Chapter 204. Eight Years of Hardship and Suffering (25)
The person standing next to Woo-Moon, Palan Shin-Tong, answered him, as he had already asked Bloodrush Archdemon that question himself.
”It was done on the orders of the Heavenly Demon.”
As expected of the Martial Commander of the Justice Coalition, he was telling the truth.
Woo-Moon shut his eyes tightly as he staggered toward his quarters.
He failed to realize one very important issue: the person who had answered his question wasn’t Bloodrush Archdemon, but someone else.
Even if Bloodrush Archdemon lied, there was no way for Palan Shin-Tong to verify it, considering he wasn’t a Paragon and could not interrogate an Absolute Master like Woo-Moon could. Thus, even though Palan Shin-Tong was telling the truth, it didn’t necessarily follow that his information was accurate.
Thus, another day passed, and the large army of the Allied Forces of Good and Evil arrived to where the decisive battle with the Heavenly Demon Cult was to take place, with Woo-Moon standing among them.
The night before the battle.
When Woo-Moon arrived at the decisive battle site, he coincidentally ran into the Sword Emperor.
”Oh! Hahaha, and who could this be? You don’t know how happy I was to hear that you were alive! I’ve been so busy with work that I was only able to see you now. Congratulations on reaching the Paragon realm! Now, you’re stronger than me, too! Haha!”
Woo-Moon’s eyes met the Sword Emperor’s as he smiled and greeted him.
At that moment, while the Sword Emperor didn’t know it, Woo-Moon realized something, and a torrent of emotions surged inside him.
However, Woo-Moon hid it all behind a smile.
”It’s good to see that you’re still doing well. My grandfather, he....”
As Woo-Moon’s expression darkened, the Sword Emperor let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with sorrowful longing.
”The Palm Martial Emperor... I didn’t know that was how he would meet his end. He acted as if he would live forever without dying, to think he would... in vain...”
As he said that, the Sword Emperor looked up at the sky. At the same time, Woo-Moon looked at him with a cold gaze. But the Sword Emperor didn’t seem to notice.
”Oh, that’s right. Follow me. We’re deciding who will lead us in the final battle against the Heavenly Demon Cult tomorrow. You, of all people, shouldn’t miss this.”
Woo-Moon followed the Sword Emperor, hiding his emotions thoroughly.
As time passed, his chaotic thoughts and emotions slowly settled.
***
The final battle was just around the corner.
Then, from the Heavenly Demon cult’s perspective, horrible news had arrived.
”They say that the Undefeatable Sword Hero, Song Woo-Moon, has returned alive! Moreover, they say that he’s made great progress and become a Paragon.”
“What? Is that true? A Paragon!”
“Yes! There’s a very high chance that it’s true.”
As she listened to the elders and the messengers, Si-Hyeon felt as though she had been hit in the head with a blunt object, just like Woo-Moon had when he heard the news about her.
‘Senior brother... Senior brother is alive?!’
Woo-Moon was alive! She almost cried. Just hearing those words brought her to the brink of shedding tears of joy.
However, she was now a Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult. She couldn’t let herself cry so easily.
‘No, wait, do I even need to stay as the Heavenly Demon? Senior brother is alive! I just need to go back to him!’
Her heart was pounding, and her blood was boiling hot. That was why she didn’t notice the elders glaring at her.
The elders also knew about the relationship between Si-Hyeon and Woo-Moon. That was why Woo-Moon’s survival was considered a critical danger.
If Si-Hyeon, the Heavenly Demon, were to abandon the Heavenly Demon Cult, then... there would be no then. There could be no greater disaster for them.
Si-Hyeon’s heart, which had been pounding, suddenly stopped. Her blood also turned cold.
‘B-b-but... I’m the Heavenly Demon now—the Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult. I abandoned Grandmaster’s techniques and started learning demonic arts. Will senior brother even accept me like this? Especially when I got engaged to another man not long after finding out he was dead?’
Of course, from Si-Hyeon’s perspective, it had all been inevitable.
She loved Woo-Moon so much that the fires of revenge burned within her, and she had to have the Heavenly Demon Cult by her side to achieve that revenge.
