The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

Night passed and morning dawned.

Sunlight slowly began to enter the room where Cheon Myeong was sleeping, and when the room was completely bright, Cheon Myeong quietly opened his eyes.

"Hmm..."

For some reason, his body felt more sluggish than usual as soon as he woke up.

Cheon Myeong stretched while lying down as if to shake off the sluggishness of his body.

And as he stretched, he felt more refreshed than before.

'Come to think of it, I think I woke up once yesterday...'

He seemed to have definitely heard Baekjo's cry.

Was that the reason why his body was sluggish?

Since it was a guy that never cried at night, this was the first time he had woken up in the middle of his sleep like last night.

'Why did it cry?'

Thinking so, Cheon Myeong looked around the room.

And his gaze stopped at one place.

Where Cheon Myeong's gaze was directed, something of unknown identity was placed.

"...?"

What is that?

Although something was visible, it was so crushed that it was difficult to recognize its shape, so it was difficult to judge properly from here.

Swish-.

In the end, Cheon Myeong got up from his seat and approached that place. And he lowered his posture and carefully examined what was on the floor.

'A bug...?'

Although its original shape was almost gone, it was definitely a bug.

And it was a type of bug that was not easily seen on a regular basis.

Realizing that fact, Cheon Myeong looked at the torn bug with a serious gaze.

'This looks like a Musibong.'

A Musibong is a type of bee.

The biggest characteristic compared to a normal bee is that this guy has no wings.

That was the biggest reason why its name was Musibong.

But if that was all, Cheon Myeong would not have bothered to remember its name.

'Why is this guy...'

Cheon Myeong thought so and looked at what was at the very back among the scattered debris.

On that part that looked like a tail, there was a sharp stinger, and on the stinger, a liquid that had not yet dried was smeared.

"..."

A Musibong is a poisonous insect.

And it is a poisonous insect with a deadly poison that can kill a person, not just to the extent of causing swelling.

If a person were to be stung by that stinger, their breathing would become difficult in an instant and they would die within half an hour.

In fact, there were quite a few people in the martial world who had died after looking down on the Musibong because it was small.

If one did not know of its existence, one could be easily caught off guard.

'A coincidence...? No, there's no way this is a coincidence.'

As a Musibong is a dangerous poisonous insect, it was not a bug that could be seen so commonly.

For such a guy to be in his room.

Cheon Myeong already felt a lot of suspicious signs.

'To think they would try to kill me already.'

Doesn't it feel like a deliberate killing intent?

Cheon Myeong was almost certain that someone had tried to kill him in the middle of the night using a Musibong.

In fact, the method of assassinating a person using a poisonous insect was a method that was occasionally used in the martial world. That's why Cheon Myeong remembered the existence of the Musibong.

In order to not be caught by such a method, it was necessary to figure out the method the opponent was using in advance.

But still, this was the first time an assassination had been attempted on him in this way.

"..."

What kind of guy on earth tried to assassinate him using such a method?

He could roughly narrow down the scope.

It was surely the work of one of the Five Great Demonic Families.

But that was all; he could not yet figure out who among them was the culprit who had attempted the assassination.

'Jang Hyeon? No... it's still too early to conclude that it was his doing.'

Of course, the possibility of it being Jang Hyeon's doing was the greatest for now.

But anyone at the main headquarters could be a suspect.

Cheon Myeong thought so and decided to leave the possibility more open.

"...?"

At that moment, a question came to Cheon Myeong's mind.

It was certain that someone had tried to kill him using a Musibong, but who on earth had killed the Musibong in this way?

Looking at the traces, it seemed that someone had trampled on the Musibong as it was approaching him.

'I could have been in a dangerous situation if I had been poisoned.'

Of course, even if he had been poisoned by the Musibong's poison, he would not have died.

If he resisted the poison with the internal energy in his dantian, he would be able to hold on to some extent.

And in the meantime, it was a problem that could be solved by manufacturing and taking an antidote.

'Who on earth killed the Musibong?'

But still, it was an undeniable fact that Cheon Myeong could have been in danger because of the Musibong.

Cheon Myeong became curious about who had protected him in the middle of the night.

"Peep-!"

At the sudden sound, Cheon Myeong turned his head.

Then, Baekjo was standing there with a somewhat confident appearance.

And Cheon Myeong's two eyes widened as if he had realized something when he saw Baekjo.

"Could it be... you did this?"

"Peep-!"

"...Really?"

It was hard to believe.

To think that Baekjo had killed the Musibong in such a way.

Rather, he would have believed it if Baekjo had been caught by the Musibong, but it was hard to believe that a guy who had been born only ten days ago had subdued a poisonous insect with a deadly poison.

"Peep, peep-!"

As Cheon Myeong looked at it with a suspicious gaze, Baekjo began to cry as if it were angry.

As he was listening to that cry, Cheon Myeong recalled what had happened in the middle of the night.

'Come to think of it, I woke up because Baekjo was crying.'

He hadn't known the reason why Baekjo had cried earlier.

But now that he thought about it, he could tell that it was because Baekjo had subdued the Musibong.

But he didn't even know that and had gotten angry in his sleep and had told it to be quiet... now that he thought about it, from Baekjo's point of view, it was quite unfair.

"..."

Although Baekjo was now crying as if it were angry, it also seemed to be expressing its unfairness.

Realizing those facts belatedly, Cheon Myeong smiled awkwardly and said to Baekjo.

"I'm sorry for doubting you, it seems you were the one who saved me."

"Peep-!"

"...Are you sulking?"

When Cheon Myeong asked, Baekjo completely turned its body as if to express its sulking with its whole body.

A back that was somehow difficult to approach rashly.

Cheon Myeong looked at Baekjo and couldn't say anything and scratched his head.

