Yearning Devotion
I had fallen completely for my subordinate.
At first, I simply thought of her as an amusing girl.
A woman who didn’t act like one of the Demonic Cult.
Even during the ritual where one casts away everything to be reborn, her gaze remained fixed solely on me.
When everyone else turned their backs on me, only she continued to look at me.
‘I wish to serve you as my lord.’
I never asked for her reasons.
I was afraid I might hear the pitiful answer that it was simply because I seemed so pathetic.
Everyone laughed at us.
They sneered that two weaklings from the Demonic Cult could never accomplish anything together.
I ground my teeth and trained until my bones felt like they would shatter.
Only when I finally drove my sword into the necks of those who had mocked me and her did I allow myself to smile.
I am strong.
Yes. I am strong.
Cheonsu-maje, Wiji So-ryeong.
I was once born into the prestigious Wiji family—one of the pillars of the orthodox path, a renowned clan known throughout the world.
Yet that illustrious family had long since vanished, replaced by a tyrannical house that worshipped the Demonic Path.
Born as the successor to such a family, I trained relentlessly to rightfully claim a seat among the Twelve Demonic Emperors.
I killed my brothers. I killed my comrades. I even killed my superiors. Only then could I proudly ascend to become one of the Twelve.
Yet even so, her expression never changed.
No matter what I did.
She would smile at me. She would cry for me.
Why?
Why?
I was unbearably curious. It drove me mad with curiosity.
At some point, my eyes could see nothing but her.
She never once complained. She carried out every single order I gave without fail.
Just as I had done, she had poured tremendous effort into standing tall by my side.
In the Demonic Martial World, where only absolute power could seize everything.
Eventually, I must have grown tired.
So one day, I suddenly asked her.
“What if we had been born into an ordinary, insignificant family of the orthodox martial world?”
No answer came.
Not for a long time.
Then, three days later.
She finally gave me her reply.
“If that is what you wish, I will follow you anytime.”
Only after hearing that answer did I realize the truth.
No matter what atrocities I committed, she was the only person who would stand behind me and protect me.
I wanted to live comfortably.
I simply wanted to live in peace.
I believed that gaining overwhelming power would allow me to do so.
But it was impossible.
The position of one of the Twelve Demonic Emperors carried responsibilities as heavy as the power it granted.
I stained my hands with countless lives. Again and again.
Every time, she wept.
Though she smiled on the surface, inside she must have been crying in pain.
I grew tired of seeing her cry. For the first time, I began to seriously contemplate the meaning of my title as one of the Twelve Demonic Emperors.
Yes. Let’s cast it aside.
This empty, hollow title—let’s just throw it away.
I moved desperately to escape the Demonic Cult.
That was how I formed a connection with one of the Four Fiends. I begged him to help me break free from the Cult.
I handed over my family. I gave him everything I possessed.
Yet each time, he bound me with the word “last.” One last thing. Always one last thing.
I couldn’t tell her.
I could only continue killing and killing to carry out my orders.
I knew all too well that this path would lead me to death.
The Ju Family of Gangseo.
In the end, it seems my grave will be decided there.
Just once more. I want to see her.
I want to keep her in my eyes forever.
Lee Eul.
My woman.
Yet I must leave first without even being able to hold her in my arms.
‘Let’s go together, my lord.’
I heard her voice.
As cold as my fading body temperature, there was no warmth left in her voice either.
‘In the next life, please be born as my lord once again.’
Ah. It grew warm.
Something covered me.
What a foolish woman.
Even in her final moment, she was smiling at me.
The fearsome reputation of the Twelve Demonic Emperors, the overwhelming power—none of it mattered.
What I had truly wanted was simply…
She looked at me with that same bright smile and took hold of my arm, pulling me along.
Yes. That was enough.
Even if it was the inferno of hell, as long as I was with you, I wouldn’t feel the cold.
Ju Family Residence.
“Ugh…”
Mong Yeo-rin only managed to open her eyes the following day.
I wondered what kind of trick he had pulled. It was so deep a sleep that I suspected he hadn’t simply sealed her pressure points but had outright anesthetized her.
