Chapter 18 - Not Everyone Lives for Revenge

I woke Yang Gu, who had fallen asleep in his chair. He looked around drowsily before belatedly remembering that he had been brought here as a prisoner.

"Does it still hurt where you were hit?"

"What? Oh, no. I'm fine."

My gentle manner bewildered him.

"Honestly, I like intelligent people like you. Those simple-minded fools you can't reason with, who insist on treating their own stubbornness as some sort of conviction, make me feel suffocated. You're not like that, are you?"

"Why have you brought me here?"

"I think you know that better than I do. Honestly, I don't want to torture you. As you know, our torture methods are hardly mild. We take perfectly healthy people, turn them into wrecks, and throw them out, don't we?"

"Threatening me won't help. I know nothing."

"I know. I don't expect you to know anything. You must have simply followed your orders. You only need to tell me honestly what those were."

"I don't know anything. I received no orders."

"Then I'll have to speak to another you instead."

"Another me?"

"The you who cares about you more than you do."

At my signal, an old man entered from outside.

"This gentleman has spent his entire life torturing people. What's your confession rate again?"

He was a short old man, but the presence he exuded was truly frightening.

"Ninety percent, sir."

"That makes you a master interrogator."

"Not quite, sir. Half of that ninety percent died after confessing."

"And the other half?"

"They're broken wrecks, scraping by as beggars."

The old man's naked killing intent was so intense that Yang Gu could no longer bear it and cried out.

"Please spare me!"

I patted his shoulder lightly.

"You can step aside now. I'll call out that other you, the one who's less courageous and would rather avoid needless suffering, and hear what he has to say. He may be less loyal and principled than you, but at least he'll love you more. So stand aside."

Meanwhile, the old man lit a brazier and began heating iron skewers of various thicknesses over it. His businesslike manner, without so much as a hummed tune, made it all the more terrifying.

Horrified, Yang Gu spoke pleadingly.

"If I talk, I'll die."

"The Demon Army commander will kill you even if you don't. Think about it. How will he react when he hears I've captured you? He'll try to eliminate you by any means necessary. You know what sort of man he is better than I do, don't you?"

Agitation and terror churned in Yang Gu's wavering eyes.

"You know it, don't you? Wherever I hide you, he'll eventually find you and kill you. There's only one way for you to survive."

"What is it?"

I brought my face close to his. Gazing into his terrified eyes, I whispered like a devil.

"Strike first, before he gets you. Of course, you'll have to leave the Cult. Still, with martial skills like yours, you should be able to make a good living anywhere."

At that moment, I truly was a devil. I was tempting him and lying to him at the same time. I had no intention of releasing him. If he had committed crimes, he had to be punished.

"There's no time to think it over. By now, word must have gotten out that you're in our hands."

In truth, the commander did not yet know he was missing. Yang Gu had lost track of time after falling asleep and waking again, but only one double-hour had passed since his capture.

"Or you can put your willpower to the test."

I turned away at once, not wanting to give him time to scheme. Then I heard his voice behind me.

"... What do I need to do?"

"When the Yellow Springs Pavilion investigators come in, tell them everything that happened."

"And after that?"

"We'll arrest the commander, and you'll leave the Cult under a new identity."

Yang Gu did not deliberate long.

"All right. I'll do it."

I immediately left the room and sent in the Yellow Springs Pavilion investigators waiting outside. I instructed the old torturer to keep heating his iron skewers beside them.

A little later, Seo Daeryong came to report Yang Gu's confession. Just as Jang Ho had suspected, the commander had ordered the murders of the Yellow Springs Pavilion investigator and Jang Ho's fellow recruit. The now-dead Go Dang had carried out those orders. There were countless other atrocities as well.

"They've killed so many people, for all sorts of reasons."

That was why Seo Daeryong was worried.

"The commander won't submit to arrest willingly. He'll know he faces beheading if he's caught."

"I'm not going to arrest him."

"Pardon?"

"I'm going to kill him."

Seo Daeryong gasped in shock. His mouth hung open.

"If the commander is arrested, the Blood Heaven Saber Demon is certain to intervene. He won't be able to stand by and watch his own younger brother be beheaded. That would make things complicated."

It would be nice to expose his crimes before everyone and deal with him through a formal trial, but that was merely an ideal. Fabricated evidence claiming he was not behind it would pour in. There would be scapegoats to take the blame, slander against me, and all manner of conspiracy theories.

"But if the commander dies during his arrest, things change. All that remains is the evidence proving his crimes."

"The Blood Heaven Saber Demon will seek revenge."

"Not everyone devotes their life to revenge when a family member dies. The Blood Heaven Saber Demon, in particular, won't waste his life on it."

"How can you be certain?"

Because I knew what sort of life he had lived.

"I can't be certain. But even if he does seek revenge, he won't be able to act right away. If I'm injured or killed, everyone will assume he did it. He might even have to protect me to avoid suspicion."

"And later?"

"I'll be stronger by then, so there's nothing to worry about."

I left the room, leaving Seo Daeryong standing in a daze, his expression caught somewhere between Does that make any sense? and What am I supposed to say? As I walked down the corridor, he belatedly flung open the door and rushed out.

"Where are you going? Surely... you're not?"

"What if I am? Want to come along?"

He flinched.

"I'm going to buy liquor. Stop worrying and wait here."

* * *

His suspicions were right. So was my claim that I was buying liquor.

The commander greeted me with a relieved expression.

"I hear the investigation is over?"

"Yes. Thanks to you, everything has been wrapped up smoothly."

