‘Demon Cult?’

At Yoo Cheongil’s words, my eyes went wide. I dragged my blank-white mind back down by force.

I tried to gather my ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) scattered thoughts, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

There was no helping it.

‘Demon Cult? What the fuck is he talking about?’

That was how much impact Yoo Cheongil’s words carried.

How could it not?

Demon Cult.

The sheer weight that word came with.

In the past—Yoo Cheongil and the other Heaven-Beyond-Heaven figures. Or the orthodox faction joining hands.

A calamity they erased, and the aftershock of a blood calamity.

A sinister group that invaded the Central Plains under the Heavenly Demon, trying to conquer and rule it.

That was the Demon Cult.

They didn’t fear death, and moved only by the Heavenly Demon’s command.

How brutal and cruel that process and outcome were—if you so much as look through the records, it’s enough to make your spine go cold even now.

‘This guy is Demon Cult?’

The young man in front of me.

Baek Cheonin. This guy was a remnant of the Demon Cult? I couldn’t accept it easily.

Because—

The Demon Cult...

‘Yoo Cheongil already wiped them out.’

They were a group that vanished from the Central Plains at the end of the Orthodox-Demonic War.

The Sword Saint cut off the Heavenly Demon’s head, and the other Heaven-Beyond-Heaven figures infiltrated the Demon Cult’s stronghold.

They executed every absolute master called a Protector, and the Martial Alliance and other orthodox figures poured in and completely hunted down the remnants—so it was said.

That’s why peace is being maintained now, and in this situation he’s Demon Cult?

‘......If what Yoo Cheongil says is true.’

Am I not completely screwed?

Ignoring the cold sweat rising up my spine, I stared at him.

An impossibly vicious, poisonous energy.

Feeling the malevolent aura captured in my Moon Eyes, I spoke to Baek Cheonin.

“What business does Young Lord Baek have with me?”

My voice didn’t shake. I controlled it with everything I had. When I asked while pretending I was fine, Baek Cheonin smiled and answered.

“Ah, I was passing by, and didn’t I happen to spot Young Lord Bang?”

“......Is that so?”

I looked at Yoo Cheongil. Yoo Cheongil shook his head.

Meaning it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Ah. I see.”

This bastard has business with me.

What business does a Demon Cult bastard have with me?

“Yes. So, to greet you, I’ve come to pay my respects like this, despite the discourtesy. May I sit for a moment......?”

“Go ahead. I was feeling lonely myself, anyway.”

Get the fuck out. That’s what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t.

‘What’s your purpose?’

What purpose does this guy have toward me?

To begin with, I was more baffled by why a Demon Cult bastard was infiltrating an orthodox Dragon-Phoenix Gathering in the first place.

“Ahahahah. Thank you for accepting my rudeness. Then I’ll take the liberty for a moment.”

Baek Cheonin pulled a chair over and sat.

Up close, I could see it better.

This guy—

‘He’s not easy.’

Putting aside the malevolent aura rippling through that body—

‘His expression control is insane.’

A bastard hiding something inside, wearing such a gentle face.

If I didn’t know his identity, or if I couldn’t sense the aura, I might’ve let it slide, too.

“Come to think of it, it seems you passed the preliminaries. That’s a relief.”

“Ah, well. I got lucky. Master Seo Pyeong wasn’t feeling well and fainted, so....... I almost ended up in a real bind.”

“Ah. He fainted.”

Seo Pyeong fainted?

What happened that made him faint? It was strange for a second, but—

‘That’s not what matters right now.’

Seo Pyeong’s condition wasn’t the point.

Only the bastard in front of me.

I focused every sense I had on Baek Cheonin.

“By the way, I heard Young Lord Baek is from the Henan Baek Clan.”

“Oh, that’s right. My goodness. You even remember my name, and you knew that much as well...... what an honor.”

“How is your father?”

“Pardon? My father?”

“Yes.”

