The Heavenly Demon Manages Her Subordinates (3)
“This worked out perfectly. I actually had a favor to ask of you anyway. Though of course, I’ll need to rescue Baru from that woman’s arms first.”
“That’s enough. What do you plan to do if our Baru’s fur starts falling out from all that torment?”
Do you understand? Baru’s silky, fluffy fur was practically the reason for Hwaryong Muin’s existence as a world. It was a precious treasure that needed to be cherished. So what exactly did she intend to do if that treasure got damaged? Not that I hadn’t tormented Baru quite a bit myself, but I had never gone so far as to make her cry out in distress.
…I don’t think I had, anyway.
“Spirits are perfectly fine as long as their mountain is intact, aren’t they?”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“Whatever, just hurry up and save me already!”
I had tried to win her over with logic only to be persuaded myself, but Baru’s near-scream snapped me back to my senses. Right. First things first—I had to rescue her.
I half-forced Baek Hwaryeong’s grip open. Baru immediately slipped free from her embrace and scampered straight over to me, leaping onto my shoulder. Her ears stood straight up as she glared at Baek Hwaryeong. It seemed she really hadn’t enjoyed being manhandled.
“If you hated it that much, why didn’t you run away sooner?”
“I tried! That brute is disgustingly strong—what was I supposed to do?!”
“Brute? I am a guest.”
“What kind of self-proclaimed guest acts like a thug?!”
The current Baek Hwaryeong was someone who would definitely be included in any conversation about the strongest under heaven. No matter how skilled a Taoist sorcerer Baru might be, there was no way she could have escaped those hands. Maybe I should teach her some escape techniques when I had the time. If she learned a few basics and mixed them with her sorcery, she might be able to run for quite a while.
She would still get caught eventually, though.
“So, Baek Hwaryeong. Why did you come? Are you here for food again?”
“Are you calling this seat a beggar?”
I wasn’t calling her a beggar—she really had been one until now. Who was it that caused a ruckus every time she showed up here, demanding delicious food?
When I frowned slightly, Baek Hwaryeong began telling me all sorts of things I hadn’t even asked about. These days, that guy Han Seo-woo had a list of good restaurants, so all she had to do was intimidate him a little and he would find decent places on his own. Therefore, she had no reason to come begging from me.
“Do you understand?! This seat no longer has any reason to rely on you for food!”
“Then why did you come?”
If she had simply come to harass Baru, the only thing I would give her was a “get lost.” But she pulled a long pipe from her bosom, packed it with tobacco leaves, and spoke.
“Lately, those Blood Cult bastards have started running wild. They don’t know their place and are causing quite the stir. What’s truly irritating is how well they hide. To find them, one would have to burn down an entire village, which is rather troublesome.”
She grumbled that those insect-like creatures were increasing her workload and causing harm to the citizens of the Divine Cult. As I listened to Baek Hwaryeong say she wanted to wipe the annoyance from her sight as quickly as possible, I could tell the Blood Cult was indeed expanding its power at an alarming rate.
In the world I originally lived in, they would still be creeping around in the shadows at this point. From the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s perspective, they were nothing but worthless insects not even worth noticing. I hadn’t even known they existed back then.
But now things were different. The insects were thriving. Just like in the past when I had faced the Blood Cult.
“That’s why I came to ask. Even though it’s a different world, you’re the one who experienced everything and returned. Where is their main base?”
“You came to ask me to tell you that?”
“Yes.”
As I listened to her, a strange feeling came over me. Right now, Baek Hwaryeong was lowering her head for something other than herself. For the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It was something I would never have done. As I had said before, I had only become the pants of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult out of my own necessity. Affection? There had been none of that. How could someone who had been dropped into that world without knowing why and been forced to accept their doctrine possibly feel such a thing?
My decision to take revenge on Murim had been solely for my mother, the children of the Divine Cult, and the children of the Ice Palace. Using the Divine Cult’s name had been nothing more than justification. Simply put, the Divine Cult had been nothing but a tool to me. The same would have been true from their perspective.
Therefore, there was no way I would ever lower my head for the Divine Cult. Who would bow their head for a tool they planned to discard?
But Baek Hwaryeong was different. Born and raised there, she did not see the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult as a mere tool. Seeing this made me realize once again that while we were similar, we were fundamentally different people.
