The night was quiet and desolate.
When I entered the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s residence, he was sitting by the window, reading a book.
“That is the least fitting sight in the world.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon started and lifted his head. Gladness spread across his startled face.
“I’ll have to scold the fellows standing guard.”
“Please don’t. I slipped in quietly because I wanted to see you in private, Elder.”
He looked me over, then asked with an expression of disbelief.
“Have you perhaps only just returned to the Cult?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me you came to see me first after returning?”
“I’m sorry to ruin the moment, but Father went to bed early.”
“Even so!”
“Yes, that’s right. I thought of you first, Elder.”
As I said that, I shook the bottle of liquor I had brought. It was the liquor the Blood Heaven Blade Demon liked to drink.
We drank in the rear garden of his residence.
I sent away all the subordinates guarding the place so we would not be disturbed.
“Has it already been two months since you left the Cult?”
“Not quite two months.”
Because my realm in Rapid Step had risen during this outing, I had been able to shorten the time it took to return.
“Is Investigator Seo’s martial training going well?”
“That little runt is working rather hard.”
The words “rather hard” had come from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s mouth. That unfamiliar expression plainly showed what their relationship was like now.
“He may seem crooked, but he’s a child with a straight core.”
“He’s never once been crooked with me.”
“He’s also the kind to stretch his legs only after checking where he can lie down.”
He was probably working hard while also watching the elder’s mood, and even in the midst of that, he would still be saying everything he wanted to say. It seemed the Blood Heaven Blade Demon did not dislike that sort of fellow all that much.
“By the way, I caught a glimpse earlier, and the book you were reading seemed to be a collection of poems and paintings. Are you truly reading poetry?”
“Why? Do I look like I’m not on the level to read poetry?”
“I don’t know about the level, but at the very least, it doesn’t suit you.”
“In my youth, I liked books as well. I merely lived for a while forgetting that.”
This gaunt, fastidious-looking man in his youth—it was difficult to imagine.
“What were you like when you were young?”
“Well… dark and gloomy.”
“You were similar to Investigator Seo, then.”
For some reason, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon readily nodded.
“What does it matter whether I was this way or that? They are days that have all passed anyway.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon emptied his cup. Without a word, I filled his empty cup. There were no words of comfort for regret over years gone by. I had experienced it once myself, after all.
“Did the matter you went out for go well?”
“Yes.”
“Another storm will be rising, then.”
What sort of confidence had he read from that single yes to say such a thing?
“How do you know what I went out to do?”
“It must be something that will raise a bloody wind.”
“That is a grave misunderstanding of me. I like peace.”
“I like peace too. That still, blood-reeking peace that comes after I’ve made everyone kneel with my own hands.”
I laughed and drank.
“It was nice going out after so long. Next time, come out with me to get some fresh air.”
“When I go out, the world is full of bastards I want to kill… I feel more at ease just staying in the Cult.”
He poured liquor into my cup and continued.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but be careful. In a fight for succession, one misstep and it’s over.”
“If I misstep, what will you do, Elder?”
“What else? I’ll have to get in line with the First Young Master again.”
“How cold.”
“It’s only natural. If the body is dead, what’s the point of the wings flapping? I should go look for another body.”
If it were the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, he would truly do that. After feeling regret for a day or two, he would connect himself to the First Young Master as though nothing had happened. What was surprising was that even imagining that, I did not find him particularly hateful.
That was precisely the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s strength. Was this person good or evil? Would he help me to the end or betray me? There was no need to agonize over such things. If I collapsed, he was someone who would leave; if not, he was someone who would guard my side.
“Please do me a favor.”
“What is it?”
“Please drink with me all night tonight.”
“That isn’t difficult.”
I rose from my seat.
“You said we were drinking. Where are you going?”
“I’ll buy more liquor and prepare some side dishes.”
“You can have the boys do that.”
“There’s something I want to buy myself.”
I intended to bring back an extraordinary dish for this drinking table. The dish I had prepared over the past two months.
Today, I had decided to kill the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable. No one would imagine that I would kill him on the very day I returned from leaving the Cult.
And I would become the person who had drunk with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon all night. He would serve as witness to my movements.
“I’ll be right back.”
Leaving the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s residence, I unleashed the Dark Shadow Step and flew westward.
* * *
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable was unusually excited today.
It was a Heart-Soul Great Art of the sort he had performed every time, yet strangely, his heart was beating fast.
‘Is it because it’s been so long?’
It was the first Heart-Soul Great Art he had performed since Geom Mugeuk had come, threatened him to stop the art, and left.
Because he had threatened him while bringing up the Heavenly Demon, he had been forced to halt the Heart-Soul Great Art for a while.
Of course, it would be fine as long as he wasn’t caught, but since the other party was already certain of the Heart-Soul Great Art, it left him feeling uneasy.
The news that Geom Mugeuk had left the Cult had instead deepened his suspicion. It had seemed like a ploy to put him at ease, then find evidence.
But his patience had reached its limit, and in the end, he resumed the Heart-Soul Great Art today.
Whenever he performed the Heart-Soul Great Art after such an interval, he always chose a child. At times like this, a young heart-soul was the most delicious.
As the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable descended the stairs leading to the secret chamber, he glanced back. For no reason, it felt as though something was following him, and today of all days, his mind would not settle.
But there was no way he was being tailed. The Black Shadow Secret Art, in which his own shadow guarded his back, was being deployed. He was certain of it. With the sole exception of the Heavenly Demon, there was no one in the Cult who could secretly stand behind him.
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable entered the secret chamber.
The walls were filled with all manner of bizarre patterns and characters, and incense with a peculiar smell burned all around.
A child lay asleep on the altar at the center of the secret chamber.
