Chapter 131: Way of Mourning Part 2 (2/2)

As Amon kept washing his face, Sunhwa’s expression hardened.

“Amon, could that person be who I think it is?”

“It must be.”

“When did you know?”

“I was sure when His Majesty told me. But I started suspecting when we fought the Sword Guild members in the church.”

“So when they said they would use us in the forest, they weren’t talking about this situation?”

“Back then, Salju Guild had split from the Sword Guild, and they knew each other well, so I thought they were just asking for help. I never imagined they were a brother organization.”

With a bitter smile, Amon drew his sword.

Sunhwa also drew her sword with a sad smile.

Throughout the conversation, it seemed like only the two of them had grasped the situation.

Sunwoo still only had a vague guess that the person behind the mask was someone he knew.

So, Sunwoo, in a rush, demanded an explanation from them.

“Explain it to me clearly!”

“It’s not that difficult.”

Instead of Amon, Sunhwa began explaining in a calm voice.

“Isn’t it strange? The reason I was kicked out of the Sword Guild.”

At first, she had thought it was because she was an internal informant of a traitor family.

In Confucian society, abandoning one’s family was something worthy of contempt, even if it was for loyalty to the king.

But Sunhwa realized that wasn’t enough of a reason when they kicked her out but took Sunwoo back.

That doubt was resolved by the fact that the man behind the mask was both a member of the Sword Guild and part of the Salju Guild.

“What if… that person had been plotting treason since then?”

“What if, at that time, I had touched the Yodo by chance?”

“What if, because of me, the plan almost got exposed?”

Then everything would make sense.

While preparing to use the Yodo, she accidentally discovered it, and in a panic, the ‘traitor’ expelled her.

Furthermore, she had previously exposed her family’s rebellion, so keeping her in the Sword Guild would have been too risky.

As Sunhwa explained this, Sunwoo seemed to have roughly figured out the identity of the man behind the mask.

“This is impossible…”

Muttering in shock, Sunwoo looked toward the man behind the mask.

And said, “That person is the leader? No! He can’t be!”

Since he respected the Guild leader more than anyone, Sunwoo’s reaction was dramatic.

Seeing that, Amon nodded slightly toward the masked man.

“Take off your mask. You must be uncomfortable.”

The silent traitor quickly removed his mask.

Under the mask was a face Sunwoo never wanted to see.

“Guild Leader…”

Now that he saw the face, Sunwoo could no longer deny it.

He accepted the reality calmly and aimed his sword.

The Guild Leader showed a slight surprise.

“You’ve recovered faster than I expected.”

“When the disappointment is too great, you don’t feel shocked.”

“That’s true.”

“Guild Leader, may I ask you something?”

“Ask freely. Before we start swinging swords, we should clear our minds, shouldn’t we?”

“Thank you. Then, when did you start preparing for the treason?”

“30 years ago, when I was a child.”

“What?”

“I was also the child of a wealthy family like you. And like your family, we were wiped out for treason. Do you know the Jeong family?”

The two were familiar with the family.

However, unlike the Ji family, who had a sense of injustice in their downfall, the Jeong family had been accused of treason unfairly.

“Our family never conspired for treason. We were simply interested in Western democracy and were researching whether we could introduce parts of it to Joseon.”

Whether it was a parliamentary system or a constitutional monarchy.

The Jeong family, opposed to the monarchy’s power, considered applying democratic ideas to Joseon in some form.

But the royal family could not accept such discussions, as it would weaken their power.

They declared the Jeong family traitors, and the leader of the Sword Guild was left on the streets at a young age.

“I’ve discarded the name Jeong Munju, given by my parents, and it’s been 30 years since. You know what it’s like to be thoroughly trampled by a nation.”

So, he began preparing for treason.

He entered the Sword Guild, took the position of leader, found the Salju Guild, controlled them with power, and slowly prepared for treason by creating the Yodo.

“Sunhwa, when you picked up that Yodo, my heart sank.”

With a shocked heart, the Guild Leader expelled the siblings from the Sword Guild and had the Salju Guild assassinate them.

But Sunhwa, mesmerized by the Yodo, was stronger than they had anticipated, so they could only hope that their plan wouldn’t be noticed.

