Upon my return to the Sect, I headed to the Cult Master’s Hall with the Drunken Demon.
The thought of meeting my father had made the Drunken Demon slightly tense.
In the past, the Drunken Demon had made a drunken scene in front of my father, pleading with him not to hate him so much.
Although the misunderstanding was cleared up then, it seemed he still wasn’t comfortable around my father.
“Don’t you dare leave before me! I’m going to greet him and leave right after.”
He wanted to avoid a situation where he was left alone with my father at all costs.
“Where has that mysterious and fearsome Drunken Demon from the mist gone?”
“He’s probably drunk and crawled under a carriage somewhere to sleep.”
Still, he had even brought a gift for my father.
Before leaving the Northern Sea, he had stopped by a famous brewery to buy wine for him.
When I thought about it, the Drunken Demon was someone who deeply wanted to be on my father’s good side.
Together, we entered the Cult Master’s Hall.
My father was sitting in the Grand Advisor's seat, as always.
Whenever I entered this place, I was moved by the sight of my father, unchangingly keeping his seat.
“Father! Your son has returned!”
At the same time, I also felt a sense of dread.
What if that Grand Advisor's seat were empty?
What if I had to be the one to protect that seat?
Could I truly inspire the same unwavering faith as my father?
It wasn’t that I was afraid because I lacked the confidence to inspire faith.
I was afraid because I knew I could.
My past life had confirmed that I, too, was a person who could silently protect that seat, just like my father.
But in this life, I wanted to live a bright and free life.
“I have returned after finishing my work in the Northern Sea!” I announced loudly to my father.
Beside me, the Drunken Demon bowed respectfully.
“I have returned, Cult Master.”
My father, looking down at the Drunken Demon, immediately assessed his condition.
“Are you injured?”
“I was a little, but I’m fine now.”
The Drunken Demon was already growing excited that my father had asked about his condition.
I could feel the heat radiating from his face, even though he hadn’t had a drop of wine.
“I heard about the situation in the Northern Sea from the Grand Strategist.”
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I stepped forward.
“The Drunken Demon single-handedly disposed of the leader of the dark forces that were trying to swallow the Ice Palace.”
I had made up my mind to properly boast about the Drunken Demon in front of my father today.
“Of course.”
At his matter-of-fact words, the Drunken Demon looked up at my father with a surprised expression.
My father looked at me, not the Drunken Demon, and said,
“He’s not someone who would return defeated, is he?”
I could tell.
My father had already known of the Drunken Demon’s strength.
Even without looking, I could feel the Drunken Demon’s elation.
This was probably the first time he had been acknowledged like this by my father, especially in front of someone else.
“Thanks to him, I was safe. It was the first time I saw the Drunken Demon fight, and it was truly amazing. And more than anything…”
My gaze, which had been on my father, shifted to the Drunken Demon.
The Drunken Demon also looked at me with tense eyes, wondering what I was about to say.
“He was magnificent. The Drunken Demon, avenging his friend.”
Though I was saying it to praise him in front of my father, it was also my sincere feeling.
I recounted in detail what had happened in the Northern Sea.
Of course, my father would have already received a report on the process and outcome through the Heaven-Reaching Pavilion, but he would not have known about the minor incidents that occurred in between.
It was something I always did when I returned from a trip outside the Sect.
I felt that my bond with my father grew stronger when I shared what had happened, as if chatting away.
Today, I mainly focused my story on the Drunken Demon’s deeds.
I was sure he wasn’t bored, as I told the story so entertainingly.
I made it sound even more vivid than it was in reality.
“And so, as a token of gratitude, the Ice Palace Master bestowed upon the Drunken Demon the Ice Palace Sacred Cup.”
Even if I hadn’t explicitly mentioned it, my father would have already recognized the Ice Palace Sacred Cup.
A white energy shimmered around the cup like a halo, making it impossible to miss.
I could have just let it pass that he had received it as a token of gratitude, as I said, but the Drunken Demon didn’t let it go.
“The Young Cult Master gave up his own gift to receive the Ice Palace Sacred Cup for me.”
I expected my father to look at me with eyes that said, ‘He’s not the type to give up his own things for someone else,’ but instead, my father said something unexpected.
“May I also have a glass from that cup?”
“Of course. As it happens, I brought some famous wine from the Northern Sea to give to you, Cult Master.”
The Drunken Demon calmly walked up to where the Grand Advisor's seat was.
Then, he poured the wine he had bought into the Ice Palace Sacred Cup and gave it to my father.
His every action was cautious and calm.
Until he entered the Cult Master’s Hall, he had trembled at the mere mention of my father, but at times like this, a Demon Sovereign was a Demon Sovereign.
My father drained the cup in one gulp.
“The wine is good, and the cup is good, so the wine tastes excellent.”
