The Drunken Demon floated up into the air.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon, realizing his injuries were severe, had stretched out a hand and employed Void-Grasping. A gentle energy wrapped around him and carried him this way.
“Ah, this is nice. So comfortable!”
He said that, but the Drunken Demon was gritting his teeth against the pain. No matter how gently he was moved, there was not a single place on his body that did not hurt.
The Demon Buddha and the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable, whose injuries were relatively lighter, walked over toward the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
The Dark Palace Lord merely watched. Even if he wanted to act, he could not.
The Extreme Evil Young Demon and the One-Flower Sword Venerable were watching his movements with cold eyes.
It looked as though they were only staring at one another, but an invisible, taut current flowed between them. It was the sort of tension where, if even a finger twitched, sword qi and astral force would whirl forth.
Although they held the advantage in numbers, the Demon Venerables could not attack him rashly either. The wounded on their side were one matter, but the Dark Palace Lord still had room to spare, and his presence was no ordinary thing.
The Drunken Demon, having flown across that taut tension, landed before the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
“How did you know to come?”
After parting from Geom Mugeuk, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the One-Flower Sword Venerable had gone to Taihu Lake in Jiangsu Province, as they had planned.
The two stood beneath a willow tree and gazed out over the lake. They had thought it would feel like their first time here, changed beyond recognition, but to their surprise, it looked just as it had in the past.
Memories of meeting the Cult Leader and the Fist Demon here came vividly back to them.
—Everything is the same, but only we have grown old.
At the One-Flower Sword Venerable’s wistful words, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon silently looked out over the lake. He thought that, in the past, he would have felt far more regret.
But now his heart had changed.
He had lived this far while bearing the weight of long years, and these days, that weight no longer felt only heavy.
—Isn’t that why there are good things, too?
To be honest, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon liked the present better than his youth. He liked these days of reading books beneath the sunlight more than those days when blood never dried on the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber. The same was true of his relationship with the One-Flower Sword Venerable.
The only regret was that this good present did not have much time left. But even that had been lengthened by Geom Mugeuk with the Stalactite Immortal Embryo and the Immortal Peach Spirit Fruit, so what was there to regret?
The One-Flower Sword Venerable knew very well what feelings lay behind the Blood Heaven Saber Demon’s words. Her own feelings were not greatly different.
She pointed to a tavern standing on the lakeshore in the distance.
—Do you remember that tavern over there? The Cult Leader bought us drinks there.
—I remember. It was a day when the Cult Leader was furious.
—So you do remember.
—Now that I’m here, it all comes back to me.
—Shall we go have a look?
The two slowly walked along the lake to that place and drank while reminiscing. The owner had changed, and the taste of the food had changed as well, but the two passed a pleasant time lost in old memories.
Starting with Taihu Lake, they toured many places. Both of them traveled mainly to places they had never been. They sought out famous scenic views, and even stood in line at inns where skilled chefs worked. Now they knew how to enjoy the act of waiting in line itself.
While roaming the Central Plains that way, they heard through Tongcheon Pavilion that demonic flames had flared up. Even during their travels, the two had periodically stopped by Tongcheon Pavilion branches to check whether anything had happened in the cult. The organization behind everything had not yet been completely uprooted, after all.
“Why did you come here instead of going to headquarters?”
At the Drunken Demon’s question, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon showed his firm trust in one person.
“The Cult Leader will surely handle things well enough, will he not?”
He could have stopped there.
“And besides, the Poison King and the Fist Demon are there too.”
When the Drunken Demon looked as if to say, Then what about this side? the Blood Heaven Saber Demon prodded his broken arm with a finger.
“Aaaagh! That hurts!”
Of course, he had not pressed it to make it hurt. After examining the arm here and there, he pressed several acupoints and properly treated the injury.
“Fortunately, it’s a clean break. If you rest and recuperate for a while, the bone will set.”
“What about my backside, my ribs, my knees, my neck, and my elbows?”
“Seeing as you’ve found them all properly, your head must be fine.”
