The great ritual was in its final stages.
Purple energy extended from the left fingertips of the Pungcheon Cult Lord.
The purple energy moved as if alive and began to extract the Spirit-Subduing Seal engraved on Hwanyeo's back. Though it was a seal engraved like a tattoo, it was pulled from her body as if a nail were being drawn out.
Slowly, very slowly.
As if unwilling to tolerate even a moment's mistake, the Pungcheon Cult Lord focused his entire mind.
The moment the seal was completely extracted, the Pungcheon Cult Lord thrust his right hand over the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate's head and let out a spirited shout.
Then red energy was pulled from her crown with a soft sound, as if a tree were being uprooted. It was the Red Soul embedded in her head.
The Spirit-Subduing Seal and Red Soul floating at the ends of both hands burst into flames and vanished.
As if on cue, both women collapsed with a thud.
“Hoooo.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord caught his breath and slowly withdrew his outstretched hand. The purple energy that had flared around his hand disappeared completely.
The great ritual had concluded safely.
Shortly after, the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate, who had been collapsed, raised herself up.
The welcome news awaiting her.
“The Red Soul in your body has disappeared.”
“Ah! Thank you, Master.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord's body was drenched in sweat. For an expert of his caliber to be drenched in sweat, one could imagine how severe the mental exertion had been.
“You have saved my life.”
“Though I performed the great ritual, it was the Young Cult Leader who uncovered this scheme. Do not forget that.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord gave the credit to Geom Mugeuk. For the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate, it was a good thing if the two were close, so she gladly vowed her loyalty.
“I will devote my loyalty to the Young Cult Leader, Master.”
The Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate's gaze turned toward Hwanyeo. Furious, she raised her hand high. She felt she would only be satisfied if she smashed that skull.
“There is no need. She is already dead.”
The moment the Spirit-Subduing Seal was forcibly extracted, Hwanyeo had perished.
“Cheongseon.”
“Yes, Master.”
“As you live on, you will peer into the hearts of countless people. You will manipulate countless people to your will. Each time, there is something you must look at.”
“What is that?”
“The hole in your heart. The higher your realm in the Soul-Devouring Art rises, the larger that hole will become.”
The Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate could faintly understand what her master was worried about.
“Then what should I do?”
Do not despise people. Do not despise the world. The Pungcheon Cult Lord, pondering what words to give, left the solution to his disciple.
“You must find how to fill that hole yourself. Do not forget that the hole exists, and look into it often. Keep looking, and you will find your own method.”
The Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate performed a deep bow right there. She was grateful for a master who cared for her so deeply.
“Should this foolish disciple ever fall into that hole, please pull me out, Master.”
Then the Pungcheon Cult Lord smiled and said.
“That is a request I should be making. Having raised you to this age, how large must my hole be?”
Deeply moved by the Pungcheon Cult Lord's open-hearted words, the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate felt thrilled inside. Though there had been a vague distance between master and disciple, she felt they had grown closer through this matter.
“Go out and tell the Young Cult Leader to come in.”
* * *
I talked with Jangho at length for the first time in a while.
The demonic troops seemed surprised to see me conversing with him for so long.
How fun could talking with the taciturn Jangho be? I was putting on a show for the demonic troops. That I trust and cherish Jangho this much.
If he weren't someone I truly liked, I couldn't have conversed like this for the long duration of the ritual. It was my effort for him.
Thanks to that, I even heard that Jangho's childhood dream was to become a painter.
“When I retire later, I intend to try painting.”
Hearing that, I briefly left my seat.
“Wait a moment.”
Disappearing in a flash with rapid footwork, I returned and held out to him the tools painters use—paper, brushes, pigments, and so on. I had gone to Magachon and bought the finest ones.
“Don't put it off. Start from today.”
Jangho was flustered, having never expected me to go buy these. The demonic troops standing behind also wore surprised expressions.
“Try painting from tonight. Even just a rough sketch before bed. If you have nothing to paint, try painting those bulky subordinates, or that magnificent scar on your face.”
I know. What is needed for this is not time. Because when time becomes available, other tasks inevitably arise alongside it.
What is needed is not time, but an occasion. Such as painting tools forcibly given by the Young Cult Leader, for example.
Jangho bowed his head and respectfully received them.
“I will try painting from today.”
“I wonder if I should have bought a brush made of ten-thousand-year cold iron. It seems brushes might break in those rough hands of yours?”
At my jest, Jangho laughed pleasantly. He was the third person I wanted to see smile by any means possible. Father, Gwonma, and Jangho. I would keep making these taciturn men, who had lived their whole lives without knowing laughter, laugh.
