“It seems a formation has been activated!”
The one who shouted was Jihan.
Geomugeuk, the two Demon Venerables, and the master who had been called Brother Ak vanished from before their eyes in an instant.
If only they had disappeared, it truly would have been the worst possible situation, but fortunately, the enemies facing them had all disappeared along with them.
In truth, it was not surprising. In this unbelievable battle, where even dead souls had been summoned, there was nothing strange about them vanishing into a formation. Everyone assumed that someone had deployed one.
Jihan said to Taesu,
“If you’re going to get out of this room, now is your chance.”
If the ones who reappeared were not Geomugeuk and his party but the iron-masked man, everyone here would die.
“What about you?”
At Taesu’s question, Jihan answered,
“I will wait for the Young Cult Leader.”
It was not that, having become his subordinate, he had no choice but to wait. It was a decision imbued with the resolve to share life and death with the Young Cult Leader.
—Are you not also a sword that has fought alone for a long time?
No one had ever said such words to him in his life. Those words Geomugeuk had spoken kept circling in his mind.
Taesu knew Jihan’s suggestion that he leave came from goodwill, but it did not sit well with him.
“I’ll wait too.”
You’re not leaving yourself, so why are you telling me that? Just what do you take me for!
But the reason he could not say those words aloud was because he felt cowed.
Until he had come here, he had thought that, as the one carrying the treasure map, he was the protagonist. Even if not the protagonist, he had believed he was at least an important character.
But he was not. The young man carrying the packs had been the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, and the old man and woman with him were Demon Venerables.
The martial artist over there who had identified himself as Pung was a man sent by the Sado Alliance Leader, and the other man was said to be the head of a family that managed the tombs of successive Sado Alliance Leaders.
The only one who had seemed relatively approachable was Jihan, but he had already earned Geomugeuk’s trust.
Though he knew that in a perilous situation like this, the more important one’s status was, the more dangerous it became, he nevertheless felt an inexplicable sense of alienation.
Suddenly, he remembered what Geomugeuk had said.
—You have an enormous amount of pride.
Now he felt he understood clearly why he had said something that would hurt his father.
He wanted to live a life where he drew attention. A life where he was the protagonist. A life where he did not have to hear, The chance to run is now, so if you’re going, go quickly.
And that was a life he could never achieve while living as a thief.
Jihan was not the only one who urged someone to escape. Pung, the martial artist of the Sado Alliance, advised Baekchong Family Head Dan Sojin.
“Family Head, you should withdraw now.”
If he was the head of the family that managed the tombs of successive Sado Alliance Leaders, then he was someone Pung had to protect.
But for whatever reason, Dan Sojin did not leave his place.
“I am fine.”
Dan Sojin could feel it. This was not something he could avoid simply by getting through this moment.
If the one who emerged from the formation was not Geomugeuk, then even if he fled now, he would die in the end anyway.
The dice had already been cast. He could only hope that the dice he had thrown, even while exposing himself, would show the number he desired.
How much time passed like that?
The dice that had been rolling came to a stop.
Just as they had vanished, they suddenly appeared.
“Ah!”
A cry of joy burst from Jihan’s mouth.
Geomugeuk, the Sword King, and the two Demon Venerables had appeared safe and sound. And not one of them was injured.
Everyone felt relieved at the sight of them.
“You have returned?”
Jihan welcomed Geomugeuk with a deeply moved expression. Taesu, of course, as well as Pung and Dan Sojin, were greatly pleased.
The one most delighted among them was Dan Sojin. In this matter, not only his own life but the survival of his entire family had been at stake.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon said to Geomugeuk,
“Recover your internal energy first.”
“Yes, Elder.”
Geomugeuk sat cross-legged on the spot and began circulating his qi. Then the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, the Ilhwa Sword Venerable, and the Sword King stood guard around him.
It was a scene that made one truly feel that Geomugeuk was the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The Sword King, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable were recalling the scene they had witnessed within the Space-Time Displacement Art. How could they easily forget that battle?
They remembered the sight of Geomugeuk evading the attacks of all twelve Zodiac Kings.
If Taesu or Jihan had seen that fight, they might have felt that the opponents were nothing special because Geomugeuk had avoided them so easily.
But they knew. They knew how difficult it was to avoid each and every one of those moves. Geomugeuk had fought all those people who unleashed such threatening attacks.
And then there was that one move they could never forget.
That final move that annihilated everything would be a sight they would remember until the day they died.
Geomugeuk, having finished circulating his qi, opened his eyes. Seeing the three of them guarding him, Geomugeuk made a fuss.
“Tell anyone in the martial world who has ever received protection from more incredible people than this to step forward!”
As Geomugeuk rose to his feet and was about to chatter away, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon moved first.
“First, let’s get out of this unpleasant place.”
The Iron King was dead, but the mechanisms on all sides were still open. There was no need to remain in a place like this.
