CLS-Chapter 272

Chapter 272

“Demonic Cult?”

“Did that fellow just say Demonic Cult?”

Cheong Yeong-ja’s beard trembled violently.

Demonic Cult, you say.

Wasn’t that what those demonic bastards called themselves? Then was he saying he came from the Demonic Cult right now?

People began murmuring from all sides.

Cheong Yeong-ja felt his breathing become labored.

Demonic Cult! No, the Demonic Cult! Why was that name being mentioned here and now?

Gwang Mu-ryang looked around at the murmuring crowd and quietly opened his mouth.

“You have forgotten.”

Gwang Mu-ryang’s voice was resonant.

Unlike the metallic, blade-sharp feeling one would expect from the Demonic Cult, Gwang Mu-ryang’s voice was resonant and majestic like that of a general who had roamed battlefields.

“You have forgotten us. You treat our name as if it shouldn’t exist. You’ve turned away from the fact that we crouch in the great mountains. You’ve comforted yourselves that someday is not now.”

Gwang Mu-ryang’s voice began to resonate thunderously throughout Mount Hua.

“You have forgotten, but we have not. And now we will make you remember what you have forgotten.”

Shock swept through the venue like lightning.

“The, the Demonic Cult?”

“Why is the Demonic Cult here!”

The murmuring grew louder.

What had been a festival ground just moments before began to be engulfed in terror in an instant.

That’s how great the shock of the name Demonic Cult was. Those present here had either experienced war with the Demonic Cult themselves, or had grown up hearing about such wars.

For such people to see someone claiming to be from the Demonic Cult appear before them, there could be no lack of confusion.

Thud!

At that moment, a loud sound rang out and everyone’s gaze focused on one spot.

Mount Hua’s Sect Leader Cheong Yeong-ja glared at Gwang Mu-ryang with a hardened face.

“Have you come from the Cult?”

“That is correct, Mount Hua Sect Leader.”

“Do you know this old man?”

Gwang Mu-ryang nodded his head.

“What warrior in the world would not know the Sword Noble of the world, Mount Hua’s Sect Leader? I know you well.”

“Your words alone are an honor.”

Cheong Yeong-ja’s words were very polite, but his tone was anything but polite. If the other party was a figure from the Demonic Cult, then they were like oil and water that could never mix with his side. No, even that comparison was insufficient. The Orthodox World and the Demonic Cult were no different from mortal enemies under the same sky.

“What is the reason for a figure from the Cult coming all the way here? It doesn’t seem you’ve visited here specifically to offer congratulations?”

Gwang Mu-ryang smiled brightly.

“Why would you think that? Do you mean you won’t accept the Demonic Cult’s congratulations?”

“Whether to accept congratulations or not is one’s own choice, isn’t it?”

At Cheong Yeong-ja’s words, Gwang Mu-ryang turned his head to look at Baek Geom-yeong.

“What do you think?”

Baek Geom-yeong spoke as if it were of no consequence.

“Ten Thousand Swords never refuses anything.”

“Hahaha, what a great man. Then I should bless you in the name of the Demonic Cult, but…”

Gwang Mu-ryang scratched his chin as if regretful.

“Unfortunately, I’m someone without the authority or position to represent the Cult’s name, so I can only congratulate you personally. I’m just a mere underling, you see.”

Baek Geom-yeong couldn’t help but laugh at those words.

‘An underling?’

That person?

It was an impossible situation.

Mount Hua and all the other renowned sects of the world had gathered to hold a competition, and a lackey from the Demonic Cult had intruded to open his mouth—how could this be a reasonable occurrence?

The moment one revealed themselves to be a member of the Demonic Cult, it wouldn’t be strange to be suppressed and sent to prison, or torn apart and killed on the spot.

However, such a thing was not happening.

Was it because those gathered here were infinitely merciful?

Absolutely not.

The subtle energy waves emanating from Gwang Mu-ryang were pressing down on them, preventing them from daring to act rashly.

Just meeting his eyes made one’s knees go weak. The energy Baek Geom-yeong felt from Gwang Mu-ryang far exceeded his predictions.

‘So this is the Demonic Cult.’

He could understand how these people, who were merely a single force, could wage fierce battles against the entire world. It would be impossible unless each and every one of them was an absolute master beyond common sense.

If Gwang Mu-ryang was calling himself an underling of such an organization, he certainly had the qualifications to do so.

“So. It seems you’ve given your congratulations?”

Cheong Yeong-ja’s voice rang out loudly.

“Do you have more to say?”

“What would you do if I had finished what I came to say?”

“Then you’d have to find something else to say, wouldn’t you? About the reason you came here alone, or about how you plan to leave alive.”

Gwang Mu-ryang slowly shook his head.

“The Sect Leader’s words are wrong.”

Cheong Yeong-ja’s eyes narrowed.

“I am not alone. I am never alone. The disciples of the Demonic Cult are alone, yet not alone. And now, more than ever, I am not alone!”

No sooner had those words ended than figures draped in pitch-black robes began revealing themselves one after another on the rooftops of the pavilions.

‘Where on earth did they come from!’

Cheong Yeong-ja clenched his fists tightly as he watched the Demonic Cult members revealing themselves.

There had been signs of suspicious figures gathering, but weren’t they all from the Green Forest? Had the Demonic Cult hidden behind them from the beginning, taking advantage of the Green Forest’s stirring?

‘No.’

They couldn’t move with such perfect timing. Then one had to assume that the Demonic Cult had been manipulating the Green Forest from the start.

So it was beyond imagination.

‘How could the Green Forest…’

Though the Green Forest was classified as an unorthodox sect and they couldn’t be said to be on good terms, they too were a sect of the Central Plains. For them to cooperate with the Demonic Cult was something he had never once imagined.

