#82: Chapter 82 — The Heavenly Demon's Terminally Ill Youngest Disciple

I opened my eyes under an unfamiliar ceiling.

A harsh medicinal scent stabbed at the tip of my nose.

Am I at Ink-Needle Hall?

“Urgh.”

I tried to push myself up, but my face twisted on its own.

The wounds I had taken from Heuk Jin-pung throbbed fiercely.

I would probably be stuck recuperating for a few days at least.

“You’re unbelievable, seriously.”

At the voice from my side, I turned my head.

Ju Ok-hwa was clicking her tongue as she looked down at me.

“Did you get cursed so something goes wrong if you ‘don’t’ get hurt regularly?”

“It’s not a curse, it’s a blessing. It means I get to see you often, Hall Master.”

“My medical skills ‘are’ quite impressive. I fixed you up enough that you can run your mouth the moment you wake up.”

But even with my glib answer, her expression soon turned serious.

“You were in real danger this time. It’s only thanks to My Lord’s emergency intervention you didn’t cross the Sando River. Do you know there are strange patterns etched into your meridians and blood?”

“Patterns?”

“Traces of something bizarre you did to yourself. Seems you were lucky enough to succeed this time, but you’d better not do it again.”

“It’s fine. I’ve got my master and you watching over me.”

Ju Ok-hwa shook her head like she was genuinely speechless.

“You really are out of your mind. Here, drink this.”

She held out a steaming bowl of decoction.

I blew on it and offered my thanks.

“Ahh, that hits the spot. Thank you, Hall Master.”

“You’ve got it good, Seventh Young Lord.”

“What do you mean?”

“The whole Cult is in an uproar because of you.”

“Sounds like my glorious victory is making the rounds.”

“They’re saying, ‘above Son Wi-tak is Heuk Jin-pung, and above Heuk Jin-pung is Baek Su-gyeong.’”

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

Though it was true.

The corners of my mouth twitched of their own accord, and my shoulders practically rose high enough to hit the ceiling.

In my past life, during those seven years in the Demon Cult, I had always been hunched and small. Now I was being evaluated higher than the heads of the Seven Demon Houses.

If this wasn’t a reversal of fate, what was?

Just as I was getting drunk on the feeling, I noticed Ju Ok-hwa staring straight at me with a faintly strange smile.

“Don’t tell me this is your doing, Hall Master?”

“Do you think people are insane enough to deify you like that out of nowhere? Everyone knows Clan Head Son and Clan Head Heuk clashed first.”

I clicked my tongue.

Well, they all had ears.

“Then why’d you boost me up? Is the effect of that Eternal Snow Blossom still lingering?”

“To some extent.”

Wow. So this was why people gave gifts.

Before, she snapped at me whenever I opened my mouth, and now she was hyping me up on her own.

It was honestly a little hard to get used to.

“To be more precise, it’s a move for the future. I’m putting it out there that you’re someone who’ll accomplish great things one day.”

“Wow. I don’t know where to put myself. Now I’m worried what I should give you for my next present.”

“I’ll trust you to come up with something good. Hoho.”

I snorted a laugh at her joke.

She went on.

“In any case, it’s certain you’ve achieved something huge. No Little Demon has ever shown such an overwhelming trajectory. Maybe that’s why there are people talking about something they call ‘the Heavenly Demon’s Path.’”

“The Heavenly Demon’s Path?”

I’d heard the term before, but I didn’t know the details.

So I quietly listened to Ju Ok-hwa’s explanation.

“Do you know who the greatest eccentric in our Cult’s history is? The Eighth Cult Leader. He wasn’t originally a man of the cult. The Seventh Cult Leader found him while traveling outside.”

“Really?”

That famous Eighth Cult Leader had been a wanderer?

That was something I’d never known.

“The Seventh Cult Leader took him as his last disciple. And of all things, as his ‘seventh’ disciple. Remind you of anyone?”

The tip of Ju Ok-hwa’s index finger pointed at me.

She drew her hand back quickly and continued.

“Imagine how hard it must’ve been. The youngest Little Demon with no background, trying to survive among powerful elder disciples. Yet he pushed through every hardship and became the Heavenly Demon. People think you’re walking that same path.”

A strange feeling welled up in me.

I’d been the one who hated the Demon Cult more than anyone. I’d hated even the idea of being the Cult Leader’s disciple, let alone the Cult Leader himself, enough to run away.

And now they were saying I was walking the road toward the Heavenly Demon’s throne.

Life really was something else.

“By the way, what happened to Heuk Jin-pung and the Heuk Clan?”

“In a word, ruined.”

Ju Ok-hwa summed it up simply.

After Heuk Jin-pung died, Heuk Un-hwi vanished somewhere.

The Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan was torn from within with the direct and collateral lines fighting for the clan head position, and from without by other Seven Demon Houses trying to snatch their interests.

