Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

I was curious if there might be any new news.

Am I still attached to the Alliance Leader position? Of course not.

I had adapted to this new life and was satisfied with it. In fact, I was living with greater joy and vitality than when I was the Alliance Leader.

I had decided to live like this, raising up the Byeok Clan Sword Manor while developing my martial arts.

However, when I think of the Martial Righteous Alliance, there are still faces that come to mind. My loyal subordinates, including Gal Saryang and Baek Pyo.

I felt I would be concerned until at least a trustworthy person took the position of the next Alliance Leader.

Today too, talk of me was the main topic in the tavern.

There were those who criticized me for political reasons. But no one criticized me as a martial artist. As a martial artist, Cheon Hajin was always on the side of being idealized.

“I’m not sure about him as an Alliance Leader, but I think Cheon Hajin as a martial artist deserves respect.”

Everyone’s gaze turned to the old man who spoke.

“I’ve seen the Alliance Leader’s fights in person.”

At those words, everyone flocked to the old man. Even I listened intently to his words.

“You all know about the fight between Alliance Leader Cheon and Battle Demon[1], right?”

“Of course. Hasn’t it been made into various stories since then?”

“That’s right. But most of them are all nonsense.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I was there too.”

I inwardly chuckled.

To cut to the chase, this old man’s words are just boasting.

There were no survivors from that fight. Battle Demon and all his subordinates died. Our martial artists were waiting far away on my orders.

You might ask, couldn’t the old man have watched from afar? At that time, I was truly in a period where I could fly freely through the sky. If he was at a distance where he could watch the fight, there’s no way he wouldn’t have been detected by my qi sense.

“Battle Demon looked terrifying. He was nine feet tall with fists as big as an adult’s head. He was born to fight. He was truly insanely strong.”

Battle Demon was nine feet tall with fists as big as a head?

I couldn’t help but snicker.

When I first saw Battle Demon, I was surprised.

He was only five feet tall with a very small build. He even looked pretty, not at all suited for fighting.

You might think that someone called Battle Demon would swing his fists wildly, but Battle Demon was a man who used a short dagger.

But not all of the old man’s words were boasting.

The part about him being insanely strong was true. Based on the point when I fought him, he was the strongest opponent I had ever faced.

Of course, I met stronger ones later, but he was one of the top five opponents I’ve ever faced.

I don’t know how many times I almost died from that short dagger. I was actually stabbed in a few places. He was a man worthy of the name Battle Demon.

“Alliance Leader Cheon showed skills that were truly close to divine. Even now, when I close my eyes, that fight appears clearly. Especially the last moment, I truly can’t forget. While avoiding the strong qi bursting from the villain’s fist, the Alliance Leader soared into the sky. After soaring up like a blue dragon, he rained down dozens of sword qi like a downpour – what a magnificent sight it was!”

Everyone was moved by the old man’s vivid description.

“I’m envious. If I had seen that fight in person, I could die without regrets.”

“I want to buy those eyes!”

“Ah! Sword God!”

It’s quite embarrassing to think of that day when I barely managed to stab my sword into the villain’s heart after rolling around in the dirt with Battle Demon, but being human, I didn’t entirely dislike hearing such stories.

At that moment, one of the men listening to the story opened his mouth with a dissatisfied expression.

“What’s the use of being a Sword God?”

“What are you dissatisfied with?”

“Haven’t you heard the rumors?”

“What rumors?”

“The rumors that Cheon Hajin committed massive corruption and embezzlement.”

“Is that true?”

Everyone was shocked.

But could they be as shocked as me?

I truly almost jumped up and shouted, ‘Cut out that bullshit!’ I didn’t pocket even a single coin for personal use.

“With martial arts that strong, how could he not have?”

Judging by his tone, it wasn’t a rumor, but his own thoughts.

That he must have done so.

Damn it. I wished someone would rebuke that irresponsible remark, but everyone nodded and agreed with the thought.

