That afternoon, Seo Daeryong brought more than a dozen Hwangcheon Pavilion investigators with him.
When it looked as though the investigation was beginning in earnest, the Demon Army troops began to grow agitated. Rumors spread that, with Jangho at the forefront, every last member of the Demon Army would be thoroughly searched.
And that evening, an incident broke out.
I was resting in my room when one of the Hwangcheon Pavilion investigators came running in.
“Something terrible has happened. You must come at once.”
When I arrived, the corridor in front of the interrogation room was in utter chaos. A fight had broken out between the Demon Army troops and the investigators.
“Everyone, stop!”
I pushed my way between the Demon Army troops and the investigators facing off against each other and broke up the fight.
One investigator lay collapsed on the floor, bleeding. This was not merely a simple beating. Blood poured from his torn face, and even his ribs were broken.
An enraged Seo Daeryong had stepped forward, but he had been unable to withstand the Demon Army troops and had been beaten as well.
“Are you badly hurt?”
“I’m fine, but my colleague has been seriously injured.”
“Take him to the infirmary at once.”
The other investigators carried the fallen man away.
Godang, the leader of this incident, shamelessly remained there.
“Did you do this?”
“I did.”
The demonic practitioners standing around were all troops of the Demon Army’s First Unit. Perhaps that was why Godang was not intimidated in the slightest. On the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying the situation, and his subordinates around him all wore expressions as if they might burst into snickers at any moment.
“Somehow, today feels like the day a prophecy will come true.”
At my words, Seo Daeryong, who knew what prophecy I meant, swallowed hard.
“What nonsense is this about a prophecy all of a sudden?”
At Godang’s question, Seo Daeryong stared fixedly at his head and answered in my stead.
“Captain Go, it is a prophecy you absolutely do not want to know.”
“Then I shall make a prophecy for you as well, Second Young Master. Our Second Young Master will be pushed out of the succession struggle, driven out of our cult, and end up living off those orthodox bastards of the Murim Alliance.”
The Demon Army troops of the First Unit who were listening roared with laughter.
Instead of getting angry, I was delighted.
“Oh, what a splendid prophecy!”
“Splendid?”
“Even after being pushed out of the succession struggle, I survive, do I not? And on top of that, I get to live my whole life without working, leeching off others! Isn’t living in idleness everyone’s dream? Thank you very much for the prophecy! I shall go there and live my second life.”
Having been mocked in return, Godang’s expression hardened as much as it could.
“Why did you injure a warrior of Hwangcheon Pavilion?”
“He brushed shoulders with me in the corridor. He walked away without apologizing, so I simply taught him a lesson.”
“You must have been the one who bumped shoulders with him. And even if he had apologized, you would not have let him go.”
Godang did not deny it and merely smiled. The Demon Army troops around him laughed along with him.
“They are poison.”
At my words, Godang asked in puzzlement.
“Poison?”
“Your subordinates. To you, they are poison.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
As long as his subordinates were watching, he would not back down because of his pride, and in the end, he would be driven toward the ruin I had planned.
“Godang, did you not kill a warrior of our cult in this very manner last year as well? And the year before that, you picked a fight in a tavern and killed three people.”
All of his victims had been low-ranking warriors, and before the incidents could become official cases, the Demon Army side had covered them up.
“Cripples with no respect for their seniors are scattered all over the world.”
A look that said, “Just like you,” flew toward me.
“Do you know this? On my way down here, I received something.”
“What is that?”
“The authority of summary execution.”
At the words “authority of summary execution,” the surroundings fell silent for a moment.
But Godang only snorted.
“What use is authority? You lack the ability to carry it out.”
At those words, his subordinates burst into laughter again.
This was the poison I spoke of. This was what happened when a fool became conscious of the eyes around him.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been a situation that made him tense, but he was putting on a show in front of his subordinates. He alone did not know what kind of stage he was standing upon.
When I took a step forward, the demonic practitioners of the First Unit around Godang surged forward.
“To touch us is to touch the entire Demon Army. I wonder whether the Second Young Master truly has such courage.”
“At the very least, I do not hide behind my subordinates.”
He raised his bandaged right hand.
“I am injured because of a certain cowardly man.”
At that moment, I raised my right hand and said,
“I will not use my right hand either.”
“!”
Godang flinched in surprise, as though he had not expected me to respond this way.
But he was laboring under the delusion that he was the protagonist of this stage.
“If you get hurt, will you go crying to the Cult Leader?”
His subordinates burst into laughter. Each time they laughed, the stage grew hotter.
