Needless to say, even the Dark Palace Lord was startled.
Even then, the Dark Palace Lord still had his hand extended toward the Secret Coffer.
Quick-witted Geom Mugeuk grasped the situation at once.
“You were going to break this? Not a chance. It will never break.”
Three hundred years ago, even when the Heavenly Demon Hyeok Docheon had hammered it with his fists like a madman, the Secret Coffer had not budged.
“And as you can see, hostage-taking doesn’t work on those cold-blooded, heartless Demon Venerables!”
Then he shouted at Demon Buddha.
“Break it? Smash it to pieces? I was inside that thing!”
The Drunken Demon turned to the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable and made a gesture as if to say that now was finally the time to put in earplugs. At the sight, the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable smiled.
With Geom Mugeuk’s appearance, the atmosphere changed at once.
“Have you still not given up on my brother?”
Demon Buddha’s deep relief could be felt. He had bluffed in front of the Dark Palace Lord, but how could he have meant it?
He had shouted because he was certain the Dark Palace Lord could never destroy the Secret Coffer. Since he had suffered internal injuries and even coughed up blood, that Secret Coffer had been his final hope.
Of course, he had been certain, but who knew what might happen in this world? What if that bastard really did smash the Secret Coffer? Demon Buddha’s heart had truly been pounding as if it would burst. At this moment, the one happiest to see Geom Mugeuk was him. Of course, he expressed it like this.
“The First Young Master might have become the successor. What a shame.”
Demon Buddha glared at the Dark Palace Lord and said,
“Why did you hesitate so much? You should have just smashed it.”
Geom Mugeuk turned to the Dark Palace Lord and said,
“See? I told you they were vicious people.”
Despair flashed across the Dark Palace Lord’s face. Three unharmed Demon Venerables, and now Geom Mugeuk as well.
On the other hand, his Greed Great Annihilation Art had vanished, even his ultimate demonic arts, the Dark Heaven Star Soul Art and the Evil Heart Subordination Technique, had failed, and he had suffered severe internal injuries.
Now there was only one move left to him. The one move he had saved for the final moment of his life.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Ilhwa Sword Venerable and feigned surprise.
“Wait, why are you two here?”
The Blood Heaven Saber Demon shook his head with an incredulous expression. It really was just like Geom Mugeuk. To think he could startle people like this.
“We heard there was an uproar because someone had gone and crawled inside a lump of metal.”
“I didn’t go in. I was dragged in. Phew, if you knew what I saw, you’d be shocked.”
Geom Mugeuk glanced at the Dark Palace Lord. He was staring at Geom Mugeuk with eyes shadowed in darkness.
“Curious what I saw?”
Geom Mugeuk acted as if he was about to tell him.
“I’m not telling you.”
For an instant, the Dark Palace Lord’s face twitched. Truly, as soon as he returned, this young cult leader reminded him anew of just how infuriating he could be.
Watching that, the Ilhwa Sword Venerable smiled.
“It seems the Young Cult Leader did not change inside the Secret Coffer.”
Geom Mugeuk asked her,
“Did you enjoy your journey?”
“It was the most enjoyable journey of my life.”
A pleasant smile appeared on the face of the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, who stood beside Jayeon.
“Don’t let this be the only time. Please travel often.”
“I intend to. Next time, I’m thinking of going to the southern region.”
Geom Mugeuk did not forget the words the Blood Heaven Saber Demon liked hearing most these days.
“You’ve somehow grown even younger while I wasn’t looking!”
He needlessly averted his gaze, but his smile only deepened.
After exchanging greetings with the two of them, Geom Mugeuk next attended to the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable.
“Soul-Subduer, are you all right?”
“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”
She, too, had suffered internal injuries, but they were not serious.
“By any chance, did those two bully or torment you for being the youngest? Did they dangerously make you take the lead?”
“If anything, I was overprotected.”
The Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable was overjoyed to see Geom Mugeuk again.
Since she had survived, her chance to become the first Demon Venerable of the next generation’s Demonic Cult Leader had survived with her.
Now she intended to add one more thing to that.
The future Demon Venerable whom the Cult Leader trusted most.
