I sheathed my sword and asked quietly.
“What do you consider the perfect line?”
For a mont, complex emotions flashed across First Demon’s face when our eyes t.
At first his hostile gaze wavered. Then ca confusion, and a thirst for realization.
Yet a wary caution still lingered in a corner of his heart.
As if trying to suppress the whirl of feelings, he answered with a hardened expression.
“To reach exactly where one desires without the slightest tremor.”
His voice was full of conviction, but the swordsmanship he’d just seen was causing that certainty to waver.
“Exact according to which standard?”
“I an a standard so that anyone would call it exact.”
“Then who sets the viewer’s standard?”
“That is… us.”
“Us?”
“Well….”
First Demon stopped speaking.
A subtle crack had appeared in the voice that had been so confident monts ago.
Even he, who used the vague phrase ‘us’, suddenly realized its aning was unclear.
I continued so he wouldn’t fall into too deep a quandary.
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not questioning to bite you. I only wanted to understand what you an by ‘standard.’”
I fully sheathed my sword and stepped back.
Seeing First Demon’s shoulders drop a little, I finally exhaled.
“Let give an example. Right now you stand still in that spot. But what about the thoughts of those watching you? Aren’t they looking from their own positions?”
“….”
“If the ‘standing position’ changes depending on those who look at —could that be a truly exact standard?”
“Ah….”
A flash of realization struck First Demon’s eyes like lightning.
Only then did he begin to understand.
The true aning of the sword technique I had just shown.
How individual moves that seed imperfect could form a perfect whole.
I turned naturally and looked at the leaves trembling in the distance.
“Leaves are the sa. If you want to know where a leaf will fall each day, you mustn’t think only from my standard. First you must know nature, understand it, and try to see yourself from their perspective. 𝘳ＡŊ𝐎ΒÈȘ
“…Have you found it, disciple?”
First Demon’s voice carried earnestness.
The earlier suspicion and wariness had vanished; only the pure desire of a seeker remained.
“I was fortunate.”
“What was it? In what way did perfection exist?”
His voice trembled.
A desperate longing towards Supre Demon dominated him.
“The line of perfection, in the end it is determined by my heart rather than soone else’s judgnt.”
“…!”
First Demon’s pupils shifted widely.
It was a statent entirely different from what he’d said before.
“By taking my heart as the standard, I could draw a perfect line I once thought impossible. I was able to integrate it into my martial art.”
I t his gaze again and continued slowly.
“Even the basic movents I had you perform changed. Then they finally achieved harmony in the Cultivation technique.”
First Demon opened his eyes wide at my words.
In his mind, countless pieces of realization were likely falling into place one by one.
“Could it be that place…”
He murmured faintly, and I answered him.
“Yes. That is the Supre Demon.”
“…!”
First Demon gaped in shock; he could not have imagined I had reached Supre Demon.
But other emotions rose as well—reverence, and behind that reverence, a strange fear seeped in.
“Then now I will ask.”
His voice grew sowhat heavy; his tone carried a different caution than before.
“What is the real reason you taught in such a reckless way, even invading my lord’s territory?”
First Demon was now trying to get back to the essential question.
It was natural, in a way.
He wouldn’t assu those who ca here to help him had purely good motives.
“Why, does my goodwill bother you?”
“Whether it’s goodwill or not, I can’t know without hearing the reason.”
I looked at him.
The once desperate curiosity and seeker’s longing had now settled into asured caution.
‘As expected, he won’t be swayed easily.’
I quietly stared at him. It would be strange not to suspect him.
After glancing briefly at the sky, I spoke frankly to him.
“I wanted to win your heart.”
“…Yes?”
He looked completely taken aback.
I continued calmly.
“I thought that if I could win the hearts of the Eight Kingly Iron Demon Warriors, I might gain an advantage in disputes with my sahyungs.”
First Demon shook his head at that.
“That statent isn’t true. We are not such great figures who can change the battlefield.”
“I don’t judge people by force alone. I consider the life they’ve led, their values, and the people around them when I judge.”
“Life, values… people?”
“Yes.”
First Demon frowned; my true intent didn’t seem to fully register with him.
I added one more thing.
“Don’t misunderstand. You — no, you all — fight for the second sahyung. Follow orders, and if I appear before you, cut without hesitation. Just give a grateful heart. That is enough.”
“A heart, you say… what on earth…?”
First Demon’s expression hardened further.
His reaction was one of incomprehension.
Of course it must have been a hard request for him to understand.
‘It may be nothing to so, but not to .’
It had a great aning, a very great aning.
If I gained his heart, I could move the seal token.
“Very well.”
First Demon, after a mont’s thought, spoke.
“If your teaching helps my training and I reach Supre Demon, I will hold a grateful heart. But…”
He turned his gaze to one place and spoke.
“The Eight Kingly Iron Demon Warriors are eight in all. Even if I agree, how do you plan to persuade the others?”
