When he came up the stairs, he saw the Heavenly Demon, Geom Ujin, ahead of him.
Jin Paecheon felt his heart stir for the first time in ages.
‘How long has it been since I felt this excitement?’
Geom Ujin had risen from his seat and was waiting for him.
Demon and orthodox, orthodox and demon.
The leaders of two camps that had fought endlessly through the long years.
The two men stared at each other in silence. It was their first reunion in more than ten years. Normally, they should have exchanged formal greetings first, but neither of them said a word. No greeting would come from their mouths.
Jin Paecheon’s first words broke the silence.
“Your eyes are just the same.”
Only after meeting Geom Ujin again like this did Jin Paecheon truly realize it. How much he had hated this man. How deeply he hated the Demon Cult. The Geom Ujin in his imagination had been a beautified Geom Ujin.
A vast hostility surged up in him, so great that he wondered where so much hatred had been hiding.
The self-control he had cultivated over many years of meeting countless people collapsed in an instant the moment he saw those cold, arrogant eyes of Geom Ujin’s.
This man’s gaze was unchanged. His ambition to swallow the murim was unchanged as well.
Jin Paecheon’s heart turned cold.
This time, Geom Ujin spoke calmly.
“You have not changed either.”
The word “you” grated on him, and the words “not changed” grated on him too. He could have interpreted it favorably, as “You have not aged at all,” but he did not.
Jin Paecheon realized anew that he, with his tyrannical nature, had been living with quite a lot of restraint lately.
As such thoughts took hold, the air around them naturally began to grow cold.
The taut tension was not flowing only between the two of them.
The first floor was the same.
Between the orthodox masters and the Demon Venerables, a tense battle of wills was also underway.
Geom Mugeuk stood before the line of Demon Venerables.
Jin Hagun stood before the line of orthodox masters.
Beside them was Jo Chunbae, who had not yet managed to reach the kitchen. He had been watching the Martial Alliance Leader go up to the second floor, but before he could enter the kitchen, the battle of wills on the first floor had already begun.
No one was moving, and in that stillness, he did not have the courage to be the only one to move and enter the kitchen.
The one fortunate thing was that no one was releasing qi pressure that would directly affect a person’s body. It truly was nothing more than a staring contest.
But the looks being exchanged were the sort that stabbed hearts and cut throats.
Someone might have spat out a single word that would become the seed of a fight, but fortunately, no one had opened their mouth yet.
Jin Haryeong saw it. Even in this hair-trigger situation, Geom Mugeuk was utterly at ease.
—Shouldn’t you stop them?
—How am I supposed to stop these people?
Then again, when she thought of the people who had come together this time, it was absurd that she had believed Geom Mugeuk would somehow be able to stop them.
Each and every one of them was a powerhouse capable of becoming the overlord of a region.
—It’ll be fine. I don’t think your grandfather brought anyone so reckless and stupid that they’d start a fight here.
Jin Haryeong looked at the masters standing beside her. She knew who they all were, of course, but she did not know them inside and out. Yes, her grandfather must have kept them in check.
If anything, she was worried about upstairs.
Her gaze turned back to the second floor. Still, no conversation could be heard.
Were they speaking through sound transmission? Even so, shouldn’t there at least be the usual greetings—welcome, have you been well, thank you for coming? How is the Alliance these days, is the Cult running smoothly? No matter how displeased they were with each other, weren’t those the minimum courtesies?
The second floor was silent, and the first floor was silent.
Tension hung in the air as if everything might explode at any moment.
It was then.
Jo Chunbae, who had been looking up at the second floor, felt a chill run down his back.
When he turned around, everyone inside was looking toward the entrance at once.
A man was standing there.
He was dressed in neat black martial attire. He slowly looked over the masters of the Demon Cult and the orthodox faction. His eyes were small, but their light was intense.
It was nothing more than a single glance. Yet the man’s presence swallowed up all the taut tension in the room.
Right behind him stood a young man whose appearance was frighteningly hideous, and behind him again stood nine martial artists in a row.
Taking the Eight Demon Venerables as the standard, the Martial Alliance had brought one fewer person, while the Evil Dao Alliance had brought one more.
