Grandmother used to say that I must never, ever get involved with evil spirits.

They had already been consumed by resentment and lingering attachment, had already crossed a river they could never return from, so it was more right to see them not as mere souls, but as a disaster in itself.

She told me to avoid getting tangled up with them as much as possible, and even if I saw them, to pretend I hadn’t and go on living.

So, after hearing that, I asked her as a child,

“Then does that mean evil spirits can’t pass on?”

Was annihilation their only end? Couldn’t they pass on like other souls?

Whenever I said that, Grandmother would give a bitter smile. She would say it wasn’t impossible, but that there were far too many things that had to be done for that to happen.

Not what the ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) evil spirits had to do, but what we had to do in order to let them pass on.

There were simply too many of those things, and they were far too difficult, so I wasn’t to do it. That was what she used to say.

‘How ridiculous.’

I had thought that was ridiculous.

‘That’s not something the person who works harder at it than anyone else should be saying.’

The very person who wished more than anyone in the world for evil spirits to pass on, and acted on it.

And yet she told her own grandson not to follow her path.

She was telling me not to walk a hard road. I knew her meaning well enough, but—

‘Not listening is one of the things I’m best at.’

By nature, a grandson was a creature that grew up not listening to his grandmother, and among them, I ranked pretty high.

So I didn’t listen.

And I regretted it.

I should have listened to Grandmother.

I should have abandoned that ridiculous thought of sending evil spirits to a better place by letting them pass on.

I should have tried not to get involved with them.

Adults are meant to be listened to.

I just hadn’t done that.

What an idiot.

I should have listened to my elders.

And because I didn’t, I regretted it in the end.

Bitterly. Desperately.

‘Look at that bastard’s face.’

Amid the pouring wreckage and the ruined remains—

‘Wipe that look off your face, damn it.’

It was something I only ever realized after losing someone precious. It was always like that.

Only after I lost something did I understand.

That was why I was an idiot.

“So...”

I lifted my head.

“This time, I’m going to try doing something before I lose it.”

A world of black.

Black sky. Black ground.

Even the black water coiling around me.

Sitting atop it, I looked ahead.

It was the same as last time. In this ominous world, an enormous evil spirit stood before me.

Last time it had only been at the level of a hill, but this time it far surpassed even that.

KYA-AH... AAAAAAH!!

SKREEEE—

And unlike last time, when they had only remained as wreckage, they still seemed to retain some vestige of mind, because they kept screaming.

And then—

[Hmm.]

Leaving those remnants aside, I looked at the man sitting in front of me.

[You are the second person to put me to work.]

Eyes full of interest. Red irises. Skin white as snow. Looking at the man whose air made it impossible to guess his age, I said,

“The first was that old man of the Yoo Clan, right?”

[Ha ha.]

The Heavenly Demon.

The one called the Heaven of the DEMON CULT, the great demon of all demons, laughed at my words.

[You’re quick.]

“Yeah. I hear that a lot.”

[Are you curious? About the relationship between me and Yoo Cheongil.]

“No. Not really. I don’t want to hear it.”

[No?]

“No.”

The Heavenly Demon and Yoo Cheongil. I knew there had been something between those two.

To call them merely enemies felt off. Yoo Cheongil’s reaction had made that much obvious too.

Simply calling one a hero who punished evil,

and the other an evil crushed by that hero—there was clearly more there than that. I knew it, obviously.

‘I don’t want to dig into it.’

I had no desire to get involved in that relationship. I could tell just by looking. Get caught between these two, and it would turn into a damned nuisance.

“So let’s leave that aside.”

[Ha.]

The Heavenly Demon laughed at my words.

[Then is your intention simply to use me?]

“You said you owed rent.”

[Wouldn’t this be enough to cover that rent?]

KYA-A-A-A-A-A—!!

The evil spirits howled behind us. Pointing at them, the Heavenly Demon spoke, but I only shrugged.

