Truth be told, even when he said, “Just you wait and see,” Hyeolcheon Doma had been deeply skeptical.
That Geom Muyang would come to him first? Without first securing the other Demon Lords? It was unthinkable.
But just as if he had colluded with Geom Mugeuk, that very night, Geom Muyang came to find him.
“What brings you here?”
At that, Geom Muyang held up the wine bottle he had brought.
“I wished to share a drink with you, Elder. If my memory serves, you favored this wine, did you not?”
“You remember remarkably well. Come, sit here.”
Hyeolcheon Doma did not invite him inside, but instead sat facing him on a flat rock set out in the courtyard.
“It is cool here. Let us drink.”
“Very well.”
Hyeolcheon Doma had Sibi bring wine cups and simple refreshments.
He had met Geom Muyang on the day of his return, but then had not been a situation to observe one another closely.
Only now did Hyeolcheon Doma calmly take stock of Geom Muyang’s bearing. As expected, his demeanor was different from when he had left.
“I hear you have crossed the Demon Path Barrier?”
“Thanks to your concern, I passed through.”
“My congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“The Cult Leader must have been pleased.”
“He was.”
Hyeolcheon Doma asked this and that about the Demon Path Barrier, and Geom Muyang answered earnestly to the best of his ability. Even in the past, the two had often conversed about martial arts.
Geom Muyang enjoyed speaking of martial arts with Hyeolcheon Doma. Strangely, they understood each other well.
When the wine was nearly gone, Hyeolcheon Doma spoke first.
“You have come because there is something you wish to ask, I suppose. Ask freely, then.”
“Yes. Then I shall ask directly, like a man, without beating around the bush. Why did you choose my younger brother? I believe there must have been a cause or a reason.”
“Of course there was.”
Hyeolcheon Doma pondered for a moment what to say, and then answered thus:
“Your younger brother possesses the power to draw people’s hearts.”
Geom Muyang nodded silently.
“The power to draw hearts…”
He had anticipated various answers, and had thought this sort of reply was possible. Yet hearing it directly, Geom Muyang was overcome with both emptiness and bitterness.
Never in his life had anyone ever told him that he was someone who drew others’ hearts.
“I have never once felt such power from Mugeuk. Ah, I do not say this to belittle Mugeuk. I am simply curious what sort of feeling it is.”
“Of course you would not have felt it. There would have been no reason for the Second Young Lord to draw your heart, and neither did you have the leeway to accept your younger brother’s heart, did you?”
“Yes, that was so.”
Hyeolcheon Doma poured wine for Geom Muyang, who nodded readily.
“You are an excellent martial artist. You certainly possess the qualities to become the Heavenly Demon.”
Hyeolcheon Doma truly thought so. Had Geom Mugeuk not charged up like a madman, he would have continued to support Geom Muyang.
“And yet you chose my younger brother?”
“Sometimes in life, people are swept away by a sudden wind.”
“I wish I were in the place where that wind blows. I wish to walk this path together with you, Elder.”
The light shining in his eyes as he looked at Hyeolcheon Doma was bright. At least in this moment, Geom Muyang was speaking from the heart.
“Are there not many other Demon Lords?”
“No. I absolutely need you, Elder.”
“The reason?”
Although Mabul followed him like a right arm, in the depths of Geom Muyang’s heart, he liked Hyeolcheon Doma more.
“Because… you are someone absolutely necessary to me.”
He offered no other reason whatsoever.
Hyeolcheon Doma thought that if he had not heard from Geom Mugeuk that Geom Muyang would come, he might perhaps have been moved by this earnestness.
“May I offer you a few proposals, Elder?”
“Speak.”
“If I become the Heavenly Demon, I will seat you in the position of First Demon Lord.”
“First Demon Lord?”
“Yes. I will establish the highest seat among the Demon Lords recognized even within the Heavenly Demon Temple. Furthermore, I will expand the scale of Namdojong to three times what it is now. I will remove the limit on the number of Dao Ghosts and drastically increase support for Namdojong. Moreover, I will specially open the Heavenly Demon Library to you. You may go and peruse it whenever you wish.”
