**Chapter 380. The Primordial Heavenly Demon**
—
**Agitation.**
A disturbance.
Things that should never waver were now wavering.
A body and mind that had reached the rank of a god were trembling.
Yet the reason was unknown.
He was the manipulator of all things.
For him to be shaken by something was impossible—and should never be possible.
A god is, by nature, emotionless.
It is precisely because a god can regulate emotions at will that they are a god.
Naturally, no external stimulus should be able to intrude.
*Am I… wavering?*
He repeated the thought.
Because he simply could not believe it.
The being he was now had accumulated a stature incomparably greater than when he was the lord of Heavenly Mountain.
This was not some immortal of Buddhist lore.
He had seized the rank of a true **god **.
By devouring and comprehending every verse inscribed within the Heavenly Demon Scripture, he had opened the Gate of *Truth* with his own hands.
An eternal, unchanging truth.
Within it, he saw things he had never seen in his life, and learned things he had never known.
*…I have seen the truth.*
An enlightenment vast as an endless sea, unlike anything he had ever experienced.
And then, desire followed.
Longing.
*I will ascend to the Heavenly(Celestial) Realm, no matter what.*
The Heavenly Realm was nothing like the so-called Immortal Realm spoken of in Buddhist teachings.
That place was *everything*.
A world that contained all he desired.
An ideal utopia that had never existed—and could never exist.
Yet though he opened the Gate of Truth, he could not reach the Heavenly Realm.
The Heavenly Realm did not permit the entry of a demon.
It only allowed him to glimpse it.
And in that moment, he realized.
Why was he called the **Heavenly Demon**?
Why do demons strive to ascend to the heavens?
The First Heavenly Demon had seen it as well.
He had tried—desperately—to ascend, yet ultimately failed.
That was why he called himself a Heavenly Demon.
Hoping that someday, he would surely reach the heavens, ascend to the Heavenly Realm!
*Empty yourself. Discard everything.*
For one who sought to ascend to the heavens to waver for some “unknown” reason—
such a thing was unacceptable.
The Heavenly Demon purged all emotions from himself.
And then, the trembling stopped.
*If I erase everything, there will be no need to seek the reason.*
Wasn’t it simple?
He would not look for the cause of his agitation.
If he erased everything, there would be nothing left to seek.
Huuung—
His body rose into the air.
At once, he leveled the Heavenly Demon Blade.
Toward the humans.
Creeeak—
Shiiii—
At the same time, over a hundred **Annihilation Rings** formed around him.
A power that erased everything it touched.
If he erased all those humans, the Spirit Kings’ contracts would become void.
Devouring the weakened Spirit Kings would be trivial.
He would consume every Spirit King and become the King of Chaos himself.
“I do not permit you to exist before me, humans.”
Therefore, vanish.
In that instant—
Zzzrrr—!
Over a hundred Annihilation Rings erupted, shaking the land.
—
—
**Boom!**
The Earth Spirit King, Uhm, slammed his hand into the ground, and colossal World Tree trunks burst forth, forming a wall.
—How dare an Evil God…!
The Fire Spirit King, Agnis, added his flames to the wall.
The primordial fire imbued with origin transformed the World Tree’s roots entirely.
The roots ignited, hardening into walls of iron.
Kwaarrrrr—!
With a thunderous roar that felt like it would rupture eardrums, the wall shook.
But it held.
Even a hundred Annihilation Rings could not pierce the combined defense of the two Spirit Kings.
Under normal circumstances, they would have been annihilated instantly.
But the two Spirit Kings were now incomparably stronger.
All because of a single contract.
The unprecedented contract with a human had evolved them.
—I will burn you, if it’s the last thing I do.
Agnis extended his hand.
Huuuuung—!
The sky split open, and a sea of flames poured down upon the Heavenly Demon.
At the same time, World Tree roots erupted across the land, wrapping around the Heavenly Demon’s ankles.
“A magnificent sight.”
Arin spoke in genuine admiration.
She knew at once that this power surpassed the limits of Spirit Kings.
*They’ve transcended even the essence of spirits.*
Spirits are beings whose natural attributes are maximized.
They cannot manifest miracles beyond that essence.
Just as a fire spirit cannot wield water.
