The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

Whoosh-.

A man was swinging his sword, sweating profusely.

He was swinging so hard that not only his face but also the martial arts uniform he was wearing was soaked with sweat.

The floor was also wet with the sweat that had dripped down, but the man did not stop his sword.

"..."

He had been swinging his sword in the training ground like this for three hours.

The man had not rested even once until now.

Normally, it would be normal to rest a little in between, but the man was holding his sword as if even that time was a waste.

Dissatisfaction filled the man's face.

Although he had been swinging his sword in the same way for three hours, no satisfaction was felt on the man's face.

'Why... why am I not getting any better?'

He could be proud of himself for working harder than anyone else.

However, the part that was once blocked showed no sign of getting better no matter how many times he repeated the same action.

And the more he swung his sword, the more despair seemed to deepen in the man's eyes.

Whoosh-.

As that state continued, his posture was also a complete mess compared to the beginning.

A situation where repeated swinging was rather poisonous.

The man was not aware of the fact that he was now just swinging his sword with all his might.

Thump-.

In the end, the sword fell from the man's hand.

The handle was slippery because of the sweat, and he had lost a lot of strength in his hand after holding the sword for a long time.

Rather, it could be said that it was amazing that he had been holding on until now.

The man looked at the fallen sword without a word and then looked down at his own hand.

"..."

Blood was flowing from his open hand.

Since he had swung his sword like that for a long time, he was bound to get blisters on his hand.

He already had blisters, but new blisters had formed and burst, so the state of his hand was such that one would naturally frown just by looking at it.

'It's a mess...'

Looking at this hand, who would think that he was the son of the leader?

Cheon Seong thought so to himself as he looked down at his hand.

"Young Master."

At that moment, someone approached Cheon Seong's side.

A person who could be called Cheon Seong's escort and confidant.

Cheon Seong moved his head towards Hwang Dongyeong.

Swish-.

Hwang Dongyeong's gaze went to Cheon Seong's two hands.

A palm full of burst blisters.

Discovering that, Hwang Dongyeong could only sigh inwardly.

'Did he swing his sword recklessly again?'

In fact, this was not the first or second time Cheon Seong had done this.

Hwang Dongyeong had often witnessed Cheon Seong's hand becoming like that after swinging his sword recklessly.

And he had warned him every time, but Cheon Seong had just ignored his words.

"Young Master, did you swing your sword recklessly again?"

"..."

"No matter how effective the medicine of the Demonic Medical Hall is, if you swing your sword like that before your wounds have healed, they will never heal."

Last time, he had been scolded by the head of the Demonic Medical Hall.

Since it was not the first or second time Cheon Seong had been injured like that, he had warned Hwang Dongyeong, his confidant.

Of course, Hwang Dongyeong, who had stopped Cheon Seong several times, might have been in a rather unfair situation, but at that time, he had just listened silently.

Because Hwang Dongyeong roughly knew Cheon Seong's circumstances.

Since he had been assigned as Cheon Seong's exclusive warrior from the Guardian Hall and had spent a long time with him, he probably knew more about Cheon Seong than his parent, Cheon Jin.

"I can't help it. In order to become stronger than now, I can't let go of the sword for even a moment."

Saying that, Cheon Seong walked to where the sword had fallen.

Of course, he was going to pick up the sword with the intention of training again.

And looking at Cheon Seong, Hwang Dongyeong sighed inwardly with pity.

'Why didn't heaven give the Young Master talent?'

Although Cheon Seong was of the leader's bloodline, he was a dunce when it came to martial arts, to the point where one would doubt if he was really of the same bloodline.

Since he himself knew that fact, he was working harder than anyone else.

But the range in which one could become strong through effort was fixed.

After that, it was a factor that clearly depended on talent or luck.

Since Hwang Dongyeong knew that it was a level that could never be reached by effort alone, he couldn't help but feel more pity for his current appearance.

"..."

The most frustrated person would probably be Cheon Seong himself.

He might have already realized that it could not be overcome by effort alone.

However, even knowing that fact, there was a reason why Cheon Seong could not give up.

Thump-.

In the end, Cheon Seong grabbed the fallen sword.

Perhaps because the blisters had burst and healed repeatedly, he was already used to the pain.

Cheon Seong took a stance and was about to swing his sword again.

"Young Master."

At that moment, Hwang Dongyeong called out to Cheon Seong again.

Then, Cheon Seong maintained his stance and said to Hwang Dongyeong.

"If you're going to stop me, don't say any more."

"That's not it."

"..."

"There is news that you need to know, Young Master."

When Hwang Dongyeong said that, Cheon Seong's gaze finally moved.

And as he was looking as if to ask what was going on, Hwang Dongyeong began to speak.

"It is said that Young Master Cheon Myeong has returned to the Socheongak."

"..."

As soon as he heard those words, his two eyes widened.

At some point, Cheon Seong had completely turned his body to Hwang Dongyeong and asked in a disbelieving voice.

"My brother has returned... is that true?"

"Yes, it is certain information."

"..."

Thump-.

Cheon Seong, who had not been willing to let go of his sword even when his blisters burst, sheathed his sword.

Hwang Dongyeong asked Cheon Seong.

"Where are you going?"

"...I'm going to the Socheongak."

"..."

From the moment he had brought this up, he had a feeling that Cheon Seong would do that.

'With this, I've prevented the wounds from getting worse, so is it a good thing?'

No, maybe the situation will get worse.

Thinking so, Hwang Dongyeong followed behind Cheon Seong.

