The Myth of the Greek Heavenly Demon

The exiled musician never revealed his name or his homeland until the end.
Yet somehow, through his music, he saw bustling harbors where people hurriedly came and went, taverns where foreigners mingled, and processions of people and horses carrying loads across rugged mountain ranges.
Foreign merchants who braved the rough seas to bring all sorts of exotic goods.
A small and wealthy nation where numerous stories and different cultures exchanged hands.
The gayageum that had crossed the sea and entered by chance was likely his first beginning there.

Whether it was Joseon, Silla, or an even older era, I didn’t know, but I was born in the same land as him. And how he became a master of sound arts on the other side of the continent, I did not know.
I could only surmise that there must be a more complex backstory than mine.

However, they say an artist’s talent deepens the more they suffer.
After spending unimaginable years as a wandering musician to become the leader of a grand sect, the Longing Ghost Sound’s performance had something that defied the imagination of those who had never heard it.

No matter how much one learned skills and techniques from him, imbuing qi into sound and harmonizing with it.
I could never match his years of experience, so the Longing Ghost Sound said if I ever went to the martial world, I should avoid instruments for a while.
Music, after all, transcends the realm of qi and etiquette into the domain of the mind.
My skills had already developed and honed to a level comparable to his, but my inspiration to express through them was lacking.
If I kept hanging on to the instrument, I would only become a third-rate musician who plays empty performances blinded by money, or a murderer who calls for blood with sound.

‘Old man… From the start, where would I have had the leisurely time to play the gayageum after entering the Demonic Cult…?’

You. With just one gayageum, you received offers to become an imperial court musician, and wherever you went, you were treated no less than royalty, honing your skills while wandering.
I, on the other hand, fell into the martial world without any connections, climbed up to the high ranks of the Heavenly Demon Cult, and had to fight against the corrupt cult leader’s forces.
Except for a few times when I played alone to calm my troubled mind, I didn’t have the time or leisure to practice the gayageum properly, always running around busily. Playing the gayageum, what a joke…
Perhaps he had anticipated everything and ingrained the technique into my body first.

‘In the end, I grasped the spear again after many years, when I was invited to that damned cult leader’s banquet.’

Honestly, I was a bit worried since it had been years since I last held the spear.
More often than not, I wielded a sword instead of a spear, and, even more frequently, a brush instead of a sword, so I was concerned about tarnishing my master’s name.
But I couldn’t back down.
It was a critical time when my influence within the cult was gradually growing, and many neutral factions who were watching between me and the Cult Leader were participating in what was essentially a battlefield disguised as a banquet.
In a situation where I couldn’t back down from the power struggle with the Cult Leader, he arbitrarily demanded that I wield the spear. I simply couldn’t retreat.

But to my surprise.

After decades, as I reached out to the gayageum again, my hands began to play a tune on their own.

However, while playing my master’s twelve melodies, the scenery contained within was the fierce training I underwent with the Twelve Divine Demons and the intense years I spent in the Demonic Sect.
In the end, life is unpredictable, like the old saying we always heard.
The neutral factions, who heard my performance, preferred my fiercely fought path in the Heavenly Demon Sect over the complacent status quo and power games of the leader’s family. This resulted in my power equaling that of the leader.

‘Then what about now?’

How is my gayageum now?
What kind of years are embedded in my gayageum now?
The old companion, gifted by the one I loved and then disappeared, had withered away with time. What could be contained within this new gayageum, acquired in a different world, neither in the Central Plains nor Korea?

-~~

The technique was still flawless.
After all, it was a skill honed with sweat and blood, almost ingrained into the soul, so it wouldn’t go anywhere even after reincarnation.
But if the technique was the vessel, then the inspiration within it was the essence.
Depending on the direction of that inspiration, even the same note played could be vastly different from start to finish.

What I contain.
What I would contain.

Perhaps that’s why I readily accepted Chiron’s proposal and came all this way.
To find that very thing.
Indeed, what am I currently filling my vessel with?

‘Tsk, this is why I dislike instruments.’

In the end, no matter how many people are listening, a performance is a mirror reflecting the performer.
It was like meditation, drawing oneself inward.

From the start, this life was meant to be a healing one after living so fiercely in my past life.
Wasn’t that the motto of this life?
But living a life half filled with war and strife and half with wandering makes me wonder if this damned mind of mine finds peace boring.
In the end, I almost sighed at the sight of myself throwing my body into the heart of the original chaotic Greek mythology world.

“Sigh…”

They say you become tainted by what you are close to.
Spending life in such bloody battles and strife, then throwing everything away to wander.
Have I become someone who can’t be satisfied unless it’s a noisy mess around me?

In fact, even this gold was made because of Apollo, the Sun God I saw that morning.
Peace was already out of the question.

