Book 2: Chapter 475
The name of the mega building that housed the Demonic Cult’s main forces was the Infernal Heaven(魔天). (TL: How are there this many coincidences…)
Of course, Jiudad knew about their garrison in the Infernal Heaven. Was it just ‘knowing’? In fact, he also had a grasp of the approximate amount of power that the Demonic Cult possessed.
And he’d ordered some Elite Knights.
To never take their eyes off the Infernal Heaven.
Because of this, he had learned of the great commotion in the Demonic Cult before anyone else.
“An intruder?”
“Yes.”
“…”
When Jiudad received the report, the first thing that came to his mind was Lukas.
-I have a proposal.
-It’s simple. I plan to stay in this country for a while.
-Jiudad, promise that you will give me your full cooperation during that time. Of course, I will not do anything to harm the people of Luanoble or this land.
-If you accept my proposal, I’ll deal with the one called Heavenly Demon.
Because of what he’d just heard.
However, it wasn’t Lukas. He had just left this place. It had taken at least a few minutes for the report to get to him, and it said ‘about ten minutes ago, an intruder entered the Infernal Heaven’.
“What about the description?”
“They appear to be a martial artist.”
“…mm.”
Was it a power struggle within the Murim?
The Demonic Cult wielded considerable influence in the Murim, but that didn’t mean that every martial artist worshipped them. There were several forces who didn’t agree with the ideologies advocated by the Demonic Cult who had been suppressing their dissatisfaction until now.
In other words, it wouldn’t be strange for some Master who was unable to suppress his anger to charge into the Infernal Heaven.
However, why at a time like this?
Rumble…!
“U-, urk!?”
“What?!”
When the entire castle began shaking as if there was a huge earthquake, Jiudad had a feeling of familiarity.
This tremor. It wasn’t a normal earthquake.
He felt it before. Something very similar…
Where the hell- ah…
“The Great Fusion?”
This tremor was very similar to what he’d felt when the Great Fusion took place. That was the extent of what Jiudad could grasp, and it was a speculation that hadn’t yet reached the realm of truth.
However, his intuition was sharp. It was true that space itself had cracked both at the time of the Great Fusion and now.
Running out of the castle, Jiudad climbed the tallest watchtower.
And witnessed.
“…!”
A pillar of light pierced through the roof of the tallest building in this city and disappeared beyond the sky.
“What… is that…?”
It felt like he was looking at a scene from a legend or myth.
It filled him with a feeling of overwhelming ecstasy and reverence. Then, as the pillar of light disappeared, Jiudad’s body was wracked by fear.
Something unbelievable was happening in Luanoble.
But the surprise wasn’t over yet.
Shuk-
Four figures appeared behind Jiudad. Two of them were familiar faces. Lukas and Pale, who had disappeared abruptly.
The other two… he was meeting for the first time.
One was a middle aged man with a neat appearance. And the other was a man with long hair and a fairly unisex appearance.
This was Jiudad’s first time meeting the long haired man, but he knew who this man was.
“No way, is that… the Heavenly Demon…?”
“I didn’t kill him. I thought he might be useful alive.”
Lukas’ answer woke him from his sudden daze. But his confusion only grew.
“N-, no. W-, wait a minute. I’m not sure I understand the situation. What the hell are you…”
They didn’t have to explain. Remaining silent was a privilege of the strong.
Therefore, it wasn’t necessary for them to mention the fact that the Demonic Cult had suffered a blow that would be difficult to recover from, and that it was the middle aged man named Yang In-hyun who was responsible for it or the fact that the real Heavenly Demon had died at Lukas’ hands and that this man with ridiculously long hair was just a puppet who had been acting as a proxy for the Heavenly Demon.
Thinking this, Lukas pushed Dok Go-yun towards Jiudad.
“Kuk.”
Dok Go-yun staggered and regained his balance. Although he’d come back to his senses not long after fainting, it seemed that he was still in shock.
“In the future, the Demonic Cult will have no involvement in the politics of Luanoble. Tell him about the restructuring. I’m sure he’ll give his full cooperation.”
“What is this… how…?”
“Let him explain, we’re going to go out for a while to have dinner.”
