A Man's Resolve
Come to think of it, the Namgung Clan had every right to be absolutely furious.
They had followed their patriarch all the way to the lair of the Demonic Cult, only for the Young Sect Leader hosting the banquet to mock them openly from his very first greeting. To make matters worse, what was supposed to be entertainment for the guests had turned into the cruel torment of a young girl.
It was practically an open insult to one of the great families representing the orthodox Murim.
Namgung Eon's face flushed with a mixture of rage and humiliation, though he seemed to be barely holding his temper in check.
"What do you think you are doing?"
But the one who barked at the cultists mocking the young zither player wasn't Namgung Eon. It was Baek So-cheong, who sat right beside me.
"My Lady, what is the matter?"
Baek So-cheong had remained silent throughout the entire banquet, sitting quietly as if completely detached from her surroundings.
As if nothing happening before her eyes was of any concern to her.
Yet, unable to tolerate the cultists tormenting a helpless girl any longer, she had finally stood up to intervene.
"That is enough, Sister."
I raised a hand, signaling her to stop.
"Young Sect Leader! Are you just going to sit by and watch this?"
Baek So-cheong demanded, her eyes flashing with indignation.
"I shall handle this, Sister."
Leaving So-cheong standing there in surprise, I stepped out from the head table and walked forward.
The girl who had been playing the zither was still sobbing, cradling her bruised cheek.
I approached Gwak Chun-su, who stood there looking utterly dazed.
"Gwak Chun-su, was it?"
"Yes, My Lord."
"Did you prepare this banquet?"
"Indeed I did, Young Sect Leader."
"It was quite amusing. Indeed, a banquet only truly has flavor when screams ring out and a weeping woman is mocked."
"I am deeply grateful for your kind words, Young Sect Leader."
Gwak Chun-su offered a sycophantic grin and bowed low.
At that moment—
SLAP!
Though I was only eleven and a bit shorter than the adults around me, my reach was more than enough to strike Gwak Chun-su across the face.
"Y-Young Sect Leader...?"
"However, the chair I was given is too low. Are you attempting to insult me, your Young Sect Leader?"
Gwak Chun-su's terrified gaze darted toward the chair I had just occupied.
It was a minuscule difference, but indeed, the chair was a fraction lower than the others.
SLAP!
I backhanded him across his other cheek, sending him stumbling, and looked down at him coldly.
The raucous, chaotic banquet hall fell instantly silent, as if doused in ice water.
"The water I was served is too cold. Because of your incompetence, this greasy food is bound to upset my stomach."
Gwak Chun-su rolled his eyes frantically, utterly lost as to where he should look next.
SLAP!
"When I speak, you are expected to answer!"
Meeting my terrifying glare, Gwak Chun-su collapsed to his knees and began to grovel.
"This lowly servant has committed a capital offense! Please, spare me, Young Sect Leader!"
"Get out of my sight. You are an eyesore."
Once Gwak Chun-su had scurried out of the hall, bowing repeatedly, I turned my attention to the young girl.
"You. How long have you played the zither?"
"A-About... three years, My Lord."
Even more terrified than before, she stammered for a long moment before finally squeezing out an answer.
I gently lifted her thin, skeletal hand, inspected it, and spoke.
"Your fingering technique can be corrected, but your pluck lacks spirit. Is it because you are too starved to find any strength? Tsk. Yeongho—"
I started to call for Yeongho Bin, but changed my mind. Instead, I turned to Baek So-cheong, who was staring at me with wide, blinking eyes.
"Sister. If you do not mind, may I ask a favor of you?"
"You may speak, Young Sect Leader."
"This child's skills are dreadful, and now that her decrepit instrument is broken, she cannot even practice. It would be a tragedy for anyone forced to listen to her in the future. Therefore, Sister..."
"I happen to know a thing or two about zithers. I shall purchase a new one for her."
"My thanks. Since she is nothing but skin and bones and lacks the strength to pluck the strings, I would also be grateful if you could provide her with some meat. Ah, but if she returns home with food for herself alone, it might cause a dispute in an impoverished household... and that would be a rather unsightly affair. Tsk."
