Chapter 169: Summoning of the Seven Elders Council (3)

“Two places?”

“Well, that’s not something you need to know right now.”

I slowly stood up as I spoke.

“Myeong-oh.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“While I buy us some time, go rescue Gu Chil. Think you can do it?”

“Uh, I’m not exactly sure where he is…”

At his words, I pointed my chin at So Cheon.

“This guy will guide you.”

“W-Wait, what?! Why me!”

So Cheon flinched and stepped back in alarm.

“You think I’d let someone with your talents just sit around? Don’t tell me you were planning to slip away like a rat after giving some intel?”

“I mean, that was the plan.”

So Cheon puffed out his chest confidently, clearly unfazed by the guilt.

I chuckled and threw out the bait I’d prepared.

“I can get you out of your five-year service in the Ghost Command Unit Squad.”

“…What?”

So Cheon froze, his expression blank. Judging by the look on his face, there was no way he was going to turn me down.

“Of course, you’ll have to earn it. Just playing the role of a guide isn’t going to cut it.”

“I’ll work like a dog.”

With a shameless grin, So Cheon dropped flat on the floor in a deep bow, even impressing me with his brazenness.

“But… can you really get me out?”

“I just need to speak directly to the Cult Leader. I’ve got that much pull.”

“Loyalty!”

A truly consistent bastard.

As So Cheon stood back up, he suddenly said something totally out of the blue.

“Well then, let’s go rescue Byeok hyung before his chastity is in danger.”

“Wait, chastity? What are you talking about—”

“…What did you just say?”

Before I could finish my sentence.

A chilling frost, like the breath of an ancient glacier, swept out from the side.

“So Young Master Cheon, what did you just say?”

“Uh? I-I said Byeok hyung’s chastity might be in danger…”

“Don’t tell me… is it that damned bug So Soryu again?”

‘…Her tone when talking about So Soryu just keeps getting worse by the day.’

It was the first time I’d seen Myeong-oh stare at someone with such dead eyes.

This was beyond the art of an emotionless assassin… honestly, she just looked insane.

“You know, Soryu noona has always had this twisted love for Byeok hyung.”

“I know. I just don’t get what she sees in Gu Chil.”

“From what I know, there are two reasons. First, when she was growing up in the House of Slaughter, she was under Byeok hyung’s protection.”

“And the second?”

“She was originally supposed to be Byeok hyung’s arranged spouse.”

“…Ah.”

Given that kind of background, it wouldn’t be strange for some warped love to take root.

‘But from Gu Chil’s perspective, it must’ve been absurd. At the time, she would’ve been more of a toddler than even a kid.’

A girl he raised more like a daughter than a little sister suddenly grew up and started coming onto him—just how bewildering must that have been for Gu Chil?

Of course, if you just looked at the surface now, they kind of looked like they matched, but still…

“My lord?”

“Y-Yes?”

I answered reflexively in formal speech without realizing it.

Thankfully, Myeong-oh didn’t seem to have Gu Chil’s level of perceptiveness and didn’t call me out on it.

“So Soryu… can I kill her?”

…It wasn’t that she lacked tact, she just didn’t have the mental space to focus on anything else.

The expression she wore, as if saying she’d commit insubordination if I didn’t give permission, was downright terrifying…

“No. Restrain her if possible. We can’t just go around killing direct bloodlines of the So Clan who even have claims to succession.”

No matter how much we’re acting in self-defense, there had to be some limits.

“…Understood.”

Myeong-oh nodded like she had no other choice.

Still, I glanced over at So Cheon, worried.

Click!

Of course, sharp as ever, So Cheon gave me a thumbs up to ease my concerns.

‘He really is useful.’

He’s destined to earn a king-level title in the future, and honestly, the fact that he managed to neutralize a high-level clash despite only being at the early Master Level was worthy of praise.

‘Yeah, someone like him shouldn’t be rotting away in the Ghost Command Unit.’

When I negotiate with the Cult Leader and Murder Demon, I’ll have to ask them to assign him under me.

