1067——————==

Soul of the Evil God

Sagong Lin casually replied to Cheon Woo-jin’s question.

“Did you see Baek Woong’s memory?”

“……”

“It’s exactly as Baek Woong told Empress Wu Zetian in Dark Heaven Village. Simple, right?”

Sagong Lin’s casual retort didn’t sit well with Cheon Woo-jin.

‘No… this isn’t something you can think about so simply.’

Baek Woong’s words to Empress Wu Zetian.

[Baek Woong, do you see her as human?]

[Currently, she is not human. But if Empress Wu Zetian considers herself human, then she is human.]

That was Baek Woong’s answer. It was a simple reply from someone who had led the people of Dark Heaven Village, pondering over the definition of humanity for a long time! Despite its simplicity, it carried the implication of interpreting humanity in a broad sense. It also meant that the standard defining humanity is human nature.

However, Cheon Woo-jin knew too well that this answer was overly inclusive and couldn’t come from an ordinary person’s mouth. He pondered slowly before speaking.

“You and Baek Woong are different.”

Sagong Lin’s gaze turned to meet Cheon Woo-jin’s.

“The terms human and human nature don’t always mean just goodness. Chaos and absolute evil are so evident that they’re simply viewed as relative goodness, but humans are beings that contain both good and evil from the beginning. Acknowledging humanity means also acknowledging the hypocrisy and evil traits inherent to humans. It’s common knowledge.”

“So what?”

“For some reason, Baek Woong doesn’t have a fundamental bias or boundary towards humans, other races, or gods. He may feel a vague distance, but he doesn’t experience fear itself. That’s an answer only the reborn Baek Woong could give, and it’s not something we can use as a proper standard.”

“……”

“Thinking that if you consider yourself human, then you are human…? As Baek Woong said, simply affirming ambiguous humanity doesn’t solve the problem. As long as gods exist in this world, that standard is definitely not simple. Especially when we ourselves define humanity.”

Cheon Woo-jin continued.

“I’ll ask again. Are you human right now? Do you consider your essence to be human?”

“…Is that so?”

Sagong Lin replied as if she understood.

“So it’s a perspective that how I think doesn’t matter. If I were truly non-human, I wouldn’t even feel the need for such recognition.”

“Exactly.”

Sagong Lin let out a light laugh.

“Cheon Woo-jin, you are different from Baek Woong. You’re outright denying his ideology.”

“Dammit. Do I have to think the same as Baek Woong? I’m neither his subordinate nor his follower. Plus, I don’t even want to stretch the definition of humanity in this hellish reality.”

“Is it a practical issue?”

“In a universe where humans are no better than bugs, an ideology like Baek Woong’s is just arrogance. In situations where even gods are sometimes treated like insects, what are we supposed to do by expanding the definition of our human kin?”

Cheon Woo-jin replied bluntly.

“If you really don’t want to answer this question, then I’ll ask a different one. Is the entity that awakened you exerting its influence on you right now?”

“…No. Not at the moment.”

“Your answer is slow. Are you not even sure yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Why is that?”

In that moment, a golden light flashed in Sagong Lin’s eyes. Suddenly, she covered one eye with her hand, taking a deep breath. Cheon Woo-jin raised an eyebrow at her sudden action, and Sagong Lin spoke.

“The [power] is trying to manifest at any moment. It’s hard to control.”

Cheon Woo-jin observed her intently before asking again.

“What happens if you don’t control it?”

“I think I’ll get hungry. And while this [power] can be somewhat suppressed, once the hunger rises, I can’t stop it by my will.”

“…I see. Understood.”

Cheon Woo-jin immediately realized that ‘hunger’ was an important clue.

‘Sagong Lin’s power is to consume the myriad demons. It has to be hunger that causes the motivation for that act. By unleashing this power, hunger arises secondarily, ultimately leading to a frenzied state…’

And Sagong Lin must have realized it too.

As Sagong Lin’s rationality wavered due to the hunger leading her to go wild, the [voice] that had awakened her would find it easier to exert its influence. That’s why Sagong Lin was trying to prevent the manifestation of her golden eye.

‘This is dangerous. But it’s still stable for now.’

Cheon Woo-jin knew that there was only one thing he should say to her.

He needed to ask for the Dharma Technique.

It was reasonable to act while Sagong Lin was not yet in a frenzy.

