episode_0094

“Kuhahahaha!!!”

As soon as I finished speaking, a hearty laugh echoed throughout the tent.

Turning my gaze to the source of the laughter, there was a rather rugged-looking martial artist with his arms crossed, laughing as if satisfied with something. Judging from the same patterns on his clothes as the Kunlun martial artist I saw earlier, I could probably assume that he was a Kunlun Elder or Sect Leader.

Anyway, he, who had been laughing so heartily, stood up from his seat and approached me, saying:

“So you’re the man the Flame Emperor was talking about. I can certainly feel that your energy is extraordinary! There was a reason why the Flame Emperor praised you so highly!”

“And you are?”

“Ah! My! I forgot my introduction. I apologize. This humble one is Tae Hwa-ryun, the Sect Leader of Kunlun. I look forward to working with you.”

“Tae Hwa-ryun, I see. I look forward to working with you as well. As I said before, I am called a Hero in a foreign land. My name is Leon, but if it’s difficult to pronounce, Chang Chun-woo is fine.”

At my words, Tae Hwa-ryun laughed heartily and patted me on the shoulder, saying:

“How could that be! A name is a very precious thing given by one’s parents. How can you carelessly change such a thing?”

Saying that, Tae Hwa-ryun pointed to the surroundings.

“Well, there may be people who don’t know your face, so let me introduce you. You know the Flame Emperor, right?”

“Yes. I know him.”

For a moment, my eyes met the Flame Emperor’s.

The Flame Emperor didn’t say anything, but gave a slight eye smile.

“The one standing to the left of the Flame Emperor, looking at you with a dissatisfied expression, is Namgung Do-ryong, the head of the Namgung family.”

“…Tsk.”

Certainly. As Tae Hwa-ryun said, there was a man looking at me with a displeased expression.

In addition, Namgung Do-gun, who came here with me, was standing behind Namgung Do-ryong at some point, looking at me.

“The one behind him is the young lord, Namgung Do-gun. You probably know about him, right? I heard you met at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.”

“Yes… well… that’s right.”

I wish he wouldn’t keep looking at me with that refreshing smile….

“The one next to him is the head of the Zhuge family, Zhuge Hyun.”

“Nice to meet you. I am Zhuge Hyun, head of the Zhuge family. I have heard of your achievement in defeating Bokhae Daesung. I hope you will show your skills to the fullest in this war as well.”

Zhuge Hyun, with a relatively calm and polite attitude.

At least, it seems like I can have a conversation with this person to some extent.

In addition, behind him, there was a woman with an outstanding appearance that was in no way inferior to Seol-rin or Baek-ryun, standing demurely.

Noticing my gaze, Tae Hwa-ryun smirked and said in a small voice:

“Pretty, isn’t she? Zhuge Hyun’s daughter, Zhuge Seo-hyun.”

“She is pretty, but… this isn’t exactly the time and place to be discussing this.”

“Ahaha~! That’s true!!”

After briefly introducing all the important figures in each sect besides those, Tae Hwa-ryun returned to his seat with a satisfied look.

Also, I took a seat at the very edge of this place.

As the atmosphere in the tent calmed down, Zhuge Hyun, the head of the Zhuge family, began to speak.

“Then, let’s resume the discussion that was temporarily suspended. After we all arrived at Heavenly Mountain, we have had several battles. In the first battle, we had the upper hand, but in the subsequent series of battles, the enemy’s offensive gradually became more violent. In particular, the enemies’ technique called ‘Sinsoohwa’ was more threatening than expected.”

“I heard that Sinsoohwa is similar in nature to the Tang family’s secret Blood Awakening technique?”

At Zhuge Hyun’s words, Namgung Do-ryong frowned.

Zhuge Hyun readily nodded at Namgung Do-ryong’s words.

“Yes. It seems that Tang Seol-ryun, who was the young lord of the Tang family, handed over the secrets of that technique to the Beast Alliance. Based on that, they are developing a technique called ‘Sinsoohwa’ and gradually increasing its completion.”

“Tsk…. They stood so stiffly in Sichuan, and ended up having all the important things taken away.”

At Namgung Do-ryong’s words, which were full of thorns, Baek-ryun, who was standing behind me, flinched for a moment.

But fortunately, or calmly, Baek-ryun quickly calmed down.

As Baek-ryun, who was only able to attend this meeting as a member of my party, had no right to speak in this place.

Baek-ryun, who understood that fact well and calmed herself down, seemed to be inevitably resentful in this situation where Seol-rin’s family, who could now be called her precious friend, was being insulted.

That’s why Baek-ryun looked at me, hoping that I would say something.

However, since it was true that the Beast Alliance had obtained the technique called ‘Sinsoohwa’ due to Tang Seol-ryun’s betrayal, I couldn’t say anything special because it was, in any case, a fact, even if the tone was unpleasant. Instead….

