Nothing changed just because I had become the Young Cult Master.
The path I had to take had already been decided, and so had the things I had to do.
Become stronger and kill Hwa Mugi.
But in reality, there had been changes.
The first change to come upon me was standing in a line in the courtyard of my residence.
I could tell who they were from the emblem engraved on their chests.
A demonic visage painted upon a shield.
“We have come from the Heavenly Demon Hall Guard.”
Now that I had become the Young Cult Master, guard martial artists had been dispatched from the Heavenly Demon Hall.
“I am Jeokyeon, and from now on, I will be responsible for Your Excellency’s safety.”
He wore an eyepatch over one eye. It was rare for a guard martial artist to be one-eyed, so he looked quite extraordinary.
The guard martial artists standing behind him each gave their names and offered their greetings.
There were twelve in all.
They explained that they would protect me in shifts, six by day and six by night.
I knew this Jeokyeon and the other guard martial artists well.
Jeokyeon. He had lived a fate that shone like flame, then vanished.
They had been the guards of my elder brother, who had been the Young Cult Master, and on the day Hwa Mugi attacked, they had all died together with him. Not one of them had fled; they had offered their lives in loyalty.
‘Thank you.’
In my heart, I conveyed my gratitude to them.
“From now on, we will protect Your Excellency.”
That loyalty was now directed toward me. More fates I had to change.
The only problem was that I did not need them.
They would try not to leave my side for even a single moment, but I had many things that required me to move swiftly. Moreover, there would be quite a few actions of mine that they would not be able to understand.
Somehow, I had to make them keep their distance from me.
To think such a task would be given to me on the very first day I became Young Cult Master.
There was no need to say to them, “I have no need of you, so withdraw.” They were not the sort to go back just because I said that, and this was not a problem that could be solved that way.
It was a problem I would have to resolve by meeting Hwi, the commander of the guard and Father’s personal bodyguard. Of course, it would not be easy.
Whether in the orthodox, unorthodox, or demonic factions, the most conservative people were always the guards. If they were not conservative, it would be impossible for them to protect their charge.
The stronger a master was, the more they tended to overestimate their own ability, and protecting martial artists with unruly temperaments was truly difficult. Was I not proof enough of that? I was already thinking of a way to send them back.
“Rest for a while.”
I was about to go meet Hwi and settle things, but Jeokyeon seemed to have read my mind.
“The Guard Commander said this: The Young Cult Master may try to send you back. But there will be nowhere for you to return to. If Your Excellency sends us back, we will have to leave the guard.”
Hwi had anticipated that I would send them back and had made the first move. It meant he understood my personality that well, and it was also an expression of his will that withdrawing my guards was absolutely unacceptable. Whether things went well or poorly, he was telling me to keep them with me.
“Then have you all become completely my people now?”
“Our official affiliation is the Heavenly Demon Hall Guard, but in practice, that is the case.”
I said to Jeokyeon,
“Remove your eyepatch.”
Jeokyeon flinched at my command, but soon removed the eyepatch without hesitation. He had not been wearing it because his eye was injured. The eye that had been hidden was red as blood.
I stepped closer to him, looked into that eye, and said,
“You have trained in the Ghost Eye Art.”
The Ghost Eye Art was an eye technique passed down among guard martial artists for detecting those in hiding. However, the process of training it was extremely painful, and in daily life, one could not use that eye in this way. For the sake of a single moment of crisis that might come once in a lifetime, one had to give up one eye for life.
“Does it hurt?”
“It is bearable.”
“Stay still.”
I placed my palm over his eye. A strand of fine internal energy flowed in and caressed his eyeball.
When I withdrew my hand, Jeokyeon bowed his head.
“Thank you.”
Bewilderment settled on Jeokyeon’s face as he looked at me. He probably had never imagined that I would ease his pain like this.
“It is only a temporary measure.”
Ian had been like that, and now Jeokyeon was as well.
The act of protecting someone demanded far too great a sacrifice. This was likely not a problem unique to our cult, but the burden our cult placed upon its guard martial artists was too harsh.
“I know that if one achieves great mastery of the Ghost Eye Art, one can use that eye even in ordinary times.”
“That is correct. However, achieving great mastery is an exceedingly difficult task.”
“I will help you.”
Jeokyeon’s red eye widened in shock, as if he were looking at a ghost.
“How old are you?”
“I am twenty-nine.”
He was young. The guards who had come with him were either younger than him or around the same age.
“Though I am young, this is my twelfth year since entering the guard.”
