When I entered the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon’s room, I saw a long line drawn across the wall.
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon had his back to that line and was looking at the opposite wall.
“I definitely prefer the color of this wall.”
At my joke, the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon looked at me. My gaze met the eyes within the holes of his mask. To think I would ever see the emotion of welcome in those eyeholes.
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon and I communicated only through the light in those eyes, yet we shared a deeper communion than I did with anyone else.
“Your mask has changed.”
“As expected, Second Young Master noticed at once.”
The reason it had changed was unexpected.
“Blue Mask made several masks and brought them to me. As he handed them over, he said he wanted to live a new life now. He said he would go to Beautiful Heart.”
Blue Mask had finally accepted the position of first squad leader of the Ghost Shadow Unit.
“So did you cut off Blue Mask’s arm?”
He was the one who had once said he would cut off even an arm before sending Blue Mask away, and that he would never let him go otherwise.
“I did not.”
“Why?”
“Did you not tell me to be sure to inform you before I cut it off? But since you were away from the cult, Second Young Master, I could not cut it.”
How could that be the reason? He had let Blue Mask go so that he could live the life he wanted.
Well done, Soma. If things had gone on as they were, Blue Mask would never have risen to the rank of Demon Supreme and would have lived an unhappy life until he grew old.
“That was splendid of you.”
“Do you truly think so?”
“Yes. I truly think it was splendid.”
“Now that I have received such praise, I suppose I will not be able to cut off any arms in the future either.”
The two eyes within the mask’s holes were smiling. At least in his relationship with me, he was not utterly evil; he was the Smiling Demon.
“I heard you left the cult with the Fist Demon.”
“I went out to play hooky and came back as the Fist Demon’s disciple.”
At the words that I had become the Fist Demon’s disciple, the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon sprang up from his seat.
“Then you must be able to fight even better now!”
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon had no interest in whether the Fist Demon was my master or not. He was excited by the fact that I had grown stronger.
“Yes, I have become a little stronger!”
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon was also the person to whom I could say such things most comfortably. Just as Father and the Fist Demon had kept company in their youth, such was the relationship between the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon and me.
“Lord Soma, I have a request.”
Inwardly, I was trembling. How would the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon take my request?
“I want to kill Yelu Han of the Evil Path Alliance. To do that, I need Father’s permission. Please persuade Father.”
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon answered without hesitation.
“Very well.”
He asked nothing. Not why Yelu Han had to die, nor how I would kill him.
His attitude, as if he would have granted any request I made, made something surge in my heart.
The one and only person in this world who would grant it simply because it was my request.
I was happy. It had been a truly long time since I had felt such pure joy. I was so happy I felt the urge to leap up and down.
“Thank you, truly.”
Though I understood why the other Demon Supremes had refused, perhaps a part of me had felt disappointed. Seeing how good I felt now, that must have been the case.
I did not know you would accept so easily.
I was about to say those words, then stopped. Somehow, it seemed that no words could express my gratitude toward him.
Instead, I conveyed my gratitude in another way.
“If permission for this matter is granted, please help me then.”
Soma, let’s go. Let us go fight magnificently together again. That is the only thing I can do for you. And… thank you, truly.
Seeing my heated gaze, the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon laughed in good spirits.
“Good.”
And the more dangerous our battle was, the more it would set his blood boiling.
“Who has agreed so far?”
“The only person who has clearly said he would persuade Father is you, Lord Soma.”
“I am number one?”
“That is right. Lord Soma, you are the first.”
After all, neither the Blood Heaven Saber Demon nor the Fist Demon had yet directly said they would persuade him. Of course, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon would step forward. The Fist Demon would as well. For now, there were three Demon Supremes who would definitely help.
“For some reason, that pleases me.”
“Thank you for becoming my first.”
I looked at the long line drawn on the opposite wall. Soma’s gaze followed mine.
I hope that wall remains for a long time.
I did not say that either. Even without saying it, he would surely feel the same.
Later, when I became the Heavenly Demon, I intended to remove that wall and hang it in the Heavenly Demon Hall.
* * *
When I went to see the Fist Demon, he was standing below the cliff.
I stood side by side with him.
Now that he had returned from our journey, did this cliff begin to look different in his eyes?
“The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon said he would step forward for me.”
At that, the Fist Demon looked at me in surprise.
“Soma did?”
The Fist Demon seemed to find it unexpected that it was the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon, of all people.
“Are you two close?”
“We are.”
“He is not an easy man to get close to.”
“If you put it that way, Master, are you an easy person?”
Looking up at the cliff, I continued.
“You are someone who intends to bring this cliff down with a single blow.”
The Fist Demon’s gaze followed mine toward the cliff. The wall we were looking at now was not this cliff. It was a wall higher and harder than this.
