Chapter 46 : Deposition

Chapter 46: Deposition

Yul Han spoke to Iron Demon, who was tense under his gaze.

“Those who start something must see it through.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean you must take responsibility for them.”

“What exactly do you mean by that…?”

“I’m saying you will escort them to Gansu.”

At the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult’s words, the voice of the Young Sect Master of the Qilian Sword Sect was faster than Iron Demon’s.

“N-no! We can go on our own!”

Having shouted in his urgency, the Young Sect Master looked flustered at how loud his own voice had become. The Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult glanced back at him and shook his head.

“I want to send the two of you back alive.”

That meant that if they went alone, they would die before ever reaching Gansu.

Seeing the Young Sect Master’s expression, clearly not understanding why such words were being said, Yul Han continued.

“Leaving Cheonghae Region aside, do you truly believe the two of you can pass through Xinjiang safely?”

If Cheonghae Region was land of the demonic path, then Xinjiang was its homeland.

It was where the Bright Cult—called the progenitor of the demonic path and the Demonic Cult—had established its base, and where five of the Eighteen Demon Sects had each entrenched their own territories.

Moreover, the five demonic martial sects called the Xinjiang Five Pillars—meaning the five pillars of Xinjiang—were each comparable to the Temple of the Mad Gale, known as the terror of the Tarim Basin.

In short, the level of danger between Cheonghae Region and Xinjiang was entirely different.

Only then did the Young Sect Master realize it, his face turning pale. Judging that he had understood, Yul Han turned his gaze to Iron Demon.

“May I trust that you will see it through?”

“Yes. Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”

“Then go. As for the punishment of the Chief Elder’s Chamber, we will settle it afterward in consultation with the Cult Leader.”

Having said only that, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult indifferently turned and ascended upward, leaving Iron Demon and the leaders of the Chief Elder’s Chamber to stare at him in a daze.

Not long after, Iron Demon and the leaders of the Chief Elder’s Chamber departed the Bright Cult once more. They surrounded the two survivors of the Qilian Sword Sect, escorting them in formation.

It was a march filled with the Chief Elder’s Chamber’s resolve to never lose them again.

As those figures receded into the distance, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult—thought to have gone up above—was standing on the watchtower of the gate, watching them.

The Strategist approached Yul Han.

“You really are letting them live.”

At those words, Yul Han glanced at him and replied.

“There was no reason to kill them.”

The Strategist gazed steadily at Yul Han and said,

“Do you know how different this is?”

“In what way?”

Though he knew, Yul Han asked as if he did not. The Strategist answered.

“If it were the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult I know, they would never have returned alive.”

“So you see me as someone who spills blood without reason.”

“There was a reason. They dared to attack warriors of the Bright Cult. Everything about this incident began from that act.”

Yul Han shook his head at the Strategist’s words.

“You are mistaken. If we trace the root cause, it would be that we entered the land of the Hundred Paths without their consent.”

Seeing the Strategist silently staring at him, Yul Han spoke again.

“I know you as someone who keeps a firm center. So that remark just now must have been a test. What is it? What is it that you truly wish to know?”

At Yul Han’s blunt question, thrown with eyes brimming with killing intent, the Strategist swallowed his fear and replied.

“What is it? What changed you, Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult? That is what I wish to know—and what I fear.”

“I understand your curiosity. But fear… why is that?”

“I fear that your current actions may be the preparatory stage for spilling even greater blood, using the resentment and hatred of the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult who suddenly vanished as a stepping stone.”

Looking at the Strategist, Yul Han replied.

“Since you are being honest, I will answer honestly as well. No. I simply do not wish to see blood anymore.”

“Why? Why did you suddenly come to think that way?”

“Everyone asks me that. Isn’t it strange? When I say I won’t see blood anymore, no one wants to believe it… as if that itself were something wrong.”

“It is because we fear change whose origin we cannot know. Just as I do.”

Looking at the Strategist, who kept pressing into matters he could not honestly explain, Yul Han gave a bitter smile.

There had been no change in his state of mind.

In the past and now alike, he had sought to be as just as possible, and to place all actions within righteousness.

Ah! Of course, unlike in the past, now he sought to do so regardless of whether it concerned the Hundred Paths or the demonic path.

In any case, the standard of his heart had not changed. But he could not say that outright.

Even if he said, ‘I am not actually Yul Han,’ no one would believe him—and even if they did, it would only cause greater problems.

So.

“One day I suddenly woke up and looked back, and my hands were thickly stained with blood. I simply disliked that.”

At Yul Han’s answer, the Strategist looked flustered.

“Do you know what that means?”

“I have been asked something similar before. The one who asked me then asked whether I intended to change the spirit of the Bright Cult.”

“Of course. The Bright Cult was founded on the principle of Might Makes Right. Do you truly believe that can be discarded?”

“Why do you think it must be discarded? Must the strong always trample the weak? An emperor does not exist merely to reign above the people. Likewise, a strong one who wishes to be supreme must also bear the responsibility befitting that position. I merely wish to make them see what they have been turning away from.”

“So you are saying that not only the rights of the strong, but also the responsibility of supremacy, must be borne.”