That meant he had passed into the guard at seventeen. The Heavenly Demon Hall Guard was not a place one could enter with ordinary skill, so it also meant Jeokyeon’s talent was exceptional.
“The juniors who came with me are young as well, but they are people whose abilities I can vouch for.”
Of course they were. They had been sent to guard the Young Cult Master. Hwi must have sent me the young masters who would bear responsibility for the next generation. Young masters with both skill and loyalty.
Uncle Hwi, you truly chose well.
For these were people who had already proven who they were through death.
“How much do you know about me?”
“We have grasped almost everything that has happened recently.”
“Then you must know my personality to some degree.”
“I have a very slight idea.”
“Tell me.”
Jeokyeon hesitated for a moment over how to answer, then spoke carefully.
“I believe you are not an easy person to serve.”
I nodded and said,
“If you let go of just one thing, you will be able to get along with me better than anyone.”
“What would that be?”
“Haste. I mean you need only let go of your haste to become my guards right this instant.”
Jeokyeon and the other guard martial artists looked puzzled. They had already been assigned as my guards, so what was I talking about? That was what they seemed to wonder.
“I do not understand what you mean.”
Instead of answering, I asked a question.
“What is your ultimate dream?”
“To become the finest guards.”
“Then is your dream to guard the Young Cult Master? Or to guard the Cult Leader?”
After a brief pause, Jeokyeon answered.
“Naturally, my final dream is to become the Cult Leader’s guard.”
Not only him, but the other guards likely had the same goal.
“That is why I mean you must let go of haste.”
They still wore expressions that said they could not understand what intention lay behind my words.
“Bring thirteen wooden swords.”
Realizing that I intended to test their abilities, Jeokyeon immediately had a subordinate bring wooden swords.
A short while later, each of us held a wooden sword. I coated the tip of my wooden sword with white powder.
“Now, think of that friend at the end as me, and protect him from this moment on.”
With the person I had pointed to at the center, they instantly assumed formation.
They were tense.
“There is no need to worry that I might be hurt. So stop me with all you have. Here I come.”
I charged at them.
They tried to stop me no matter what, but how could they stop me when I came at them in earnest?
I unleashed the Wind God Four Steps without reservation and burrowed into their midst. They were pushed aside and pulled off balance, and the swords they swung missed. They gave me openings where no one should have been able to break through, tripped over legs, and for an instant lost sight of me.
When the thought, What in the world is happening? flashed once through each of their minds, I lightly launched myself and landed back in my original spot.
The twelve guards stared at me with blank expressions.
What exactly did you just do?
None of them had dropped their swords. None of them had been struck.
Then one among them was startled.
“Hah!”
Only then were all of them shocked. They were more horrified than if their arms or stomachs had been pierced. At some point, white powder had been smeared over all of their hearts.
It was the same for their leader, Jeokyeon, and the same for the comrade they had been trying to protect. What was even more shocking was that none of them knew when or how it had been applied. In the blink of an eye, they had all died.
“With your current abilities, can you guard me?”
Jeokyeon’s face, as well as the faces of the others, turned red. Apart from the gap in ability, it must have been unbearably humiliating for guard martial artists to be defeated so helplessly.
“I am not trying to humiliate you. I am showing you reality. If you want to protect me, you must be far stronger. Because the people I will face from now on will be masters like this.”
I approached them and met each of their eyes as I spoke.
“You could not stop me today, but next time, you must. Alone, you cannot stop me, but if twelve of you have gathered, you should be able to. Do not waste your time guarding me while I eat or guarding me while I sleep. During the time you would stand such meaningless watch, train in martial arts.”
There was nothing more meaningless than following me around now to guard me.
“Then are you telling us to do nothing but train in martial arts?”
At Jeokyeon’s question, I shook my head.
“You have your position to consider, so that cannot be. For official events, whether internal or external, you should move with me. But when I am going about my daily life or spending time with the Demon Venerables, there is no need to waste time guarding me even then.”
In truth, it was also a heaven-sent opportunity for them. They were people who cut down on sleep to find time to train amid their difficult guard duties.
“The guard’s rules are like this. It goes against principle. From now on, abandon those thoughts. We will establish new rules and principles. If I tell you to withdraw and rest, accept my order without question. If I do not call you separately, that time is training time. Train with the mindset that you will become the greatest guard martial artists in the murim.”
At my unexpected words, the eyes of Jeokyeon and the martial artists wavered.
“I need guards like that.”
I slowly approached Jeokyeon and brushed the white powder from his heart. Beneath it, the emblem of the guard was visible.
