Young Sect Master
The atmosphere at the main sect had sunk into a heavy stillness.
It was, of course, because of the report that had flown in from Sambong-hyeon.
"Sect Master! I am innocent! You cannot possibly believe that report."
The bald man — Elder Neung Don of the Asura Sword Sect, the Raging Fire Tyrant Sword — was shouting. Watching him were Dokgo Dan-ya, Sect Master of the Asura Sword Sect and the Black Wind Sword Venerable; Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi, Master of the Asura Pavilion; and the six remaining elders, all except the Grand Elder, who remained shut away in seclusion with no sign whatsoever of emerging.
The Sect Master set down the report he held in his hand.
"Neung Don."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"I examined my report closely. While there may be some aspects of it that are unfair to you, as you claim, several parts are so credible that they leave no room for rebuttal."
"Sect Master... what on earth do you...?"
"The massacre that took place in Sambong-hyeon — this section, which names you as being involved in it, is the part I find most credible of all."
"...Sect Master... that is..."
"That you steadily looked after Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon, those two branch members, is something I already knew — the Asura Pavilion Master and others had told me. And yet... you also concealed the fact that those two sold the intelligence of their fellow branch members to outsiders, and even helped kill them. Wouldn't you say that goes far, far beyond the line?"
"...N-no. How could you say such a thing..."
"Neung Don."
"...Yes, Sect Master..."
"Did you believe I was unaware that factions exist within the Asura Sword Sect?"
"...No..."
"Then why did I leave them be?"
Not just Neung Don but every elder in the hall sealed their mouths shut.
"Because even if you all reaped private gains, I judged that so long as you belonged to the Asura Sword Sect, you were ultimately heading toward the same destination."
"..."
"I thought that even with infighting among you, the spirit of hegemony remained the same. One should think of punishing a crime, not covering it up. Is it truly acceptable to bend the dignity of the sect itself and raise up your own pride, simply because the culprits were your own people?"
His voice was calm and level, but the elders could feel the fury coursing beneath it.
"The fault is mine. This Sect Master concerned himself only with enemies beyond the sect. I judged that whoever sat in the Sect Master's seat needed power above all to hold back outside forces. I trained, and trained again, to ward off the coming calamity — the 'massacre' that was as good as already foretold. And all the while, without my knowing, the rot had been spreading from below."
At the Sect Master's words, every head bowed. There was simply nothing to say.
"Neung Don."
"...Yes..."
"Why did you change so?"
Neung Don raised his head.
"...Sect Master..."
"Where has that young man gone — the one who once walked the path of hegemony, swinging his sword at my side — that all that remains is a coward?"
"..."
"I'm sure you have much to say, but you may save it for later."
Dokgo Dan-ya's gaze shifted toward the entrance of the Sect Master's hall.
"First, let us hear the whole story directly from the one who wrote this report — the Sambong Branch Head."
Before his words had even finished, the doors opened. From within, Yi Do, dressed in the garb of a Branch Head, stepped slowly inside.
He bowed with perfect courtesy toward Dokgo Dan-ya.
"I greet the Sect Master."
"The greeting is done. I called you here so urgently because of the contents of this report."
"I see."
"Yes, so let us skip the formalities and go straight to the matter at hand. Is the content of this report true?"
Yi Do's gaze turned to Neung Don.
A bald head atop a massive frame.
And a red sword strapped to his back.
So that man is Neung Don.
Looking him dead in the eye, Yi Do answered.
"Yes. It is true."
"Hm... Then is it also true that those two branch members sold Sambong Branch's intelligence to the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect at Jangan Commandery?"
"Yes."
"The evidence?"
"There was evidence. There is none now — because I killed Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon, the two witnesses."
"...So you're telling me there is no evidence."
"You know that better than anyone. And it isn't as though there is no evidence at all."
"No?"
"No. I have the Thousand-Li Phantom Thief with me."
At those words, some of those present started visibly. In truth, all of them were startled. The Thousand-Li Phantom Thief. He had the thief who had vanished so suddenly from the murim in his keeping?
"Where is he now?"
"I sent him to Jangan Commandery."
"...Jangan Commandery?"
"Yes. According to the report, the Thousand-Li Phantom Thief's name is absolutely inseparable from the massacre in Sambong-hyeon. But the Phantom Thief insisted he had been framed, and told me that if I would only clear his name, he would do anything I asked. And so."
"You sent him to Jangan Commandery?"
"Yes. According to the report, thirty Shura Seals were stolen during the massacre. Then shouldn't they be repaid in equal measure?"
"..."
"Of course, the 'Phantom Thief' from the massacre was actually the young lord of the Pung clan in Jangan Commandery, impersonating him. The difference this time is that the repayment I'm unleashing will be carried out by the genuine Thousand-Li Phantom Thief."
