CHAPTER 532: EPILOGUE EARTH DEMON (29)

“W-what are you saying right now…?”

Yu Pae’s shoulders stiffened as if struck by lightning. His gaze scattered for a moment, and a sound of swallowed breath was heard.

“I’m not simply looking for a subordinate willing to fight to the death with me.”

The air in the room hung heavy between moonlight and incense smoke.

I took a step toward him.

“My death… after the Heavenly Killing Star manifests, I’m trying to find someone to carry on my will.”

Yu Pae’s dry lips moved.

In his eyes, oddly enough, fear and curiosity were reflected at the same time.

It must have been all the more bewildering because he had never once imagined such a situation.

After a moment he spoke.

“That’s… impossible. What right would I possibly have…”

“Right?”

As the moonlight at the window fell on my face, I spoke in a low tone without a trace of amusement.

“Did I ever have any right? My life was just a short-lived one that drifted like a tumbleweed. Living with a bomb in my chest that could go off at any time. Then I met the Cult Leader and ended up here.”

And I continued firmly.

“And justification can be changed at any time. If there’s the justification that someone will fully inherit my will, procedures can be created and my position can be filled.”

It must have been a proposal he never even dared imagine.

The light of doubt in his eyes deepened.

“Why… why make such an offer…?”

“The reason…”

I went to the window and pressed the cold sill with my fingertips.

“As you know, I don’t have much time. This sickness called Heavenly Killing Star will take me to the sky someday. War or illness, no circumstance will wait for me.”

“…”

“So before that unknown day comes, I want to save as many people as possible. After staying here these past few months, I’ve realized these people are ordinary—they’re not the monsters spoken of in the Central Plains.”

At my words Yu Pae had already clenched his fist.

In his eyes was the will to decide and, at the same time, a heavy calculation.

I pushed further.

If I’d shaken his emotions, now I had to press to the end to create a fracture.

“Does your lord think like me? I mean his beliefs and methods.”

Yu Pae took a deep breath.

Complex emotions didn’t come out of his mouth directly.

When his voice finally came out low, it was tinged with traces of an old conflict.

“…Of course, sometimes I have doubts.”

His voice began to tremble.

“But that isn’t just my lord’s problem. The First Disciple and the Third Disciple have all walked similar paths. Before being a loyal retainer who follows my lord, I was someone who feared what would remain after endless conquest and war.” ℞ἁ𝐍∅ᛒËṥ

His expression grew hazy at the end of the sentence, revealing burdens he’d been suppressing.

He continued cautiously, almost in a whisper.

“So I always wondered: how can the Main Cult avoid being stained with blood? Or rather, what kind of lord would be right for me? The Demon Lord was the one among the three who respected me the most. He sometimes acted in ways I couldn’t understand, but at least he respected my will.”

Yu Pae’s eyes wavered for a moment. Even though he knew confessing his unease was dangerous, he couldn’t stop.

The more I wanted to deny my words, the more he revealed his own desires.

“So as long as I have my lord’s trust, I think he will listen to my opinions someday.”

I looked at him for a while.

The smell of dust drifting in the room brushed the tip of my nose.

“How strange.”

When I looked at him with curiosity, his gaze fixed on me.

“If the Demon Lord truly trusts you, no—if he trusted you…”

“…”

“Why would he entrust you with the mission to eliminate a Supreme Demon Warrior whom you cherish?”

Yu Pae’s face hardened.

A brief silence. A faint light of conscience seemed to show in his eyes.

“That was… an unavoidable choice.”

“It may have been unavoidable. But tell me this: can you guarantee such a situation will never come to you as well?”

“Well…”

Yu Pae hesitated.

Drrrk.

I pushed my chair under the desk and spoke.

“And let me make one thing clear. What I’m asking isn’t for you to say the Demon Lord is wrong, nor to betray him. I only want you to uphold your own beliefs.”

“…What?”

“Think about it. If joining hands with someone who worries about the Main Cult’s future and hopes people don’t die is called betrayal, then did you lie to me, or are you deceiving yourself?”

“That is…”

Yu Pae stammered. His eyes wandered with confusion and bewilderment.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just be honest with me? To say you chose the Demon Lord for your own safety, that the respect of your lord mattered more than many lives. If so, I’ll withdraw my hand toward you without regret.”

“…”

“But if you truly care about the safety of the people of this Main Cult…”

I looked at him and finished decisively.

“Join me. Even if I fail to achieve my goal and die, you will succeed me.”

At my words, Yu Pae’s eyes widened. His mouth gaped open. He seemed unable to make a sound.

He must have understood the meaning of my words.

I waited for him to recover from the momentary shock.

And when some clarity returned to his eyes.

“Yu Pae, the situation is changing.”

I added the remark to change the subject.

“Ma-gon’s death is shaking the board. You know what I mean, right?”

“…”

At the notion that the situation was changing, Yu Pae nodded slightly.

He must also know there’s no time and that fiery calamity will strike somewhere soon.

“What future does the Fourth Disciple dream of?”

Finally Yu Pae asked me.

His voice held serious curiosity rather than defensive calm.

“To end the war with minimal sacrifice. For that, overwhelming power is necessary.”

I closed my eyes, took a breath, and looked at him again.

