So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

The ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍Southern Military Commander scowled at Eunuch Cha's plan. Next to him, the Sect Leader of the Diancang Sect was also present and wore an equally sour expression.

But the two old men were frowning for very different reasons.

"Going around the mountains and rivers to bypass Ankang and push north would take us way out of our way," the Southern Military Commander pointed out.

"How can you even think of slaughtering defenseless peasants?" the Sect Leader of Diancang shouted.

Eunuch Cha let out a contemptuous snort at the two of them.

One is worrying about his maps, the other is bleeding his heart out.

"Who said we need to march the whole army of two hundred thousand to kill a few peasants? And what makes you so sure they're innocent? Every crop those people harvest will go straight into the bellies of those Demonic Cult traitors. Every farmer working the fields in Sichuan right now is just as much a rebel as the rest of them."

The two old men still looked unconvinced, and Eunuch Cha clicked his tongue inwardly.

‘Tch. This is exactly why you shouldn't waste your time with uneducated fools.’

But since he still needed them around for a while longer, he decided to educate rather than insult.

“By law, those guilty of high treason have their entire nine generations exterminated. Moreover, the fact that those farmers are still alive means they did not resist the Demonic Cult; what else could that mean but that they are in league with them?”

Eunuch Cha spat the words out as if they were the most obvious thing in the world.

In the Eastern Depot and the Imperial Court, where scheming and backstabbing were daily routines, this kind of twisted logic was completely normal. 

He watched their reactions for a moment longer, then delivered his final remarks before walking out of the command tent.

"If you two want to play the saints, be my guest. I'll take care of it myself. But if the enemy tries to crawl out from behind those walls, every bit of credit for that goes to me."

Once outside, he gathered the Eastern Depot operatives he'd brought along when he first joined the Southern Military Command. On top of that, he conscripted a few hundred capable imperial scouts and marched north with roughly a thousand troops out of the Southern Military Command's camp.

***

Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province.

While the rest of the Central Plains was currently burning in the fires of war, this place was somehow enjoying a peaceful atmosphere.

And as fate would have it, there was someone in that city who wanted that peace to fuck off.

"What the hell is going on?! You said Hanzhong was a strategic chokepoint!  You promised me the enemy was definitely going to hit us here!"

Dokgo Ryong had marched all the way to Hanzhong practically drooling at the prospect of war, so he was currently red-faced and screaming from frustration.

He had just found out that the enemy's main army had ignored Hanzhong entirely and chose to march their entire force of two hundred thousand straight past them to attack Ankang instead.

"That's it! Pack your bags! We're taking the boys and marching to Ankang right now!"

The second Dokgo Ryong jumped to his feet, Seo Wan-pyeong grabbed his arm in a panic.

"You cannot do that, Right Guardian! If we abandon Hanzhong and the enemy takes a detour to occupy it while we're gone, what are we supposed to do?!"

"Hmph! Simple! We just march back and crush the skulls of whoever took it!"

Seo Wan-pyeong's head started to throb at the Right Guardian's impossibly retarded logic.

‘Youngest... no, Left Guardian! What sin did I commit for you to subject me to this tribulation?!’

He had never once felt jealous or angry at his youngest brother for rising to a higher rank than himself, but Seo Wan-pyeong found himself particularly resentful of Il-mok today.

"The Left Guardian had reasons for splitting the forces the way he did. Please, exercise restraint.”

Seo Wan-pyeong practically had to grab Dokgo Ryong by the leg to keep him in place, and he had to do this every single day.

Whenever reports came in that the enemy's main army had failed another siege, Dokgo Ryong practically threw a tantrum. And when the reports of back-to-back victories at Wudang and Ankang came in, the man was practically foaming at the mouth and ready to bolt.

"PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, PLEASE EXERCISE RESTRAINT!!"

Seo Wan-pyeong was the one foaming at the mouth at this point, working himself ragged trying to keep that rabid dog in check.

And so another day passed in the usual chaos, until an unexpected visitor arrived.

"A messenger from Ankang has arrived!"

