“What if you are the one who will change the fate of Murim?”
It would have been nice if he had said their relationship might change, but the Sword King was cold and resolute.
“Even so, our relationship will not change.”
Geom Mugeuk filled his face with desperation, but the answer did not change.
In truth, Geom Mugeuk had expected him to answer this way. They had formed a special bond thus far, but not to the extent that they would join hands.
His opponent was none other than the Sword King, who had become the First King among the Twelve Earthly Branch Kings. How could the heart of such a man be turned so easily?
No, turning his heart aside, this was still a relationship in which there remained the possibility that he might kill him. After all, they had agreed to cross blades once on the dueling platform.
Geom Mugeuk walked over to the secret coffer and embraced it.
“I’ve been abandoned. Send me back three hundred years again.”
Watching him make such a fuss, the Sword King let out a small laugh. It seemed he had indeed wanted to see that sight again.
As he stroked the secret coffer like that, Geom Mugeuk suddenly asked,
“Is it because of the debt?”
They had spoken about it before. When asked why he had joined hands with them, the Sword King had answered that he owed them a debt.
Turning back to the Sword King, Geom Mugeuk spoke earnestly.
“If it’s because of the debt, then take this to them and pay it all off at once. This divine relic—I’ll give it to you!”
At that, the Sword King thrust his face close to Geom Mugeuk’s and asked,
“Why are you trying to be generous with what’s mine?”
Geom Mugeuk refused to back down and asked in return,
“Why is this yours, Instructor? It’s mine.”
“Yours?”
“You said you’d give me what was in this room!”
—Please give me everything in this room.
Those were the words Geom Mugeuk had spoken just before entering this room, the final trial.
“I never answered that I would.”
Of course, it was Geom Mugeuk being unreasonable. The Sword King had gone through the trouble of dismantling the mechanisms beneath Hwangryong Martial Hall to obtain this secret coffer. There was no way he would hand it over so readily.
“Didn’t you see earlier? I came out of this divine relic. I’m no ordinary person, you know.”
The Sword King could not refute that much.
What if this truly was an object that could change the fate of Murim? And what if the person this divine relic had chosen was him? Would that not make the Young Cult Leader the one who would change Murim’s fate, and at the same time the master of this divine relic?
Seeing him unable to say anything, Geom Mugeuk instead grew embarrassed.
“If you react like that, I can’t keep insisting until the end, can I?”
The Sword King approached the secret coffer behind Geom Mugeuk. He reached out and touched it. As it had for the past few days, the only thing the secret coffer allowed him was this coldness.
Removing his hand from the secret coffer, the Sword King said,
“If you kill me, you may be able to have it.”
Geom Mugeuk said nothing.
“Why are you silent?”
“I’m thinking. Whether I want it badly enough to take it even if I have to kill you, Instructor.”
He looked as though he were truly agonizing over it.
“I don’t think I want it that much.”
The Sword King stared at Geom Mugeuk. The problem was that those words sounded sincere.
“You might need this if you’re going to change the fate of Murim, you know?”
“It doesn’t matter. To me, you are more important than this secret coffer, Instructor.”
The Sword King fixed Geom Mugeuk with a suspicious gaze.
“Don’t tell me?”
The deeper look in his eyes when Geom Mugeuk returned, and that more vibrant vitality as well.
“You gained something inside, didn’t you? So now you don’t need it anymore, do you? This thing is empty. That’s why you’re trying to give it to me, isn’t it?”
Geom Mugeuk did not deceive him.
“You really are quick on the uptake.”
In truth, that was only half true. Looking at the secret coffer, Geom Mugeuk said,
“It’s true that I gained something, but it’s not as though only the shell remains.”
It was clearly connected to the small secret coffer as well. He did not know when or in what form it would show him another surprise.
“Then why are you trying to give it up?”
Because if such a thing as fate truly existed, he believed that no matter where this was, it would become connected to him again.
That was why he could focus on his relationship with the Sword King.
“I told you, didn’t I? You are more important, Instructor.”
“What do you even know about me!”
“Isn’t it better when people don’t know each other too well?”
The Sword King flinched for an instant, and Geom Mugeuk’s words continued.
“If we come to know each other more, we may be disappointed by sides we didn’t know about, or we may grow weary of each other. But not now. What lies within this person? What does he have that draws people in like this? What am I trusting in, to be trying so hard to persuade a man who may kill me?”
“Enough!”
At the Sword King’s shout, a shoe came flying.
Geom Mugeuk caught the flying shoe in his hand.
“If you had launched a surprise attack while throwing this shoe, I would have died. You once threw one as a joke before, so I let my guard down and caught it just now. But why didn’t you ambush me? Why don’t you kill me, go back, and say, ‘I obtained the divine relic and even avenged my dead comrades!’ Why don’t you claim that achievement?”
The Sword King looked down at the shoe that remained at his waist.