Even when fighting over territory, wouldn’t they unite when foreign enemies invaded? How could a massive organization like the Green Forest become lackeys of the Demonic Cult?

Cheong Yeong-ja bit his lips tightly.

What mattered now was not the relationship between the Demonic Cult and the Green Forest. Even at a glance, there were over a hundred Demonic Cult members standing on the rooftops.

The warriors present here numbered at least a thousand.

So…

‘We’re overwhelmingly outnumbered.’

Cheong Yeong-ja couldn’t help but feel despair.

Though it was said that the Demonic Cult had over one hundred thousand members, the people of the Central Plains would number a hundred times that. Even comparing only the warriors among them, there would be such a difference.

However, most of those gathered here were spectators who had come to watch, while those were elite forces carefully selected to come. Since this was a junior martial arts competition to begin with, hardly any of the elite who could be called the cream of the Orthodox World had attended.

All they could rely on were Mount Hua’s elders and the first-generation disciples, along with the escorts who had brought children—but it was impossible for them alone to stop a hundred Demonic Cult members.

Then, a voice of hope reached Cheong Yeong-ja’s ears.

“Looking at those black-clad bastards, they seem like the Kong Sal Dae (Empty Kill Squad)…”

“Grand-Uncle!”

Plum Blossom Sword Saint shuffled over and spoke while looking at Gwang Mu-ryang.

“How is that black-clad bastard doing?”

Gwang Mu-ryang looked at Plum Blossom Sword Saint and bowed his head.

“I greet the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, Elder. If you’re referring to our predecessor Black Saint, he has already returned to the Sacred Fire.”

“He’s dead?”

“If we use your side’s terminology, yes.”

“Hmph, that bastard went first.”

When Plum Blossom Sword Saint spoke in a sorrowful tone, Gwang Mu-ryang continued.

“Our predecessor often spoke of the Sword Saint. He regretted that if not for the wounds from the Sword Saint’s blade, he could have lived ten more years.”

“Who’s talking nonsense!”

Plum Blossom Sword Saint shouted and lifted his upper garment.

Through the gap in his clothing, deep scars like crawling earthworms were visible in five streaks across his gaunt ribs.

“Whenever it rains, I can’t live because of the wounds that bastard left behind—they ache so much.”

Gwang Mu-ryang smiled gently.

“Those were such times.”

Plum Blossom Sword Saint became indignant.

“You know well. Yes, and knowing that, you’ve brought these black-clad bastards here saying you’ll open that era again?”

“That’s not something you should be saying to me. Unlike the Sword Saint, who is now in a position to make decisions, I’m merely in a position to follow orders.”

“Following orders…”

Plum Blossom Sword Saint’s fist clenched tightly.

“Whose orders are you people following! Who is there to fill the empty seat of the Great Demon Emperor!”

“That’s not something for the Sword Saint to worry about. You just need to know.”

“Know?”

Gwang Mu-ryang’s voice rang out resoundingly.

“That the Demonic Cult has been revived again, and that it’s now time for you to pay the price.”

Plum Blossom Sword Saint let out a groan.

‘I thought it wasn’t time yet…’

In the end, they had been complacent. But this situation couldn’t simply be attributed to complacency.

Because the Demonic Cult was such a place.

The Demon Emperor—that is, the Great Demon Emperor—was such a great figure. Even as an enemy, he was someone one couldn’t help but show respect to.

The Demonic Cult that lost the Great Demon Emperor was torn into fragments. No one could have imagined that someone would unify such a Demonic Cult in a short time, reestablish a command structure, and create the capacity to invade the Central Plains again.

That would only be possible if the newly emerged Demon Emperor was a figure equal to the Great Demon Emperor of the past.

But throughout the history of the Demonic Cult, who could have imagined that another figure equal to the Great Demon Emperor, called a giant among giants, would emerge again in such a short time?

It was an unbelievable reality.

‘But I have no choice but to believe it.’

Plum Blossom Sword Saint quietly closed his eyes.

‘Now there’s no avoiding it.’

The mountains and earth would be stained with blood again. Plum Blossom Sword Saint, who had intuited this fact, couldn’t hide the sorrow flowing in his chest.

Standing before the beginning of a new war in a different position than the past, the old swordsman clearly recognized his role.

“You didn’t come just to leisurely exchange words. You people never ended with just words.”

“Of course.”

“You have more patience than the Black Saint of the past. That man had such an impatient personality that it was difficult to exchange even a single word with him. So, what do you intend to do now? Do you have the courage to receive my sword?”

Plum Blossom Sword Saint’s hand touched his beloved sword.

Seeing this scene, Gwang Mu-ryang quietly burst into laughter.

“Sword Saint.”

“…”

“You have forgotten, you have forgotten. While speaking as if you know well, you were the first among everyone to forget us.”

Gwang Mu-ryang’s voice grew louder and louder.

That voice now sounded like a blood-soaked scream beyond sorrow.

“The Demonic Cult has honor, but its disciples have no honor! The Demonic Cult has pride, but we have no pride. What we have is merely a desperate struggle to protect the dignity of the Cult.”

Letting out a beast-like howl, Gwang Mu-ryang declared.

“From today, the world will know! That we have returned, and that we will subjugate the world again under the Sacred Fire of the Demonic Cult! You will announce that beginning with your deaths.”

Having finished his declaration, Gwang Mu-ryang lightly looked around and said.

“Begin.”

“We obey!”

Simultaneously, the disciples who had been on the rooftops began rushing down below.

“Mount Hua disciples, protect the spectators!”

“We receive your command!”

Mount Hua’s first-generation disciples, who had rushed over, drew their Plum Blossom Swords one after another and went to meet the Demonic Cult members.

Mount Hua.

The most treacherous mountain in the world—at its peak, a war announcing a new era was raising its curtain.