Her heart kept racing and calming, her body temperature fluctuating endlessly.
Then, right at that moment, she heard the advisor’s following words.
“Song Woo-Moon is also said to have fought alongside Ha Yeo-Seol, the Young Palace Master of the North Sea Ice Palace. It seems he has obtained the power of the North Sea Ice Palace. We should also consider the possibility that they will fight on behalf of the Allied Forces of Good and Evil.”
Si-Hyeon had remained cold on the outside until now, but these words made her waver.
“Is that true?”
The messenger bowed his head.
“It’s all true, my lord.”
She was shocked. However, it still wasn’t as big of a shock as finding out Woo-Moon was alive.
Si-Hyeon didn’t care about anything as long as she could return to him.
As she was pondering, Hwi Ji-Gang—now one-armed—returned from his mission and entered the shrine.
“B-Blood Heaven Asura Captain, what happened?!”
“To think the Lord’s fiance ended up like this!”
Hwi Ji-Gang’s heart may have been extremely burdened, but in any case, he was still the most loyal to Si-Hyeon. And unlike the others, his loyalty was to Si-Hyeon alone.
Si-Hyeon always felt grateful to him for his loyalty and felt pity when she saw his appearance. Moreover, she quickly grew angry at the person who crippled him like that.
“... while chasing that bastard, Song Woo-Moon blocked my path and saved him. I tried to fight him, but it seems that Woo-Moon has now become a Paragon. My power wasn’t enough... I’m sorry, my lord.”
Si-Hyeon’s heart sank once more when she heard that Woo-Moon had interfered with the execution of the evil Bloodrush Archdemon and had even cut off her fiance’s arm.
How could things be so complicated?
Part of her felt resentful toward Woo-Moon. It wasn’t because he had cut off Hwi Ji-Gang’s arm specifically; even if he cut off Hwi Ji-Gang’s head, he probably had good reasons for it. However, his actions were making things more and more difficult for her.
Si-Hyeon, who had always maintained a calm face while showing off her dignity as a Heavenly Demon, was now truly wavering.
The elders and captains of the Heavenly Demon Cult gathered at the shrine turned pale when they heard the subtle tremble in her voice. Now that the final battle against the Alliance for Good and Evil was imminent, she was not allowed to waver.
“... Did senior brother know that I’m alive? Did he talk about me?”
Everyone’s expressions hardened even further.
Hwi Ji-Gang’s face distorted in regret and pain for a moment before he lowered his head.
“... I told him the news. That you were alive and wanted to see him.”
Si-Hyeon felt grateful to Hwi Ji-Gang for telling Woo-Moon that.
“What... What did he say?”
Hwi Ji-Gang made an even more troubled expression.
Then, as if he couldn’t bring himself to speak, he lowered his head.
Si-Hyeon urged him. “Tell me quickly!”
“... Please forgive my rudeness. He... he said that he already forgot about you... and that he already had someone else he loved... so... so...”
Si-Hyeon felt as though her heart was about to break. However, seeing how Hwi Ji-Gang was struggling, unable to bring himself to continue due to how she felt, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and screamed, urging him on.
“Hurry up and spit it out!”
Her shout was filled with her qi. Naturally, the demonic qi in the air thickened and suffocated the surroundings.
Hwi Ji-Gang closed his eyes tightly as if he had no choice but to offend her.
“He has no desire to see the witch who became the new Heavenly Demon of the Heavenly Demon Cult and got engaged to someone else... He could no longer acknowledge you as his junior sister or his grandfather’s disciple... he said he would kill you and clean up his lineage so he could reestablish the morality of the murim.”
The witch of the Heavenly Demon Cult!
Those words tore at her heart like a knife. Her blood began to boil, raging within her veins.
The overwhelming blood rush suffocated her, keeping her from breathing. Her eyes were covered in blood, so much so that she couldn’t see anything.
Demonic qi flowed out of her body, enveloping her.
Si-Hyeon cried silently, making sure no one could see her.
Her heart ached so much.