“Because I still have one left. So stop talking nonsense. You may really end up dead.”
The reason the Sword King was angry was that he recognized the feeling growing within him: he did not want to kill the Young Cult Leader.
“If our relationship changes? Do you intend to use me as your guide and uncover all the secrets of our organization? Put me in front and kill them all?”
“No.”
“Then what? Are you telling me to become your subordinate?”
“That isn’t it either.”
“Then!”
Geom Mugeuk offered words he did not expect.
“I know you are not someone who will remain by my side, Instructor. I also know that one day, you will suddenly put on those shoes and leave for somewhere far away.”
“Then why? Why do you keep trying to shake me?”
To the Sword King, who shouted the question in a roar, Geom Mugeuk spoke even louder.
“If you didn’t like that, then you shouldn’t have appeared before me barefoot, wearing shabby martial robes, your hair tied tightly, with an old iron sword at your waist that could be bought anywhere in the marketplace. You shouldn’t have appeared before me like that while I was wearing the Black Demon Sword, layering protective garments two and three deep, wrapping myself in top-grade heavenly silkworm silk, doing anything and everything just to survive!”
“!”
“I cannot kill someone like that. No, I will not kill him. For my own sake, I will not do something I would regret for the rest of my life.”
The Sword King was left speechless, for he had never imagined he would hear such words.
The emotion he felt in his heart at that moment was joy. He felt good. He did not know why he felt good, but he truly did. To the point that he wondered if he had ever felt this good before.
Breaking the awkward silence, the Sword King spoke curtly.
“Just because of my atmosphere?”
Geom Mugeuk answered curtly as well.
“What do you mean, just? That is the image I long for, and the freedom I long for.”
“You’re a fool who thinks he’s clever, if I looked free to you.”
“That is why you should come to me. Pay off your debt, cast off everything that binds you, Instructor, and come to me.”
“And when I do?”
At that, the most astonishing words of their entire conversation flowed from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth. Words that shocked the Sword King more than the claim that he had gone to a world three hundred years in the past.
“Please become my friend.”
The Sword King made the most dumbfounded expression he had shown since they met. Instead of saying, You madman, enough already, the Sword King asked,
“Are you serious?”
“I am. Aren’t there friendships in this world that transcend age?”
“Of all the many relationships there are, why friends?”
“My master will be waiting above. So I do not need a master. As it happens, the person who came with me is the Sword Venerable. Since there is already a sword-wielding Demon Venerable, I cannot serve you as a Demon Venerable either. I like wandering around alone, so I do not need a personal bodyguard. As the Young Cult Leader, I have more subordinates than I could ever need. So please become my friend. I am often told I am an old man in a young body. So I think we could become friends who suit each other well.”
The Sword King could feel it. Geom Mugeuk was speaking sincerely.
“A friend I can see when I want to see him, and help when he must be helped. A friend with whom I can sometimes throw shoes at each other.”
As he said that, he held the shoe out again.
The Sword King stared at the shoe for a moment, then reached out to take it. Just then, as something occurred to him, his expression hardened sharply.
“You said the Demon Venerable would be waiting above?”
“Yes. He is surely waiting for me.”
The Sword King sighed. It was the moment he suddenly awoke from a pleasant dream he had been having until now.
“For that reason alone, we cannot become friends.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because there are people waiting for me up there as well.”
In other words, he meant that the Demon Venerables would have died.
“When you go up there, you will be sunk in deep sorrow. Grieving the loss of your master and the Sword Venerable, you will draw your sword and point it even at me. Even so, I will understand.”
He knew very well what the Fist King’s skills were like. Moreover, there had been other masters who came with him.
“Master and the Sword Venerable would not have lost to anyone.”
“We have grasped the Demon Venerables’ abilities. They are not people those two can handle.”
The Sword King could not hide the sorrow in his eyes.
“What awaits us will be nothing but an empty dueling arena where you and I must fight.”
By contrast, Geom Mugeuk’s eyes were full of faith.
“What if the two of them are standing safely on that dueling platform?”
* * *
“Father, I’ll keep watch, so please go in and rest for a while.”
At Ian’s words, the Fist Demon shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
Several days had passed, and Geom Mugeuk had still not come up.
During that time, the Fist Demon had not left the dueling platform. He ate his meals there, and replaced sleep with circulating his qi and regulating his breath.
Ian came to realize it anew. He had vaguely thought of Geom Mugeuk and his father as no more than master and disciple, but his father cared for Geom Mugeuk far more than he had imagined.
“Please don’t worry too much. The Young Cult Leader will come up while making some ridiculous joke.”
The Fist Demon looked at Ian and silently nodded.
The reason he did not leave this place and kept watch was not merely because he wanted to be the one waiting for Geom Mugeuk when he emerged here.
It was also because, should any urgent situation arise concerning Geom Mugeuk, he wanted to respond even a little faster. He did not want the brief moment he stepped away to become a regret for a thousand autumns.
