Chapter 257
Chapter 257
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 257
Chapter Title: Utmost (2)
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While confirming that Abbot Gong-ryang was unharmed.
My younger Eon brothers came rushing over to me.
Among them, Yin Ha-seong was the first to speak.
"And how are you faring, brother?"
"I'm fine."
Gongson Mu-gyeol and Father also came running this way. As their gazes turned toward him, Abbot Gong-ryang spoke first.
"Amitabha. I am unharmed."
"That's a relief. As I mentioned before the operation began, the demonic cultists' methods are far from ordinary in their viciousness."
"The Alliance Leader is right. You nearly met with disaster."
"Heh heh. Indeed. You all warned me clearly, yet this old monk lacked caution."
Abbot Gong-ryang gave a hollow laugh and then patted my shoulder.
"Still, thanks to Young Benefactor Go-ryong, I emerged unscathed."
At that, Gongson Mu-gyeol's gaze shifted toward me.
"True. I sensed something off and stepped forward with a sword veil, but it was thanks to you, Yong-un, that the impact was greatly reduced."
It was at this moment that Master sent a word through telepathy.
...How is it that the one who sired you has his lips twitching upward again. '...Indeed.'
He seemed pleased with the praise directed at me.
'Judging by that expression, he doesn't seem to have suffered internal injuries.'
Still, I wanted direct confirmation from him that he was safe, for reasons I couldn't quite explain.
"...Father, are you alright?"
"...Ahem. Well, my body's fine."
Saying his body was fine implied there was something else not fine.
I furrowed my brow and asked again.
"Did you suffer internal injuries?"
"Not internal injuries."
"Then?"
"My heart is unsettled."
"?"
"That demonic bastard should have been slain by my own hand!"
At Father's outburst.
I heard Woo So-ryeong and Yin Xia Lian whispering behind me.
"Slay him... The Eon Family Head looks just like young master Eon most of the time, but every now and then, he overlaps with the elder one."
"...Talk of a wounded heart feels oddly familiar to me. Might need some white-and-yellow wound salve."
Meanwhile, the strike team seniors who had finished inspecting the corpses spoke to Gongson Mu-gyeol.
"A keyring was found on this one. No other peculiarities."
Gongson Mu-gyeol clapped his hands to draw attention and issued orders.
"Strike Team Eight Pavilions will handle cleanup here."
"Understood!"
"Abbot Gong-ryang, Eon Family Head, and the warriors of Northern Hebei, please return to your positions. As you've seen, they'll resort to mutual destruction to the last man. Head back and focus on annihilation."
"Amitabha. We shall."
"Understood."
"Ah, I'll borrow Yong-un for a bit. Planning to head toward the passage where the demon cultists emerged. Could use some help from Ma Bang-yeon."
"He's a grown man. No need to ask me."
"Had to check anyway. He's more precious than ever. Ma Bang-yeon and the rest of the strike team, follow me."
"Yes, sir!"
My brothers and I responded in unison, and Gongson Mu-gyeol immediately set off toward the passage Jo Gyeom had used.
The destination was a cave with stairs for easy passage.
Gongson Mu-gyeol said with a stern face.
"Though Jo Gyeom claimed Reverse Heaven Demon Gu Cheon-seo and the Demon Prison Lord were at Mount Shiba, we can't take that at face value. Enemies could emerge from anywhere. There might be traps, so stay alert."
We nodded silently and began cautiously ascending the cave stairs.
Perhaps Jo Gyeom and his subordinates had disabled them in their haste to descend, as no mechanisms activated.
"Hurry up!"
"Faster!"
As we neared the end of the passage, signs of activity and loud thuds echoed.
Boom!
Boom!
[Someone's there.] [Sounds like they're hurling furniture too.] We steadied our breaths.
[Sounds leaning left and right. You lot take left, we'll hit right. Let's smash this door.] The moment Gongson Mu-gyeol kicked the stone door with infused qi.
Kwaaaang!!!
We surged into the inner chamber connected to the passage.
In the center of the chamber stood an artificial pond.
There, Heavenly Demon Divine Cult grunts divided left and right were shoving bookshelves into the pond.
They seemed to be the source of the earlier commotion.
Flash!
My brothers and I leaped toward the left side.
And swung our sword waves.
Swaaaaek!!
The foes prioritized dumping the bookshelves into the pond over blocking our sword waves.
Thus, we cut them down with ease.
Splash!!
Splaaaash!!!
Glancing right, Gongson Mu-gyeol and the strike team had already felled all the demon cultists.
The problem was the books now in the pond.
Whether ledgers or demonic arts manuals, they held clues valuable enough for such desperate destruction.
Realizing this, Yin Xia Lian spoke up.
"We need to fish them out!"
