The Heavenly Demon Visits the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult (6)
“This is the residence of the Heavenly Demon!”
Thinking back on it, I should have brought Han Seo-woo along. I was so familiar with the grounds of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that I had simply wandered off without them, but right now I was an outsider.
“I’ve come to see Baek Hwaryeong.”
“Insolent! How dare you utter that person’s revered name!”
Sigh. This was only natural, I supposed. If some masked weirdo showed up claiming they wanted to meet the Heavenly Demon, who in their right mind would listen? I had caused quite the scene at the entrance to the Divine Cult earlier, but most of the ordinary followers had probably been too busy with their own duties to notice. These two guards hadn’t seen me subdue the elders either. If they had, they might have been a little more polite.
“Didn’t Baek Hwaryeong leave any message for me?”
“Hah. Look at this one. Are you saying the Heavenly Demon is your friend?! Show some respect, you wretch!”
“Do not test our patience!”
Yes, I understood that they didn’t want a commotion right in front of the building where the Heavenly Demon resided. As a guest myself, I had no desire to escalate things either. However, there was one thing these fools didn’t realize.
The one truly exercising patience here wasn’t them—it was me.
What on earth was Baek Hwaryeong doing inside? She must have sensed my presence long ago, so why hadn’t she taken a single step? Honestly, for someone so young, she was terribly lazy. When I was her age… Hmm. Come to think of it, I was probably the same.
The more I thought about it, the more it felt like I was digging my own grave, so I stopped. Instead, the guards’ endless chatter was starting to grate on my nerves, so I simply struck their pressure points.
The two men, now limp and collapsed on the ground, tried to say something to me, but they didn’t even have the strength to move their lips. All that came out were meaningless sounds.
“I sealed their pressure points. I couldn’t keep dealing with these two forever.”
“Don’t worry. They’ll be able to move again in about an hour.”
These guys might look sloppy, but anyone assigned to guard this place had to have some skill. Leaving them like this for an hour wouldn’t cause any real problems. I roughly shoved the two collapsed men to the side and entered Baek Hwaryeong’s office.
“You’re here?”
The moment I opened the door, my eyes were greeted by a sea of scrolls covering every surface where one might hope to take a step. Having done the exact same job in this very seat in the past, it wasn’t hard to guess just how much work this girl had been putting off. Even at a glance, it looked like at least a week’s worth.
“What do you mean, ‘you’re here’? You must have sensed my presence ages ago—why didn’t you come out to greet me?”
“As you can see, I have a lot of work.”
“Nonsense.”
If you were truly that passionate about your duties, this much work wouldn’t have piled up in the first place. When I pointed that out, Baek Hwaryeong gave an awkward little laugh and began rolling up one of the scrolls she had spread out purely for decoration.
“Come over here and sit. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Where exactly am I supposed to sit?”
Scrolls were everywhere—there wasn’t a single spot to sit. She ought to clear a place if she expected me to sit. For the leader of an entire faction, she really had no idea how to treat a guest.
“You know what I mean.”
Well, yes, I did know. But that wasn’t exactly something the host should say to their guest. I used Void Grasp to sweep some of the scrolls aside and sat down. She teased me, saying I could have done that myself instead of throwing a tantrum. What an utterly shameless girl.
“So what did you want to talk about?”
“What else but the task I need you to handle?”
With that, Baek Hwaryeong stood up, rummaged through the mountain of scrolls, and finally pulled out a map of the surrounding area, spreading it before me.
“You agreed to deal with the Blood Sect forces in this region, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“There are certain areas I’d like you to handle quietly.”
The area she pointed to was a populated district. She was asking me to be careful because any commotion in a place with so many eyes could leave the residents anxious.
“Especially this slum—many young children live there. As you know, children become frightened easily.”
The way Baek Hwaryeong spoke now was exactly what one would expect from the leader of a group. Unlike me. I had never cared about such things. I had always seen the Divine Cult as nothing more than a tool; why would I concern myself with whether its components grew old or broke? Especially if those parts were ones I couldn’t even see.
