Chapter 406. I Am Not a God.
The former Right Envoy of Light, the Blood Cult Leader, was still being chased by the old man. Just when he thought he had shaken him off, the old man would follow; just when he thought he had escaped him, he would suddenly appear.
It was so absurd that he even wondered if the old man had spent decades training exclusively in movement arts and tracking.
The Blood Cult Leader had thought that, when it came to movement arts alone, he himself would rank among the top five in the world, but strangely enough, the old man was faster. Even so, the reason he had not been caught was because the old man had a tendency to avoid causing harm to those around them.
In other words, he was of the orthodox faction.
But taking hostages or hiding in busy streets had its limits. The old man was not the only one pursuing him. If he hid in a bustling district, the black path would rush at him; if he hid somewhere filthy, beggars would appear and attack.
In short, there was generally nowhere to hide.
Moreover, the old man seemed to be the most patient of them all, for he would wait without saying a word and then keep appearing. So hostage-taking did not work, and even if he hid quietly somewhere, it was ultimately useless.
After moving a long way away from Mount Hua.
Even as he headed back toward Mount Hua, the chase with the old man did not end. That did not mean he had not fought him. They had clashed several times, and the expected result had been defeat.
If the difference in their levels had been glaring, the Blood Cult Leader would have died, but that was not the case either. Whenever he judged that he would lose, he fled.
Absurdly enough, his internal energy was somewhat lacking compared to the old man’s.
The old man’s swordsmanship, too, went beyond being profound and was absurdly powerful.
The problem was that the Blood Cult Leader had returned his sword, making him far more disadvantaged. In other words, he was behind by a move overall, and without a weapon as well, the old man was not an opponent he could defeat.
Along the way, he had even encountered cultists, but since he was no longer the Right Envoy of Light, he could not give them orders.
The Blood Cult Leader gave up on shaking him off and was once again heading toward Mount Hua—in other words, toward the manor where the Hao Sect Master and the others had been.
A strange thought occurred to him.
It was because he thought that the only person in the world who could mediate this fight might be the Hao Sect Master.
He did not want much.
Only something like wanting to find a sword and face him again.
That was because, without a decent longsword, the old man was an opponent he could never defeat. He also saw the forces of the First Demon Squad, who seemed to be retreating after defeat, but they passed one another as if they were strangers.
Only then did the Blood Cult Leader realize his own position.
He was the Blood Cult Leader, but he still had no loyal cultists; he was from the Demon Cult, but he was no longer a cultist; and he was in a position where he had to endure an old man of the orthodox faction, as well as beggars and the black path, all appearing and charging at him as if determined to kill or die.
A state of utter isolation, with no friends, comrades, superiors, or subordinates, and enemies on every side.
At that moment, the Blood Cult Leader discovered something on the horizon and charged toward it, kicking up dust. It was a carriage whose destination could be guessed from its direction alone.
‘I found it.’
Now that he thought about it, there was one more person who could mediate this fight.
The old man’s voice came from behind.
“……Are you trying to harm others again? Even if taking hostages worked on the Hao Sect Master, it will not work on me. You should have confirmed that by now.”
The Blood Cult Leader shouted as he ran.
“Old man. I will not be taking hostages anymore. If you keep following me, you will learn the date of your own memorial rites. I warned you.”
The Blood Cult Leader pushed his speed even higher and raced toward the thing he had seen on the horizon. It disappeared from sight for a moment, but as he ran fiercely, he gradually caught up.
What the Blood Cult Leader was chasing was a pitch-black carriage.
The carriage’s speed was unrealistically fast as well, but the Blood Cult Leader was even faster.
In the end, the Blood Cult Leader caught up to the pitch-black carriage and ran alongside it for a while.
Only after they had run side by side for quite some time did the shade over the window lift, and a man with a blunt expression stared blankly at the Blood Cult Leader. Since the man said nothing, the Blood Cult Leader eventually spoke first.
