Night fell, darkening the surroundings.
The darkness had settled, around the time of waiting for the dawn that would slowly approach.
I didn't bother lighting a lamp, and since I hadn't cleaned up, overgrown weeds peeked through.
I hadn't been paying attention to it, but it seemed like I'd have to clean it up at some point.
Of course, it wasn't going to be by my own hand...
That bastard Woo-hyuk is sick right now, so I figured I could just make Cheol-ji-seon do it.
Anyway.
Chiririk-! Chiririk-!
A time when only the sound of insects in the grass could be heard in the quiet atmosphere.
Gently stepping over the grass, I stood at a certain spot.
Right next to where the moonlight shone.
I carefully stopped my steps next to it.
Since when was it?
That I became reluctant to quietly watch the moonlight or even stand under its light.
I already knew the cause.
It was such a ridiculous reason that I almost let out a hollow laugh just thinking about it.
"What fucking bullshit."
I let out a sneer because I found myself ridiculous. There was no bigger joke than this.
It should be fine by now. To think I'm still acting like this.
It felt like I was still stuck in that place, despite having lived for so long.
"..."
That's enough of this.
So, even as I tried to step into the moonlight, I felt my toes hesitating.
This was truly beyond ridiculous.
"Tsk."
I eventually pulled my toes back and stopped in my place again.
It was strange that I was trying so hard to do something.
I hadn't come here to do this kind of thing anyway, so I just needed to get to the main point.
"Sigh..."
After letting out a slight sigh, I closed my eyes.
And then, I released all the ki-sense I had bound.
Huuuuung-!!!
The senses I had locked away through internal energy awakened in an instant. The range expanded rapidly, and all sorts of information rushed in.
Sounds were felt more clearly, and even the sensation of the wind brushing against my skin was amplified much more sensitively.
It was much better than at first, but it was still an uncomfortable sensation.
I wanted to stop right away, but there was something I needed to check, so I released it to the maximum.
Saaaaaaa---!!!
Chiririk-! Chirireureuk--!!
Countless sounds dug into my ears.
It wasn't that the sounds got louder because my ki-sense increased. It was more accurate to say that I could hear more sounds.
I needed to figure out from which range and at what distance those sounds were coming from.
But that was still too much for me.
'Hmm.'
After a little while, a headache set in.
Aside from my ki-sense and firepower being maximized, it seemed I wasn't ready to easily accept it.
Suuuu.
I took deep breaths repeatedly and regulated myself from the inside.
The reason I liberated everything like this, when even doing it slowly would be insufficient, was no other than this:
'Well... then.'
I thought I might be able to figure it out at this level.
'Where could it be.'
My unleashed ki-sense spread out densely like a spiderweb around me.
I spread it out tightly, as if not allowing a single opening.
Sounds, movements. And the information contained within them.
It was full of pain to accept, but I endured it and grasped it.
Because it felt like I could only know if I did so.
Like that, for a while.
No, a moment that felt like a long time passed.
'Ah.'
Amidst the countless flows, I barely found what I was looking for.
To truly describe it, it felt like finding a small pearl in a gravel field.
It was so microscopic that I wondered how I even found it.
To put it differently.
'It has to be at this level?'
It meant that the formation of the senses had to be at this level to even catch it.
'I'm dumbfounded.'
It was truly a level that only made me let out a hollow laugh.
Throb.
"..."
I frowned at the pain I felt.
The headache was also slowly reaching its limit.
I immediately used my energy to seal my ki-sense again.
Hwuk-!!
As soon as I sealed it, the pouring information stopped, and I was able to let out the breath I had been holding.
Wow, this is tough. If I had done it a little longer, I would have broken into a cold sweat in this weather.
I shook my head repeatedly and brushed off the remaining traces.
I carefully opened my eyes and stared at a certain spot.
It just looked like overgrown weeds and lush grass. It seemed like there was nothing there.
There wasn't even a space to hide, so I wondered if there was anything there, but.
"You're a bit late."
My ki-sense was clearly telling me it was that spot, so I spoke, assuming I was falling for it.
Then.
Swoosh.
'Crazy.'
Didn't a human figure suddenly appear in the space that looked completely empty?
Black martial uniform and pure white skin.
Hair that shone near white, and deep black eyes that didn't match it.
A young man with an appearance that looked to be around thirty appeared there.
His expression was unreadable.
A face where it was hard to know what he was thinking.
The identity of such a young man was the being currently called the Lord of the Night in the Central Plains.
The king of all assassins, and the master of Jungwol's number one assassin squad.
A man who could kill anyone he wished to, including the Three Venerables.
It was the Dark King.
'...It worked.'
And looking at him, I also swallowed dryly and recalled.
Just as Na-hee said, the Dark King had arrived. And I heard he was coming toward my quarters.
So I tried it just in case.
'Did it succeed.'
I found the Dark King at a location that seemed to have nothing.
The Dark King's presence, which originally couldn't even be detected.
It meant that now I could at least catch a little bit of it.