The Drunken Demon was delighted that my father liked it.
“Would you like another glass?”
“Instead of that, why don’t you have a drink with me? It’s been a while.”
For a moment, the Drunken Demon’s startled eyes trembled.
This, too, seemed to be a first.
His father asking him to drink together.
“I would be honored.”
The Drunken Demon replied with a happy face, then looked at me and gestured with his eyes for me to leave quickly.
Of course, I was not one to miss such a good opportunity to tease him.
—You said I couldn’t leave first, didn’t you?
—Go! Just go!
—Let’s have the three of us drink.
No, I’ll bring all the other Demon Sovereigns too!
—No! Do you know how long I’ve waited for this chance!
Only after teasing the Drunken Demon did I respectfully bow to my father.
“Then I will take my leave. I may have spoken ill of my brother when he wasn’t around, but you two can’t speak ill of me just because I’m not here!”
As I turned to leave, my father said abruptly,
“Are you okay?”
I flinched for a moment and turned back toward my father.
What did he mean by that?
My eyes met my father’s.
As I looked into his eyes, which silently gazed down at me, I understood why he had asked.
If he had spoken the unspoken words, it would have been something like this:
You’ve stained your hands with too much blood lately.
Are you okay?
I could feel my father’s concern.
No matter how much they were villains who deserved to die, continuously staining one’s hands with blood was an act that wounded a person’s heart and soul.
No matter how capable I appeared, to my father, I was still his reckless youngest son in his twenties.
“That’s why I don’t try to do everything by myself and ask for the Demon Sovereigns’ help. To protect myself.”
The Drunken Demon listened to my words with eyes that had grown as deep as my father’s.
“I’m still okay for now. If I feel like it’s becoming too much, I will come and see you.”
My father nodded silently.
“Then I will take my leave.”
I slowly turned and walked out of the Cult Master’s Hall.
Father, do not worry.
I have come this far, steadfast, even after staining my hands with dozens of times more blood than this.
And above all else.
“Young Cult Master!”
From the distance, Seo Daeryong was running this way with a bright smile.
He was so happy to see me that I could feel his heart even from this distance.
With people like this by my side, if I weren’t okay, wouldn’t that be too unfair to my own life?
Seo Daeryong was as happy as if he were seeing someone who had returned from the dead.
“I really wanted to see you.”
He had been worried and had missed him.
Becoming the Underworld Pavilion Lord, becoming the disciple of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Even though he was in a situation where he had to live his own life, without Geom Mugeuk, it felt like the joy had gone out of his life.
So how happy must he have been when he received the report a moment ago that Geom Mugeuk had returned? He had simply run straight to the Cult Master’s Hall.
“How have you been?”
At Geom Mugeuk’s question, Seo Daeryong replied.
“I’ve been the same. Dawn training, eating, handling Underworld Pavilion work, going to my Master for training, eating, and sleeping. Really, every day is so much the same that it wouldn’t matter if they were all mixed up. Is a person’s life allowed to be this monotonous? And let me say this in advance, I refuse to hear any talk about how being ordinary is happiness.”
He was such a talkative fellow.
How hard must it have been for him to act as the dignified Underworld Pavilion Lord?
“Aren’t you the only one who doesn’t know?”
“What?”
“That every day is a different day. Aren’t you the only one who thinks it’s the same?”
For a moment, Seo Daeryong couldn’t say anything.
Strictly speaking, the days were the same, yet not exactly the same.
Of course, he didn’t readily admit it.
“The cases I handle are the same every day.”
“But the prisoners are all different, aren’t they? Their personalities are different, and the reasons they committed their crimes are different.”
“And it’s the same underlings all the time.”
“Those people’s moods are different each day, their thoughts are different, the dreams they had are different, and what they ate is different.”
“After work, all I do is see my Master and train all the time.”
“You’ve opened your Conception and Governor Vessels, and your martial arts have improved a lot, right? Naturally, your training would have changed as well.”
Geom Mugeuk was right.
The forms his Master had been teaching him lately were different.
As he grew stronger, the training became harder.
“See? Your days are different.”
“But some things are the same. Like how I can never win an argument with you, Young Cult Master.”
“That’s one thing that will never change in your lifetime.”
“And your arrogance, Young Cult Master!”
We looked at each other and laughed.
“Now it really feels like you’re back, Young Cult Master. No one ever says things like this to me. I need to hear things like this to nod and think, ‘Ah! That’s right,’ as I live. From today on, my days are all different. I’ve just decided! Now I’m going to ask my underlings. What did you eat for breakfast? Did you take a dump before you left? What did you dream about last night? What’s on your mind these days?”
Together with Seo Daeryong, I looked up at the sky.
Beautiful flower-like clouds of various colors were leisurely floating by.
