Proofreader: Gort
*****
Out of the places that Lee Sungmin had been to, Behenger was the closest to the Cheneron Great Lake. After Lee Sungmin left the Mountain of Mush, he traveled to Behenger and stayed there as a mercenary.
The city nearest to the Ancient Dahar site was Bredehn. Unlike the Cheneron Great Lake, the Ancient Dahar site was a famous tourist spot. A massacre could occur if the Spirit King descended while people were there.
Therefore, Lee Sungmin took the Spear King and Lloyd to Brehden by riding the Pegasus. He would spend a day there before traveling back to the Forest of the Fairies.
[This is the 4th, right?]
‘I don’t want to overwork myself and the Pegasus.’
He thought that there was a chance that he could handle 5 but decided against it. After throwing up everything in his stomach after the trip, all the thoughts of riding the Pegasus a 5th time disappeared.
“Then, I’ll see you next time.”
The Spear King had a very awkward-looking bracelet on his wrist. As the group wouldn’t know if the Spear King and Lloyd succeeded in defeating the Spirit King of Earth, this bracelet, created by Scarlett and Lloyd, was a type of communication device to send signals over long distances.
The plan was for the Spear King and Lloyd to defeat the Spirit King, travel back to Bredehn, and send the signal for Lee Sungmin to come and get them.
“Take care.”
“We aren’t that unskilled to need your worries, haha.”
The Spear King bragged while Lloyd stood next to him with a not-so-good expression. It seemed that he was uncomfortable with traveling with the Spear King, who was older than him and had an opposite personality.
In his mind, Lee Sungmin comforted Lloyd as he knew about the Spear King’s personality.
After sending off the Spear King, who left while dragging Lloyd away, Lee Sungmin walked into the city of Bredehn. Before…15 years ago. He had come to Bredehn, where he experienced many things. He had first met Namgoong Heewon here and became his brother. Now that he thought about it, his relationship with Namgoong Heewon was quite weird. Under the excuse of being brothers in martial arts, Namgoong Heewon had forcefully created a relationship with Lee Sungmin, who had just gotten to Peak Stage.
That didn’t mean that Lee Sungmin thought poorly of Namgoong Heewon. He was honest and empathetic, unlike what was expected of the future leader of the Namgoong Sect of the Prestigious Sects.
Also, their relationship let Lee Sungmin get into the Shaolin smoothly. There, he also met Tang Ah-hui …and the Head Abbot, the head of Shaolin.
When Lee Sungmin descended from the Mountain of Mush, he was in a state of stagnation in Martial Arts. However, due to the teachings of the Head Abbot, he was able to climb back up and cling to Martial Arts.
It was also due to Jihak that he was able to start improving. Their spar had boosted Lee Sungmin’s skills, which had been stagnant before. There weren’t many times in his life when he had swung his spear calmly, desperately, but the time he had spent in Shaolin was one of them.
His soul.
There, he had trained his skills with a spear with his soul.
Were the cicadas still crying there?
He subconsciously thought of where the Sword Saint was confined to. If he had been able to move freely, he would have been a great help in stopping the Apocalypse.
How strong was Chung Myung, the disciple of the Sword Saint?
What about Namgoong Heewon?
Jihak?
Ten years was a long time…
Chung Myung had been a Transcendent ten years ago, so he was definitely stronger now. Namgoong Heewon and Jihak could have broken the walls of Transcendence as well.
‘I should visit the Sword Saint after cleaning up the Blood Alliance.’
The more allies he had, the better. The Spirit Queen was a problem, but Geniella was the real boss that he had to beat.
Couldn’t he bring the Vampire Queen into the Sword Saint’s sect? Or the Forest of the Fairies?
The Sword Saint and the Queen of the Fairies couldn’t leave their territory, so why couldn’t he bring the enemies to one of their domains?
[You think you can just tell her to go there like she’s your servant?]
‘I don’t have anything that can make her go where I want either….’
[If you look at it, isn’t your morality really bad? Have you been checking in on your consciousness lately?]
‘Me? I don’t think I’m evil, though?’
[It’s not the problem between Good and Evil. This is quite weird to explain… Look, if you bring Geniella to the Sword Saint, all the disciples there that have nothing to do with this are going to die. If you bring her to the Forest of the Fairies, all the fairies are going to die. You, from the beginning, aren’t thinking about their deaths at all.]
Lee Sungmin couldn’t retort at Heoju’s observation.
[It’s not like you are thinking about sacrificing the minority to save the majority. You aren’t thinking about anything like that at all. Do normal people think like this?]
‘…I don’t know.’
[It’s like I said many times. You are on the verge of being a madman; more like you are already crazy. It’s not like it’s weird. After all, a normal person won’t be able to go through what you have. However, if you want to live as a human, if you want to keep your humanity after you stop the Apocalypse… I suggest you look deep inside yourself and check your consciousness.]
Lee Sungmin slightly nodded, engraving what Heoju said into his heart. He knew that Heoju could look at his thoughts and look at them from a different perspective.
*****
Because he was in Bredehn, he wanted to go visit Shaolin and the head Abbot, but he couldn’t because of what had happened last time; the head Abbot had listened to the Divine Spirit and sent Lee Sungmin to the north. But now, Lee Sungmin wasn’t sure if the spirit was the Divine Spirit or the Demonic Spirit.
However, Lee Sungmin did not trust either of them; the Divine Spirit was his enemy, while the Demonic Spirit was a suspicious entity.
[Do you trust the one named Laplace?]
‘No. However, I also think the Demonic Spirit is suspicious. After all, that bastard used me from the beginning.’
Wijihoyeon was the one that the Demonic Spirit actually wanted, while Lee Sungmin was just a plaything.