"I know. But the surface is boiling! Everyone, be careful. This isn't ordinary water! The fish inside were reduced to bones!"
I ripped apart nearby furnishings and said.
"We'll dismantle these and salvage what we can."
Gongson Mu-gyeol nodded and ordered the strike team.
"The vice leader and sub-vice will scout the surroundings with me! The rest, secure clues under Ma Bang-yeon's command!"
"Yes, sir! Safe travels, Alliance Leader!"
As we began retrieving the books, Master posed a question.
- But why did these fools choose this method over simply setting a fire? 'If they had, we would've spotted the flames first and come straight here, no? This is a stone building for storing books in the first place, so this way destroys more volume. And...'
- And? 'The truly important ones were likely already destroyed by Jo Gyeom himself.'
- Heh, then isn't all this effort for naught? 'Not quite. What they deem important is demonic art secrets or corpse puppet recipes using human blood. But that's not what we want to know, right?'
- True enough. 'Yes. We want to know what they're plotting and where. Piecing together fragments might reveal something.'
While conversing with Master.
The last batch of tossed books was fully retrieved.
Flipping through a shelf, Yin Xia Lian said to me.
"Hm? These are just ordinary gazetteers."
"Hmph. Scouting spots for secret operations, perhaps?"
"Oddly, they're all places with lakes."
"...Lakes?"
"Yes. Lake Tai, Qinghai Lake, Dongting Lake, Poyang Lake? Oh, and some on islands in the Yellow Sea, but not here."
At Yin Xia Lian's words, a flash of insight struck my mind.
'Seek the true isle of Lake Tai.'
Master Sword Demon Wi Cheol-jin's tomb quest.
In the original tale, the cult scoured every lake, even interpreting it metaphorically to search Yellow Sea islands for Master's tomb.
That thought brought a smirk to my face.
'Search all you want; good luck finding it.'
Yet another idea crossed my mind simultaneously.
'Wait. If used cleverly... we could turn the tables later and set a trap for them?'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Mount Shiba.
The world called the endless mountain range stretching from the Northern Sea through the Sin River Plains to Qinghai by that name.
But to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Mount Shiba referred to their massive fortress in the western basin end.
Within Mount Shiba stood the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, or Myriad Demon Hall, where weighty matters were debated.
"Lord Do-ol Moon-ma has arrived."
"Demon Brain and Rogue Demon General have arrived."
"Reverse Heaven Demon Gu Cheon-seo and Demon Prison Lord have arrived."
Currently, three Cult Protector Kings—hailed as 'demons' by the cultists—sat with gleaming eyes.
In the solemn silence, none spoke. Most striking was Yeon Ok-ran kneeling mid-center.
"Radiant Left Envoy has arrived!"
The cult leader's right-hand man, third in hierarchy, entered the hall.
The Radiant Left Envoy clicked his tongue at the empty seat.
"Heaven-Shaking Blood Demon is absent again."
Demon Brain, overseeing grand strategy, replied.
"...That's par for the course with him."
The Radiant Left Envoy nodded and spoke.
"Let us begin."
Demon Brain turned to Yeon Ok-ran.
"...Demon Prison Lord, speak if you have words."
"I apologize for summoning the busy Radiant Left Envoy and Protector Kings to safeguard the Lord and Divine Cult. But I stand unashamed."
"...Unashamed after botching the Northern Sea Ice Palace? Do you grasp the resources and manpower invested?"
"Yes. The initial misjudgment happened. But anyone would have erred. Go-ryong Eon Yong-un—who plans around a single junior? Even Rogue Demon General here and departed Black Thread Demon General failed similarly."
Rogue Demon General Song Gil-jun gave a bitter smile.
Bang!!!!
Do-ol Moon-ma, master of Black Thread Demon General Man-u, smashed his desk and rose.
Yet Yeon Ok-ran continued undaunted.
"Seizing Northern Sea Ice Palace outright would be a poisoned chalice. Our chosen palace lord failed to fully control it, and full war with orthodox murim over half a palace was unwise. Right, Gil-jun?"
"......"
"So we washed our hands clean and let Eon Yong-un rack up merits. He needed free rein to create capture opportunities."
Hearing this, Radiant Left Envoy crossed arms toward her.
"So you're saying capturing Eon Yong-un trumps Northern Sea territory?"
"Yes. Lacking insight though I am, if picking one worldly obstacle to our grand design, I'd name Eon Yong-un without hesitation."
Yeon Ok-ran smirked each time uttering Eon Yong-un's name.
Radiant Left Envoy turned to Demon Brain.
"What says Demon Brain Division? Her assessment seems overstated. Rogue Demon General, your thoughts."
