CLS-Chapter 544

Chapter 544:

“The Central Plains?”

Jang-il’s voice trembled. For a moment, he felt as if confusion had overtaken him and his mind had gone blank.

The Central Plains? They went to the Central Plains?

“It’s not certain yet, but…”

Zhuge Mun-in maintained his composure even in this situation. His complexion seemed slightly pale, but at least his voice wasn’t trembling.

“What’s the probability?”

At Wei Jeong-han’s words, Zhuge Mun-in furrowed his brow. Then he turned his head to look at Wei Yan-ho.

“My lord.”

“Yeah?”

“Among those pursuing us, how many were worth being cautious of?”

“There weren’t any?”

“There weren’t any…”

Zhuge Mun-in rubbed his lips.

‘They had no intention of catching us from the start.’

If they had intended to catch Wei Yan-ho, they wouldn’t have formed a pursuit team with such riffraff. From the Demonic Cult’s perspective, that expression might be unfair, but considering Wei Yan-ho’s martial prowess and status, at least a Bishop-level expert should have stepped forward. With those kinds of people, they could never catch Wei Yan-ho.

“In the cave.”

“Yeah.”

“Among those who entered the cave, how many were worth being cautious of?”

“Two?”

“Two…”

Zhuge Mun-in’s face grew increasingly distorted.

“A moment ago, there was someone who blocked our path.”

“Hm? Who?”

“That guy who blocked our path at the end when we were breaking through!”

“Ah… hm?”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head. His memory was a bit…

“The one whose neck you cut off.”

“Ah, I remember. What about him?”

“How many of that level were there?”

“Um… there weren’t many, I think?”

Zhuge Mun-in’s face grew even more distorted.

“If you compare the martial prowess of the guy whose neck you just cut off with those who attacked Mount Hua in the past, how would they measure up?”

“The one who came to Mount Hua was much stronger.”

“…I thought so.”

Zhuge Mun-in began tapping his cheek with an anxious expression.

While Zhuge Mun-in was lost in thought, Wei Jeong-han asked Wei Yan-ho with a stern face.

“Why didn’t you speak up when you understood the situation?”

“Because I didn’t know. I did think that I wasn’t seeing any decent opponents, but I figured they might be setting up a separate trap. Unless the Bishops were completely absent, there were strong ones among those who entered the cave.”

“Hmm.”

Wei Jeong-han knew this wasn’t a situation to blame Wei Yan-ho. But with things getting so twisted, he simply couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“They went to the Central Plains.”

Zhuge Mun-in reached his conclusion.

“I failed to consider the possibility of a reverse strategy. If we can target the enemy’s rear with a small force, the Demonic Cult can do the same.”

“But…”

Wei Jeong-han tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

If he hadn’t directly witnessed the Demonic Cult members’ rage, he would have found it strange. But the fury of the Demonic Cult members chasing them was real. Could that hatred—rushing forward with the momentum to slice them up alive—be artificially created?

‘Impossible.’

If the lower ranks felt that way, the leadership would feel the same rage. But they suppressed that anger and deployed cold, calculated tactics? At least with the Demonic Cult he knew, that was impossible.

Then there were two possibilities.

Either the Demonic Cult had become much more rational during the long ceasefire period, or…

“They weren’t angry.”

“…”

Zhuge Mun-in struck precisely at Wei Jeong-han’s thoughts.

“But that’s strange. The ordinary believers are enraged, but the leadership isn’t? Of course, such cases might exist. But this isn’t one of those cases.”

“Then there’s only one thing we can think of.”

Zhuge Mun-in spoke decisively.

“The leadership knows something that the ordinary believers don’t. Something that would make both the Sacred Flame and the main altar seem trivial.”

Wei Jeong-han immediately understood what Zhuge Mun-in meant.

He had to understand. Hadn’t he seen it too—that cave?

“…The Heavenly Demon?”

“If the Heavenly Demon truly appeared as my lord said, then things like the Sacred Flame or the main altar would be meaningless. The Heavenly Demon would be the Sacred Flame, and wherever the Heavenly Demon is would become the main altar.”

“But it’s still not certain.”

“Of course. What’s certain isn’t whether the Heavenly Demon exists or not. It’s that the Demonic Cult’s real power doesn’t exist here.”

“Just one…”

Wei Jeong-han closed his mouth.

He was about to ask what they could do with just one person. But that was too stupid a question to voice.

What could they do?

There was nothing they couldn’t do.

What couldn’t Wei Yan-ho accomplish if there were ten of him? If he set his mind to it, he could sweep away an entire sect or reverse the tide of an entire battlefield in one stroke.

‘Come to think of it, that’s terrifying.’

In the past, during the war, the Bishops’ dignity was tremendous too. It was just overshadowed by the Great Demon Emperor’s majesty. Even searching the entire Central Plains, there were none who could confidently claim they could face a Bishop.

Yet the reason they could block the Bishops’ offensive was that they didn’t gather in one place. The Bishops kept their distance from each other as if they had personal grudges.

That wasn’t something to criticize as stupid. The Righteous Martial Alliance was the same. There were certainly unavoidable aspects. If the world’s strongest gathered in one place to attack, the destructive power of that part would increase, but those who could lead the overall forces would disappear.

In the end, the martial world is a place where power proves itself. No matter how excellent the Divine Strategist might be, a Divine Strategist without the backing of authority cannot wield power. There aren’t many who would risk their lives to follow a strategist’s words.

