Many messages popped up, but there was a message that seemed strange. 'Tongtian Jiaozhu? Isn't the Grandmaster of Heavens position empty right now?'

Long ago, when Yeon-woo received Li's Fragment and visited the Changgong Library, the Jie Sect offered Yeon-woo the position of Tongtian Jiaozhu. The former Tongtian Jiaozhu once ruled with monsters and demon kings at her feet, but the position had been left open after her disappearance.

'But that position is now filled once more! Did someone that powerful appear during my ten years of absence?' However, Yeon-woo didn't have the freedom to be thinking about such topics. He turned to the gazes focusing on him. It wasn't just the demons of the Jie Sect that were looking at him. He felt something outside the territory of Geumo Island.

Whoosh! When he used Shukuchi and quickly moved to where he felt the strange gazes, Yeon-woo was greeted by a desolate field. It should've been a paradise with light breezes in the air, but it had become a wasteland after many rough battles. There were broken weapons and traces of holy power throughout the field, as well as many gods fallen on the ground.

[Erlang Shen of <Chan Sect> discovers the Black King's ego and his expression darkens.]

[Prince Nezha sighs upon seeing the Black King's ego has descended,]

[Thunder Lord asks Erlang Shen if the man over there is the Black King's ego.]

[Erlang Shen nods.]

…

[All the gods of <Chan Sect> cannot bring themselves to look at the Black King's ego.]

Chan Sect had once allied themselves with Olympus, and they still had good relations to this day. When other societies expressed interest in R'lyeh, Chan Sect and Niflheim were the only societies that didn't care. When Yeon-woo decided to wage war on the heavenly world, Chan Sect restored their allied status and joined the Corps to invade Jie Sect.

Yeon-woo didn't imagine Chan Sect would be defeated. Based on the battlefield, it appeared it was an utter defeat. He knew Jie Sect's forces were among the greatest in the demonic societies but he never thought that they were this powerful. 'Moreover, before the Heavenly Demon became who he is now, he used to be a part of the Chan Sect, so Chan Sect's forces are probably second only to Olympus…'

Before the battles began, the Jie Sect also continued to send requests for negotiations, so Yeon-woo thought they were weak. But that must've been a trap. He looked around. 'Something large swept through this field… Was there a beast here too?'

It looked like, at first, the two sides were fighting equally. Then, with the appearance of some being, the balance had tilted to one side. The traces of destruction showed that something large had swept through the battlefield like a storm… It was clear that something similar to Yvlke's group had appeared.

Yeon-woo thought this might be the connection between Yvlke and Jie Sect. 'Where did he hide? The path ends here. Did he put Jie Sect forward as bait so he can escape?'

lightsnοvεl Yeon-woo activated Shukuchi again to the beings who were standing next to Chan Sect, hanging their heads in shame. He wanted to chase after Yvlke's group, but their presence was long gone, and this matter seemed more important at the moment.

It was the Eighth Corps. Hermes and the other gods of Olympus were looking at Yeon-woo with a trembling gaze.

"…I apologize for showing you this." Hermes smiled bitterly and hung his head apologetically. He and Athena had been given the most holy power out of all the Apostles. There were probably no supreme gods who could stand against him, but he seemed quite hurt. His entire body was covered with injuries, and one of his arms was…gone. Of course, this could be restored as long as he had holy power, but the injury to his pride seemed greater.

"What happened?" So before anything else, Yeon-woo asked for the reason. It was best to treat the issue like nothing was wrong.

Hermes smiled faintly, understanding Yeon-woo's intention, then took on a serious expression. "The Tongtian Jiaozhu…has returned."

Yeon-woo widened his eyes. "Returned? You mean the spot wasn't taken by someone new?"

"Yes. The old Tongtian Jiaozhu has returned. If we knew, we wouldn't have jumped into the situation so unprepared… Even the Three Leaders couldn't do anything despite running at her at once."

"It was that bad?" Yeon-woo was a bit surprised. Erlang Shen, Prince Nezha, and Thunder Lord…were some of the top martial gods in the heavenly world. One would probably have to be on Vimalacitra's level to defeat all three at the same time. Perhaps this beast was even stronger. Yeon-woo then thought, 'No, maybe that's only natural.'

Although Vimalacitra had gone independent, he used to be affiliated with the Jie Sect. Like the other three Asura Kings, he had a title: the "Fourth King." In the Jie Sect, there were powerful beings like the Four Perils and the Ten Heavenly Monarchs. It was difficult to rule over them all unless you were strong and charismatic… From what Yeon-woo knew, unlike the Chan Sect, which had a history of multiple internal struggles, Jie Sect was pretty quiet. That was an indication of the Tongtian Jiaozhu's power. And if such a being had returned…she was probably anything but weak."But he shouldn't be so strong that you can't stop him."

Still, no matter how strong she was, the Tongtian Jiaozhu hadn't become an emperor. The aura that Yeon-woo sensed wasn't that strong either. Being close to the emperor-level and actually reaching it was extremely different.

"Of course, it wasn't to that extent. After I joined, we were able to steadily turn the tide in our favor."

"Then?"

Just when Hermes was about to speak again, the ground started shaking. Dududu! Yeon-woo and Hermes turned toward the source. The gods of Olympus and the soldiers of the Chan Sect all lifted their weapons as well. The tension on their faces wasn't hard to read. A few of them even seemed to be in horror.

'Just what has happened here?' Yeon-woo narrowed his eyes.

[The 'Third King' descends!]

[The 'Four Perils' descend!]

