Chapter 78

At dawn, I received a letter from Gal So-ye.

It said to come to the Strategist’s Office before going to training.

Only half awake, I got ready in a rush and left Hidden-Cloud Pavilion.

Gal So-ye greeted me looking even more exhausted than yesterday.

She said that since she was staying up all night with work anyway, she’d taken the chance to draw up a plan.

And when I heard it, the plan was complicated, but capable of producing a correspondingly devastating result.

There were two things that bothered me.

First, it looked like the more complex it was, the lower its chances of success. Second, I had to personally carry out the most critical and dangerous part.

‘She wants me to walk into the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan on my own…’

Gal So-ye had given me a terrifying demand.

To face Heuk Jin-pung inside the Heuk Clan itself.

Honestly, I didn’t want to do it in the slightest, but what choice did I have?

If I wanted to remove Heuk Jin-pung right before my eyes, the only option was to do as Gal So-ye said.

‘She said I just have to do three things.’

I climbed into the carriage and headed toward the Hundred Succession Heuk Clan’s territory.

On the way, I went over my task.

First, focus all of the Hundred Succession Heuk Clan’s attention on me so they have no room to worry about anything else.

Second, provoke Heuk Jin-pung until his reason is on the verge of shutting down.

Third, throw out the critical bait.

Gal So-ye said that if I carried out these three things, the plan’s chance of success would go up by about twenty-three point five percent.

Not twenty percent, not twenty-five, but exactly twenty-three point five.

I knew Gal So-ye was extremely sharp, but it hurt her credibility a bit. It felt like she was so tired she was just saying whatever.

“Haaaah.”

I sighed, feeling stifled, and caught sight of Im Yeon opposite me.

She was so tense that her whole body looked stiff as stone.

“Don’t be so scared.”

At my words, Im Yeon flinched in surprise.

“Y-yes. But are you really all right, Young Lord?”

“I’m completely relaxed. To the point I could yawn.”

“Your face has been pale ever since you left the Strategist’s Office, though…”

“…Really? That’s just b-because I’m excited. Something entertaining is about to happen.”

“Ahh. That’s exactly what I would expect of you, Young Lord.”

Im Yeon’s eyes were instantly filled with admiration.

In truth, there was no need to be that afraid of visiting the Hundred Succession Heuk Clan.

I had already set up safety measures.

After leaving the Strategist’s Office, I made a fuss about my destination.

By now, even the neighborhood dogs probably knew that I was going to the Hundred Succession Heuk Clan.

No matter how recklessly Heuk Jin-pung behaved, he could not harm me in a situation where all eyes were on us.

Of course, there is no such thing as ‘never’ in this world.

That was why I told the Heavenly Demon as well.

–Has Heuk Jin-pung blown up his courage or what? He actually mobilized the Heaven Rebelling Society! As Master’s greatest disciple, I can’t stand this anymore. As soon as today’s training is over, I’m storming the Heuk Clan!

–Do as you please.

The Heavenly Demon replied in a flat tone.

I deliberately raised my voice.

–I’m going to turn the whole Heuk Clan upside down, so don’t even think about stopping me.

–I have no intention of stopping you.

–Either I die or the Heuk Clan’s clan head does. One of us is leaving there as a corpse. I really mean it, don’t stop me.

–It seems there is something else you want to hear.

–Hehe. You noticed?

Only then did a broad smile spread across my face.

The answer I wanted was something reassuring, like ‘I will guarantee your safety.’

But the Heavenly Demon’s reply went beyond my expectations.

–If you die, I will kill the Heuk Clan’s clan head as well.

–Eh?

For a moment, I doubted my ears.

I appreciated that he would avenge me, but what meaning did revenge have after I was dead?

–Master, that’s not what I meant.

–The Heuk Clan will also pay the price, so close your eyes without regret.

–Wait, I’m not dead yet, you know?

Well, that’s how that went.

Even if he spoke like that, the Heavenly Demon would still take steps to keep Heuk Jin-pung from doing anything rash.

…He will, right?

As we passed through the Hundred Succession Heuk Clan’s domain, countless gazes slammed into the carriage.

Reports that I was heading there were probably reaching Heuk Jin-pung in real time.

When we finally arrived, dozens of the clan’s warriors were gathered at the front gate.

The sharp hostility pouring off them stung my skin.

I stuck my head out the window and spoke as arrogantly as I could.

“Open the gate.”

At my single line, their expressions hardened.

The one who looked to be the highest ranked among them stepped forward.

“What brings the Seventh Young Lord to this place?”

“I have business with your master.”

“And what business is that?”

“Even if I tell you, you don’t have the authority to decide whether I come or go. Just stand there and open the gate promptly when orders come down from above.”

“How impudent! This place is none other than the Hundred-Succes—”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I stopped talking to them and pulled my head back inside.

