With a push of Sebastian’s spiritual sense, the entire palace came into view. Moments later, he found another assassin.

  The man, wearing a similar red robe to the one Safi just

  killed, had rounded up administrators and other workers in a conference

  room on the other side of the palace complex. Three workers already lay

  dead on the floor, and the killer stepped up to another victim in

  waiting with an excited grin on his face.

  Sebastian reached out with his Soul Seed and compressed

  the space between himself in the garden and the conference room a few

  hundred meters away. He dashed forward and reached the room in a

  fraction of a second.

  The assassin’s sword stopped right as it was about to claim its fourth victim. Sebastian’s hand clasped it like a vise.

  “What the—“

  Sebastian didn’t let him finish his startled sentence. He used his hand as a

  blade, and with a swipe, he cut off the attacker’s arm right below the

  shoulder. The initial crescendo of the man’s scream was stopped before

  it could reach its peak. Sebastian grabbed his throat with an iron grip.

  “How many more of you are here?” There was a calm to

  Sebastian’s voice, like that of the calm in the eye of a storm. His eyes

  stared into the man’s soul. Each desperate kick and punch the man threw

  in his frenzied attempt to break free barely registered against

  Sebastian’s [Heavenly Demon Supreme Body].

  The man’s only response was a series of gargles.

  Sebastian’s grasp on the assassin’s throat was too strong

  for the man to be able to breath, let alone speak., yet he didn’t let

  up. Sebastian simply repeated the question.

  “How many more of you are here?” he asked with a voice just as

  calm as before. His grip grew tighter and tighter. The man had

  completely given up on fighting him off and just scratched at

  Sebastian’s arm, more so some inherent survival instinct rather than any

  serious attempt to escape. “How. Many. More. Of. You. Are. Here?”

  The man raised his one remaining hand and extended all

  five digits. Sebastian continued to stare directly into his eyes,

  unfazed at the man’s attempt to communicate. In a panic, the assassin

  flexed his fingers repeatedly to try and make his message clear.

  Sebastian finally accepted the answer. “Five, correct?”

  A slight nod was all the confirmation Sebastian needed.

  He squeezed until there was nothing left to squeeze. The man’s body

  collapsed onto the ground.

  Sebastian turned his eyes to the three dead workers and

  then to the grateful survivors. He didn’t know what to say, so he opted

  to not say anything at all. He sighed, gave a solemn nod, and left.

  Two down, four to go.

  A single step was all it took for Sebastian to arrive outside the palace grounds.

  Though he saw plumes of smoke and evidence of destruction further out in the city, the guard house adjacent to the palace was closer, and the outer edges of his senses revealed a scene he couldn't ignore. A man, also in a similar red robe, was hacking away at city guards like a farmer cutting down wheat. Mujin's general guards still weren't at a very high level, and the attacker was a First-rate. The guards fought back with all they had, but all they had amounted to little to nothing in terms of actual resistance.

  Sebastian moved, quickly. Space itself compressed as he pounced. Although he could have ended it cleanly, cut the man down with a swift and precise swing of his sword, he didn't. He wanted the attacker to hurt. Dashing in, Sebastian came to a stop right in front of him. A dozen guards lay dead around the communal kitchen with a handful more still breathing now staring at Sebastian's back, relief washing over them.

  "What—" the attacker said in shock at Sebastian's sudden arrival, before being silenced by two hands plunging into his torso.

  Practically baring fangs in anger, Sebastian tore the man in half.

  He offered his guards a consolatory and grateful nod, and then he stepped into the air above the city and assessed the situation. The attacks seemed to be focused on a few specific locations.

  Four

  places have been hit—both the palace and the guardhouse have been handled. That leaves the barracks and

  the magic academy.

  Eduard and Gawen should be at the

  barracks. If the three dead attackers are any indication, those two, along

  with the rest of the officers, should be able to at least hold an

  attacker of that level off, even if it's someone slightly stronger than the

  one Safi fought.

  Víctor is the highest leveled, but

  he’s less of a combatant. Not to mention, the rest of the mages and the

  students are mostly fully non-combatants.

  He took off toward the academy, but halfway there, he stopped.

  An old man with long grey hair and a thin, trimmed beard

  wearing a red robe, similar to the previous three assassins, stood on the

  street below and stared directly up at him.

  In spite of the distance, Sebastian could tell the man

  was surprised to see someone flying above the city. That look of shock,

  however, quickly turned to determination, and anger.

  Sebastian thought to himself upon seeing the old man.

  The man’s hands began to glow with essence as he bent his

  knees. He pushed off the ground with enough force to crack the paved

  street, almost to the point of leaving a crater in his wake.

