Chapter 444: Even if Father’s Dream is the Same Then
Chapter 444: Even if Father’s Dream is the Same Then
With all eyes fixed on me, I felt as if I were standing alone on a stage.
Yet, I wasn't lonely.
The Extreme Evil Smiling Demon was at my back, and the people watching me were my Demon Lords. In truth, they were my father’s Demon Lords and stood by his side, but in my heart, they were mine as well.
Of course, I had to remember one thing: this relationship was only possible because I was my father’s son.
That was why this stage was so important. I had to conclude this confrontation well. Whether I won or lost, I had to do so with grace and dignity.
After all, this was the first stage my father and I had ever shared.
First and foremost, I could never undermine my father’s dignity or authority in front of the Demon Lords. That was the fundamental rule of this fight.
‘Father, do you have any idea how much I’m keeping that in mind? Do you know how much harder that makes this for me?’
My father’s gaze shifted toward me. I couldn't tell how much of what I had said earlier had actually reached him.
The one who finally broke the silence was the Drunken Demon.
“Cult Leader, I would like to offer the Young Cult Leader a drink. Would that be alright?”
At the Drunken Demon’s request, my father nodded.
The Drunken Demon poured liquor into the Ice Palace Holy Cup.
“Young Cult Leader, take a drink from me and change your mind.”
Though he was taking my father’s side, the Drunken Demon’s true feelings were different.
— I don’t want to see the Murim turned into a sea of blood. So, use that clever head of yours to find a way!
Caught between my father and me, he had no choice but to side with the Cult Leader, yet he was fundamentally opposed to the war. This drink was his way of cheering me on.
“I’ll drink to that.”
I drank slowly, exchanging a voice transmission with him.
— As you can see, Brother, it’s not easy to change Father’s mind.
— Even so, you’re the only one here who can do it.
“That was a fine drink,” I said aloud.
Just then, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon sent a voice transmission.
— Give up. Your dream and the Cult Leader’s are like parallel lines. They can never converge.
In his eyes, no matter how much I tried to persuade him, my father’s lifelong desire would never change.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was right. How could a dream my father had harbored for so long be changed so easily?
I calmly asked my father a question.
“I wish to ask you this. Do you think of that dream often, Father?”
My father looked at me, his expression questioning my meaning.
“When we first have a dream, it’s fluttering and exciting. But as time passes, doesn't that dream just become... a given? An obligation?”
My father’s eyes wavered slightly. For him, too, that long-cherished ambition must have become an 'obvious' reality.
“Father, it is fine if you keep the same dream. But instead, could you not dream it again from the very beginning? Dream it as if you were starting from a blank slate. Not as a goal you’ve held since a time you can’t even remember, but as a vivid, current dream.”
My father did not answer.
“I thought about this the entire time I was meeting the Demon Lords. Is it truly alright for me to defy my father’s will? Do I even have the right? I even went to meet my own strategist because of it. I came back having steeled my heart, yet seeing you now, my heart wavers again.”
This was my sincere truth, delivered directly to him.
“That is how much I do not wish to defy your will. Because I respect you more than anyone else in the world.”
This wasn't flattery. It was my honest declaration before all the Demon Lords. My father continued to listen without a single change in his expression.
Today, my father was dealing with me by listening rather than speaking. Thanks to that, this stage was truly my solo performance.
“I know well how important your dream, your long-cherished desire, and your ideals are. The Demonic Path I spoke of is also a part of my dream. However, I believe there is something just as important as that.”
“And what is that?”
“What to eat for dinner tonight, or who to meet tomorrow. I believe daily life is just as important as a grand dream. I’m talking about the scenery we look at while journeying toward that goal.”
This was also the reason why I tried to live my life without being consumed by the formidable enemy that was Hwa Mu-gi.
It was a principle of life I had maintained since my regression, but I didn't know how much weight the words of a green youth like me would carry with my father. Nevertheless, I did my best.
“Winning a game of Go against you is important to me. Fulfilling my wish to soak in a hot spring with you is important. Traveling the Central Plains with you is another earnest wish of mine. If you were to achieve the Unification of the Murim without fulfilling these things, would I truly be happy seeing you sitting in that Grand Tutor’s Chair?”
