The next day, I went to find my father.
It was to report on what had transpired with the Pungcheon Cult Leader.
Since it was an internal matter of the cult, Father would already have a rough grasp of the situation, but my coming to tell him personally was an entirely different matter from him receiving a report from Sima Ming.
As it happened, Father was in the middle of training.
While I waited outside, a message came telling me to enter.
“Please come inside the training hall.”
The voice that came from the air was Hwi, Father’s personal bodyguard. It had been a while since I last heard his voice.
“It’s been a while, Uncle.”
“Yes, young master.”
A brief answer came. I had memories of holding Hwi’s hand and walking the streets of Maga Village when I was young. I think I pestered him to buy me street food. In any case, that day remained a pleasant memory for me.
“Uncle, let me see your face sometime. I’ll treat you to a meal.”
“Yes.”
“Be at ease, Uncle.”
I couldn’t know exactly how he would receive my goodwill, or what he currently felt toward me. Because while it was a fond memory for me, to him it might have been nothing more than an unremarkable day.
Even so, I had to get along well with him. He was the person Father trusted most.
I steeled myself and entered the training hall.
Sure enough.
Today as well, Father attacked with the Myeongwangbo.
I dodged with the Jeommyeolbo and batted aside Father’s Heavenly Demon Sword with my Black Demon Sword. It was the first clash between the Black Demon Sword and the Heavenly Demon Sword, and in fact, it was a far more dangerous attempt than simply evading. Naturally, Father recognized the change in my level at a glance.
“You’ve grown stronger!”
Father had attacked with his mastery of the Myeongwangbo at a much higher level, yet I had blocked it in a more dangerous manner.
“Of course I had to improve. I probably train the most in the Main Cult. No, I suppose I’m second. Ian trains the most.”
“Why does it not occur to you that you might be third?”
From this remark, I could guess how diligently Father was training the Pungsinsabo.
*Father, you are doing well. You must reach great accomplishment. You must!*
I walked out of the training hall with Father. We walked side by side as we conversed.
“What brings you here?”
“The Pungcheon Cult Leader wishes to join hands with me. It feels as though a rift has formed with the Eight Demon Lords. Did you know?”
I deliberately did not mention that he had transmitted the Space-Time Displacement Technique to me. This was something the Pungcheon Cult Leader likewise would not reveal to outsiders.
This was how Father viewed the crux of the matter.
“It was an arrogant act for the Demon Lords to drag the Pungcheon Cult Leader all the way here. They should have gone to him to resolve it, and if they meant to bring him, everyone should have gone to request his presence.”
“They offended the Pungcheon Cult Leader’s pride.”
There were likely several reasons he was pushing for an advance into the Central Plains, but as I peeled them back one by one, I felt that what lay at the very bottom might truly be his wounded pride.
“Things neglected as trivial inevitably become the greatest problems. This incident is clearly the Demon Lords’ mistake.”
I could glimpse Father’s anguish. In his heart of hearts, he probably wanted to pit the Demon Lords against the Pungcheon Cult Leader and watch from the sidelines, then eliminate those lacking loyalty from among them.
But if they, the main force of our cult, were to collapse, it was obvious that the Murim Alliance would come charging in. Thus, the Eight Demon Lords were truly a necessary evil to Father.
“Then why did the Pungcheon Cult Leader come to me instead of paying his respects to you, Father?”
Father was firm in his answer this time as well.
“The first reason is that he finds me difficult. The second is that he considers you easy to use.”
“What would he try to do by using me?”
I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Ask your strategist.”
“I don’t have a strategist.”
“Get one.”
“Where would I find someone as astute as Strategist Sima?”
Father merely snorted.
“The leisure of one who already has!”
Finding a strategist as brilliant as Sima Ming was truly my top priority.
“Aren’t you doing well even without one?”
“Thank you for saying so, but most of these matters resolved themselves thanks to good fortune.”
I was navigating situations based on experience from before my regression; I was not a strategist-type myself. I desperately needed a strategist with foresight and insight to assist me.
“Please answer just this one question. What does the Pungcheon Cult Leader want?”
Father stopped walking and answered.
“His dream is to advance into the Central Plains.”
“But he is someone who refuses to leave his throne even to protect a sacred relic.”
“That is his obsessive nature.”
“So his dream is to advance into the Central Plains.”
In my previous life before the regression, the Pungcheon Cult Leader had failed to advance into the Central Plains. Because Hwamugi swept through the whole of Murim, he could not set a single foot there and ended his life beyond the frontier.
But because I regressed, his life was changing as well. He had come to the Central Plains, and even directly to our Main Cult, a place he would never have come to otherwise.
“For generations, the Blood Cult beyond the frontier has targeted the Central Plains. Though they have never succeeded even once, the desire to advance into the Central Plains runs in their blood.”
“Now I understand why he came to me.”
It was something I already knew without asking Father, but I acted as though I had learned it from him. Sometimes you must act ignorant even when you are not. Rather than being repulsive, it was courtesy toward Father.
Most parents in the world would wish for their child to come and ask them such things. Would my father be any different?
At least in this regard, he was no different. If he were, he would not have spoken these words.
As he was about to go inside, Father added curtly:
“Since you’re already here, eat before you go.”
“Yes!”
There was nothing I liked more than Father telling me to stay for a meal.
But I did not say I was pleased. If I had, he would never tell me to eat before leaving again.