Lee Sungmin couldn’t think of any good thoughts about the Demonic Spirit for that reason.
[You probably know this, but if the Demonic Spirit is your enemy, that means you have to fight Wijihoyeon. Are you confident you can win?]
‘No.’
Lee Sungmin spoke what he felt was the truth; if they fought now, it would probably be his loss.
‘I wish that never happens.’
*****
After spending a day in Bredehn, Lee Sungmin summoned the Pegasus. It seemed that recently, he had been summoning it a lot, but the Pegasus did not have any complaints.
‘Is this a real horse in the first place?’ Lee Sungmin stared at the Pegasus with clear eyes. And silently walked behind it and pulled on its tail.
Pukk!
[What are you doing?]
‘I was just curious.’
Lee Sungmin rubbed his chest, where the Pegasus kicked him. He went back to the front and tried to calm the Pegasus down.
“I won’t do it again, so please don’t throw me down.”
Right after going back to the Forest of the Fairies, Lee Sungmin picked up Baek Sogo and Scarlett to drop them off in Germud. After wishing them well, he returned to the forest.
“Do you have any more Pegasuses?”
“You are so greedy.”
Lee Sungmin, who felt dizzy, sat down while asking Oslo. Oslo shook her head, clicking her tongue.
“Even I, the almighty Queen of the Fairies, only have one Pegasus that can jump between space. In the first place, humans aren’t supposed to have Pegasuses.”
“Then why did you give it to me?”
“The penalty for doing things that I shouldn’t do… I will face that in the Apocalypse.”
Oslo puffed up her cheeks, staring at Lee Sungmin with a weird expression. She could only say limited things about that ‘penalty.’
“Oslo-nim will not have to face any punishment.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” Oslo muttered in a small voice. Then, she threw the thing in her hand at Lee Sungmin.
“It wasn’t that hard. But why did you ask me to do this?”
“…It’s nothing,” he said. He put the thing in his pocket and bitterly smiled. “Just in case.”
Lee pushed down the dizziness and sat on top of the Pegasus; it was the fourth trip today. Scarlett and the Black Dragon followed suit. Even though Teresa wanted to help, she couldn’t go.
She pouted, looking at Lee Sungmin. “Stay safe.”
“Do you want a present this time as well?”
“Your presents aren’t worth waiting for.”
Even if she said that, Lee Sungmin had seen her use that staff he got from Cron. After the Black Dragon came to the forest, she learned a couple of staff techniques, although she couldn’t use internal energy.
“This time, I will bring something good.”
“I’m not gonna expect anything good…”
As Teresa complained, the Pegasus jumped through space.
***
Hadras
Ten years ago…where the Sama Order stood.
Where the Lord stood.
The castle gates seemed to be the same as before. Lee Sungmin looked at the front gates, thinking about the past.
When he first came here, he had worn the mask he received from his master.
It was to control his yokai powers, which ran rampant before Lee Sungmin became the Demonic Emperor’s disciple. Now, his body had fully turned into a monster and he could control his powers with absolute precision.
Therefore, he did not really need the mask.
However, he did not throw it away.
During the time he spent with his master, he had rarely gotten any material gifts. After becoming his disciple, Lee Sungmin received many things, such as the Black Lighting Heavenly Thunder that his master had made himself, as well as inheriting the Sama Order. However, both of those things weren’t material things.
The mask was different.
This mask that Oslo made was a symbol of Lee Sungmin being the Lord’s disciple. Also, it was the only thing that he directly received from the Lord of the Sama Order. He pulled out the mask and looked at it. The mask that he hadn’t seen for a very long time gave him an ache in his heart. Every day, he thought of Sama Ryunju with his many masks.
Today, I am heading into Hadras. Into the Blood Alliance.
The Blood Alliance was an organization created by the Blood Demon by gathering the followers of the Sama Order after its downfall.
Nothing much changed other than the name of the ruler and the group itself.
He didn’t like that at all.
Lee Sungmin had chosen to kill the Blood Demon of the Blood Alliance because of the fact that Geniella could come to help the Blood Demon if Lee Sungmin went to kill Nero, but there was another reason.
A very personal one.
Lee Sungmin slowly put the mask over his face. Due to Oslo’s help, the mask no longer had restrictions on Lee Sungmin’s power. It was a bit awkward at first as he hadn’t worn it in a long time, but it still fit his face perfectly.
“It’s quite funny to say this now, after all that you guys said about helping…”
Lee Sungmin grasped the spear on his back.
“…but unless something happens, I wish that you guys won’t intervene.”
“You don’t look that great,” the Black Dragon, who was at the back, muttered. “Is it because they trampled on your master’s home?”
“…My master probably didn’t consider the Sama Order to be his home.”
“Then why do you look so angry?”
“Even if my master didn’t think that way, others might not see it as such.”
Lee Sungmin walked to the castle gates.
“After the Demonic Emperor Yang Il-Chun died, the Sama Order was swept up by the Blood Demon and made into the Blood Alliance.”
Lee Sungmin slowly started to spread out his internal energy around the air.
“That pisses me off slightly.”
[You are lying.]
Heoju cackled.
[You aren’t slightly pissed off. I think you are insanely mad.]
Lee Sungmin did not say anything.
*****
TL Notes:
So, if you guys are in discord, you might know that I made a poll about Sima Ryunju (or Sama Ryunju or Lord of the Sama Order) and his name.
So, Sima Ryunju in the raws is 사마련주, or SaMaRyunJu. It basically means Lord of the Sama Order (Sama Order is 사마련, which I think means 4 Demons Order cuz 사 = Four and 마 is Demon, but I’m getting off-topic). In