WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 112: Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art 2
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“Yuri.”
Lorelia’s expression had returned to the one Yuri knew. She smiled like a priestess, a smile that did not suit her title.
“Sacred Flame Divine Art and Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art share the same foundation, but the martial art of Wi Jin-hwa, the current Heavenly Demon, differs from mine. Your martial art will differ from mine as well.”
Yuri thought of Biyeon, the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader. Was the martial art she used Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art? He did not know, but it differed from Yuri’s Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil.
“When I practiced the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil, I felt that it was incomplete. Even when I could have reached the sixth tier, I held back from advancing. I had never questioned its incantation while practicing it, but I did then.”
“That is wonderful.”
Lorelia answered with a smile.
“From now on, you must find your own answers to that incompleteness and those questions, then add to the incantation yourself. I, Lorelia, also added a Mental Image at the stage of doubt you have reached, becoming who I am now. The Heavenly Demon did the same.”
“Are Sacred Flame Divine Art and the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil ultimately the same thing?”
“They differ depending on what you seek. Wi Jin-hwa’s Sacred Flame Divine Art, which sought to become the Heavenly Demon, became Heavenly Demon’s Divine Art. My Sacred Flame Divine Art, which sought to kill him, annihilate evil, and set the principles right, became the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil.”
The path changes according to the Mental Image one holds.
“The Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil I taught you is Sacred Flame Release, which can become anything. Do you remember when I said there were countless paths in martial arts?”
“Yes.”
“Even if a path began in hell, whether it heads into its depths or follows an entirely different route is for you to decide.”
The incomplete incantation was not a flaw in the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil. It posed questions so its practitioner could choose a path.
All those questions, contemplation and love for martial arts, the life one had lived, and the life one wished to live. They became nourishment for one’s martial arts.
‘I am fire that carries out heaven’s punishment, an asura that annihilates evil, and an apostle who sets heaven’s principles right. My hands uphold sacred flame, and my feet trample demons...’
What was heaven’s punishment? What were heaven’s principles? He had questioned those words. If there was a later part to the incantation, he had wanted to ask Lorelia about it or hear it directly from her.
He had already received his answer.
“To me, this martial art is the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil.”
Its original name had been Sacred Flame Divine Art. Lorelia’s Mental Image and incantation did not carry over into this martial art.
“Lorelia taught it to me and called it the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil, so that’s what I’ll call it too.”
It was a martial art meant to become the Heavenly Demon.
Yuri had never thought of becoming the Heavenly Demon, but if an existence that ascended to divine status at the tenth tier was called the Heavenly Demon, then he wanted to become one. Killing the Evil God would be impossible without attaining divine status.
Strangely, that thought calmed him. The inner power in his dantian tingled for a moment, then burst into flame.
Yuri sat cross-legged on the rock and closed his eyes.
The Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil began circulating on its own before he even willed it to.
The heaven spoken of in this incantation was not the Goddess of Order. If anything, the gods of this world refused to allow humans to attain divine status, so setting the principles right meant defying the gods.
The Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil was a martial art that defied heaven. It resisted the will of the gods, corrected the natural order, and ascended to heaven.
What would he offer and burn to ascend? He did not know what the Heavenly Demon had offered. Lorelia had offered hatred and killing intent.
Yuri had also offered killing intent. Most of the moments when the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil had advanced came while he was fighting enemies.
When he faced enemies he could never defeat, enemies he wanted to run from, enemies he feared. When he resolved that he would win, no, that he would kill them.
He remembered that first step.
Logos, two years ago.
When he fought the Blood Fiend.
The step he took because he did not want to lose anything, run away, or regret it.
He did not want to leave them to die. He wanted to protect them. He knew that stepping forward might cause everything he had built to collapse, yet he did not hesitate.
Lee Su-hyeok had been an empty person. He was alive, but alone, with no one around him.
He had been a coward who did not want to return to his original world, worrying that every relationship built on lies would end in ruin.
Even if he turned away in fear, ran away, and survived alone, he would have regretted it for the rest of his life.
He did not want to regret it. Instead of running, he chose to face it and fight.
Even if he was condemned as a liar and everything ended in ruin, he wanted to protect them.
To avoid losing anything, he had to move forward. He could not gain change by stepping back or running away.
‘I wanted to change.’
He filled that emptiness with flame. He nurtured it through sheer will. With his eyes closed, flames appeared in the darkness of his vision. The fist-sized spark gradually grew until it blazed fiercely.
‘I am fire that carries out heaven’s punishment, an asura that annihilates evil, and an apostle who sets heaven’s principles right. My hands uphold sacred flame, and my feet trample demons. I swallow sacred flame and burn it within myself. I step forward and kindle sacred flame...’
Before long, Yuri stood before the flames.
Within them, a massive serpent of fire raised its head and looked down at him. It had grown larger than when he last saw it, like an imugi becoming more than a serpent and turning into a dragon.
Yuri silently met its gaze, then slowly extended his hand. He had no intention of shaking hands, so the hand he held out was a fist.
