Chapter 444: If Father's Dream Was the Same Back Then Too
As attention focused on me, I felt like I was standing alone on a stage.
But I didn’t feel lonely.
Behind me stood the Evil Smiling Demon, and those watching me were also my Demon Supremes. Technically, they were Father's Demon Supremes and stood on his side, but in my heart, they were mine too.
Of course, one thing must not be forgotten. This relationship with the Demon Supremes was only possible because I was Father’s son in the first place.
That’s why this stage was important. I had to carry out the duel on this stage properly. Whether I win or lose, I too must be dignified and graceful.
Because this was the first stage shared between Father and me.
First of all, in front of the Demon Supremes, I must never tarnish Father’s dignity and authority. That was the principle of this fight.
‘Father, do you know that I’m even mindful of such things? That’s why this fight is such a difficult one for me.’
Father’s gaze turned toward me. I couldn’t tell how much of what I said earlier had reached him.
The one who broke the silence was the Drunken Demon.
“Cult Leader, I’d like to offer the Young Cult Leader a drink, if that’s all right with you?”
At the Drunken Demon’s request, Father nodded.
The Drunken Demon poured liquor into the Ice Palace Chalice.
“Young Cult Leader, accept my drink and change your mind.”
Though he stood on Father’s side, the Drunken Demon’s true feelings were different.
—I don’t wish for the martial world to become a sea of blood, so use that brilliant mind of yours to find another way!
Between Father and me, he had no choice but to choose Father, but the Drunken Demon opposed the war. This drink was a gesture of encouragement.
“I’ll drink it gratefully.”
I slowly drank the liquor and exchanged sound transmission with the Drunken Demon.
—As you can see, it’s not easy to change Father’s mind.
—Still, you’re the only one here who can do that.
“Thank you for the drink.”
Then, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon sent me a sound transmission.
—Give it up. The Cult Leader and your dream are traveling along parallel lines. They will never converge.
From his perspective, no matter how hard I tried to persuade him, I wouldn’t be able to change Father’s aspiration.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was right. How could I easily change a dream Father had harbored for so long?
I calmly asked Father,
“There’s something I want to ask. Do you still often think of that dream?”
Father looked at me with an expression that asked what I meant by that.
“When we dream of something, at first it’s exciting and thrilling, but over time, that dream becomes something we take for granted, doesn’t it?”
Father’s gaze wavered slightly. That aspiration must have become a “given” dream for him as well.
“Father, it’s fine if you still hold the same dream. But can’t you dream it again from the very beginning? As if you were dreaming without any prior dream at all. Not the dream you’ve been dreaming since some long-forgotten past, but a vivid dream of the present.”
Father didn’t respond.
“I’ve been thinking about it the entire time I’ve been meeting with the Demon Supremes. Is it really right for me to go against Father’s will? Do I even have the right to do that? That’s why I even went to see my strategist. I steadied my heart after meeting him, but seeing Father again... my heart wavers once more.”
That was my honest feeling conveyed to Father.
“That’s how much I don’t want to go against your will. Because I respect you more than anyone else in the world.”
It wasn’t flattery. It was my heartfelt truth about Father, spoken openly before all the Demon Supremes. Father still showed no change in expression and just listened to my words.
Today, Father was not responding with words, but by listening—facing me in silence. Thanks to that, this stage today was, in truth, a stage for me alone.
“I know very well how important your dream is—your aspiration and ideal. What I’ve told you about the demonic path is also a part of my own dream. But I believe there’s something just as important as that.”
“What is it?”
“What to eat for dinner later, who I’ll meet tomorrow. I think ordinary life is just as important as a grand dream. The scenery we see along the way as we head toward our dream.”
It was also the reason I didn’t allow myself to be consumed by even a formidable foe like Hwa Moogi but continued to live my life.
It’s a principle I’ve upheld since my regression, but I didn’t know how persuasive the words of someone as young as me would be to Father. Still, I had done my best.
“Winning a game of Go with Father is important to me, and so is fulfilling my wish to soak in the hot springs with you. I earnestly hope to travel the Central Plains with you. Would I truly be happy seeing Father seated on the Celestial Zenith’s Throne of the Cult Leader’s Hall, having unified the martial world but never having fulfilled any of these things?”
Was that all there was? My eyes turned to the Demon Supremes.
