Trait Hoarder-Chapter 275

Divine Army Commander – Part 2

Tap.

The radiance from the cosmos came to a halt.

Right at the Divine Army Commander’s nose.

Crack— His skin split open.

His eyes, unable to stop trembling, now held the wrath of a storm.

If it had gone just a little deeper, his head would’ve split open.

Had the Cosmic Sword not been forged into a perfect blade form—had it flickered even slightly like a flame—his nose would’ve been gone.

It was easier than expected.

The Divine Army Commander’s Heavenly Demon Art was laughably crude compared to the one I encountered in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do.

If I were to rank them…

Gwangju Heavenly Demon Art ]]] Uncrossable Fourth-Dimensional Wall ]]] Cosmic Sword ] Divine Army Commander’s Heavenly Demon Art ]]] Nephilim Sword.

Something like that.

‘I’ve still got a long way to go.’

I reaffirmed my resolve.

The Cosmic Sword was undeniably powerful.

Layered Celestial Walls—no, evolved same-type fusions—formed a dimensional barrier tougher than the Heavenly Demon Barrier.

If I evolved Thor Cultivation Technique, it might surpass the Heavenly Demon’s internal arts. If I evolved Grand Assault, it might be better than Heavenly Demon’s Imperial Step.

But that’s only because the Divine Army Commander hadn’t fully mastered the Heavenly Demon Art.

This couldn’t compare to the genuine article.

‘Just how strong is the Heavenly Demon himself?’

The kind of person who can rival gods with a human body.

There’s a reason they call him the greatest of all time, on Earth and beyond.

I must not settle for the Divine Army Commander. I have to go further.

There’s only one way.

I need to grow the World Trait more.

It was the evolution through same-type fusion that made it this strong.

What kind of power awaits with cross-type fusion?

‘If only the Divine Army Commander had been a little stronger…’

Unfortunately, growing the World Trait thanks to him ended here.

After that one evolution, it showed no signs of growing further.

Isn’t there some other 8.5-level superhuman out there using the Heavenly Demon Art?

If so, I might be able to take the next step soon.

“Guh…”

As I shot him a sharp look, the Divine Army Commander stifled a groan.

Then, accepting the risk of brushing against my sword tip, he lowered his head.

“I concede. Sword of Korea.”

He admitted his defeat.

I simply gave a calm smile.

The Divine Army Commander… the strongest Level 8 in Arcane Seoul, excluding the Saintess in her Episode Boss state.

When I first met the Legion Commander, I was struggling just to withstand his mana pressure.

But now I had taken down the Divine Army Commander, someone even stronger, with ease.

“No way…”

“Th-The Divine Army Commander…”

“This must be a dream!”

“The Heavenly Demon Art… the Heavenly Demon Art!”

The Demonic Cultists all began losing their minds in unison.

To their eyes, I had completely dominated the fight, and then overwhelmed him in one final burst.

I sheathed the Black Tiger Sword and extended my right hand.

“Thank you for the match. I learned a lot.”

“Heh. What could the Sword of Korea possibly learn from me? You overwhelmed me in spirit, energy, and body.”

“I truly did learn a lot. That Cosmic Sword I used earlier—I created it using what I learned from fighting you.”

“Cosmic Sword? Ah, you mean that bizarre energy technique? I’m honored. It seems I unintentionally helped you create a new martial art. You surprised me. I may be nothing compared to our Master, but still—it was the Heavenly Demon Art, and you split my Heavenly Demon Sky-Piercing Palm clean in two.”

His tone had subtly changed.

He now clearly regarded me as someone above him.

That’s what I liked about the Demonic Cult.

Once you defeat them in battle, they become fully cooperative.

I glanced over at the eternally sealed adamantium door behind the Divine Army Commander.

“May I enter now?”

“Ah! Of course. However, this is the most sacred area of our sect—only you, Sword of Korea, should enter.”

“Very well.”

I decided to leave the disciples outside.

Kali puffed out her cheeks.

“Ugh! But I wanted to meet the Heavenly Demon too!”

“If he were in good health, it’d be fine—but he’s not. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Ah… right… Actually, never mind! You don’t have to tell me!”

Only four of us went in.

Me, the Divine Army Commander, the Blood King, and the Grand Elder.

All three wore solemn expressions.

Even when the adamantium door groaned open with a metallic creak, revealing a corridor lit by dazzling magical lights, their faces did not brighten.

As we walked down the corridor, the Divine Army Commander spoke with a stiff expression.

“Sword of Korea… do you believe something has happened to the Master?”

“Yes. That’s why I came. You’re aware, aren’t you? I’m currently at war with my former father’s cult.”

“I saw the news.”

“Then you saw the black dome as well.”

“That’s what makes this even harder to understand. How could anyone possibly deploy the Heavenly Demon Barrier on such a scale? I may be limited, but even I can barely protect just myself.”

“And the Heavenly Demon himself?”

“The Master…”

The Divine Army Commander swept his gaze down the distant corridor as though lost in thought.

The Blood King, walking beside me, answered in his stead.

“Sword of Korea. Even the Master has never deployed it on such a massive scale. Once, when we were children, he used it to shield us from a flood of venom launched by an Imoogi.”

