Perfect darkness in which nothing could be seen.
The Eternal Dark Prison.
Ordinarily, when trapped here, one would grope through the darkness, trying by any means to find a way to break it—how vast this space was, how to escape, whether someone else might be here.
But Geugak Soma did not.
He stood in the darkness. As if he could see something before him, he opened his eyes wide and stared into the dark. The sight was truly bizarre.
But the initiative was still entirely his.
‘He won’t collapse easily, but in the end, he will.’
The darkness of this place drove people mad. It burrowed into the human heart and unearthed every negative emotion within.
Fear and anxiety, helplessness, hatred, sorrow, guilt, weakness…….
Hoe had experienced many times just how easily, and how quickly, a human being could crumble.
Soon he would rage, and laugh like a madman. This was the Eternal Dark Prison, a place where even an iron-walled martial artist who had never shed a single tear in his life would wail in grief.
‘Now, collapse, Geugak Soma!’
As Hoe drew up even more inner force, the darkness grew thicker.
Yet when there was still no disturbance, Hoe finally provoked Geugak Soma himself.
“Do you know why I trapped you instead of Ian?”
His voice echoed from every direction, making it impossible to tell where he was speaking from.
“Because I judged that your death would be a greater shock to the Young Cult Leader than Ian’s.”
Hoe was certain that what could shake Geugak Soma’s heart the most was the safety of the Young Cult Leader.
Indeed, when Geom Mugeuk was mentioned, the silent Geugak Soma finally opened his mouth.
“You still know nothing about the Young Cult Leader.”
“What do you mean?”
After a brief pause, Geugak Soma said,
“Even if all of us die, the Young Cult Leader will not waver.”
“!”
“He will probably become even colder.”
Hoe could feel that Geugak Soma truly believed that.
“That is why, in the earlier fight, the one who should have protected Squad Leader Lee was not me, but you. With the resolve that if that woman were injured or killed, we would truly all die.”
Geugak Soma’s words, delivered through the darkness, made Hoe’s heart sink.
“Then your death will be a death without meaning.”
“Why seek meaning in death? Meaning we never even sought in life.”
Hoe’s provocations and goading had no effect at all.
This time, Geugak Soma asked,
“What exactly have you prepared on that ship?”
Hoe understood. The reason this taciturn man had conversed with him was to ask this very question. To learn anything he could from him and tell Geom Mugeuk.
“You are mad for the Young Cult Leader.”
If he had had such a person as a subordinate….
“What you said was wrong. If the Young Cult Leader loses someone like you, he will go mad and run wild.”
The aura of darkness grew even stronger. Stronger, and stronger still. Hoe poured in the utmost internal power he could muster.
But instead, the two eyes behind Geugak Soma’s mask were smiling.
“Thank you for bringing me to a place like this.”
With those incomprehensible words, Geugak Soma drew his dagger.
Even the blade of the dagger did not reflect in this darkness.
But when Geugak Soma drew the dagger through the air—
Swish.
A pure white sword line cut through the darkness.
Naturally, it should have vanished into the dark, yet the sword line remained as it was.
The darkness surged in to erase that line, but the mark left by Geugak Soma’s dagger did not disappear.
“!”
Hoe was startled. This had never happened before.
Something even more astonishing followed.
Geugak Soma began to perform the Sohyang Dagger Art within the darkness.
The lines forming in the air were unique and extraordinary trajectories, ones that only the highest level of martial learning could leave behind.
And astonishingly, the traces left by the dagger remained in the darkness, shining with pure white light.
Srrrrrr.
No matter how the darkness swarmed in and tried to erase those lines with darkness, they would not be wiped away.
Hoe could not understand this phenomenon at all.
“How in the world did you do that?”
Geugak Soma’s training in the pure white room had been training to cultivate extreme concentration within tranquility of mind. It was training to deeply contemplate good and evil, and further, to comprehend the principles of martial arts.
When he entered the Eternal Dark Prison, Geugak Soma realized it.
His pure white room and this room of darkness were, in the end, the same room.
For what Geugak Soma had been looking at in his white room was not light, but darkness.
Because he had stood there alone, looking upon his own life as he lived the life of absolute evil.
That was why this place felt comfortable. As if he had entered his own room.
Just as the Dark Flower Spirit could not deal with the Drunken Demon, the Eternal Dark Prison could not hold Geugak Soma. He overwhelmed this dark demonic art, and this room became his own.
Geugak Soma was engraving light into the darkness with the Sohyang Dagger Art.
And after displaying every technique, he slowly observed the trajectories.
Where else would he have the chance to see, so vividly with his own eyes, every trajectory of the martial techniques he had unfolded?
It was something possible only when Geugak Soma and the Eternal Dark Prison met.
And that was not all.
Geugak Soma stepped to the side and began to display the Sohyang Dagger Art again.
This time, too, the darkness tried to erase the traces of the techniques he left behind, but the pure white sword lines did not disappear.
Geugak Soma examined the Sohyang Dagger Art he had just performed again, comparing it to what he had displayed before.
“You madman! Are you training in martial arts inside my Eternal Dark Prison right now?”