A smile formed on the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s lips as he looked down at the child. Just as he reached out his hand to wake the child, someone suddenly seized him by the hair.
‘!’
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable tried to counterattack, but his opponent’s movements were faster.
Smack!
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s head turned as he was struck across the cheek.
Only after helplessly taking that slap was he able to swing both palms and break free from his opponent’s grasp.
As the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable leaped back, his opponent spoke coldly.
“I told you not to, didn’t I?”
Only then did the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable realize who had struck him. It was Geom Mugeuk.
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable touched his cheek with an expression of disbelief. No matter that it had been a surprise attack, it was something impossible, shocking, and humiliating.
“How in the world did you get in?”
“When you’re flustered, you’re not mysterious at all.”
For an instant, the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable flinched. Normally, he bewitched people with his voice. The sound would reverberate, repeat, and whisper.
But right now, he was simply an ordinary man next door, angry.
“Is this your true nature?”
Though he might well have burst into rage, the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable took one deep breath and regained his composure.
“I gravely misjudged the Second Young Master. I deserved to be hit.”
The words “deserved to be hit” repeated as his voice reverberated. He had regained his usual self.
“Now that’s more like you. This makes killing you worthwhile. That look from earlier was disappointing.”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable did not waver.
“Second Young Master, answer my question first. How in the world did you enter this place?”
“I followed you in.”
He would think my words were a lie, but my answer was the truth.
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable always guarded his rear with the Black Shadow Secret Art. If the Four Steps of the Wind God had reached great completion, it might have been different, but for now, I could not use the Dark Shadow Step while avoiding his Black Shadow Secret Art.
However, with the Blood-Eyed Essence in my eyes, I could see through the Black Shadow Secret Art, and the moment I broke it, my Dark Shadow Step took effect. If anything, it was as though I had hidden within his shadow.
“What does it matter how I got in? What matters is why I got in.”
Even in this situation, the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable flatly denied it.
“If you’re still going to prattle on about the Heart-Soul Great Art, leave. I know nothing of that damned art.”
“Then who is this child?”
“A pitiful orphan. I brought the child here to take in and teach martial arts.”
“You’re a coward.”
“What?”
This time, I imitated him.
“Coward, coward, coward…”
My voice echoed like a reverberation.
“Stop!”
At his shout, I snapped coldly.
“How long are you going to pretend ignorance? Does your courage only appear when you pull the heart from the body of the weak?”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.
The surroundings darkened, then brightened, and a new space was created.
I was standing at the edge of a cliff.
Whoooooosh.
The wind blowing from behind tried to push me down the cliff.
“Have you already forgotten my warning? I told you that if you saw me again, you would never return to your original world for all eternity.”
His voice drifted over, eerie as the wails of ghosts.
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable created an atmosphere of fear, but I stood firm where I was and felt no fear at all.
“It seems you can’t endure it unless you frighten your opponent in this manner.”
“How truly astonishing. Even if you are the Cult Leader’s son, how can you show such spirit at that age?”
His pupils repeatedly expanded and contracted, busy searching through me.
“You came to kill me, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly are you relying on?”
The words “relying on” repeated as though echoing. This echo now was not meant to mock me, but showed that his heart was disturbed.
Then the echo abruptly cut off, and he asked.
“Did the Cult Leader send you?”
This time, the question contained no other noise whatsoever. It would be difficult for him to think I would act like this on my own.
“If Father meant to kill you, he would have come in person. Don’t you know Father’s temperament?”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable nodded, and the surroundings grew noisy again. His muttering, the sound of the wind, and all manner of strange noises mingled together. It seemed to reveal his inner world.
“It’s distracting, so let’s speak quietly.”
“It is the Second Young Master’s dying wish. I should grant it.”
The surroundings darkened, then brightened once more.
He and I were sitting face-to-face in a pavilion with a beautiful view. On the tea table between us, even lukewarm tea had been set out.
“Second Young Master.”
His original voice—he had returned to being an ordinary man.
“If we must kill each other, then for the last time, let us speak frankly.”
“Very well.”
“We are demons. Demon Venerables, at that, who reign above all demons. Are our lives so easy that we can afford to give the weak a choice? What is wrong with devouring the hearts of those feeble things and becoming stronger? Is greed not our right? Every choice I made was for the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!”
If Hwa Mugi had not come and I had continued living in the Cult, perhaps I might have pretended not to see this Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable. If it meant the Cult could become stronger, perhaps I might have used that justification as an excuse and forced myself to look away.
But my fate had changed. The me of that time and the me of now were undeniably different people.
I had become a person who could not sit at the same table to drink tea or liquor with someone who sought to grow stronger by tearing out a child’s heart. I had become a person who could not breathe the same air as him.
“That is a lie.”
“What?”
“The reason you stole hearts was not for the Cult. It was solely so you could survive longer. It is so now, and it will be so in the future.”
If he had truly been someone who cared for the Cult, he would have shown signs of seeking revenge after Father died. But his choice had been to survive the longest among the Eight Demon Venerables. Into his long, tenacious lifespan were melted the lives of thousands of innocents.
“For yourself alone, and again for yourself alone… you became a monster.”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable stared at me and came to one conclusion.
“A mere brat of barely twenty could not understand me this accurately. You could not evade the Black Shadow Secret Art and follow me in, nor could you lay a hand on my body. You are… not the Second Young Master.”
The Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable’s pupils, which until now had only repeatedly expanded and contracted, began to change color. From his eyes, dazzling, resplendent waves of purple began to surge.
Purple light shot from his eyes into mine, burrowing toward the soul that lay beyond.
He asked. His question came deep and heavy, like a resonance from the abyss.
“Who are you?”