Amazingly, the reason So Baekta had given Geom Mugeuk a sacred relic as a gift was because the Pungcheon Cult Leader had asked him to.
“Do you know why I told you to give the Young Cult Leader a gift?”
“Was it not out of gratitude for what happened this time?”
“Of course, that is part of it, but there is a greater reason.”
“What is the reason?”
Then the Pungcheon Cult Leader said something unexpected.
“It is because of you, Cult Leader.”
“Because of me?”
It was to tie the thread of fate between Geom Mugeuk and So Baekta even more firmly. In truth, his own relationship with him had begun when he gave him a sacred relic as well.
Simply parting ways like this and expressing gratitude by gifting a sacred relic were entirely different things.
Even if the other party was not someone who wished for repayment, whether to display the virtue of refusal was, in the end, up to them. Even that became a gift in itself.
“Do not let go of your bond with the Young Cult Leader. For your own sake, and for the sake of the Pungcheon Cult.”
Only then did So Baekta understand his master’s profound intention. It was also a moment when he once again realized just how highly his master regarded Geom Mugeuk.
“If you wish to become a good Cult Leader, you must covet people more than objects. Even if you use up every sacred relic there, gather people around you who can protect you.”
“I understand.”
Then the Pungcheon Cult Leader stared intently at So Baekta and asked.
“Do you really? Do you truly believe people are more important than the sacred relics here?”
“Well…”
So Baekta could not give an answer filled with certainty. After all, until just yesterday, he had been toyed with by others.
“Yes, human relationships are wearisome. Forming ties, trying to maintain them, being disappointed, being betrayed. There is truly nothing that consumes so much mental strength. Even so, you must place seeing people and governing them above all else. Do you know why?”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader was telling his disciple all the things he had never been able to say before.
“Because you are the Cult Leader. If you were to live an ordinary life, there would be no need to place such importance on human relationships. But a Cult Leader is ultimately someone who governs people. You must be able to deal not only with our cult, but also with organizations that become our allies, and even with our enemies. Do not forget that depending on what kind of people you keep by your side and what kind of people you use, the fate of the Pungcheon Cult and everyone living beyond the borders will change.”
Before So Baekta could answer, he quickly added.
“That is not something I, who spent my life staring only at sacred relics, should be saying, is it?”
“Is that not precisely why you are able to say it?”
The two looked at each other and smiled.
“By the way, what did the Young Cult Leader choose?”
“He chose the Heukjeong.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader looked as if he could not understand, but soon nodded. Choosing only the very best, and then choosing the most worthless thing of all. It truly felt like the Young Cult Leader.
“He is no one else but the Young Cult Leader. There is no need to feel it a waste. Just now, you were the one who received a gift instead. So if the chance comes later, give him another.”
He meant that forming a bond with Geom Mugeuk through a single sacred relic was actually a gain.
Though he knew he should not feel this way, So Baekta felt jealous of Geom Mugeuk. At the same time, he resolved that he too would become someone who received such trust from his master.
The Pungcheon Cult Leader was reading his disciple’s thoughts.
“Do not rush. It was only after I was more than twice your age that I finally began to think deeply about my own life. Before that, it felt as if I had simply been swept along in a daze.”
To think that at this age, he would feel as though his true life was only just beginning.
“So do not be impatient. Your true life may not have begun yet either.”
So Baekta did not want to part with his master.
“Will you be returning with the Young Cult Leader?”
He had been afraid his master would say he had to go. But the Pungcheon Cult Leader smiled and said,
“For the time being, I will stay here with our Cult Leader before I leave. We will train together, drink together, and talk about the old days.”
At least for now, his disciple took precedence over Gowol and Geom Mugeuk.
Compared to those two, his disciple still had much to learn, so he wanted to remain with him a little longer and teach him.
So Baekta smiled brightly.
“Thank you, Master.”
Being jealous, then delighted. Seeing how he was swayed between joy and sorrow even in this short span of time, he thought, Yes, Master is right. I still have a long way to go.
* * *
All the way from the Cult Leader’s Hall back to my quarters, my heart pounded as if it would burst.
At the thought that I might finally unravel the secret of the secret coffer that even the Heavenly Demons of old had failed to solve for so many long years, my steps quickened of their own accord.
After ordering the guards not to let anyone disturb me, I entered my room.
I took the secret coffer and the Heukjeong from my robes and placed them side by side on the table.
“Secret coffer, you’ve got a friend now.”
