Chapter 178 - Who Comes Third?

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon was training. He had begun long before I undertook this test, and had spent quite some time wholly absorbed in training without a break.

“Are you really preparing for war?”

He answered without even turning his head.

“When you're old, every day is a war.”

“I'm back.”

This time, I ran up and threw my arms around him.

“What is this revolting nonsense?”

Horrified, he forcibly pried me off. Truthfully, I wanted to hug Father like this. But I hadn't dared try, afraid he might hit me with the Nine Calamities Demonic Art.

“I missed you, sir.”

“You're acting as though you haven't seen me in ten years.”

The Blood Heaven Saber Demon drove the Heaven-Destroying Great Saber deep into the ground and leaned against it. At times like this, the blade looked like a friend of his, and it was a lovely sight.

“The leader of the Heavenly Mandate Society?”

“Dead.”

“He must have had plenty of people around him.”

“I got a lot of blood on my hands this time.”

Perhaps sensing the bitterness in my answer, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon went inside, brought out some liquor, and poured me a drink.

“What can you do? That's your fate. Drink and put it behind you.”

I drained the drink he offered in one satisfying gulp. It felt as though he were washing the blood from my hands. At the very least, this drink—and this comfort—came from someone who knew better than anyone what it meant to kill.

I didn't thank him. As always, words could never repay him.

“The First Young Master will never give up, so the road ahead won't be easy. His ability and aptitude may fall short of yours, but his determination to become the Heavenly Demon is stronger.”

And that was what made it so difficult to move forward while keeping my brother alive.

“By the way, have you seen your disciple?”

“He stopped by earlier.”

“You made an excellent choice in naming him your successor.”

“We'll have to wait and see.”

“He'll do better than anyone. Oh, then you must have heard that he won the Young Dragon Tournament.”

“He won?”

“You wrote that he'd die if he lost. How could he not win? Even if it had been a tournament to decide the best martial artist under heaven instead of the Young Dragon Tournament, he'd have had to win. Besides, whose martial arts was he using? How could he lose?”

Joy flickered across the Blood Heaven Saber Demon's face, as though he truly hadn't expected Seo Daeryong to win the whole tournament. Moments like this made it clear that he was fond of him.

“Good grief. If that chatterbox didn't even brag about it, that tells me just how intimidated he is by you. Please put him a little more at ease.”

“When master and disciple get too comfortable with each other, it always leads to trouble. Anyway, he must be full of himself now. He'll need some hellish training.”

Ah, Investigator Seo. I hadn't seen that coming. Sorry.

“Off you go. Don't you need to see the other Demon Supremes?”

“No. I'll take my time visiting the others. Today, I only came to see you.”

When you liked someone, you needed to make it this clear. As the saying went, someone who liked everyone liked no one. Whatever their true feelings, that was how people would see them. Doesn't he like everyone anyway? At least with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, that was a misunderstanding I wanted to avoid.

“Still flattering me, I see.”

Yet an unmistakable smile had spread across his lips. He secretly enjoyed this sort of thing.

“Go pay your respects to the Demon Supremes. They all stepped forward for you. It's only polite to thank them.”

“Yes, then I will.”

“You wanted to go all along.”

“All I ask is that you know you always come first.”

Leaving him to swing his saber again, I departed his residence.

Before heading to Villains' Valley, I stopped at home to collect my white mask. Surely wearing a mask was the polite thing to do when visiting the valley?

The white-masked Faceless Wanderers no longer watched me as closely as before. The hostility in their eyes had vanished, too.

Their reactions showed me that my friendship with the Wicked Laughing Demon was deepening. If they ever greeted me with friendly looks, that would mean we had grown closer still.

One of the Faceless Wanderers guided me to the residence of the master of Villains' Valley.

At first, I had considered these Demon Supremes as important as my martial training, so visiting them had been work. Now it was no longer work, but a relationship. Astonishingly, I came because I genuinely missed them.

The Wicked Laughing Demon was staring at the white wall again today. Just what did he think about so intently as he gazed at it?

“I'm here.”

I pushed the mask up onto my head and greeted him spiritedly. He turned toward me.

My gaze met his eyes behind the mask. Who would have thought a day would come when meeting the Wicked Laughing Demon's eyes would make me so happy?

The Wicked Laughing Demon and I had joined forces in two life-or-death battles. The first had been against the Sword Emperor, Baek Manggi, and the second against his Senior Martial Uncle, Yang Cheogi.