Baek Jagang, a thorough realist, was not the sort of man to reduce his numbers out of pride. If anything, he would bring more.
Jo Chunbae could feel it. They, too, possessed a presence similar to that of the Martial Alliance masters who had entered earlier.
There was no sign whatsoever that they were intimidated by the Demon Venerables or by the Martial Alliance masters.
Jo Chunbae’s gaze returned to the man in black martial attire.
Judging by his clothing alone, he looked like an ordinary martial artist, but his presence overwhelmed everyone standing behind him. It was the moment when that plain black outfit devoured all the splendid garments around it.
Geom Mugeuk shouted loudly.
“The Evil Dao Alliance Leader has arrived!”
At the words “Evil Dao Alliance Leader,” Jo Chunbae let out a groan-like scream—“Ugh!”—then hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.
He had thought there could be nothing more surprising today.
There was.
“You have had a hard journey coming all this way.”
Baek Jagang looked at Geom Mugeuk for a moment.
That Geom Mugeuk accounted for half the reason he had come here. He had been just as curious about how Geom Ujin had raised such a son as he was about whether Geom Ujin had truly abandoned his ambition to unify the murim.
And this matter was connected not merely to winning or losing at raising children, but also to the future of the Evil Dao Alliance. The brat before him had yet to be harvested. He still could not even guess what form that harvest would take.
Baek Jagang strode toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
The Fist Demon tried to guide him, but he refused as well.
Just as Baek Jagang was about to go up to the second floor, he stopped in front of Jo Chunbae, who was standing near the stairs with his head bowed.
‘Do not come here! Please, just go upstairs!’
Jo Chunbae was having an astonishing experience. After the Heavenly Demon, he was now standing before the Martial Alliance Leader, and then the Evil Dao Alliance Leader.
“Are you the owner of this place?”
At the deep, resonant voice, Jo Chunbae raised his head. It was truly pleasant to hear.
“I am.”
When he answered in a trembling voice, Baek Jagang’s gaze shifted from him to Geom Mugeuk.
“The Young Cult Leader spoke highly of you.”
Because Geom Mugeuk knew that Baek Jagang had said that out of consideration for him, he smiled at him. Baek Jagang also gave a faint smile with his eyes and went up to the second floor.
Indeed, people had to be seen often. The more he saw those small eyes, the more he kept thinking they were impressive.
Geom Mugeuk approached Jo Chunbae, who was standing there in a daze.
“That’s right. Today’s gathering is the first tripartite conference of this generation between the Cult Leader, the Martial Alliance Leader, and the Evil Dao Alliance Leader.”
It was the moment Jo Chunbae finally learned the true nature of today’s meeting. It was also the moment the owner of the final chair was decided.
‘A Demon-Orthodox-Evil conference? They decided to hold that conference in my tavern? The Cult Leader, the Martial Alliance Leader, and the Evil Dao Alliance Leader will sit in the chairs of my tavern? In our chairs!’
Jo Chunbae lifted his head with a bright expression, then flinched in surprise and lowered it again.
Everyone on the first floor was looking this way.
Those people, with whom he would never have met eyes even once in his life, were looking at him, a mere tavern owner.
Fear suddenly rose in him, and his entire body began to tremble.
“I think this place is more splendid than any other venue suited to a tripartite conference.”
Hearing Geom Mugeuk’s calm voice and seeing his gentle gaze, Jo Chunbae’s trembling subsided.
‘Yes. If not for the Young Cult Leader, I would already be dead. What is there to fear?’
Geom Mugeuk had said he had boasted of him to both the Martial Alliance Leader and the Evil Dao Alliance Leader. Jo Chunbae gathered his strength.
“I will cook with all my heart.”
Jo Chunbae walked proudly toward the kitchen.
Then, from behind him, Geom Mugeuk spoke loudly.
“For today, the owner is the king of every tavern in the world!”
In that instant, Jo Chunbae’s legs went weak, and he nearly staggered and collapsed.
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Jin Haryeong burst out laughing. She had been caught off guard, and the laughter escaped.
The elderly master of the Martial Alliance standing beside her turned to look at her, and Jin Haryeong made an effort to erase the smile from her face.
‘The Young Cult Leader really is insane. And I’m an insane woman for coming all the way here because I wanted to see that madman.’