The serpent had no hands and could not offer a fist in return, but blazing flames approached Yuri.
His fist and the flames touched.
“Ah...!”
Lorelia clasped her hands together and cried out. Flames erupted around Yuri’s cross-legged body atop the rock, and he slowly began to rise.
‘Have you attained enlightenment!’
He must have found his own answer to the question he had carried for so long. If what one wished to become and attain was clear, there was no right or wrong answer.
Lorelia watched Yuri sitting cross-legged in midair, a pleased smile on her face.
The fiercely burning flames filled Lorelia with longing.
When Lorelia and Wi Jin-hwa first practiced Sacred Flame Divine Art, their qi had resembled flames like those. Yet they changed differently according to the Mental Images they desired and held.
‘Though I said there is no right or wrong...’
At first, Lorelia had wanted to take that form. Just as the martial art’s name suggested, she had wanted to become a blazing sacred flame.
What was she now? A Hell Path that wished to burn and cleanse every evil in the world, then trample ten thousand demons to death. That was what sacred flame meant to Lorelia now.
She had learned a martial art that sought to defy heaven and become the Heavenly Demon, yet she had gained faith. That alone was a great contradiction.
‘Faith does nothing to help one escape the bonds of mortality and challenge divine status.’
‘Awaken from your delusion, Lorelia. Cast everything aside and burn it away. Temper and sharpen yourself.’
The Heavenly Demon, Wi Jin-hwa, was Lorelia’s sworn enemy, but the advice he had left her was correct. Knowing that well, Lorelia had spent two years facing the wall and pondering it.
Yuri’s body slowly descended.
The flames went out.
Yuri let out a long breath and opened his eyes. A red gleam flashed in them, and Lorelia smiled brightly.
“Have you crossed the wall?”
“Yes.”
He could have reached the sixth tier long ago, but he had deliberately held back.
There was no longer any reason to do so.
“How do you feel?”
“I can’t really explain it.”
The sixth tier was the realm where the Upper Dantian opened and one entered Intent. Intent was not the Upper Dantian’s only function. Yuri felt a slight dizziness and shook his head.
He was only standing on solid ground, yet he felt seasick as though he stood on a ship tossed by raging waves. Yuri steadied his body as it threatened to sway and focused.
He could sense mana and qi far too clearly. Qi was not particularly concentrated in this area, yet it felt tangible enough to push his body this way and that.
‘Now I understand why my attacks never landed.’
Against masters like Lorelia and the Fist King, Yuri could not remember ever landing a proper attack. This transcendent sense was ordinary to them.
‘If I add Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death to this...’
His head spun from just trying it a little. His broader, more detailed, and more sensitive perception of lightning qi was overwhelming his actual senses.
Yuri staggered, gripping his knees before they could buckle, and drew ragged breaths.
‘I need to get used to the Upper Dantian’s senses first.’
His body was adapting even worse than when he had taken Elixir. Was this what it felt like for the Upper Dantian to open completely? Yuri shook his dizzy head and looked at Lorelia.
Blood.
An overwhelmingly strong scent of blood drifted from Lorelia. It was not real. It was a perception gained from opening his Upper Dantian. Intent, which he could now perceive clearly, created even scents that did not exist.
That was how much Lorelia’s Intent and Mental Image resembled a hell thick with the scent of blood.
Yuri swallowed hard and clenched his fists. He forced strength into his legs, which wanted to retreat in terror.
Part of him thought the fifth tier, when he did not know, see, or feel any of this, had been better. Now that the Upper Dantian’s vision had opened, he keenly understood how strong Lorelia was and how horrific her Intent was.
“From this realm onward, you must be even more careful of Intent.”
Lorelia spoke with a smile. The slaughterhouse-like scent of blood disappeared without a trace.
“A battle of Intent begins with being able to see and feel it, but if you are careless, you can be broken by Intent before you even begin fighting. Sublimating Intent into martial arts is Conceptual Apotheosis!”
The sixth and seventh tiers were divided by whether one could refine Intent, turn it into martial arts, and unleash it. Yuri nodded with a tense expression.
“Now, Yuri! Let’s get you dressed first!”
Clap! Lorelia brought her palms together and smiled. Yuri froze at her words and looked down at himself.
“...”
Just as at the Mabeld Family estate, Yuri was completely naked. The only difference was that Estor and Haryeong were not nearby this time.
“I, Lorelia, take great joy in seeing how wonderfully your body has been trained!”
Lorelia did not even pretend to cover her eyes. Instead, she examined Yuri’s body from every angle with a serious, appraising gaze.
Yuri hurriedly covered his groin and curled up.
“C-can’t you lend me some clothes first?”
“Yuri! What are you talking about? These robes are sacred garments that only priests of the Sect of Order may wear!”
“No... This is kind of urgent...”
“It is not urgent! You have already reached the sixth tier, and I, Lorelia, am immensely proud of you!”
Lorelia’s smiling red eyes shifted. Staring at Gebra on Yuri’s right wrist, she continued.
“Still, Yuri, you possess a curious item. What exactly is that?”
