Chapter 840 : I’m the Only One Guarding It
Chapter 840: I’m the Only One Guarding It
“What do you mean the method of breaking it is us?”
At the question of the Martial Emperor Divine Sword, Geom Mugeuk answered calmly.
“It is exactly as it sounds. The method of breaking it is me and the four of you.”
They still wore expressions of incomprehension.
When Hwa Moogi had unleashed the Dark Heaven Soul-Binding Art, that mysterious energy within his dantian had reacted. That was why he had accepted it instead of avoiding it.
When he had met Hwa Moogi in the room earlier, as if affirming that his choice had been correct, his body had begun circulating energy on its own using the mnemonic verse he had learned from the Priestess Palace Master.
Then, the Six-Origin Energies that had been merged into one and imbued within his internal energy began to circulate through all the meridians in his body.
That was not all. The energy containing that mysterious power was emitted outward.
Sssaaaaaaa—
As the energy emerged into the world, its mystery reached an extreme. It shone brilliantly, like a light bestowed upon those who had been chosen.
Astonishingly, no one present there could see or feel that energy. Even Hwa Moogi, the master of this space, failed to notice such a phenomenon.
Only Geom Mugeuk saw and felt that energy.
The light emanating from Geom Mugeuk extended toward the four people who had come with him. They did not realize that the energy of the Six-Origin Energies was wrapping around them.
The moment he saw that, Geom Mugeuk understood.
‘Ah! This mental technique is the method of breaking it.’
He could tell that the energy of the Six-Origin Energies completely overwhelmed the Dark Heaven Soul-Binding Art.
And instinctively, he felt it. That this sacred energy would free them from this place.
He also understood why it had been said that Hwa Moogi could be controlled with the energy of the Six-Origin Energies.
Most likely, when they were freed from this place, all of their Innate Qi, internal energy, and even their martial arts that had gone to Hwa Moogi would be reclaimed. In other words, it would become his power.
—If you can merge these six energies into one, you will be able to possess a power unrivaled throughout all ages.
Now he clearly understood why the Secret Box had said such a thing.
Hyeok Do-cheon asked urgently.
“How are you going to break it?”
He could not hide his excitement. Just as he had been about to give up on escaping this place, a new turn of events had unfolded.
“The mental technique I just learned began circulating on its own. I believe this mental technique is what will send all of you out of here.”
“What kind of mental technique is it?”
“It is a mental technique I learned from the Priestess Palace Master.”
At those words, the Heavenly Will Palace Master recalled the Priestess who had tried to stop him until the very end. It was a mental technique taught by that Priestess’s descendant. Had she foreseen even this moment?
“What happens if we circulate that mental technique?”
At Hyeok Do-cheon’s question, Geom Mugeuk replied.
“As I told you before, I do not know either. Whether your souls will be extinguished and fall into eternal sleep, whether you will be reborn as someone’s baby, return to the past, go to paradise, or descend into hell. Or perhaps enter another person’s body. The heavens will decide your fate.”
Geom Mugeuk did not forget to add a joke.
“If by any chance you end up entering someone else’s body later, come find me and give me a little signal. Wouldn’t that at least be enough of a connection to share a drink?”
He spoke so casually that it felt like such a thing could truly happen.
Geom Mugeuk then said something unexpected to Hyeok Do-cheon.
“And please call the Heavenly Demon Spirit as well.”
Hyeok Do-cheon was surprised by the unexpected request.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
As if they were connected by soul, the Heavenly Demon Spirit immediately appeared there.
“You shared that time together too, so you should be given the choice.”
The Heavenly Demon Spirit looked somewhat surprised, as if it had never expected to be included as well.
“I tried to kill you, though?”
There was another reason Geom Mugeuk had called him.
“This is respect for the Heavenly Demon Spirit. You Heavenly Demon Spirits are not beings that should be discarded like this, are you?”
The Heavenly Demon Spirit’s eyes trembled slightly. When Geom Woojin’s Heavenly Demon Spirit had forgiven Hwa Moogi’s Heavenly Demon Spirit, he had once again realized what kind of being he was. And now, through his son, he felt the same emotion.
As he had told the other souls, Geom Mugeuk said the same to him.
“I do not know what will become of you.”
Geom Mugeuk looked up at the sky through the window. It was a sky where mountains floated upside down, and the sun and moon rose together.
“Still, there is one thing I believe—that the sky you go to will not be as strange as this one. I will ask you last, so take your time to think.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at Hyeok Do-cheon.
“You have the most decisive personality, so I will ask you first, Cult Leader. Will you trust my method?”
What Hyeok Do-cheon feared the most was still this.
“Are you certain I won’t go to hell?”
Earlier, Geom Mugeuk had said that since they had been trapped for three hundred years—time akin to hell—they would not go to hell.
But now he answered honestly.
“To be honest, I do not know either. How could I possibly know?”