Just as the current Cult Leader had the Fist Demon, she wanted to stand in that place beside Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Drunken Demon, then made a belated fuss.
“No! Who on earth did this to our esteemed Drunken Demon?”
Geom Mugeuk glared at the Dark Palace Lord and said,
“Was it you? It was you, wasn’t it? You bastard!”
Just then, the Drunken Demon’s voice came from behind him.
“Why don’t you stop acting?”
“Acting?”
Unable to hold back, the Drunken Demon shouted,
“If you were that worried, you should have come to me first! You should have checked on me first! I was hurt the worst! And now you come to me last and pretend to be worried?”
Geom Mugeuk sidled over and lightly touched the Drunken Demon’s broken arm.
“What kind of Demon Venerable goes around breaking his arm?”
The three Demon Venerables who had arrived later could guess from that fact alone how difficult this fight had been. For someone at the level of a Demon Venerable, a broken arm was something unimaginable.
“I got drunk and fell on my face.”
“You should be more careful.”
The Drunken Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk’s hand holding his arm.
From that faintly trembling hand, he could feel Geom Mugeuk’s emotions.
Thank you for staying alive, brother.
At that moment, Demon Buddha said calmly,
“The Drunken Demon saved us.”
The Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable also nodded with an expression that said the same.
“That’s why I came late. The protagonist appears at the end, and you go to the protagonist last.”
Leaving behind the Drunken Demon, who looked needlessly proud, he turned toward the Extreme Evil Young Demon. From behind him, the Drunken Demon shouted,
“I’m not the last one!”
Pretending not to hear, Geom Mugeuk looked at the Extreme Evil Young Demon.
It was clear that he, who had been in charge of the outside, had brought in the two Demon Venerables who had joined them. His precise judgment must have saved them all.
The Extreme Evil Young Demon asked with a smile,
“Did you have a good trip?”
Because the Extreme Evil Young Demon had been there, he had been able to travel to the world three hundred years ago with peace of mind.
“Thanks to you, I did.”
The Dark Palace Lord watched with his eyes, but he could not understand their relationship. He had heard countless reports that Geom Mugeuk was close to the Demon Venerables.
But seeing it in person was shocking. He exchanged jokes like this with Demon Venerables? They exchanged gazes of such trust? It was a gaze he himself had never experienced even once. Not even from Hoe, who was his own hands and feet.
Once Geom Mugeuk finished greeting the Demon Venerables, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon asked with a curious expression,
“What on earth happened inside that lump of metal?”
He had said he would not tell the Dark Palace Lord, but to the Blood Heaven Saber Demon he answered honestly.
“The Secret Coffer showed me the time three hundred years ago, when Cheonui Palace started the war.”
He did not say that he had gone directly three hundred years into the past. They would simply think the Secret Coffer had shown him the past.
Amid everyone’s surprise, Geom Mugeuk asked the Dark Palace Lord. Now, he no longer concealed that name.
“What kind of person is Hwa Mugi?”
“!”
It was the first moment he had ever directly mentioned Hwa Mugi to anyone.
The Dark Palace Lord’s eyes flew wide open. He had never imagined that name would come from Geom Mugeuk’s mouth. Even the Divine Maiden Palace Lord Ga Ye had only known of his existence, not his name.
“The Secret Coffer told me that name.”
The Demon Venerables understood. The being Geom Mugeuk had vaguely feared was this person called Hwa Mugi. The Dark Palace Lord was not the final enemy.
The Dark Palace Lord’s gaze turned to the Secret Coffer.
“This Secret Coffer is our sacred relic. Why would it go to you?”
“To be precise, it’s the sacred relic of Cheonui Palace. You are a descendant of the Dark Palace that existed beneath Cheonui Palace.”
The Dark Palace Lord was curious. Why had the Secret Coffer absorbed Geom Mugeuk rather than him? In what way had the Secret Coffer revealed the truth? And what else had it told him?
“Do you have nothing to tell me?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, the Dark Palace Lord gave no answer.
Then Geom Mugeuk drew the Black Demon Sword without hesitation.
“Fine. I’ll respect your wishes.”
The three Demon Venerables standing behind him also raised their internal energy in unison, preparing for battle.
