SSSSSHHH—!!

As the pressure thickened, Grand Demon’s head shifted.

“What is it?”

Past puzzlement—interest sparked.

“What is this reaction?”

What sank low was battle aura.

What sat inside it was killing intent.

At the alien shape Strange Demon was spilling out, Grand Demon let a smile curl.

“This is fun. You want a round?”

Where did a gap this big come from?

What Grand Demon had just said was about Moon Knight.

“Why is he reacting like this? Our Strange Demon.”

GRRNNNNK.

A harsh noise boomed out of Grand Demon’s body.

I could see the muscles slowly swelling.

“What did I do to piss you off? I’m curious.”

Grand Demon flicked a finger.

The moment that happened—

KUUUAAAAAA—!!

A blast roared from behind, and a gigantic greatsword coiled into Grand Demon’s hand.

Even against that massive frame, it didn’t lose on size.

The instant that heavy presence settled, battle aura erupted from Grand Demon’s flesh, too.

KUGUGUGUGUGUNG—!

A presence that shook the whole space.

Strange Demon set down the fan he’d been holding.

“Is Moon Knight the problem? What the hell is he that you’re coming out like this?”

“.......”

Strange Demon’s eyes narrowed.

It was a mistake.

Without meaning to, I’d come out emotional.

Strange Demon tried to reset his expression.

A violent reaction to the name Moon Knight.

Grand Demon looked rough and stupid at a glance, but the bastard thought fast.

So what were my options?

Thankfully, an answer flashed up in my head right away.

“Don’t touch Moon Knight.”

“Then tell me why.”

“Because he’s the little master’s prey.”

“.......”

The moment “the little master” came out, Grand Demon’s expression changed.

It was the look of someone thinking, Ah—shit.

“Grand Demon, you heard it too, didn’t you? That the little master has his eye on Moon Knight.”

The little master had named Moon Knight as a rival.

The little master had even sent down word not to touch Moon Knight until he stepped in himself.

Grand Demon was the one pushing the little master. There was no way Grand Demon didn’t know.

Except—

“Why do you give a damn about that?”

That was the problem here.

Strange Demon wasn’t part of the little-master faction that supported the little master.

“You’ve been making it obvious you don’t like him. And now you’re suddenly going to raise his hand for him?”

“People change as they live.”

“Yeah, sure.”

A sneer soaked into Grand Demon’s face.

“That’s exactly why you’re stuck doing errands here even with that power. The guy who used to be called the DEMON CULT’s strategist. Isn’t that right?”

“.......”

The fact I hadn’t supported the little master—

That was why I was here.

Strange Demon knew that well.

But Strange Demon didn’t care much.

There was no need to.

Suspicion gathered in Grand Demon’s eyes.

“What are you trying to do?”

“What do you think.”

Strange Demon laughed at that.

“I’m just doing what my little heaven tells me to do.”

“Hah. ‘Little heaven.’ What a joke. Since when did you respect the little master that much.”

“I’ve never not respected him.”

“Quit lying. You were the one who fought it the hardest when the little master rose. Everyone in the DEMON CULT knows you’re still the same.”

“And yet I’m sincere now.”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“Then what—are you saying I betrayed someone?”

At Strange Demon’s words, Grand Demon’s brow crumpled.

“It wouldn’t be strange. Especially if it’s you.”

“That hurts.”

“Then prove it.”

“Prove it?”

At the word “prove,” Strange Demon’s reaction shifted.

“How do you want me to do it?”

“There’s only one proof for a DEMON CULT member.”

A grin.

Grand Demon spoke, showing yellow teeth.

“Declare it to the Heavenly Demon. Say you support the little master. Can you even do that?”

Grand Demon spoke like it was something Strange Demon could never do.

To the DEMON CULT, the very mention of the Heavenly Demon was a shackle—like karma itself.

There was no way Strange Demon could...

“I declare it to the great Heavenly Demon.”

At Strange Demon’s words—without a shred of hesitation—Grand Demon’s eyes widened.

“I swear to the Heavenly Demon I have never betrayed the DEMON CULT, and I declare that I will support the little heaven and build a new DEMON CULT.”

“......Ha.”

“Is that enough?”

Grand Demon stared at Strange Demon like he wanted to burn a hole through him.

The golden seal didn’t manifest.

That was the problem.

Something that should have violently pushed back was quiet.

How could that be?

Was it real?

Really...

Was this bastard actually supporting the little master?

Then was the inn incident really a mistake?

And the thing about Moon Knight—

Was that rage really for the little master’s sake?

It felt wrong.

Grand Demon’s instincts kept telling him to doubt it.

“Unexpected.”

Grand Demon crushed that doubt himself.

He couldn’t do anything else.

“I never thought you’d come out like that.”

Grand Demon had seen it with his own eyes—

A declaration made alongside the Heavenly Demon.

It was something that couldn’t exist for a DEMON CULT member.

Even if Grand Demon didn’t want to believe, Grand Demon had to.

“Now you believe me?”

“......Hmmm.......”

THUD—!

Grand Demon slung the sword he’d been holding to his back, then turned around.

“I’ll wrap up the Mount Hua business fast. The Small Moon Unit Leader is with him. I shook him off, but you know the situation got annoying.”

“Of course. We need to finish quickly.”

“I gathered all the flowers. We move on to the next step. I’ll handle the Small Moon Unit Leader.”

“Oh my. You’re going to help me?”

“It’s what the little master wants. I have to do it.”

Grand Demon spoke as he started walking.

“We’ll see each other again soon.”

Grand Demon left those words behind and vanished.

“......Hmmm.”

