Was it because my heart had grown lighter?
The Swift Step was faster on the way back.
After returning to the cult, I ate and rested well. Then I bathed thoroughly and changed into a new martial uniform.
In the best of moods, I was about to head to the Heavenly Demon Hall to see Father when I found two people waiting outside my door, having heard that I had returned.
They were Seo Daeryong and Jang Ho. Jang Ho’s massive frame seemed to have grown even larger in the time I had not seen him.
Seo Daeryong approached me and, lowering his voice, said slyly,
“I know I shouldn’t make this kind of joke when Master is here, but if you put the two of us together, wouldn’t we count as one Demon Supreme?”
With those words, I knew at once what feelings had brought the two of them here to wait for me. If they could, they wanted to step forward themselves and become my strength.
“The two of you are worth three Demon Supremes.”
“Am I supposed to handle two Demon Supremes?”
“Lord Jang is two and a half. You’re half.”
“I’m the right arm! Me!”
Jang Ho, who had always been eyeing that right-arm position, bowed to me politely. No matter when I saw him, he was reliable.
“Young Cult Leader, you have always shown me more than I could imagine, so I am not worried. Still, please judge carefully and with caution.”
He was worried about me because my opponent was Father.
Before I knew it, the playfulness had vanished from Seo Daeryong’s face as well, and he was looking at me.
These were two men who would gladly lay down their lives if I ordered it. My people, who must never die. That was why today’s fight was also a fight for them.
“I’ll reserve the Pungryu Tavern. And if you’re thinking of making a joke about drinking in defeat, don’t.”
“I wasn’t planning to make that joke, but you just did.”
Seo Daeryong smiled brightly and gave me a respectful cupped-fist salute. Jang Ho also saluted and bowed his head. It was a moment that gave me more strength than any encouragement in the world.
“Reserve the entire Pungryu Tavern. Let’s get drunk all night.”
Leaving their encouragement behind, I departed from my residence.
When I arrived at the entrance of the Heavenly Demon Hall, this time my elder brother, Geom Muyang, was waiting for me. I could tell just how important this matter was to everyone.
“I heard everything from the Demon Buddha.”
It seemed the Demon Buddha had told my brother all about this matter.
“So? Did you come to help your cornered younger brother?”
My brother gave an unexpected answer.
“I came to save our cornered father.”
“Right. In this murim, only you and I could make a joke like that.”
“It is not a joke.”
There was reproach in my brother’s gaze as he looked at me.
“He trusted you and made you Young Cult Leader, and now you defy Father’s will?”
“If I fall out of Father’s favor, wouldn’t that be better for you?”
“I thought it would be.”
Apparently not. Not when he had come out like this to stop me.
We stood side by side without looking at each other, gazing together at the view from the Heavenly Demon Hall.
Now it was time to have a conversation we should have had at least once. A conversation I could not have with anyone else, only with my brother.
“Do you know this? No one can speak about Father’s life.”
My brother looked at me with an expression that asked what I meant.
“That means Father has never once heard it. Someone speaking about his life, about the path he has lived.”
“Isn’t the Chief Strategist there?”
“Yes, he is. Uncle Hwi is there too. They may be able to speak frankly. They may be able to discuss matters within the cult comfortably. But Brother, do you really think they would dare speak about Father’s life? About Father’s convictions?”
“!”
My brother had probably never thought about this before.
“Are you doubting their loyalty?”
“I’m saying this because I know that loyalty is real. Because they are truly loyal, they cannot do it. They will not do it. Because they will try to accept every side of Father. Because they will try to bear it all. You know how it is, don’t you? If you’re too close, you can’t say it because you’re close. If you’re distant, you can’t say it because you’re distant.”
After a brief pause, my brother asked,
“So? Are you saying you will do it?”
“Yes. I will.”
My brother shouted with an angry face.
“How insolent!”
“Even so, we have to do it. Because it is something even you think must not be done. That is why Father has lived a life in which he can never receive advice or admonishment. We have to tell him. Father, I believe you are mistaken about this. Someone has to say it.”
My brother tried to say something, but in the end he let out a sigh. How could he not understand what I meant?
“And what if my choice isn’t right? Father will correct me. Let’s use our faith in Father for things like this.”
My brother said nothing more.
“Go in.”
“Still, thank you. For coming here because you were worried.”
“I told you I did not come because I was worried about you.”
My brother, who had walked some distance away, looked back at me. Even then, I was still looking at him.
Until the very end, his thoughts did not change.
“Even so, I am against it.”
“That is why I am going to do it.”
