So Baekta could not make a decision right away.
Instead, he asked for time alone with his master. That was exactly what Geom Mugeuk had wanted.
When Geom Mugeuk and Mabul went outside, only the Pungcheon Cult Leader and So Baekta remained there.
The one who broke the long silence was So Baekta.
“Even if you could go back, would you truly make me the next Cult Leader?”
“Yes.”
“Even though I dream of unifying the martial world?”
“Yes. Even so, I would make you the next Cult Leader.”
Despite the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s firm answer, So Baekta still doubted him.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I believe you would protect the Pungcheon Cult better than anyone.”
“Is starting a war what you call protecting it?”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader conveyed to his disciple the remorse and regret he had felt.
“If I could go back, I would have asked you what your dream was. And if, by any chance, you answered that it was to advance into the Central Plains, I would have told you this: that dream is not our dream, but a dream someone among our predecessors once had. Then I would have walked the wasteland with you and shown you how wonderful the lands beyond the frontier are, and how strong the people who live amid these sandstorms truly are. Because I believe that you, more than anyone, could protect and nurture these lands beyond the frontier.”
So Baekta grew angry.
“You say that only now? If you had not returned like this, it is something you still would never have told me, isn’t it?”
“Because I would have believed you were doing well. Because I did not know this was how you felt. Had I known, I would have come running long ago.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader gazed at his disciple and said,
“That is why I said I was sorry. I will keep saying it until your heart is completely eased.”
Their gazes became entangled in midair. Beyond the window behind them, the sandstorm was blowing.
* * *
Geom Mugeuk and Mabul stood side by side in the courtyard, looking up at the sky.
It felt like only yesterday that he had lain on a rock with him and looked up at the sky, and now they had come all the way to these distant lands beyond the frontier and were looking at the sky together.
Mabul suddenly said,
“That fellow’s fate will change today as well.”
He must have meant So Baekta, but his fate would also have a great effect on the Pungcheon Cult Leader. That was why Geom Mugeuk hoped the relationship between those two would come to a good end, in whatever form it took.
“I am worried about the Cult Leader.”
At that, Mabul, still looking up at the sky, said,
“Young Cult Leader, don’t get cheeky! That sort of worrying is what an elder does for you.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled faintly.
“Like how you worry about me, Mabul?”
“I only worry about your older brother.”
Those cold words made him even more grateful. After all, Mabul was still taking good care of his brother, unchanged.
“You said my brother brought me up while drinking?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Mabul nodded.
“He did.”
“Not that he was thinking about how to take the Young Cult Leader position back from me?”
“I found myself wishing he had been.”
Mabul’s eyes, as he looked at Geom Mugeuk, held concern.
“When a person suddenly loses their goal, their life is bound to waver. Even if he acts calm on the outside, he must be having a hard time. So don’t be arrogant and worry about your elders. Take good care of your brother instead.”
“As expected, Mabul, you are a little giant to me.”
“More nonsense!”
Mabul turned his gaze away with an unnecessarily awkward expression, but Geom Mugeuk knew that the words “little giant” were what he liked most. In the past, that giant had stood tall through flattery, but now the words were spoken with sincerity. To Geom Mugeuk, Mabul was a little giant.
He felt that Mabul, having emerged from his cave, was now beginning to build his own house. By taking care of his brother, he laid the floor; by agreeing to go to the lands beyond the frontier with him, he raised the pillars; by promising to gather medicinal herbs, he set the roof in place. In that way, he was building his own house.
When that house was complete, Geom Mugeuk sincerely hoped he would invite his brother, invite the Pungcheon Cult Leader, invite the Poison King, and even invite him as well, and hold a small banquet. He sincerely hoped Mabul would live a golden life.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze followed Mabul’s back up toward the sky.
Just then, Jeokyeon and the other guards approached and expressed their gratitude.
“Thank you for the swords you gave us as gifts!”
“Why are you thanking me?”
“We heard the Young Cult Leader gave them to us as presents.”
At that, Geom Mugeuk shook his head.
“The Pungcheon Cult Leader bought them for you.”
“Ah! The Cult Leader said the Young Cult Leader bought them.”
“He must not have wanted to take credit for it. When you see him later, be sure to thank him!”
After they withdrew, Mabul laughed.
“Why are you laughing?”
“The money may have come from that man Pungcheon, but the one who meant to buy them was you, wasn’t it?”
As expected, Mabul was frighteningly quick-witted.
“Why do you think so?”
“Because he is not the sort of person to look after even your guards. No matter how much he may have changed, people do not change that much all at once. He must have paid while grumbling.”
Just as Geom Mugeuk was smiling, the Pungcheon Cult Leader and So Baekta walked out.
So Baekta came up to Geom Mugeuk and said,
“It seems the time has come to confirm whether I am a fool to the very end or not.”
Geom Mugeuk released the internal energy he had suppressed and said,
“Until now, you must have seen him only as someone on your side, so at least for today, think of him as an enemy and take a look.”
* * *
The Illusion King was painting.
He looked exactly like Hwan Yeo, and was tall, manly, and broad in appearance.
But the painting he was working on did not suit his appearance at all.