Both battles had put our lives on the line. Perhaps that was why we shared the special bond of comrades on a battlefield who had kept each other alive.

“I heard you successfully dealt with the Heavenly Mandate Society.”

“Considering whom I was avenging, how could I have been careless?”

This test had, in fact, involved the Wicked Laughing Demon as well. They had recruited his Senior Martial Uncle, Yang Cheogi.

He smiled as he spoke.

“As you know, I always settle my debts, whether of gratitude or grievance.”

He was alluding to the Coin of Gratitude and Grudges he had given Chu Saeng of the Moon Wind Sect. The Wicked Laughing Demon and a Coin of Gratitude and Grudges really had been an unlikely combination.

He held out a small box.

“What is this?”

“Open it.”

Inside lay a single white medicinal pill.

“It's a White Spirit Pill, a secret elixir passed down in my school.”

A sharp, powerful fragrance swiftly filled the room. I could sense that its potency was far from ordinary.

“My school sent it to me. It seems peace has returned since Senior Martial Uncle Yang Cheogi died.”

Apparently, they had sent it in gratitude for my sending back the school's martial artists who had come under his orders without injuring a single one.

“I'd like you to have it, Second Young Master.”

“Why give me something so precious?”

“Because you're the reason I received it.”

It was a gift sincerely meant for me. Taken by surprise, I was at a loss.

“No. You should take it, Laughing Demon.”

Then he said something unexpected.

“I'm giving it to you because I'd like to earn a few points with you myself. Stop refusing and accept it.”

“I'd like to earn some points, too. All right, how about this? Let's each take half.”

He was startled by my suggestion.

“Do you mean that?”

“Yes. I'm too greedy to normally share an elixir, but I'd like to make an exception this time. Let's each take half to celebrate fighting together and surviving.”

His eyes shone brightly. They were clearer than I had ever seen them since meeting him. I could feel it: we were passing another turning point in our relationship.

“Very well. Let's do that.”

I drew the Black Demon Sword and divided the White Spirit Pill precisely in half.

We took our halves at the same time, as though sharing a drink.

I swallowed the White Spirit Pill. A cooling sensation enveloped my mouth before it melted and slipped down my throat.

It was an extremely potent elixir, but my existing internal energy was so profound that I absorbed its full effects without difficulty. Though I had taken only half, the amount of internal energy added to my dantian was considerable.

My eyes shone with a clear, deep light before returning to normal.

The Wicked Laughing Demon also finished circulating his energy and rose.

“It tastes good, doesn't it?”

“Better than any elixir I've ever taken.”

Nothing else needed to be said. We simply laughed together.

“Still, how could you take it so readily? What if I'd given you poison? What if that was a fake White Spirit Pill?”

“That's why I split it, didn't I? So we could die together.”

He laughed loudly. To everyone else, his laughter might have been nothing more than a habit, but at least with me, it carried feeling. I could hear his emotions in it.

“But is it really all right for you to keep staring at that wall?”

“It's good, isn't it? Makes me look like a madman. People don't casually mess with a madman. Why? Are you worried I'll go insane?”

“A little.”

My honest answer prompted him to reveal something unexpected.

“Shall I tell you a secret? My school's mental cultivation method becomes more effective when practiced while looking at a white wall.”

“Ah, so that's why.”

I hadn't realized he was practicing his mental cultivation method as he stared at the wall. Once again, I was reminded that everyone was managing their own lives perfectly well. They only looked worrying through my eyes.

“You saw the Blood Heaven Saber Demon after returning, then came here?”

“Yes.”

“It must be difficult, looking after everyone individually.”

“There are only four of you so far, aren't there?”

“You intend to look after all eight.”

Astonishingly, he was right.

“Yes. Allies or enemies, I'll tend to my relationships with all eight and look after them.”

“Can you withstand that?”

Of course, it wouldn't be easy. Even when we were laughing happily like this, I could never know when or how our relationship might sour. If I underestimated the Demon Supremes, I would come to grief someday.

“I told Pretty Heart that martial arts and life are connected. Surely that doesn't apply only to her? If I become someone capable of embracing all Eight Demon Supremes, I should be able to overcome the barrier blocking my martial arts as well.”

After studying me for a moment, he shared something he had often felt.