“Not only if I am injured, but even if I die, I will hold no one responsible.”
“Do you swear it?”
I tapped my sword twice and swore.
Only then did the bastard accept my challenge.
“Good. Let us see what you can do.”
Godang drew his sword and held it in his left hand. The reason he stepped forward with confidence was because he could wield a sword with his left hand just as skillfully as with his right. I, on the other hand, was right-handed.
With my right hand behind my back as if clasped there, I slowly walked forward.
“What if, when you become desperate, you use that hand?”
Godang seemed afraid that I might use my right hand.
“Tell your subordinates to join forces and kill me.”
“Hmph! How confident. I heard you recently held a little talent show with the greenhorns of Namdojong. It seems you gained some confidence there.”
“To be honest, your tricks are more entertaining.”
“Shut your mouth!”
Godang thrust out his sword and charged.
I considered this duel part of my training as well. What mattered most in training was, after all, practical combat training. A real fight against a captain of the Demon Army was an experience money could not buy.
Godang did not hold back. He poured in all his strength, determined to wound me somehow.
Every time his sword missed, sighs of regret rang out here and there.
To them, it must have looked perilous, as if I might be pierced by the blade at any moment, but my heart was as calm as a lake.
After crossing blades with him, I knew for certain. My current level was such that I could easily handle someone like Godang even with my left hand.
As for the result of this fight, everyone’s interest would be in “how many moves.”
The number I chose was forty. Once this fight ended, the rumor would spread like this.
The Second Young Master slew the captain of the Demon Army’s First Unit in forty moves.
Since I had defeated Yangpo, the disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, in a little over twenty moves, defeating Godang in forty moves would make for a reasonably balanced story.
When the fortieth move came, I changed my footwork and dug in toward him.
The instant I seized the wrist of the arm holding his sword, Godang tried to violently shake me off and retreat. But if that had been possible, his arm would never have been caught in the first place.
With his arm in my grip, my body spun once.
Crrrrrack!
Godang’s arm twisted like laundry being wrung out, and bone jutted from his wrist.
“Aaaaaaaagh!”
As he screamed, my fist flew into his face again.
With a heavy thud, Godang rolled across the floor.
I climbed onto the fallen bastard and drove my fist down. If I had infused internal energy into it, he would have died instantly, but I struck him without it, delivering only impact.
Thud! Thwack! Thud!
One of the demonic practitioners of the First Unit who had been watching rushed in.
Still seated on Godang’s stomach, I swung my sword.
The charging man’s lower abdomen split open, and he pitched forward.
Because no one had expected me to cut him down in a single stroke, not only the Demon Army troops but even Seo Daeryong and the Hwangcheon Pavilion investigators were greatly shocked.
“Madman!”
“Kill him!”
Two of Godang’s close men drew their swords and charged.
The attacks they swung in desperation became the last moves of their lives.
I sprang to my feet and thrust my sword in rapid succession. Their swords grazed my body, but my sword landed precisely where I aimed.
Pshk! Pshhhk!
The two men, their throats pierced through, collapsed as blood sprayed in every direction.
In an instant, the place became a sea of blood. With three of their comrades turned into corpses, the Demon Army troops hesitated, unable to decide whether to rush in or not.
I shouted with force.
“The crime of those who just died is treason.”
At the word “treason,” they froze.
After leaving them unable to move, I walked over to the fallen Godang.
“The same applies to your captain. He beat and seriously injured someone who came under the Cult Leader’s command. It is unmistakably treason.”
Looking down at him, I said coldly,
“Do you know what became of the families of the people you picked fights with and killed in the tavern last year? You do not, do you? You would not have cared. They lost a father, lost a child, lost a husband. Do you think those people are living properly now? What are you, that you dare beat people? What are you, that you dare kill our cult members?”
“……Please spare me.”
His face was a bloody mess, but it was filled with a desire to live.
“Why should I?”
“……I will repent.”
Blood welled out from the bastard’s mouth.
“Liar. You will do it again.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“You said it yourself, did you not? That you would keep doing it.”
“……When did I say that?”
“Your past life said it all.”
I raised my foot high and brought it down on Godang’s head in a stomping strike.
Whoosh!
Crack.
The bastard’s head burst like a watermelon, killing him instantly.
For a moment, silence descended over the place. No one could have imagined that I would smash the head of Godang, whom the Lord of the Demon Army favored, and kill him.
After slaying Godang, I shouted at the demonic practitioners of the First Unit.
“Treason is subject to summary execution. Do you want to die? Still holding your swords up like that?”
