Translator: FenrirTL
Editor/Quality Checker: Saphartlantis
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Chapter 376: Tonight’s banquet is canceled
It was a small lump of metal.
Unlike the rounded shape of the Black Eye from the Heavenly Wind Cult that the Secret Box had first absorbed, this one was a fang-shaped ornament that looked like it had fallen from a beast made of iron. It was too heavy to wear around the neck and could only be used as a standing ornament. 1
“I’ll take this one.”
Bih Sa-in looked at Geom Mugeuk with a surprised face.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Mind if I take a look?”
“As much as you like.”
Bih Sa-in examined the ornament closely. No matter how he looked, it was simply a metallic fang. There was no way Geom Mugeuk had chosen it at random.
“Why would you choose this?”
“It just pulled me in.”
“You’re really impossible to understand sometimes.”
It wasn’t as if this was the first time something like this had happened since meeting Geom Mugeuk, but even so, this case felt like the most incomprehensible.
“I received the Sun and Moon Sword from you, and from the Alliance Leader, I was given the War God gauntlets too. This is more than enough for me.”
“And yet you worry about the mystery wearing off. The curiosity of why you chose this will probably last a lifetime.”
Geom Mugeuk and Bih Sa-in stepped out together.
“Never imagined I’d end up going through these things with you.”
But was it only Bih Sa-in? Even Geom Mugeuk himself had never imagined he’d be living a life like this after returning. When he staggeringly wandered the Central Plains alone in search of materials for the Great Regression Technique, he used to comfort himself by thinking of life after his return. Who would’ve thought back then that he’d be walking out of a treasury with the Young Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance side by side?
“There will be many more things we never imagined. Let’s keep living our lives in awe.”
Younger than himself, yet always someone to rely on—this was Geom Mugeuk.
To such a man, Bih Sa-in had one question.
“Are you not afraid?”
“Of what?”
“Those plotting against us. The ones hiding in the shadows—we have no idea what they’ll do next, do we?”
Considering he knew the Battle King had survived and escaped, perhaps this fear was only natural.
Now that the chaotic fight had ended and he could finally catch his breath, Bih Sa-in realized just how perilous the situation had been. Without Geom Mugeuk, he would’ve died many times over.
Young Cult Leader, just what are you thinking?
Geom Mugeuk responded calmly.
“What is there to fear? I’m living harder than any of them. If I gave it everything I had and still lost—then so be it, right? I’ll die willingly.” 2
“!”
Those words became a guiding post for Bih Sa-in’s future.
And even while saying something so generous, Geom Mugeuk turned around and thanked him instead.
“Thank you for keeping your promise.”
Thinking back on all the gratitude piled up in that settlement basket, all he felt in this moment was deep guilt and shame.
Bih Sa-in strode ahead and spoke.
“Just don’t be late for the evening banquet.”
* * *
Geom Mugeuk returned to the guest room provided by the Unorthodox Alliance.
Once inside, he locked the door and shut the window.
He placed the Secret Box and the metallic fang ornament he had brought from the report onto the table. Having once absorbed the Black Eye before, he wouldn’t be surprised by what might happen next. Still… So, you do absorb things with different shapes too, huh?
“You must be hungry, right? Here, enjoy your meal!”
But the Secret Box didn’t move an inch.
“Eat. Why aren’t you eating?”
It had definitely vibrated, yet the Secret Box didn’t absorb the metal ornament.
“Did your taste shift to a different style now?”
He changed its direction and placed the fang on a different side, but again, there was no reaction.
“What’s this? Don’t tell me it wasn’t this one? Was it the one next to it?”
Of course, that couldn’t be. It had clearly reacted to this.
He tried this way and that, but nothing worked.
In the end, Geom Mugeuk gave up.
“Guess you’re full.” 3
The Secret Box simply grinned brightly, just as he had drawn it.
* * *
That evening, Geom Mugeuk walked down the corridor leading to the Alliance Leader’s Hall, guided by Ingung.
