At the news that I had killed the Demon Army Lord, Ian practically jumped out of her skin. How I had managed to kill him did not matter to her.
“What on earth possessed you to do something so dangerous?”
The fact that her words even included the word “something” meant she was truly furious. She herself did not even seem to realize she had said it.
“Would Elder Blood Heaven Blade Demon have just sat still when his younger brother died?”
“Then train hard and make it so he can’t touch me.”
“I couldn’t stop him even if I went into closed-door training for thirty years!”
“Then you’d win. He’d have died of old age.”
At my carefree response, Ian let out a sigh.
“Truly, from the moment you changed, Young Master… my life became twice as difficult.”
“Haha. Then you’ll lose weight. Isn’t that good?”
“Young Master!”
It was not only Ian; the entire cult was thrown into an uproar.
The impact was on a completely different level from the earlier news that Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s disciple had died by my hand.
I could feel that change even on my way to the Heavenly Demon Hall after being summoned by Father.
The gazes directed at me had changed.
Many had expected my older brother to become the successor. But now, that was beginning to change.
When I won the duel, people had cheered wildly, and it became a topic of conversation when I asked for a hunt as my wish. When I killed Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s disciple, they were astonished by my courage.
And now, I had killed the Demon Army Lord.
According to Ian, whenever people met, all they talked about was me. Since everyone had hated the Demon Army Lord, who had caused countless problems with his arrogant, high-handed behavior, my popularity had soared in an instant.
There were even martial artists who approached me to greet me.
Of course, no one directly said things like “That was impressive” or “Well done.” They were afraid of Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s retaliation.
They merely approached in silence, cupped their fists, and sent me respectful looks. In those gazes, I could feel their support for me. Those who came up to greet me like this were people who wanted me to become the successor.
I accepted every one of their greetings as I made my way to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
In the Heavenly Demon Hall, Father, Chief Strategist Sima Myeong, and Blood Heaven Blade Demon Gu Cheonpa were waiting for me.
After first greeting Father and Sima Myeong, I greeted Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“It has been a long time, Elder.”
“Have you been well, Second Young Master?”
Considering the gravity of his younger brother’s death, Blood Heaven Blade Demon was composed.
The eccentric yet distinctive aura he had shown when he came to see me before was nowhere to be found. He likely did not dare reveal such an air before Father.
“What exactly happened in this matter?”
“I wrote everything in the report.”
“I would like to hear it directly from you, Second Young Master.”
Though he stood before Father, Blood Heaven Blade Demon calmly said what he wished to say. Perhaps Father and Sima Myeong considered that much to be Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s right, for they did not interfere and simply let him proceed.
“Through the investigation, I uncovered your younger brother’s grave crimes. In the process of arresting him, he tried to kill me… Elder, I apologize.”
“It is all right. If my younger brother committed a crime, he naturally had to be punished. What I do not understand, however, is that although my younger brother was a pathetic man, he was not so foolish as to attack the Second Young Master when his crimes had been clearly exposed.”
He was assuming that his brother would have obediently been taken in and then appealed to him, his elder brother, for help.
And I had prevented that situation before it could happen.
“I do not know why he did that either. Perhaps he could not accept being arrested by someone as young as I am.”
Blood Heaven Blade Demon stared at me for a moment, then opened his mouth again.
“I saw the body before coming here. You stabbed him in a single blow.”
“Yes.”
I did not speak in detail about the fight. When one was in an unfavorable situation, the longer one spoke, the more mistakes and gaps appeared. For now, leaving it to the Blade Demon’s imagination was actually best.
Here, with Father watching, he could not interrogate me about every detail of the fight. Whether he was stabbed in the back or stabbed in the sole of his foot, the idea that the one who died was the inferior fool lay at the foundation of the demonic practitioners of our cult.
“The Second Young Master’s martial prowess was far greater than I had thought.”
“It seems I benefited from my father’s prestige. Though he was enraged, the Demon Army Lord could not have gone all out against me.”
“I suppose so.”
