The Weight of Betrayal
In the dim depths of the underground chamber, the air hung heavy with the faint scent of damp stone and extinguished incense.
“Huu… Now, everything is complete.”
“Good. Now we merely need to carve the final mark and it will be done.”
A monstrous figure with thirty-eight eyes stood beside a woman, both gazing at a small doll before them with smiles that carried no warmth whatsoever.
The doll was in the shape of a delicate young girl.
And within it lay the sealed Void Moon, Yu-eum.
Yu-eum trembled violently with rage inside the woman’s grip.
“You evil cultists! You’ve turned me into this, and now what twisted game are you playing?!”
“Huhu, don’t worry. We won’t do anything drastic. Just stay calm.”
“Please, remain obedient, and we will not harm you.”
Kim Yeon slipped Yu-eum into her palm.
The ghost king thrashed wildly in her hands, yet the binding talismans embedded throughout his puppet body sealed his every ounce of power.
“You should actually be grateful. If you had remained before the Lord of the Cult as a spirit all this time, you might have truly gone mad.”
Yeon Wi, who had descended into the underground chamber unnoticed, leaned against the wall and spoke to Yu-eum.
“What you feel right now—screaming and babbling like an idiot—isn’t true awareness. The fact that you can still think clearly is also a blessing from the Lord. Be grateful for it.”
“Kuuugh! You cultists have turned me into this, and what nonsense are you spewing?! Release me at once!”
“Hmmm. Let me have it for a moment, Yeona.”
Yeon Wi took Yu-eum from Kim Yeon’s hand, then hurled him somewhere distant.
“Hyaat! Where are you throwing me now, you cultists?! Ugh!”
And someone with thick hands caught the hurled Yu-eum.
“From now on, the enlightenment of the Void Moon will rest with you, the First Guardian Ghost King, Wi Shion.”
“Thank you, Commander.”
Wi Shion was the head of the Terminating Sect and had pledged his allegiance to the Wugeuk Sect.
“Wi Shion! You traitor! How dare you betray me?!”
Yu-eum wriggled in Wi Shion’s grasp, screaming in fury.
“Instead, it was because I thought of you all that I joined the Wugeuk Sect. And if you turn your heart toward the Wugeuk Sect, you will receive a proper puppet body and the Lord’s grace, the Circuit Mark, allowing you to wield power far stronger than before.”
“I do not wish to hear a single word from a traitor who only cares about power and abandoned us! Release me now!”
“Releasing you is a matter for later. First, let us learn about the Wugeuk Sect together.”
Wi Shion took Yu-eum and walked away, carefully holding the wriggling ghost king so he would not slip.
That was when—
Kwaaarrgh!
Suddenly the sky turned blood-red, and Jeon Myeong-hoon descended beside Wi Shion.
In his hand rested a single snow-white skull.
Yu-eum saw it and wailed in despair.
“Baek-rin! You too?!”
Yet unlike the puppet-bound Yu-eum, Wi Shion noticed something and asked Jeon Myeong-hoon.
“Wait, Grand Law Enforcement. That skull is…”
“Yes, I dropped it.”
Jeon Myeong-hoon nodded indifferently and examined the skull.
At those words, Yu-eum finally breathed a sigh of relief in Wi Shion’s grip.
“I told you earlier about Baek-rin. In an emergency, the Resurrection Technique ‘White Bone Shedding Plan’ allows the body to be discarded and the Nascent Soul to escape, didn’t I?”
Jeon Myeong-hoon looked at Wi Shion.
“He explained that the Nascent Soul could leave the body and escape.”
“Exactly! But how did you miss it?!”
“The Nascent Soul supposedly divides into thousands of pieces, each fleeing while using the Cloaking Technique.”
“Umm…! That is… the White Bone Shedding Plan is only usable at Extreme Completion…”
Jeon Myeong-hoon clicked his tongue.
“I suppose you reached the pinnacle of the Resurrection Technique without my knowing. Well, this was the first time I’d seen it, so I was flustered and dropped it. Next time, I won’t miss it.”
Even after Jeon Myeong-hoon’s words, Wi Shion only groaned.
