Lloyd was the same as when they saw him a few years ago. Gold hair, an aura of dignity, as well as the wrinkles on his aging face. He took the glasses off the bridge of his nose and closed the book he was reading. Rubia turned her head towards Lloyd in the soft chair.
“Long time no see, Lloyd.”
“It’s been about seven years. You haven’t aged a bit.”
“And you, as well.”
In Lloyd’s case, it was a magic that kept his old age in check, but for Rubia, a spirit familiar of Envirus, old age didn’t exist in the first place.
Lloyd laughed at Rubia’s response and turned his eyes towards Lee Sungmin. He had stared at Lee Sungmin for a while and gave a low exclamation.
“You’ve changed a lot. I can’t think of anyone else with growth like that.”
“You recognized me?”
“Because your face hasn’t changed much. And I have a pretty good memory. I’m not so brazen as to forget what I promised myself.”
Lloyd raised himself from the seat at his words. Then, he slightly stirred his hands and the landscape in the room changed completely.
Just a moment ago, the room, which looked like a quiet study, was turned into a neat drawing room. It was a high-tiered dimensional space magic, but Lloyd did it ever so casually.
“Do you have anything to ask for?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“Hoo-hoo! I don’t even know what you’re trying to ask for. I’m not the treasure hunting type, so please don’t ask for something too great.”
“Okay.”, Lee Sungmin replied with a bitter smile.
Lloyd suggested that Rubia and Lee Sungmin sit in front of him and then brought teacups for them.
“If you haven’t decided what to ask, then why did you come to see me? You aren’t the type who would come here just to share tea with me.”
“It’s about Master.”, Rubia opened her mouth.
Lloyd stared at Rubia with his golden eyes shining at the artificial spirit. Then, the golden eyes, who had been watching Rubia for a while, turned to Lee Sungmin.
“…Rubia. Is it my teacher’s will that you are traveling with that young man?”
“Of course.”
“Not that I don’t really trust you but I haven’t seen you in a long time. Do you have any proof that it really is Master’s will?”
“I swear an oath on my mana that I am acting with Lee Sungmin in accordance with Master Envirus’ orders.”
Rubia proved the oath without hesitation, as her mana’s flow fluctuated. Lloyd nodded his head in response to seeing it.
“Our master visited me about two months ago.”
“As expected!”
Rubia nodded with a bright smile. Lee Sungmin looked at Lloyd in silence. Envirus was a wizard who, like Lee Sungmin, also overcame Denir’s trial.
Lee Sungmin wanted to meet Envirus. While traveling to the sleeping forest, where he was following Envirus’ trail, he only met the monstrous yokai Heoju, who was sealed along with Rubia, the servant of Envirus.
“What did our master say?! Why didn’t the Master come see me himself?”
“He said he was sorry.”
Lloyd said with a bitter smile.
“I wanted to visit him myself, but I couldn’t. Instead, he asked me to go to the south.”
“What? South?!”
Lee Sungmin was also surprised by Lloyd’s words. His jaw was slacking off as well.
Lee Sungmin was heading south to learn how to handle Heoju’s powers. If he were to meet Wijihoyeon in Rubes, Lee Sungmin was hoping to take her along with him to the south if possible.
“He said we’d meet when I was heading south. And… this is the last message my teacher imparted.”
Lloyd’s eyes turned towards Lee Sungmin.
“He told me that you shouldn’t deviate from the human path.”
“…yeah?”
“It sounds very ominous to me. When humans deviate their humanity, they inevitably get stained with demon’s blood. That’s why I despise Dark Wizards.”
‘Hmm.’
Lloyd’s words left a sour taste in Lee Sungmin’s mouth.
‘Envirus. He was an ambiguous character. ‘Don’t stray from the human path’? Why did he avoid me then? If he and I were to meet, he would have expected me to dwell on his message.’
Lee Sungmin had no choice but to ponder on Envirus’ message. Rubia drooped her ears in despair. If he was going to leave such a message, why didn’t he just come and say it himself? What the hell was he even up to? Those were Rubia’s thoughts
But the question that lingered for Lee Sungmin, ‘Why would he leave a message? ’ He couldn’t do anything about it now anyways so he changed the topic.
“Do you know that Frescan is in the north?”
Lloyd was tracking down Frescan. Lee Sungmin recalled it and asked Lloyd the question. Lloyd let out a deep sigh and nodded his head.
“I know. I wish I knew a little sooner… Now that Frescan has gone north, I’m sure he belongs to the organization, Predator. So I can’t go after him.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Northern part of Travia is the territory of the vampire queen, Geniella. That old monster is good at all kinds of folklore and magic. Not only that, her combat ability is monstrous. If I follow Frescan to the north, Genniela certainly won’t ignore me and… The problem isn’t just Genniella. If I kill Frescan, Arbeth will surely kill me too.”