  It took the man a fraction of a second to reach Sebastian and strike at him with the essence claw which enveloped his hand.

  Sebastian drew his sword and blocked.

  BOOM

  It was the hardest physical hit Sebastian had ever taken, even though he managed to block in time.

  The force of the impact sent shock waves in all directions. The houses beneath them cracked under the pressure.

  Sebastian was focused solely on his attacker but his

  extraordinary senses couldn’t miss the fact that a handful of mortals

  died violently the moment the shock wave reached the ground.

  The man kept swiping his claws and Sebastian defended.

  Each collision was like the detonation of a large bomb, not quite on the

  same scale as the first one but still enough to be dangerous to the

  mortals below. He could handle it himself, but the city wouldn’t survive

  the continued strain of the shock waves.

  Having made a quick decision, he tackled the man and compressed space to force the

  fight beyond the city limits. Within seconds, they were alone over the

  vast barren terrain of the Red Sea.

  Sebastian stopped mid-air, sending the old man flying as his momentum carried him further. A

  streak of red stretched toward the ground as the man crashed into a

  hill.

  It was like a missile had struck.

  The hill cracked and collapsed. Both the resulting crater and the state of the man was hidden by a massive dust cloud.

  Sebastian landed.

  As soon as he was within range, he extended his spiritual

  sense to check on his opponent. He barely got a glimpse before a red

  blur shot out of the dust cloud. Using some strange yet powerful

  Movement Skill, the man zigzagged across the desert and pounced at

  Sebastian.

  The essence claw that enveloped his hand shot out five

  blades of manifested essence which tore through the ground as they shot

  at Sebastian.

  Rather than take the attack head on, Sebastian used his

  own Movement Technique and dodged. As soon as he was out of danger, he

  appeared right next to the man in red and swung his sword straight down

  with an intent stronger than any before it.

  Two clawed hands met the blade and stopped it in its

  tracks, but the attack—or rather, the intent of the attack—wouldn’t be

  so easily halted. A deep cut carved into the ground behind the man. A

  line of blood appeared on his shoulder, but it failed to do much damage.

  It didn’t even slow him down as he launched a series of

  attacks at close range. Sebastian blocked most of them, but not all. The

  claw dug into his flesh and cut deep gashes.

  Groaning in pain, Sebastian retaliated.

  The two went back and forth, until the assassin leader

  unleashed a new Skill. His two clawed hands slammed together and two

  massive, clawed hands manifested in air on either side of Sebastian and clamped together around him. A prison of essence, large enough to encase his entire body, crushing him with

  the force of a mountain.

  “Gah!” Sebastian shouted in pain. His body was strong,

  especially since he ascended to the [Heavenly Demon Supreme Body] stage,

  but it still felt as though he was being squeezed in a vice.

  With what little wiggle room he had, Sebastian sent a [Shattering Strike] into the side of the prison of essence.

  CRASH

  It shattered like glass.

  Sebastian dashed up to the assassin and thrust his sword, aiming to pierce the man’s heart.

  He blocked and they were both blasted back away from each other, each leaving deep marks on the ground as they slid back.

  “You live up to your name, Heavenly Demon,” the man said

  with derision in his voice. “No… I’d go so far as to say you’ve exceeded

  it! I knew you would be strong, how else could you have killed my

  precious students, but I didn’t expect you to be quite this strong.” He

  straightened his back, taking on a posture which seemed to scream of

  both superiority and arrogance.

  Sebastian brow furrowed, he was already scowling but the

  man’s words confused him. “Students?” He looked down as he tried to

  figure out what the man was talking about. With his perfect recall, it

  didn’t take long to put the pieces together. “Wait, don’t tell me your

  students were those two gang leaders from years ago?”

  The old man clenched his jaw at the mention of his

  students. “They may have been criminals who chose their own paths but

  that makes no difference. Not that I would expect the likes of you to

  understand that. Teacher for a day, father for life. The same goes the

  other way around. They were my students, that made them my sons!” He

  glared at Sebastian. If looks could kill, the fight would already be

  over.

  Sebastian chuckled in sheer disbelief and contempt. “Some

  teacher, some father… It’s been over ten years since, and you’re just

  now doing something about it.”

  The man shrugged. “News travels slow in this hellhole of a desert,” he said as he waved Sebastian’s accusations off. “Besides, the Great

  Martial Alliance wants to find you, enough that they made requests with multiple Groups, including our

  Whispering Reaper Guild, to find you and bring you in, dead or alive. I just volunteered so I could

  finally get the chance to avenge my sons.”