Blood Heaven Blade Demon gave me a gentle smile and expressed his gratitude.
“Thank you for speaking honestly. Thanks to that, my mind is at ease.”
“Not at all.”
His disciple had died, and now even his younger brother was dead, so his rage must have reached its peak. We had truly become mortal enemies, yet Blood Heaven Blade Demon did not reveal even the smallest trace of anger. It was a moment that showed just how well he controlled his emotions.
Before leaving the Heavenly Demon Hall, Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at Father.
When he first came to find me, he had twice said that he would come to Father carrying my head. That meant he was confident in his relationship with Father.
If so, shouldn’t Blood Heaven Blade Demon be saying something like this at this moment?
—Cult Leader, how could you do this to me? If you were going to seize my younger brother, you should have called me first and let me handle it. I am hurt. Truly hurt!
But there was no hurt anywhere in Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s eyes. Father’s gaze toward him was the same as usual as well.
“You will have to prepare the funeral. Go and rest.”
“Thank you for your consideration, Cult Leader.”
After bowing politely, Blood Heaven Blade Demon turned around. As he walked across the red carpet, he did not spare me a single glance.
Only after he withdrew did Sima Myeong finally speak.
“You have worked hard. The evidence Second Young Master gathered was conclusive, so we were able to conclude the case without any problems. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Thanks to your concern, I am fine.”
Sima Myeong must have had many questions about this unexpected result as well, but he did not ask me. Since Father had likely been the one to entrust me with this investigation, he must have thought that, in the end, it was a matter between Father and me.
“The Cult Leader has bestowed a reward upon the Second Young Master, who has rendered great merit.”
One of the demonic practitioners of the Heavenly Demon Hall brought over a long wooden case. From his careful steps, I could guess just how important the item inside was.
When the lid, engraved with an elegant yet luxurious pattern, was opened, there was a sword inside.
The moment I confirmed that it was the Black Demon Sword, I was shocked. He was bestowing upon me the most precious sword after the Heavenly Demon Sword.
“The Cult Leader has bestowed the Black Demon Sword upon the Second Young Master.”
I was so delighted that a bright smile spread across my face. Unable to hide my joy, I needlessly joked.
“If you were going to give me something, you should have given me the noble White Flower Sword that suits my temperament.”
With an expression that said, As if, Father spoke.
“The sword that suits you is the Black Demon Sword.”
“You really don’t know your son. Sword, do you think so too?”
I slowly drew the Black Demon Sword.
The cold energy extending from the blade seized control of the hall. Since I had not infused it with any internal energy, it was purely the aura emitted by the sword itself.
The instant I drew the sword, I knew. This sword was my sword. It suited me far too well.
“Is this not too excessive a reward?”
At my humility, Sima Myeong spoke on Father’s behalf.
“It is not excessive. The matter of the Demon Army Lord was one of the most troublesome problems in our cult.”
“So you shoved that headache onto me.”
“We did not know the Second Young Master would handle it this cleanly.”
Sima Myeong, admiring me once again, asked Father.
“Cult Leader, did you expect things to turn out this way?”
Father shook his head.
“I thought it would be fortunate if he did not run his mouth and get himself killed.”
I knew that was not true.
He must have sent me because he trusted me. He knew I had achieved great success in the Flying Heaven Sword Art, and since I had even consumed the Demon Essence Pill in Socheondong, he must have believed I would not be defeated easily. Of course, he likely had not expected the result to be the Demon Army Lord’s death.
And I also knew why Father had bestowed the sword upon me. He was saying this to Blood Heaven Blade Demon:
—I acknowledge his merit, so at the very least, do not touch my son over this matter.
It was a silent warning. There was no way the quick-witted Blood Heaven Blade Demon would fail to grasp its meaning.
“Thank you, Father.”
After holding up the sword and properly offering my thanks, I left the Heavenly Demon Hall.
On the way back to my residence, someone called me.
“Second Young Master, the sunlight is pleasant. Why not rest a moment before you go?”