And was that all? My gaze turned toward the Demon Lords.
“Sparring with the Sword Venerable is important to me, and late-night training with my Master is important. I want to read books by the Blade Demon’s side while he studies. I want to gather poisonous herbs with the Poison King, drink with the Drunken Demon, and watch the stone statue the Demon Buddha is completing. I want to watch the Soul-Seizing Demon Lord grow. And I still have much furniture I want to place in the Smiling Demon’s room. These things are just as important to me as my dream. Because when I look back before I die, I will miss all these moments so dearly.”
Each moment had been incredibly lonely and difficult in my past life, but when I actually looked back, life had passed in the blink of an eye. I knew this because I had already experienced the end.
What I had to say next required caution.
“I believe the dream you have harbored for so long was one with too few choices. I suppose someone walking the path of the Heavenly Demon didn't feel the need for many signposts.”
But my father’s thoughts were firm.
“Even if there were a hundred choices, I would have chosen the same one. Even if there were dozens of forks in the road, I would have continued walking the path I was on.”
“I am not telling you to take a different path.”
“Then what do you mean?”
“I am telling you to look at the surrounding scenery as you go.”
I wanted him to stop his steps occasionally, to become curious about another path, and sometimes even to doubt his own way.
To do that, I had to walk the path with him. I had to walk beside him, sharing conversations, and when a sight worth seeing appeared, I had to be the one to tell him to look.
Through our conversation, I realized this was the only way to change my father’s dream. That realization immediately led to action.
“Father, will you make a promise with me?”
Not only my father but the Demon Lords as well looked at me with curiosity. With everyone’s attention on me, I continued.
“Yes, a promise between martial artists. A promise between the Cult Leader and the Young Cult Leader—and a promise between a father and a son.”
“What kind of promise?”
“Give me time.”
“Time?”
I considered how many years I would need. It had to be a duration that was neither too short nor too long.
Exactly enough time to achieve my goal.
“Give me exactly five years from now.”
“And if I do?”
“I will ask you again then. If your dream is still the Unification of the Murim at that time, then I will stand at the vanguard of that war.”
“!”
The Demon Lords were visibly startled. The Drunken Demon looked as if he wanted to scream, ‘No! What are you doing?’ right then and there.
On the other side, the Extreme Evil Smiling Demon’s eyes were crinkled in a smile. Was he already imagining himself standing side-by-side with me at the vanguard?
My declaration that I would lead the war—this was the gambit I had thrown.
Within five years, I would eliminate Hwa Mu-gi and his lot. Within five years, I would change my father’s heart. Within that time, I would surely make him dream a new dream.
Five years.
A war isn't something you can wage immediately just because you want to. Depending on the strategy, preparations could take months, or as long as two or three years.
In that light, five years wasn't such a long time for my father to wait.
If he won this bet, he would gain me—the version of me who would have achieved the Twelve-Star Great Achievement of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art through the Time Heaven Secret Technique.
And would he only gain me? He would gain everything I had achieved by then as a bonus. Surely, if I took the lead, my father’s dream of the Unification of the Murim would be within his grasp.
This was an official promise made before the Demon Lords.
“I am promising this to you now, staking my life on it.”
“Will you not regret it?”
“Will you not regret it, Father?”
Our gazes locked in mid-air. Everyone here knew that we were two people who would absolutely keep a promise once made. That was why both my father and I had to make this decision carefully.
“Why five years?”
“I am trying to change the mind of my father, of all people. If I had my way, I’d make it fifty years.”
“For me, this is a fight where I only need to keep my heart as it is. Five years will pass in a flash. Do you still intend to go through with it?”
“In that time, I will surely change your mind, Father.”
A smirk played on my father’s lips. That smile, which felt different every time, contained a sense of genuine amusement today. It felt as if he were asking, ‘In truth, you want to fight too, don’t you?’
Perhaps that was why my father nodded readily.
“Fine. I accept that promise.”
I turned to the Demon Lords to reconfirm this wager that would change everyone’s fate.
“Five years from today, I will gather all the Demon Lords here again and ask my father about his dream. Let us settle the score on that day.”
In five years, Father, your dream will have changed. You will speak of a dream that will surprise every Demon Lord here. I will make sure of it.