So the tone changed, huh?

That’s how the Demonic Cult works.

They’ve decided I’m clearly stronger than they are.

“Then you’re saying the area-of-effect barrier was within his capabilities?”

“Exactly.”

How far had we walked?

A second adamantium door now blocked our path.

It was etched top to bottom with magic circles, and embedded with enchanted gems in all the critical points.

Whatever fortune was poured into this thing, even the Nephilim Sword might not break it.

Well, the Cosmic Sword or Heavenly Demon Art definitely could.

“I’ll open it.”

The Divine Army Commander operated a complex control panel himself.

One by one, he bypassed the security measures.

Fingerprint scan. Retina scan.

DNA recognition.

Mana wave recognition. Mana wave encryption.

And finally, soul detection.

Only then did a cold, emotionless mechanical voice respond.

[Welcome to the Heavenly Demon Hall, Divine Army Commander.]

[Opening Heavenly Demon Hall.]

[Heavenly Demon Reigns! Ten Thousand Demons Bow in Submission!]

Grrrrk.

At last, the Heavenly Demon Hall opened.

Inside, it resembled the Repentance Hall where the Blood King had once been confined.

Except instead of a dark, gloomy cave, it revealed a grand reception room of a massive mansion.

So opulent and immense, it called to mind the lobby of a five-star luxury hotel.

“Huh?”

The Divine Army Commander flinched as he stepped into the Heavenly Demon Hall.

“This…”

The Grand Elder narrowed his eyes.

Why were they reacting like that?

I soon understood why.

A faint metallic stench reached my nose.

I hadn’t activated Heightened Intuition, Sensitivity, or Keen Nose, but as a Level 8 superhuman, even the faintest particles in the air couldn’t escape my perception.

The Blood King, still bound by his sealed mana, blinked slowly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Come, disciple! Quickly, follow me!”

“W-Wait—!”

The Divine Army Commander’s body blurred, warping through space like magic.

Can’t let him get ahead.

I activated Lightning Leap to catch up.

We raced neck and neck through the mansion-like interior of the Heavenly Demon Hall.

The Divine Army Commander dashed past the reception area, descended underground, passed through the training wing, and finally entered the deepest training chamber.

A space larger than a soccer field.

There he was.

The Heavenly Demon.

With a hole in his chest.

His skin had turned gray, drained of all life.

Dried out like a mummy.

Seated upright, like a marble statue.

The Divine Army Commander’s pupils dilated.

“Master!”

A grief-stricken scream.

In a flash, he vanished and reappeared before the Heavenly Demon.

Then, he dropped to his knees and wailed.

“Master! No! How—how could this happen?! You said you were going to ascend! That you would wait for us in the Celestial Realm! What is this?! What has happened?!”

The Grand Elder arrived next.

The moment he saw the Heavenly Demon, his body went rigid.

Like he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.

Then he collapsed, crumbling like a sandcastle.

“Oh, Heavenly Demon… Oh, great Heavenly Demon!”

His face went slack with disbelief.

Not quite kneeling. Not fully bowing. Just collapsed, calling out to the Heavenly Demon again and again.

The Blood King arrived last.

He stormed in with heavy footsteps, flung open the half-closed doors.

His eyes bulged wide.

As if his eyelids had been ripped open.

Or were about to tear.

“Y-You… YOUUUU!”

What burst from him was rage.

“I’LL RIP HER TO SHREDS!”

Fury.

“That damn wretch! That absolute disgrace of a human being! I’LL RIP HER STOMACH OPEN MYSELF!”

His mana seal shattered.

A bloody aura exploded from his body, tearing through the space like a storm.

Uh-oh, no good.

I immediately reached out.

[Domain Shield][Domain Shield]

The two lower traits linked together.

[[Pure Barrier]]

A trait stronger than even most upper-tier ones enveloped the Heavenly Demon.

That wasn’t all.

I also intervened in the Blood King’s rampaging mana.

Redirecting it as much as possible away from the Heavenly Demon.

You could tell at a glance—that was a corpse that had been dead for decades.

Mummified like that, a single blast of mana could shatter it.

At last, the rampaging Blood King calmed down.

Then, rather than salute with fists, he bent at a full ninety-degree bow toward me.

“My apologies, Sword of Korea! Had you not intervened, I would’ve become the most unfilial disciple to ever walk the earth!”

“It’s alright. I understand.”

Crack!

The Divine Army Commander ignored the Blood King’s tantrum entirely.

He clenched his jaw, glaring only at the Heavenly Demon’s corpse.

“Master! Please wait a little longer. I will sever the head of the degenerate who committed this crime and offer it to your spirit!”

“She must die!”

The Grand Elder screamed in madness.

“We must tear her limbs apart, destroy her dantian, and throw her to the venomous beasts of the South! Let them devour her entrails while she still breathes!”

“Indeed! Naturally! We’ll make her curse the fact that she ever drew breath! She dared lay a hand on our Master!”

“Senior Brother! Withdraw your punishment and let me deliver it! If I don’t lead the charge in ripping her apart, I will not be able to face our Master in the afterlife!”

