Thump—

Thump—

Its movements were too bizarre to be called a living creature, yet it was a strange thing that moved, making it impossible to call it dead.

A creeping, unpleasant feeling welling up from the depths of my subconscious.

It wasn't the first time I'd seen it, but as expected, I still didn't like the sight of that hideous mass.

‘…What a contradictory man.’

I could almost feel the turmoil in Blindman Shim's heart, who, for the past 100 years, couldn't bring himself to do one thing or another, even with something like that by his bedside.

As an immature human who could neither completely abandon his given destiny nor fully submit to it.

As a man who was more human than anyone, and for that very reason, could not become a hero.

…As a father who couldn't be proud.

The powerlessness he must have felt, sleeping with that bizarre thing by his head.

“So, I just need to pull that out?”

It was Cheong-yi's question that broke me from my thoughts.

She asked, pointing at the black hilt embedded in the crimson mass, the Demonic Sword.

Instead of answering, I nodded, and she took a deep breath, about to step forward.

As if she had already steeled her resolve long ago, there was no hesitation in her steps.

Swoosh—

And just as she was about to move.

“But.”

Halt—

I stopped her.

…It was true that pulling it out was important, but there was still a procedure to follow before she drew the Demonic Sword.

“Hold on a moment.”

Rummaging—

I stopped her and took out a tool I had prepared in advance.

“That’s……”

■Name: [Orc Rope]

■Creator: [Seo U-jin]

■Grade: [☆☆☆☆☆]

■Description: [A rope made by twisting Orc sinews multiple times. It possesses strong resistance to physical impacts, excluding 'Cutting' and 'Ignition'.]

■Special Feature: [Enchanted with the No-Attribute Magic, 'Binding (☆☆☆☆☆)'.]

A rope.

A rope to bind her body.

“Isn’t that… a rope?”

“As you can see.”

“Why that, all of a sudden…”

“To pull out the Demonic Sword, I need to tie you up with this beforehand.”

“……”

Although Cheong-yi's expression was grim, as if she didn't understand, I paid her no mind and approached, wrapping the rope around her hands and feet.

Since I hadn't prepared a separate Artifact, I wasn't reassured by just one or two layers, so I wrapped it around her again and again, tying it tightly.

“…Do we really have to do this to pull out that Demonic Sword?”

“Of course.”

“……”

“It's all for my sake. So don't worry too much.”

“……?”

As if sensing something strange in my nonchalant reply, she furrowed her brow and asked back.

“…For you, not me?”

“Yes, for me.”

“……”

Even with my repeated answer, her brow remained furrowed, as if she still couldn't understand.

But that didn't matter.

Because even without an explanation, the moment she grasped the Demonic Sword, she would understand better than anyone.

…The reason why I tied her with this rope.

Squeeze—

“There.”

“…My wrists hurt.”

“Good. Seems like it's tied well.”

“……”

“Alright, now let's go and pull it out.”

Though her expression was still dissatisfied with my unkind explanation, it seemed she understood I didn't have any bad intentions.

Pushed by my hand, she turned her body and approached the giant heart with light steps.

Thump—

Thump—

With each step she took, the heart throbbed as if keeping time.

The moment she reached out with her bound hands and gripped the hilt of the embedded sword.

Thump-! Thump-! Thump-! Thump-!

The beat repeated, twice as fast as before, and a fierce black energy began to be sucked into Cheong-yi's body through the hilt.

Ssshaaa—

The rapidly surging energy billowed intensely, as if to swallow Cheong-yi whole.

“Ngh-!”

Cheong-yi twisted her entire body from the overwhelming pain.

She seemed to be barely holding back her screams by gritting her teeth, but that didn't last long.

“…Kngh… Haa… Hngh-!”

Soon, pained moans mixed with ragged breaths burst from between her teeth.

‘…….’

That was the 'Divine Illness' Blindman Shim had spoken of.

The extreme, convulsive pain that comes without regard for time or place once one inherits the Demonic Sword and becomes the 'Heavenly Demon'.

It was a side effect that occurred in a body not yet fully matured, a reaction to inheriting a portion of the immense energy dwelling within the Demonic Sword.

It was a phenomenon that would naturally disappear if one raised their body's caliber enough to handle the Demonic Sword's energy.

But how could that be easy?

Reaching the level of the first Heavenly Demon, who was different from birth, through mere effort was a statement that was difficult to establish in the first place.

Moreover, Cheong-yi was just turning 20, possessing the body of an adolescent whose growth hadn't even properly finished.

According to her, who had experienced it firsthand in the first playthrough, it felt like every single cell in her body was being burned by fire, so it was easy to imagine how extreme the pain she was currently suffering was.

Vmmm—

How much time had passed?

The fiercely surging energy was now subsiding.

Of course, containing and digesting were separate matters, so Cheong-yi was still writhing in pain, but it seemed certain that most of the Demonic Sword's energy that needed to be digested was now contained within her body.

As proof of that.

Sliiiide—

The blade of the Demonic Sword naturally slid out from the crimson heart-mass.

She had been acknowledged by the Demonic Sword as the successor to the 'Heavenly Demon'.

“…Now, is it my turn?”

Normally, this would end with her writhing until she passed out from the extreme pain, then waking up later.

