Chapter 221: Echoes of the Past (2)
As I resolved to take my revenge, a familiar voice ca from behind .
"Is moping around trendy these days?"
"Ah…"
When I turned my head, Cheon Yura was already standing behind .
She stepped up beside and let out a faint chuckle.
"That guy, and now you too. Both of you wallowing in misery over a future that hasn’t even happened yet."
"……"
Sorry, but she was completely off the mark.
What I was lanting wasn’t the uncertain future, but a ‘past life’ that had already been set in stone.
Well, I was still moping, so I couldn’t exactly deny it.
"So, our dear Yura isn’t like that?"
"What is there to mope about? The deed is already done. So, the ones responsible for it…"
Her eyes chilled to a piercing blue.
"…must all die."
"……"
I often found myself troubled by her straightforwardness, but this ti, I agreed with her wholeheartedly.
"Yeah. They all need to die."
"Oh?"
Cheon Yura gave an amused smile at my words, as if surprised.
Lifting my previously lowered head, I spoke.
"Yura."
"…You bastard."
Imdiately, Wang Cheongeol, who served Cheon Yura, flared with killing intent.
But realizing my tone was more serious than usual, she raised her hand to stop him.
"Speak."
"Let’s say, hypothetically."
"Alright."
"If, no matter the circumstance, I absolutely had to kill soone, how would you treat ?"
"…!"
Shock crossed the faces of both Cheon Yura and Wang Cheongeol.
"Soone, you say?"
"Yeah."
"Are you talking about soone… related to by blood?"
Cheon Yura and Han Mubaek had no current ties, but for so reason, I wanted to hear her answer under that assumption.
"…Yeah."
"Even for you, that level of arrogance crosses the line."
Wang Cheongeol couldn’t hold back and stepped forward.
Those ‘blood relatives’ of the Cheon Clan were less than strangers to her.
But if it involved the Cult Leader, it was a different matter altogether.
"Shall we finish what we left undone yesterday? Reaching the peak of demonic cultivation is comndable, but that bratty remark just now crossed the line."
"……"
Well, he had a point.
At that mont, Cheon Yura’s eyes narrowed sharply as she glared at Wang Cheongeol.
"Silence, Wang Cheongeol."
"Y-Young Cult Leader!"
"Do you dare interrupt my conversation?"
Cheon Yura’s genuine fury made Wang Cheongeol shrink back instantly, his face contorting into a grimace.
"N-no, my apologies."
Like a scolded puppy, Wang Cheongeol bowed his head and withdrew.
"Hmm."
In any case, once Wang Cheongeol stepped back—
Cheon Yura contemplated for a mont, then chuckled and shook her head.
"If it’s my father you’re talking about, I wouldn’t be able to help you."
"…Mm!"
"But I could at least cheer you on. If you defeat him with your skills, he would gladly hand over the Cult Leader’s seat to you, even if it ant dying by your hand."
Even if he were to die in battle, he would have no regrets.
That was the fate of one who stood at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Whether it was the Six Great Demonic Clans or the Cheon Clan—it didn’t matter.
Reaching the stage of a Supre Demonic Being ant just that.
"What if it’s not the Cult Leader?"
"Then it’s even simpler."
She leaned closer, whispering into my ear.
"If it’s anyone else—whoever it is—I could support you unconditionally."
"Even if it’s the Grand Elder, or soone else who supports you?"
"Yes."
"…I see."
Relief washed over , and I closed my eyes for a mont.
Her whispering voice continued to tickle my ears.
"Jin Yeomyung. You’ve done so much for . You devoted your entire life to ."
"I’m not blind. If not for you—if it weren’t for your actions and your heart—my life would have twisted into sothing dangerous and monstrous."
"You changed that."
"You’re mine. But on the flip side, that also ans I’m yours."
Her voice was soft, but there was a firm resolve behind it.
My heart began to pound heavily.
‘This is… no, this is very embarrassing.’
"Since we belong to each other, doesn’t that an we’re one and the sa?"
Thump! Thump!
Cheon Yura, who had been whispering so intimately by my ear, finally pulled back slightly and gave a gentle smile.
