Chapter 101: The Five Tasks
Over 20 years ago.
A girl with silver eyes, her hair completely hidden under a thick hat, glanced around and asked.
"Hey... If you play with me, will you get in trouble?"
It was a young Lee Seryeong.
The boy in front of her, Sado Hwan, tilted his head.
“Why would I get in trouble?”
“Because...I’m an outsider.”
“Outsider?”
“Yeah. That’s what the adults said. That I look different because I’m an outsider.”
“Is that why you always hide your hair?”
Lee Seryeong, looking embarrassed, fiddled with her hat and gave a small nod.
Sado Hwan chuckled.
“I like your hair color, though.”
“You do? Really?”
“Yeah. It’s like the snow piled up on those mountaintops. Didn’t you say your homeland is covered in snow?”
Sado Hwan pointed far off toward the peak of one of the many mountains in the Ten Thousand Demon Peaks.
The eternal snow on the summit really did resemble strands of white hair.
“That’s right. It was—Ah!”
Lee Seryeong turned to look, but when she turned back, Sado Hwan was suddenly right in front of her.
“See? Your eyes are so pretty, too.”
“Maybe it’s because the adults never looked closely. Up close, they’re this clear and beautiful. Hehe…”
As Sado Hwan grinned, Lee Seryeong's face turned red.
“Hey...Then, is it okay if I stop wearing the hat?”
“Of course! And if anyone says anything—Ah, that’s right.”
Sado Hwan placed his hands on his hips and declared,
“Just get stronger than anyone so no one dares say anything. That’s what it means to be a proud cultist.”
“A proud cultist…”
“Yeah. My brother says the words of the strong are truth.”
Lee Seryeong flinched at the mention of his “brother.” A man who looked just like the boy before her, yet terrifyingly different. His eyes alone had sent chills down her spine.
Oblivious to her reaction—
“I just had a great idea. Let’s make a promise.”
Sado Hwan held out his pinky.
“When we grow up, if one of us becomes the strongest in the cult…”
“The strongest?”
“We grant the other’s wish!”
“What kind of promise is that?”
“Why, scared I’ll win~?”
“No way! I’m going to win!”
Despite her flushed face, Lee Seryeong held out her hand.
“Okay then. Let’s promise. Wish granting. What’s your wish?”
“My wish is…to be with y—”
Just then—
“Sado Hwan!”
A distant voice called out. Sado Hwan flinched.
“Ah! That must be my brother. What do I do? I think I gotta go.”
“That scary brother?”
“Yeah...Sorry. I’ll see you later.”
And just like that, the young Sado Hwan disappeared in a flash using a light step technique.
Left alone, Lee Seryeong slowly—
Sssk—
Removed her hat.
Her silver hair shimmered in the sunlight.
Lee Seryeong, now grown, subtly curled her pinky finger.
She could still feel a faint weight in it.
Though she pretended not to remember...
It stung.
He acted like he’d forgotten the memory entirely. But he hadn’t. Sado Hwan clearly remembered. He was just keeping it to himself.
"‘I’m not worthy yet,’ he says."
He likely believed being the head of the Sado Clan was a prerequisite.
He had always been that way. Sado Hwan hated losing more than anything. And she—Lee Seryeong—had already become the Heavenly Demon.
He must have thought that at the very least, he needed to be on the same level as a clan head of the Six Demon Families to even be a match.
“Now that he finally sees himself as worthy…”
That’s why Lee Seryeong had declared it.
From now on, you are my fiancé.
That was the wish she had carried for over twenty years.
“What will you say, Sado Hwan?”
Calming her pounding heart, she waited for his answer.
“I thank you, Supreme One. However—”
After a long silence, Sado Hwan finally responded.
“I am still lacking.”
“Lacking?”
Lee Seryeong’s gaze sharpened, and the atmosphere inside the Heavenly Demon Palace shifted. It was as if the air had frozen over.
Everyone present felt the weight of that change and looked stunned. Only Sado Hwan maintained the same voice, the same expression.
“The little reputation I’ve earned cannot possibly compare to Your Supreme Excellency.”
“Even if this is my long-held wish?”
Sado Hwan flinched. He definitely remembered. And yet he was rejecting her?
Just as Lee Seryeong’s eyes flared again, Sado Hwan spoke up.
“Then…may I make a small request?”
“What is it?”
“Following cult tradition, I ask that you assign me a task.
So that I may prove myself worthy to stand beside Your Supreme Excellency.”
Pfft—
Lee Seryeong barely held back a laugh. Because the boy she had made a pinky promise with long ago overlapped with the man before her.
Yes.
It was because of that very image that she had endured being engaged to Sado Gwang, someone she loathed.
“Very well.”
If he hadn’t truly forgotten—If he was simply sulking over losing their bet…
“Then I shall assign you a task befitting of that wish. Prove yourself.”
I will be waiting for you here.
...F*ck.
The situation called for swearing.
No one else might realize it, but I knew. I knew that tender look in the Heavenly Demon’s eyes.
At this rate, she might as well write her own wuxia romance novel starring herself.
For her, it was romance. For me, it was a horror story of a clingy yandere Heavenly Demon chasing me down.
