Geom Muyang, having washed off the blood, stood before the mirror while Sibi helped him dress in fresh clothes.
Beneath his bare chest, he wore a thin inner armor capable of deflecting blades. Over it, he layered another, slightly thicker inner armor. At least toward Mabul, he openly displayed his obsessive fear of death.
Mabul sat in a chair, watching him.
He had every right to fly into a rage over recruiting the Yunnan Twin Demons, yet Geom Muyang said nothing. Mabul could tell that he was furious.
“The Second Young Lord….”
He had originally planned to begin with the words, “You have changed too much.” But thinking it too obvious, he changed his words.
“…What kind of person is he?”
Geom Muyang answered from within the mirror.
“I thought I knew my younger brother well, but seeing him earlier, I am no longer sure. He was not this kind of child before…”
“You must forget the past!”
As Mabul suddenly raised his voice, Sibi, who had been adjusting his collar, scratched Geom Muyang’s neck with her fingernail.
“Ah! Please forgive me, spare my life!”
Sibi flopped down on the spot, begging for forgiveness. The atmosphere turned cold in an instant.
“Why would I kill you over a trifle like this?”
Geom Muyang spoke softly, but Mabul cut in coldly.
“But must you not kill her? You would let a servant live after she wounded the precious body of one destined to become the Heavenly Demon? How ridiculous would that look to others?”
Sibi pleaded desperately.
“Please! Spare me!”
Geom Muyang raised her to her feet.
“Everyone makes mistakes. Now leave us.”
“Thank you, my lord. Truly, thank you.”
Sibi left the room.
“You must not show others that you forgive your subordinates’ mistakes so easily. You ought to punish her, if only to set an example.”
Then Geom Muyang asked abruptly.
“Did you ask what kind of person my younger brother is?”
“Yes, I did.”
“He is the kind of child who, were the same thing to happen, would buy a startled Sibi a meal. He has had a warm heart since he was young.”
“That does not mean you should lower your guard.”
“I did not say it to suggest lowering our guard. Didn’t you see Mugeugi’s people earlier?”
The gaze in the mirror that had been directed at Mabul turned toward Geom Muyang himself.
“To be honest, I was a bit envious.”
Mabul sometimes found this Geom Muyang unpredictable.
He handled affairs with brilliance and cold reason, yet would reveal his inner thoughts so abruptly.
While Mabul was contemplating how to react, Geom Muyang walked over and sat facing him. He poured cold tea into his cup and drank.
“What is the Demon Venerable so worried about?”
“The Second Young Lord’s strength is one thing, but above all, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon is a cunning old man. The fact that he chose the Second Young Lord means there is clearly good reason for it. Whether because he buys Sibi meals, or because of something else we do not know.”
Then Geom Muyang said something unexpected.
“I believe the answer is Father.”
At those words, Mabul was startled.
“What do you mean by that?”
“While I was away, Father pushed Mugeugi forward. He bestowed the Black Demon Sword upon him and seated him in the position of Yellow Heaven Pavilion Lord. He is testing how I will deal with an empowered Mugeugi. I believe it is the final test to become the successor.”
For a moment, it seemed plausible, but Mabul soon shook his head.
“That cannot be. In the process of the Second Young Lord’s rise, the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable died. Though they say the cause was qi deviation, there are many suspicious points.”
At first, he had believed the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader’s claim that it was not Geom Mugeuk’s doing, but now he did not.
“It may have been the Second Young Lord’s doing. And yet you think it is the Cult Leader’s test? The Cult Leader cherished the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable as a main pillar of our cult.”
“Father likely did not expect things to go that far. Mugeugi possesses capabilities that exceed Father’s expectations.”
“Then did the Second Young Lord truly kill the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable?”
Then Geom Muyang asked a question instead of answering.
“Could the Demon Venerable have killed the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable?”
“I… of course I could kill him!”
The brief hesitation revealed the caliber of the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable. Even Mabul had not been confident against that opponent.