On the other hand, those who had only heard rumors about Geom Mugeuk were glaring at him with the thought, ‘What on earth is he doing?’ Was he mocking them?
—Be careful of that tavern owner.
They even exchanged such sound transmissions. They had misunderstood Jo Chunbae as perhaps being the hidden card prepared by the Demon Cult.
Bi Sain, Jin Hagun, and Jin Haryeong knew. That tavern owner was an utterly ordinary person. They knew that Geom Mugeuk’s demonic path lay in protecting that ordinary man. No matter how many people were in this cramped tavern, he would never let that table be broken.
—You really are pulling this off.
At Jin Hagun’s sound transmission, Geom Mugeuk answered.
—We’re pulling it off. Though I didn’t know they would hate each other this much.
Then again, it was no different from enemies meeting after ten years.
—Can you resolve this well?
—I have to try.
Now the staring contest on the first floor was no longer between two groups, but three.
With their respective successors standing before them, they lined up in rows and glared at one another.
The orthodox masters hated the unorthodox faction just as much as they hated demonkind.
The Great Righteous Hero, Im Sanggon, now glared at an unorthodox master. There was one person in particular he hated.
Thunderstrike Blade Cheon Mang.
He was a master who had recently gained fame in the unorthodox faction, and several orthodox masters had died fighting him. Im Sanggon had wanted to meet him someday, and now he was seeing him here.
When the Great Righteous Hero glared, Thunderstrike Blade reacted. He did not avert his gaze, but glared right back.
The gazes of the two men, cursing each other with their eyes, gradually grew heated.
If left alone, it seemed they would charge at each other without regard for what came before or after.
It was then that someone placed a hand on Thunderstrike Blade’s shoulder.
When Thunderstrike Blade turned, Goeak, one of the Seven Great Masters of the Evil Dao, gave a slight shake of his head, telling him to stop.
Goeak was on friendly terms with Thunderstrike Blade. Only by stopping him this visibly would there be a pretext to step back. Sure enough, Thunderstrike Blade turned his gaze away.
Bi Sain looked at Goeak and sent him a gaze that said he had done well.
The situation on the second floor was not much different.
When Baek Jagang came up to the second floor, Geom Ujin and Jin Paecheon rose from their seats to greet him.
It was the moment the three of them finally gathered in one place.
Demon, orthodox, and evil.
The first conference of this generation.
Baek Jagang could tell.
Just from the heavy atmosphere flowing through this place, he could guess what the mood had been like.
Yes, we are not the sort to meet with smiles.
If not for the special variable that was Geom Mugeuk, they might have gone their entire lives without seeing each other’s faces. Or else they would have seen one another on the day they died.
Knowing that this was not an atmosphere for exchanging greetings, Baek Jagang sat in the remaining seat.
Once Baek Jagang sat down, Geom Ujin and Jin Paecheon also sat down with him. As expected, the greetings were omitted.
Baek Jagang looked at Geom Ujin first. Seeing Geom Ujin after so long, he gave off a different impression from when Baek Jagang had last seen him.
‘You, too, are aging.’
Only those eyes that seemed to look down on people were just as they had been before.
This time, Baek Jagang looked at Jin Paecheon. He was looking out the window, avoiding the gazes of the two men.
If Jin Paecheon hated Geom Ujin, would he like Baek Jagang?
Baek Jagang could tell.
‘He’s already somewhat heated.’
It was probably because of Geom Ujin’s gaze. Even he felt this displeased by it, so how much worse must that proud, rigid old man feel?
‘Can this conference really happen?’
And then, a question arose in Baek Jagang’s mind.
‘This man raised a son like that?’
This cold, blunt man had raised that talkative, bright son? He wanted to ask at once.
‘Just how did you raise that son of yours?’
Even with all three gathered, it was quiet. Someone had to take the lead and guide the conversation, but none of the three had any intention of doing so.
The silence on the second floor heightened the tension on the first even further. At this rate, if someone on the second floor said—
Sweep them all away!
The moment those words came out, this place would become a sea of blood.
And the one to resolve this heavy atmosphere was Geom Mugeuk.
“Master.”
Everyone’s gaze focused on Geom Mugeuk.
