Gi Uhui let out a sigh.

“At this level, you will not lose your life immediately.”

Hidden Shadow One glared at Gi Uhui with bloodshot eyes.

Not only had his dantian been completely destroyed, he had even lost the qi-art power of the White Kind of Yin Cold that he had gathered throughout his blood channels. Yeon Hojeong had thoroughly ruined his body, leaving him in a state where he could never train martial arts again.

He had come without warning and lost everything. The eyes with which he glared at Gi Uhui could only be filled with venomous hatred.

“That is all?”

Gi Uhui’s response was calm.

“What do you mean?”

“The choice you finally made was merely to betray the Cult?”

“...”

“The flame blood of Divine Flame flows through your veins! No matter how persecuted you were, you would betray the Cult? I hate myself for having respected you until now!”

The title Saintess had changed to “you.” That was how great his sense of betrayal was.

Gi Uhui showed him a sorrowful smile.

“What should I say now? In the end, it would only be an extension of the conversations we have had every time.”

“Have you no shame!”

“...”

“If you hated the Cult so much, you should have taken your own life instead! Betrayal?! In the entire history of the Cult, there has never been a wretch like you—!”

“You betrayed the Central Plains martial world too.”

“What?!”

Gi Uhui quietly gazed at Hidden Shadow One.

For an instant, Hidden Shadow One felt his words catch in his throat. The two eyes looking at him seemed, unlike usual, to carry a faint red light.

“I did not know you inherited a Central Plains martial line. You did not simply learn Central Plains martial arts. You were part of that lineage itself.”

“That is a different matter!”

“It is the same matter. Leaving aside who is better, or who has more justification, in the end, people live by making their own choices.”

Gi Uhui let out a sigh.

“I know. No matter what I say, you will not understand. I also cannot be certain that my choice is right.”

“...”

“But at the very least, even if I come to regret my choice, I intend to accept whatever aftermath follows. Because that is the responsibility that comes with making a choice.”

“...What do you intend to do with me?”

His body was already ruined beyond repair. Even so, Gi Uhui would not let him go either.

Hidden Shadow One had never imagined that his end would come at such an absurd moment. But he had no intention of weeping and wailing like common people either.

He would meet his end with dignity. Hidden Shadow One made up his mind to do so.

Until he heard these words.

“Commander Yeon will decide that himself. Whether he uses you or makes you unable to die and unable to live, I have no intention of involving myself.”

“...!”

“I am sorry. I do not think you will be able to meet a peaceful death.”

Hidden Shadow One’s eyelids trembled.

“Then kill me here instead! Though there was conflict between us, I am the one who guarded you for more than ten years! You could at least grant me that much of an ending—!”

“At the same time, you are also the enemy who killed my mother.”

“...!!”

Gi Uhui smiled bitterly.

“Hidden Shadow One. In making this choice, I decided to throw away every last trace of conscience and guilt that remained in me. If the target is the enemy who killed my mother, then I must become all the more coldhearted.”

Hidden Shadow One bit his lip.

He could have said that it was not him, that he had not killed her mother.

But that would have been meaningless. Gi Uhui’s Spirit Eyes were divine authority that went beyond merely detecting presences, piercing through the shield of power to discern even truth and falsehood.

Gi Uhui looked out the window.

Her eyes as she watched the cloudy sky seemed terribly confused for someone who had made her choice.

“Betrayal...”

*****

The corners of Mo Yonggun’s mouth rose.

“Ink Dragon Manor?”

“That is right.”

“An informant from Ink Dragon Manor was spying on the Martial Alliance?”

“Who knows? I still do not know whether it was spying or what. The fellow is so tight-lipped that he has not said a single word until now.”

At those words, Mo Yonggun was relieved.

“If you caught an informant from Ink Dragon Manor, should you not immediately report it to the leadership and lock him in the Brain Prison?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“I intend to. I do intend to, but the place called the Brain Prison does not seem all that safe.”

“You underestimate the Martial Alliance’s strength far too much. The Martial Alliance’s Brain Prison is a place impossible to infiltrate. Even one of the Thirteen Seats of the Supreme Heavens would never be able to infiltrate it in secret unless he forced his way in with power.”

“That may be true for others. But jailers manipulated by a three-inch tongue would be able to go in and out often.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes deepened.

“You speak as if there are people in the Martial Alliance colluding with Ink Dragon Manor.”

Yeon Hojeong shrugged.

“You must remember it too. The operation where we joined hands and infiltrated Ink Dragon Manor together. If we could do it, why could Ink Dragon Manor not?”

“Do not compare the Martial Alliance to Ink Dragon Manor. Those bastards in Ink Dragon Manor can never send spies into the Martial Alliance.”

“Never... That is a rather definitive expression, unlike you. Is there a reason you are so confident?”

“A reason? There is.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes blazed.

“The Martial Alliance is the greatest alliance under heaven. Even at this very moment, the forces belonging to the Alliance are strengthening, and security is being tightened like an iron wall.”

“There is no such thing as perfection in this world.”

“Furthermore, the Martial Alliance is an alliance of the twelve Service Lords and the countless smaller sects. You easily infiltrated by deceiving the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor alone, but that kind of method does not work on the Martial Alliance.”

“There is no need to cling only to that method. If they were determined to send spies, they could approach in some way.”

“What nonsense...”

It was then.

Yeon Hojeong’s hand brushed past his waist.

CRUNCH!

Mo Yonggun’s cheek trembled.

At some point, Yeon Hojeong had drawn his hand axe and struck it into the table. He spoke in a chilling voice.

“I will ask one question. I would like you to answer with complete sincerity.”

It was a clear threat.

Although their relationship had always been poor, Yeon Hojeong’s behavior now had definitely crossed a line.