  The thought that his own actions caused this, that he

  provoked the father by killing the sons, and in the end his own precious

  people were killed as a result, it enraged Sebastian. “So in the end, you did all

  this!?” he shouted and gestured toward Mujin. “You attack the city,

  burning and killing innocent people as you go, all because some

  criminals you taught years ago picked a fight they couldn’t win?”

  Sebastian’s anger only amused the man. He put on the airs

  of a senior talking down to a junior. “That’s how the world works,

  child. The lives of others don’t matter, unless they matter to me. Don’t

  pretend you’re any different—“

  The old man kept talking, but Sebastian stopped listening. His blood boiled and his breathing was rough.

  It pains me to even think it, but

  he’s right… I’ve learned the same lesson again and again and again! But

  it still catches me off guard.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  This world is brutal and merciless.

  Building the cult has gone so well,

  without any issues at all really, that I… I forgot. This won’t be the last

  time this happens. There will be conflicts, and battles, and entire

  wars.

  Hell, that was the entire point of all this, to build an army to wage war against Lumeria.

  Minor stage increased

  Sebastian sunk into a trance-like state as his mind raced. He experienced a form of true enlightenment.

  His Soul Seed grew within the veil that separated the

  physical with the spiritual. The singularity at its core strengthened

  its pull, and the veil crumbled.

  Bit by bit, it was absorbed, and it fueled the growth of his Soul Seed.

  By this point, I’ve lived in this

  world for almost as long as I lived on earth, but, deep down, I have

  still considered myself a person of earth, summoned to another world.

  I can’t do that, not anymore. I need rid myself of any lingering attachments for my former life.

  I can’t be Sebastian Moore of earth, not anymore.

  I am Baz, the Heavenly Demon.

  The Demon God!

  Minor stage increased

  Sebastian’s original Talent, [Akashic Connection], had

  remained static ever since it first manifested during his initial

  inspection.

  Over the years, he suspected that it helped guide him,

  perhaps it even manipulated circumstances to his benefit. A compliment

  to the [Blessed] Title and a path set out for him by the [System].

  For the first time, he truly accepted his place in this world, and as he did, his [Akashic Connection] Talent resonated.

  The resonance spread throughout his entire being.

  Talent: Akashic Connection upgraded → Akashic Incarnation

  Talent: Akashic Incarnation

  You are the living incarnation of the Akashic System,

  its chosen champion. The Akashic System is bound by Divine Laws to

  maintain balance between the powers of this world, and you have been

  chosen to restore that broken balance through conquest and domination.

  The world itself will aid you in your purpose.

  Analyzing

  Analysis complete

  Title: Blessed upgraded → Chosen

  Title: Chosen

  A title bestowed upon he who has been chosen by the

  Akashic System to be its champion. Your connection to the natural

  essence and laws of the world is unrivaled.

  Title Heavenly Demon upgraded → Demon God

  Title: Demon God

  A title bestowed upon the true supreme Demon Lord of the

  Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as you take a step toward the inevitable

  path of the divine. All those who follow the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult

  will naturally worship the Demon God.

  Sub-title gained: Heavenly Demon

  Sub-title: Heavenly Demon

  A title bestowed upon the Demon Lord of the Heavenly

  Demon Divine Cult who has earned the respect and reverence of his

  subjects and proven themselves worthy. The cult’s future is in your

  hands, it shall rise or fall with you.

  Baz opened his eyes, and it was like he saw the world for the first time. Colors were more vibrant, details clearer. As his Soul

  Seed grew, his Nascent Soul was gradually maturing and could process the

  world around him with unparalleled clarity.

  It was intoxicating, to the point where

  he almost missed the old assassin who was mid-dash toward him, hands

  glowing with claws of essence. One of his hands was extended toward Baz,

  ready to tear him to pieces as soon as he made contact.

  Baz observed his opponent, as though the old man was

  moving in slow motion. He responded by raising his free hand, flattening

  his palm, and moving it down as if slamming a table.

  [Demon God’s Judgment Palm]

  The Palm Technique was created on the spot, the result of the last lingering moments of his enlightenment.

  He combined all his work with Palm Techniques, the

  gravitational power of his Soul Seed, and a newfound intent which

  stemmed from a new understanding of the world itself.

  His hand moved in a way that felt slow, casual even, but

  in reality was faster than his opponent should have been able to

  perceive.

  The clawed elder of the Whispering Reaper Guild was still a few meters away when a shadow engulfed him.

  A palm, several meters wide, manifested above him. The

  pressure and intent which radiated from the palm trapped him, locked him

  in place mid-attack.

  In between moments, the palm fell.

  It struck as though a god was smiting a sinner.

  The old man was not only powerful, he was experienced. On

  sheer instinct, nurtured through a lifetime of battles, he pulled out

  enough power from within to redirect his attack upward to face the palm.

