A foul, fishy smell so strong it was suffocating.

The overwhelming scent of blood that muddled the mind.

A sea drenched in blood.

And a silence more profound than any other.

Thud-

As she came to her senses, the unbelievable sight unfolding before her eyes made Namgung Soso unwittingly drop her guard and collapse to the ground.

“…No matter how I look at this, I can’t understand.”

It was clearly an impossible event.

“There’s no way…”

And yet, at the same time, it had undeniably happened right before her eyes.

“……”

Already drained from the long, drawn-out battle.

She had no strength left to speak, wishing she could summarize the ironic situation in a single, concise phrase.

Unfortunately, what had occurred before her was not something that could be expressed in a single phrase.

No, trying to explain something she couldn't even comprehend was a contradiction in itself, but that was genuinely how she felt.

Summarizing that situation in one simple phrase was in the realm of the impossible.

…Nevertheless, if she had to try and condense it.

“…It seems to be over, but.”

An incomplete end to the war.

It was a contradiction, a phrase that couldn't exist by its very definition.

But there were no other words that could possibly contain this absurd situation.

Pffft-

“……”

Even though the battle was over, she stared at the horrifying face of a hunchbacked Deep Sea Person, still alive and making noises.

Namgung Soso tried to retrace the events of this incomprehensible battlefield.

‘…….’

In the early stages of the battle, during the brief vacuum left by U-jin, the tide of war had rapidly begun to turn in the Deep Sea People’s favor.

But when U-jin, now with small horns on his head, reclaimed his position, a stomp of his foot rebalanced the teetering battlefield.

That single stomp triggered a crowd control skill that drastically reduced the Deep Sea People’s movement speed.

With U-jin rejoining the fray and fighting like a madman, the battlefield not only found its balance but began to flow in an overwhelmingly advantageous direction.

And the baton of that fierce momentum was passed to her comrade, the young girl.

The girl, emanating a scent similar to U-jin's but slightly thicker, floated into the air. Like him, she landed back on the ground with black horns sprouting from her head.

‘…A singularity.’

If what she saw was correct.

The moment Shim Cheong had floated in the air was the turning point when the entire aspect of the war had completely changed.

From that point on, what transpired could no longer be called a battle between two evenly matched forces.

‘…….’

The girl who landed on the ground exuded a bizarre aura, completely different from how she had been before.

Even before she landed, a prelude to this singularity had already appeared.

The Deep Sea People, who had been rushing in madly until then, formed a circle around her, refusing to approach within a certain radius.

As if that wasn't enough, the front line of Deep Sea People surrounding her turned around and began attacking the others.

As if they had suddenly become ‘the girl’s allies,’ the number of Deep Sea People protecting her grew one by one, as if by contagion.

And the result of this continuous chain of unbelievable events was this.

“…There’s still a third of them left.”

Even though a third of the ‘hunchbacked Deep Sea People’ were still alive on the battlefield, they no longer showed any aggression or even moved.

As if they had become soldiers under the girl’s command, they simply stood still, surrounding her.

Thus, without a retreat, a surrender, or an annihilation, the battle had come to an end in the most nonsensical way.

‘…….’

No matter how many times she replayed it, it was an unprecedented event that Namgung Soso’s mind could not comprehend, something she could never explain to anyone.

Honestly, even now, she couldn't decide whether she should order the troops to withdraw or what to do next.

…Except for one thing.

“Ssk-.”

“……”

As U-jin surveyed the faces of the Deep Sea People and casually lit a cigarette, she could only guess that all of this had been orchestrated within his mind.

Hooo-

* * *

‘…Well, up to this point.’

The horde of nearly five thousand Deep Sea People had been split into three.

One-third had died at my and Cheong-yi’s hands, and another third had been killed by their own kind.

The final third remaining…

Stood with their eyes wide open, surrounding Cheong-yi.

The very beings who had been baring their fangs at her just moments ago were now as obedient as hunting dogs.

All with a single, indifferent glance from her.

All with a single, low murmur.

‘…….’

…This was the power of the Heavenly Demon.

The ultimate skill of the Demonic Sword, which exerted dominance over Magical Beasts, displaying unparalleled might, especially in large-scale battles.

‘Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.’

A power that had left even the most seasoned veterans of the Death Squad speechless.

“…It’s a bit disappointing, though.”

Every single person on this battlefield was likely looking at the same scene and feeling the complete opposite of what I felt.

Ironically, the first emotion that came to my mind as I looked at the Deep Sea People surrounding Cheong-yi was ‘disappointment.’

‘…Only this much.’

The reason was simple.

What she had crudely manifested was indeed the power of the Heavenly Demon I knew.

But the true power of the ‘Heavenly Demon’ I knew didn't exist to control such low-level Magical Beasts.

Nor did it exist to command a small force of less than two thousand.

The power of the Heavenly Demon I had personally experienced and witnessed at the end of my first life was so majestic and sublime that it felt insulting to compare it to the current scene.

『…How do I never get used to seeing this?』

『…Don’t be too surprised. It’s no big deal. Any of my predecessors could have done this, as long as they were acknowledged by the Demonic Sword.』

『…A single human fighting against an entire legion?』

She controlled far more powerful Magical Beasts.

『Nod-.』

『…….』

『And besides, who said I’m alone? Is my dear brother not with me?』

『…….』

She controlled far more numerous Magical Beasts.

『…What a broken, bloodline-based trash game.』

『Ahem. There are some things my dear brother should not say.』

『…….』

『As your elder, it is not proper to belittle the results another has achieved through their own hard work. Take that to heart.』

『…Yeah, right.』

She was the Cheong-yi who had earned the title of a ‘One-Person Legion,’ a name befitting her ultimate skill, ‘Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.’

