Chapter 39: Lightning Study
The peaks of the Heavenly Mountains were covered in white snow, just as they had been when Yul Han had left.
What was interesting was that his feelings then and his feelings now were different.
‘Have I…… come back home?’
How should he put it—he felt at ease, a sense of stability.
Yul Han was flustered by that emotion, whose cause he did not even understand.
When he had left, everything had felt unfamiliar and bewildering. He had been so grateful just for the chance to go outside.
And yet that Heavenly Mountains……
The thought that perhaps it was because this body was accustomed to the Heavenly Mountains crossed his mind at that very moment.
Waaaah!
With a roar that seemed as though it would tear heaven and earth apart, martial artists poured out in a black mass from beneath the fortress of the Bright Cult, welcoming him.
What left him awkward was that despite the cheers being louder and the crowd larger than the reception he had received upon entering the Cheonghae Region, a faint smile still formed on his lips.
In the Cheonghae Region, those cheers had felt nothing but overwhelming and noisy……
Was it because of that inexplicable change in his heart? His heart beat rapidly, and his chest felt tight, as if urging him to step outside the carriage.
As though possessed, he slipped out of the carriage and climbed onto its roof, and the cheers grew even louder.
Thus, Yul Han returned to the Bright Cult.
Immediately upon his return, Yul Han attended a convened high-level council. No—strictly speaking, it would be more accurate to say that he was summoned to a council where everyone had already gathered and was waiting.
“Welcome back.”
Momentarily flustered by the Cult Leader suddenly pulling him into a tight embrace as he entered, Yul Han ended up letting out a faint smile at the inexplicable sense of comfort and warmth.
It felt like a distant memory, like when the master from his recollections had gently patted his back.
Yul Han quietly asked,
“By the way, have the number of martial artists increased? It seems like there are more people.”
At Yul Han’s question, the Cult Leader released him and gave a bitter smile.
“Ah! That. Just in case, I called back the kids who were outside when you went to Mount Kunlun.”
“Just in case of what……?”
“In case you decided to simply crush Kunlun.”
At the Cult Leader’s casual mention of a massive war, Yul Han was deeply shocked.
It was not because he spoke lightly of battle. It was because he seemed to place no value at all on the Bright Cult’s—or even the Hundred Paths’—martial artists who would die as a result.
Only then did Yul Han fully realize where he stood: the Bright Cult, the progenitor of the demonic path.
He had forgotten that fact, momentarily distracted by the comfort and warmth that had stirred his heart.
His mind snapped back as if doused with a bucket of cold water, and Yul Han asked,
“Then do you truly intend to wage war?”
“Well, now that you’re back…… why? Should we start even now? We don’t really mind, as long as you say the word.”
The longing in his gaze was unmistakable. It was the look of a child pestering, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go.’
‘They crave battle—crave blood!’
It was another experience that forced Yul Han to steel himself.
As he carefully looked around, it was not only the Cult Leader. Everywhere, eyes were filled with the desire to rush out and savor blood to their hearts’ content.
Ah! Just one person. Only the Strategist looked as though he was begging for this to stop.
That was why Yul Han asked him,
“What do you think, Strategist?”
Perhaps he found the question unexpected; the Strategist asked back with a visibly startled expression.
“Are you asking for my opinion?”
“Yes. What do you think?”
At Yul Han’s repeated question, the Strategist hesitated.
To be honest, ever since that incident fifteen years ago, Yul Han had not trusted the Strategist.
Yul Han believed that if the Strategist’s judgment had been even slightly different back then, such an event would not have occurred.
Perhaps because of that, ever since then, Yul Han had sometimes acted in direct opposition to the Strategist’s advice.
‘What if it’s the same now?’
That anxiety weighed heavily on the Strategist.
In short, he was uneasy at the thought that a single word from him could trigger a massive demonic war that did not need to happen.
Yet if he refused to answer under that savage gaze, his own end would surely not be pleasant. In the end, the Strategist opened his mouth with difficulty.
“I…….”
The eyes of all the leaders, including the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, gathered on the Strategist’s lips.
Under that tremendous pressure, the Strategist made his choice.
“……I believe we should not go out.”
“Why?”
“Because the Vice Cult Leader has no intention of fighting.”
At the Strategist’s answer, every leader—including the Cult Leader—wore expressions that clearly said, ‘What kind of bullshit is this?’
If one were to name the most belligerent person in the Bright Cult, anyone would point to the Vice Cult Leader first.
Yet the Vice Cult Leader himself calmly asked upon hearing those words,
“Why do you think so?”
“If you had intended to fight, you would not have stopped at merely slaying the Taiji Sword Emperor of Wudang, and you would not have simply walked out of the Martial Alliance.”
At the Strategist’s answer, Yul Han paused briefly to gather his thoughts before asking,
“That is your conjecture about my thoughts. I asked for your own.”
At Yul Han’s repeated question, the Strategist looked at him silently for a moment, then replied,
“Even so, we should not advance.”
“Why?”
“Because in everything except top-tier masters, we are inferior to the Hundred Paths.”
Perhaps because it was a statement they did not like, grumbling voices rose here and there, but at the Vice Cult Leader’s savage glare as he swept his eyes across them, the disturbance died down in an instant.
Having quelled the surrounding noise, the Vice Cult Leader asked the Strategist,
“So are you saying the Bright Cult should shut up and hole itself up in the Heavenly Mountains?”
“That is…… not the case, but with the Bright Cult as it is now…… if we advance, we will lose.”