"Forever together. Isn’t that sothing you always say?"
"…Yeah."
"So if you end up going to hell, I’ll gladly follow you there."
Damn it. Damn everything.
She looked so beautiful and noble right now, I wanted to throw everything away, even Wang Cheongeol, and pull her into my arms right this second.
Cheon Yura raised her head slightly and turned her gaze aside.
"Of course, I’ll have to take care of the Cult’s believers and a few other things first… So let’s just enjoy each other for, say, a thousand years before parting."
"……"
A thousand-year union.
So she still held onto those words?
"Yeah. Let’s do that."
Ah… to think I got to et a woman like her.
I really was a blessed bastard.
It feels like I’m being repaid all at once for dying without even marrying in my first life.
“Thank you, really.”
“You say the oddest things.”
She shrugged.
Because of her words…
Now, I could kill Han Mubaek without any hesitation.
***
While I was steeped in an unspeakable bliss—
Cheon Yura turned her head and muttered under her breath.
“Before that guy starts strutting around, I figured I’d better mark him a little.”
“…Huh?”
My expression froze for a mont.
Wait—what does that even an?
“If you’d found what you were looking for, it would’ve all been settled by now. That’s a bit disappointing.”
“……”
“……”
I wanted to ask her what she ant by that—
But the ‘dangerous wall’ I’d seen in her smile earlier resurfaced, and I shut my mouth imdiately.
Once again, I rembered: the abyss is not sothing to stare into lightly.
Actually, this Heavenly Demon Cult envoy included so very unexpected mbers.
“My Lord! I sincerely apologize for greeting you so late!”
“My Loooooooord!”
Three Attendants and San Dojeon.
My official subordinates—these guys had appeared here, far from Cheonilgwan!
I nodded in satisfaction at the powerful qi I sensed from them.
“Glad to see you’ve improved. You bastards have grown.”
San Dojeon spoke on behalf of Three Attendants.
“Actually, it’s you, my Lord, who has achieved a far greater breakthrough. Back then, you still felt sowhat like a sky beyond the sky—but now, even that kind of perception is gone.”
“Have you reached the state of Transcends all limits?”
“Hahaha! Supre Demon Realm, you say? Co on now, that’s going too far. Hahaha!”
“Hahahahaha!”
“……”
I quietly enjoyed their goofy antics with a smirk.
Seeing my reaction, San Dojeon murmured to himself with a disbelieving expression.
“…Don’t tell , it’s true?”
I placed a hand on his shoulder as his eyes widened.
“Let’s save that confirmation for another ti.”
Right now, I had to decide how best to utilize the unexpected wild card that was the Three Attendants trio.
“Three Attendants.”
“Yes, my Lord!”
“There’s sothing I need you three to do.”
Currently, the Three Attendants had reached the level of first-rate martial artists.
They could hold their own anywhere, and were approaching the threshold to late-stage first-rate.
Hearing my tone, the trio dropped their smiles and respectfully cupped their fists.
“Whatever it is, we’ll carry it out with our lives on the line, My Lord.”
“Well, risking your lives won’t be necessary…”
I grinned slyly at them.
“Don’t you guys think it’s about ti you changed your epithets?”
“…Huh?”
“The ‘Demonic Serpent Trio.’ How long are you going to keep the ‘serpent’ moniker at your level? Wouldn’t it be nice to have an incident worthy of being called the ‘Demonic Dragon Trio’?”
“Gasp!”
“D-Demonic Dragon Trio!”
Their faces went blank with awe.
Dragon—what an exhilarating word.
Baeksa, the sharpest of them, raised his voice.
“S-so what you’re saying is… you’re planning to put us on a much bigger stage, aren’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“T-then, don’t tell !?”
The Three Attendants had already heard about my plan from the backlines of the envoy.
“The Southern Martial Arts Tournant. You three will participate as the official representatives of our cult.”
“Gaaah!”
Overwheld with joy, surprise, and anxiety, the trio clutched their chests.
Then San Dojeon looked at with a hopeful expression and asked—
“M-My Lord. What about …?”