Ingung came to a natural stop at one point, and when he turned back, as expected, Geom Mugeuk had halted in front of the steel wolf.
“You won’t be seeing it again after today, so take a moment to say goodbye. I’ll wait for you at the Alliance Leader’s Hall.”
Seeing how fond he was of that wolf statue, Ingung felt bad for not giving him more time with it before. Of course, it was also an act of kindness born from the gratitude of having saved the Alliance Leader.
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.”
Once Ingung disappeared, Geom Mugeuk said farewell to the wolf.
“Looks like it’s farewell.”
He couldn’t quite explain why, but the wolf seemed to tug at his steps.
Was it because his past life before the regression resembled this solitary wolf? Perhaps that was it.
“We won’t see each other again. Take care.”
After gently patting the wolf’s head, Geom Mugeuk wistfully turned to leave—only to suddenly freeze in place. A thought struck him like lightning.
Geom Mugeuk pulled the fang ornament from inside his robe.
‘No way? …Could it be?’
He placed the fang in the open mouth of the iron wolf.
He tried fitting it into the lower jaw, but there was no response. The same with the other side.
‘Figures.’
He was about to walk away but decided to try fitting it into the upper jaw since he’d come this far.
At that exact moment, a blue glow burst from the wolf’s eyes. 4
Swaaaaaaaaash!
At that moment, it felt as though the wolf had come to life.
Geom Mugeuk drew up his internal energy and stepped back. Thankfully, the wolf did not attack him.
Instead, with a clicking sound, something rolled out from the wolf’s mouth.
When Geom Mugeuk confirmed what it was, he was stunned.
What had emerged was a bead glowing with a blue hue. If the one previously absorbed had been the black-colored Black Eye, then this was the blue-colored Blue Purity. Even the size was exactly the same.
This fang had been the key to retrieve the bead hidden within the steel wolf’s body. Now he understood why he had been so drawn to the statue. It hadn’t been him—the Secret Box had guided him here. Either that, or the energy of the previously absorbed Black Eye had drawn him toward it.
Wooooooong.
The Secret Box inside his robe began to vibrate in response.
He took it out and placed the Blue Purity on top of it.
Suuuuuk.
As if it had been waiting for this, the Secret Box began to absorb the Blue Purity. The hard bead melted into the box like liquid.
Once it had fully absorbed the Blue Purity, the Secret Box gave one final tremor.
Suuuuuuuuu!
Something tinged with blue began to emerge from the Secret Box.
It was the same as with the Black Eye. It wasn’t smoke, nor liquid, nor internal energy, nor light. It was something indescribable, something that spread from Geom Mugeuk’s hands and arms through his entire body.
Again, the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique did not activate. Instead, a refreshing sensation coursed through him. Geom Mugeuk’s instincts told him with certainty: whatever this energy was, it would not harm him.
The moment that energy spread from head to toe, light burst from Geom Mugeuk’s body. A light so intense he couldn’t keep his eyes open.
When he reopened his eyes, the blue energy had already been fully absorbed into his body. He had taken in a second energy through the Secret Box.
But there were no physical changes to his body. The two energies hadn’t merged. They simply lay dormant, quietly resting deep within him.
It occurred to him that he hadn’t yet absorbed enough to trigger a transformation. 5
The Secret Box expelled the Blue Purity, now fully drained of energy. It was just a normal stone now. After placing the stone, the Secret Box, and the fang he had taken back from the wolf statue into his robe, Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude to the statue.
“I promise what you held won’t go to waste. Thank you, Blue Wolf.”
The wolf stood there proudly, as if it had never emitted that blue energy in the first place.
Geom Mugeuk slowly began walking toward the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
* * *
Baek Jagang, seated upon the Dark Tyrant Throne, was thinking about the Heavenly Demon Geom Woojin. That look in his eyes, as though he were being scorned—he still remembered it vividly. He had met him twice, and both times, those eyes had been exactly the same.
Would the third time be any different?
