Chapter 16 - I Already Heard Your Answer

That afternoon, Seo Daeryong brought in more than ten investigators from Yellow Springs Pavilion.

As it began to look like a full-scale investigation was underway, the Demon Army soldiers grew uneasy. Rumors spread that we would scrutinize every soldier, starting with Jang Ho.

And that evening, trouble broke out.

I was resting in my room when a Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator rushed in.

"Something terrible has happened. I think you need to come at once."

When I arrived, the corridor outside the investigation room was in chaos. A fight had broken out between the Demon Army soldiers and the investigators.

"Everyone stop!"

I pushed my way between the soldiers and investigators facing off against each other and broke up the fight.

One investigator lay on the floor, bleeding. This was no ordinary beating. Blood streamed from the gashes in his face, and his ribs were broken.

An enraged Seo Daeryong had stepped in, but he had been no match for the soldiers and had taken a beating himself.

"Are you badly hurt?"

"I'm all right, but my colleague is seriously injured."

"Get him to the infirmary at once."

The other investigators carried the fallen man away.

First Squad Leader Go Dang, the instigator of this incident, stood there without a shred of shame.

"Was this your doing?"

"It was."

The demonic martial artists standing around him were all soldiers of the Demon Army's First Squad. Perhaps that was why Go Dang showed no sign of being intimidated. He was enjoying himself, and his subordinates looked ready to snicker at any moment.

"Somehow, this feels like a day when a prophecy will come true."

Knowing what prophecy I meant, Seo Daeryong swallowed hard.

"What's all this sudden nonsense about prophecies?"

Seo Daeryong answered Go Dang's question for me, staring fixedly at his skull.

"Squad Leader Go, it's a prophecy you would never want to hear."

"Then let me make a prophecy for you, Second Young Master. Once you lose the succession struggle, you'll be expelled from the Cult and spend your life sponging off those orthodox bastards in the Orthodox Martial Alliance."

The First Squad soldiers listening burst into guffaws.

Rather than getting angry, I was delighted.

"Oh, what a wonderful prophecy!"

"Wonderful?"

"I lose the succession struggle and still survive, don't I? And I get to live off other people without working for the rest of my life! Isn't living in idle comfort everyone's dream? Thank you so much for that prophecy! I'll start a second life there."

Now that the mockery had been turned back on him, Go Dang's expression hardened.

"Why did you injure the Yellow Springs Pavilion martial artist?"

"He bumped shoulders with me in the corridor. He walked away without apologizing, so I taught him a lesson."

"You must have been the one who bumped into him. And even if he'd apologized, you wouldn't have let him go."

Go Dang smiled without denying it. The soldiers around him smiled too.

"Poison."

Go Dang looked puzzled.

"Poison?"

"Your subordinates. They're poison to you."

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

As long as his subordinates were watching, his pride would never let him back down. In the end, he would rush headlong toward the destruction I had planned for him.

"Go Dang, didn't you kill a Cult martial artist this same way last year? And the year before that, you picked a fight at a tavern and killed three people."

All his victims had been low-ranking martial artists, and the Demon Army had covered everything up before it could become an official case.

"The world is full of dumb fucks who have no respect for their seniors."

He shot me a look that said, Just like you.

"Did you know I was granted something before I came down here?"

"What's that?"

"The authority to carry out summary executions."

At those words, everyone fell silent for a moment.

Go Dang, however, merely scoffed.

"What good is that authority if you don't have the ability to execute anyone?"

His subordinates burst out laughing again.

This was the poison I had meant. This was what happened when a fool became conscious of the eyes upon him.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been on high alert. Instead, he was putting on a show for his subordinates. He alone failed to understand what sort of stage he was standing on.

When I took a step closer, the First Squad soldiers around Go Dang surged forward.

"Lay a hand on us, and you're laying a hand on the entire Demon Army. I wonder if you have that kind of courage, Second Young Master."

"At least I don't hide behind my subordinates."

He raised his bandaged right hand.

"I'm injured, thanks to a certain coward."

I raised my own right hand.

"I won't use my right hand either."

"!"

Go Dang flinched, evidently not having expected that response.

But he still believed he was the star of this stage.

"If you get hurt, will you go running to the cult leader to tell on me?"

His subordinates burst out laughing. Every laugh heated the stage further.

"I won't hold you responsible even if I'm killed, let alone injured."