Well. Even so, since we were alike, it wasn’t as if she would have come running to me the moment she ran into a little trouble. She must have struggled on her own for quite a while before finally reaching out when she saw no other solution. A user of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art would not easily ask others for help. She must have come here after much hesitation, so I wanted to give her a positive answer, but unfortunately, that was impossible.
“Baek Hwaryeong. Think about it. If I knew where it was, wouldn’t I have destroyed it long ago?”
There was a reason I had left the Blood Cult alone despite disliking them so much. I roughly remembered the locations of all their branches. But I didn’t know the most important thing—the location of the Blood Cult Leader’s true physical body.
The organization known as the Blood Cult was held together by the power of a single individual, the Blood Cult Leader. It was a group that grew its branches around him. Therefore, unless that leader was eliminated, even if every branch was cut down, new ones would simply grow back.
I had learned this truth with my own body while traveling around to subjugate the Blood Cult. The Blood Cult would not disappear unless the leader was erased. I remembered the hiding places the previous Blood Cult Leader had used, but what if I attacked only to find he wasn’t really there? Wouldn’t that damn thing hide even more desperately? From that moment on, my knowledge would become useless, and I would have to go through the same painstaking effort to find him again. I would rather not.
“I see. That is unfortunate. In that case, Min-ga. Is there perhaps no way to root out the Blood Cult?”
“It’s not that there isn’t a way, but it would be impossible for you.”
They might be able to smell the scent of sorcery, but they wouldn’t be able to distinguish those entangled with the Blood Cult. Those bastards were desperate to hide while expanding their power in the shadows. The thing they cared about most was erasing their own traces. If one swallowed an entire place like they had with Mount Hua in the past, they would reveal themselves, but until then, they would stay hidden.
If one could see the energy of the Blood Cult like Baru or I could, it would be possible to identify them, but you cannot. Therefore, the easiest method would be to simply burn down entire villages, but since that isn’t an option, you came to ask me. Hmm. This might have worked out perfectly after all. I had something I wanted to ask of Baek Hwaryeong anyway, and she had offered the terms of a deal first.
“Baek Hwaryeong. If you grant me one request, I will personally locate and reveal all the Blood Cult branches near the Divine Cult.”
It was unpleasant that I would have to approach the Divine Cult, but their faith was directed toward Baek Hwaryeong anyway. There wasn’t much reason for me to feel reluctant. Even if they developed interest in me, they wouldn’t try to replace their god.
“Hooh. What is it? Speak.”
“When does the Solitude open?”
Solitude. A ritual that existed within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. It locked numerous martial artists belonging to the cult in one space and made them kill each other. An inefficient method that found a single talent at the cost of countless sacrifices. It was practically a suicidal act where everyone but one person died, yet there were endlessly many volunteers. In a world where the strong were revered, surviving Solitude was proof of one’s strength. Survivors of Solitude received respect within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Their chances of rising to high positions increased, and they could learn higher-level martial arts. For those interested in the doctrine of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, it was a gamble worth taking. If you survived, you gained strength and status. Even if you failed, you could gift strength to others with your life. I still thought it was the pinnacle of insane inefficiency, but there was a reason I was interested in it now.
“Solitude? It’s not far off.”
“I would like to have an outsider observe it.”
Those who participated in it were martial artists deeply steeped in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but at the same time, they were those who had trained the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to a certain level. Since Solitude was considered a sacred ritual even within the cult, random riffraff couldn’t participate. Every single participant possessed their own simji. Those who didn’t would have been devoured by the inner energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art and died before they could even join.
No matter how dull that guy Seol-ah was, if he faced the heart of that madness, he would surely feel something. Originally I had planned to leave him alone until he gained enlightenment on his own, but after seeing him fall for someone else’s temptation, I changed my mind. It was what one might call shock therapy. There was a chance he might realize something from watching. If that wasn’t what I wanted… well, that wouldn’t be so bad either. But if he felt joy from it… hmm. That would require some thought.
“That is a difficult request. You know what Solitude means to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, don’t you?”
“I do. But I also know it’s possible, which is why I suggested it.”
You fool. While I have almost no sense of duty toward the Divine Cult, I roughly know how things work there. They may call the ritual sacred, but I also know what those above think of it. Surely allowing one or two observers when necessary is possible?
“…Hah. Fine. How could I possibly deceive you?”
“Will it take time?”
“Yes. Wait a little while.”