“Hello.”
A light greeting.
A phrase that seemed perfectly harmless to anyone who heard it.
Yet, seeing the one who had spoken it, I was unable to react at all.
Those violet eyes I had feared might appear even in my dreams.
Black hair with a different color seemingly entwined within it.
Even an appearance that reminded me of someone.
I had thought I would have to see her someday.
But I had never dreamed that I would encounter her so suddenly in a somyeon shop in a back alley of Henan.
No—no human being could have anticipated a meeting like this in the first place.
Vrrrrm—!
My heart began to pound of its own accord.
The moment I recognized her, my body tensed without permission.
My heart tightened.
Whoosh—!
At the same time, the energy throughout my body began to run wild.
Throb.
The energy surged through my meridians, placing a burden on my body, which had yet to fully recover.
Even so, I poured more energy into it as though it didn’t matter.
I had to.
I was even at the point where that still wasn’t enough.
‘What do I do?’
Why was that thing here of all places?
Could I possibly still be dreaming?
‘Fuck.’
I knew better than anyone that this couldn’t be the case.
If this were a dream, the demonic energy wouldn’t be surging so vividly.
The demonic energy I had been keeping dormant was moving of its own accord.
It was clearly reacting to her.
It couldn’t stand the presence of another demonic energy in the same space.
What the hell was this insane energy? It made me feel like shit all over again.
But whether it was demonic energy or anything else, that wasn’t what mattered right now.
There was only one thought running through my mind.
‘Can I kill her?’
Could I really kill the thing standing before me?
That was the only thought filling my head.
Several years ago, when I had met her at the Divine Dragon Pavilion.
At the time, I had tried to fill the gap in power I had sensed by any means possible.
Though I had filled that gap to an extent that could not even be compared to back then—
‘It’s still not enough.’
Even that would fall far short of what I needed to face the Heavenly Demon in my memories.
She was the woman who, known as the Heaven Beyond Heaven of the Central Plains, had toyed with the Three Venerables said to stand above the heavens.
No matter how strong I had become by now—
My opponent was the Heavenly Demon.
Cold sweat trickled down my body.
I was devoting all my focus to prevent my breathing from becoming disordered.
Even so, controlling it was not easy.
The Heavenly Demon merely continued to stare at me without taking any particular action.
Seeing that, I thought—
‘Should I run?’
It was the most realistic option.
No matter how much my level had risen, remaining in my current state was dangerous.
Moreover, my body was not in perfect condition.
She surely knew that perfectly well.
Vroooooom—!
My instincts kept making me abandon my will.
The demonic energy surged as if telling me—
Kill that thing. Hurry.
Step.
I took a step toward the Heavenly Demon.
I put more strength into my heart.
My reason knew.
I must not start a fight here.
It would be a rash and irrational act.
But—
Contrary to my thoughts, my fingertips had already begun to move.
Then—
“No.”
The Heavenly Demon, who had been quietly watching me, spoke.
At the sound of her voice, I stopped moving without realizing it.
Her violet eyes looked somewhat calm, yet dazed.
Unlike the strange situation itself, her eyes appeared far too tranquil.
Unlike the tall stack of somyeon bowls on the table, that was.
I glared at the Heavenly Demon with my face twisted into a deep frown.
As soon as our eyes met, all kinds of emotions swirled within me.
Hatred.
Resentment.
Fear.
It was a mixture of emotions like those.
“What…?”
I barely managed to force out the words.
It was the best I could do.
“No.”
The Heavenly Demon gave the same answer, then held out the bowl of somyeon in her hands toward me.
What? What was she doing?
Just as I was thinking that—
“Food.”
The Heavenly Demon uttered the brief word.
“…What?”
“My sister told me to stay quiet while she was eating.”
What the hell was she talking about?
Amid the confusion that had filled my emotions until a moment ago, bewilderment joined in.
No matter how much I thought about it, this conversation made no sense.
Whether she knew what I was thinking or not, the Heavenly Demon ignored me and continued talking about herself.
“So you stay quiet too.”
After saying that, she began enthusiastically eating her somyeon with her chopsticks again.
She was inhaling it with considerable ferocity.
Perhaps because of her appearance, the way she ate reminded me of Wi Seol-Ah.
At the sight, my pupils trembled as though struck by an earthquake.
‘What the hell is that?’
What kind of situation was this?
I had come to an alley restaurant to eat breakfast, and the Heavenly Demon was eating somyeon.
The situation was absurd enough as it was. But what the hell was she doing right now?
‘…Is that really the Heavenly Demon?’
It was enough to make even such a ridiculous question cross my mind.
But the question soon faded. I knew it was nonsense.
That Heavenly Demon was real.
Otherwise, my demonic energy would not be displaying such hostility.
I could tell.
An incomprehensible amount of demonic energy was condensed within that woman.
She was the being who had originally been the source and master of demonic energy.
No matter how much I had converted demonic energy into my own, could that fact have changed now?
It had not.
Wasn’t it obvious even now?
