Chapter 264
Chapter 264
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 264
Chapter Title: Speaking with Swords
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The Shadow Council Hall, home to a massive round table, was typically used whenever numerous high-ranking demons needed to deliberate on urgent matters of importance.
It could easily seat dozens.
Yet right now, every single seat stood vacant.
All but one.
Except for the Heavenly Demon's throne at the head of the table.
"I've been waiting for you."
The candle set in the center of the table oddly failed to light the entire chamber.
It illuminated only the faces of those seated for the meeting.
In this moment, that meant Hyeok Mulin's face alone.
This cast his shadow long behind him—a serene shape, yet grotesquely oversized for any ordinary man.
Cheon Sumyeong stared at him, then took slow, deliberate steps forward.
He claimed the seat directly opposite, perfectly aligned with Hyeok Mulin's gaze, at the farthest remove.
Their physical distance now far exceeded what it had been at the inn.
A gap that mirrored their psychological divide.
Drip.
As Cheon Sumyeong settled into his chair, the half-melted candle flickered across his features.
Deep, weathered wrinkles spoke of vast experience, paired with eyes that seemed to bore straight through his foe.
He sat there, staring fixedly at Hyeok Mulin, before easing the intensity in his gaze ever so slightly.
"Thank you for the invitation. I had no idea the Heavenly Demon Palace hid a place like this—the atmosphere's quite agreeable."
Cheon Sumyeong had never once set foot in the Shadow Council Hall before.
What reason would there be for him to join discussions needing group consensus?
His word alone sealed all fates; he skipped matters requiring collective input, and the demons never summoned him for such.
Hyeok Mulin shared a similar trait.
Though the roots differed.
"This is my first time entering the Shadow Council Hall as well."
In his past life, no one ever solicited Hyeok Mulin's views. His opinion swayed no decisions anyway.
He received no invitations to meetings, no welcomes.
After his return, other factors kept him away.
Life demanded relentless busyness, and Hyeok Mulin never polled the masses on policies or ventures.
Only he and a handful of strategists huddled in deliberation.
All accountability for his choices fell squarely on him—but thus far, those calls had steered toward prosperity.
Thus, this marked Hyeok Mulin's inaugural visit.
Paradoxically, unlike typical gatherings, only two attended this one.
"It's been ages since I last stepped into the Heavenly Demon Palace, and so much has changed."
Not merely the buildings' facades.
The cult's inner workings, the demons' very auras and outlooks—even their devotion to the Heavenly Demon.
Even rank-and-file guards dared oppose him now.
Aware he was the Sword Sovereign. Knowing defiance meant death. Yet still, they barred his path.
This mindset among the Heavenly Demon Palace's demons starkly differed from what he'd known before.
"If that's your impression, then all's well. Stagnation equals regression—so it means our cult marches onward."
"Stagnation equals regression..."
Hyeok Mulin's words stabbed like a blade into bone.
Before his own ascension, during the prior Heavenly Demon's thirty-year absence, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had merely idled amid the Seven Great Demon Clans' squabbles.
To Cheon Sumyeong, it felt like an accusation leveled at him—he who possessed the power to lead back then.
'Bold one.'
To speak such barbs to my face.
Cheon Sumyeong's eyes crinkled in a smile as he regarded Hyeok Mulin.
"Everyone holds different priorities."
His own were crystal clear.
"For me, the Cheon Clan's my paramount value—and that stands unchanged."
Their divide boiled down simply.
Hyeok Mulin poured his all into reviving and redeeming the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult above else.
Cheon Sumyeong, by contrast, chased Cheon Clan gains so long as the cult endured.
"And pinning blame solely on me feels unfair. We all moved by the Seven Great Demon Clans' consensus back then."
"I've no designs on holding you to account now."
Merely.
"I can't stand idly by while our cult's progress gets thwarted, can I?"
Hyeok Mulin's strides embodied the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's momentum.
Any obstacle in his path jammed the brakes on his reforms.
Hyeok Mulin wasn't the type to watch.
"Tsk, tsk..."
A chuckle escaped Cheon Sumyeong's lips as he eyed Hyeok Mulin with keen interest.
'Can't stand idly by.'
Not quite a threat—more unyielding pressure.
The unfamiliar thrill drew another involuntary smile from Cheon Sumyeong.
Time with the Cult Leader always unearthed fresh sensations.
