Ch.16Chapter 16 – The Hero and the Heavenly Demon’s Mentor (1)

Hero Verdandi was having a strange experience watching the two people’s verbal duel.

“I’ll use the Heavenly Demon Soul Attack, the third form of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, to break down your mental defenses, Master. How will you counter this?”

“I’ll use the Silent Dragon Blood Step of the Tang Clan of Sichuan to retreat four steps back. Using your poison as my foothold.”

It was as if she was watching black and white chess pieces moving across a board, because her ability, the Eyes that Know Truth, was visualizing the verbal duel in a physical form.

When one person approached, the other retreated again.

“As expected, Master is amazing! To take such measures to cure Senior who has turned into a villain!”

Verdandi could see them touching each other’s territories, engaging in a tug-of-war to dominate the board.

Though she didn’t know what Heavenly Demon Soul Attack or Silent Dragon Blood Step meant, her special eyes allowed her to see how people fought.

“Verdandi, do you understand what those two are talking about?”

“No, I don’t! But somehow I can see their battle with my eyes!”

“…What?”

“First, Senior used invisible poison to dominate the surrounding space, and using that as a foothold, Master jumped into the sky!”

Verdandi was providing commentary for her mother and Wolfram, who had no knowledge of martial arts.

“Then I’ll use swordsmanship! I’ll decide this match with the Namgung Family’s Lightning Flash Thirteen Sword Thunder!”

“I’ll block that sword strike with the Fire Dragon Sword of the Jeomchang School.”

“Now Senior is exploding the aura flowing through her entire body, striking down at Master with a sword attack like lightning!”

Verdandi could only watch with bated breath as two martial artists who had reached the Transcendence Realm battled through words.

“Master is countering with a sword that creates flames! It looks like a wyvern wrapped in flames taking flight!”

She wondered if this was how it would feel if she, as a chosen hero, fought against the Demon King. Watching Bing-yeon fight evil for justice, she felt her heart pounding.

[The person before you is an ‘extreme villain.’]

Though the Eyes that Know Truth showed this information about Bi-wol who had fallen to her Inner Demon, Verdandi didn’t rush to fight unlike before.

Rather, she believed that her master, Bing-yeon, would save his disciple who had arrived before her.

[The person before you is a ‘good person.’]

A kind person who would help regardless of whether someone was good or evil, who would rush to save others even if they were complete strangers.

Therefore, the black-haired girl who seemed to have grown up under such a person must have changed due to some circumstance.

That’s what she thought was the essence of the person who had saved her and her mother.

“Ah, Master seems to have entered Senior’s mind! The scenery has changed!”

The moment she thought this, Verdandi saw the surroundings change. A large wooden building where heavy rain fell and children’s screams could be heard.

“…Is this purgatory? It looks like a place where demons gather! I see villains torturing children!”

Within that place, Verdandi could glimpse into Bi-wol’s past.

“Ugh… urgh…”

There was a child enduring torture training where fingernails and toenails were pulled out, and flesh was carved from their thighs.

Training to acquire Diamond Body through artificial means.

She saw how the child would lose consciousness dozens of times a day from pain, only to be forcibly awakened by cold water.

“Aaaah! Aaaaa!”

She saw a child being forced to walk on heated iron plates to artificially acquire the Extreme Yang Body.

The smell of cooking meat and the sizzling sound of burning flesh rose, but no one except her paid any attention.

“This is terrible! Such facilities should disappear from this world! What kind of past did Senior experience to have such a hideous hell spread in her mind!”

Verdandi frowned at the sight. Even if it was just a mental illusion, this was a place filled with evil deeds beyond measure.

“There are humans injecting poison into children, and humans burying children in snow to forcibly make them stronger!”

Tortures that were actually carried out in the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect to artificially create Diamond Body, Extreme Yang Body, Poison Immunity, and Cold Resistance.

If the Verdandi from before meeting Bing-yeon had seen this, she would have immediately tried to execute justice.

“Could you describe it in more detail, Verdandi?”

“No! My mother has already started dry heaving!”

Verdandi refused to further describe these horrible scenes. Her weak-stomached mother was already vomiting up some gastric juice.

“Urgh. My daughter, are you okay seeing such things…?”

“Yes! A hero who fights for justice doesn’t ignore any sorrow or pain! That’s what I learned from Master!”

Verdandi was staring wide-eyed at Bi-wol’s past. It was a scene that would make anyone scream.

“…To become a truly good hero, one must know others’ pain and try to understand everything!”

Her master too was slowly taking in all the scenery with open eyes in that hellish place.

Bing-yeon, who caught Verdandi’s eye as she peeked into the mental world, smiled gently at her as if to say she was doing well.

Seeing this, Verdandi judged that observing others’ pasts, empathizing, and understanding was the true path to becoming a hero.

Before meeting her master Bing-yeon, she had been self-righteous, filled with the idea that evil must be punished unconditionally.

She didn’t know how to empathize with others’ pain. She only valued her own suffering, thinking she had the most painful wounds in the world.

“It seems there are many people in this world who carry more sorrow and struggle with more pain than I do! Mother!”

But the scene before her eyes was vividly showing that this wasn’t the case.

“I’m from a coastal village. I used to help my dad catch and sell fish, but one day officials came and demanded all our catch as taxes.”

She saw a child who had befriended another whose parents died from the blade of taxation, but soon the scene changed to one of blood and flesh.

“My mom worked at a brothel. She hated me because I didn’t know who my father was, so she sold me here!”

She exchanged greetings with a child who hadn’t received proper love due to a mother who enjoyed a promiscuous lifestyle, but the next day found them as a cold corpse.

“I was almost eaten by some man after being switched with the kid next door, but I barely managed to escape!”