Just like the irreversible relationship between the Heavenly Demon Cult and the Righteous Faction, it seemed that the same distance had formed between her and her senior brother.
The tears that began when she heard that he hated and despised her just wouldn’t stop.
It felt like they would flow forever.
After thinking about it for a long time, Si-Hyeon slowly regained her original complexion and wiped away her tears.
The demonic qi surrounding her dissipated, revealing a cold and emotionless face.
The elders thought that this was fortunate. They realized that Si-Hyeon had released so much demonic qi, enough to cover her entire body, because she couldn’t let them see her feel hurt and betrayed.
They knew that they couldn’t miss this moment. They had to plant a seed of anger toward Woo-Moon, and they had to do it now.
“Song Woo-Moon will definitely be the one to lead the Alliance of Good and Evil! After all, he’s their only Paragon!” one elder shouted.
Then, the other elders shouted one after another.
“You must kill him!”
“Song Woo-Moon will be our Heavenly Demon Cult’s greatest enemy in the future!”
“We have already crossed the river of no return with those Righteous Faction bastards! In order to defeat the Righteous Faction and wipe out Martial Heaven, we must kill Song Woo-Moon!”
Si-Hyeon squeezed her eyes shut.
But still, she continued to hear their voices.
Kill him.
Kill him!
KILL HIM!
She had to kill the one she loved most in the world.
She still loved him, even though he called her a witch and looked down on her.
She remembered back to when they first met, when she was a young fool.
She had gone on a journey in place of her father, filled with anxiety. Si-Hyeon still remembered the conversation they had in the carriage.
Could she do it? Could she kill her senior brother?
‘What a foolish question.’
She couldn’t shut off her subordinates’ voices.
Voices echoed from left and right, but among the clamor and ruckus, one thing was painfully clear.
Everyone around her wanted her to kill her senior brother.
And... everyone around him probably wanted him to kill her as well.
No, he might already hate her. Yes... he hated her.
Hated her for becoming the Heavenly Demon and for being engaged to someone else...
He definitely did.
‘He hates me, despises me, rejects me.’
Tears flowed not in her eyes, but in her heart.
“Kill the so-called Undefeatable Sword Hero!”
“If we kill him, the allied forces will lose their pillar and will be unable to fight us!”
“Kill Song Woo-Moon!”
***
At the same time, the center of the Allied Forces of Good and Evil.
They had unanimously decided.
Woo-Moon, their only Paragon, would be the one to take on the Heavenly Demon.
He had to step forward.
“The moment she became the Heavenly Demon, she was no longer your grandfather’s disciple,” said the Sword Emperor.
The Hegemon Emperor also interjected.
“The Palm Martial Emperor may have been a selfish man, but he never forgave evil. She’s the Palm Martial Emperor’s only disciple. You must wash away that disgrace. Kill her.”
The Shaolin Abbot, Myeong Hyeon, also spoke up with a curse.
“You have to cut off all ties. She’s already gone down the wrong path.”
Peng Wujun, whose family had been reduced to ashes by the Heavenly Demon Cult at Si-Hyeon’s command, gritted his teeth.
“If you refuse to deal with that witch, if you refuse to kill her, then we’ll just consider you to have been tainted by the Heavenly Demon Cult, too!”
“Shut up, you idiot! How dare you say such ridiculous things?!” The Wudang Sect Leader, Venerable Ho Yeon, snapped at Peng Wujun.
As they all spoke, Woo-Moon tightly shut his eyes. He listened to them squabble like parrots, ordering him to kill Si-Hyeon, his junior sister.
‘Junior sister... Why did you become the Heavenly Demon? Why in the world did you...?’
Woo-Moon didn’t know.
He didn’t know how heartbroken Si-Hyeon had been when she thought he was dead. How great her desire for revenge had been against the evil Martial Heaven who had killed her sole Senior Brother, and how she had chosen to become the Heavenly Demon in order to achieve that revenge.
How could he know?
Night covered the sky.
The same moon shone over Woo-Moon and Si-Hyeon as they listened to those around them pressuring them to kill each other.
‘Senior brother...’
‘...Junior sister...’