Geom Mugeuk suddenly recalled that day.
The moment he had finished two days of training with Geugak Soma within the Time-Space Transposition Art.
At the end of that bloody battle, Geom Mugeuk had changed the place they were in into a snowy landscape out of consideration for Geugak Soma.
—Next time, you must travel with me.
—When that time comes…
Back then, Geugak Soma had hesitated. Geom Mugeuk had wondered what he wanted to say that he would hesitate so uncharacteristically.
Now he felt he knew.
That hesitation had meant he would remove his mask.
Geom Mugeuk did not stop him.
Even in his life before the regression, he had shown his face, and in this life as well, he had taken off his mask of his own accord.
It seemed it was fate that they were to live seeing each other’s faces.
Srrrk.
Geugak Soma’s hand trembled slightly as he removed the mask.
The face of Geugak Soma revealed beneath the mask.
When Geom Mugeuk had seen his face before the regression, it had been after far more years had passed. It had been during the days when they went to search for the final material for the great rite.
He had been handsome then, too, but now Soma was much younger than he had been then.
Geugak Soma was truly handsome. If the Poison King’s handsomeness was that of a beautiful young man, and the Drunken Demon’s was a handsomeness born of his unique air, then Geugak Soma’s was perfect handsomeness.
His features were in perfect harmony, and his gaze was clear yet deep.
Who in the world could look at this face and think of Geugak Soma?
“How did you endure it? Holding back the desire to boast of such a handsome face.”
Geugak Soma laughed. Until now, Geom Mugeuk had only ever seen his eyes laugh, but now he saw his entire face smiling.
“I took it off because I wanted to drink comfortably with the Young Cult Leader. Drinking beneath a mask has no savor to it.”
He knew that was not the reason. Geugak Soma was showing him the strongest trust he could offer.
Geugak Soma silently looked down at the mask. The mask was smiling back at him.
What could he be thinking right now?
That much he could not know, but at least one thing was certain.
The moment Geugak Soma removed his mask, he had become even stronger.
Until now, the mask had protected him. The mask was his symbol, his identity, and his pride. The mask had made him strong, and the mask had made him wicked.
“From now on, I will wear it when I want to wear it, and take it off when I want to take it off.”
Now he had become free from the mask.
Sssssss.
Just then, their surroundings began to change. As his internal energy ran completely dry, the Time-Space Transposition Art began to disappear.
“Do you remember? I said that if you took off your mask, I would treat you to an incredible meal.”
Geugak Soma nodded.
“When we return to our cult, I will treat you to good wine and food.”
Putting his mask back on, Geugak Soma said,
“I will look forward to that day.”
* * *
Until Han Seol arrived here, she had never imagined she would experience something like this.
How could she have imagined that the moment she arrived at the meeting place with Geom Mugeuk, she would end up freezing the dark energy flying toward the young alliance leader of the Evil Dao Alliance?
How could she have known she would see blood-soaked martial artists breaking through a formation?
—Seol, this is no ordinary matter. How about we withdraw for now?
How grave must the situation have been for the Ice Twin Swords guarding her to send such a voice transmission?
‘Young Cult Leader, just what sort of gathering did you invite me to?’
It truly seemed just like him. Of course, she had no intention of withdrawing at all.
Bi Sain ran over to Jin Hagun, who had just emerged from the formation, and asked,
“Are you all right?”
Jin Hagun turned back and checked on the Demon-Extermination Squad warriors first. Fortunately, every single one of them had safely escaped the formation.
Only then did Jin Hagun nod and answer,
“We’re all right.”
“That’s a relief.”
At that moment, the two men were feeling a similar emotion.
‘To think the day would come when I would be this glad to see this man.’
When Jin Hagun had turned back a moment ago, Bi Sain had seen the looks they exchanged. Those gazes had become even more tightly bound than before they entered the formation.
Just as they had, those men too had fought a desperate battle in which they crossed the threshold of death.
“And you?”
“It wasn’t easy on this side either, but we settled it well. Lady Han was a great help.”