“Well, if you’re at the level of Alliance Leader…”

“Moreover, Cheon was the strongest in martial arts among all the Alliance Leaders, wasn’t he?”

“He must have died without even getting to use all that money.”

I could tolerate other slander. But corruption and embezzlement?

It’s not true, you fools! If I had really set my mind to it, I truly… well, let’s not go there.

“How much do you think he embezzled? Ten million nyang? A hundred million nyang?”

I couldn’t help but sigh.

I thought I had made love with the martial world… I wonder if the martial world even knows that I loved it.

Just as I was sitting there with such a despairing heart, a clear and pure voice was heard.

“Do you have any evidence?”

It was a voice I knew.

I, and everyone else, turned our heads towards the source of the voice.

Surprisingly, the person standing at the entrance of the tavern was Song Hwa-rin.

She displayed her special talent.

She made only herself visible by overwhelming everything around her.

Everyone’s eyes widened at her appearance.

Some people recognized her, but the man who had spread the rumor didn’t recognize who she was. He just had an expression that said, ‘How can there be such a beautiful woman?’

“Do you have evidence that the Alliance Leader committed corruption?”

The man asked in return to her question.

“Do you perhaps know Alliance Leader Cheon?”

“No.”

“Then what are you dissatisfied with, miss?”

“I’m saying you shouldn’t carelessly talk about facts you don’t know well.”

She was calm but had an air of dignity.

“I’ll ask again. Do you have evidence that the Alliance Leader committed embezzlement?”

“Well… I just heard rumors.”

“Carelessly spreading rumors is also a clear criminal act. If reported to the Martial Righteous Alliance, you could be imprisoned in the Thunder Prison.”

At her sharp words, the man became frightened. When the words ‘Thunder Prison’ came out, it was already over.

“I apologize for speaking carelessly.”

Without pressing the man further, Song Hwa-rin moved and sat down at a side table.

“I’ll take an order here.”

A waiter rushed to her.

The drunken patrons who had been staring at her in a daze dispersed. They thought they might get into trouble if they caught her eye.

But without fail, each of them looked back once as they left.

I was sitting with my back turned to her, so she didn’t notice I was there.

I was grateful to her. I had felt so wronged, and it felt like she had spoken on my behalf, which made me very thankful.

After a while, food was brought to her.

“I only ordered noodles?”

Besides the noodles she ordered, a meat dish had also been brought out.

The tavern owner smiled and said,

“This is something I’m specially giving you as a bonus.”

“Why are you showing me such kindness?”

“I share the same thoughts as you, miss. The late Alliance Leader was an excellent person. Thanks to him, many villains in the martial world disappeared. That’s why life has become better for people like us.”

“Ah, I see. But what should I do?”

Completely unexpected words flowed from her mouth.

“You seem to have misunderstood something, but I don’t particularly like the late Alliance Leader.”

“What?”

The owner’s eyes widened.

What nonsensical words are these?

I too looked at her with a dumbfounded heart.

The owner asked again.

“Then why did you just…?”

“I just don’t like it when people carelessly talk about others.”

Come to think of it, there were no words in what she said earlier about liking or respecting the Alliance Leader.

And she added one more thing.

“In fact, I really dislike the dead Alliance Leader.”

At those words, I couldn’t help but blurt out.

“Why?”

She turned her head towards me. She was surprised to find that I was there.

“How long have you been here?”

“Since earlier.”

“Did you follow me here?”

I shook the empty liquor bottle in front of me.

“If I had known you were coming here, I might have.”

She understood that I meant I had been here first.

“I heard about what happened at Yang Minor Faction.”

“Luckily, I was able to avoid the disaster.”

“That’s good.”

With that conversation over, she turned her head away.

I too didn’t particularly feel like continuing the conversation, but there was one thing I had to ask.

“But why do you dislike the Alliance Leader?”

I was genuinely curious.

She just shrugged her shoulders once and didn’t answer.

Hey, why on earth do you dislike me?