Mo Yonggun’s voice also turned terrifyingly cold.

“...That question had better be an important and reasonable one. If you raise a suspicion that you cannot bear the weight of, I will have to hold you accountable for daring to draw an axe before a Service Lord of the Martial Alliance.”

No matter how much of an enemy he was, Mo Yonggun’s position inside the Martial Alliance was far higher than Yeon Hojeong’s. Since Yeon had drawn and slammed down an axe before him in threat, this could be treated as a far greater offense than expected.

Yeon Hojeong did not yield at all to Mo Yonggun’s threat that was not quite a threat.

“Did you make a deal with the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor?”

The corners of Mo Yonggun’s mouth rose.

“That is nonsense not even worth considering.”

“I will ask again. Did you make a deal?”

Asking in this way could be interpreted to mean the other party also had no clear evidence. If Yeon Hojeong had proof capable of establishing the connection between Mo Yonggun and the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor, he would instead have stayed quiet and launched a counterattack.

Despite that, Mo Yonggun could not help admiring Yeon Hojeong’s mind for having guessed that much.

No, beyond admiration, he felt something close to fear.

Just how did this bastard...?!

Mo Yonggun spoke calmly.

“I will make this clear. I made no such deal with the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor.”

“...”

“You bring something that has not even been properly confirmed and try to drive a Service Lord of the Alliance into the role of a criminal, and not content with that, you threaten me with an axe? On top of that, you brought a swordsman from the Dark Path into the Alliance? You have crossed the line far too much.”

Mo Yonggun smiled and rose from his seat.

“Thank you. As expected, there was value in taking a defensive posture. Since you have come at me this fiercely and personally created a pretext for me to throw you into the Brain Prison, is this not the perfect chance to dispose of a thorn in my eye?”

Yeon Hojeong chuckled.

“You must have been quite desperate. You should know that nonsense like that has no meaning at all.”

“What nonsense is that now?”

“You have no one to prove that I threatened you, do you?”

“...”

“Even if you could prove it, Clan Lord Mo Yong, a man known throughout the world, was threatened by the mere commander of a field-force unit... The Martial Alliance Leader election is right around the corner. Would it be all right to give the public such an impression of incompetence?”

Mo Yonggun frowned.

“I will say this clearly. Present yourself voluntarily to the Brain Prison at once.”

“Are you confident you can handle that?”

“This is not a question of handling it or not. Even if you drag me into the crime you committed, it is nothing but empty theory.”

“Empty theory?”

Yeon Hojeong rose from his seat.

Pulling the axe from the table and hanging it back at his waist, he shrugged.

“I will go to the Brain Prison. And I will send the informant I caught to Venerable Gonggong.”

“...!”

“I will denounce everything, from the chain of events that has happened until now to why I suspect you made a deal with the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor, and what you have been doing all this time.”

“You bastard...”

“Even if my words are not true, you will never be able to become Martial Alliance Leader. The Martial Alliance Leader election will end before the truth can be properly uncovered.”

“...”

“You know the terror of public opinion so well, so you should also know there is nothing good in provoking me this way. Your instincts remain the same, but your head cannot keep up with them.”

Killing Intent rose in Mo Yonggun’s eyes.

“Must you really drag us into such a muddy fight?”

Yeon Hojeong smiled.

“That is why I am saying we should stop trying to break the board with useless words and have a proper conversation. Whether it is you or me, the moment one of us enters the Brain Prison, either can destroy the other just the same, can we not?”

“...”

“Let us decide victory or defeat, but remove mutual destruction from the options between us. I do not want to smear my clan’s name just because of you either.”

Mo Yonggun silently glared at Yeon Hojeong, then sat down again.

“I have never made any deal with the Lord of Ink Dragon Manor. I could not. No matter how much I covet the seat of power, I would never make the blunder of joining hands with lowly Dark Path ruffians.”

The conversation had resumed.

Yeon Hojeong remained standing with his arms crossed.

“I will ask one last time. Is that the truth?”

“Are you interrogating me? If you want a conversation, then converse. If you continue acting this way, I too will have no choice but to release my defense and go on the offensive again.”

Yeon Hojeong nodded.

“Good. Then I will ask something else.”

“This is a one-sided conversation. Are you not considering my mood at all?”

“If you think backward from why I am asking these questions, you should be able to infer information about me that you did not know until now, no?”

“What nonsense. If you want to ask me something, you too should have nothing to be ashamed of before anyone.”

Mo Yonggun’s eyes blazed.

“Whether you send him to Venerable Gonggong or not, report to the leadership that you caught an informant from Ink Dragon Manor. That is the proper order.”

“The proper order...”

“If you continue overstepping your authority like this, I truly will not leave you alone. This is a matter for the Martial Alliance before it is a political struggle. At least that line must not be crossed.”

He was right.

He was right, and yet to Yeon Hojeong, who knew Mo Yonggun’s secret, those words were also completely ineffective.

“Very well. I will report to the leadership and send him to the Brain Prison.”

“You have thought well. And one more thing. Report that you brought # Nоvеlight # a swordsman from the Dark Path into the Alliance too. The times are not good enough to say you brought him in because you had a personal bond. You will also have to bear responsibility for hiding him until now.”

Yeon Hojeong chuckled.

“That is not difficult.”

Mo Yonggun nodded.

“Now let us begin a proper conversation—”

“The tea was good.”

“...What?”

Yeon Hojeong turned around.

“I have nothing more to say. I found out everything I needed to know.”

“...?!”

“Thank you for giving me so much information today as well.”

Before anyone could stop him, Yeon Hojeong opened the door and left.

Mo Yonggun stared blankly at the door, then his face distorted in an instant.

KWAAAAANG!

The table shattered under his heavy fist.