The gazes that had been fixed on the stars now converged on one point.
Bi Sa-in and Jin Ha-gun looked at Geom Mugeuk.
Geom Mugeuk, with his clear and deep eyes, was still gazing up at the night sky.
The word 'friend' sounded so foreign.
Was the word this man spoke truly the one they knew?
“Since when were we friends?” Bi Sa-in asked bluntly.
Jin Ha-gun, feeling the same way, waited for Geom Mugeuk’s answer.
“Was I the only one who thought of us as friends?”
“Do you really think we can be friends?”
“I do.”
After a brief pause, Bi Sa-in asked again.
“What if one of us thinks we are friends and then betrays the others?”
Even childhood friends make a fuss about changing or being betrayed, so how could the three successors of the Righteous, Unorthodox, and Demonic factions become friends? Such a betrayal would be one where thousands, tens of thousands of lives were at stake.
“Let’s think of it this way then. Oh, right, we were enemies, weren't we? Let’s not be disappointed. Let’s not even think of it as betrayal.”
“Your sword will already be piercing my heart. Will I even have a moment to have such a thought?”
Though his face was stern and his words were grim, Bi Sa-in’s eyes were softer than ever.
He was imagining a life where he and Geom Mugeuk were friends.
A vision of himself as the Unorthodox Alliance Leader, Geom Mugeuk as the Heavenly Demon, and Jin Ha-gun as the Martial Alliance Leader, all meeting, laughing, and talking.
A vision of himself, even with white hair, looking exasperated at Geom Mugeuk's unchanging banter.
But just as ideals differ from reality, words different from his heart left his lips.
“If a rumor spreads that you’ve become friends with the Young Cult Master of the Demon Sect, you’ll be ousted from your position as Young Alliance Leader.”
At that, Jin Ha-gun joined the conversation.
“What about me? Becoming friends with the heir of the Demon Sect and the heir of the Unorthodox Alliance? Forget becoming the heir, I might be beaten to death by my grandfather.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Jin Ha-gun.
“Come to think of it, Branch Master Jin isn't the heir yet. Let’s help him become the successor.”
Jin Ha-gun replied with a serious expression.
“I can’t ascend to the position of Alliance Leader just because you help me. I can only rise when I have the qualities and the capacity to be the Alliance Leader.”
A sense of pride could be felt, that the successor of the Righteous Path could not be chosen so easily.
“As expected, you’re drawing a line between us.”
Geom Mugeuk moved closer to Bi Sa-in, acting friendly.
But Bi Sa-in took a step away, avoiding him.
“You all are so cold!”
Now, the three men stood facing each other in a circle.
Jin Ha-gun asked Geom Mugeuk.
“What kind of martial world do you dream of?”
It was a question Bi Sa-in had also wanted to ask.
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze once again turned to the stars in the night sky.
“The martial world I dream of is one where your Righteous Path, your Unorthodox Path, and my Demonic Path can coexist in harmony. I believe that fate did not give us these positions and such world-shaking martial arts just so we could dream of unifying the martial world at the cost of countless lives.”
Trust between them would only be possible if there was certainty that none of them dreamed of unifying the martial world.
“I wasn't close with my father, nor with my brother. I lived without understanding the hearts of my guards who would give their lives for me. So I always ask myself. You can't even take care of those around you, so what do you plan to do by unifying the martial world?”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze, which had been on the stars, returned to the two men.
“I think becoming friends with you is more difficult than unifying the martial world.”
He said it like a joke, but his words held his true feelings.
“For a martial artist, the easiest thing is to fight and kill each other. So, instead of this easy life, let’s take on a more difficult challenge. Let’s truly try to become friends.”
“!”
Bi Sa-in and Jin Ha-gun had never had such a thought.
Geom Mugeuk was right.
Becoming true friends was a hundred times more difficult than fighting.
“There is so much evil in the world that must be killed. There is also absolute evil that cannot be killed unless it is us. Look, isn't there even evil that tries to devour us? Let's live our lives beating them down. Getting together for drinks, badmouthing our subordinates amongst ourselves. Traveling together. That is the kind of martial world I wish for.”
Could it really be possible?
Bi Sa-in unknowingly muttered.
“It’s like a dream.”
“Then let’s live our whole lives dreaming.”
It was right at that moment, as Bi Sa-in and Jin Ha-gun were lost in their own thoughts.
A shooting star fell, streaking across the night sky.
Geom Mugeuk clapped his hands and quickly made a wish.
“Please let me unify the martial world!”
Jin Ha-gun shook his head with an exasperated expression, and Bi Sa-in smiled faintly.
For a long time after that, they stood there under the shower of stars.
*
Black Snake Division Lord Chu Goeng scowled as he looked out the window.
