Chapter 210: First Sin. (2)

First Sin. (2)

The heat swirling within the room was intense enough to make even me, whose Nine Flame Wheel Technique had reached the fifth star, feel the heat.

A martial artist of the Hwagyeong realm collapsed on the floor….

I mean, their name….

‘What was it? I didn’t hear it.’

They seemed like they were about to introduce themselves, though.

I didn’t properly hear it.

Leaving the man who met his end by Father’s strike behind.

I immediately checked Father’s appearance.

The robe fluttered due to the inner energy.

The red vest fluttered along with it.

The profound inner energy was suffocating just by him walking, but…

The important thing amidst it all was.

‘That there wasn’t a single scratch.’

Father’s condition was perfectly fine.

The fact that his hand was torn and bleeding.

Was probably just a scratch from forcefully tearing through the formation.

Other than that, he was perfectly clean.

“…Family Head-nim.”

Gu Huibi looked at Father with quite surprised eyes, as if his appearance was truly unexpected.

Then again.

It was indeed surprising that that blunt and cold man had appeared after leaving the family to save her.

‘If they knew nothing, they might think that.’

In my past life, when I became a demon, or when Gu Yeonseo faced trouble due to Elder Il’s scheme.

If I recall the state Father was in and the situations he created,

I could tell he wasn’t someone who completely disregarded his children.

‘Though others wouldn’t know that.’

Father, who was quietly observing Gu Huibi,

soon shifted his gaze to Namgung Bi-ah, and then back to me.

As I met his sharp gaze, Father’s lips opened.

“Third.”

His tone felt somewhat cold.

“…Yes.”

“Why are you here?”

That’s what I’m saying.

Why am I here?

Unable to answer, I subtly avoided his gaze.

Father, seeing that, glanced at Namgung Bi-ah once more before adding quietly,

“I’ll hear about the situation when we get back.”

It seemed he intended to overlook it for now.

Certainly, the current situation wasn’t relaxed enough to listen to the whole story.

As I watched Father turn his back, seemingly having finished speaking, I asked this time.

“Family Head-nim.”

At my call, Father slightly turned his head and looked at me.

I almost flinched at Father’s fierce red eyes, but

I had to ask what needed asking.

“…What happened to the Black Night Palace Lord?”

“The Black Night Palace Lord?”

“Clearly, the Palace Lord was approaching you, Family Head-nim.”

The location the black mist headed towards was the center of the Red Heaven (赤天).

It must have been where Father was.

“The Palace Lord…”

Father fell silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought at my words, before continuing.

“Yes, I saw him.”

He continued as if he’d just remembered.

“Our eyes met from afar. And then he disappeared.”

Disappeared?

I thought they would at least confront each other.

If Father’s words were to be believed, it sounded as if the Black Night Palace Lord had run away.

“Didn’t you capture him?”

At my question, Father shifted his gaze from me, looked straight ahead, and said,

“I merely prioritized the order.”

Father’s words meant that finding Gu Huibi was a higher priority than the Black Night Palace Lord at that moment.

As soon as he confirmed Gu Huibi’s safety, Father turned and walked away as if he had no lingering attachment.

“You heartless bastards!”

Then, the silent Elder Muk couldn’t hold back and shouted.

“Hey! Here I am, an old geezer, and you don’t even pity me!”

Perhaps because he heard the old man’s voice.

Father briefly shifted his gaze towards Elder Muk.

“Fine by me if it’s the kids, but you shouldn’t do that!”

Elder Muk, meeting his gaze, shouted at Father.

Hearing that, Father looked at Elder Muk and said,

“It’s been a while.”

My eyes widened slightly at that greeting.

Was Father acquainted with the Hao Clan Head…?

Elder Muk snorted at the blunt remark.

“Your greeting is quite prompt. You must have spotted me quite a while ago.”

“I heard news of your death, but you’re alive.”

“I have a longer lifespan than I look. You know that too, don’t you?”

His way of speaking with a forced laugh, as if seeking connection, was rather irritating.

Seeing that, Father seemed to understand the old man’s intention and gave me an order, looking at me.

“Third.”

“…Yes.”

“Bring the old man here.”

With that, Father started walking away,

and at the same time, Gu Huibi’s body floated up and flew towards Father.

Seeing that, I let out a deep sigh.

‘In the end, I have to take him.’

Since Father had given the order, there was no other choice.

I immediately grabbed the old man’s shackles and released them.

Breaking them wasn’t difficult, no different from what I did to Gu Huibi.

“Your father seems to be reasonable, thankfully.”

Elder Muk said something, but I ignored him and roughly slung him over my shoulder.

“Ugh! Carry me gently!”

“Just be quiet before I throw you away.”

“…Your way of speaking really resembles your father when he was young.”