“…Arbeth?”
[He’s one of the five monsters that are leading Predator. The Vampire Queen, Arch Lich, Death Knight, Lycanthrope, and the King of Monsters. Those are the five that are standing at the peak of the Predator], Heoju replied.
“Arbeth, the Arch Lich, is a monster with more power than Frescan. In the field of black magic, Arbeth is at the absolute pinnacle. Some have said that Arbeth has seen through the darkness of the abyss… Whew! I personally don’t believe that, because it’s the same as saying he has seen the truth pursued by all wizards. Even so, Arbeth must be a terrifying monster. Of all the wizards in Eria, Envirus is the only one who can match Arbeth.”
Through this, Lee Sungmin was able to see just how powerful Envirus was. He had never seen Arbeth, but Arbeth and Geniella stood on equal footing. If Envirus was able to compete with Arbeth, it could be said that Envirus was also a monster comparable to Geniella.
Lee Sungmin and Rubia came out of the Gold tower because they heard everything they needed to hear from Lloyd.
While leaving the tower, Lee Sungmin felt suspicious and asked Heoju.
“You said you didn’t belong to Predator but, if there’s a leader of sorts among those guys that would stand at the absolute apex of Predator… Do you know who it might be?”
[Yes. Unless it’s different from 400 years ago, the King of Monsters I know is an old enemy. He wasn’t as strong as this old man, but he was pretty strong.], said Heoju with a swagger.
Lee Sungmin wasn’t sure of Heoju’s words before, but now he couldn’t help but believe it because he had seen the powers of Geniella and Mad Wolf Joo-won.
“The Master of the Tower is absent.”
He left the Gold Tower and stopped at the Red Tower, but he couldn’t meet Scarlett. Eventually, Lee Sungmin and Rubia left the Red Tower and returned to the train station.
—
It was not until nightfall that Crazy Heavenly Demon returned. He looked incredibly worn out.
He stared blankly at the train that had just left behind.
“Ironclad, how wonderful…” (T/N : Keep reading you’ll understand)
For a long time, the Crazy Heavenly Demon, which had been looking at the back of the train that was leaving, muttered in annoyance. Rubia laughed in vain at the sight of such things as boiled eggs and jerky, which the man was packing.
“A village bumpkin.”
“That’s right… the King was a villager. I guess there are uncultured people in the world.”
The Crazy Heavenly Demon nodded without refuting it. After taking the new train, the Crazy Heavenly Demon sat by the window again.
Not long after the train left, Lee Sungmin arrived near the central square. They booked a room in an inn that was close to the square. As it was the center of the main street, the room was expensive, but they weren’t short on money.
After a light meal, Lee Sungmin came up to his room. He had met Lloyd during the day, and heard some unsettling news about how he shouldn’t deviate from his path to one of not being a human. But now, he had to put those thoughts behind for later.
Tomorrow will be the day of his promise 10 years ago, March 14th. Just thinking about it made Lee Sungmin feel nervous. Heoju also felt Lee Sungmin’s feelings and laughed.
[When I saw him a year ago, he was a little monster. But… he’s become a matured monster now.]
If you are close to transcendence at the age of 24, it was certainly enough to be called a monster. There were many geniuses in this world, but a warrior who was as young as Lee Sungmin was definitely rare. Neither did the high-profiled Bloody Heavenly Demon get a glimpse of the transcendence, nor did Jihak, the future prodigy of the Shaolin. Only those who have gone through desperate efforts among geniuses had entered early phases of Transcendence andhad to cross the walls again and again to get a glimpse of the Transcendental realm.
“I never imagined I would be where I am now 10 years ago.”
When he had promised to meet Wijihoyeon in Genavis in 10 years. At the time, he had no idea what he would look like 10 years later.
No, that was a lie. He had a vague image of it, but even in his wildest dreams, Lee Sungmin wasn’t as accomplished as he was now.
Would he be able to open his heart to Wijihoyeon? Could he say that he, the one whom she promised to meet 10 years ago, had finally come to fulfill his promise? How strong would the current Wijihoyeon be? How far had she reached and how far had he come? He wanted to know.
He couldn’t contain the thoughts. He tried to calm himself down through meditation and other methods, but it didn’t go well either.
Maybe, no, he’s sure, Wijihoyeon should also be in Rubes right now. Lee Sungmin wanted to find out the location of Wijihoyeon by using Erebrisa. If Wijihoyeon was in Rubes, he wanted to go see her right now, and not wait until tomorrow.
