* * *
While Sima Ryunju and Lee Sungmin were not sure if the Murim Alliance had found the wagon or not that they had traveled in, it turned out it was luckily safe and sound.
Ye-Hwa was wary of the surroundings and stayed vigilant as Sima Ryunju had ordered, and Scarlett was leisurely sitting on the wagon and enjoying a book that she was reading. Lee Sungmin felt truly relieved at the appearance of Scarlett and Ye-Hwa being safe and sound.
“M’Lord.”
Ye-Hwa was the first to notice Lee Sungmin approaching. At the words from Ye-Hwa directed at the approaching group, Scarlett folded up her book and looked at them.
She thought she would see only Lee Sungmin and Sima Ryunju return, but there was a man in a black robe floating next to Sima Ryunju with a bloody mouth and nose.
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s a member from Beyond the Heavens.”
In answering like that, Lee Sungmin realized just how ridiculous the current situation was.
It was less than half a day since they had separated from the carriage, and they were already back after practically destroying the entire Murim Alliance.
Almost all the forces were knocked unconscious and lying in the streets of Cron, and the Lord of the Murim Alliance was practically a ragdoll right now.
“……is it okay for them to be here?”
Scarlett, who had a flustered expression, stammered and asked. She was a member of the Wizard Guild, but that didn’t mean she was ignorant of the relationship between the Murim Alliance and the Sama Order.
Scarlett could not believe or rather would not believe it even if they told her what had transpired.
Lee Sungmin did not answer because Sima Ryunju was the one to answer first.
“There’s nothing this old man can’t do.”
Sima Ryunju opened the door to the carriage and flung the body of Jehu into it as he ordered Ye-Hwa to prepare for departure.
Although he did not announce or tell anybody the destination, Ye-Hwa already knew where the group was headed towards next.
It was to go to Travia directly after their business had ended there in Cron.
It was to meet Geniella, The Vampire Queen, and find out more about this ‘future’ she wanted to play out and whether it was dangerous or favorable for them.
Scarlett looked a little uncomfortable and didn’t want to sit outside the carriage, but she eventually got inside despite Jehu’s bloody and unconscious body laying there.
Looking at Jehu in more detail, Scarlett frowned as she saw the dried up blood all over his chin.
“He’s not dead, is he?”
“No, we cannot afford to have him go to waste like that.”
Sima Ryunju spoke as he sat directly across Jehu. Once Lee Sungmin got into the carriage and sat down right next to Jehu, the carriage departed.
Sima Ryunju raised his hand and tapped Jehu’s wrist with a lightning-fast movement as his finger was dyed in a black coating of internal energy.
“Gasp!”
Jehu suddenly gasped for air as his eyes widened and came to.
He let out a cough of blood immediately from the amount of blood clogged up in his throat. Jehu almost sprayed the blood all over Sima Ryunju, who was sitting across from him, but it was stopped at the last moment as the blood droplets evaporated in the air right before they were about to come in contact with Sima Ryunju’s face.
Glancing at him, Lee Sungmin felt sorry for Jehu. A part of Lee Sungmin kind of wanted to see Jehu cough the blood all over Sima Ryunju’s face and watch his master’s reaction.
[Isn’t it obvious he would be able to avoid that?]
‘You’re quick to patronize over my master aren’t you?’’
[Despite him being annoying, he has true skill like no other human being. Enough to destroy those inheritances of the Dragon remains with his bare hands and to grab this old man’s gourd of liquor. In fact… if this old man had been alive still and met your master, I would have probably made him my drinking buddy.]
Heoju seemed to like Sima Ryunju’s character more and more as time passed.
Lee Sungmin obviously started to feel uncomfortable at the fact that Heoju was starting to like the character of his sadistic master.
Heoju noticed the emotions from Lee Sungmin that were arising through their shared connection to the soul and mind, and giggled merrily.
[Are you jealous?]
‘Why would I be jealous?’
[I’ve never told you this before. You’re… Hmm when you’re drunk you tend to be as loyal as a dog.]
‘Shut up.’
[Why the fuck are you so salty for being weak and pathetic with both martial arts and alcohol? No wonder that master of yours calls you incompetent… Hehe!]
Heoju laughed and mocked Lee Sungmin while Lee Sungmin did his best to ignore Heoju’s rambling.