“Correct. The Demon Venerable could have killed him. But it would not have been easy.”
After saving Mabul’s pride, Geom Muyang continued with what he had originally intended to say.
“Neither I nor Mugeugi could kill the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable with our current martial arts prowess. However, with one person’s help, it would be possible.”
“Who would that be?”
As if telling him to figure it out himself, Geom Muyang did not answer. After pondering for a moment, Mabul started and cried out.
“Surely not? The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader?”
“Correct. With his help, one could have killed the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable.”
Mabul thought it possible, yet one question remained.
“Why would the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader do that?”
“To advance into the Central Plains. In the end, did he not take the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable’s disciple as his own disciple?”
“Ah!”
Mabul had never harbored such suspicion until now. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had been behind it from the start?
“And after that, he brazenly came to examine the corpse? Is that what you are saying?”
Mabul’s relationship with the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader had soured of late.
Suspicion and rage clouded his objective judgment.
“The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader knew that the Demon Venerables would summon him. It was also the only way he could rightfully enter the main cult.”
This was the final doubt holding Mabul back.
“But the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader lacks the guts for such a thing. If it were discovered that he killed the Soul-Devouring Demon Venerable, the entire Heavenly Wind Cult would be annihilated. He would not do that.”
“There is something Father always told me since I was young. Do not presume that you know someone.”
Mabul was bewildered. The Heavenly Wind Cult Leader he knew was not a man capable of such a great crime. Yet Geom Muyang’s words fit perfectly. And another reason was added.
“Is it not obvious just from seeing the Heavenly Wind Cult Leader’s military advisor go to Mugeugi? As you said, would that meticulous Blood Heaven Blade Demon have simply joined hands with him? He must have done so because there was such a background.”
If this were true?
“Damn it! To think I went and brought that ill omen into our midst with my own two feet!”
“Do not blame yourself. Rather, I intend to turn this situation around and seize control of the Demon Venerables.”
“What if the situation proves unfavorable?”
Geom Muyang mentioned without concern the words Mabul could not bring himself to speak.
“Whether I will kill Mugeuk? No, I will not kill him. How would Father look upon an elder brother who kills his younger brother?”
Mabul realized it. The reason he would not kill Geom Mugeuk was not because he was his younger brother, but because their father was watching.
“Then what do you intend to do?”
“I will draw everyone who has gathered around Mugeuk over to my side. Mugeuk has strong pride; if his own people turn their backs on him, he will leave the cult of his own accord. You saw them earlier, did you not? The people who left without watching Mugeuk’s duel. I will make those people truly leave Mugeuk. Let us see if he can still laugh and joke then.”
“Leaving the Second Young Lord alive will become a future threat.”
“Even if he leaves that way, should a crisis befall our cult, he will come to save us, not to kill us. That is his greatest weakness.”
Geom Muyang stood up again and walked to the mirror. Gazing at himself in the mirror, he spoke calmly.
“The seat of the Grand Preceptor of the Heavenly Demon Hall is the firmest seat in this martial world. It is not a seat that a softling like Mugeuk can occupy. Nor should he.”
* * *
The next morning, when I arrived at the Heavenly Demon Hall, I met my older brother at the entrance.
“It has been a while since we entered the Heavenly Demon Hall side by side like this.”
“Indeed.”
We walked together.
“Nervous?”
“Not really.”
But my brother was nervous.
He always stiffened up especially before our father. Since he was young, my brother had always wanted to impress Father.
Once, when we were children, my brother had heard the words “our firstborn” from Father just once, and he had boasted about it for years, not days.
If I was currently captivated by Hwamugi, then my brother was captivated by Father.
My brother and I entered the Heavenly Demon Hall.
There, our father and Chief Strategist Sima Myeong were together. We walked side by side along the Path of Blood. The Demon statues erected all around watched my brother’s return—our entrance—with cold yet peculiar eyes.
“Father, have you been well?”
My brother performed a deep bow before Father.
“You have returned well.”