Geom Muyang knew that Hyeolcheon Doma loved books. The Heavenly Demon Library did not contain only martial arts secret manuals. There were also many volumes of poetry and collected literary works that were difficult to obtain in the secular world.
Considering fairness with the other Demon Lords, it was truly a groundbreaking proposal.
Of course, Hyeolcheon Doma was not so naive as to believe those words at face value.
Later, after becoming the Heavenly Demon, what if he said, “The opposition from the other Demon Lords is more severe than expected, so Lord Doma, please yield a little”?
Moreover, by then he would be even older than he was now, a toothless tiger.
“Wouldn’t Mabul feel slighted if he heard this? I’m sure he believes he will become the First Demon Lord.”
As if naturally expecting this reaction, Geom Muyang did not fluster in the slightest.
“It cannot be helped. Though I respect and like Elder Mabul, I believe the one suited for that seat is Elder Doma. You may convey these very words to Elder Mabul.”
He seemed to have faith that Hyeolcheon Doma would never tell Mabul such words. Where did that confidence come from? Did he think of him as such a noble person?
“I shall consider your proposal.”
“Yes, thank you.”
They toasted their final cups, and Geom Muyang rose.
As he was about to leave, Geom Muyang added one last thing.
“Elder, I will definitely become the Heavenly Demon.”
After Geom Muyang disappeared, Hyeolcheon Doma took something from his mouth. It was the blood poison wine Geom Mugeuk had given him as a gift. He had not fully trusted Geom Muyang, who had brought the alcohol.
Hyeolcheon Doma muttered to himself.
“…Yes, there was a time when I was certain of that too.”
* * *
When Geom Muyang returned, Mabul was waiting for him.
“Did you happen to visit Hyeolcheon Doma?”
“The main cult is still the same. There are no secrets.”
“You marched there boldly in broad daylight; what talk of secrets is that? Just why did you do it?”
“I went to win him over.”
“And?”
“He said he would think about it.”
“He is a traitor.”
Mabul deliberately used such a strong term.
“Someone whose heart has turned once will turn again. You know that, do you not?”
Then Geom Muyang said something surprising.
“As he drank, he was carrying blood poison wine.”
“That madman!”
Unlike Mabul, who flared up in anger, Geom Muyang was composed.
“It did not seem he was trying to hide it. It was so like Elder Doma—an attitude of saying, I do not trust you.”
“Have nothing more to do with him.”
Something even more surprising came from Geom Muyang’s mouth.
“Ah, and I proposed to Elder Doma that I would give him the seat of First Demon Lord.”
For a moment, Mabul was startled. Caught off guard by such an unexpected remark, he froze briefly.
He had believed the seat of First Demon Lord would naturally be his.
So Mabul waited for the next words. Words saying it was merely said to win him over, so not to worry.
But Geom Muyang did not say those words.
*So what? Does that mean you will really give it?*
Mabul unknowingly bit down hard on his molars. The way a person clenches their teeth—one can tell if they observe their opponent closely. How could a master like Geom Muyang not know? Yet Geom Muyang pretended not to see and showed no reaction.
All manner of thoughts flashed through Mabul’s mind.
Was it a mistake? Or indifference? Or did he know and was doing it intentionally?
He wondered if this was perhaps punishment for bringing in the Yunnan Twin Devils this time.
There had been similar incidents in the past. In such moments, what was most agonizing was that Geom Muyang was a person more clever and intelligent than anyone.
Therefore, Mabul was always thrown into confusion by the thought that it might not simply be a mistake, but an act with some intention behind it.
And above all, the worst thing was this:
That he could not speak of these feelings.
Had it been anyone else, he would have already asked directly.
Why are you doing this? Are you looking down on me? Please stop doing this.
But those words did not come easily when it came to Geom Muyang. Was it because the first button of their relationship had been fastened wrong? Or had Geom Muyang intentionally erected some invisible wall between them?