The Drunken Demon smiled and bowed his head in thanks.
“You did well to come here.”
If they had not come, all of them would have died. These three Demon Venerables had saved their lives.
The reason the Drunken Demon could converse so leisurely with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon was because the One-Flower Sword Venerable and the Extreme Evil Young Demon were facing off against the Dark Palace Lord in a taut standoff.
For whatever reason, the Dark Palace Lord simply watched the situation unfold in silence.
In the meantime, the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable came over and handed the Drunken Demon internal injury medicine.
“It is far inferior to what you gave me, but please take this at least.”
Earlier, the Drunken Demon had given the internal injury medicine he treasured to her after she had risked her life to protect the Mistress of Cheonhwa Pavilion.
“Thank you, Soul-Seizer.”
As the Drunken Demon drank the medicine, he added awkwardly,
“If someone saw this, they’d think I fought alone.”
At that, the Demon Buddha held out Golden Wound Salve and said,
“You did fight alone.”
Receiving the salve he offered, the Drunken Demon replied,
“If I had, I would already be a corpse.”
As the Drunken Demon applied the salve to his body, he said,
“You must buy me drinks.”
“When you’re fully healed, invite me to the Drunken Dream Pavilion.”
“Alcohol is medicine!”
At that moment, the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable spoke cautiously.
“Please call me then as well.”
“Of course we should.”
During this trip outside the cult, the Drunken Demon had shared a deep bond with these two, the Demon Buddha and the Soul-Seizing Demon Venerable. As expected, for martial artists, there was no occasion that brought people closer than fighting with their lives on the line.
The Extreme Evil Young Demon, who had been silently watching the Dark Palace Lord, asked the Drunken Demon,
“Where is the Young Cult Leader?”
The Drunken Demon’s gaze turned toward the secret coffer lying off to one side.
“It may be hard to believe, but they say he was absorbed into that coffer. I didn’t see it myself, so…”
Naturally, the gazes of the three Demon Venerables who had arrived later turned toward the Dark Palace Lord.
“Then did that man do it to him?”
They had naturally assumed he had been trapped there by the Dark Palace Lord’s sorcery.
“They said it wasn’t that, but that the coffer absorbed him on its own.”
The Mistress of Cheonhwa Pavilion nodded, confirming that those words were true.
That meant the Young Cult Leader’s life and death were still unclear.
Naturally, the eyes of the Demon Venerables toward the Dark Palace Lord could only be cold.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon slowly walked before the Dark Palace Lord and asked,
“And yet, even in this situation, you have no thought of fleeing.”
Someone like the Dark Palace Lord ought to have at least one method of escape. Though three of the Demon Venerables were injured, this was still a place where six Demon Venerables were gathered together.
It was likely almost the first time in the history of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that six Demon Venerables had faced a single enemy like this.
Even in such a situation, the Dark Palace Lord was not intimidated in the slightest. Rather, with a meaningful smile that suggested he had something to rely on, he uttered words they could not understand.
“Do you think the situation changes just because more Demon Venerables have come?”
The Dark Palace Lord’s gaze turned toward one among them, the Extreme Evil Young Demon. Because there was some intent in that gaze, the Demon Venerables grew tense.
The moment the Dark Palace Lord’s eyes deepened, a dark demonic art unfolded.
Evil Heart Subjugation Art!
This demonic art, capable of controlling only wicked people, was the Dark Palace Lord’s ultimate martial art.
He had used the Evil Heart Subjugation Art, said to ensnare any wicked person without fail, on the Extreme Evil Young Demon, who was called the incarnation of evil.
‘The incarnation of evil, the Extreme Evil Young Demon, has come. Now you are mine.’
Of course, he could not completely dominate the other person. Depending on the target, he could control them for as short as fifteen minutes or as long as several days.
Naturally, it was a martial art that consumed a considerable amount of internal energy, and if it failed, he would suffer serious internal injuries.
‘I do not need even fifteen minutes. As long as I control him for half that, it will be enough!’
