The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was reading a book by the window of an inn room. Moonlight seeped in through the open window. It was an exceedingly cold light when it shone upon a blade, but in this moment, illuminating the pages of a book, it was so very soft and gentle.
“Aren’t you worried?”
The one who broke his deep contemplation was the One Flower Sword Venerable, who had been sitting at the table drinking tea.
It had already been seven days since Geom Mugeuk had failed to return. Geom Mugeuk was someone for whom the saying “no news is good news” suited perfectly, but after seven days without word, she had begun to worry inwardly.
At her concern, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon turned a page with an unconcerned expression and asked back.
“Who?”
It sounded almost as if he were answering, “Who’s worrying about whom?”
“That’s exactly why I’m more worried. He isn’t someone who would be this late.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon raised his head and looked out the window. The night was deep, and there was not a single passerby on the road. In truth, though he did not show it outwardly, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was worried inside as well.
If Geom Mugeuk had gone to kill someone, he would not have been this worried. He had stayed behind to find the tombs of the past leaders of the Evil Dao Alliance, but there was no way that sharp-witted Geom Mugeuk would still be looking for them now. He should have either found them in a few days or already given up and returned.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon closed his book.
“Will worrying make someone who won’t come return? Let’s go get some air.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable also set down her teacup and rose.
“I was feeling stifled anyway.”
The two left the room. Just then, Jihan came out from the room next door.
“Is there anything you need?”
From the first day they had taken rooms at the inn, he had been beside himself looking after the Demon Venerables and the Sword King. He carefully saw to their meals, and if a drunkard so much as raised his voice, he hurried over and drove him out.
As the Blood Heaven Blade Demon passed him, he seemed to suddenly remember something and turned back to say,
“You don’t have to fuss this much.”
“Yes, sir!”
When they came out of the inn, the One Flower Sword Venerable said casually,
“You’ve changed so much.”
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s look asking what it was this time, she said,
“You even show concern for your subordinate now.”
“Concern, my foot. It’s just annoying.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon walked on indifferently.
The change could be seen just from the way he walked. He was matching his pace to hers. In the past, his steps had been as quick as his impatient temper.
“Am I the only one who’s changed?”
At that, the One Flower Sword Venerable had nothing to say. Her state of mind had changed, of course, and even her appearance had changed as well.
“The Young Cult Leader cast a spell on us. He turned our twilight into sunrise.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon thought the One Flower Sword Venerable’s metaphor could not have been more fitting. Especially because, with this journey outside the Cult as the turning point, he had begun to feel as though he wanted to start everything over again. Yes. One did not stop because one grew old; one grew old because one stopped.
As they walked along exchanging all sorts of words like that, they saw the Sword King up ahead, sitting alone on a rock and drinking.
When the Sword King rose and greeted them, the two returned the greeting lightly.
For the past seven days since coming down from Cheonmok Mountain, they had been awkward with one another. In the underground tombs of Cheonmok Mountain, at least they had shared a common enemy, but now that Geom Mugeuk was gone, it felt uncomfortable to eat or drink together, so they had lived almost like strangers.
It seemed they would pass by awkwardly again today as well.
“Got any wine left?”
For some reason, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon expressed his intention to join him.
The Sword King first drank some wine himself, then held the wine bottle out to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. It was an action meant to show that the wine had not been poisoned.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon accepted the bottle and gulped down the wine.
“I don’t suspect you.”
Of course, the reason was Geom Mugeuk.
“Because you’re someone that child trusts.”
How could the Sword King be any different? If not for Geom Mugeuk, no matter how much they had stepped forward for his sake, he would never have associated with the two Demon Venerables. No, to begin with, there would have been no occasion for them to be together like this.
“May we sit for a moment?”
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s question, the Sword King readily answered,
“Of course.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable sat side by side on the rock where he had been sitting.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon took another sip of wine, then handed the bottle back.
In truth, the reason the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had stopped was because of the One Flower Sword Venerable. He knew she had gained a great realization from her duel with Ak Gunhak.
He thought she might want to speak with him, but could be keeping her distance out of needless consideration for him.
The One Flower Sword Venerable said to the Sword King,
“I saw you training every night.”
The Sword King had devoted himself to training every night. Judging only by his appearance or air, he seemed like someone who would never train, and yet he swung his sword until dawn.
“It was because of you, Sword Venerable.”
“Because of me?”
“Yes.”
The Sword King acknowledged and respected the One Flower Sword Venerable’s swordsmanship.
At this rate, she would eventually catch up to him.
Among all the people he had met so far, she was the only one who had given him that feeling. Geom Mugeuk, of course, was an exception.
