Chapter 40 : Rather Than Receive, Go Lower.

Chapter 40: Rather Than Receive, Go Lower.

“Why…… is that?”

In response to the Strategist’s question after he came to see me, I asked back.

“Why do you ask such a question?”

“The Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult I know is not someone who creates trouble without thinking. May I ask where your intent lies?”

“For now, I wanted to divert attention away from the fight.”

“Just as I thought…… but I find myself asking again.”

“Why is that? I understood that a fight with the Hundred Paths was what the Vice Cult Leader desired most.”

The Yul Han of the past did not know. I did not know what kind of thoughts he held, nor with what kind of heart he lived.

But now……

“You are mistaken.”

“Then it was not so?”

“If it is because of what happened fifteen years ago……”

When the story from fifteen years ago—something no one dared to mention before the Vice Cult Leader—came out of my own mouth, the Strategist stiffened.

After all, among the current leadership, there was not a single person who had not been involved in that matter.

Looking calmly at the Strategist, I continued.

“……I believe I have already taken my revenge.”

“Do you truly…… mean that?”

He might think differently. He was directly involved in that incident. But as for me……

“Yes. I mean it.”

The true Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had, in retaliation for that incident, devoured no fewer than 1,647 warriors of the Kongtong Sect.

I thought that was enough. At least, from the judgment of someone who was not the direct party involved, it was.

At my answer, the Strategist, who had been staring at me, asked again.

“What about after that? After turning your eyes away from battle, what do you intend to do?”

“I do not know yet.”

“Pardon?”

“I intend to try changing things a little, but the method will have to be considered gradually.”

“May I ask…… in what way you intend to change things?”

Without answering the Strategist’s cautious question, I suddenly posed one of my own.

“Strategist, do you know what remains the same even if you and I were to switch places?”

“Even if you and I were to switch…… are you perhaps speaking of fairness?”

“Fairness…… I do not know if it can be something so grand, but I hope to reduce the finger-pointing our martial artists receive outside the Bright Cult.”

At my answer, the Strategist stared at me silently, then asked.

“Do you believe that is possible?”

“It will be difficult. That is precisely why things are as they are now.”

“Even so, you intend to try.”

“I believe I will.”

At my reply, the Strategist stared at me once more before asking again.

“I keep asking this, but why? Why do you wish to create such a Bright Cult?”

“Why do you think it should not be done?”

At the question thrown back at him, the Strategist could not answer.

To him, I said,

“It is done because it must be done. There is no ‘why’ in such matters.”

That day, the Strategist could not ask anything further and quietly withdrew.

After the Strategist withdrew from before the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, the Cult Leader summoned him.

“What did he say? Why is he acting like that?”

“That is…… I do not know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You must have heard something from the Vice Cult Leader.”

“I did hear him, and I understand his intent, but…….”

“But?”

“I cannot understand the ‘why’ at all.”

“You should have asked him why!”

At the Cult Leader’s rebuke, the Strategist opened his mouth, then stopped.

<It is done because it must be done. There is no ‘why’ in such matters.>

He thought that even if he relayed an answer he himself did not understand, the Cult Leader would not suddenly gain enlightenment from it.

Yes. It was not that he failed to understand the meaning of doing something because it must be done.

What bothered him was that such an answer had been given to the question of why that kind of resolve had arisen in the first place.

The Vice Cult Leader the Strategist knew—Yul Han—was not someone who would harbor such thoughts.

If it had been fifteen years ago. Yes. Back when he was criticized for not being demon-like, perhaps it would have made sense. But now, there was no clear reason for him to show such a change, and that uncertainty was unsettling.

Had the passage of time truly dulled his desire for revenge?

If so, it failed to explain the ferocious glare and curse-like harsh words he had briefly shown just a few months ago.

At that time, the Vice Cult Leader had said it clearly.

<Even if I die and my bones return to dust, I will never forget. That day, the decision you and the elders made!>

That man, in just a few months?

Even if such a drastic psychological change were possible, there should have been a trigger that made it possible.

But that was missing from the current Vice Cult Leader.

That was precisely why the Strategist could not shake off his lingering sense of unease.

