The Double Agent of the Heavenly Demon Sect - Chapter 1

I received news that my younger sister had died.

 

I didn’t shed a tear.

 

———-

 

The light flickered. The floor of the training hall felt cold. 

 

I looked down at my hand resting on the ground. This wasn’t ordinary metal. The surrounding area was covered with a faint reddish glow. It was a metal known as the Indestructible Heavenly Iron. 

 

No matter how hard you strike it, it leaves no trace. It was famous for being unmarked even under the most intense force. 

 

And yet, here it was, deeply dented in several spots, randomly warped to will. As if it was subjected to overwhelming violence.

 

“A dog should bark. Bark with all your might at your enemy, Gatekeeper Jeokwoon(Red Cloud). Go on. Try barking. Maybe if you howl nicely, I’ll spare you.”

 

Accompanied by the sound of a scraping chair, a voice far above spoke.

 

I couldn’t respond. I just kept silent.

 

Before me was a monster. The gap in power between us was so vast it felt meaningless to quantify.

 

One? Two? No, it was pointless to try to count the difference.

 

—I was nothing compared to this presence.

 

Unrivaled through the ages. The most beautiful under heaven. A matchless warrior.

 

All these descriptions belonged solely to the woman before me.

 

“Still, you have some sense. You’re not completely blind, are you? If you had tried to fake a cry just now, I would’ve ripped out your tongue.”

 

“…”

 

“I despise mediocrity, Jeokwoon. Many have tried to deceive me, but only a few survived. Those that managed to escape were those who groveled and fled. But you—you don’t have that option.”

 

The sound of her standing from her chair echoed. I didn’t dare meet her gaze; all I could do was stare at her feet as they approached me.

 

It was just the delicate foot of a young woman, but it felt as heavy as if it bore the weight of all the metal in the world.

 

“Those who barely escaped did so because they were worthy—such as Yeon Cheon, the famed Flying Sword, or Pa Raksa, known as the wielder of the Nine-Headed Dragon Flash. They all had respected titles. But you, Jeokwoon, are merely a gatekeeper. Just a lowly gatekeeper. You guard the gate at dawn and at night. Your role is to die first, alerting us to any danger. That’s the job of a gatekeeper in this cult.”

 

“…”

 

“Since your role is minor, your skills are lacking as well. I expect nothing from a gatekeeper. Most can’t even sound an alarm before they die. But even a corpse serves as a messenger, arriving promptly at my doorstep.”

 

“…”

 

“Jeokwoon, pitiful gatekeeper. Your skill level is so poor, it’s laughable. So, I’ll ask only once. Just once before I tear you apart. There will be no second chance.”

 

She stopped in front of me. Her foot, which I had been watching, lifted and pressed against my chin, forcing me to look up.

 

And I came face to face with her.

 

The Heavenly Demon.

 

—The leader of the most dangerous cult under heaven.

 

“Why is a dog of the orthodox sect standing guard at my gate? Hmm? A spy from the Martial Alliance?”

 

… Of course.

 

So she’d known from the beginning.

 

I opened my mouth to speak but didn’t know where to begin.

 

The weight I’d borne as the eldest child who was expected to revive a poor family?

 

The helplessness of having to do unwanted, risky work due to my lack of background?

 

The fact that even as a spy for the Martial Alliance, I was treated as a disposable pawn?

 

My head throbbed. I couldn’t think straight.

 

… But in the end—

 

—I didn’t want to die.

 

“I was gathering information.”

 

I forced my vocal cords to work. I managed to speak somehow, to say something—anything. 

 

The creature in front of me was like a beast.

 

So I had to speak. To survive.

 

“To gather information, you say? What kind of information?”

 

“All information related to the Sect. Anything deemed valuable, I would send to the Martial Alliance through carrier pigeons.”

 

“Hmm. Excellent. I like how concise your answer is. Let’s continue, then. Gatekeeper Jeokwoon, as a gatekeeper, the information you can access is limited, isn’t it? You hardly get anything worthwhile, do you?”

 

That’s true. Being a gatekeeper, even as a spy, wasn’t a very significant role.

 

“Yes. That’s correct.”

 

“Then why did you remain as a gatekeeper?”

 

“Because it was the mission assigned to me.”

 

The Heavenly Demon yawned.