As they looked ready to charge at any moment, the Dark Palace Lord quickly said,
“He is not someone the likes of you can handle.”
Of course, Geom Mugeuk knew very well why he was so confident. With those five souls and their internal energy dwelling within him, how could he believe Hwa Mugi would lose to anyone?
“If you have heard of him, you should also know this is no time to be acting at ease here.”
The Dark Palace Lord was trying by any means to separate Geom Mugeuk from them and send him to the main headquarters. That, at least, was the thin thread of hope by which he might survive.
“You’re asking why I don’t run to my father right away? I’ll go. But even if I go, I have to kill you first. I’ll watch you die completely in front of me before I leave. That’s why I came out in the first place.”
Because as important as that place was, this place was important too.
But the Dark Palace Lord interpreted Geom Mugeuk’s composure differently.
“That is not it, is it? If your father dies, you can become the Cult Leader.”
At their conversation, the Demon Venerables’ gazes darkened. It was not because they suspected Geom Mugeuk of having such intentions, but because of the martial prowess of this man called Hwa Mugi.
Judging from the conversation, Hwa Mugi seemed to possess enough force to kill the Cult Leader. Geom Mugeuk, too, seemed to acknowledge it.
“As you can see, the people of our family bloodline aren’t the sort to meekly hand over their positions.”
The Dark Palace Lord laughed coldly. In his mind, Hwa Mugi’s defeat had never existed from the beginning.
“In any case, you will all die. Not just you—the Martial Alliance and the Evil Path Alliance will all be swept away. You have ruled this murim for far too long. Now a new era will open.”
Geom Mugeuk stared at him and said,
“Even if that happens, it will not be your success. Nor will it be your era. At best, you will become Hwa Mugi’s subordinate.”
Anger surged within the Dark Palace Lord. Because that was what he hated hearing most.
“Do you know why you failed?”
The words he hated hearing were only beginning now.
“You stayed in the darkness for far too many years. The darkness devoured you.”
“Of course it did. I am the Dark Palace Lord.”
“Because you are the Dark Palace Lord, you should have come out into the light. Only when you had the light at your back would you have been able to see exactly what your darkness was.”
Geom Mugeuk began to shake his heart.
“Since this is the end anyway, I’ll be honest. I was disappointed when I met you in person. You weren’t as impressive as I had imagined. Ah, of course, from the methods you chose up until now, I had expected you to be someone insignificant. But still, I thought you might have a different kind of style when I saw you directly. Yet you had none. And I understood why.”
The Dark Palace Lord felt humiliated and ashamed.
“You had hardened like a fossil in that darkness over far too many years. You had even forgotten what it meant to be impressive.”
“Shut up!”
At the torrent of blunt criticism, the Dark Palace Lord roared.
“I have lived my entire life sacrificing myself for the great cause of this palace. I have lived with only the thought of vengeance!”
But that great cause did not work on Geom Mugeuk.
“Then why did you not have a successor?”
“What?”
“If your true purpose was the great cause, you should have had a successor. If you could not achieve it yourself, you should have passed that will on to a successor and made them achieve it. Because even as time passed, that noble will would not change. But you did not have a successor. Shall I tell you why? Because you were not fighting for a great cause. You only had the greed to become the master behind the scenes and rule this murim.”
The Dark Palace Lord glared fiercely at Geom Mugeuk. Truly, no one could ever know just how infuriating this Geom Mugeuk was unless they experienced it themselves.
At last, the Dark Palace Lord began to speak of himself.
“This was my father’s dream.”
The moment a distant memory crossed the Dark Palace Lord’s face, the Soul-Subduing Demon Venerable understood.
When she had entered the Dark Palace Lord’s mind during the earlier fight, the person he had been looking up at with a bright smile had been his father.
Had he come this far with only that one good memory?
“The power we obtained was not something an ordinary human could handle. Countless people died because of that power. After learning that only a human born under the aura of the Heavenly Slaughter Star could accept that power, I spent my entire life searching for that destiny. After that, I spent a long time trying to find the Six Paths Primordial Qi in order to control the power contained in the Heavenly Slaughter Star. And you, a mere man born as the Heavenly Demon’s son who has lived in comfort, dare mock that life of mine?”
