Shim Cheong.

For the first time in her life, she was experiencing the emotion of confusion.

‘…I’m going to become blind?’

Her mind was a jumbled mess; she felt dizzy, and her thoughts wouldn't flow naturally.

It was a sentiment she couldn't have fathomed when reading books that organized emotions, but experiencing it firsthand, she understood immediately.

This was the feeling of 'being confused'.

“…I told you to wait inside, Cheong-yi.”

“The tonic is ready. You said it was nothing and that I should wait, but I heard a loud noise, so I came to see what was happening.”

“……”

“But…”

Seeing an outsider was also a first for her.

Although she had occasionally heard stories about the surface world from Blindman Shim, she had never once left this underground hideout, following her father's decree that she would only be allowed to go outside after her coming-of-age ceremony.

And yet.

Even before the novelty of this unfamiliar experience.

A single sentence from the outsider's mouth captured her attention.

“Father, what is the meaning of what that man is saying?”

“……”

“…That I will become blind?”

It was a story she had never heard.

No, it was a story she had never even imagined, let alone heard.

She was the girl who spent every night sleepless with excitement, thinking about turning 19 next year, having her coming-of-age ceremony, and seeing for herself the many things she had learned about the surface world from books.

And yet, to be told she would become blind, unable to see.

It was a story she couldn't understand, nor could she accept it.

Shim Cheong wished her father would just say it was absurd nonsense, that it was all a story fabricated by that outsider.

She hoped he would tell her it was all a lie.

“…It's the ruffian's antics, just nonsense. Go back inside. I'll finish up quickly and come in.”

However.

Even though he dismissed the outsider's words as nonsense, just as she had hoped.

Strangely, Shim Cheong couldn't bring herself to nod.

…She couldn't explain it precisely, but that was how it was.

It seemed she could feel more truth in the words of this stranger she was seeing for the first time than in the words of her own father, with whom she had spent her entire life.

Perhaps.

It was because he was the father she had spent her whole life with that she didn't miss the subtle sense of unease in his voice.

“…I'm asking because that man's words don't sound like complete nonsense. Please tell me. What on earth does it mean that my eyes will go blind?”

“……”

“…If it is truly difficult for you to say.”

And so, Shim Cheong.

Ssk-

“I will hear it directly from this man.”

For the first time, she disobeyed her father's words.

* * *

The end of the Demonic Cult was self-evident.

There wasn't a single person who set foot in the lands of Murim who didn't know that the Demonic Cult had been defeated and destroyed in the Righteous-Demonic War 100 years ago.

However, conversely, there was no one who properly knew about the 'origin of the Demonic Cult'.

Except for the fact that they had suddenly appeared one day leading a legion of Magical Beasts to attack the Murim Alliance, there were no known facts about when the Demonic Cult had come into existence.

‘…Not that anyone would care anyway.’

…To get straight to the point, the Demonic Cult was not a group that simply appeared along with the Righteous-Demonic War.

The Demonic Cult's origins traced back to the distant ancient era, before the great, storied sects of Murim even came to be.

Of course, this was before the Demon King's Army emerged and the War against Demons took place.

Information from that distant era could only be found in the Order's Akashic Records, so if asked to prove it right now, there was no way.

But I had confirmed it for certain in my first life.

That the Demonic Cult's origins dated back to then.

‘The Heavenly Demon.’

And from that distant ancient era until now, the meaning of the existence of the Demonic Cult's leader, the 'Heavenly Demon', had never once changed.

It was to become the .

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that was all there was to it; succeeding the Demonic Sword was the core role of the Heavenly Demon.

And to the one chosen as a worthy successor to the Demonic Sword and who obtained the title of 'Heavenly Demon', it wasn't simply that 'such a role was given'; a kind of binding force was bestowed upon them.

It was that if they did not succeed the Demonic Sword, they would suffer from a terrible affliction.

The exact mechanism was unknown, but it was set that if one who inherited the bloodline of the Heavenly Demon did not succeed the Demonic Sword after their coming-of-age ceremony, they would be afflicted with a 'disease that causes one to lose their five senses in sequence'.

First sight, then smell, then touch, taste, and finally, hearing.

“…And the proof that this loss of the five senses is real is none other than your father.”

“……”

“You should know best. That the only sense that man has left is his hearing.”

After hearing the rough explanation, Cheong-yi's expression grew grim.

It was a story that would understandably be shocking to hear for the first time, but surprisingly, she didn't show any signs of being greatly shocked or flustered.

It wasn't that she seemed to disbelieve it, either.

…It seemed that, while living this underground life, she herself had felt a certain sense of unease, that her father was hiding something.

The girl, who remained silent for a moment as if mulling over my words, turned her head back to Blindman Shim and asked.

“Is it true? The explanation this man just gave.”

“……”

“……”

“…It is true.”