“It’s become complicated…”
“What’s complicated?”
“Baek-rin once received a favor from an elder of the Black Ghost Valley during his Celestial Person stage. Time has passed, so that elder must now be the Black Elder of the Black Ghost Valley. Perhaps he would challenge the cult using their support.”
“Hmph…”
Jeon Myeong-hoon pondered for a moment, then chuckled.
“It doesn’t matter. We have the Lord.”
Wi Shion sighed at the absolute trust Jeon Myeong-hoon placed in the “Lord,” but then his thoughts turned to Seo Eun-hyun.
A being with nineteen heads and thirty-eight eyes.
‘…Perhaps the Lord is fine.’
Wi Shion glanced back toward Jeon Myeong-hoon heading into the Wugeuk War, then turned his gaze and walked away with Yu-eum toward another location in the Wugeuk Sect.
* * *
“Hmmm, the Black Ghost Valley…”
Deep in the underground of the Wugeuk War, the Wugeuk Ghost King Seo Eun-hyun lay on his meditation platform, idly tapping the armrest with his finger.
“First, what do you think, Senior Yeon Wi?”
Yeon Wi shook her head at Jeon Myeong-hoon’s report.
“There is nothing to worry about. This Baek-eum Realm is an impregnable zone between Bongrae Island and the Myeonggwi Palace. If the Black Ghost Valley or Huadao Sect attempts to interfere, they will only be blocked by the Myeonggwi Palace or Bongrae Island. Those fools would never hand their uneaten cake to a rival power. If anything, the Black Ghost Valley may even receive support from the Myeonggwi Palace or Bongrae Island.”
“Hmmm, I see.”
Seo Eun-hyun nodded after hearing the report.
“Then, for now, we should avoid reckless action and focus on slowly building our power, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes, that would be best. Slowly but surely, we should use the advantage of puppet provision to swallow the Baek-eum Realm. Even if Baek-rin brings the Black Ghost Valley with him, if I govern the Baek-eum Realm, they will have no choice but to acknowledge my authority and retreat. Hehe…”
“Understood. So, for the next two hundred years, we shall focus on building our power without reckless moves and accumulating our core.”
After blocking the intruder, the short meeting in the Wugeuk War came to an end.
* * *
Bwoong! Bong! Bong!
After the meeting, Kim Yeon arrived at the training ground assigned to her and began her practice.
‘How can I understand this feeling?’
She had thought she could simply distinguish emotions by their colors, visible through the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
But strangely, the color of the emotions she felt was “colorless.”
She had no idea what her feelings truly were.
‘Joy is gold, anger is red, sorrow is deep indigo, pleasure is silver, love is pink, jealousy is deep crimson, desire is black.’
These were the colors she had observed upon attaining the Strange Star-Mind Scroll and the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
She had confirmed that those colors merged into one colorless hue when reaching the peak of the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
Therefore, the colorless emotions she saw now should have been ‘all emotions.’
But Kim Yeon knew.
‘No. It’s not all emotions.’
Although it was the same colorless hue she had seen upon reaching the peak of the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin, the colorless emotion created by her feelings felt distinctly special.
‘What is this feeling?’
She could feel it instinctively.
The day she would discover the true color of this emotion.
“Huu…”
She repeated the Wing-to-Wing Dance.
At the same time, she cycled the Lianzhi Heart Spirit Method, growing accustomed to its inner energy circulation.
Uuuung—
Pure qi surged through her meridians at terrifying speed.
Uuuung—
Kim Yeon reached out her hand toward the void.
According to her will, the pure qi condensed in the void and responded with perfect obedience.
This was the beginner stage of the Yiqi Iron Bridge.
By injecting qi into the void, inputting will into the qi, and practicing free movement, one would eventually reach the realm of Dengbongjogeuk.
‘Senior Eun-hyun said that even reaching the Dengbongjogeuk realm would make me overwhelmingly strong.’
Seo Eun-hyun had said so.
Kim Yeon thought that even attaining the Dengbongjogeuk realm, which directly utilized the power of will, would make her incredibly strong.