“Yes. That is correct.”

As Yul Han nodded, the Strategist gazed at him and asked,

“Do you think it will work?”

“It will.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Because it is a demand from the strong. If they wish to follow the law of Might Makes Right, they will not be able to ignore it.”

In other words, it was a demand from the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult himself, and thus could not be refused.

The Strategist could not raise an objection to that. After all, the absurd notion of a ‘capability inspection’ was already working.

“Following out of fear of strength will not be sincere.”

“I have no desire for sincerity from the outset, so it does not matter.”

At the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult’s unexpectedly compliant agreement, the Strategist asked, somewhat taken aback.

“Even so, may I ask why you still intend to proceed?”

“When people keep doing something, they come to think it is how it should be. If that continues long enough, sincerity seeps in, and in the end, it hardens that way.”

“You mean they will grow accustomed to it.”

“That is what I believe.”

“The nature of the demonic path is accompanied by rebellion. Resistance may arise not only outside the cult, but within it as well. No— it certainly will.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have no intention of merely being disappointed if persuasion fails.”

At the killing intent still lingering in the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult’s eyes as he turned back, the Strategist closed his mouth.

Though he knew it, he had forgotten. The Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was a man who would behead an elder even before the Cult Leader if crossed.

To openly oppose such a person’s decision would mean… asking to be killed.

Perhaps… the Strategist was struck by the unease that many experts of the demonic path might die not at the hands of the Hundred Paths, but by the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult himself.

After the failure of the Chief Elder’s Chamber, the Bright Cult no longer took the merchant caravan escort examination lightly.

Another thing—elders who sensed that failure would truly cost them their positions, not just in words, grew tense.

With it obvious that once the Second Elder returned, they would be next in line, the Third Elder’s Chamber immediately entered training in preparation for the escort examination.

No one mocked it by saying, ‘What kind of training is this?’

The Bright Cult’s warriors were confident in smashing and killing, but utterly inept at protecting while keeping others alive.

Moreover, the examination was not solely a matter for the elders. Even if time had been granted, this was not a situation where they could afford leisure.

Perhaps because of that, Bright Cult warriors burying themselves in books under the pretense of study were frequently seen.

An era where they shut themselves in the training grounds and trained martial arts like madmen was coming to an end within the Bright Cult.

In the meantime, the members of the Chief Elder’s Chamber who had escorted the younger generation of the Qilian Sword Sect to Gansu returned.

Even then, Profound Demon and the leaders of the Second Elder’s Chamber, who had departed the Bright Cult to cross the Heavenly Mountains together with the Golden Flower Manor merchant caravan, had not yet returned.

Though called simply the Heavenly Mountains, it was a rugged mountain range stretching four thousand five hundred li from east to west.

Covered in perpetual snow, with its highest peak exceeding twenty-four thousand cheok.

Crossing it was a matter of risking one’s life for ordinary people, and even for masters it was no easy challenge.

Naturally, it took time.

Thus, with Profound Demon absent, an elders’ council was convened.

The agenda was the punishment of Iron Demon and the leaders of the Chief Elder’s Chamber, who had failed the examination named ‘the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult’s inspection.’

The elders’ council chamber was silent as a grave.

Iron Demon, the party concerned, remained silent with his head bowed like a criminal, while the other elders looking at him could not hide their troubled expressions.

In that situation, the Cult Leader spoke.

“Did you all steal honey or something? Why is no one talking?”

“……”

Even at the Cult Leader’s rebuke, no elder opened his mouth. What could they say? Any of them might soon find themselves in Iron Demon’s position.

After glancing over the elders, the Cult Leader asked the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, who wore a calm expression.

“So, what do you intend to do now?”

“I await the Cult Leader’s decision.”

“Me? I already delegated the authority for this matter to the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, so you decide and carry it out.”

This was no empty gesture. In the Bright Cult, the authority to punish elders was a symbol of power granted only to the Cult Leader. By yielding it now, the Cult Leader was effectively empowering the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.

Perhaps understanding that intention, the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult bowed his head and spoke.

“A test is a test. Those who failed should receive punishment accordingly—that would be fair. Since these elders themselves came to me demanding fairness, I believe they will have no objections.”

Spoken with eyes that seemed to promise no mercy if objections arose, there was no one who dared step forward.

Passing over the elders who bowed their heads in agreement, Yul Han fixed his gaze on Iron Demon and called him.

“Chief Elder Iron Demon.”

“Yes. Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.”

“You have already acknowledged your failure in the examination. Do you remember?”

“I… remember.”

“Good. I will deliver the judgment. I order the deposition of Iron Demon from the position of Chief Elder.”

Though he had steeled himself for it, hearing the judgment directly made Iron Demon squeeze his eyes shut. Yul Han’s voice continued to reach his ears.

“Iron Demon will be barred from challenging for an elder position again for one year.”

In other words, after one year, he could challenge again. Iron Demon immediately opened his eyes, burning with renewed resolve—only for the Cult Leader’s unexpectedly cold command to fall.

“According to cult law, one who is not an elder may not attend the elders’ council. Vacate your seat and leave.”