Yeon Baegin was also in a corner of the dueling platform.
Having cleaned away the corpses and broken debris, he had still not left the place.
It was his own decision. The Fist Demon and Ilhwa Sword Venerable did not care whether he left or not.
Yeon Baegin had not yet abandoned hope. He waited only for the Sword King, who would come up from underground. Where would he go after abandoning this Hwangryong Martial Hall? Mistaking resignation for resolve, he was holding out until the end.
Unlike the Fist Demon, Ilhwa Sword Venerable came and went freely. She trained in martial arts and slept comfortably.
Regarding Geom Mugeuk, she had said only one thing to Ian.
“Who is worrying about whom?”
Though she said that, when several days passed without Geom Mugeuk coming up, she too was inwardly worried.
‘Young Cult Leader, I know you like pranks, but do not play a prank like this.’
If Geom Mugeuk did not come up even after today passed, she had decided to discuss going down together with the Fist Demon.
It was right then.
Srrrk.
The chair fitted with the mechanism descended.
Everyone there was startled. Ilhwa Sword Venerable lightly flew through the air and landed behind the Fist Demon. Ian, too, stood behind his father and stared only at the place where the chair had been.
Srrrk.
A moment later, the chair rose again.
The expressions of the three who were watching hardened at the same time.
The person sitting in the chair was not Geom Mugeuk, but the Sword King.
The Fist Demon observed his opponent with a cold gaze.
A barefoot man with his hair tied tightly and an iron sword at his waist.
He revealed no aura, but the Fist Demon could tell at once that he was no ordinary master. If his presence was already this great when he was not properly revealing his aura?
The Fist Demon clenched his fists more powerfully than ever.
Meanwhile, the Sword King, who had come up to the surface, was flustered by the sight he had not expected. Instead of those who should have been there, the Demon Venerables were present.
All around, there were only traces of a fierce battle; the Fist King was nowhere to be seen. Judging by the situation, it seemed that he, his disciple, and the masters who had accompanied him had all died.
The Fist Demon asked in a low tone,
“Where is the Young Cult Leader?”
The Sword King could feel it. The Fist Demon before his eyes was stronger than he had expected. The same went for Ilhwa Sword Venerable standing behind him. That explained why the Fist King was not here.
The gaze with which the Ilhwa Sword Sovereign looked at the Sword King also grew grave. He possessed a presence greater than any enemy she had seen thus far.
She, too, revealed her aura and spoke in a cold tone.
“I asked where the Young Cult Master is.”
Saaaaaaaaah!
In an instant, their auras collided.
Not only the place where the Fist Demon, the Ilhwa Sword Sovereign, and Ian stood, but the area around them as well was filled with sword blades. It felt as though even a single step would slice their flesh open.
Among those countless blades was one single blade aimed at the Sword King.
Wind blew between those blades. It was not a fierce wind, but it was one that chilled the heart and soul.
As the auras of the three clashed like this, a hair-trigger situation unfolded, as though they might attack one another at any moment.
The taut cord of tension seemed as if it would snap if someone so much as took one loud breath.
It was right then.
Srrrrrk.
The chair began to descend again.
And then the chair rose once more, carrying someone they were all too glad to see.
“I knew this would happen.”
Feeling the terrifying auras spread around him, Geom Mugeuk spoke with a smile.
“That is why I said I should go up first, didn’t I?”
At that sight, the Fist Demon, the Ilhwa Sword Sovereign, and Ian finally felt relief. Geom Mugeuk had returned, unchanged as ever.
Geom Mugeuk’s eyes met the Fist Demon’s. His face was frightening and blunt, but just by looking into his eyes, Geom Mugeuk could tell with what feelings he had waited for him.
The Ilhwa Sword Sovereign smiled with an expression that said, You’ve finally returned, and Ian, whose legs had given out as the tension left him, crouched on the floor and beamed brightly at Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk looked around.
The surroundings were empty, as if the battle had been terribly fierce. And when he saw that only the chair connected to the underground remained, he was deeply moved inwardly. The moment he saw it, he felt that it was the Fist Demon’s consideration for him.
The Fist Demon stood in the center, with the Ilhwa Sword Sovereign and Ian to his left and right.
The three of them respectfully cupped their fists and greeted Geom Mugeuk.
“We greet the Young Cult Master.”
The Fist Demon had beaten down the Fist King and guarded this place for the sake of saying those very words. For this very moment.
Geom Mugeuk respectfully cupped his fists and returned the courtesy.
“I believed you would wait for me.”
For the Fist Demon, those words were enough. To answer that trust—this was the mission and joy of the man called the Fist Demon, passed down from the time of the Cult Leader.
Geom Mugeuk turned to the Sword King. The Sword King was looking at him with many emotions on his face.
Hoping that relief was among those complicated emotions, he said,
“Now then, please continue what you were saying.”