Seo Eun-hyun’s words were not wrong.
A will at the Integration stage would explode dramatically when using the acceleration of Dengbongjogeuk.
Yet she thought this while operating the Lianzhi Heart Spirit Method.
‘If I become overwhelmingly strong, will I be able to find the name of this emotion?’
She was not merely seeking self-satisfaction.
According to the Strange Star-Mind Scroll, one should not have any will one could not read once the Strange Star-Mind Scroll reached its pinnacle.
But she could not read one specific will.
Therefore, she had not yet attained the pinnacle of the Strange Star-Mind Scroll.
‘I must attain the Strange Star-Mind Scroll.’
Goe-gun had left her a law artifact containing enlightenment.
Kim Yeon had obtained the enlightenment to block Goe-gun himself from that artifact, and she knew she would need the Strange Star-Mind Scroll to attain that enlightenment.
Yet she sometimes became confused.
Was she trying to discover the emotion for the sake of the Strange Star-Mind Scroll?
Or was she trying to attain the Strange Star-Mind Scroll to discover the emotion?
‘…I don’t know.’
She repeated the Wing-to-Wing Dance.
Again and again.
‘If I don’t know, I’ll just do as Eun-hyun oppa said.’
Even if she didn’t understand, he was surely correct.
He had been right about everything so far.
Taking one step at a time, she recalled her old memories.
* * *
“Hello. I am the newly transferred section chief, Oh Hye-seo. Please call me Oh-jnim.”
A short while after she became an employee.
A new person had transferred to the neighboring department.
Her name was Oh Hye-seo. It was said that the department she had come from had engaged in bullying, and the head of the administrative team who had instigated it had been referred to the discipline committee, demoted, and fired. The bullied Oh Hye-seo, traumatized, had wished to leave that department and transfer elsewhere.
“Oh dear. You must have suffered.”
“No, it’s fine. As long as Team Leader Lim was excluded, everyone was kind to me.”
From the very first day of Kim Yeon’s transfer, she grew close to Oh Hye-seo in an instant, without realizing it.
“I don’t know much about the sales development department, so I’ll have to ask Kim Yeon to teach me.”
“No, no. I’m just an employee, and you’re the section chief…”
“Still, the one who arrived first is far better at it. Isn’t that right, Min-hee?”
Kang Min-hee took a sip of coffee and glanced at her with a blank expression.
“Yes, whatever.”
“…Ugh, saying it so briefly makes me sad.”
Looking at the indifferent Kang Min-hee, Oh Hye-seo pretended to cry and teased her, and the men in the department found it amusing and began joking with her.
During lunch break, Kim Yeon ate a hamburger with Kang Min-hee and spoke about Oh Hye-seo.
“Unnie Min-hee, that new section chief Oh is really amazing, isn’t she? She transferred even though she was bullied, and she always stays so cheerful…”
“Hmmm…”
Kang Min-hee chewed a potato chip thoughtfully.
“She’s… really unsettling.”
“Eh? Why?”
“It’s that former administrative team leader who left. Before he left, he apologized to Oh Hye-seo. He said he was sorry for bullying her all that time and that he didn’t know why he did it. He truly cried while apologizing sincerely.”
“What? A person like that would bully someone?”
“That’s what’s weird. I know Team Leader Lim a little. He was incredibly kind—kind-hearted, loved animals, and volunteered at an orphanage. Especially at the orphanage sponsored by SJD, he went there very often, and the higher-ups liked him a lot. He was even scheduled for promotion. But why would such a person bully the new section chief?”
Kim Yeon took a potato chip from Kang Min-hee and looked thoughtful.
“Maybe she just didn’t like him at first sight?”
“That’s impossible. Even if you don’t like someone at first sight, you have to work with them as a superior in this company… Anyway, I think there was no real bullying.”
“Really? Then what?”
“It’s… Wait, where did my potato chip go?”
Although she had heard a slightly unsettling comment from Kang Min-hee at lunch, Kim Yeon still felt a surge of affinity when she saw Oh Hye-seo.
No, Oh Hye-seo was actually a person who won everyone’s affection.