The Demon Venerables who knew him all thought the same thing.
Good. Since the young cult leader has stepped forward, the mood will shift now and the meeting will begin in earnest.
He was relieved that he himself had not been singled out.
‘What trick is that brat trying to pull?’
The Fist Demon felt uneasy inside, but answered in a low, weighty voice.
“What is it?”
“I mean the young alliance leader of the Sado Alliance over there.”
This time, Bi Sain flinched. Why me? He had a bad feeling.
‘Please, don’t say anything unnecessary!’
Geom Mugeuk’s question shattered Bi Sain’s desperate wish in a single blow.
“Isn’t that face the sort you prefer, Master?”
It was a question that bewildered both of them. Of course, since silence had settled over the hall, Geom Mugeuk’s words were heard not only by the three on the second floor, but even by Jo Chunbae in the kitchen.
Everyone’s gaze focused on the Fist Demon.
At a three-party meeting, he was supposed to appraise the young alliance leader of the Sado Alliance’s face?
It was the sort of thing that should have made thunder rumble from the Fist Demon’s fist, but the thunder only rumbled in his heart. The thunder roared with these words.
‘We’ll see after this is over.’
He could not shout at the young cult leader of the Demonic Cult here, and ignoring him might be rude to Bi Sain.
“I like faces that look manly. Yes, that is right. It is a face I like.”
It was something the usual Fist Demon would never have said. But the Fist Demon knew. Geom Mugeuk had begun to step forward for the sake of this uneasy and perilous meeting. And so he had stepped forward for his disciple.
If someone else had said those words, Bi Sain might have taken offense.
Is this bastard mocking me?
But these words came from the Fist Demon, the strongest impressionist who, by impression alone, seemed capable of facing everyone gathered there.
“Thank you for looking on me favorably.”
Bi Sain cupped his fist and expressed his gratitude.
It would have been good if it had ended there.
“What do you think of my master’s face?”
Bi Sain was flustered. He had never imagined he would be asked about the Fist Demon’s face.
—Why me? Why not tease Unit Leader Jin over there!
—Because teasing you is more fun.
In the past, he would have been flustered and instinctively blurted out, “You look splendid,” or “You look even more manly.”
But now, things were different.
Bi Sain first looked at the Fist Demon. Setting aside his preconceptions, he calmly gazed at him.
“Of all the people I have met in the martial world, you look the most frightening.”
He spoke honestly, yet politely.
Perhaps his attitude did not grate on him, for the Fist Demon accepted it with a gentle joke.
“Fortunately, this face is quite useful in my line of work.”
The masters of the righteous and unorthodox factions there found it rather unexpected. He was very different from the Fist Demon they had heard of in rumors.
In any case, the conversation had begun with an absurd question, but in the end, it softened the explosive atmosphere on the first floor.
And then came the final bit of banter. Geom Mugeuk said to Bi Sain,
“To tell the truth, I also like faces like our young alliance leader’s.”
At that, Bi Sain asked,
“If you could trade faces with me, would you?”
“…….”
That exchange alone showed the relationship between the two. In front of the masters gathered there, they did not hide their friendship.
Just then, Geom Ujin’s voice came from the second floor.
“Mugeuk, come up.”
At that, Jin Paecheon spoke as if in competition.
“Hagun, come up.”
Baek Jagang did not stay still either.
“Sain, come up.”
And so the three went up to the second floor.
The three on the second floor knew. With only themselves, this meeting would not be easy. They disliked one another far too much. They did not even want to look at one another, so what could they possibly say?
The three successors each stood beside their cult leader or alliance leader.
Then Geom Ujin said,
“Muyang, you come up as well.”
Since he had not expected to be called too, Geom Muyang went up to the second floor in surprise.
Geom Muyang stood on the opposite side of Geom Mugeuk, as if spreading wings.
So you have two sons, is that it? Ridiculous. Jin Paecheon, the doting grandfather, could not hold back.
“Haryeong, come up.”
Jin Haryeong came up and stood on the opposite side of Jin Hagun. Jin Paecheon wore a proud expression.
Baek Jagang looked at the two of them with an incredulous expression.
‘So this is how you’re going to be?’
Absolute Regression