"So you're saying the Phantom Thief is plundering Jangan Commandery right now?"
"It's probably already finished. I ordered him to steal the single most precious treasure from each of the thirteen sects stationed there."
"What are the odds he flees?"
"None."
"You're holding a leash on him?"
"Something like that."
Neung Don, who had been holding his silence, cut in.
"Sect Master, even if the Thousand-Li Phantom Thief was an impostor back then, what does that have to do with me? I truly had nothing to do with it."
It was Yi Do who answered that.
"Why would you have nothing to do with it?"
"What did you say?"
"You knew perfectly well those two were scheming behind the sect's back — and you still watched over them. Did you not?"
"..."
"They were the direct instigators of the massacre, and they conspired with the Jangan Branch of the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect. Others may not have known — but you, Elder Neung Don, knew the whole truth of it. Am I wrong?"
"...You little bastard... how dare you speak to an elder..."
"The seat of elder is one that must serve as a model for the sect's disciples. If you make excuses for and flee from the wrongs you yourself committed, what meaning does such a title even have? Do you not realize that you are being given a chance, right now?"
Yi Do's gaze was frigid.
"If you seize just one branch member of the Jangan Branch and put him to the torture, what do you suppose will come spilling out of his mouth? Even filth has its degrees. Know your place."
Blood vessels bulged across Neung Don's forehead.
"You... you dog!!"
It was the very moment he lunged forward.
"Neung Don."
Every body in the hall flinched. Every gaze snapped toward a single point.
Dokgo Dan-ya, chin resting on his hand.
The overwhelming aura pouring from his body coiled around the entire Sect Master's hall.
"Do not raise your voice."
"...I... I beg your forgiveness."
"And now, Sambong Branch Head."
"Yes."
"Dharma Protector Yi Maeng-rip embezzled the sect's property for private gain, and the one who egged him on from behind was Neung Don. This Yi Maeng-rip was then struck down by the Killing Curtain, and you took his revenge?"
"Yes."
"Furthermore, the one who covered up the Sambong Branch massacre from behind the scenes was Neung Don, and the one who personally dispatched the Dharma Protector Yi Maeng-rip despite having promised to entrust the entire matter to you was also Neung Don. If all of these things were true — that is."
Yi Do simply looked back at Dokgo Dan-ya in silence. He did not avert his eyes. He neither lowered his gaze nor bowed his body. He stood proud.
A faint smile crept across Dokgo Dan-ya's lips, and he continued.
"What punishment do you suppose would be fitting?"
Yi Do answered in a firm, unshaken voice.
"Before that, might I be permitted to say something first?"
"Speak."
"Sect Master, you once told me this: that the Asura Sword Sect is a place of freedom, a place that walks the path of hegemony."
"I did."
"But the Asura Sword Sect I have seen was far removed from that path."
"...Hm."
"I mean to say that it felt like watching a sandcastle on the very verge of collapse."
At those words, all the elders shot to their feet in outrage — but Dokgo Dan-ya's raised hand quelled them.
"Continue."
"The former members of Sambong Branch were, strictly speaking, people with no connection to me. I did not know their faces and had never met a single one of them. And yet — for an organization to truly exist, it must, without exception, redress the grievances of those beneath it and take their vengeance for them."
"..."
"In the moment they were dying, what do you suppose they were thinking? Not just them — when every soul who belongs to the Asura Sword Sect falls in battle, what do they think of first?"
Silence settled over the hall.
"They believed the Asura Sword Sect would avenge them without fail — that is why they staked their lives on their missions. And that was covered up. Not even a proper investigation was carried out; they simply coiled their tails in fear of friction with another sect. One of them even tried to bury the incident under the banner of protecting his own people. All to shelter two worthless bastards, more than a dozen promising talents were butchered. If that is not a sandcastle, then what in the world is it?"
"...Sambong Branch Head."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"Your words are right a hundred times over."
Dokgo Dan-ya's gaze was warm.
Of course, Dokgo Dan-ya had his own things to say as well. That he had entered seclusion; that he had focused solely on guarding against external enemies. He had many excuses, but seen broadly, all of it came down to the Sect Master's own fault — the fault of leaving the elders' factions unchecked.
Dokgo Dan-ya asked.
"What punishment would you have me deliver?"
Yi Do turned his head. His eyes met Neung Don's. Yi Do's gaze was icy. Honestly speaking, this man Neung Don grated on him.
If the man had at least confessed to every crime and, even now, charged out to smash the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect to pieces — killing an elder or two, destroying a branch or several in a mutual death — then his honor might have been spared to some degree and his sentence mitigated. But judging by his conduct, he clearly lacked even that much spine.