Kim Yeon quickly forgot everything Kang Min-hee had said and grew close to Oh Hye-seo.
Moreover, Oh Hye-seo’s abilities were outstanding, and only four days after the transfer, she had surpassed Kang Min-hee and become the top elite in the department.
Before she knew it, she and Oh Hye-seo had become sisters.
The tasks Seo Eun-hyun assigned were never easy, but Oh Hye-seo took on all the difficult ones and left only easy tasks for Kim Yeon, so naturally Kim Yeon ended up talking to Oh Hye-seo far more than to Seo Eun-hyun.
“Ah, Hye-seonim. I finished this.”
“Hmm, thank you. Ah, Yeona. This one is wrong.”
“What? Ah, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Between us, what’s a little error?”
Also, Oh Hye-seo would casually overlook any mistakes Kim Yeon made.
But Seo Eun-hyun was the opposite.
“Kim Employee, the document name is wrong.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“The format also has an error. Is this the B12 form I gave you last time?”
“Actually… I used something else. I’m sorry.”
“…I told you to use that form. Why did you use something strange?”
“I’m sorry.”
‘Hye-seonim always pointed out that form…’
“Redo it.”
Receiving the documents from the sternly scolding Seo Eun-hyun, Kim Yeon redid them from the beginning.
She had done it that way at first.
But at some point, something began to feel off.
“Oh, Yeona. This is wrong again.”
“Ah, is it?”
Oh Hye-seo always found errors in the documents Kim Yeon had completed.
But Seo Eun-hyun suddenly stopped speaking.
“Ah, thank you. I’ll be going.”
“Eh… Section Chief?”
“Yes?”
“Did I make no mistakes?”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Other people said this was wrong…”
“Huh? Who said that?”
“Oh Section Chief said…”
“Ah… Hye-seo? What? Did I make a mistake? We all write like this…”
After flipping through the documents for a moment, Seo Eun-hyun shook her head.
“Kim Employee, there are no mistakes here. Hye-seo must have pointed out something else.”
“Ah… I guess I remembered wrong. I’m sorry.”
“What? You’ve been growing so much that you’ve been very helpful lately.”
As Kim Yeon’s skills improved, Seo Eun-hyun stopped scolding her.
But Kim Yeon had realized that Oh Hye-seo, without making any mistakes, would deliberately create an error and then laugh it off.
‘Why…?’
Kim Yeon felt a sense of dread, but she let it pass.
Yet an incident had occurred because of Oh Hye-seo.
It was after the company dinner.
Everyone was slightly drunk.
Kim Yeon, in particular, was quite tipsy.
Before her colleagues left, she noticed Oh Hye-seo following Seo Eun-hyun.
‘Eh? What? Hye-seonim…’
She chased after Oh Hye-seo.
At first, she simply intended to greet her.
But at some point, Oh Hye-seo disappeared.
‘…?’
She had vanished into the darkness, and Kim Yeon could no longer see her.
Yet the faint floral fragrance unique to Oh Hye-seo continued to linger at the tip of her nose.
Oh Hye-seo was clearly nearby somewhere.
Oh Hye-seo had disappeared, the fragrance remained at Kim Yeon’s nose, and the source of that scent was this strange situation near Seo Eun-hyun.
At some point, Kim Yeon, entranced, chased after Seo Eun-hyun to find Oh Hye-seo.
But before Kim Yeon found Oh Hye-seo, Seo Eun-hyun had already spotted her clumsily following him.
“…Eh…”
“…Kim Employee?”
Kim Yeon, eyes meeting Seo Eun-hyun’s, opened her mouth in a daze.
‘Ah, I was chasing after Hye-seonim…’
The situation had become strangely awkward.
Seo Eun-hyun looked at her with a mix of surprise.
“Why are you here?”
And Kim Yeon was momentarily at a loss for words.
Seo Eun-hyun had always been somewhat difficult to approach.
And now the situation was far worse than simply being caught stalking him.
“Eh… That is…”
‘I followed Hye-seonim because I thought she was stalking the section chief…’
Kim Yeon tried to say that, but what came out was different.
