“Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!”
Gwangseom and Goeak recognized Geom Mugeuk at the same time.
At their first meeting, Geom Mugeuk had left such a powerful impression that he was impossible to forget.
“Why are you here?”
They had never imagined Geom Mugeuk would be here, and they were greatly shocked.
Gwangseom’s and Goeak’s expressions changed in opposite ways. A strand of hope bloomed in Goeak’s heart. A variable had appeared in a situation where death had seemed certain.
Gwangseom, on the other hand, looked utterly dismayed. He had been about to pin the crime on Goeak and kill the Young Alliance Leader.
But now, if things went this way, he would have to kill the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader as well. What he was doing now was already no ordinary matter, but if the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader died too, the murim would be turned upside down.
Burning with anxiety at the unexpected variable, Gwangseom strode over, poured himself a drink, and drank it.
‘How should I handle this?’
He was torn between reporting this to Hwang Seokgyeong at once and handling it on his own. Reporting and waiting for an answer would take time.
The greater problem was that his plan had been exposed to the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader.
Gwangseom looked at Geom Mugeuk. The ease in his eyes seemed to say he was certain Gwangseom could not kill him.
‘Young Cult Leader, this time you’ve chosen the wrong opponent.’
He made his decision on how to deal with this troublesome matter.
Gwangseom looked at Goeak and said,
“At least you won’t have to bear the crime of killing the Young Alliance Leader.”
Guessing Gwangseom’s meaning, Goeak responded coldly.
“You crazy bastard.”
Both he and Gwangseom were villains among villains. He had lived his entire life without trusting people, but he had still believed in Gwangseom, who had spent time at his side. He had liked his taciturn nature, too. He had been deceived by that taciturnity. More than the man who had deceived him, he was furious at himself for being fooled.
His martial art, the Iron Man Slash, was a body technique that fought with the entire body. Without internal energy, he could not even attempt a surprise attack.
What would happen if the Young Cult Leader, the Young Alliance Leader, and he himself all rushed him together? Even without internal energy, couldn’t they somehow manage?
But he knew better than anyone how fast Gwangseom’s sword was. His body technique without internal energy would be little more than a massage, and the two others’ attacks would become children’s swordplay.
The decision Gwangseom made was exactly as Goeak expected.
“Because it will be handled as the Young Cult Leader and the Young Alliance Leader having fought each other and both suffered fatal wounds.”
Geom Mugeuk said to Bi Sain,
“In the end, the thing you were worried about is happening. The two of us fighting and killing each other.”
“You can joke in this situation?”
“If friends die on the same day and at the same hour, that has its own value, does it not?”
Bi Sain was in no state of mind to indulge Geom Mugeuk’s banter.
‘To think I’m going to die like this?’
He had trusted Gwangseom and Goeak. That was why he had drunk the liquor without the slightest suspicion. Since they were people who followed the Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance, he had naturally thought he could trust them. Thinking about it now, they were people who had no real connection to him at all.
Suddenly, he remembered Geom Mugeuk’s words telling him to look at people properly and closely. Yes, this too was ultimately the result of failing to see people properly.
What would happen to the Sado Alliance after he died? What about the Alliance Leader? These were people who had even drawn Gwangseom in, so they would not be easy to deal with.
And the final worry of the man facing death was not himself.
“You must not kill the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader. Even if you kill us, let that man go.”
To think he would ask for someone else to be spared in a situation where he himself was going to die. Bi Sain felt unfamiliar to himself.
“The Young Cult Leader will promise. He will never reveal what happened here. He is a man of the standing of the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader, so he will not lightly break a promise.”
When Gwangseom showed no particular reaction, Bi Sain tried even more desperately to persuade him.
“Try putting yourself in the Young Cult Leader’s position. In any case, these are matters that happened within the Sado Alliance. They have nothing to do with that man, do they? There is no reason he would deliberately damage his own honor by revealing what happened today. If you kill the Young Cult Leader, the Demonic Cult will find you all and kill you.”
Bi Sain turned to Geom Mugeuk and said,
“Isn’t that right? You say it.”
Then Geom Mugeuk said,
“I will tell.”
“What?”
“He’s a man who killed you right before my eyes. I can’t just let that pass. Not only will I tell everything, I’ll take revenge.”
Bi Sain felt suffocated. Young Cult Leader, this is no time to joke. Please, just this once, play along with me.
Hiding those thoughts, Bi Sain calmly persuaded Gwangseom.
“The Young Cult Leader often says things he doesn’t mean. Don’t make this matter larger than it has to be. Let the Young Cult Leader go.”
As he said that, Bi Sain looked at Geom Mugeuk and spoke with his eyes.
—I am not joking. So you must not joke either.
Of course, if he obediently granted that wish, he would not be Geom Mugeuk.
“Of all the times I’ve seen you, you look the coolest right now.”
Please! Bi Sain almost burst into anger, then stopped himself. Yes, it had already come to this. It was not as if Gwangseom would spare him if he begged, or kill him if he did not.