Fortunately, it seemed that fate was on their side, as she never noticed the Guild Leader’s treasonous plot.

“So, the original plan was to spread the Yodo throughout Hanyang and cause chaos to start a revolution.”

However, a few years ago, after meeting someone, he completely revised his plans.

At this point, Amon interrupted.

“Would it have been Goetia’s demon?”

“You know well.”

“It’s because of the deep ill fate. The assassins of the Killers’ Association don’t fall under the control of Yodo because of him, right?”

The leader nodded.

“It seems that demon and the others he brought along knew how to deal with spirits.”

Because of that, they could operate the Killers’ Association without being affected, solely using the power of Yodo.

At that point, the leader decided to revise the plan.

First, in order to assassinate the crown prince, they injected one of the ministers with AI.

The AI that took over the minister’s body manipulated the second and third princes, luring them to use the Hunt Legion for an assassination plot.

However, the seemingly perfect operation failed due to a variable named Amon, and as a backup, they planned a direct assault using AI.

“I predicted that the crown prince would weaken device security and increase personnel in response to the AI.”

In the meantime, they pushed in the assassins of the Killers’ Association and neutralized the security net from within.

And that brought them to where they are now.

“Has the confusion been resolved now?”

“Not yet. There’s one left.”

“Ask everything.”

“Then, why did you accept me back into the sword clan? No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem to make sense.”

“You were a hostage.”

“Pardon?”

“You were a hostage in case your sister figured things out first and alerted the council.”

“I see…”

Crack

The two curved swords in Sunwoo’s hands trembled slightly.

Sunwoo bit his lower lip and took his stance.

“The confusion has been cleared. You’re not the leader I know.”

“What do you mean? I’ve never been infected with AI…”

“Of course not. But it’s true that you’re not the leader I know.”

Clang.

Sunwoo pressed the two swords together as he spoke.

“The person I remember no longer exists, so it wouldn’t be a problem to cut you down.”

“I’ll do it with you.”

Sunhwa, ready to draw her sword, placed her hand on the hilt and stood beside him.

Amon looked at the two of them and nodded.

“Then I’ll leave the leader to you two.”

“You?”

Sunhwa asked without taking her eyes off the leader.

“We have two people to deal with.”

Amon pointed in one direction, indicating himself, Sonia, and Cassie.

In that direction, there was a military force still using cannons and rubber bullets to block the spirits, even after the internal security net had been breached.

“Beyond there, the AI core and demons must be.”

“Leave that to us.”

With that, Amon left the leader to the siblings and set off to face the demons and AI.

***

On the way there, Amon shared information with his lovers.

“Before coming here, I discussed something with Father Gregory. I have a rough idea of what the demons and AI will be like over there.”

“Really? I’m still intentionally not looking at the future.”

“Don’t look until we arrive. You’ll need to act there.”

Cassie nodded.

Amon then turned to Sonia and spoke.

“Can you fold your wings from now on?”

“Why?”

“We know their identities, right? We should use that to our advantage.”

Amon exchanged glances with the two women and smiled softly.

Beyond the wave of the deceased.

There, a gaunt young man on a donkey looked at Geumgang.

Without taking his eyes off the palace, the young man spoke to his smartphone.

“Is there anything I can hack?”

[Nothing. All devices that could be used as terminals have been blocked.]

“Hm… That’s a shame. That human named Meiji could have been quite useful.”

[I never imagined someone like the head of security could fall so easily. Humans are so fleeting.]

“It was because Mr. Descartes was too careless.”

[Careless? It’s not me, the AI, but the demon, who owns that trait.]

“Didn’t you base your plan on Amon being an ordinary human? I warned you about it.”

[I only trust what I directly see and hear. How can I be sure the information you demons provided is not false?]

“You’re not forgetting that we are on the same side, are you?”

[Right. I believe you’ll be friendly toward me. But who knows? There might be an entity capable of deceiving the senses of demons like you.]

“No, if you set up your premise like that, then how are we supposed to have a conversation… Sigh…”

The young man, who was called a demon, stopped himself from arguing.

Upon recalling the identity of the AI, he understood why it was speaking this way.

As the young man sighed deeply, the donkey he was riding passed through the stinking ghosts.