"Do you swear?"

I tapped my sword twice to swear it.

Only then did the bastard accept my challenge.

"Very well. Let's fight."

Go Dang drew his sword and held it in his left hand. He stepped forward so confidently because he could wield a sword just as skillfully with his left hand as with his right. I, on the other hand, was right-handed.

Keeping my right hand behind my waist as though clasping my hands behind my back, I walked slowly forward.

"What if you use that hand when things get desperate?"

Go Dang seemed afraid I might use my right hand.

"Tell your subordinates to attack together and kill me."

"Hmph! Aren't you confident. I heard about your little talent show with those brats from the Southern Saber Sect. It seems that gave you some confidence."

"Actually, your performance is more entertaining."

"Shut up!"

Go Dang charged, thrusting his sword at me.

I considered this duel another part of my training. What mattered most in training was real combat, after all, and fighting a Demon Army squad leader was an experience money couldn't buy.

Go Dang held nothing back. He gave everything he had to wound me however he could.

Each time his sword missed, disappointed groans rose from all around us.

To their eyes, I must have looked a hair's breadth from being stabbed at any moment. Yet my mind was as still as a lake.

Fighting him made it clear. At my current level, I could easily handle someone like Go Dang even with my left hand.

Everyone's interest in the outcome of this fight would boil down to one question: How many moves?

I settled on forty. When this fight ended, this was the rumor that would spread:

The Second Young Master kills the Demon Army's First Squad Leader in forty moves.

I had defeated Yang Po, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's disciple, in twenty-odd moves. Defeating Go Dang in forty would make for a reasonably balanced account.

On the fortieth move, I changed my footwork and closed in on him.

The moment I caught his sword wrist, Go Dang tried to wrench free and retreat. But if he had been capable of that, I would never have caught his arm in the first place.

Still holding his arm, I spun sharply through a full turn.

CRRRACK!

Go Dang's arm twisted like laundry being wrung out, and bone burst through his wrist.

"Aaaaaaargh!"

As he screamed, my fist slammed into his face.

THUD!

With that heavy impact, Go Dang went sprawling across the floor.

I climbed onto his fallen body and drove my fist down. Had I added internal energy, he would have died instantly, but I struck without it.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

One of the First Squad martial artists watching lunged at me.

Still sitting on Go Dang's stomach, I swung my sword.

The attacker's lower abdomen split open, and he pitched forward.

No one had expected me to cut him down with a single stroke. The Demon Army soldiers were stunned, as were Seo Daeryong and the Yellow Springs Pavilion investigators.

"Crazy bastard!"

"Kill him!"

Two of Go Dang's trusted men drew their swords and charged.

The attacks they launched in that desperate moment became the final moves of their lives.

I sprang to my feet and thrust my sword twice in succession. Their blades grazed my body, but mine struck exactly where I intended.

SHUNK! SHUNK!

With their throats pierced, both men collapsed, spraying fountains of blood in every direction.

The corridor became a sea of blood in an instant. With three of their comrades now corpses, the soldiers hesitated over whether to charge.

I shouted forcefully.

"The men who just died were guilty of treason."

The word treason froze them in place.

Having pinned them in place, I walked over to the fallen Go Dang.

"The same goes for your squad leader. He beat and seriously injured someone sent under the cult leader's orders. That is unmistakably treason."

Looking down at him, I spoke coldly.

"Do you know what happened to the families of the people you picked a fight with and killed at the tavern last year? You don't, do you? You wouldn't have cared. They lost fathers, children, husbands. Do you think they've been able to live decent lives? Who the fuck are you to beat people? Who the fuck are you to kill our Cult members?"

"... Spare me."

His face was a bloody pulp, but it brimmed with the desire to live.

"Why should I?"

"... I'll repent."

Blood welled from his mouth.

"Liar. You'll do it again."

"No. Never."

"You told me yourself, didn't you? That you'd keep doing it."

"... When did I say that?"

"Your whole life told me."

I raised my foot high and brought it down on Go Dang's skull in a forceful stomping strike.

WHOOSH!

CRUNCH.

His skull burst like a smashed watermelon, killing him instantly.

Silence descended. No one could have imagined that I would smash the skull of Go Dang, the Demon Army commander's favorite, and kill him.

After killing Go Dang, I shouted at the First Squad soldiers.

"Treason warrants summary execution. Do you want to fucking die? Is that why you're still holding up your swords?"

