The Heavenly Demon, once a calm and peaceful being who overlooked the world, now had confusion etched across his face. Unlike his previous decision to lie down in his final resting place, he stood up from the spot where he had planned to take his last breath.
Once he was on his feet, the Heavenly Demon looked around, seemingly in utter bewilderment.
"Where am I? What is all this blood and fire in this place?" For an unknown reason, Allen had awakened within the body of the dying Heavenly Demon, and he questioned the unbelievable scene unfolding before him.
"Who are you?" a question came to his ears — yet there was no one around.
"It seems I really fall from my power,to think I could fall into an evil art such as this. Did you wait until this moment?" The same voice spoke again. Allen looked around once more, confusion twisting his thoughts.
"Hello? Where are you? I cannot see you. Ask anything but just show yourself," Allen called. Then he heard a laugh.
"Hahaha, how amusing of you to ask me to show myself, when you are literally the thief who stole my body."
What the voice said made little sense to Allen. What did it mean by stealing a body?
But, drawing his attention, something suddenly materialized in front of him, emerging from the space itself.
"That damn bug… it followed me even here?" Allen thought. At first, he assumed the object was indeed a bug. But as it fully emerged from the void, he was baffled to see a beating heart gleaming before his eyes.
Allen instinctively took a step back. A single beating heart really hovered in the space before him, and the way it shone — like a tiny, pulsating light bulb — made him feel as if he were dreaming.
The light was brilliant enough to illuminate the entire space. Eventually, it drew the attention of those left behind from the religious faction. The few remaining figures, still clinging to their last breaths, turned toward the shining, radiant beating heart.
"A Demigod Core… judging from its shine and color, it is a upper-echelon one." Upon seeing the glowing heart, those at death's door felt their blood boil with excitement. But when they noticed the Heavenly Demon standing beside it, a chill of fear and anger ran through them.
"No! Don't let the accursed demon get his hands on the heart of Demigod! If he manages to recover it, all our efforts and sacrifices today will be in vain!"
The older men who had survived the battle were now like raging hounds, their obvious injuries ignored as they charged directly at the Heavenly Demon, their eyes fixed greedily on the shining heart.
"Quickly! Grab the Demigod core!" an urging voice echoed in Allen's mind — the same voice that had accused him of stealing another's body.
Under normal circumstances, Allen would have refused. He did not like being told what to do. Only after careful observation and proper reasoning would he act. But this time, he felt the immense urgency carried in the voice. And seeing the few remaining survivors, like zombies, fix their desperate gaze on him now that the heart had appeared, Allen could only assume that the beating heart was extraordinarily important.
His hand reached forward, grabbing the heart. It felt as if he were touching something extremely heavy and sharp, and his entire arm went numb. Then, a few instructions echoed from the voice within his head. Allen hurriedly followed the steps, and afterward, the core seemed to vanish from his grasp. A card appeared in his hand, marked with a backward-curving arrow symbol. The card reminded Allen of a reverse card.
However, a chilling sensation ran through his body the moment the card appeared in his hand.
"What… exactly is this?" he wondered.
"No! The Heavenly Demon has obtained the Demigod Core— we've all failed."
"Don't stop! With all of us together, we should be able to strike him before he fully bond and contact its owner!"
Heeding the words, the old men did not hesitate. They continued forward, their blood-stained swords swinging directly at the Heavenly Demon's throat.
"I, the Heavenly Demon, will not die at the hands of scum like you!" Allen heard the enraged voice in his head. He readied himself, seeing the few men charging at him with sharp weapons — like the terrifying figures one sees in TV shows who kill without mercy. He tried to flee, but realized his body was gravely injured.
"Ugh… how am I still alive after all this?" Looking down, he saw the deep gashes and wood that had pierced his body. His whole body felt numb, dulling the pain and allowing him to keep moving despite the injuries.
As he looked down, he realized he was not wearing the clothes he was familiar with, and neither did his body look the same — smooth and pale, almost alien. Even a slight glance at his hands made him slowly understand that the body he now inhabited felt utterly unfamiliar.
"Thief! Hand my body back. With the Demigod Core we obtained, if you return my body, we could survive. I swear on my name, I will do no harm if you obey my word!"
Yet the voice's reassurance did nothing to make Allen feel safe. The timing of its words only deepened his confusion — a stolen body and a demand for its return made little sense to him.
Unable to move, Allen looked back helplessly to see the blade of an old man hurtling toward him with deadly speed.
"Fuck! You bastard! Do you know who I am? Stop!" he exclaimed, muttering with the authority of a COO commanding his corporation.
But the blade did not stop. Eventually, it drew closer, and the last thing he saw was his own reflection in the shining metal. And yet… it was not his own face that stared back at him.