The Demon King of Kang Hwan-gye (1)
The border of the Kanghuan region, the Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang Province.
“I recognize the great King of Demons who has descended on this earth.”
““I know the king of devils!””
In the huge and magnificent Daejeon, countless people knelt down at the same time and shouted at the top of their voices.
On the other side of the main hall, to the person sitting in the gorgeous Taesa Temple located on the high stairs.
“Hmm.”
The new supreme being who received everyone’s worship, Demon King Hans, looked down arrogantly, resting his chin on his arm resting on one armrest.
A sneer appeared on the cold middle-aged man’s face, and naturalization burned in his eyes that were as shiny as glass.
The interior is spacious enough for hundreds of people to have a leisurely party, and is so high that measuring the floor height is meaningless.
The sight of so many people gathered together in such a place, bowing down in unison, was truly spectacular.
What’s the feeling of sitting in a high seat with a view of the entire space, and receiving their emotions of fear implicitly all at once…
‘That’s really awesome.’
···I was very satisfied.
In any case, Hans was a collection of negative emotions and a symbol of negativity from birth.
Every time his eyes, illuminated by a strange light, lightly swept over the prone people, their bodies reacted by twitching involuntarily.
Even though the qualifications for those who could enter this Daejeon, the ‘Shinmajeon’, were strictly restricted, the number of those who gathered for the general meeting was close to one hundred.
Even so, the number has been greatly reduced due to the huge purge storm that took place not long ago, otherwise it would have easily been in the hundreds.
‘I’ve done enough pruning. It took some time because there were a lot of stubborn people, but it wasn’t that difficult to swallow up an organization of this size. As expected, it was good to set an example.’
Needless to say, the voluntary cooperation of the existing command was essential in order to fully absorb a force as strong as the Heavenly Demon Church.
However, no matter how much Hans proved his abilities by using force, it was natural that it would be difficult to easily accept an unidentified being who suddenly appeared as a leader.
What naturally followed was appeasement, threats, example and execution using any means possible.
A series of purges in which those who can become one’s limbs are selected and those who are deemed impossible to rehabilitate are eliminated.
The result was now.
“Please order anything, O Most High!”
Really he is.
They eventually subdued the gigantic power called the Church of the Heavenly Demon and devoured it.
Hans, who was leisurely looking around at those lying on the floor, slowly opened his mouth.
“Okay, what is the location of the Cheongi Horse Ship? Did you understand?”
The highest-ranking figure among those who left the headquarters and the general manager of external operations in charge of the detachments, Ya Yul-hwan, a military member of the Heavenly Demon Church.
The person who answered the question about his whereabouts was the head of Tongcheongak, an information organization of the Demonic Cult.
“···I apologize. It seems that former military officer Ya Yul-hwan has noticed the changes that have occurred at the headquarters. “Not only has all connection with him been cut off, but contact with the special forces dispatched to other places is also being cut off one by one, making it difficult to determine his location.”
The current senior officer of the Demonic Cult’s Intelligence Department answers while bowing his head as if he has no shame.
At that negative answer, Hans looked down at him.
I was wondering if he was having other thoughts and was making a fuss.
‘···Sigh, my breath… Even the previous Heavenly Demon cult leader wasn’t like this…’
Due to the immense sense of intimidation that came with that gaze, the headmaster broke into a cold sweat and closed his eyes tightly.
He really had no intention of going against the will of the new Supreme Being.
Because he saw with his own eyes what happened to the boss who only pretended to give in on the outside but had other thoughts behind the scenes, and the now vacant position of Tongcheonju.
‘I’m not afraid of death. But… But that’s not true!’
What was at the end of meaningless resistance was not just death.
What follows is only eternal pain and despair, with no hope of any peace in the afterlife.
That merciless tyrant will never let them go, whether in life or in death.
In front of him, death could never be an escape.
“Hmm, good. “Something big happened this time, so you should understand that.”
“ah! Seong-eun is devastated…”
“But only this time. Clear up the confusion as quickly as possible, establish secret lines connected to each region, and resume information collection. “If you get a disappointing answer like this next time—I’ll have no choice but to reconsider your usefulness.”
“···Jonmyeong!”