What would I have said in this situation? No, I wouldn’t have said anything like this at all. I would have simply burned everything—Blood Sect and all. I certainly wouldn’t have asked someone else to eliminate the Blood Sect for me.
Hmm. Once I finished everything and turned off the stream, there were quite a few things I wanted to ask Baek Hwaryeong. I was curious how she—who had been born and raised in the Divine Cult—viewed it now.
“Do you understand?”
“I understand what you’re saying. I’ll do my best to follow your wishes. However, keep in mind that depending on the situation, it may not be possible.”
The Blood Sect was like cockroaches. It was impossible to guess how far or how deeply they had spread. If even one was spotted, there could be countless followers swarming underground. In the worst case, I might have no choice but to set the place ablaze.
When I warned her in advance, Baek Hwaryeong tapped her fingers on the desk for a moment before nodding.
“If the situation turns bad, I’ll leave it to your judgment.”
With that, our discussion was over, so I stood up. It was time to go watch the participants of Solitude. By now, Seol-ah was probably talking with them too. Even if she was quiet in reality, she communicated well with others in the game. She might be satisfying her curiosity.
“Min-ga. What is this?”
Baek Hwaryeong had noticed the guards sprawled outside and was glaring at me in reproach.
“This is your fault. They wouldn’t let me in—what was I supposed to do? If you had been a little more diligent, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“...Uh. Is that so?”
It wasn’t “is that so,” it was exactly so. If she hadn’t been pretending to be busy unrolling scrolls and had come out earlier, none of this would have happened.
“I have no reason to apologize to them. If anyone should, it’s you.”
When I turned the accusation back on her, Baek Hwaryeong avoided my eyes and whistled. It was so blatantly obvious that I was at a loss for words. She just didn’t want to admit her own fault, did she?
Yes, do as you please. I couldn’t be bothered to say anything more. After settling the minor disturbance, I headed toward where the participants of Solitude were gathered. There I saw Seol-ah surrounded by a large crowd. From what I had heard through the door, it seemed the participants had been sharing their individual goals. Truly empty and futile talk. Soon, only one goal would remain among them.
I walked past the crowd whose eyes sparkled as they watched Baek Hwaryeong and approached Seol-ah. My eyes, which gazed upon the Dao of the world, had grown far more refined than before. Thanks to learning so much from Baru every day, I could now roughly sense a person’s emotions just by looking at them.
From what I could see, what Seol-ah held in her heart right now was hesitation, doubt, and deep contemplation. Though my ability was still lacking, the emotions were clear enough that there was no mistaking them.
“Seol-ah. Did you see something?”
“Yes.”
“Explain it to me.”
“I saw that you cannot entrust your dreams to others.”
She had seen correctly. I had been unsure whether she would gain any realization even after today’s events were over, but it seemed I had underestimated her. Moreover, the red seed she had harbored in her heart hadn’t grown at all—in fact, it had only shrunk. This was the best possible outcome for me.
“Then there is no more reason to stay here.”
There was no longer any point in watching Solitude for no reason. Let’s go back. There was much to do near the Divine Cult, and I didn’t want to waste time.
The viewers threw a fit, complaining that they had waited all this time just to see Solitude, so why were we leaving right before it started? I ignored them. What enjoyment was there in watching lowlifes kill each other? All that existed there was desperation and madness. Having both participated in and observed that ritual several times, I could say it with certainty—there was no joy in it. My bug hunting would be far more entertaining.
I turned to leave, but Seol-ah didn’t move. Until now, she had almost always followed my wishes. I had assumed she would obediently follow if I said we were going back, but I never expected her to be so stubborn.
“Do you want to watch Solitude?”
When I asked, Seol-ah nodded carefully. It seemed she felt uneasy about defying me, yet she didn’t change her decision. I didn’t know what had made her so resolute, but if that was what she wanted…
Fine. I would endure it just this once.
“I don’t know what you all are expecting, but it won’t be very enjoyable.”
I had given them fair warning. So please, I hoped they wouldn’t complain about being disappointed. If anyone was shameless enough to do so, I would personally cut off their head.
Then let’s go. To watch Solitude.