…And that wasn’t just a phrase to emphasize her impact.

It was a title based strictly on fact, as Cheong-yi’s main duty in the Death Squad at the time was to join me in holding back legion-sized forces of Magical Beasts led by Duke-rank demons.

Naturally, from my perspective, having witnessed the pinnacle of that power firsthand, I couldn't help but feel a touch of disappointment.

“Well, that’s that.”

Having regressed, I couldn't afford to live in the past.

Enough with the complaints. It was time to deal with the present situation, disappointing as it was.

“Cheong-yi.”

“…I know.”

I had only turned my head and called her name, but as if she already knew what I was about to say, Cheong-yi nodded without needing me to elaborate.

And then.

“…From now on, kill each other.”

At the low command that followed, a cham-sang / tragic spectacle unfolded.

Kwaddeudeuk-!

The moment her order was given, the Deep Sea People surrounding Cheong-yi began attacking each other without a shred of hesitation.

Within the circular space they had formed around us, a bloodbath where kin slaughtered kin erupted.

-…….

-…….

It was an ideal situation where the enemy we had to defeat was self-destructing.

But no one watching the scene was smiling happily or rejoicing.

They could only stare blankly at the grotesque spectacle unfolding before their eyes.

Tiring-!

[The Constellation, ‘Sword Saint,’ sighs in relief at the situation being resolved.]

[The Constellation, ‘Sword Saint,’ sends you a suspicious glance.]

It was expected, and only natural.

It seemed I had earned the suspicion of the Constellation, ‘Sword Saint.’

It couldn't be helped.

Since I had decided to make this place the debut stage for the ‘Demonic Cult Reconstruction’ plan, borrowing the power of the Demonic Cult was inevitable.

From the Constellation's perspective, my presence at the center of all these sudden events in his domain must have seemed incredibly strange.

A horde of Magical Beasts, a Demonic Sword, a Heavenly Demon.

These three things appearing without any prior signs, unlike in previous years, would have been baffling enough.

But the existence of a ‘Hero candidate’ who seemed to be connected to all of it must have appeared not just unnatural, but contrived.

Of course.

Still, as a ‘Constellation’ in charge of a region, the ‘Sword Saint’ wouldn't be ignorant of what these events signified.

He would know that the Demonic Sword in Cheong-yi’s hand and the unannounced attack of the Magical Beasts heralded the ‘resurrection of the Primordial Demonic Beast.’

There was no way a being on the level of a Constellation wouldn't know of the countless sacrifices the Demonic Cult had made throughout the history of Murim.

…However, with something strange (?) now inserted into the succession of the Demonic Cult, which had previously occurred without outside intervention, he was likely feeling anxious that something was going wrong.

Whether it was a Constellation or The Order, once an entity grew to that size, they tended to have an extreme aversion to events that occurred outside their range of expectations.

Well, I had no intention of explaining myself to him and clearing things up.

“……”

Still, his reaction was one of the better ones.

Because he knew the truth about the ‘Demonic Cult’ that had existed in this land since ancient times and the secret of the first Heavenly Demon, his reaction was limited to a ‘suspicious glance.’

…The members of the ‘New Demonic Cult’ participating in the battle were looking at Cheong-yi, who was controlling the Deep Sea People, as if she were some kind of monster.

-…What in the world is that…….

-…I thought only a Demon King could compel Magical Beasts…….

-My god…….

In that brief moment, the treatment the ‘Demonic Cult’ had received since ancient times was laid bare.

It wasn't a gaze that simply thought, ‘She seems different.’

What their eyes held was clearly the emotion of ‘terror.’

Even though she had not turned her blade on them, and had in fact achieved the result everyone wanted with more distinction than anyone else.

Even though they had all seen it and knew it well.

Despite all that, they couldn't accept Cheong-yi as a human like themselves.

Because the dimension of the power she used was on a completely different level.

Because it reached a distant realm that was utterly incomprehensible from the perspective of an ordinary person.

Even though they were all human, even though they were comrades-in-arms who fought for the same purpose, they looked at Cheong-yi as if she weren't human at all.

“Brother.”

“…What is it?”

It seemed she, too, had read the piercing, vivid terror in their eyes.

“…I understand now.”

“……”

“…Why Father turned his back on this position of the ‘Heavenly Demon.’”

Staring at them from beyond the Deep Sea People, Cheong-yi murmured quietly.

“…Is that so.”

What Blindman Shim had spoken of.

The ‘Heavenly Demon’s destiny’ that he had witnessed firsthand.

It seemed she was now feeling it for herself.

Of course, given the nature of the battle on the Shandong Peninsula, they hadn't fought long enough for a sense of camaraderie to blossom.

And since Cheong-yi had been active on the front lines, there had been little interaction during the fighting.

Even so, receiving ‘gazes of terror’ from comrades who had stood on the same battlefield for the same purpose was not something one could brush off with a simple ‘I see.’

Just as Blindman Shim had said, Cheong-yi was inexperienced and still naive about the ways of the world.

But she was still human, and there were things she could feel instinctively.

In that short time, the moment she saw their eyes, she must have intuited it.

That what their gazes held was not something welcoming, nor was it something that could be easily changed.

Ggyeeek-!

How much time passed, with one side in silence and the other filled with screams?

Of the Deep Sea People that had swarmed the battlefield, fewer than ten remained standing on their two feet.

Even those were killing each other, until only a single Deep Sea Person was left, thrashing its head about.

And with Cheong-yi personally beheading that last one…

Sguk-

The request was completed.

[You have successfully completed the request, ‘Defend the Peninsula (★☆☆☆☆)’.]

[A reward is given by the Constellation, ‘Sword Saint.’]