Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

Watching the snow drift like soft feathers, Baek Pyo, who was with me, said in an excited voice:

“Lord Alliance Leader! It’s the first snow.”

Baek Pyo is one of two people I trust as the head of security for the Alliance Leader’s quarters. Even in his forties, the word ‘pure’ suits him well.

“They say if you see the moment the first snow falls, you’ll have good luck that year.”

Though he tried to sound nonchalant, there was a desperate hope in his words – to survive another year safely. Who would have guessed that the best guard in the Martial Righteous Alliance, the man who had fended off the combined attack of the Seven Demonic Heretics[1] of the Dark Heavens Palace[2], had such a sentimental side?

“Ah yes, the first snow!”

I made an effort to sound impressed as I looked out the window, but honestly, I felt indifferent.

Even the phrase ‘first snow’ no longer makes my heart race.

I’m seventy years old this year.

The thrill of a ‘first’ anything is insufficient to move my fossilized emotions.

When I see snow… I only think of those I’ve killed in snowy fields. Those who died bleeding on the pure white snow.

Whooosh.

The light snowfall is gradually intensifying.

The Chief Astronomer[3] who boasted that today’s weather would be clear will likely avoid me for a few days. He said the first snow wouldn’t fall until next month.

“Young Myeong-i must be jumping for joy right now.”

Myeong-i is Baek Pyo’s child.

“He’s three this year, right?”

Baek Pyo showed a slightly embarrassed expression.

“He’s six this year.”

I was genuinely surprised.

The reason for my surprise wasn’t that I couldn’t remember the age of his late-in-life child, born after he married late.

It was because I suddenly remembered having the exact same conversation just a few days ago.

Back then, I had also asked if the child was three years old.

I’m not a senile old man, how could I make such a mistake?

“He’s grown so much already. I’m sorry.”

Instead of looking hurt, Baek Pyo’s face was full of concern for me.

“It’s alright. They say you feel the passing of time by watching other people’s children grow, don’t they?”

Baek Pyo had said something similar that day too. Now I remember clearly.

‘Why have I been like this lately?’

Recently, I’ve been forgetting things that happened in the past. Especially in the past few days, the symptoms have worsened, and my strength isn’t what it used to be. I often feel like I’m floating, as if I have a severe cold.

Suspecting poisoning, I circulated my qi to thoroughly examine my body internally, but found nothing unusual.

I thought about getting a diagnosis from a divine physician[4], wondering if I had contracted some unknown illness, but ultimately decided to wait and see.

If rumors spread that the Alliance Leader’s health was in jeopardy, not only the Alliance but the entire martial world would be in an uproar.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

“Very well.”

Regardless of my situation, I felt sorry for Baek Pyo. He’s always by my side, guarding me, and yet I’ve made such mistakes repeatedly.

I should buy a set of clothes for his child right away. But… was the child a daughter? Or a son?

Damn it. I can’t remember.

Feeling like cursing, I turned my gaze back to the window. The intensifying snowfall was covering the world in white, just like my memories.

“…Is it time for me to die?”

Me? The greatest under the heavens? The one who has held that supreme position for over forty years?

In the afternoon, Gal Saryang[5], the Commander-in-Chief, came to the Alliance Leader’s quarters to report.

As usual, he reported on various matters within the Alliance, but none of it registered.

I just stared out the window, letting his words wash over me.

Noticing my low spirits, Gal Saryang finished his report faster than usual.

“…The rest is in the written report.”

“Good work.”

“Then, I’ll take my leave.”

As he turned to leave, I called out to him.

“Commander Gal.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader.”

“What kind of person am I?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said. In your eyes, what kind of person am I? Try to define me.”

I turned to face Gal Saryang. I was curious about his assessment, having helped me achieve the great task of unifying the Central Plains.

“What importance could my words hold?”

Gal Saryang said, looking around.

“You are the greatest person in this martial world.”

The walls of the Alliance Leader’s quarters were covered with records of my past life.

The fifteen most important battles of my life. My past footsteps that have now become the history of the martial world.

At twenty-nine, I ascended to the position of the greatest under heaven.

That year, the Sword Emperor[6], Blade Emperor[7], and Fist King[8] all knelt before me in succession.

Cheon Hajin[9], the Martial God[10].

This was the name I earned at the tail end of my twenties.

Seven years later, at the age of thirty-six, I became the leader of the Martial Righteous Alliance. They said I was the first to become the Alliance Leader in my thirties since the Alliance’s inception.

The pride of being the first. Intoxicated by that satisfaction, I’ve lived as the Alliance Leader for the past thirty-four years.

My life has been fierce and glorious.

After becoming the leader, I spent many years on battlefields, defeating the Unorthodox Sects.

In the process, I had to overcome several near-death experiences.

But in the end, I achieved the long-cherished wish of the Martial Righteous Alliance.

I shattered the Thirteen Dark Paths Alliance[11], a collective of evil sects, and brought down the Blood Heavens Divine Cult[12], the successor to the Demonic Cult.