Bugakju, who flinched at the bloody sentence that followed at the end, shouted loudly and threw his head on the floor.
Now was not the time to lament about my situation or anything like that.
If he couldn’t prove his worth while alive, he would die and be used as a resource.
Now, if you protest that Tongcheon-gak is a military organization directly subordinate to the military, there is bound to be a difference in its control, but there is no way that tyrant will understand it, right?
If you want to live, you have no choice but to do something.
“······.”
“······.”
Even while the conversation was going on between the two, Daejeon was dead quiet.
Even though close to a hundred people were gathered together, not even a sound could be heard.
“Then, next is…”
Amid such suffocating tension, Hans’ calling of names, understanding of work status, and subsequent giving of instructions continued for some time.
The atmosphere was quite tense, but it was all as intended.
The reason for issuing the order to summon all executives in the first place was to reinforce discipline and warn against reckless behavior.
‘Now then—one last time.’
And finally, Hans’ gaze turned towards the last remaining people.
The direction he was most looking forward to was where the people gathered.
A department where researchers study various psychic techniques, including jiangshi and curses.
To the place where the Gaehwa Palace executives are.
***
Gaehwagung (開化宮) is the general name for the research facilities of the Heavenly Demon Church.
It was an organization in charge of learning, analyzing, and improving all mysteries except martial arts.
Although the main mystery of this world was martial arts, that did not mean that research on other systems could be neglected.
Unlike martial arts, which can be dealt with more intuitively, techniques performed in all kinds of unusual ways can cause more fatal damage if not properly understood.
Among them, the Church of the Heavenly Demon was a famous organization that mainly dealt with the evil and unethical arts of Buddhism, rather than Taoist or Zen magic.
There is even a saying that if the two major mountain ranges on the Yangji side are the Zhuge Dynasty and the Mosan School, then in the Yinji region there are the Celestial Demon Church and the Blood Cult.
‘I also said that even that blood religion has been absorbed into this side. It is said that after a war that went on beneath the surface, the leader of the Blood Cult, Hyeolma, was defeated and killed by the Heavenly Demon…’
It was a passage that showed how much preparation the Demonic Cult had made during the period of silence following the bloody death of the imperial palace.
He was working so hard while being checked by Geum Oh-do. If he had not quickly intervened and dealt with Heavenly demon, the entire Kang Hwan Realm would have fallen into their hands in no time.
“Welcome, Most High! “Welcome to Gaehwa Palace, the greatest cradle of knowledge on the continent!”
And now, the old man who came out to meet Hans and welcomed him warmly was the former highest elder of the blood religion and the current owner of Gaehwa Palace.
After the Blood Demon passed away, he was the second-in-command of the Blood Cult who led his forces and committed himself to the Demon Cult, and was also a psychopath who personally turned the body of the former leader into a Gangshi and presented it to the Heavenly Demon.
For your information, that Jiangshi is currently mobilized for an external operation and cannot be found right now.
“Come on, come this way. I am so happy that the Most High is showing interest in our Gaehwa Palace! In fact, the previous religious leader tended to treat us like a studio producing some kind of strong poetry…”
Also, thanks to his tendency, when Hans occupied the Heavenly Demon Church, he was the first person to raise a white flag and surrender completely, declaring active cooperation.
It is also an undeniable fact that thanks to this, the task of devouring power was somewhat easier.
“I thought you would understand us, perhaps because you are a fellow magician! Ah, that day is still vivid in my eyes. At the moment when even the sky did not dare to look down on the earth due to the dark clouds brought by the Most High, it was as if the flames of the underworld descended on this world…”
Of course, not only was he simply an opportunist, but the reverence for him, who overthrew the original order of the Demonic Cult with only heavenly ‘skills’ without using any martial arts, must have also played a role.
No matter what anyone says, he was one of the best magicians of modern times who devoted his life to magic.
“This is a place to study curses. In fact, there are many people who look down on curses due to the perception that they are of little help in a head-to-head match and that it is difficult to break through the anti-magic power of someone who has reached a certain level, but that’s just saying that you only know one thing and don’t know the other. As the Most High knows, once you are cursed, even if you are an expert in the field, you can easily escape it…”
However, even such a Gaehwagung lord had one fatal flaw.
It was just that there was a lot of talk.