However, he hesitated to bring it up. What if she suddenly went wild after just devouring the Demon King and attacked him? Cheon Woo-jin could end up as a sacrificial lamb, his bones buried in Aiternum Mundi. Despite his usual audacity, he didn’t feel brave enough to speak after witnessing that scene.

Just as Cheon Woo-jin was hesitating heavily, something happened.

Whoooosh!!

In a brief moment, it felt as though a colossal demon was standing in place of Sagong Lin. Something wrapped in a golden mane let out a ferocious sound as if it was still parched for thirst, casting a gaze that promised nightmares upon Cheon Woo-jin. It vaguely resembled a dragon, but upon closer inspection, it was a fantastic beast that had never existed in this world.

The Celestial Demon.

“……!!”

At the moment their gazes met, Cheon Woo-jin unconsciously executed an illusion technique.

Swish.

Without realizing it, Cheon Woo-jin enveloped the world in an illusion and distanced himself from Sagong Lin. He swore this was the first time in his life he had acted purely out of ‘fear’ without his own will. When he fled to a place where he could no longer see Sagong Lin, he trembled, feeling his spirit crushed.

“…Huh… Huh.”

This was too much.

Although Sagong Lin herself was not aware of it, she was already in a state of awakening. Regardless of whether her rationality was maintained, her essence was vividly awake and active. What Cheon Woo-jin had just felt was a kind of ‘warning,’ and if he ignored that warning and approached Sagong Lin any further, a tragedy would surely ensue. Being a genius, Cheon Woo-jin could grasp that warning’s meaning more vividly.

This was Cheon Woo-jin’s limit.

So what should he do now?

Should he just leave everything to Sagong Lin’s judgment and escape Aiternum Mundi himself?

However, that choice was far too irresponsible. Even if Sagong Lin awakened beyond the Demon King, there was no certainty that she had the ability to escape the otherworld. Carelessness could result in leaving Sagong Lin and the Dharma Technique behind in Aiternum Mundi, leading to a horrific conclusion of a different kind.

Right at that moment.

Crack!!

From a distant place, a dark thunderbolt appeared. Shortly after, it began to form a human shape, and when Cheon Woo-jin saw the presence that emerged, he was taken aback.

“…Zhuge Sa?!”

There was no mistake, it was Zhuge Sa!

In that moment, Cheon Woo-jin forgot his fear and rapidly headed towards Zhuge Sa’s location. When he arrived where Zhuge Sa had appeared, he saw that Zhuge Sa and Sagong Lin were facing each other.

Sagong Lin looked at Zhuge Sa, who had revealed himself, with a blank stare and said.

“Zhuge Sa. You’ve become younger.”

“Ha ha ha… I wasn’t that old to begin with, was I?”

“You look like a young man just turned twenty.”

And indeed.

Zhuge Sa’s face, which had inexplicably appeared in Aiternum Mundi, looked much younger than usual, resembling the face of a young man. Zhuge Sa snickered for a moment, then looked at Cheon Woo-jin, saying.

“Cheon Woo-jin. Why have you returned? You made such a good choice.”

“What…? Spare me the nonsense and explain the situation now.”

Zhuge Sa wore a bitter smile.

“Explain, huh… But you’re not Baek Woong, so I don’t feel the need to do that. You should be able to get the gist while roughly observing, so I’ll just do what I have to do.”

Whoosh.

Zhuge Sa suddenly snapped his fingers. Instantly, a massive circle of darkness was created around Sagong Lin, and chains of chaos extended from the circle, immediately binding Sagong Lin’s arms and legs.

Clank!

Sagong Lin looked at Zhuge Sa with wide eyes, saying.

“What are you doing…?”

“Most things have gone well. However, not everything went according to my plan.”

Zhuge Sa continued slowly.

“When Simon Magus threatened me in the past, I chose the method of infinite body snatching for our battle. This was possible because I had already marked Simon Magus’ main body with the Soul Exchange Technique, allowing us to fight while snatching each other’s bodies from the other dimension. In theory, this method could lead to a draw, but my skill was insufficient compared to Simon Magus, so I lost in a prolonged fight.”

“I feel like I’ve heard that part. But what does that have to do with the current situation?”

“Just listen for a bit. Hehe.”

Zhuge Sa snapped his fingers again. The chains of chaos surrounding Sagong Lin multiplied to ten, making her seem burdened to even move.