“……It has been a long time.”
The Demon Cult Leader said with an utterly emotionless expression.
“You live busily.”
“I have discovered something rather remarkable. Would you like to hear it?”
“Speak.”
“I pride myself on knowing quite a lot of martial arts, but I cannot identify the martial arts of the old man chasing me right now. His origin is naturally the orthodox faction. There is a high chance he is from the Murim Alliance. His appearance is different from the portrait I saw long ago, but I suspect he may be the Chief Strategist.”
“And?”
“Think about it. Cult Leader, you have always guessed that Im Sobaek inherited the Divine Sword’s martial learning, but have you confirmed it yourself? No matter how I think about it, if I fought Im Sobaek now, I do not think I would be running away like this. What do you suppose that means? For me to flee in this manner, the only ones I can think of would be you, Cult Leader, Cheonak, that beggar bastard, and the Divine Sword’s disciple, whom we never managed to identify. Cult Leader, what do you think?”
The Cult Leader said.
“Stop.”
The carriage that had been racing fiercely soon came to a halt.
The Blood Cult Leader sat cross-legged beside the stopped carriage and looked at the old man who had been following him all this time.
Gongson Sim stared at the man stepping down from the pitch-black carriage with his brow furrowed. He had been about to attack the Blood Cult Leader at once, but the expression of the Blood Cult Leader, who had suddenly sat cross-legged, was strange, and the atmosphere around the man getting out of the carriage was strange as well, so he had no choice but to simply stop.
“…….”
The Demon Cult Leader, who had stepped down from the carriage, looked at Gongson Sim and asked.
“Are you the Divine Sword’s disciple?”
Only then did Gongson Sim realize who the man was. He nodded, then answered.
“He never called me his disciple, but I always thought of him as my master.”
The Blood Cult Leader cut in with a laugh.
“Hey, old man. I warned you that if you followed me, you would learn the date of your own memorial rites.”
The Blood Cult Leader spoke to the man who had once been his lord.
“Demon Cult Leader, you may face him alone, or it is fine if we face him together. Do as you please.”
The Demon Cult Leader ignored those words, then said to Gongson Sim.
“I had expected all along that it would be Im Sobaek. Why have you been hiding until now?”
Gongson Sim answered.
“Alliance Leader Im is indeed a disciple. But would that be all? I am a disciple, and others are disciples as well. Every member of the Alliance was a disciple of the Divine Sword.”
The Demon Cult Leader nodded slightly, then looked at the Blood Cult Leader.
“Why are you chasing this fellow so busily?”
Gongson Sim glared back and forth between the Blood Cult Leader and the Demon Cult Leader.
“He is the one who took women and even children hostage at the Tongcheon Gang. He has learned misguided martial arts, so there is a very high chance he will fall into demonic deviation later. It is hard to imagine how many lives will be harmed when that time comes. Cult Leader, do you intend to interfere?”
The Demon Cult Leader answered.
“The previous Cult Leader was killed by your master. You should have come to find me at least once.”
Gongson Sim answered with a puzzled expression.
“For what reason would I go to find you?”
The Demon Cult Leader said.
“Would that not have been better than me appearing at the Murim Alliance?”
Gongson Sim let out a sigh with an expression of disbelief, then said.
“How absurd. In any case, even if you intend to protect him, the Blood Cult Leader must die.”
The Blood Cult Leader laughed.
“Will that be possible?”
Gongson Sim nodded.
“This body is already old. If I fail, I need only die. Cult Leader of the Divine Cult, do not interfere. If I kill the Blood Cult Leader and still have strength left, I will challenge you as well.”
At Gongsun Sim’s words, the Demonic Cult Leader smiled faintly.
“There is no need for that.”
“……”
The Demonic Cult Leader said to Gongsun Sim,
“Let us go to Mount Hua. Get in.”
The Blood Cult Leader looked at the Demonic Cult Leader with an utterly astonished expression.
