Chapter 434: The Cult Leader Wakes from His Slumber
Chapter 434: The Cult Leader Wakes from His Slumber
Upon returning to the Cult, I headed straight for the Heavenly Demon Hall with the Drunken Demon in tow.
The prospect of meeting my father had the Drunken Demon visibly on edge.
In the past, he had once made a drunken scene in front of my father, pathetically pleading with him not to hate him so much. Although the misunderstanding had been cleared up back then, it didn't seem to make being around my father any easier for him.
"You can't leave first! I’m going to pay my respects and get out of there before you do."
He clearly wanted to avoid being left alone for a private audience at all costs.
"I wonder where that mysterious, terrifying Drunken Demon of the Mist went?"
"He’s probably passed out under a carriage somewhere."
Despite his nerves, he had even prepared a gift. Before leaving the North Sea, he had stopped at a famous brewery to buy some fine liquor for my father. When you looked closely, it was clear the Drunken Demon harbored a deep, desperate desire to be in my father's good graces.
With that, we entered the Heavenly Demon Hall together.
My father was seated in his Grand Tutor’s chair, just as he always was. Whenever I entered this place, I was moved by the sight of him, steadfastly guarding that seat.
"Father! Your son has returned!"
At the same time, I felt a flicker of dread.
What if that chair were empty? What if I were the one who had to protect it? Could I ever provide the same unwavering sense of security that my father did?
It wasn't that I lacked the confidence to fill his shoes; it was the fact that I could that frightened me. My past life had already proven that I was someone capable of silently guarding that seat, just like my father. But in this life, I wanted to live brightly and freely.
"I have returned after finishing the business in the North Sea!" I announced loudly.
Beside me, the Drunken Demon bowed with formal grace.
"I have returned, Cult Leader."
Looking down at the Drunken Demon, my father immediately noticed his condition.
"Are you injured?"
"A minor wound, but I am fine now."
The Drunken Demon’s face flushed with excitement just because my father had deigned to ask after him. Even though he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, heat radiated from his cheeks.
"I heard about the events in the North Sea from the Strategist."
I didn't miss the opportunity to step in.
"The Drunken Demon personally took down the leader of the secret organization that was trying to swallow the Ice Palace."
I had made up my mind to brag about the Drunken Demon's exploits in front of my father today.
"Naturally."
The Drunken Demon looked up at my father with a startled expression at that simple word. My father looked at me, not him, as he spoke.
"He is not the kind of man to suffer defeat and come crawling back, is he?"
I could tell. My father already knew exactly how strong the Drunken Demon was.
Even without looking to my side, I could feel the Drunken Demon's overwhelming emotion. This was likely the first time he had been recognized like this by my father—and in front of someone else, no less.
"Thanks to him, I was safe. It was my first time seeing the Drunken Demon fight properly, and it was truly spectacular. And more than anything..."
My gaze shifted from my father to the Drunken Demon. He looked back at me, tense with anticipation for what I would say next.
"It was impressive. Seeing the Drunken Demon avenge his friend."
I was saying it to boost his standing in front of my father, but I meant every word.
I gave a detailed account of what had happened in the North Sea. Of course, my father would have already received reports on the logistics and results through the Tongcheon Pavilion, but he wouldn't know the small details in between.
This was something I always did after returning from a mission. Sharing the stories like a casual chat made me feel the bond with my father growing stronger. Today, I focused the narrative on the Drunken Demon's heroics. I told it with enough flair to ensure he wouldn't be bored, making it sound even more vivid than the reality.
"...And so, as a token of gratitude, the Ice Palace Master even bestowed the Ice Palace Holy Cup upon the Drunken Demon."
Even if I hadn't mentioned it, my father would have recognized the artifact. The white energy shimmering around the cup like a halo made it impossible to miss.
I had tried to brush it off as a simple gift of gratitude, but the Drunken Demon wouldn't let it slide.
"The Young Cult Leader gave up his own reward so that I could receive the Ice Palace Holy Cup instead."
I expected my father to give me a look that said, 'You're not the type to give up your own things for others,' but instead, he said something unexpected.
"May I have a drink from that cup as well?"
"Of course. I actually bought some famous liquor from the North Sea specifically for you, Cult Leader."
The Drunken Demon walked toward the Grand Tutor’s chair with a composed stride. He poured the liquor into the Ice Palace Holy Cup and offered it to my father. Every movement was careful and calm. He had been trembling at the mere mention of my father before entering the hall, but in moments like this, he truly carried himself like a Demon Lord.
My father emptied the cup in a single draft.
