### Chapter 1279
**Kugugugugugugung!**
The **Heavenly Demon** maintained a mask of total apathy even as he used his own fists to lay waste to his physical form. Though his skin split and white bone peeked through the deepening gashes, his gaze held nothing but an unwavering, transcendent pride.
He struck himself relentlessly, his knuckles carrying the very essence of "martial arts." As the blows transitioned with the fluidity of a river, the air did not fill with the sickening crunch of bone; instead, the space resonated with the rhythmic, cleansing roar of breaking surf.
'Ha...'
**Raon** couldn't help but let out a dry, disbelieving laugh. Despite having lived through two lifetimes, his legs shook against his will. This was a spectacle of madness and mastery that he would likely never see the equal of again.
—That... that lunatic...
**Wrath’s** jaw hung slack, trembling.
—Is he truly out of his mind? What possible reason could he have for this!
The entity’s blue eyes darted frantically, unable to process the **Heavenly Demon’s** self-destruction.
—If he wants to end it, he should just slit his own throat!
**Wrath** huffed in disbelief as the **Heavenly Demon** coughed up dark, thick blood.
'You’re wrong.'
**Raon** shook his head, focusing every ounce of his energy into resonating his ten **Rings of Fire**.
'He isn't breaking himself for no reason.'
The **Heavenly Demon** wasn't engaging in mere self-flagellation. He was weaving the fundamental truths of combat into the very strikes that were shattering his frame.
'He’s displaying it to me.'
**Raon** bit down on his lip until copper-tasting blood welled up.
'He’s showing me the pinnacle of martial arts.'
In the strikes that crushed his own skeleton, the **Heavenly Demon** didn't rely on the authority of **Pride**; he relied solely on the martial sovereignty he had forged as a warrior.
'That’s why he told me to pay close attention.'
Just moments ago, the **Heavenly Demon** had commanded him to watch, right before he began the assault on his own body.
Initially, **Raon** assumed this was a literal blood payment to settle the debt of **Birdnew Village**, but the intent ran deeper.
'He is imparting a lesson.'
The **Heavenly Demon** wasn't just balancing a ledger of lives; he was paying for the "test" he had put **Raon** through by revealing the profound flow of techniques within those self-inflicted strikes.
"Listen, all of you. Do not look away. Do not even blink."
**Raon**, his voice strained, gave the order to **Burren**, **Martha**, and **Runaan**, who remained on their knees behind him. If they could internalize even a fraction of what the **Heavenly Demon** was doing, their progress would leap forward by a decade.
"Gasp!"
"Urgh..."
"Haa..."
The three seemed to grasp the gravity of the moment. Veins popped on their temples as they strained to etch the movements of the **Heavenly Demon** into their memories.
"Understood! I won't miss a single second!"
Even in the midst of this carnage, **Evelyn** wasn't looking at the **Heavenly Demon**. She stared at **Raon’s** back with a look of shimmering, ecstatic devotion.
'No matter the outcome...'
**Raon** gave a grim nod, his eyes locked on the **Heavenly Demon’s** movements.
'You were right, **Wrath**. That man is far from sane.'
**Raon** had demanded a blood debt, but he hadn't actually expected to see the **Heavenly Demon’s** blood. His plan was to squeeze the leader for intelligence, thin out the **Eden** leadership, and seize their assets to ensure a future victory.
Yet, the **Heavenly Demon** was tearing himself apart, as if anything less than total physical ruin was beneath the dignity of the debt.
—You aren't exactly "normal" for wanting all that either, you know...
**Wrath** let out a cynical chuckle at **Raon’s** internal greed.
—Though I suppose you're a different breed of crazy compared to him.
The demon wrinkled his nose, acknowledging that nothing **Raon** did could currently touch the sheer insanity of the **Heavenly Demon’s** actions.
'Indeed.'
**Raon** steadied his lungs, absorbing every nuance of the strikes.
'The technique is terrifyingly perfect.'
The **Heavenly Demon** curled a hand that was missing chunks of flesh into a fist. The very origin of martial power seemed to gravitate toward that hand, causing the winds to stall and the clouds to fray. That fist wasn't just a part of a man; it was a microcosm holding the weight of a world.