That answer instead gave strength to Hyeok Do-cheon’s decision.
“Right, how could you know?”
He had always lived as he pleased. And he no longer wanted to remain here.
“I’m going! Hurry and carry out the method before it’s too late!”
“I should ask the others as well.”
Hyeok Do-cheon shouted at the others.
“Stop hesitating and decide quickly! If you don’t want to leave, then get lost!”
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword did not hesitate. It was not because of Hyeok Do-cheon’s urging, but because he had already made up his mind.
“Very well, let us go. It is time to see the end.”
He had no greed for paradise. Whether he went to hell or simply fell into eternal sleep like this—it was time to end this life.
“Thank you.”
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword cupped his fist politely to express his gratitude. Thanks to Geom Mugeuk, the anguish and torment that had plagued him for so long had disappeared.
“If it is a place you send me to, I will gladly go anywhere.”
Geom Mugeuk also returned the greeting with a respectful fist salute.
“I truly hope to meet you again and properly treat you to a meal.”
Next was Joo Ga-shin. He found it strange that Hyeok Do-cheon and the Martial Emperor Divine Sword had made the same decision.
“In all those long years, this is the first time those two have been of one mind.”
Joo Ga-shin conveyed a feeling he had never once revealed.
“You two always thought I was a sinister man whose thoughts couldn’t be read. I simply disliked you and found you irritating. So much so that I didn’t even want to exchange words.”
The Martial Emperor Divine Sword was surprised to hear such words from him.
“You should have at least shown that irritation before.”
Hyeok Do-cheon added a remark.
“That’s why you’re a sinister one—saying this at a moment like this.”
Joo Ga-shin accepted that remark at the end.
“Annoying bastards!”
Finally, Joo Ga-shin made one request to Geom Mugeuk.
“Pass a message to the Unorthodox Alliance Leader. Tell him to achieve what he desires. If you say it like that, he will understand.”
Geom Mugeuk could guess what that meant.
“That wish may threaten us and the martial world, but I will still deliver it.”
What Joo Ga-shin wished to see one last time was not a person, but the Red Wolf he had kept by his side.
If he were to be reborn as a beast, he hoped to be reborn as a wolf like that Red Wolf.
This time, Geom Mugeuk looked at the Heavenly Will Palace Master. Although he had mocked and ridiculed him earlier, Geom Mugeuk’s gaze toward him was no different from how he looked at the others.
“Everyone else is going, so you should go as well, Palace Master.”
From Geom Mugeuk’s attitude, the Heavenly Will Palace Master could tell. This was not something that could be done through pretense.
‘From the start, he was someone of a different caliber.’
Why was this man like this?
He felt that even thinking such a thing was like a small bird watching a great roc soaring through the sky and wondering why it flew so high with such effort.
“Perhaps the Heavenly Will from three hundred years ago resides within you.”
Even at the end, he remained bound by Heavenly Will.
“To be honest, I have no interest in Heavenly Will. It is already difficult enough to uphold even one intention of my own—how could I concern myself with the will of the heavens?”
Geom Mugeuk spoke honestly.
“Of course, there are times when I rely on fate. Times when I want to think, ‘This must all be fate.’ Looking back, those were always the times when I was struggling. Times when I was so exhausted that I wanted to escape, even if only like that.”
The Heavenly Will Palace Master’s expression stiffened. It sounded as though he was being told that his Heavenly Will might have been nothing more than escapism.
Was he saying this to mock him? But if that were the case, Geom Mugeuk’s eyes were far too clear and deep.
“You place great importance on Heavenly Will, Palace Master—but did they truly feel the same?”
“Who are you referring to?”
“The Guardian Palace Master who tried to protect you, and the many who died in that war. Do you think they gave their lives for Heavenly Will?”
“!”
“They did not. They simply believed in and followed your will. Not some prophecy that suddenly descended from the sky, but the judgment of the Palace Master who had cared for them all their lives.”
Geom Mugeuk gazed into his eyes and asked.
“Do you remember what you felt before you spoke of Heavenly Will to those around you?”
The Heavenly Will Palace Master could not answer.
Instead, he asked in a subdued voice.
“If I leave this place, will I be able to meet them?”
Geom Mugeuk silently looked at him before speaking.
“There are no more prophecies now, so do not ask. Do as you wish from here on.”
Without waiting for his answer, Geom Mugeuk turned to the Heavenly Demon Spirit.
“Will you come with us?”
Surprisingly, the Heavenly Demon Spirit shook his head.
He had made that decision after remembering his own great nature.
Though he had not lived honorably for the past three hundred years, at least for the end—
“My spirit has become too corrupted to be reborn.”
At least in the end, he would not be a vile Heavenly Demon Spirit, but a dignified one.
The last person the Heavenly Demon Spirit looked at was Hyeok Do-cheon. He left no words. After silently gazing at him for a moment, he vanished without a sound.
