Chapter 385
"Military Advisor."
At Wei Jeong-han's call, Divine Strategy General raised his head.
"No, it's nothing at all."
Though his heart felt as if a dagger had been plunged into it, he couldn't speak of such things before Wei Jeong-han.
"I apologize."
"My dear fellow…"
Before he knew it, the anger had vanished from Divine Strategy General's voice. What remained was not anger, but rather pity.
"Why on earth did you do such a thing?"
"I had no choice."
"You should have at least told me. How do you plan to handle this?"
"If I had been just a little older then, I would have. But at the time, I thought I couldn't trust anyone. The burden I had to carry was so enormous that I couldn't bring myself to speak of it. It was youthful impetuousness."
"…What a pitiful man."
Divine Strategy General clicked his tongue.
"If the Alliance Leader learns of this matter, he won't let you off lightly."
"If punishment is to be given, then I must accept it. I already know full well how great my sin is. However…"
Divine Strategy General quietly waited for Wei Jeong-han's words.
"I may be guilty, but the children are innocent. Especially San-ho, who has grown up knowing nothing until now. For such a child to learn the truth, the shock must be immense…"
Divine Strategy General let out a deep sigh.
'Why did it have to be Wei San-ho?'
The three characters that made up Wei San-ho carried great meaning. Perhaps in the martial world, the symbolic value of the name Wei San-ho was greater than that of Wei Jeong-han.
Though Wei Yan-ho had recently diluted much of Wei San-ho's reputation, Wei Yan-ho was merely a master who had risen in an instant – he hadn't completely replaced Wei San-ho's prestige. That would require time, but time was the one thing they lacked most.
The title of the greatest rising talent in the martial world.
The symbolism of that title might be heavier than even the title of the greatest in the martial world. People always hoped that someone new would appear to shatter the current stagnant situation.
The position of the greatest rising talent in the world was where such expectations gathered. Countless people must have been emotionally invested in those three characters: Wei San-ho.
And now that Wei San-ho was the son of the Great Demon Emperor?
It would have been less shocking if Quan Ji had turned out to be a member of the Demonic Cult.
"But I cannot punish you."
"…Military Advisor."
"It's not because I understand you. To punish you, I would have to announce to the world why you're being punished, and I don't have the confidence to handle that."
Wei Jeong-han bowed his head deeply.
He couldn't help but know what a burden his actions had become for Divine Strategy General.
Even if he returned to that time again, Wei Jeong-han would make the same decision, but he couldn't shake off his guilty feelings toward Divine Strategy General.
"Why did you do it?"
"…"
"I'm asking not as Divine Strategy General, the military advisor of the Righteous Alliance, but as Cho Hyeon, your senior. My friend, why did you commit such an act?"
Wei Jeong-han smiled bitterly.
"I must have felt it."
"Felt it?"
"Yes."
Wei Jeong-han slowly raised his head.
"I couldn't abandon the final request of a friend who was going to his death. At that time, that fellow had truly resolved to die."
Divine Strategy General raised his hand to rub his face.
A friendship between the Righteous Hero Sword of the orthodox sects and the Great Demon Emperor, leader of the Demonic Cult – it was laughable. But that very thing had actually happened.
"I can't fathom how you met him on the battlefield and formed such a friendship."
"…It would be a long story."
"Yes, it would be."
Divine Strategy General slowly leaned back in his chair.
'This isn't something to blame him for.'
Even he didn't know the Great Demon Emperor's face. He always appeared wrapped in thick demonic energy. That was the nature of the demonic arts he had mastered. When he truly unleashed his martial skills, clouds of demonic energy would cover his entire body. How many had trembled in fear at that terrible sight?
So if he had walked around with his face revealed, no one would have known who he was.
"What a waste of the title Great Demon Emperor. To think of it as escapism."
"…"
It was something utterly incomprehensible, yet at the same time understandable. Even Divine Strategy General sometimes felt the urge to put on a mask and mingle among those who didn't know him. The pressure of having everyone in the world recognize you and expect something from you was beyond imagination.
The Great Demon Emperor was human too, so he couldn't have been immune to that pressure. Rather, he must have felt several times the pressure that Divine Strategy General felt in the orthodox sects.
But to think the Great Demon Emperor was seeking escapism.
"What kind of person was he?"
Divine Strategy General couldn't suppress his growing curiosity about him.
Of course, to him, the Great Demon Emperor was an enemy who should be torn apart and killed, but as a human being and as a martial artist, the Great Demon Emperor was someone he couldn't help but admire.
As long as he was a martial artist, that is.
"Well, it's not easy to explain."
"Not easy?"
"Yes. He was… how should I put it… a bit different from what you might think."
"Still, try to tell me."
"You might think it's nonsense."
Wei Jeong-han laid out his thoughts about Mad Blood Demon that were in his mind.
"The impression I got from him was this: a demon who wasn't like a demon. If he had shown even the slightest demonic characteristics, I could never have associated with him."
"That would be so."
Divine Strategy General's face became somewhat bitter.
In the past, it was precisely Wei Jeong-han who had been shunned even by fellow orthodox sect members due to his near-fanatical disposition. If such a person had opened his heart, the other certainly couldn't have had a cunning nature.
