Chapter 48: Real Combat (3)

Was it nearly four months since I last saw her?

Though her figure was occasionally illuminated by moonlight and torchlight, it was still hard to make her out with the naked eye.

But even if I couldn’t see her clearly, there was something I could still sense.

‘Sharp.’

My heightened senses, now more refined after reaching the Master Level, screamed at me.

Told me not to fight her under any circumstances.

‘Good grief, just how strong did she become in that time?’

At last, Cheon Yura’s entire figure emerged from the darkness.

I stared blankly at her for a moment.

It had only been a few months, yet the youthful appearance I remembered from before had all but disappeared.

Now, she was a refined lady and martial artist. She was no longer the Young Cult Leader Cheon Yura I had known.

‘Cult Leader?’

Yes, she now more closely resembled the Heartless Demonic Empress Cheon Yura I had seen for decades in my previous life.

She briefly scanned me from head to toe, then gave a small nod.

“You’ve grown quite strong.”

Coming from her, that was actually a tremendous compliment.

“……”

But still, my lips refused to part, as if glued shut.

While I was still lost in a daze—

“How dare you!”

A voice struck my ears like a blunt weapon.

“I don’t know where you came rolling in from, but this person is none other than the noble Jin Yeomyung of the great Demonic Heaven’s Jin Clan!”

Uh, no.

Hold on, guys?

Jeoksa and Heuksa were pointing their fingers at Cheon Yura, sounding all excited!

“Judging from your looks, you’re probably a senior member of the Thousand-Day Pass, huh.”

“Even if you’re a senior, you should show proper courtesy before the Young Master of the Jin Clan!”

“Courtesy?”

Cheon Yura tilted her head slightly.

“That’s right, courtesy! And you dare stand so stiffly upright!”

“Hmm, standing upright, huh……”

A small twist appeared at the corner of Cheon Yura’s lips.

There was only one person in the world whom the Young Cult Leader needed to bow to.

Were these idiots really not aware they were digging their own graves?

And then.

“You crazy bastards!”

Thwack! Whack!

With something close to a scream from the eldest, Baeksa, the bodies of Jeoksa and Heuksa toppled forward.

Thunk!

After giving a solid smack to the back of their heads, Baeksa grabbed both of their skulls and slammed them into the training ground floor.

“Gah!”

“H-Hyung?”

“You damn lunatics… If you’re going to flaunt your status, at least know who you’re flaunting it to!”

“Oh?”

Apparently, she hadn’t expected anyone to recognize her identity, as she looked at Baeksa with a surprised expression.

“I-It’s an honor to see you, Young Cult Leader! I’m Baeksa, newly assigned as a subordinate to Jin Yeomyung!”

“Y-Young Cult Leader?!”

“Seriously?!”

Shock contorted the faces of Heuksa and Jeoksa.

Baeksa ignored his stunned younger brothers and kept bowing his head repeatedly.

“Please, I beg you to forgive my younger brothers’ rudeness with your generous heart! At times like this, we should be bowing even lower, but it seems they got too carried away in their excitement. I will thoroughly re-educate them so something like this never happens again!”

Baeksa pleaded with heartfelt sincerity. Cheon Yura, who had been quietly watching, turned her gaze to me.

“You took these men in as your subordinates?”

I shrugged.

“They swore to lay down their lives for me. I figured they deserved at least one chance.”

“Well, if even one of them has a working pair of eyes, that’s something.”

Only then did Jeoksa and Heuksa realize the gravity of what they had done and pressed their faces to the ground.

“P-Please forgive us!”

“Since I was the one who showed up unannounced, I won’t hold your rudeness against you this time.”

“Thank you, Young Cult Leader!”

All three of them bowed deeply with faces full of gratitude. At least they had enough awareness to quickly back off and clear the training ground.

Cheon Yura fixed her gaze directly on me.

“So? You still haven’t properly returned my greeting.”

