After returning to the past, many things had happened.
He had been surprised many times while going through them, but had he ever been this surprised?
‘No, Elder, why are you coming out from there?’
Normally, he would have started with some banter like that. But Geom Mugeuk said nothing. No such words came out. First, he had to grasp what sort of situation this was.
‘Stay calm.’
The first thing that met was Geom Mugeuk’s gaze and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s.
Those eyes were colder than usual, but Geom Mugeuk knew.
‘It really is the Elder.’
He was not a fake disguised with a face mask, nor was he under sorcery. Everything else could be faked, but not that stiff, cantankerous gaze. Even if not for the look in his eyes, Geom Mugeuk’s instincts told him. It was definitely the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Jin Hagun looked at Geom Mugeuk. He knew enough about the relationship between Geom Mugeuk and the Demon Venerables.
He also knew that the Blood Heaven Blade Demon should not be appearing here.
‘Was the master you said would kill us all the Blood Heaven Blade Demon?’
He did not send that thought through sound transmission. He could feel that Geom Mugeuk was even more shocked than he was. And with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s appearance, one suspicion naturally arose.
‘Don’t tell me it was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon who annihilated the Daejeong Sect?’
Moreover, what happened next only strengthened that suspicion. Yu Beom pointed at him and said this, as if telling them that he was the one they had to kill.
“That man is Jin Hagun, the commander of the Demon Extermination Unit.”
Even without being told, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and Jin Hagun had met before, so they knew each other.
Jin Hagun calmly greeted the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“It has been a long time.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon merely stared at him with an expressionless gaze and did not offer Jin Hagun a single word of greeting.
At that reaction, the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit grew tense. They were greater in number, but their opponent was a Demon Venerable.
On top of that, Yu Beom’s aura after revealing his true colors was anything but ordinary, and the warriors who had been disguised as patients on the beds were not to be underestimated either.
And above all, what they feared was Geom Mugeuk standing on the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s side. They knew his relationship with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was as deep as his relationship with Jin Hagun. No, an arm would inevitably bend inward.
If Geom Mugeuk did not stand on their side, Jin Hagun would die here today.
The warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit looked at one another and exchanged glances. The resolve to save Jin Hagun, even if all of them died, passed among them.
This time, Yu Beom looked at Geom Mugeuk. He knew that Geom Mugeuk was not a warrior of the Demon Extermination Unit, but the Young Cult Leader.
“I did not expect the Young Cult Leader to come here with them. He saw through our plan.”
If not for the Young Cult Leader, the Demon Extermination Unit and Jin Hagun would already be lying as cold corpses.
“Young Cult Leader.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon walked toward Geom Mugeuk as he spoke.
“I believe I told you once. This old man has lived his whole life with misfortune at his side, so it is best not to see me often.”
Geom Mugeuk silently watched him approach.
Jin Hagun watched the two of them, tense under an overwhelming pressure.
Sssrk.
The Heaven-Extinguishing Great Saber was aimed at Geom Mugeuk’s neck. A sharp edge of killing intent flowed along the blade, as if his head would be lopped off with the slightest twitch of the hand.
His face was reflected in the Heaven-Extinguishing Great Saber.
Geom Mugeuk gazed for a moment at his own face reflected on the saber’s edge.
Suddenly, that day came to mind.
The day he first met the Blood Heaven Blade Demon after returning to the past. That day, too, the Heaven-Extinguishing Great Saber had been held to his neck just like this.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze slowly moved along the saber’s edge. Past the hand holding the blade, until it reached the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s face.
Looking at that face, Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly.
“I am truly glad you are safe.”
The corners of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s eyes twitched. His gaze remained cold.
Between the two of them flowed a suffocating tension, as if the saber might swing and sever his neck at any moment.
But Geom Mugeuk was no different from usual in the way he treated him.
“I was very worried!”
Though he had not shown it outwardly, inwardly he had been worried about the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. What if, by some chance, someone had gotten the better of him? What if he had been captured somewhere?
“Still, the person who knows you best really is Father. He said there was no need to worry about someone who wasn’t the sort to be defeated anywhere.”
Geom Mugeuk deliberately mentioned his father to see how the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would react. He showed no response at all.
“And Elder, how could you startle someone like this? When I saw you come through that door, my liver nearly dropped out!”
Even in a moment like this, Geom Mugeuk was talking as much as usual.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, on the other hand, responded with utter coldness.
“Does it not occur to you that I came here to kill you?”
One person spoke as though he were someone else, while the other remained unchanged. And so the conversation continued.
“Of course not.”
