The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 4

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

The Introverted Heavenly Demon Episode 004
You’ve done well.
“So, have you made your decision now?”
The next day, Song Mu Gyeong came to find me again and asked.
I nodded and spoke to him.
“Song Sam-chong-gwan. First, I wish to tell you something important.”
“What do you mean all of a sudden?”
I straightened my shoulders and spoke to Song Mu Gyeong with unwavering conviction.
I spoke the words that Baek Yeon should have said—the words he could not speak himself.
This time, I did not avert my gaze from his.
“I am not a weak person.”
Though he is one such person, many throughout the ages have harbored this misconception.
Even Baek Yeon himself has misunderstood it.
That introverts are weak and quick to surrender.
But I will prove to this man, to the Sect Leader, and to everyone without fail.
That introversion does not mean weakness.
“So you mean to offer nothing but excuses?”
“Listen to the rest.”
“?”
“Before you are a Minor Sect Leader, you are merely an eleven-year-old boy. Apologize. Not just for this matter, but for your actions over the past seven years.”
With his mother—the only person Baek Yeon truly relied upon—gone, this man had been the closest to him.
It was not about propriety as a subordinate.
If this man had shown Baek Yeon that the world was not so cold.
If he had offered even one warm word as an adult.
Then that child called Baek Yeon would have been far less lonely.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
I knew.
This man did not even understand what he had done wrong, nor did he know that the child named Baek Yeon, whom he had wronged, no longer existed in this world.
So this was merely a demand for words I wished to speak on behalf of that boy.
If I let this pass without saying it, it would linger in my heart forever.
That is the nature of an introvert.
‘Farewell, little one. You’ve endured much.’
I bid silent goodbye to Baek Yeon, the original owner of this body.
To the child who left this world unloved by anyone.
To that boy who struggled painfully, feigning evil to survive in the loneliness of isolation from the world.
‘From now on, leave it to me.’
And I will face the world in place of that child.
But not for his sake alone.
This is also for myself, and no one else.
“If you refuse to apologize until the end, I will have no choice but to punish you myself.”
For someone introverted like myself, uttering such words aloud was far from easy.
I couldn’t tell what expression I wore in that moment, but I suspected it was hardly one brimming with authority.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I have no intention of relinquishing my position as Minor Sect Leader. Nor will I overlook your disrespect.”
Song Mu Gyeong no longer frightened me in the slightest.
“As Minor Sect Leader, I command you.”
If I couldn’t handle this matter alone, I would be admitting I lacked the qualifications to stand before the Sect Leader.
Now was the time to demonstrate how the Minor Sect Leader had changed, and I would bear whatever risks came with it.
“Song Sam-chong-gwan, you will relinquish your position and step down. Leave the Sun and Moon Divine Sect at once. Should you refuse, I will treat it as an act of apostasy and resort to force.”
“Apostasy? Those are reckless words. I simply cannot accept an unqualified Minor Sect Leader for the sake of our sect’s future.”
Sam Chong Gwan’s tone had shifted subtly.
In the next instant, I caught his eyes flicking toward the blade at his waist.
And the killing intent that gleamed within them.
“So you intend to spill blood here after all?”
I narrowed my eyes toward Song Mu Gyeong and reached for the sword resting in its scabbard near Baek Yeon’s desk.
“Those are words I should be saying, Minor Sect Leader.”
Shing.
Song Mu Gyeong drew the blade from his waist.
“You should have died back then!”
Whatever else might be uncertain, Song Mu Gyeong’s resolve to bring me down for the sect’s future seemed utterly genuine.
Even if it meant losing his own life for daring to strike down the Minor Sect Leader.
And yet.
Shing.
There was one thing Song Mu Gyeong had failed to consider.
Even if Baek Yeon was introverted and his cruelty merely an act.
His talent for martial arts was entirely genuine.
Otherwise, how could he have slain the Martial Alliance’s assassin who sought his death, all by himself?
Clang!!!
The blade Song Mu Gyeong swung toward me was firmly intercepted by the sword I raised.
Indeed, Baek Yeon’s strength and swordsmanship were formidable beyond what one would expect from an eleven-year-old child.
Whoosh, whoosh!
Song Mu Gyeong continued his assault in shock, slashing downward relentlessly.
As though he wished to cleave my head in two with a single stroke.
Yet Baek Yeon’s keen senses and reflexes saw through his attacks as clearly as reading an open palm.
Clang! Clang!
As the attacks were blocked in succession, bewilderment flashed across Song Mu Gyeong’s face.
I gathered all my strength and swung my blade diagonally.
With almost anticlimactic ease, the sword in Song Mu Gyeong’s grip flew far from his grasp.
“Surrender.”
I brought my blade’s tip to rest near Song Mu Gyeong’s throat.
“Gah…ack!”
Song Mu Gyeong stared at me with eyes rolled back, the whites showing.
My plan was to drag Song Mu Gyeong before the Sect Leader, confess what he had done to me, and reveal that I had personally punished his irreverence.
That was my intention.
But then.
“Aaaahhh!”
Song Mu Gyeong shrieked like a specter and lunged at me, a hidden dagger suddenly gripped in his trembling hand.
His aura was sinister—as if he meant to drag me down with him, consequences be damned.
I had grown careless, believing him neutralized, and failed to draw my blade quickly enough to repel him.
The dagger in Song Mu Gyeong’s grip closed the distance between us with terrifying speed.
And in the next moment.
Something utterly unforeseen occurred.
Thump! Thump!
Time seemed to decelerate.
I wondered if I heard the sound of a drum from somewhere.
