The Heavenly Demon Destroys the Tower - Chapter 83

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 83
A short while earlier.
[S-rank Achievement Unlocked! Lee Kang-han Achieves Historic First: ‘Simultaneous Destruction of 4 Tower Cores’]
[Tower of Light Halts Again. Lee Kang-han Triggers Two-Month Operational Shutdown via S-rank Achievement Reward.]
[Four Cores Destroyed This Time! Lee Kang-han Shatters Seventh Tower in Mere Month After Awakening!]
President Kim Seok-ho gazed at the succession of news headlines and smiled with satisfaction.
‘I never expected such a windfall to arrive so soon.’
Lee Kang-han, returning home after the state dinner, had immediately achieved another S-rank Achievement.
It was almost unbelievable.
President Kim Seok-ho reflected that hosting the dinner yesterday had been the right call.
“This fellow is truly remarkable, isn’t he? Another S-rank Achievement already.”
“Indeed, Mr. President. The morning papers are running both the achievement photo and the dinner photo on the front page—it should give your approval ratings a nice boost.”
“Ha ha. Well, things certainly have a way of working out.”
The atmosphere in the Presidential Office had been warm and congenial.
The synergy from Lee Kang-han’s achievement coinciding with the dinner he’d hosted was proving remarkably effective.
But that mood would not last.
Not long after—
“Oh. What’s that? Yes, yes… I understand. I’ll report it to the President right away!”
The Chief of the Presidential Secretariat rushed over, his face suddenly grave.
The atmosphere shifted one hundred and eighty degrees in an instant.
“What’s happened?”
“Mr. President, Player Lee Kang-han… was attacked yesterday, sir.”
“Attacked? What do you mean…?”
An attack.
What in the world was he talking about?
The President, caught off-guard, listened as the Chief of Secretariat outlined the previous day’s events in broad strokes.
He explained the situation that had occurred yesterday.
“So… twenty-one individuals believed to be Chinese opened fire on him, and Lee Kang-han subdued all of them? And then he went to the tower as usual afterward?”
“Yes…”
“No, well… I don’t understand this…”
Twenty-one people firing guns, and he turned the tables to subdue them all, then entered the tower normally?
How could that possibly happen?
“But surely we’ve been told that Players cannot use their tower abilities in reality?”
“That’s correct, sir. If Players could use their tower abilities in the real world, our entire public safety would be compromised.”
“Then how did he overcome twenty-one armed people?”
“That… I believe we’ll need to send someone to investigate the details directly.”
“And the Manma Hall…? How is it possible to place humans in a location where the Demon King’s summons dwell?”
“That as well… we should probably go there and ask him in person.”
The circumstances of the Lee Kang-han attack were difficult to piece together over the phone alone.
And if it truly involved the Chinese side, it could escalate into a diplomatic incident.
‘Perhaps I should have assigned him security earlier.’
President Kim Seok-ho exhaled quietly.
“Mm… Let’s request cooperation from the National Intelligence Service. It seems we should send people from the Presidential Office as well.”
“I’ll go myself, sir!”
“You, Chief? Very well. I appreciate it.”
The Chief of Secretariat departed, accompanied by National Intelligence Service personnel.
When they arrived at Lee Kang-han’s residence,
they found—
“You should have told us immediately! My heart nearly stopped when I got that call this morning!”
“It wasn’t that serious. I didn’t want to disturb anyone’s night shift.”
“Not serious? You nearly got kidnapped!”
“Well, I had time, so I cleared a tower level too.”
The visiting officials witnessed Shin Yu-ri chiding Lee Kang-han in a tone brimming with concern.
Despite having nearly been kidnapped,
he hadn’t reported it immediately and had even cleared a tower afterward—
‘He’s definitely not an ordinary person.’
The Chief of Secretariat observed Lee Kang-han standing at ease and came to that conclusion.
“These firearms…”
“Tranquilizer darts, and a handgun with live rounds as well.”
The National Intelligence Service personnel who had accompanied him
Surveying the scene of the attack, he couldn’t suppress his shock.
‘They’d taken positions in advance and opened fire in a coordinated barrage…’
‘The entry point was the front door. Hitting the target from here should have been trivial.’
‘Yet he blocked it all and subdued trained personnel in return?’
Even if the Demon was capable of wielding some Player abilities.
Could he really defend against bullets to that degree?
The Presidential Chief of Staff, whose expression had betrayed bewilderment as he surveyed the scene, approached Lee Kang-han with cautious steps.
He posed his question carefully.
“I, uh… Lee Kang-han. How did you manage to block all those gunshots?”
At that moment,
Shin Yu-ri, who had been examining the scene with a grave expression beside Lee Kang-han,
interjected sharply: “Chief of Staff, surely you’re not interrogating the Demon right now?”
