Chapter 232

Chapter 232

The permission didn’t take very long.

“T-This way, Young Master.”

“Thank you.”

I quietly observed the face of the person stuttering while guiding me ahead and blinked. The face of the person walking ahead was strangely familiar.

“What might your father’s name be?”

“Pardon? It’s Baek Rigyeong.”

“If you’re Uncle Gyeong’s son… you must be Geon. You’ve grown a lot.”

“You know me?”

“Of course I do. I even carved a wooden sword for you on your birthday.”

Looking at Baek Rigeon tilting his head as if he couldn’t remember, his face still retaining youthful features, I nodded. When I left the family, this child was nothing more than a toddling infant, but now he had grown enough to be called a rising talent of the later generation.

“How is Uncle Gyeong doing?”

“Ah, yes. He’s been busy lately teaching martial arts to my younger sibling.”

“A younger sibling, so you have one now.”

“I have two younger ones.”

“I see.”

The weight of seventeen years suddenly felt real.

I let out a quiet sigh inwardly while smiling bitterly at the changed appearance of the family. I felt anew how much distance I had put between myself and the family.

‘Father will probably say he won’t search.’

The Family Head of the Baek Ri Family, Baek Rigang—he’s that kind of person. Someone who pursues the family’s public interest over his own private interests. Someone who has strict standards and applies those strict standards to himself before anyone else.

That’s not to say such a person is wrong. Given his position as the head of a great family, it’s not strange to think of the family before his own. Rather, for others, it could be exemplary behavior.

‘Right now, I need Father’s assistance.’

The recruitment of the other members of the Ten Heavens is more or less complete.

—An interesting perspective.

—I’ll accept that proposal.

The Sword Sovereign already heard my story and promised cooperation, and the Unorthodox Path side agreed to have the Evil Path Alliance Leader work on persuasion. Since quite a few disciples from the Iron Blood Gate and Blood Sword Gate are mixed among the missing, it’s only a matter of time before the Great Evil Sword and Great Evil step forward.

I heard that the Indestructible One has some friendship with the Divine Physician, so he agreed to take on the persuasion. He’s an eccentric person whose thoughts are unknowable, but if he becomes an ally, he’ll surely be a great contributor.

Five of the Ten Heavens have already gathered. Even just this much could be called earth-shaking military power. Enough force to annihilate any major sect overnight.

However, if we’re dealing with the Demonic Cult, this isn’t enough. Because in the Demonic Cult…

There are tremendous monsters swarming everywhere.

“We’ve arrived.”

“You’ve done well.”

The familiar-shaped sliding door we arrived at.

When I gave a slight eye greeting as a sign of thanks, Baek Rigeon, who had been dithering, bowed and disappeared. And the voice coming from beyond the sliding door.

—Come in.

At the granted permission, I quietly opened the sliding door without saying a word.

Father was there.

“It’s been a long time.”

“…A long time indeed.”

Baek Rigang, who quietly received my words, continued speaking while keeping his gaze fixed on documents.

“It’s been seventeen years since we’ve met.”

“Didn’t you see my face two years ago?”

“Can you call it meeting if we didn’t speak?”

“If you put it that way, I have nothing to say, but…”

“I’m busy with work. Get to the point briefly.”

Just the point, briefly.

I quietly closed and opened my eyes while looking at Baek Rigang, who cut off my words and continued processing documents while speaking. And the answer that followed.

“I plan to infiltrate the Demonic Cult. Please lend me your strength.”

Baek Rigang, who hadn’t stopped working, raised his gaze at my words and looked directly at me. The question that followed.

“You’ve been out in the world for seventeen years and seem to have lost your mind. What nonsense are you…”

“I know that Mother was the daughter of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s previous Divine Maiden.”

“And I also know that the Divine Maiden’s bloodline has been completely cut off except for us three siblings.”

From the Demonic Cult’s perspective, the Divine Maiden’s bloodline being cut off is an unacceptable situation.

Then Baek Risan, who was transferred to the Great Desert, won’t be killed no matter what they do. In the worst case, she might be confined somewhere and tortured, but her life should still be intact.

“I’ve recruited half of the Ten Heavens.”

“Moreover, I’ve also recruited one of the Demonic Cult’s Seven Wheels. Though it was quite some time ago.”

“What do you…”

“I won’t speak at length. Because the possibility is sufficient.”

Neither I nor Baek Rigang are talkative types. Always keep the purpose short and concise. Easy to understand.

“Even if I couldn’t save Mother, I want to save San.”

“Please lend me your strength. Father.”

Before it becomes too late.

It’s a familiar saying, but Baek Risan had virtually no memories of her mother.

—Oppa, where’s Mom?

—Hmm, she seems a bit busy.

Not long after Baek Risan was weaned, Baek Risan’s mother left the family. With the reason of briefly visiting her natal family.

She never felt sad or resentful about that. Because in Baek Risan’s memory, the person called mother didn’t exist.

The finger-pointing of being a child without a mother, commonly spoken of, didn’t apply to Baek Risan, who was direct lineage of the Baek Ri Family. By the time memories were forming, the existence called mother was already not by her side, so there was no reason to resent a mother who left her behind. She just looked at the family members who said nothing and guessed that ‘there must have been a reason why it had to be that way.’

—Sleep well, my youngest.

Even so.

What remains very faintly in the depths of memory does exist. Herself whining while sitting in a pavilion with her head pillowed, and the slender yet firm fingers stroking her head. The low yet caring voice.

That was the only memory Baek Risan had of her mother.