Caught in that double agony, they were plummeting day by day.

“In any case, you’ll be staying here in Ink-Needle Hall for at least three days. You can’t overdo it.”

Leaving that warning behind, Ju Ok-hwa left, saying she had more medicine to mix.

Left alone, I sank into thought.

‘Heuk Un-hwi has vanished and the Heuk Clan is going under, huh.’

I couldn’t ask for a better outcome.

I wouldn’t be seeing Heuk Un-hwi for a while, and the Hundred-Succession Heuk Clan wouldn’t have the strength to bother me anymore.

‘Killing Heuk Jin-pung really was huge.’

I recalled his final moments.

Honestly, it had been unbelievably dangerous.

If he’d completed his Demonization, there’s no way I’d still be alive.

With my current self, I had no way to endure the ferocious demonic qi unleashed by an Extreme Demon realm fiend.

In the end, the only reason I was alive was that technique I’d used at the very end.

That terrifying power of disintegration created by the resonance of two opposing energies.

Like Ju Ok-hwa said, the ideal would be to never use it again, but my journey ahead wasn’t going to be that easy.

‘Especially the Heavenly Demon.’

The calamity at the end of my previous life that nothing could stop.

I had to be ready for when I stood before that overwhelming despair once more.

‘Revolving Annihilation’ sounded good.

Resolving to steadily develop that technique from now on, I gave it a concise name that captured its essence.

While hoping I would never have to use it on the Heavenly Demon.

Three days passed in a flash.

Just as I became able to move about more freely, a letter arrived from Gal So-ye.

Its contents were simple.

She had business with me and asked me to stop by the Strategist’s Office when it was convenient.

“Hmmm.”

It wasn’t hard to guess what this ‘business’ would be.

First, her personal ‘request.’

I had proven my ability on the board she had set. That meant I’d earned the right to hear the main point.

Second, a discussion about what came next.

This incident was big enough to shake the entire Demon Cult. There were bound to be things we needed to talk over.

Things like the internal power structure of the Cult, or the redistribution of influence and interests.

After all, I’d been there at both the beginning and the end of it.

‘I can’t just do good deeds for others. I need to get something out of this too.’

“Guard Im, we’re going to the Strategist’s Office.”

With no reason to drag my feet, I left Ink-Needle Hall right away.

I arrived at the Grand Strategist’s office in no time.

Gal So-ye was buried in an even larger mountain of documents than usual.

Pressing her temples as if she had a headache, she turned her gaze toward me as I stepped inside.

“You came sooner than I expected.”

“When the Grand Strategist calls, of course I come running.”

“How diligent of someone said to be walking the Heavenly Demon’s Path.”

Gal So-ye spoke in a dry tone, but there was a subtle sharpness buried in it.

Typical Grand Strategist, not giving me a moment to breathe when I’d just arrived.

“Are you probing me the moment I walk in?”

“Probing or not, I’m fulfilling my duty as Grand Strategist. You’ve become an undeniable variable in the Cult’s power structure. So I’m trying to grasp how you intend to move from here.”

“I’m not interested in the Cult Leader’s seat.”

“Truly?”

“Yeah.”

“How interesting. I thought you’d have at least some interest. You truly mean it?”

“That’s what I said. Believe it or don’t, that’s up to you.”

“Mmm.”

A meaningful light flashed in Gal So-ye’s eyes.

I was just thinking she clearly didn’t believe me when her expression suddenly collapsed.

“Then could you help me out, please?”

“…Excuse me?”

“It’s such a relief you have no ambition. How about helping with my work? If you’d like, I’ll even pass on the Grand Strategist position to you someday.”

“…Why are you suddenly like this?”

“I don’t know how many nights I’ve stayed up because of this incident. I’m dead on my feet. And my monthly pay is so tiny I can’t even freely buy that Seven-Treasure Dragon King Stew I love. This is all because of you. That damn dish muddled my judgment and I brought this suffering on myself!”

Her complaints poured out like water from a broken dam.

My jaw dropped before I realized it.

Was this really the Gal So-ye I knew?

Ever since I regressed, I felt like I’d been seeing way too many new sides of people.

“Sorry, but I’m not really cut out for brainwork.”

“That’s not true. You have so much talent I’ve been keeping my eye on you constantly. I’ve said this before, haven’t I? That it’s like you know the future. Very few people have both that and the boldness to propose punishing a member of the Seven Demon Houses. If you work with me for two or three years, you’d have more than enough to replace—”

“L-let’s calm down a bit, Grand Strategist. Maybe we could get back to the main topic? I’m actually not fully healed yet.”

Using it as an excuse, I rubbed the spot Heuk Jin-pung had pierced.

Thanks to Ju Ok-hwa I could move around to some extent, but I was far from fully recovered.