“What?”
As if he naturally believed Gongsun Sim would accompany him, the Demonic Cult Leader climbed into the carriage first and said,
“……It seems you intended to stop the Blood Cult Leader from joining them at Mount Hua, but in any case, I will be taking him back to Mount Hua. In that case, you have no choice but to follow as well. No matter how you go, it amounts to the same thing, so get in the carriage. The Blood Cult Leader can run after us.”
The Blood Cult Leader shouted,
“What the hell? I should be the one riding!”
The Demonic Cult Leader thoroughly ignored the Blood Cult Leader’s words and said to Gongsun Sim,
“If there is anything you are curious about, ask.”
Gongsun Sim had no choice. The Demonic Cult Leader was not a man who would let him go quietly, and nothing good would come of trying to flee. As he had said, if the Blood Cult Leader went to Mount Hua, then Gongsun Sim’s personally taking action would have produced no results at all.
Gongsun Sim had no choice but to climb into the carriage and look at the infamous one of the Three Calamities, the leader of the Demonic Cult, from very close by.
The coachman’s voice was heard.
“Cult Leader, we will depart.”
Soon, as the carriage set off, the Blood Cult Leader followed from outside, spitting out some sort of curses. As the situation began to flow strangely, Gongsun Sim grew even more bewildered. It seemed to be a situation where the Blood Cult Leader could simply avoid them as he was. And yet, in the end, the Blood Cult Leader was chasing after the carriage.
The Demonic Cult Leader said to Gongsun Sim,
“You must have much to say.”
Only then did Gongsun Sim regain his composure a little and say to the Demonic Cult Leader,
“Cult Leader, something is rather strange.”
“What is?”
“I was, in truth, the chief strategist of the Murim Alliance.”
“I know. Gongsun Sim.”
“So you knew. All this time, seated at my desk, I have played my own games of Go countless times, and recently the orthodox faction has continued to win.”
“And before?”
“Before, it was mutual destruction. To be honest, the Cult had the upper hand.”
“Why did that change?”
In the rattling carriage, Gongsun Sim lifted the shade and looked at the Blood Cult Leader following them. When the Blood Cult Leader glared back with his eyes wide, he put the shade back in place.
Gongsun Sim continued,
“Of course, it became so after the Hao Gate Master intervened in the jianghu. A strange thing. If one considers Hao Gate as an organization, it is on the very weak side, but after its mad Gate Master went around stirring up trouble in every direction, it somehow ended up that way.”
“And?”
“There are two people I simply cannot understand with my own mind. The Gate Master and you, Cult Leader. According to the games of Go I play at my desk, the Cult Leader’s forces are now being pushed back considerably by the alliance. The momentum of the Black Path, which had opposed the Murim Alliance, has waned greatly. The Jecheon Alliance Leader has instead built a friendship with him. I hear he even saved the leader of the Beggars’ Gang once. Is that all? Even the scholars, who always tried to sow discord between the demonic path and the orthodox path in order to keep a single powerful organization from dominating the world, have to some extent formed ties with the Gate Master. This means that even if the Cult now uses all its strength, it will not be easy to bring down the orthodox faction or the Murim Alliance. That is because even the forces that stand by and watch are highly likely to side with the Gate Master.”
The Demonic Cult Leader rested his chin on his hand and merely nodded once. Since his attitude seemed to say that he understood and Gongsun Sim should continue, Gongsun Sim went on.
“……With the situation having come to this, it becomes all the harder for me to understand the two of you. If he simply remained still, the dominion of the demonic path would now be difficult to achieve, and yet the Gate Master has challenged you. And you have accepted that challenge and are on your way to Mount Hua. How am I to understand this?”
The Cult Leader said,
“What is so difficult to understand?”