Why does that memory come to mind now, of all times?

Her body feels heavy.

Baek Risan, who slowly came to her senses in a dazed state, held such an impression. A fluffy yet heavy and warm sensation, as if someone was pressing down from above.

It’s like fat, plump cats are lying sprawled all over her body.

“What on earth…?”

Tudududuk!

Baek Risan, who frowned at the strange sensation and sat up, was startled to see the bundles of fur covering her lap and grabbed her sword. And for good reason—a thick demonic energy was wafting from these seemingly harmless bundles of fur.

“Yokai!”

A reflexive sword draw.

Kaaang!

In an instant, internal power surged up the blade and manifested to incinerate the yokai. Baek Risan, who drew her sword at a speed like a ray of light, swung her sword to annihilate the yokai riding on her body.

From top to bottom. The moment Baek Risan’s white trajectory tried to bisect the yokai in a straight line.

A masterless black sword quietly inserted itself into that trajectory.

Seuuuk.

“…What!”

A black sword strike that wrapped around Baek Risan’s flames and completely returned them to nothingness.

Seeing the flames being consumed, leaving only gentle ripples like a drop of water falling into a large lake, Baek Risan gasped and took a step back, taking a defensive stance. Because she was starting to understand the situation.

‘…I was definitely moving to find a settlement.’

Fragmented memories gradually surfacing.

She remembers going out to find a settlement to save her companions who couldn’t move anymore due to yokai poisoning. She thought she should quickly find a settlement and take some action since, strangely, only she wasn’t affected by the demonic energy.

She also remembers using full-speed lightness skill as if flying across the sand desert in the direction where a settlement might be. And the appearance of the grotesquely strange yokai that was half-buried in the sand behind a sand dune, on the invisible side, glowing with sinister red eyes.

‘And then what happened?’

She can’t remember.

Baek Risan, who frowned for a moment at the memory that wouldn’t surface, reminded herself that she was facing a yokai and gripped her sword tightly again. And at that moment, a low voice flowed from ahead.

—Those don’t harm.

“…What?”

—Those don’t harm people.

At the rough metallic sound like scraping an iron plate, Baek Risan unconsciously raised her gaze upward and her eyes widened. Because she could see someone wearing a black cloak and bandages standing on a sand dune.

“Who… are you?”

—Lower. Your sword.

“You say the yokai don’t harm, but what are you talking about… And where is this place anyway?”

—Lower it. Your sword.

“No, if someone asks a question, you should at least pretend to listen…”

A strange presence.

Baek Risan, who was frowning and taking a step forward, flinched at the sensation felt on her skin. And Baek Risan grinding her teeth.

“…You’re a yokai, aren’t you?”

—Yokai. Me.

“No, there’s no need to even ask. Because I can feel the demonic energy this strongly.”

It doesn’t spread indiscriminately. However, the appearance of demonic energy gathering and swirling around, thick enough to take tangible form.

Although she hadn’t met many yokai, none of the yokai she’d met so far had such an ominous aura. Which means it’s that strong of a yokai.

‘…Can I escape?’

The possibility is slim. Even when Choa transformed into a yokai, she didn’t emanate such ominous yokai power.

Baek Risan, who clenched her teeth while gathering her internal power and surveyed her surroundings. But regardless of her attitude, the figure slowly descended the sand dune.

“Don’t come closer.”

Slowly.

Watching the black-clad man’s figure walking straight toward her, Baek Risan gathered her internal power. 

“I told you not to come closer.”

True Flame White Fire Art, Secret Technique

Great Scorching Heat

From Gushing Spring to Gate of Life, from Gate of Life to Palm Center.

The flames that rose along her fingertips gathered at the blade, and soon became one image and surged toward the man. Flames that seemed ready to incinerate the man at any moment, empowered by the scorching heat of the sizzling desert.

‘It hit…!’

Got him.

Baek Risan, seeing the man simply watching her thrust, widened her eyes and scattered her sword energy widely, aiming for the man’s neck. A strike of an instant. An angle impossible to dodge.

However, the man didn’t care.

Kwak!

And immediately ‘devoured’ those flames with his hand.

“…Wh-what…?”

At the unimaginable sight, Baek Risan, who stuttered involuntarily in shock, pulled her sword in panic. The blade, tightly gripped in the man’s hand with the flames gone.

—Not fighting.

“…You won’t fight me?”

Nod.

“For what reason?”

—Because I don’t want to.

At the man’s appearance, releasing the blade and staring intently at Baek Risan, Baek Risan took a small step back, flabbergasted. But before she could grasp the situation, the man grabbed a fur bundle and handed it to her.

—Hold it.

“…What is this?”

—I heard that human children can find stability by seeing cute things. That is a yokai, but it feeds on the fears of extremely small creatures. It’s harmless to you.

“So in summary, you’re saying I should hold it because it’s cute and I’ll feel reassured?”

—Yes.

“…Are you sane? You expect me to believe that?”

—If I intended harm, I would have done so already.

Kkuuk.

At the man’s appearance, speaking indifferently and forcibly putting the wriggling fur bundle yokai in her arms, Baek Risan let out a hollow laugh and looked at the man. The man moved toward the campfire he had lit, not caring about her scrutinizing gaze asking what scheme he was plotting.

Hwareureuk!

—The embers went out.

Haah.

Seeing the man light a fire with just his gaze after speaking, Baek Risan sighed and quietly shook her head.

‘There’s never a normal situation.’

It seems she’s gotten caught up in a strange situation again.

And one so extremely strange that she’s never experienced anything like it before.