The Demonic Cult would be even more so.

The Demonic Cult values strength incomparably more than the Central Plains. They don’t follow anyone who isn’t stronger than them. Even if they know that following someone who has studied professional military tactics would be practically beneficial, they’re the type to ignore benefits due to pride.

To control them, the Bishops had no choice but to be dispersed. It was a war fought without perfect efficiency on either side.

But what if those Bishops were freed from the troops they needed to control?

It would be like releasing wolves into a flock of sheep. Wei Jeong-han already knew how terrifying the Demonic Cult’s Bishops could be.

“They can be controlled?”

The Demonic Cult’s violent nature and cruelty were displayed toward their own allies as well. He’d heard that the Bishops also regarded each other as enemies. But they’re joining forces and moving in perfect coordination?

How?

Even the Red-Eyed Demon couldn’t make the Bishops his limbs. The Cult Leader’s authority was recognized, and they acknowledged him as a superior, but they didn’t entrust their life and death to him or show absolute obedience to his commands. What the Red-Eyed Demon couldn’t do, what even the Great Demon Emperor couldn’t accomplish—who had achieved it?

‘Did the Heavenly Demon really appear?’

All circumstances pointed to one thing.

Even if he tried to deny it, he couldn’t. Even if all of this was a misunderstanding, one thing was too clear.

‘This isn’t the Demonic Cult movement I’ve known until now.’

They had changed too much. They were calmly committing acts that would have been unthinkable in the past. So what should Wei Jeong-han do?

“Damn it, and we don’t have carrier pigeons.”

He needed to inform the Divine Strategist of this fact immediately. But he couldn’t march into the Demonic Cult territory with carrier pigeons. There was no way to inform the Central Plains of this fact.

“Zhuge Mun-in.”

“Yes, Great Hero.”

“Think about it. What should we do?”

Things requiring brains should be left to the experts. Upon receiving Wei Jeong-han’s command, Zhuge Mun-in replied with a slightly frowning face.

“First, we need to find a way to inform the Central Plains of this fact. And we need to return to the Central Plains as quickly as possible.”

“Is it possible?”

Zhuge Mun-in fixed his gaze with a stern face. Far beyond that point, the Demonic Cult’s great army would still be holding their position.

‘How many of them are there? Ten thousand? Twenty thousand?’

No matter how enraged they were, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to mobilize all of the Demonic Cult’s forces to chase them. Considering the scale of the Demonic Cult he knew, those chasing them would be at most ten thousand.

Even that ten thousand was an enormous number.

The Demonic Cult could face the Central Plains alone. So even one-tenth of their total power approached one-tenth of the Central Plains’ total power. The strength of those currently chasing them was equivalent to that of Shaolin and Wudang combined.

Break through them and return to the Central Plains?

‘It’s not a matter of considering the possibility.’

It was something that absolutely had to be done.

‘Terrain, situation… everything is unfavorable.’

It would have been better if this place were mountains thick with greenery, or a jungle teeming with endemic diseases and beasts. At least there would be places to hide. But this was a wasteland. Wasteland where they couldn’t hide or escape.

The moment they turned toward the Central Plains, the Demonic Cult would immediately realize their intention. And they would try to block their path to the Central Plains by any means.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of possible or impossible.”

“…”

“Even if we die, even if only our souls remain, this is something we must do.”

“That’s right.”

Wei Yan-ho frowned.

“What would change even if we contact them now?”

“Hm?”

“If the Bishops headed to the Central Plains with full force, they’ll arrive soon, right? No matter how fast carrier pigeons fly, they can’t be faster than them.”

“Even so, we must do what needs to be done.”

“I think it would be better to keep them tied up here instead. If the six of us can tie down that many people, it would be much more advantageous for the Central Plains.”

Wei Yan-ho’s words also made sense.

But Wei Jeong-han couldn’t ignore the unease rising in his chest. He felt like he absolutely had to return. A conviction beyond mere feeling.

‘The Central Plains needs this guy.’

Wei Jeong-han looked at Wei Yan-ho with resolute eyes.

Neither the Heavenly Alliance nor the Righteous Martial Alliance could properly join forces without Wei Yan-ho as lubricant. If they thought purely in terms of military power, Wei Yan-ho’s words would be right, but Wei Yan-ho’s existence could bring effects beyond that to the Central Plains.

“We’re going back.”

“Sigh.”

Wei Yan-ho slapped his chest as if frustrated.

“Better to die than suffer like this.”

But that was all—Wei Yan-ho didn’t particularly argue back. Finding that reaction strange, Jang-il spoke up.

“You’re being unusually obedient?”

“About what?”

“Normally you’d be jumping around screaming that you don’t want to die, wouldn’t you?”

“We won’t die anyway.”

“Huh?”

“Since we won’t die anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’ll just be hard and annoying.”

“Won’t die… what do you mean?”

“Those guys have no intention of killing us.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Wei Yan-ho stuck out his lips.

“I don’t know the reason, but those guys won’t kill us. To be precise, there are plenty who want to kill us, but the one controlling them won’t let us die.”

“…Why?”

“I told you I don’t know.”

Wei Yan-ho waved his hand with an annoyed expression.

Then he walked forward with heavy steps, muttering.

“It’s not like I can’t guess the reason… but I hope I’m wrong. I have to be wrong.”

At Wei Yan-ho’s words, Jang-il tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.