If things continued, forget Heavenly Saint—I might get locked up in the Heavenly Demon Palace forever.
“I bought time, at least…”
If I became her fiancé just like that, the engagement would be official immediately. So I had requested a task.
It was one of the cult’s traditions—Rather than endless fighting, one would prove their strength through great deeds.
You could think of it as a kind of quest.
Tasks included things like hunting dangerous mystic beasts or capturing fugitives.
[A task? Are you seriously planning to complete it?]
‘Usually they give out three or four. I’ll knock one or two out quickly.’
I had to show some effort. Then, I’d use that as a reason to escape into the Martial World, Jianghu.
“I’ll find Heavenly Saint while I’m out there.”
[Hmph. At least you kept your head on straight.]
The problem was, every time I met Lee Seryeong’s clear, silver gaze, It literally felt like my soul was unraveling.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
When her eyes narrowed mid-conversation, I swear my spirit almost left my body.
Every time I blinked, I had to ask myself if I was still sane.
Every word I spoke, I had to recheck whether I was saying it correctly.
If it weren’t for Skybreaker talking to me the whole time…
Just thinking about it was horrifying.
That was the gap between me and the Heavenly Demon—a gap that felt endless.
After seeming to ponder for a moment, the Heavenly Demon spoke.
“I shall assign you five tasks.”
Five?
Even better.
“I accept.”
“The first task—”
I forced my trembling legs to kneel and bow once more.
“Eliminate the Firebird that has appeared in the Red Dragon Region.”
“Your will shall be done.”
Crunch.
I heard someone grinding their teeth beside me. I didn’t even need to look to know who it was.
But even he wouldn’t dare challenge Lee Seryeong, said to be the strongest Heavenly Demon since the Fourth Generation.
“Rise.”
I did as commanded.
“If anyone objects to my decision, step forward.”
Of course, no one moved. Lee Seryeong’s lips curled slightly in satisfaction.
“This concludes the audience.”
“Heavenly Demon Reigns! May all demons flourish!”
Once again, everyone shouted in unison, heads bowed—And once again, I stood there alone, enduring the Heavenly Demon’s gaze.
[You stupid bastard.]
‘Can you stop scolding me for a second? I think I’m about to lose my mind.’
At that, even Skybreaker went silent.
The Heavenly Demon rose from her throne and exited.
“Phew—”
“Ha!”
Sounds of released breath echoed around the room.
“The pressure is unreal…”
“Not exaggerating—if all Six Family heads fought her together, I doubt we’d touch a hair on her head.”
Young Master Cheol and Gwak Riyeon whispered nearby.
I disagreed.
Even if not just the Six Family heads, but ranks 1 through 10 teamed up, they wouldn’t win.
Probably someone outside the rankings would have to step in.
While I was trying to pull myself together—
Thud thud thud—
A bandaged man stomped toward me.
It was Hyuk Mun, head of the Red Dragon Hyuk Clan.
“Sado Hwan!”
His eyes sparkled with angry red sparks.
“You dare!”
“What exactly did I do?”
“You dare to covet the Red Dragon Region? You insult the Red Dragon Hyuk Clan!”
Utter nonsense. I had done nothing.
Gwak Riyeon tried to intervene.
“Come now, Clan Head Hyuk, let’s calm down—”
“You Gwak Clan bastards are the same! Aha! I see now! You’ve all conspired to bring down the Hyuk Clan!”
“That’s going too far, don’t you think?”
“You’re the ones going too far! You think I don’t know you’re trying to seduce the young Heavenly Demon—”
Chring!
A chilling metallic sound echoed.
Turning toward the source, I saw Gu Jin-gyeong, already stern as usual, now wearing a terrifying expression.
Chains spilled from his body—not real ones, of course. It was just his mental domain, but it felt real due to the sheer clarity of it.
“Hyuk Mun, head of the Red Dragon Hyuk Clan.”
Gu Jin-gyeong, looking furious, spoke.
“Choose your next words carefully.”
He bit down on each syllable like he wanted to chew through them.
Hyuk Mun didn’t back down.
Bzzzzzt—!!
The sparks in his eyes exploded across his body, forming the shape of a red dragon.
“You think you can judge my life and death just because I let you hold that title?!”
These cult bastards were all the same—hot-blooded, young or old. Always ready to fight over who's right.
Perfect timing.
Hyuk Mun had originally come to pick a fight with me, but now the aggro had shifted to Gu Jin-gyeong.
I quietly slipped away between them.
Even Cheol Muguk, who would’ve normally said something, stepped aside to let me pass.
Good thing, too. I was exhausted.
Utterly, fcking* exhausted.
The Heavenly Demon, who remembered some childhood promise that Skybreaker didn’t even remember, was draining.
These Transcendent Peak lunatics, always gritting their teeth and flaring their mental domains, were exhausting.
Their constant shouting had practically given me tinnitus.
My mind, battered for months by threats, was screaming for rest.
As I stepped outside the great hall—
Sigh...
Of all the people I could run into now…
—May I have a word, Master of the Sado Clan?
It was Chu Taesu.
The one person I really didn’t want to deal with in my current dazed state.
“I don’t believe we have anything to discuss.”
—Even if it’s about the Firebird?
A proposal I couldn’t refuse.