“The Cult Leader will not permit this matter. To you, saving those young people may be important, but to the Cult Leader it is not important at all. To be honest, it is the same for me. It will be the same for the other Demon Supremes too.”
I understood Father and the Demon Supremes. They had always been such people. Even the way they appeared now had changed so much that one could almost call them different people.
Even so, the reason I was working so hard for change was because I believed that only when we changed would our martial arts change, and only then would our fate change. If we simply passed everything by as in my previous life.
Because they were people unimportant to me. Because it had nothing to do with me. If I lived a life in which I passed everything by, as I had before my regression… I felt that I would be swept away once again by Hwa Mugi, who would appear as if destined.
Just as, Master, if a person like you does not change, you cannot bring down this cliff.
“As we discussed in the snowy mountains, the Cult Leader dreams of unifying murim. If you kill Yelu Han, a variable will arise in the grand design the Cult Leader is drawing. There is no way he will easily permit it.”
“Then all the more reason to create a variable. I intend to stop Father’s unification of murim at all costs.”
I was firm, and the Fist Demon silently stared at that stubbornness.
“Will you persuade Father for me? Master.”
The Fist Demon sank into his final deliberation. Why would the Fist Demon not wish to avoid clashing with Father? No, because he was the Fist Demon, that feeling would be strongest of all.
At last, the Fist Demon nodded.
“Very well.”
“Thank you, Master.”
This is why. Why I chose you as my master. Because you are a man who does not retreat, no matter how difficult it is.
I had not received an answer from the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, but I would not go seek him out again to confirm it. I was certain he would help me.
And my certainty was accurate. The first person to go meet Father was the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
* * *
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon walked along the Path of Blood and stopped below the Taishi chair.
“It has been a long time.”
At the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s respectful greeting, the Heavenly Demon Geom Ujin said to him,
“Are you the one opening the first salvo?”
Geom Ujin had already guessed why the Blood Heaven Saber Demon had come.
“What else can I do? A young man says he will attempt something great, so even an old mouth like mine should lend a word.”
“When a young fellow tries to cause reckless trouble, should we not, as elders, stop him?”
“That is true. When I think back to our own youth, we were truly immature then. But when I think on it again, was there ever a time when we were as passionate as we were back then?”
“Do you have no passion now?”
“If these traces left after burning are passion, then I do have some.”
Their words passed calmly between them, but the Heavenly Demon Hall was filled with taut energy.
Geom Ujin rose from the Taishi chair and slowly descended the steps.
“Shall we walk a little?”
“Gladly.”
Geom Ujin walked the Path of Blood with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and left the Heavenly Demon Hall. The two of them walked together through the front courtyard of the Heavenly Demon Hall.
“He asked me in the middle of the Grand Training Ground over there. He asked me to permit him to kill Yelu Han. It was not a request, but a declaration.”
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon asked in a slightly more comfortable tone,
“A child is one’s enemy, is he not?”
A smile appeared on Geom Ujin’s lips, one he would never show Geom Mugeuk.
“You ought to experience it too. What a pity.”
“That is the one area in which I am happier than you, Cult Leader. Please do not say such a thing even in jest.”
There had been a time when the two of them had conversed far more comfortably than this. If he had known the years would pass so quickly, he would have spent a little more time with the Cult Leader. The Blood Heaven Saber Demon felt a renewed pang of regret. What on earth had he done with all that time?
“I can understand the other Demon Supremes, but I never thought you would fall so deeply for that boy. What on earth did you like so much that you went over to him?”
“I have thought about that many times myself, but this is the only answer I can give you. Your son has a strange charm.”
“A strange charm.”
This time, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon spoke.
“Did you not feel it? I thought you would have felt it too, Cult Leader.”
“I called it cheap sentimentality, the kind that gets one killed.”
Geom Ujin did not mention that his description of cheap sentimentality had changed to innocent sentimentality.
“I have fallen completely for that cheap sentimentality.”
A faint smile also formed on the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s lips. He had come on a sensitive and important matter, but this conversation, after so long, felt pleasant.
“Cult Leader, why not simply lose to him this once?”
At the casually tossed words, Geom Ujin shook his head firmly.
“In the future, if Bi Sain ascends to the position of Evil Path Alliance Leader, Yelu Han will become a lasting source of trouble for the Evil Path Alliance. The current Evil Path Alliance Leader may deal with Yelu Han before he dies. There is no particular reason for us to eliminate him.”
“In exchange, Bi Sain will owe the Second Young Master a great debt through this matter. As much as we lose, there will also be something gained.”
“Those of the Evil Path only carry grudges for a long time. They are not the sort to remember favors.”