From birth, they can only use the attributes bestowed upon them.
And yet now, the coordination of those two had surpassed their essence.
They had created matter that did not exist in this world.
This was a miracle beyond Truth itself.
*Does contracting with Park Hyun-myung lead them outside of Truth?*
Breaking rules. Shattering predetermined frameworks.
Easy to say—but impossible before Truth.
To step outside fixed parameters is, in itself, an act of defiance against the world.
Thinking back—
Everything about the contracts between the Spirit Kings and Park Hyun-myung had been strange.
*Agnis mentioned the Primordial Fire. And when it came to Uhm, a World Tree bloomed.*
What was the Primordial Fire?
…Frankly, she didn’t know.
She understood it as “the fire of beginnings,” but nothing more.
Even Basara, one of the Seven Lords, had not fully understood the Primordial Fire.
So she had let it pass.
The real issue was the World Tree.
The “Seed of Earth” given by the Earth Spirit King could become any tree.
Sometimes a flower. Sometimes mere weeds.
But never had it become a **World Tree**.
What is a World Tree?
The origin that creates and sustains the world.
It was absurd to think someone could forcibly create such a thing.
She still could not comprehend or accept it—but one thing was clear.
*Both are beginnings of the world.*
The Primordial Fire and the World Tree.
Both were tied to the origin of all things, to the birth of the world itself.
A man who could sprout that “beginning” through nothing more than a contract.
*…So this was the way beyond Truth.*
Basara realized it.
The method to step outside Truth.
It was simpler than expected.
Redirect the branch of the “beginning.”
If one could grasp the origin known only to Truth itself, one could bend that branch in a different direction and reach a different result.
This was undoubtedly tied to Park Hyun-myung’s identity.
Did he possess a hidden class related to all beginnings?
Or was he the owner of a “13th Hidden Trait” even Basara did not know?
—Who are you?
At that moment—
A voice suddenly reached her.
Turning toward its source, she saw—
*Phantom…*
…a man believed to be Phantom.
Using the **Golden Scale’s thread**, he spoke so that no one else could hear.
—You wear the guise of a human, but you are not human.
Human. Human, was it?
Would a person normally use the word “human” when addressing another of their own kind?
Arin was startled.
After all, this was the first being to see through her identity.
Not probing—he spoke with certainty.
She replied calmly.
—You say strange things, Phantom.
—Your emotions differ from those of humans.
…He read her emotions?
Impossible.
She perfectly imitated humans.
She also restrained her emotions completely.
—Almost like a demon.
…Wait.
How did he notice?
Emotions have no form.
Elves can perceive the “shape of desire,” but there were no elves here.
And even elves could not discern her true identity from desire alone.
The probability of someone identifying her was zero.
Was he testing her?
—Are *you* really Phantom?
—I am Phantom.
—……?
What?
He explicitly claimed to be Phantom.
Was it truth—or a lie?
Then he continued.
—You seem to know Phantom, Arin. Vice-Chair of the Korean Hero Alliance. And yet, you’ve never met anyone connected to Phantom.
…So he *was* testing her.
He had read the disturbance in her inner state.
Yet she revealed nothing outwardly.
Still, she realized something.
Above all, he spoke as though he knew her well.
—Is there anyone who doesn’t know Phantom?
—No. You must have seen him personally. Otherwise, such an emotional thread could not exist.
…So he read her **emotional thread**?
Not surface emotions, but her inner thoughts?
That was something no one could do.
Reading her mind—
*He must have vaguely sensed thoughts at the points where emotions stirred.*
Indeed—
But he had only grasped the outline.
If he had read it clearly, there would be no need to probe.
The moment she realized this, she erased all thought.
Even her internal emotions vanished.
Then—
—You are certainly not human. Have you seen Wilhelm? Where did you meet him? The Demon Realm? The Grand Expedition?
As she countered, he became certain.
Which meant this, too, was part of his calculation.
…Who exactly was this man?
More meticulous—far more—than she expected.
Was he truly Phantom?
Was this man… truly Wilhelm?
—Why does a demon race member walk the Earth in human form? For what purpose?
There was hostility in his tone.
He seemed to assume malicious intent behind her presence on Earth.