Only after the presence disappeared completely did Strange Demon let out a low breath.

This is a pain.

Normally it would have been nothing.

But now, it was troublesome.

Grand Demon moved. That part I expected—

But once a variable moved, that became the problem.

...Little heaven.

My new heaven.

I could feel he was going to be troubled.

I got past the ‘message’ cleanly.

That demand to swear on the Heavenly Demon.

If even a speck of lie had been inside it, the body would have spat out a backlash.

To a DEMON CULT member, the Heavenly Demon was the sky—

And life itself.

But it didn’t.

Because Strange Demon hadn’t spoken a lie.

I swear to the Heavenly Demon.

I have never betrayed the DEMON CULT.

And I will live for my little heaven.

My new heaven.

I said I would live for him.

There was no lie in that.

So—

“Grand Demon.”

If he became an obstacle—

He’d have to die, too.

For my heaven.

*****

Another incident exploded at an inn.

Not only had a massacre happened at a place we were about to start investigating—

We hadn’t caught the culprit, and talk was spreading.

“We found the culprit, but the Small Moon Unit Leader let him slip. Does that make any sense?”

“The Small Moon Unit Leader, in all the world....”

“Is that true?”

Seongheon asked the Small Moon Unit Leader.

“I’m sorry.”

The Small Moon Unit Leader answered with a frown. The frustration was obvious.

“Can you explain what happened?”

Seongheon asked calmly, and the Small Moon Unit Leader looked at me after hearing it.

I gave a slight nod.

Then the Small Moon Unit Leader started explaining immediately.

“I chased as soon as the person believed to be the culprit ran, but at a certain point I lost the presence.”

“Was it far?”

“It wasn’t that far. But he vanished right in front of me—without a trace.”

“......Is that even possible?”

“Unless the Shadow Emperor showed up, how does someone vanish right in front of a leader’s nose?”

The Shadow Emperor—

The pinnacle of assassins.

Since it wasn’t like he’d appeared, everyone here found it strange that someone disappeared in front of the Small Moon Unit Leader.

And the one most baffled by it was the Small Moon Unit Leader.

“And he slaughtered everyone inside, too....”

“Sounds like there was something inside he couldn’t let anyone see.”

“So he killed everyone to hide it?”

“That’s what those vile unorthodox bastards do... nothing but brutality.”

“......Mm.”

Seongheon let out a low breath.

Exhaustion was stark on his face.

He looks worse.

Day by day, Seongheon’s condition looked worse.

He’d seemed like he was holding it in before.

I could tell he was trying not to show it. Looks like he can’t even do that now.

I could see the life force wavering.

At that point, it was really a dangerous state.

I slid my gaze.

To the Plum Blossom Commander beside him.

The Plum Blossom Commander’s face was blank, but the aura rippling behind his back wasn’t normal.

Something that had been still was thrashing.

That bastard.

He noticed Seongheon’s oddness.

That’s why he’s reacting like that.

“I heard everyone in the inn died.”

“Yes. There were no survivors.”

The investigation was moving, but that was it.

We didn’t even know what would come out.

And even if something comes out, it won’t matter.

We already knew who the real [N O V E L I G H T] culprit was.

And the fact the Small Moon Unit Leader had let him slip—

No matter how you looked at it, he wasn’t normal.

It was the same when I saw him myself.

The aura I’d felt from him—

It was malevolent aura on the level of Strange Demon.

Meaning he was absolutely not some ordinary HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE martial artist.

And Yoo Cheongil is gathering a bastard like that...

It felt strange that Yoo Cheongil—who even Strange Demon knew—didn’t know that hulking man.

“Moon Knight.”

Then Seongheon called me.

“Ah, yes.”

“Have you thought of anything?”

Not about investigating the inn.

But I did have something in mind.

“I have.”

At that, a few elders’ eyes lit up.

“The ones still in the county most likely noticed something was wrong and moved. For a while, they probably won’t start anything.”

“Then?”

“There isn’t much point digging further. If they staged a massacre like that in the county, it also means they have no intention of hiding.”

“.......”

The more I spoke, the stranger Seongheon’s expression became.

The elders who caught my meaning looked the same.

“Put another way—there’s nothing wrong with thinking their preparations are already finished. Whatever their goal is, Mount Hua isn’t functioning as a threat.”

“What—!”

“So you’re saying Mount Hua is being ignored?!”

“Quiet!”

The elders who tried to stand up shut their mouths again.

“You’re saying HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE might raid this place.”

“Yes. Otherwise they couldn’t act like that.”

A massacre in a county where Mount Hua was present.

The first one had been “suppression,” sure.

The second was cutting off a tail.

But they didn’t care whether it was exposed or not?

If that isn’t them looking down on Mount Hua, what is it?

They didn’t care anymore—

No, maybe they never cared about Mount Hua from the start.

“So.”

Then if that was the case—

“We strike first.”

Before they moved, moving first was the right call.

“I’ll find where their main force is gathered. Just grant permission for everything else.”

“.......”

Seongheon frowned.

Because that was no different from declaring war.

Seongheon was about to say something—

But then.

“That’s....”

Something changed.

“......Kgh!”

“Sect Master...?”

Seongheon suddenly clutched his chest—

“Cough!”

DRIP—!

He vomited blood violently.

Seongheon folded over onto the desk, and the elders who saw it sprang up and rushed toward Seongheon.

Shit.

My face hardened.

Seongheon collapsed.

I immediately checked the Plum Blossom Commander.

I saw it.

That bastard?

The Plum Blossom Commander was smiling—just barely.

Like he’d been waiting for this moment.