Hoe’s agitated voice rang out. By oath, he had never once imagined that something like this could happen within his unique demonic art.
He nearly suffered internal injuries from his blood and qi flowing backward. This was a different matter from the aura of darkness simply not working.
“Stop it! You lunatic!”
But Geugak Soma did not stop. As if this were a fated opportunity that had come to him only once in his life, he unfolded the Sohyang Dagger Art again. As if he intended to complete the Sohyang Dagger Art here today before leaving.
The agitated Hoe shouted,
“Are you not worried about the Young Cult Leader? What would he say if he learned you were leisurely training in martial arts here?”
The two eyes behind Geugak Soma’s mask smiled brightly.
“The Young Cult Leader would be the happiest of all.”
Hoe poured in the last of his inner power and strengthened the dark aura, but just as the moon shines brighter the darker the night, the trajectories left by the Sohyang Dagger Art only grew clearer.
In his agitation, Hoe realized it. The one being affected by this aura of darkness was none other than himself.
‘He was never an enemy I could handle in the first place.’
As countless shining sword lines appeared, the space gradually grew bright.
This training performed alone in the darkness was both martial arts training and the process by which Geugak Soma sought the light.
And when that space was filled with light—
Flash.
For a moment, it seemed everything in all directions became brilliantly bright, and then the two of them were standing where they had originally been.
Blood was gushing from Hoe’s mouth. As the Eternal Dark Prison was broken, he too had suffered a fatal wound.
With the blood vessels throughout his body severed, Hoe gasped painfully for breath.
“……Kill me.”
Geugak Soma quietly looked into Hoe’s suffering eyes. The eyes behind the mask held no hatred or resentment toward the one who had tried to kill him. Rather, they were gentle.
“Your darkness was comfortable to me.”
Shiiik.
Geugak Soma’s dagger cut through the air and freed him from his pain. The last thing Hoe saw was the character for “smile” that Geom Mugeuk had engraved on the dagger.
Ian, Chairan, Cheongmyeon, and Jangho, who had been waiting outside, respectfully paid him their courtesies. Because Geugak Soma had suddenly been dragged into the darkness, all of them had waited in tension.
But Geugak Soma had returned alive and unharmed.
They had already known it, but now they had experienced it firsthand once again.
Just how frightening beings called Demon Venerables were.
Geugak Soma stood by the lakeside and silently gazed at the Wealth-and-Honor Ship.
Ordinarily, it would have been a situation where they should be tense over what might pop out next. But with Geugak Soma beside them, their hearts were at ease.
Ian thought that Geom Mugeuk was truly enviable. How wonderful would it be to have even one person like that by your side as you lived your life?
At that moment, Chairan’s sound transmission flew in.
—Do not be too envious.
How sharp her instincts were.
—I’m not envious. If I had to say, I am someone closer to Lord Soma than to the Young Cult Leader.
—What do you mean by that?
—I mean I am not a vessel capable of holding someone like him. I am the sort of person who would rather follow, and like someone. Even if I were abandoned afterward, that would be easier on my heart.
At that sound transmission, Chairan smiled.
Ian thought this kind of relationship was not bad either. After all, it was no easy thing in life to meet someone to whom you could convey your honest feelings like this.
Yes, so what if the vessel of my heart is only a soy sauce dish? I can live by holding soy sauce. What matters is living without spilling it!
Ian’s gaze turned once more toward the distant Wealth-and-Honor Ship.
‘So, greatest vessel in the world, hurry and come out, and hold all of us little vessels!’
* * *
An urgent report flew into the Murim Alliance Leader’s Hall.
“The Demon Flame has risen from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
At the report from Jegal Hyeon, the Murim Alliance’s Chief Strategist, not only Alliance Leader Jin Paecheon but also Jin Hagun, who was with him, were startled.
Since Geom Ujin had ascended to the position of cult leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Demon Flame had not risen even once.
“With the rising of the Demon Flame, every branch and sub-branch of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult has entered an emergency system.”
Jin Paecheon worried that the very thing he had been anxious about until now was occurring. He trusted Geom Mugeuk, but he did not trust Geom Ujin.
Jegal Hyeon knew what the Alliance Leader was worried about.
“Fortunately, there are no signs of war breaking out.”
If so, that meant the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had fallen into danger.
“There is one more piece of news.”
The added news was even more astonishing than the fact that the Demon Flame had risen.
“After sealing off the main headquarters of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the Demon Cult Leader and the Demon Venerables came out to Maga Village.”
Jin Paecheon was also the leader who headed the Murim Alliance. How could he not know what that meant?
It meant a powerful enemy was heading toward them—one formidable enough to put the Demon Cult Leader on edge, and even force him to bring the Demon Venerables out with him.
“It is likely related to the appearance of the Heavenly Killing Star this time.”
Naturally, the Murim Alliance also knew about the appearance of the Heavenly Killing Star. They had taken the matter seriously and were observing the murim carefully.
“It seems they have judged that the one born under the Heavenly Killing Star is coming to them.”