The Dark Palace Lord’s rage burst forth. His internal injuries flared up, and blood trickled from his mouth.
Geom Mugeuk, on the other hand, was calm.
“You say you inherited your father’s dream and are trying to fulfill it? What a filial son. I am an unfilial son trying to stop my father’s dream.”
He meant it sincerely, but to the Dark Palace Lord, it sounded like mockery.
A deep aura of darkness flowed from the Lord of the Dark Palace’s eyes. One could sense that he had steeled himself for something.
“How do you think I designed my end?”
“You’re not the sort to end things in any grand fashion, so you’re probably thinking of dying together with us somehow. With some trifling self-destruction art.”
He had expected the man to have prepared a self-destruction art, and that expectation was correct.
Light began to run over the characters drawn on the Lord of the Dark Palace’s face. Geom Mugeuk had thought it was a great art meant to seize the Six Paths Origin Energy lodged within his body, but it was not.
Ghost Script Heaven-Explosion Art (鬼文爆天功).
It was by no means a trifling self-destruction art. It was the most powerful self-destruction art, one that even borrowed the power of ghosts.
As the characters on the Lord of the Dark Palace’s face and body shone, indecipherable writing began to be carved into the floor and the empty air. Those in the room were trapped within the characters that filled their surroundings.
“You will go with me into eternal darkness.”
The very moment he was about to unleash the Ghost Script Heaven-Explosion Art, the three Demon Venerables were already moving.
Shuk!
Thud!
A streak of finger wind flew toward his face. It was the Blood Grudge Finger of the Extreme Evil Little Demon. The dark aura that had always protected him blocked the Blood Grudge Finger.
“You cannot stop me!”
While the aura of darkness surrounded and shielded him, the light of the ghost scripts carved into his body and all around him shone even more intensely.
In this moment of self-destruction, the Dark Demon Art was, paradoxically, shining more brilliantly than any martial art.
Shuk! Shuk! Shuk! Shuk!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The Blood Grudge Fingers that flew as fast as light struck the exact same spot they had hit before.
Puk!
The finger winds, striking the same place again and again in succession, pierced through the aura of darkness.
Thud!
The instant the Blood Grudge Finger slammed into the Lord of the Dark Palace’s face, the dark aura weakened.
Puuuk!
As if she had been waiting for that very moment, the Ilhwa Sword pierced straight through the darkness and ran through his chest.
Slaaaash!
At the same time, the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber cleaved cleanly from his shoulder down to his chest.
Paaaak!
His body split open, and blood surged up like a fountain.
The Lord of the Dark Palace, injured internally and trying only to hide within the aura of darkness while unleashing his self-destruction art, could never have blocked the attacks of the three Demon Venerables.
Geom Mugeuk walked over to where he had collapsed on the floor.
With his consciousness fading, the Lord of the Dark Palace left his final words.
“……You will not be able to stop him.”
Geom Mugeuk readily admitted it.
“That’s right. I probably won’t.”
And he was not at all ashamed to say it.
“Instead, my father will stop him. The Alliance Leaders will stop him, and the Demon Venerables will stop him.”
Geom Mugeuk looked back at the six Demon Venerables standing behind him. After meeting the eyes of each of them as they looked at him, he said,
“Just as those here have done for me now.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze returned to the Lord of the Dark Palace.
“Your darkness was a darkness that hid itself while sacrificing all of its subordinates. A darkness that refuses to face the light is a darkness that must vanish from this world.”
The Lord of the Dark Palace opened his mouth as if to say something, but instead of words, only blood gushed out in choking spurts.
Geom Mugeuk’s final words were courteous.
“So harbor no more lingering attachment to this world, and return to the eternal darkness you love so much.”
Though great regret still remained in the Lord of the Dark Palace’s eyes, he could not defy death’s summons. His eyes slowly closed, and soon his breath ceased.
The aura of darkness that had faintly lingered around them also scattered into the air and disappeared forever.
At last, even the Lord of the Dark Palace, the final chief, had died.
Now only one person remained: Hwa Mugi.