Though it was regrettable, this was not the time to dwell on his disappearance.
“There is not much time left now.”
Geom Mugeuk extended both hands and said.
“Form a circle and hold hands with the person next to you.”
Hyeok Do-cheon frowned and shouted.
“Hold hands again?”
---
Hwa Moogi was recalling what Geom Mugeuk had said.
—I’ll listen to you.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.
‘Arrogant bastard, pitying me!’
But Hwa Moogi knew. When Geom Mugeuk had said those words, he had been sincere. He had truly wanted to listen to his story.
Even thinking about it made him angry, and he tried to forget it somehow.
But he could not forget. The more he tried, the more deeply it etched itself into his mind.
‘What could he possibly have to say?’
Hwa Moogi clenched his fist tightly.
At that moment, the voice of the Fist Demon King was heard.
“There is only one hour left.”
Tension rose in that place. Already one hour had passed, and now only a single gak remained.
Geom Woojin stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky.
The Fist Demon King knew the Cult Leader better than anyone, yet even he could not dare to imagine what he was thinking at this moment.
Then the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult approached Geom Woojin and asked in a whisper.
“You’re not really planning to kill him, are you?”
Geom Woojin did not answer.
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult felt a slight unease. Even if he did not answer, he should at least show a look that said, “How could I kill him?”—but from Geom Woojin’s tightly shut lips, a firm resolve could be felt.
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult spoke as if this were nothing serious.
“Even if he ends up trapped in that body, there will be a way to bring him out somehow. You know what kind of person your son is, don’t you? He’ll wake up saying, ‘Sorry I’m late, there were too many people to chat with in there.’”
Geom Woojin turned his head and looked at him.
The moment their eyes met, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult realized—he truly intended to kill him.
“Are you insane?”
It was the first time the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult spoke so rudely to Geom Woojin.
Yet neither Geom Woojin, nor the Fist Demon King beside him, nor anyone else said anything.
“It’s fine to be cold, and it’s fine to keep your word, but what on earth are you trying to do right now?”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult shouted at Geom Woojin—and at everyone.
“Don’t even think about it.”
He strode forward and stood in front of Hwa Moogi, releasing his aura.
“If you’re going to kill him, you’ll have to kill me first.”
Everyone silently looked at him.
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult asked the Sword King, with whom he had grown somewhat close, for help.
“You’ll help me, right?”
The Sword King did not immediately answer. If Geom Woojin had decided to kill his son, would he have made that decision lightly? There must be some plan or thought behind it that he did not know.
Of course, if Geom Woojin truly tried to kill Hwa Moogi, he would not stand by and would step in.
“Weren’t you friends! He even gave you a sword and shoes! If you act like this, I won’t name your tavern!”
For now, he did not step forward—for the sake of the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult.
The Martial Alliance Leader, Jin Paecheon, felt the same. He believed Geom Woojin would not kill Hwa Moogi.
At that moment, Baek Jagang, the Unorthodox Alliance Leader who had been silent, stepped forward.
“We must not protect him.”
All eyes turned to him. He could clearly sense what the Heavenly Killing Star was thinking.
“He has made a plan to kill all of us. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult was the most knowledgeable about dark demonic arts.
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult turned to look at Hwa Moogi behind him.
“Of course, he has a scheme. A grand and elaborate one. Otherwise, would he be in this state? He’d start by killing me, the one protecting him.”
“Then why are you doing this?”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult spoke to everyone.
“Even so, we can’t kill the Young Cult Leader.”
Everyone silently looked at him. If it were the Evil Smiling Demon, such behavior would be expected, but for the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult, it was somewhat surprising.
They all realized anew—just as much as he cursed and complained about Geom Mugeuk when he wasn’t around, he was also someone who protected him just as much in his absence.
At that moment, Hwa Moogi’s voice came from behind.
“What exactly is the Young Cult Leader to you that you’re going this far?”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult turned to him.
“Did you fall for his sweet words, too? Those words he uses just to please you?”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult asked him.
“Have you ever even said a single one of those sweet words for someone else?”
Hwa Moogi could not answer.
It was truly a relationship he could not understand. No—he was beginning to understand it, and that irritated him.
‘That damn Young Cult Leader!’
Hwa Moogi looked into his own heart. While listening to their conversation, he had momentarily failed to pay attention to Geom Mugeuk.
As he looked inward, he was startled. They were standing in a circle, holding hands.
A sense of foreboding rushed over him, and he blurted out without realizing.
“No.”
Though it was a low voice, the Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult, standing right in front of him, heard it.
“Yes!”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult turned and shouted at him.
“It’s the Young Cult Leader, right? The Young Cult Leader is finally making a move, isn’t he? Young Cult Leader, hurry and come out so I can see you!”
The Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult stared into Hwa Moogi’s eyes and shouted even louder.
“I’m the only one protecting you!”