“Why?”
“Because you are not that kind of person, Elder.”
“What if I have been deceiving you all this time? What if I am that sort of person?”
“That cannot be.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Because of this.”
Geom Mugeuk slowly reached into his robe and took something out. It was the poetry and painting collection he had received from Seo Daeryong.
“There are no villains among people who like books.”
“I may have pretended to like books in order to deceive you.”
“For that to be true, you liked books far too much.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon openly snorted.
“If you trust people so carelessly as you do, you will eventually be betrayed and die. That is the world, and that is the martial world.”
Cold demonic energy surged from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s body. Goosebumps rose all over not only Jin Hagun and the Demon Extermination Unit, but also Yu Beom and his subordinates.
Only Geom Mugeuk looked calmly at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon without the slightest agitation.
“It is all right, even if you betray me, Elder.”
“Even if the result is death?”
“You have given me enough that I would not mind dying for it. With that much affection, I can give you this life.”
Shiiiik.
The Heaven-Extinguishing Great Saber moved to cut his neck, and Geom Mugeuk twisted his body to avoid it by a hair. It had not been a true attempt to kill him, merely one meant to cut him enough for blood to spray from his neck.
“Why did you dodge?”
“Did I dodge? The saber’s edge was cold, so I moved away a little.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon merely gave him a look of contempt.
Yu Beom asked the Blood Heaven Blade Demon,
“We must finish what we started. Please hold the Young Cult Leader back for a moment.”
He naturally believed that the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would obey him.
As soon as those words ended, both sides moved at once. The Demon Extermination Unit all stepped forward to block the front and sides of Jin Hagun. The situation they had feared had finally occurred.
The warriors on the beds also stepped forward and drew their swords.
Yu Beom wore an expression that said he was confident as long as the Young Cult Leader did not intervene. And that confidence did not come from his own skill.
When Yu Beom touched a device protruding from the bed right beside him—
Clank.
Several small doors opened behind Jin Hagun and the Demon Extermination Unit. From the holes inside them—
Shiiiik.
The smoke that flowed out from there was the scent of Scream Grass. It had been arranged so that the scent of Scream Grass could also come out from behind, in case they did not approach the beds.
As the two scents merged, the flow of internal energy within Jin Hagun and the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit was momentarily severed.
Yu Beom’s order fell.
“Kill them all!”
Just as they were about to launch themselves all at once toward the Demon Extermination Unit!
Geom Mugeuk drew his sword and aimed it into the air between the two sides. It was a warning not to go toward the Demon Extermination Unit.
“Go through!”
At Yu Beom’s command, the warriors at the front flew straight toward Jin Hagun and the Demon Extermination Unit. They were certain the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would stop the Young Cult Leader.
Shiiiiik!
Slice!
A streak of sword energy shot from Geom Mugeuk’s sword.
The warriors in the lead were cut apart by the sword energy and came crashing down. Everyone following behind them stopped in place.
The smell of blood spread sharply through the hall, and blood began to stream across the floor.
Yu Beom looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon in shock.
“Why did you not stop the Young Cult Leader?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon withdrew the saber aimed at Geom Mugeuk’s neck and approached Yu Beom.
Smack!
Yu Beom, struck across the cheek, was sent flying into a corner. Fortunately, internal energy had not been infused into the blow, so he did not lose his life.
Yu Beom rose from where he had fallen and glared at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. Though his martial prowess was far below the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s, he openly displayed his anger.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at him and said coldly,
“He is the Young Cult Leader of our Cult. There is only one person who can obstruct his will.”
No matter how special the circumstances, the Young Cult Leader was still the Young Cult Leader.
It was then.
From behind, Geom Mugeuk spoke to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Even if someone is controlling you with gu poison, it does not matter. I will cure you. If you have a hidden child somewhere and that child is being held hostage right now, I will be sure to rescue them. Even if you are doing this simply because life suddenly became boring, that is fine too. From now on, I will visit you every day and keep you entertained.”
It was then. Since this meeting began, the thing Geom Mugeuk had so desperately wanted finally happened.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s sound transmission flew to him. And in his usual tone, at that.
—My ears hurt, you brat!
That one sentence was enough. Even without a long explanation, he could understand. Right now, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had no choice but to stand on that side. He was still the same Blood Heaven Blade Demon as ever.
—I knew it all along!
—How?
—Because you would trust Father and me. I don’t know what unavoidable circumstance sent you here, Elder, but you would trust that Father and I would resolve it. Trusting someone is also a form of intelligence, and you have better judgment and are smarter than anyone. You are the only Demon Venerable in the world who reads books, after all.
