Gaye felt relieved.
Because Geom Mugeuk had said to the Lord of the Dark Palace what she herself had wanted to say.
If she wanted, he could curse him out even more?
If she followed her heart, she wanted to ask him to keep going until the Lord of the Dark Palace opened that door, came out, bowed his head, and apologized.
“Do not live your life holding back so much just because you are the Divine Maiden.”
The problem was that Geom Mugeuk’s intentions in saying such sweet words were far too obvious.
“No matter what you do, I won’t take your side.”
She added with a deliberate sigh.
“And you saw it, didn’t you? The Palace Lord did not open the door even when you tried to kill me. I have no value to you.”
Contrary to her words, however, she still believed in the Lord of the Dark Palace. The reason he had not opened the door even when Geom Mugeuk said he would kill her was probably because he knew Geom Mugeuk would not truly kill her.
“I know very well how good you are at bewitching people, so don’t waste your breath with pointless words.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and admitted it.
“That is true. With that bewitching art, I made the two finest people among yours into my people. Ah, I wonder what Brother Ak is doing right now. I hope he is not being bullied inside the cult because I am not there. Brother Ak, you must endure!”
He was saying something like that in this situation? Listening to him, Gaye truly felt that she could neither judge nor understand this young cult leader by her own common sense.
The reason Geom Mugeuk had mentioned them was to say this.
“If Brother Ak or Lady Cha were in the same situation, I would have opened the door and come out.”
Gaye bit her lip lightly.
“There’s no use trying to drive a wedge between us. That sort of provocation won’t open that door.”
But Geom Mugeuk’s attempt to sow discord was powerful.
“The Lord of the Dark Palace appeared before me twice earlier. Both times, he appeared as an illusion. And yet he sent you out in the flesh. Even though you could have been killed by me or by the Demon Venerables.”
Gaye’s chest grew tight. Even though she knew perfectly well that he was trying to drive a wedge between them, anger rose in her. It was all the worse because she had already gone through the experience of Heukno not protecting her.
“When we first met, you said it, didn’t you? That no prophecy would descend upon someone like me.”
“That was because you were acting far too shamelessly. I thought you would at least offer a word of apology to the Master of Cheonhwaru. ‘I had no choice but to summon you. I am sorry.’”
“Is one trivial phrase really so important?”
“Because that one phrase can change everything. Because missing the chance to say that one phrase may leave you living the rest of your life in regret.”
Gaye had never once thought of it that way.
“What meaning would an apology have after she had already been summoned?”
“That is not why you did not apologize, is it?”
Geom Mugeuk struck at the heart of her.
“Be honest. In your heart, did you not lack even the thought that you should apologize in the first place? Only now, after hearing my words, did you think, Ah, should I have done that? If so, then that is how the Lord of the Dark Palace raised you. You said I am good at bewitching people? Those are words you should say to the Lord of the Dark Palace first.”
She could not refute him. Geom Mugeuk pressed her mercilessly.
“You have not become the Divine Maiden of the Divine Maiden Palace, but a maidservant of the Dark Palace. That must be why prophecy descends upon the Master of Cheonhwaru, who left the palace.”
Gaye flared up and shouted.
“Shut up!”
Truth is always like a blade. It can protect you, and it can also wound you.
In Gaye’s case, it was the latter, and the wound was very deep.
“Fine, I still have no intention of apologizing. And even if I die, I will never take your side!”
Then Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.
“I am not doing this to make you take my side.”
“Then why are you doing this to me? Why did you pretend to be friendly?”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned back toward the door.
“I am merely trying to use you to open that door. You are the key that can open it.”
Since he said it so openly, Gaye was dumbfounded. At the same time, she was curious. How did he intend to open it?
“If I ask you just one question, that door will open.”
What sort of question could it possibly be? Geom Mugeuk’s question flew toward her.
“The six powers contained in that bead—how do you use them?”
In that instant, Gaye flinched. Judging from her expression and reaction, she knew the method.
“I could ask another question instead. Tell me what sort of person the master of the Heavenly Killing Star is, what story he has, and what abilities he possesses. Also where he is now and what he will do from here on. If you answer this question, I will spare you.”
Gaye gave no answer.
“The best way to take revenge on the Lord of the Dark Palace, who abandoned you, is to tell me the truth.”
It was at that very moment.
Srrrrrk.
The Dark Smoke guarding the door vanished, and the door opened on its own.
“Did I not tell you? You are the key.”
Gaye’s face hardened coldly. The Lord of the Dark Palace had opened the door out of fear that she might reveal the secret. Even though she had no intention of telling him, no matter what cruel torture she suffered.
It was not as if he had opened the door after even one of her fingers had been cut off. He judged my will to be worth only this much?
‘Just what does he think of me?’
Now she knew for certain. The Lord of the Dark Palace did not trust her.