Hearing those words, Dokgo Ryong's eyes lit up like a pair of burning torches.

"Bring him in. Now!"

Dokgo Ryong prayed to whatever gods were listening that the message would finally tell him to pack up and get to the front lines. Seo Wan-pyeong prayed just as hard, hoping the message would contain a literal muzzle to keep this bullheaded old man quiet.

The messenger stumbled in and held out a letter.

"Th-the Left Guardian ordered me to deliver this to the Right Guardian."

The moment he heard it was from Il-mok, Dokgo Ryong practically snatched the letter out of the man's hands.

As Dokgo Ryong scanned the letter, his expression went through a rapid series of transformations.

The first was outrage.

The letter described the situation in Sichuan.

It explained that a detachment had been split off from the Southern Military Command and sneaked past Ya’an and was heading for central Sichuan. The letter also explained that they were massacring civilians indiscriminately and burning fields to the ground as they went.

But the outrage on Dokgo Ryong's face didn't last long before it turned into a burning bloodlust.

‘Right Guardian, the second you read this, take the cavalry and hunt down that Southern Military Command's detachment.’

The leash around his neck had finally snapped loose.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Dokgo Ryong cackled like a madman as he hurled the letter aside and bolted out of the tent before anyone could say another word.

"...???"

Baffled, Seo Wan-pyeong picked up the discarded letter and read it over.

Then he let out a long, slow breath of relief.

"Freedom at last."

Losing Dokgo Ryong and the cavalry would weaken Hanzhong's defenses, but he couldn’t give a fuck.

And no, it wasn't because he had some unshakeable trust that his youngest brother had a backup plan ready.

It was purely a matter of his sanity being intact.

"If that letter had come even two days later, I would have been a dead man."

This was the first time ever since achieving Transcendence that Seo Wan-pyeong had come close to a Qi Deviation.

While Seo Wan-pyeong was busy thanking the heavens, Dokgo Ryong was already running at light speed toward the cavalry barracks.

"MOVE OUT!!!!"

When the cavalrymen looked at him with utterly baffled expressions due to the complete lack of context, he roared again.

"What are you all standing around for?! Get ready NOW!! Anyone who isn't set in one fifteen minutes gets their head cut off by me personally!!"

Terrified by his ultimatum, the soldiers who had been lulled into the complacency of peaceful days snapped to attention and scrambled to prepare.

And indeed, just as the brief span of a single cup of tea had passed—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With the wild beating of the war drums, the gates of Hanzhong swung open, and three thousand cavalry came racing toward Sichuan.

***

Within a certain county in Sichuan Province.

It was a peaceful place, home to around five hundred households with most of them being farmers.

And yet, unjust disaster struck them.

"Burn the fields and kill every man you find!!"

Following Eunuch Cha's orders, the Eastern Depot operatives swung their blades at the defenseless farmers. Even the regular imperial troops who’d been dragged along seemed to have lost their humanity; they were tossing torches onto the dry farmlands like it was just another day at the office.

'It's the rebels’ food.'

'Can't let 'em have a single grain!'

They told themselves whatever their conscience needed to hear as they burned an entire year's worth of backbreaking labor to ashes.

Once the fields were torched, the soldiers turned toward the village with vile smiles on their faces and headed toward where the eunuchs were busy killing the farmers.

"Come on, let's get in on this before they have all the fun."

"Since those nutless eunuch bastards can't do anything with the women, I guess it’s up to us to show them a good time. Hehehe."

Lust was plain in their eyes as they moved.

Whenever they carried out these massacres, they made a habit of leaving the women and children alive.

They did this not out of mercy.

No, they kept the weak ones alive just so they could drag them to the gates of Ya'an and butcher them one by one in front of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

—If you want to save these people, open the gates and crawl out!

—If you're not just a bunch of hypocrites, come out and fight!

These hostages were utilized as psychological bait to lure the holed-up cultists out of the fortress. The captives were as good as dead regardless, which made them fair game for the soldiers to do with as they pleased on the way there.

This was why the soldiers were now rushing into the village to secure women for themselves. If the castrated eunuchs took their frustration out by disfiguring the women’s faces first, it would spoil the soldiers' amusement.