Grrr…

Cheon Woo-jin hesitated, wondering if he should rescue Sagong Lin, but he sensed something different dominating the atmosphere in the space. It was the overwhelming fear he had sensed from Sagong Lin earlier that helped him gauge the situation. Deciding to observe for now, Zhuge Sa spoke.

“During that time, I learned about the existence of the Dharma Technique and the place sealing that technique, Aiternum Mundi. I feigned submission and made a contract requesting Simon Magus to come to Aiternum Mundi, and he accepted, seemingly tired from the endless battles.”

“Zhuge Sa, you…”

“My plan was for Simon Magus to fight as the summoner of the [Old Ruler] using the external summoning technique. Honestly, I didn’t see any other method to tackle this absurd difficulty. I know the strategy myself, but even knowing, I lacked the strength to put it into action. Even with Baek Woong blabbering from the next life, it wouldn’t be easy to break through here…”

“……”

“Well, I got lucky, and so far, things have gone well. I’m fairly lucky, you could say. But when I came back to do the cleanup, things ended up going in a completely different direction.”

Zhuge Sa grinned as he looked at Sagong Lin.

Sagong Lin calmly accepted his gaze before speaking.

“Cleanup… you mean you already knew that Simon Magus would betray the Demon King after the assault on Aiternum Mundi?”

“I am Simon Magus’s direct disciple. Of course, I know well his thoughts, strategies, and tactics. And I’ve fought for decades, vaguely understanding the external summoning techniques he would use, so I knew it would flow that way.”

“I don’t understand.”

“What about?”

“If Simon Magus betrays the Demon King and gains all that power, he would become an existence rivaling the [Old Ruler]. How are you supposed to defeat such a Simon Magus? And given the contents of the contract with him, wouldn’t it be extremely disadvantageous for you? How did you survive and end up in this situation?”

Sagong Lin’s question was justified. How did Zhuge Sa pull off such a reversal in such a disadvantageous situation?

It was a situation where even Sagong Lin and Cheon Woo-jin thought that Zhuge Sa had sacrificed himself for the reborn Baek Woong. Yet now, he appeared with formidable power strong enough to bind Sagong Lin.

Zhuge Sa chuckled.

“Hey. Didn’t that body of Simon Magus you just consumed taste suspiciously good? Too good for a human, don’t you think?”

“……”

“I was engaged in the infinite exchange of bodies, meanwhile inserting the Portrait Immortal. So while Simon Magus and I were snatching each other’s bodies, there was a buffer zone. In other words, there weren’t merely constant one-on-one exchanges; there were two souls, but three bodies to swap between. Of course, Simon Magus didn’t know I had another body.”

“…No way.”

“Exactly. The body Simon Magus thought he was continuously exchanging was actually the Portrait Immortal. Long ago, I had already created a special product that looked just like me and had executed the Soul Exchange Technique ahead of time.”

“You deceived the Demon King?”

“Yep. And if I ever lacked the power needed for the Soul Exchange Technique, I’d just briefly return to my true body to recover or had my true body operate separately to participate in auctions or gather intel in the dark world.”

“……”

“I’ll skip the complicated parts in my explanation, but this contract is practically null and void. Since the false body of the Portrait Immortal was the premise, I had no responsibility because I held my true body.”

An unexpected truth!

Only upon hearing that did Sagong Lin realize why Zhuge Sa had inexplicably appeared on the side of the allies. Whenever Zhuge Sa appeared, it was his true body, but when the battle over the false body of the Portrait Immortal intensified, he would return to the other dimension to fight again.

While Zhuge Sa had explained the strategy of inserting the Portrait Immortal, only Mangnyang and Zhuge Bu understood the situation properly. Mangnyang had not shown himself due to his injuries, and Zhuge Bu had not carelessly shared information, leaving Sagong Lin and Cheon Woo-jin in the dark.

Zhuge Sa continued.

“And the reason I thought I could defeat Simon Magus is that, in reality, I had already exploited him.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Betray the betrayer. I did the exact same thing I did to the Demon King to him.”

Swoosh.

Zhuge Sa reached out his hand towards Sagong Lin’s forehead. As Sagong Lin looked at Zhuge Sa, he chuckled.

“Feels a bit out of control, doesn’t it? The power of the golden eye that was rampaging just moments ago seems to have been suppressed, right? Just moments before, with the monstrous strength that had devoured Simon Magus, you should have been able to easily deal with someone like me.”

“Zhuge Sa, what have you done?”

“Ha ha ha… I didn’t expect things to flow this way.”

