The training continued.
Geommugeuk was building up his efforts day by day. Fueled by the firm belief that he would undoubtedly achieve the Great Perfection of the Twelve Stars.
After all, the greatest was teaching the greatest to become the greatest.
Now, all that remained was effort.
He knew this from having experienced it many times before. Water continues to heat up until it boils over in one final, sudden instant. If you cannot endure that heat and stop, all that remains is cooling down.
But right now, it was too hot. To the point where he wanted to give up at any moment.
"Haa, haa."
Geommugeuk lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
Geomujin stood beside him with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the distance.
The intensity of the training rose by the day. To the point where his father, who was instructing him, was actually beginning to worry.
Plip, plop.
Then, raindrops began to fall one by one.
Whoosh.
Soon, a downpour began.
"Ah! It's raining. What sort of rain is this, so sudden!"
How brazenly innocent of a reaction, when he was the one who made it rain?
"Father, shall we take shelter over there for a moment?"
Before they knew it, a small pavilion had appeared behind them.
Geomujin gave a faint smile and walked toward it. An invisible energy guarded his body, so not a single drop of rain could wet him.
Whoosh.
The two sat side by side, admiring the falling rain.
"Would you like a drink? It so happens that the housekeeper made savory pancakes today."
The rascal had planned everything! Yes, there should be a day to slack off once in a while.
"Let us have a drink, for the first time in a while."
The moment the words left his mouth, Geommugeuk instantly flew off and returned with alcohol and savory pancakes.
The two drank in the pavilion, the rain and savory pancakes serving as their drinking snacks.
In fact, even counting his life before the regression, this was the first time Geommugeuk had spent so long alone with someone. His father was likely the same. Geommugeuk did not find this time awkward or burdensome in the slightest.
It was not solely thanks to his efforts until now. His efforts to make his father feel comfortable here, as if he were outside, had erased any such awkwardness.
How could there be any room for awkwardness? Each time, he had been busy creating new spaces and striving to make them a little more tasteful.
Whoosh.
Simply sitting still and watching the rain was enough to lift his spirits.
Then Geommugeuk cautiously spoke up.
"I may lose all the points I've worked so hard to build up, but there is a question I dearly wish to ask."
It was a question he had never once brought up until now.
"What was my mother like?"
Had he expected his son to ask someday? Even at the sudden question, his father was not surprised.
"When I was very young, I once asked my older brother. About Mother."
It was a time when they were both so young that they did not even think about succession struggles.
"That's when my brother told me. That Father hated it, so I should never bring it up."
Brother had been young then too.
"I never brought it up again after that day."
He had lived as if she were someone who must never be mentioned.
Having no memory of his mother, he felt no tender longing. Moreover, with Hwamugi's appearance, his entire life until now had been focused on stopping him.
Now that Hwamugi was dead, he thought the time had come to ask his father at least once.
His father said nothing. He merely gazed silently at the falling rain.
Geommugeuk did not press the question further. His father would tell him when the time was right.
Whoosh.
* * *
"Another bottle, if you would."
At the words of Martial Alliance Lord Jinpaecheon, the waiter quickly ran over, delivered the liquor, and left.
"Here you are! Please enjoy!"
Jinpaecheon was in an inn bustling with people.
On the road back to the Martial Alliance, he had stopped by a tavern once more.
Even when he had gone to aid the Heavenly Demon Cult, he had stopped by a tavern and enjoyed a brief escapade where no one recognized him.
He had not been at leisure back then, but now he calmly savored the moment.
This time, too, no one recognized him. Who could imagine the Martial Alliance Lord drinking alone in such an inn? Even if someone who knew him passed by, they would only tilt their heads in confusion and walk on.
In that raucous place filled with so many people—those eating, those chatting over drinks, families sharing a meal, escort warriors on a delivery mission—Jinpaecheon was watching the crowd.
Then Jinpaecheon caught sight of a boy standing by the roadside, staring into the inn. The boy, dressed in beggar's rags, was tightly gripping his younger brother's hand.
Without hesitation, Jinpaecheon beckoned the child over.
The boy gave a wary look but soon brought his brother inside.
When the innkeeper tried to chase the children out at the entrance,
"I called for these children. Let them in."
Seeing that he was clearly no ordinary martial artist, the innkeeper promptly sent the children over to him.
"This old man ordered too much food and cannot finish it all. It would be a waste to throw the dishes away, so would you boys help me?"
The younger child might not have understood, but the older boy had a look that said he knew full well what kind of heart lay behind those words.
"Thank you."
The boy fed his brother first. He stopped his brother, who was devouring the food.
"Slowly! Eat slowly."
Only after seeing to his brother did the boy eat.
"How old are you?"
"Twelve, sir."