"He was always tormented by a sense of burden, but never tried to cast off his responsibilities… He was that kind of person. Though I didn't realize what that burden was."
"If you hadn't known he was a demon, would you have believed him to be a righteous person?"
"He had somewhat decadent and nihilistic tendencies, but I thought his nature itself was upright."
"That's a terrifying thing to say."
"Pardon?"
Divine Strategy General spoke with a hardened expression.
"Doesn't that mean Wei San-ho takes exactly after his father's character?"
"…"
Wei Jeong-han couldn't answer.
Of course, Wei San-ho was different from Mad Blood Demon.
But if he were to stand in the same position as Mad Blood Demon in the Demonic Cult? Wouldn't he become similar to Mad Blood Demon then?
"Such a thing won't happen."
Wei Jeong-han, realizing what Divine Strategy General was worried about, spoke with emphasis.
"That boy is my son. He will never become a demon."
"It must be so. Yes, we must believe that."
Divine Strategy General slowly nodded his head.
But…
Though he was affirming it outwardly, Divine Strategy General's inner thoughts were different. He couldn't tell Wei Jeong-han, but he couldn't deny the possibility that Wei San-ho might turn to the Demonic Cult.
'The very things that seem like they could never happen are exactly what occur in the martial world, my friend.'
Blood ties were something that could never be severed.
Wei Jeong-han was confident because he had observed Wei San-ho until now. But could Wei San-ho, having learned that his father was the Great Demon Emperor, remain the same Wei San-ho as before?
'We can only hope.'
There was nothing else they could do.
* * *
"This is the place."
Wei San-ho looked at the cave before him with sunken eyes.
"You want me to enter here?"
"That's right."
"…How very fitting for the Demonic Cult."
"Kkeul kkeul kkeul."
Great Demon Emperor laughed lowly.
"Entering this place will be an infinite honor for you. Even the High Priests don't all know of this place. Only a chosen few have the qualification to enter here."
"Seeing as you're not accompanying me, it seems you lack the qualification to enter this place."
"…"
"What a pathetic demon."
"That may be so."
Great Demon Emperor didn't get angry. At this sight, Wei San-ho couldn't help but be intrigued. For Great Demon Emperor, with his explosive temperament, to not get angry even after such treatment meant only one thing.
Great Demon Emperor himself acknowledged that he wasn't qualified to enter inside.
'What on earth is in there?'
Wei San-ho looked at the cave with a serious expression.
To drag him all the way to this distant Demonic Cult and have him do nothing more than enter this cave – how could he not be suspicious?
"What are you hesitating for?"
But Great Demon Emperor's voice was perfectly calm.
"You came here seeking the truth. And the truth lies ahead. Will you turn away from the truth before you because of a little fear and doubt?"
"…"
"If we had intended to harm you, we would have done so already."
"…I understand, so there's no need to prattle on anymore."
Great Demon Emperor smiled broadly.
No one in the world would dare use such a tone before him. Only this man could speak with such arrogance before him. Because Demon Blood was such an existence.
And…
Great Demon Emperor clutched his chest.
'And that bastard.'
That terrifying bastard who made his skin crawl just thinking about him.
Even faced with the absolute premise of Demon Blood, that fearsome bastard who made him weigh his options. Recalling that monster's appearance, his face unconsciously contorted.
"Go in."
At Wei San-ho's words, Great Demon Emperor, snapping back to attention, quietly nodded. Then Wei San-ho walked into the cave without hesitation. Great Demon Emperor watched the scene quietly.
"Has he entered?"
A sinister voice came from behind.
Great Demon Emperor didn't bother to turn his head to confirm who it was. Someone who could approach this close while deceiving his senses and who knew of this cave's existence – only one person could satisfy both conditions simultaneously.
"Yes, Blood Demon."
"Keuk keuk keuk keuk."
A low laugh could be heard.
"The wheels of time will begin turning again."
"It must be what He desires."
"Move. Move, Mad Demon."
Mad Demon slowly turned his head.
"Now that Demon Blood has reappeared, there's no longer any need to hold our breath. We will place that Central Plains under our feet once again. You and Gwang Mu-ryang will stand at the vanguard."
"Is it His will?"
"All things are according to His will."
Blood Demon's figure slowly disappeared.
Mad Demon quietly watched his departure.
'All things according to His will?'
A strange sense of alienation pierced through him.
Wasn't it supposed to be "All for the Sacred Fire"?
Mad Demon was called the High Priest with the least loyalty to the cult among the Demonic Cult's High Priests. Such a Mad Demon was now feeling this sense of alienation.
Mad Demon turned his head to look quietly at the cave.
'Perhaps we've crossed a line we shouldn't have crossed.'
Beyond this hellish time, what they would face – would it truly be the Sacred Fire, or…
Mad Demon turned away with a hardened expression.
'We're riding the tiger's back.'
Now that they had mounted the tiger, they couldn't dismount. They could only hope that the Sacred Fire would guide them.
The shoulders of the old High Priest returning to his quarters seemed somewhat drooped.
Most unlike him.