As the dark clouds gathered, the surroundings quickly darkened.
The flashing lightning seemed to draw ever nearer, and then—
*Boom! Crash!*
The heavens spat out the thunder they had held back in rapid succession and poured down rain.
*Sshhhhhh!*
Geom Muyang stood by the window, watching the falling rain.
After Jin Hagun departed with the Demon Extermination Squad, Geom Muyang and the warriors of the Ji residence remained at the manor.
He had taken Baekryong Danju with him. After all, Geom Muyang couldn't continue to keep him in his custody.
Jin Hagun wouldn't be able to detain him for long either. If it became known that Baekryong Danju, of all people, had disappeared, the Martial Arts Alliance would be thrown into chaos. How, indeed, would he handle it?
If it were him, Geom Muyang would have broken through head-on. He would have taken the man before his father and made him confess everything. How to settle that long friendship would be entirely his father's burden.
Of course, Geom Muyang had said no such thing to Jin Hagun. He hadn't asked how he would handle it, either. He had entrusted him with rescuing Gwak Yeong's younger sibling; they were not in a relationship to join hands on other matters.
Then, Gwak Yeong spoke from behind.
"The rain makes me wish for a drink."
In truth, the rain made her desperately miss her younger sibling. Where were they, and how were they faring? Were they eating properly? Were they being beaten? How terrified must they be right now? This matter would torment her sibling like a lifelong nightmare.
What would become of everything now?
Gwak Yeong was inwardly afraid. Before the name Cheonae Geosa had emerged, she had believed that this man, and the Lord of the Demon Extermination Squad, would be able to rescue her sibling.
But Cheonae Geosa?
That he, who had spent his life sacrificing for the orthodox martial arts, was behind this?
Even though she had watched from the side as Geom Muyang and Jin Hagun uncovered the truth, she could not believe it. Could something be wrong? Could it be someone's plot and false accusation?
Even seeing it with her own eyes, she could not believe it—who else would believe such words? Cheonae Geosa was such a figure to the orthodox martial artists.
To think he forged weapons to earn money, and even resorted to kidnapping and threats.
She had thought her opponent was a man-eating fish that swarmed about tearing off flesh. But behind it was a giant whale that seemed capable of swallowing even the sea.
"Why didn't you hand me over to the Demon Extermination Squad?"
He could have sent her to Jin Hagun.
A promise to save her sibling was a promise, but she had committed the crime of betraying the Iron Forge artisan's honor and crafting counterfeit hidden weapons. If he had handed her over, he could have washed his hands of her and been done with it.
Geom Muyang, who had been looking out the window, turned to her.
"Was it a lie?"
"Pardon?"
"Your promise to make weapons for me."
From the gaze looking at her, Gwak Yeong could tell. Ah! This person truly intends to take me and use me.
"I had no idea your Iron Forge was suffering so badly from a labor shortage."
She answered with an unnecessary jest. Fortunately, without saying much else, Geom Muyang turned his gaze back to the window.
The words about making weapons for him had been sincere. She had even resolved to live as a demonic person.
But this was what truly frightened her. What if she could never meet her sibling again?
*Sshhhhhh.*
Quietly watching the rain pour down beyond Geom Muyang's shoulder, she spoke.
"Behind it..."
*With Cheonae Geosa behind it, can the Demon Extermination Squad truly rescue my sibling?*
Those words did not leave her mouth. The name Cheonae Geosa would not stick to her tongue.
*What if the Demon Extermination Squad fails to investigate him due to internal pressure?*
She was afraid that if she needlessly spouted such presumptuous words, it might actually come to pass.
As if understanding her inner thoughts, Geom Muyang answered without turning back.
"Nothing has changed."
Had she not known that he was the Great Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, she would have thought it mere bluster.
But now she knew those words were spoken in earnest. That he intended to face the opponent regardless of who stood behind it.
And those words were a great comfort to her.
Then Homyeong, the lord of the Ji residence, entered and reported.
"We've received word from the Tongcheong Pavilion regarding Hwaryeolcheong's whereabouts."
Homyeong conveyed the information to Geom Muyang.
"Hwaryeolcheong resides at the Musojang in Muhan. It is known that he travels throughout the Central Plains and is away for most of the year, but we have learned that he recently returned to Muhan."
"He is in Muhan?"
"Yes, it is said he returned a few days ago."
He was someone who was away for most of the year, yet he had returned to Muhan a few days ago? Precisely when he himself was in Muhan? Could this truly be a coincidence?
