I opened my eyes.
I had opened and closed my eyes countless times in my life, but never had I done so with such desperate longing as now.
Please, let me return to a time when I can undo it all.
Please!
And what unfolded before my eyes was a sight that rewarded me for all the hardships I had suffered before my regression.
I was standing atop a martial stage as wide as a plaza.
Beyond the thousands of heroes who packed the spectator seats, I could see enormous statues of evil spirits. Red, blue, and yellow—three colors of demon statues—were posed as though clashing with one another around the training ground. Their gigantic swords, sabers, and fists served as the roof over the arena.
And far beyond them, I could see an even larger statue standing tall. A black demon statue, arms crossed, looking down upon the world with haughty dignity—it was the symbol of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (天魔神敎).
‘I’ve returned to the past!’
My heart began to pound as if it would burst.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
As though celebrating my return, cheers erupted from every direction. The demonic martial artists of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult filled the area around the training ground.
‘Come to think of it, today is…!’
Just then, a man climbed onto the martial stage from the opposite side.
‘It’s the day of the New Demon Struggle (新魔爭鬪).’
Around this time, Father had made the shocking announcement that he would not limit the position of the next cult leader to his own bloodline.
That announcement threw the cult into an uproar. Now, as long as one had the ability, one could become the Heavenly Demon.
As if to lend weight to his declaration, Father held a martial tournament for the cult’s promising young talents. That was the New Demon Struggle.
And to the winner of the New Demon Struggle, he granted the chance to challenge one of his two sons.
Whether the winner prevailed or one of his sons did, the Heavenly Demon said he would grant that person one wish.
So how could the fervor surrounding the New Demon Struggle not be immense? Young talents throughout the cult participated in droves and vied for supremacy.
After ten days of fierce battles, a winner emerged from the tournament, and the opponent he named was none other than me.
“Geom Mugeuk! Geom Mugeuk!”
The gathered heroes chanted my name. The very name Gwiryeongja had been so desperate to learn. Geom Mugeuk, the youngest of the Heavenly Demon’s two sons—that was me.
When the heroes cheered for Geom Mugeuk, my opponent, the tournament winner, scowled deeply.
“Hmph! Once this match is over, the name they shout will change. Even if it is you, I won’t go easy.”
Back then, I had been offended that he chose me. It meant he thought I was easier to deal with than my older brother.
But looking back, there had been another reason he chose me.
“How about forfeiting now?”
He was already certain of his victory.
In truth, I lost this duel.
It was not because I lacked skill. It was because of my opponent’s contemptible scheme. He had bribed my kitchen cook and poisoned my food with a Dispersing Power Poison (散功毒), a poison that temporarily prevented one from using internal energy.
It was no ordinary Dispersing Power Poison. When one was simply sitting still, nothing felt wrong at all, but when the situation became intense, as in a duel, it scattered one’s internal energy. I learned later that it was a Dispersing Power Poison called Black Consort (黑妃), developed by the Evil Alliance and secretly circulated on the market.
At any rate, after losing the duel that day, I reported the matter to Father, but he said nothing in particular. If anything, I remember him looking at me as though rebuking me for falling for such a petty scheme.
After that, in order to make up for today’s defeat, I repeatedly forced reckless moves.
My enemy at the time was not my older brother or the other candidates for succession. My enemy was impatience, and my wounded pride. Whenever I closed my eyes, I recalled Father’s gaze as he looked at me with contempt.
A chain of mistakes and failures followed, and thus I tripped over my own feet and fell away from the struggle for succession.
Everything began with today’s defeat.
Standing at that fateful turning point, my first words were these.
“What was your name again?”
In that instant, laughter burst out around us, and my opponent’s expression stiffened. He must have thought I was mocking him, but I truly did not remember his name.
“To look down on me, Gu Pyeongho (具坪浩), is the same as insulting my master!”
“Ah, right. It was Gu Pyeongho.”
Gu Pyeongho, the fifth of the seven disciples of Gu Cheonpa (具天波), the Blood Heaven Saber Demon (血天刀魔), one of the Eight Demon Venerables (八魔尊). In all likelihood, he had won the New Demon Struggle through all manner of despicable tricks as well.
“Hey, get it straight. I’m looking down on you, so why drag your master into it?”
Laughter erupted from among the heroes. It came from the demonic martial artists on the side of the One-Flower Sword Venerable (一花劍尊), who did not get along with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
“Second Young Master! Seeing how you provoke my temper like this, it seems you are confident in your skills.”
