What Did You Just Say? (7)
The man stared at the scene spread out before him with an expression that revealed nothing at all.
Corpses lay scattered everywhere, grotesquely mangled. If they were all gathered into one place and piled high, they would make a mountain of bodies, literally—but there was no particular reason to do so.
His gaze slowly lowered.
Two bodies torn to pieces lay on the ground, and the weapons they had carried were left embedded in the dirt, abandoned by their owners.
The earth, soaked through with blood, had turned a deep, glaring red.
And yet, even at this sight, there was not the faintest trace of feeling in the man’s eyes.
He slowly raised a hand. He stared at it, seeing no blood on it at all, then lifted his eyes again to the far-off sky.
“Bishop.”
At that moment, the Law Enforcer stepped forward and bowed low.
“All living things in this area have been erased.”
But no answer came from the Bishop’s mouth. The Law Enforcer remained prostrate on the cold ground, waiting for him to speak.
At last, the Bishop opened his mouth.
“...Isn’t this strange?”
“I beg your pardon?”
The man who had once been called Dan Ja-gang, but had now discarded even that name, lowered his dark eyes and said, “How can it be this easy?”
“......”
“To the cult, Central Plains was always a place that must be erased from the world.”
“That is so.”
“And yet these people are so weak.”
The Bishop slowly shook his head.
“Are they weak? Or are we strong?”
“I do not know the answer.”
“Well, either way, it amounts to the same thing.”
The Bishop began to walk slowly, crossing the blood-soaked ground that was littered with corpses and mud.
“If it was this easy... why did the cult have to endure all those long years of hunger and despair?”
“Because that is the cult’s mission.”
“...Yes. A mission. One assigned to us.”
Because it was the command He had given them.
The Bishop’s eyes sank into gloomy depths.
I don’t know.
Was it because he had not been devout enough? Or was the cult’s doctrine itself wrong?
Having witnessed the reality of the Central Plains he had hated so intensely, a fierce doubt seized the Bishop.
“Why was the cult defeated?”
“...The cult was not defeated.”
“Then let me rephrase it. Why did the cult fail to trample the Central Plains and have to hide away in some barren corner instead? Against people this weak.”
“That is...”
The Law Enforcer could not force the words out. If he answered incorrectly by even a little, he feared his faith might be called into question.
Watching him, the Bishop gave a low laugh.
“You needn’t answer.”
“......”
The reason was probably simple enough.
This Central Plains had spent the last hundred years soaking in peace, losing all the strength it had once possessed... or else...
The Bishop shook his head, as if to erase the blasphemous thought rising in his mind. It was a habit he had long had—to shake his head alone like this.
When he lifted his face again, the words he had heard so many times seemed to reverberate at his ear.
Our mission is to await His return. Do not think. Do not doubt. The only thing permitted to those who serve Him is faithful belief.
Those old fools...
A hundred years had passed. For a time long enough for the rivers and mountains to change ten times over, they had done nothing but wait.
Waiting for that “return” with no promise of when, or even if, it would come.
Could that really be called a life?
Could something that merely obeyed blindly, without thought or doubt, truly be called living?
It wasn’t as though he had always felt this way. From the very beginning, his faith in the Heavenly Demon had been something utterly natural. He had served the Heavenly Demon from the moment he had memory. He had learned to await Him with joy, and to offer his life to Him with delight.
The reason doubt had first come to him, despite his habit of neither questioning nor thinking, had been a very small incident.
Someone’s death.
Someone like him, who had never seen the Heavenly Demon’s face. It was the first time he had ever watched a man die of illness—someone born after the war, who had simply learned the cult’s teachings by hearing them recited and lived his life that way.
Those who wait shall behold the radiance of the return.
Very well. Suppose that was true.
Then what of those who died without ever seeing that return?
What is given to those who die without once confirming the existence of the Heavenly Demon for themselves in their lifetime?
What remains for those who endured hellish training and struggled through a life that held no meaning at all, all for that one moment?
If nothing is given, then why should the cultists endure such a painful life?
Why?
The Bishop’s eyes were as somber as ever.
No matter how many questions he asked, there was never an answer. Only the command to believe and wait.