“You look fine now.”
I spoke while shoving food into my mouth.
I had been starving and ordered a meal, and it just so happened that Mong Yeo-rin woke up at that moment.
“Why am I… Wait, what are you doing right now, Young Master?”
It seemed she had no memory of what happened.
“I’m… eating.”
“Then why are you eating in my room?”
“Haha, it looks like you really don’t remember.”
I nodded as if that was perfectly understandable.
It might actually be better for her to never know until the end.
At first, I had been puzzled.
Why had Cheonsu-maje targeted Mong Yeo-rin?
But the answer didn’t come easily.
In truth, the ones who should have been after her were the Blood Cult.
The Demonic Cult only killed her after they had destroyed the Ju Family and officially launched their full-scale invasion.
Mong Yeo-rin, who had been called the greatest beauty of all time.
Yet that future had already been twisted.
Cheonsu-maje had targeted her, and I had saved her.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out the reason. There was only one conclusion I could reach.
‘Did he see her as my lover?’
Cheonsu-maje had staked everything on killing me.
In other words, he must have judged that Mong Yeo-rin’s existence would be the most fatal bait to lure me out.
‘He guessed completely wrong. Tsk.’
I’m sorry, but whether she lived or died made no difference to me.
Of course, I would feel a little sad, but the weight of the burdens I carried was far too heavy for me to collapse over something like that.
In short, his guess had been entirely off the mark.
“Whew, that was good.”
I patted my swollen belly and stood up from my seat.
Since I had confirmed that Mong Yeo-rin was properly awake, it was time to return to my own room.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
I gave a casual farewell and quickly left the room.
Of course, the bewildered Mong Yeo-rin would probably spend a long time wondering why I had been eating in her room, but that was none of my concern.
The next day.
Baekryongdae Vice-Captain, Yang Gon, came looking for me.
As usual, he handed me a report.
While scanning through it absentmindedly, I discovered something that made me freeze in place.
“Are you certain?”
At my question, Yang Gon nodded with a heavy expression.
In truth, I had given Yang Gon another order.
It was on the day Ju Sang-ah had been kidnapped.
Because she had given a crucial testimony.
‘After leaving the Sword Soul Hall… I saw someone familiar… but I can’t remember who.’
The key point here was “someone familiar.”
People might ask how one could find anything with such vague information, but if the person in question was Ju Sang-ah, the range of possibilities narrowed considerably.
First of all, Ju Sang-ah didn’t have many close relationships within the family.
She didn’t mingle with the warriors, and she was usually cold toward the elders as well.
She even lived in a state of misunderstanding with our father, so it was only natural that she would be the same with others.
In that case, there was a crucial clue that would help identify the traitor who had participated in her kidnapping.
The location of the Sword Soul Hall.
Someone who could freely enter and exit the Inner Court where it was located, and who also had unrestricted access to the Sword Soul Hall itself.
Moreover, someone familiar enough that Ju Sang-ah would describe them as “familiar.”
“An elder.”
Yes. There was a traitor among the elders.
And not just any traitor—one who was rotten to the core, colluding with one of the Twelve Demonic Emperors.
Of course, there was a problem here as well.
Most of the elders had been inside the family grounds that day.
Excluding the Fifth Elder—my youngest uncle, who had been away on an external mission—the suspects ranged from the Great Elder Ju Sang-geon to the Fourth Elder Ju Tae-hwon.
In total, five elders were on the list of potential traitors.
However, Yang Gon’s report only contained two names.
“First Elder Ju Tae-ak and Third Elder Ju Tae-cheon.”
It had been revealed that the Great Elder had been taking a nap in his own quarters that day, and the Second Elder had been playing baduk with the Black Dragon Unit Captain at the time.
“The movements of these two individuals could not be confirmed.”
“Yes. It seems none of the warriors knew where they had been.”
Was that even possible?
Although the family residence was vast, there were still escort warriors and those guarding the quarters.
“Moreover, you already know their personalities…”
That’s right.