Ignoring his words, I looked toward the Heavenly Demon seated far away in the place of honor.
Even in a place filled with thousands of demonic martial artists, he made his presence unmistakably clear, as if to say, “I am here.”
If someone who did not know Father were brought here and told to find the Heavenly Demon, that person would surely find him. Father’s presence was like seeing a blood-red circle in a black-and-white painting.
On either side of Father sat the Eight Demon Venerables, the eight masters who represented our cult. They were only lowering themselves because Father was beside them; they, too, possessed powerful presences.
My eyes met Father’s. In his gaze directed at me, I read this thought.
How will you overcome this crisis?
It was a gaze I had never been able to perceive back then.
‘Ah! Father already knew I had been struck by Dispersing Power Poison.’
To think that, while pretending to be indifferent and uninvolved in the succession struggle, he had grasped everything.
The same event as in the past was unfolding, yet I could tell the situation was entirely different.
‘So you knew everything? In that case…’
Being struck and then tattling afterward, as I had before, was the worst plan.
Saying I had been poisoned and asking to postpone the match was the middling plan.
Winning even without internal energy was the best plan.
Naturally, I had to carry out the best plan. I was no longer that shaggy-haired brat from back then. I had lived a life far longer than even Father’s.
In truth, someone on Gu Pyeongho’s level was nothing more than an opponent I could defeat in a single move, even without internal energy.
But with this many demonic martial artists watching, I could not reveal my true skill.
I raised my hand high and drew everyone’s attention.
Then I spoke as loudly as I could.
“In this place where the heroes of our cult are gathered, I shall declare this openly. I will face Gu Pyeongho without using internal energy! I am confident I can win even without it!”
A brief silence followed my declaration, and then thunderous cheers erupted.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
On the other hand, Gu Pyeongho’s face twisted visibly. He had never expected me to act like this. He must have wanted to ask:
—How did you know you were poisoned? It’s a Dispersing Power Poison that only takes effect once the fight begins.
You’re dying to know, aren’t you?
In any case, if he alone used internal energy in this situation, he would become a coward.
Overwhelmed by confusion, Gu Pyeongho shouted with a flushed face.
“If the Second Young Master goes that far, then I, too, will not use internal energy.”
He responded exactly as I had expected.
A few of his followers clapped, but no cheers followed. That choice had turned what would have been an exciting fight between one with internal energy and one without into a dull fight between two people without it. I could even hear dispirited sighs.
Gu Pyeongho was flustered, and that confusion turned into rage toward me.
“Second Young Master! Even if I do not use internal energy, my blade has no eyes, so you had best be careful.”
I let his warning pass by and examined my body. The unfamiliar strangeness of having a young body dominated me. The sword I used back then felt as light as a toy.
‘Will this body really follow my thoughts?’
Gu Pyeongho drew his saber with great vigor, but I did the opposite: I unfastened my sword and set it down on the ground. After all, if I used a sword, there was a higher chance my skill would be revealed.
At that, cheers erupted again. Was it not the nature of demonic martial artists to cheer when one thoroughly ignored and mocked an opponent?
Naturally, Gu Pyeongho’s anger exploded.
“You are the cult leader’s blood, so I cannot bring myself to kill you, but I’ll take one of those arms!”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Gu Pyeongho sprang toward me, closed the distance, and brought his saber down, aiming for my shoulder.
Shwaaaaaak!
I stared at the incoming blade until the very end, then twisted my body at the last moment to avoid it.
‘Good. Very good!’
My concern over whether my body would move as I intended had been needless. My body responded instantly, faster and more vigorously than I expected. It was as if my body were saying:
—Did you forget? This is you in your youth.
The days when I felt I could run all day if I wanted, when the fist I clenched seemed capable of smashing anything.
‘So at this age, my heart beat this powerfully!’
A smile came to me on its own. I was so happy I wanted to shout in delight.
Seeing my smile, Gu Pyeongho went even wilder.
“You crazy bastard, you’re laughing?”
His eyes rolled back, and Gu Pyeongho swung his saber, openly aiming for my vital points. Since he was the sort who might even use internal energy to release saber qi at this rate, I did not drag things out any longer.
As I dodged the blade persistently flying in to cut off my arm, I rushed into his chest.
Gu Pyeongho defended with a hurried, hollow gasp, but my elbow had already driven into his solar plexus.
Thud!
I stuck to Gu Pyeongho as he bounced backward, like his shadow.