“Thank you, Father.”
The Demon Lords looked at us with expressions of shock at this unexpected outcome.
Now, with a lighter heart, I asked my father a question.
“Now that it’s all over, I have to ask... meeting the Demon Lords and all that, it was to prepare for the Unification of the Murim, wasn't it?”
But unexpectedly, my father shook his head.
“It wasn't?”
He wasn't the type of person to lie about such things. Surprised, I asked again.
“Then why did you meet all the Demon Lords?”
“What do you mean, all of them?”
“You met the Smiling Demon, drank with the Drunken Demon, and even helped the Poison King manufacture poison.”
“That is only three, is it not?”
He was right. He had only met three Demon Lords in person. And even for those, he gave other reasons.
“I heard that furniture had been placed in the Smiling Demon’s room. So I went to see it once.”
If that was truly the reason, then my father had definitely undergone a change of heart recently.
“As for the Drunken Demon, the liquor poured into the Ice Palace Holy Cup was simply so delicious that we drank together.”
“What about the Poison King?”
“I heard he needed precise Telekinesis. I was told he had failed several times because he lacked such an assistant. So I simply went to help.”
I stared at my father. I couldn't tell if he was being sincere or not.
“I only met three, but you were the one going around meeting everyone.”
“!”
Startled, I asked my father.
“Then why did you have everyone gather today? Was it not to persuade me and unite the Demon Lords as one?”
“No.”
“It wasn't?”
“Are you the type of child who would change his mind just because I persuaded him?”
Right. There was no way my father didn't know me.
“I received reports that you were going around meeting all the Demon Lords. Since you went around trying so hard to persuade them, I thought I should provide a conclusion.”
In other words, this gathering was for my sake.
“Huh? Then why did I make that five-year promise?”
“You were the one who brought it up first. I said nothing.”
In fact, my father hadn't even directly stated what his dream was yet.
I shouted at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon as if demanding an explanation.
“You said Father might have started moving in earnest to achieve his dream!”
“...I said he might have.”
Next, I turned to the Fist Demon.
“You said Father was already at war!”
“Wouldn't a father with a son like you always be at war?”
“That’s what you meant?”
“What else could it mean?”
And to the Demon Buddha as well.
“You said Father was the one who created this stage!”
The brilliant radiance of the Demon Buddha faded.
“Did I? I’ve been a bit distracted lately. I should get back to finishing the statue I was making.”
I looked back and forth between my father and the Demon Lords.
“Right? I was played, wasn't I? You all planned this from the start, didn't you? Is that it?”
As I clutched my head in distress, the Poison King, who was standing some distance away, suddenly sent a voice transmission.
— The one who was played is the Cult Leader.
He was reading my true thoughts accurately.
— If a war breaks out, you’ll participate anyway. The you I know would have asked the Cult Leader to let you stand at the vanguard. Because you’d want to minimize the damage caused by the war.
I looked at him and smiled. He was right.
If I hated war, would I go into closed-door training, or would I take the side of the Murim Alliance? Either way, if I couldn't stop it beforehand, I’d have to jump into the fray.
I had feigned distress as if I’d been tricked, but I hadn't been played at all. Rather, this was a match in my favor.
At the very least, I wouldn't have to worry about war for the next five years.
— Do you really think the Cult Leader doesn't know your intentions?
— He probably does.
I could tell just by the way my father was looking at me. That didn't mean he intended to go easy on me, though.
By giving me this opportunity, my father was also challenging me to a real fight. Not a match for a single day, but a grand confrontation spanning five years.
The fate of the Murim hung on this contest.
By then, I would surely achieve the Twelve-Star Great Achievement of the Nine Calamities Demonic Art and kill Hwa Mu-gi.
And I would also carry out a fight even more difficult than that: showing my father that there is a better dream than the Unification of the Murim. Walking with him and letting him see the scenery he had never noticed before.
The empty Grand Tutor’s Chair.
The image of the empty chair that now came to my mind didn't feel as terrifying as before. Because its vacancy would be for a different reason.
Father, you’ll have to travel here and there with me now. Because now, I have a justification.
Whether he knew my heart or not, my father spoke with a faint smile.
“It will be reassuring to have you as the vanguard commander.”