Chapter 29

Part 4 – Resolve

Yeon So-hyeon, dressed in plain white hemp robes, gave a slight nod.

"So I've heard. It seems he's someone who does good deeds."

"You also possess the same kind of mask and attire, Young Master."

"Are you planning to search my belongings?"

Se-ah   pulled her chair closer to the table.

"Why won't you tell me? Then what was it that you meant when you spoke to me that day...?"

"...Are you the Dark Heavenly Venerable , Young Master?"

Yeon So-hyeon's expression did not change.

Just as before, he calmly cupped the warm teacup, steam curling upward, with both hands.

"...What is this Dark Heavenly Venerable?"

Se-ah  's brows twitched.

She had expected that he would not answer so readily.

"According to the survivors who escaped the Flesh Factory of the Heukgol Sect, the person who rescued them wore a white mask and plain white hemp robes like those worn by scholars."

Yeon So-hyeon slowly took a sip of tea before setting the cup back on the table.

"...Are you prepared?"

Se-ah   tightened her grip on her own teacup.

"As I told you before, I am prepared for anything."

Yeon So-hyeon smiled.

"Prepared enough to accept the deaths of countless innocent people?"

It was the very question Yeon So-hyeon had asked her that night.

"...Ever since that night, I have thought about those words over and over."

Blood enough to alter the mighty current of history.

If the sacrifice of innocent people that Yeon So-hyeon spoke of referred to that...

"Young Master... are you speaking of a dynastic revolution ?"

At the words dynastic revolution, Se-ah  's guard—who had been pretending not to listen while staring elsewhere—turned pale and hurriedly checked outside.

It was a phrase so dangerous that merely uttering it could bring disaster upon everyone nearby.

"A dynastic revolution..."

Yeon So-hyeon chuckled softly.

Mencius said, 'He who destroys benevolence is called a thief, and he who destroys righteousness is called a villain.'

It was rare for Yeon So-hyeon to quote the classics first, but there was never any doubt that he knew them well.

"A cruel villain is nothing more than an ordinary man. Thus, one hears that King Wu executed the common man Zhou, but never that he assassinated a king."

Cold sweat streamed down the guard's back as she listened.

She circulated her internal energy to its limit, vigilantly sensing her surroundings.

Se-ah  , too, felt cold sweat dampening her palms as she asked,

"...Is that the path you spoke of, Young Master?"

The demonic road of the underworld, a realm beyond humanity where mountains of corpses and seas of blood stretched endlessly.

Yeon So-hyeon looked out the window at the warm afternoon sunlight.

"Do you think such a thing is even possible in this era?"

It was an unbearably weighty question.

Not merely because discussing the overthrow of the imperial house and founding a new dynasty was among the gravest of crimes.

"...I fear that question is beyond someone of my station to even contemplate."

Yeon So-hyeon slowly nodded.

"Even if you gathered together the greatest minds on the continent, they would reach the same conclusion."

The empire known as Zhongyuan was simply too vast.

No one had ever even managed to accurately count the number of people who lived within it.

"Since civilization first arose upon this land, has there ever been such a gap between rich and poor? And yet, despite that, the realm has never been more stable. Isn't that strange?"

He continued,

"To speak of revolution in an age like this... it is nothing but sheer impossibility."

Feeling cold sweat trickle down her forehead, Se-ah   asked,

"...Then what is your path, Young Master?"

Yeon So-hyeon rose from his seat and walked toward the window.

As always, his footsteps were leisurely.

Yet Se-ah  's guard recoiled as though calamity itself were approaching. She hurried away from the window and pressed herself against the opposite wall.

She did not even dare turn her gaze toward the inside of the room, instead staring fixedly at the wall.

"I thought about it."

Looking outside, Yeon So-hyeon spoke quietly.

"If enough blood must be shed to change the course of history, must it necessarily be the blood of simple, honest people—people who can no longer endure ordinary lives and rise beneath the banner of righteousness only to die?"

Se-ah   swallowed nervously.

A trace of amusement entered Yeon So-hyeon's voice.

"What if we simply killed that many truly evil people instead?"

"...What?"

"What if, instead of innocent people bleeding, it was only the wicked whose blood flowed in equal measure?"

It was the idea of a madman.

And at the same time, it sounded almost childishly naive.

"...What kind of joke is that all of a sudden? Surely you don't mean innocent people shedding blood in the literal sense."

Flustered, Se-ah   forgot even the formal honorifics she had been using.

The bloodshed of innocents was merely a metaphor for the countless sacrifices inevitably demanded by revolution, not a literal calculation of the number of deaths.

"I'm only speaking hypothetically. Think about it."

At Yeon So-hyeon's casual tone, Se-ah   sighed.

"That's the sort of thing only a child would think..."

She shook her head.

"How could anyone so easily divide people into the righteous and the wicked?"

This complicated world could never simply be divided into black and white.

"And even if you could, by what standard would you judge them?"

Law? Morality?

Those standards changed with circumstance, and above all, every system created by humanity was inherently imperfect.

"And besides, to classify all these so-called wicked people and execute them... First of all, no one could possibly possess the ability to kill enough evil people to change history itself..."

As she continued speaking, her voice gradually faltered.