"I'm sorry to think we'll be parting, Second Young Master."

I answered his insincere words with an equally insincere reply.

"When I become the successor, I'll be sure to repay the kindness you've shown me."

"I should be saying that. I'll never forget your kindness in letting this matter pass so favorably."

Indeed, he would never forget this. A greedy man, he had suffered enormous losses. He had lost his right-hand man, First Squad Leader Go Dang, and handed over evidence himself. Had the investigator been anyone other than me, he would probably have been killed several times over.

"Shall we drink to that?"

I poured the liquor I had bought into the cups waiting on the table in the corner.

"Come, let's drink."

We clinked cups and drank. For him, it was a celebratory drink. For me, it was a farewell.

"Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You must have more money than you could spend before dying of old age. What made you so greedy that you used the Demon Army as contract killers?"

The commander's expression froze.

"You should have asked the dead First Squad Leader that."

"What would a puppet know?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm curious about that nasty mind of yours, Commander."

"Nasty mind? Did you just say nasty mind?"

"Though, really, what could there be in that black heart of yours? Nothing but greed for more, I imagine."

"You little bastard. I've put up with you long enough..."

At the very instant the enraged commander shouted, I drew my sword, seizing the opening I had been waiting for.

SWISH!

SHUNK!

A streak of sword light flashed, and my blade pierced the commander's chest. At such close range, I had struck at a gap in his breathing rhythm, and my attack was too fast for him to evade.

The fifth form of the Heaven-Soaring Sword Art: Azure Heaven.

Of the art's eight sword forms, this was its swift-sword form.

Even with his heart pierced, he did not die immediately. He slowly sank to the floor with the sword still running through him. His face was blank, as if he could not comprehend what had happened. Then he looked at me with lifeless eyes. Once I pulled the blade from his heart, he would die.

I spoke quietly, in an even tone.

"Demon Army Commander Gu Cheonyang, you are under arrest on charges of misappropriating the Demon Army for private purposes and committing or ordering murder on more than twenty occasions."

Only then did his gaze turn to the sword lodged in his chest.

"... This isn't... an arrest, is it?"

"You'd be beheaded anyway. For the sake of those left behind, please go like this. My apologies for the surprise attack."

I pulled out my sword, and the commander died.

I could have made it look as though I had killed him after a fierce battle, but I did not. It would be better to let people think I had killed him with a single lucky strike.

I summoned all the Demon Army soldiers and Yellow Springs Pavilion investigators there. Everyone gathered except the First Squad, who were still confined to their quarters.

"The commander, guilty of grave crimes, died while resisting arrest."

My ringing voice echoed through the room. Everyone stared back and forth between me and the commander's corpse in shock. They could never have imagined that I would kill him.

Third Squad Leader Jang Ho was among those stunned. A flash of exhilaration passed through his eyes as he looked at the corpse. His friend's death had finally been avenged.

It was the same for Seo Daeryong. His efforts to avenge his senior, memorizing the details of every Demon Army soldier, had finally borne fruit.

I immediately gave Seo Daeryong his orders.

"Arrest every member of the First Squad, imprison them, and conduct a formal investigation into this affair."

"Yes!"

Next, I gave Jang Ho his orders.

"Third Squad Leader Jang Ho, under your command, every Demon Army soldier except those of the First Squad is to assist the Yellow Springs Pavilion investigators in arresting the First Squad! As I have been granted authority to carry out summary executions, this order carries the same force as a decree from the cult leader. Execute it immediately."

"Yes, understood."

Jang Ho led the Demon Army out after Seo Daeryong. The problem would have been a living commander shouting orders to capture this man and kill that one. But his body was already cold. Loyalty maintained through fear collapses like a sandcastle with the death of its leader.

As he turned to leave, Jang Ho glanced back at me. With faint smiles, we shared the feelings of that moment.

'Thank you.'

'It was thanks to you.'

After the arrests were complete, Seo Daeryong returned to our lodging.

"We've arrested every member of the First Squad, suppressed their internal energy, and imprisoned them. Six of their martial artists were injured in the process, but no one died."

"Well done."

Even with everything finished, he still looked worried.

"You really did kill the commander."

"If I'd left him alive, he would have murdered several people to silence them. Jang Ho, who sent the anonymous letter, would eventually have died too. Several Third Squad martial artists would have been sacrificed trying to protect him. You wouldn't have been an exception, either."

"Ah. You thought that far ahead."

Seo Daeryong could not hide the emotion welling up in him.

"You truly are a just man, Young Master."

"Just? Nonsense! I was only angry that someone was making a mess of what I'm going to inherit. That's how selfish I am. Don't get the wrong idea."

He gazed at me in silence, then bowed his head respectfully.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"You worked hard too."

As he turned to leave, Seo Daeryong suddenly spoke.

"Even so... I hope you become the successor, Second Young Master."

It occurred to me that this might be the highest praise a man like Seo Daeryong could offer. No sooner had he finished speaking than he hurried straight outside.

I was about to follow him when something caught my eye, and I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment. The bedding where the dead crows had lain had been replaced with clean, fresh covers. Seo Daeryong must have changed them despite everything else he had been busy with.

I stood and looked out the window. Seo Daeryong had left the building and was crossing the training grounds. Leaning my head out, I shouted,

"Couldn't you look me in the eye and say that properly?"

His steps toward the entrance quickened.

Beyond his retreating figure, I could see the place I needed to reach. Was it because this affair seemed to have brought me a few steps closer? Heavenly Demon Hall looked grander than usual.