The Thirteen Bloods, who had gathered in one place after a long time, were unusually busy as well. The atmosphere of sharing a drink together after so long was shattered, and the commotion arose because news of an ability inspection by the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had reached them as well.

Amid the unsettled group, the lean and quick-framed Wood Fire Blood cautiously spoke up.

“We don’t even have anyone to command. Can’t you exclude us a bit?”

At those words, voices of agreement sprang up from all around. When it came to tactics and strategy, they were no different—complete outsiders.

After all, each of the Thirteen Bloods was an individual said to be a one-man army.

However, all their gazes soon turned toward Flashing Light Blood and Cold Blade Blood.

Since those two had been moving with the Vice Cult Leader until recently, the looks implied that they might have built some rapport.

Cold Blade Blood, who could not fail to notice this, cautiously asked Flashing Light Blood,

“Should we…… try asking him?”

“Do you not know the Vice Cult Leader’s temperament? Has he ever changed a decision once he made it?”

“Well…… that’s true, but he’s become a bit gentler these days.”

“So has he ever bent his will because of that?”

“That is……”

“Seems like no, right?”

At Flashing Light Blood’s question, Cold Blade Blood could only nod.

As everyone grew dejected at the sight, Wood Fire Blood grumbled.

“By the way, where the hell did our leader go? Honestly, shouldn’t only that bastard be inspected for command and all that? The one who’d be most troubled by it—where did he run off to without even showing his face…….”

Wood Fire Blood’s voice trailed off. The leader of the Thirteen Bloods, Iron Shatter Blood, had just entered.

“……Where the hell have you been, showing up only now!”

At Wood Fire Blood’s reproach, Iron Shatter Blood replied in a triumphant tone.

“Me? I just came back from seeing the Vice Cult Leader.”

“Huh? Why the Vice Cult Leader?”

“Why else? I explained the value of our Thirteen Bloods and our operational characteristics, and told him that we have no subordinates capable of executing tactics or strategy.”

“Really? So what did he say?”

Just like Wood Fire Blood, whose eyes sparkled, the other Thirteen Bloods also showed keen interest.

To those comrades, Iron Shatter Blood answered.

“We’re excluded from the inspection.”

“R-really?”

To the shocked comrades, Iron Shatter Blood replied,

“Of course. Instead, we go under the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”

“Huh? What does that even mean?”

Wood Fire Blood’s question was only natural.

Within the Bright Cult, the Thirteen Bloods were independent masters. They were people who received orders from no one except the Cult Leader.

That meant that even the Five Demons, who ranked higher than the elders, could not freely command them.

And yet, all of a sudden, they were to go under the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?

That was why the Thirteen Bloods were flustered.

To those comrades, Iron Shatter Blood spoke in an indifferent tone.

“What are you so surprised about? Then what—are we above the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult or below him?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about right now.”

To Wood Fire Blood, who snapped back, Iron Shatter Blood said,

“Then you can keep living independently and go get inspected.”

With that single sentence, Iron Shatter Blood shut Wood Fire Blood up. At that moment, Flashing Light Blood approached him.

“What exactly happened? Don’t you think you owe us an honest explanation?”

“Honest?”

“Yes. Honest.”

At Flashing Light Blood’s words, Iron Shatter Blood looked at him for a moment, then shrugged.

“There’s nothing much to be honest about. I just ran over and begged him to spare me.”

“Spare…… you?”

“You know it. In our Iron Shatter lineage, I might be stronger in martial arts, but not in the head. You know who I mean. That bastard.”

“Ah! Your junior brother?”

“Junior brother, my ass. He’s my mortal enemy. I’d bite off my own tongue and die before going under that guy.”

“So you ran over and prostrated yourself before the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult?”

“What choice did I have? I know better than anyone that I’m complete trash when it comes to studying.”

“Then why did all of us end up going under him instead of just you?”

“That’s because…… I said this. That our Thirteen Bloods will unconditionally be loyal to the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. That we’ll do anything he orders. If he tells us to bark like dogs, we’ll bark. If he tells us to eat shit, we’ll eat shit. Therefore, our commander is the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult!”

In short, he had argued that they were in a position to receive orders, not to command.