The room stirred again, but it soon fell silent. It was because the Vice Cult Leader raised his hand.
In the renewed quiet, the Vice Cult Leader asked,
“Then it sounds as though you believe there is a way later, if not now.”
“If we hone the martial artists within the cult…….”
“From what I know, even now they spend every day living in the training grounds except for eating and sleeping.”
Drawing on what he had heard from Cold Blade Blood and Flashing Light Blood during his recent journey, Yul Han posed the question, and the Strategist replied,
“It is not a matter of quality, but of utilization.”
“What do you mean?”
“A commander is not merely someone who fights well. He must be able to read the flow of the battlefield and move his subordinates to achieve greater results with smaller losses. At times, even when victory could be achieved with fewer casualties, he must possess the cold resolve to boldly throw his men in as sacrifices for the greater plan.”
“Are you saying the Bright Cult’s current commanders lack that?”
“When a fight breaks out, those who rush forward first, swinging their blades—what kind of command could they possibly exercise…….”
“If you know that, why have you left it as it is?”
At the Vice Cult Leader’s question, which was little different from a rebuke, the Strategist gave a bitter smile.
“Unless we change the very foundation of selecting unit leaders based solely on who fights best, it is not something that can be corrected.”
The moment the Strategist finished speaking, grumbling leaked out from all around.
“What, so you’re saying I should take orders from someone weaker than me? Who among the Bright Cult would ever accept that?”
At that grumbling, only one phrase came to Yul Han’s mind.
‘Might Makes Right!’
Without shaking that principle, there was no solution. But judging from what he had heard and seen from Cold Blade Blood and Flashing Light Blood, there was absolutely no way to shake it.
Bluntly speaking, he himself had already chosen to follow it rather than criticize or mock it.
So…….
After gathering his thoughts for a moment, Yul Han opened his mouth.
“Are you saying the strong of our Bright Cult cannot even manage that much?”
At Yul Han’s words, not only the Strategist but also the elders who had been grumbling nearby all stared in shock.
They understood exactly what he meant.
In other words, if one was a strong expert of the Bright Cult, was it enough to merely fight well? He should fight well, devise operations well, and command his subordinates well…… that was the implication.
Realistically, it was nonsense—but at the same time, it was not something they could openly oppose.
Because the one for whom it was actually possible was the Vice Cult Leader himself.
Telling someone capable that it was impossible would only earn curses at best, or at worst, like Elder Seomyeolgui ten years ago, it could result in losing one’s head for defiance.
For that reason, when all the elders clammed up like oysters, the Strategist’s eyes gleamed.
Seeing that, Yul Han gave a small smile and turned to the elders.
“Starting tomorrow, I will personally inspect everyone, beginning with the elders and including all commanders. In other words, I will see for myself whether incompetent people are wearing the mask of the strong, as the Strategist says. Ah! That is, if the Cult Leader permits it.”
At those words, the Cult Leader lit up. It was because he himself was excluded from the inspection targets.
“Y-yes, of course! It has to be done! If the Vice Cult Leader is doing it, who would dare stop him? Dig into them properly. That the strong of the Bright Cult can’t even command—what greater disgrace could there be…… I grant my full approval. If it doesn’t sit right with you, you can take all their heads!”
With that single statement, the power of life and death over all Bright Cult martial artists was officially placed in the Vice Cult Leader’s hands.
Well, it was not much different before—but official and unofficial carried very different weight.
The color drained from the elders’ faces immediately. Though they had their own expertise in frontal assaults, they were complete laymen when it came to tactical and strategic command—and the elders were the prime representatives of that group.
After all, the position of Bright Cult elder was something one could never reach if one spent leisure time reading books on tactics and strategy.
To those elders, the Vice Cult Leader’s voice rang out like a bolt from the blue.
“Since the Cult Leader has granted permission, there is no need to drag things out. We will begin immediately, starting tomorrow.”
At Yul Han’s words, the Cult Leader nodded.
“Good. Do it that way.”
As the Cult Leader answered readily, the elders looked at him with resentful gazes.
Thus, the high-level council on the very first day of Yul Han’s return came to an end.
Across the Bright Cult, many wore expressions just as crestfallen as the elders who had been expecting a grand banquet doubling as a welcome celebration for the Vice Cult Leader who had returned after beheading the Number One of the Hundred Paths.
All of them were unit commanders. Their numbers alone reached into the hundreds.
The news that the notoriously ruthless Vice Cult Leader would personally inspect them starting the very next day was a calamity of unprecedented proportions.
The proclamation that left even the secretly gloating squad leaders unable to close their mouths was posted after the sun had completely set.
‘Squad leaders are also included among the commander ranks.’
It was the Strategist’s proclamation conveying the Vice Cult Leader’s order.
The number of those struck by disaster immediately swelled into the thousands.
Amid the relaxed smiles of ordinary martial artists watching them, a curious movement began.
When one ordinary martial artist made a huge fuss about searching for books said to contain tactics and strategy, another asked him,
“What’s gotten into you? You’re not even an inspection target.”
“Are you stupid? I wouldn’t dare dream of a unit leader position, but let a squad leader seat open up. I may be a bit lacking in raw skill, but not in brains! If I just get a little ahead in tactics and strategy…… why couldn’t I become a squad leader?”
The ordinary martial artist who heard that stood dazed for a moment, then soon began rummaging through the entire Bright Cult in search of books on tactics and strategy himself.
Such scenes were being witnessed among nearly all Bright Cult martial artists. At long last, a great lightning-study craze had swept through the Bright Cult.