‘I’ll work him to the bone.’

While I was chuckling wickedly to myself—

“Oh, right. Myeong-oh.”

“…Wh-What?”

“There’s something I’ve been really curious about…”

“What is it?”

So Cheon hesitated for a moment, then asked hesitantly.

“Where the hell did you hide the key to Heaven of Sacred Spirits? I searched every place you might’ve used, but couldn’t find even a trace of it.”

“Well, of course.”

If someone like him had been able to find and steal it, he wouldn’t be a master thief—he’d be the God of Theft.

“I even found that erotic book you hid in the Grand Heir’s secret chamber…”

Wait… what did he just say? No, what the hell?!

He found something even worse than the key to Heaven of Sacred Spirits!

‘I… I have to kill him…!’

If that erotic book were to fall into Cheon Yura’s hands, I’d be dead, no question!

“Y-You really didn’t have to say that! I-It was just a random thought!”

So Cheon backed away in a panic, clearly sensing my killing intent.

“What did you do with those?”

“O-Of course, I put them back where they were?”

“…Right.”

I let out a deep sigh of relief from the bottom of my heart.

Moved by his restraint, I was even willing to tell him where the key had gone.

“The key to Heaven of Sacred Spirits is no longer in my possession.”

“Oh, really?”

His voice dropped in disappointment at my vague answer.

“It ended up in the hands of someone I trust the most… and who’s also the strongest.”

“…Huh?”

I didn’t know what exactly the key to Heaven of Sacred Spirits could do.

…That Yin-Yang Fist Demon willingly chose to commit suicide, so there must be something truly enormous that could be gained.

But treasures can only be protected by those with strength to match.

I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I could guard the Key to Heaven of Sacred Spirits forever—not while I was still surrounded by enemies on all sides.

If I’d kept carrying it around, this guy right in front of me might have stolen it at any moment.

“The strongest… don’t tell me?!”

So Cheon’s eyes widened as he grasped exactly what I meant.

***

“You’ve truly given me a precious gift, little brother.”

The Cult Leader gave a hollow chuckle as he gazed at the radiant orb in his hand.

“If he found out that the key he’s been looking for landed in my hands… I wonder what kind of face he’d make. I’d love to see it.”

In the past, all he could do was retreat after failing to win.

Now, he had the confidence to win, but that man likely wouldn’t appear until the moment he ascended.

‘Still, with this… maybe I can draw him out at least once?’

The Cult Leader pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

The one who grows impatient always loses.

Now that he had the best card in hand, he just needed to wait for the right opportunity.

For now, it was time to support the path his heir had chosen.

“Are you serious, Cult Leader?”

Everyone in the Seven Elders Council, except for the absent Fifth Elder, stared at the Cult Leader.

Even the Left Guardian, currently disguised as a Third Elder, showed surprise.

They all understood now that the Young Cult Leader’s announcement hadn’t been made on a whim.

The Cult Leader stood, the Key to Heaven of Sacred Spirits in hand.

“Yes. Our Cult shall break its long silence and advance into the Central Plains.”

“On what grounds?!”

The Sixth Elder’s shout echoed through the chamber, but the Cult Leader responded with a sneer.

“Grounds? Is this really the time for you all to argue about that? I’ve opened the path you’ve all desired your entire lives—to the Central Plains.”

“That’s not the issue here!”

Everyone knew that power struggles were fundamentally battles of justification.

“If you charge in like this, those self-righteous hypocrites of the Orthodox Factions will band together like a pack of wild dogs! Are you planning to rule the Central Plains with a force that’s been torn to shreds?!”

The Sixth Elder at least had a sense of realism.

No matter how much the Cult had flourished since the era of the First Heavenly Demon, going head-to-head with the Central Plains was still suicide.

“This kind of rash declaration only gives those rats lurking in the shadows an opportunity—why can’t you see that?!”