Jin Hagun, who had been silently listening to the two men’s conversation, wore a stiff expression. When Geom Mugeuk had left the cult leading the Demon Venerables earlier, he had not been this worried.
But afterward, the appearance of the Heavenly Killing Star had made his heart drop, and now even the Demon Flame had risen.
There had been countless incidents until now involving the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and Geom Mugeuk as well, but this was the first time he had ever been this worried about them.
‘Mugeuk, are you all right?’
If he followed his heart, he wanted to run there immediately.
“Was there no message from the Divine Cult regarding that matter?”
“There was none.”
Jin Paecheon’s expression hardened.
We raised the Demon Flame for this and that reason; it seems the one born under the Heavenly Killing Star is coming.
How good would it be if they gave even a rough hint? But as always, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult handled matters independently.
Then again, before Geom Mugeuk appeared, they had been the same. Rather, they had worried that the Divine Cult might learn of important matters.
At the Murim Alliance headquarters, the Heavenly Dragon Decree—the highest level of emergency alert—had already been issued due to Geom Mugeuk’s departure from the cult.
“What do you think we should do?”
“If, as the Divine Cult believes, the one born under the Heavenly Killing Star truly exists, there is no guarantee that he will not come to our alliance.”
Jin Paecheon slowly nodded. Surely, that person was connected to the hidden force against which the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions had fought together until now.
“Please recall all the experts who are outside, and permit the operation of every formation and mechanism within the alliance.”
If they did that, the Murim Alliance as well would become an ironclad fortress and enter a complete wartime system.
“Do so.”
“Yes, I will implement it immediately.”
When Jegal Hyeon left, only Jin Paecheon and Jin Hagun remained there.
Jin Paecheon walked to the large window beside the grand chair and looked outside.
Jin Hagun read one thought from his grandfather’s back.
“Do you wish to go help the Demon Cult Leader?”
Jin Paecheon looked back at his grandson.
“I said it because, somehow, that seemed to be the case.”
Astonishingly, Jin Paecheon had felt the desire to go help Geom Ujin.
Through the tripartite talks, they had promised to face the enemy together, yet knowing he had fallen into danger, he had instead barred the door. Given Jin Paecheon’s nature, it sat ill with him.
The Demon Cult Leader was a man whose very face made him uncomfortable, but he wanted to help him. It was not so much a rational judgment as an emotional impulse.
“If the Demon Cult Leader dies because of this, where do you think the sword that brought down the Demon Cult will point next?”
Even for the sake of the Murim Alliance, it was something he had to do.
“Then why are you hesitating?”
Because of one single possibility.
It was not because he feared the Heavenly Slaughter Star, nor because he was afraid of the disgrace in the jianghu that would come from having aided the Demon Cult.
“What if that Heavenly Slaughter Star comes to our alliance?”
What if, while he was away, the Heavenly Slaughter Star descended upon this place? What if his grandchildren died, and the warriors of the Murim Alliance were killed? It would truly remain an eternal regret.
Then Jin Hagun said something he had not expected.
“Isn’t that the very heart with which you have protected the alliance all your life, Grandfather?”
“!”
“I think it would be all right, just this once, for you to follow where your heart leads.”
Knowing that his grandson was saying it for his sake, Jin Paecheon gently rebuked him.
“That is a rash thought.”
In truth, Jin Hagun had said it because he was certain of one thing.
“The Heavenly Slaughter Star will not come to our alliance.”
At the look asking why, Jin Hagun answered calmly.
“Because if they had judged that to be the case, the Divine Cult would have sent word for us to be careful.”
It was a statement born from his deep faith in Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“I think I understand now why the Young Cult Leader came out leading the Demon Venerables without sending word. That bastard intends to fight the final battle without our help. After telling us that if anything happened, we absolutely had to let him know. He’s acting cool all by himself.”
That was why he wanted to run over there at once and shout at him. At the next gathering, start by drinking three bottles as punishment!
“I believe the appearance of the Heavenly Slaughter Star is also a fate that began with that friend. The Heavenly Slaughter Star must surely have headed for the Divine Cult.”
Jin Paecheon silently looked down over the Murim Alliance, where formations were being deployed and mechanisms had begun to operate.
When his grandfather said nothing more, Jin Hagun bowed respectfully and withdrew.
Even after his grandson had left, Jin Paecheon gazed out the window for a long while.
At last, when he turned around, a single sword stood beside the grand preceptor’s chair.
Astonishingly, that sword was the Gentleman Sword, which Jin Hagun had received as a gift from Geom Mugeuk.
Foremost of the ancient swords, the Gentleman Sword.
Jin Paecheon walked over slowly and picked up the Gentleman Sword.
It seemed his grandson had thought he might leave. If by any chance he did go, he must have left it there for him to take. With the belief that if the Gentleman Sword were held in his grandfather’s hand, he would be invincible under heaven.
Perhaps this deeply considerate grandson was asking him a favor.
Grandfather, please help my friend’s father.
Jin Paecheon looked down at the Gentleman Sword with deepened eyes and said,
“This is exactly why I feel like going to that man and boasting about my grandson.”