The Hegemon Points the Way (3)
This system — known in other words as External Ether Circulation Operation — was an achievement that belonged to her and her alone. It went far beyond simply cycling power within a reinforced suit: it established a circulating circuit throughout the body itself, operating like a second organ. It was the fruit of her talent — the very talent the Administrator had once praised, telling her she'd done well.
Vwoooom—
The remaining three percent of her power began to cycle through her body and her suit, surging with strength.
Three percent.
Compared to the past, when a single Vacuum Slash had devoured a full ten percent, it was a pitifully small amount — barely enough to last a few exchanges before running dry. But she hadn't been sitting idle, either.
This power source was an unknown energy that produced ten thousand different results depending on how it was wielded.
She was confident she could match her previous performance using only the tiniest fraction of it.
She clenched the suit's gauntlet.
Crrreeeak—
Metal screamed in her fist.
Sensing her killing intent, her attackers came rushing in from every direction. Some had been lurking in the ceiling and the shadows, and they burst out without warning, blades thrust forward.
She took in her surroundings slowly, and nodded to herself.
Her instincts hadn't been wrong. People who carried weapons everywhere and reached for their swords at the first sign of trouble were never going to be normal.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
It seemed she wouldn't even need to bother manufacturing a pretext.
Let's see.
She had fought one-against-many battles until she was sick of them — which meant she knew exactly how to steer a fight to a swift and efficient conclusion.
As her gaze swept the room, it settled on one man of middle years.
The highest-ranked one here.
Calling him the strongest was a stretch, but there was no mistaking that he held the highest status present.
Fast and efficient.
She wanted to wrap things up here quickly and then take a look at that thing called the sacred flame.
For some reason, that fire bothered her.
And while she was at it, she'd see what kind of world this was.
"Hoo."
Chants kept reaching her ears — The Heavenly Demon descends! Ten thousand demons prostrate!
...A religion?
Her brow narrowed.
Did gods actually exist?
Impossible. And even if something did exist, it would never be the kind of being these people imagined. She remembered the past — weeping and screaming as she searched for any god who would answer.
Then she hesitated.
No. That wasn't quite true, either.
Someone came to mind unbidden — the one who had saved her and now toyed with every dimension of the Community in the palm of his hand.
The being who, in her judgment, deserved the name of god more than anyone.
She recalled the true name he had once told her.
Calstein Babylon.
Yes. If a god truly existed, she would choose him without a moment's hesitation.
The Heavenly Demon?
To her, it sounded like small change.
Come to think of it, guiding this world's religion in the proper direction might not be a bad way to pass the time.
A cynical smile curved her lips.
This time, instead of annihilating a whole clan...
Her eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
Moments later, her new-model frame began to move like a streak of light, and crimson blood splashed wildly through the air.
"Gyaaaagh!!"
"Patriarch!"
"How dare you—!"
Srrrk—
BANG!
"How can this be? A withdrawal — of all things!"
"How would I know what those demon cult lunatics are thinking?"
The Vice Sect Leader of the Beggars' Sect tipped back his gourd and took a long swig, heaving a sigh, while an elder of the Jeomchang Sect fumed beside him, unable to contain his indignation.
"Are we simply going to stand here and watch them walk away?!"
"Heh. And what, exactly — shall we grab the departing devils by the collar and start a war over it?"
"Of course we must, if it's necessary! They were the ones who started this. How can we accept that they also get to decide when it ends, on their own whim!"
"And what of the common folk and the small and mid-sized sects? All they want is for this not to balloon into another Orthodox-Demonic Great War like the last one."
"That is..."
"Think of the Sadoyeon watching from behind the scenes, too. They'll be popping corks right about now."
The murim was split three ways — the orthodox sects, the unorthodox sects, and the demon cult. The Sadoyeon was the alliance of unorthodox sects, and naturally they would be clapping their hands in delight over a war between orthodox and demonic forces.
"Nngh... Fine, then. And what's this about the demon cult proposing a peace agreement?"
"Well, about that..."
The Vice Sect Leader wore a peculiar expression, as if weighing something in his mind. The reddened tip of his nose twitched.
"They say they'll come alone."
"Who? The Vice Patriarch? Or could one of the Six Masters of the Demon Blades be coming in person?"
The elders of the Murim Alliance gathered here all turned their eyes to the Vice Sect Leader's mouth. The contents of the demon cult's letter to the Alliance Leader had not yet been made public, and curiosity was gnawing at them.
"The new... Patriarch. It seems the new Patriarch will be paying us a personal visit."
"The new Patriarch, you say?"
"Was their leadership replaced in the middle of a war?"
"The new Patriarch is coming himself?"
"Amitabha..."
"They must have their own complications over there."
"Still, what nerve. To think of walking into the heart of enemy territory alone."
"Perhaps this is a good chance to teach them, once and for all, who stands above and who stands below."
The reactions around the room suggested they were all imagining a peace agreement — or at worst, a surrender.
At that, the Vice Sect Leader, Geol Un-gae, smacked his lips.
Somehow I don't think it's quite that simple...
It felt strangely ominous. According to the informants he had planted in the cult, this was someone who had turned the entire leadership upside down in the blink of an eye and seized the Patriarch's seat.
Moreover, this letter felt different in tone from all the cult's previous dispatches. Both were notifications rather than conversation, true, but still...