Because his back was turned, Geom Mugeuk did not see it. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s gaze softened at praise he had not heard in a long time.
—Still, you must have been surprised when you first saw me, no?
—You would say you were trying to show them that you were drawing a line between us by pretending to be cold, but I know. You did it to tease me, didn’t you? You wanted to enjoy watching me flustered and shocked. I have rubbed off on you. When an opportunity comes, you have to tease me somehow! It will not work on me. Go tease your disciple!
A smile formed on the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s lips. It was his original self.
But that fleeting smile lasted only an instant. When he turned his head to Yu Beom, his expression was colder than ever.
“We are going back!”
Yu Beom flinched in surprise.
“We must complete the mission.”
“Then stay here and die.”
Leaving Yu Beom and the warriors behind, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon walked toward the door he had come out of.
Geom Mugeuk sent one last sound transmission.
—I will move in my own way. I will see you again soon, Elder!
When the Blood Heaven Blade Demon left like that, Yu Beom looked at Jin Hagun, conflicted.
There were still traps left in this space. This place had been made as Jin Hagun and the Demon Extermination Unit’s grave, after all.
But there was the variable called Geom Mugeuk. With him having come along with them, every plan had gone awry. Even the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s departure was ultimately because of this Young Cult Leader.
Yu Beom’s deliberation did not last long. If they were going to leave, they had to get out together before the Blood Heaven Blade Demon got too far away.
“We are leaving too!”
Yu Beom and the warriors, swords drawn, backed toward the door through which the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had left.
The temporary effect of the internal-energy-dispersing poison had already disappeared, so the warriors of the Demon Extermination Unit waited for Jin Hagun’s order to attack. Since the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had left first, if they attacked now, they might be able to annihilate them.
Jin Hagun instinctively felt it. They should not kill those people now.
If it were a situation where they had to die, Geom Mugeuk would have killed them first. The reason Geom Mugeuk was letting them go was probably because of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Even in this situation, Geom Mugeuk was leaving the decision to him. Those people had tried to kill you and the Demon Extermination Unit, so I will follow your decision. If a fight broke out, Geom Mugeuk would certainly help them.
Because he sensed that consideration, Jin Hagun made a decision for Geom Mugeuk’s sake.
“Let them go.”
At Jin Hagun’s command, the Demon Extermination Unit withdrew their killing intent. Meanwhile, Yu Beom and the warriors all escaped.
“Thank you.”
Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude to Jin Hagun.
“What is there to thank me for? If not for you, we would all already be dead.”
After all, earlier they had almost carried those patients out without knowing they were enemies.
Even after being careful and careful again, one still encountered crises like this. Dealing with people who possessed only vicious killing intent and malice instead of a warrior’s honor was no easy thing.
The Demon Extermination Unit standing behind them all cupped their fists at once and paid their respects to Geom Mugeuk. It was an expression of gratitude for the grace of saving their lives.
They had not fought a single person today, but Geom Mugeuk saw the true face of the Demon Extermination Unit.
Right now, not one of them showed dissatisfaction on their face. They could certainly have been unhappy that those who had tried to kill them had simply been let go.
And even if the other party was the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, they made their debts and grudges clear. This was why elites were elites.
Geom Mugeuk said to Jin Hagun,
“Even if I had not been here, Lord Blade Demon would never have let you die.”
Jin Hagun might find it hard to believe, but Geom Mugeuk had absolute faith.
“If I had not been here, Lord Blade Demon would have saved you by any means necessary. In fact, that may be the reason Lord Blade Demon was here today.”
“Why would the Blade Demon save us?”
Could that be? If he had to make a reason, was it because Jin Hagun would become the next Alliance Leader?
But that was not the reason Geom Mugeuk had in mind.
“Because he knows you are my friend.”
Jin Hagun knew what kind of moment this was.
It was the moment he saw the end of faith.
Geom Mugeuk was showing him now what it meant to trust a person.
‘Trust only up to eight, without burden? You are a liar.’
Geom Mugeuk’s faith in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon seemed insufficient even if called ten, no, a hundred. That eight of his was an eight that could beat a hundred.
“Now, let us leave as well.”
Geom Mugeuk took the lead and stepped outside.
He believed there was nothing in this world, aside from his father, that could bind the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
And yet something had entangled him? Then there was surely a reason he had to help the enemy, even though he did not wish to.
With the life he had lived before his regression, he could not know the reason. Among the Demon Venerables, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had died first.
‘In this life, I will change that fate.’