Zhuge Sa slowly brought his face close to Sagong Lin’s. With no trace of emotion, he stared directly at her as he spoke.

“I am the creditor of the Demon King Simon Magus. If I were to receive both the interest and principal of the power he consumed, it would amount to 25 percent and 3 parts out of 6. By you consuming him, the contract he held within his body has now transferred to you, henceforth considering you the debtor.”

“……”

At that moment, both Sagong Lin and Cheon Woo-jin’s expressions turned to shock upon hearing Zhuge Sa’s words. Cheon Woo-jin, who had been watching the situation, couldn’t help but exclaim in disbelief.

“Zhuge Sa, you… you mean you cast the external summoning technique on Simon Magus!!”

Zhuge Sa, unfazed, casually replied.

“Technically, I took the liberty of adding a hidden clause to the contract using the power of the Grimoire to avoid detection. According to that clause, if I harvest the magic through an external summoning technique in this battle, I will flawlessly inherit that effect and become the final creditor.”

“Huh… Huh…”

“Though it’s a double debt, that means the interest rate spikes significantly. Hee hee.”

Cheon Woo-jin trembled in disbelief.

The Demon King had been blindsided by Simon Magus.

But now, Simon Magus had also been blindsided by Zhuge Sa and used!

A never-ending chain of betrayals!

Zhuge Sa, holding Sagong Lin’s forehead, shouted.

“Now, give me your magic!!”

Woooooosh!!

Moments later, an enormous amount of magic was sucked from Sagong Lin’s body. And the moment Zhuge Sa obtained that magic, an overwhelming power surged within him like a maelstrom, and he began to control it, as if stowing it away within himself.

After what felt like ten breaths—Zhuge Sa seemed to have absorbed all the magic.

“Now, I’ll release you.”

And with that, Zhuge Sa unraveled the chains of chaos binding Sagong Lin. She staggered but appeared to be uninjured. Zhuge Sa’s eyes lit up as he remarked.

“Just as I thought. Even after absorbing that much magic, you appear to be relatively unharmed. Quite a terrifying ability.”

“Zhuge Sa… do you mean to say that the power of the golden eye was stifled because you were trying to collect the debt?”

“You’re quick on the uptake. Well, thanks to that, I managed to suppress that monstrous power, didn’t I?”

“Hm.”

“No matter how powerful Sagong Lin’s abilities are, they can’t surpass even external debt contracts.”

Just as Cheon Woo-jin had predicted.

Originally, Zhuge Sa had intended to descend and absorb Simon Magus’s blood as part of the debt contract. However, that contract instead played the role of suppressing Sagong Lin’s power while drawing in immense magic.

“…If this is done, then just leave.”

Cheon Woo-jin said that as he attempted to help Sagong Lin, but Zhuge Sa casually replied.

“No thanks.”

Whoosh!!

“Ugh!”

In that instant, Zhuge Sa’s finger snap sent Cheon Woo-jin flying. As he hastily defended himself, he tried to regain his balance.

Boom!!!

With a massive explosion, Sagong Lin’s body rose into the air. The golden eye shone brilliantly as a fragment of the Dharma Technique floated just before her heart, and soon, it began to be absorbed into her body.

“Oh…!!”

Whoosh.

Once the process was over, Sagong Lin collapsed, fainting. Zhuge Sa looked down at the unconscious Sagong Lin with a wry smile.

“Seems she absorbed the technique to replenish the lacking magic of her true self… heh. Truly deserving of the title Celestial Demon. Humans-made techniques like the flying needle or even demons can’t even begin to compare…”

“Did the Dharma Technique… get absorbed?!”

“Can’t you see? She’s merged into one with the Portrait Immortal.”

“Was it unavoidable?!”

Zhuge Sa broke into laughter.

“Did you just say that even after seeing it? That magic is beyond my control. It’s a strength of a different dimension.”

“Damn it…!!”

Cheon Woo-jin spat in frustration, but he quickly realized there was nothing he could do. The barely perceptible forewarning that even he hadn’t caught was Zhuge Sa’s aid to him, meaning that even with Zhuge Sa’s power, he couldn’t prevent Sagong Lin from merging with the Dharma Technique.

“Hmmm, things have completely strayed from the plan, but it can’t be helped now.”

Moments later, Zhuge Sa stated.

“Cheon Woo-jin. I’ll become the Demon King and use the contract to suppress the Celestial Demon within Sagong Lin. But I’ll also have to seal your power alongside hers.”