In the meantime, Jehu, who had come to his senses, was breathing raspily and looking at the situation.
He tried to say something, but he couldn’t say anything properly because the wound on his caved-in chest hindered all movements of his body; including speaking.
If it weren’t for his Draconic blood in his body that allowed his body to be so strong, he would have already died many times over for not getting proper treatment yet.
Sima Ryunju threw a bottle containing an elixir at Jehu and spoke.
“Drink it.”
Jehu fumbled and received the elixir with trembling and panicked hands. He didn’t dare to start anything or harm the others in the carriage despite being held hostage right now.
It was because he already knew that he wouldn’t even be able to lift a finger if Sima Ryunju didn’t want to let him. If he tried to harm anybody in the carriage, he would be killed before he even had the chance.
Eventually, Jehu gave up his tormenting thoughts inside his head and sighed as he opened the cap to the elixir.
As his non-potent wounds that he had just received, started to heal, he sighed once more and spoke in a defeated tone of voice.
“……what do you want from me?”
“It depends on what you can give us.”
Sima Ryunju was still very careful and on edge since he did not plan on letting Jehu get away with anything while he was here.
It was to pressure Jehu mentally to give up information as he was already pressured blatantly with force.
But Jehu didn’t need any more pressuring. He felt defeated as he dropped his head low.
“Start by telling me what you want in particular. One thing at a time though.”
“I’m going to ask you a few questions. I’d like you to answer honestly.”
“……I don’t intend to lie in this kind of situation.”
“You don’t know that for sure yet, but, the bottom line is if you want to live?”
Sima Ryunju asked with a cold look. Jehu nodded nervously.
“I swear to tell you the truth.”
Even though Jehu swore an oath on the spot, Sima Ryunju’s expression did not change in the slightest. Lee Sungmin examined Jehu carefully.
Although Qian Zun and Guan Zun had told Lee Sungmin about Beyond the Heavens to a certain extent, Jehu was in a higher position within the organization. At least that was how it seemed to Lee Sungmin and Sima Ryunju.
“The purpose of eradicating all non-humans in this world is contradictory to your very existence.”
Sima Ryunju opened his mouth.
“That would mean elves, dwarves, monsters, and all other species would be killed. Do you really believe that you’ll be exempt from that as a halfling? You have dragon blood running through your veins and I don’t think that will save you from what is to come if that really happens.”
“……that is the case.”
“Then why do you serve Beyond the Heavens?”
“What I follow is not the purpose of Beyond the Heavens, but Musin himself.”
Jehu answered with his eyes closed.
“A hundred years ago, I met a certain man. To be exact, it was Musin who came to see me. At that time, I was….the only person still searching for the traces of the Dragons of this world.”
“So what?”
“And Musin had told me that there were no more Dragons in this world. They had left this world long ago and ascended to a higher dimension.”
Lee Sungmin and Heoju were surprised at the remark. The whereabouts of the dragons were unknown to them.
The only thing they had known, was that hundreds of years ago, all of a sudden, all of the Dragons disappeared from Eria without a trace.
“Of course I didn’t believe that. I picked a fight with him to stop talking nonsense, but…… I was defeated, and he repeated what he said to me. The dragons truly did abandon this world. When they realized they couldn’t live in this world, they all moved to different dimensions.”
Perhaps it was the bitter memories of his lonely time in the past, but Jehu’s voice sunk depressedly.
“For my part, it was something… I didn’t want to ever believe. I couldn’t live as a human being as I was, and I wanted to meet another Dragon like me. To be honest with you though, I still wanted to meet my father despite the high chances of him being dead.”
He glanced at Lee Sungmin as he said the words. Then, he glanced at the armor that Lee Sungmin happened to be wearing underneath his thin robe.
“……I’m asking just in case. But, that armor….”
“It’s made from Dragon Scales.”
It was Sima Ryunju who answered this time. However, it was Lee Sungmin who stared at Sima Ryunju with resentful eyes.
It was an expression of anger at why Sima Ryunju would tell Jehu that. It was obvious that Lee Sungmin had eaten the heart of Jehu’s father, and had even used the remains of his father’s body as materials for armor.
Jehu’s shoulders trembled at the answer from Sima Ryunju.