At that, Im Yeon started making a fuss.

“Your courage is incredible, Young Lord! I was nervous wondering what you would do, but you showed perfect composure, befitting a Little Demon!”

“This is nothing.”

I shrugged and sank back into my seat.

I stayed like that for a while.

Then the heavy main gate opened.

Since there was no word of come in or stay out, I told the coachman to just go on in.

The Heuk Clan’s grounds were absurdly wide. There was a reason they were one of the Seven Demon Houses .

Once we had gone in some distance, another gate appeared.

A warrior standing guard there approached the carriage. Stopping in front of the window, he glared at me and spoke.

“Get down. From here on, you must go alone, Seventh Young Lord.”

“Alone? That won’t do for me.”

I snorted as I replied.

The warrior spoke in a cold voice.

“Are you saying you will ignore this house’s laws?”

“I’ll get down, sure, but I’m taking my guard with me.”

“I clearly said you must go alone.”

“So is part of the Heuk Clan’s rules to leave a man’s guard outside? Or are you scared of my guard or something?”

At my jeering, the warrior’s expression grew vicious.

“It seems you do not understand what kind of place this is. Fine. One person will be permitted.”

“Now that’s more like it.”

I smiled in satisfaction.

“Come on, Guard Im.”

“Yes, Young Lord.”

I got down from the carriage with Im Yeon.

We passed through the gate and started down a slope when Im Yeon spoke in a resolute voice.

“Thank you, Young Lord. I will surely repay the trust you have placed in me.”

“What trust?”

“You insisted on taking me with you, did you not? To rely on someone as lacking as me… I will lay down my life to protect you, Young Lord!”

“Ah.”

It seemed Im Yeon had completely misread my intentions.

In the Heuk Clan, where masters were as common as pebbles underfoot, whether I took one guard or not didn’t matter.

I had just brought her along because I thought she might feel hurt otherwise.

But I hid those thoughts and gave a big nod.

“Of course I couldn’t leave you behind, Guard Im. You’re my one and only trusted subordinate.”

At that single line, Im Yeon’s face turned as if she might burst into tears any moment.

This was getting a little heavy.

As we followed the path, Heuk Clan warriors began to appear one by one.

The hostility seeping from them was far more blatant than before.

Some spat on the ground, and others hurled curses loud enough for me to hear.

“What kind of face does that bastard have to crawl in here?”

“Guess he’s got a death wish.”

A faint laugh escaped me.

So this was their“world, huh?

I let it all go in one ear and kept walking.

Soon, I found myself standing in what seemed to be the clan’s training grounds.

Seeing the wooden dummies set up in dense rows, it seemed this was mainly where they practiced their fists.

At the center of it all stood Heuk Jin-pung.

For a moment, an unnaturally deep stillness filled the place.

I walked straight into the heart of that silence.

Heuk Jin-pung had his eyes closed.

As if he were forcibly suppressing his rage, unstable energy churned around him like a storm.

‘What a scary mood.’

I swallowed hard and stepped into the training ground.

It was at that moment.

Screeeak—

What had to be a hundred-odd wooden dummies all began to twist at once.

Kwadudududuk!

With a deafening roar, every dummy exploded, hurling splinters in all directions.

Within that spectacle, Heuk Jin-pung slowly opened his eyes.

“Have you come to beg me to kill you?”

His voice was rough and gloomy, like it had been dragged up from purgatory.

I forced myself to answer as calmly as I could.

“No. Who would come here for that?”

“Do you not yearn to have that wretched neck ripped off that filthy body of yours?!”

“You’re barking up the wrong tree. I came to give you a chance.”

“A chance?”

Heuk Jin-pung’s brow twitched.

This was the crucial part.

I had to push him until his reason was on the verge of shutting down so he could no longer think straight.

“Do you know who I met yesterday?”

“Do you think I would fail to track the movements of a worm like you?”

“Then you must also know what we talked about, right?”

“…”

Right, there was no way he could have that part.

I held up four fingers.

“You’ve made four assassination attempts against me, Clan Head. Anyone else would already be dead, or even if they survived, they’d be scared witless. But not me. Out of the generosity of my heart, I’m giving you and the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan a chance to survive. If you refuse it, the outcome will be very, very painful.”

Heuk Jin-pung stared at me, utterly dumbfounded.

He had to be wondering what in the world gave me such confidence.

“Keep spewing your nonsense.”

“There are three conditions. First, the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan admits to all the crimes it has committed so far and accepts proper punishment. Second, you surrender all profits gained by illegitimate means. Third, at a formal occasion, you kneel before me and apologize. As long as you do that, I’ll regard the Heuk Clan’s atrocities as mistakes.”

“You… went insane because you failed to die when you should have!”

It seemed his patience had run out; Heuk Jin-pung erupted in a furious roar.