“Hold on.”

I raised my hand to silence the three.

I agreed with punishing Mahu.

But we had to understand the situation clearly first.

[Bright Eyes]==[[Eye of God]]==[Bright Eyes]

The body was rigid.

No blood.

Even within the wound, not a single drop of blood remained.

Meaning—he had been dead for a long time.

At least twenty years.

In contrast, the wound itself was fresh.

At most, no more than a year old.

In other words, Mahu did not kill the Heavenly Demon.

But the Confucian dragon within me stirred.

A master is like a parent.

We’re not talking about a school teacher or college professor—this is the traditional disciple system, and the Master-Father-Sovereign trinity still holds.

And she gouged out her master’s heart?

Like extracting a mana core from a beast?

She didn’t just cross the line—she erased it.

“Mahu did not assassinate the Heavenly Demon. He passed away—ascended—more than twenty years ago. The heart was stolen after his death.”

“Sword of Korea! Even so, this cannot be excused! Even if she coveted the Heavenly Demon Art, to carve out his heart—this is not just betrayal, it’s sacrilege!”

“She must be torn apart!”

“Let us kill her at once!”

Perhaps it was the shock of seeing the Heavenly Demon’s body.

The three of them could not be calmed.

I was the only one still thinking rationally.

There was no choice.

I swept my hand, unleashing a gust of mana.

The thick layer of dust vanished.

A magic circle engraved on the floor revealed itself, reacting to my mana.

“Hm?”

“What is this?”

The three instinctively recoiled.

And then, they realized what they were seeing.

A magic circle faintly dyed in black and gold.

Between the intricate geometric symbols were divine characters etched in fine script.

[Because all three of them knew exactly what those letters meant.]

The Divine Army Commander clenched his teeth and hissed the name, his bloodshot eyes burning.

“The Old Father… That damn demon god! When Master was still reigning, they used to crawl on their bellies to offer tributes, and now they dare to pull something like this?!”

I pointed to the divine magic circle.

The sacred light in my eyes pierced through every layer of its identity.

“This magic circle fixes residual mana in place. That’s why, even after the Heavenly Demon’s heart was taken, his presence and mana still lingered so vividly.”

“Wait… you mean… he passed away?”

“I don’t think that’s the case. The Heavenly Demon is Level 9. The greatest being in all of history—and the strongest on Earth. If he had simply reached the end of his life, he would’ve at least left a final message behind for his disciples.”

“Then… did only his soul ascend? But if so, he wouldn’t have been able to reach the Celestial Realm…”

To ascend and become an immortal, or to become divine by rising, mana is essential.

A physical body helps, too.

It buffers the impact of breaking through the dimensional wall.

So then, why did the Heavenly Demon leave his body and mana behind on Earth?

Judging from the circumstances… this wasn’t just a case of death.

“Whatever the reason!”

The Divine Army Commander roared, his voice like fire.

“The crime of defiling Master’s body, of violating the sacredness of the Sect—can only be paid with blood!”

“Death to the traitor!”

“Judgment upon the blasphemer!”

“Divine Army Commander! Acting Cult Leader! Declare a holy war! Let us show that vile witch and the twisted cult of that evil god the wrath of the True Sect!”

The Grand Elder bellowed, eyes sparking with fury.

The Blood King surpassed even that—his entire body surged with a crimson demonic aura.

“Kill the witch! Kill the Saintess—no, the sorceress! And wipe out every last follower of the Old Father!”

“Yes! By the authority entrusted to me by our Master, I will convene the Grand Assembly! Every Demonic Cultist and every True Sect follower shall attend without exception! From the Elders down to the lowest initiate, from Central Asia in the west to the Far East—send word to every corner of our ten-thousand-li domain! Tell them to come to Tianshan immediately!”

“At your command!”

The Grand Elder shouted with thunderous force.

BOOM!

He saluted with such intensity that the shockwave almost crashed down upon the Heavenly Demon again—I had to instantly reactivate Pure Barrier.

“Disciple!”

The Divine Army Commander turned to the Blood King, his eyes flashing like lightning.

“Send an emergency order to the Protector Alliance as well! That wench Mahu told me she had business in Brazil—and disappeared. Who knows what she’s scheming in South America?! We must warn them in advance! Tell the Mamakilla Cult that the traitorous woman who desecrated her Master’s body is in Brazil!”

“At your command!”

The Blood King responded, loud and clear.

Wait a second.

What did he just say?

Brazil? Mahu is in Brazil?

In that instant—

A flash erupted in my mind.

[“I’m still destined to die. Don’t you get it?”]

What Poka said, looking at her own archbishop.

[“I will respond to the dispatch request.”]

A line likely written by Mahu herself in her reply.

Not Great Resurrection, but the Birth of a Divine King.

Plan B. Or maybe C.

The Saintess’s words. Her gaze. Her behavior. The black dome in Gwangju.

All of it intersected at a single point.

“Poka!”

The name burst from my lips unbidden.

Poka—the Living Saint—is in danger!

The Wraith King was stopped by me, but the Saintess didn’t give up.

She’s still targeting the Living Saint.

As a sacrifice for the birth of the Divine King!