Geom Muyang thought not. This fact alone would prove that Hwaryeolcheong was involved in this matter.
"Send me all information regarding Hwaryeolcheong without omission. His personality, family relations, martial arts, even those who follow him."
"Yes, understood."
As Homyeong went outside, Gwak Yeong cautiously asked.
"Will you truly face him?"
Geom Muyang silently nodded.
"You know that many experts follow him, don't you?"
*Flash!*
The strike of lightning illuminated Geom Muyang's face brightly. His eyes resembled the lightning itself. This was a man who seemed as though he would silently push forward no matter who blocked his path. As he had said: nothing has changed.
After a moment, Geom Muyang spoke in a low voice.
"Such a person..."
Someone who had overcome difficult times together, who had shown many unsightly moments and thus knew his own shortcomings better than anyone, and whom he trusted more than anyone.
"I have one too."
* * *
Jin Hagun entered the Alliance Leader's hall.
"Alliance Leader, have you been well?"
As always, Jin Hagun observed the propriety of treating his grandfather as the Alliance Leader.
"Welcome."
Jin Paecheon's gaze toward his grandson was gentle. Lately, Jin Hagun was fulfilling his role more excellently than any Demon Extermination Squad Leader in history. He seemed much more mature, and his reputation among his subordinates was good.
"I heard you changed the Demon Extermination Squad's original schedule and returned."
"Yes, there were circumstances."
"What is it?"
Unexpected news was delivered by Jin Hagun.
"I received word from the Great Young Master of the Divine Cult."
When the Great Young Master was mentioned, Jin Paecheon's expression stiffened slightly. Although he had lost the succession to Geom Mugik, he knew the man was highly ambitious.
"It seems there were people who forged the Divine Cult's hidden weapons and distributed them in the Central Plains. He is pursuing the mastermind and has requested our cooperation."
Jin Paecheon made a puzzled expression. The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had never requested cooperation from them.
"For what matter?"
"Our Iron Forge artisan is involved."
Jin Hagun reported that Gwak Yeong was involved and that it was because her younger sibling had been taken hostage.
"Because of this matter, the Great Young Master has come to Muhan."
Jin Paecheon's expression completely stiffened. The Great Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had entered Muhan without his permission? That was unacceptable to Jin Paecheon.
"Anyway, those people go too far the moment you loosen the reins."
Jin Paecheon revealed his displeasure toward the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The rudeness of not informing him in advance was bad enough, but he was more furious that the Martial Arts Alliance's intelligence network had lost track of Geom Muyang's movements.
"You sent them back, I presume?"
"No. They are still in Muhan."
Jin Paecheon's rebuke flew toward his grandson.
"You should have sent them back!"
"My apologies."
Jin Hagun knew. It was not that he was displeased with him, but that he was treating him with strictness. Because the day to make him successor was drawing near. His grandfather wished for him not to have a single flaw as successor.
Jin Paecheon silently observed Jin Hagun for a moment, then rose from his seat of honor and came down.
Approaching his grandson, he called him gently.
"Hagun."
Jin Hagun could tell. In this moment, it was not the Alliance Leader looking at the Demon Extermination Squad Leader, but a grandfather addressing his grandson.
"Yes, Grandfather."
"I well understand your heart that trusts the young cult leader."
Even he in his old age had been so captivated by the man called Geom Mugik—how could young Jin Hagun remain calm?
That was why there were words he must impress upon him. Words he needed to repeat going forward.
Words that must be emphasized all the more because he knew Geom Mugik was a good person.
"No matter how close you become in life, no matter how deep your relationship grows, you must never forget for a single moment that he is a demonic person."
No matter how good a person he was, everyone around him was a demonic person.
Jin Hagun well understood the heart with which his grandfather spoke.
"Yes, I will keep it in mind."
He had thought that because the man was Geom Mugik's older brother, he could overlook it to that extent.
"There is one more thing to report."
In truth, this report was the core purpose of today's visit.
"I am investigating Baekryong Danju in connection with this matter."
"Baekryong Danju? Why?"
"He is one of the masterminds behind this incident."
Jin Paecheon thought it preposterous.
"Do you have evidence?"
"Yes. The one who rented the warehouse where the counterfeit hidden weapons were made is Baekryong Danju. Furthermore, we have uncovered circumstances indicating yet another person exists behind him."
He did not say directly who it was.