“If a person trying to save me doesn’t look cool, wouldn’t that be a problem in itself?”
After saying that, Bi Sain gave a bitter smile. In the end, even in this moment, he was bantering. Fine. Better to die laughing and bantering with this man. Thinking that, his heart grew lighter.
Geom Mugeuk looked at Gwangseom.
“Look into that man’s eyes.”
Bi Sain also followed Geom Mugeuk’s gaze and looked into Gwangseom’s eyes. They were cold eyes that revealed no emotion.
“He has absolutely no intention of sparing me.”
How could Bi Sain not know that? He simply did not want Geom Mugeuk to die as well.
Bi Sain let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this.”
Then Geom Mugeuk said,
“That is your second sigh.”
He wanted to show him a tenth sigh, a hundredth sigh. But their relationship was ending with only two sighs shown.
If he was with Geom Mugeuk, he felt as though they could overcome any crisis. Even this time, Geom Mugeuk had pushed him to be the protagonist, but in a corner of his heart, Bi Sain had believed in him.
But he had forgotten. While marveling at Geom Mugeuk’s astonishing abilities and laughing at his banter, he had forgotten that Geom Mugeuk was human too.
“I truly am sorry.”
At the apology that came out like a sigh, Geom Mugeuk smiled.
“There is no need to be sorry.”
Watching this, Goeak said to Gwangseom,
“Even that half-baked friendship that hasn’t amounted to much is so heartfelt. What the hell are we?”
Gwangseom pretended not to hear and said nothing.
This time, Geom Mugeuk spoke to Gwangseom.
“You will become a protagonist who goes down in the history of the murim. After all, you’ll be killing the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader, the Sado Alliance’s Young Alliance Leader, and one of the Seven Great Masters of the Sado Alliance all in one place.”
Then Goeak added a word.
“Make sure the record also says you killed us with Dispersion Poison!”
As if he would drag this out no longer, Gwangseom tried to draw his sword.
Geom Mugeuk quickly asked,
“Let me ask one thing before I die. Where are the children who were kidnapped and taken away?”
“Why do you ask that?”
“That matter is why I got dragged into this, so shouldn’t I at least know before I die?”
But that matter was something even Gwangseom did not know.
“I don’t know.”
“Then who within the Sado Alliance did that person you respect join hands with?”
Geom Mugeuk tried to find out anything he could through him.
But this time as well, Gwangseom shook his head. It seemed he truly did not know.
“You are merely being used as Hwang Seokgyeong’s blade.”
Geom Mugeuk added to Bi Sain,
“Later, this man would have been used as the sword to kill the Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance.”
It seemed entirely possible. By continuing to build trust like this, he would have taken on the role of ambushing the Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance at the decisive moment. If poison was used alongside him, and hidden weapons too, and every possible method available, could they not have assassinated the Alliance Leader? And if even the Fighting King joined in?
What was even more worrying was this. Since the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader had died as well, the relationship between the Demonic Cult and the Sado Alliance would deteriorate rapidly. If misunderstandings piled up, war could even break out. In such a situation, would they be able to properly uncover the truth behind these deaths? Amid all that, those bastards would only seek to profit like fishermen.
Bi Sain conveyed his frustration to Geom Mugeuk.
“I wish you would say this. That in truth, you can use your internal energy. I wish you would say it with a smile, like one of your usual jokes. If only that could let us survive…”
“If we survive?”
“I’ll gather people and dance.”
He was a man who had never danced once in his life. He was the sort of man who thought he would rather die than dance in front of people.
Would he make such an absurd condition only if he truly wanted to live?
He wanted to live. Even if he had to die, he did not want to die like this.
He still had so much to do. He had not yet even sat in the grand preceptor’s chair of the Alliance Leader’s Hall. He had not yet established his own Sado. He had not met the woman he would love. He had not yet drunk with his friend at the tavern in front of his friend’s house… He had not yet even greeted his friend’s father.
Geom Mugeuk looked at Bi Sain, smiled brightly, and said,
“In truth, I can use my internal energy.”
Bi Sain smiled back. His rough, ugly face brightened. Yes, dying while smiling like this suited him and Geom Mugeuk.
‘I was glad to be your friend.’
Drawing his sword, Gwangseom said to Goeak,
“Still, since there was affection between us, I will kill you last.”
“We’ve known each other for twenty years, and we’ve traveled together for seven or eight. What an incredible affection.”
Pretending not to hear, Gwangseom walked toward Bi Sain.
“I bear no ill will toward the Young Alliance Leader.”
Though his heart beat faster, Bi Sain was dignified. Unafraid of death, he calmly gazed at Gwangseom.
‘Heavens, please protect the Sado Alliance!’
Gwangseom’s sword flew in.
Swaaaaaaak!
Clang!
Bi Sain’s eyes flew wide open.
What blocked his view was Geom Mugeuk’s back. In an instant, he had crossed the space and blocked the incoming sword with the Black Demon Sword.
“You!”
There was no leisure to exchange words.