I observed the woman eating somyeon casually, using my inner energy.
Or rather, I wanted to—but I did not succeed.
Even when I tried to look inside her, I could not see through her, blocked by a colossal barrier.
What was more—
‘The barrier blocking me is all demonic energy.’
The thing preventing me from seeing the Heavenly Demon was an enormous amount of demonic energy.
After regressing, I had spent several years gathering demonic energy by hunting demons.
It had been anything but a short period of time.
And yet, looking at the Heavenly Demon, I could understand once again.
The quantity and quality of what she possessed were on an entirely different level from mine.
That was the Heavenly Demon.
Which meant she was the being I had to kill and eliminate in this life.
If so…
‘Then what is with that attitude?’
What was she doing right now? No matter how I looked at it, I was only confused.
The Heavenly Demon eating somyeon here.
And the way she seemed so completely different in some unmistakable manner.
What had the Heavenly Demon been like in my previous life?
She had been a person whose very existence was calamity and despair to humanity.
She regarded every being other than herself as an insect.
And she possessed overwhelming power enough to maintain that arrogant attitude.
The One Above All Under Heaven.
She had dragged down the Three Venerables who ruled the heavens of the Central Plains.
A monster who stood alone above them, looking down at everything beneath her.
That was the Heavenly Demon.
And yet—
What was this thing before my eyes?
Slurp.
As though arrogance and everything else were irrelevant, she devoured the somyeon like a madwoman, then lifted the bowl and drank the broth.
Then—
Thump.
Apparently having finished it, she set the bowl down on the table.
The expression on her face was a sight to behold.
“Hmm…”
She looked thoroughly satisfied.
How many bowls had she eaten? Even at a rough count, it appeared to be close to ten.
Then—
“It was delicious.”
After uttering that brief sentence, the Heavenly Demon rose to her feet.
“…!”
Seeing that, I had to tense up in alarm.
I had been momentarily shaken by the bizarre situation, but my opponent was the Heavenly Demon.
I had to remind myself once again who stood before me.
All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind.
What would happen if I fought her now?
If the surrounding area were reduced to ruins, when would the Alliance intervene?
Could I hold out until the Alliance intervened? Even if I could endure until then—
‘Is the Alliance on my side?’
There was no end to the problems.
The fact that I had encountered the Heavenly Demon here in the first place was a major problem for my plans.
I clenched my teeth.
The situation was filled with potential problems.
Knowing that all too well made everything feel even more fucked up.
Was this an opportunity or a crisis?
Overwhelmed by the thoughts surging through my mind, I could not make a decision and was gradually being swallowed up by them.
That was why.
I failed to react even after the Heavenly Demon had approached me.
‘Damn it…!’
Before I knew it, the Heavenly Demon had come up beside me.
I belatedly tried to react and move my body—
Grab!
I felt the Heavenly Demon seize my arm.
“…!”
I could not pull my arm free.
Her grip was strong.
To break free, I would have had to burst out a considerable amount of energy.
My head turned.
Even then, the Heavenly Demon was not looking at me.
Just as I wondered what she was looking at—
“Please calculate the bill.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke with an unconcerned expression.
An old woman appeared before us.
“Did you enjoy the meal?”
“Yes.”
“My goodness, such a skinny girl, and you ate so much.”
The old woman smiled cheerfully at the pile of bowls.
Seeing that, the Heavenly Demon handed her something.
It was silver.
The old woman’s eyes widened at the sight.
“Oh my goodness. I don’t have enough change for this…”
It was an amount the old woman could not earn even by selling somyeon all day, to say nothing of the ten bowls.
The old woman was visibly flustered, but the Heavenly Demon remained unconcerned.
“Keep the change.”
She said that, then bowed her head politely to the old woman.
I had to draw a sharp breath at the sight.
There was no way the Heavenly Demon would bow her head to anyone.
“You made it delicious. I’ll come again next time.”
The old woman seemed about to say something to the Heavenly Demon, who was trying to leave.
But the Heavenly Demon simply dragged me—my wrist still caught in her grip—out of the shop.
The moment we were pulled outside, I immediately shook off the Heavenly Demon’s hand.
Smack!
I did not need to use much strength.
The Heavenly Demon had not been holding me very tightly anymore, either.
After I shook her hand off, the Heavenly Demon looked down at her now-empty hand and tilted her head in confusion.
I glared at her with a distorted expression.
Holding down the emotions that threatened to explode at any moment, I asked the Heavenly Demon—
“…Why? Why are you here?”
No matter how hard I tried to restrain myself, I could not conceal the ferocity in my voice.
This was the best I could manage.
Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Demon quietly looked at me.
Then she answered.
“I came to eat…?”
After hearing her answer, I ground my teeth.
“Don’t spout bullshit. What the hell are you plotting…!”
Was she trying to play some kind of joke on me? It was absurd.
When I asked in a tone that made it clear I did not believe her, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
“You.”
What was she going to say? At the moment I tensed to the utmost—
“Why do you hate me?”
An unexpected question reached my ears.