Agitated, she shouted shrilly.
“The door is open now, so I have no value anymore, do I? Hurry up and kill me! Kill me! And you two high-and-mighty bastards had better fight each other and both die from your wounds! I’ll be watching to see who comes to hell first.”
The feeling of being abandoned made her miserable. Abandoned by the heavens, abandoned by the Lord of the Dark Palace, and now, to Geom Mugeuk, she no longer even had value as a tool.
Geom Mugeuk looked at her with calm eyes. He did not run toward that door he had opened with such difficulty. What would he do if it closed again?
If it were her, she would have cut the other person down at once and run.
But Geom Mugeuk was looking at her.
“Now that you have screamed, has your anger eased a little?”
The moment she heard those words, the strength left her. After making someone that furious, was that really something to say?
“Looking at your face makes me feel like my insides are going to burst and I’ll go mad.”
“Then stop looking and go.”
For a moment, Gaye was startled.
“You’re sparing me?”
“Is the life of a Divine Maiden not in the hands of people, but in the hands of those heavens?”
As if he truly intended to spare her, Geom Mugeuk turned around. From behind him, Gaye shouted.
“Tell me the real reason you’re sparing me.”
Geom Mugeuk thought of the Divine Maiden Palace Lord from three hundred years ago. The woman who had delivered the prophecy to him. Did you know your Divine Maiden Palace would become like this?
“Think of it as your ancestor helping you.”
Leaving behind those incomprehensible words, Geom Mugeuk walked toward the door. Watching him, Gaye did not leave that place. She ran over and walked side by side with Geom Mugeuk.
“My anger still hasn’t completely eased.”
Geom Mugeuk nodded and said in a low voice.
“The Divine Maiden Palace should have been like this long ago.”
And so the two of them entered the room where the Lord of the Dark Palace was.
* * *
Until the setting sun went down, they stood on the streets of Maga Village.
“We do not know when the Heavenly Killing Star will come, so until he does, why not wait comfortably inside the tavern? There is no need to waste your strength standing in the street before the fight even begins.”
At Cult Leader Pungcheon’s suggestion, Geom Ujin readily accepted his words.
As he had said, there was no knowing whether the Heavenly Killing Star would come today, tomorrow, a month from now, or never at all.
Even so, the reason Geom Ujin had set the Demonic Flame alight and brought them out was because of his son. He had felt that, with his son’s departure from the cult, the wheel of fate had begun to turn.
They entered the Pungryu Tavern.
Because Jo Chunbae had hurriedly emptied the tavern, the interior had not even been cleaned.
It was a place where the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader would stay; they could not have him sit in such a messy place.
“It seems we should clean this place up a bit.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon said playfully.
“Who is the youngest here? The youngest should clean it.”
At his joke of looking for the youngest among those present, everyone smiled faintly. Thanks to Cult Leader Pungcheon, at least the atmosphere was good.
Cult Leader Pungcheon glanced at the Poison King. Naturally, he had assumed the Poison King would be the youngest.
But an unexpected person stepped forward and revealed himself as the youngest.
“I am the youngest.”
It was none other than the Sword King.
“You are the youngest?”
“I am two years younger than the Poison King.”
Cult Leader Pungcheon shouted in surprise.
“I would believe it if someone said you were his son.”
“If you put it that way…”
The Sword King could not bring himself to say that, in that case, he would look like a grandson to him.
“But how do you know everyone’s ages?”
“I know the ages of everyone here.”
It was a remark that once again made them feel that he had once been their enemy.
“I will clean this place, so please go up to the second floor. Even if the Heavenly Killing Star comes, we still need to eat.”
They could not leave the cult leader standing, so for now, the Fist Demon and the Poison King escorted Geom Ujin up to the second floor.
Since, among them, the Sword King was the easiest for him to deal with and communicate with, Cult Leader Pungcheon remained on the first floor with him. He also felt somewhat sorry that, because he had needlessly brought up the matter of the youngest, the Sword King had ended up working.
Fortunately, the second floor was clean.
Geom Ujin sat in the seat where Geom Mugeuk always sat, and the Fist Demon sat across from him.
The Poison King sat separately at a nearby table. Because he knew the cult leader disliked poison arts, he deliberately sat somewhere inconspicuous.
The Fist Demon asked Geom Ujin,
“Are you uncomfortable? If you need anything, please tell me.”
“I am fine.”
The Fist Demon sensed that the cult leader was enjoying the tension on the eve of this decisive battle.
“It has been a long time since I felt an atmosphere like this.”
“Yes, it has.”
Others might not know, but the Fist Demon did. He knew how much this cult leader enjoyed fighting enemies.
If he could fight a powerful foe, he would gladly stay awake for days and nights, and he was someone who had once crossed the Central Plains from one end to the other without rest.
When freed from authority, the cult leader became a completely different person.