The upper ranks of the cult were all people who had in one way or another experienced the last war. Those undead old monsters were so drenched in fanatic devotion to the Heavenly Demon that they allowed no doubt whatsoever.
What could he possibly say to people who would regard skinning themselves alive and using their own hides as footwraps for the Heavenly Demon as an honor?
So Dan Ja-gang waited. He had waited through those long years in silence. He had tried to cast aside doubt and fill himself entirely with faith.
But once sprouted, doubt never truly vanished. Like a heart demon, it had slowly consumed him.
What if the Heavenly Demon never returned? No—what if He only returned after Dan Ja-gang had died?
Then for what, exactly, had Dan Ja-gang’s life existed?
No matter how fine a treasured sword might be, it was meaningless if it was never drawn from its scabbard and wielded. Who would want to be born a famous blade, only to be left untouched until rust ate it away and it became scrap metal?
“Bishop...”
Something like unease flickered through the Law Enforcer’s bowed voice.
“It’s still not too late. Bishop. Even now...”
“Enough.”
Dan Ja-gang shook his head again, more firmly this time.
“Bishop.”
The Law Enforcer bit down hard on his lip.
“My life means nothing to me. I understand perfectly that what you intend to do is simply another way of proving your faith in Him.”
“And?”
“But they will not see it that way. They do not tolerate doubt. If you go any further than this...”
“What? You’re worried I’ll be seized by those old fools and torn apart?”
“...Bishop.”
“Unnecessary concern.”
Dan Ja-gang’s gaze drifted toward some far, far-off place.
“We wait for the return without setting foot in Central Plains.”
“Yes. That is our mission.”
“Those who defy the Heavenly Demon’s command are to be punished only with death.”
“That too is...”
The Law Enforcer shut his mouth. He understood what Dan Ja-gang was implying.
Those two things were absolute principles that every cultist must uphold. But...
“The moment they set foot in Central Plains to capture me, those old fools will be violating their own mission as well. They will never be able to step into this place.”
Dan Ja-gang gave a bitter smile.
It’s nothing but contradictions.
The Heavenly Demon’s teachings never quite fit together. He had realized that only after becoming Bishop himself. What they had believed to be the Heavenly Demon’s teachings were nothing more than scraps of the His words, crudely stitched together.
“There is no need to doubt.”
Dan Ja-gang said in a heavy voice, “If He truly watches over us and guides us, He will surely answer our desperate prayers. I am merely trying to become the vessel that carries the cult’s cry to Him.”
“......”
When no answer came, he glanced down at the Law Enforcer.
“Speak.”
“...I would not dare...”
“Speak.”
Unable to withstand the pressure, the Law Enforcer bit his lip slightly and finally opened his mouth.
“Then... may I ask this much? If... if, by one chance in ten thousand, He does not hear our cry... if He does not return immediately, what will you do?”
Dan Ja-gang answered with indifferent eyes.
“That will not happen.”
“Bishop.”
“He will answer us.”
He turned away from the Law Enforcer.
And yet, deep in the depths of those eyes that pretended at indifference, something small and restless flickered.
What if He does not answer?
He had already asked that question countless times. But no matter how many times he asked it alone, no answer ever came.
I’ll know when the time comes.
Dan Ja-gang’s eyes, which had been pressing down on the gloom rising in his heart, narrowed ever so slightly.
“We have guests.”
At those words, the Law Enforcer sprang to his feet. Then he fixed the front with a blade-sharp gaze.
“They seem a little different.”
A faint smile rose to Dan Ja-gang’s lips.
Perhaps they would be the ones to let him experience the true strength of Central Plains that he had not yet felt for himself.
“I will deal with them.”
“No. Leave them. Let us hear them first.”
Dan Ja-gang stepped forward at a leisurely pace. The other side seemed to recognize him as well, because they ran straight toward him.
Before long, warriors radiating a sharp killing intent so intense it stung the skin lined up across from Dan Ja-gang. There were more than a hundred of them.
“Hm.”
Before Dan Ja-gang could even speak, one man walked out from among them.
A middle-aged man in a blue robe with a cold, expressionless face—Man-geum Daebu had finally come to stand before Dan Ja-gang.
“Are you the one in charge?”
