Chapter 136: Apostle (2)

“Are you saying it’s not?”

“Yes, it’s not that. It’s reacting to the Energy of Defying Heaven.”

I spread my hand, and black flames unfolded above it.

It was an impure power, black flames that seemed to deny anything except for myself.

I saw the will flowing to me from the Energy of Defying Heaven.

It was a primitive emotion, a power that frail beings, who couldn’t overcome the trials that came upon them, hoped would believe in them and resolve the situation.

“It’s an uncomfortable power.”

The Overlord dismissed it like that.

“I was weak once, too. But I reached the pinnacle with my own strength. Of course, I am an exception among exceptions. People’s talents are extremely diverse.”

The Overlord closed his eyes as if reminiscing about the past.

“It’s not that they are bad. They just don’t like to fight and struggle. But I dislike them. They don’t struggle because they don’t know. They don’t fight because they are afraid of death. Those who fight are afraid just the same, yet they only hope for kindness.”

A tone of disgust was thick in his voice.

“The fact that those beliefs are directed at you, it’s revolting. If it were me, I would want to destroy where this belief started.”

“…I’ll handle it myself.”

“That’s the way it should be. And there’s a religion established by someone with a power similar to yours in this area.”

The Overlord said up to that point and looked at me.

“Demon Cult.”

“…Are you talking about the Demon Cult?”

“Yes. A cult that worships a guy called Heavenly Demon as a god. Their core forces have already turned into a villain group. I remember it was something celestial.”

“Isn’t it Celestial Heaven?”

“Ah, that was the name. Anyway, the Demon Cult is probably weaker than you think. They are at the level of a village.”

“How many members do they have?”

“Just over a hundred. That’s what’s strange. The power of belief gathering a hundred or so people should be weak.”

The Overlord looked suspiciously to one side.

“It seems a job has come up. It’s my territory, so I have to deal with it myself, no matter how bothersome. Can’t be helped. I’ll take care of it myself, too.”

“I can do it alone.”

“Then, do so.”

The Overlord readily agreed.

“Though you are a guest, you are also a warrior. If you’ve decided to stand alone, then do so. The process will be arduous, but the result won’t be bad.”

The Overlord looked at me with an expression that seemed to reminisce about something.

Could he be projecting his younger self onto me?

‘I would be far superior if I had any conscience.’

We arrived at the village quickly.

It wasn’t too far.

There were houses built of old concrete, and people were moving around, loading plows and such onto carts for farming. They pretended not to, but they were sneaking glances at me.

‘It feels bad.’

I scanned the village with Divine Sight.

Most were civilians. However, occasionally, there were those with a special energy. An impure energy was slowly rising, not from the Energy of Defying Heaven.

-It’s all because of the Heavenly Demon. Everyone says someone is too great, but a Heaven Defying Body is hard to find across dimensions. So, their descendants used all sorts of methods to obtain the power of Defying Heaven.

-It’s a sad thing. A sparrow trying to follow a phoenix will only tear its legs. The glorious new religion that conquered the martial world of the previous owner has disappeared. At some point, they truly became the Demon Cult.

Black Heaven muttered with a bitter voice.

I walked through the village. In the center of the village, there was a statue.

It resembled Black Heaven. No, a woman who was the spitting image of Black Heaven was raising a sword towards the sky.

Below it was an inscription.

[In honor of the first Heavenly Demon.]

‘Are they resorting to deception now?’

-But master, doesn’t the term “the first Heavenly Demon” sound better than “the 10th Heavenly Demon”? It appears stronger. Moreover, from the perspective of being the owner of the new religion that unified the martial world, the term “the first Heavenly Demon” is correct.

Black Heaven fervently defended her previous owner.

Since Black Heaven said it was part of Heavenly Demon, perhaps it felt ashamed of itself.

‘Even if you see a flaw, there might still be more flaws left.’

And even now, Black Heaven was collapsing.

I looked at Black Heaven with a moment of pity.

I made a round through the village, but nothing special caught my eye.

-Um……

Eternal Heaven observed the village with a puzzled expression.

‘What’s wrong?’

-It feels strange. Like there’s something extremely important, but I’ve forgotten what it is. No, could this be close to a ban?

-A ban?

Black Heaven tilted its head.

-Eternal Heaven, your tendency to worry too much is a problem. You might be useless like me, but our current master is generous. He won’t abandon you, so don’t worry.

-Lee Seo-ha, may I hit Black Heaven?

‘Do as you wish.’

I sat on the grass, gazing at the village.

The cozy countryside landscape was all that was in view. Nothing else seemed out of place.

However, every time a few villagers bowed to the statue, the Energy of Defying Heaven reacted.

‘The funny thing is, the power is accumulating.’