“But the Second Young Master will remember. He will remember that his father made a great concession for him.”
Geom Ujin stood with his hands clasped behind his back and silently looked out over the grounds of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. The Blood Heaven Saber Demon did not press him further. With this, he had said all he had to say.
Then, a person appeared there.
It was the Fist Demon, who had been on his way to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
“Are you all determined to fight me in rounds?”
At Geom Ujin’s joke, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon laughed and replied,
“I am curious as to why those great fists went over as well.”
Meanwhile, the Fist Demon approached them.
“Have you been well?”
After the Fist Demon respectfully greeted Geom Ujin, he also greeted the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
“You came first.”
“I thought the Fist Demon would come as well. Ah, congratulations on taking the Second Young Master as your disciple.”
At that, Geom Ujin interjected,
“Is that something to congratulate him for? It is something to console him over.”
The gazes of the Fist Demon and Geom Ujin intertwined in midair. It was a look filled with deep trust that only the two of them could feel. Because of that, this place was difficult for the Fist Demon. Fortunately, with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon present, the atmosphere did not turn too serious.
“I can roughly guess why you have come, so let us launch a joint attack.”
“I am not sure whether a joint attack is the wise choice. Our opponent is someone who grows stronger the stronger his opponent is.”
With an expression that seemed to say, And you know that!, Geom Ujin asked the Fist Demon,
“Why did you go over to that boy?”
“I must have lost my mind after playing hooky for the first time in my life.”
Geom Ujin was not satisfied with that answer.
“Tell me the real reason.”
The Fist Demon fell into thought for a moment, then revealed his honest feelings. It was an answer they had not expected.
“I suppose I had been lonely all this time.”
“!”
Both Geom Ujin and the Blood Heaven Saber Demon were startled. They truly had not expected the word lonely to come from the Fist Demon’s mouth.
“On the way back, at the end, we had a qinggong race. He was so fast that I could not catch up. As I trudged along alone, do you know what I felt? I was bored. For the first time in my life, I felt the emotion of boredom.”
Looking at Geom Ujin, the Fist Demon added,
“So I suppose that is why I went over to him.”
The gazes of the Fist Demon and Geom Ujin intertwined in the air. The Fist Demon carefully said what he had been thinking about all the way here.
“He is my first disciple, and as his master, I want to be of help to him, so I have come to commit this discourtesy. I apologize, Cult Leader.”
The Fist Demon respectfully bent at the waist and apologized. Since his loyalty to the Heavenly Demon was incomparable to that of any other Demon Supreme, Geom Ujin offered no reproach.
Just then, Geom Ujin’s gaze turned beyond the Fist Demon’s shoulder.
“Even if I say I can somehow understand the two of you, I cannot make any sense of that man.”
Someone was walking toward them. Wearing a white mask, it was the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon.
After the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon respectfully greeted the Heavenly Demon, he also exchanged greetings with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Fist Demon.
Then he said something they had not expected at all.
“I was number one, but the two of you cut in line ahead of me.”
It was already incomprehensible that he had stepped forward, and now even such a joke?
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon spoke first, representing the feelings of the three who had been there before him.
“It seems that anyone who becomes involved with the Second Young Master goes mad like this.”
Geom Ujin asked the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon,
“What on earth is your reason?”
The moment he received that question, the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon recalled the moment when the Second Young Master had supported his slipping mask. That was all.
Had someone else asked, he would not have answered, but because it was Geom Ujin’s question, the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon answered thus.
“The Second Young Master is a man who knows courtesy.”
At those words, not only Geom Ujin, but the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Fist Demon were also startled. The word courtesy had come from the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon’s mouth? Since when had the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon cared about courtesy?
The three of them could feel it. The courtesy of which the Utterly Evil one spoke was not ordinary etiquette, but contained a more fundamental meaning. It was courtesy toward a person.
“I intend to answer the courtesy the Second Young Master showed me.”
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon turned around and removed his mask. Then he put on the new mask he had brought in his robes and slowly turned back.
It was not the pure white mask he had worn until now. It was a chilling mask of a laughing evil ghost. The eyes, painted red, were slit long like a demon’s, and the crimson mouth rose all the way to the ears in a grin. This was the Undying Ghost Mask that the Utterly Evil Smiling Demon wore when going to war.
“Please grant the Second Young Master’s request.”
The Utterly Evil Smiling Demon had come to this place with the heart of going to a battlefield. He was prepared for the Heavenly Demon’s wrath, and he was willing to fall from his favor. He had come here today prepared to die.
As if saying that this much was necessary to persuade the Cult Leader, the two eyes inside the mask shone more intensely than ever before.
“This is the first and last request I will ever make of you.”