"Your parents?"
"They passed away."
He explained that they had been left with relatives, subjected to abuse, and had fled with his brother in the night.
Could this child really survive for even a few days in this harsh world, dragging his young brother along?
Jinpaecheon told them to eat comfortably and did not bother the boy with any more words.
When the children had finished their meal, Jinpaecheon wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to the boy.
"Do you know where the Martial Alliance branch office is in this town?"
"Yes, I saw it on the way here."
"Then go straight to the Martial Alliance branch with this. Hand over this letter, and you will be able to find work that will keep your brother from starving."
The boy was clever and quick-witted. Had he been told to go somewhere else, he would not have gone, but a Martial Alliance branch would at least not sell him off somewhere.
"Don't be scared and make sure you go. Trust this old man. Do you understand?"
"Thank you."
The boy gave a deep bow and left with his brother.
Once the two children were gone, a man walked over and sat down.
It was Jinhageun.
"My Lord, it is a true relief that you have returned safely."
Since Jinpaecheon had left, Jinhageun had not had a single day of restful sleep. He had regretted, time and again, whether he had asked something unnecessary of his grandfather.
So when he received his grandfather's urgent message telling him to meet here, he could not fathom how happy he felt. He was far more delighted that his grandfather was safe than by the repelling of Cheonsalseong.
"Send a subordinate to make sure those children find their way to the branch safely. And speak well of them to the branch members."
"Yes, sir."
Jinhageun relayed the order directly to a subordinate of the Demon Slayer Corps waiting outside.
When Jinhageun sat back down, Jinpaecheon calmly relayed the results of the battle.
"There were many battles, but in the end, the one who repelled Cheonsalseong was the Demon Cult Leader, and the one who blocked his final counterattack was the Young Cult Leader."
Jinpaecheon conveyed his honest heart to his grandson.
"Even during the battle, I worried about their strength, and after it ended, I worried still. I wondered if the Demon Cult Leader might be trying to realize the futile dream of the Righteous-Demonic Great War. That was my only concern on the entire way here."
But while feeding the children just now, he had recalled one thing he had forgotten.
Jinpaecheon asked his grandson.
"If you had been sitting here, would you have called those children in and fed them?"
Jinhageun did not hesitate. He would have done so without fail.
"Yes, I would have."
"Yes. That is who we are."
In the process of making Jinhageun the Young Alliance Lord, Jinpaecheon's trust in his grandson had deepened boundlessly. Now he no longer deceived his own heart for the sake of pride.
"This old man was overwhelmed by the Demon Cult Leader's powerful martial arts and momentarily forgot what kind of people we are. I was only worrying about the war."
The worry and anguish that had lingered on Jinpaecheon's face had already vanished.
"What has protected the righteous martial world for so long was not a technique that could overcome the Demon Cult Leader's Guhwamagong, but that very heart. Shamefully, this old man had momentarily forgotten that."
Firm resolve filled Jinpaecheon's voice.
"Remember this. Those we must protect are not only those children, but all those who seek to protect those children. We will protect them all. That is the reason we exist. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I will take it to heart."
"This old man intends to work even harder from now on."
Looking into Jinpaecheon's brightly shining eyes, Jinhageun had this thought.
Did people grow cooler as they aged? No. Cool people grew old in a cool way, and uncool people simply became lame old men.
"I will definitely become a cool Lord like you, Grandfather."
Smiling, Jinpaecheon unfastened the Gentleman's Sword at his waist and held it out to his grandson.
"Take your sword."
* * *
Today, a Guhwamagong duel was unfolding.
Grand Annihilation Form against Grand Annihilation Form.
Squelch, squelch.
Demons split apart simultaneously from both sides.
Geommugeuk's eyes went wide as he looked at the demons arrayed before Geomujin. Though he had executed the Grand Annihilation Form countless times, the one his father was unleashing now was unlike anything he had ever seen.
"So this technique could be transformed like this?"
Surprisingly, his father's Grand Annihilation Form was in two rows.
The demons had originally stretched out in a single file, but upon achieving the Great Perfection of the Twelve Stars, it became possible to form them into two rows.
"Were these guys always so obedient?"
The number of splitting demons had increased as well, so it truly felt like an army of demons lined up in formation.
"This is cheating, Father!"
But before his words could even finish, his father's demons surged forward.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
Geommugeuk's demons charged forward without fear.
Kaboooom!
Geommugeuk's demons collided with the first row of demons and annihilated one another.
But immediately after, the demons in the second row pressed forward as if to overwhelm him.
Bang! Crash!
The Great Demon Wall erected before Geommugeuk blocked the fearsome onslaught.
Was his father resolved to do something? Today, he was pushing with more powerful internal energy than ever before.