“Do I really have to do that myself?”
“…?”
I answered with a smile.
“If you reach Supre Demon… won’t you share that teaching with your comrades? If they all improve that way, it will an I’ve helped everyone, and thus I would have won their hearts, wouldn’t I?”
“Ha….”
A move he had not expected.
First Demon was speechless.
His expression was a mix of surprise and an eerie feeling.
‘It may be complicated… but there’s no reason to refuse.’
He offers help to reach Supre Demon without forcing betrayal. He only asks for a heart.
And the stronger they grow, the more they will help the Demon Lord.
No matter how you think about it, there’s no reason to refuse.
Then a voice called from the other side.
“Hey, First Demon! Are you there?”
They were other mbers of the Eight Kingly Iron Demon Warriors.
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
I gave a brief nod and turned away quietly. First Demon stood there without another word.
Until I had completely disappeared, he remained standing there with a conflicted expression.
It seed many thoughts still hovered unresolved in his mind.
Clack. I set the teacup down and stared out the window.
Although the scene had been the sa for days, my mind was far from calm.
‘Jeong-yeon and First Demon — two factions are nearly secured.’
I had turned two of the Demon Lord’s core forces to my side.
But it’s too early to relax.
That child, strange one, was soone hard to even locate in the first place.
Moreover, mories of a previous life were vivid.
His mad gaze and unpredictable actions.
‘It would be better not to et him.’
I picked up the teacup again.
The lukewarm tea slid down my throat.
Fifteen days. There was still ti until the deadline Jeong-yeon had ntioned.
But one cannot predict a Supre Demon master’s movents precisely.
The Supre Pavilion Lord and Black Troop Leader Il-su took charge of the operation, but variables could arise at any ti.
I had to watch their backs.
“My lord!”
A hurried voice ca from outside the door.
The secret warrior’s rough breathing hinted at the urgency of the matter.
“Co in.”
Thud.
Sweat beaded on the forehead of the kneeling warrior.
“A ssenger has co. Ma-gon… has appeared at Seventh Hall.”
“Already?”
I rose from my seat. It was five days sooner than expected.
“Contact the Supre Pavilion lord imdiately, and Il-su too…”
I paused and changed my mind.
“No. I will go to Il-su myself.”
On the way to the training hall.
I walked and thought.
‘Ma-gon… a na I hadn’t heard even in my previous life.’
I recalled the Supre Demon warriors under the First Disciple from my mories.
Surely there was no such figure in that era.
Was he killed by Yu Pae, or had he disappeared early for so other reason?
‘All the more interesting. Another Supre Demon warrior,’
Whoosh-
The bamboo at the training hall entrance swayed in the wind.
Inside, only rhythmic breathing could be heard.
“Il-su.”
When I called, Il-su, who sat cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes.
At that mont I swallowed.
‘Look at him.’
His gaze had completely changed.
Calm like a deep lake, yet a sharp sword aura hid within it.
It was the gaze of one who had reached the threshold of Supre Demon.
“Who should I eliminate?”
An emotionless voice. The air of a forr leader’s dignity lingered.
“Ma-gon.”
“…!”
For an instant, Il-su’s pupils trembled slightly.
But he soon cald. His fingers unconsciously brushed the sword hilt.
“…My lord, how much do you know about Ma-gon?”
It was a cautious question.
“Not much.”
“I see.”
Il-su rose slowly. Tension was felt in his movents.
“To be honest, this operation has a high chance of failure.”
“The Supre Pavilion lord will also join.”
“Better than nothing. One proper help is…”
Il-su paused.
He looked pensive, licked his lips, and spoke again.
“It was about a year ago.”
Il-su’s voice lowered.
“Within the First Disciple’s forces, one subordinate fell into possession by Deviation of Demonic qi. He was a recognized Supre Demon warrior, but he fell into qi deviation and was engulfed in madness, and began to rampage.”
I nodded.
Madness by qi Deviation. Usually one becos either a crippled shell or a mad demon.
And if one becos a mad demon, they release transcendent power they cannot control.
“There were a few Peak Demon warriors at the scene. But they struggled to subdue him; a rampaging demon qi is unpredictable.”
Il-su seed to recall that ti.
“Then Ma-gon appeared. And…”
He raised his hand and seed to grasp the air as he continued.
“He placed his hand on the skull of the one consud by deviation. That was the end of it.”
“The end? He controlled the demonic qi?”
“Yes. The rampaging demon qi imdiately subsided, so it seems so. Like… he soothed a child, they said.”
‘A realm of profoundness.’
Those words raised wariness within .
A stage of perfectly understanding and controlling demonic qi.
A realm only those who have peered beyond Supre Demon could reach.
‘Then why is he dead?’
At the sa ti, a strange question arose.
Why wasn’t such a warrior present when I ca?
Was he really killed by the hermitage planted by the Demon Lord?
He was certainly a curious figure.
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