Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: King of Demons
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Grandfather's entire body emanated a terrifying aura as he posed his question.
It wasn't just Grandfather.
Grandmother and Father were peering over his shoulder with chilling gazes.
At the village entrance, a middle-aged man dressed in stark black martial robes appeared.
The man was like a massive black mountain.
No, it felt as if the dark clouds covering half the sky were moving in tandem with him.
He moved with utter leisure.
As if out on a casual outing, he strolled along, glancing this way and that.
"You're the master of the Demonic Cult."
Grandfather recognized his identity at a glance.
Swoosh...
He casually raised an arm, and the sword propped against the wall of a distant building flew straight into his hand.
At the same moment, the leisurely-walking man bowed toward Grandfather's position.
"Hyuklyeon Gwang pays his respects to the County Princess and her husband."
Grandfather nodded in acknowledgment.
"You're Hyuklyeon Mu's son?"
"Indeed."
At the man's response, Grandfather glanced at his second son, who stood there awkwardly.
"Did you bring him here?"
Haha... Haha...
The second son let out an awkward laugh.
"He said he wanted to pay respects to you, Father..."
Tsk tsk...
Grandfather clicked his tongue and turned toward the table in the courtyard.
His second son might be clumsy and past his prime, but his martial arts were quite formidable.
No, even against one of the Five Absolutes of the Martial World, he wouldn't lose easily.
That was why he'd been assigned to stay in the north and spy on the Demonic Cult's movements.
"Dear wife, please bring some tea."
Grandmother, who had been eyeing Hyuklyeon Gwang coldly, headed inside.
"Very well."
As Grandmother entered the house, Grandfather beckoned to Hyuklyeon Gwang.
"Sit."
"My thanks."
Hyuklyeon Gwang walked over and sat facing Grandfather.
"You take after your father a great deal."
Hearing that, the man smirked.
"Hardly."
Being told he resembled his father was the gravest insult.
Had those words come from anyone else, their head would have rolled immediately.
Father had returned home limbless and lived out his remaining days in resentment and despair.
Hyuklyeon Gwang, who had watched it all by his side, tore at his enemies' limbs in his heart every single day.
Yet the man seated before him was the one who best embodied the word "invincible."
"How could you turn my son into that state?"
There was a faint note of reproach and anger in Grandfather's question.
"Would you simply stand by and watch while a thief spies on your home?"
Hyuklyeon Gwang's retort was no less sharp.
A heavy tension settled between the two men.
Clink.
But as a teacup slipped between them, the weighty air dissipated in an instant.
Hyuklyeon Gwang glanced at the second son sitting on the veranda.
"The Demonic Blossom Heaven-Exterminating Sword has reached the Tenth Star realm."
The Demonic Blossom Heaven-Exterminating Sword was one of the Demonic Cult's top-five martial arts.
And that fearsome technique had unfolded from his second son's hands.
"Is that why you've come to press the matter?"
Grandmother's voice, as she set down her teacup, carried a chill colder than thin ice.
"No, how could I dare question the County Princess over such a thing?"
Hyuklyeon Gwang's tone was grave and bitter.
His father had never forgotten this woman his entire life.
A woman who might have become his mother. No, had she become his mother, he might never have been born.
His own mother had lived a lonely, solitary life because of his father and passed away ten years ago.
A mother who had gazed only at his father her whole life.
His rage had piled up so high that he no longer even knew what it was.
"I came to express my gratitude for sparing my life."
Hyuklyeon Gwang slightly bowed toward Grandfather.
Had Grandfather chosen to cut the grass at the root, not only the Demonic Cult but he himself would not have survived.
"You knew that, yet you still came?"
Kekekeke...
"Why didn't you just finish it then?"
His laughter echoed like it rose from a bottomless abyss.
The Cult Leader's heir without the Heavenly Demon Sword was like a moth to the flame.
Countless Demonic Cult experts had lunged for the throne, forcing him to overcome dozens of life-and-death trials.
Hyuklyeon Gwang continued as if speaking to himself.
"I ascended to the Cult Leader's seat without the Heavenly Demon Sword. You know what that means. Now, I intend to reclaim my father's sword."
"You think that's possible?"
Grandfather's voice dripped arrogance, but it didn't register as such in Hyuklyeon Gwang's ears.
In this world, only Han Gwang Ri and his family possessed such qualifications.
And that qualification was fear itself.
"Five years from now. For five years, you will not leave this place. Those living here now must not interfere in the affairs of the Martial World."
Kekekekeke...!
Grandfather burst into hearty laughter.
To dare speak such words before him.
Such audacity was rare in the world.
"Perhaps I should sever your head and send it back to the Demonic Cult."
Hyuklyeon Gwang responded in a flat tone.
"Do so. But before the Martial World falls, this place will crumble first."
"Do you think I'll fear that?"
"You might survive to the end, but the others will all perish. Shouldn't you taste the same pain I did? I'll make it so, even if it costs everything."
Attacking this place might doom the Demonic Cult first.
But he would pour everything into it until the very end.
His words were a blatant threat.
And they rang true.
"Everything" included his own life.
Yet Grandfather's reply held no hesitation.
"Impossible."
Hyuklyeon Gwang nodded as if he'd expected as much.