But to get rid of Cheong-yi's Divine Illness, one more step was needed around this time—

Snap—

It was then.

“…Huh?”

Along with a chilling sensation, I heard the sound of something breaking.

Snap, snap—

In succession, no less.

I quickly turned my head to find the source of the sound. And just as I'd feared.

“No……”

The 'Orc Rope' tied around Cheong-yi's hands and feet was snapping helplessly.

“…Why the hell is that breaking?”

It wasn't a problem with the item.

I had barely managed to find the time to buy it, so I couldn't conduct a thorough investigation or inspection, but for that reason, I had picked the most expensive one available on the market and personally braided it.

I had even used the Memorize Paper I received from Eliya to enchant it with a No-Attribute binding-type magic that, albeit briefly, sealed mana movement.

Which meant.

“…This is bad.”

It meant that Cheong-yi's pure physical strength far exceeded the level I had anticipated.

Among the common items available on the market, the Orc Rope boasted, by far, the best performance.

Especially in terms of physical resistance, it was second to none.

And I had personally taken care to braid it and wrap it in several layers, so to be able to snap it in one go meant she possessed a level of strength that couldn't be restrained unless I had used an Artifact to tie her up.

I couldn't tell if this was a temporary variable that appeared during the process of acquiring the Demonic Sword, or a simple miscalculation on my part.

But the cause wasn't what was important.

Swoooosh—

…It was how to overcome this unexpected predicament.

A powerful sword strike, swung without any control.

No, it was less a sword strike and more like a swing of an axe.

Vwoom—

It didn't seem to be aimed at any particular target, so I could easily evade its trajectory by bending backward, but.

CRASH!!!

From the ensuing roar, I knew instinctively.

Forget the Vampire Trait or anything else, the moment that thing hit, I would be split in two and die instantly.

Vwoom—

Once again, that brutish and monstrous strike was swung.

Kicking off the ground to create distance, I checked Cheong-yi's condition.

“…This is tricky.”

Her pupils were gone.

It didn't seem like the fuse in her brain had completely blown, but it looked like she had completely lost her reason to the pain and was releasing her unbearable struggles as an outburst of power.

CRACK! CRASH!

The sword strikes, swung indiscriminately, left behind sword marks akin to rifts all over the space.

Even the Primordial Demonic Beast's heart, located to one side, was slashed by her strikes.

Squirming—

…Of course, a bundle of bizarre tentacles immediately emerged from its depths, fumbling over the wound and sealing it back up.

“…And I can't even knock her out.”

In truth, knocking her out with an impact wouldn't be that difficult.

Although Cheong-yi now possessed immense physical strength, whether temporary or permanent, it was still unrefined power.

If I exploited my advantages in speed or other areas, I could easily take down the mindless Cheong-yi.

Even if not, she must have accumulated damage.

But the problem was that it was impossible.

What was happening in her body right now was the process of digesting the Demonic Sword's energy, a kind of 'mana'.

Even now, her Mana Circuit must be spinning as if it were about to burst from being full.

If she were to be hit by external mana at a time like this, there was a risk of a backflow in her Mana Circuit, potentially leading to Qi Deviation.

Besides, I didn't have the luxury of time to wait for her to pass out.

The method I had prepared could only be used during the transitional period before the energy had fully settled.

It was a method that would be useless once the succession process was complete.

“…Feels like I'll die if it even grazes me.”

Therefore, the only way to overcome this predicament was to evade all of her randomly swung attacks, get close, and proceed to the next step.

“…Easier said than done.”

A single misstep, even just staggering from the wind pressure of a swing, would lead directly to death.

Vwoom— CRASH—!

…Well, that being said.

It's not like what must be done will suddenly become something I don't have to do.

Fwoosh—

Evading her sword strikes that flew nearby, I watched for the right timing.

There couldn't be a pattern in the swings of a mindless person, so my only strategy was to aim for the blind spot created by her physical characteristics.

…And I already knew her physical characteristics inside and out from my past life.

‘A typical right-handed, right-footed person. And the corresponding weaknesses.’

Around this time, she showed a weakness in her upward slash from the lower left to the upper right.

In the future, she would eventually crush everything with her immense strength and skill, but at this point, when she was like a blank slate, that weakness should still exist.

Even if all her strikes looked monstrous on the surface, there was bound to be a move with slightly off-timing.

And so, I waited for the timing I was most confident in.

Right.

Vwoom—

“…Now.”

Fwaat—!

The moment I saw the preliminary motion for an upward slash after she finished her previous move, I rushed to her right side.

Scrape—

Thanks to the combination of a half-beat-faster approach and an exquisite blind spot, her sword strike grazed past my shoulder.

I was able to reach point-blank range.

…Of course, it was a shame that the shallow graze alone was enough to tear up my left shoulder to the point where the bone was visible.

Still, since I had succeeded in getting close, I could call it a success.

“…This will sting a bit.”

And as soon as I reached her right side, I.

“Hup—.”

I sank my fangs into her neck.

[The Trait: Half-Vampire (★☆☆) is activated.]

[…Warning! An unknown magical formula is reacting to your mana.]

[You have met the activation conditions for the hidden perk of , 'Subordination'.]

[Would you like to turn into a Subordinate? Y/N]