[The 'Ten Heavenly Monarchs' descend!]

…

[Tongtian Jiaozhu descends!]

[All the demons of <Jie Sect> reveal themselves!]

With the sound of crackling lightning, black emptiness opened in the sky and Jie Sect's forces appeared. There were a few of them that stood apart from the others. On the left were three demon kings that were obviously fighters. There were Nahu, who covered the sun and moon, Galaganta, who raised tsunamis, and Bachi, who loved fights. Along with Vimalacitra, these gods were Asuras. They stood in front of the other gods of fighting.

On the right were gods as fearsome as the ones on the left. If the three Asura Kings were fierce, these gods were violent—Taotie the San Miao, Gonggong the Qiongi, Taowu the Gun, and Hundun the Huandou. Before the universe was born, the wheels began to spin, and the first flower on Mount Meru bloomed, there were countless kings. Of those kings, these four people had suffered utter losses and had no choice but to escape. They transcended after gaining power from the four sins that humans could make.

[Hundun greets the Black King's ego, who he hasn't seen in a long time.]

Of those, Hundun, who somewhat knew Yeon-woo better than the rest, greeted him first. The first power that Yeon-woo chose was the Lawless Book. The power that had also greatly helped in enhancing Boo/Faust was from Hundun.lightsnovel

But after that, Hundun only sent a few messages. And from some point, even the messages didn't appear, so Yeon-woo wondered what happened, but it seemed like nothing in particular had occurred.

[A message has arrived from Hermes.]

[Message: That's the god who suggested a ceasefire to the Tongtian Jiaozhu. Thanks to him, we were able to lessen our losses.]

Hermes spoke to Yeon-woo through the system because he thought nothing good would come from others hearing what he had to say.

Yeon-woo looked at Hundun in surprise.

[Hundun waits for the Black King's ego to greet him.]

[Hundun becomes sad as the Black King's ego stays silent.]

"…?" It was an unexpected response. Yeon-woo was about to say something, wondering if he should thank the god…

But suddenly, one being between the Third King and Four Perils quietly raised her hand and muttered.『Hundun. That's enough playing around. I won't accept it any longer.』Just then, the atmosphere changed. Although there were many strong gods, only her presence could be felt. She was a woman with black eyes and white pupils with worn wings behind her back. It was the Tongtian Jiaozhu, Val.『I told you before. Nothing good will come from associating with the Black King. As you can see, something already has happened.』

[Hundun's shoulders drooped at the Tongtian Jiaozhu's rebuke.]

After seeing the Tongtian Jiaozhu glare at him, Yeon-woo realized why Hundun wasn't able to send him any more messages. However, he didn't know why the Tongtian Jiaozhu didn't like him.

『Supreme god of Olympus and ego of the Black King. This place isn't your land. I ask that you take your army and leave.』

[Tongtian Jiaozhu asks the Black King's ego to retreat.]

[The demonic society <Jie Sect> emanates combative energy at the possibility of a new battle.]

Yeon-woo was flabbergasted. They were the ones who asked for a fight first, but now they were ordering him out. He was annoyed at Tongtian Jiaozhu shamelessness as she pretended they did nothing wrong.

"…My Lord."

However, Yeon-woo contained his temper at Hermes' concerned tone. There were many gods and Olympus and Chan Sect here. It wasn't just him. If another battle broke out, they would suffer more losses. Moreover, Hundun himself had stepped up to buy them more time. So right now, it was best to step back and come back after re-organizing their forces. But that didn't mean they'd go without any gain.

"That's not too difficult a request."

『Then would you please…』

"But I want to know where you're hiding Yvlke's group."

『Yvlke?』The Tongtian Jiaozhu didn't seem to know what Yeon-woo was talking about. Yeon-woo thought she might be lying, but she didn't seem to be.

Just then, Taowu whispered something in her ear. The Tongtian Jiaozhu silently listened to Taowu and snorted when he was done.『Are you talking about the beasts that came earlier! Ha! I guess you must've had some clash with those scum?』

"If you hand them over, we'll quietly step back. I promise not to hold the Jie Sect to the sins committed."

The Tongtian Jiaozhu crossed her arms and spoke haughtily.『Sorry, but you're knocking on the wrong door.』

"What?"

『They're not our visitors. Go and find them from the right guys.』Yeon-woo was about to ask what that meant when the Tongtian Jiaozhu suddenly looked up and shouted.『Bull Demon King! I told you not to bring annoying things inside! There's no point in this partnership if you do!』

'The Bull Demon King?' It was an unexpected name, so Yeon-woo wondered why the name was being mentioned here.

[At the request of the <Jie Sect> their partner <Devil Army> responds!]

'Devil Army…?'

"Puahaha! It seems our queen is really angry this time. Huhuhu." With a familiar voice, new beings appeared.

[A message from Hermes appeared.]

[Message: They're the beings who led to our defeat.]

Six men and women with unique appearances were left standing when the dust settled down. The man standing at the center was someone Yeon-woo had failed to catch when they last met. There was no way he wouldn't recognize their name and appearance. No one else could have that distinctive look. He was a man with red hair that resembled a lion's mane. "Lion King!"

The Seven Demon Kings were here.

『…Huh? Why's that geezer here?』In the shadows, the Monkey King's exuviae, who hadn't shown himself since Yeon-woo woke up, mumbled. His gaze was fixed on an old man who was standing behind the Seven Demon Kings.

Yeon-woo stiffened when he read the man's aura. 'Is that…'

『Yeah. The Bull Demon King.』