**Kuuuuuuung!**
The **Heavenly Demon** drove a fist forward, governed by the laws of the universe. The strike, moving with a deceptive, moonlit slowness, impacted his own chest. The shockwave felt as though the dimensions themselves were fracturing.
An unstoppable fist meeting an unbreakable body. The **Heavenly Demon** inflicted trauma upon himself that even the **God of War** would find intolerable, and he did so without a flicker of doubt.
**Huuuuuung!**
Even with more than half his frame pulverized, the **Heavenly Demon** didn't sweat. He didn't look like a man paying a price; he looked like a god testing the boundaries of existence.
**Kuuuuuung!**
His left fist rose toward the stars before descending like the trail of a falling star. Space groaned under the pressure, and the light of the stars seemed to ripple and drown in its wake.
**Ppeoeoeoeouk!**
The strike found its mark on his right arm—the only limb that remained functional.
**Jjijijijijik!**
Only after confirming his right arm was utterly shattered did the **Heavenly Demon** lower his blood-drenched hand. As he relaxed his grip, the distorted sky and earth tried to snap back into place, but the intensity of his dark-red killing intent left lingering scars in the air like frozen lightning.
"Did you see enough?"
The **Heavenly Demon** remained hauntingly composed, his eyes as cold as ever despite his body being reduced to a ruin. He stood with an impossible grace, nodding with a pride that suggested his broken legs and shattered arm were of no consequence.
"I did..."
**Raon’s** throat was dry, his own body feeling the phantom aches of the display.
"I saw everything."
He spoke with a heavy nod, acknowledging the multiple layers of what had just occurred.
"The universe resides within my grasp."
The **Heavenly Demon** lifted his bleeding left fist, his chin tilted in an arrogant display of power. Even with his flesh flayed and his bones snapped, the aura of the dragon that ruled the land remained unblunted.
"Tell me. Do you believe I can be bested?"
He looked at **Raon**, the grandson of **Glenn**, and asked for a verdict on his future clash. He spoke as if the concept of his own defeat was a foreign language.
"......"
**Raon** remained silent, his eyes narrowing.
'I have no answer for that.'
If asked before this moment, he would have declared **Glenn’s** victory without a second thought. But after witnessing the **Heavenly Demon’s** fanaticism and his ultimate technique, he could no longer say for certain that even **Glenn** would emerge the winner.
—That man is the true incarnation of **Pride**. No...
**Wrath** glared at the figure, his lip curling.
—He is worse than the sin itself! Why is this tiny land crawling with such lunatics!
The demon shook his head, placing **Raon** and the **Heavenly Demon** in the same category of madness.
"You are at least honest enough not to lie."
The **Heavenly Demon** seemed satisfied by the silence.
"The **Destructive King of the North**, **Glenn Zieghart**, is the pinnacle."
**Raon** exhaled slowly, meeting the other’s gaze.
"I cannot conceive of him falling. However..."
He pictured **Glenn** as he had last seen him and tightened his grip on the **Heavenly Drive**.
"I also cannot imagine you losing."
**Raon** gave his honest assessment, raising the **Heavenly Drive** to his chest in a formal salute. It was a gesture of profound respect—a tribute from one seeker of the sword to a master who had revealed the true horizon of martial arts.
'I learned a great deal.'
The **Heavenly Demon** could have made his movements invisible, but he had chosen a deliberate pace so **Raon** could trace the path and the logic of the energy. It was a gift that expanded **Raon's** internal capacity and understanding, even if it came from a foe.
'If I can assimilate what he showed me...'
He might break through to a new level. "All Streams Return to the Source"—just as every river eventually finds the ocean, if he could merge the logic of the **Heavenly Demon’s** fist into his own blade, he would surpass his current limits.
"I look forward to it even more now. My final meeting with **Glenn Zieghart**."
The **Heavenly Demon** smirked, his competitive fire seemingly stoked by **Raon’s** words.
"There is one thing I must ask."
**Raon** lowered his weapon and looked at the mangled man.
"Why go to such lengths?"
He frowned, wondering why he would choose such a brutal method of repayment.
"Did you not say it yourself? A debt of blood is settled with blood. It is only fitting that the blood of the commander pays for the blood of his followers."
The **Heavenly Demon** stroked his chin as if this were the most basic logic in the world.
—Ugh...