Even after preserving peace in the martial world, my life remained busy.

The enemies weren’t just external. When the external threats disappeared, internal enemies emerged.

Those seeking absolute power poisoned my food and sent assassins in the night.

But I didn’t die, and I cut down all those who dreamed of rebellion.

I wanted to remain an elegant and dignified absolute ruler, but reality didn’t conform to my wishes. If I didn’t kill, I would be killed.

The martial artists called me the Iron-Blooded[13] Alliance Leader, and because I mercilessly cut down traitors, they also called me the Executioner[14] Alliance Leader.

Everyone was afraid to even breathe loudly in my presence.

“Alliance Leader, you are the absolute ruler of this martial world and the symbol of chivalry[15] and martial arts[16]. Furthermore, you are the Gangho itself.”

Yes, this is who I am. So why do I feel so down today?

Gal Saryang added, with a hint of worry:

“Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

As someone who has observed me for a long time, he noticed that I was different from usual.

“I’m fine.”

“Then please rest.”

Gal Saryang withdrew from the hall.

Left alone, I sank deep into the Grand Scholar’s chair.

The martial world itself, huh? Yes, born as a martial artist, to hear such words…

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, as I sat in the chair, I started to have difficulty breathing. A sense of helplessness at being unable to control my own body and a languidness as if all the strength in my body was evaporating and disappearing enveloped me.

‘I’ll think about it after getting some sleep…’

I never knew.

That this would be the last moment of my life.

Because I thought the end of the greatest under heaven couldn’t possibly come so suddenly, so futilely and fleetingly. Because I thought the flower wouldn’t wither just from a few petals falling. Because I had hoped my end would come while fighting madly, surrounded by traitors, dying in a blaze of glory.

But as if to say your life ends here, the world turned pitch black.

***

When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

‘Where is this?’

Following that, a strong medicinal scent assaulted my nose.

‘The medical ward?’

Did I collapse? It seems so.

I’m going to get an earful from Commander Gal for not taking care of myself beforehand.

When I tried to sit up, I felt a strange sense of unfamiliarity.

‘What’s this?’

I naturally tried to activate my unique internal energy technique, the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique[17].

The internal energy filling my danjeon should have spread throughout my body, protecting it… but my body showed no reaction.

My danjeon, which should have been full of four cycles of internal energy, was completely empty. No, there was some internal energy there. But it was so feeble that it was barely worth calling internal energy.

What on earth is going on?

I can fall ill and collapse. But it’s absolutely impossible for internal energy to be undetectable.

Qi-Dispersing Poison? That’s impossible.

Especially the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique I’ve mastered is the world’s greatest mind technique that protects my body in any situation. Something like Qi-Dispersing Poison couldn’t possibly work on me.

This unfamiliar feeling of empty internal energy and non-functioning mind techniques felt worse than having flesh and bone cut by metal.

I slowly sat up. The movement of my body felt utterly unfamiliar as well.

Where is this?

It wasn’t the medical ward of the Martial Righteous Alliance. It was a small room, not even a tenth the size of the Alliance Leader’s private medical ward.

Then, a soft voice came from beside me.

“You’re awake.”

I turned my head towards the sound and saw a middle-aged couple standing side by side.

The woman walked over and took my hand.

“Are you alright?”

Of course, I wasn’t alright. I couldn’t understand what was going on at all.

“Who are you?”

Even my voice was one I’d never heard before.

The woman smiled and said:

“Are you asking who I am while looking at me right now?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s right?”

The corners of the woman’s mouth curled up gradually. The middle-aged man standing behind her quickly said:

“Please be patient, dear wife.”

But no sooner had he finished speaking than the woman mercilessly struck the back of my head.

Smack!

“You should be begging for forgiveness, and instead you say what? ‘Who are you?’ Fine, I’ll tell you. This pitiful woman who spent all night worrying about you with eyes wide open is… your mother! You ungrateful wretch! Is that how you speak to your mother?”

Whoosh.

The woman’s fist flashed past my face again.

If the middle-aged man hadn’t rushed over and pulled her back, that fist would have hit me square in the face.

“Please be patient! He seems disoriented after waking up from fainting!”

“You’d be better off dead! You idiot, fool, half-wit!”

Normally, in this situation, my first words would have been ‘How dare you be so insolent?’, but I was still in a daze.

Had I ever been hit on the back of the head by someone in my life?

No, setting everything else aside, what on earth is going on here? It was such an absurd situation that I didn’t even have the luxury to consider the rudeness.

Is this a dream?

But it felt too vivid to be a dream. The head that had just been hit really hurt.

Then, I happened to turn my head to the side. When I saw the small bronze mirror hanging on the wall, I felt like my breath had stopped.

In the mirror was a young man with a blank expression, someone I had never seen before in my life.

Is that… me?

Ah, so it is a dream after all!

As relief washed over me, perplexity followed.

Who dreams such a vivid nonsensical dream?

The next moment, I felt dizzy and collapsed again. The woman’s scolding voice ringing in my ears gradually faded away.