He’s the 420th leader of the Demonic Cult, so you should be scared.
As the drinking party was coming to an end, Geommugeuk was acting like Yangseok was an old friend.
“Prince Yang, come with me to the Central Plains.”
“I am fine. Please broaden my narrow horizons.”
If I drank just a little more, I would be ready to fight with him.
Throughout the drinking party, Hanseol tried to fulfill her role faithfully. She sympathized with Yangseok and occasionally took his side. It was an act of trying to understand him, but in the end, it was an opportunity to learn about herself.
That’s what kind of person I was.
He can say things he doesn’t mean, lie without shaking, and even try to figure out why Geommugeuk is saying such things. I thought he was a really cold person, but I found out that he has another side.
Up until now, she had been looking into herself alone. Naturally, she had also come to her own conclusions.
This is the kind of person I am.
But the conclusion I reached back then and the conclusion I learned today were clearly different.
Perhaps, I thought, getting to know yourself is not a conclusion you reach by looking into a mirror alone. Isn’t that the moment when you discover your true self, when you see yourself among people?
While thinking about that, Hanseol met Geommugeuk’s eyes.
“Your Majesty, you may now go back.”
“What about the young leader?”
“I have to drink with Prince Yang all night long.”
The moment he heard those words, Yang Seok was overcome by the energy of the sword dance.
‘This is really out of the ordinary.’
Even if the Princess of the Ice Palace is with you now, what on earth makes you want to drink here alone without a single subordinate? What if you were poisoned? What if you were to be ambushed while drunk? Doesn’t that mean you’re confident you can handle it all?
‘Yes, this is how it should be. It has to be like this to cut them all down with this sword.’
Yang Seok said politely.
“You drank a lot today, so how about drinking again next time?”
Yang Seok, who was trying to restrain himself, was also quite drunk. He thought he wasn’t drunk, but when Han Seol saw him, he was drunk. He was just so excited by the fact that he was with the leader of the Demonic Cult that he didn’t realize how drunk he was.
“Next time? It’s just the beginning?”
Yang Seok wanted to shout at Geommugeuk, who was expressing regret. Are you drunk?
“I will make room for you again.”
“Oh, that’s too bad. Good, see you again soon.”
As he was about to leave, Geommugeuk turned around and said.
“Oh, and if you find any extreme delays, please contact me.”
“Of course.”
Geommugeuk left Bukhyeolmun with Hanseol.
The Geommugeuk that used to laugh and chat lightly at the drinking party had returned to a calm appearance as if nothing had happened.
“Did you really plan on staying up all night drinking?”
To Hanseol’s question, Geommugeuk shook his head.
“How could that be? Drinking is more fun when you’re with a good person. I’m so frustrated I’m going crazy.”
I thought so. I asked because you acted so well.
“I had no intention of sending you alone.”
“Really?”
“In this situation, I don’t know how the opponent will react, so how can I leave you alone? You must never move alone again. Even Ian in the Ice Palace told me to stay close to you.”
Until this incident is over, the Sword Dance Theater will not let its guard down. It must be even more tense because the opponent is the Blood King.
“You’re worried about the daughter of the Princess of the North Sea Ice Palace in the North Sea.”
“The princess of the North Sea Ice Palace even dressed her daughter in armor.”
There was no way to refute that statement.
Anyway, I felt reassured as I walked with Geommugeuk.
Today, I saw clearly how Geommu-geuk cooked Yang-seok. It is not important that he deceived him. What is important is that he made Yang-seok believe that Geommu-geuk was using him.
Hanseol stopped walking. Geommugeuk also stopped following her.
The two people’s gazes became intertwined under the moonlight.
“The more I look at you, the scarier you become.”
I wasn’t joking.
I never thought I would say something like that to someone. Even if I had felt that kind of fear, I was the type of person who would rather hide my feelings.
I don’t know why, but I became honest with Geommugeuk.
Geommugeuk said with a smile.
“Of course you should be scared, right? He’s the leader of the Demonic Cult.”
Geommugeuk continued speaking, seeing a faint smile forming on Hanseol’s lips.
“You should be afraid. Think about the enemies we face. They gather people to experiment on the constitution they want, and then kill them. They don’t hesitate to use self-destructive tactics, and they even kill their own blood relatives. If you’re not afraid, how can you face such people?”
Even while laughing, talking, and drinking, this person had such thoughts. Thinking about it, Hanseol realized that Geommugeuk was scarier than the enemy. It seemed better to deal with such enemies than Geommugeuk.
“Will he contact me when he finds the extreme delay?”
Then Geommugeuk shook his head.
“I will never contact you. I think that extreme delay is the only thing that will protect me. I also think that it might make me stronger.”
“Then why did you keep talking about extreme delay?”