“Listen. No matter how unprecedentedly quickly the Gate Master has grown stronger in the history of the jianghu, I do not think he will defeat you, Cult Leader. It is a reckless challenge. That is the first thing that is hard to understand. The second is you. If you go to Mount Hua like this, you too will be in a dangerous situation. Your individual martial might may be outstanding, but you could be subjected to a combined assault by other masters. That is why I cannot understand the actions of either of you at all. One person challenges a fight he has a high probability of losing, and the other, even after winning, may find himself in an environment from which he cannot return alive…… and yet here you are, going to Mount Hua.”
The Cult Leader nodded.
“You observe coldly from the position of a third party. It may seem strange to you, but in the end, to an outsider, all of it will seem strange. I have already sent some masters to Mount Hua. I sent a man called Ilmajo, who had been living in seclusion. I also sent the money-grubbing newly appointed Left Envoy. Did a proper fight take place, as your orthodox faction claimed it would? Or did a filthy fight take place, in accordance with the hypocrisy you often display? I will see that and decide. The combined assault you point out is also uncertain. Even if a dozen or so people, including Cheonak, attack me together……”
“……”
The Cult Leader looked at Gongsun Sim.
“How many of you would remain alive?”
“Mm.”
“If I drag most of the masters encompassing the orthodox faction, the Black Path, and the scholars down to hell with me, could either side still have the advantage in the fight between the orthodox faction and the Cult? No. So long as I exist, we have never been inferior in total strength.”
Gongsun Sim felt the atmosphere pressing down on him, but still wanting to win once with words, he said this.
“Even so, Im Sobaek remains.”
As he made a move with the feeling of playing Go at his desk, the Cult Leader countered.
“I have also left the First Young Master behind, and the two have already crossed hands once. According to the First Young Master, it was a draw, but he is a prideful fellow, so I do not believe him. Still, he is younger than Im Sobaek, so he will catch up soon enough.”
As Gongsun Sim mulled over the Cult Leader’s words, he swallowed without realizing it.
For somehow, if the demonic path’s masters at Mount Hua’s Plum Blossom Manor had been killed through underhanded means or in life-and-death duels, the atmosphere suggested that the Cult Leader would repay it in kind. To change the mood, he casually asked the Cult Leader’s thoughts.
“Cult Leader, what do you think of the Gate Master, who is challenging you so recklessly? Recently, there has been no man who challenged you in this manner.”
“Chief Strategist, how would I know? I am not a god. However, the Gate Master is stronger than you think. It seems the time when you met him and the time when I saw him were somewhat different.”
“Is that so? It was rather some time ago.”
While listening to the sound of the Blood Cult Leader’s lightness skill as he followed outside like a messenger, the Cult Leader pointed with his finger.
“Even compared to that fellow, he is not a weak man.”
The eyes of Gongsun Sim, who had been chasing the Blood Cult Leader until now, widened roundly.
“What?”
That was because, as far as Gongsun Sim knew, the Gate Master was weaker than himself and weaker than the Blood Cult Leader as well. Surprisingly, the Blood Cult Leader, who had been following while eavesdropping on the entire conversation, cut in.
“……He is not a man weaker than me. He is one hell of a bastard.”
This time, Gongsun Sim asked the Blood Cult Leader outside,
“Why is he one hell of a bastard?”
Unexpected words flowed from the Blood Cult Leader’s mouth.
“He taught me a martial art, and while I was trying to learn it, a heart demon came upon me. It does not seem as though he taught it falsely…… but with that level of cunning, it also seems like he may have taught it properly on purpose.”
Gongsun Sim could not understand the Blood Cult Leader’s words and looked at the Demonic Cult Leader. In other words, if he interpreted what was said, it meant that the Hao Gate Master had taught him a proper martial art, and while trying to learn it, a heart demon had come to the Blood Cult Leader.
It made no sense.
At that, the Demonic Cult Leader twirled a finger around his temple. It seemed to mean that the man was a lunatic and not worth dealing with, so Gongsun Shen let out a dry cough.
“Ahem……”