Just then, the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate walked out of the quarters.
From her expression alone, I could tell the result of the great ritual.
* * *
Only I, the Pungcheon Cult Lord, and Gowol remained in the quarters.
The Soul-Devouring Demon Venerate had returned, and Hwanyeo's corpse had been entrusted to the demonic troops for burial. Perhaps because she had left her final greeting to me, her face looked peaceful.
Now was the time to plan the next step: going to the Pungcheon Cult.
“Strategist Go, what would be best?”
While the ritual proceeded, Gowol had already been thinking about this.
“I recommend going to the Pungcheon Cult officially.”
“As the return of the former cult lord?”
“No. As an official visit from the Young Cult Leader of the Cheonma Divine Cult.”
He gauged the Pungcheon Cult Lord's reaction. The Cult Lord would want to return as the protagonist. Gowol had already thought that far ahead.
“If you return together with the Young Cult Leader, the Cult Lord's prestige will rise even higher. Because it will mean you were the one who made this visit happen.”
At those words, the Pungcheon Cult Lord's expression brightened.
“They will have infiltrated the leadership of the Pungcheon Cult. Therefore, you must go officially to move about freely. Now that you have become the Young Cult Leader, you also have the justification for a visit.”
It was a valid point. Sneaking in to infiltrate the Pungcheon Cult was no easy task.
“They will soon find out that Hwanyeo has disappeared, won't they?”
“Ignore it.”
“Ignore it?”
“Rather, if you move as if you know nothing, they too will be unsure. ‘They noticed our existence, yet they are making an official visit?’ Such doubts will arise.”
“What if they sense danger and disappear?”
“If the woman of the Flower Garden invested effort over several years, the same will be true for them. Would they give up so easily?”
It was a valid point. Hwanwang was someone whose pride reached the heavens. A figure whose ability matched his pride.
Gowol spoke to the Pungcheon Cult Lord.
“He was there since the time when the Cult Lord and I were there. We left without knowing.”
“!”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord's expression hardened, for he had not thought that far.
“He lay low watching for an opportunity, and moved in earnest when the Cult Lord left.”
I picked up where he left off.
“On this side, they moved when young Cheongseon became a Demon Venerate.”
“That is correct.”
“Very well, I shall follow your counsel. We will visit officially.”
I followed Gowol's intention without a second word. Was not the best way to empower a strategist to trust and follow him?
“I will squeeze whatever more I can from the person under interrogation and support you from as close as possible. Oh, and it is customary for a Demon Venerate to accompany the Young Cult Leader on an official visit. Given who the opponent is, you must carefully choose which Demon Venerate accompanies you this time.”
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“It must be a Demon Venerate strong in illusion arts.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord well knew who that was.
“It's Mabul. Mabul is strong in illusion arts.”
Traveling with Mabul? I did not mind, but the Pungcheon Cult Lord was the problem.
Originally, the Pungcheon Cult Lord had been closest to Mabul among the Eight Demon Venerates. In the past, it was Mabul who had brought the Pungcheon Cult Lord to the Cheonma Divine Cult.
But afterward their relationship soured, and I knew they were now in an awkward relationship.
Wondering what he was thinking, the Pungcheon Cult Lord stepped forward.
“I will go speak to Mabul myself.”
Yes, it was right to resolve it oneself.
“Then I shall first go receive Father's permission.”
Since it was an official visit, I had to report to and receive permission from Father.
We rose from our seats for our respective tasks.
* * *
Mabul was in the Great Dharma Hall.
A golden Buddha statue with a terrifying form looked down at him with cold eyes. In that place devoid of mercy, Mabul was chanting sutras alone.
The Pungcheon Cult Lord entered and sat behind him. When Mabul finished his chanting, he asked without turning around.
“What brings you here?”
It was awkward. In the past, regardless of their inner thoughts, they had faced each other with hearty laughter.
“Have you been well?”
“Could I have been well?”
Mabul was famous for supporting the Great Successor, so he could not have been well.
Mabul turned around and looked at the Pungcheon Cult Lord.
“As you can see, I am a dog that chased chickens.”
“That dog is in good spirits.”
It was not because the golden light emanating from Mabul's body shone unusually. Truly, Mabul's expression looked at ease, unlike before.
“What is the secret?”
“Would you not know?”
Mabul was asking if he did not know. How comfortable the heart becomes when one lets everything go. Come to think of it, both of them were people who had let go of their ambition for power.
An awkward silence passed for a moment. Then the Pungcheon Cult Lord abruptly asked.
“Don't I look like I've lost weight?”
Mabul made an incredulous expression.