“Hye… Hye… Section Chief… stalking…”
And Seo Eun-hyun looked at her as if interpreting her words, then delivered a voice of pure thunder.
“You said I was stalking?”
“Ah, no, no…”
Fortunately, Seo Eun-hyun smiled faintly.
“Ahahaha, just a joke. You must have gotten drunk and not spoken clearly. Come here. I’ll support you. So… you thought someone was stalking and asked me for help?”
“U… ah…”
She wanted to speak, but tension or drunkenness made the words fail to come.
She wanted to make an excuse, but since no words came, she simply accepted it.
Thud!
“Eh…”
“No, Kim Employee… Can you not walk?”
“…Uuu…”
“Ha… I’ll call a taxi ahead. It looks like you won’t make it even that far.”
Kim Yeon suddenly felt sick.
She nodded in a way that meant she could not walk.
Somehow it felt unfair.
She had only chased after Oh Hye-seo. Why had she ended up like this, collapsed, in front of her boss who had never particularly appealed to her?
Seo Eun-hyun sighed and somehow carried her.
“I’ll carry you to the bus stop ahead. From there I’ll call a taxi…”
“…Section Chief… thank… you…”
And as Kim Yeon was carried on Seo Eun-hyun’s back toward the bus stop, the mixture of alcohol and sorrow made her feel countless emotions boiling within her.
Then Kim Yeon poured that boiling something onto Seo Eun-hyun’s back.
“Ca… ca… buweeeek…”
“Hyaaaaaah! Kim Yeon! What are you doing?!”
From then on, she remembered nothing clearly.
Seo Eun-hyun had screamed in shock, then repeatedly asked if she was all right after checking her state.
She had also asked several times where she lived, and when Kim Yeon could not answer, she had taken her to a nearby motel and gently laid her down.
“Ha… This is crazy. Am I going to get sucked in?”
Kim Yeon murmured in a daze on the motel bed.
“I’m sorry…”
“Ah… It’s fine. You can do it when you’re drunk…”
“Huu… Get a good night’s sleep. I set an alarm on your phone, so go to work on time tomorrow. If you can’t wake up, just contact me. The room key is on the side.”
After speaking, Seo Eun-hyun left the room.
When she had come to the motel, Kim Yeon had been extremely tense.
Yet nothing had happened.
‘Ah, Section Chief Seo… truly…’
She closed her eyes on the bed and thought about Seo Eun-hyun.
‘Thank… you…’
A while later, she fell asleep.
That night, she dreamed a nightmare.
In the nightmare, when she opened her eyes, someone beside her bed stroked her hair and held a ruler against her fingernails.
The being hummed a cheerful tune, but its eyes in the darkness were those of a completely emotionless being.
A thick rose scent emanated from it.
The same fragrance Oh Hye-seo used.
Kim Yeon wanted to scream, but her mouth was sealed in the dream, so she could not.
The black being had opened her mouth, counted her teeth and their condition, then vanished.
It had been a nightmare she did not want to dream again, but morning came anyway.
Kim Yeon recalled last night’s events and thought she was going to go mad.
“…Ah, I might as well die.”
‘What did I do to Section Chief Seo…?’
Thinking that even getting slapped at work would be better, Kim Yeon went to work in a gloomy mood.
Unexpectedly, Seo Eun-hyun said nothing special.
“You’re here, Kim Employee?”
“Ah, yes… Section Chief. Thank you for yesterday.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. You looked very tired, so I helped. Please drink less from now on. And the boss is coming today, so please tidy up these documents.”
Whatever had happened yesterday, Seo Eun-hyun was still Seo Eun-hyun.
Nothing had changed.
But Kim Yeon’s heart had changed a little that day.
* * *
Kwaaaang—
Kim Yeon stared at the massive shockwave that had appeared before her.
Scling—
The twin blades at her fingertips spun wildly.
Her vitality still surged without end.
“Hmmm…”
Kim Yeon recalled her old memories and smiled bitterly.
‘What did Eun-hyun oppa think of me back then?’
Perhaps that was why he did not see her as a woman.