“I need this shield drawn on your chests. A shield of ten-thousand-year cold iron that no one can pierce.”
I could feel Jeokyeon’s emotions surge. They were still young. My words moved them. Becoming the finest guard martial artists was surely their dream as well. An opportunity had come to them.
“If you keep your promise with me, I will promise one thing as well. I will take you with me until the end. When I become the Heavenly Demon, my guards will be you.”
Jeokyeon and the guard martial artists were startled. Usually, when one became the Heavenly Demon, the guards were replaced by martial artists who guarded the Heavenly Demon. But now I had declared it. That I would take all of them with me.
“If trouble arises because of this method and you are expelled from the guard, I will take responsibility and accept you. But such a thing will not happen.”
Jeokyeon could not decide whether this was something that would truly work.
“In exchange for giving you a great deal of time, I will check your abilities frequently. Anyone who grows lazy will be sent away immediately. Perhaps this may become even more difficult than guarding me.”
Now was the time for everyone to become stronger. In particular, I had to make my guard martial artists strong no matter what.
Jeokyeon looked around at his subordinates. He was not making the decision arbitrarily, but asking their opinions. I sensed sound transmissions quickly passing back and forth. I liked the way he handled matters.
“I trained in the Ghost Eye Art to see ghosts… but right now, I feel as though I have been possessed by one.”
Are we really allowed to decide something this important so emotionally? With that expression, Jeokyeon added,
“We have decided to follow Your Excellency’s words.”
The guard martial artists behind him shouted in unison.
“We will become stronger. We will entrust our future to Your Excellency.”
I could feel their resolve.
“Become stronger. And in the future, I hope you will become the finest Heavenly Demon Guardian Corps in the murim.”
They would be able to do it. Because I would help them.
And if only to survive, we had to succeed.
“Where are your quarters?”
“They have been prepared nearby.”
“I will have them rebuilt with the finest facilities. With a training ground attached as well.”
All of them wore moved expressions.
“Now then, even so, today is the first day. Shall we all go together?”
* * *
With the guards in tow, I headed for the Heavenly Demon Hall.
The guards following proudly behind me treated the demonic practitioners with cool and dignified gazes, unlike when they dealt with me.
They were men with the authority to cut down anyone if it meant protecting me. During escort duty, they even had the authority to dispense with greetings to the Demon Venerable. They had only been given a harsh lesson by me; they were not men who fell short anywhere else.
As we walked, the demonic practitioners parted like water splitting before us.
Far from daring to block my path, even the way they looked at me had changed completely.
Until now, they had revealed their emotions. Whether their eyes held support or disapproval, I had been able to read their hearts to some extent.
But now that I had become the Young Cult Leader, they did not dare show their feelings before me. When they saw me, they expressed absolute respect and bowed courteously. Whether they liked me or not was irrelevant. All they thought was that being marked by the next Heavenly Demon meant death.
The guards waited at the entrance, and I entered the Heavenly Demon Hall alone.
As always, Father was seated in the grand chair.
I walked down the Path of Blood and stood below the steps.
“May Your Exalted Person be ever hale and strong, may you have been free of all troubles since last we met, and has your precious body been at peace?”
“Why are you doing something you never do?”
“As the Young Cult Leader, I should at least offer this much greeting.”
The corners of Father’s mouth curled upward.
“Do it as you usually do.”
I smiled in good spirits and asked Father,
“Did you and my brother have your fill of bad-mouthing me?”
“We didn’t. Your brother isn’t the sort to curse people behind their backs like someone I know.”
Father, the way you looked after my brother yesterday was truly wonderful.
“I kept my promise up to the part where we came holding hands, so from here on, please help a little too, Father.”
Father gave no answer, but I believed that when it came to my brother, he would help in one way or another.
“You kept singing about being successor, successor, but from now on there will be many things you must do.”
I knew that as well. There were many internal matters to deal with, events I had to attend, and in particular, a whole series of outside functions I would have to attend in Father’s stead.
“This handsome face that takes after you, Father—I’ll show it off to the world a little.”
In truth, what I was relying on was the Sicheon Secret Art. Somehow, I had no choice but to cultivate the Sicheon Secret Art and secure more time.
Father, who had been looking down at me in silence, suddenly asked,
“Are you ready?”
I knew by instinct.
At last, the moment I had so long awaited had come.
“I am ready.”
At my calm answer, Father rose from the grand chair.
“Follow me.”
For that thing more important to me than the position of successor, I followed after Father. Though I was walking slowly, my heart began to pound as if it were racing.