**Wrath** clutched his chest, looking pained.
—N-No! I refuse to let a vessel of **Pride** stir my heart!
The demon began hitting his own head, furious that he felt moved by the **Heavenly Demon’s** philosophy.
"Furthermore..."
The **Heavenly Demon’s** eyes blazed like an inferno.
"Your blade was sufficient to please me."
He nodded, recalling the clash against **Raon’s** **Sword Domain**.
"I see..."
**Raon** bit his lip, observing the stillness in the other man’s eyes.
'He truly is more of a monarch than the Monarch of **Pride**.'
The composure he maintained while standing in his own wreckage made him seem like the very definition of arrogance.
"What stops us from striking you down now, while you are crippled?"
**Raon** voiced the question hanging in the air, his hand shifting on his sword.
"Others might. But you and **Glenn**? You would never stoop to that."
The **Heavenly Demon** gave a small nod, showing a strange, ultimate trust in his enemies.
"Haah..."
**Raon** sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. It was frustrating, but the man was right. He couldn't bring himself to attack someone in that condition.
'Besides, I doubt he’d die easily even now.'
**Raon** was also spent and battered. Even against a broken **Heavenly Demon**, victory wasn't a guarantee.
'I have to place my faith in grandfather.'
If it was **Glenn**, he could win even if his opponent was at his peak. **Raon** nodded, holding onto that conviction.
"Will those injuries even close before the duel with the **Head of House**?"
**Raon** looked at the still-bleeding gashes. These weren't shallow wounds; they were deep, self-inflicted traumas that defied quick healing.
"The timing will be tight."
The **Heavenly Demon** used his left hand to wipe blood from his shoulder, acting as if he’d be perfectly fine by the time the duel arrived.
"Then you won't be able to train?"
"That, too, is part of the path. There is wisdom to be found in recovery."
He showed no shadow of regret.
"...I understand."
Through that final answer, **Raon** finally grasped the core of the man known as the **Heavenly Demon**.
"The debt for **Birdnew Village** is settled."
Between the slaughter of **Eden's** beasts and officers, the **Heavenly Demon’s** self-mutilation, and the martial insights he had shared, the scales were finally balanced.
"We’re leaving."
As **Raon** turned to sheath the **Heavenly Drive**, a small sound cut through the air.
**Ttalang!**
The **Heavenly Demon** tossed a wooden object adorned with two small bells toward him.
"This is..."
**Raon** caught it, eyeing the bells curiously.
"You will find a use for it."
Without another word, the **Heavenly Demon** turned away. A man and a woman—one in a lion mask, the other in a tiger helmet—stepped forward to tear open a gate of swirling shadow.
"......"
With a faint, final nod of acknowledgment, the **Heavenly Demon** stepped into the **Dimensional Gate**. The moment he vanished, the fractured sky sealed itself and the broken earth leveled out.
It was as if the entire encounter had been a hallucination. The monumental traces of his power vanished, replaced only by the mundane sound of the village laborers snoring in their sleep.
"Incredible..."
**Raon** breathed out the word. The **Heavenly Demon** had unleashed world-shattering power, yet he had contained the entire impact within himself to spare the surroundings. He had swallowed the destruction of heaven and earth alone.
'I want to be the one to face him.'
Not just **Glenn**. **Raon** felt a burning desire to reach that same pinnacle and duel the **Heavenly Demon** himself. It felt like an impossible dream, yet the man’s existence was a catalyst for his fighting spirit.
—Don't be ridiculous!
**Wrath** snorted in derision.
—His level of mastery is a thousand miles beyond your reach!
The demon shook his head vigorously, dismissing the idea.
—You’d need to toil for a century just to catch a glimpse of his shadow...
As **Wrath** continued his mocking lecture, shimmering text began to manifest before **Raon’s** eyes.
[You have earned the respect of <**Pride**>.]
[You have received the recognition of the <**Avatar of Martial Arts**>.]
[A legendary feat has been achieved.]
[All statistics...]
[Traits...]
A flood of rewards poured out, as if mocking **Wrath’s** skepticism.
—A-A legendary feat...?
**Wrath** froze mid-insult, his lips twitching in shock.
'Well, thanks to your "encouragement"...'
**Raon** let a smirk spread across his face as he scrolled through the notifications.
'It looks like I won't need that hundred years after all.'