“What are you looking toward, Second Young Master? Sometimes, when I see you, I get the feeling that you're looking beyond simply becoming the successor, beyond even becoming the Heavenly Demon, toward something else.”

Was it because we could only look into each other's eyes? He, too, could see the distant horizon I was looking toward. The Wicked Laughing Demon alone sensed what even people closer to me did not.

Perhaps someday I would tell him about my formidable enemy. And perhaps a time would come when we stood back-to-back once more and crossed another moment between life and death.

“If it's you, Laughing Demon, and not someone else, I don't think that moment would be so bad.”

I had left out all the context, but he didn't ask what I meant.

“I'll look forward to that moment.”

“Then I'll see you again.”

I said goodbye and left Villains' Valley. My reunion with him had been as clean and uncomplicated as his white mask.

* * *

The Single Flower Sword Supreme and the Drunken Demon were drinking together, so I was able to see them both in one place. The two friends often shared drinks, and today happened to be one of those days.

“Welcome, Second Young Master!”

They were both drunk. It was the first time I had seen the Single Flower Sword Supreme this intoxicated.

“You've succumbed to evil's temptation.”

“Then hurry over and save me.”

Despite saying that, she poured me a drink.

“Thank you for what you did at Villains' Valley last time.”

“What did we do? All we did was turn up in a crowd.”

Then the Drunken Demon asked me with a disgruntled expression,

“You've already met the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and the Wicked Laughing Demon, haven't you?”

“Yes.”

“Why are we last? Why third and fourth? You could have come to see us first when you got back.”

The Single Flower Sword Supreme joined in his complaint. As she glared at me, her face flushed with drink, I smiled.

“Which of you comes third?”

Both gladly took the bait of this potent attempt to pit them against each other.

“I do.”

At the Single Flower Sword Supreme's confidence, the Drunken Demon shook his head pityingly.

“My friend, sorry, but that's me. The Second Young Master and I call each other brothers.”

“Listen, my friend. If you were truly that close, you wouldn't be fighting over whether you're third or fourth, would you?”

“We drink and swim together.”

“I wasn't going to mention this, but we've even sparred beneath the moonlight.”

After arguing like that, they both turned to me. They wanted me to decide who was third and who was fourth. The Drunken Demon asked with an earnest look,

“Little brother. I'm not last, am I?”

“You're not last.”

“Right?”

Just as he broke into a broad smile, I added,

“You're in the middle. Fourth out of the eight Demon Supremes.”

The Single Flower Sword Supreme drank in victory.

“My friend, being brothers doesn't necessarily make you close, does it?”

The Drunken Demon pouted and drank.

I was deeply grateful to them both. Were these people who should ever be treated this way? Were they people who should ever come third or fourth? They were putting up with it for my sake, willingly playing along with a fight over third and fourth place.

“Let me make this clear to you both today. You know those first two, don't you? Fussy, obstinate, eccentric. And how do you two compare? You're the most broad-minded of all the Demon Supremes.”

“It's because we're broad-minded, right? Not because we're pushovers?”

At the Drunken Demon's question, I pretended to flinch. They both roared with amusement.

The three of us toasted and drained our cups.

As he set his cup down, the Drunken Demon shared some rather surprising news.

“Not long ago, the Saber Demon, the Sword Supreme here, and I had a drink together.”

It wasn't easy to picture those three drinking together.

“How was it? Did you enjoy yourselves?”

“Do you think we did?”

The Drunken Demon sighed.

“Nobody drew a blade, did they?”

“They almost did.”

“Then that's good enough.”

The Single Flower Sword Supreme spoke up.

“What do you mean, good enough? Don't ever invite me to something like that again!”

True. If people who had fallen out could reconcile so easily, why would there be any fighting in the world?

Still, it meant something. The Drunken Demon was trying to reconcile the two of them.

I raised my cup, telling him with my eyes:

'You worked hard, big brother.'

He smiled and raised his cup. Sometimes, having your efforts acknowledged once meant more than a hundred kind words.

“Now that I've paid my respects on my return, I'll be going.”

I said goodbye and stood. The Drunken Demon even clung to my trouser leg, insisting we drink more, but I forced myself to get up.

I could spend time with the Demon Supremes another day. Opportunities to hunt with Father didn't come often.

At dawn the next day, I shouldered a larger leather pack than before and headed to Heavenly Demon Hall for my second hunting trip with Father.