Her tone cut through the air like a blade.
“Ah, no, that’s not… We just need reference material for security protocols going forward, so I thought I’d ask.”
The Chief of Staff fumbled nervously,
and Lee Kang-han stepped in to explain.
“The Bracelet I acquired from the Fighting Arena has a shield effect.”
“A shield… effect?”
“Yes. A protective barrier. It works in the real world too. It activates automatically when it senses a threat.”
“Ah. So item effects do trigger in reality…”
An item that detects threats on its own and spawns a shield to stop bullets—
every world leader would be desperate to possess such a thing.
The Chief of Staff’s eyes lit up as he heard about the item’s effects,
but Lee Kang-han quickly added, “Though only I can use it.”
“Ah, I see. That makes sense.”
Upon learning that the Bracelet’s effects applied only to him,
the Chief of Staff swallowed his disappointment and changed the subject.
“But what’s become of the perpetrators we confined in Manma Hall?”
“They’re alive and working there.”
“Working?”
“Yes. They’ve been made Lowest-tier Deities and are undergoing training.”
Manma Hall was already difficult to comprehend.
And now—Lowest-tier Deities?
The Chief of Staff’s expression grew increasingly puzzled.
“Perhaps it would be faster to see it directly. The display… will it show?”
Lee Kang-han opened the Manma Hall interface.
A small camera icon appeared on the Manma Hall display.
‘That’s what I tap when I share the feed with viewers.’
It hadn’t been visible before.
It only appeared now that there was a need to share the screen.
Lee Kang-han tapped the camera icon.
“Ooh…!”
“Wow. Is this Manma Hall? They all look kind of cute.”
The display became visible to everyone present.
* * *
The first screen showed the heart of Manma Hall: the Sacred Flame District.
Lee Kang-han touched the screen there, then navigated north through the Sacred Flame District
to the territory prepared for the Lowest-tier Deities.
‘They’ve built some houses.’
Just last night they’d been actively constructing.
Now, after one night had passed, five or six crude wooden structures huddled together.
Inside them, some were resting.
Others were working on construction outside.
‘If they’re working so hard out there, why are some of them sleeping inside?’
Lee Kang-han tapped on one of the Lowest-tier Deities resting in a house.
[Lowest-tier Deity #2]
[Status: Despair, Overwork, Exhaustion, Unconscious……]
They weren’t resting at all.
The status message revealed they’d collapsed from overwork.
And
[A lowest-tier Deity resurrected by the Sacred Flame. Death awaits if they leave the Sacred Flame’s domain.]
The message that followed below it
was rendered semi-transparent.
‘Why is this suddenly showing up like this?’
Could it be that others can’t see it?
Lee Kang-han turned to Shin Yu-ri beside him.
“Can you see the status message here?”
“Yes. It shows things like overexertion, exhaustion.”
“What about the line below?”
“The line below? No, there’s nothing showing there.”
Shin Yu-ri tilted her head, puzzled.
The semi-transparent text seemed to be hidden from outsiders.
‘Well, that message is a bit dangerous to expose.’
If word somehow spread that the Sacred Flame could grant resurrection,
his house could be flooded with terminally ill patients desperate for salvation.
Those revived here would only become enslaved lowest-tier Deities anyway,
trapped in the Sacred Flame District forever, forced into endless labor.
‘Still, plenty of people would come clinging to that gossamer thread of hope.’
So this secret had to remain hidden from the outside world.
As Lee Kang-han considered this,
the Presidential Chief of Staff approached and studied the screen intently.
“Are these the attackers, then?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… we can’t identify their faces.”
“Oh, if I contact them, their faces will appear.”
“In that case, could you establish communication now? I’d like to photograph their faces and lodge a protest with the Chinese intelligence bureau.”
Lee Kang-han nodded
and found someone to contact.
‘Since Cheon Ga-hyeon is the commander, I should start with her.’
She said she was the director of 1014 Bureau, after all.
When Lee Kang-han opened a channel to Cheon Ga-hyeon,
[What do you want, you Celestial Demon?]
Cheon Ga-hyeon, holding a wooden plank outside, scowled.
But the clothes visible on her screen
were different from when she’d attacked—now she wore a black robe with a crimson sash.
“When did you change clothes?”
[Since I’m helping build the house, they forced me into this lowest-tier Deity outfit.]
“That so?”
[Why are you contacting us? We’re busy. The Sacred Flame keeps making us work until we collapse.]
The Sacred Flame certainly knows how to crack the whip.
Meanwhile,
[The lowest-tier Deity ‘Cheon Ga-hyeon’ has shown disrespect to the Celestial Demon.]
[Will you apply the Swelling Bone Torture?]
