Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Time for Judgment
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“All members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, acknowledge me, Maeng Ak, as the Heavenly Demon of this era!”
At Maeng Ak's cry, the cultists bowed their heads and answered.
“Long live the Heavenly Demon, for ten thousand years! With the Heavenly Demon's return, all demons shall submit!”
Tens of thousands of cultists shouted in unison.
It seemed as if the sound echoed beyond the main plaza and throughout the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
Watching from the platform, it was a truly electrifying sight.
Meanwhile, Dok Cheon-roe and his faction, who had plotted the sedition, were trembling for an entirely different reason.
“To think we fell for that bastard’s trick! Dammit!”
“Cheon-roe! Calm down. Failure is one thing, but if we act rashly and our intentions are revealed to the Heavenly Demon, our lives are over.”
“Urk…”
At Dok Cheon-ju's urging, Dok Cheon-roe bit his lip.
He knew it too.
That their opportunity had been thwarted meant it was now their enemies' opportunity.
Worse, he suspected this whole affair had been orchestrated by the enemy camp.
‘No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. Why did that information reach us just a few hours before the coronation ceremony?’
It was such a perfect opportunity that they hadn't suspected a thing.
But now, looking back, its very perfection was the most suspicious part.
‘So, in the end, I have to acknowledge that bastard...’
He looked at Maeng Ak on the platform, receiving the support of the masses.
He gritted his teeth.
Just a short while ago, he was a fellow cadet. No, he was someone whose very existence I didn't even know.
But now, their positions had been completely reversed.
It was then.
Was it because he felt a gaze on him?
Maeng Ak looked toward Dok Cheon-roe and Dok Cheon-ju.
Their eyes met.
‘…!’
An inexplicable chill ran down his spine.
Maeng Ak was smiling, but he could feel a murderous intent.
It was different from the prick of a guilty conscience.
Yes, what was it like?
Like a hunter watching prey caught in a trap?
Unfortunately, that sense of dread soon became reality.
A short while ago, Maeng Ak had brought in a man who called himself the master of the Windless Killing Curtain.
And that self-proclaimed master approached Maeng Ak and said precisely this.
“We have dealt with all the instigators. We have also captured everyone who gave them orders.”
As if he had been waiting, Maeng Ak replied.
“The proof?”
“We have plenty.”
“Good. As the Heavenly Demon of this era, let me perform my first sword dance.”
Maeng Ak lowered the Heavenly Demon Sword he was holding and aimed it directly at Dok Cheon-ju and Dok Cheon-roe.
The cultists' gazes naturally followed the tip of the sword.
“As the Heavenly Demon of this era, I command you! All members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, surround those traitors immediately!!”
“By your command!”
The order was sudden.
The cultists knew neither the reason nor the purpose.
But they followed without a word of complaint, as if it were their own duty.
At one man's single command, tens of thousands of cultists moved.
It was as if they were caught in a collective madness.
While not as perfectly synchronized as a thoroughly trained army, their movements were swift.
In an instant, Dok Cheon-ju and Dok Cheon-roe were surrounded by a wall of people.
Dok Cheon-ju immediately began to feign ignorance.
“What is the meaning of this so suddenly...?! Your Holiness, this humble servant cannot fathom why the Heavenly Demon is doing this!”
He humbled himself and exalted Maeng Ak, but his words ultimately meant, "Why are you doing this to me?"
To that, Maeng Ak replied with a dry laugh.
“Dok Cheon-ju. Had you admitted your wrongdoing and shown remorse, I would have valued your abilities and considered sparing your life. However, I cannot forgive you for mocking me before all these cultists with such a shameless attitude.”
“Did you just call me shameless?”
Dok Cheon-ju's brow furrowed for a moment.
Then, he burst into a crazed laugh and continued.
“Hah, hahahahaha! Fine, very well! I will endure any insult. But! I must hear the reason for this, right here, right now.”
“Hmph.”
At his defiant attitude, Maeng Ak couldn't help but scoff.
‘Seeing him act like this, it seems Musal handled things well without getting caught.’
As soon as he joined the Cult under Maeng Ak's command, Musal had assigned shadows to several individuals.