His father's defeat came from a will harder than iron.
"Then how about this? If you and yours refrain from interfering in the Martial World, I'll return the dagger engraved with the secret manual."
Hmm...
Grandfather felt as if he'd been struck hard on the head with a hammer.
Grandmother and Father were equally stunned.
The long-sought Ilbo was in the Demonic Cult's hands.
The courtyard where they sat plunged into deep, heavy shock.
Finally emerging from it, Grandfather forced open his mouth.
"That... was in the Demonic Cult?"
"Father handed it to me before he passed. The one good deed he did in life."
Staring deeply at Hyuklyeon Gwang, Grandfather erupted into loud laughter.
Kekekekeke...!
"Your negotiation skills are impressive. Very well, let's do it that way. From today, those living here will not interfere in the Martial World's affairs, and you must keep your promise."
Grandfather accepted Hyuklyeon Gwang's proposal.
"I will undoubtedly honor it."
Then Father, who had been silently watching, objected.
"You can't, Father. How can you abandon righteousness?"
"Hold your tongue."
"Father, please..."
Father bowed his head only after meeting Grandfather's fierce glare.
"When do you plan to wage war on the Martial World?"
Hyuklyeon Gwang wore a faint smile.
"It began over a dozen years ago. The Martial World simply hasn't noticed."
Truly chilling words.
But Grandfather wasn't particularly surprised.
No one would launch a great war without preparations.
"The Five Absolutes of the Martial World won't be easy."
"The only ones worth my concern are Namgung Je and the White Master."
What supreme confidence.
He didn't even regard the world's Namgung Je and White Master as all that formidable.
'He's already surpassed Hyuklyeon Mu from long ago.'
It was the first time Grandfather had felt such admiration for someone outside the family.
In a heavy voice, he issued the order to see the guest out.
"Go carefully."
Hyuklyeon Gwang rose and bowed.
"Then, farewell."
After Hyuklyeon Gwang departed, Father was overcome with worry and concern.
"Why did you accept his proposal, Father?"
Grandfather met his son's fretting gaze calmly.
"Isn't Se Yeong already out in the Martial World? I specifically limited it to those living here now."
Father finally grasped Grandfather's hidden intent.
But his worries didn't fade.
If anything, they grew deeper.
"Can Se Yeong handle the Demonic Cult alone? Father, to fight them, we must uphold justice and chivalry, unite with the Martial World's experts. And we must return the Heavenly Demon Sword to prevent the great Demonic Cult war."
Kekeke...!
Grandfather laughed heartily, but inside, he felt no mirth.
His son, who exalted benevolence, righteousness, and chivalry, still believed they could stop the impending Demonic Cult war.
Clearly displeased with her son, Grandmother clicked her tongue this time.
Tsk tsk...
"All my sons are so unreliable. The only worthwhile thing you ever did was sire Se Yeong."
Despite the harsh insult, Father didn't flush.
"My apologies, Mother."
"You fool. Don't you know the Heavenly Demon Sword is merely a pretext for striking the Martial World?"
Grandmother, raising her voice sharply, worried about Se Yeong in the Martial World.
"I just hope the boy navigates this well."
Gazing toward the Murim Alliance, Grandfather spoke.
"Old lady, do you know my greatest wish? Finding the Three Treasures of the Martial World is one, but before I die, to witness a realm like the Heavenly Hand Sect's Grand Investigator or the Demonic Cult's Heavenly Demon."
The supreme realm where one could become an immortal.
Just one step forward, and it could be reached.
Yet that realm seemed so distant and lofty.
"Perhaps the grandson can achieve it."
The Eastern Blue Falcon soared high into the sky, crossing mountains and rivers.
After fording the river and traversing the plains, another tall mountain loomed.
Silently cresting the mountain and crossing the river, the Eastern Blue Falcon suddenly felt hungry.
Turning its head toward the distant ground below, it spotted a large rat scurrying about.
Whoosh...
Without hesitation, the Eastern Blue Falcon veered toward the ground.
But the moment it changed course, a pigeon flying far ahead caught its eye.
Whoosh...
The Eastern Blue Falcon banked again, shooting skyward.
Accelerating in a flash, it seized the pigeon in its talons.
Flutter... flap...
Impaled by the sharp talons, the pigeon thrashed wildly.
But the Eastern Blue Falcon held firm.
Flutter.
Perching on a thick pine branch, the Eastern Blue Falcon tore into the pigeon with relish.
Feathers scattered to the ground, and the message tube tied to its leg rolled off.
Finishing its meal with satisfaction, the Eastern Blue Falcon took to the skies once more.
After repeating the cycle of mountains, rivers, and plains dozens of times, vast rice paddies finally came into view.
In the midst of the expansive fields stood over a hundred grand halls of varying sizes.
The Eastern Blue Falcon circled the sky, searching for its young master.
As it wheeled overhead, the pigeons flocking toward the Murim Alliance scattered in fright.
There he is.
The young master sat in the shade of a tree, not immediately visible.
Whoosh...
As the Eastern Blue Falcon descended to the ground, Se Yeong, seated in the tree's shade, looked up at the sky.
And smiled brightly.
"What brings you here?"
The Eastern Blue Falcon was overjoyed at its young master's radiant smile.