Creak-.

Cheon Seong came out of the training ground with his mouth firmly shut.

He did not look happy at all at the fact that he was meeting Cheon Myeong after a long time.

* * *

'Is this enough?'

Cheon Myeong thought so as he looked around the room.

The state of the room was neatly organized.

The traces of Jang Hyeon's drinking party had already disappeared.

'There's nothing else to clean, right?'

The servants had cleaned the room cleanly, and Cheon Myeong himself had also cleaned up the traces of Jang Hyeon that remained in the room.

Even so, Cheon Myeong still couldn't erase the uneasy feeling.

Was it because that guy had used this room for quite a long time?

Even though he had organized the things, he felt that there were invisible traces left everywhere.

"Hmm..."

Cheon Myeong looked around the room with a serious face.

Then, the furniture in the room caught his eye.

'I'll have to change that too.'

Although he had been using that furniture since a long time ago, since Jang Hyeon had occupied this place on his own, those were things that he had also used.

Thinking so, it seemed that it would be somewhat uneasy for him to use that furniture as it was.

"Young Master, are you finished with the cleaning?"

At that moment, Mihwa came into Cheon Myeong's room and asked.

"Mihwa, you've come at a good time."

"Is there something you want me to do?"

"I think I need to change all the furniture in this room."

"All the furniture?"

With a puzzled face, Mihwa began to look at the furniture in the room.

She had looked with the thought that there might be a broken part.

But as a result of checking, all the furniture was in a sound state.

Of course, since time had passed, it was unavoidable that there were some signs of use, but since the furniture itself was high-end, it seemed that there would be no major problem even if it was used for more than ten years in the future.

"Uh... in my opinion, I don't think you need to change it."

"No, I have to change it."

"..."

"And the bedding too."

"Uh... yes, I'll change it."

Although Mihwa didn't know the exact reason why Cheon Myeong was talking like that, since he had ordered it, she decided to follow it as it was.

'If I change the furniture and bedding, it should be okay, right?'

A treatment like that of a germ.

That was something that couldn't be helped.

Even though they were not on good terms, since they had met like that from the first meeting, Cheon Myeong could by no means have a good impression of Jang Hyeon.

'In the end, I couldn't stand it and acted according to my personality.'

But still, he didn't regret it.

If he had shown a submissive attitude to Jang Hyeon as planned, the guy would have climbed up even more.

And since it was the guy who had shown the act of crossing the line first, wouldn't this much be okay?

No matter how much it was the previous Cheon Myeong, it seemed that he would have been angry to this extent.

'But he wouldn't have told him to kneel.'

He admitted that that was a bit excessive.

But still, if he were to go back to that time, he felt that he would have done the same.

'Let's try to act while killing my temper as much as possible from now on.'

Of course, he didn't know how long this act would last.

But in order to move quietly at the main headquarters for a while, it seemed that some acting would be necessary.

If a person suddenly changed from what he had known before, attention would naturally be focused on him.

Then, the attention of the Five Great Demonic Families would also be naturally drawn.

Since it didn't seem like anything good would happen from drawing their attention, Cheon Myeong decided to act as much as possible like his previous self for the time being.

"Young Master, do I have to change the furniture right now?"

At that moment, Mihwa asked Cheon Myeong.

"No, do it slowly after you finish your other business."

"Ah, is that okay? I'm already a little busy..."

Mihwa said, relieved as if it were a good thing.

Cheon Myeong knew the reason why Mihwa had no choice but to say she was busy.

Because the number of people currently working at the Socheongak, including Mihwa, would be only three.

Originally, there were more than twice as many servants at the Socheongak, but Cheon Myeong had sent them all out, just as he had sent Jang Hyeon out.

"..."

He couldn't trust the guys who had come in while he was away from the Socheongak.

Wouldn't they one day become Jang Hyeon's lackeys?

Cheon Myeong had reduced the number of servants with that thought.

The servants who remained at the Socheongak now were only people who were acquainted with Cheon Myeong.

He had judged that the people who had worked at the Socheongak from a long time ago could be trusted, so he had left them as they were.

"Mihwa, it will be tough, but please endure it."

Although he had reduced the number of people for that reason, Cheon Myeong couldn't help but feel sorry for the remaining servants, including Mihwa.

Because the Socheongak was wide for three people to manage.

In order to work leisurely, it was right to maintain the same number of people as before.

"It's okay! I'm just a little busy now, but I'll be free in a little while!"

"..."

"Or, Young Master, are you doubting my skills right now?"

Mihwa said playfully.

Hearing that, Cheon Myeong chuckled.

Cheon Myeong knew that Mihwa was saying that for his sake.

"No, not at all."

When Cheon Myeong said that, Mihwa also smiled without a word.

And she opened the door as if to leave and said to Cheon Myeong.

"Then please call me if you need anything else."

"Okay."

At the same time as the answer, Mihwa went outside and closed the door.

'She's reliable at times like this.'

The moment Cheon Myeong thought so and turned his body.

Suddenly, the outside became noisy.

"...?"

It seemed quite noisy.

It didn't seem to be just because of the cleaning.

Cheon Myeong was about to open the door, wondering what was going on outside.

Thump-.

However, the door opened first before that.

And a man was standing in the open door.

"...?"

Cheon Myeong looked at the man standing there with puzzled eyes.

A very familiar face.

While Cheon Myeong was trying to remember where he had seen that man, the man spoke to Cheon Myeong first.

"What face did you come back with?"

(End of Chapter)