In the past, he would have refused outright, without hesitation. The reason he was hesitating now wasn’t because of this current scheme. Nor was it because he really wanted to grow closer to Geom Woojin. It was because of Geom Mugeuk.
‘That kind of son? Raised by Geom Woojin?’
He couldn’t believe it. He wanted to see for himself. Not to confirm whether Geom Mugeuk had been influenced by Geom Woojin—but to confirm that someone like him had been born and raised like some kind of anomaly. But what if Geom Woojin really had raised him like that? That thought alone was enough to make his blood boil.
“What do you think?”
At that, Bih Sa-in, standing below, answered calmly.
“I hope you go.”
“Why?”
“Because I believe in the Alliance Leader.”
“You believe in me?”
“You’re the one I trust the most in this world.”
Baek Jagang looked down at his disciple with a surprised expression. He was never one to speak like this. He had tremendously changed.
“After meeting the Young Cult Leader, I’ve been thinking a lot about the need to change.”
“To change so you can win?”
Naturally, he assumed that was the reason—but Bih Sa-in had something else in mind.
“No, I have no intention of winning.”
“Not because you think you can’t win?”
“I’ve changed my dream entirely. It’s no longer about winning—it’s about walking together. Maybe, for me, that’s an even harder fight than one of victory or defeat.”
Just like how, for a martial artist, not drawing the sword could be harder than drawing it.
“It’ll be tough beside someone that extraordinary. I’ll be compared to him, my pride will suffer, I’ll feel self-doubt. But I still want to go. I don’t want to settle for being the head of a snake—I want to tangle with a dragon and dream of soaring to the heavens. Even if I fall and die, at least I’ll have seen the boundless sky. I won’t have any regrets.”
Bih Sa-in didn’t shrink back at all and said everything he wanted to say. It was the first time he had ever spoken this much and so earnestly in front of the Alliance Leader.
Baek Jagang was secretly pleased.
His disciple was right. Winning or losing didn’t matter right now. What mattered was momentum.
Instead of trying to please him by loudly proclaiming he'd win, this honest declaration of conviction was far more admirable.
He had lived his whole life without children. In old age, there were times he regretted that.
And now, a child stood before him.
That’s how it felt. A disciple, like a son, was telling him he would walk a path his teacher had never dared to tread. Yes, a snake is still just a snake, no matter how big.
Just then, word came that Geom Mugeuk had arrived. A short moment later, the doors to the Alliance Leader’s Hall opened, and Geom Mugeuk stepped inside.
When Geom Mugeuk arrived before the Dark Tyrant Throne, Baek Jagang was the first to speak.
“Did you rest well?”
“Thanks to you, I was able to rest comfortably.”
He must have heard about what Geom Mugeuk had chosen during the report, yet he didn’t bring it up.
Once something is permitted, there’s no need to look back on it. That resolute nature reminded Geom Mugeuk of his own father. Perhaps that’s why he held hope that these two might get along well.
Instead, Baek Jagang asked something else.
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
A moment of silence followed the sudden question. Even Bih Sa-in was curious to hear how Geom Mugeuk would respond.
After pausing in thought, Geom Mugeuk finally broke the silence.
“To be honest, I haven’t known you for very long, so I can’t say I truly understand who you are. But just seeing you lead the Unorthodox Alliance with such confidence while competing with my father—that alone tells me you’re an extraordinary man.”
His answer was humble, and it honored both his father and Baek Jagang.
“That person you see there holds you in the highest regard. So I’m sure you’re someone worthy of my respect as well.”
Geom Mugeuk’s gaze briefly turned to Bih Sa-in, then fixed on Baek Jagang.
“But the words I’ve just given were answers through others. I want to give you the answer I felt for myself. I want to know more about who you truly are. So why not join me at our tavern for a drink?”
Baek Jagang looked down at Geom Mugeuk and pondered. If he went, he would end up meeting Geom Woojin. This decision could affect not only himself but also the fate of the entire Unorthodox Alliance.
At last, Baek Jagang made up his mind.
“Tonight’s banquet is canceled.”
