CLS-Chapter 645

Chapter 645:

“Yan-ho.”

Wei Jeong-han grabbed Wei Yan-ho’s shoulder.

“Tsk.”

Wei Yan-ho let out a sigh.

“Looking at how things are turning out, I won’t be able to avoid it to the end. I’ll go and come back quickly.”

Wei Jeong-han couldn’t stop Wei Yan-ho.

Though the thought that Wei Yan-ho was shouldering too great a burden kept haunting his mind, it was also true that if not Wei Yan-ho, there was no one else who could resolve this situation.

But to accept it for such a reason, Wei Yan-ho’s appearance before his eyes was too troubling.

Wei Yan-ho’s white robes were already stained a dark red color. All of that was blood.

Seeing Wei Yan-ho maintain his usual demeanor even in such a state made him feel both proud… and sorrowful.

“That…”

“This isn’t an appropriate situation for conversation.”

When Wei Yan-ho smiled lightly, Wei Jeong-han sighed and nodded.

“Yes, that’s how it should be.”

“Yes. Then.”

As Wei Yan-ho spun his body around, Wei Jeong-han finally uttered the words he shouldn’t have said.

“Yan-ho.”

“Yes?”

“…Can you win?”

“Hmm.”

Wei Yan-ho scratched his head vigorously.

“I’ll have to try.”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders and walked forward. Wei Jeong-han simply gazed endlessly at his son’s retreating figure.

“F-Family Head!”

Baek Hoe-myeong hesitantly approached Dan Cheon-geom. Along with him, Cheon Ryu-geom Baek Gong-ui was also awkwardly gauging their family head’s mood.

Dan Cheon-geom turned his head to look at his son and brother.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“…”

Baek Hoe-myeong bit his lips tightly.

Not out of anger. It was because something was welling up inside him. To him, Dan Cheon-geom was a father, but wasn’t a father.

He was the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family.

He was someone who carried too much to live as just one person’s father. What he had given to Baek Hoe-myeong was always nothing but stern reproach.

And that was natural.

For those who achieve great causes, even family members are secondary. A great cause is like a monster that devours everything around it.

Not once had he felt dissatisfied with this fact.

He too had wanted a great family head who could resolve the Baek Family’s grievances rather than wanting a good father.

But right now, at this moment.

The moment he heard warm words he had never heard even once in his entire life, Baek Hoe-myeong was being swept up in an indescribable emotion.

“I’m sorry for being inadequate.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Dan Cheon-geom raised his head to look at the sky.

“You were excellent. You fought exceptionally well. The reason things have come this far is because I was insufficient.”

“That’s not true, Family Head! Haven’t you arranged everything!”

“If I don’t finish it with my own hands, nothing has meaning. I knew that fact. Yet, even knowing it, I turned away from it — because I felt it had no meaning.”

Dan Cheon-geom turned his head to look at Cheon Ryu-geom.

“Your words were also correct.”

“…Brother.”

“Yes, the one who tied the knot must untie it. Even if the knot I tied didn’t turn out as I wanted, untying it is my responsibility. You too have worked hard.”

Cheon Ryu-geom looked at Dan Cheon-geom with puzzled eyes.

His brother and the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family.

Dan Cheon-geom Dan Cheon-geom wasn’t someone who would say such things. He was an emperor, a tyrant who dominated the world.

To Cheon Ryu-geom, Dan Cheon-geom was closer to a leader to trust and follow rather than a brother. But such sentimental words.

‘What on earth…’

What was Dan Cheon-geom seeing right now?

“Yes, let’s see. Where the path we must take lies.”

Dan Cheon-geom said while quietly looking at the two.

“You too watch closely.”

“Family Head…”

“No.”

Dan Cheon-geom shook his head.

“Call me father.”

Baek Hoe-myeong closed his mouth.

“I didn’t come here as the Family Head of the Baek Family. That’s an inescapable fate for me, but just for this moment, I want to be the human Dan Cheon-geom rather than the Family Head of the Baek Family. If so, then to you I should be a father, not a family head.”

Both Baek Hoe-myeong and Baek Gong-ui looked at their family head with surprised eyes. The family head they knew would never say such things. He was someone who had devoted his entire life to the revival and revenge of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family.

But to come to this important place as a person, as a human, rather than as a family head.

The Dan Cheon-geom they knew would never have said such things.

But…

“F-Father…”

Dan Cheon-geom smiled gently.

“I didn’t realize that just as the burden I carried was heavy, the burden you carried was also heavy. If I had realized this fact a little earlier, I might have been able to become a slightly better family head, a better father.”

Dan Cheon-geom quietly shook his head.

“Hoe-myeong.”

“Yes. Family Head… No, Father.”

“Don’t try to live as the Family Head of the Baek Family.”

“…”

“I didn’t know that one must find one’s own life before discussing family matters. That’s why I made mistakes I shouldn’t have made. I intend to correct all of that now. Even if it means abandoning myself, even if it means denying my life…”

Dan Cheon-geom closed his mouth.

After a long silence, he spoke with a somewhat suppressed voice.

“As a family head, what I should have done was to give a better future to those living under the name of Ten Thousand Swords. I, who was captivated by the past and gave up the future, must pay the price.”

“What on earth are you saying…”

“Who am I?”

“…”

“Answer me. Who am I?”