I asked with a smile.

“I’ve heard so many famous stories about Clan Head Baek.”

“Oh? For example, what.......”

“Like the story of how he subjugated bandits at Taechon Mountain and received praise from the villagers.”

“Ah....... That one.”

“You know it?”

“I don’t know much about my father, but I’ve heard of it.”

“Ahaha, of course.”

Bullshit.

Everything I just said was a lie. Heard of it? Don’t make me laugh.

“If I ever meet Clan Head Baek later, I’d appreciate it if you passed along that I respect him.”

“Oh, don’t worry. My father will be truly delighted.”

“Thank you.”

Hahahaha.

A conversation full of smiles went back and forth. I kept my lips curled up and continued talking.

The more we talked, the deeper my thoughts got.

‘This guy.’

No matter how I looked at him, he felt off.

Part of it was because I’d heard what he was and was now talking to him—

But—

‘There’s something.’

My sharpened instincts told me. This bastard is dangerous.

“Man....... I didn’t think I’d end up clicking with Young Lord Bang like this.”

“Seriously. If I knew it’d be like this, I should’ve talked with you more earlier. What a shame.”

“A shame? Starting now, we can just become close, can’t we?”

“Ah. Should we?”

“I heard we’re the same age....... Should we drop the formalities?”

Baek Cheonin asked, and I answered without hesitation.

“Sure. Let’s do that, then.”

“Haha.”

Baek Cheonin laughed out loud at my answer.

“Well then. Coming to Henan was the right call—who would’ve thought I’d become friends with the great Little Sword Saint.”

“Great my ass. I just got lucky.”

“Lucky? It’s because you’re outstanding. I know that.”

“Thanks for seeing me that way.”

I gave an awkward smile. And inside that smile, I watched him.

Is the “same age” part even true? I know the public profile for “Baek Cheonin” says he’s the same age, but—

‘That’s not his real name.’

He wouldn’t be Baek Cheonin.

Does someone named Baek Cheonin even exist in the first place?

‘If he does, then where did the real Baek Cheonin go?’

Where did the real one go, that this bastard took his place?

The thought flashed, but—

‘This isn’t the time to think about that.’

This wasn’t the time.

Who the hell am I worrying about?

‘I’m the one who should be worried.’

This wasn’t the time to worry about anyone else.

So I talked with him for a long time. We didn’t drink.

We just sat there with two bowls of noodles and talked.

“Damn. It’s already this late.”

After talking for a while, I stood first.

“Cheonin, sorry, but I’m gonna get up first. I think I should sleep early for tomorrow.”

“Ah! Sorry about that. I didn’t think of it, and I ended up holding you too long.”

“No. I had fun, too.”

“Let’s do well tomorrow. Even if I end up meeting you, I won’t resent it.”

As he said that, Baek Cheonin held out his hand.

I took it like it was nothing.

“Take care of me, friend.”

“Of course. You take care of me, too.”

We smiled at each other, wrapped it up like that, and I left.

The moment I stepped outside the inn, I changed my expression.

With eyes gone cold, I reached a conclusion.

Every single word.

It felt like hidden daggers kept raising their heads inside them.

Thinking of that, I muttered.

‘Should I run?’

It felt like I’d gotten tangled up in something seriously dangerous.

*****

The inn, after Bang Sungyeon left.

Baek Cheonin quietly stared at Bang Sungyeon’s noodles, gone cold because he’d barely eaten.

Just like that, Baek Cheonin’s noodles had barely been touched, too.

He studied the swollen noodles, then closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, a cold air had settled into his gaze.

Then—

THUNK.

He tapped the desk with the tip of his index finger.

A thin flow of energy seeped out around Baek Cheonin’s body.

A shallow membrane wrapped the surroundings.

A qi barrier. He blocked sound from leaking out.

“This got troublesome.”

As Baek Cheonin spoke in a lazy voice, a voice answered from somewhere.