“If I cannot leave that power behind, at least my will must be continued.”

“Why me of all people?”

Yu Pae’s question carried not mere curiosity but a sense of testing himself.

“When I look back, it was only you.”

I nodded and said.

“Someone who values life yet can bear painful decisions to the end. Someone who would find meaning in the path I’ve walked.”

After a short pause I continued.

“It was you.”

Yu Pae’s eyes shone faintly. He did not answer directly with yes or no.

With that, the two of us left the room together.

----------------------------------------

On the way from the headquarters to my lodgings, I reflected on the life I’d had here so far.

This world, modeled after a training simulation but originally existing.

I dreamed of a life peacefully mingling with people.

And I wanted to save those who died unjustly and had to live sad lives.

But after staying awhile, I felt I didn’t belong here.

After experiencing countless lives, now I only had the realization that things should be this way.

In truth, I had no strong motivation for living.

So those I couldn’t save in countless repeating lives.

Having returned those sad, wronged lives to their rightful state, I was unsure what to do next.

‘Maybe that was for the best.’

More than anything, the question of who should lead the Demonic Cult in the future inevitably followed.

Looking back at past lives, it wasn’t the first, nor the second, nor the third.

Someone who loves the Main Cult and does not take lives lightly.

It had to be someone like Yu Pae.

‘I never wanted to become the Cult Leader in the first place.’

If I could give them a rosy future without drastic changes to the world.

Wouldn’t that be enough?

Getting more involved would be a burden on myself.

‘Anyway, now is the chance. If I bring Yu Pae in, I can end the war without fighting.’

Yu Pae himself is remarkable in inactivity, but he also brings backing.

The Blood Death Corps accounts for about thirty percent of the Demon Lord’s forces—a massive army.

If a Supreme Demon Warrior and his forces were to come over, we’d instantly hold the advantage in strength among all disciples.

Then everyone would reach a happy ending.

“Well, well…”

Night had fallen thick and dark.

In the narrow alley marking the boundary between the upper and lower divisions, I felt a strange déjà vu.

“It seems the Great Sahyung has prepared thoroughly this time.”

Figures began to appear one by one from the darkness.

On rooftops, at the end of alleys, beyond walls—black silhouettes were visible all around.

There were easily over a hundred of them. But it wasn’t just a matter of numbers increasing.

This time their momentum was noticeably different.

The first to catch my eye was a figure on a rooftop.

“A pleasure to meet you.”

A low, cold voice cut through the night air.

At the same time, a white vapor rose from his mouth, and a greenish, poisonous aura crawled outward, faintly reflecting the moonlight.

Supreme Demon Warrior Hyang-gae.

He is the leader of the End Demon and someone I often clashed with in a past life.

“What a distinguished guest to see here. Hohoho.”

A seductive laugh floated through the darkness.

Looking around, dozens of women were arrayed like shadows.

Assassins of the Jade Women Hall. The woman who had led them and joined the First Disciple’s forces was Shi Ah-yeong.

‘The End Demon has finally played a decisive move.’

Hyang-gae and Shi Ah-yeong.

They were the very core that the End Demon deployed only for truly important matters in the past.

The fact they were sent here in person was clear in meaning.

They intended to finish it completely here today.

‘And that… what is it?’

At that moment, my gaze caught two shadows standing beside Hyang-gae and Shi Ah-yeong.

Two people wrapped in black cloth, their faces masked.

One looked small and frail like an old man,

The other was even smaller, with the build of a boy.

To hide their identities so blatantly meant there was something they couldn’t reveal.

“You’ve been far too showy. In the end you’ve brought disaster upon yourselves…”

Hyang-gae spoke first. His tone was leisurely, but the killing intent beneath it couldn’t be hidden.

I replied calmly.

“Showy? Isn’t that something I should be saying to you?”

“If you see it that way, then you have seen it correctly.”

Hyang-gae’s mouth twisted.

“This time we’ll give you a rather generous reception.”

“Do you think it will be so?”

I grinned, and Shi Ah-yeong beside him answered.

“It will. We’ve come with clear orders.”

One Supreme Demon Warrior. And Shi Ah-yeong, who is presumed to be his equal.

Indeed, the First Disciple’s captains appearing here was an unexpected development.

‘If Heavenly Killing Star manifests everyone will die—are they using their lives as collateral to handle this?’

A sudden question arose.

The Great sahyung could not be unaware of my Heavenly Killing Star ability. Yet he sent his key people here—does that mean he’s willing to stake their lives as well?

‘Wait.’

At that moment, my gaze returned to the masked frail figure.

No—more precisely, to the even smaller, boyish figure.

An ominous chill ran through me.

It felt as if a shadow of death was staring at me from behind that mask.

“Could it be…”

My lips moved involuntarily.

Nothing was visible beyond the mask, but strangely I felt certain who they were.

“Strange Being Troops?”

At my words, Hyang-gae’s and Shi Ah-yeong’s expressions twisted slightly.

Surprise, and simultaneously exposed murderous intent.

I slowly looked back and forth at the two figures—the frail elder and the boyish form.

“Songhwa, huh.”

Only then did I understand why they had appeared here and why the Great sahyung had even deployed his key people.

I even grasped the reason.