“Did you come to boast about that?”
“I did. Just as your face has become at ease, I came to tell you that I too have become at ease.”
Mabul had already been feeling it. That the Pungcheon Cult Lord had changed greatly. He was not the man of old. Though he had smiled outwardly, he had been full of ulterior motives; now he somehow looked at ease.
“I have come with a request.”
“Speak.”
“Nasty fellows are scheming in the Pungcheon Cult. The Young Cult Leader will use an official visit as pretext to go with me. Come with us and lend your aid.”
“Why me?”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord conveyed his honest feelings.
“A Demon Venerate must accompany us, and among the Demon Venerates, you are the most comfortable to me.”
Mabul, who had been staring at the Pungcheon Cult Lord, refused in one word.
“I refuse.”
Rejected outright, the Pungcheon Cult Lord had nothing to say.
“Then it cannot be helped. Farewell.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord rose from his seat. As he tried to leave just like that, Mabul spoke. He had expected a barb.
“I am sorry for the rude words I said to you in the past.”
When the two had fought and their relationship soured, the Pungcheon Cult Lord had mocked him by treating him like golden shit.
“Why apologize suddenly? I will not follow you just because of that.”
“That is not why I apologize.”
“Then why?”
“There is something I learned while staying with the Young Cult Leader and Gowol. That the most important thing between people is apologizing. That one apology is more important than a hundred kind words. I only recently realized this. Having lived a life never apologizing, my apology comes late. I am sorry.”
Mabul was bewildered. Because the rude words back then had not come only from the Pungcheon Cult Lord.
Having said that, as he turned to leave, Mabul called out to him.
“Since you're here, have a drink of defeat wine at least before you go.”
“Is there alcohol in the dharma hall?”
“As if there is only alcohol. There are demons too, alcohol too, and if you rummage around somewhere over there, there will be corpses too.”
Mabul truly brought two bottles and handed one over.
The two men drank straight from the bottles.
The Pungcheon Cult Lord sat down so as not to look down on him.
Mabul gazed for a long time at the mural of demonic monks slaughtering, then revealed his inner thoughts.
“In the days when I strove to make the Great Successor the Young Cult Leader, that was all I saw. When I looked at a person, I thought only of whether they would help the succession struggle or not. Whatever happened, I thought only of whether it would be helpful or not. I was mad for it.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord listened in silence.
“I thought everything would be solved if the Great Successor became the Young Cult Leader. That even if I acted rudely or regretfully, I could apologize later and be understood. That's what I thought. Now I realize that if the Great Successor had become the successor, I would not have apologized to anyone.”
And now that Geom Muyang had not become the successor, he too apologized to the Pungcheon Cult Lord.
“I too was sorry then.”
The Pungcheon Cult Lord silently held out his bottle, and Mabul lightly clinked it before drinking.
“Let us call this not wine of defeat, but wine of victory. Then let us meet again.”
As the Pungcheon Cult Lord tried to go outside, Mabul asked from behind.
“When do we depart?”
Surprised, the Pungcheon Cult Lord turned around, and Mabul added as if to himself.
“I miss that sandstorm too.”
* * *
Father was in the training ground.
Amidst the heavy settled demonic energy, Father stood alone with the Cheonma Sword drawn.
The mere sight of his back holding the sword inspired fear that dared not be challenged.
Without turning around, Father asked.
“How far have you trained the Nine Transformations Demon Art?”
“I have mastered up to the second form.”
“Then try blocking this.”
Father quickly turned toward me.
The moment he pointed his sword at me, an evil ghost appeared before Father.
An evil ghost with a completely different appearance from mine. It was chilling just to look at; it was the evil ghost summoned by Father.
I could tell instinctively. That Father was about to unleash the Great Annihilation Technique.
Only the Nine Transformations Demon Art can block the Nine Transformations Demon Art!
An evil ghost appeared before me as well. In terms of appearance alone, mine looked scarier. Mine was fearsome; Father's was cold and ruthless.
Though they were evil ghosts born from the same martial art, they were merciless. Their eyes glared at each other with an intent to annihilate, terrifying to behold, and then.
Ssssssssk!
The two evil ghosts facing each other began to multiply.
I stopped at four, but Father's evil ghosts kept increasing.
The multiplied evil ghosts lined up before Father. The number created by Father, who had achieved great completion of the Nine Transformations Demon Art, was forty-four in total; the spectacle was truly blood-curdling.
Four against forty-four.
But he was not a father who would go easy on me.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
Could I really block this?
Toward the evil ghosts surging forward to sweep everything away, my four evil ghosts charged forth powerfully.