—What do you mean?

Baek Cheonin opened his mouth with cold eyes.

“The matter of Clan Head Baek.”

The thing he’d said—Taechon Mountain, bandits, whatever.

Recalling that, Baek Cheonin swept his hair back.

Was it true? It stuck strangely.

He had some information, but he couldn’t know something like that.

And on top of that—

“Since you killed Clan Head Baek, now we can’t even find out.”

Even if he tried to dig up what information remained, Clan Head Baek was already dead and buried in the ground.

So for now, he didn’t want to find out whether it was true or not.

If it wasn’t true—

“Little Sword Saint. Did that bastard test me?”

Bang Sungyeon.

It also meant he was suspecting him.

From where? If he’d raised suspicion, then where exactly had he gotten caught?

“Hm.”

No matter how he thought, he couldn’t find it. It was enough to make ghosts cry.

He’d laid out moves so he’d never be discovered, and that bastard’s eyes saw through them?

While he was thinking about that, the man spoke to Baek Cheonin.

—Young Cult Leader.

“Speak.”

—Should we kill the Little Sword Saint?

At the killing intent soaked into those words, Baek Cheonin laughed.

“Hahahahaha.”

He laughed his fill, then immediately went expressionless.

“No. Not yet.”

Not yet.

It wasn’t the time to touch him, and there were more things to find out.

He’d approached him because the existence called the Little Sword Saint was interesting, but he couldn’t touch him right now.

“If we touch him now, it’ll become extremely annoying.”

If nothing else, Blue Moon Sect.

And within that—Moon-Thread Sword could move.

If that monster directly stepped in, there was a high chance their work would go off the rails.

So he would keep interest, but hold back from directly touching him for now.

And besides—

“Right now, we need to worry about something other than the Little Sword Saint.”

Baek Cheonin had another purpose.

No—not just Baek Cheonin.

The Demon Cult as a whole had another purpose.

“There’s still no news?”

Baek Cheonin asked with narrowed eyes. After a brief silence, the man answered.

—I apologize.

“Tch.”

At the answer that there was none, Baek Cheonin clicked his tongue.

“Where did it go?”

He was sure it would be in Henan, yet they still hadn’t found it in Henan either.

That kept scraping at Baek Cheonin’s nerves.

“We even borrowed the hands of those Heaven-Breaking Palace bastards, but they aren’t bringing anything useful back.”

So he’d gone all the way to Sichuan for nothing, just to boost the Little Sword Saint’s reputation.

Useless trash.

Baek Cheonin had to force down his irritation.

“Where is it?”

He’d heard Blue Moon Sect retrieved the Sword Saint’s cherished blade, Full Moon, repaired it, and was keeping it in storage.

Full Moon.

That cursed blade that cut off the previous sect leader’s head.

At the news that it had been recovered, veins rose on Baek Cheonin’s face.

CRUNCH.

A harsh sound rang out from his clenched fist.

It couldn’t be helped.

If Full Moon had been recovered, then the martial implement that stood opposite to it should’ve surfaced as well—

So why was that one so quiet?

“For fuck’s sake.”

As if grinding his teeth, Baek Cheonin spoke in a sharp voice.

“Where is the Heavenly Demon’s Key?”

The thing the Demon Cult—including Baek Cheonin—was seeking above all else.

The Heavenly Demon’s Divine Sword.

Or the martial implement called the “Key.”

That was what Baek Cheonin came here to find.

*****

ACHOO—!!

Walking down the road, Bang Sungyeon suddenly sneezed.

“Ugh, my nose itches.”

Scratching his reddened nose, Bang Sungyeon glanced back.

“What is it? Someone talking about me......?”

He scratched his head and paused mid-step.

And around then, the Divine Sword at Bang Sungyeon’s waist gave off an extremely faint vibration.

So faint that no one—

Not even Yoo Cheongil—

Could notice it.