Central Plain, Heavenly Demon Sect headquarters.
"My lord! Bad news!"
Inside the sect's throne room, a handsome young man with long black hair sat lazily on the throne. His head rested on his palm as he gazed at the man who barged in.
The young man was the ruler of the Heavenly Demon Sect and a powerful master who had conquered half of the Murim, the Heavenly Demon, Cheon Ma.[1]
"Tell me," Cheon Ma yawned.
"The Murim Alliance, the Unrivalled Faction, and the Unorthodox Sects are marching toward our base. The Twelve Demon Lords have already begun moving and are awaiting your order," the man reported all the news. His back was soaked in sweat because of the pressure emanating from the young man before him, and not only that, but also the expression on the Heavenly Demon's face, which clearly showed that he didn't care.
'This is not good. We didn't expect all three powerful factions to ally to get rid of our sect! What the heck is the information agency doing? Why did they fail to obtain this information?!' the man thought, gritting his teeth.
"Hm…" Cheon Ma gazed at the man for a second, then clicked his tongue. "Those bastards again? Was my punishment of love not enough? Do they want to feel my fist of care or something?"
Cheon Ma stood up. Under the messenger's gaze, the Heavenly Demon stretched his limbs and did a thousand push-ups in under ten seconds. He then fixed his robe and casually walked outside.
Blue sky stretched above him, endless and clear. Birds passed quietly overhead while warm wind wrapped around his body. He spread his arms, breathing it in.
"It's good to be alive…" he murmured. "But I hope I die fighting them."
"Please, don't say such things, my lord!" The messenger's eyes widened as he dropped to his knees before Cheon Ma. "It was our incompetence that allowed the enemy to deceive us. We are ready to pay with our lives. But please… do not speak of death. Without you, the sect will crumble."
"Alright, alright, geez. You guys can't take a joke or something? Why are you always so serious?" Cheon Ma shook his head wryly and gazed into the distance.
He sighed.
…
Cheon Ma, the sixth-generation Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Sect, was said to be the strongest Heavenly Demon in history. He achieved many feats that other Heavenly Demons could not, feats that even powerful masters of the Murim were unable to accomplish.
Conquering half of the world, ruling half of the Central Plain, becoming the strongest being in the world before the age of fifty, killing all Twelve Supreme Masters, enslaving three Immortals who had reached the transcendent state... these overwhelming achievements alone were enough to put others to shame.
He had reached the peak of wealth, fame, and power. Everything lay within his grasp.
To the world, the Heavenly Demon lived a life of satisfaction.
Only he knew how tired he truly was.
The Heavenly Demon was once a young man on Earth who had boundless dreams like the sky. He had dreamed of conquering the world, becoming the strongest, and achieving immortality. When all those dreams came true, for a while he was happy... then the battle grew dull, the victories predictable, he grew exhausted from boredom. No one could match him. No one could kill him.
And so, the strongest man in the world began to grow tired.
'So this is the feeling of that bald head, huh…'
Cheon Ma remembered a certain superhero and couldn't help but smile helplessly.
After hundreds of years had passed, Cheon Ma had finally come to a decision, one he would not regret.
…
Six hundred thousand martial artists were marching toward the Heavenly Demon Sect. Leading them were three powerful transcendent masters.
The Murim Alliance Leader, the Azure Heaven Blade Emperor Wi Seong-Hak; the Unrivalled Faction Leader, the Heaven-Splitting Martial Sovereign, Jin Mu-Kang; and the Unorthodox Leader, the Blood Heavenly Sovereign of Night, Dokgo Chang.
These three had achieved the Transcendent Realm, making them the most powerful martial artists in the Central Plains, second only to the Heavenly Demon.
"This time, the reign of the demon will finally come to an end," Wi Seong-Hak said as he stroked his beard while leading the front.
"The Heavenly Demon has been reigning for hundreds of years. Do you really think this will be effective?" Jin Mu-Kang, the Unrivalled Faction Leader, asked with uncertainty.
"Don't worry. Do you think I didn't plan all of this?" Wi Seong-Hak chuckled. "When we fight the Heavenly Demon, he will be shocked when he discovers who his enemies are. That will be quite a sight. I wonder what kind of face he'll make?"
"Six of the Twelve Demon Lords?" Dokgo Chang laughed out loud. "I wonder what was going through your head when you tried to make them our allies."
'What an old snake…' For a moment, Dokgo Chang was more afraid of Wi Seong-Hak than the Heavenly Demon. He couldn't help but tremble slightly at the thought of turning enemies into allies.