The power was very faint. If measured by the standards of the Energy of Defying Heaven, it wouldn’t even reach five decimal places.

But if this power increased naturally without me doing anything, it’s quite satisfactory.

‘Should I gather them?’

If I gathered them and created a small organization in Korea to sustain their lives, I could create a factory that automatically increased my Conceptual Stat.

They would worship me. Investing money in that seemed like a pretty good deal.

I stretched out my arm.

Toward the village, the power known as faith began to gather in front of the statue, moving towards me.

I transformed the faith accumulated in the statue into the Energy of Defying Heaven and absorbed it using The Seal of Absorption. As the faith was absorbed, the Energy of Defying Heaven increased.

[Your Conceptual Stat Energy of Defying Heaven has increased by 1.]

The Energy of Defying Heaven has indeed increased.

However, I made a peculiar expression.

“It’s ambiguous.”

Indeed, the amount was ambiguous.

It appears they had been worshiping the statue for at least half a century, yet absorbing all of it resulted in only this much.

“Was this effort in vain?”

Just as I pondered this, I sensed a reaction.

Surrounded by a tremendous force, Eternal Heaven and Black Heaven ceased their argument and turned their attention to her.

“Is she a descendant of hers?”

The sunset was aglow. A woman dressed in Chinese attire, her martial clothing adorned with black flames, stood against the backdrop of the sunset. Her hair, black with a hint of red, was tied up with a hairpin, creating an enchanting aura as she regarded me with hostility.

“……”

The power emanating from her felt eerily familiar.

The Energy of Defying Heaven. And it was imbued with the power of flames.

‘Did she also create something akin to the Black Flame Divine Body?’

Back when the Heavenly Demon was alive.

She mentioned she had forsaken her own status to acquire the power of Defying Heaven. Given it’s been five hundred years, it wouldn’t be surprising if she had obtained another power.

-Master, exercise caution. That woman’s aura is extraordinary.

-Lee Seo-ha, the phoenix, while admiring the Heavenly Demon, harbored jealousy towards the women by her side, wishing for their demise. It’s possible she has come to kill you, Lee Seo-ha. If you share some of the Energy of Defying Heaven with me, I can immediately deploy spatial magic and escape from this place.

“Is that feasible?”

-I absorbed quite a bit of the Energy of Defying Heaven from the dragon last time, so it’s possible now.

‘Then, please.’

After informing Eternal Heaven, I grasped the Black Heavenly Demon Sword.

-It seems weaker than before.

‘That is?’

-Master, don’t underestimate the new religion. The Four Divine Beasts were the most outstanding divine beasts that the Heavenly Demon cherished. They were nourished with all sorts of Spirit Elixirs, and especially the dragon you absorbed was once a monster capable of momentarily binding a transcendent being.

-Especially the phoenix, which, alongside that dragon, represented force. It won’t hurt to be cautious, Lee Seo-ha.

I see.

Upon hearing Eternal Heaven’s words, I grew cautious.

-Master?

Black Heaven looked incredulous, but I deliberately ignored it.

“To handle the divine object of our sect and wield the same power as her? Absurd.”

“Why is it absurd?”

“Is the succession not properly done? You don’t need to know, outsider.”

She gritted her teeth and glared at me.

A dense murderous intent was piercing my skin. Was this intense jealousy because she wasn’t chosen by the Heavenly Demon?

“I’ve changed my mind. Rather than reviving the Demon Sect and reproducing her myth, I should kill you first.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Her thinking changed so easily, huh? As I found it absurd, the phoenix extended her hand towards me.

Whoosh!

Black flames seemed to engulf the world in darkness.

‘Real black flames.’

I calmly observed the black flames created by the phoenix with Divine Sight.

Like my Black Flame Divine Body, it was a flame based on the Energy of Defying Heaven.

It resembled my flames, but it was different.

The flames, forcibly infused with the Energy of Defying Heaven, were rebelling unstably, forming a forced harmony. It’s forcefully maintaining its form. This would cause a significant drain on mental power. And the power might be quite lackluster.

It meant she still couldn’t properly handle the Energy of Defying Heaven.

In other words, it was crude.

Unexpected.

Shouldn’t controlling it be basic after living for such a long period?

“How about this? The power combined with my flames and the Energy of Defying Heaven! With this, I will recreate her myth here……”

“That’s not how you do it.”

“What? You, as a descendant of the Heavenly Demon, her……”

Whoosh.

A small black flame bloomed in my hand.

However, that black flame was burning steadily. Perhaps, after thousands more years of training, the phoenix might be able to produce such flames.

“How, how……”

“I was chosen, and you were not.”

To be precise, it was a difference in Conceptual Stats.

“Come at me.”

I nonchalantly waved my hand, looking at her arrogantly.

“NNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!”

The phoenix then lost her sanity and charged at me.