Chapter 244
Avici Hell!
Upon hearing Chiwoo’s words, Arisa was shocked.
A name unknown to most Arahan, because it was known only to Arahan from the Hidden Realm.
The Absolute Demon Heads who rebelled against Godslayer Taebaek, the master of the mountain, thousands of years ago—and were imprisoned.
The Demon Realm where they were confined was none other than Avici Hell.
They were beings so blasphemous to even mention that they had been forgotten, even though it was a Demon Realm.
‘Impossible. That place… has never opened.’
While all other Demon Realms had opened, Avici Hell had never opened.
Having been imprisoned for thousands of years without proper support, it was utterly impossible for the Absolute Demon Heads trapped inside to still be alive.
Naturally, there was no way a successor inheriting the martial arts of a Demon Head could appear.
No—if Avici Hell had opened, there should have been an uproar in the Hidden Realm by now.
News should have reached them long ago through their information channels.
Arisa turned her head and looked at the man who had followed her.
‘Enma. Have you ever heard anything about Avici Hell opening?’
‘No.’
Enma also shook his head.
He was privy to all information coming from the Hidden Realm, but there had been nothing at all about Avici Hell.
Then there was only one answer.
These two were lying.
They were pretending to be from the Hidden Realm even though they weren’t.
Why?
‘Because they can’t reveal their origins?’
Because if they did, they wouldn’t be able to climb the mountain.
No matter how corrupted the Mountain of Practitioners had become, it didn’t openly accept those it rejected.
Especially demons and incarnations or the Twelve Species.
So did that mean the two men before her were related to demons or the Twelve Species?
Moreover, there was a flaw in their story.
A master who passed away after living out his natural lifespan.
If they came from Avici Hell, their master would be one of the Absolute Demon Heads. Could one really describe someone who died sealed away with all their meridians and dantian destroyed as having “lived out his natural lifespan”?
The relationship between the two men was also strange.
‘One calls the other successor and follows him with utmost devotion. If they both came from Avici Hell, what exactly is their relationship?’
It seemed far from an ordinary relationship.
Arisa looked at Park Chan-woo.
“Chiwoo. I’ve heard rumors that you call that man ‘successor.’ Which family’s successor are you referring to?”
“You don’t need to know that far.”
Chiwoo answered.
It wasn’t yet time to reveal that he was the Heavenly Demon’s successor.
It wouldn’t be too late to reveal it after reaching at least the Hall of all Gods.
If he said it now unnecessarily, he would only face severe suspicion.
However, he could understand Arisa’s suspicion.
Since ancient times, Arahan from the Hidden Realm have been tightly connected.
They are inherently closed-off and distrustful of outsiders.
If someone not from the Hidden Realm pretends to be from it, they have no choice but to be extremely wary.
The reason Chiwoo deliberately chose the Hidden Realm as their origin was precisely because of that.
‘If I can just make them believe, I can gain the power of the Hidden Realm.’
Conversely, if he gave them belief, he could have the Hidden Realm backing him.
No matter how strong Chiwoo was, this was the Mountain of Practitioners—the place where the Hall of all Gods was located.
He couldn’t get Park Chan-woo to the Hall of all Gods with his strength alone.
Chiwoo also knew that to climb the mountain, one needed a large sect or faction.
He felt no particular guilt.
Because it was also true that he came from a Demon Realm that was genuinely within the Hidden Realm.
Chiwoo chuckled softly.
“But… I can show you something.”
“…What?”
“A pure martial art now lost to the world.”
“A lost martial art?”
“The Asura Sword.”
“Wait. Did you just say Asura Sword…?”
Arisa’s expression hardened.
The name Asura had been forbidden since long ago.
The Absolute Demon Heads who rebelled against Taebaek.
One of them, said to be the most outstanding, was a descendant of the Asura Sect.
At the time, it was annihilated, and all its martial arts vanished.
However, the name of the Asura Sword that severed Taebaek’s arm was still passed down in whispers as a famous tale.
Especially for those from the Hidden Realm, it was a martial art like a dream.
Naturally, Arisa couldn’t possibly not know the name of the Asura Sword.
And what kind of martial art it was.
“Will you receive it once?”
“…Very well.”
Arisa nodded with a resolute expression.
She immediately drew her sword and took a stance.
Chiwoo shrugged.
“I’ll only swing it once. Whether you believe me or not afterward is up to you.”
“I’m ready. Begin.”
Arisa’s strength placed her among the top three even among those from the Hidden Realm.
She had no rivals in her age group.
Even the renowned strong practitioners at this mid-level of the mountain were at a level where they could only avoid Arisa.
Arisa drew upon her internal energy.
An aura enveloped her entire body.
“An excellent Repulsion Force Energy.”
It was precisely Repulsion Force Energy.
Chiwoo acknowledged it.
It had been a long time since he had seen Repulsion Force Energy this stabilized.
And not only that.
The Sword Aura condensed on her blade was also flawless.
She accomplished both offense and defense simultaneously.
It wasn’t twice as difficult, but twenty times.
“It seems you’ve stepped into the threshold of the Divine Sword. Well then…”
Chiwoo raised his sword.
And—
Spot!
===
“Why are you leaving already? Aren’t you going to ask what they saw in the tower?”
Enma tilted his head in confusion.
They had several pre-prepared agenda items.
Yet Arisa turned her back without asking about any of them.