That sounds like an insult, somehow.

‘How on earth do the Hao Clan Head and Father know each other?’

It was an unknowable matter.

That the Hao Clan Head, unknown in the Central Plains, was acquainted with Father.

‘…Besides, I don’t even know well what Father did when he was young.’

I just vaguely thought that he probably didn’t live an ordinary youth.

Seeing the martial artist of the Hwagyeong realm lying dead on the floor made that clear enough.

‘A martial artist of the Hwagyeong realm with a single strike….’

Even if it was a surprise attack, it was never an easy feat.

Moreover, he hadn’t even unleashed the flames of his fire arts.

It meant he hadn’t shown even a bit of his full strength.

‘Has Father reached the extreme?’

The extreme of the Nine Flame Wheel Technique is a realm I couldn’t achieve even in my past life.

Perhaps, I thought, the current Father might have reached that point.

That made sense, considering.

Excluding Wi Seol-ah.

The one who left a wound on the Heavenly Demon, whom even the Three Venerables couldn’t handle,

was Father alone.

---

After escaping the prison and coming outside, the Black Night Palace martial artists had already been dealt with.

The Ilgeomdae, the Family Head’s direct unit, greeted us.

As Father walked out, the captain of the Ilgeomdae waiting ahead approached.

“The suppression is complete. A few individuals are fleeing, but you needn’t worry about losing them.”

‘It’s already over?’

I had to frown at the captain’s words.

How much time had passed for them to clear out the Black Night Palace’s main compound?

Father also seemed to sense something strange, his expression full of thought.

‘…Although the number of personnel wasn’t small.’

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a small number of people, but

it was too low-caliber a force to be called the top power in the Demonic Sects.

The man calling himself the Vice Palace Lord had reached the Hwagyeong realm, so he was sufficient force, but

‘Even so, it was far too lacking.’

It was clear that apart from him, the forces were insignificant.

…This was just like.

‘It’s like they were already preparing to flee.’

No matter how I looked at it, that’s how it seemed.

The reason their forces seemed weak.

And the reason their guard was unknowingly lax.

‘Were they planning to abandon it from the start?’

Right now, I couldn’t think of any other reason if that wasn’t it.

So I had to recall.

‘Why, exactly?’

If that were the case, there must be a reason for the Black Night Palace Lord to abandon the main palace.

‘…Speaking of that flower, what is the Black Night Palace trying to achieve?’

The flower obtained from the Hua Clan was definitely the work of the Black Night Palace.

Seeing that, was it really just one flower?

‘If there were more, what were they made for?’

I don’t know much about the Black Night Palace.

Not only is there little information recorded in the world,

but with incidents happening one after another, time to properly gather information was tight.

Not only that, but I also needed to know the reason for Gu Huibi’s kidnapping, but

‘Will I be able to find out?’

It’s uncertain whether they left any information.

And right now, Gu Huibi’s priority was to rest.

I examined Gu Huibi’s body and thought.

‘I can purify the demonic energy, but.’

The top priority is to purify the demonic energy that’s currently preventing her from using her inner energy.

However, considering she endured for days with her weakened body,

resting and recovering her body first was the priority.

And if possible, I had to secretly extract the demonic energy before arriving at the family estate.

It would be much easier if I could do it before God-nim or Father noticed.

“I also need to find the missing Palace Lord…”

No matter how strong the Palace Lord was, and even though Father came to the prison prioritizing Gu Huibi,

it’s incomprehensible how he disappeared so quickly.

Moreover.

‘If that was the case, why did he even go to see Father?’

Father clearly said he saw the Palace Lord.

It seemed he did go to meet him, even if just for a moment.

While I was organizing my thoughts, Gu Huibi, who was resting after receiving light treatment,

was explaining the events at the Black Night Palace to Father and the Ilgeomdae.

The encounter with the Palace Lord.

Entering the unknown room.

Meeting the child.

Hearing up to that point, I only had more questions.

‘A child?’

A child?

Gu Huibi was randomly saying there was a child in the Black Night Palace.

The child, who had a strange aura,

had a withered body, perhaps because they couldn’t eat properly,

and reportedly had poor language skills, possibly due to lack of proper education.

Hearing this much, one might have just accepted it as ‘something was there.’

They must be plotting something behind the scenes.

Just about that much.

Perhaps they thought so.

However.

The words that followed were the problem.

“…What did you say?”

“What’s wrong, little brother?”

“What did you just say?”

I grabbed Gu Huibi’s arm and asked.

Namgung Bi-ah approached as if to stop me, but I didn’t have time to care about that.

“…Who did they resemble?”

Because this was something that shouldn’t have been heard.

---

Immediately after hearing Gu Huibi’s words.

Boom!

I ran, overturning the space I had meticulously cleared.