The three Demon Venerables from earlier had exhausted their internal energy, so there was no need to concern himself with them. He and the Extreme Evil Young Demon simply had to kill the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the One-Flower Sword Venerable.
The moment the Evil Heart Subjugation Art was used, time did not flow in reality.
The instant it was deployed, one entered that person’s own cave. The deepest place within the heart, the space of instinct that the other person desired. In that space, one had only to subjugate the evil heart and bring him out.
Until now, the places he had seen had been spaces strewn with corpses, rooms filled with treasure, or places overflowing with gluttony and lust.
But this time was different. The Dark Palace Lord stood in a room that was pure white in every direction.
The Extreme Evil Young Demon, too, stood alone in the center of that room, looking at the wall.
‘As expected! He is different from ordinary wicked men!’
The longer he dragged out the time, the greater the consumption of internal energy would become, so he spoke to the Extreme Evil Young Demon at once.
“Your darkness has called me. As your master, I command you. Follow me!”
When the Evil Heart Subjugation Art unfolded, the Extreme Evil Young Demon turned toward him. It was a demonic art that took hold more easily the greater the other party’s evil heart was, and this was none other than the Extreme Evil Young Demon.
‘You can never refuse me.’
The Dark Palace Lord rejoiced as he stepped out of the room. Now all that remained was for the Extreme Evil Young Demon to come out.
But the Extreme Evil Young Demon stood before the door and did not come out.
“Come out at once!”
Despite his command, the Extreme Evil Young Demon did not come out.
This was the first time someone had defied his order after forming a contract of subjugation.
Then something came into the Dark Palace Lord’s eyes.
A single line had been drawn across the front of the door.
‘What is this?’
It was, quite literally, just a line.
The Dark Palace Lord could tell that this was the reason the Extreme Evil Young Demon was not leaving the room.
When he carefully touched it, he could feel the line. It was a unique sensation, one he had never experienced even once since birth.
The Dark Palace Lord tried to pull the line and snap it. But the line did not break. Even when he drew up his internal energy to the limit and tried to sever it, it would not break.
This time, he created a blade of astral force and cut at it.
But that thin line was not cut. No matter what methods he used, it would not be cut. The line was stronger than ten-thousand-year cold iron.
“What on earth is this?”
This line was precisely the line the Extreme Evil Young Demon had once drawn with his own hand on that white wall.
There had been a time when Geom Mugeuk and the Extreme Evil Young Demon had confirmed their relationship with each other by drawing lines. Asking how far their relationship had come.
And at the end, the Extreme Evil Young Demon had personally drawn a line on the wall of his own room, which he had seemed as though he would never damage, and asked Geom Mugeuk,
—Second Young Master, how far have we come?
That very line was blocking the Evil Heart Subjugation Art.
Extreme Evil no longer crossed the line.
The Dark Palace Lord looked at the Extreme Evil Young Demon standing beyond that line.
When his gaze met the two eyes within the mask, the Extreme Evil Young Demon’s eyes smiled coldly.
At that moment, the open door slammed shut.
At the same time, the Evil Heart Subjugation Art shattered.
Craaaack.
As the dark demonic art failed, the Dark Palace Lord’s qi and blood twisted violently. The stronger the demonic art, the greater the backlash when it failed.
He swallowed down the blood surging up within him. The Dark Palace Lord desperately kept himself from revealing that he had suffered internal injuries.
Even now, in reality, the eyes of the Extreme Evil Young Demon facing him were smiling coldly.
Even in this moment when his demonic art had failed, the Dark Palace Lord was curious about that line.
‘What on earth was it?’
Though it had been only an instant, the Demon Venerables intuitively sensed that something had occurred between the Extreme Evil Young Demon and the Dark Palace Lord.
The Dark Palace Lord’s gaze turned toward another Demon Venerable. Now that he had even suffered internal injuries, it was impossible to face the three newly arrived Demon Venerables.
His initial plan had gone awry, but he still had one chance left.
Fortunately, there was someone here who was once known to be even more fearsome and brutal than the Extreme Evil Young Demon.