He did not particularly like this method, in the first place.
But in the end, the master of the Asura Sword Sect was Dokgo Dan-ya.
And it was surely Dokgo Dan-ya who had spent the longest years at Neung Don's side.
And so—
This was something Dokgo Dan-ya ought to handle.
However reckless Yi Do might be, he was capable of at least that much discernment.
Yi Do answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Cut off his limbs, tear out his dantian whole, and hang his head above the gates of the Asura Sword Sect's main mountain. Furthermore, every one of those who profited behind the scenes thanks to Neung Don must be seized and put to death."
At those words, several elders gulped down a sharp breath. Neung Don's face, flushed red as though it would burst at any moment, glared at Yi Do with eyes brimming with killing intent.
"He has already proven he cannot even manage his own subordinates properly, and he is amplifying the turmoil within an already chaotic sect. Is there any reason to keep a thing like that alive?"
A thing like that.
At those words, Neung Don's arms trembled violently. An overwhelming humiliation swept through his whole body. But Dokgo Dan-ya was not looking at Neung Don. He was gazing quietly at Yi Do alone.
"Difficult... how difficult."
Dokgo Dan-ya reached out his hand. At once, a sword hanging in the corner of the hall slid free of its scabbard and flew through the air — not toward Yi Do, but toward Neung Don.
Shhk—!
Neung Don's right arm was severed cleanly from the shoulder. The sword wheeled once through the empty air, and then — thud — buried itself in Neung Don's left eye.
Only belatedly did wisps of black smoke scatter into the air.
That was Dokgo Dan-ya's signature demonic art — the Dark Asura Heavenly Sword.
With flawless ease, the sword roamed the air once more and slid back into its scabbard.
A perfect display of Wielding the Sword with Qi.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye. Neung Don, beside himself with agony, let out a scream.
"Silence."
The scream cut off instantly.
Dokgo Dan-ya continued in an even tone.
"Though you had two eyes, you failed to see people as they truly are, so I plucked out one. Though you had two sound arms, you wasted your time only on worthless errands, so I took one. Sambong Branch Head."
"Yes, Sect Master."
"What say you? Is this enough to satisfy you?"
Even having witnessed with his own eyes the Wielding of the Sword with Qi — a feat said to be possible only for masters of the Realm of Entering Divinity — Yi Do showed no particular reaction.
As if it were nothing of consequence, he said:
"You are remarkably merciful."
"Is that so."
"Yes."
"And yet what can I do? This is a man who gave thirty years of his body to the Asura Sword Sect. I had to grant him one final chance, no?"
"If that is the Sect Master's will, then it must be honored."
At Yi Do's words, Dokgo Dan-ya merely smiled. Truly, what a fine young man he was.
"Neung Don."
"Y-yes, Sect Master..."
"Confine yourself to your quarters for the time being. You know well that this is your last chance. Do you understand?"
"Yes... I understand."
"The Sambong Branch Head will remain. All others, leave."
"By your command—!"
Everyone vacated their seats at once.
Only Yi Do and Dokgo Dan-ya remained in the hall.
Dokgo Dan-ya descended from the dais and came to stand before Yi Do. Their physiques were nearly identical. Both stood around six chi tall.
"Sambong Branch Head."
"Yes."
"As I said before, the Asura Sword Sect is in great turmoil."
"..."
"Do you believe Neung Don must die?"
"Yes."
"Do you think me soft?"
"Yes."
Dokgo Dan-ya smiled.
"What can I say? When the image of a man who devoted himself for all those long years flickers before my eyes, it seems that unlike the Sambong Branch Head, I have yet to acquire a heart of iron and blood."
And with that, he cracked a jest. Yi Do caught it at once.
Dokgo Dan-ya had no intention of letting Neung Don live.
He meant to kill him.
And yet the reason he did not kill him right away was—
"Is it because of the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect?"
"...Oh-ho?"
"I hear the Heaven Cleaving Fist Sect has made contact with several of the sect's elders. Some have already crossed over, and others stand on the verge of doing so. Neung Don is likely to become one of them. Are you laying a trap using him as bait?"
"Something like that."
"There must also be spies within the sect itself — so you mean to sweep them all up in a single stroke. Am I right?"
"I am."
"It must be exhausting, that seat of yours — Sect Master."
At this utterly unexpected remark, Dokgo Dan-ya burst into loud laughter.
Truly.
This was beyond remarkable. He was simply extraordinary. Yi Do had liked the man from the start, but this went entirely too far.
He had all but seeped into his heart. Dokgo Dan-ya tossed the question out casually.
"Any interest in the seat of Young Sect Master?"