“That’s true.”

I formed a fist and palm salute and lowered my head slightly toward her.

“It’s been a while, Lady Cheon Yura.”

“Indeed.”

Only then did she give a faint smile.

“No guards—what brings you here alone?”

At my question, Cheon Yura shook her head.

“It’s not that there are no guards. You just couldn’t sense them.”

If even I, with senses honed to the Master Level, couldn’t detect them…

“Grand Protector?”

“Yes. Still as sharp as ever.”

Cheon Yura smiled, seemingly pleased that I had guessed right.

‘She feels so much more composed now.’

Unlike her previously impulsive and prickly demeanor, there was now a calmness to her attitude.

Conversely, her presence was even sharper than before.

Which could only mean one thing—

‘Did she really break through to the Peak Master Level?’

If so, that would make her growth rate one of the fastest in history.

No, wait. That wasn’t the pressing issue right now.

“Then, with guards accompanying you, what brings you here?”

“I heard you’ll be heading to Qinghai soon.”

“So you’ve placed eyes and ears here.”

Of course, the Cheon Clan’s eyes were everywhere, but I hadn’t expected even matters within the Thousand-Day Pass to be reported to her.

“Well, you could become my husband. Wouldn’t it be strange not to take an interest?”

…Huh?

“What did you just say?”

In that moment, I was so shocked that my inner thoughts slipped out aloud.

“Why? You don’t like that I’m interested in you?”

“No, it’s not that, but…”

No matter what, I hadn’t expected Cheon Yura to come straight at me like this.

“I came here to ask you one thing.”

She came all this way just to ask me a question?

“Grand Protector.”

“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”

Ssshhk—

Before I knew it, a middle-aged man with a rugged beard had appeared behind Cheon Yura.

It was the Grand Protector, Crimson-Faced Battle Demon—Wang Cheongeol.

‘As expected of a peak demonic expert. I couldn’t detect him at all when he was hiding intentionally.’

“Pardon me.”

The Grand Protector gave me a slight nod.

Then he promptly created a vast soundproof barrier around me and Cheon Yura.

‘She’s going this far?’

I realized it instantly.

It might just be a single question, but depending on what it was, my relationship with Cheon Yura could completely change.

With that, all sound from around us disappeared.

Inside the silent void, Cheon Yura finally opened her mouth.

“Jin Yeomyung.”

“Yes, Young Cult Leader.”

“I’ll ask you just one thing.”

She repeated that she would ask me one question—Cheon Yura was clearly hesitating over how to phrase her words.

But her hesitation didn’t last long.

“Do you know of a group called the Heaven-Defying Society?”

“……”

My mind went completely blank for a moment.

“The Heaven-Defying Society, you say?”

“Yes.”

Heaven-Defying Society (반천회). In my past life, it wasn’t them who destroyed the Cult—it was the Orthodox-Demonic Murim Alliance. But the Heaven-Defying Society was believed to be operating not only behind the Alliance, but potentially all across the Central Plains.

‘Why is their name already coming out of Cheon Yura’s mouth?’

It’s too early.

Far, far too early.

‘Wasn’t it supposed to take at least twenty years just to catch their trail?’

If the Young Cult Leader already knew of their existence…

The upper echelon of the Cult? No.

‘The Cult Leader already knows about them!’

Unless that was the case, this situation wouldn’t make sense.

And so, what I had to say was already decided.

“I don’t know them.”

“You don’t?”

“Just from the name, it sounds like some treasonous faction—but does such an unofficial group exist within the Cult?”

“……”

Cheon Yura stared silently into my eyes.

As if trying to determine whether I was telling the truth.

“You really don’t know?”

“Hmm. From the way you ask, it sounds like I should know.”

“I see…”

Was that the final blow?

“If that’s your answer, then… very well.”

Cheon Yura turned her back.

“Pardon the intrusion. I hope your mission in Qinghai ends well.”