Of course, it wasn’t that he was comfortable with Hans, but rather he seemed nervous and talked a lot, but I couldn’t help but feel a strange feeling about it.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter as long as you don’t cross the line. Above all, it is difficult to find a man of this level of skill in this minor martial arts world. ···Anyway, it’s amazing to see this place again.’
Hans, who was looking around the inside of the lab while half-listening to the chatter beside him, was inwardly impressed.
Although I had already been to this place once while organizing lectures, I felt something different as I calmly looked around the place where the research process was clearly revealed.
“Hoo? this is···?”
“Ah, you have great taste! This is a place where we produce and improve the best of the Yokai Gangshi that our school is proud of. The object I am currently working on is a giraffe, a spirit beast that is said to be comparable to a dragon. In fact, unlike other demonic monsters, the process for spirit beasts is very difficult, and we use contaminated Yeouiju…”
A four-legged animal that appears to be well over 3 meters in height.
Although the fur that was supposed to shine with five colors had lost its luster and there was no trace of vitality, the status of a higher being emanating from that body was extraordinary even at first glance.
‘Is it really like that?’
And the moment he encountered the manufacturing process, Hans was able to clearly catch a glimpse of some of the secret meaning of Gangseo techniques that combined the visions of demonic and blood religions.
At this very moment, not only was there an explanation from the Queen of Gaehwa who was talking loudly right next to me, but—.
Various skills such as “Unholy Sage,” “Forbidden Knowledge,” and “Way of Magic” dismantled and analyzed in real time the mystery taking place right under our noses.
The resulting torrent of knowledge came as a great emotion to even him, who had never shown any significant changes in his emotions.
“… That’s really great.”
“I thought you would recognize me! Well, if we were to look at the level of perfection, it could be said that the Heukgangsi, which the Most High had commanded, are better. “Isn’t the goal of Gangsiksul to raise the body’s inactivity to a level of perfection?”
I nodded slowly, with the voice next to me making a fuss in the background.
In his mind, new concepts combined with the lectures he had learned from time to time were being mixed with existing knowledge and reassembled into his own mystery.
This was an opportunity.
In the meantime, Hans has constantly expanded his horizons by coming into contact with knowledge from numerous worlds.
The thing that contributed the most to that knowledge was probably what was forcibly obtained through the Buncheonhoe.
And at this moment.
What has been accumulating for so long has finally crossed the critical point.
《The individual’s awareness grows beyond its limits. The special skill “Forbidden Knowledge” evolves into “Forbidden Truth.”
It was Hans who was rooted in the black magic of Outerica.
It was the moment when I gained access to a library of forbidden knowledge encompassing a wider range of categories.
***
‘I guess I’ll have to focus on this for a while.’
Hans, who has evolved his skills, decided to stay here at the Gaehwa Palace for the time being.
“Forbidden knowledge” was a treasure trove of unclean magic, including various black magic.
The “Forbidden Truth” from which it grew allowed him to access various knowledge that he had not been able to access before, and it contained a lot of information, including the Kang Hwan world’s Kang magic techniques, the various systems derived from them, and their improvement methods.
‘Now is also the perfect environment to gather this knowledge.’
Of course, since it was right after swallowing up a huge power, we couldn’t just focus on research.
Although they had already used the entire Cheonsan Mountain as their territory and placed barriers and magic tools here and there, there was still a need to inspect the interior on a regular basis to make Hans’ presence clear.
‘Well, I guess I’ll just have to deal with that.’
Anyway, at his level, this kind of parallelism was nothing.
Of course, what he was facing now was not that simple.
Hans’ exclusive laboratory located in Gaehwagung Palace.
There were two bodies lying side by side on the bed in the center.
This place where he is now, with the Heavenly Demon, the former owner of the Heavenly Demon Church…
“Kukkuk — Ah, definitely. “I think I can see things a little more clearly now that I have a control group.”
It was a new sample sent from Earth, a scribe.
‘If this is enough, I can really get started.’
During their lifetime, they were apostles who worshiped the god Beoncheonhoeju, but now that they have fallen into Hans’ hands, that will now become a thing of the past.
From now on, they will be forged into ‘godslayers’, daggers aimed at the gods they serve.
