Chapter 503
If I were to consider the methods for killing a god, there were broadly three.
The first was—
It was not exactly the concept of killing, but reducing the faith supplied by living beings until the god disappeared on its own.
A god could not exist alone.
It could exist only when someone remembered and believed in it.
If every piece of information and every trace of that god in the world was erased, then eventually it would vanish.
So erasing it by obliterating all information about it was one method.
Most gods disappeared that way.
And the second.
This was closer to the concept of helping a being pass on peacefully, an act done for gods who could no longer endure eternity and wished to disappear of their own will.
For a shaman, it might take the form of a ritual. Or perhaps some method called a blessing, or whatever else.
But that, too, depended on the god’s own will.
So one could not quite use the words “kill it directly.”
It was a contradiction in terms.
I said there were three methods, but in the end, the one used most directly was only one.
Tear it apart and devour it.
Exorcise the existence known as a god.
One might wonder how a mere human could exorcise a god, but it was not impossible.
The gap in accumulated years. The rank of the vessel.
The difference in existence itself.
Everything said that humans did not dare oppose gods.
But you only know that after trying.
As someone who had killed gods by the handful—
As someone with a record of devouring them, tearing them apart, and scattering them across this earth and sky—
I knew how laughable that claim was.
Gods are neither eternal nor immortal.
They might have escaped the frame of time, but they could not be described as truly immortal.
Because the higher their rank, the more unstable they were, and the more riddled with openings.
So.
I looked at the thing blooming like a haze above Peng Doyeon.
Even at a glance, it possessed no ordinary rank.
Don’t get on my nerves.
If it kept making me pay attention to it, I would tear it apart.
I could only hope that this awe-inspiring god would please refrain from acting up.
*****
After we properly set out for Henan, nothing changed much.
The days continued passing peacefully.
Peacefully?
That word did not quite fit.
The younger generation who had gained enlightenment—who had shamelessly stolen something from me—spent all their time immersed in training except when they were standing night watch or keeping guard.
Peng Doyeon was still busy glancing at me.
Most of her range of movement stayed within my sight as well.
I could feel that she did not want to be away from me.
What is this? Am I being treated like a human talisman?
Whether she had heard something from Peng Dojun, or she was simply being careful on her own, she did not seem to approach beyond a certain distance.
But her attention was definitely drawn.
Peng Doyeon had definitely taken interest in my existence.
That was extremely troublesome and annoying.
On top of that—
“What exactly is that little girl?”
Bow Ghost, who had noticed the same thing, asked me.
“She keeps hovering around. It is irritating me to death.”
“......Tell me about it.”
“And why does she avoid me? I have not even done anything in particular.”
Bow Ghost spoke indifferently.
She knew she was being avoided.
“She can see too. That’s why.”
“See?”
“I don’t know how much she can see, but she does have eyes.”
“......Oh? Even eyes?”
Not sensing.
Eyes.
Bow Ghost and I knew very well what that meant.
“They don’t seem complete. It looks like she can only catch glimpses, but she seems to have seen something from you.”
“From me? There should be nothing to see from me.”
Empty, with nothing inside.
She knew that herself.
That was exactly why.
“Because there’s nothing. That’s why she probably found it strange.”
“Hm?”
After hearing me, Bow Ghost grinned.
“She is a fine talent. If I followed my heart, I would want to take her as a disciple.”
“Don’t. What sin did that kid commit for you to shove her into this shitty place?”
“Why? What is wrong with this place?”
Bow Ghost said it with calm eyes.
“If she has that much talent, then she is already buried under gods. Rather than leaving her as she is and letting her life be ruined, would it not be better to save her?”
At Bow Ghost’s words, I shook my head.
“That is her choice.”
Wouldn’t it be better to live, even if it meant living that way?
I denied it.
“If living like that turns into hell, dying may be better.”
“......”
At those words, Bow Ghost looked at me.
A strange emotion settled in her eyes.
“Was that how it was for you?”
I did not answer the question.
Was that how it had been?
I wanted it to be.
I recalled a life where I had rather died.
A life where I had not been able to.
Looking at that damned process and its results, I thought it was better to let her choose for herself.
“Then what if she chooses that way?”
“Then she’ll manage on her own.”
Whatever it was.
Whatever choice she made.
“It isn’t something we should interfere with.”
“Hmph.”
I spoke and turned my back.
Bow Ghost looked at Peng Doyeon, then followed me.
Peng Doyeon’s matter was only slightly irritating.
It bothered me a little because she seemed to be in a situation similar to mine.
That was all.
For now, that was enough.
Because the thing that truly bothered me was something else anyway.
—Is there no other information?
I sent a voice transmission.
It was to Freak Demon, who should be somewhere nearby.
—Nothing has been discovered yet.
—I see.
I nodded.
What I was looking for was not what came next.
Those Green Forest bastards from before.
The ones who had tried to touch the Peng Family’s people.
I had tried to find them after they vanished, but failed.
They had surely survived.
What is their objective?
There had to be a reason Green Forest bandits had crawled all the way here and tried to attack the Peng Family.
Tried to kill them.
Will nothing happen all the way to Henan?
It would be better if that was the case.
Going there without incident, making my report, and handling the matter would be the safer method.
Well.
How would things turn out?
Given my abysmal luck, I thought some incident might break out.
Yet, as if to make my worries meaningless—
“We have arrived.”