"Then we shall simply provide enough food for her entire family so no such dispute arises!"
"Would you do so? You have my gratitude."
Baek So-cheong wore a knowing, gentle smile. She stepped out from the head table and approached the girl.
Taking the girl by the hand, she quietly led her away through the crowd.
Throughout my exchange with Baek So-cheong, not a single soul in the hall dared to speak or interrupt.
I scanned the silent hall. Yeongho Bin was staring off into space with a proud grin, while Jang Su-ryeon and the Left Guardian stood with their eyes wide and mouths agape.
Meanwhile, my younger brother, Hyeon, was busy stuffing a meat dumpling wrapped around a peeled grilled shrimp into his mouth.
Then, my gaze locked with Namgung Eon's. He was staring at me, his expression a turbulent storm of conflicting emotions.
I held his gaze and spoke slowly.
"A zither...! It is truly a pity that such a trifling thing was meant to be the highlight of a banquet between the Sun and Moon Sect and the Namgung Clan. Do you not agree, Young Master Namgung?"
The 'pretext' the Left Guardian mentioned was likely that zither-playing girl, but I just completely dismantled it.
Well, pretexts can always be manufactured.
"Step forward. Let us liven up the atmosphere of this banquet together."
It wasn't something I wanted to do, but having received the Sect Leader's direct command, I couldn't think of any other way out.
Namgung Eon stood up, his expression tense.
"What do you mean by livening up the atmosphere?"
"There is no need for martial artists like us to bicker back and forth like petty cowards. I am proposing a clean, straightforward duel."
As I openly challenged him, a collective breath was held throughout the hall. Every eye turned to gauge Namgung Eon's reaction.
The massive warrior sitting beside Namgung Eon reached out, attempting to hold his young master back.
But Namgung Eon brushed his hand away and slowly stepped forward.
Though his face had been clouded with anguish when he first stood, by the time he stopped before me, his expression had hardened into one of absolute resolve.
"Before we begin, there is something I must ask you, Young Sect Leader."
"You may speak."
Namgung Eon looked me dead in the eye.
"Though I am young, I have met many of the great heroes of the prestigious orthodox sects. Every single one of them claimed that the members of the Demonic Cult are despicable, wicked villains."
His voice carried clearly to the furthest corners of the silent hall, instantly provoking a wave of furious murmurs from the cultists.
It was a natural reaction. Not only had he used the derogatory term 'Demonic Cult' instead of the Sun and Moon Sect, but he had also openly insulted them to their faces.
A few even spat out curses, but because I—the highest authority present—remained silent, they could do nothing but simmer.
Namgung Eon continued, entirely unfazed.
"I will not repeat the rumors I have heard regarding you, the Young Sect Leader... and indeed, when I heard your opening remarks upon entering this hall, I believed those rumors to be entirely accurate."
"And?"
"But... what was that display just now? I cannot comprehend it..."
The murmurs died down. No one dared to interrupt him now.
"The man sitting beside me is a first-class master of the Jianghu. Furthermore, not a single warrior of the Namgung Clan—who pride themselves on being champions of justice—stepped forward to help that girl. Shamefully, I was no different. Yet you, the Young Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult, intervened. Why? I do not understand."
As I listened to Namgung Eon's question, the words the Left Guardian had whispered to me earlier echoed in my mind.
'But the Namgung Patriarch is no ordinary man either.'
'What do you mean, Left Guardian?'
'The Namgung Clan knows they cannot play dumb forever. If the Sun and Moon Sect launches a full-scale assault, the damage to their family will be catastrophic. So, what do you think they did?'
'...'
'They are pretending to be oblivious, even though they know our Sect Leader intends to have you execute their fifth son. No, it goes deeper than that. Considering they only brought the fifth son—the most useless child in their family—it means from the very beginning...'
At the time, I hadn't believed him.
The Namgung Clan was a pillar of the orthodox Murim, as unshakeable as Mount Tai.