"Hard to agree he's the top threat now, but he's on the watchlist. Factoring age, connections, temperament—he's prime candidate for future trouble."
"Demon Brain concurs?"
"...Yes."
Footsteps approached from outside.
"Urgent report!"
"Enter."
"Greetings, myriad demons! Heavenly Demon Reincarnation! Myriad Demons' Fortune! Hu-seong Fortress has fallen!"
Radiant Left Envoy shot up.
"What?! Confirmed?"
"Yes! No routine report, so verified directly!"
"By whom? How?"
"Details unknown, but attackers were orthodox murim and Northern Sea Ice Palace allied forces."
Yeon Ok-ran burst laughing.
"Ahahaha! Eon Yong-un! Eon Yong-un. Only he could spark a righteous-demonic war like this. No easy feat. Ha. But how'd he know Hu-seong's location? Bypassed my ambush too... Truly a menace. Left Envoy, doesn't this prove I haven't overhyped him?"
Radiant Left Envoy replied grimly.
"Time presses; decision on Demon Prison Lord now. Aligns with Demon Brain and her arguments; talent merits sparing life... But Hu-seong bears 'throat' for devouring the world. Overlooking its fall undermines discipline. Reverse Heaven Demon Gu Cheon-seo, Demon Prison Lord—agreed?"
Reverse Heaven Demon Gu Cheon-seo nodded; Yeon Ok-ran smiled sweetly.
"Yes. Agreed."
"Then yield one arm, Ok-ran. Monster King Division, self-confine till further orders from Lord; focus on elixirs and corpse puppets."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ As night fully passed.
Word came that all remaining cultists in the fortress were annihilated.
Examination of the books they tried destroying neared completion.
Beyond intel on their tomb search for Master, another clue emerged.
"Young lady Yin. Doesn't this smudged character look like 'wan'?"
"Yes. It does."
The Alliance Leader asked me.
"What'd you find?"
"Yes. If that's 'wan', it makes 'Ten Thousand People's Blood'."
"Ten Thousand People's Blood? Needed boys' and girls' blood for powerful corpses, right? Planning mass production?"
"Possible, or an elixir name."
"Elixir?"
"Hm. Not sure it qualifies as elixir... but the cult squeezes ten thousand into spirit pills."
"Either way, must thwart."
"Northern Sea plot foiled, plains infiltration tough. Hard near great sects too. Coastlines or Yunnan frontiers good for framing as pirates."
We wrapped up discussing.
Afterward, Gongson Mu-gyeol pulled me aside to a window overlooking the fortress.
"We won."
"...Yes, we did."
"Victory of great import. Shows cult we're not sitting ducks; awakens complacent old guard in White Alliance core."
"Quite right."
"Thanks to you, Yong-un."
"Everyone together. How could it be solely my merit."
Gongson Mu-gyeol grinned.
Pointing to layered western peaks.
"That's the range called Mount Shiba."
"I know."
"As you said, war with cult inevitable. This was our utmost for now, but one day, we'll cross those peaks. You, I—prepare for that day."
Thus ended the cult outpost assault.
The allied army naturally disbanded.
Some stayed to hold the fortress; others had to depart.
Dam Yong-ju, long absent from Ice Palace, headed north.
Ya-ul Wi and plains warriors to their Each Bow Fortress.
We returned to Righteous Martial Academy.
"Brother Dam. Great labors."
"You too, Go-ryong."
"Next we meet, Palace Lord."
"Call me Brother Dam then too."
"Will do. Ice Palace will rise again."
"It must. Take care till then."
Northern Sea Ice Palace group departed first; then us.
"Ok-gi! Don't skip meals! Always check for poison!"
"Argh! Please! Am I a baby?"
"To Father, always!"
"So embarrassing!"
"Seol-ji, you too meals..."
"Father. I'll manage."
"...Ahem. R-right."
Many second-generation youth participated; farewells brimmed with such scenes.
"Rumors aplenty troubled me. But seeing you, good friends made."
"...Yes."
"Work hard."
Watching, thoughts turned to Mount Shiba.
'Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.'
For sudden rallies like this or crossing those peaks.
'Trusted allies will heed summons without gripe. But others—like White Alliance Vice Lord Jang Son-rip or Kunlun's Virtue Hermit—likely balk.'
We prevailed this time, but such dissent in crisis spells doom.
'How to fix?'
Can't just seize and interrogate without cause.
'...Start with the kids?'
Today's proof.
No parent defies child.
'Even Jang Son-rip shut up at this junior's logic.'
Not blood-tied? Still, shame compels action if we move.
But guest meddling risky.
Need body and heart prepared.
'To that end.'
Must fully win over Four Great Dormitory juniors.
'Alliance Leader his way. Me mine.'
And I had the way to do it.