And he added a surprising reason.
“We’ll have our drink at your regular tavern instead.”
At Baek Jagang’s bold decision, a bright smile spread across Geom Mugeukand Bih Sa-in’s faces.
“Thank you very much, Alliance Leader.”
“But just as you said, the matter with the Martial Alliance—you’ll have to resolve that yourself. After that, we can discuss specific plans. If the Martial Alliance refuses, this decision will be revoked.”
“Understood. I’ll contact you as soon as it’s resolved.”
Geom Mugeuk knew how difficult this decision from the Unorthodox Alliance Leader truly was. Would he have willingly stepped into enemy territory without knowing how the situation might turn? He had just staked his life.
“I still don’t fully know what kind of person you are, Alliance Leader, but there’s one thing I must say.”
“What is it?”
“You’re admirable.”
The fact that it didn’t make Baek Jagang chills on his ears meant that this Young Cult Leader genuinely believed what he was saying.
“I’ll pass on the flattery.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled deeply and bowed respectfully.
“Then until we meet again, please take care.”
With that, Geom Mugeuk stepped out of the Alliance Leader’s Hall.
The Unorthodox Alliance Leader had been someone Geom Mugeuk hadn’t known well before his regression, but now he realized—what a direct and refreshing man he was. 'I quite like this guy.'
As he waited briefly outside the Alliance Leader’s Hall, Bih Sa-in came out to join him.
“Leaving right away?”
At Bih Sa-in’s question, Geom Mugeuk nodded.
“Where to now?”
“I’m stopping by the safehouse to pick up someone I need to take back to the Cult headquarters. I also need to meet with the Poison King. After returning to the Cult, I’ll head to the Martial Alliance. If things go well there, I’ll send word immediately.”
“You certainly stay busy.”
Though it was typical of him to arrive and leave suddenly, this time Bih Sa-in felt particularly reluctant to part ways with him.
“You’ll get to see Chief Jin too, I suppose.”
Jin Hagun had been disappointed not to accompany them for the Unorthodox Alliance matter, and now Bih Sa-in found himself in the same position.
“You should come with me.”
“Oh, the Martial Alliance Leader would just love seeing the three of us together. Wouldn’t that just push his buttons? Wait, why do you look at me like that?”
And then, Geom Mugeuk suddenly threw a surprise question.
“When are you going to dance?”
Bih Sa-in’s face flushed hot with embarrassment.
“Surely the Young Alliance Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance isn’t going to break his own word, riiiight~?”
“I will! I said I would, and I will!”
Now even his ears were red. With Geom Mugeuk around, there wasn’t a moment he could let his guard down.
Thankfully, Il-rang arrived just in time to save him. He handed over the sword case he had been keeping.
Bih Sa-in took it and passed it to Geom Mugeuk.
“Here’s the Sun and Moon Sword you entrusted to me.”
“Thank you for the gift.”
Just as Geom Mugeuk opened his mouth again—clearly about to bring up the dance one more time—
“I’d like to remind you that I’m currently carrying two swords.” 6
“Then I’ll hold off. I’ll hold off. For now.”
This playful and relentless man would definitely tease him with this forever. Eventually, he’d have to dance just to escape that teasing.
After capping it off with one final joke about dancing, the two parted on cheerful terms.
“I’ll convince the Martial Alliance Leader for sure. Let’s meet again at Maga Village.”
1 : Maybe it’s the control item for the Steel Wolves ? Maybe the reason they don’t wake up is because they’re missing a piece ? Anyways, nom nom nom.
2 : And laughing, don’t forget the laughing part. It’s the most important.
3 : Maybe there is an order to the absorption. Or like I said, a part is missing from the lonely Steel Wolf.
4 : Knew it ^^ This novel cannot surprise me anymoreeee !!!! (Actually, yes. But shush, let me have my moment ^^)
5 : A trinity ? Let’s, cough cough, get invited into the Martial Alliance Vault next ^^
6 : Ohoho, I think he’s ready to snap now ^^