After saying that, Lukas looked at Pale and Yang In-hyun and hesitated for a moment before eventually saying to Jiudad.
“…um. Do you have money?”
* * *
Yet again, they left the castle and went out into the street.
By now, the sky had completely turned black. The night street was filled with vitality. The owner of Kalinka had said that most of the shops would be closed for the rest of the day, but that prediction was wrong.
The scents of fragrant foods came from every direction. As the day grew dark, the restaurants whose doors had been tightly shut began to open up one after the other.
‘…now that I think about it, this is still the first day.’
He’d come to the Three Thousand Worlds with Pale and Yang In-hyun, encountered the demon army, found out where they were, and finally wiped out the Demonic Cult organisation.
So much had happened and a day hadn’t even passed yet.
Although his body wasn’t tired, his head was aching. Shaking his head slightly as if trying to shake off his headache, Lukas looked around.
Then, he found the perfect shop.
Before anything else, he decided to walk in. As he expected, Pale followed him without a word. And Yang In-hyun stopped for a moment when he saw the shop sign.
“The Golden Flower Pavilion(金花樓).”
“…”
The insincere name, the slightly nostalgic atmosphere, and the smell of the food drifting from the inside… made Yang In-hyun speechless for a while.
By this time, Pale and Lukas had already entered the shop. Yang In-hyun followed them a step behind.
“Welcome!”
The Golden Flower Pavilion, a nighttime inn, had a boisterous atmosphere. The sounds of loud conversations, and the clinking of glasses filled with alcohol resounded continuously. Most of the windows were open, so the noise from the street was also mixed in.
And there were also many martial artists around. Looking at the shop assistant, Lukas said.
“Isn’t there a quieter place?”
“It’s quiet on the 5th floor, but you’d be charged for an extra admission fee.”
“That’s fine.”
“The price is a bit expensive…”
“That’s fine.”
Lukas mechanically repeated the same words. Subserviently, the shop assistant went upstairs first. Before following the shop assistant, Lukas turned his head slightly and shot a look at Yang In-hyun.
‘Will you follow, or will you turn this place into a sea of blood?’
…Even though he didn’t verbalise it, his intention was obvious. Yang In-hyun’s fingers wriggled slightly before he glanced over at Pale. With a delighted expression on her face, she stomped up the stairs.
“…”
His aim was so obvious that it wasn’t even funny.
Lukas was currently stimulating Yang In-hyun while relying on Pale’s existence. In reality, it didn’t seem like she wanted them to fight.
“Huu.”
Without a choice, Yang In-hyun could only follow.
As the shop assistant had said, the 5th floor was quiet. No, it wasn’t just quiet, it was tranquil. This was because there was no one there apart from Lukas and the others who had just gone up.
As they sat, another shop assistant approached them with a smile.
“What would you like to order?”
The shop assistant had a typical Russian face. The theme of wearing something similar to a flowy uniform looked quite funny on him.
“Do you have any menu recommendations?”
“The fried food in our inn is amazing. If it is your first time, I’d recommend the sweet and sour fillets(糖醋里脊) and chinese spring rolls(春卷).”
“Then with that…”
“If you have it with our Hundred Flower Wine(百花酒) you will experience an even deeper flavour.”
“Then together with that-”
Suddenly, Pale smiled and held out the wooden board that had all kinds of food written on it.
“I’ll have everything here.”
“Huh?”
“Give me everything.”
“Uh…”
“You can’t?”
“No. It’s not that, but…”
The shop assistant secretly looked over Lukas, Yang In-hyun and Pale. He was probably estimating whether they really had enough money to pay for that.
In all honesty, none of the three looked like they did.
Lukas decided to tip the hesitant shop assistant. He wasn’t sure how much to give, so he just gave them 10 dollars.
At that, the shop assistant’s face lit up.
“Please give me a moment. Your food will be served soon.”
After that, the shop assistant politely bowed and left.
Now, only Lukas, Pale, and Yang In-hyun were left at the table.
“You were mistaken.”
The silence was suddenly broken by Yang In-hyun’s voice.
“Coming to a shop like this wouldn’t make me feel anything.”
Even though there were many shops nearby, Lukas must have intentionally chosen to come to a restaurant like this one that took the form of a drinking shop. But regardless of what his intention was, it was pointless.