But, he couldn’t. The day of the promise was tomorrow. He had been waiting for 10 years, and had to wait until tomorrow.
Lee Sungmin stopped meditating and left the room. He went to the back training yard of the inn where there were various weapons. Naturally, the weapons were nothing special.
Lee Sungmin took up a bladeless spear. He wanted to go to bed early, but he couldn’t sleep. So, he decided to move his body.
He didn’t use the Nine Heavenly Spear Techniques. Instead, Lee Sungmin focused on the basic skills that he learned 10 years ago from Wijihoyeon, including the Rana Technique.
Even though Lee Sungmin wasn’t using his spear, the rod in his hand made a harsh sound and cut the air quickly and slowly. Lee Sungmin, who had been swinging the rod for a long time, stopped practicing.
“That’s some great skill there.”
Someone was watching, Lee Sungmin slowly turned his head. A neatly dressed man was standing with his hands behind his back and looking at Lee Sungmin.
“I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a walk and I saw something nice. You don’t look very old. May I have your name and your nickname, if you don’t mind?”
“…I’m Lee Sungmin.”
“Oh, you’re the one they are talking about.”
The man chuckled at Lee Sungmin’s answer.
“I had heard rumors that a young boy with a good spear appeared. I didn’t expect us to meet like this.”
“…who are you?”
“I’m Yoo Ho-jeong.”, Yoo Ho-jeong replied.
It was a name Lee Sungmin had heard of somewhere, and after a little consideration, he shouted with exclamation.
“Ironclad!”
Yoo Ho-jeong was one of the most famous people in Eria. He was especially famous for wielding a huge spear in a heavy ironclad armor, and Lee Sungmin was even more surprised because he had never imagined that Yoo Ho-jeong, the Ironclad, looked so… neat.
“The rumor about Ghost Gun is quite the understatement.”
Yoo Ho-jeong grinned.
“I guess you’re still not in the realm of transcendence. I’ve already crossed the wall with my spear. Even so, I can’t guarantee a victory unless I fight you with all my strength.”
“…not really.”
“Hahaha! However, being too modest isn’t good either. I’m not saying this for nothing. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a spar with you right now. What do you say?”
“…I’m sorry. I have an important matter tomorrow.”
“Is that so? Then there’s nothing we can do… Oh, just in case. You’re staying at this inn with the Crazy Heavenly Demon, aren’t you?”
Yoo Ho-jeong said it as if he were indifferent, but his words meant that he had been watching them since they entered the inn.
Lee Sungmin nodded his head, his expression slightly stiffening.
“Yes.”
“The Crazy Heavenly Demon is a dangerous man. He’s already committed multiple murders. If theCrazy Heavenly Demonwere to make a disturbance in this city, the Crazy Heavenly Demon could kill the practitioners of the Murim Factions.”
Ironclad was a member of the Orthodox Faction in the Murim. Lee Sungmin nodded at his warning.
“That won’t happen.”
“I can’t stop you from going with the man, but… Don’t get too close to the Crazy Heavenly Demon. And also, why don’t you stop by the Orthodox Faction once you’re done with your business tomorrow?”
“Yes?”
“If you’re skilled enough, you’ll get good treatment even in the entire Murim. I think you’ll be known as a friend of ours who didn’t forgive the Solitary Blade who gave up his humanity, given the fact that he killed a lot of people with his sword. But, for some reason, this friend seems to be acting with the Crazy Heavenly Demon.”
It was a sentence open for interpretation. Lee Sungmin nodded roughly. Yoo Ho-jeong smiled and tapped Lee Sungmin on the shoulder.
“I hope to see you again soon.”
Leaving him behind, Yoo Ho-jeong left first. Lee Sungmin stood around and pondered on Yoo Ho-jeong’s words. To be honest, Lee Sungmin had lived without much distinction between political factions and the religious sects. No matter what the nature of the exploits may be, he was not a man to think of politics and religion when regarding martial arts differently. In the first place, it wasn’t even worth thinking about.
He would continue to maintain his stance on it. Yoo Ho-jeong asked Lee Sungmin to join as a member of his faction, but Lee Sungmin had no intention of going to them. The place he had to go was south, not the Orthodox faction.
“Friend of the faction?”
Lee Sungmin smiled. He didn’t know about anything else, but he felt that the term ‘friend’ was simply out of place.
Lee Sungmin put down the wooden spear and returned to his room. He washed himself and laid down on the bed. It was a sudden encounter with Yoo Ho-jeong, but he felt like he could fall asleep with a refreshed heart because he moved his body a little.
“Tomorrow is the day.”
He decided he would wake up early tomorrow. Then, Lee Sungmin slowly closed his eyes.