“Sorry, but my rent is more expensive than it looks.”

[Then do you want me to teach you martial arts, like I did the Sword Saint?]

“...Do I look like I learned that because I wanted to?”

And the Heavenly Demon’s martial arts, no less? What a load of shit. If they were the Heavenly Demon’s martial arts, then they were demonic arts, and the moment I learned them, it was obvious how the righteous sects would look at me.

[Then what?]

“I haven’t decided yet what I want to do with it, but as payment, it’s not enough. Besides.”

I stared straight through him as I spoke.

“You want something from me too, don’t you, Cult Leader?”

[...]

“Then we need to reassess the price.”

[Ha ha.]

The Heavenly Demon laughed.

At that moment—

WHOOOOSH—!!!

The water churned. The evil spirits that had been screaming behind us fell silent.

[Amusing.]

Goosebumps rose on my skin. It wasn’t that I felt his energy.

He had only laughed.

‘The air is different.’

The atmosphere changed. The air grew heavy. Distant. I could feel it clearly now—what stood before me was no ordinary ghost.

‘The Heavenly Demon.’

The master of the DEMON CULT.

And—

‘A soul on the level of a Calamity God.’

Not a mere ghost, but a god-class soul. Yoo Cheongil had been the same, and so was the Heavenly Demon in front of me. Calling him a Calamity God felt slightly off because the disgust was fainter, so maybe it would have been more accurate to call him simply a god, but—

‘Hard to say.’

It wasn’t that he lacked the sensation of an evil spirit. It was just that there wasn’t even a shred of holiness to him.

He was only black.

Calling him evil was imprecise, but black fit perfectly.

He was black.

Black and black again.

[What I want from you. It certainly exists. But.]

FSSSSS—.

Ripples spread through the water. Without anything touching it, the current rolled and reached me. I swallowed a groan at the wet slap of it.

[If I wish it, I can make anything happen. Your opinion is unnecessary.]

“...”

My eyes narrowed at that declaration that he could make it happen one way or another.

[That remains true even now, without a body. Did you want me to show you?]

Rrrrmmmble.

A black shadow poured out from the Heavenly Demon’s body. Even under that overwhelming presence pressing down over everything, my eyes did not die.

A vicious fear wrapped around my body.

What stood before me was not a saint.

But—

“Seems like you’re under a misunderstanding too, Cult Leader...”

I did not retreat. I looked at him and spoke.

“You’re already dead, so why the hell are you acting so tough?”

[What?]

His voice changed at my words.

He made no effort to hide his irritation.

“I said, why is a dead ghost acting so damned high and mighty? If you want something, lower yourself and come to the table. Stop puffing up your useless pride.”

Maybe not while he had been alive, but if he was a ghost—

if he was already a soul-body—

I wasn’t backing down.

CRRRRCK.

The black energy didn’t just stretch toward me, it took shape. It poured toward my throat like a blade honed to a razor edge, but—

Freeze.

It stopped just before piercing through.

[Did you just say that to me?]

A warning.

One more word and he’d kill me.

But—

“Then who else here would I be talking to?”

I said it while looking at the blade.

“If you want something, don’t threaten me. Make a deal. You’re the one who’s mistaken here.”

KRRRRK.

I pushed back the Heavenly Demon’s black energy.

Seeing that, the Heavenly Demon’s eyes widened.

“You think this is the first time I’ve dealt with a spirit like you?”

[Hah.]

Seeing his energy being forced back, the Heavenly Demon let out a disbelieving laugh. Whatever he had been while alive. However great, however mighty. None of that mattered much now.

No, it mattered, obviously. The value of a soul would be measured by the burden it carried.

But still—

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

Even the value of a soul like that meant nothing to me. What was there to weigh in someone already dead?

“So stop acting proud.”

Clench.

I grabbed the blade in front of me. It hurt, but I ignored it. I pressed it toward my own throat as though to drive it through—

FSSST—!