Poison Dragon’s tired voice announced our arrival in Henan.
Thankfully.
*****
The moment we arrived in Henan.
The trip that had taken several days had not been that uncomfortable.
“We’re here.”
“......”
The same went for the rest of the party.
There had not been any particular incidents, and we had arrived more or less smoothly.
That was why I found it strange instead.
What was this? Why had there been no incident?
There should have been one. Since there was [N O V E L I G H T] not, I was puzzled.
“What the...... What is this?”
For someone as unlucky as me, this was a rare thing.
Originally, this should have been the obvious result, but since there had been no trouble, I felt uneasy instead.
“Are we going straight to the Alliance?”
Poison Dragon, who had now fully become a coachman, spoke with practiced ease.
The Alliance, huh.
“We should.”
First came the report.
With that said, we headed for the main Alliance headquarters.
“We greet the members of the Azure Moon Sect......!”
As soon as we arrived at the main Alliance headquarters, people recognized me.
From our clothing, we clearly belonged to the Azure Moon Sect, and since my appearance stood out, there was no need to verify my identity.
That was quite convenient.
We entered.
Although several months had passed, the inside did not look much different.
They are doing something, at least.
I could see crowds gathered, constructing buildings.
Farther inside.
I felt several presences from that direction.
“It seems they are building this hall inside the main Alliance headquarters this time.”
Peng Dojun spoke as though he was familiar with it.
“Inside? Wasn’t that how they originally did it?”
“They usually used the mountain behind it or borrowed a nearby area around Henan, but it seems that will not be the case this time.”
“Then it’s probably because of the Demonic Cult.”
The Assembly Hall for the meeting with the Demonic Cult.
It seemed they were preparing it inside the main Alliance headquarters because of that.
That way, even if something happened, it would be easier to respond.
By the way—
“Young Master Peng.”
“Hm?”
“Why are you following me?”
“Huh? Why?”
“......Don’t you have something to do?”
This man seemed to have his own business.
Why was he following me all the way here?
I stared at him in confusion.
There should have been no need for him to come all the way inside.
“I do have lodging, but I’ll be bored. And our Yeon will like seeing you more too.”
“Wh-why would I? Why would I do that?”
Peng Doyeon, who had been standing quietly, spoke in a panic.
This man seemed to know everything and was teasing her.
“You won’t be able to follow me inside anyway. Do what you want in moderation, then leave.”
“You really are cold, aren’t you? Yeon, even though this fellow looks like this, he is actually the warmest man in the world......”
“I’m going in.”
I ignored him and headed inside.
I went deeper in.
The only person who could enter was me.
“This is Bang Seongyeon. Is the strategist here?”
“He is waiting inside.”
I had already sensed his presence.
I continued forward and stood before the door.
“Bang Seongyeon enter—”
—Come in.
His voice came before I had even finished speaking.
I chuckled and opened the door.
Rattle—
Beyond the open door, I saw a familiar face.
My maternal grandfather, who seemed a little thinner than before.
As always, Thousand-Mile Divine Eye was buried in work.
“You have come.”
He spoke without even lifting his eyes from the letter.
It was such a familiar sight by now that I felt nothing in particular.
“Yes. I have returned.”
“You took longer than expected. And caused quite a few incidents as well.”
“......Ahaha. So I did.”
He mentioned the incidents I had caused in Liaoning.
It seemed Thousand-Mile Divine Eye already knew all of them.
Thanks to that, I apparently did not need to bother explaining.
“Give it to me.”
Perhaps Thousand-Mile Divine Eye knew that too, because he naturally demanded something from me.
“What do you want?”
He should at least attach a subject.
If he simply told me to give it to him, how was I supposed to know what he meant?
At my words, Thousand-Mile Divine Eye finally looked at me.
His gaze was sharp.
“You know perfectly well, yet you still joke?”
“......That didn’t work.”
I had tried to make conversation, at least.
He was still as sharp as ever.
Clicking my tongue in regret, I took the letter from inside my robes.
“It is the summary.”
It was a report lightly covering what had happened so far.
I had removed what should not be included and written only what needed to be included.
Thousand-Mile Divine Eye received it and set it to the side.
“You aren’t reading it right away?”
“Does it look like it is next in order?”
“No.”
With that much work piled up, of course he could not read it.
The amount was absurd, but it made sense.
“I will read it when I finish everything.”
“Is that an amount you can finish......?”
“Probably.”
He could not be certain.
The fact that even the world’s Thousand-Mile Divine Eye could not be certain was deeply frightening.
“Understood. If you’re busy, should I come later?”
“Ask what you need to ask before you go. I have enough time to answer that much.”
“......”
So he knew I had many questions.
In that case, I would not hold back.
“What is this Demonic Cult envoy delegation? And not only am I going, but I’m supposed to gather the younger generation and go?”
“It means exactly what it says. The Demonic Cult will send theirs to the Alliance, and the Alliance side must send ours as well—”
“And you want me to go?”
“You have the strongest justification and qualifications.”
“......”
“If you say you do not wish to go, I will not send you.”
“I should go, if possible. That would be best.”
“......”
Justification and qualifications.
Among the current younger generation, I was the best known.
And if the Alliance was to send someone, I was also the best picture they could present.
I knew that.
The Demonic Cult had sent the Young Cult Leader.
It was only right to send someone suitable in return.
Yoo Cheongil’s inheritor.
This damned existence known as me.
I knew that best of all.