The First Squad martial artists lowered their swords at once. Their squad leader was already dead, and stepping forward now would only cost them their heads. They had been overwhelmed by the martial skill with which I had cut down their comrades in single strokes.

"The Demon Army's First Squad will withdraw and remain confined until further orders! From this moment on, anyone who leaves their room will be punished for treason. Remember that!"

When I motioned for them all to leave, none dared refuse. They all went out.

The Yellow Springs Pavilion investigators watching stared at me in astonishment. The emotions mixed into their surprise were unmistakably joy and gratitude.

Seo Daeryong spoke to me.

"You're far stronger than I thought."

"What did you think?"

"Well... I didn't think you could defeat the Demon Army's First Squad Leader."

"We had a prophecy, didn't we?"

I had meant to make him laugh, but Seo Daeryong did not. Looking tense, he surveyed the corpses strewn around us.

"Even if you are the Second Young Master... can you really do this?"

I answered his fear firmly.

"Don't make a fuss over a mere three or four deaths. I came prepared to cut down half the Demon Army."

"!"

That was the moment I discovered just how narrowly Seo Daeryong usually kept his eyes open.

That evening, the Demon Army commander sent for me.

He was waiting not in his office, but at a courtesan house in Demon Family Village.

There were roughly a dozen courtesan houses in Demon Family Village. No one had laid down any rules, but where people went had naturally come to depend on their rank. The one where the commander waited was the most luxurious of them all.

"I invited you here so we could share a drink. It's been a while."

He treated me as though nothing had happened. In fact, he was warmer and gentler than usual.

"Have you been here before?"

"This is my first time."

"It's a fine place."

The food and liquor laid out were indeed of the highest quality, and the courtesans were exceptionally beautiful. The musicians' playing was superb as well.

"It looks expensive."

"It's the most expensive place in Demon Family Village. I made special arrangements for you today."

He was the sort of man who took pride in such luxury and indulgence.

"You never know when you'll die. You ought to enjoy yourself to the fullest before you go. Don't you agree?"

"You're quite right."

"Come, let's drink."

I drank with him. He must have visited often, because he made himself completely at home. He sang as he drank and even sprang up to dance with a courtesan. Though he had clearly summoned me because of Go Dang's death, he made no mention of it whatsoever.

Having had little to do with such entertainment in my previous life, I merely played along enough to keep the mood going.

Only after thoroughly enjoying himself and becoming pleasantly drunk did the commander dismiss the courtesans.

"I hear there was a minor incident with my boys?"

The phrase "minor incident" reflected his intention for how this matter would be handled.

"Yes. There was an unexpected clash."

A Demon Army squad leader had died. It was an incident that could turn the entire Cult upside down, but the commander was trying to turn this misfortune to his advantage.

"No sense making things unpleasant. Why don't we wrap this up here? I had no choice but to employ that First Squad Leader, but he was a shady fellow in more ways than one."

He meant to pin everything on the dead First Squad Leader and call it finished.

'Wow. You're a truly remarkable piece of trash yourself.'

Whatever else he had been, Go Dang was his trusted subordinate. Yet far from avenging him, he intended to make him the culprit. This was why only the dead deserved pity.

"Investigation or not, your killing a Demon Army squad leader could become a serious problem if someone chose to make an issue of it, couldn't it?"

"I am sorry about that."

"What do you say? Shall we finish this here? One squad leader and three subordinates ought to be enough, shouldn't they?"

"Thank you for your consideration. I'd like to resolve this amicably as well, but there is one problem."

"What problem?"

"There's no evidence. This is an official investigation. Surely I need evidence to report to my superiors?"

"You can attach whatever evidence suits the case."

"That would be difficult. The anonymous letter we received stated that the First Squad had been privately accepting contracts from outside. This isn't something we can quietly gloss over."

I had heard it from Jang Ho, but I said it had been written in the letter.

Not expecting me to know even that, the commander struggled to conceal his surprise.

"We absolutely need evidence to close this case."

I did not tell him to provide that evidence. But this was how he would have understood it:

—This will only end when you hand over the evidence.

Once our brief private discussion ended, the commander called the courtesans back in and resumed drinking and making merry.

He tried to enjoy himself even more enthusiastically than before, but I could sense his worries throughout the rest of the drinking session. His dancing was no longer as nimble.