Bi Sain introduced Han Seol to Jin Hagun.
“This is the young palace mistress of the Northern Sea Ice Palace. And this friend here is the commander of the Martial Alliance’s Demon-Extermination Squad.”
At the words that he was the commander of the Demon-Extermination Squad, Han Seol was inwardly surprised. How could she not know that he was a leading successor candidate for the Martial Alliance leader?
So the friends the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had said he would introduce her to were none other than the successors of the Martial Alliance and the Evil Dao Alliance.
She had long known that Geom Mugeuk was no ordinary person, but to think he kept company with them as friends.
“Brother!”
Just then, Jin Haryeong and the mistress of Cheonhwa Pavilion also emerged from the secret room. When the sounds of battle outside ceased, Jin Haryeong had cautiously come out to check, and realized that the fighting was over.
Jin Hagun and Jin Haryeong were relieved together to see that each other was safe.
Jin Haryeong looked around and asked,
“The Young Cult Leader?”
At Jin Haryeong’s question, Jin Hagun looked at Bi Sain. Bi Sain said nothing and merely looked at the palanquin. It meant he was still fighting.
Jin Hagun answered Jin Haryeong.
“He’ll be on his way.”
The exact same words Bi Sain had said earlier flowed from his mouth. The measure of the two men’s faith was similar.
Thus, everyone spread out a perimeter around the palanquin.
On one side stood Bi Sain and the Thirteen Wolves of the Evil Dao; opposite them stood Jin Hagun and the Demon-Extermination Squad; on another side stood the Faceless Guests and Jin Haryeong; and opposite them stood Han Seol and the Ice Twin Swords.
How much time passed like that?
Wuuung.
The palanquin began to tremble.
The moment everyone stepped back, drew their weapons, and tensed.
Light burst out from the palanquin. The light streaming from every gap in the palanquin spread through the darkness and stretched upward as though it would touch the sky.
That intense light vanished in an instant with a whoosh.
Sssssss.
The palanquin began to disappear as it turned to ash.
As everyone watched in shock,
“Where are you looking? We’re over here.”
They turned around to find two people standing side by side. They were Geom Mugeuk and Geugak Soma, both covered head to toe in blood.
Just by looking at their battered appearances, one could tell what kind of battle they had fought.
Geom Mugeuk quickly looked around first. Everyone who should have been there was there.
Relief spread across Geom Mugeuk’s face.
It was an emotion that could neither be faked nor disguised.
Only then did Geom Mugeuk collapse onto the ground and joke,
“Aigo! My arms, my legs. My whole body hurts as if I’ve been beaten all over. No, wait, I actually was beaten all over.”
Only then did everyone’s faces relax, and smiles appeared. Because this joking was the signal that the battle was over.
Still sitting on the ground, Geom Mugeuk asked Han Seol,
“How do you find the Central Plains?”
To invite a person and then greet her covered in blood like that? Even so, seeing him safe, she was inwardly glad and happy.
“I don’t recall you telling me this banquet would be a bloody banquet.”
It was a rare joke from her, who was not given to joking.
“A proper festival ought to have some fun surprises like this, should it not?”
When his greeting with her ended, Jin Hagun and Bi Sain approached him.
Geom Mugeuk looked more haggard than he ever had in all the times they had seen him. They could tell he had truly used up every last bit of strength and returned.
“Now is the perfect chance to kill the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s joke, Bi Sain and Jin Hagun looked at each other. When their eyes exchanged a look that said, Shall we really try it? Geom Mugeuk quickly said,
“I’m joking. I only made that joke because I trusted the person behind me!”
A smile formed on Bi Sain’s rugged face.
“In that case, it really is an opportunity.”
When Geom Mugeuk turned around, Geugak Soma was no longer there.
At some point, he had gone over to Yeojeong and was speaking with her.
“No, you abandon me the moment we come out!”
Even at Geom Mugeuk’s shout, Geugak Soma pretended not to hear.