Especially what they witnessed upon reaching the 150th floor—it was a fairly important agenda item.
If they could learn the ugly truth of the Undead Sect, information even they couldn’t cover up, it could be used as a trump card.
But she didn’t ask.
After receiving Chiwoo’s sword strike, she turned away without hesitation.
“Well, it was nothing. He just swung his sword once—that was all. What kind of Asura Sword is that? The Asura Sword I know was said to produce thunderous sounds when swung…”
“It was. The Asura Sword.”
“…It really was the Asura Sword?”
Arisa nodded stiffly.
The thunderous sound had been real.
Only for her.
Her head rang, and she experienced hallucinations and auditory hallucinations as if thunder was crashing.
If he had unleashed it with full intent…
Gulp!
“…It seems that story was true.”
“What story?”
“The story that the family of the Absolute Demon Head who severed Taebaek’s arm, the Asura Sect, was actually an assassination organization.”
It was a rumor known to only a very few Arahan.
Since even mentioning the Asura Sect was something to be cautious about, it wasn’t widely known, but there was a story that the Asura Sect was actually an assassination organization.
That severing of Taebaek’s arm was also an assassination attempt.
“So the Asura Sword is an assassination technique?”
“Ah. At least… that’s how it felt to me.”
“…I was curious how they managed to sever that Taebaek’s arm.”
Enma’s expression also hardened.
Godslayer Taebaek.
The current master of the mountain was a god himself.
No—even that expression was insufficient.
He was something beyond a god.
An inviolable existence one could never reach.
Demon King?
Demon God?
Taebaek was above that.
He was a true Absolute Being.
He had wondered how such an existence’s arm could possibly have been severed.
“…Wait.”
Enma’s eyes widened.
And he continued.
“Assuming that guy Chiwoo is truly a descendant of the Asura Sect. Then climbing the Mystic Tower wasn’t his full strength, right?”
The Mystic Tower required fighting head-on.
It was a structure where an assassin couldn’t display their true capabilities.
Yet he climbed to the 73rd floor.
It meant that if he put his mind to it, he could have climbed higher.
That was why.
The reason Arisa turned her back like that.
Because being suspicious was meaningless.
Above all else—
“That so-called successor…”
She recalled.
That man, Park Chan-woo.
A descendant of the Asura Sect called him “successor.”
He served and followed him with utmost devotion.
“Why? Who the hell is that guy? Do you have any idea?”
“……”
Arisa did not answer.
…Do I have any idea?
‘The Asura Sword is a martial art that only a successor of the Asura Sect can learn.’
In short, Chiwoo, who used the Asura Sword, was a successor of the Asura Sect.
A man whom such a successor calls “successor” and follows.
…It must mean an existence that the entire Asura Sect—something even greater than the Asura Sect—follows.
But she couldn’t grasp it at all.
What could be above the Asura Sect?
“The Hidden Realm must not turn those two into enemies.”
On the contrary.
A resolute expression settled on Arisa’s face.
“…From now on, our Hidden Realm will stand with those two.”
===
Park Chan-woo looked at Chiwoo.
It seemed there was still something he hadn’t told him.
“It seems you were an assassin.”
“…You recognized my sword.”
Chiwoo answered, seeming slightly surprised.
The Asura Sword was a sword art that only those who experienced it could know.
An absolute killing sword art—an assassination art.
Park Chan-woo had discerned it in an instant.
“So that’s how you could endure Avici Hell alone.”
“…That’s correct. Loneliness is not a great danger to an assassin.”
Chiwoo agreed.
The sole assassin among the Twelve Heavenly Kings.
He was raised from birth as a doll for killing people.
As an assassin in the shadows.
Humans are social animals, and the longer one is alone, the more likely they are to go mad.
But Chiwoo was different.
To him, loneliness was like a friend.
In fact, for an assassination, he had once hidden in the same spot for six months without moving a single step.
The decisive reason he could endure Avici Hell.
“Are you disappointed?”
Chiwoo asked cautiously.
The sole reason he hadn’t spoken of it until now was precisely because of that.
Because an assassin didn’t fit well with this Mountain of Practitioners.
Because it fundamentally clashed with the spirit of the Arahan.
The Asura Sect was essentially the darkest aspect of the mountain.
A group that did not hesitate to kill if necessary for the mountain.
They held an attitude opposite to the Heavenly Demon’s honor.
Because during the era when the Heavenly Demon existed, there was no group like them.
Of course, the stance of the Assassin Sect wasn’t much different either.
The Assassin Sect does not follow the Heavenly Demon.
It follows only the mountain itself.
Within the Assassin Sect, only Chiwoo worshipped the Heavenly Demon.
He yearned for the story of the Heavenly Demon who achieved that awe-inspiring myth.
Becoming one of the Twelve Heavenly Kings who followed the Heavenly Demon was also his own choice.
But… what about the Heavenly Demon?
‘…He probably wouldn’t like it.’
Would someone like him truly accept an assassin?
On the contrary, he would likely detest and be repulsed.
That was precisely why he hadn’t told Park Chan-woo until now.
‘Is this the end?’
Even if he cursed and resented him, there was nothing to be done.
Even if he said they should each go their separate ways from now on, he would have to accept it.
It seemed there was no way other than watching over him from afar.
But Park Chan-woo shook his head.
“Can you teach me that sword?”
“…Pardon?”