“Now they’re watching us openly.”
Across from the building he was in, two martial artists could be seen looking in his direction.
They were masters from the Martial Alliance's Demon Slaying Branch.
They had started pressuring them a few months ago, and now they were openly watching them.
Chu Goeng was a man who broke the stereotype that a large, hot-headed man would be foolish.
He was quick-witted and skilled at using his cunning.
In business, he was heartless and cruel, eliminating competitors by any means necessary.
But even he could only watch the observers across the street.
As long as their accursed name was the Demon Slaying Branch, he couldn't just get rid of them as he pleased.
“What about Black Thirteen?”
“There is still no word.”
The person who answered the Black Snake Division Lord’s question was his right-hand man, Song Chung.
Contact had been lost with Black Thirteen, who had gone to deliver the kidnapped children to the Yellow Dragon Escort Agency.
“It seems he was caught by those Demon Slaying Branch bastards.”
The Black Snake Division Lord’s face crumpled.
He really despised the Demon Slaying Branch.
“It seems we must ask the Unorthodox Alliance for help.”
It was not a decision to be made lightly.
The Unorthodox Alliance never helped without something in return.
If they received help this time, they would have to provide a massive amount of money to them under the guise of a donation.
And they were already giving a lot of money to the Unorthodox Alliance.
Just then, another subordinate came, delivered a dispatch, and left.
“It’s a dispatch from the Unorthodox Alliance.”
The Black Snake Division Lord and Song Chung were startled that such a dispatch had arrived while they were talking about the Unorthodox Alliance.
After reading its contents, the Black Snake Division Lord crumpled the letter in annoyance and threw it at Song Chung.
“The arrogant brat!”
Song Chung unfolded the crumpled letter and read it.
Surprisingly, it was a message from the Unorthodox Alliance's Young Alliance Leader requesting a meeting, and it stated that if he did not show up, he would erase the Black Snake Division from the martial world.
Song Chung first tried to soothe his enraged superior’s heart.
“It seems the young punk has gotten arrogant after becoming the successor.”
Killing intent emanated from the Black Snake Division Lord’s body.
Normally, when he got this angry, bodies would pile up, but since his opponent was who he was, only his anger piled up.
“But why does the Young Alliance Leader suddenly want to see me?”
The dispatch that arrived only had the aforementioned words and the time and place of the meeting; the reason was not written.
That made the Black Snake Division Lord even angrier.
“Isn’t it a ploy to establish discipline?”
“We’re not directly under the Unorthodox Alliance, so what’s with the discipline?”
“When have those Unorthodox Alliance bastards ever cared about such things?”
Compared to the displeased Black Snake Division Lord, Song Chung saw this contact as an opportunity.
“If you invest in the Young Alliance Leader on this occasion, it will be much easier to expand your business in the Central Plains in the future. And when you meet him, you should also casually ask for help with the Demon Slaying Branch problem.”
His feelings were his feelings, but of course, that was what he had to do.
Business was business.
“This year’s harvest is a waste. In the end, I’m getting fleeced one way or another. How much will be enough?”
There was one thing he believed in as an immutable truth.
The surest way to win someone over was with money.
If that failed, it was because the money wasn't enough.
“He’s not someone who lacks money, so why not give him something else?”
“Like what?”
“Give him the Sun Moon Sword.”
“Are you crazy?”
There was a good reason to yell.
The Sun Moon Sword was the most cherished of all the treasured swords he possessed.
“Will there be many opportunities to meet the Young Alliance Leader? On this occasion, you should definitively make him one of our people.”
“What if he fails to become the Alliance Leader? Don’t we only find out on the day he ascends to the Grand Advisor's seat?”
“Isn’t that why investing is difficult?”
After a moment of contemplation, the Black Snake Division Lord made a decision.
“Alright, let’s give him the Sun Moon Sword.”
There was also the matter of the Demon Slaying Branch.
It was a waste, but his opponent was worth it.
He would give it and somehow get everything back.
“Instead, I’m taking everyone from Black One to Black Ten. Call Black Night and Black Hound as well.”
Song Chung flinched in surprise.
“That’s too excessive.”
“It has to be.”
“You know Black Hound’s personality, don't you? There’s no telling what kind of trouble he’ll cause. He’s the type to go ballistic even in front of the Unorthodox Alliance's Young Alliance Leader.”
“That’s why I’m taking him.”
The Black Snake Division Lord would not yield on this point.
“Even when you give things away, you can’t look like a pushover. They need to be tense, to know how dangerous we are. That will only increase the value of our gift.”
Knowing that he never changed his mind once a decision was made, Song Chung accepted his will.
“Understood. I will do as you command. Shall we depart now?”
The Black Snake Division Lord rose from his seat.
