his possession, had described her in the latter part.

The difference was that she was taller than the current Bi Wol, with a more mature figure that could be considered womanly.

She appeared several times stronger than Bi Wol even at a glance, worthy of the name 'Heavenly Demon.'

"...Are you my future self?"

Bi Wol almost mistook her for her future self while looking at her. After all, people with such distinctive red eyes were rare.

"Well, more precisely, I'm the karma you should have carried instead of Master..."

Bad Bi Wol put her finger to her lips thoughtfully while addressing her. Her seductive smile left a deep impression.

"I'm an existence created by combining your romantic feelings for Master. You can call me Heart Demon, or Heaven-Killing Star. I like those titles!"

"...Then, Heaven-Killing Star. Where is this?"

Bi Wol spoke while looking around.

Why were she and Heaven-Killing Star in this terrible space filled with the smell of rain and blood?

"This is your mental imagery world. Don't you understand yet?"

Heaven-Killing Star chuckled while watching Bi Wol. She was making an expression of disbelief despite recognizing this place.

"It's exactly like the cult building where you were imprisoned as a child, right? Where you left your dead friends."

Heaven-Killing Star pointed to a place piled with corpses, swarming with maggots and flies. Next to it was a large pit dug in the earth.

That pit wasn't dug by adults. They had made children take up shovels, working them to exhaustion to create a space to bury corpses.

"...No. This is a dream. It can't be."

Bi Wol finally understood the situation around her and shook her head vigorously.

She kept telling herself internally countless times that this was a dream, that when she opened her eyes, Master Bing Yeon would be beside her.

"This isn't a dream, Bi Wol. This was originally a place you had to escape from by yourself."

Swish─. As Heaven-Killing Star waved her hand once, the surrounding space began to change. The rain fell harder, and a man wearing a long robe appeared in Bi Wol's view.

- Child bearing the karma of Heaven-Killing Star. I shall take you in.

The leader of the cult that called itself the Heavenly Demon Cult. The man with the frightening appearance looked at her with an excited expression.

- You shall be reborn as a new malevolent star in our cult.

His goal was to create a sea of blood in the peaceful martial world. It was the directionless revenge of someone who had lost his children to bandits and his wife and parents to plague and famine.

- Come, let us take revenge on the heaven that has lost righteousness and chivalry.

Bi Wol squeezed her eyes shut while looking at him. Though she had certainly feared this man in the past...

"Showing such illusions is useless. This person was─"

Because eventually Bing Yeon had appeared and saved her. Even in this mental world, she firmly believed in her master.

He was a man who didn't fear taking sword wounds for her sake, who smiled and told her not to worry even while bleeding.

However,

"Master? You mean Master Bing Yeon? No, look carefully. This is the 'future' we should have had."

As if mocking such expectations, Heaven-Killing Star stared at Bi Wol with a chilling smile.

Then,

With a sharp sound─

"Huh...?"

A scene unfolded where the cult leader's head was cut off by Bi Wol's hand. It was a movement she herself hadn't even recognized.

It felt like her body and mind were moving separately, as if being controlled by someone's strings.

"You should have been reborn as a Heavenly Demon there. You should have killed this man and ascended as the new cult leader."

Heaven-Killing Star kept speaking to Bi Wol, who was trembling uncontrollably at the warm sensation left on her hands and the blood splattered on her face.

"You should have destroyed the heaven that never saved you once, to avenge your friends who sacrificed their blood and flesh for you."

With each word she spoke, the scene before them changed.

Before Bi Wol's eyes appeared human entrails, blood, and fragments of flesh,

And this time she became someone who ate and drank human blood and flesh like water and food to satisfy her hunger.

"...Uweeeeek. Uwup, uuuugh."

The thick, fishy taste of blood lingered in her mouth. The tough flesh with embedded hair tasted horrible.

"I have to vomit. I must throw up..."

Bi Wol wanted to put her fingers in her mouth and spit out everything stuffed inside, but...

"No, without Master, this is how we would have been satisfying our hunger and thirst."

Heaven-Killing Star forced Bi Wol to lift her head and see what she was eating. This was the common sense that had been instilled in her at the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Originally, according to the setting in "The King of the Vajra Fist," she couldn't eat anything except human flesh and blood.

"Tanghulu made from hawthorn berries, or mahua coated in sugar? You couldn't have even imagined eating those."

Heaven-Killing Star munched on snacks while watching Bi Wol suffering from the horrible sensations.

"Originally, you could only sleep by hearing people's screams. The cries of newborns, pleas begging for life, wails of those who lost their loved ones."

As soon as Heaven-Killing Star spoke these words, noise invaded Bi Wol's mind. Terrible sounds mixed with screams and wails of men, women, old, and young.

"That's what you should have been. A being abandoned by heaven, and thus a Heavenly Demon who would bring down that heaven."

It was the opposite of her bedroom where Master Bing Yeon was. Bi Wol trying to sleep on an earthen floor covered with sharp, uneven stones, without even a layer of fallen leaves.

"But not anymore."

No matter how she bit her tongue and struggled to regain control of her body, it had no effect.

"Stop, please stop...!!"