Gwangseom, whose sword was crossed with his, immediately unleashed his unique martial art, the Churoe Three Swords.
From that one move that had stopped him, Gwangseom understood. If he tried any other shallow trick, he would simply die. He poured all of his internal energy into his unique martial art.
‘Even if you have internal energy, the result will not change!’
How could a human avoid falling lightning? At this distance, if the Churoe Three Swords were unleashed, he was confident he could certainly kill Geom Mugeuk.
Flash!
Shiiiiiiik!
It was an attack so fast it could not even be seen. But there were humans who could evade lightning.
‘Even if you dodge one!’
The Churoe Second Sword was unleashed in succession. Sword light flashed, and in an instant, more than ten lines of sword energy poured toward Geom Mugeuk.
Clangclangclangclangclangclangclangclangclang!
But Geom Mugeuk’s Black Demon Sword blocked every attack. If one side was lightning, so was the other.
Gwangseom was shocked and flustered. Until now, only one person had ever blocked the Churoe Second Sword when it was unleashed at this distance.
Yes, since he was the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader, perhaps he could block it. But he would never be able to stop the final Third Sword.
Just as the Churoe Third Sword, which would sweep away everyone here, was about to unfold.
Puk!
Together with the sound of flesh being torn, the sound of swords clashing stopped.
The sudden silence declared that this contest had ended in a single move.
Gwangseom’s gaze slowly lowered toward his own chest.
The Black Demon Sword had pierced through his chest. He could not believe he had missed this attack.
“…You’re faster than me?”
Gwangseom slowly raised his head and looked at Geom Mugeuk.
Those clear, deep eyes belonged to a different person from the one who had been bantering with Bi Sain moments earlier.
Looking in turn into Gwangseom’s eyes as their vitality drained away, Geom Mugeuk said coldly,
“The moment you put Dispersion Poison in the bottle of liquor, everything you had done as a martial artist vanished. Now you are nothing.”
Gwangseom moved his lips as if to say something.
Shiiik! Slash!
He was no exception. The Black Demon Sword, pulled from his chest, cut off his head in a single stroke.
Thud.
It was the moment Gwangseom, one of the Seven Great Masters of the Sado Alliance and a master of the swift sword, died without leaving a single word behind.
With a crisp flick, Geom Mugeuk shook the blood from the Black Demon Sword, turned toward Bi Sain, and grinned.
“I told you I could use my internal energy, didn’t I?”
Along with the joy of having survived, a shudder ran through Bi Sain’s entire body. It was the moment the gates of hell had opened and closed again.
“How on earth?”
“It seems Dispersion Poison doesn’t agree with my constitution.”
Ah! Just how long did this man intend to keep surprising people like this?
“Just how far do you intend to drag me around?”
“I told you, didn’t I? Let yourself be dragged along comfortably, and look at the stars and the clouds. Someday, a day may come when you think, Those were good times. And when I get tired, you can drag me along then.”
Their gazes met in midair.
Bi Sain did not say thank you. They had agreed to settle all debts of gratitude at the very end. Now, a debt of his life had been added to that gratitude. Could all of this ever truly be settled?
Bi Sain was not the only one surprised. Goeak was staring blankly at Gwangseom’s corpse.
He had been shocked by Geom Mugeuk’s skill. Setting aside the fact that the Dispersion Poison had not worked, he had blocked all of Gwangseom’s attacks at such close range. And then he had killed him with even faster swift-sword technique.
Swift-sword technique was not Geom Mugeuk’s unique martial art, and yet he had defeated Gwangseom with what could only be called the fundamentals.
‘He is far stronger than us!’
He had known the Young Cult Leader was an extraordinary person, but he had never imagined he was this strong.
He cupped his fist respectfully and expressed his gratitude to Geom Mugeuk.
“Young Cult Leader, thanks to you, my life was saved. If you ever need help with anything in the future, contact me.”
“I will. Please take good care of my friend from now on.”
As he said that, he looked at Bi Sain. It looked like a polite request, but it was a warning to Goeak. Do not treat Bi Sain carelessly.
Goeak looked at Bi Sain. The two conversed with their eyes.
—How on earth did you become friends with someone like this?
—I don’t know either. By the time I came to my senses, I had become that man’s friend.
The three of them walked out of the building.
“By the way, when will you keep your promise?”
“What promise?”
“The promise that you would dance in front of people if we survived. I reserve a seat in the front row.”
“When did I ever make such a promise?”
Bi Sain flatly denied it.
“Sorry, but there is a witness.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Goeak.
“You heard the promise the Young Alliance Leader made, didn’t you?”
Goeak looked back and forth between Geom Mugeuk and Bi Sain. It had already been decided whose side he had to take.
“What promise? I never heard anything.”
“You expect to meet the Young Alliance Leader more often than me in life, do you?”
Goeak smiled awkwardly and changed the subject.
“A mere instructor dares aim for the position of Alliance Leader of the Sado Alliance? Come, let’s go. We can’t stand to see someone else prosper, after all.”
Absolute Regression, Chapter 356