From his point of view, Lee Sungmin was a mortal enemy who ate his father’s heart, and plundered his father’s remains and insulted his very death.
“……cr…….”
As Jehu’s anger started to rise violently, Sima Ryunju immediately responded. He raised his hand and hit the head of Jehu with a firm grip.
Jehu’s head hit the floor with a thud.
Jehu was humiliated, but he gently soothed his anger. It was clear who held the sword in this conversation and who had the rights to the questions.
“…… Anyways…”
“So that’s why you are following Musin?”
“As I have earlier to tell the truth, I swore to follow him back then as well.”
“Do you think it’s possible for him to truly be able to make such a world like that?”
“Yes.”
Jehu did not hesitate at all in his answer.
“Sima Ryunju, I admit that you have an overwhelming power that one would never be able to consider even being human……but Musin has many more secrets besides the strength he hides. He knows the end of this world, and he is preparing for it.”
Jehu talked about the ‘End’ nervously and glanced at Sima Ryunju and Lee Sungmin, expecting their shock. But it was Jehu who shook instead, as he saw the two look at him nonchalantly.
This alone taught Jehu many things about the people he was in front of.
Though Jehu was certain they did not know that Musin actually knew the identity of the Apostle. Musin supposedly knew the identity of the Apostle of the End and was preparing for it.
“There’s no point in talking to us about the ‘End’.”
Lee Sungmin opened his mouth. He had been through this situation many times. The topic of the ‘End’ was taboo to speak about in the realm of mortals. If you try to continue, the other apostles would stop the conversation forcibly through the laws of casualty.
In the Sama Order, the only reason they were able to talk about it, was thanks to Abel using up his lifespan through the magic of the Weiss. Other than that, there would be no way to actually even talk about it under normal circumstances.
“Where is he?”
Sima Ryunju, who had been agonizing over whether to ask the question or not for a while, decided to ask. But, Jehu simply shook his head at Sima Ryunju.
“I don’t know. …… He left to meet with the Minor Heavenly Demon. But since then, I haven’t heard about anything since.”
“Where was the last known location of his whereabouts?”
“The Hugal Mountains.”
Thanks to the Oath, Lee Sungmin and Sima Ryunju knew that Jehu was speaking of the truth. But for Lee Sungmin, it held many meanings when Jehu spoke of the Hugal Mountains. His eyes trembled as he recalled what he knew about the location.
The time he had traveled in the South was a bitter memory for him overall except for being with Heoju. But there was a being he knew of. Yana, the Gumiho. Yana had been able to attain her nine-tails as the demon fox thanks to a pledge with a Devil in the Hugal Mountain Range.
“That’s where one of the few titled ‘Devils’ are residing.”
Jehu had spoken of that being the last point of contact and where Musin had been seen last.
Didn’t that mean that Wijihoyeon had traveled there? Sima Ryunju stared at Lee Sungmin whose expression was stiffening.
“Did he catch her?”
“I don’t know, because the Divine Maiden didn’t tell me anything more about him. But…… I think he didn’t catch her. If the warrior had caught her, then our entire organization would have been informed and moving.”
“Why is your organization so obsessed with that little lady?”
Sima Ryunju asked with his arms crossed. The question made Jehu’s back straighten out and goosebumps tremble across his skin.
The reason for this was simple. The question of why Beyond the Heavens was obsessing over Wijihoyeon was something with a completely different amount of weight compared to the questions he had been answering prior to this.
“If I… if I answer this question…….”
Jehu had sworn an Oath to tell the truth. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t hide a few minor details while still telling the truth. However, the next answer was unexpected.
“He… Musin… might kill me.”
“Is that my business?”
asked Sima Ryunju with a cruel smile.
Jehu bit his lower lip.
If Jehu answered, he would undoubtedly be killed by Musin for answering this. But… if he didn’t… he would die of the Oath either way. There was nothing he could do. Jehu despaired over his certain and imminent death. He had no way out of it anymore. His shoulders shook violently with sadness and regret. But before Jehu could speak any more, Sima Ryunju spoke first.
“Why don’t you come to the Sama Order?”
“……what- what… are you……?”
“If you don’t have to blindly follow Musin, then just come to the Sama Order. I could protect your life at the very least from him.”