 

“How low, how pitifully low. Your value is extremely limited. Even among spies, you’re no more than a lowly pawn. A true spy would have tried to penetrate deeper into the Sect. Like…the Twin-Headed Snake who disappeared recently, or even the Seventh Demon of the Eight Demons who vanished. Many within the cult suddenly decided to abandon us. Tell me, Jeokwoon. Why was there a sudden order to retreat?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“Let me rephrase. Why didn’t you leave?”

 

“… I was to leave last. It was part of my role.”

 

“Ah! A distraction, I see. You’re a discarded pawn… That explains it. There’s no need to inform a pawn of the stakes.”

 

The Heavenly Demon shrugged, her gaze shifting toward me with a wicked smile. Her face was closer to that of a mischievous child than an absolute ruler.

 

“Here’s the next question. It may be the last. Don’t worry. Since you’ve been so obedient, I’ll break your neck in one move.”

 

“…”

 

“Gatekeeper Jeokwoon. Do you know where you are?”

 

“… This is the Cult Master’s training chamber.”

 

“That’s right. This is my training chamber. It’s quite well-known, actually. People say that the Heavenly Demon Cheon Soso’s personal training chamber contains nothing at all. There aren’t even guards stationed here. There’s truly nothing here. The only marks left are traces of martial arts, unrefined and disorganized. I don’t bind myself to set techniques or sequences. I don’t cling to manuals or secret arts. I am the Sect, and only I can be called the Heavenly Demon.”

 

“…”

 

“Dog of the orthodox sect. Gatekeeper Jeokwoon. Why did you come to a place where there’s nothing to gain? That is what puzzled me the most. Don’t spout nonsense about coming to meet me. You had no intention of entering the training chamber, which has been vacant for some time. This place was more likely to starve you to death than to bring you face-to-face with me.”

 

The Heavenly Demon’s foot tilted slightly, causing my chin to quiver.

 

“This is information even a gatekeeper of mine would know. If you claim you got lost, I’ll break your jaw. You were clearly observing this place. Was it to deny that you were a discarded pawn, or was it to gather information on the traces I left here? If it’s the former, then it’s pointless. If it’s the latter, then you’re a fool. So, which is it?”

 

Which… is it?

 

I closed my eyes. When I closed them, all I saw was darkness.

 

But it didn’t bring me peace. Beyond the darkness, there was always light. I was afraid of that light.

 

The world was harsh.

 

Light always passed by, just out of reach. I could never grasp it.

 

It had always been that way.

 

So much so that a letter casually informed me of my sister’s death due to illness.

 

Whether the Martial Alliance failed to send enough money, or whether my parents squandered it on other things, I didn’t know. All I knew was that my sister was dead, and I held a letter full of my parents’ excuses in my hand for a long time.

 

My family was suffocating. My father was a gambler, my mother obsessed with a strange religious cult. The only decent ones among us were me and my sister. But even she had been frail since birth and suffered from countless minor illnesses.

 

I needed money.

 

An enormous amount of money.

 

To the point where I had to pour my entire life into it.

 

“…”

 

The truth was, I knew.

 

That being a gatekeeper in the Demonic Cult was the most expendable position for a spy of the orthodox sect.

 

That the delayed retreat order was intended to use me as a shield.

 

Even if I escaped from here…

 

—Nothing would change. I would still yearn for light, yet never be able to grasp it.

 

“…”

 

What stood before me was death. No words could persuade her.

 

She was the Heavenly Demon, the absolute ruler of the Demonic Cult. A monster who could snap my neck with the slightest movement of her hand.

 

Does that make me a fool, then? Not at all. She had survived countless schemes, a master of both martial arts and intelligence—unequaled throughout history.

 

That’s who the Heavenly Demon was.

 

… So perhaps, at least now, I could speak the truth.

 

My heart came to harbor chilling calmness. The cold sweat trickling down my back slowly faded away.

 

As I came to grips with reality, staring down at the future that lay ahead, my heart felt chilled instead of terrified.

 

‘I want to live.’

 

‘And yet, at the same time, I don’t.’

 

When I realized this, the words came out on their own.

 

“Those born with nothing are destined to face death.”

 

“… Huh?”

 

“That’s what I hated.”

 

I meant it. Honestly.

 

I’d always wanted to escape. To break free from this wretched shackle.

 

To break free from all the negativity that binded me.

 

“I am the Red Cloud of Bicheon Town—that’s me, Cult Master. I was born with nothing. Even on the day I was born, one couldn’t even see the sunlight; I was born under a shroud of clouds. They almost called me Black Cloud, but the setting sun on the mountain saved me. And so, I became Red Cloud(Jeokwoon).”

 

“…”

 

“My family was poor. We had little to eat. Even if we had spoons, all we could scoop was dust. My father was a gambler, my mother was bitter, and I was the only son… With a younger sister. My home was miserable. Even my name was given by the village elder; imagine that.”

 

The Heavenly Demon’s foot moved slightly.

 

“I didn’t ask to hear your pathetic life story, Jeokwoon.”

 

“Because I was born with nothing, I worked to gain something. I learned the sword from a man who claimed to be a first-rate warrior. But he turned out to be a fraud. That bastard took three silver coins from me for teaching a common technique, the Three Cuts Sword Technique, something anyone could find in the marketplace.”

 

When I learned the truth, I wanted to smash his smug face.

 

But instead, he beat me.

 

“Master, I learned the Three Cuts Sword Technique. I don’t know any special footwork. The only skill I possess is to pour my time into a technique anyone could learn. I didn’t have land to farm, and I didn’t trust myself to raise my sister alone by working as a porter. So, wielding a sword was the only way I could balance the scales.” 

 

From the age of ten, I split my days between farming and martial arts until, finally, at twenty, I could shed the life of a wanderer and become a gatekeeper for the Martial Alliance.

 

“…”

 

“There aren’t many gatekeepers in the Martial Alliance, but they pay a small salary. Every month, I sent it back home. Yet I’d always hear that the money ran out quickly. I’d send it, and it would disappear. Again and again, it was the same. After a while, I began to question why I even held a sword. I was pouring water into a bottomless pot—no sane person does that, right? If I’d picked up a sword to earn money and couldn’t even do that, then what was I fighting for?”

 

I lowered my head to the ground.

 

Blood trickled down from my forehead.

 

“I needed money. To get money, I had to do every job I could find. I worked. I did my gatekeeper duties and every little job they assigned me. People thought I wasn’t a gatekeeper but just an errand boy. I didn’t mind. By then, my sister had become the reason for my life. As long as I could raise her well, I thought it was all worth it.”

 

“Hmmm…”

 

“That’s why I didn’t mind when they dragged me into the role of a spy—a job everyone else avoided. It paid a little more. But then, a few days ago, a retreat order came along with a letter.”

 

I fumbled around in my robe. Inside was a letter, written in someone else’s handwriting because I couldn’t read or write.

 

“They said my sister had died and that I needed to cover her funeral expenses.”

 

“…”

 

“So I came here. I had no reason to go back, nor did I want to. What’s the point of returning as a mere gatekeeper? So… I just wanted to see it.”

 

‘I want to survive.’

 

‘But, at the same time, I want to die.’

 

“I wanted to see how magnificent the Heavenly Demon really is. Just how different you are from me.”

 

In this clash of conflicting emotions, I raised my head. The Heavenly Demon’s foot withdrew from my chin.

 

What I was doing was as good as begging for death. I wouldn’t have the right to complain if my life ended the moment I moved.

 

But maybe, just this once, I could say what I had always wanted to say.

 

Why hadn’t I run under the cover of night when the retreat order came? Why hadn’t I shed a tear the night I learned my sister had died? And why had I entered the Heavenly Demon’s training chamber, knowing no one would be here?

 

I rose to my feet.

 

“… How dare you.”

 

The black-clad guard behind her, who had been silent, spoke up, unleashing an immense pressure. Blood began to pour from every pore in my body under that crushing force.

 

‘Ah! I’m going to die.’

 

My veins twisted and ruptured under the mere force of his aura.

 

‘But… It’s fine.’

 

My mind felt clear. Amid all the tangled emotions, a single thread emerged.

 

“Jeokwoon.”

 

‘You know, I…’

 

‘… have always wanted to escape from that name, ‘Jeokwoon.’

 

“… What?!”

 

I straightened my knees.

 

I raised my gaze.

 

I pulled back my slumping shoulders.

 

With all my strength, I forced my twisted bones to hold steady.

 

I didn’t want this.

 

No more…

 

I refuse to kneel.

 

“How… How can a mere third-rate warrior withstand my aura…?!”

 

“… Cult Master.”

 

I might be standing at the end of my life, in this final place.

 

But why did I want this room to be my grave?

 

“What does it feel like to be born a predator?”

 

“…”

 

“I was born as prey, just one of countless pillars supporting the predator. My life has been third-rate from start to finish, and it will probably end that way too. But I wondered what it would feel like to be born a predator.”

 

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes curved into crescent moons.

 

“Who knows. Since I was not born prey, I don’t know your perspective.”

 

“… I see.”

 

“Jeokwoon. Red Cloud the gatekeeper, guard dog of the orthodox sect. You’ve spent your entire life guarding others’ gates.”

 

She whispered, “You’ve glimpsed traces of me, a predator’s gaze, if only for a moment. You got to end things as you wished. So—what are you thinking now?”

 

“… Just.”

 

I hadn’t entered the Heavenly Demon’s training chamber just a short while ago.

 

I had been here for dozens of hours, ignoring my hunger, entranced by the traces she had left behind.

 

Even a third-rate warrior could recognize the sheer power, the lines that screamed defiance, claw marks, and teeth—the raw essence of a beast.

 

The desperate roar of one who reigns.

 

… It was…

 

“I’m just dreaming.”

 

“Dreaming of what?”

 

It was so unlike my miserable life.

 

Such an exhilarating struggle… Something I deeply envied.

 

I wanted it.

 

That gaze.

 

That realm.

 

As a warrior…

 

… To reach a level where no one could look down on me.

 

“Before you arrived, Cult Master…”

 

I gave a faint smile. Blood poured from my mouth, nose, and ears, but it didn’t matter.

 

I just smiled.

 

Sensing this was the end.

 

“I wish I could have swung my sword a few more times. That’s all.”

 

“… Pffft.”

 

The Heavenly Demon chuckled, then burst out laughing. Even her shoulders shook from the motion. Her laughter filled the training hall, echoing for quite some time before it finally subsided.

 

“This guy’s a real lunatic! I like it! Gatekeeper Jeokwoon!”

 

“…”

 

“Because of recent events, many people have suddenly abandoned the sect. I’m not sure why they’re pulling out, but something must have happened within the Martial Alliance.”

 

“…”

 

“I may be unrivaled, capable of facing a thousand on my own. But in the end, I am still just one. Do you know why I stay here in Tian Shan? We are strong, but we are few. They are weak, but they are many.”

 

The Heavenly Demon raised a single finger.

 

“But still, I don’t like it. Even if I like Tian Shan itself, I can’t just stand by and let the orthodox sect, who cower in fear of me, act as they please, can I?”

 

“…”

 

“All who deceived me, who stayed close only to betray me, are all traitors in my eyes. And the Heavenly Demon does not leave traitors alive. This will serve as a warning to the orthodox sect and as a foundation for reigniting fear of the Heavenly Demon.”

 

She reached out and stroked my chin.

 

“Jeokwoon. Gatekeeper Jeokwoon. A dog on the brink of death after guarding others’ gates all its life.”

 

“…”

 

“I liked your final words. So you died here today. Though still breathing, you are dead. Here stands only a stray dog with nowhere to go. And it so happens I need a fitting dog to plant within the orthodox sect, one with great nerves and a twisted nature. Since you were a spy with verified credentials, you would serve us well, don’t you think?”

 

“…”

 

“I’ll say it only once. There will be no second time. I don’t enjoy repeating myself. Remember this: obey my words at all costs.”

 

The oppressive force vanished, and my weakened body collapsed onto the ground.

 

My lowered gaze shifted upward as I looked up at her. The young girl was still stroking my chin as she spoke.

 

“Gatekeeper Jeokwoon.”

 

The Heavenly Demon smiled at me.

 

“Become my dog. Become my sword, and kill those who betrayed me. Go to the Martial Alliance, and act as a double agent under my will. Then you will become a beast. Though you were not born a beast…”

 

Her enchanting lips moved.

 

“I will make you complete.”

 

The distance between us closed, and I felt the sensation of lips pressed against mine.

 

… A kiss?

 

From the Heavenly Demon?

 

As she pulled away, a thin strand of saliva stretched between our parted lips. It glistened.  

 

She smiled slyly.

 

“I am the Heavenly Demon. Jeokwoon, Red Cloud, you may have despised your name, but from now on, you can take pride in it. You will be beneath me, who roams the heavens. While it may not be the highest place in the sky…”

 

I looked down at her, dazed.

 

And I knew with certainty.

 

“Those who call themselves geniuses will no longer look down on you.”

 

This sight.

 

I would never, ever forget.