"...Even if such a person existed, to judge criminals according to one's own will and carry out punishment..."

A grim reaper wearing a white mask.

The master of the Dark Heaven.

The executor of Heaven's judgment.

The one who would bring down black lightning in place of the indifferent heavens and earth.

Before she realized it, the title escaped her lips.

"...The Dark Heavenly Venerable ."

Still keeping his back to them, the mysterious young man smiled.

"I don't know who came up with it, but it's a fine title. I'm sure the one they call the Dark Heavenly Venerable would like it as well."

His smile was bright and carefree.

"I'm simply curious whether that absurdly childish hypothesis—whether the actions of this so-called Dark Heavenly Venerable—could actually succeed, whether such a thing is truly possible."

Only then did Se-ah   understand.

A realm beyond humanity.

A path that transcended human understanding and the laws of men.

A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

A road that built mountains from bodies and rivers from blood.

The Demonic Path of the Underworld.

A path that only a demon who had abandoned his humanity could walk.

To shed, in place of all the innocent and righteous people who should have bled...

And to exact, in place of all the wicked who should have paid for their sins...

"..."

Se-ah   could not utter another word.

Am I truly prepared to hear the rest of his story?

Do I really have the recklessness to step any deeper into this abyss?

She finally understood why Yeon So-hyeon had refused to answer her question about his identity.

She remembered what he had told her that night.

"The fate of you sisters has not yet been decided."

Steadying her muddled thoughts, Se-ah   rose from her seat.

"...Thank you for your words. I, too, have duties to attend to."

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

"You've worked hard."

Se-ah   was about to bid farewell to his back before she spoke again.

"At this point, only the Heukgol Sect's main headquarters remains."

"Is that so?"

She continued calmly.

"Today, a handful of elite operatives and I will head there together with our allies."

"Isn't that dangerous? Geumju possesses the Sword Family's token. Even if they were the ones who attacked first, the Sword Family will not overlook it."

Se-ah   shook her head.

"We won't be entering the headquarters ourselves. Someone else will be taking care of that."

Her gaze rested upon Yeon So-hyeon's back.

"But that doesn't mean we'll simply stand by. Today, not a single remnant will leave that headquarters alive."

Her voice was low, yet filled with unwavering resolve.

"And if the Sword Family chooses to make an issue of that..."

A faint smile appeared on her lips.

"...Then we'll simply have to see."

Though Se-ah   was not a martial artist, she possessed a spirit every bit as imposing as one.

"After all, it's not as though we'd be fighting the entire Sword Family. We'd only have to deal with the one who granted Geumju that token, wouldn't we?"

Yeon So-hyeon merely shrugged, indicating he had no objection.

"...We are prepared for at least that much."

Se-ah   picked up the cup that had been hers and drained the now-cold tea in one gulp.

She placed the empty cup back on the table, then bowed deeply.

"...Then I'll take my leave."

"Very well."

Led by the door her guard opened, Se-ah   departed.

Yeon So-hyeon remained standing with his back turned, gazing out the window.

For some reason, to Se-ah  , his figure looked like someone desperately yearning for the warmth and radiance of the sun.

***

The blade wielded by one of the Heukgol Sect's executives sliced through the neck of a bound captive who had attempted to flee.

The prisoner collapsed lifelessly.

The executive spat on the corpse.

"Cowardly bastard...!"

Then he raised his bloodstained sword high and shouted,

"By Lady Geumju's command! Prepare yourselves for Gyoksoe —death before surrender!"

***

Geumju looked at the chief steward, who struggled to find the words.

"...Father refused to send help after all, didn't he?"

"...Yes, my lady."

She had expected the refusal before anyone had even asked.

The true extent of the white-masked monster's strength was still unknown.

No one would casually dispatch precious masters against an opponent whose capabilities had yet to be determined.

And besides...

Their relationship had always been one in name only.

To Geumjil, all of his adopted daughters were nothing more than expendable tools.

Blood dripped from Geumju's tightly clenched fist.

"And... there is also..."

The steward reluctantly repeated the message Geumjil had instructed him to deliver to his adopted daughter.

The moment she heard every word, Geumju's face flushed crimson with fury.

With a shriek, she hurled an expensive ebony table across the room.

It struck a maid in the head.

She collapsed without even managing to scream.

The other maids, trembling with terror in the corner, rushed over to her.

The fallen maid convulsed intermittently as blood and brain matter spilled from her shattered skull onto the floor.

"...Useless trash."

Geumju turned to the steward.

"How many slaves remain at the headquarters?"

The steward hurriedly answered.

"A-As you know, very little commerce is conducted at the headquarters itself, so there aren't that many."

Watching the maids drag away their companion's corpse with eyes full of contempt, Geumju ordered,

"Gather every slave and every non-combatant underground."

"M-My lady... what are you planning...?"

The steward stammered.

"I'll perform the ritual my master taught me."

"...A ritual?"

A ritual?

At a time like this?

Did she mean to hold a ceremony praying for victory?

Or perhaps an exorcism?

Ignoring the steward entirely, Geumju bit into her own fingertip.

...I wanted to avoid using that monstrous secret art my master taught me until the very end.

But she had no alternatives left.

Damn it...

If necessary...

She was prepared to sacrifice every last one of them to ensure her own survival.