Under the warm rays of the sun, the six hundred thousand men of the alliance between the three factions slowly moved toward the Heavenly Demon Sect. In the history of the Murim, there had only been three times when such a large number of martial artists marched together, and two of those were because of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
The Heaven-Earth Great War, which happened around a hundred years ago, and the Imperial War that occurred ten years later, when the Empire of People believed the Heavenly Demon Sect had weakened and decided to wage war. In both wars, the Heavenly Demon Sect emerged victorious.
And today would be the fourth war, one that would be engraved into the annals of Murim history.
…
One hour later, the allied army finally reached the sect's border. What awaited them was the Heavenly Demon Sect's force... one hundred thousand strong. Leading them were twelve individuals radiating powerful auras, each nearly comparable to the three leaders of the alliance.
The Heavenly Demon Sect's forces didn't even reach half the combined strength of the alliance. Seeing this, the allied army's morale rose sharply.
It was clear as day who would win this war.
"Murim Alliance, the so-called righteous sects; the Unrivalled Faction that claims neutrality; and the Unorthodox factions of the evil sects." A young man with long hair laughed loudly. "Wow, I never expected three dying old men to crawl out of their beds. Have you finally lost your minds?"
He was the Third Demon Lord, known as the Shadow Demon. "Have you still not learned your lesson?"
"Shadow Demon? Brat, I was still sucking your mother's tits when you were born," Dokgo Chang laughed. "Who gave you the courage to speak? Brats should stay quiet when adults are talking!"
"Shut up!" A vein popped on Shadow Demon's face. Then, as if he suddenly remembered something, he burst into laughter and shouted so everyone could hear him.
"Dokgo, the leader of the Unorthodox Faction, whose dad got cheated on by his wife because the Heavenly Demon was more charming and better in bed! And Dokgo, whose wife ran away because she found a better man with a bigger dick! And his daughter, who was married off to a fat prince?! Mwahahaha! What kind of life have you been living, Dokgo?!"
A vein popped on Dokgo's face. His expression tightened as a vast amount of energy gathered in his fist, until the Murim Alliance Leader stopped him.
"Don't fall for his provocation, Dokgo!"
"Tsk!" Dokgo retracted his energy and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Seeing this, the Shadow Demon was about to mock him further when suddenly blood gushed from his mouth. His eyes widened as pain coursed through his body. He looked down and saw a sword stabbed into his stomach from behind.
He turned around weakly and couldn't help but feel shocked. "First Demon… you bastard! Have you betrayed us?!"
"So what if I have?" The First Demon pulled out the blood-covered sword and flicked it to shake off the blood. He then turned to face the remaining demons.
"Do you really think the Lord will win? He may be powerful, but can he defeat six hundred thousand men, three transcendent masters, and 12 supreme masters? The Lord's time has ended!"
The First Demon looked at them one by one, his gaze unwavering.
"If you don't give up now, you may lose your life. Do you really want to fight, knowing you won't win? Fight a meaningless battle?"
Then five of the Demon Lords slowly walked to his side. The First Demon let out a faint smirk.
'According to plan.'
Seeing this, the remaining Demon Lords were shocked and began to waver. After a few minutes passed, only two Demon Lords remained. The Shadow Demon died from blood loss, and two of the remaining four chose to join the alliance.
Now, only two Demon Lords of the Heavenly Demon Sect remained.
"You damn traitors!" An old man with long white hair stroked his beard and snorted. "The Lord has done everything for you! Without him, you'd be beggars dying in some village!"
The Second Demon Lord, the Sword Demon.
The old man then glanced to his side. A beautiful woman with long flowing black hair stood there, her face cold and expressionless, as if the betrayal hadn't shocked her at all.
The old man sighed softly. "My Lord… I truly apologise for our incompetence. You treated them like family, yet you received a sword in the back…"
He couldn't help but remember the young man with a gentle smile who once reached out a hand to him in despair. Behind that young man stood various figures... the Twelve Demon Lords, whom he treated like family.
"Old man, this is your last chance!" the First Demon laughed. "The Lord won't be able to defeat us. He's grown so weak that even I could beat him. He may have treated us like family, but do you really think that matters? Even if it did, we value our lives more than that!"
"Fuck family!"
"Enough talk, First Demon. Let's kill them," the Murim Alliance Leader said. He unsheathed his sword and pointed it toward the two Demon Lords. "Kill them quickly so we can deal with the Heavenly Demon."
Clap. Clap.
A young man stepped out from the Heavenly Demon Sect's army. He was grinning, looking down on everyone, before suddenly laughing.
"Interesting."
----
A/N: I'm writing this based on my memory of Frieren.
I trust my memory.
Don't worry…
[1] I found this new function… wow. Anyway, he’s not Cheon Ma from MMM. I couldn’t find a fitting name for the Heavenly Demon, so I decided to go with this one.