A complete misunderstanding.
But there was no time to correct it.
“Hahaha! You can neither burn me nor capture me!”
The Heavenly Demon’s body liquefied like water.
Using the authority of the Water Spirit King Iquerel, he toyed with the Spirit Kings.
Even though Agnis and Uhm had grown transcendentally strong—
…they still could not touch him.
“……It’s our turn, then.”
At this rate, the loss of both Spirit Kings was inevitable.
But such power could not simply be abandoned.
She shook her head and stepped forward.
“Sorry, but I’ll have to interfere.”
She understood the Spirit Kings’ resolve.
But for victory—
Seven Lords Basara—no, **Arin**—raised her sword.
Not as Basara of the Seven Lords, but as Arin, for the sake of humanity’s victory.
—
—
Insects gathered.
But ants, no matter how many, were still ants.
“…?”
The Heavenly Demon tilted his head.
The ants he had planned to crush were proving unexpectedly persistent.
Humans allied with the Spirit Kings were engaging him in rotation.
Hit-and-run tactics alone were nothing—
*Those two are diverting my attention.*
Arin. And Phantom.
Meanwhile, the two Spirit Kings focused entirely on defense.
Time dragged on.
His attacks stalled.
“Tch.”
The Heavenly Demon clicked his tongue.
Still, he acknowledged their competence.
At this rate, the fight would never end.
Then—
“One Gate (一門).”
Shaaak!
His body swelled.
Through the teachings recorded in the Heavenly Demon Scripture, he finally completed himself.
He even awakened the sealed half of his power.
Not just the Soul-Devouring Art, but the opening of the Five Gates as well.
*Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step.*
Opening the First Gate, the Heavenly Demon stomped the ground.
In that instant—
Kuuuurrrrr—!
The entire land surged upward.
Tyrannical force obliterated everything nearby.
Combined with the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step—
“R-Run…!”
“What kind of power is this…?!”
“Damn it!”
Even the Spirit Kings’ walls collapsed.
This was what it meant to face a Demon God.
He had only opened the First Gate.
And yet—
They could not even stand before him.
Immediately after, the Heavenly Demon hurled all the humans into the depths of the Abyss.
He buried them beneath the earth, sealing them with energy so they could never escape.
“Die slowly.”
A perfect burial alive.
Below lay Abyssal poison in abundance.
Those humans would not last long.
Struggling against approaching death was all they could do.
The Heavenly Demon smiled.
If the First Gate was this powerful, what of the Sixth?
*If I devour one who has completed the Fifth Gate, I can open the Sixth.*
Though he could open the Fifth Gate, that was his limit.
The condition to open the Sixth was unmet.
He had to devour another who had completed the Five Gates.
That was the final requirement.
If he opened the Sixth Gate, he would reach the Heavenly Realm.
*There is a Five-Gate Completer in Pangaenia.*
Continental Sword Saint, Raiga.
He felt his presence.
Kill him. Devour him. And reach the Sixth Gate.
Even imagining it thrilled him.
“Hm?”
Yet again, the Heavenly Demon tilted his head.
Among the humans buried by the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step—
There was **one** who remained unaffected.
A single human still standing upon the ground.
“How can you still be standing?”
The area around that human was perfectly intact.
As though untouched.
But the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step nullified and overturned all energy.
The only way to be immune was to use the same Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step.
Which meant—
That human had used it as well.
Was that even possible?
“You….”
The Heavenly Demon’s pupils trembled slightly.
He sensed something familiar.
That man had used the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step.
Yet that technique was a solitary, secret art passed down solely through the Heavenly Demon Scripture.
Only the Heavenly Demon could inherit it.
To use it together was impossible.
And yet, there was no way he could be mistaken.
He was the Heavenly Demon.
No one knew the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Step better than him.
Bzzzz—
The Heavenly Demon Blade began to tremble once more.
Only then did he realize.
“…So it was you. The one who shook me.”
…He had found it.
He had finally found the cause.
But then—
Something was wrong.
At that very moment—
《The **Primordial Heavenly Demon** awakens.》
《The unique hidden skill of the Primordial Heavenly Demon, **World-Annihilating Heavenly Demon**, manifests.》
The world—
was overturned.