The relationship between Geom Muyang and himself was one where only he writhed in pain alone.
A relationship worse than not being close at all…….
In the end, as always, Mabul reconciled it like this.
*Yes, that can happen. He is still young.*
He, the adult, had to endure. The task he had taken upon himself was to make this hot-blooded youth into the Heavenly Demon.
“You must look after our people as well. They are all watching.”
You ought to know that these words came after so many such thoughts!
Could it be that he had read Mabul’s inner mind?
“I do not feel much affection for the other Demon Lords.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you not and Elder Doma stand up boldly and declare whom you support? Yet the remaining Demon Lords merely watch the situation. They will stick to the advantageous side later? Truly shallow.”
If only Hyeolcheon Doma had been left out of those words, it would have been truly good. No, if he truly intended to deceive me, he would have left him out intentionally. Speaking this honestly must be his way of respecting me.
“Still, they are absolutely necessary.”
“I go forward trusting only you, Elder.”
Mabul and Geom Muyang looked at each other and smiled.
To some extent, Mabul’s mood had eased, but the lump in his heart did not dissolve.
*So who are you going to give the First Demon Lord seat to?*
But in the end, neither Geom Muyang nor Mabul brought up the matter.
* * *
Hyeolcheon Doma came to me with a freshly surprised expression.
“You were right. The First Young Lord truly came to find me. How did you know?”
“This is a secret… I have the ability to see the future.”
“Seeing that you are still a madman, I suppose no one has stolen your mind with a soul-stealing art.”
At Hyeolcheon Doma’s jest, I smiled and said.
“Did I not tell you? My brother has always been that sort of person.”
“This time, I felt something anew quite deeply.”
Hyeolcheon Doma hesitated briefly over the words he was about to speak. But they were words he had intended to say anyway. Indeed, they were words befitting his character to hesitate over.
“I felt anew what kind of person you are to me.”
“!”
I tensed up. It was the first time Hyeolcheon Doma had spoken to me in this manner.
“What do you mean?”
“No matter what temptation the First Young Lord offered, it did not enter my ears. He made a groundbreaking proposal, just as you said. But I did not agree at all.”
In my ears, I heard the sound of the door to his heart opening a little more.
I was grateful to Hyeolcheon Doma. I was so grateful that he told me this fact.
Yes, only when you speak like this do I know. Everyone acts as if they know, but if you do not say it, they do not know.
I immediately drew the Black Demon Sword and drew a long line on the ground. And I drew it a little to the right of the line Hyeolcheon Doma had drawn before.
“Has the heart that cherishes me now reached about here?”
Hyeolcheon Doma did not deny it, but he did not forget to warn me either.
“But you know what will happen if you become arrogant, don’t you?”
“What will happen?”
“You will pay a severe price. Among the goods that come with a price, arrogance is displayed right at the very front.”
Perhaps because he reads many books, Hyeolcheon Doma sometimes uses expressions that do not quite suit him. I truly like this side of him.
“I will keep it firmly in mind.”
“If it is as you say, the First Young Lord will visit the Wind Heaven Cult Leader as well. Is it fine to leave it be?”
“We must leave it.”
“Will that person truly be as steadfast as I am?”
“But over there, are there not two people?”
“Two people? Who? Gowol?”
“The Wind Heaven Cult Leader will surely discuss that matter with Gowol.”
“You trust Gowol?”
“Yes.”
“One should not trust people so easily.”
I believe Hyeolcheon Doma’s wariness contains a bit of jealousy. Since I have no intention of using that jealousy to capture his heart, I meekly followed his words.
“Yes, I will always maintain a wary heart. Please watch over me well too, Elder.”
“I shall. By the way, the First Young Lord is running around stirring things up like this; do you intend to simply stay still?”
“Since he has returned after a long time, I should yield the first move at least once. Let us see how my brother makes his move.”
I rather thought it was a good thing. My brother will put us all on the proving ground.
“Let us see whether the ground hardens after the rain, or whether we will end up rolling naked in a mud pit.”