Geom Mugeuk returned to the safehouse.
Bi Sa-in had been waiting the whole time for his return.
“How did it go?”
Bi Sa-in was extremely curious about the meeting between Geom Mugeuk and the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.
So much so that he wanted to grab him by the collar and shake him, demanding he speak quickly.
“Let me catch my breath. It wasn't just anyone; I've just come from meeting that fearsome Unorthodox Alliance Leader. Let me have some water.”
“As if you were scared. How did it go?”
Anxious, Bi Sa-in followed Geom Mugeuk with a limp.
“It looks like you'll be using lightness arts soon.”
“The pain is killing me. So stop teasing me and tell me what happened.”
Geom Mugeuk drank the water coolly and turned to Bi Sa-in.
“As you can see, I didn't come back beaten up.”
“So what did the Alliance Leader say when you told him? Did he believe us?”
“He was half-believing, half-doubting.”
He wished the man had trusted him completely, but the current situation was far more disadvantageous for them.
He thought it was a relief that the Alliance Leader had at least believed half of it.
Right, Geom Mugeuk went, so how could he not have done well? I trust him.
If I don't trust this man, who can I trust? He believed that Geom Mugeuk had explained things better than he could have.
“How was the Alliance Leader? Was he hurt anywhere?”
Bi Sa-in's voice trembled slightly.
Concern for his Master was palpable on his rugged face.
“The Alliance Leader is safe, so do not worry.”
Only then did Bi Sa-in feel relieved.
Now that Hyeok Sa-gun was confirmed as a clear enemy, he couldn't help but worry.
He wished he could run to the Alliance Leader's side and protect him right now, but the reality that he couldn't was just regrettable.
“You've worked hard. Please rest.”
He wanted to ask if the Alliance Leader had said anything about him, but he couldn't bring himself to open his mouth.
If he heard, 'He said nothing of the sort,' he would feel needlessly disappointed.
It would be natural, since his innocence had not yet been proven.
The human heart was a strange thing.
Just as Bi Sa-in was about to turn away, Geom Mugeuk spoke the words he had been waiting for.
“The Alliance Leader had a message for you.”
Startled, Bi Sa-in turned back.
Expectation and fear mingled in his heart.
“What did he say?”
Geom Mugeuk gazed at Bi Sa-in and relayed the Unorthodox Alliance Leader's words exactly.
“Do not get used to it.”
At first, Bi Sa-in didn't understand and tilted his head slightly.
“That's what the Alliance Leader told me to tell you. He said you would understand.”
“Do not get used to it? Do not get used to it.”
As he repeated the words, Bi Sa-in flinched.
The moment he remembered when he had heard those words, a wave of emotion washed over his face.
“The Alliance Leader was hoping you would recover quickly.”
He should have said, 'He was probably hoping,' but Baek Ja-gang was clearly worried about Bi Sa-in.
He could tell that just by instinct.
“Thank you.”
Bi Sa-in felt it.
Geom Mugeuk going alone had produced the best possible result.
His Master's words proved it.
If he had been displeased, he would never have passed on that message.
Bi Sa-in returned to his room.
Entering the room, he first drank the medicine that had been left to cool.
He remembered the day the Alliance Leader had said those words.
On that day, too, he had been in a room filled with the smell of medicine.
It was the day he had returned injured from an Alliance mission outside.
As a failure during a time when he was greatly trusted as the Alliance Leader's disciple, the shock to his spirit was greater than the injury to his body.
The Alliance Leader had come to the medical hall.
Standing beside him as he lay on the bed, the Alliance Leader had spoken.
—Do not get used to defeat.
The moment came back to him vividly.
The moment his Master looked at him and spoke.
—If you get used to defeat, your life becomes third-rate.
The moment he heard those words, tears burst from his eyes.
The shame of failing the mission swallowed his heart, more so than the gratitude that the Alliance Leader had come to see him.
He was at an age where embarrassment paralyzed reason.
—Are you vexed?
—Yes.
Wiping his tears, he tried to sit up.
—I will go again and succeed.
This time, I will definitely succeed.
At that, his Master had gently forced him to lie back down and said.
—Who isn't vexed when they lose? But, acting out in vexation also makes one third-rate.
—What must I do to become first-rate? How can I keep winning?
At the time, his Master, instead of answering, had given him the medicine lying beside him and changed his bandages.
He hadn't known then, but now he thought he understood.
You must not be swayed by emotion; you must first tend to your body.
You should not draw your sword, but change your bandages.
He had answered by changing the bandages, implying that one could become first-rate when they learned to calmly control their emotions and look after themselves.
“Ah! Master.”
Back then, he hadn't understood that deep meaning.
He was just vexed and ashamed, only wanting to succeed in the mission again somehow.
Just like now.
He felt the exact same way now.
Quickly, quickly, quickly.
I must go quickly and take care of those bastards.
I must go quickly and prove my innocence to the Alliance Leader.