Because I had drawn a smiling face on the secret coffer, it truly looked as though it were happy to have made a friend.
What connection could there be between these two?
I picked up the Heukjeong and placed it on top of the secret coffer. But nothing happened. It had even vibrated and told me to choose the Heukjeong, and yet.
“If you’re going to act this distant, why did you ask for this friend?”
I waited a moment, but the secret coffer showed no reaction.
I turned the secret coffer and placed the Heukjeong on another side. Again, there was no reaction. I placed it on another side, then another.
“Bear with it, even if doing a handstand is uncomfortable.”
And at the very moment I flipped the smiling secret coffer upside down and placed the Heukjeong on its bottom—
Sssssk.
The Heukjeong began to be sucked into the secret coffer.
I had never imagined the secret coffer would absorb the Heukjeong like this, so I could only stare at it in surprise. Like a drop of water being absorbed, the Heukjeong slipped cleanly into the secret coffer.
I drew up my internal energy and prepared for any possibility, holding my breath as I stared at the secret coffer.
Even after waiting for quite some time, the secret coffer remained as it was.
“You! You ate your friend!”
The moment those words ended—
Wooong!
The secret coffer vibrated once.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The secret coffer shook and vibrated again. It was a powerful vibration, enough to shake the table. The secret coffer, vibrating fiercely, rose into the air.
It began spinning rapidly in midair.
Whiriririririk!
It looked as though it might burst at any moment, or fly off somewhere.
What should I do?
There was no time to think at length. I followed my instincts. After drawing my protective aura to its limit, I seized the secret coffer floating in the air with my hand.
At that very moment—
Shoooooooo!
A sound I had never heard before rang out, and something pitch-black began emerging from the secret coffer.
That pitch-black thing was not smoke, nor was it liquid. It was not internal energy or aura, and it was not light either. It was something I had never seen or felt in my life, something impossible to describe in words.
The thing that came from the secret coffer passed through my hand and arm and spread through my body. It did not extend anywhere else. Like ink spreading across paper, it spread only through my body.
Paaaaaaa.
I simply watched as it spread. Instinctively, I could tell. At the very least, this was not an energy meant to harm me. If it had been, the Heavenly Demon Protective Art would have activated. If it had been, I would have instinctively thrown the secret coffer to the floor.
But I gripped the secret coffer tightly and watched as it transferred into me. It flickered like light, seemed like waves, and gave off some sensation like energy. Though it was pitch-black, the feeling was as refreshing as drinking clear water.
Hwaaaaaak!
The moment it spread from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes—
Flash!
Radiance burst from my entire body. It was so blinding that I squeezed my eyes shut.
When I opened them again, the radiance had vanished. The thing that had spread through my body had already disappeared into me.
I hurriedly examined my body first.
The energy that came from the secret coffer had certainly seeped deep into every part of me, but there was no special change. My internal energy had not increased, nor was there any clump of energy gathered somewhere in my dantian that I could not dissolve.
But I felt it. That it remained in my body. That it existed somewhere within me.
‘What on earth is it?’
It was right then.
Clack!
The secret coffer spat out the Heukjeong it had swallowed.
The Heukjeong that popped out rolled across the floor.
I picked up the Heukjeong and examined it, but it no longer had the glossy ink-black sheen it had at first. Now it was nothing more than an ordinary lump of metal.
I could tell instinctively. The energy hidden within the Heukjeong had been absorbed into me through the secret coffer. It was the moment the secret of the coffer was revealed.
The secret coffer was, in fact, a device that absorbed energy contained within something else.
Without something it could absorb, like the Heukjeong, the secret coffer was truly worthless. How could anyone have uncovered this secret?
The reason I had uncovered it was, if anything, because I had not tried too hard to solve it. Because I had simply carried it around in my robes like a friend, I had been able to solve the mystery.
And then another premonition came to me.
This did not seem to be the end. I had a feeling that if there were other objects besides the Heukjeong that contained energy it could absorb, I would be able to absorb them with this secret coffer.
‘What exactly are you? Who made you?’
As if nothing had happened, the secret coffer merely stared at me while flipped upside down, smiling brightly.
Now that I knew which side was up, I would have to draw its face anew.
* * *
The next day, we said our farewells.
When the guards, who had risen early in the morning, were busy preparing the carriage, the Pungcheon Cult Leader and So Baekta came out to see us off.
“Return safely.”
At So Baekta’s farewell, I told him what I had truly wanted to say.