Everyone would probably be startled. The cult leader had this side to him? They would all think that.
At that moment, Cult Leader Pungcheon’s voice came from the first floor.
“You would have done well even as a waiter.”
Unable to hold back even for that short while, Cult Leader Pungcheon was evaluating the Sword King at work.
“Your wiping technique is extraordinary.”
In truth, with shabby clothes, a ponytail, and bare feet, if he had not been wearing a sword, one could believe he was an elderly waiter.
At a glance, it might have sounded offensive, but the Sword King did not mind at all.
“I have thought before that I might open an inn someday.”
“It suits you. It suits you very well. How about an inn where anyone who starts a fight inside must pay with their life? It would become known as the safest inn in the martial world. What should you name the inn?”
As Cult Leader Pungcheon excitedly chattered away, his stomach growled.
“Perhaps because I have talked so much, I am already hungry. Just how many meals a day does the young cult leader eat?”
“I will see if I can find something simple to eat.”
“Would you?”
Just then, the Fist Demon came down to the first floor and said,
“I will do it while preparing a meal for the cult leader.”
It might have seemed that he did not trust him enough to let him touch the food, but that was not the reason.
From the second floor, Geom Ujin said something unexpected.
“He cooked quite a bit in his younger days.”
When Geom Ujin and the Fist Demon had roamed the Central Plains in their youth, they had often cooked for themselves. Geom Ujin’s own skill at cooking had been learned back then as well.
The Sword King and Cult Leader Pungcheon looked at the Fist Demon with surprised expressions.
He cooked with those huge hands?
The large kitchen knife in the Fist Demon’s hand looked like a small fruit knife.
It was a precious scene.
While the Fist Demon chopped carrots in the kitchen, the Sword King held a rag and wiped the tables. And Cult Leader Pungcheon sat in a chair, watching them.
If someone were to paint this scene, the title of the painting would be this:
While Waiting for the Heavenly Killing Star.
Of course, it would become a painting no one could believe.
With those three having gone down to the first floor, only Geom Ujin and the Poison King remained on the second floor.
An awkward silence flowed between them, but even so, Geom Ujin had once gone to the Thousand Poison Forest and helped the Poison King with his poison combinations.
Geom Ujin spoke to the Poison King first.
“Your poison pouch is different from usual.”
The Poison King, who had been blankly staring out the window, lost in his own world, instantly returned to the real one.
“It is a pouch used for war.”
Geom Ujin spoke to the Poison King in a calm tone.
“This war is not your war.”
The Poison King lowered his head slightly. He thought the cult leader was saying it because he disliked poison arts, but that was not it.
“You must fight the war of protecting Mugeuk.”
“!”
The Poison King raised his head with a startled expression. The cult leader’s words were in preparation for the case in which he lost this battle.
The Fist Demon’s knife stopped, and the Sword King’s rag stopped moving.
Cult Leader Pungcheon’s head naturally turned toward the second floor.
“How will you protect Mugeuk from an enemy against whom my martial arts do not work?”
Their gazes intertwined in midair. The cult leader was asking the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s ultimate weapon: If I die, how will you protect Mugeuk?
After pondering for a moment, the Poison King answered calmly.
“I will protect him by making a threat only I can make.”
“What sort of threat? If he has enough skill to kill me, he may have reached immunity to all poisons.”
Then an unexpected answer flowed from the Poison King.
“It will not be a threat to poison him to death.”
“Then?”
“After hiding myself, I will send him this letter.”
The Poison King read out an imaginary threat.
“If you kill the young cult leader, I will poison every person in the world to death so that you can possess nothing. The martial world you seize will be a desolate one.”
It was the most vicious and terrifying threat in the world, and one that only the Poison King could make.
The destruction of the world.
Everyone listening fell silent. Because they knew the Poison King truly had the ability to do it.
The Poison King spoke calmly again. Considering how little he usually spoke with Geom Ujin, he was now having ten years’ worth of conversation all at once.
“But such a thing will not happen.”
Because the cult leader would absolutely never lose to the Heavenly Killing Star. They thought that would be his answer, but words they had never expected flowed out.
“I do not believe the young cult leader was born to balance the Heavenly Killing Star. For that to be true, the young cult leader is far too outstanding and admirable a person.”
The Poison King held a view different from what the Sword King had said earlier.
“Then what do you think Mugeuk was born for?”
At Geom Ujin’s question, the Poison King answered honestly.
“I believe the young cult leader was born to balance you, Cult Leader.”
“!”
Not only Geom Ujin, but also the three people on the first floor were shocked. They had not known the Poison King was thinking that.
“To me, you are more frightening than the Heavenly Killing Star, Cult Leader.”
Because he believed the young cult leader had been born to stop such a frightening cult leader.
“That is why the young cult leader frightens me most of all.”