But it was only my own heart—pounding with an intensity I could not suppress.
Song Mu Gyeong, advancing with dagger raised, and everything my eyes perceived, drained of their natural colors.
The world painted crimson.
Yet that was not the end.
-Kill…kill…kill!!!!!
In that instant, Song Mu Gyeong’s eyes met mine, and he cried out in terror as if he had glimpsed a ghost.
He must have sensed the blood-red radiance pouring from my eyes and the overwhelming killing intent that saturated my entire being.
“Cheon Ma…!”
All of this transpired in the brief moment between when Song Mu Gyeong drew his dagger and lunged toward me.
Before I could even comprehend what was happening to me.
In a world moving as if in slow motion.
I had already seized the dagger from his grip and plunged it into his chest.
“Cheon Ma…”
Song Mu Gyeong whispered the name in disbelief, his voice strangled.
Thump! Thump!
My heart continued to pound with a force that felt ready to burst.
-Blood…blood cascading like a waterfall…!! Hgh… hgh hgh…!
And the voice echoing through my mind still left me reeling, consciousness slipping.
When I had summoned Cheon Ma in my chamber, I had believed I could control it without difficulty.
But that, it seemed, was my delusion.
‘No, perhaps…’
The circumstances now were entirely different from when I had summoned Cheon Ma in my chamber.
I was fighting for my life, and moments ago, I had faced the threat of death itself.
The Cheon Ma that manifested in this urgent moment felt wholly different from before.
‘This is the true form of Cheon Ma…’
The moment I drew my blade, scalding blood erupted from Song Mu Gyeong, drenching my entire body in crimson torrents.
Cough!
As Song Mu Gyeong collapsed forward, vomiting blood from his mouth, I stumbled backward in shock.
The dagger I’d been gripping clattered to the ground with a metallic ring.
—Pick up the blade again. He’s still alive. Stab him once more!!!
Cheon Ma’s voice continued to echo in my mind.
Now that I thought about it, I had seized Song Mu Gyeong’s dagger in an instant and driven it backward into his chest.
Though I had done it, I couldn’t comprehend how.
All I knew was that when Cheon Ma manifested, an overwhelming force surged through me, and I became the instrument of my enemy’s death.
“Ugh….”
Song Mu Gyeong, writhing on the ground, stirred his lips.
Wondering if he was trying to speak, I leaned my ear closer and heard his final words, squeezed out with the last of his strength.
“Minor Sect Leader… you’ve done well.”
Remarkably, he was smiling.
Even as death claimed him, he smiled like a man who had already fulfilled his purpose and harbored no regrets.
“Hehe. Now it is complete. Since you have personally eliminated the traitor, who would dare suspect the Minor Sect Leader of weakness?”
“Sam Chong Gwan… then was all of this for my sake…?”
Song Mu Gyeong turned his head with great effort to look at me.
“I happened to learn that the Sect Leader harbored doubts about your character. Nearly dying at the hands of the Martial Alliance’s assassin—I thought it was because you showed mercy to your enemy and brought calamity upon yourself… If things continued this way, the Sect Leader might… cough! The Minor Sect Leader….”
“Sam Chong Gwan! I understand—let me treat your wounds first…!”
Blood poured continuously from Sam Chong Gwan’s mouth.
He slowly reached out and grasped my hand.
“Minor Sect Leader, I know this as well.”
“…?”
“That you are not a weak person. Cough! …However, you will need to continue proving it through endless struggle.”
‘At that time, I swore to dedicate my life for the Main Sect and the Minor Sect Leader.’
Only then did I begin to understand what Song Sam-chong-gwan’s words had truly meant.
“Minor Sect Leader. Do not show mercy to your enemies. Even if you are branded a cruel tyrant, do not hesitate to take from the weak.”
“Sam Chong Gwan….”
“If you continue as you are now… there will be no problem. Become a true Sect Leader… the Heavenly Demon, and establish the Demonic Path’s dominion over Tianxia… I pray….”
With those final words, Song Mu Gyeong ceased to breathe.
What he had said was shocking enough.
‘…He’s dead.’
My shoulders trembled like aspen leaves.
‘I killed someone with my own hands….’
Inevitable though it was, my mind—that of an ordinary university student mere moments ago—could not accept something so enormous and traumatic.
‘He shouldn’t have died like this.’
Yet even as I anguished, Cheon Ma’s voice continued to assault my consciousness.
—Pick up the blade again…! Kill anyone—it doesn’t matter who…!!!
“This is… Cheon Ma.”
Only then did I understand why the believers had feared Cheon Ma so deeply all this time.
Would I, too, be led by this voice in my head and kill again, just as I had now?
My legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
It was at that very moment.
“Yes. That is precisely what Cheon Ma is.”
When had it happened?
I hadn’t even noticed the door opening, let alone sensed anyone’s presence.
A tall, middle-aged figure in an ornate robe with flowing long hair drifted toward me with measured steps.
Before I could comprehend when he had appeared, Baek Mu Myeong the Sect Leader was already standing mere inches from my face.
The moment I laid eyes upon him, my hair stood on end.
“Father, what brings you here…?”
The Sect Leader now exuded an overwhelming presence far greater than at any point in the past.
His voice was glacial, utterly devoid of emotion.
“I have come to strip you of your position as Minor Sect Leader.”
Though his words struck me like a thunderbolt, I found myself strangely unmoved.
It was not something I had failed to anticipate.
‘I already knew this would come.’
There was no way the Sect Leader could be ignorant of matters concerning the Minor Sect Leader.
He surely knew of Song Mu Gyeong’s words and actions toward me.
That he had not intervened directly until now meant he had been observing how I would respond to this situation.
The Sect Leader’s gaze swept across my blood-soaked garments and then to Song Mu Gyeong’s corpse lying upon the floor.
“But… what is the meaning of this?”

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