“They say it’s a Divine Relic of the Sect of the Anvil.”
“Then I, Lorelia, have even more reason not to take off my priestly robes for you!”
“You don’t seem upset that I have a Divine Relic?”
Standing around awkwardly did not seem any better than sitting down completely. Yuri plopped down and bent forward as if stretching.
“A Divine Relic without faith behind it is ultimately a convenient tool! And you are not a follower of the Sect of Order! Therefore, I, Lorelia, will not concern myself even if you use a Divine Relic of the Sect of War!”
“Whew...”
He had worried that possessing Gebra or the Banner of Reversing the Death Realm might offend Lorelia, so Yuri let out a relieved sigh without meaning to.
“Why are you sighing? Do you really possess a Divine Relic of the Sect of War?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“?”
Lorelia’s curved lips twitched and stiffened.
“How do you possess a Divine Relic of the Sect of War? That goddamn idiot sect would never give a Divine Relic to an outsider.”
“Well, to be exact, I didn’t receive it directly from the Sect of War...”
He had stepped on a land mine. He sensed it, but it was too late. Yuri desperately explained how he had obtained the Banner of Reversing the Death Realm.
“Whew...”
After hearing the entire story, Lorelia’s cheeks trembled.
“Won... derful, Yuri...! So you accepted that Divine Relic with the resolve that no matter what powerful enemy you faced, you would not run away! You would gather your courage, fight, kill, and win!”
“Yes, of course!”
“Truly won, derful! It would have been so nice if it were not a Divine Relic from that goddamn idiot sect!”
Lorelia felt half pride and half anger. She was proud that Yuri had steeled himself with the resolve to kill, but angry that it was a Divine Relic of the Sect of War.
To ease these complicated feelings, she needed to throw a punch. Yet Lorelia was not a madwoman who threw punches without reason.
What reason did she have to throw a punch at wonderful Yuri, who had crossed the wall into the sixth tier and resolved not to retreat even before a formidable enemy?
“The Young Cult Leader!”
The answer flashed into her mind.
“You joined forces with the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader!”
“What?”
Out of nowhere? When was she even talking about?
“The Demonic Cult is evil! Heavenly Demon Wi Jin-hwa is a bastard who must die! The Young Cult Leader is no different!”
“You said you would not hold the Dang Family guilty by association...”
“Are you taking the Young Cult Leader’s side in front of me?”
“I didn’t know the circumstances...”
“Now you do!”
Lorelia drove her foot into Yuri’s back as he sat naked and bent forward.
The sudden return of violence brought Haryeong and Estor, who had been elsewhere, closer.
“...”
Neither could speak at the sight before them. They did not know the details, but naked Yuri was being stomped by Lorelia.
“You two, come over here!”
Lorelia sharply turned her head and beckoned Haryeong and Estor. Haryeong hesitated for a moment, then handed Yuri the robe she had been holding.
Yuri was not the only one who had joined forces with the Young Cult Leader.
Violence had to be fair.
“We will stop here for today.”
The violence only ended when the sun was setting. Lorelia shook blood from her hands with a refreshed smile.
“For... today?”
Unlike before, Yuri could not even sit up. Lying on the ground, he barely lifted his head to look at Lorelia.
“How long do you plan to keep this up...?”
“Are Dark Blossom and Sword Dragon your companions?”
It was a sudden question. The two were unconscious on the ground, unable to make a sound. Yuri gently nudged Haryeong, whose face was buried in the dirt, so she lay properly.
“They are my friends.”
Lorelia beamed at that answer.
“Given the right opportunity, Sword Dragon and Dark Blossom can also cross the wall. So I, Lorelia, will give them that opportunity and push them over it.”
“Then... what about me, since I have already reached the sixth tier...?”
“The sixth tier is not the end of martial arts! Yuri, let us seek the end of martial arts together!”
He had asked in the hope he might escape harsh training, but as expected, it had been a pointless hope.
“Um, I need to return to Jeongyeon Inn in Dunjung within a few days.”
“Go ahead! Even as you are now, you can reach Dunjung in a day if you sprint at full speed!”
She was telling him to go.
Yuri swallowed a sigh and nodded. Aside from how much it hurt... it was training no martial artist would refuse.
“Are we going to keep staying here, though? What if someone comes?”
Yuri looked around as he spoke. They had caused quite a commotion, yet no one had come. That bothered him.
“Someone may come, but there is no need to worry!”
“Where are we?”
“This is Sharp Sword Valley of Uicheon Mountain!”
Yuri’s mouth fell open.
Uicheon Mountain was home to the Uicheon Sword Gate, one of the greatest sword sects among the Righteous Sects.
Sharp Sword Valley was the forbidden ground of the Uicheon Sword Gate, which strictly prohibited outsiders from entering. In the game, it was where the head of the Uicheon Sword Gate appeared.
“Are we allowed to be here?”
“Of course!”
Yuri asked in disbelief, but Lorelia answered with a radiant smile.
“If they come, we can ask them to make us a meal!”
Fortunately, it seemed Lorelia already knew them.
Footnotes:
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