To summarize: we will withdraw and pay you a visit within the near future.The Heavenly Demon Cult shall be reborn as the Galaxy Divine Cult, which serves a great ruler.All who commit sins, all who bring harm to others, shall be regarded as enemies of our cult.
None of it made sense.
If anything, it was closer to a declaration of war. High-handed, too.
And what was this about a great ruler...?
Did they mean the Emperor — the Son of Heaven himself?
Even for a demonic cult, their gall would have to swell past all reason before they had grounds to lay a hand on the imperial house. No, wait. They said they would serve a great ruler — so were they saying they'd kneel before the throne? But the tone of the letter didn't sound like that, either...
What was this? A figure of speech? Political rhetoric?
The rumors about this new Patriarch were deeply unsettling in their own right.
Geol Un-gae's head throbbed.
The return of the Heavenly Demon...
Oblivious to the Vice Sect Leader's unease, the elders of the Murim Alliance were already raising their voices over spoils of war and reparations.
"Alliance Leader! Is it truly proper that you must personally seek out a junior so far below our station, green as spring grass?"
The elder of the Wudang Sect — a sect now erased from the world, leaving nothing behind but venom — rasped at the Murim Alliance Leader with a voice like grinding stone.
The Alliance Leader narrowed his eyes at the man, who brandished the young swordsman's low standing as if it were an argument in itself.
Is this the talk of a sane man? He witnessed the majesty of the Invisible Divine Sword with his own eyes, and still he says such things?
If the man hadn't been the last survivor of the Wudang Sect — a useful political symbol — no, if he hadn't at least shared a long personal acquaintance with him, the Alliance Leader would have clapped a hand over that mouth on the spot.
"This time, it is we who need the Invisible Divine Sword's help. Seeking him out ourselves is simply what propriety demands."
"It does not sit well with this one, either."
The Alliance Leader wanted to snap back — so what exactly do you propose we do about it? — but he held his tongue. He had no spare attention for one crochety old Taoist right now.
The new Patriarch of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Dealing with that was the urgent matter.
The Beggars' Sect, hamstrung by its nature as the orthodox sects' information network, seemed to lack the details.
But the Alliance Leader belonged to the select few who knew the full picture, thanks to informants he had cultivated personally.
A woman who had appeared proclaiming herself the emissary of a god that served a great ruler, swept away the demon cult's entire leadership, and seized the Heavenly Demon Cult in a single stroke.
Her letter stated that she would come in person to negotiate.
Considering that the upper echelons of the Heavenly Demon Cult stood in the realm of the strong — the transcendent tier — her own realm was estimated to be that of a martial artist at minimum in the Manifest realm, and at most the Life-and-Death realm.
Would she really negotiate quietly and simply leave? There was no telling.
And even if she did, they could hardly just wave a Manifest-realm martial artist on her way. Considering what a far greater calamity she might become someday, it was only right to dispose of her at an opportune moment, before things came to that.
And for that purpose...
"Invisible Divine Sword. There is a matter I must discuss with you — urgently."
He arrived at the dwelling prepared for the Invisible Divine Sword in a secluded corner of the Murim Alliance compound. No answer came, whatever the young man might be doing inside.
The Alliance Leader thought of Namgung Jin, and a knowing smile crossed his face.
Yes. We have the Invisible Divine Sword, don't we?
He had witnessed the young man's majesty firsthand, once before.
So this is what the pinnacle of the heart looks like? So this is what the absolute realm looks like?
A presence worthy to stand beside the Martial God himself — the Invisible Divine Sword, who hurled heart-swords that no one could block and no one could evade as casually as breathing.
It was fortunate, too, that he was so easily controlled.
There had been a time when the Alliance Leader kept a wary eye on the boy, but those days were long gone. Perhaps because of his youth, the boy showed himself to be politically naive. How a child had come into such power was a secondary question.
From the moment the Invisible Divine Sword agreed to the Murim Alliance's bargain, he was, for all practical purposes, no longer free to draw his blade at will.
By making veiled threats — we intend to draw and wield you, our sword, as we see fit — they had startled him into retreating into seclusion on his own, which suited their purposes perfectly.
The terms of the deal were simple: he would lend his strength to the Murim Alliance on one occasion, and apart from that, he would not lightly unsheathe his sword. But either way, so long as the agreement held, it was a transaction that cost the Murim Alliance nothing.
Even if the boy tried to swing his power about freely, they need only invoke the terms above and he would find his hands and feet weighed down — and that alone was a win. As long as he didn't refuse to talk or adopt the high-handed, might-makes-right attitude so typical of the strong, it would be enough.
And as it happened, the new Patriarch was even coming in person.
If they commissioned the Invisible Divine Sword to strike down the Demon Patriarch, the picture would be complete.
Granted, killing an emissary who had walked alone into the heart of their territory would leave the orthodox sects unable to shirk responsibility.
But if the Invisible Divine Sword took the infamy and the Murim Alliance took the profit, it was a kill that fed two birds with one stone.
Ah — of course, a lose-lose outcome for the demon cult would be the ideal result.
Well... and if it turned out the Invisible Divine Sword's strength was truly beyond anyone's control, they could always discuss countermeasures then.
"Invisible Divine Sword? Are you within?"
Around the time the Murim Alliance Leader came calling —
Namgung Jin was utterly absorbed in a conversation with someone else entirely.
He was gleefully firing off replies to the messages of his mental master — the swordsman unofficially ranked third in all the Community's blade debates.