But after that incident, Kim Yeon’s affection for Seo Eun-hyun had grown.
Before, she had been the emotionless labor ghost Seo Eun-hyun who smiled only occasionally.
At some point, his actions had begun to appeal to her.
Rather than Oh Hye-seo, who subtly created non-existent errors, because he simply evaluated things as they were.
Or perhaps because she saw more of his smiling face as her skills improved.
That was the feeling she had for Seo Eun-hyun.
The seed had been planted on the first day of her employment, but the sprout had clearly begun to grow from that very moment.
The sprout had slowly grown.
It had become a trunk, taken root in her heart, and gradually thickened.
Kim Yeon looked back over the past years, polishing her heart and her martial arts.
Looking back, the years she had spent in the sect she had established also flowed away.
Several years had passed.
Oh Hyun-seok had recovered his Nascent Soul realm.
Several decades had passed.
* * *
Oh Hyun-seok had reached the Heavenly Person stage of the Nascent Soul realm, Jeon Myeong-hoon had accumulated all the Four Pillars to become a Four-Pillars Grand Completion, and Hong Beom had reached the middle stage of the Four Pillars. It had been a long time.
During that period, Kim Yeon’s martial path had not risen.
Only one thing had risen.
Kwa kwa kwa kwaang!
“The Strange Ghost King is using her power again!”
“Avoid!!”
“The Left Law Enforcement Department’s members have been destroyed!”
The martial arts she had honed.
That was all.
Weeeeeeeee—
Kim Yeon stood in place, circulating her inner energy.
Within her meridians, the Lianzhi Heart Spirit Method rotated continuously, uniting as one.
Her pure martial path had finally reached the extreme of the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
But the power of the martial arts Kim Yeon had acquired was never the same as that of the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin.
Kuu gu gu gu gu—
The entire Baek-eum Realm had momentarily been filled with a pink light.
Whaaa—
The inner energy of the Lianzhi Heart Spirit Method burned through Kim Yeon’s entire body.
“Huuu…”
As she exhaled, the pure qi that had enveloped her body flowed inward.
“Ah, no. What is this…”
Hong Beom, who had rushed to the training ground upon hearing the commotion, looked at her with a stunned expression.
“Lord Kim Yeon, what you just did…”
“Ah, Hong Beom is here? Ahahaha, I went a little too hard.”
“…That was not the power of the puppet. It was Lord Kim Yeon’s own…”
“Yes. I’m not sure, but suddenly my output has exploded dramatically.”
“…Incredible. Hehe, I thought you were still at the peak of the Five Qi Consorting with the Origin…”
“I’m sorry if I worried you. Oh my, it’s completely destroyed. Still, I’ll repair it with the puppets. Please don’t worry.”
Hong Beom stared at her in a daze for a moment, then shook his head.
“Ah, I rushed over because I was surprised, but it was because the Commander asked me to gather everyone.”
“Senior Yeon Wi?”
“Yes, she said to come to the Wugeuk War. She summoned the Strange Ghost King, of course, and all the Guardian Ghost Kings and Law Enforcements.”
“Umm, what’s the matter?”
Kim Yeon followed Hong Beom with an odd expression.
A while later.
In the Wugeuk War residence of the Wugeuk Sect’s Lord, the Wugeuk Ghost King Seo Eun-hyun.
In the underground chamber, several figures had gathered.
Grand Law Enforcement, Six-Pillar Ghost King Jeon Myeong-hoon.
Left Law Enforcement, Strange Ghost King Kim Yeon.
Right Law Enforcement, Extinction Ghost King Oh Hyun-seok.
And the other Four Law Enforcements of the Wugeuk Sect, including Hong Beom.
Also gathered were the First Guardian Ghost King Wi Shion.
Starting with the Second Guardian Ghost King Yu-eum, all twelve Guardian Ghost Kings had assembled underground.
Jeon Myeong-hoon’s eyes sparkled at Seo Eun-hyun’s shadow.
“Seo… I mean, Lord. You have also attained the Six-Pillar Thunder God Technique. It has already reached its pinnacle.”