“Having a spar with the Sword Supreme is important to me, and so is late-night training with my master. When the Blade Demon reads, I want to read beside him. I want to gather poison herbs with the Poison King and drink with the Drunken Demon while watching the statue the Demonic Buddha is completing. I want to witness the growth of the Soul Reaper Demon Supreme. And there are still many pieces of furniture I want to place in the Evil Smiling Demon’s room. These things are just as important to me as my own dream. Because when I look back before I die, I know I’ll yearn for and miss every one of those moments.”
Each and every moment had been unbearably lonely and painful, but once it had passed and I looked back, life had gone by in the blink of an eye. I knew that because I had lived it.
What I was about to say now had to be spoken with care.
“Father, I believe the dream you've held onto for so long has had too few choices. For one walking the path of the Heavenly Demon, there probably wasn’t any need for many milestones.”
But Father’s thoughts were firm.
“Even if there had been a hundred choices, I would have chosen the same one. Even if there had been dozens of crossroads, I would have walked the same path I always had.”
“I’m not telling you to take a different path.”
“What do you mean, then?”
“I mean that you should look at the scenery around you as you go.”
That way, sometimes the footsteps would stop, and sometimes you’d become curious about another path, and so, sometimes, you might even question your own path.
To make that possible, I had to walk the road with Father. As we walked together, we’d talk, and when there was scenery worth seeing, I’d point it out and tell him to look at it.
Through our conversation, I realized this was the only way to change Father’s dream. And realization led immediately to action.
“Father, would you make just one promise with me?”
Father, and even the Demon Supremes, looked at me with curious expressions. All eyes were on me as I continued to speak.
“Yes, a promise between martial artists. A promise between Cult Leader and Young Cult Leader—and between father and son.”
“What kind of promise?”
“Please give me time.”
“Time?”
I thought about how many years I’d need. It couldn’t be too short, nor too long—it had to be just enough.
Enough time to accomplish my goal.
“Please give me exactly five years starting now.”
“If I do?”
“I’ll ask you again then. And if your dream is still the unification of the martial world, I will stand at the very front of that war.”
“!”
Not only Father, but all the Demon Supremes were visibly shocked. The Drunken Demon looked like he was about to shout, ‘No! What are you doing?!’
Across from him, the Evil Smiling Demon’s eyes were smiling. Was he imagining standing side by side with me at the front of the battlefield?
To say I would stand at the forefront of war—this was the bold gambit I threw.
Within five years, I would eliminate Hwa Moogi and his faction. Within five years, I would change Father's heart. Within that time, I would absolutely make Father dream a new dream.
Five years.
A war wasn’t something that could be fought just because one wanted it.
Depending on the strategy used, preparations could take months—or even two to three years.
Then for Father, five years wasn’t such a long time after all.
If he won this wager, he would gain me.
The version of me who had achieved the Twelve-Star Greatness of the Nine Calamities Demon Art through the Heavenly Time Secret Art.
And it wouldn’t be just me he gained, would it? He would also gain everything I would accomplish by then. If I personally helped lead the way, Father’s dream of unifying the martial world would be closer than ever.
This promise was an official one, made before the Demon Supremes.
“I’m making this promise to you with my life on the line.”
“You won’t regret it?”
“Will you not regret it, Father?”
Our eyes locked in midair. Everyone here knew that once we made a promise, we would surely keep it. That’s why both Father and I had to make our decision carefully.
“Why five years?”
“Because this is about changing no one else’s heart but yours, Father. If I followed my heart, I’d ask for fifty.”
“For me, all I have to do is hold onto this will. Five years will pass in a flash. Will you still go through with it?”
“I will. In that time, I will definitely change your heart.”
A smirk formed at the edge of Father’s lips. That smile, which always carried a different meaning depending on the moment, now carried amusement. It felt as if he were asking, ‘You actually want to fight, don’t you?’
Maybe that’s why—Father nodded without hesitation.
“Very well. I accept your promise.”
I once again declared the wager before the Demon Supremes, one that would change all our fates.
“On this same day, five years from now, I will bring all of you Demon Supremes together again and ask Father about his dream. Let’s settle it on that day.”
Five years from now, Father’s dream will have changed. He’ll speak of a dream so surprising that it will shock all the Demon Supremes present. I will make sure of that.