Before the energy could pierce my neck, it faded away.

The Heavenly Demon had withdrawn it.

Feeling that, I continued speaking to him.

“You need me too.”

You need me.

“So maybe you don’t have to bow, but stop acting arrogant.”

I said it with a twisted expression. A moment later, the Heavenly Demon’s black energy receded, and his pale skin showed again.

[Are you so certain you won’t die here?]

“Of course not.”

Since this was a spirit-dream, I probably wouldn’t die completely.

But—

“I could still go insane.”

I could lose my mind. I could go mad.

A soul on that level could easily do something like that.

I knew that very well.

[And you still mean to do this?]

“It’s not as if I’ll just sit here and take it either.”

Dealing with ghosts? I’d already done enough of that to be sick of it. Whether it was a Calamity God or some higher god above that. I had already gambled my life on enough insane stunts.

And living like that had left me with one conviction.

“I’m already crazy, so getting a little crazier won’t change much. Cult Leader.”

Splash.

I felt the water against me as I spoke.

“If there’s one thing I won’t do, it’s bow my head to a ghost.”

If it wasn’t alive, then I wasn’t afraid of it.

“So if you’re going to do this, do it properly.”

[...]

At my words, the Heavenly Demon rested his chin on his hand and stared at me.

The look in his eyes was vicious. If I kept staring into those red irises, it felt like I’d be swallowed whole in an instant.

Then, after a while—

FSSSSS—!

The energy pouring off him vanished completely. Only then did the evil spirits behind him start reacting again.

KYAH...!

Just as they were about to start screaming again, the Heavenly Demon flicked his hand once more. This time toward the evil spirits right behind him.

KWA-A-A-A-A-A-A!!!

SKREEEE—!!!

The evil spirits screamed and vanished.

That huge mass of them was wiped out in an instant.

Yes. Wiped out.

Not passed on. Wiped out.

With a single gesture, the Heavenly Demon annihilated that enormous swarm of evil spirits.

[Not bad.]

Then a smile touched his face.

[You’re wasted on Yoo Cheongil.]

“I don’t think I belong to that old man in the first place.”

[Don’t waste those eyes and that burden on somewhere unworthy.]

Don’t waste them on somewhere unworthy? I didn’t want to use them in the first place.

[You’re better than I am.]

“...What?”

I frowned at that. Better than him? He had said it with certainty.

[That’s why it has to be you.]

“...You mean what exactly?”

[What I want from you.]

The Heavenly Demon wanted something from me. Just like Yoo Cheongil had, so did he.

I knew that already.

But hearing it out loud, something ominous brushed past me.

‘...Yoo Cheongil told me to become the strongest under heaven.’

To stand at the peak of the martial world of the Central Plains. To become that first. It had been an absurd thing to say, but the one saying it had been the greatest under heaven across all ages, so it hadn’t been pure nonsense either. The problem was—

[What I want is not so different from what the Sword Saint wanted.]

That was what the Heavenly Demon said.

“...Not so different?”

Something similar to what Yoo Cheongil wanted? The moment I faltered at that, the Heavenly Demon spoke as if he had been waiting.

[Become the Heavenly Demon.]

“What?”

[I will give you the DEMON CULT and the world.]

That was the trigger.

PAAAAAAA—!!!!

The current surged and rose into a massive wave. It swelled into a monstrous tidal surge, and then—

[I’ll hear your answer next time. I doubt I’d get the answer I want right now.]

“What the—!”

Before I could even finish speaking, it swallowed me whole.

Agony cut off my consciousness.

And then—

“That’s bullshit...!!”

I spat out the words I hadn’t gotten to finish as I jerked upright.

I was drenched in cold sweat. I staggered as I tried to steady myself, then—

“...Huh?”

Something was wrong.

I could feel eyes on me from every direction.

When I lifted my head—

“...”

The elders of Mount Hua Sect were standing around me, staring at me with strange expressions.