“Oh, San Dojeon, you…”
I patted him on the shoulder with an apologetic smile.
“There’s an age restriction…”
“Gaaah!”
Just like the trio, San Dojeon clutched his chest and groaned.
“But… I’m still in my thirties…”
“With that face, no one’s going to believe you.”
“Gaaahh!”
To begin with, the tournant was restricted to martial artists under the age of thirty. San Dojeon was never eligible to begin with.
‘It’d be nice if he could participate… but yeah, that’s not gonna happen.’
If San Dojeon did enter, hardly anyone could stop him.
The current San Dojeon I had seen… was on the verge of breaking into Master Level.
“Well, that was fun, but let’s cut it there.”
“…Yes, My Lord.”
The four of them straightened up again.
“The Southern Tournant was originally intended to be a celebration for late-stage righteous sect martial artists, but with the agreent of Namcheon Sword King, the host, it’s going to be a much larger-scale event.”
I raised two fingers to them.
“The Heavenly Demon Cult and the Evil Star Sect will both be participating in that event.”
“Oooh!”
“The first phase of my plan is to wreck the stage built by others.”
Since it was a Murim tournant, a martial competition was guaranteed.
“In short, you’ll be facing the elite late-stage martial artists of both the Righteous Faction and the Evil Star Sect in a martial contest held in Namchang.”
Since it was directly hosted by the Namcheon Baek Clan, there was a high chance that participants would include mbers of the Six Spirit Dragons of the Righteous Sect and the Evil Star Sect’s strongest late-stage cultivators, the Four Saintly Prodigies.
Even if they didn’t show up, the sons and daughters of various famous clans were bound to flock there in droves.
However—
“I-is this really okay? We don’t even have an epithet like the Six Demonic Dragons…”
“Hmm?”
Seeing the dark expressions on the trio’s faces, I tilted my head in confusion.
And soon, I realized the reason.
In truth, the na “Demonic Serpent Trio” was entirely self-proclaid.
If they paraded around with such an unofficial epithet at a major event like the Southern Martial Arts Tournant, they’d beco a laughingstock in no ti.
“Ah, is that what you were worried about?”
I clicked my tongue as I read their hesitant expressions.
It had been overshadowed for a while due to having an overachieving master, but originally, the Three Attendants had quite a strong inferiority complex about being from the bottom rung.
“Brush and paper.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
San Dojeon imdiately pulled out a writing set from his bundle.
I dipped the brush into ink, scrawled briefly on the paper—
-From this mont on, Baeksa, Heuksa, and Jeoksa shall be officially granted the epithets Baekmaryong (White Demonic Dragon), Heukmaryong (Black Demonic Dragon), and Jeokmaryong (Red Demonic Dragon), respectively. Together, they shall be known as the Demonic Dragon Trio.
-Demonic Heaven Dragon Jin Yeomyung, Vice Pavillion Master of the Naming Hall.
Then I stamped it with the Vice Pavillion Master’s seal to complete the docunt.
Without hesitation, I tossed the now official docunt over to them.
“Alright, from this mont forward, your epithets are the Demonic Dragon Trio.”
“Ah… Aaah!”
The eyes of the trio shimred with emotion as they read the contents of the docunt.
The approval from the Pavilion Master could be submitted retroactively later.
As for the Heavenly Thunder Corps' follow-up response, I’d take responsibility.
In the end, all that mattered was the result!
“Now then, since I’ve done this much for you, my little dragons? You’d better—”
“You’d better be prepared if you don’t deliver results.”
Just then, Cheon Yura, who had been quietly watching from a distance, stepped in and cut off mid-sentence.
“Y-Young Cult Leader!”
Step. Step.
She slowly approached the trio—no, the newly dubbed Demonic Dragon Trio.
Tap. Tap.
Placing a firm hand on each of their shoulders—
“Smash through anything that blocks your path. One of you must bring back the symbol of victory to the cult.”
After tapping each one aningfully, she added—
“If you fail to do so, you’d better be ready for the consequences.”
Her warning was bone-chilling.
“……”
“……”
“……”
“Answer.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
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