Perhaps the Dark King also recognized that result, as he watched me quietly before speaking.
"It seems you have obtained a fortuitous encounter."
As expected, he seemed to have noticed right away.
"I managed to pick up something good recently."
"Congratulations."
"...That doesn't look like a congratulatory expression, though. Thank you."
There was not a single change in his expression. Congratulating me in that state was exceedingly subtle.
Furthermore.
"Where did you leave one of your eyes?"
For some reason, the Dark King had a bandage over one eye.
It looked like there was a problem.
"Coming later than the mentioned period is one thing, but it seems you had some business."
"That is correct."
Spitting out the words, the Dark King stroked his one eye.
"It was for a transaction."
"A transaction?"
What did he buy that he even sold his eye.
And a transaction means.
'It means he didn't get beaten up somewhere.'
Well. The Dark King wasn't the type to get beaten up somewhere.
He would kill if anything.
However, if there was a problem here.
"It seems it's not regenerating?"
The Dark King's eye wasn't coming back to life.
He had clearly told me that even if he tried to die, he couldn't.
Since he possessed an absurd regenerative ability, I thought it would regenerate even if he gave it away.
"Yes."
The Dark King calmly told me that it wasn't regenerating.
"It seems this works separately from the curse."
"...Is that so? Then, if things went well, couldn't you have died?"
A situation where he gave up his eye and it didn't regenerate.
That meant the Dark King's goal could also have been achieved.
The Dark King's goal was death.
It would have been an unparalleled opportunity for a man who desired his own rest, so I wondered why it turned out like this.
To my question, the Dark King said.
"That is not rest."
"Not rest?"
"The eye did not disappear, but was given to him. And finding the rest you speak of in him is impossible."
"Since it's difficult to understand, could you explain it a bit more simply?"
"If I give my life like the eye I gave away, I will be terminated by him and live through many more years."
"..."
I frowned after hearing the words.
Giving one's life didn't mean death.
Rather, it meant being terminated by the other party and living an empty life.
'What is he talking about?'
It seemed like I could understand, but at the same time, I couldn't.
Also.
'The curse that Yeon Il-cheon received was cast by the Blood Demon. A being that could pierce through that bastard's curse and take his eye.'
Continuing my thoughts, I kept asking the Dark King.
"You said you were going somewhere. What exactly did you see and come back from?"
The Dark King who left, saying he had to go to the Demonic Realm out of nowhere.
What on earth did he experience there to come back in this state?
When I asked him about it.
"I went to the Demonic Realm of Taecheon and met its master."
The Dark King answered.
"There..."
However.
"..."
"Dark King?"
He stopped answering and frowned as if he had fallen into thought for a moment.
I stared at him, thinking it was fascinating to see the Dark King's expression change. It was the first time I had seen him frown like that.
After a brief moment of time passed like that.
"I see. It seems anything beyond this is too much."
"Yes?"
The Dark King suddenly blurted out strange words.
Crack-!
"...!?"
He suddenly grabbed his left pinky and ring finger with his right hand and tore them off.
It happened so fast that I couldn't even properly grasp the situation.
"...Dark King. Why suddenly?"
Wondering what he was doing, I examined the fingers the Dark King had torn off.
Sizzle-!!
"Huh?"
Suddenly, black smoke enveloped them, and the fingers withered away completely.
Seeing that, I looked back at the Dark King.
"Is it a restriction?"
"..."
He didn't answer, but I knew the correct answer.
Was this the price for saying something that shouldn't be said?
Two fingers for telling me a few words.
It was quite a bad deal in terms of cost-effectiveness. Moreover, I could tell that wasn't a martial art.
'The side of sorcery.'
Now that I could recognize the difference between the two, I could tell even more clearly.
That was not a martial art, but the realm of sorcery.
Swoosh-!
The Dark King's fingers healed in an instant, but they didn't regenerate.
I heard that regeneration was also possible.
"...This is really. I'm sorry."
Since he lost two fingers to answer my question, a sense of guilt was rising in me.
"The Blood Demon's purpose is to tear away the laws of the world."
"Excuse me?"
The Dark King, just like before, suddenly started spitting out words in continuation.
"He does not yet have the qualifications to head to the other world directly. However, that time is not far off. And the masters of the other world are wary of this."
"Dark King, what are you doing right now?"
"To have this qualification, first the apostles..."
Stop.
This time as well, he shut his mouth midway. And then.
Snap-!
Without even touching it, his left arm, from which the fingers had been torn, completely disappeared below the shoulder.
Confirming this, I said to him.
"Are you crazy...?"
He just lost his fingers, and now he's even throwing away his left arm?
I was so dumbfounded that words didn't easily come to mind.
"It was exactly a left arm's worth of words."
The Dark King was still as calm as ever.
To have such a reaction even after throwing away his left arm right in front of my eyes.
"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you everything. However, it won't take you long until you find the remaining thing."
"It's not like you're giving me homework. What are you doing...? Are you saying an arm isn't a waste since you're planning to die anyway?"