"Everything you breathe and love is thanks to Master's grace."

Heaven-Killing Star had an obligation to make Bi Wol realize this fact, even while knowing how much it pained her.

Because she was the Heart Demon.

Because she was the trial that had crept into Bi Wol's heart.

Because she knew the karma that the original Bi Wol should have carried.

"So, don't look away and watch carefully."

Heaven-Killing Star waved her hand again, and now numerous people were rushing toward Bi Wol.

- The demon leader is there! Deploy the formation!

- A woman like a pit of hell. Is she really human like us?

- Before righteousness and chivalry, peace! Protect the peace!

- Let's put aside the grudges between righteous and evil paths, and join forces!

Among them were those bearing the Martial Alliance's mark, and those wielding axes in both hands like members of the Four Swordsmen.

"...Who are all these people?"

"They're all humans who came to kill me, or more precisely, us."

All those people were glaring at Bi Wol with crazed faces. They were drawing their swords against the young girl, emitting killing intent and preparing to use their techniques.

"The Poison Dragon of the Four Heavens Party, the Infinite Sword Emperor of the Namgung Family, the Beggar Sect's leader, the Hao Gate master, who else... There are too many to remember."

Heaven-Killing Star listed these figures one by one, then shook her head with a deep sigh as if giving up.

This was because people had come to kill Bi Wol not only from the righteous and evil paths but also from the outer martial world.

The future that the original Bi Wol should have experienced,

A fate now twisted because of Bing Yeon.

Knowing all this, Heaven-Killing Star couldn't help but show a sad expression while looking at Bi Wol.

After all, the Heaven-Killing Star was originally someone born with karma that required killing to survive.

"...Master, where are you? If it's Master, you could convince these people. Tell them it's all a misunderstanding, that they're all wrong."

Even in this situation, Bi Wol tried to find the face she knew. A man with white hair and blue eyes.

She searched for Bing Yeon, the master of Ice Dragon Flower Banquet and her teacher, but.

"In my original karma, there is no Master."

That's when it happened.

Thud, roll─.

"...What?"

A dull rolling sound was heard, and then something hit against Bi Wol's feet.

"Because Bing Yeon was killed by me, the future self with the original karma."

When Bi Wol looked down at her feet with wide eyes, Bing Yeon's severed head was there.

* * *

I and Bi Wol (or rather, the Heart Demon claiming to be her) were now sitting cross-legged.

To engage in the sword debate with words, we both sat side by side in meditation poses.

"Huhu, I didn't expect Master to prepare such a cute method. A battle with words."

Before properly starting the sword debate, Bi Wol let out a chuckling laugh.

"Indeed, it's been quite a while since we had a proper battle."

I smiled inwardly while watching her. It was always good to see a disciple trying to surpass their master.

It meant they were trying to become their own person, breaking free from their master's shadow.

"You'll regret giving me three moves' advantage."

"Well, I think you'll still lose even with that."

I couldn't help but smile inwardly watching Bi Wol take a deep breath, contemplating which technique to prepare.

After all, I was the author who created Bi Wol. All the martial arts she used were essentially from my mind.

In a physical battle, I might lose due to my poor physical condition, but in this area, I was more confident than anyone.

"Is that okay?"

"It'll be fine. If we can resolve something that almost killed us all with a war of words, we're getting off cheap!"

Wolfram and Verdandi whispered while watching me and Bi Wol. The hero, healed by the Gold Tower Master, looked energetic as if she had never been injured.

I had already asked others not to interfere with the sword debate. Though I had noticed Bi Wol harboring such feelings for me.

It was partly my fault for pretending not to notice until the Heart Demon came.

And,

There was another reason why we had to have this sword debate with words.

"My title is Ice Dragon, praised as the master of Ice Dragon Flower Banquet, and heir to the bloodline of the Northern Sea Ice Palace."

"My title, though given by those cult trash, would be Heavenly Demon."

Bi Wol and I stated our titles, completing our preparations to begin the battle.

"Then let's begin, Master."

"Yes, what will you start with?"

"Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, First Form, Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step to reduce the distance between us to one step."

"Then I shall use Ice White Divine Technique, Second Form, Ice Shadow Wall to block your approach."

"Excellent! Then I shall use Heavenly Demon Divine Technique Second Form, Heavenly Demon Blood Dread Slash with my hand blade to break Master's ice wall!"

The Heart Demon began responding with a bright smile, as if seeing the martial arts I used in her mind.

In the novel "The King of the Vajra Fist," I had written about a special method the protagonist Kim Hyul used to defeat the Heart Demon.

'That was the sword debate, a battle with words.'

When someone falls into demonic possession seduced by a Heart Demon, their original personality becomes trapped in their mental imagery world, but.

'The sword debate can penetrate Bi Wol's mental imagery world.'

Using this method, even others could help someone possessed by a Heart Demon. This was because when strong practitioners imagined and created mental images, they could affect reality.

"...Ice White Divine Technique Fourth Form, Ice Firm Root to make myself solid. I shall receive your attack without the slightest movement."

"Master! You're amazing as expected! To block my attacks twice without injury!"

I had to fight against Bi Wol's Heart Demon to save her.