They left the room and then exited the treasure-map tomb entirely. Through the passage they had entered by, they swam out through the pond as large as a lake.
After being in the stifling underground, coming outside felt refreshing.
Geomugeuk shouted in good spirits,
“Now I feel alive!”
It was not just that he felt alive. They had all truly come out alive.
Everyone’s gaze focused on him. Seeing their relieved expressions, Geomugeuk finally felt that this battle was over.
Geomugeuk looked up at the sky.
The Sword King and the two Demon Venerables, as well as the remaining four, followed Geomugeuk and looked up at the sky.
After they had looked up at the sky like that for a long while, Geomugeuk took care of Taesu first.
“Are you all right?”
Taesu had been thinking that he was the most unnecessary person here, so when Geomugeuk took care of him first, that single sentence made his heart surge.
“Yes, I’m all right.”
“I have a guess as to what it is you want to say to me. Do you still feel the same way?”
He had thought he wanted to live as Geomugeuk’s subordinate.
“I’m not sure.”
Taesu answered honestly. Geomugeuk nodded.
“Meet your father, think it over carefully, and decide slowly.”
In his life before regression, Geomugeuk had formed a connection with Taesu’s father, Taegon, and had been indebted to him. That was why he intended to give Taesu a chance.
“You can come a year from now, or you can come ten years from now.”
“May I really do that?”
At his trembling question, Geomugeuk nodded.
“But you must know this. Taking you into our cult may be possible because of your connection with me, but once you enter the cult, from that point on you must live your own life, one unrelated to me. It may even be difficult for you to see my face even once. That applies to Jihan over there as well. I will only be the trigger. The one who lives the changed life is you. Do not forget. Even if your environment changes, if you do not change, nothing will be different.”
Taesu looked at Geomugeuk in silence.
“When you are ready to take responsibility for your own life, come find me.”
“Thank you, Young Cult Leader. First, I must go see my father.”
He thought he should first apologize for the words he had said that day that had hurt his father.
After Taesu bowed respectfully to Geomugeuk and the others, he left the place.
Whether he would come to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, or live on treating this day as a memory from one time in his life, no one could know.
Geomugeuk thought it would be fine even if he did not come. Would it not be all right for there to be at least one thief who stole only from evildoers and helped the poor?
Geomugeuk went to Dan Sojin and Pung of the Sado Alliance.
“Martial Artist Pung, return directly to the alliance and report what happened.”
His mission was to report on this treasure-map incident, so now all that remained was for him to return and make his report.
“And as for the mechanisms installed in the Sword Tomb, the Sado Alliance should take care of the aftermath.”
Even if it was not the real tomb, it was nevertheless a place known as the tomb of Sado One Sword Ju Gasin, so Geomugeuk thought it was only right that they handle it.
“Yes, we will take care of it.”
Pung, who had walked some distance away, looked back at Geomugeuk and said,
“Thank you. If the Young Cult Leader had not been here, I would not have returned alive.”
He had not directly played an active role, but having witnessed all of it was his contribution.
“If I had not been here, they would not have been here either. So if anything, I should be the one apologizing to you, Martial Artist Pung. I am glad you are safe.”
Pung gazed at Geomugeuk for a moment, then cupped his fist respectfully and disappeared.
Now the only one remaining was Dan Sojin.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
He treated Geomugeuk with the utmost courtesy. It was not simply because Geomugeuk had saved his life. From the way he treated Jihan and Taesu, Dan Sojin could tell what kind of person he was. He was someone worthy of respect.
“I know that there is something they are trying to find in the tomb. By any chance, does the Young Cult Leader know what kind of object it is?”
“I do.”
But he could not tell him the truth exactly as it was.
“It is something utterly useless to anyone else. It is an object that has meaning only to them and to me.”
Judging by the faces of the enemies mobilized this time, Dan Sojin could guess that the object was truly important.
In his heart, he truly wanted to take Geomugeuk there and tell him to search for it. What Geomugeuk had saved was not only his life but his entire family.
“Do you remember that you agreed to grant me one request if I helped you, Family Head Dan?”
“I said I would grant it if it was a request I could fulfill.”
Dan Sojin anticipated Geomugeuk’s request. Naturally, it would be a request to let him enter the tomb. In a situation like this, what else would the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult ask of him?
But that was the judgment of a man who still did not know the person named Geomugeuk very well.
Geomugeuk’s request was truly something he had never imagined.
“When the Sado Alliance Leader passes away someday, please see to it that he is well attended.”
“!”
Dan Sojin was inwardly greatly shocked.
“Is that the request the Young Cult Leader intended to make?”
“It is. Please attend to him especially well.”
The Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was worrying about the Sado Alliance Leader after his death?
“Did you not wish to enter the tombs of the successive Sado Alliance Leaders?”
“Of course I want to enter.”
“Then why do you not demand that?”