Seeing Yeojeong smiling brightly in front of Geugak Soma, Geom Mugeuk felt anew that they had truly returned safely.
Yeojeong looked at Geom Mugeuk and quietly bowed her head. He knew without her saying what kind of greeting of the heart it was.
Bi Sain and Jin Hagun, who had been standing over him, also squatted down beside Geom Mugeuk.
Because they were two men who seemed least likely to do such a thing, the sight of the two successors squatting on the ground with Geom Mugeuk between them was a scene one would hardly see in a lifetime.
Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude to Bi Sain.
“If you had not cut off the internal energy, I would have died.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Bi Sain asked in surprise,
“How did you know I cut off the internal energy?”
“When the lines connected to the palanquin were severed, yet you still didn’t come to help me, I guessed it. I fought while looking only toward the moment when you would cut off that boundless internal energy.”
Bi Sain was happy to know that his efforts had not been in vain.
Originally, Bi Sain had meant to tease Geom Mugeuk by asking what he would have done if it had not been for him, but now that the situation had actually come, such jokes did not come easily. He felt anew that jokes, too, had to be made by someone accustomed to making them.
Like Geom Mugeuk right now. And his target was none other than Jin Hagun.
“You’re feeling regret right now, aren’t you? If this friend had entered the formation and you had been outside, you would have been the one to save my life.”
Jin Hagun shook his head.
“If that had been the case, we would have lost a friend.”
“You mean Sain wouldn’t have gotten out of Cheongoe’s formation? Are you looking down on our young alliance leader right now?”
“No. I mean I wouldn’t have thought to cut it off.”
It was an honest answer that Geom Mugeuk would have died because of that, and also words that held Bi Sain in high regard. Jin Hagun had once valued face and pride greatly, but in his eyes now was the composure seen only in someone who had let go.
Because he had let go, both of his hands were empty. What, indeed, would he take hold of with those hands now?
“You two mustn’t keep becoming so impressive! Being impressive is my role.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Jin Hagun and Bi Sain supported him from either side and helped him stand.
This time, Geom Mugeuk thanked Jin Haryeong.
“Thank you for keeping your promise.”
“I only hid in the secret room.”
“That’s why I’m even more grateful.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze toward her deepened.
“Tell me honestly. How many times did you want to rush out?”
Jin Haryeong smiled. This was why she liked Geom Mugeuk. Because he was someone who understood her heart without her having to say it. Because he understood that hiding in the secret room had been harder than coming out and fighting.
“About ten times?”
“Fewer than me.”
“What was?”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned to Bi Sain. She had wondered how he would let it pass.
“The number of times I begged because of this slowpoke. Please cut off the internal energy already! I begged while getting beaten half to death.”
“Don’t exaggerate! If you’d been beaten that badly, your opponent would have been reduced to dust.”
“Huh! How did you know? He really did turn to dust and scatter.”
Only then did the three of them look at one another and laugh.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned toward one place.
“Ah, over there!”
Everyone turned their heads and looked where Geom Mugeuk was staring.
Far off on the horizon, light was spreading and pushing back the darkness.
Within the Time-Space Transposition Art, the sun had been setting, but outside, in reality, the harrowing night had passed and morning was dawning.
Everyone silently watched the sunrise, more magnificent than ever before.
The mistress of Cheonhwa Pavilion stepped forward and spoke in a bright voice.
“Thanks to all of you, everyone in our pavilion has been saved. I sincerely thank you.”
The courtesans, cooks, and workers who had been hiding nearby all came over and bowed their heads with words of gratitude.
“Please, everyone, rest. We will prepare this evening’s banquet with all our hearts.”
Thus, another battle that had begun with one courtesan’s escape came to an end.
* * *
Returning to his room, Geom Mugeuk replenished his internal energy through circulating and regulating his qi.
He had truly used it all up so completely that he wondered when he had ever drained his internal energy to the very bottom like this before.
He circulated his true qi once, then twice, then three times. He repeated it until his internal energy was fully replenished.