Blood Heaven Blade Demon was sitting in the open space before the flower garden.
Of course. There was no way this old man would simply leave.
I slowly walked over and sat across from him. His gaze went to the Black Demon Sword at my waist. I could sense him clenching his molars tightly. His grudge must run deep, but he would not dare do anything to me.
“This summer looks like it will be especially hot.”
No sooner had my words ended than Blood Heaven Blade Demon roared.
“You wet-behind-the-ears little bastard! You dared ambush and kill my younger brother? Today I’ll tear you limb from limb and scatter you over my brother’s grave.”
The demonic energy Blood Heaven Blade Demon emitted swept through the surroundings. The flowers in the garden withered in an instant. Where in that skinny body had he been hiding such power?
Even as I drew up my internal energy to resist the demonic energy, I strove to maintain my composure as much as possible.
The next moment, as if it had been a lie, the demonic energy vanished, and Blood Heaven Blade Demon grinned as he spoke.
“If this were how things normally went, that is what I should have said, no?”
He tried again to poke my side with the end of the handle of his Heaven-Destroying Great Saber.
But this time, I lightly blocked the incoming handle with my palm and shouted as well.
“You damned old bastard who’s aged through his asshole! Who do the likes of you think you are, daring to undermine our cult’s discipline and fill your own selfish desires? If you come forward for the sake of that rotten brother of yours, I’ll snap that scrawny body of yours like a stalk of sorghum!”
I too smiled and added,
“If you had said that, then I would have said this, wouldn’t I?”
Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been briefly dumbfounded, burst into laughter.
“Wahahahaha!”
His resounding laughter was so loud that even the demonic practitioners standing guard far away looked this way.
Then Blood Heaven Blade Demon abruptly stopped laughing. With a blunt face as though he had never laughed at all, his shifts in emotion were truly unpredictable.
“Still, couldn’t you have shown some mercy for my sake?”
“If it had been within reason, I would have handled it amicably. I intended to conclude it with him stepping down from his post. But he had crossed the line by far. No, there had never been a line to begin with.”
Blood Heaven Blade Demon nodded. How could he not know the circumstances of his own younger brother’s affairs? It was not as if he was someone uninterested in the cult’s politics.
“You knew about the corruption within the Demon Army, didn’t you?”
“I knew.”
“Why did you leave it alone?”
“He would not listen to me. Well, if you look closely, I am not exactly a clean man myself.”
I was surprised that Blood Heaven Blade Demon spoke so honestly about his relationship with his younger brother.
‘This is when I have to be careful.’
Blood Heaven Blade Demon was certainly an emotional man. And he was also a man who knew how to use those emotions.
“When I heard that my younger brother had died, to be honest, I felt relieved. That fellow will no longer block my path now.”
“I understand that feeling.”
When Blood Heaven Blade Demon opened those small, slit eyes wide, it seemed as if he were asking, ‘Really? How would you know?’
“It would be the same as hearing that my older brother had died. I too would be relieved that I no longer had to deal with him myself.”
His gaze and mine intertwined in the air. Once again, I saw flames in his eyes.
What was there in my eyes as he saw them? What are you seeing in me?
I could not tell what Blood Heaven Blade Demon was thinking.
Separate from the relief he had spoken of, he might still be plotting to kill me, for I was, in the end, the enemy who had killed his brother. Or perhaps he had sent the past far away on those clouds.
I have no regrets.
If I cannot survive the fight against you Eight Demon Supremes, if I amount to no more than that, then I will die at Hwa Mugi’s hands anyway. I have to step lightly over the likes of you and move forward. Only then will I live.
Looking up at the sky, Blood Heaven Blade Demon finally answered the greeting I had offered at the very beginning.
“Yes, this year will be hot.”
Saying it was already hot, Blood Heaven Blade Demon lightly fanned himself with the broad blade of the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber.
One thing was certain. The reason we would grow heated this summer would not be merely because of that sun.
Shading my brow with my hand, I looked up at the sky with him.
“Fortunately, I don’t suffer from the heat.”