“We have to go. He said he’d erase us from the martial world if we don’t.”
*
When they had almost reached the meeting place, Geom Mugeuk had the carriage stopped.
Then he said to Jin Ha-gun.
“For today’s main character, let’s change our clothes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Isn’t today’s meeting a place for the Unorthodox Alliance's Young Alliance Leader to teach a lesson to a dark faction sect? It’s not a place for the Demon Slaying Branch to be present. Let’s have the Demon Slaying Branch wait, and let’s change into the attire of the Thirteen Wolves of the Unorthodox Path.”
Jin Ha-gun had intended to go with Bi Sa-in to pressure them.
He thought that if the Unorthodox Alliance's Young Alliance Leader and the Martial Alliance's Demon Slaying Branch Master warned them together, the effect would be doubled.
But Geom Mugeuk was trying to elevate Bi Sa-in’s authority from his perspective.
“Alright, let’s do that.”
Jin Ha-gun readily accepted the suggestion.
Bi Sa-in felt Geom Mugeuk’s consideration for him, but he feigned ignorance and said nothing.
“Give us two sets of your clothes.”
At his request, the Thirteen Wolves of the Unorthodox Path gave the two of them spare clothes.
As they changed, Geom Mugeuk said.
“Today, we won't be the Thirteen Wolves, but the Fifteen Wolves of the Unorthodox Alliance. Fourteenth Wolf, Fifteenth Wolf, welcome to the ranks!”
In truth, it took great courage for Jin Ha-gun to wear these clothes.
He himself didn't mind, but if someone found fault with it, he could be heavily criticized.
However, watching Geom Mugeuk change while making all sorts of jokes—that his legs were too long so the pants were short, that the color didn't suit him—he reflected on himself.
This is nothing.
What’s truly important is who is inside the clothes.
Whether it’s a timid person worried about things that will be nothing in hindsight, or a great person who willingly wears their attire out of consideration for others.
After changing, Geom Mugeuk didn't forget his final jest.
“You, do you want to be the Fourteenth Wolf? Or the Fifteenth Wolf?”
*
The Black Snake Division Lord had arrived first and was waiting.
His elites were lined up around him.
In the martial world, the Black Snake Division was seen as a pack of wild dogs.
They would flock to all sorts of profitable ventures to tear off a piece, overwhelm with numbers, and no matter how many were killed, they would keep crawling back.
But that was only knowing half of the Black Snake Division.
At the very least, the Black Snake Division Lord was not a dog, but a tiger.
A clever tiger who knew that acting like a dog was the way to survive for a long time.
Black One through Black Ten were also tigers.
Beyond those ten, there might be wolves, foxes, and dogs, but the ones the Black Snake Division Lord cherished were respectable masters.
Of course, the most reassuring person was Black Night.
In terms of martial skill alone, he was the strongest after the Black Snake Division Lord.
He was a man of few words and a quiet personality, but he loved slaughter and enjoyed creating a sea of blood by participating in fights he didn't even need to be in.
The last to appear was Black Hound.
He, too, was second only to the Black Snake Division Lord.
If Black Night was next in martial arts, Black Hound was next in having a foul temper.
From murder and assault to rape, he was a notorious villain even within the Black Snake Division, known for doing all kinds of evil deeds.
He was in charge of tasks that a human being would not dare to do.
“Brother, what on earth made you call all of us?”
He was the one who called the Black Snake Division Lord ‘Brother’.
Having served him since their youth, he was the only one who was not intimidated by him.
“The Unorthodox Alliance's Young Alliance Leader has contacted me for a meeting.”
“Why him?”
“Now that he’s become the successor, he’s probably asking for something, right?”
Black Hound’s gaze turned to the long box placed next to the Black Snake Division Lord.
Seeing the moon and sun pattern drawn on the box, Black Hound asked with a look of disbelief.
“Don’t tell me it’s the Sun Moon Sword?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re going to give it to the Young Alliance Leader?”
When the Black Snake Division Lord nodded, Black Hound shouted.
“No. Why would you give that precious sword to that bastard? Just give him some money and send him away.”
Black Hound knew very well how much the Black Snake Division Lord cherished this sword.
He glared at Song Chung and said.
“That silver-tongued bastard must have told you to give it.”
Black Hound disliked Song Chung.
He was originally the one by the Black Snake Division Lord’s side, but he had been pushed out by Song Chung.
Song Chung’s expression hardened.
‘This ignorant bastard is already acting up.’
This was why he had said they shouldn't have called Black Hound.
Just as the two men were tensely facing off.
“They’re coming.”
In the distance, a carriage and its escorting martial artists came into view.
The Black Snake Division Lord said to his subordinates.
“We should at least let our esteemed guest know this. How dirty their hands will have to get to erase us from the martial world.”