‘Atalanta and Neri have been acting extremely cautious these days…’

Atalanta was in the midst of a nerve-wracking battle with the hunters of the forest, and Neri, as I heard when I went into the sea last time, seemed to be plotting something diligently with her sisters.

Thoughts that had once started to intertwine continued to flow along the strings, with all sorts of notions surging like a tidal wave, relentlessly crashing in.

My hands did not stop, and the thoughts surged like waves.
It was hard to tell if I was playing the strings or if the strings were holding onto me, as the performance began to dig deeper and deeper.

“Hmm… fierce, complex, ancient and timeworn, yet youthful, fiery, and full of vigor.”

“?!”

-Ding!!

A voice suddenly pierced through my thoughts.
Clearly, there were no signs of anyone approaching, but the sudden voice that drilled into my ears naturally made my hands change the tune on the strings.

The sorrowful cries of a traveler longing for home, and the lamentations of a wanderer drifting through three lifetimes disappeared.
The fierce melody that cut through invaders and shattered the Twelve Divine Demons sharply sliced through the air.

This wasn’t just any performance; it was one that the Longing Ghost Sound inadvertently reached while walking the path of the Music Saint.
Originally, it should have been named a piece, but those who heard his performance couldn’t just call it a piece.
A cursed melody widely known in the martial arts world as a sound technique.

The Longing Twelve Techniques – Striking Sharpness.

-Shyack!

“Oh?”

The ever-changing rhythm lashed in all directions like a whip, and the scattered energy formed a storm.

‘…Above.’

The elegant voice of a graceful woman, as if enjoying tea and snacks in a refined pavilion.
However, the tone of that voice revealed an age and power that no human body could contain.
And surrounding such a voice was a massive radiance.
A massive radiance of power that I, in my current state, couldn’t possibly dare to approach, was shining brilliantly above my head, blocking the Striking Sharpness Technique.

Sound waves are simple.
They’re the vibration of the air touching the skin, and the tremor that resonates in the ears.
Therefore, it is impossible for any magic or martial arts to completely defend against them.
For example, a qi warrior tried to block the sound with a qi barrier that cut off all external noise, but he couldn’t keep up with the variations in the flow of the master’s tune, and eventually, the qi barrier was shattered into pieces.
No soundproofing could prevent the sound from seeping through like water.
In a sense, the sound technique of the Longing Ghost Sound could be said to be truly invincible martial arts.

But to block it and calmly look down at me?

“A goddess, and one who uses quite complex magic.”

“That’s right. Aren’t you going to turn around and show your respect?”

If there is one thing I felt while handling divine power, in other words, the Godly Demonic Qi.
Divine power demonstrates incredible utility and stability comparable to miracles, but it is not an omnipotent magic stone that makes everything possible.
In other words, it optimizes the desired phenomena into reality based on the total amount of divine power, the user’s understanding, utilization, and proficiency.
The reason I was able to push back Eris and match the Judgment Sword of Nemesis when I first used the Twelve Divine Demons was that I deeply understood the essence of the Ancient Sword and could almost perfectly implement it with divine power.
It was never because their divine power was weaker or lesser than mine that they were pushed back.
However, the young goddess looking down at me from above had an immeasurable amount of divine power, and her skill in handling it far surpassed mine.
It was an impossible feat unless one were a goddess wielding magic comparable to that of the Twelve Divine Demons.

‘Though the direction is different… In some sense, is it on par with my past life?’

No.
The years and depth faintly felt from the voice.
And the overwhelming divine power that made my whole body shiver.
And the omnipresent divine power that manifested as if it were alive was awe-inspiring even to me.
The divine might of the goddess was so tremendous that even the me of my past life, at the peak of conquering the martial world, would have found it difficult to gauge victory.

“Child, do you not think your appearance is rude right now?”

However, even so, I couldn’t just be led by the opponent’s flow from the start.
Despite the commanding tone, I stood my ground and did not turn around.

“The performance isn’t over yet; why should the musician leave his post?”

“Oh?”

“Shall I continue?”

No matter how profound the goddess before me was, even surprising myself.
Suddenly interrupting at the best moment and giving orders?

‘Honestly, it’s annoying.’

The sudden arrival of an uninvited guest and the overwhelming presence of such a formidable figure.
What about it?
Despite my current form, I’ve accumulated profound achievements and understanding over long years, and I take pride in that.
And here she was, blocking my music technique so nonchalantly.

Whether she was a goddess or whatever, I couldn’t just let her look down on me like this.

“You are bold. This is a first for me over many ages.”

“Then I shall continue.”

-Diding!

The newly acquired gayageum announced the opening with its sharp sound, and my fingers began to gradually increase their speed over the strings.
A solo performance for an uninvited guest whose face I did not know.
The killing intent aimed at the rude intruder started to slash through the entire forest.