“That’s because it’s an important pattern for us too.”
Geommugeuk was anticipating how Yangseok would move.
“His desire to survive will lead us to extreme delays.”
* * *
The next morning, Yang Seok headed to Munjujeon early.
Although I was suffering from a hangover from drinking too much, I was nervous about meeting my father.
‘The extreme delay must be avoided.’
I don’t know why my father wants the Extreme Delay so desperately, but I must secure it no matter what. I can’t hand it over to Geommu-geuk either. The Extreme Delay will be a desperate measure to protect me.
——————
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Yang Seok entered Munjujeon.
My father was sitting in the throne room in front of me.
My heart pounded with a tension I had never felt before. I had never entered this place with such a feeling.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
Yang Seok walked up to the throne and greeted him politely.
When I saw my father, all sorts of thoughts came to mind and my mouth started to twitch.
‘Have you really decided on a successor?’
I wanted to ask. Why on earth did you choose him as your successor, even to the point of abandoning your own son?
Normally, it would have been something I should have asked. How could you have misunderstood me like that? I should have been scolded.
But my father and I are not in a position to have such conversations.
The idea that when an incident breaks out and a relationship is ruined, it may not be because of the incident itself. It depends on what kind of relationship was there before the incident broke out. At least that was the case in this case.
“Yesterday, the leader of the Demonic Cult and the princess came to visit and we drank until late at night.”
Of course, it was the Bukhyeolmunju who knew that fact.
To be honest, the visit to the Geommu Theater was not very pleasant. Now, in just one day, the extreme delay will arrive at the Bukhyeolmun Gate. After tomorrow, not only his own fate, but also the fate of the North Sea will change. After tomorrow,
“How is it?”
“As rumored, he was an extraordinary person.”
“Why did you come?”
Yang Seok didn’t speak honestly.
“He was talking about Elder Seo. He seemed to be suspicious that it might have something to do with us.”
The Bukhyeolmunju secretly welcomed Seo-nak’s death. The two people who held hands with the blood people were himself and Seo-nak. Now that Seo-nak was dead, his importance had increased even more.
Just like the rest of the martial arts world, the martial arts world of Bukhae is also an extremely conservative place.
It was several times more difficult for someone new to establish themselves without the help of the existing powers than in the Central Plains. Furthermore, the Demonic Cult and the Martial Arts Alliance could not just sit back and watch the new power grow. Therefore, Seo Nak’s death was an opportunity for the Bukhyeolmunju.
Yang Seok asked Buk Hyeol Moon Ju carefully.
“By the way, did you find the extreme delay?”
“Not yet.”
At this moment, Yang Seok was greatly disappointed in two aspects.
First of all, his father lied. He already knew that his father had discovered the extreme delay and was escorting him here.
The second is that the lie came out without a moment’s hesitation. That was more disappointing than lying to myself.
‘Please don’t blame me later.’
Yang Seok concluded that his father had abandoned him. Yesterday, the tower of distrust that Geommu-geuk had built up late into the night was finally completed.
Thanks to that, Yang Seok felt relieved. Without having to overthink things, all that was left was to fight and survive.
“As much as possible, avoid getting involved with the cult leader. There is nothing good about getting involved with him.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Yang Seok greeted me politely, turned around, and left.
Today, father should have been honest with you. The extreme delay is coming now, so you have to be fully prepared. I’m telling you now, the extreme delay will be used for this and that purpose. I’m sorry for telling you so late.
‘You shouldn’t have done that to me, Father.’
Yang Seok piled up justifications for the betrayal that was to come.
* * *
The next day, a carriage was racing towards the Bukhyeolmun Gate.
Two unmanned men followed on horseback around a carriage driven by a coachman with cold eyes. They rode without stopping, switching horses every now and then. Now, their destination, Bukhyeolmun, was less than a hundred li away.
The running carriage slowed down. A fallen tree was blocking the road.
The carriage slowly stopped, and the three drivers, including the coachman, looked around nervously.
The leader of this convoy, Ma Bu-seok, warned the two drones.
“Prepare for an ambush.”
Shhh! Shhh!
At that moment, despite being prepared for an ambush, an attack that could not be avoided came flying in. A man hiding behind a rock on the other side suddenly stood up and launched a surprise attack.
The two drones were unable to dodge the rapidly flying dark weapon and fell over, flipping over.
The one who carried out the surprise attack was none other than Yang Seok. The weapon he held in his hand was the Golden Dragon Sword Chilbo Pilsal (七步必殺), a weapon that was banned in the martial arts world. It was a weapon that was known to kill an opponent if unleashed within seven steps.
Before he knew it, the unmanned horse rider was rushing towards Yang Seok and swinging his sword.
Yang Seok, whose memory was delayed, responded with a sword.