I watched my brother turn away again and grow distant, then entered the Heavenly Demon Hall.
Still, please know this. Among the people I do not want to kill now, you are included too, Brother. That is why I am fighting this fight.
* * *
I entered the Heavenly Demon Hall.
Father was seated in the grand chair as always. Today, that sight felt more special than on other days. Perhaps it was because I had truly felt how terrifying it was to see that chair empty.
“Father, I have come.”
I greeted Father in a voice brighter than usual.
I walked slowly along the Path of Blood laid out in red carpet until I reached the foot of the grand chair. Today, that path felt especially long.
At the end of the Path of Blood, I looked up at Father.
Do you know this, Father? When I regressed, that day as well, I stood in the dueling ground and looked up at you like this. Since that day, I have always been watching you.
After my regression, I worked hard for everyone, but at the center of it all, there was always Father.
“I have something to confess.”
Of course, Father must have already known what I was about to say. Even so, just as I had when I returned after being expelled from the cult, I told Father everything.
“For the past few days, I went around visiting the Demon Supremes and pestered them to take my side.”
As expected, there was no surprise or agitation on Father’s face.
“They are my Demon Supremes, so why did you ask them to take your side?”
“Perhaps because I was jealous?”
I felt the corners of Father’s mouth preparing to rise slightly.
“Father’s Demon Supremes are too magnificent. I think that is why I felt jealous.”
Father did not laugh at me. Rather, as if he sympathized with my words, he nodded once and said,
“It is not easy for such fine people to gather in one era.”
The moment I heard those words, I remembered what the Demon Buddha had said.
—Because our cult has never been this strong before.
Those eight fine Demon Supremes had changed in their own ways, and had grown stronger in their own ways. Even at this very moment, they were growing stronger. The stagnant Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had begun to surge forward without obstruction.
“Since we’re on the subject, why don’t we call them all and see their faces? Don’t they say that if you do not see one another often, hearts grow distant?”
It was a probe. If, as the Demon Buddha thought, this matter was a stage Father had created, and if Father’s goal was to persuade me and gather the Demon Supremes into one, then Father would call the Demon Supremes. If not, he would simply pass it over as though he had not heard.
Father, how will you receive this move?
Father did not withdraw his hand, but accepted my move.
Father said quietly,
“Call the Demon Supremes.”
Then Hwi’s answer came from the air.
“I receive your command.”
A soundless surge of emotion spread from deep within my heart. Father had truly called the Demon Supremes.
He was not someone who summoned the Demon Supremes unless the matter was important, so I began to feel strongly that the Demon Buddha’s words might be true.
Father, if that is so, what do you intend to do on this stage? With the Demon Supremes as your audience, do you truly mean to persuade me? Or do you mean to suppress me with force?
A brief silence flowed between us. But since that silence did not feel particularly awkward or uncomfortable, I did not force myself to continue the conversation. I held back my words. There would be many things to say today.
How much time passed like that?
At last, the door opened and someone entered.
The first to arrive was the Fist Demon. The sight of him striding across the red carpet with that enormous body was as if he were walking out through the gates of hell.
After walking to the foot of the grand chair, he greeted Father respectfully, then stood on the right side in the direction Father was looking.
“Welcome, Master.”
Because we were before Father, the Fist Demon merely greeted me with a light nod of the eyes.
I asked with my gaze.
Was the war with Father you spoke of a war against me?
The Fist Demon must have sensed the meaning in my eyes, but he simply stood there in silence.
Another person entered. Someone who followed Father as much as the Fist Demon did—the One Blossom Sword Venerable.
Her pure white martial robes and her white hair suited each other perfectly. It was a sight truly opposite to when the Fist Demon had walked in. Seeing her walk lightly along the Path of Blood, I had this thought.
When the female martial artists of our cult see her, do they not think this?
I want to age like that too.
That was the impression the One Blossom Sword Venerable gave these days. She was personally showing that age had nothing to do with a person’s change.
She too greeted Father respectfully, then stood beside the Fist Demon.
“You have come?”
The One Blossom Sword Venerable also greeted me with a faint smile.
The first two who had arrived were people who absolutely respected and liked Father. Without even the slightest hesitation, they had chosen Father.
The next person to enter was the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon. Wearing his white mask, he walked in. Like the One Blossom Sword Venerable’s snow-white hair, his mask formed a striking contrast against the red carpet.
The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon greeted Father respectfully, then stood on the opposite side of the carpet from the Fist Demon and the One Blossom Sword Venerable.