Baek Hoe-myeong looked at Dan Cheon-geom with resolute eyes. He could answer this question with complete confidence.

“You are the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family and the Greatest Sword Under Heaven.”

“Do you acknowledge that I am the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family?”

“Who in the world could deny it? Father is the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family and the true successor of Ten Thousand Swords.”

“You rascal.”

Dan Cheon-geom let out a slight laugh and patted Baek Hoe-myeong’s shoulder.

“If you acknowledge me as the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family, then this once, follow my words. Let me be stubborn one last time.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Can you promise?”

Baek Hoe-myeong nodded.

Though he didn’t know what he was being asked to follow, he was the family head. Naturally, one should follow the family head’s words.

“I promise.”

“Yes, that’s enough.”

Dan Cheon-geom quietly looked at Baek Hoe-myeong.

He thought that despite giving birth to this child, he had done nothing proper for him.

What meaning would there be in giving fatherly affection now? What he should give to Baek Hoe-myeong was a future. And that future was…

“Let’s see if we still have something called a future.”

Dan Cheon-geom turned and walked forward.

Wei Yan-ho came into his sight.

‘Just a child.’

Seeing him up close like this, he could tell even better. Wei Yan-ho was young. Rather than being his son’s age, it would be more accurate to say he was his grandson’s age. If Baek Hoe-myeong had had a child early, they would be about that age.

Such a child had now stepped forward to face him.

It was ridiculous.

It was also remarkable.

Dan Cheon-geom, standing at an appropriate distance facing Wei Yan-ho, looked around. Everyone on this vast land was watching the two of them.

“Before we compete, there’s something we must promise first.”

His eyes followed Yuk-ui, the Great General of the Great General.

“If other words come up after we’ve competed, everything will be in vain. First, let’s make an agreement that the loser will, without question of reason, submit to the winner and follow the winner’s words.”

The Great General’s brow furrowed.

“Isn’t that too excessive a measure?”

“It’s not excessive.”

Dan Cheon-geom shook his head.

“We just need to set a time limit. We can simply set the period for following the winner’s words until we defeat the Demon Cult.”

The Great General let out a hollow laugh.

“Weren’t you the ones who brought in that Demon Cult? And now you’re pretending to sacrifice yourselves to defeat the Demon Cult?”

“Then what would be good? Should we join hands with the Demon Cult again and fight?”

“Look here!”

“Great General.”

Dan Cheon-geom’s voice spread low.

“We will pay the price for the sins we committed. But the price for the sins you committed must also be borne by you. That’s why we should stop here. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“…”

“Rather than falling into hell together and arguing about who’s right and who’s wrong, it would be better to at least get a chance to determine right and wrong while we’re still breathing.”

The Great General bit his lips slightly.

The words were correct. But it was emotionally difficult to agree.

“For what purpose?”

“To block it.”

“The Demon Cult?”

“Rather than blocking, it would be more accurate to say to at least try to seize an opportunity.”

The answer was somewhat unexpected.

But the Great General had no choice but to agree with Dan Cheon-geom’s intention. If they continued to consume their strength like this, they could never block the Demon Cult. So they had to come up with a plan somehow.

But that plan…

‘Can Wei Yan-ho defeat that man?’

This was a question without an answer.

One thing was certain: if not Wei Yan-ho, no one else could stand against Dan Cheon-geom Dan Cheon-geom.

But that was a separate matter from entrusting everyone’s fate to Wei Yan-ho.

“Great General.”

Dan Cheon-geom casually called to him.

“Don’t try to go against the natural order.”

Those words contained far too many meanings. The Great General, who had been quietly exchanging glances with Dan Cheon-geom, slowly nodded.

“The Righteous Martial Alliance will accept the results of this match.”

“General!”

“That’s too dangerous!”

Voices of concern erupted from left and right, but the Great General didn’t change his words. Seeing his resolute face, the others closed their mouths.

Because it was also true that there was no other way.

“What about you, Great General Yuk-ui?”

Yuk-ui lowered his spear and quietly glared at Dan Cheon-geom.

“We only listen to His Majesty’s commands. Following the orders of lawless individuals is impossible.”

Dan Cheon-geom slightly narrowed his brow.

“However, before coming here, His Majesty conveyed words to me.”

“Oh, His Majesty did?”

“Prioritize the complete annihilation of the enemy above all, but if the one who determines everyone’s fate becomes Royal Inspector Wei, then follow Royal Inspector Wei’s decisions.”

Dan Cheon-geom looked back at Wei Yan-ho with a somewhat different expression.

‘Even the emperor’s favor accompanies him.’

It felt like the entire world was supporting Wei Yan-ho.

“Did you hear?”

“Yes. I do have ears, after all.”

“What do you intend to do? If only you agree, everything would be settled cleanly.”

“There’s no reason not to agree, but…”

Wei Yan-ho smacked his lips.

“But before that, there’s something I want to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Hmm?”

Wei Yan-ho looked quietly at Dan Cheon-geom and said.

“It seems like you intended to do this from when you came here. Well, that’s possible. It’s better than mutual destruction. What I don’t understand is the fact that you’re the one who created this situation. You don’t seem like someone who wouldn’t know this could happen, so why are you causing such trouble now?”

“Heh heh heh heh.”

Dan Cheon-geom laughed lightly and answered that question.

“Because you exist.”

And that answer was far too unexpected.