Chapter 566

The foremost man of the Demonic Cult.

Black-Iron Demon Sword Gye Mun.

In a world where the Heavenly Demon had vanished, he was the old man who stood at the center of the current Demonic Cult.

And he was pressing down on my sword.

It would not come free.

The pressure was considerable.

“For someone who came because he had something to say, you are being quite aggressive.”

I narrowed my eyes as I asked.

At that, Gye Mun’s face twisted as well.

His gaze turned behind me.

SHIIIK—! A sword was flying in.

It was Yu Yeon.

“......I told you to stand down.”

He put on a faintly uncomfortable expression, then reached toward Yu Yeon’s sword.

TAK—! His hand, wrapped in hard aura, seized the blade as if it were nothing.

That was absurd.

It’s cruel how clearly the difference in level shows.

It would be a lie to say Yu Yeon’s sword contained nothing.

She was serious.

She had thrust a sword wrapped in Sword Aura at him.

And Gye Mun caught it as if it were nothing.

A clear difference in realm.

Along with a clear difference in level.

I definitely saw the feints and enlightenment contained in her sword path.

Even though I saw them—

To Gye Mun, they mean nothing.

The difference between heaven and earth.

That was the gap between the old man before me and my own level.

It was very similar to what I had felt when I saw the Sword Emperor.

“......!”

Yu Yeon froze for an instant when she saw her sword caught.

“You are in the way.”

Gye Mun lightly flicked his hand.

I could not see that hand.

Fast.

I barely heard the sound of wind being cut.

THUMP—!

With a short impact, Yu Yeon’s body was driven backward.

The moment I saw it, my body moved.

I quickly approached and caught her back.

I stopped her from being pushed away and reduced the impact.

I heard choking coughs.

Yu Yeon was groaning in pain.

“......Hmm.”

At that sight, Gye Mun tilted his head slightly.

“You blocked it in that brief instant.”

“......Haaah.”

Yu Yeon briefly steadied her breathing.

Seeing that, I understood what Gye Mun meant.

She blocked it.

When Gye Mun struck her abdomen and shoved her away, Yu Yeon had defended herself in that tiny opening.

Had she pierced through it by instinct?

It was something I was not sure I could have done.

“......As expected.”

Leaving Gye Mun’s mutter behind, I let Yu Yeon catch her breath for a moment.

Then I rubbed her back so she could breathe properly and nudged her energy a little.

After that, I approached Gye Mun.

“What is this about?”

“As I said earlier, I came because I have something to say.”

“To me? Or to her?”

“.......”

Gye Mun flinched at my words.

Seeing his reaction, I nodded.

As expected.

It seemed there was something he saw in Yu Yeon as well.

What was he seeing that made him take interest in that girl?

I had been quietly curious about it.

And in that curiosity, I had put together a few hypotheses.

Of course, I had no intention of mentioning them right now.

“I imagine I am your purpose.”

Because Gye Mun’s purpose had to be me.

“Yu Yeon.”

“.......”

At my call, Yu Yeon lifted her head.

“Leave.”

“......!”

Her eyes widened.

She immediately tried to shake her head, so I frowned and looked at her.

“I said leave. I’m fine.”

“.......”

Yu Yeon faltered at my firm attitude.

When no answer came, I stared at her.

Not long after, she nodded.

Thankfully, it seemed she would listen.

Yu Yeon glared at Gye Mun, then left.

While Gye Mun watched Yu Yeon leave the alley for a moment—

“You will stare a hole through her.”

“.......”

I asked him that.

And in that instant—

SHING.

“.......”

Something was touching my neck before I knew it.

A sharp blade.

The moment it touched my throat, I looked at him.

To be honest, I trembled.

This time too, I had not detected the moment it happened.

“You......”

He had threatened me, but he could not continue.

After confirming Gye Mun’s state, I spoke.

“What? Are you surprised?”

One of my hypotheses.

Among them, the one with the highest possibility.

I brought it up to him.

“Is it that surprising that a child who should have died is alive and well? That she even returned to the Holy Cult?”

“......!”

At my words, Gye Mun’s pupils shook like mad.

Seeing that, I was certain inside.

He knows.

This old man knew.

He knew that the Heavenly Demon’s child was alive.

And that the child was a girl.

I had already asked and confirmed as much last time, but here, I was able to learn something even greater.

He was suspicious of Yu Yeon.

Gye Mun seemed to have been thinking about Yu Yeon.

I noticed that and dug into it.

Because I thought this would be better than trying to remove or redirect his suspicion here.

The Heavenly Demon intended this.

He wants me to use this old man.

And he wanted me to make this old man my ally if possible.

I knew that much.

So, now that I knew—

I should oblige.

It seemed the first priority was for me to use him like a piece too.

“......How...... how do you know that......”

“Last time, you also found it strange that I knew. You’re doing the same thing again.”

I touched the sword at my neck with a finger.

Then I pushed it aside slightly.

There seemed to be no pressure in it, so it moved away on its own.

“What is so strange? That I know? Or that she is with me?”

“.......”

“Looks like it is both.”

He seemed to find both strange.

That I knew.

And that she was with me.

Hearing that, I gave a faint laugh.

“There is nothing strange about it. I worked hard to find her...... and barely managed to do so.”

“Why......? What do you know?”

“What is wrong with trying to find someone of the same bloodline?”

“......!”

We had become siblings in an instant, but I had to use it somehow.

“The Holy Cult lost her because it pulled some bullshit. I simply found her and brought her back.”

“......You. Just how much do you know?”

“I have no intention of saying that.”

The threat had already disappeared.

Gye Mun had become nothing more than a startled man.

“From now on, I—no, I will do what the Holy Cult must do.”

“......What?”

“Freak Demon.”

“......!”

At the short name I called, Gye Mun flinched.

Freak Demon.

Some time passed after those words.

“You called......?”

Freak Demon, who had been hiding far away, appeared and knelt before me.

Seeing that, Gye Mun’s face crumpled fiercely.

“Freak Demon. How are you here?”

“It has been a long time, Black-Iron Demon Sword.”

Even as Freak Demon greeted him, he was not looking at Gye Mun.

He was looking only at me.

Freak Demon had been hiding his body from the energy senses of the Sword Emperor and this entire place, but—

I thought he would come if I called.

I had thought he would appear and approach the moment I called him.

And in reality, Freak Demon appeared immediately.

As if an elder’s presence meant nothing, he appeared at once and showed his loyalty before me.

Gye Mun’s reaction to that was unusual.

“You bastard...... You knew ahead of time and kept your mouth shut? And yet you sided with the Young Cult Leader......!”

“I have never once joined the Young Cult Leader’s side. I only acted that way because I had no choice. You know that well too, do you not?”

“.......”

“But there is no longer any need for that. I now have a Sky more outstanding than anyone else.”

“Ha.”

Just as I was starting to feel awkward at words close to worship, Gye Mun let out a hollow breath too.

“......You. Do you truly see this brat as the Sky?”

“What reason is there not to see him that way?”

“That is......!”

“Do not lose the future because you are bound to the past. The former Sky would not wish for that.”

The more Freak Demon continued, the fewer words Gye Mun had.

I felt him waver.

It did not feel like he had been persuaded.

Only wavering.

That was all it was, and then—

“A successor of the orthodox faction. The Sword Saint’s inheritor. You expect me to believe that you truly came here for the Holy Cult?”

Along with those words, a deep suspicion turned toward me.

“Out of the question. No matter what you possess, in the end, you are still the Sword Saint’s inheritor. Even so—”

“What is the problem with that?”

“......What?”

“I am not sure what the problem is with me being the Sword Saint’s inheritor.”

“Do you expect that to pass as an answer......”

“What I use is my choice. The Holy Cult’s rightful order comes from strength and the will of all demons.”

CLACK.

I drew my sword.

“Ah...... aah......”

Freak Demon, who knew what my sword was, let out a gasp of awe at the Divine Sword being drawn.

“If my will, in the end, is directed toward the demonic—then none of that should matter.”

Sssssss.

I moved my energy.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Arts, which I could not possibly have grown used to in a mere few days, moved.

I wrapped my body in a shallow layer of energy.

Blackened hair.

Red eye-light once more.

Maintaining that state, I reversed the sword and offered it to Gye Mun.

“What do you think, Black-Iron Demon Sword?”

“......What is this......”

Just as he seemed to wonder why I was suddenly offering him a sword—

Gye Mun’s expression turned doubtful, and he reached out to take the sword.

No, he tried to take it.

At that instant—

CRACKLE—!!!

“......!”

Pressure burst out, and Gye Mun failed to grasp the sword.

“Ha...... no way...... the Divine Sword......? How......!”

The Heavenly Demon’s sword.

Gye Mun realized it was the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword, reborn by the hands of the Tang Family, and let out a cry of shock.

A lost relic had suddenly appeared here, so he must have been fairly surprised.

And it would not end with surprise.

“Everything will return to its proper order. And if that order has been twisted, I will twist it back into place myself.”

If I was going to be arrogant, I had to possess the qualifications for arrogance.

I adapted that nonsense the Heavenly Demon had been hinting at.

“I do not care whether you believe me or not. The only question is whether you will follow me or not.”

“.......”

“If you will not follow, then do not. I do not particularly need you.”

For some reason, I felt like the Heavenly Demon would have said it that way.

Like he needed nothing.

Like standing alone was simply what made him the lord of all demons.

That man would probably have said—

[......Who would?]

Or maybe not.

If not, then whatever.

“So make your choice. Do not stand here voicing doubts. I believe I have shown you everything there is to show with your own eyes.”

“Do you truly...... intend to become the Heavenly Demon? As the Sword Saint’s inheritor?”

“I have no intention of using a proper method. But—”

I had no intention of doing that.

“Can the Holy Cult truly reject me?”

So I could raise my pride even higher.

What Gye Mun needed was a substitute for the Heavenly Demon with perfect symbolism.

I only had to appear that way.

Of course—

In terms of the current situation, I am that.

I was the successor the Heavenly Demon had left behind.

That evil ghost bastard had been making me into that over and over, so I knew it well.

“The Holy Cult cannot reject me. So hand over what I want.”

“.......”

Freak Demon was still kneeling.

And Gye Mun was silent.

I said nothing and simply waited for him.

“......I will ask one thing.”

“I will listen.”

“What became of that child’s mother?”

“.......”

The child’s mother?

Was he talking about Yu Yeon?

If it was Yu Yeon’s mother—

“She died.”

“.......”

She died.

Long ago.

At those words, Gye Mun’s air changed for just a moment.

After that—

“......Follow me.”

Gye Mun turned his back and began to move.

I did not know what it was, but—

Looks like it worked.

It seemed it had finally begun to move.

The cog someone had set in place.