Among them, naturally, were Dok Cheon-roe, who held a grudge against Maeng Ak, and his father, Dok Cheon-ju.
In Musal's eyes, the two didn't seem likely to actively incite internal strife, but they were the type who would seize any opportunity to do so.
‘The fools who would cause trouble right away have likely already been dealt with by the Lord. In the future of the Cult, people like them are more dangerous—those who feign allegiance, lying in wait to draw their swords.’
It was best to eliminate them as quickly as possible.
Of course, since he was a figure as prominent as a Heavenly Pillar Gate Lord, he consulted with Maeng Ak.
Although he had the authority for summary executions, Musal's reputation within the Cult was still low.
Acting rashly could have simply aggravated the confusion.
For him, asking Maeng Ak was the best course of action.
“Yes, Dok Cheon-ju and Dok Cheon-roe...”
Maeng Ak reacted as if he already knew.
And so, the process of creating a justification to capture them in connection with the upcoming coronation began.
Fortunately, there was enough bait to attract the big fish.
“The information that the Sacred Black Flame was extinguished. Release it to them. Of course, only a few hours before the coronation ceremony.”
“By your command!”
As Maeng Ak commanded, Musal had his subordinates leak the information.
Then, based on the information brought by the shadows he had assigned to them, he began to make predictions.
He figured out everything from the location of their meetings to the people involved.
Thanks to this, their plot of sedition was exposed from the very first day.
Of course, they weren't that foolish.
They had their trusted subordinates attempt to thoroughly destroy any evidence, such as papers detailing meeting contents, personnel lists, and plans.
However, assassins from the Windless Killing Curtain intervened and intercepted the evidence.
Furthermore, with the help of Hasan, the Windless Killing Curtain's maker of human-skin masks, they disguised themselves as the subordinates tasked with destroying the evidence and infiltrated their ranks.
In other words, Dok Cheon-ju and Dok Cheon-roe were completely fooled by the disguised assassins of the Windless Killing Curtain.
They truly believed the evidence had been destroyed.
That was why they could so shamelessly play dumb even in this situation.
However, even that came to an end when Maeng Ak scattered the papers documenting their evidence.
Whoosh!
Countless cultists scrambled to pick up the papers and passed them around to read.
“How dare they use us to frame the Heavenly Demon?!”
“Those bastards should be ground into dust!”
If not for being in the presence of the Heavenly Demon, they looked angry enough to attack at any moment.
Dok Cheon-roe and Dok Cheon-ju were stunned.
Their hands trembled from the murderous intent filling the air.
Thump.
Someone crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at Dok Cheon-roe.
Dok Cheon-roe picked it up and read it.
As his eyes moved down the page, his expression darkened drastically.
Seeing this, Dok Cheon-ju reached out and snatched the paper from his son.
‘What is this?!’
He, too, wore the same expression as his son.
It was incomprehensible.
Their plan had been perfect.
Anticipating failure, they had burned every last piece of evidence.
If so, only one conclusion remained.
‘There was a traitor...!’
A murderous aura clouded his bewildered face.
That killing intent was not directed at Maeng Ak before him, but at whoever might have betrayed him.
Just then, Maeng Ak had Musal bring forward the most likely candidate.
“Make him kneel!”
“By your command!”
Thud.
Assassins from the Windless Killing Curtain pushed through the crowd, dragging dozens of tightly bound men.
And Maeng Ak forced the one with the highest martial skill among them to kneel.
Dok Cheon-ju's gaze fell upon him.
The man was the prime suspect he had considered the traitor.
But he hadn't expected him to be captured like this.
Then, the kneeling man, looking back at him, spoke to Dok Cheon-ju.
“Dok Cheon-ju! How dare you sell out our Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate?!”
“What?”
He was dumbfounded.
The very words he was about to say came from the other man's mouth.
That wasn't all.
The man continued, enraged.
“You bastard! Don't you dare feign ignorance now! You see our state, and you have nothing to say?!”
He held out his tightly bound hands and feet.
In contrast to him, Dok Cheon-ju's and Dok Cheon-roe's hands and feet were still free.