[…I couldn’t help it because of you. Damn it. I should have held back… Heh, no. It was a humiliation I couldn’t endure. Well, good job.]
“I know well. Honestly, if something like that had happened to you, you wouldn’t have been able to keep your eyes open.”
After a while of light conversation between them, they fell silent when Yeon Wi entered last.
Seo Eun-hyun also stopped chatting with Jeon Myeong-hoon and his eyes sparkled.
[Then, everyone is gathered. Let us begin the meeting.]
At those words, all the Four Law Enforcements and every Guardian Ghost King knelt before Seo Eun-hyun.
A while later, Seo Eun-hyun raised nineteen heads and spoke.
[Excessive courtesy is unnecessary. Law Enforcement, explain the reason for summoning the officers.]
“Yes, Lord. First, everyone. Bad news has arrived.”
Yeon Wi spoke with a stern face.
The Four Law Enforcements other than Jeon Myeong-hoon, as well as the twelve Guardian Ghost Kings, were all startled.
“The Three Powers—Bongrae Island, Myeonggwi Palace, and Black Ghost Valley—have designated our Wugeuk Sect as a heretical cult and designated you, Lord, as a public enemy of the Baek-eum Realm.”
* * *
I sat on the meditation platform, clutching my throbbing head.
‘I never imagined this would happen.’
It was already the 230th year since I had come to the Myeonggwi Realm.
My colleagues had gradually reached the strength suitable for the Four Pillars, or were on the verge of doing so.
And I had also succeeded in accumulating over seventy percent of my core.
Moreover, branches of the Wugeuk Sect had already been established in various parts of the lower realm, and those who relied on my power were gradually increasing, accelerating the accumulation of my core.
But at some point, through the movements of the Wugeuk Sect, they had learned what I was doing in the Baek-eum Realm.
They had discovered that I was accumulating the Five Pillars there. They did not know what the Five Pillars were, but unlike the three major sects of Yu-eum, Baek-maek, and Si-hu who had ruled the Baek-eum Realm, they had looked unfavorably upon the fact that I, who knew what the Five Pillars were, governed this place.
In the end, they had come to me with a threat disguised as a suggestion, demanding that I join one of the forces of the Myeonggwi Palace or Bongrae Island.
And during that process, Jeon Myeong-hoon had killed the delegation from Myeonggwi Palace and Bongrae Island.
The reason was that the two delegations had mocked Jeon Myeong-hoon for stroking Geum So-hae’s hand.
As a result, both powers had designated me as a public enemy, and with Baek-rin—who had been missed last time—bringing the Black Ghost Valley to oppose me, I had ultimately been designated a public enemy by the three major powers.
When Yeon Wi learned of this, she proposed with a headache.
―Since this has happened, let us abandon the Wugeuk Sect.
―What? What does that mean?
―We’ve already accumulated seventy percent of our core, and our forces relying on my power in the lower realm have grown strong. We can abandon the Wugeuk Sect in the Baek-eum Realm and found a new sect in another Gongryeong-ji. It will be fine if we simply change the name slightly.
―Then what about the disciples?
―What’s there to think about? Do you think I’m the real Lord? Don’t get too wrapped up in the role!
―No, even though you enjoyed it the most…
―Absurd. Anyway, gather only the core officers tomorrow and announce it.
I recalled Yeon Wi’s words and sighed.
[Haaaa…]
Nineteen mouths breathed out scorching air.
The Guardian Ghost Kings, who had been trembling with anxiety, stood up and prepared to listen after seeing my reaction.
[From now on, I, your Lord, will establish our action policy.]
I glanced sideways at Yeon Wi’s eyes for a moment, then spoke.
[The Wugeuk Sect will not retreat. Whether those pig-like three major powers come or not, this lord will not abandon this land.]
It was unfortunate for Yeon Wi, but since I had become a public enemy, what difference did it make?
Kkuduk—
I clenched my fist in the void and smiled.
[Now I have enough strength to protect those who follow me.]
I was no longer weak enough to worry about the line between good and evil.
[Believe in me! I will protect you. Blessings upon those who believe!]
“Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord! Lord!”