"This time I really almost died..."
In that instant, Geommugeuk could not finish his sentence. A shadow began to fall over the place where he and his father stood.
"No way? Right?"
Behind his father, the Heavenly Demon Soul rose, lifting its body.
There was not even a warning. Immediately upon manifesting, dozens of sword-shaped astral energies began to appear in the empty air behind the Heavenly Demon Soul like stars.
Guhwamagong, Seventh Form: Demon Soul Genesis.
Without looking back, Geommugeuk unleashed the Extinction Flash Step to escape from that spot.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
Slam, slam, slam, slam, slam!
Astral energies poured down and struck the ground just barely behind the fleeing Geommugeuk.
"No matter how great Demon Soul Genesis is, it can't catch me!"
Right at that moment.
Swhoooooosh.
The massive Heavenly Demon Soul charged at Geommugeuk with terrifying speed. It was the Eighth Form: Demon Soul Dash.
Having caught up to Geommugeuk with tremendous speed, the Heavenly Demon Soul's eyes turned white. It was preparing to unleash the Ninth Form: Heavenly Demon Supreme.
Father, why are you doing this? I am going to die!
"Save me, Heavenly Demon Soul!"
Of course, it was a shout calling forth his own Heavenly Demon Soul.
Geommugeuk erected the Great Demon Wall.
Screeeeeech!
The Great Demon Wall was being pierced by the Demon Soul Supreme. If it broke through, this was not an attack that could be blocked by a protective astral barrier.
Neither his father nor the Heavenly Demon Soul stopped. From his father's cold eyes, Geommugeuk could sense this thought:
If you can't figure a way out, you die!
In the next instant!
Flash.
The astral energy that had pierced through the Great Demon Wall collided with a pure white light.
Kra-boooom!
An enormous explosion roared, and the surroundings shook as if an earthquake had struck. Dirt and dust from the overturned ground rained down in heaps.
When the dust cleared, Geommugeuk stood there. Surprisingly, he remained unharmed even by the Demon Soul Supreme.
"I imitated what you did, Father, and it worked."
Geommugeuk had unleashed the Heavenly Demon World Annihilation. Not the Heavenly Demon World Annihilation that annihilates all things, but the very one his father had used to create a sword of light and kill Hwamugi. That technique which had been manifested through a blade! He had countered the ultimate move with the ultimate move.
"With my life on the line, I was able to imitate it."
His father gave a peculiar smile.
"Did you think you could imitate that merely by trying?"
Astonishing words flowed from his father's mouth.
"You have achieved the Great Perfection of the Twelve Stars."
Because he had achieved the Great Perfection of the Twelve Stars, he could transform and use the Heavenly Demon World Annihilation.
"You achieved it several days ago. You knew, didn't you?"
Geommugeuk hung his head low.
"Yes, I knew."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"Because I wanted to stay with Father a few days longer, I did not tell you. I am sorry."
How could he scold such a son for hiding it? While everyone in the world feared him, only his son wished to remain by his side a little longer.
In truth, their hearts were the same. Geomujin, too, had realized his son achieved the Great Perfection of the Twelve Stars several days ago.
"You've finally done it."
"Yes, I've finally done it."
"Congratulations."
"Thanks to Father, I have easily accomplished a grand feat that would have taken a lifetime. I am truly grateful."
Geommugeuk bowed his head to convey his gratitude.
Though he did not show it outwardly, Geomujin was every bit as pleased as his son.
"It is thanks to your own efforts. You've worked hard."
The two stood side by side, gazing at the distant horizon of the plains. Just then, as the sun was setting, a red sunset was beautifully dyeing the world.
"Now, this place is the last one, too."
After standing like that for a moment, watching the sunset, Geomujin suddenly spoke.
"She is the only person I ever loved."
"!"
Geommugeuk looked at his father in shock.
A yearning swept through his father's eyes as he gazed at the sunset. It was truly the first time he had seen such a look.
A sigh of relief escaped Geommugeuk before he knew it. How did his father think of his mother? Did he hate her? Did he regret meeting her? Was there some unspeakable secret? He had worried about all manner of things.
But now, none of that mattered.
If his father had truly loved her.
"I believe she must have been the most wonderful person in the world."
The gaze Geomujin fixed on his son deepened.
"If she had seen you, she would have adored you."
As long as Father carried Mother in his heart.
"I'm sure she is watching me even now."
An uncontrollable surge of emotion flashed across Geomujin's face.
As if trying to hide that emotion, Geomujin turned his head and gazed at the distant sunset.
"Let us leave now."
"Yes, Father."
Geommugeuk snapped his fingers. It was the crispest, most cheerful, and most pleasant snap since he had first executed the Spacetime Transference Technique—snap!