“Thank you, Father.”
The Demon Supremes stared at Father and me with astonished expressions at this unexpected outcome.
Now at ease, I asked Father a question.
“Since it’s all over, let me ask—when you met with the Demon Supremes, was it to prepare for the unification of the martial world?”
But unexpectedly, Father shook his head.
“You weren’t?”
He wasn’t someone who would lie about something like this. Surprised, I asked again.
“Then why did you meet with the Demon Supremes?”
“Meet with all of them?”
“You met with the Evil Smiling Demon, drank with the Drunken Demon, and even helped the Poison King make poison.”
“Those were just three, weren’t they?”
He was right. He had only met three Demon Supremes in person. And even then, he had given other reasons.
“I heard you placed new furniture in the Evil Smiling Demon’s room. So I went to take a look.”
If that really was the reason, then Father must have recently gone through a change of heart.
“I drank with the Drunken Demon simply because the liquor served in the Ice Palace Chalice was too good.”
“What about the Poison King?”
“I heard he needed precise Void Telekinesis. Apparently, he'd failed multiple times in brewing due to the lack of such an assistant. So I simply went to help.”
I looked at Father. I couldn’t tell whether he meant it sincerely or not.
“I only met with three, but you’ve been going around meeting all of them.”
“!”
Startled, I asked Father,
“Then why did you gather everyone today? Wasn’t it to persuade me and unify the Demon Supremes under one cause?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Do you really think someone like you would change his mind just because someone tries to persuade him?”
Of course, there’s no way Father doesn’t know me.
“I received reports that you’ve been meeting with the Demon Supremes. You’ve been going around trying to persuade them, so I thought there ought to be a conclusion.”
In other words, this gathering was for me.
“What? Then why did I even propose the five-year promise?”
“You were the one who brought it up. I never said a word.”
In fact, Father still hadn’t explicitly stated what his dream was.
I turned to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and shouted in protest.
“You said Father might be starting to make real moves to realize his dream!”
“…I said he might be.”
Then to the Fist Demon King,
“You said Father was already at war!”
“Wouldn’t any father with a son like you always be at war?”
“That’s what you meant?!”
“What else could I have meant?”
And then to the Demonic Buddha,
“You said Father was the one who prepared this whole stage!”
The brilliant radiance that usually shone from the Demonic Buddha dimmed.
“Did I say that? My mind’s been a bit hazy lately. I’d better get back to finishing that statue I was working on.”
I glanced back and forth between Father and the Demon Supremes.
“So I was the one who got played, right? This was all planned from the start, wasn’t it? Right?”
Just as I grabbed my head in anguish, the Poison King, who had been standing quietly off to the side, suddenly sent a sound transmission.
—It’s the Cult Leader who got played.
He had seen straight through my thoughts.
—If war were to break out, you’d end up taking part anyway. The you I know would ask the Cult Leader to let you stand at the frontlines. You’d try to minimize the damage of war yourself.
I turned toward him and smiled. He was right.
Would I lock myself away in retreat because I hated war? Would I take the side of the Alliance? Either way, if I couldn’t stop it beforehand, I’d have to jump into the war myself.
I pretended to act like I’d been played, but this wasn’t a loss. This was a favorable move for me.
At the very least, for the next five years, I wouldn’t have to worry about war.
—You think the Cult Leader doesn’t know your true intention?
—Of course he does.
I could tell just by the look in Father’s eyes. Not that he was going easy on me or anything like that.
He was giving me a chance—and at the same time, he was saying we should have a proper fight.
Not a single day’s match, but a grand showdown stretched over five long years.
The fate of the martial world was at stake in this contest.
By then, I would surely achieve the Twelve-Star Greatness of the Nine Calamities Demon Art and kill Hwa Moogi.
And I would also face a battle even more difficult than that fight.
To show Father that there is a dream greater than the unification of the martial world. To walk beside him, and to let him see the scenery he had missed all this time.
The empty Celestial Zenith’s Throne.
Now, when the image of the empty Celestial Zenith’s Throne surfaced in my heart, it no longer evoked that same dreadful feeling it had before. It was empty for a different reason now.
Father, from now on, you’ll have to travel here and there with me. Because now I have the justification.
Whether he knew what was on my mind or not, Father gave a faint smile and said,
“If you become the vanguard, it would be reassuring.”