As Cheon Ga-hyeon spat out informal speech and displayed an irreverent attitude,
a message asking whether to inflict Swelling Bone Torture appeared beside her.
And judging by her reaction, she could see it too.
[Tch. Every time I do anything, it’s Swelling Bone Torture…! I’m sick of it. Just kill me already!]
She gnashed her teeth and cried out.
“That’s not an option. Cooperate with the interrogation and I’ll go easy on you.”
[Interrogation?]
“The National Intelligence Service came to investigate you lot.”
[…This operation was entirely my independent decision.]
Cheon Ga-hyeon’s expression hardened as she said this.
“Wait. Is this person… Scar?”
An agent from the National Intelligence Service, who’d been staring at her face,
began snapping photos frantically—click, click—
his face flushed with excitement.
“Scar? What do you mean, Scar?”
“It’s a codename attached to a legendary Chinese intelligence operative. A young woman with a severe facial scar who succeeded in most of her operations—the intelligence community became so cautious that rumors spread: be on guard if you see an East Asian woman with a scar on her face.”
She’s at that level?
When Lee Kang-han heard the codename “Ska,” he tilted his head in confusion.
[Most of the time? One hundred percent, until I met that bastard.]
Cheon Ga-hyeon corrected the National Intelligence Service agent’s words.
As she did, she set down the wooden plank she’d been holding.
And crossed her arms.
[Interrogate me all you like—there’s only one answer you’ll get. The 1014 Bureau acted on my personal judgment alone to kidnap the Demon Realm Lord. The Party and the State Security Department had nothing to do with it.]
Cheon Ga-hyeon, insisting she’d carried out the “Demon Realm Lord kidnapping operation” entirely on her own initiative.
But the National Intelligence Service agent wasn’t swallowing it.
“China’s State Security Department is no small outfit. They wouldn’t have come here without reporting up the chain. Even if your superiors didn’t explicitly order you to proceed, they were at least complicit—turning a blind eye, weren’t they?”
[…….]
“There’s no way you’d run an operation this scale without reporting to your superiors. You did report it, didn’t you?”
[I didn’t.]
Cheon Ga-hyeon’s answer came without hesitation.
But then.
Ding.
[A lowest-tier deity dared to lie to the Demon Realm Lord.]
[Shall we apply the Swelling Bone Torture?]
The message declared her answer a clear falsehood.
And asked if they should proceed with the Swelling Bone Torture.
“Looks like that was a lie,” the agent murmured.
[Ha. No, this is Sacred Flame’s manipulation! Swelling Bone Torture? Go ahead, do whatever you want!]
Even with the message labeling her a liar.
Cheon Ga-hyeon showed not the slightest sign of backing down.
She was certainly a hardened case.
Then.
[A lowest-tier deity dared to blaspheme the Sacred Flame itself.]
[The Swelling Bone Torture is now being applied.]
The Sacred Flame’s message, which had kept asking if torture should be applied.
Now shifted to: it would be.
So it launches into action the moment she insults it too.
[Ugh……!]
And then, in an instant, Cheon Ga-hyeon’s body began to swell grotesquely.
Expanding and contracting like a balloon.
Veins bulging across her entire frame.
“Hah… hah-agh…….”
“W-what is this?!”
The people watching the screen together gasped at the horrifying sight.
“Swelling Bone Torture—it’s a form of punishment. She’ll recover afterward.”
“Ah… I see…….”
“Never mind her for now. Let’s photograph the others too.”
Lee Kang-han brushed past it as if it were nothing.
And opened a communication line to the next lowest-tier deity.
“Your name.”
[…….]
“Did you report to your superiors when you came to Korea?”
[…….]
“No answer. Looks like we’re applying the Swelling Bone Torture.”
[W-wait! Please, just a moment! I’ll answer!]
Unlike Cheon Ga-hyeon.
The lowest-tier deity #1 flipped their attitude instantly at the mention of Swelling Bone Torture.
‘If you end up trapped there, survival itself doesn’t feel like survival…….’
‘Hell, death would be preferable.’
The National Intelligence Service agents thought along those lines.
And continued collecting confession videos from the lowest-tier deities.
Then, several hours later.
At China’s State Security Department.
“……Korea sent videos? Along with a protest?”
“Yes. It seems we should review them.”
They played the video sent from Korea.
“Huh. What in the……!”
She showed her great confusion.
The Demon Lord Shatters the Tower (Serialization)
Author │ Yeom Bi
Publisher │ Kim Ju-hyeong
Published by │ J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing │ Han Jae-hyeok
Address │ 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daenung Post Tower 1st)
Email │ [email protected]
Website │ www.jayplemedia.com
© Yeom Bi 2025
This work has been published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder, and no part of its contents may be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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