Even though my condition wasn’t fully recovered, meaning I shouldn’t recklessly use my inner energy,

as if I didn’t have time to care about that,

I ignored the pain and raised my energy.

‘Damn it….’

[Kid. Calm down…!]

Noy-a seemed flustered by the surging energy and tried to calm me, but

I couldn’t.

‘Goddammit, what the hell happened?’

The characteristics Gu Huibi mentioned were details I could have easily dismissed.

Even if the Black Night Palace was plotting something right now,

that wasn’t what was important.

The most crucial objective was, after all, Gu Huibi’s rescue.

Finding the Palace Lord afterwards,

or subduing or killing the Palace Lord, was not my domain right now.

It would be good if I could, but it wasn’t the time to forget my place and act rashly.

However.

The problem hidden within seemed not to be something that could be easily overlooked.

‘They weren’t connected to the Demonic Cult after all.’

Regarding why the Black Night Palace martial artists could use demonic energy.

The murky events felt like they were becoming a little clearer.

‘Was the Black Night Palace the root cause from the start?’

Because it was too murky to be used.

I had only searched for any connection.

I had been too careless, thinking it obviously wasn’t the case.

‘If only it were a misunderstanding.’

I hoped my current guess was a mistake, but

as always, bad premonitions never turned out wrong.

KUUUNG!

I burrowed through, as if breaking the wall, and descended underground little by little.

Deeper than the prison where Gu Huibi was.

“Huh…! First Young Master-nim?”

As I went deeper, I encountered Sword Cadre members who had set up a formation.

The fact that so many people were gathered here meant

there was a place they couldn’t proceed further into.

As expected.

Far in the distance, at the very end, the deputy captain of the Ilgeomdae was examining a huge door.

It was the same door Gu Huibi had described.

“…First Young Master-nim?”

As I caught my breath and approached, the deputy captain looked at me with a puzzled expression.

It was the kind of look that said, ‘Why the hell is this guy here?’

I ignored him and asked the deputy captain.

“…Can’t you open the door?”

“Ah, we were examining it because it seemed like some sort of formation was set up.”

They probably thought it was a formation because the door wouldn’t open.

I looked at the huge door before me and swallowed dryly.

‘A formation? It’s not that.’

I knew it the moment I saw it.

Because it was a door familiar to my eyes.

Especially the purple gems embedded in the door.

I reached out towards it without hesitation.

“First Young Master-nim…! It’s dangerous if you touch it carelessly…!”

The deputy captain tried to stop me due to my sudden action, but

KUUNG!

Seeing the door react soon after, he was startled and stepped back.

Can they really not feel it?

The intense energy emanating from beyond this door.

I felt it far too clearly.

It was an all-too-familiar sensation, reaching beyond my heart to my very soul.

KUUNG… KUUNG!

The door, seemingly reacting to the demonic energy, moved, and I pushed it open with force.

As the door opened, the cadre members tried to enter the room, but

…!

Startled by the energy felt from within the room, their movements stopped.

It was a natural reaction for anyone possessing inner energy.

They instinctively feared or rejected demonic energy.

Leaving them behind, I stepped into the room.

The room inside the door was too dark to see.

Hwa-reureu-reuk.

I immediately conjured flames to illuminate the room.

“…This is.”

The illuminated room was much larger than expected.

The floor was covered in dried flower petals,

and scorch marks of unknown purpose were clear.

Judging by the traces, it seemed like books had been burned.

Following those abundant traces, I shifted my gaze towards the wall, and

“…Huh.”

Someone was there.

“…This is interesting.”

Surprisingly, one was the Black Night Palace Lord who had disappeared,

and the other was an old man covered in age spots,

a face I recognized.

‘Taejeol-gwi…’

He was the old man in charge of the Demonic Cult’s internal affairs.

For some reason, his face looked even older than in my past life, but he was definitely Taejeol-gwi.

Furthermore, behind them, the void distorted, opening a Demonic Mirror Gate.

It was a gate of purple light, not one of the four representative colors of the Demonic Mirror Gates.

A Demonic Mirror Gate opening not outside, but deep underground.

It was a situation that seemed utterly nonsensical, but

I wasn’t surprised.

This was surely one of ‘that guy’s’ powers.

“How were you able to open that gate?”

The Palace Lord looked at me as if in wonder, but

my gaze wasn’t directed at the Palace Lord.

I was staring intently at the child held in his arms.

A body so skinny that the shape of its bones was visible,

with messy, falling black hair.

And the distinct purple eyes visible through the strands.

Just seeing this much was enough to know for sure, but

as if to confirm it, there was definitive proof on the child’s face.

“Hah, holy shit….”

The child’s face, held in the Palace Lord’s arms, tilting its head as it looked at me,

was unmistakably, chillingly similar to Wi Seol-ah.