Chapter 326
Chapter 326
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 88
>Chapter Title: To the Sacheon Tang Clan (2)
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“The true master of the sacred flame shall appear in the mortal world, and on the day new wings sprout from that torn wound, all shall worship.”
Mok Kyung-un’s expression grew strange.
This was completely different from the existing prophecy.
[The heavens shall open, and the incarnation of Ahriman shall appear in the mortal world, dyeing the sacred flame black with evil. Beware.]
The altered prophecy felt almost like a warning, unlike the original, which carried no such tone.
The only similarity was that someone would appear in the mortal world.
“...Ahriman’s incarnation... The true master of the sacred flame...”
What on earth were these beings?
Why had the Sacred Flame Sovereign altered the prophecy?
It made no sense.
Everything was too vague.
Mok Kyung-un stared intently at the suffering Sacred Flame Sovereign and spoke.
“Why did you change the prophecy?”
“Haa... haa... That’s...”
To the hesitating woman, Mok Kyung-un smiled faintly and said,
“It won’t end well if you keep your lips sealed. Especially if you know what I’m going to do next.”
At those words, the Sacred Flame Sovereign paled, her body trembling violently before she finally opened her mouth.
“...My granddaughter... To save my only granddaughter... I had no choice...”
“You changed it to save your granddaughter? You manipulated the prophecy for that...”
“I... I...”
“Never mind the excuses about circumstances. The one who threatened you using your granddaughter was that ‘lord’ from the organization, right?”
At the question, the Sacred Flame Sovereign nodded weakly.
The memory of that time flashed in her mind.
* * *
Eighteen years ago, in the Sacred Flame Hall of the Blazing Flower Cult.
At the center of the hall stood a platform with an ornate staff embedded with a blue-glowing pearl.
The pearl usually emitted a brilliant light.
But then, something bizarre happened to it.
-Woooong!
A powerful tremor emanated from the pearl, its resonance shaking the surroundings.
The one who noticed this odd phenomenon was a neatly dressed middle-aged man in the hall.
In the Central Plains, he was known as the Sea Whale Immortal, but here in the Blazing Flower Cult, he was called Elder Jang, the Protector.
[What’s this?]
Startled by the strange occurrence with the pearl, Elder Jang quickly approached it.
A strong light was bursting from the intensely vibrating pearl.
Unknowingly drawn to it, Elder Jang reached out his hand.
The moment he did,
[Ah!]
Elder Jang’s pupils turned black.
His face twisted in shock, as if seeing a vision, and he yanked his hand back in alarm.
[This... what is this?]
Staring at the pearl with trembling eyes, Elder Jang hurriedly tried to summon the Sacred Flame Sovereign.
But before he could leave the hall, she entered, accompanied by someone wearing a bamboo hat and veil.
Spotting the golden scabbard at the veiled man’s waist, Elder Jang guessed his identity.
[Sacred Flame Sovereign! The Mok—]
[Since when has it been like this? Elder Jang.]
The Sacred Flame Sovereign, shocked by the pearl emitting resonance and brilliant light, cut him off and asked.
Elder Jang replied,
[I don’t know. I just entered the hall, and suddenly the pearl started vibrating and glowing.]
[For the pearl to resonate like this is no ordinary matter.]
She spoke in a voice filled with ecstasy.
Puzzled, Elder Jang asked back,
[No ordinary matter?]
[The Sacred Flame has given a revelation. Elder Jang, summon the cult leaders at once.]
[Understood.]
As Elder Jang left to fetch the cult leaders, the Sacred Flame Sovereign approached the pearl, whose vibrations were growing stronger.
Even she had never seen such a sight before.
She had guarded the pearl as Sacred Flame Sovereign for decades, but it had never produced such resonance or light.
Was something extraordinary about to happen?
As she reached out for the pearl,
-Kwachak!
[What?]
The staff shattered, and the pearl shot upward.
It soared toward the ceiling with enough force to pierce it, but someone snatched it just before it hit.
-Pak!
It was the veiled man.
Landing on the floor with the pearl in hand, he paused for a moment.
The Sacred Flame Sovereign approached and extended her hand.
[Secret Lord. Thank you. Please hand me the pearl.]
“...”
[Secret Lord?]
[Ah!]
Snapped out of it by her second call, the man called Secret Lord handed the pearl to the Sacred Flame Sovereign.
The moment she grasped it, she saw a vision.
It was of the sacred flame extinguishing and falling to the earth.
‘H-how could this be?’
To her, who had thought it merely a revelation, this sight was a shock.
The Sacred Flame was a symbol of the Blazing Flower Cult.
For it to extinguish and fall was no mere revelation to the cult—it might herald tragedy.
But the vision didn’t end there.
The extinguished flame turned to ash, only to suddenly blaze anew, illuminating all directions brilliantly.
[Aah!]
She let out a cry of awe.
She had thought it the final revelation of the cult’s downfall.
But this was a trial.
Overcome this trial, find the spark to reignite the flame, and it would burn even more brilliantly, lighting the world once more.
-Tak!
Releasing the pearl, she organized what she had seen.
Then, someone placed a hand on her shoulder and said,
[Do not reveal exactly what you saw.]
‘!?‘
Startled, she turned.
It was none other than the Secret Lord.
[Secret Lord, how can you say—]
[I won’t say it twice. Forget what you just saw.]
[What are you talking about? Secret Lord, did you... see the pearl’s revelation too?]
She couldn’t hide her astonishment.
The pearl’s revelations could only be received directly by the chosen.
Without resonance, it was impossible. How had the Secret Lord seen the vision?
As she wondered, the Secret Lord spoke.
[The old Sacred Flame has waned, and it will be replaced by a new flame. Thus, the revelations from the pearl are meaningless now.]
[Secret Lord, whatever you saw, your words are excessive! This is still the revelation of I, the Sacred Flame Sovereign...]
-Shuk!
Before she could finish, the Secret Lord lifted the veil covering his face.
She had never seen the Secret Lord’s face before.
But upon seeing it, she was overcome with horror.
‘E-eyes?’
The moment she saw the third eye on his forehead, filled with red spots, terror seized her, leaving her speechless.
To her, the Secret Lord smiled chillingly and said,
[The time has finally come. The Sacred Flame we have served will fully extinguish. A new era has arrived.]
[Wh-what are you...]
[Do not question it. You have only one task. To welcome the new era, issue the revelation... No, wait. Yes. We must make certain of the fading flame.]
[What are you saying?]
[Issue the revelation.]
[Revelation?]
[The trusted ones pull it down, and those who worship extinguish its final flame. How fitting.]
The Sacred Flame Sovereign’s eyes shook violently.
What had this man seen?
What could make him think the Sacred Flame would fully wane?
The Sacred Flame would burn again.
More brilliantly than before.
[The Sacred Flame will not extinguish. Secret Lord, whatever your intent, the Secret Assembly is the shadow and mirror of the Blazing Flower Cult. How can you say such—]
-Pak!
[Guk!]
[Didn’t I say it? I’ve waited for this moment.]
[Br-breath...]
[It must be hard to breathe. But I won’t kill you now. You have a task.]
[I... I’ll... obey...]
[You will. If you don’t want to lose what’s precious.]
‘Precious?’
Only one face came to mind—her granddaughter, her sole remaining kin.
* * *
“Ah, how clichéd.”
Mok Kyung-un, listening to the Sacred Flame Sovereign, clicked his tongue.
Unable to resist the blackmail, she had uttered a false prophecy.
In the end, she had chosen blood over the cult.
Through her flashback, however, he learned two facts.
One was the relationship between the organization and the Blazing Flower Cult.
They were called the Secret Assembly and were not entirely separate but deeply intertwined.
The second was Grandfather.
‘Did Grandfather see something through that pearl too?’
From what he heard, everyone in the Blazing Flower Cult believed the Sacred Flame Sovereign’s false prophecy.
Even the Shadow Lord Hwan Ya-seon.
Yet both the cultists and this organization spoke as if Grandfather had defied the prophecy and done something.
That meant Grandfather likely knew the truth, not the falsehood.
Thus, he had defied the false prophecy, the false revelation.
“...”
Suddenly, a memory surfaced for Mok Kyung-un.
The sight of something falling from the high sky, and Grandfather prostrating toward him.
At first, he had dismissed it as a dream, a new scene.
But now, a thought struck him.
‘The true master of the sacred flame... Could that be me, as mentioned in the prophecy?’
It was hard to believe, but all the circumstances pointed to him.
Even from infancy, he remembered everything he had seen, heard, and smelled.
Yet only his early childhood was missing.
As if that part of his memory had been carved out.
‘What am I, exactly?’
From the unknown presence within him to the self buried in his lost memories.
Everything tangled complicatedly, deepening his doubts about himself.
Lost in thought, Mok Kyung-un spoke.
“The deeper I dig, the more complicated it all gets. I just wanted to deal with those who killed Grandfather.”
“...”
“One thing’s certain—I can’t deny I’m closely tied to that prophecy. Right?”
At his question, the Sacred Flame Sovereign lowered her head.
She couldn’t tell if the man before her was the incarnation or the being itself.
But she was certain that presence dwelled within him.
“That’s...”
As she tried to speak, Mok Kyung-un waved his hand dismissively.
“Enough. We’ll put that aside for now. Knowing who I am can wait—right now, I have priorities.”
“Priorities...”
“Didn’t I tell you? I’m going to erase everything connected to Grandfather’s death from the world.”
-Ossok!
At Mok Kyung-un’s killing-intent-laced words, a chill ran down the Sacred Flame Sovereign’s spine.
If this man truly was the prophecy’s master of the sacred flame, he embodied both sides of the coin.
She recalled part of the doctrine spoken by the previous Sacred Flame Sovereign.
[Ahura Mazda is a dual-faced mainyu, thus able to be the benevolent Spenta while also Ahriman, the malevolent Angra.]
‘!!!!!!’
‘A calamity... Could he become a calamity?’
Her eyes trembled wildly as she gazed at Mok Kyung-un.
Suddenly, she thought that her false prophecy, whether by choice or force, might have truly summoned calamity.
“Come to think of it, there was something intriguing in what you said.”
“Intriguing? What?”
“That Secret Lord had an eye on his forehead?”
At Mok Kyung-un’s question, the Sacred Flame Sovereign swallowed dryly and nodded.
The eerie, ominous sight was still burned into her memory.
Then, stroking his chin, Mok Kyung-un spoke as if realizing something.
“Ah. Now I get it.”
‘!?‘
“Simpler than I thought. The Third Eye Root.”
“The Third Eye Root?”
The Third Mokgan(目艮).
That was what they called the organization’s leader.
At first, Mok Kyung-un hadn’t understood what it meant.
But it was surprisingly straightforward.
“Mok(目) and Gan(艮) aren’t separate—they’re one. Eye(眼)... The Third Eye Root means the Three-Eyed One.”
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