My fists struck in succession. With the swift first blow, his nasal bone caved in, and with the heavy second punch, his ribs broke. Even if we did not use internal energy, we were martial artists who had trained in martial arts since childhood. We could beat an ox to death with our bare fists, so there was no way his body could endure it.
I did not end it there.
I snatched the wrist of the man collapsing with a scream.
“Which hand did you use to administer the poison? This one?”
Holding his arm, I leaped lightly upward and then brought down a震脚, a stomping step.
Boom.
Using the force that rose from the soles of my feet through my entire body, I used my knee as a lever and snapped his arm.
Craaaaaack!
With the shock wave surging like a tidal wave, his wrist, elbow, and shoulder were completely crushed.
“Uwaaaaaaagh!”
Even without that wretched scream, everyone could tell. The arm and shoulder he used to wield a saber had been utterly destroyed, so he would never recover.
Cheers erupted from every direction.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
It had not been a sloppy victory, but one with a spectacle worth watching, so everyone was satisfied.
The demonic martial artists on the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s side hurled jeers, but they were buried beneath the unending cheers.
Seated among the crowd, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon showed no reaction despite his disciple being destroyed, merely watching the situation unfold.
Once the heat, the cheers, and the groans of pain had subsided, Father finally rose from his seat. The red dragon embroidered on Father’s snow-white dragon robe looked as if it might ascend to the heavens at any moment.
The Eight Demon Venerables beside him rose as one.
Shwaaaaaaak.
As if waves were spreading, every demonic martial artist in the arena rose from their seat and paid respect to the absolute ruler.
Heavenly Demon Geom Ujin (劍宇珍).
The strongest of this era.
…For now.
Father looked at me. His gaze was so powerful it seemed it might pierce through my body.
Back then, I had been terribly afraid of Father. In particular, I do not think I had ever properly met that intense gaze of his, the gaze that seemed to look down on people. How could I have ever held a proper conversation with him?
In the end, my perception of Father had been built from guesses, prejudices, and rumors.
I wanted to say this to my past self.
When it comes to relationships, do not imagine things alone. Look directly, and listen properly. The answer is not inside you. The other person is over there.
I did not avoid Father’s gaze.
What about that expression had been so frightening? There was only one man, striving not to lose the authority with which he ruled over ten thousand demons amid countless challenges and schemes aimed at his position. His heartlessness and bluntness had merely come from that. The things I could not see back then, I could see now.
“What is your wish?”
Father’s heavy, low voice carried to everyone even without internal energy, and it had the power to make those who heard it shrink back.
Everyone listened closely for my answer. The Eight Demon Venerables beside him, in particular, were keenly alert to what I would say.
“My wish is…”
I had not expected to return to this day, so I followed my instincts.
“I want to go hunting with Father.”
Perhaps because it was an unexpected statement, Father flinched in surprise. The watching demonic martial artists also began to murmur. None of them had imagined I would make such a wish. They must have expected that, since he would not grant a wish like becoming the successor, I would at least ask for a treasured sword or a secret martial arts manual.
“Hunting with me?”
“Yes. Just the two of us, Father. I heard that you enjoyed hunting in your youth. I would like to take this chance to learn hunting from you.”
After staring at me in silence for a moment, Father spoke bluntly.
“We depart at dawn tomorrow.”
Having finished speaking, Father began to walk.
In the black-and-white painting, the red Heavenly Demon alone moved, and every demonic martial artist lowered their head. In that place where thousands had gathered, not even the sound of breathing could be heard.
After the Heavenly Demon and the Eight Demon Venerables had left, a venomous voice finally reached my ears.
“Damn cripple. To make a wish for something like that…”
I turned and saw Gu Pyeongho, his arm dangling limply, being carried on the backs of his fellow disciples.
Scratching my head, I said to him,
“Sorry. What was your name again?”
Gu Pyeongho, ignored to the very end, shrieked.
“Uwaaaaaaagh! Kill that bastard! Senior Brother! Please, kill him!”
But now that the duel was over, no one charged at me. They merely glared at me coldly, then took Gu Pyeongho and left.
‘Now that I’ve returned, your lives of running wild won’t be so enjoyable anymore.’
I thanked the heavens for sending me back to the most important turning point of my life. Though he had tried to betray me, I was also grateful to Gwiryeongja for completing the great art.
‘Truly, thank you.’
I looked up at the bright blue sky, as vivid as my age, and smiled radiantly.