"The liquor is good, and the cup is exquisite. The taste is superb."
The Drunken Demon beamed at my father's approval.
"Would you like another?"
"Instead of that, why don't you join me for a drink? It has been a long time."
For a moment, the Drunken Demon's eyes shook with shock. This, too, was a first—my father asking him to drink together.
"I would be honored."
After answering with a joyful face, the Drunken Demon glanced at me, signaling with his eyes for me to get lost. Of course, I wasn't about to miss this golden opportunity to tease him.
—Didn't you say I shouldn't leave first?
—Just go! Get out of here!
—Let's all three drink together. No, wait, I'll go call the other Demon Lords too!
—No! Do you know how rare an opportunity this is?!
Only after teasing him like that did I give my father a formal bow.
"Then I shall take my leave. I may have badmouthed my brother quite a bit while he was away, but don't you two go badmouthing me just because I'm not here!"
As I turned to leave, my father spoke up abruptly.
"Are you alright?"
I flinched and turned back toward him. What did he mean by that?
My eyes met my father's. Looking into those eyes that gazed down at me in silence, I understood why he had asked. If he had voiced the unspoken words, it would have been this:
You have been getting far too much blood on your hands lately. Are you alright?
I could feel the depth of his concern. No matter how much a villain deserved to die, the act of constantly staining one's hands with blood was something that wounded the heart and soul. No matter how exceptional I appeared, to my father, I was still his reckless youngest son in his twenties.
"That is why I don't try to do everything alone. I greedily ask the Demon Lords for help to protect myself."
The Drunken Demon listened to my words, his gaze becoming as deep as my father's.
"I am still fine. If I ever feel it becoming too much, I will come to see you."
My father gave a silent nod.
"Then, I shall take my leave."
I walked slowly out of the Heavenly Demon Hall.
Father, do not worry. I have made it this far even after staining my hands with dozens of times more blood than this.
And more than anything...
"Young Cult Leader!"
From across the way, Seo Dae-ryong was running toward me with a bright smile. He looked so genuinely happy to see me that I could feel his sincerity even from a distance.
With people like this by my side, if I weren't okay, wouldn't I be doing a great disservice to my own life?
*
Seo Dae-ryong greeted me with the enthusiasm of someone seeing a person return from the dead.
"I truly missed you."
He had been both worried and longing for my return. He was the Huangquan Pavilion Master and the disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. He was in a position where he should have been living his own life fully, yet without Geom Mu-geuk around, it felt as if the joy had vanished from his days.
So, imagine how happy he must have been when he received the report that Geom Mu-geuk had returned. He had practically sprinted to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
"How have you been?"
At Mu-geuk's question, Seo Dae-ryong replied, "The same as always. Morning training, breakfast, handling pavilion business, training with Master, dinner, and sleep. Every day is so identical that I could shuffle them like a deck of cards and never know the difference. Is it right for a person's life to be this monotonous? I'll tell you now, don't give me that 'being ordinary is happiness' talk. I'm not buying it."
Seeing how talkative he was, I wondered how hard it must have been for him to play the role of the dignified Pavilion Master.
"Are you sure you're not the only one who doesn't realize it?"
"Realize what?"
"That every day is different. Are you sure you're not just the one thinking they're all the same?"
For a moment, Seo Dae-ryong couldn't find an answer. Strictly speaking, they were days that were the same, yet not quite the same. Of course, he didn't concede easily.
"The cases I handle are the same every day."
"The prisoners are all different, aren't they? Their personalities are different, and their reasons for committing crimes are different."
"I see the same subordinates every day."
"Their moods are different each day, their thoughts are different, the dreams they had are different, and even what they ate is different."
"After work, my life is just seeing Master and training every single day."
"You opened your Conception and Governing Vessels and your martial arts have improved significantly, right? Naturally, your training must have changed as well."
Mu-geuk was right. Lately, the forms he learned from his master were different. As he grew stronger, the training became more grueling.
"See? Your days are different."
"They're the same. The fact that I can never win an argument against you, Young Cult Leader."
"That's the one thing that will never change for the rest of our lives."
"And your arrogance, too!"
We looked at each other and laughed.
"Now it finally feels like you're back. No one else tells me things like that. I need to hear those words to go, 'Ah! I see,' and nod my way through life. From today on, every one of my days is different. I've decided! I'm going to go ask my subordinates now. What did you have for breakfast? Did you take a dump? What did you dream about last night? What's on your mind lately?"
I looked up at the sky with Seo Dae-ryong. Beautiful, multicolored clouds were drifting lazily by. Seeing Dae-ryong made it sink in that I had truly returned to the Cult.