…Then Lukas looked at Yang In-hyun in front of him.
‘When was it?’
At some point, whenever he got into a conflict with someone, he usually resolved it by force. This wasn’t exactly because Lukas had violent tendencies.
The stronger the being, the more indomitable their belief.
It was very difficult for such beings to be persuaded or coaxed by talking.
The only way to shake that was to persuade them through force.
But that method was not available right now. Because Lukas didn’t want to fight Yang In-hyun. So for the first time in a long while.
“Why do you hate the Murim so much?”
He chose to talk.
“A technique like the Eternal Plum Sword First Move Murim Annihilation is not something that could’ve been born simply from training in swordsmanship. I’m sure you have some kind of background.”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“Why?”
“Because then I might understand. At the very least, the Yang In-hyun I know is not a man who would kill for no reason.”
Lukas had already made a decision.
He could not drag both Pale and Yang In-hyun around as time bombs. This time, it was a small disturbance(?), but if Yang In-hyun were to commit the same behaviour again, the situation might be tens or even hundreds of times worse.
‘The worst case would be for both of them to go out of control.’
“…huu.”
Yang In-hyun sighed heavily.
“What difference would it make if you understand?”
“At least I might stop meddling in whatever you do.”
Yang In-hyun also didn’t want a confrontation.
This was because he recognised Lukas’ power. He knew that he was as strong as him.
He’d had that impression since their first meeting, and it had solidified after their brief exchange in the Infernal Heaven.
That fight was nothing more than a simple probe. Lukas hadn’t used his full power and Yang In-hyun hadn’t used his Everlasting Plum Sword.
But that was more than enough for them to understand each other’s level.
Yang In-hyun was silent for a while. A long while. He kept his mouth closed until the food was brought out one after the other.
Pale quickly devoured the food. Lukas only moved his chopsticks a few times until his stomach was no longer empty before stopping.
“Mm. It was delicious but too greasy. “
Pale didn’t seem to like foods that were too oily. It seemed so because she seemed to enjoy eating raw meat that was dripping with blood. It wasn’t long before she reached for the hundred flower wine that was served with the food.
Pop, she opened the cork and took a big gulp.
“…huh?”
Pale’s face brightened.
“This is delicious!”
Then, she snatched the bottles of hundred flower wine beside her and drank three in quick succession. After drinking from the bottle, Pale’s white face gradually took on a red hue.
This wasn’t good, as Lukas had this thought and was about to stop her with a stiff face.
He caught sight of Pale placing the bottle of hundred flower wine back onto the table.
“Wait…”
Boom!
-The moment the bottle of hundred flower wine was placed down, the table was smashed.
Seeing this, Lukas broke out into cold sweat.
‘That was dangerous.’
He had created a space beneath the table to absorb the impact… If he had been even slightly slower, the impact of her placing the bottle down would have pulverised the entire building, the Golden Flower Pavilion, before scattering it into the nearby street.
“Mmm…”
The culprit who had nearly created such a major disaster, staggered a few times before leaning onto Lukas’ shoulder and fell asleep.
“…”
Was she really asleep?
Lukas looked at the face of the sleeping Pale, wondering if she was acting or not.
Just as his face became troubled.
“…”
Yang In-hyun looked at Pale with a complicated expression. He probably had a completely different feeling from when he usually looked at Pale.
Before long, he muttered.
“…perhaps choosing this store wasn’t such a bad choice.”
He looked at the hundred flower wine on the table.
“I don’t drink. In the past, and now.”
Then, contrary to his words, he held out a glass towards Lukas. After a brief pause, Lukas poured the alcohol for him.
Gurgle-
He half filled the glass. This was out of consideration since he said he didn’t drink alcohol. But Yang In-hyun gulped down the half filled glass in one go.
Gulp.
After swallowing the alcohol, Yang In-hyun lowered his head.
“…hundred flower wine, was her favourite drink.”
Lukas didn’t ask who ‘her’ was. He just stared at him quietly.
“I would like to ask you something, Lukas Trowman.”
Putting down the glass, Yang In-hyun said.
“What do you think is a martial artist?”
(TL: Here is the first illustration for Pale.)