The reason Yang Gon had struggled with the investigation was because these two elders had extremely fiery tempers.
First Elder Ju Tae-ak supported the First Young Master and was, in fact, the most suspicious person.
From his perspective, eliminating Ju Sang-ah would be an incredible achievement.
On the other hand, Third Elder Ju Tae-cheon supported the Second Young Master, Ju Sang-jin.
Looking only at motive, anyone would suspect the First Elder.
“Sigh, this is difficult.”
I desperately wanted to give up, but since we had finally caught a tail, we had to see it through.
The betrayal of an elder was far too fatal.
These were people who held the highest authority, involved in the family’s administration, operations, laws, and control.
At the same time, we had to be extremely cautious.
“What should we do? Should we push forward with the investigation?”
“No. That would cause an internal conflict.”
Given the personalities of those two elders, forcing the matter could spark a war within the family.
Two prideful elders would never sit idly by.
“Put it on hold for now. For the time being, let’s be satisfied with simply observing those two.”
“Understood, Young Master. I will do as you command.”
“And of course, do not submit any official reports about this.”
“I will follow your orders.”
Yang Gon was more diligent in carrying out his duties than I had expected.
His work was clean, and he produced no unnecessary noise.
‘It’s about time I started reviving the Baekryongdae properly.’
Some might ask what I had to be dissatisfied about when I already held the back alleys of Gangseo and various parts of the Central Plains in my grasp.
But I was dissatisfied.
From the beginning, the quality of information that the Baekryongdae and the Black King Faction could handle was fundamentally different.
The Black King Faction had to process, analyze, and judge the overwhelming flood of information that poured in. Meanwhile, the Baekryongdae had the authority to easily access higher-grade information.
That was why the Baekryongdae was an absolutely necessary asset to me.
Moreover, thanks to the Black King Faction this time, I had gained a very advantageous position in the fight against Cheonsu-maje.
Just as I thought—information was an immense power, and ultimately, power itself.
I rose from my seat.
Since I had successfully captured Cheonsu-maje, it was now time to go after the next one of the Twelve Demonic Emperors.
“Let’s see.”
I entered my quarters and pulled out several books from a corner.
These were records I had written after regaining my life, squeezing out memories from my previous existence and documenting all the major events.
Because I feared I might forget, I had written down everything that came to mind at the time.
I still added to them whenever something occurred to me.
I opened one of the books and slowly traced through my memories, searching for the relevant record.
“Hm?”
My eyes stopped at one particular passage.
What had happened in the martial world around this time?
“Mount Hua.”
It was the Mount Hua Sect.
Around this period, the Mount Hua Sect suddenly declared a complete closure of its gates.
It was extremely rare for one of the Nine Great Sects to seal its gates.
Even if they did so during an emergency, it was customary for the gates to reopen once the situation was resolved. At most, such closures lasted no more than a year.
But Mount Hua’s situation was slightly different.
“A plague.”
A plague had begun spreading through Mount Hua.
Therefore, they refused to accept guests or visitors and sealed their gates. And in that state… they never reopened their gates until the Demonic Cult launched their invasion.
And in the end, Mount Hua was swallowed whole by the Demonic Cult and vanished from history.
“Hmm.”
When I thought of Mount Hua, the first person who came to mind was Byeok Gong.
He was someone I had formed a connection with during the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, yet we had parted at Mong Family Villa without even properly saying goodbye.
I had been heavily injured at the time and wasn’t in my right mind, and because of my father, Byeok Gong hadn’t dared to approach me carelessly either.
“Shall I go pay him a visit while I’m at it?”
My next destination had been decided.
The plague blowing in from Mount Hua.
The world-renowned Mount Hua Sect sealing its gates because of a mere plague?
‘No. That is no ordinary plague.’
A smile spread across my lips.
‘It’s a gu poison.’
The bastards from the Demonic Cult were swallowing the entire Mount Hua Sect in one gulp.
The closure of Mount Hua’s gates.
Behind it, there was undoubtedly a scheme devised by the Demonic Cult.
My next destination was set.