"Go on, get back to work."
"Where are you going now?"
"Now that I've seen your face, I should make the rounds and see the Demon Lords."
"You really never tire, Young Cult Leader."
Dae-ryong, it's not a matter of numbers. A single exhausting person is more than enough to wear someone out.
"Honestly, what would we have done if our Cult had sixteen Demon Lords instead of eight?"
At Seo Dae-ryong's joke, Geom Mu-geuk replied as he strode away.
"If that were the case, our Brother Drunken Demon's disappointment would have been doubled."
*
"Elder!"
I ran toward the Blood Heaven Blade Demon with my arms wide open.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been reading a book in his room, held up the blade he had leaned against the wall like a shield.
"You're too much!"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon's voice came from behind the Heaven Extermination Great Blade that blocked my path.
"Go home and rest. What's so special about a face I see every day that you feel the need to barge in like this?"
He always said things he didn't mean. I bypassed the blade and sat lightly on the edge of his bed.
"By that logic, what's so interesting about a book you've read a thousand times that you keep looking at it?"
"This is different."
As he spoke, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon gave me a warning look, as if telling me not to dare lie down on his bed.
"I'm back."
Even though he didn't ask, I started telling him about my trip. While I had made the Drunken Demon the protagonist when talking to my father, this time, I centered the story on myself.
"So right now, my father and the Drunken Demon are having a drink together."
"The Cult Leader is drinking with that drunkard?"
Was he jealous? A slight spark flickered in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon's eyes. But he soon returned his gaze to the book he was reading.
"Is reading really that fun?"
"It is."
"You've read so much; is there still anything you don't know?"
"That's why it's fun. The more I read, the more I realize how much I don't know."
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked up and stared at Geom Mu-geuk.
"When you have kids later, make them read a lot. If they take after you, their swordsmanship will be natural anyway."
Will I even live a life where I have children in this lifetime? I have no such intention right now.
"Wait, are you telling me to live a life that even you haven't lived, Elder?"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon gave a faint smile, as if conceding the point. I watched his hand turn a page for a moment before I suddenly asked him the same thing my father had asked me.
"Do I look alright to you?"
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon answered without taking his eyes off the book.
"You don't look alright."
"Why?"
"People who are alright don't ask things like that."
Perhaps that was why he said something unexpected.
"Stay the night."
He was the man who usually chased me away, telling me to go sleep at my own place. He was the man who wouldn't even let me sit on his bed if I hadn't washed.
"What's the occasion?"
"Because you don't look alright."
I grinned broadly and threw myself onto the bed.
"Sounds good!"
I thought he might use telekinesis to catch me in mid-air, but he didn't.
"Ah, this is comfortable!"
Lying on this bed was the most comfortable thing in the world. It was probably because of the special sense of security the Blood Heaven Blade Demon provided. Who would have thought this prickly old man would become the person I felt most comfortable with? That he would become the person I wanted to run to first?
Lying on the bed, I gave an answer he hadn't asked for.
"I'm alright, Elder."
"I know."
And then came a shocking follow-up.
"The one who isn't alright is the Cult Leader."
"!"
I bolted upright and stared at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. I couldn't yet guess what he meant by that.
"I suspect the Cult Leader has woken from his slumber and begun to stretch his limbs."
I already understood what those words implied, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon explained it simply once more.
"I suspect the Cult Leader has begun to move in earnest to achieve his dream."
My father's dream was Murim Unification.
"Now that he has established you as his successor, he may feel that the time to move has come."
"But the Three-Party Meeting only just ended."
The pleasant atmosphere of that day was still vivid in my mind. Even now, my body felt like dancing whenever I heard the sound of music over a wall.
"If he were the type of person to care about such things, he wouldn't have harbored such a dream in the first place. In fact, he might have been certain he could have killed both of them that day."
"Are you thinking this just because he's drinking with the Drunken Demon? Couldn't they just be having a drink?"
I felt it was a bit of a leap to assume that much just from a drink. But that wasn't the only reason.
"A short while ago, the Cult Leader met with the masked fellow separately."
"!"
Father met with the Smiling Demon?
If he had met the Fist Demon, I might not have been so suspicious. He was someone who would follow my father's orders absolutely. But the Smiling Demon was someone who would follow me absolutely, even if it meant defying my father's orders.
And yet, he met with him of all people? And on top of that, he was drinking with the Drunken Demon for the first time ever? One could naturally arrive at a certain hypothesis.
"Father has begun rallying the Demon Lords for war."