The Sixth Elder turned toward the true leader of their faction, someone who now effectively led the Seven Elders Council in place of the once-hostile Second Elder.

“Second Elder! Say something! We must stop the Cult Leader’s rampage…!”

The Sixth Elder’s voice gradually trailed off.

“Second Elder?”

“……”

Cheon Ja-seong, the Iron-Blooded Demonic Warlord, whose authority now rivaled that of the Cult Leader, stood frozen.

His eyes were fixated on the orb in the Cult Leader’s hand, unmoving.

The Cult Leader watched his reaction and sneered.

“Heaven of Sacred Spirits was said to be a river that flowed through the center of the battlefield where the two mightiest beings of the Mythic Era clashed.”

“……”

“This Absorbing Qi Orb is the key that allows one to reach that domain and at the same time…”

“T-That thing…”

“It holds the power to transform a mixed-blood into a pureblood—an overwhelming power of transcendence.”

“Give it to meeeeee!!”

The Second Elder, like a drug addict experiencing withdrawal, suddenly burst forth with internal energy and charged the Cult Leader.

“S-Second Elder?!”

“What the hell are you doing?!”

KWA-KWA-KWANG!

“…What?”

A thunderous explosion erupted from the highest seat reserved for the most noble figures of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

Naturally, everyone—including Cheon Yura—froze in shock.

A few moments later.

Fwooooosh!

As the dust from the blast cleared, the figures of the Cult Leader and the Second Elder locked in a standoff were revealed.

“S-Second Elder?!”

“Why are you attacking the Cult Leader?!”

There wasn’t a single person here who wasn’t a martial expert.

Just from the residual traces left in the air, everyone immediately realized who had attacked whom.

“I had a suspicion that there might be a traitor among the Seven Elders Council… but I never expected it to be the leader himself. Or… maybe I should be thankful it’s only one.”

“Kh! Khhhh! Khk!”

“For even a peak-level expert like you to lose your mind in an instant… this hand the young one passed to me truly is remarkable.”

“Give it back…! Give it to me!”

The Cult Leader didn’t respond.

Instead, he turned to the Sword Demon sitting lower down in the chamber.

“What do you think? Now that your son’s true enemy stands before you, won’t you take action?”

The Sword Demon scoffed.

“Don’t try to push this onto the Sword Clan. Just keep your end of the bargain.”

He clearly didn’t intend to stop with just the Fifth Elder’s head.

But neither did he want to dirty his own hands in a public setting like this and become a target.

“Is that so?”

“GIVE IT TO MEEEEEE!”

“In all likelihood, as long as I lived, there would’ve been no way to find definitive proof.”

The Cult Leader’s other hand moved fluidly.

“So I abandoned the beliefs I’d clung to my whole life… and built this stage.”

– Heavenly Demon Seal.

“…Huh?”

At some point, the Second Elder was just blankly staring at the giant palm descending from the sky.

The moment he saw it, his runaway mind began to regain some clarity.

Just like Sun Wukong gazing up at the Buddha’s palm.

Realizing the insurmountable gap, the Second Elder slowly let his arms drop.

KWAANG!

An overwhelming gap, like a Master-Level martial artist effortlessly subduing a third-rate one.

The Sword Demon, who had shown no prior interest, suddenly appeared next to the Cult Leader and asked,

“Is he dead?”

“No. I can’t just kill him without cause.”

“Why not use the power of that artifact again?”

The Sword Demon had immediately understood that the Second Elder’s sudden frenzy was due to the strange orb in the Cult Leader’s hand.

“I wish I could. But it’s not something that can be used so frequently. That’s not its purpose to begin with.”

“…That’s all well and good,”

The Sword Demon crossed his arms and stared at the Cult Leader with suspicion.

“But do you truly intend to conquer the Central Plains?”

“Hahaha, you really are a demon to the core.”

“Answer seriously.”

“That’ll depend… on how that little one from the So Clan ends up.”

The Cult Leader turned his head slightly as he asked,

“Are the negotiations ready, Murder Demon?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep