Chapter 71: Chapter 71

– Mahe Mountain, Guardian Dragon Hall.

“Haa… haaa…”

A pitch-black room, not a sliver of light.

A man’s feeble breathing seeped out like that of someone on death’s door.

Whatever agony he’d endured, his soaked clothes were stained with blood throughout.

Bound to a rickety wooden chair, he roused himself with great effort, shaking his disheveled hair.

“Just… do it already… you bastards… heh heh.”

Even now, laughter spilled from him.

His name was Sa Ho-jeong. The second of the Sa brothers, once called Mad Dog.

And seated across from him, a tiger with stern eyes.

“Let’s begin again.”

Ji Dae-ho.

“Kgh… Fuck. What more is there! I told you everything… Kak!”

PAK!

A walnut flicked from Ji Dae-ho’s finger struck Sa Ho-jeong’s forehead as he snarled back. He toppled backward with a thud. Before he could hit the ground, warriors on either side grabbed the chair and hauled him upright. Dried blood on his forehead cracked open and flowed anew.

Before Jang I-seo, he was the gentlest tiger imaginable. But his essence was that of a core figure in the Demonic Cult, a Hall Master of the Five Dragon Halls. The Guardian Dragon Hall Master, reaper of criminals.

“Ah… I really told you everything. Believe me… pleeease!”

At Sa Ho-jeong’s plea, Ji Dae-ho nodded.

Through interrogation, all Soul-Befuddling Powder scattered within the cult had been recovered. The petty dealers who’d distributed it for the Slaughterhouse had been eliminated. No more drugs would circulate internally.

One thing remained.

“You truly don’t know where the Iron Horse Bandits are based?”

“Those bastards stupid? You think they’d tell me? I don’t know either, that’s why I went to the Bumun… Kak!”

PAK!

Another walnut struck Sa Ho-jeong’s throat this time. Kek, kghek! Even after toppling backward, he couldn’t stop coughing. But once again, the warriors hauled him upright. Without a shred of mercy.

“Uuu… It’s true… Believe me… please… just!”

Tears streamed from Sa Ho-jeong’s swollen eyes. That was how unjustly miserable he felt.

Ji Dae-ho nodded this time as well.

He knew criminal psychology better than anyone. If Sa Ho-jeong, who knew more than anyone, had reached this point, he truly didn’t know.

‘There’s nothing more to extract from this one. To catch the main body, requesting the Flying Dragon Hall’s cooperation is the only option.’

Ji Dae-ho rose. Interrogation was over.

“Lock him in Duora Prison.”

Yes, sir! His subordinates acknowledged briefly. No sentence, no documents. Just locked away. Until when? Until the cult needed him.

Sa Ho-jeong finally wore relief and spoke.

“Tell that Jang I-seo bastard when you see him. I’ll really kill him… Kek!”

PAK! Ji Dae-ho’s foot cut off his words and struck his solar plexus. Sa Ho-jeong flew backward, shattered the chair, and lost consciousness.

“…Informal to the end.”

As Sa Ho-jeong was dragged out, Ji Dae-ho ordered cleanup with a steadfast face and left the interrogation room.

‘Come to think of it, today’s the day.’

Amid his relentless workload, Ji Dae-ho recalled a forgotten schedule. A smile crept onto his lips.

Today.

The day those two men would arrive at the Heavenly Demon Palace.

‘I believe in you, Jang I-seo.’

At some point, Ji Dae-ho had begun sincerely rooting for him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Jang I-seo and Mao’s journey proceeded far more smoothly than before.

‘Was the Demonic Cult ever this peaceful?’

Since entering the Seventh Small Palace, there hadn’t been a single calm day. Today, the budding sprouts and drifting clouds seemed more vivid than ever.

Understandably. The Slaughterhouse was gone. The instigator Ma I-sin was recuperating. No one remained to pick a fight.

Thanks to that, Jang I-seo and Mao walked in silence, step after step.

All preparations were complete. All that remained was steadying their trembling hearts.

Without obstruction, they reached Mahe Mountain. Ascended the slope to the Guardian Dragon Hall.

“Guardian Dragon Hall Fifth Grade Ghost Yang-ho greets the Seventh Young Master and the Adjutant!”

Gatekeepers who’d been waiting at the open entrance prostrated and clasped their hands in a resounding salute.

‘Him again.’

Jang I-seo recognized the face and nodded. Yang-ho. The gate captain from before. Their discipline was sharp. Jang I-seo, fulfilling his duty as adjutant, stepped forward and announced.

“We’ve come to see the Cult Leader.”

Yang-ho’s eyes blazed.

“I’ll escort you!”

And so, under Guardian Dragon Hall escort, the two strode inside with dignity.

*

The path from the Guardian Dragon Hall to the Heavenly Demon Palace was solemn throughout.

Partly because of the gravity ahead. But also because Mahe Mountain’s presence, befitting the Heavenly Demon’s domain, was overwhelming.

First, a three-hundred-pace cloud bridge spanning the ascent. On the ridges to either side, Demon Guard Archers lay hidden with crossbows aimed.

Beyond the bridge, the Three Thousand Steps rose. The Radiant Heavenly Demon Squad, the cult’s strongest force, lined both sides in full armor, radiating murderous intent.

A razor’s edge.

But the pinnacle was the towering cliff that revealed itself atop the hill, before the Heavenly Demon Palace.

“You’ve arrived…”

Last time, the Radiant Left Emissary Baek-ya had greeted them. This time, his counterpart.

Clad head to toe in black like a reaper. Eyes and lips painted black. The great slaughter ghost who’d sent the most heroes to their deaths during the War of the Righteous, Unorthodox, and Demonic.

First Grade Ghost. Radiant Right Emissary, Heuk-ya.

He stood waiting.

‘Hmm.’

Jang I-seo swallowed a sigh and studied Heuk-ya carefully. An absolute master who unquestionably ranked within the top five in the entire cult.

Perhaps because of that. Having met the Hall Master and the Sixth Elder, facing the Right Emissary felt as overwhelming as meeting the Heavenly Demon himself.

‘Strong. Incredibly so.’

The first sensation was, naturally, his absurd intensity. Facing a beast, anyone instinctively felt danger. That was Jang I-seo’s state now. Like a frog before a snake. That was how overwhelming his presence was.

But something else shook Jang I-seo even more.

‘When you go to the Demonic Cult, be careful of Heuk-ya no matter what.’

The Hidden Pavilion Master’s words before he’d departed for the Demonic Cult. Be careful of Heuk-ya.

Those words echoed endlessly in his mind.

‘He reads an opponent’s senses like a ghost. And he suspects and interrogates endlessly. Never get caught in his web. The moment you slip, your identity will be exposed.’

The Heavenly Demon’s most trusted right hand. A demon who placed everyone under suspicion and scrutiny. That was the Radiant Right Emissary, Heuk-ya.

‘I expected to face him eventually, but… today?’

Jang I-seo swallowed carefully and stood motionless without a flicker of expression.

“Hmm…”

Heuk-ya regarded Mao without particular suspicion and spoke low.

“Begin.”

“Huu.”

Mao nodded, took a deep breath, and placed his palm against the massive doors of the Heavenly Demon Palace.

He’d succeeded once before. The second time wouldn’t be difficult.

“Here goes.”

VWOOM!

Intense heat surged through his entire body in an instant.

Last time, he’d forced them open recklessly with the More-the-Better Fist. This time was different. Solar-red light gathered gradually in his palm, then erupted.

GONG!

The iron doors received the light and swung wide open.

Emission far more stable and certain than before!

Seeing this, even Heuk-ya’s impassive eyebrows twitched dramatically.

‘They said he’d reached the supreme realm. I dismissed it, but if his internal energy alone is any measure, perhaps it wasn’t far off.’

Baek-ya had said something similar. But Baek-ya was prone to exaggeration and gossip, so he’d dismissed it with half an ear.

Now that he saw it, it didn’t seem entirely wrong. Uncertain, but the power he’d unleashed in a single burst could at least pass for entry-level supreme realm.

“Jang I-seo, let’s go.”

Mao gestured to Jang I-seo behind him with a triumphant expression.

As Jang I-seo bowed his head to follow.

Shlk.

Heuk-ya extended his loose black sleeve, blocking the path between them. Then spoke to Mao.

“Please go ahead.”

“What, why! I mean, why…”

Mao asked irritably, then quickly deflated. Just meeting the man’s eyes sent chills down his spine. A distinctly different sensation from meeting Baek-ya.

Baek-ya had felt like encountering a supernatural being. This was facing the reaper himself.

“Go ahead.”

Heuk-ya murmured ominously again. Mao swallowed hard. Jang I-seo nodded, signaling him to go.

“See you…”

Mao glanced at the closing iron doors and stepped into the Heavenly Demon Palace.

Creeeak, BOOM! The doors sealed shut.

With only two remaining, Heuk-ya’s chilling aura crept toward Jang I-seo like darkness swallowing light.

And,

“A first-rate warrior from the commoner ranks. A Special Grade Outsider.”

Suuuh. Heuk-ya circled Jang I-seo closely, clinging like a snake. A sensation of deep darkness wrapping around his entire body.

“Such a man lived as a wild dog, then somehow became an adjutant…”

Jang I-seo sensed it. Heuk-ya’s inescapable probe had begun. One misstep and he could be devoured on this very spot.

“The Slaughterhouse master, despite his lowly status, bore the pride of the One Hundred Demon Stars. Yet such a man vanished without a trace within the cult. As Right Emissary, I cannot simply stand by.”

Sa Do-cheol. That was the cause. Jang I-seo’s eyes narrowed.

“A mere first-rate warrior goes to catch him and evaporates without a trace. How coincidental. I smell something. The stench of a filthy conspiracy… Hah!”

Every nerve in his body sharpened to a razor’s edge. His mouth went dry. At that moment, Heuk-ya’s face materialized before him like a viper, pronouncing judgment.

“You’re hiding your true strength, aren’t you.”

THUMP! Heuk-ya’s probe struck.

Simultaneously, Jang I-seo’s shadow, astonishingly, rose like a living creature, wrapping from his feet to his neck.

‘Kgh…!’

Breath locked. One wrong word and he felt he’d be dragged underground.

Virulent terror seized him. The Gudok hiding in his heart stirred faintly. And with each stir, Heuk-ya’s pupils spun ominously.

‘He’s reading my emotions through my shadow.’

This was Heuk-ya’s signature martial art, the art of manipulating shadows.

The Dark Shadow Ghost Soul Art.

A bizarre demonic art rarely seen outside the Demonic Cult.

“You’re trembling… Are you afraid?! Who are you? A spy sent by the Martial Alliance, perhaps!”

Heuk-ya’s brutal pronouncement poured forth again.

In that case…

Jang I-seo’s downcast eyes snapped sharp. Fierce, unyielding. His trembling heart froze cold.

Then his mouth opened.

“You’re right.”

“Wh-what?!”

If Heuk-ya was a man who read emotions through shadows, Jang I-seo was the Hidden Pavilion’s finest operative, capable of deceiving even that.

“Everything you’re thinking is correct.”

“Hah…!”

Jang I-seo had accepted the vicious game.

A frontal confrontation.