He, who had been staring at me for a moment while letting out a deep breath, soon looked at Cheong-yi and confessed.

“That I lost all my senses except hearing because I did not succeed the Demonic Sword, and that you, like the Previous Heavenly Demons, will also lose your five senses like me if you do not succeed the Demonic Sword—that is also true.”

“……”

“I apologize for not telling you sooner. However… it was a choice made for your sake. I was planning to tell you soon, even if we weren't being pressed by a situation like this.”

…That was a lie.

Before my regression, he never told Cheong-yi the truth in the end, and thanks to that, the Cheong-yi of the first timeline was only able to succeed the Demonic Sword after losing part of her sight.

“…Then, forbidding me from entering the outside world, and prohibiting me from training in the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art passed down from our predecessors, was also…”

“I believed that if you were bound to lose your five senses anyway, there was no need to experience splendid things. All that would remain from the experience would be regret.”

“…Is that so.”

“I'll say it again, but that way will be better for you, too. I've also perfected the recipe for the tonic that slows the disease's progression, so you will have a much better life than I…”

I had intended to listen quietly for the time being, but at the nuance of 'it was all for you' embedded in Blindman Shim's words, I couldn't help but butt in.

“…How shameless.”

“...?”

“As if trying to turn your own daughter into a blind person isn't enough, you're saying 'since you'll just regret it after experiencing good things and going blind later, just live in ignorance'?”

“You bastard… Watch your mouth.”

“…Even a countryside mutt tied up all day can move within the length of its leash.”

…I hadn't originally intended to reveal this much emotion.

Was it because of all the feelings that had built up in my chest from watching Cheong-yi before my regression?

“Do you even have the right to be called a father after doing that?”

The words burst from my mouth before I knew it.

And perhaps those last words I spat out touched the old man's reverse scale.

A moment of silence.

Afterward, an indescribable fury filled the surroundings.

“…Her mother was the Heavenly Demon.”

“……”

“She died because she was the Heavenly Demon.”

Kugugugu-

Was it reacting to Blindman Shim's intense emotions?

The ground of the cave, already split in half, began to shake as the rift widened.

“…She succeeded the Demonic Sword passed down from our ancestors, suffered from the Divine Illness every night due to its unbearably great power, and screamed harrowing shrieks through her clenched teeth.”

Kuuung-

A massive boulder, unable to hold on, fell beside the old man.

The old man continued speaking, unmoving.

“Despite suffering from sporadic, convulsive pain, she went to the battlefield every day. And in the end, she saved Murim from that detestable thing.”

The old man's fury seeped into the bloodshot veins of his whitened eyes.

“But what was the result?”

That violent rage went beyond shaking the ground and began to synchronize with everything around it.

The rocks, unable to contain their fury, gnashed their teeth.

The well, unable to hold back its sorrow, wept.

And from his eyes, a single tear flowed unknowingly.

The blind old man, filled with that immense fury, asks me.

“…The result of giving her life to save Murim was, in the end…”

How dare.

“I asked you what it was.”

How dare someone like you claim to know anything about the fate of the 'Heavenly Demon'.

“……”

My skin tingled.

The mana in the air was trembling from the old man's intense wrath.

I had no choice but to confess the answer the old man wanted.

“…The axis of evil that took half of Murim. The great villain who started the Righteous-Demonic War.”

In reality, that was how the world treated the Demonic Cult and the Heavenly Demon.

…That was the reality of Murim.

“If that's the fate of the Heavenly Demon and the destiny of the Demonic Cult, then I have no intention of succeeding it.”

Swish-

“…And I have no intention of passing it down.”

…Although I couldn't help but snap at him, it wasn't as if I couldn't understand his position at all.

From the perspective of someone who had experienced the tragic fate and end of the previous Heavenly Demon—who lived as a hero and died as a villain—up close, it was only natural to want to avoid that god-damned destiny.

He could have judged that it was better to prolong one's life, even if it meant losing one's sight and hearing, than to fulfill a responsibility that no one would acknowledge and give up one's life.

In fact, Blindman Shim himself had broken the shackles of the fate given to the Heavenly Demon and had lived such a life.

However.

That was only if Cheong-yi were to meet the same end as the previous Heavenly Demons.

“…If the pain of the Divine Illness from the Demonic Sword could be eliminated, and if she wouldn't be forced to make a sacrifice.”

“...?”

“A Demonic Cult like that.”

If the Heavenly Demon's fate ended with sacrificing themselves for Murim and being branded a villain.

I too had no intention of making Cheong-yi inherit such a destiny.

If I had intended to treat her as a mere sacrificial lamb for Murim, I wouldn't have gone so far as to shave off my own lifespan to do such a thing for her in my past life.

“…Does that change your mind?”

Along with that final question, asked back in anger.

Thud-

The old man collapsed on the spot.