I observed Father’s expression. Joy was visible on his face toward my brother. On the other hand, my brother was nervous. I could feel him trembling.
“You seem pleased that your firstborn has returned.”
Father made no reply to my words. The Father from when we walked together in Magachon and the Father now felt like different people.
I understand a Father who has become sterner.
Before my regression, around this time, Father had already been thinking of my brother as the successor. Though I had shaken Father’s heart through this regression, the one who had first entered that heart was my brother.
If I failed to understand Father’s heart toward my brother, I could never win this fight. And I must not forget: my ultimate enemy is neither Father nor my brother.
“How did your affairs go?”
To Father’s question, my brother answered confidently.
“I have cleared every trial, up to the final gate.”
Father’s expression brightened at those words. My brother had not been assigned trivial duties in the frontier.
The Demonic Nine Walls.
The Demonic Nine Walls was a secret training ground of the main cult hidden in the frontier. Father had opened it to my brother. Like the Lesser Heavenly Cave, the Demonic Nine Walls could only be entered with the permission of the Heavenly Demon. Passing the Demonic Nine Walls was truly no easy feat. It was a gate one level higher than the Lesser Heavenly Cave that I had previously cleared. However, one could give up halfway and exit the Demonic Nine Walls. It could be considered a safer, yet more difficult trial.
Sima Myeong was also greatly pleased.
“My congratulations, First Young Lord. To pass the Demonic Nine Walls… it seems blood truly cannot be deceived.”
My brother was also one who inherited Father’s blood. In terms of martial arts talent, he was second to none.
I asked, pretending ignorance.
“What did you pass?”
Then Sima Myeong said with a smile.
“The First Young Lord has passed the Demonic Nine Walls.”
I embraced my brother tightly.
“Amazing, Brother!”
My action startled Father and Sima Myeong. My brother, having already experienced my change, accepted my congratulations readily.
“Thank you.”
“Then you’ve also achieved the grand completion of the Flying Heaven Sword Technique?”
Had we been alone, he would not have answered, but since Father was present, my brother answered honestly. Of course, he did not speak to me; he spoke to Father.
“Father, in the process of clearing the Demonic Nine Walls, I also achieved the grand completion of the Flying Heaven Sword Technique.”
“Congratulations.”
“It is all thanks to Father’s teachings. Thank you, Father.”
Father’s gaze turned toward my brother and me.
What was Father thinking right now? Even in this moment, was he scoring who would be more suitable as successor?
Father made no mention of what I had said. A competition of good faith? Had it been just the two of us, he might have called it cheap sentimentality worthy of a death wish.
The reason I said it anyway was to tell Father. That I would try to carry my brother with me.
“You may both return and rest.”
My brother and I paid our respects to Father and walked out of the Heavenly Demon Hall along the Path of Blood.
At the entrance, I asked.
“Why do you want to become the Heavenly Demon, Brother?”
Then my brother said abruptly.
“Because if I don’t become the Heavenly Demon, I’ll die.”
I had expected a different answer from my brother; it was truly surprising.
“Do you mean you’ll die if you lose the succession struggle?”
“Until now, they have all died.”
“Do we really have to kill each other? The Geom Muyang and Geom Mugeuk brothers, displaying a brotherly love that will remain immortal in the history of the Demonic Cult.”
“Do you think the other brothers lacked such feelings? In the end… all humans betray one another.”
“But we don’t have to?”
At my words, Geom Muyang scoffed and began walking first.
To my brother, who was walking ahead, I shouted.
“I meant it. About competing in good faith.”
My brother stopped walking, turned back to look at me, and said.
“Then you should have first asked if there is such a thing as ‘good faith’ in my heart. Do you have it?”
“I do.”
“Then I start this fight at an advantage.”
Watching my brother’s back as he resumed walking, I finally scoffed.
Right, as if this would be easy. Making someone who bears me goodwill into my person is already such a difficult task.
‘Still, Brother, we must pull through. The dagger that will stab us in the back is not brotherly love, but Hwamugi.’