Because Jin Paecheon had to hear directly from Baekryong Danju's own mouth that Hwaryeolcheong was behind it.
"I must see him myself."
"I have him waiting outside."
"Bring him in."
Though you may be confused and find it hard to believe at first, Grandfather is the only one who can resolve this matter.
Because Grandfather was the only one capable of handling Cheonae Geosa.
Shortly after, the Demon Extermination Squad warriors brought Baekryong Danju in and then left.
Jin Hagun had already finished speaking with Baekryong Danju earlier. He had promised that if he told the Alliance Leader all the facts as they were, not only would he be spared execution, but his sentence would be reduced to the minimum as a reward for revealing the truth.
In truth, watching Baekryong Danju accept the promise, Jin Hagun had thought:
'So he truly is the mastermind.'
It seemed he had been doubting that fact in one corner of his heart. No, even in this moment, he couldn't fully shake off that doubt. Was he really behind it? He was someone Jin Hagun had respected so much since childhood.
Jin Paecheon looked down at him and spoke.
"Raise your head."
Baekryong Danju raised his head. He was trembling in fear.
"What is going on? Were you truly involved in this matter?"
Jin Paecheon asked calmly, but his gaze was as cold as frost.
Baekryong Danju opened his mouth with a trembling voice.
"This matter is..."
Unable to continue, he hung his head deeply.
"I am truly sorry, Alliance Leader."
Perhaps too ashamed, he couldn't confess and merely sighed.
Jin Hagun spoke to him.
"It is all over, so confess quickly."
Eventually, Baekryong Danju revealed the truth.
"This was ordered by Cheonae Geosa."
Though it was a shocking statement, Jin Paecheon was not surprised at all. Instead, he calmly asked again.
"Who ordered it?"
"Cheonae Geosa ordered it."
At that very moment.
*Flash!*
Jin Paecheon's figure had already twisted and grasped Baekryong Danju by the throat.
"How dare you play tricks!"
Jin Hagun naturally thought he was angry because Cheonae Geosa had been mentioned.
But that was not it.
Jin Paecheon let out a roar like a martial shout before him.
"Haaaaaaaap!"
A violent wind lashed at Baekryong Danju as if a typhoon were blowing.
It was the Lion's Roar imbued with the Alliance Leader's majestic inner power.
In that moment when a tremendous momentum that seemed ready to blow him away shook Baekryong Danju's face and body!
Jin Hagun saw.
Baekryong Danju's eyes rolled back before returning to normal. It was as if the black pupils had disappeared behind the eyeballs and then reappeared.
"Haaaaaaaap!"
Under the greater Lion's Roar, Baekryong Danju's pupils rolled back again. This time they did not return; only the whites of his eyes were visible.
"Uuuuuugh."
A scream flowed out, and simultaneously, black liquid trickled from his two eyes. It was as if the vanished black pupils had turned to liquid and flowed out. Baekryong Danju seemed unaware that such a thing was happening to him.
The next moment.
"...It is Cheonae Geosa's doing."
The slowly spoken words were not Baekryong Danju's voice. Having spoken in an eerie voice as if possessed by a monster,
Baekryong Danju's body trembled violently once, and then he collapsed with a thud.
Jin Paecheon looked down at him with complicated feelings.
"What has happened here?"
When Jin Hagun examined him, he was already dead. Infusing true energy to inspect his body's interior, he found the blood vessels severed strand by strand.
Since his inner power had been suppressed, it was not suicide.
'Had a sorcery been placed that severed blood vessels upon confession?'
But hadn't he already confessed under Geom Muyang's torture earlier? Why hadn't they severed then?
Jin Paecheon spoke in a low voice.
"It is the Mind Control Technique."
Jin Hagun was startled. The Mind Control Technique was a sorcery that controlled people's minds at will.
His grandfather had realized he was under the Mind Control Technique and destroyed it with the Lion's Roar.
"When the Mind Control Technique is forcibly released, all blood vessels are severed, causing death."
Why on earth?
If they had placed the Mind Control Technique, why make him confess about Cheonae Geosa? Rather, they should have hidden the fact that he was the mastermind...
In that moment, Jin Hagun flinched in shock, and a chill ran down his spine.
'No!'
Because Grandfather would think someone had placed the Mind Control Technique to frame Cheonae Geosa!
Because he had been revealed, he was no longer the culprit.
And naturally, Jin Paecheon's suspicion turned toward one person.
"Where is the Great Young Master right now?"