The realization that the feelings he was experiencing now were no different from the impatient emotions of his youth sent shivers down his spine.
“Master!”
Tears welled up in Bi Sa-in's eyes.
That day, he had cried out of vexation, but now he cried because he missed the Alliance Leader.
He cried out of gratitude for the fact that his Master remembered that day, a day he himself had completely forgotten.
He cried because he felt so sorry.
Bi Sa-in slowly unwrapped his bandages and applied new medicine.
As he calmly looked at his wounds, he recalled the fight, and new thoughts on how he should have faced his opponent came to mind.
Even without charging in like a madman overcome by vexation, these wounds were telling him how he could become first-rate.
“…Master.”
Bi Sa-in slowly wrapped the bandages around his wounds.
Baek Ja-gang was sitting in the Grand Advisor's seat in the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
After meeting Geom Mugeuk and returning, one person kept coming to mind.
Geom Woojin.
The meeting with Geom Mugeuk had felt like this.
Honestly, it hadn't felt like meeting Geom Mugeuk, but like meeting Geom Woojin.
It was as if Geom Woojin wasn't presenting his sword and asking, 'What do you think of my swordsmanship?' but rather, 'What do you think of my son?'
Naturally, the image of Geom Mugeuk came to mind.
—Please buy me a meal.
He wondered if Bi Sa-in could truly overcome such an absurd fellow.
He needs to be taken down a peg.
Of course, that would only be if the mastermind of this incident was Hyeok Sa-gun, as Geom Mugeuk claimed.
Just then, the voice of In Gung, the guard commander, echoed from the air.
“Strategist Hyeok has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
A moment later, Hyeok Sa-gun entered.
With his small yet proud eyes, Baek Ja-gang silently watched him approach.
“How long has it been since you joined the Alliance?”
“This year marks the seventeenth year.”
“And how long have you been acting as Grand Strategist?”
“It is approaching two years.”
“Has it been that long already?”
Hyeok Sa-gun sensed that Baek Ja-gang was not his usual self.
But he didn't find it strange.
In the current situation, wouldn't it be stranger if he were acting as usual?
“Where have you been? When I came to see you earlier, I heard you had left the Alliance grounds.”
“I went out for a meal for the first time in a while.”
Hyeok Sa-gun was well aware that Baek Ja-gang frequented a certain restaurant.
“The situation is precarious, so please be careful for the time being.”
He had been keeping an eye on the Alliance Leader's movements.
But if he moved secretly with only the guard commander, like he did today, it was impossible to track his whereabouts.
Hyeok Sa-gun was displeased.
At a time when everything needed to proceed smoothly according to his plan, unexpected situations should not arise.
“I have found out who ordered the raid on the safehouse.”
This was the very matter he had ordered to be watched, to see who Geom Mugeuk would point to.
“Who was it?”
“It is Division Lord Beon of the Extreme Blade Corps.”
The moment he heard those words, an aura exploded from Baek Ja-gang's body.
He, who rarely showed emotion over trivial matters, was now openly enraged.
The Extreme Blade Corps.
The Alliance Leader's most elite unit.
After the original Division Lord, Yelü Han, stepped down, the new Division Lord, Beon Cheon, was a man of immense loyalty to Baek Ja-gang.
'He points to Beon Cheon?'
If Beon Cheon were the mastermind, it would be like having his own right arm cut off.
At least what Geom Mugeuk had said was true.
He had said they would use this as an opportunity to eliminate a political rival.
“The proof?”
“It is here. The Demon Sect was behind it.”
Hyeok Sa-gun walked up the steps and handed the documents he had brought to Baek Ja-gang.
He was too calm to be a traitor.
No shivers ran down his spine.
It meant he was either not lying, or he was someone this sense didn't work on.
After handing over the proof, Hyeok Sa-gun returned to his original spot and bowed his head with a shameful expression.
“It seems the Young Alliance Leader has fallen for the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect.”
If he hadn't met with Geom Mugeuk beforehand, he would have listened to this report with a different mindset.
With such clear evidence, would he truly not have suspected Bi Sa-in?
He thought not.
He would have likely believed that Bi Sa-in had gone over to the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect.
The thought was chilling.
It was chilling whether he thought Hyeok Sa-gun had betrayed him, or whether he thought Geom Mugeuk had framed Hyeok Sa-gun as a traitor.
Of course, Baek Ja-gang still stood in the middle.
This all could still be a grand scheme by the Demon Sect.
“How should we handle this?”
“We must relieve Division Lord Beon of his position and have him step down from the Extreme Blade Corps.”
“We shall do so. However, let us handle it after meeting the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect.”
“As you wish. Then I shall take my leave.”
As he bowed respectfully and turned to leave, Baek Ja-gang spoke.
“It's unbelievable. The fact that Sa-in joined hands with the Demon Sect.”
“I feel the same.”
“Organize your opinion on who to choose as the next successor and report to me.”