A fight broke out between the two. The warrior of the horse-riding stone was a master, but he was not capable of handling the successor of the Bukhyeolmun.
After less than twenty moves, Muin sensed that he could not defeat Yang Seok. He had no hesitation in making his final decision.
Muin’s face turned red. Yangseok was greatly embarrassed when he tried to use the self-destruct technique right in front of his nose while fighting.
Should I avoid it or block it? That very moment when I was hesitating!
Phew!
The unmanned man’s face was shattered and he fell down. Someone had killed him with a blast of lightning before he could use his self-destruct ability.
When Yang-seok looked back in surprise, Ha-gyeol was standing there.
“you!”
Yang Seok was startled. He didn’t know he would appear here.
“Now I’ve finally done my job as a guard properly.”
However, the reason Ha-gyeol killed his subordinate who was trying to use the self-destruction attack was not for Yang-seok. It was because he couldn’t kill Yang-seok yet. In order to continue using the Buk-hyeol-mun-ju, he had to keep his son alive, who would be his weakness.
“How did you get here?”
“Aren’t I the escort of Prince Yang? Wherever Prince Yang goes, I must go.”
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Now the smile disappeared from Ha-gyeol’s face.
“Your Majesty, how did you know that the carriage was coming this way?”
“That’s what I’m going to ask.”
Yang Seok could tell.
‘The dead are his minions.’
If not, Ha-gyeol would not have appeared here. You are using someone who uses self-destruction as your subordinate? Who the hell are you?
On the other hand, the question of the lower body was this: how did Yang Seok find out about this place?
Upon hearing news that the extreme delay had been found, an urgent escort mission was assigned, but the three people who died were those Ha-gyeol trusted.
I used them to secretly transport the extreme delay, and I found out that they were passing through here at this time.
Ha-gyeol suspected that there might be a traitor within.
However, Yang Seok found out the carriage’s route in an unexpected way.
“As you know, my brother and I have been working on finding the extreme delay for a long time. At that time, our main task was to create the shortest transportation route from all over the Central Plains to the North Sea.”
Because we had to gather people and bring them to the North Sea to experiment. Experiment, throw them away, experiment again. The experiment was supposed to be over in a few days, but it took too long to bring them there.
“This time, people used your people, but they used the transportation route we created. They ran along the route we created and changed horses at the stables we prepared in each region.”
Only then did Ha-gyeol realize. He figured out which route he was taking through the records of the horse exchanges. He had used it because he needed to arrive as early as possible, but he didn’t know that he would notice.
“You’re smarter than you think.”
“If I were smart, I would have gotten rid of you a long time ago.”
Ha-gyeol laughed as if he found it funny. Even your father couldn’t do that.
“For this matter, Prince Yang will be severely punished by Lord Wen.”
Yang Seok said, aiming his sword.
“You must have been the one who did this.”
I thought it was a good thing. Ha-gyeol and these escort drones were fighting and were planning to deal with it as a double-crossing scheme. Of course, I thought that way because I didn’t know about Ha-gyeol’s hidden martial arts skills.
“Before that, let’s see who has extreme delay.”
As Yang Seok started to walk towards the carriage, Ha Gyeol gave a soft warning.
“If you open that door, you will die by my hand.”
A cold energy flowed out from Ha-gyeol’s body.
Yang Seok-do turned to him, raising his prayer. As Ha-gyeol began to reveal his true self that he had been hiding, his prayer was powerful.
Yang Seok was already under pressure even though he hadn’t even revealed half of his prayer yet. Well, if he was an ordinary guy, his father wouldn’t have chosen him.
Yang Seok, who was surprised by his skills, realized once again that his father had abandoned him.
‘This guy should be killed by the hands of the cult leader.’
Should I put down my sword now? Considering how he saved me earlier, I don’t think he’ll kill me.
It was at that time that the two people were facing off.
The fog began to thicken around the two of them. I thought that was just a rare occurrence at this early hour.
Ha-gyeol sniffed through the fog.
“Smells like alcohol?”
Yang Seok also smelled the alcohol in the fog. Ha Gyeol shouted when he realized that it was not fog but a cycle.
“Every time!”
Ha-gyeol’s gaze turned to the carriage. Before he knew it, the carriage was shrouded in fog.
“Guard the carriage!”
At Ha-gyeol’s shout, Yang-seok drew his sword and threw himself at the carriage.
It was just then.
Wheww.
The fog that had enveloped the carriage dispersed and disappeared with the blowing wind.
Yang Seok carefully opened the carriage door while aiming his sword. Yang Seok’s heart sank when he checked inside. There was a person sitting leaning against the chair, and it was someone he had never expected to see.
Geommugeuk stared at Yangseok and said.
“Didn’t I tell you to contact me when you find it?”