"Yes."
"Ah-ha?"
Too easy of an answer.
"It was the lowest value of words I could offer."
"...Seriously."
The Blood Demon's purpose.
It was too extreme a word to say lightly after appearing for the first time in a while.
'The Blood Demon's purpose.'
A monster of the past who caused the Blood Calamity and created disaster.
A being who is still scheming something.
The Dark King found out that his purpose is to break the laws?
'...Laws.'
What laws is he talking about?
And why is the Blood Demon trying to break them?
Questions sprouted.
A few years ago, I too had heard about the Blood Demon's purpose.
From the man himself.
No, it's a bit much to call him the man himself. Since it was a different place from here.
Even so, the fact that it was the Blood Demon was no different.
He had clearly told me.
-Paradise.
That he was dreaming of paradise.
That his purpose was that.
But if the information the Dark King brought back is accurate.
'What do laws and paradise have to do with each other?'
How are these two connected?
What does the paradise the Blood Demon speaks of mean?
Also, the most important thing.
'Paradise for whom?'
The paradise the Blood Demon speaks of.
Was for whom.
"..."
I quietly turned my thoughts.
Then I raised my head and looked at the Dark King.
"Dark King."
"Yes."
"You said something before."
"What might that be?"
"If I make Dang So-yeol stronger, you said you'd let me kill you. That."
"Yes."
"Can it be delayed a little more?"
"..."
"It won't take too long."
No answer came back.
I didn't say it to hear an answer either.
Right now, I just needed to remind myself.
The task I had been putting off with the excuse that there was too much to do ahead.
The most important things I had to do.
I had to remind myself of them. And now was the time to once again get a grip on what I had to do for that.
"Because I have a favor to ask."
******************
Time passed.
To be exact, two more days had passed since I sold the Twin Swords of Illusion, and one more day had passed since I selected all the personnel for the Holy Dragon Squad.
Even right after causing the incident, I had to go to the Alliance to recruit more personnel.
As I said last time, I was told to recruit ten, but the problem was the lack of numbers.
One way or another, I recruited three more to make ten.
Next, ten from the personnel the Alliance put in.
After completing the twenty.
The remaining five had separate business, so I had to bring them along.
And so, the Holy Dragon Squad was formed.
"I greet the Captain of the Holy Dragon Squad."
"...I greet the Captain."
"Yes. Hello."
Today was my first day going to work as the captain.
Going to work. The word itself is full of a fucking feeling.
I strolled inside the Alliance, receiving various gazes.
The incident with the Twin Swords of Illusion had already spread as rumors, and they said the guy still hadn't come to his senses and was lying in bed.
In that situation, with the perpetrator walking around openly, everyone seemed to think it was strange.
I also found this amazing. Naturally, I thought I wouldn't be allowed in for the time being or would be going in and out of the interrogation room, but as Muk-yeon said, it seemed someone was doing something for me.
Thanks to that, I could still come and go from the Alliance. And as a result.
"...I greet the Captain."
"Yes. Nice to meet you."
"This is prepared by the Alliance..."
Before the words even finished, I grabbed the robe the martial artist handed me and threw it over my shoulders.
Flap-!
The slightly large robe draped over my shoulders.
It was the robe that the Murim Alliance only gave to captain-level figures.
It was an item said to be made using the thread of a special demonic beast.
Not only was it hardly affected by fire or water, but internal energy also seeped into it well, so it could be used as a shield if one used protective aura, they said.
It was a luxury item I might never wear in my lifetime.
'I've seen Mo Yong-hui-a wearing it, though.'
Mo Yong-hui-a had a family like that, so she mostly wore things like that.
'A captain's robe.'
The sensation draped over my shoulders was indescribably strange.
Living and living, I really didn't know I'd ever wear something like this.
In my past life, I played the role of a captain in the Demonic Cult.
This time, playing the role of a captain in the Righteous Faction. Should I say I've become a dragon in my own way?
'I don't know about that, but I really did become a dragon.'
I spat out some bullshit inside and moved my steps.
As soon as I put on the robe, I was guided to a place that I heard was probably the unit originally used by the One Dragon Squad.
Creak.
Opening the door and stepping inside, I could see people already gathered inside.
They were sitting divided exactly in half in the wide courtyard. Looking at it, one side seemed to be external supporters, and the opposite side seemed to be those sent by the Alliance.
The atmosphere was not good, as if they were facing off against each other.
Thud.
Seeing that, I slowly moved my steps.
As soon as I arrived, all eyes were already on me, and I calmly received and let slide those gazes.
Arriving at the center, I put my hands behind my back and looked at the two groups.
First impressions are important, and.
'Since it's been a while, should I try to be a bit gentle?'
Thinking that, I smiled and spoke.
"Hello?"
I said it with the best gentleness I could muster.
However.
Flinch-!!
The guys who saw my smile somehow raised their vigilance to the max.
...Haha, fuck.
I got a little hurt for the first time in a while.