“Understood.”
A faint smile appeared on Hyeok Sa-gun's face as he turned and walked out.
Of course, he did not know.
That the gaze watching his back was not that of an Alliance Leader, but of King Yama, holding scales and watching to see which way they would tip.
Geom Mugeuk stood on the Celestial Cliff.
Looking down into the bottomless abyss, he fearlessly threw himself off the cliff.
Shwiiiiik.
Geom Mugeuk fell rapidly.
He fell defenselessly, as if he had lost consciousness.
Even for him, falling defenselessly from this height would surely mean death.
The reason he was doing something so perilous was to test how the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art would react in such a situation.
'Hey, Body-Protecting Art, I'll die if I fall like this.
Are you just going to watch?'
Geom Mugeuk trusted the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art.
But the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art did not activate.
Does it trust me? Could it be that it recognizes this isn't a real crisis? Or does it only step in to save my life after I've hit the ground and am half-dead?
It was time to muster his inner energy and use his lightness arts.
Geom Mugeuk held out until the very end.
'I'm really going to die at this rate!'
And at the very last moment.
The inner energy within Geom Mugeuk's body moved on its own.
Fwiriririk.
His body twisted and righted itself in mid-air, his limbs moving automatically.
Using the Heavenly Demon Flying Technique he had already mastered, it instantly reduced his falling speed, and soon he landed lightly.
It was a movement performed on its own by the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art that had reached Great Mastery.
“Hoooo.”
Geom Mugeuk let out a sigh of relief.
“You rascal, you scared me to death.”
But soon, Geom Mugeuk cheered.
He had been happy in front of Baek Ja-gang, but that joy was less than one-tenth of his true happiness.
At the bottom of the cliff, Geom Mugeuk jumped up and down with joy.
“This is the martial art of the Heavenly Demon!”
His voice echoed resoundingly.
Whatever life he lived before his regression, Geom Mugeuk was also a martial artist.
What made him happiest was, after all, the achievement in martial arts.
Moreover, since it wasn't just any martial art but the signature martial art of the Heavenly Demon, his joy was beyond words.
Now that he had achieved Great Mastery, it would automatically wake him if it sensed killing intent even in the deepest sleep, and it would react more certainly in moments of danger to protect him.
Not only that, but there would surely be other benefits of Great Mastery that he had not yet experienced.
“I'm counting on you from now on, my Body-Protecting Art.”
His father had said.
That if one achieved Great Mastery of the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art, one would never die.
It was as if I had gained another life.
He also believed that Great Mastery of the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art would have a positive influence on his Nine Calamities Demon Art.
The two martial arts were fundamentally very similar.
Now, all that remained was achieving Twelve-Star Great Mastery of the Nine Calamities Demon Art.
If only I can manifest the Heavenly Demon Soul before my eyes.
Not a Ten-Star Great Mastery Heavenly Demon Soul, but one that has reached Twelve-Star Great Mastery.
For that moment, I must elevate the level of my Heavenly Time Secret Art even further.
At this rate, there wasn't enough time.
I am moving forward like this, one step at a time.
Was it because I achieved Great Mastery of the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art?
I missed my father even more today.
If I told him I achieved Great Mastery, he would say, 'Shall we test it out?' and immediately clench his fists.
I wouldn't even mind being hit by those incredible fists.
Father, I miss you!
The next day, Geom Mugeuk left the safehouse to meet the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.
“Be careful.”
“Your eyes are very swollen.”
“Nonsense again! We don't know what Hyeok Sa-gun might be plotting!”
“It's not that he might be plotting, he has already plotted. He would have given the Unorthodox Alliance Leader proof that you and I conspired in this plot together. That's the only way he can drive me away from you.”
Bi Sa-in sighed lightly.
“If only I could, I would go with you.”
He missed the Unorthodox Alliance Leader.
This was the first time since meeting Baek Ja-gang that he had missed him so much.
“Don't be hasty. The opponent has spent many years crafting this plot. Don't try to unravel it all at once.”
Bi Sa-in could see that Geom Mugeuk and Baek Ja-gang had something in common.
They both tried to be calm in crucial moments.
They don't look for answers outside.
They trust themselves and find the answers within.
“If you get a chance, please tell the Alliance Leader. That I will live according to his words.”
“I will.”
With that, Geom Mugeuk left the safehouse.
Bi Sa-in did not return to his room, but watched him leave.
Just then, Gwae-ak came and stood beside Bi Sa-in.
“Don't be so anxious. An opportunity will soon come for the Young Alliance Leader.”
“It's alright even if an opportunity doesn't come. Until two days ago, I had the most impatient heart in the Martial World, but not anymore.”
To a puzzled Gwae-ak who didn't understand his meaning, Bi Sa-in gave a comfortable smile.
“Because now is not the time to draw my sword, but to wrap my bandages. And the sword drawn by a man who has wrapped his own bandages will be far more fearsome.”