I knew this would happen.

Even if he were reborn hundreds or thousands of times, those were terms he could never accept.

“I’ll make it so you can’t even breathe!”

Heuk Jin-pung released a sticky, suffocating killing intent.

At that moment, my breath caught and my vision swam.

I felt a pressure like all the blood in my body was flowing backward, but when I circulated the Nine Heavens Demon-Reversing Art, it eased considerably.

It had been about a month since I returned from the Western Outpost.

I was completely different from the time I had nearly died to Heuk Jin-pung in front of the Divine Demon Gate.

In every respect, Nine Heavens Demon-Reversing Art, Perfect Demonic Qi, True Blood Severed Meridians, internal energy, I had made great progress.

I spoke, pretending to be as composed as possible.

“Why don’t you stop there? I still have a lot left to say.”

Heuk Jin-pung’s face stiffened.

He must have been surprised by a situation he had not anticipated.

Instead of withdrawing his killing intent, he only intensified it.

Grrrk, a groan slipped out on its own.

But this wasn’t enough to shut my mouth.

“Is… that all? Hehe… ngh. You’ve made a huge mistake. To mobilize… the Heaven Rebelling Society.”

The moment the name ‘Heaven Rebelling Society’ left my lips, the killing intent vanished as if washed away.

Heuk Jin-pung’s pupils widened, and the faces of those who seemed to know of the Heaven Rebelling Society turned sickly pale.

It was a name that must never be spoken aloud, because it was taboo.

Such was the power that name carried.

“How dare you put that name in your mouth!”

“How dare you make use of those people. Do you not know there are things in this world you must not touch?”

“You’re just spewing whatever comes to your tongue!”

I caught my breath and let out a small laugh.

“You talk like denying it makes the facts false. The Strategist’s Office has already begun an investigation. The Disciplinary Court and the Demon Inquisition Court won’t just sit still either. Do you really think you’ll walk away unscathed after being marked by all three?”

“Silence!”

Heuk Jin-pung shouted in fury and released a wave of Qi.

The wooden shards littered on the ground before him surged toward me.

Shuuk!

I did not dodge and simply stood there.

One among the many fragments grazed my arm, drawing a bloodline.

“Young Lord!”

“I’m fine.”

I raised my palm toward Im Yeon.

Then I grabbed my arm and spoke to Heuk Jin-pung.

“Planning to wipe me and my men off the face of the earth?”

“You think I am incapable of that?”

“If you still have your wits about you, you won’t.”

“You little wretch!”

Heuk Jin-pung’s body trembled.

I was worried he might go on a rampage, but this was a good sign.

Because I could see his reason flying further and further away.

“That’s all I had to say, so I’ll be going now.”

I turned my body.

At that moment, killing intent surged in from all sides like a wave.

“We cannot let the Seventh Young Lord leave alive!”

“We must kill him now, Clan Head!”

Weapons were drawn here and there, furious shouts rang out, and dozens of pairs of eyes poured their focus onto me.

I walked away at an easy pace, leaving all of it behind.

No one could lay a hand on me anyway.

With Heuk Jin-pung standing still, who would dare move first?

‘This should be enough, right?’

I had carried out all three things Gal So-ye had told me to do.

From here on, the Grand Strategist’s role was what mattered.

‘She’ll do well, won’t she?’

My mission inside the Heuk Clan was over, but I still had one thing left to do.

I quickly left the clan grounds behind.

After Baek Su-gyeong left, the Hundred Succession Heuk Clan’s training ground remained.

Among the scattered wooden dummy fragments, Heuk Jin-pung stood there blankly.

The deep furrows etched into his brow seemed to speak for his inner turmoil.

‘Was he serious? Or bluffing?’

He had no way to tell.

The way he had used the Heaven Rebelling Society was extremely covert. There was no way it could be exposed so easily.

But then, how had that brat singled out such a specific name within the vast Divine Cult?

‘Was it Gal So-ye?’

If what that boy said was true, behind Baek Su-gyeong stood the Grand Strategist Gal So-ye.

If she held almost all the Cult’s information in her hands, there was a chance she had discovered something Heuk Jin-pung himself had not noticed.

“…Byeong Woon.”

“Yes, Clan Head.”

“Go to Namcheon Prefecture at once. By any means necessary, find whatever the Strategist’s Office might label as this house’s link to the Heaven Rebelling Society before they do. If you cannot find it, then watch until those Strategist’s Office dogs seize something, and bring it here even if you must slaughter them all.”

“Yes.”

“And check on the movements of the Disciplinary Court and the Demon Inquisition Court. Find out what is in progress.”

“Yes, sir!”

Heuk Jin-pung ground his teeth with an audible creak.

‘You dare look down on the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan? I’ll show you very clearly what the power of the Seven Demon Houses really is.’