Seeing Daeryong, I too felt the reality of my return to the Sect.
“Go on, get to work.”
“Where are you going now?”
“Now that I’ve seen your face, I need to make a round to the Demon Sovereigns.”
“You really never get tired, do you, Young Cult Master?”
Daeryong, it’s not about the numbers.
A single, detestable person is enough to exhaust a man.
“Really, what would we have done if the Main Sect had sixteen Demon Sovereigns?”
At Seo Daeryong’s joke, Geom Mugeuk replied as he strode away.
“If that were the case, my brother Drunken Demon’s disappointment would have doubled.”
“Elder!”
I ran toward the Blood Heaven Blade Demon with my arms wide open.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had been reading a book in his room, raised the blade propped next to him like a shield.
“That’s too harsh!”
Beyond the Heaven-Slaying Blade that separated us, I heard the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s voice.
“Just rest at home. What’s so great about seeing a face you see all the time that you have to come here?”
He always says things he doesn’t mean like that.
I bypassed the Heaven-Slaying Blade and perched on the edge of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s bed.
“By that logic, what’s so interesting about a book you see all the time that you keep reading it?”
“This is different.”
As he said that, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon warned me with his eyes not to lie down on the bed.
“I’ve returned safely.”
Although the Blood Heaven Blade Demon hadn’t asked, I took the initiative to tell him about my trip.
While I had made the Drunken Demon the protagonist when talking to my father, this time, I focused on myself.
“So now, my father and the Drunken Demon are drinking together.”
“The Cult Master is drinking with that drunkard?”
Could he be jealous?
A strange light flickered in the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s eyes.
But soon, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon returned his gaze to the book he was reading.
“Is reading books that much fun?”
“It is.”
“You’ve read so much, is there anything you still don’t know?”
“That’s why it’s fun. The more I read, the more it makes me realize how much I don’t know.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon lifted his head and looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“When you have a child later, just make him read a lot of books. He’ll be a natural at swordsmanship anyway if he takes after you.”
Would I really live a life where I have a child this time around? I had no such thoughts at the moment.
“Come on, Elder, are you telling me to live a life you haven’t even lived yourself?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon smiled faintly, with an expression that said, ‘That’s true.’
After watching the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s hands turn the page for a moment, I suddenly asked him the same question my father had asked me.
“Do I look okay to you?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon replied, his eyes still on the book.
“You don’t look okay.”
“Why not?”
“Because people who are okay don’t ask things like that.”
Was that why? An unexpected word came from him.
“Stay the night today.”
This was the man who always chased me away, telling me to go sleep at home.
The man who wouldn’t even let me lie on his bed if I hadn’t washed.
“What’s the occasion?”
“Because you don’t look okay.”
I grinned widely and threw myself onto the bed.
“Great!”
I thought he would catch me mid-air using his powers, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon didn’t.
“Ah, this is comfortable!”
No matter what, lying on this bed was the most comfortable.
It was probably because of the special feeling the person called the Blood Heaven Blade Demon gave off.
To think that grumpy old man would become the most comfortable person.
To think he would become the person I wanted to run to and see first like this.
Lying on the bed, I gave an answer he hadn’t asked for.
“I’m okay, Elder.”
“I know.”
And then came a shocking statement.
“The one who isn’t okay is the Cult Master.”
“!”
I shot up and stared at the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
I couldn’t yet guess what he meant by that.
“I wonder if the Cult Master hasn’t begun to awaken from his slumber and stretch.”
I had already understood what he meant, but the Blood Heaven Blade Demon kindly explained it again.
“I wonder if the Cult Master hasn’t begun to make his move in earnest to achieve his dream.”
My father’s dream was the Unification of the Martial World.
“Now that he has you as his successor, he may think it’s time to move.”
“How long has it been since the three-party meeting ended?”
The good atmosphere from that day was still so vivid.
The sound of music from over the wall still made my body sway.
“If he were the type to care about that, he wouldn’t have dreamed such a dream in the first place. On the contrary, he might have been certain he could have killed them both that day.”
“Are you thinking that way just because he’s drinking with the Drunken Demon now? Can’t they just have a drink?”
If that was the only reason, it felt like too much of a leap in logic.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
“Not long ago, the Cult Master met with the masked man separately.”
“!”
My father met the Evil Heart Laughing Demon?
If he had met the Fist Demon, I might not have had such suspicions.
Because he was someone who would absolutely follow my father’s orders.
But the Evil Heart Laughing Demon was someone who would absolutely follow me.
Even if it meant disobeying my father’s command.
So, the fact that he met him of all people? And on top of that, drinking with the Drunken Demon for the first time in his life? It was natural to make such an assumption.
“My father has begun to manage the Demon Sovereigns to prepare for war.”