“You experienced it yourself, so you must know, but there are those plotting schemes in the shadows. Please be careful from now on.”
“I will. Young Cult Leader, take care of yourself as well.”
Next, I exchanged farewells with the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
Though it was not a long parting, the fact that I felt this reluctant meant I must have grown quite attached to him.
“Do you know what I felt while dealing with the Sinung Ironworks this time?”
“What did you feel?”
“They did not know where they belonged or what goal they were moving toward. And yet they were working in perfect harmony. Do you know who they made me think of? Eunwol. An organization made up of thoroughly compartmentalized cells, yet operating under a perfect system.”
What he wanted to tell me was precisely this.
“There must be someone truly intelligent behind them, someone like you or Gowol.”
Someone at the level of the Pungcheon Cult Leader could tell just by touching the tail how large and ferocious the monster was.
“I will keep that in mind when dealing with them. Thank you for telling me.”
“I will send word separately to Gowol. I will not stay here all that long.”
“Please take your time and rest comfortably.”
“Farewell, our Young Cult Leader who cleaned out the Pungcheon Cult.”
He grinned broadly, delighted at the thought of attacking me with this for a while.
I did not let it pass either.
“Now that I have seen the sacred relics, there were still many things left that I coveted.”
The Pungcheon Cult Leader shouted to So Baekta.
“Protect our sacred relics well from the Young Cult Leader!”
If my farewell with him ended in jokes and banter like that, my farewell with Mabul was exceedingly blunt.
“I will go on ahead.”
“See you at the cult.”
But the looks in their eyes toward each other were different from when they had first come.
And so I left the Pungcheon Cult with Mabul. When we came, there had been three of us, but when we returned, there were two. Yet in my heart, it felt as though four of us were returning.
Until our carriage disappeared from sight, the Pungcheon Cult Leader and So Baekta stood watching in front of the main gate.
* * *
The road back was leisurely.
When we saw a tall mountain, we stopped the carriage, climbed it, and gathered poisonous herbs. We camped beneath the stars in the wasteland.
For meals, the guards cooked the animals they hunted. I taught the guards everything from how to process animal hides to which cuts of meat were tasty and how to cook them so they would not be tough. Thanks to that, the guards’ cooking skills improved by the day.
“There is truly nothing you cannot do, Young Cult Leader.”
At the guards’ admiration, I shook my head.
“There is exactly one thing I cannot do.”
“What is it?”
Without telling them, I sighed and turned away.
And so today as well, after eating well, I lay down to sleep with the campfire between us.
Lying there and looking up at the night sky, I said to Mabul,
“Come to think of it, Lord Mabul, you are a star too.”
Beyond the campfire, Mabul turned to look at me.
“What do you mean?”
“Like the stars, you always shine on your own.”
Mabul’s face was visible beyond the wavering flames. Perhaps he had grown used to it now, for he stared at me and said,
“I do not have sacred relics like the Pungcheon Cult Leader.”
“But you have poisonous herbs instead, don’t you?”
Mabul had gathered seven of them, but I still had not managed to gather even one. The one thing I had not told the guards I could not do was gathering medicinal herbs.
“Please, just give me one!”
Mabul gave me a look that said not a chance, then turned over to face the other way.
I knew what was in his heart. He wanted to hear from the Poison King that our Lord Mabul was indeed the best. He wanted to become a special person capable of gathering poisonous herbs that no one else could.
The more that was the case, the more I wanted to tease him.
I rose silently and was just about to creep toward the box of herbs Mabul had gathered when—
Still lying down, Mabul stretched his hand toward it.
The golden radiance extending from his palm became a golden dragon and coiled around the box as if protecting it. It was Mabul’s signature demonic art, the Golden Daera Demonic Art.
“This is too much! I’m the Young Cult Leader! The person who will become the Heavenly Demon in the future!”
As if to say it would not work, the golden dragon writhed and roared fiercely.
“Yes, I should sleep. I’m sleeping.”
I lay down again. A short distance away, Jeok Yeon, the head of the guards, had been watching us and could not hold back his laughter, but when his eyes met mine, he turned his head the other way.
Mabul, who had been lying turned away, called to me quietly.
“Young Cult Leader.”
“Yes, Lord Mabul.”
After a brief pause, Mabul said,
“Thank you.”
I was looking at the stars in the night sky. Tonight, the starlight was especially bright.
“Me too.”
Neither of us asked the other what we were grateful for.
And so, cutting through the sandy winds beyond the borders, we returned to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.