“…What?”
When I asked in bewilderment, the Heavenly Demon questioned me with eyes full of confusion.
“I haven’t done anything. Why do you hate me?”
It was the most bewildering thing I had heard since my regression.
Why did I hate her?
Was she seriously asking that?
I could list dozens of reasons why I hated and loathed her right now.
I could have hurled hundreds of words out of my mouth.
And yet, for some reason, I could not say a single thing.
‘What is this?’
The words would not come out.
It felt as though something was forcing my mouth shut.
What was I hesitating over?
Was it because I feared the Heavenly Demon?
Yes. I was afraid.
I feared that being who had taken everything from me and tried to burn the world.
But that could not be the reason my mouth was sealed shut.
Then what was the problem?
I bit down repeatedly on my useless tongue, trying somehow to force out the words, but it remained impossible.
Time passed.
If I could not place a sword on my tongue, then I should at least have placed one at my fingertips.
But I could not do that, either.
All I could do was stare at the Heavenly Demon with my mouth closed.
“…”
Several seconds passed as I looked into those violet eyes.
When I still could not utter a word, the Heavenly Demon turned her head and beckoned to me.
I followed her gesture and turned my head.
It was the shop we had just left.
“This place is delicious. It’s my favorite.”
Her voice reached me.
“You should try it too.”
I thought it was a meaningless thing to say.
So I turned my head back toward the Heavenly Demon.
“…For fuck’s sake.”
Perhaps the brief lapse in my attention had been the problem.
The Heavenly Demon had already disappeared from where she stood.
I could taste blood from the tongue I had been biting.
At the same time, I had to wipe my face with my dry hand.
It was something I had known all along.
But now I was certain.
Unlike what I knew, something had been twisted—twisted far beyond recognition.
******************
After leaving the shop, the woman lightly began to walk.
She did not need to take many steps.
If the woman wished to go somewhere, she could go anywhere.
A place with few people.
A small dwelling built somewhere between the city and the outside.
She had heard it had been rented cheaply because of its cramped location.
To the woman, it was simply something difficult to understand even after hearing about it.
“Oh, you’re back?”
When she arrived at the dwelling, someone else welcomed her.
The person the woman called “big sister.”
“Yeah.”
“You said you were going to get something to eat and come back. Took you a while.”
“Yeah.”
She gave a terse answer, her expression vacant.
The other woman looked as though she was already accustomed to such replies.
“Well, as long as you came back after eating something tasty.”
As she spoke, she held out her hand. Seeing this, the woman tilted her head.
“The money you had left after eating.”
“I don’t have any.”
“…What?”
‘Sister’ paused at the woman’s words.
She had definitely given her some silver. How could she be saying that not even a single coin remained?
When she expressed her confusion, the woman answered calmly.
“Last time, I did what you did, Sister. Exactly the same.”
“…What could that possibly mean…?”
“‘You don’t need the change.’”
“...”
At the woman’s words, Sister pressed her fingers to her brow.
Yes, she had definitely said something like that before.
“That was… I mean… Haa….”
She started to say something, then held it back.
Who could she blame?
It was her own fault for giving silver to that simpleton and sending her on an errand.
It was fine. She still had plenty of money for the journey.
And if things came to it, she had planned to rely on her mother, who was somewhere in this place.
“…Never mind. So, did you have a good time?”
“Yeah. It was delicious.”
At the woman’s satisfied reply, Sister gave a small laugh.
“Good. I’m glad.”
Then she asked,
“You said there was something you wanted to eat, so I told you to go get it. When have you ever been here?”
At Sister’s question, the woman shook her head.
“This was my first time.”
“Hm?”
“It was my first time.”
The woman’s answer—that she had never been to a county in Henan before—made Sister wear a peculiar expression.
“But you said there was somewhere you wanted to go?”
“Yeah.”
“…What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
The woman wore an expression suggesting that she herself could not understand what she had just said.
“But I wanted to go.”
“...”
None of her answers made the slightest sense, and Sister finally nodded.
She had given up on trying to understand.
She always did, but this time, too, she decided to do the same.
“…Anyway, as long as you had fun.”
“Yeah.”
The woman nodded and began to move away.
Seeing this, Sister called out to her.
“Oh, right. Yeon.”
“...”
At the words, the woman stopped and looked back toward Sister.
Unlike before, however, her expression was slightly twisted, as though something displeased her.
“…Don’t call me that.”
Apparently, she did not like the way she was being addressed.
“I’m not Yeon.”
Her answer was firm.
“Then what are you?”
Sister asked in return, but—
“...”
The woman merely moved her lips, as though she had no answer to give.
Seeing this, Sister gave a small laugh.
“You don’t even have a name to offer. Why do you keep saying you’re not?”
“…Whatever…. I’m not that. I’m leaving.”
The woman answered curtly and walked away.
Apparently, she was sulking.
At the woman’s attitude—
“I really don’t understand what’s wrong with her.”
Sister—no.
The black-haired woman, Gu Huibi, voiced her confusion.