It was a dark and grotesque painting, filled with the aura of death.
There was a gate reminiscent of the gates of hell, and around it were corpses and beasts that had died gruesome deaths.
But the grotesque part began now.
The painting moved. From a small path beside the gate, a man drawn in the painting walked out, looked this way, and spoke.
—All preparations are complete.
His voice could be heard only by the Illusion King.
—However, he says the Young Cult Leader must not be touched yet.
—Any other mention?
—None. He mentioned only the Young Cult Leader.
—Is it certain that the one who killed Hwan Yeo was Pungcheon?
—Judging by the circumstances, yes.
When the Illusion King nodded, the man who had finished his report disappeared back down the path he had come from.
Just then, someone’s presence was heard outside, and So Baekta entered.
“Master.”
He was calling the Illusion King his master. The Illusion King rose from his seat and bowed respectfully to So Baekta.
“Welcome, Cult Leader.”
“What sort of painting were you working on today?”
The Illusion King showed him the painting. When So Baekta saw it, he flinched in surprise.
“It is a different style from your usual paintings.”
Normally, he mostly painted the beautiful scenery of the lands beyond the frontier. He painted smiling people, dogs, and cats. But today’s painting was far too different.
“Sometimes I feel like painting things like this as well.”
Why, of all days, had he been painting something like this on the day So Baekta came to see him?
“Where does this gate lead?”
“To my hell.”
At that meaningful answer, So Baekta looked at the Illusion King.
But only the painting was different; the Illusion King, with a good-natured smile, served him tea as usual.
So Baekta toyed with the teacup and recalled what Geom Mugeuk had said.
—If there is tea or liquor he gives you, there is probably some kind of drug mixed into that as well.
It was one of the few things Geom Mugeuk had told him before he came here. Thinking back, whenever he came here, the Illusion King had always served him tea.
At first, his guards had tested it for poison, but after he learned martial arts from the Illusion King, that process had been omitted. In the end, he had been drinking it all this time without suspecting at all what might be inside.
If, as Geom Mugeuk said, he regarded the other party as an enemy? It was enough to send a chill down his spine.
“Please drink. A new tea came in, and it tastes very good.”
“The fragrance is excellent.”
So Baekta merely savored the aroma, then set the tea down and continued speaking.
“Earlier, the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult came to see me alone, so I told him to allow me to unite the lands beyond the frontier.”
“What did he say to that?”
“He told me to show him my ability. He said he would see whether I had the qualifications for it. So I used the Angcheon Blood Spirit Art and showed him my power.”
At that, the Illusion King’s expression hardened.
“Did I not tell you to avoid using the Angcheon Blood Spirit Art whenever possible?”
“I had no choice.”
So Baekta imitated what Geom Mugeuk had said.
‘Our cult does not permit it. So go wash your face and come back. What an insolent Young Cult Leader!’
Unable to hold back his anger, So Baekta struck the table where the tea sat. The table shattered, and the tea spilled.
“If I ever strike the Central Plains, I want to sweep away the Demonic Cult first.”
The Illusion King calmly wiped and cleaned the place, then brewed tea again. In the past, So Baekta would have felt sorry and grateful in such a situation, but now his feelings were different. Just as Geom Mugeuk had said, he was looking at him as an enemy.
‘Is he trying to make me drink the tea to the very end?’
It was the same action, but the feeling with which he received it was completely different.
Setting the tea down on a new tea table, the Illusion King asked. The fact that he was persistent yet did not force it made him even more frightening.
“So what happened?”
“The Young Cult Leader broke my Angcheon Blood Spirit Art.”
“That cannot be.”
“I experienced it myself.”
“Then you must have fallen for one of his tricks.”
At the Illusion King’s firm conclusion, So Baekta asked as if arguing,
“Why are you so certain? You have not personally experienced the Guhwa Demonic Art.”
For an instant, the Illusion King’s expression hardened. Even normally, whenever the Guhwa Demonic Art was mentioned, he showed discomfort, but today his face looked angrier than usual.
So Baekta quickly apologized to him.
“I am sorry, Master. Because the Angcheon Blood Spirit Art did not work, I behaved rudely and sensitively.”
Still with his expression stiff, the Illusion King asked,
“Why do you think the Young Cult Leader came to the lands beyond the frontier?”
“I do not know his true intentions.”
Of course, that was a lie. He had been told that Geom Mugeuk had come to capture the very person before his eyes.
Then the Illusion King struck at the heart of the matter.
“He came to capture me.”
So Baekta flinched in surprise. The Illusion King had revealed something he thought he would conceal.
“How would he know of your existence, Master?”
“I planted one of my people in the Demonic Cult. But recently, that person was captured, and my existence was exposed.”
“Why did you plant someone in the Demonic Cult?”
“Do you know why I am so sensitive about the Guhwa Demonic Art? It is because the Blood Cult fell to that Guhwa Demonic Art. Our cult and the Demonic Cult are irreconcilable enemies. No reconciliation can wipe away that blood. As the last descendant of the Blood Cult, how could I simply stand by and watch them?”
The perfect material for a lie is ninety percent truth.