  He had no hope of destroying, or even stopping the attack, but he did manage to slow it, to loosen the restraints it put on him.

  Just as the palm struck the ground, the old monster dashed out from under it and rolled on his side.

  The palm that fell had struck the ground like a meteor

  and yet no one would have been able to tell. Although the ground was

  covered by mere loose sand, not a grain had been displaced. It carried

  with it the same concepts that made his [Fleeting Cloud Step] able to

  avoid affecting the world around it. The Demon God’s palm struck only

  the target of the Heavenly Demon’s judgment.

  When Baz’ enemy shot up to his feet, his red robes were

  torn and darkened with blood. His left arm dangled limp from his

  shoulder. A look of horror was plastered on his face, but it quickly

  turned to defiance. He refused to accept that the man he came to kill

  had grown powerful enough to be an actual threat, mid-battle.

  A claw engulfed his one working hand, stronger

  than all before it, and he thrust it forward toward Baz. A sharp cone of condensed essence shot out like a bullet.

  Baz observed as the attack approach, yet his mind was otherwise occupied.

  When I worked on the [Demonic Sword Arts], I couldn’t figure out how to form the defensive intent, but it feels so obvious now.

  My path is one of conquest and domination.

  There is no need to concern myself with any complicated defensive intent. The best defense is a good offense.

  Any and all who block my path shall be cut down. Any attack shall be crushed. All hope, shattered.

  Analyzing

  Analysis complete

  New Sword Art created: Unnamed Sword Art

  Please provide a name for the Sword Art

  New Sword Art created: Unyielding Sword of the Demon God

  Baz swung his sword, and an invisible force, heavier than any mountain, struck the cone of essence.

  The attack was crushed without any chance to resist.

  Seeing his attack fail caused the old man’s eyes to bulge, but it didn’t dissuade him. He launched attack after attack.

  Baz crushed them all with ease.

  He realized that he was now cultivating his soul,

  something he had known for a while now but only at this moment did he

  realize what that truly meant. His Soul Seed already provided him with

  essentially infinite essence and his [Heavenly Demon Supreme Body]

  already made him physically powerful beyond just about anyone in this

  world. He was now, essentially, above the might of System levels in pure

  power. Even though he could sense that his opponent was a Master, well

  over level 70, Baz could still overpower him. Cultivating his soul

  didn’t necessarily make him stronger, nor did it give him more essence

  to wield, but it improved his control over that essence. It sharpened

  his intent. It would allow him to do more with less, to manipulate his

  essence in ways never before possible. In the future, when he reached

  higher stages, he instinctively knew he would be able to extend that control beyond himself

  and his own internal essence. He would control the world around him.

  But that was a matter for the future.

  For now, he raised his sword and let it fall vertically.

  A line of essence extended into the distance in tandem

  with his blade. A nearby mountain in its path was cut in half, and the

  ground between Baz and that mountain was split in two. The split wasn’t

  large, only about an inch or two thick, but it cut through everything it

  touched, including the elder who had caused Baz and the Heavenly Demon

  Divine Cult such pain.

  He took a deep breath, a habit he felt would remain with him for the rest of his life, and returned back to the city.

  With his new Movement Technique, which he still hadn’t taken the time to name, he arrived in a matter of seconds.

  Things had calmed down, but the attack still wasn’t over.

  The barracks were quiet, but a group of officers chased a man in

  tattered red robes away from the magic academy. They ran across

  rooftops, occasionally throwing attacks at each other.

  Baz dashed ahead of the man and faced him.

  The assassin’s eyes opened wide when he saw Baz appear,

  seemingly out of nowhere, moving so fast that his eyes couldn’t keep up.

  He didn’t even have time to change direction or make any attempt at

  getting away before a Demonic Essence Sword sliced through his legs. His

  momentum continued carrying him even without his legs, causing him to

  collapse and roll along the rooftop before he came to a stop.

  The officers who were chasing him caught up quickly and ignored the agonizing screams as they greeted Baz.

  “Long live the Heavenly Demon. All demons must submit!” they shouted in unison with a bow.

  Baz accepted their greeting with a nod. He turned his

  eyes toward the attacker. “Lock him up and interrogate him, he may have

  information we need. And what of the final assassin, any news?”

  The two officers bowed again. “As you command, Demon

  Lord! Yes, the lords of the barracks killed him. This is believed to be

  the last one, Demon Lord.” They bowed again before they carried the

  still screaming man away, leaving his legs for someone else to clean up.

  A sorrowful sigh escaped Baz’ lips as he looked out over

  Mujin, the home of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, brought to its knees

  by a mere half dozen men.

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