“Are you asking me to betray Musin?”
“If you don’t have any lingering feelings about it, then sure.”
Jehu’s eyes trembled.
Migrating to another dimension with the other Dragons that had left.
That was what Musin had promised Jehu when he offered him to join his cause. Jehu couldn’t easily give it up. Sima Ryunju spoke once more at Jehu, who was hesitating.
“What are you so afraid of? Do you really think this old man has any reason to tell that bastard anything you said to me?”
“……that’s not the problem. Even if you don’t talk to Musin…. If he does not hear of any more contact from me, he will know of my treachery.”
“Does that mean that Musin has some kind of foresight technique?”
“… Something similar.”
Jehu murmured in a gloomy voice.
“…… Darn it.”
He had no choice but to make a choice now. Either way, death was his only outcome at this point. Of course, he didn’t want to die! But what if he didn’t want to die yet? Was there really a chance he could live? Jehu looked at Sima Ryunju anxiously.
“…… If I go under you, are you really willing to protect me?”
“For as long as I can.”
In response to Sima Ryunju’s answer, Jehu decided no longer to hesitate with his choice.
“There is someone else besides the ‘Martial God’, Musin.”
After breathing in and out with a rapid pace of breath due to anxiety, Jehu continued.
“The reason why Beyond the Heavens is obsessed with the Minor Heavenly Demon is due to the Divine Maiden. I don’t even know if what the Divine Maiden says is true, but…… Musin does absolutely believe in her words.”
“Hm… a Divine Maiden….”
Sima Ryunju scratched his chin in a pondering manner as he stared at Jehu.
“Why does the Divine Maiden want her?”
It still didn’t make any sense. Sima Ryunju could somewhat guess what the role of this ‘Divine Maiden’ was, but he still didn’t know what her obsession over Wijihoyeon was for.
“She is……in the words of the Divine Maiden and Musin, an anomaly. It doesn’t make any sense. You should know what I mean. She’s not even 30 years old, yet she can easily trample over anything one might call a wall of martial arts. Her very existence is something that makes no sense whatsoever. I mean… the same could be said for the Ghost Spear!”
At those words, Sima Ryunju glanced at Lee Sungmin. No, with Lee Sungmin, he did not have the case of absurd talent, and they both knew that.
The protection of fate, the Black Heart, the trials of both Mush and Denir. Multiple factors were responsible for Lee Sungmin’s incredible luck and strength. But, he did not have sheer talent like Wijihyoyeon.
“Natural talent? Haha, that doesn’t make sense with her. The Demonic Emperor, Sima Ryunju? The Martial God, Musin? Talent? Sure, they are talented. But compared to the Minor Heavenly Demon? It is nothing. It’s as if someone created her very being and made her a living cheat. “
“…is that the only reason Beyond the Heavens is so obsessed with the Minor Heavenly Demon?”“No way. Her absurd talent was not enough to draw an obsession like that. The Minor Heavenly Demon…. simply, we needed her. Not her power, but her existence itself. According to the Divine Maiden, The Minor Heavenly Demon is exempt from the Great Law .”
“The… Law? What’s that?”
“I don’t know either. It’s not because I didn’t ask about it, but they didn’t say anything about it even when I asked. The only…… the only things I heard are…”
When it came to this point, Jehu had completely decided to abandon his pledge to Musin. Now that he had talked about the ‘Great Law’, the Minor Heavenly Demon and the Divine Maiden, there was no way he could ever be on the same side as Beyond the Heavens and Musin.
“That… we would be able to use the Minor Heavenly Demon to avoid this Great Law.”
“……the Great Law…”
Lee Sungmin muttered in a small voice. Jehu continued to speak.
“I didn’t understand still since it was so ambiguous. Because of that, I decided to still ask Musin about it. One day, Musin said, that when the time was right and the moment in time came, they would be able to use Wijihoyeon to avoid all the laws that constitute casualty and fate in this world.”
“I see.”
Sima Ryunju, who had been listening to the entire story, nodded.
“I can see why Musin believes he can completely exterminate everything that is not human now. He intends to use her for his grand purpose.”
Lee Sungmin also understood what the words of Jehu meant.
If the laws of this world could be avoided or changed with a single person, then something like the complete extermination of everything non-human…. was completely plausible.