"Uh... I said I'm sorry."

"..."

"Are you going to keep sulking like that?"

"...Peep."

"Then it can't be helped. I was going to feed you a lot of meat from the morning as a reward for saving me..."

Before the words were out, Baekjo had already turned its body towards Cheon Myeong.

Seeing this, Cheon Myeong chuckled inwardly.

As expected, he knew that all problems would be solved with just one piece of meat.

"Well... since you don't seem to want to accept my reward, I'll have to take it back."

"Peep, peep-!"

When Cheon Myeong said that, Baekjo flew onto Cheon Myeong's shoulder as if it were in a hurry.

Looking at it, it seemed that all its sulking had been resolved, but seeing Baekjo, Cheon Myeong unknowingly felt the urge to play a prank.

"Why? Weren't you sulking at me?"

"Peep-!"

"It's okay. You don't have to force yourself to accept it. Instead, I can just eat all of your share of the meat."

"Peep, peep, peep-!"

If he played any more pranks, it seemed that it would really get angry.

Cheon Myeong decided to stop the prank at this point and said to Baekjo with a light smile.

"It's a joke, a joke. I'll tell Mihwa, so don't worry."

Hearing Cheon Myeong's words, Baekjo shook its body as if it were happy.

And it was even acting cute, rubbing its head against Cheon Myeong's cheek.

'Are you that happy?'

Seeing the happy Baekjo, Cheon Myeong's mood also improved.

But the smile soon disappeared from his face.

'Although it was something I had expected, they are moving faster than I thought.'

He had expected that there would be an assassination attempt on him someday before he came to the main headquarters.

But to start moving already.

He had been deliberately hiding his strength in order to delay such a movement as much as possible.

But it seemed that all his efforts had been in vain.

Although he had not yet identified the culprit, he had already learned that there was a being who wished for his death.

'For now, the priority is to find out who tried to kill me with a Musibong.'

What should he do after finding out?

Although he hadn't thought about it in detail yet, this one thing was certain.

'Find and kill.'

From now on, it was a fight of who would kill and who would be killed.

Since that side had drawn its sword first, this side would just respond in the same way.

If he didn't want to die, he had no choice but to kill the opponent.

That was the Demonic Cult, the world Cheon Myeong had lived in.

'I can't let my guard down for even a moment from now on.'

Stroking Baekjo's head with his finger, Cheon Myeong was looking ahead to the future.

* * *

In front of Jo Seokjin, a man was bowing his head with a nervous face.

The man's name was Jo Ducheon.

Like Jo Seokjin, he was a member of the Snake Jo Family, but he was a person from a branch family, not a direct line.

As a result, in terms of status within the family, he was far below Jo Seokjin, and that difference seemed to be sufficiently known just by looking at the appearance of the two now.

"Speak, why is that guy still alive?"

When Jo Seokjin asked, Jo Ducheon's body flinched.

And still with his head bowed low, he barely opened his mouth and said.

"I definitely sent a Musibong... it seems the assassination has failed."

The person who had sent a Musibong into Cheon Myeong's room was Jo Ducheon.

According to the original plan, Cheon Myeong was supposed to be stung by the Musibong's stinger and be found as a corpse in the morning without anyone knowing.

Although he didn't know the exact reason, Cheon Myeong was still alive.

And since there was no trace of being poisoned, even Jo Ducheon, the person who had sent the Musibong, couldn't help but be in a difficult situation now.

"The assassination seems to have failed..."

"..."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"P-please forgive me!"

Jo Ducheon said that and prostrated himself on the floor.

However, Jo Seokjin's face was still extremely cold.

And Jo Ducheon could feel that coldness without even having to raise his head.

"My order was clearly to kill Cheon Myeong."

"I-I don't know what method he used, but it seems that the Musibong doesn't work on him..."

"Really? Then you can just kill him with another method."

"Another method..."

Is he telling me to sneak into Cheon Myeong's room myself?

That's too dangerous.

He had heard that Soyeon Sang, who had been dispatched from the Guardian Hall as Cheon Myeong's escort, was at the Socheongak.

Isn't that why he had tried to kill Cheon Myeong using a Musibong?

If he were to be discovered by Soyeon Sang after sneaking in, he would be a dead man.

"It's too dangerous to try any more! And now, the security will be even tighter..."

"You're the one who provided the cause, aren't you?"

"..."

"If you had succeeded in one go, things wouldn't have turned out like this."

Hearing that, Jo Ducheon unknowingly clenched his fist.

However, no matter how much he clenched his fist, he could not raise this fist.

Because both in terms of status and skill, he could not handle Jo Seokjin.

Realizing that fact, Jo Ducheon slowly began to release the strength from his fist.

"...Please give me one more chance."

In the end, Jo Ducheon had no choice but to say that.

After all, Jo Seokjin would never withdraw the assassination order.

And he did not have the authority to refuse Jo Seokjin's orders.

'From the beginning, there was only one choice left for me.'

This was the fate given to the branch family of the Snake Jo Family.

Absolute obedience to the direct line.

Unless he could drain all the blood flowing in his body, Jo Ducheon had no choice but to follow that fate.

"Good."

Jo Seokjin said with his characteristic sneer.

"I am generous. I will give you another chance."

"..."

"This is the last time."

"...Thank you."

He had to kill Cheon Myeong.

Otherwise, Jo Seokjin would kill him.

No, perhaps he would not only take his own life, but also lay a hand on his family.

Jo Seokjin was a guy who was capable of doing such a thing.

'I have no grudge against you... but you'll have to die.'

A killing intent that had lost its direction.

Originally, the direction this killing intent should have been directed at was right in front of him.

But since a huge cliff was blocking the way, the direction of the killing intent had no choice but to be directed at Cheon Myeong.

(End of Chapter)