Dan Ja-gang gave no answer.
But Man-geum Daebu, as though he had already heard one, did not wait and gave a signal instead.
At that, the men behind him came forward carrying large crates and set them down in front of Man-geum Daebu.
Thunk!
More than a dozen boxes, each as large as a human torso, were tipped forward at once. As the lids flew open, all manner of precious jewels and gold ingots spilled out in a rush. The sight was like grain sacks bursting open.
Dan Ja-gang casually glanced over the astonishing wealth before him.
“What is this?”
“A gift.”
“...A gift?”
Man-geum Daebu slowly nodded.
“We’re receiving the great Demonic Sect of the world. We couldn’t possibly come empty-handed. Think of this as Black Ghost Fort’s sincerity.”
A small smile curved Dan Ja-gang’s lips.
“What do you want?”
“Conversation. And negotiation.”
“Conversation...”
When Dan Ja-gang did not continue, Man-geum Daebu spoke first.
“I want to know what it is that you desire.”
“Why?”
“If it’s something we can provide, then perhaps we can cooperate.”
Man-geum Daebu’s eyes were so dark that his meaning was difficult to read. Dan Ja-gang murmured slowly, “What I desire...”
Step. Step.
He walked forward calmly, then bent down and scooped up a handful of the valuables strewn across the ground.
“How abundant.”
Crack. Crack.
The treasures in his hand warped and shattered in an instant. Gold split apart and melted away, while jewels crumbled into powder and scattered like dust.
“...A land so abundant that worthless scraps no one can even eat are treated as valuables.”
“If you want...”
Man-geum Daebu did not look rattled in the least.
“The price could be a mountain of grain. Or, if not that, it could be the land for you to live on.”
“......”
“I can’t promise I’ll hand over everything you could possibly ask for in this world. But I can give you most things.”
“Hm.”
“Speak. Tell me what you want. This won’t be a loss-making deal. Compared to what we’d give, what we seek in return is far too little.”
Dan Ja-gang’s dark lips curled upward.
“We don’t need grain, land, or wealth.”
“Then what do you want?”
Man-geum Daebu did not waver.
It was obvious that these people wanted something, after all. So there was no reason for him to be shaken.
“But... I think you might have what I want.”
Dan Ja-gang looked straight at Man-geum Daebu.
“Tell me, unbeliever.”
“......”
“Is your name truly renowned enough to make Central Plains tremble?”
Man-geum Daebu nodded expressionlessly.
“My reputation is not exactly low.”
“Good. Then that will do.”
Dan Ja-gang smiled, white and bright.
“Your death will surely be known throughout the world. To the point that everyone will know we are here.”
For the first time, the edge of Man-geum Daebu’s eye twitched despite his usual composure.
“What I desire...”
“Now shut that filthy mouth of yours, filthy unbeliever. Just speaking with you makes my ears feel rotten.”
Blood-red light began pouring from Dan Ja-gang’s eyes.
“What I need is only your dying scream. Shout. Scream until your throat bursts. Let your worthless cries echo across the world.”
“Madman...”
Man-geum Daebu’s expression changed in an instant.
For a moment, the madness radiating from Dan Ja-gang seemed to seize his breath by the throat.
“Fort Leader!”
“Negotiations have failed. Take the enemy’s head first!”
Still, if there was any relief to be had, it was that the enemy commander had been met face-to-face right here and now. If they could eliminate that man, the remaining cultists would surely fall apart!
“Kill him!”
The moment the command fell, Black Ghost Fort’s elite surged forward, hurling themselves toward the Bishop with blade-like killing intent.
But at that very instant—
KWAaaaaaaaAaaaaaAAAH!
A terrifying storm of demonic energy erupted from the center of Dan Ja-gang’s body. Black demonic qi surged upward like a colossal dragon-shaped vortex, rising endlessly into the sky.
At the appalling sight, the Black Ghost Fort elites who had been charging ahead came to an involuntary stop.
“Ah... uh...”
Was this truly a scene a human being could produce?
From within that ominous, pitch-black whirlpool, blood-red light burst forth.
“Only death will make you worth anything!”
Dan Ja-gang’s demonic qi exploded in all directions.