It went against the Bright Cult’s regulations, but in reality, it wasn’t a complete lie either. If the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult issued an order, it was true that they neither had the ability nor the inclination to refuse.

Being told to eat shit…… hmm…… if that were an order from the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, refusing would indeed be rather difficult.

So……

“Sounds like you didn’t spout complete nonsense. So you’re saying he accepted it.”

“Yeah. He accepted it. Ah! There was one condition, though.”

“A condition? What condition?”

To Wood Fire Blood’s curious question, Iron Shatter Blood replied,

“Don’t do anything except what you’re told.”

“You mean we’re only to do what we’re ordered to do?”

“Exactly.”

At Iron Shatter Blood’s answer, the Thirteen Bloods nodded. After all, even before this, they hadn’t gone around causing trouble without orders.

But then, someone timidly raised a hand.

“What?”

“Then do we have to ask permission even to go to the latrine?”

“Hey!”

The one who flinched at everyone else’s shout was Ghost Spirit Blood, recognizable by his pale complexion and pitch-black, corpse-like lips.

“That bastard’s Ghost Spirit Art has gone to his marrow. Send some air to your head. No matter how much Ghost Spirit Art is about living like a dead man, try circulating enough air to keep your brain working, you little shit.”

At Iron Shatter Blood’s scolding, Ghost Spirit Blood grumbled,

“You could’ve just answered. Why make such a fuss?”

As Iron Shatter Blood bristled at Ghost Spirit Blood’s muttering, the others stepped in to stop him. The Thirteen Bloods were too evenly matched for anything good to come from them fighting.

No—honestly, fighting was up to them, but right now there was a more important issue.

“What if we disobey?”

At Wood Fire Blood’s question, Iron Shatter Blood shrugged.

“Well, we’d probably end up dead. You remember Elder Seomyeolgui, right? Even that man, who was said to be second only to the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult back then, got cut down in a single stroke. So what about us…….”

At Iron Shatter Blood’s words, fear spread among the Thirteen Bloods. Amid them, Wood Fire Blood weighed two possibilities.

‘Is it better to avoid inspection and become the Vice Cult Leader’s dog, or get inspected and be cast out of the Thirteen Bloods…….’

Deciding that the latter was worse, Wood Fire Blood asked his comrades,

“Wouldn’t licking the Vice Cult Leader’s feet and sticking close be less humiliating?”

At Wood Fire Blood’s question, all of the Thirteen Bloods nodded.

Clearly, they feared the contempt and finger-pointing they would face if they were cast out even more.

That was how merciless the Bright Cult was toward the weak.

Dawn broke, and the Vice Cult Leader’s ability inspection began.

As he had declared the day before, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult started with the elders.

Naturally, the first was the eldest among them, the Chief Elder Iron Demon.

But……

“What exactly happened?”

“I caught a terrible cold…… cough, cough.”

I stared quietly at Iron Demon, who was coughing incessantly. With an expression full of apology yet clearly sick, Iron Demon spoke to me.

“S-so tomorrow, no, the day after tomorrow, cough, cough. I would be grateful if you could conduct the inspection then, cough, cough, Vice Cult Leader.”

“Hmm…… understood.”

As I turned away at the end of those words, I added in an offhand tone,

“Oh! Chief Elder.”

“Yes. Vice Cult Cough, cough. Leader.”

“Even if you retire now, you won’t have any trouble making a living.”

“Pardon?”

“Your acting is truly…… on par with a Peking opera actor. Gaunt cheeks, hollow eyes. The dedication is admirable, so I’m letting it slide.”

Leaving those words behind, I staggered away. Iron Demon stared blankly after me.

But only for a moment. Regaining his senses, Iron Demon hurriedly sprang into action.

Since the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had already seen through the feigned illness, there would be no avoiding the inspection next time, and if even the smallest fault were found then, there would be no mercy.

“Hey! You still haven’t found it? I told you to bring the books—books! Why is there no word yet?!”

As Iron Demon berated his subordinates in the Chief Elder’s quarters, one of them replied,

“T-that is, all tactical and strategic texts currently within the cult have been completely exhausted…… We have sent people outside, so please wait just a little longer, Chief Elder.”

At the subordinate’s reply, Iron Demon stamped his feet in agitation.