And even putting aside their righteous reputation, Namgung Eon was the patriarch's own flesh and blood.
Could a father truly turn a blind eye to the Demonic Cult executing his own son as a sacrificial lamb, all to secure the safety of his clan?
I simply couldn't bring myself to believe that the Patriarch of the Namgung Clan would use his own son as a discarded pawn.
But now...
"Young Sect Leader. I, Namgung Eon, do not fear a duel with you. I am merely curious to hear your answer. I have lived my entire life believing in the righteousness and justice of the Namgung Clan. Tell me, Young Sect Leader... what am I dying for?"
You knew it too.
It was at that exact moment.
The suffocating weight of the gazes that had pressed down on me since I entered the hall, the crushing expectations placed upon Baek Yeon as the Young Sect Leader, and the agonizing pressure to not disappoint the Sect Leader—all of it vanished like a mist.
How I should act, how I should answer this boy's question... everything that had felt so terrifyingly uncertain suddenly became crystal clear.
I looked at Namgung Eon and spoke.
"For someone so young, you are incredibly stubborn and speak of such frustrating nonsense. You truly are the fifth son of the Namgung Clan..."
"Young Sect Leader, please enlighten me."
"Whether it is the Sun and Moon Sect, a prestigious orthodox clan, a heterodox path, the Young Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult, or the fifth son of the Namgung Clan—what does any of that matter? At the end of the day, are you and I not both men? Are we not both martial artists?"
"..."
"Therefore, it is enough to simply do what you believe is right. If a man is born into this world, lives according to his own will, and dies by it, what is there to be ashamed of?"
Namgung Eon stared at me in silence for a long moment. Then, he burst into a hearty, booming laugh.
"Hahaha!"
When his laughter finally subsided, he raised his clasped hands toward me in a formal martial salute.
"Young Sect Leader, thank you. Now..."
"Are you prepared?"
"I request your guidance."
"Very well."
I returned the salute.
"Come."
Namgung Eon swept his right hand forward, settling into a starting stance.
He regulated his breathing, drawing up every ounce of true qi throughout his body.
I did the same.
I summoned the internal energy of the Dark Demon Scripture that I had cultivated so diligently.
Thump. Thump.
The wild, violent energy of the Dark Demon Scripture vibrated explosively within me, resonating with the true qi circulating through my meridians.
Phew.
"I shall grant you the first move."
As the superior in rank, it was only proper by the laws of the Murim for me to receive his first strike.
"Then I shall not refuse."
Namgung Eon's internal energy was pure, gentle, yet remarkably solid.
It was the classic internal energy of the orthodox sects, a stark contrast to the wild, explosive demonic qi coursing through my own veins.
But compared to mine, it was still far too weak.
Namgung Eon was young, but he was a martial artist. There was no way he didn't realize the gap between us.
My mastery of the Dark Demon Scripture had already surpassed thirty years of cultivation.
Even as a young master of the prestigious Namgung Clan, the disparity between us was so vast that a duel was practically meaningless.
Namgung Eon was pushing his internal energy to its absolute limit.
He knew that since I had granted him the first move, he had to defeat me in a single strike, or he would stand no chance at all.
The moment I countered his attack, it would be over.
The gap in our power was so immense that the moment he collided with my internal energy, he would likely die on the spot.
Gathering every ounce of physical strength and the very last thread of his true qi, Namgung Eon threw a single, desperate punch. It carried the resolve of a man who was perfectly prepared to die should his strike fail.
Thud!
The moment I realized he was prepared to die...
...I recalled the vow I had made to myself the moment I woke up in this world as the Young Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult.
My life had already been thrown away once before.
So if I have been granted this power, I will use it to protect innocent lives.
Perhaps that was why the heavens cursed me with the Heavenly Killer Star, yet blessed me with the extreme introversion required to suppress its murderous voice.
The Sect Leader's command was clear: I was to kill Namgung Eon in this duel.
I had been given no other choice.
But...
"Hyaaaah!"
I decided right then, by my own will and no one else's.
At least in this room, on this night... I will not let anyone die.