Only then did Dok Cheon-ju realize.
He realized what Maeng Ak's intention was.
‘Dammit! To think we fell for such a petty scheme! The renowned Poison and Sword Heavenly Pillar Gates, played by a parentless orphan!’
The man who knelt and spewed his anger was an elder of the Sword Heavenly Pillar Gate, which had collapsed after losing Geom Cheon-ju.
The elders who had previously been defeated by Maeng Ak were also kneeling behind him.
They all believed that Dok Cheon-ju and Dok Cheon-roe had sold them out to Maeng Ak.
Having achieved his goal, Maeng Ak spoke again.
“Silence, you sinners! I intended to embrace the Five Heavenly Pillar Gates with my great magnanimity, but I am deeply disappointed that you act this way from the very start.”
“…”
At Maeng Ak's words, the Illusion, Sound, and Blade Heavenly Pillar Gates flinched.
They felt it instinctively.
That he intended to dismantle their power right here and now.
As if to prove it, Maeng Ak continued.
“From this day forward, I will personally restructure the organization of the Cult. Anyone who opposes this will be judged alongside the sinners before you. If any of you feel confident, step forward now and face the Heavenly Demon Sword!”
“Urk.”
Dok Cheon-ju bit his lip hard.
He realized that Maeng Ak had planned this from the beginning and had deliberately leaked the information to them.
In his grand scheme, he was nothing more than a small pawn.
The thought was unbearably bitter.
It wasn't just Dok Cheon-ju; a sense of unease rose in the hearts of all the cultists who already held power and influence.
However, Maeng Ak's next words helped to somewhat allay their fears.
“I do not intend to take everything from those who have. However, if what you possess is greater than your abilities, you must give it up for the future of the Cult. From now on, the Cult will strictly follow the principle of survival of the fittest, assigning ranks based on martial skill and ability.”
In truth, there were more cultists whose hearts burned with passion than those who felt uneasy.
Because it meant that even those who started with nothing could attain rank if they honed their skills.
How should one put it?
It was motivating, as a martial artist?
Since their futures would no longer be determined by background or family as before, something began to stir within their hearts.
‘Maybe... I can do it too!’
That thought crossed the minds of many cultists.
Survival of the fittest.
While it could be a harsh principle for the weak, it was also a motivation to become strong.
Maeng Ak finished speaking and cast his gaze upon the sinners.
“…!”
The sinners received Maeng Ak's gaze head-on, and the ghastly feeling was beyond description.
His eyes held no killing intent, no anger.
But they conveyed with certainty that they were about to die.
It was terrifying.
The childish heart hidden deep inside them was awakened.
They wanted to live.
They wanted to throw off their restraints and run away at that very moment.
But reality was cruel.
Fwoosh!
Maeng Ak slowly moved the Heavenly Demon Sword in a horizontal arc.
A pleasant breeze swept past everyone in its path.
The sinners felt it too.
A pleasant breeze.
But by the time they registered it, their heads had already fallen.
Thud. Thump-thump-thump-thump!
Dozens of human heads fell to the ground.
The necks of those dozens of people, now separated from their heads, showed clean, smooth cuts.
It was a truly brutal sight.
Yet, not a single person screamed.
They were simply astonished by the divine skill Maeng Ak had displayed.
‘I definitely felt nothing more than a warm breeze...!’
It was clearly a level of mastery beyond comprehension.
Their loyalty to the Heavenly Demon soared.
All that remained were Dok Cheon-ju and Dok Cheon-roe.
They, too, had seen it clearly.
Gulp.
They swallowed dryly again and again.
The fear of death was heavier than they had ever imagined.
It felt as if their entire bodies were being crushed by massive iron bars.
Their skin felt like it was being scraped against a sheet of ice.
That was how bone-chilling and oppressive it felt.
Looking at them, Maeng Ak spoke.
“This is the price for aiming for me without knowing your place. In death, abandon your greed and live by dedicating yourselves to the greater cause.”
That was the end.
Once more, a gentle breeze blew, and they, too, breathed their last, just like the other sinners.
Thud.
The number of heads on the ground increased by two.