An absolutely difficult father.
* * *
After eating with Father and returning to the Hwangcheon Pavilion, I received a visit from someone completely unexpected. It was Mabul, come to find me.
“Welcome, elder.”
“I said I would come once, but I am late.”
It was the first time I had seen him this close. He was shorter than he appeared from afar, and looking at his golden skin, I felt an urge to touch it with my hand.
Mabul.
He was truly my older brother’s right hand.
“Here, have a seat.”
“Very well.”
Mabul sat down. He hated being looked down upon by anyone. Even seated, he held his back perfectly straight for that very reason.
“My dear friend had an important sacred relic stolen. How could I remain idle? I came to see how the investigation is progressing.”
“I am personally handling this matter at present.”
“Is it true that a thief truly broke in?”
“The truth? Whatever do you mean?”
When I asked innocently, he looked at me as if wondering whether I was truly unaware.
“How can I believe that a thief broke into the inner court of our Main Cult?”
“Would it not be harder to believe that the Pungcheon Cult Leader staged a self-directed scheme?”
From the very start, we created a tense atmosphere.
A faint golden light swirled in his pupils as well. It was a phenomenon said to appear only in those who had achieved great completion in the Golden Daera Demon Art.
Just how powerful was Mabul? The Golden Daera Demon Art he had mastered was a martial art as troublesome to face as the sorceries of the Soul-Devouring Demon Art.
“If a thief truly entered the inner court, our Main Cult’s reputation will be greatly damaged.”
“That is likely.”
“Should it not be handled quietly?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why not send him back beyond the frontier for now, so that he cannot spread rumors? It is not as though his presence will enable us to catch a thief we could not otherwise catch.”
It was clearly a test. He was convinced it was a self-directed scheme, and he believed I was aiding it.
“Would he listen to the likes of a mere pavilion lord?”
“I heard the Pungcheon Cult Leader came to see you.”
“He came to pay his respects.”
“The Pungcheon Cult Leader believes you will become the successor.”
“He showed no such sign. Why do you think so?”
“Because he is not a man who seeks others out unless that is the case. He is accustomed to receiving greetings from others. If such a man sought you, he must have seen the potential for you to be the successor.”
Even as he spoke, he constantly studied my reactions, trying to read my thoughts. Unfortunately for him, that was an attempt that even my father failed at.
“Second Young Master, for the sake of the Main Cult, you must send him back.”
It was a remark aiming to kill two birds with one stone.
If I moved to send him back, that would suit him fine; if I refused the proposal, he could accuse me of failing to act for the Main Cult.
“No. In that case, we must not send him back.”
“What do you mean?”
“As you said, he will use this incident to tarnish the Main Cult’s reputation. Then we must keep him here. Rather, as long as he remains in the Main Cult, he cannot speak carelessly. I will subtly caution him. To keep his mouth shut if he wishes to recover the sacred relic.”
For a moment, Mabul was at a loss for words. Of course, he was not such a pushover that he would come to cause trouble only to receive more than he bargained for.
“The Pungcheon Cult Leader is a cunning snake. He certainly has other intentions.”
“Then I will pretend to join hands with him and uncover his true intentions.”
“Since you are so stubborn, I expect you will become an excellent Hwangcheon Pavilion Lord.”
“I am mainly so in matters I believe to be right.”
Mabul took those words as a rebuke that he himself was not a righteous man.
Judging it an opportunity, Mabul quickly formed a hand seal with his fingers.
Revolving Dharma Light Seal!
In an instant, golden radiance erupted from Mabul’s body.
In light more intense than the sun, an opponent cannot open their eyes for a moment. This fleeting instant is an eternity to those of the Demon Lord class. Should I stab here to kill, or there to kill? No—let me stab both.
I closed my eyes as well.
But before I closed them, I knew. My eyes were barely affected by that light. Golden light poured from his body, and Mabul’s figure moving at its center was clearly visible.
The one that emitted light at this moment was not the Golden Daera Demon Art, but my Divine Eye Technique.
However, I deliberately closed my eyes. There was no need to reveal my full strength to Mabul.
When I opened my eyes again, Mabul had thrust his face right before my nose.
His face, both childlike and adult-like, felt strangely unfamiliar.
The gaze with which he looked at me said exactly this:
*If I had decided to kill you, you would already be dead!*
He was someone with every right to be confident. There are only five hand seals in the Golden Daera Demon Art. How terrifying the follow-up attack would be after blinding the opponent and closing in was obvious even without experiencing it.
I said nothing. Even if not to the point of terror, I deliberately showed a startled and fearful reaction.
Perhaps deciding this was sufficient warning, Mabul rose from his seat. He said the opposite of what Hyeolcheon Doma had said when he first came to see me.
“I would like to see you often. Drinking tea like this, sharing stories. If you stand with me, only good things will come your way.”
“Please share much with my elder brother.”
At my childish arrogance, Mabul smiled in satisfaction.
“Yes, you are at an age for such things. Then let us meet again.”
“Take care.”
As he walked out of the room with brisk steps, the stiff expression I had deliberately maintained relaxed, and the room that had been dyed golden returned to its original state.
Listen here, Mabul. You had best not see me too often. The Demon Lords entangled with me still fall into only three categories.
Those who have grown close, those who are growing close, or those who are dead.
Which side do you think you are on? For now, it does not seem as though you and I will grow close….
Then do you have the confidence to create a fourth?