It was not that he had deliberately meant to confront them. Since the two were standing on one side, he had naturally stood across the red carpet.
The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon looked at the Fist Demon and the One Blossom Sword Venerable before him with eyes that held no emotion. Then his gaze turned to me.
The two eyes inside the eyeholes said this.
Young Cult Leader, I have come.
I smiled at him with my eyes.
Smiling Demon, I have been waiting.
A courtesy understood only between him and me. I liked this feeling very much.
When I turned my head again, Father was silently watching us.
‘I am sorry, Father. Your Demon Supreme was too magnificent, so I brought him over as one of my people. It is only one person, so please understand.’
The Soul-Capturing Demon Supreme, who arrived next, felt different from the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon. She was not only Father’s Demon Supreme, but also the future Demon Supreme.
After greeting Father, the place the Soul-Capturing Demon Supreme chose was beside the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon. There were two people across from her and one on this side, so she stood there, but as a result, the arrangement became one of confrontation.
Though she faced the Fist Demon and the One Blossom Sword Venerable, she was not intimidated in the slightest. Also, as she stood side by side with the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon, the auras of extreme evil and soul-capturing, which stimulated a martial artist’s primal fear, mingled together and doubled the terror.
The next Demon Supreme to arrive was the Drunken Demon, who entered reeking of alcohol.
He naturally stood beside the One Blossom Sword Venerable.
Unlike the Fist Demon and the One Blossom Sword Venerable, his gaze toward me held apology. After telling me he would choose Father, he had probably drunk a great deal.
At times like this, he looked weaker than anyone, but had I not seen it? What kind of man the Drunken Demon was on the battlefield.
The next Demon Supreme to enter was the Demon Buddha.
Entering with a golden radiance, he stood beside the Drunken Demon without hesitation. Normally, the natural arrangement would have been for him to stand beside the Soul-Capturing Demon Supreme, where two stood, and balance the sides, but for some reason, he stood on the opposite side.
I could tell he had done so intentionally. He was the one who had said that this matter was a stage Father had created. That must be why he was trying to heighten the tension of this stage as much as possible.
No matter how hard he hammered away at a stone statue, it seemed there was no helping his innate love for conflicts like this.
The seventh Demon Supreme was the Poison King.
As if to keep his word that he was on no one’s side, he stood alone, far apart from both sides.
The Poison King had made it perfectly clear before my father and the Demon Venerables where he stood.
In some ways, he was the bravest of all. In this case, choosing neither side was a more difficult choice than choosing one or the other.
But in the end, by standing at a distance, he was also keeping the promise he had once made to my father. Father had told him not to take part in the unification of murim.
The last person to enter was the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. He had been unable to decide until the very end. If he had made up his mind, he would have come to me and told me.
What choice would he make today?
As he walked the path of blood, he looked at the Demon Venerables standing on either side.
Since the balance was so uneven, I had briefly hoped that he might stand on my side.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon crossed over without hesitation and stood on the opposite side.
I put on a deliberately hurt expression and said to him,
“Elder, this is too much! I believed that at least you would support me.”
He did not take my words as a joke. Instead, he sharply rebuked me.
“The one who has gone too far is you, Young Cult Leader. How dare you oppose the Cult Leader’s will?”
That distinctly displeased look he had worn when I first met him. It was as though our relationship had been reset to the very beginning.
From that cold response, I could tell.
He had chosen me.
Though he stood over there, I felt that he had chosen me.
Why?
Because he was worried about the relationship between my father and me. Setting aside my father’s long-cherished wish and my demonic path, he had thought only of that.
The concern that the more I stood in firm opposition to my father, the more a crack might form between us.
He must have decided that standing on my father’s side like this and scolding me sharply was, in fact, the way to act for my sake.
Thank you, Elder.
But I did not send him a voice transmission of thanks, nor did I give him a look that said I understood everything in his heart. For now, following his intention would be the gratitude he deserved.
But what should I do, Elder? Today, I intend to defeat my father and leave.
And so the eight Demon Venerables gathered in one place.
My father, the eight Demon Venerables, and me.
With this force, even if we walked out as we were and set off to conquer murim, no one would find it strange.
At last, my father rose from the Grand Preceptor’s chair.
The Demon Venerables all straightened their postures at once, their nerves taut. Those who had each shone in their own colors until now turned black and white in unison, concealing themselves.
Within that black-and-white painting, only my father and I revealed our presences as they were—one red as blood, the other blue as the sky.
After gazing at me for a moment, my father began slowly walking down toward the stage packed with spectators.
Absolute Regression, Chapter 443