After filling his internal energy, Geom Mugeuk took out the secret coffer and placed it on the table.
Looking at the smiling secret coffer, he expressed his gratitude.
“If not for you, I might have been in serious trouble. Thank you.”
But as if nothing had ever happened, the black crystal energy that had swallowed the Dark King’s energy, and the other energy as well, lay dormant deep within his body as though they had never existed in the first place.
“Just what are you?”
The secret coffer merely smiled. Yes, someday, the day would come when he would find out.
He put the secret coffer back into his robe and lay down on the bed to sleep. Circulating his qi and regulating his breath relieved his fatigue to some extent, but what rest was better for a person than sleep? Geom Mugeuk fell asleep the moment he lay down.
In his dream, he walked through darkness.
It was not the loathsome darkness of the Dark King. It was the darkness that had accompanied him in his life before his regression.
There were good things about darkness, too. It could hide loneliness. Wasn’t one lonelier at night? Not necessarily. At times, the loneliness bestowed by a bright world was far more powerful.
How long had he walked through that darkness?
At the end of it, he met a presence.
Was it because his seventh-stage Nine Transformations Demonic Art had failed several times? Or was it because his subconscious had wanted to see him?
The being waiting for him was the Heavenly Demon Soul.
Geom Mugeuk silently looked up at the enormous Heavenly Demon Soul. Today, the outline of its face was a little clearer than the last time he had seen it. Why? Could this fight with the Dark King have brought him some achievement in the Nine Transformations Demonic Art?
—Did your pride get hurt, by any chance?
Even when he spoke to it like this, the Heavenly Demon Soul always merely looked down at him with haughty eyes. Today, however, its reaction was different.
The Heavenly Demon Soul’s head nodded ever so slightly.
—Are you listening to me?
Geom Mugeuk woke from his sleep shouting those words. The last words had actually come out like sleep talk.
“…It definitely nodded.”
Though it had been a dream, Geom Mugeuk’s heart pounded at the Heavenly Demon Soul’s reaction.
* * *
He thought he had only slept for a short while, but when he went outside, it had already become evening.
Cheonhwaru was in the midst of preparing for the banquet. The walls were shattered and holes gaped here and there, but rather than detracting from it, they lent tonight’s banquet a certain charm.
The chefs and workers of Cheonhwaru all came out in full force to prepare the food. They cooked and made ready for the banquet with the heart of serving the benefactor who had saved their lives.
“We’ll be drinking all night tonight! Please prepare plenty of liquor!”
The one who responded to Geom Mugeuk’s words was not the master of Cheonhwaru, but Jin Hagun, who had arrived ahead of him.
“You haven’t seen the liquor storehouse here, have you? There’s no need to worry about that.”
Come to think of it, Jin Hagun and the Demon Extermination Squad had disguised themselves as workers at Cheonhwaru, carrying liquor and working.
Geom Mugeuk sat across from Jin Hagun and said,
“Ah! An alliance leader with experience working in a brothel, no less! How am I supposed to deal with you from now on?”
“I don’t know, but I’m sure you’ve done even worse.”
“Of course I have. I’ve even played the role of a servant.”
At those words, Jin Hagun laughed. Sitting face-to-face with Geom Mugeuk like this felt comfortable now. Perhaps people really did grow alike when they spent time together, because he found himself making jokes like this.
“Have a cup of the liquor I carried in, servant!”
“You’ll have to carry it many times tonight, elder!”
As the two tilted their cups, Jin Haryeong and Han Seol arrived.
Bi Sain was someone who was usually never late to an appointment, yet for some reason, he was late today.
“All his brothers are gathered here, so why is the youngest so late?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, Jin Hagun said,
“Young Alliance Leader Bi is probably much older than you.”
“If you’re late, you become the youngest. That’s how it works.”
Just then, Geom Mugeuk looked toward the entrance and gave an inscrutable smile. The others all looked over as well, their eyes showing surprise.
Bi Sain was entering, neatly dressed in white robes he did not usually wear.