Her reaction made it clear she was angry.

I let out a sigh internally and called out.

“Young Lady Cheon.”

“What is it?”

“Even if such people do exist, they’re not the kind of people you need to concern yourself with.”

“Why not? I am the Young Cult Leader of the Cult.”

“Precisely because you are.”

Her head turned slightly as she faced away from me.

“The great matters of the Cult are for the Cult Leader and the Elder Council. Lesser matters are the responsibility of us ordinary cultists.”

“…‘Us’?”

“Yes, people like me.”

I placed a hand over my chest and said,

“The Young Cult Leader’s duty is to prepare to inherit the leadership of the Cult. Please devote all your attention to that and that alone.”

“What if I insist on knowing, no matter what?”

If she truly pressed me like that, I would have no choice but to answer.

But—

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

“……”

At those words, she fell silent.

I had braced myself for her to say something like, ‘Who do you think you are?’ or ‘You dare speak like that to me?’

But strangely enough, she didn’t react to that single line.

For a while, an awkward and tense silence hung in the air.

Until she broke it by turning back to face me.

“Very well. If that’s what you say.”

Her tone was similar to before, but noticeably softer.

“I’ll return later. Seems I need some time to sort out my thoughts.”

“Young La—”

Before I could finish my sentence, Cheon Yura’s figure vanished into the darkness.

‘I thought she would press harder about the Heaven-Defying Society, but… unexpected.’

Given her sharp mind, she had probably guessed that my recent actions were somehow related to the Heaven-Defying Society.

Which must be why she had come—to confirm it.

‘Not yet. She must not know yet.’

Not at this time. And not while I still had a say in it.

She was still too early in her journey to face the truth.

‘If possible… I hope she becomes a Cult Leader loved by all, unlike in the past life.’

I had planned to pave the path for her early, so she’d never even have to worry about those kinds of people.

Now that I thought about it, perhaps the reason she’d leaned toward becoming closed-off and authoritarian in the past was because she had recognized the threat of such enemies far too early…

“Hmph.”

“Ah! You scared me!”

Grand Protector Wang Cheongeol suddenly appeared before me, cutting off my train of thought.

I hurriedly cleared my throat and asked,

“You haven’t left, I see. Is there something you need?”

Just as his title “Jeokmyeon” (Crimson-Faced) implied, even in this darkness, the reddish hue radiating from his face was clearly visible.

He was glaring at me with eyes wide open, and the pressure he emitted was no joke.

No, he was even releasing a killing intent.

“I don’t know what you two talked about, but I do know one thing—you rejected the Young Cult Leader’s goodwill.”

“You were eavesdropping?”

“Of course not. A mere servant does not have the right to eavesdrop on their master’s conversation.”

Goooooo—

The killing intent from this peak-level demonic expert wrapped around my entire body in an instant, locking my movements in place.

But even so, I wasn’t weak enough to shrink away just because of some killing intent.

“Do you have something you want to say?”

“Oh?”

He looked genuinely surprised that I was able to withstand his pressure.

“I only have one question to ask.”

The Grand Protector spoke with a quiet yet piercing gaze.

“Why did you lie to her?”

“And what makes you so certain I lied?”

“There are truths one can know just from the circumstances. I’ve been by the Young Cult Leader’s side since she was in diapers. That’s how well I know her changes—I dare say better than anyone else.”

I gave a bitter smile inwardly.

‘A true loyalist, huh.’

Well, he really was. If someone in the Guardian Hall so much as breathed the word betrayal while he was active, they would’ve had their skull crushed on the spot.

“So answer me. Why did you hurt her feelings? Why did you insult her heart?”

“Because it was the better choice for Young Lady Cheon.”

“The better choice?”

“Yes, and… she is not so weak that she would be wounded by something like this, Grand Protector.”

I had watched her for just as long as he had, if not longer.

“You, more than anyone, should not insult her.”

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