The Double Agent of the Heavenly Demon Sect

Chapter 0

I received news of my sister's death.

No tears came.

...

The light flickered. The floor of the training room was cold.

I looked down at my hand pressed against the ground. It wasn’t ordinary iron. The area around me was covered in a faint red sheen of metal.

It was *Diamond Unbreakable Steel*, the hardest metal in the world.

No matter how hard you strike it, it leaves no trace. Even with immense force, not a single scratch would appear on it.

But now, it was deeply dented. Not just in one place but distorted indiscriminately.

As if it had experienced overwhelming violence.

"The dog should bark. Bark with all its might at the enemy. Gatekeeper Jeok Woon. Go on, try barking once. Maybe if you go 'woof woof,' I’ll spare you."

A voice echoed from somewhere high above. The sound of a chair being scraped against the floor accompanied it.

I couldn’t answer. I stayed silent.

Before me stood a monster.

The difference in level between us wasn’t something that could be measured. It was insurmountable.

One?

Two?

No, trying to quantify the gap in numbers was meaningless.

Someone like me... I didn’t even have the right to speak first.

*The greatest of all time.*

*The most beautiful in the world.*

*One who can defeat a thousand.*

All these titles could only belong to the woman before me.

"At least you’re not completely blind. You’ve got some sense. If you had forced yourself to bark just now, I’d have ripped out your tongue."

"......."

"I despise mediocrity, Jeok Woon. Many have tried to deceive me. But few of them survived. Those who did barely clung to life or fled in disgrace. But you... you won’t even have that chance."

The sound of a chair being pushed back rang out. I dared not lift my gaze, staring only at the tips of her shoes.

She approached. Her delicate footsteps were the only thing visible, but...

It felt as though the weight of all the steel in the world bore down on me.

"Those who managed to escape with their lives deserved as much. People like the Flying Sword Yeoncheon or the Nine-Headed Dragon Sword Palsaksa—each had a name worth mentioning. But you, Jeok Woon, are just a gatekeeper. A lowly gatekeeper. At dawn, you guard the gate. At night, you do the same. Your role is to die first, to alert others to danger. That’s all."

"......."

"Your role is small, so your strength is also insignificant. I have no expectations of gatekeepers. Most of them die without even sounding the alarm. But even in death, their corpses make excellent messengers. Sooner or later, they land right in front of me."

"......."

"Jeok Woon. Pitiful gatekeeper. Your skills are laughable, fitting for your role. I’ll say this just once. Just once before I tear you apart. There won’t be a second."

She stopped before me. The tip of her foot lifted.

It propped up my chin, forcing me to look upward.

We locked eyes.

*The Heavenly Demon.*

The leader of the most dangerous sect in the world.

"Why is a dog of the righteous sect guarding my doorstep? Hmm? A spy from the Moorim Alliance."

...So, she knew all along.

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

The weight of being the eldest in a poor family? The powerlessness of having to take on undesirable tasks no one else would? The despair of being used as a disposable pawn by the Moorim Alliance?

My head throbbed. I couldn’t think straight.

...But still.

I didn’t want to die.

"I came to gather information."

I forced my throat to work. I had to speak.@@@@

The being before me was no human but a beast. To survive, to avoid death, I had to talk.

"What kind of information?"

"All information regarding the Heavenly Demon Sect. Anything deemed valuable was sent to the Moorim Alliance through messenger birds."

"Good. I like concise answers. Let’s continue. Gatekeeper Jeok Woon. As a gatekeeper, your access to information must have been limited. You couldn’t have obtained much of value, could you?"

She was right. Being a gatekeeper proved that, even as a spy, my role was insignificant.

"That’s correct."

"And yet, you remained as a gatekeeper. Why?"

"Because it was the mission assigned to me."

The Heavenly Demon yawned.

"How low. Your worth is pathetically low. Even among spies, you were probably a mere pawn. A proper spy would have infiltrated deeper into the sect. Like... the recently vanished Twin-Headed Snake, perhaps. Or the Seventh Demon of the Eight Demons who disappeared. Many from the sect suddenly left. Tell me, Jeok Woon, why was there an abrupt order to withdraw?"

"I don’t know."

"Then let me rephrase. Why didn’t you leave?"

"...Because I was supposed to stay behind until the very end. That was my role."

"Ah, a decoy. I see. A disposable pawn... that makes sense. There was no need to inform a pawn of the gravity of their mission."

The Heavenly Demon shrugged. Her fingers brushed against her lips before her gaze returned to me.

She wore a mischievous smile—not the expression of an omnipotent ruler but that of a trickster.

"One last question. Perhaps the final one. Don’t worry; since you’ve been so obedient, I’ll make it quick and painless."

"......"

"Gatekeeper Jeok Woon. Do you know where you are?"

"...The training room of the Sect Leader."

"Correct. My personal training room. It’s quite famous. People say that the Heavenly Demon Cheon So-so’s training room is entirely empty. There are no guards, nothing of note. It’s true. There’s nothing here but the remnants of my martial arts. I’m not bound by forms or techniques. I don’t revere secret manuals. I am the Heavenly Demon, and the Heavenly Demon Sect exists because of me."

"......."

"Dog of the righteous sect. Gatekeeper Jeok Woon. Why did you come to a place with nothing to gain? Don’t try to tell me you came here to see me. This training room wasn’t part of your plans, and it was supposed to remain unoccupied for some time. The chance of meeting me here was lower than the chance of starving to death. So why did you come?"

Her toe moved slightly, shaking my chin.

"Even a gatekeeper would know better than to say they were lost. If you dare utter that excuse, I’ll crush your jaw. You were searching this place. Was it to deny your status as a pawn? Or to steal any trace of my presence? If it’s the former, it’s meaningless. If the latter, you’re a fool. So, which is it?"

Which is it?

I closed my eyes. All I saw was darkness.

Aligned my shoulders.

Summoned strength into my twisting bones.

The knees I had half-bent fully locked into place. It wasn’t willpower; it was as if my very soul was fueling me.

I hated it.

I hated kneeling.

"How is this possible?! A mere third-rate martial artist resisting my aura...?!"

"...Sect... Leader."

Perhaps this would be the end of my life.

Why had I chosen this place as my grave?

"What does it feel like... to be born a predator?"

"......."

"I was born prey. One of the many pillars holding up the predators. My life has always been third-rate. My beginning was, and my end will likely be the same. That’s why I wanted to know. What does it feel like to be born a predator?"

The Heavenly Demon’s eyes curved like crescent moons.

"I wouldn’t know. I wasn’t born prey."

"...I see."

"Jeok Woon. Gatekeeper Jeok Woon. A dog of the righteous sect who spent his life guarding others’ gates."

She whispered softly.

"You’ve seen it now. For a brief moment, you glimpsed the gaze of a predator. You ended your life as you desired. So now—what are you thinking?"

"...Nothing much."

It hadn’t been mere moments since I entered the Heavenly Demon’s training room.

It had been hours.

I had forgotten my hunger, staring at the traces she left behind.

Even a third-rate martial artist like me could recognize the delicate remnants. The raw strength. The howling beyond limits.

The struggle. The claws. The fangs. Everything of the predator.

The desperate roar of one who ruled.

...It was.

"I’m just dreaming."

"Of what?"

So far removed from my wretched life...

It was a dream of such raw, tantalizing struggle.

I wanted it.

That gaze.

That state of being.

As a martial artist...

I wanted to stand at a height no one could look down upon.

"Before you arrived..."

I smiled faintly. Blood trickled from my mouth, my nose, even my ears. But I didn’t care.

I just smiled.

I knew this would be the last time.

"...I wish I could’ve swung my sword a few more times."

"...Pfft."

The Heavenly Demon chuckled. Her laughter grew, her shoulders shaking.

She erupted into full-blown laughter. Her voice filled the training room, reverberating long after it ceased.

"You’re a lunatic! I like you! Gatekeeper Jeok Woon!"

"......."

"Recently, many people have suddenly left the sect. I don’t know why they fled, but something must have happened in the Moorim Alliance."

"......"

"I am one against a thousand. But even I am just one. Do you know why I remain here in Mount Cheon? Because while we are strong, we are few. They are weak, but they are many. Even if I could defeat a thousand, there’s only one of me. We are outnumbered. Not just by the righteous sects but overwhelmingly by the unorthodox sects as well."

The Heavenly Demon raised a finger.

"But still. I won’t tolerate it. Even if I like Mount Cheon, I can’t sit by and watch while the righteous sects bark in fear of me."

"......."

"Those who deceived me and remained close. To me, they are all traitors. And the Heavenly Demon spares no traitor. This will serve as both a warning to the righteous sects and a testament to my terror."

She reached out and stroked my chin.

"Jeok Woon. Gatekeeper Jeok Woon. A dog who spent his life guarding others’ gates, only to face death."

"......"

"I liked your last words. So consider this: you died here. Though alive, you are now dead. What remains here is a stray dog. And it so happens I need a suitable dog to plant among the righteous sects. Someone audacious, twisted. A spy with a verified identity. Wouldn’t such a tool be perfect for me?"

"......"

"I’ll say this once. Just once. I don’t like repeating myself. Remember this: whatever I command, obey it no matter what."

Her pressure vanished. My body, drained of strength, crumpled to the floor.

The gaze that once bore down on me became one I now looked up to. The girl who continued stroking my chin spoke.

"Gatekeeper Jeok Woon."

The Heavenly Demon smiled at me.

"Become my dog. Become my blade, and kill those who betrayed me. Return to the Moorim Alliance as a double agent under my will. Then, you will become a predator. Though you weren’t born one..."

Her seductive lips moved.

"I will complete you."

She leaned closer. I felt her lips press against mine.

...A kiss?

From the Heavenly Demon?

When she pulled away, a string of saliva stretched between us. She grinned wickedly.

"I am the Heavenly Demon, Jeok Woon. Red Cloud. You may have resented your name, but now you can take pride in it. For beneath the sky where I roam, you will always be. Though it may not be the peak of the heavens..."

I stared at her in a daze.

And I knew.

"Those who once called themselves geniuses will never look down on you again."

This scene—I would never forget it for the rest of my life.