The Dark Palace Lord’s gaze turned toward the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
This attempt was a great gamble. Not only would the consumption of internal energy be enormous, but if he failed again, the internal injuries added to the previous ones would leave him gravely wounded.
Even so, the Dark Palace Lord attempted the Evil Heart Subjugation Art on the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. He had to turn at least one person to his side.
This time as well, the Dark Palace Lord found himself standing in a room.
This time, it was a room filled with books. A room that should have been filled with corpses was filled with books instead.
‘Where on earth is this?’
Books were piled not only against every wall, but also all around where he stood.
‘Could they be martial arts manuals?’
He flipped through the book lying at the very top of the stack before him.
‘A collection of poems and paintings?’
The book beside it was about growing flowers, and the one beneath it was a book on how to officiate a wedding ceremony.
‘Don’t tell me I’ve fallen into qi deviation?’
For a moment, he wondered if he had fallen into qi deviation because he had forced himself to use martial arts while suffering internal injuries.
Just then, a sound came from the corner.
Rustle, rustle.
The Dark Palace Lord turned his head in that direction.
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon was sitting in the corner, reading a book. The sight was so unfamiliar and strange.
‘Why are you reading a book in a place like this?’
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon was absorbed in his reading, and only the sound of pages turning could be heard.
The Dark Palace Lord spoke quietly to the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.
“Your darkness has called me. As your master, I command you—follow me!”
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon, who had been reading, rose from his seat and followed him out.
Now all he had to do was leave this room. Fortunately, the line that had been in the Extreme Evil Lesser Demon’s room earlier was not there.
The Dark Palace Lord tried to lead him out, but this time he could not find the door.
When he toppled a stack of books, another pile of books appeared beyond it. Beyond that were more books, and more books still. It was truly a room where books were piled up endlessly.
The longer he delayed, the more his inner energy continued to be consumed, so the Dark Palace Lord, flustered, searched between the books even more urgently.
Then the stacked books came crashing down on him.
At that moment, the Evil Heart Enslavement Art was broken.
Craaaack!
This time, the Dark Palace Lord could not hide the fact that he had suffered internal injuries.
“Gueeek.”
As he violently spat blood, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon said,
“What are you doing, all by yourself?”
His face flushed with humiliation, the Dark Palace Lord raised his head and looked at the Blood Heaven Saber Demon. In the cold gaze with which the Blood Heaven Saber Demon stared at him, there seemed to be no mercy.
He was so different from the way he had looked reading his book earlier that it felt as if he were another person entirely.
‘What in the world are these people?’
He had truly never dreamed that his ultimate demonic arts would fail one after another.
The Dark Palace Lord stretched his hand out to the side. His palm was aimed at the secret coffer.
“If you don’t leave at once, the Young Cult Master dies.”
That threat took effect. If Geom Mugeuk had been absorbed into that thing, then at the very least, it could not be allowed to be destroyed.
“Get lost, now.”
Silence flowed through the hall.
As the Dark Palace Lord drew up all the inner energy he had left, the dark gangqi gathering in his hand grew even more powerful.
“I really will smash it to pieces.”
If he was going to die anyway, he had no intention of dying quietly.
“If I go together with the Young Cult Master, it won’t be such a bad bargain.”
At that moment, one of the Demon Venerables uttered something no one had expected.
“Break it.”
It was none other than the Demon Buddha.
“What bluffing nonsense!”
“Break it! Smash it to bits!”
There was a definite reason for the Demon Buddha’s bravado.
“At last, the Eldest Young Master will become the successor!”
At his expression of genuine delight, the Dark Palace Lord’s hand trembled. It looked as though the gangqi might fly out at any moment.
At that hair-trigger moment!
Something happened that shocked everyone. Someone popped out of the secret coffer.
“Whoops!”
The person the secret coffer spat out was Geom Mugeuk. As he emerged from within, he had heard every word the Demon Buddha had said.
“This is exactly why I can’t afford to leave my post!”