“My parents told me to eat mushrooms together, but I hid some to give to them later. It turned out they were poisonous mushrooms, and they were trying to commit suicide with me.”

“My dream is to become a strong martial artist someday! Like Ice Dragon in the Justice War, I want to help people who are sick or pitiful!”

Children who wanted to live just one more day, children who wanted to save even a little food for their parents, children who talked about dreams for the future.

“This is terrible! Were these things that actually happened where Master and Senior lived?”

All of them had turned into cold corpses. Verdandi couldn’t help but sigh.

“Hic, hiccup…”

She glimpsed the childhood of Bi-wol, who had developed the habit of eating sewage and dirt to avoid consuming human flesh and blood.

It was like seeing herself being ostracized by villagers, enduring various forms of harassment and violence.

“Senior, please hold on a little longer! Master will come to save you soon!”

Verdandi couldn’t help but cheer for the girl in the mental image.

After all the verbal dueling ended, I slowly opened my eyes.

Bi-wol’s Inner Demon had been defeated by my assistance in the verbal duel. It had taken the form of a Heavenly Demon, exactly as I had written in the original novel “Diamond Fist King.”

I don’t know how such a coincidence occurred, but in the end, it was fortunate that it was resolved well.

“Master, did you wake up? Hehe.”

Bi-wol brought her face close to mine, making a happy nasal sound while wrapping her arms around my neck in an embrace.

“Doesn’t this choke you? Get off.”

“I refuse. Master, aren’t you the good person who came to pull me out of the hell in my mind?”

I signaled Bi-wol to get off as if tapping out in mixed martial arts, but she seemed to enjoy it, rubbing her scent all over my body.

“If there’s a Buddha in hell, it must be referring to you, Master. Please allow me this much childishness.”

After quite some time, Bi-wol finally cleared her throat and created some distance.

“Ahem, ahem. If you were truly choking, I apologize. I was just so happy to see your face again, Master…”

Bi-wol’s expression, having overcome her Inner Demon, seemed much lighter than before. Rather than crashing her heavy emotions into me without any consideration, she was moving more cautiously.

“…Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, I’ve now surpassed the Transformation Realm and entered the beginning of the Transcendence Realm without falling into madness.”

The energy I felt from Bi-wol now felt like a well-forged sword. It seemed like she could control it perfectly, like a sword in its scabbard.

“It’s all thanks to you, Master. Thank you for teaching this unworthy disciple.”

Bi-wol bowed deeply to me like someone performing a formal bow of gratitude. Seeing such a serious gesture, I felt like playing a small prank.

After all, the Inner Demon that tormented her was also her hidden inner feelings.

“I didn’t know you admired me this much. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize it sooner.”

“D-don’t tease me. I did that because I know there aren’t many days left to spend with you, Master…”

Bi-wol’s face immediately turned red. Her redness extending to her neck made her look like a well-ripened persimmon, and the sweat on her forehead seemed to be steaming.

“Yes, as you know, I don’t have much time left. But since you’ve shown your true feelings like this…”

I gestured for Bi-wol to come closer. She approached me slowly with a puzzled expression.

“…As your master, and as a man receiving a woman’s affection, I should give a proper response.”

I pressed my thumb against my lips as if stamping them, and smiled gently at Bi-wol.

And then,

“For now, please be satisfied with this.”

I immediately transferred that thumb to Bi-wol’s lips with a gentle press. Though I couldn’t give her an adult kiss, this much expression of affection should be fine.

“Huh? Eh?”

Bi-wol made a strange sound like a deflating balloon, as if she hadn’t expected me to do such a thing.

She placed her hand on her cheek, widened her eyes, and seemed to be recalling what had just happened. Her soft, small lips quivered as she savored the indirect kiss.

“If your feelings remain unchanged until you come of age, and if I’m still alive then, I’ll accept your affection.”

“…Master.”

I gently stroked Bi-wol’s head as I spoke, and as if that was a switch, she pushed my chest and knocked me down.

“…?!!”

Thud.

“Mmm…♡ Mmph, huu…♡, hauwp…”

Making sounds like “hawp,” “chup,” “chook,” “chu,” Bi-wol filled my mouth with her tongue and acted as if she was devouring me.

Hot breaths mixed, and the sweet sounds of tongues and saliva intertwining echoed around us.

“Stay… still… Master… weren’t you the one who seduced me first…?”

The way she targeted my palate, rolling her tongue in circles to find my weak spots, made her seem almost like a succubus.

“…Puha, Master. This is how a kiss is properly done.”

“……”

Gulp.

Bi-wol’s Adam’s apple moved greatly up and down.

After exploring my lips for quite some time while holding the back of my neck to prevent me from escaping, Bi-wol finally exhaled a hot breath.

“Bweheh…♡”

She stuck out her tongue and opened her mouth wide, making me confirm with my own eyes that she had swallowed my saliva.

“…Bi-wol, hasn’t your Inner Demon been resolved?”

“Yes, and that’s why I won’t lay hands on you any further. At least until I come of age.”

“Then why such an outrageous act…”

“I was merely showing you my determination, Master.”

Bi-wol narrowed her eyes like a fox and spoke clearly, making sure each word of her sentence was well conveyed.

“I promise. I will definitely keep this affection and someday win you over.”

Such an incredible statement and action that even the people around us were at a loss for words, their faces reddening.

“As expected of Senior!”

Meanwhile, the blonde-haired hero’s eyes sparkled as she clenched her fists and bounced in place.

“Does this mean that if I keep my promise too, I can share such a tender kiss with Master!”

Only Verdandi felt something aching in her heart, showing a bit of jealousy toward Bi-wol in the form of praise.

“I want to make a promise with Master here too!”

“…What?”