Gal So-ye’s shoulders slumped.

“Sigh… So that’s a no?”

“It’s not so much a no as… yeah, it’s a no.”

I started to sugarcoat it, then just gently crushed her hopes instead.

My own matters were enough to make my head explode, and she now wanted me to be the strategist too?

Absolutely not.

Gal So-ye muttered weakly like someone who hadn’t eaten in two weeks.

“Haaaaah. Fine. Let’s get to the real point. First, the Heaven Rebelling Society. They’ve completely erased their tracks. I’ve sent men to search, but I don’t know if we’ll get any results.”

They’d be hard to find.

If there’s one thing those bastards are second to none at in the demonic world, it’s hiding.

“They may target you, Seventh Young Lord, so always be on your guard.”

I gave a light nod.

Of course I had to be careful.

They’d already come after me, and now we had a sizeable grudge on top of that.

“By the way, what do you think of the current Seven Demon Houses system?”

Gal So-ye kneaded her shoulder and tossed out the question like a passing remark.

‘There it is.’

The Heaven Rebelling Society talk had just been bait; this was the real main dish.

I sensed one of the true reasons she’d called me had begun.

Looking at her, I asked back.

“You’re interested in my opinion?”

“Until a few months ago you were an outsider, so you have a more objective view than anyone inside the Cult, don’t you think? And your talents as a strategist are excellent.”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last part. To answer, I need to know what ‘you’ want to do first, Grand Strategist.”

“What do you think it is?”

“You want to change the situation where the Seven Demon Houses monopolize everything. We talked about something similar before, didn’t we?”

More precisely, I had provoked her, asking if it wasn’t time to drain the stagnant water.

“Correct. I intend to increase the Seven Houses to Ten Houses.”

“I see.”

“I thought it was a radical idea, but you’re not surprised at all.”

“It sounds like a decent method to me. The ‘food’ is limited, so if there are more mouths, they’ll fight each other fiercely. And with that many, it’s harder for them all to collude.”

“As expected. You’re very worth cultivating.”

Gal So-ye smacked her lips as she looked at me.

Was the Cult really that short on talent? Why was she so serious about this?

“If the order led by the Seven Demon Houses is shaken, a great deal of chaos will follow. And that chaos could be a great opportunity for you. I’ve heard even low-ranking warriors of the Heuk Clan and unaffiliated people are knocking on Hidden Cloud Pavilion’s doors.”

I had indeed received a report like that from Im Yeon.

Gal So-ye continued.

“We may soon witness the birth of the Baek Clan.”

“The Baek Clan? Oh, come on.”

A hollow laugh slipped out.

“You’re really swinging and missing a lot today. I’m not material for founding a clan. Being backed by the Illusory Hwang Clan is plenty for me.”

“Can you guarantee your relationship with them will last forever?”

Of course I couldn’t, but it didn’t matter.

Once I prevented the Heavenly Demon’s Demonization, I planned to leave the Demon Cult without a second thought.

So I only needed to maintain my ties with the Illusory Hwang Clan until then.

‘Still, I do need people.’

Considering how difficult my goal was, my faction was better off as large as possible.

Of course, that would make the problem of feeding everyone bigger too.

‘Am I going to have to start a business or something?’

Smiling at that silly thought, I spoke to Gal So-ye.

“There’s only one thing I want right now.”

“And what is that?”

“A residence.”

“A residence… you say?”

A hint of puzzlement appeared in Gal So-ye’s eyes.

“Hidden Cloud Pavilion is more cramped than you’d think. I’d like you to use your influence to move my quarters. To somewhere inside the main compound, of course.”

Right now we were crammed into too tight a space.

If I was really going to grow my power like I’d just been thinking, we were going to end up with a lot of people sleeping outside the walls at this rate.

A faint smile played across Gal So-ye’s lips.

“You say you have no intention of founding a clan, yet here you are already worrying about your retainers’ sleeping arrangements.”

“It’s not like that. Living all on top of each other isn’t the worst thing, but if we can, it’s better for everyone to have their own space in a wider place.”

“Of course. I’ll look into whether there’s a suitable place.”

For once, Gal So-ye agreed surprisingly easily.

Normally she’d add and subtract conditions and go on about this and that.

The fact she didn’t bother with all that meant she knew I had the right to demand at least this much.

In any case, this meant I had taken what I could for myself.

As for concrete profits and interests, the Illusory Hwang Clan would handle as they liked.

“Now it feels like only the most important business remains. How did I do on your test?”

“You were satisfactory.”

“Satisfactory? I nearly died though? Shouldn’t it be ‘very satisfied’?”

I widened my eyes on purpose and put on a wounded expression.

Gal So-ye answered calmly.

“Did that hurt your feelings? My standards are very strict. In conclusion, you passed.”