Instead of saying that she would catch up, the Sword King put it this way.
“I felt that if we fought again, I might lose.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable knew. In their earlier fight, he had yielded a move to her.
“I wanted to bring about the result you mentioned, but if you train every day like this, it seems it will be difficult.”
“Weren’t you out training as well when you saw me?”
Because they held respect for each other, their gazes toward one another were gentle.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon listened to their conversation in silence. In the past, he would have been displeased by the One Flower Sword Venerable talking with another man. All the more so if that man was an absolute master like the Sword King.
He would have clung to her and felt jealous.
But now he knew. In order to win someone’s heart, rather than trying to possess them, one had to become someone with whom they could rest comfortably.
Sincerity would get through. And if it did not, then they had never been his person to begin with.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked up at the moon. From afar came the howling of wolves and the cries of owls. The conversation between the two as they naturally reviewed the previous fight and discussed swordsmanship was pleasing to hear.
How long had they been sitting there like that? From far away, at the end of the road, a familiar voice reached their ears.
“Come now, isn’t the atmosphere far too nice without me? You should have been fighting and raising a ruckus. You should have been desperately waiting for me to come back!”
Smiles appeared on all three of their faces at the same time.
The One Flower Sword Venerable said to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon,
“You were right. Who’s worrying about whom?”
Just as Geom Mugeuk drew near,
the Blood Heaven Blade Demon flinched and pointed his blade at Geom Mugeuk.
“Wait!”
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s warning, Geom Mugeuk stopped walking.
“What is this? Were you already won over while I was gone?”
Then the Blood Heaven Blade Demon asked coldly,
“Who are you?”
The first to notice the change in Geom Mugeuk was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. After all, he had seen Geom Mugeuk more often than the Sword King or the One Flower Sword Venerable.
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s warning, the Sword King and the One Flower Sword Venerable also sensed that something about Geom Mugeuk had changed.
“Elder, it’s me.”
Under the moonlight, Geom Mugeuk fully revealed himself.
“No. You are not the Young Cult Leader.”
It was clearly Geom Mugeuk, but there was a strange sense of incongruity. He felt different from the man they usually saw.
“It’s me, me. The very me who, whenever I go out of the Cult and come back, throws aside the masked fellow, the drunkard, and the poisoner, and runs to you first, Elder. I’m the Sword Venerable’s one and only sparring friend, and the very person who sincerely admires our Brother Ak’s bare feet!”
The gazes of all three focused on Geom Mugeuk.
The way he spoke was the same, but he had clearly changed. Had he grown taller? Or had his shoulders broadened?
The three most noticeable changes were his skin, his eyes, and the fragrance flowing from his body.
His skin looked clear and smooth like jade, and an incomparably pleasant scent came from him.
His eyes had always been clear and deep, but now Geom Mugeuk’s gaze seemed as though it could look into even the deepest abyss. The scent from his body made one want to remain by his side.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon took three or four steps toward Geom Mugeuk.
As he quietly examined Geom Mugeuk, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s eyes grew wider and wider.
“You… don’t tell me you underwent Bone Rebirth?”
At his trembling question, the Sword King and the One Flower Sword Venerable were also startled. It was truly something they had not expected at all. Geom Mugeuk did not hide the fact. No, he could not hide it.
“As expected! Our Elder recognized it first.”
Geom Mugeuk made a show of exaggerating.
“My bones were grinding away, my flesh was tearing apart. I really thought I would die from the pain.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked back at the One Flower Sword Venerable and the Sword King. The One Flower Sword Venerable’s voice transmission came to him.
—We may be witnessing one of the most important moments in the history of murim.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon wholly agreed with her voice transmission.
The Sword King, too, could not hide his shock. He had personally seen that Geom Mugeuk was someone with the fate to absorb the secret coffer, but even so, Bone Rebirth?
It was truly far too extraordinary a fortuitous encounter, and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon spoke for the feelings of all three.
“I cannot fathom what task murim intends to entrust to you that it is doing this.”
It was a will of the heavens that only Geom Mugeuk knew.
With a smile, Geom Mugeuk spoke of the life he would live after fulfilling that will.
“There hasn’t been a Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult in all murim history whose life goal was to loaf around and eat well, has there? It’s about time one appeared.”
“How grandly do you plan to loaf around?”
“You’ll be joining me later, won’t you? See for yourself then.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable cut in and said,
“Young Cult Leader, will you let me join as well then?”
“Of course.”
“You promised. Don’t ignore me just because I’ve grown old.”
“That’s my line. You mustn’t say you’re too busy with martial arts training to play! And Sword Venerable, if you mingle with us, you’ll look like a friend.”