Because he spoke while mixing in so many facts, So Baekta was inwardly confused. Could this side be right and the other side wrong? So Baekta tried in every way to discern the truth.
“I will absolutely not give up.”
“Of course you must not. You, Cult Leader, will surely accomplish your great undertaking.”
“But there is a problem. Since I rashly revealed that I learned another martial art, given my master’s personality, he will not simply let me be. Master, please help me.”
The Illusion King stared intently at So Baekta, then took out a medicine bottle smaller than a ring finger from his robe.
“Feed this medicine to your master! It is colorless and odorless, so if you mix it into liquor, he will never notice.”
So Baekta was startled. He did not have to ask to know. It was poison that would kill his master.
“It will not take effect immediately. The poison will activate after three days, so he will not suspect that it was a drug you added.”
He had never imagined the Illusion King would tell him to feed his master poison and kill him.
“They say a man who is not ruthless is no true man. If you do not kill him, Cult Leader, you will be the one who suffers.”
At that moment, So Baekta’s heart went cold. What could be more cowardly than mixing poison into liquor to kill an enemy?
Had he truly respected and liked such a person?
The Illusion King was reading his heart precisely.
“Are you disappointed in me?”
So Baekta answered honestly.
“I did not think you would tell me to mix poison into liquor.”
“To deal with him, you must fight a battle of life and death. If you add the drug, Cult Leader, it becomes a fight you will win unconditionally. Then should you not add it? Is there anything more precious than your life?”
After a brief pause, So Baekta asked in a cold gaze,
“Is this for my sake? Or is it to save yourself, Master?”
“We are already in the same boat. Is there a difference between the two?”
“That is true. Then the boat will not sink. Instead, I will become someone who poisoned his master to death over drinks.”
There was no need to compare any further. As if the curtain of the Ten-Thousand-Li Battle Wall had been torn apart, it was the moment the scales that had covered So Baekta’s eyes fell away.
Even so, the Illusion King was at ease.
“They have already planted seeds of doubt in our Cult Leader’s heart.”
“Seeds I should have planted and nurtured from the very beginning.”
The Illusion King’s gaze turned cold. With the courtesy and laughter gone, his face looked so unfamiliar it was like looking at another person.
“I knew you would be won over by them. But I never imagined it would happen this easily.”
He had already guessed why So Baekta had come to see him.
Telling him to slip poison in had been the Illusion King’s test. A test to see whether So Baekta had been won over by the Young Cult Leader.
So Baekta lamented his past foolishness.
“So you really did approach me on purpose.”
When he became Cult Leader, he had wanted to flee from the difficulties before him. The man in front of him had served as a refuge better than anyone else.
Together with him, he had cursed his master. All while being brainwashed with words that his master was a coward, but he would become a splendid Cult Leader. To a feeble heart, there was no greater comfort than someone who cursed the person you hated alongside you.
That place had not been a refuge. It had been a hell bearing the name of refuge.
‘Master!’
The person who now surfaced in So Baekta’s heart was Cult Leader Pungcheon.
‘I’m sorry.’
So Baekta secretly drew up his inner power. He knew the Illusion King was stronger than him, but he was not afraid at all. The excitement born of remorse was ruling him.
But the Illusion King’s illusion arts overwhelmed him.
Wooooooong!
With a deep reverberation, their surroundings changed.
The place where the two stood was no longer the Illusion King’s residence from moments ago.
Corpses lay scattered all around, and beasts that seemed as if they belonged in paintings growled from every direction.
And before them stood a great door.
‘That door?’
It was the very door the Illusion King had earlier said led to his hell.
Astonishingly, they were inside the painting the Illusion King had drawn.
“What are you planning to do?”
“What were you planning to do? Did you test me because you believed those people would protect you?”
At those words, So Baekta hurriedly turned his head.
Far away in the sky, Geom Mugeuk and Cult Leader Pungcheon, huge as giants, were looking at him, and beyond the horizon, Mabul, who had become a true giant, was also staring at him.
So Baekta understood. The three who had entered the residence were looking into the painting.
The Illusion King and he had not moved to this place; they had truly entered the painting.
Cult Leader Pungcheon was looking not at the Illusion King, but at him.
What filled his gaze was worry.
The moment he saw that gaze, So Baekta felt something knotted in his heart completely melt away.
‘……Master!’
He was so sorry to his master. He had failed to appreciate the gratitude of being handed the position of Cult Leader, and like an immature child, had only resented him until he ruined everything. Even so, his master had apologized to him again and again, saying he was sorry.
‘I ruined everything. Master, I’m sorry.’
As if this were the consequence of that foolishness, the door began to open.
Before the open door, the Illusion King said,
“Your master knows how dangerous this place is. It is a place where even Cult Leader Pungcheon would have to risk his life.”
When he stretched out his hand, So Baekta flew helplessly toward him as though being sucked in.
From beyond the door as it began to close, the Illusion King’s voice was heard.
“I wonder if your master will open this gate to hell to save you.”
When his words ended, So Baekta’s desperate cry flowed out through the closing door.
“Do not come, Master! You mustn’t come…….”
The door that had swallowed the two of them shut with a thunderous roar.