The inn's rebuff had felt novel enough; now the tables turned with pressure aimed his way.
Accustomed to tails tucking at a glance, Cheon Sumyeong found Hyeok Mulin's audacity oddly refreshing.
And he could guess its source.
"You trust the Seven Great Demon Clans, eh? Their move stunned me—all but the Gu Clan turning blades on their own main house."
Cheon Sumyeong figured fierce pressure would bow them into cutting Hyeok Mulin loose.
Survival's simplest path.
Yet they defied expectations.
Not one clan broke away.
The five instead clasped hands, fortifying bonds with Hyeok Mulin.
Cheon Sumyeong couldn't but wonder.
"You—how'd you sway them?"
Hyeok Mulin had once been a Heavenly Demon empty-handed.
Now the Seven Great Demon Clans clung to him, blades out toward the Cheon Clan.
Their full entry into his power clash with the Cheon Clan.
With vast stakes to lose as much as gain.
Yet they wagered all to shield him—what worth did they spy there? Cheon Sumyeong puzzled.
"Promised riches and glory? Or to rip the Cheon Clan asunder and divvy the spoils?"
To his mind, nothing less justified the Seven Great Demon Clans' gamble.
No—even such lures rang hollow.
Success in carving up Cheon Clan turf? They'd never sit passive.
Losses would dwarf gains tenfold.
Thus, Cheon Sumyeong marveled at Hyeok Mulin's persuasion.
His reply came curt, crisp.
"Nothing."
"...Pardon?"
"Did nothing. Just trusted our bonds and waited."
Pure fact.
Even as Cheon Clan pressure mounted daily, Hyeok Mulin sent no missives to the Seven Great Demon Clans.
He quietly trusted their judgment, honored it. And they repaid that faith.
"...You expect me to swallow that?"
No promises, yet they stepped up to guard the Cult Leader of their own accord?
Unbelievable on every level—Cheon Sumyeong's brow furrowed as he stared.
Yet Hyeok Mulin's eyes held steady, unshaken.
Cheon Sumyeong knew then: truth, not fabrication.
'Such loyalty in mere years?'
The Seven Great Demon Clans' legacy ran deep.
Bonds rivaling the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's own history.
Yet a few short years.
Forging trust to overturn that storied past?
How?
Secluded in cultivation, detached from the cult's pulse, Cheon Sumyeong grasped none of it.
One truth shone clear, though.
Hyeok Mulin stood at the heart of those five united clans.
Acknowledgment dawned.
Hyeok Mulin had transformed.
No hollow figure yanked by threats—he towered as the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult's core.
"Heh heh heh heh!"
Amusing. Utterly so!
Long life unveiled sights undreamt.
Cheon Sumyeong savored the moment.
To clash with the Heavenly Demon—not Murim Alliance, not Four Black Unions.
The Cheon Clan had nurtured a tiger. No—a dragon.
He'd pegged the throne's occupant a docile deer; turns out those antlers crowned a wyrm.
Laughing, smiling, Cheon Sumyeong queried Hyeok Mulin.
"So, what do you seek? State your aim in summoning me to the palace proper."
The feud-sparked waves between Cheon Clan and Hyeok Mulin had swollen beyond control.
Now even transcendent masters—the whole realm—knew of the factions' rift.
No easy retreat for either.
Hyeok Mulin's withdrawal first? The world would scorn the Heavenly Demon's majesty.
Cheon Sumyeong's? Cracks in Gu Mujon and Sword Sovereign repute.
Too far, too entangled to back out.
Cheon Sumyeong divined Hyeok Mulin's purpose.
With Seven Great Demon Clans arrayed against Cheon Clan, outright strife would ravage the demons.
Before flames spread, the Cult Leader stepped forth to parley.
Hyeok Mulin's measured reply defied expectation.
"I wish to speak with you."
"...Speak?"
Hadn't words flown between them already?
As Cheon Sumyeong's eyes creased in doubt, Hyeok Mulin pressed on.
"For warriors since time immemorial, true dialogue is—"
Thud.
He rapped the Heaven-Rending Demon Sword, eyes locking on his foe.
"—this, no?"
That sword-tapping gesture curled Cheon Sumyeong's lips into a gradual grin.
"We speak the same tongue."
No grounds for refusal.
Hand drifting to his own blade, Cheon Sumyeong's smile parted.
"Truth is, that's my preference too."