At that, the demonic practitioners of the First Unit all lowered their swords at once. Their captain was already dead, and if they stepped forward for no reason, their heads would fly. They had been overwhelmed by my martial prowess in cutting down their comrades in a single stroke.
“The Demon Army’s First Unit will withdraw and remain in confinement until special orders are given! From this moment on, anyone who leaves his room will be punished for treason. Know that well!”
When I gestured for them all to leave, they did not dare refuse and all went outside.
The Hwangcheon Pavilion investigators who had been watching stared at me with stunned expressions. The emotions mixed into that shock were unmistakably joy and deep emotion.
Seo Daeryong said to me,
“You were far stronger than I had thought.”
“What did you think?”
“Well…… I did not think you would defeat the captain of the Demon Army’s First Unit.”
“We had a prophecy, did we not?”
I had said it to make him laugh, but Seo Daeryong did not laugh. With a tense expression, he looked around at the corpses strewn about.
“Even if you are the Second Young Master…… is this truly all right?”
To the frightened man, I said firmly,
“Do not make a fuss over the deaths of a mere three or four men. I came prepared to cut down half the Demon Army.”
“!”
It was the moment I confirmed just how small Seo Daeryong usually kept his eyes.
That evening, the Lord of the Demon Army summoned me.
He was waiting not in his office, but in a pleasure house in Maga Village.
There were roughly a dozen pleasure houses in Maga Village, and though no one had officially designated them as such, the places people went naturally came to be determined by rank. The pleasure house where the Lord of the Demon Army was waiting was the finest of them all.
“I called you here to have a drink with you after so long.”
He treated me as though nothing had happened. If anything, he was more subtle and gentle than usual.
“Have you ever been here?”
“This is my first time.”
“This place is good.”
Indeed, the food and wine laid out were of the highest quality, and the courtesans were extraordinary beauties. The musicians’ skill was also superb.
“It looks expensive.”
“It is the most expensive place in Maga Village. I prepared it specially for you today.”
He was a man who took pride in such luxury and pleasure.
“Life is uncertain, and we never know when we may die. We ought to enjoy ourselves to the fullest before we go. Would you not agree?”
“You are absolutely right.”
“Come, drink.”
I drank with him. The Lord of the Demon Army made himself at home as if he had come here countless times. As he drank, he sang, and at times he sprang to his feet and danced with the courtesans. Though he had clearly summoned me because of Godang’s death, he did not mention the matter at all.
In my previous life, I had been far removed from revelry, so I simply matched the mood in moderation.
After we had spent quite some time merrymaking and were pleasantly drunk, only then did the Lord of the Demon Army dismiss the courtesans.
“I heard there was a small incident with my men?”
The words “small incident” reflected his intention regarding how he planned to handle this matter.
“Yes. There was an unexpected clash.”
It was an incident in which a captain of the Demon Army had died. It was something that could have thrown the entire cult into an uproar, but the Lord of the Demon Army was trying to turn this crisis into an opportunity.
“Best to let good enough be good, no? How about we wrap things up around here? I had no choice but to use him, but that Captain of the First Unit had many shady corners to him.”
He meant to put everything on the dead captain of the First Unit and end it there.
‘My, you truly are an impressive piece of trash.’
No matter what, Godang had been his trusted subordinate. Yet instead of avenging him, he was trying to turn him into a criminal. This was why only the dead were pitiable.
“Even if it was for the sake of investigating the incident, if someone were to take issue with the fact that you killed a captain of the Demon Army, that would become a serious matter as well, would it not?”
“I do feel sorry about that point.”
“What do you say? Shall we conclude it here? One captain and three subordinates should be enough, should it not?”
“Thank you for your consideration. I, too, would like to handle this amicably, but there is one problem.”
“What problem?”
“There is no evidence. I came here for an official investigation, so if I am to report to the higher-ups, should I not have evidence?”
“Evidence can be attached appropriately.”
“That would be difficult. The anonymous letter that arrived this time stated that the First Unit had privately accepted outside commissions. It is not a matter that can be quietly glossed over.”
It was something I had heard from Jangho, but I said it had been written in the anonymous letter.
Because he had not expected me to know even that, the Lord of the Demon Army struggled to hide his surprise.
“To end this incident, evidence is absolutely necessary.”
I did not tell him to hand over evidence. But he would have understood it this way.
—This matter will end only if you hand over evidence.
After the brief secret conversation ended, the Lord of the Demon Army called the courtesans in again, drank, and played.
The Lord of the Demon Army tried to enjoy himself even more excitedly than before, but throughout the drinking party, I could feel his worry. His dance steps were no longer as nimble as before.