The village was a slaughterhouse of blood and screams.

Slash.

As they cut the helpless peasants to ribbons, the soldiers and eunuchs kept screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Don't blame us! Blame the Demonic Cult for not saving you!"

They yelled it over and over as if none of their own hands weren't stained with blood.

But right as the peasants' faces froze in terror, and right as the killers' eyes lit up with sadistic glee—

FWOOOOOSH!

A rain of arrows suddenly poured down from above.

Thwack. Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.

"AAAARGH!!"

Screams erupted from every direction as arrows punched into flesh, and from that direction came the voice that has become Eunuch Cha’s nightmare.

"YOU FATHERLESS SONS OF BITCHES, HOW DARE YOU!!"

Eunuch Cha's head whipped around, and there he was.

Sitting atop a warhorse at the head of three thousand thundering cavalrymen was none other than Dokgo Ryong.

The color drained from Eunuch Cha's face before he even realized it.

All around him, arrows were still raining down from the nomadic cavalry.

It was at that moment that Dokgo Ryong spotted him and bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"IT'S THAT SHIT-PANTS BASTARD FROM LAST TIME!!!"

That single shout sent all the blood rushing straight to Eunuch Cha's face and turned him red.

"You dirty rebel! I'll skin you alive!"

He screamed with fury and lunged toward Dokgo Ryong.

But for some reason, his body wouldn’t listen to him. His mind was filled with fury but his legs refused to move.

Meanwhile, the air continued to fill with incessant screams and groans of agony. Only this time, the cries of pain did not belong to the innocent commoners.

"Butcher every single one of these bastards! If even one of these roaches slips away, I'm holding all of you personally responsible!"

"YES, SIR!!"

The three thousand riders roared back instantly.

Eunuch Cha, still unable to force himself forward for reasons he couldn't name, screamed his orders in desperation.

"ATTACK!!"

The eunuchs and soldiers who had survived the arrow volley charged toward the cavalry.

"GYAAAHH!!"

And right then—

Slash!

The torso of the first eunuch who had bravely charged forward was cleanly bisected by Dokgo Ryong’s greatsword.

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!"

Drenched in blood, Dokgo Ryong let loose his trademark maniacal laugh and started carving through every enemy within reach.

For Eunuch Cha, the sight sparked a terrible sense of déjà vu. He'd seen this scene play out in the north.

Gulp.

He swallowed hard against a dry throat and screamed again. "Kill those traitors, I said!! KILL THEM!!"

He lopped off the head of a soldier standing frozen beside him in terror, and the shock of it got the remaining soldiers and eunuchs hurling themselves at the cavalry despite the fear crawling up their spines.

The moment he had driven all his remaining men toward the cavalry, Eunuch Cha spun on his heel and bolted in the opposite direction without looking back. He was using his own troops as human shields to buy himself time to escape.

"Oh no you DON'T!!"

But Dokgo Ryong had let him slip away once before and had no intention of letting it happen again.

"Giddyup!"

He mowed down every enemy in his path as he gave chase, with part of the cavalry riding alongside him to cover his flanks.

"Fire!!"

FWOOOOOSH.

The arrows they loosed from horseback kept cutting off Eunuch Cha's escape routes no matter which way he twisted.

After dodging and weaving like a maniac to escape Dokgo Ryong and the constant rain of arrows, Eunuch Cha couldn’t help but freeze.

Ahead of him was nothing but fire.

His path was completely blocked by a towering wall of fire that he and his men had set while burning the village’s farms. To make matters worse, Dokgo Ryong and his horsemen had deliberately herded him toward the flames like a pig to the slaughter.

Eunuch Cha stared at the wall of fire blocking his path and spun around.

"Hehehehe. Gotcha."

Dokgo Ryong was already standing right there, staring down at him with a grin manic enough to terrify a madman.

Maybe it was the blistering heat from the fire, or maybe it was his Post Traumatic Dokgo Disorder acting up, but Eunuch Cha felt his sphincter completely give out.

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