Words that were pleasant no matter how many times she heard them were then delivered to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon as well.
“Look at how our Elder’s wrinkles have disappeared. I’ll have to call you big brother from now on. Brother Blade Demon!”
With an expression that said he was spouting nonsense, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon shook his head and asked,
“What about the matter you went for?”
“It ended well.”
Even without asking, Geom Mugeuk’s gleaming skin spoke of the result.
“Let’s return to the Cult early tomorrow.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the One Flower Sword Venerable nodded. The journey that had begun with the three of them riding out together in a carriage was finally coming to an end.
Geom Mugeuk pattered over to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and thrust out his face.
“Now, now, this isn’t something you get to see often. Touch this cheek here! It’s soft, baby skin. I’m telling you, try pulling it once.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon rose in disgust.
“We’ll continue our walk.”
“Yes.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable rose after him.
“No, where are you going! I’m telling you, it’s really smooth! This is your only chance to tug the Young Cult Leader’s cheek! No, even if you’re leaving, you should congratulate me before you go. Congratulations. You worked hard enduring it! You’ll become a legend of murim!”
But the two Demon Venerables pretended not to hear and quickened their steps even more.
Once they had moved away from Geom Mugeuk, only then did the One Flower Sword Venerable reveal her shock and admiration.
“I thought there would be nothing left to surprise me on this journey. Bone Rebirth? So it was possible after all.”
It was an absolute fortuitous encounter said to have been obtained by only a few people throughout the long history of murim.
Even having seen it with her own eyes, she could hardly believe it. If the other party had not been Geom Mugeuk, she would have thought it was some trick with ulterior motives.
“He’s insane. Or the heavens are insane.”
“Both are insane.”
Considering Geom Mugeuk’s actions until now, there was no other way to describe it.
Though they spoke that way, the two Demon Venerables were greatly pleased. Geom Mugeuk was someone they had to protect, even at the cost of their lives, now and in the future. More than anyone, they wished for that Geom Mugeuk to grow stronger.
“The ones behind this chose the wrong opponent.”
At a young age, he had achieved great completion in the Nine Flames Demonic Art, and now he had even undergone Bone Rebirth. Who, indeed, could be a match for Geom Mugeuk?
At her words, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon offered a different perspective.
“Perhaps the reason the heavens are giving the boy such a fate…”
Because he could not imagine that Geom Mugeuk would lose to anyone, he wondered if there might be another reason such fortuitous encounters were being bestowed upon him.
“The Cult Leader may truly push ahead with the unification of murim.”
The only being Geom Mugeuk could not defeat.
Could it be that such a fortuitous encounter had been granted to Geom Mugeuk because he stood in a fate meant to stop the Cult Leader’s ambition? That thought occurred to him.
The One Flower Sword Venerable also knew well that the Cult Leader would not easily give up his dream.
“If that is the case, then for the Young Cult Leader, that fight will be a far harder one.”
The One Flower Sword Venerable added worriedly,
“When that time comes, whose side should we stand on?”
* * *
Geom Mugeuk watched the two Demon Venerables disappear into the distance.
Contrary to the Demon Venerables’ worries, in this moment Geom Mugeuk was not thinking of his father at all.
All of the Twelve Zodiac Kings were dead.
“Now the real one will come out.”
The Sword King, who did not know of Hwa Mugi’s existence, thought that “the real one” referred to the Dark Palace Lord. Could the Dark Palace Lord, having lost all his subordinates, truly face this Geom Mugeuk?
“Brother Ak.”
The Sword King looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“Even if you’re going to leave when the time comes, stay and enjoy yourself to your heart’s content at our Cult first.”
“Why do you think I’m leaving?”
“Because everyone who asks that ends up leaving. Don’t give me pointless hope. It hurts.”
He wanted to keep the Sword King by his side no matter what. But what came before that feeling was the desire for him to live the life he wanted.
“I won’t stop you from leaving. But leave later. Much later. Spend plenty of happy days with me, then leave when you think, Ah, it’s no fun being with this fellow anymore. I’m sick and tired of these Demonic Cult bastards.”
Instead of answering, the Sword King looked up at the moon in the night sky.
‘If I have to leave when being with you is no longer fun, I’ll never be able to leave for the rest of my life.’
In truth, the Sword King’s heart was split in half. As much as he wanted to leave far away and live quietly among people who did not know him, he also wanted to stay beside Geom Mugeuk, who had been granted this astonishing fate, and watch what kind of life he would live.
“Whether I leave or settle down, first, what we need to do is…”
Though he knew perfectly well who it was, the Sword King pretended not to and added,
“Go see just how beautiful the woman you mentioned is.”