“Therefore, we were going to wait for the Tang family’s personnel to come here and try to confirm the weaknesses of Sinsoohwa, but after confirming the Tang family’s internal war settlement, Yun Mu-gyul, a member of the Flame family’s Jaryong unit, obtained information from a Beast Alliance spy he had captured. As a result, we were able to find out an important fact.”

If it’s an important fact, it’s probably that.

“The existence that can be seen as the head of the enemy Beast Alliance, an existence called the Heavenly Demon, is not yet complete.”

“Heavenly Demon… the character for Heaven (天) and the character for Devil (魔)…. A grandiose name.”

Hyun-do, the Sect Leader of Hwasan, calmly said while gently stroking his beard.

Certainly, the name Heavenly Demon is a grandiose name.

“But, is that information accurate?”

“Whether it’s true or not depends on verification. Sect Leader Do-hyun. However, when looking at the current movements of the Beast Alliance, it seems that the enemies are acting primarily to tie our feet with guerrilla warfare tactics that avoid direct combat, so at least they are currently avoiding direct all-out war with us.”

Zhuge Hyun, who had said that far, paused for a moment to clear his throat and said:

“Therefore, there is only one thing I want to tell you all. Whether we should wait until the Tang family comes here and then start a full-scale war with the Beast Alliance, or whether we should drive the unprepared enemies and end it in a short period of time. We have gathered you all for a discussion on this decision.”

Zhuge Hyun’s gaze then shifted to me.

“However, I heard that the existence of the Heavenly Demon is the destined existence that the Hero from another world must defeat, so I would like to hear the opinion of Leon, who happened to arrive at this time, about the Heavenly Demon and the future course of action first. Would that be alright?”

At Zhuge Hyun’s words, everyone’s attention focused on me.

Indeed…. Are they trying to figure out something about me by doing this? Interesting.

“Hmm, certainly.”

“That’s reasonable.”

Everyone’s opinion also seemed to converge on at least listening to my story once.

They’ve set the stage like this, so if I don’t take it, I’m not a man.

“Then I’ll say a few words. The ones I have to face are exactly those called fragments of the Demon King. They are divided into exactly 4 fragments, and I don’t know the exact location of them. I only happened to find out that the Beast Alliance in this country of Flame is related to one of the fragments of the Demon King that I need to find, the Heavenly Demon.”

So, I speak calmly.

“I can kill everyone here.”

The moment everyone was about to say something in response to my words that seemed to have scratched them all, I spoke first.

“But, I can win the battle, but I can’t win the war. The war with the Beast Alliance, strategizing that is something that more excellent people than me can do. For example, the head of the Zhuge family here or other people can come up with more excellent strategies and tactics. So I don’t have much to say about strategies and tactics. So I want you all to know only one thing. I will face the enemy’s Heavenly Demon. So, you all come up with a strategy to win against the Beast Alliance.”

【Sword King’s Pressure】

The Sword King’s aura that crushes the enemy.

Everyone here, who are much weaker than me, were inevitably affected by the pressure.

Without a word, I made them aware of my existence through pressure.

“…You’ve become stronger than when I saw you before.”

Jujak’s voice lightly spread through the tent, which had been silent.

Only then did the tense atmosphere begin to ease little by little.

“Y-yes, that’s right. I’ve heard your story well. Then….”

“Ah, and there’s one more thing I’d like to say.”

Just as Zhuge Hyun was about to conclude the story, I interrupted Zhuge Hyun’s words and said:

“At the previous national conference, I heard that the Beast Alliance attacked to disrupt the national conference. And I heard that Tang Seol-pung, who was called Dokjon, died because of it. Surely everyone was there at that time… what exactly did you do there?”

At my provocative tone, everyone in the room except the Flame Emperor flinched and glared at me.

“Of course, I have nothing to say about Tang Seol-ryun’s betrayal, and his mistake of not noticing that betrayal… but I wonder if those cowards who relied on only one Dokjon to face Bokhae Daesung, in a place where all the powerful people of the Flame Kingdom are present, have the right to say anything about the Tang family.”

“…Are you talking about me?”

“Yes. I’m talking about you.”

“W-what….”

As long as my sword is within reach of Seol-rin, I promised to protect Seol-rin….

If they badmouth Seol-rin in front of me, they should be prepared to be criticized too.

“Tang Seol-rin, the current head of the Tang family, is also my friend. Also, she is a woman I respect, who has fulfilled her family’s obligations despite the sadness of losing her father, and despite the fact that her family is a traitor. I won’t stand for anyone insulting her.”

Leaving those words behind, I got up from my seat.

Of course, no one in that place stopped me from leaving.