Geomugeuk had already read his resolve.
“You intend not to reveal the location of the tomb even if you must give up your life, do you not?”
Dan Sojin had intended exactly that. He had meant to say that he would grant any other request, but not that one.
“That is correct. It is a duty handed down by our family law from long ago, so it is not something I can decide arbitrarily.”
“I thought as much. Would it not be a waste to throw away such a precious request on someone like that?”
No matter how important it was to obtain the bead, it was not something he should do by pressuring Dan Sojin to learn the location.
“Instead, I intend to search for the location of the tomb in my own way. It is truly important to me, and it will also be for the sake of your Baekchong Family. If I do not take possession of it, those bastards will target it until the very end.”
The process of obtaining the previous five beads had all come about through fate and connections. He had not obtained them out of greed, nor by forcing things recklessly.
“If my destiny is connected to it, I will obtain it.”
Dan Sojin would rather Geomugeuk discover the tomb himself.
‘But you will not find it easily, Young Cult Leader.’
And even if he did find it, it was not a place one could enter easily.
Whether he knew that thought or not, Geomugeuk was speaking in a carefree manner.
“Ah, and later, please take good care of my friend Sain as well. Sain will probably be handled by the next-generation family head, yes? When you pass down your position, please make sure to tell them I ask it of them.”
Dan Sojin could tell that those words were a sincere request.
The Young Cult Leader was not the person he had thought he was. Perhaps the dice he had thrown this time had numbers written on them that he had never imagined.
“Seeing you, Young Cult Leader, makes me think you are like the wind. I hope that from now on as well, you continue to live a fine life entrusting yourself to the wind like this.”
Dan Sojin bowed his head respectfully in farewell and left the place.
Geomugeuk turned toward the Sword King and the Demon Venerables.
When his eyes met the Sword King’s, Geomugeuk beat him to the punch.
“Don’t even dream of it. This time, you must come with me to our cult. Our Brother Ak has a woman waiting for him with all her heart!”
Just as the Sword King held back his answer for a moment,
the Blood Heaven Blade Demon spoke abruptly.
“Let us go together.”
The Sword King looked at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon said nothing more.
After gazing at him for a moment, the Sword King, for whatever reason, answered readily.
“Yes, let’s do that.”
Naturally, Geom Mugeuk voiced his complaint.
“What! When I asked you to go, you wouldn’t even answer me!”
“It’s different with you.”
“No, you can’t go! Bare feet, horsetail hair, sword riffraff—all are forbidden from entering the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
It was clear that the Sword King’s willingness to sacrifice himself for him had earned him tremendous points with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
A thought suddenly occurred to Geom Mugeuk. The free-spirited Sword King and the book-loving Blood Heaven Blade Demon—perhaps, unexpectedly, the two might get along quite well.
“Sword Venerable.”
“What is it?”
“What do you think of enshrining your maternal uncle here on Cheonmok Mountain?”
Inside the long pouch hanging from Geom Mugeuk’s leather bag were his remains.
Ilhwa Sword Venerable did not ponder for long. His uncle had roamed the martial world all his life, so it seemed fitting to lay him to rest here on Cheonmok Mountain, where he had undertaken his final life-and-death adventure.
“Let us do that. It is a good idea.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon said to Geom Mugeuk,
“You truly never forget or overlook anything.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had even forgotten the fact that they had recovered the body of Ilhwa Sword Venerable’s uncle from the Sword Tomb.
“Someday, there will come a time when I forget and overlook things every time as well.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Jihan and said,
“When that time comes, you’ll have to look after me.”
“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”
He answered energetically, but inwardly he was worried. I’m older than the Young Cult Leader, so wouldn’t I be even more scatterbrained by then?
For Geom Mugeuk’s sake, he thought he would have to live younger and keep his wits even sharper.
And so they buried the body and made a grave on a sunny hill of Cheonmok Mountain.
“Please go down first. I’ll look around here for a while before coming down.”
The Sword King asked, wondering if perhaps—
“Do you think the grave of the Evil Dao Alliance Leader is here?”
“Yes, I’m certain it’s somewhere on this mountain. It may take a few days, so please rest comfortably.”
The reason Dan Sojin had stepped forward personally, and the reason she had asked him for help, must have been because the pressure from those people had risen right up to her throat.
“I’ll go down first.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon turned away, and Ilhwa Sword Venerable and the Sword King followed him down. At least for today, the three of them had no desire whatsoever to protect Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk said to Jihan,
“Take good care of those three.”
“Yes!”
And so Geom Mugeuk was left alone on Cheonmok Mountain.
He looked around several peaks. Yes, it would not be easy to find.
But he had things those bastards behind the scenes did not.
He had the secret coffer, and within his body were the five energies.
Geom Mugeuk’s shout toward the last remaining energy echoed and rang out.
“Youngest, where are you? Your brothers are here.”