Chapter 046. The Condition of Loyalty (6)
After Dam Jeok-san came out of the training room, Un Wol-hyang immediately returned to her office.
"Did I vacate my seat for too long?"
Un Wol-hyang muttered with a slightly reluctant look.
Documents were literally piled up like a mountain.
The deputies must have handled the ordinary matters, yet it was this much.
But it can't be helped.
An anomaly in the Northern Branch could lead to a crisis for the entire Central Plains.
As the person in charge, she must check important matters and make judgments.
Especially now, when various factions stationed in the North are cooperating closely to track the traces of the Yin God Cult.
"It seems there is a spy inside. If it's natural, it's natural, but……."
A serious look settled in the eyes of Un Wol-hyang, who was turning over documents while deeply buried in a large chair.
Suspecting a comrade who fought back-to-back and driving a sword into their heart is never a pleasant thing.
But if there is a spy, they must be ferreted out. If stabbed while letting her guard down, she would truly collapse helplessly.
Tap tap―
Un Wol-hyang's white and long fingers tap the desk.
However, her worry could not continue for long.
"Branch Manager, a letter has arrived from the Fake Heaven Sword Corps Commander of the Righteous Heaven Alliance."
Because a martial artist of the branch came to the office.
"That old man Sword Addict?"
Un Wol-hyang asked, tilting her head.
Sword Addict, Un Am-jin-in.
He is a different kind of madman from the Blood Death Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance.
If the Blood Death Lord wanders the Northern Demonic Realm crazed by blood, the Sword Addict is crazed by swords and engrossed only in that.
So it was very rare for the Sword Addict to send a letter directly to her.
At most, she received a few letters asking how about a spar because he wanted to see her sword.
As expected.
"He wants to see the duel between Martial Nephew and the Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad……."
After checking the letter, a crooked smile hung on Un Wol-hyang's lips.
If she could follow her heart, she would want to tell him to stop bullshitting and manage the Righteous Heaven Alliance properly.
'The stage is being set as Martial Nephew wishes.'
Dam Jeok-san intends to call as many spectators as possible and announce the fact that he is still robust at that place.
The Sword Addict is a spectator who fits that place quite well.
Before being an obstinate old man crazy about swords, he was an elder overseeing the North of the Murim Alliance.
Just when she was about to inevitably write words of acceptance.
"……The Blood Death Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance has sent a message."
Another martial artist hurriedly walked into the office.
"Did these old men make an appointment as a group?"
Un Wol-hyang frowned, tilting her head slightly to the side.
[I heard the story. The brat who half-killed our Young Alliance Leader came to the North, right?]
The Blood Death Lord's message also contained content about Dam Jeok-san.
"Is that so, Martial Nephew has scattered karma in all directions."
Un Wol-hyang said with a short sigh.
Dam Jeok-san's moves during the days he was called Sword Dragon were bold and unconventional enough to surprise even her.
The Young Family Head of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Yeon.
The Young Alliance Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance, Yeon Byeok-jin.
Besides those two, countless young experts were miserably defeated by Dam Jeok-san's hand.
Those who remained intact in that storm-like move were only two people who had already become Ultra-Peak masters in their twenties.
The Eldest Young Master of the Martial Sovereign Castle, and the Young Cult Leader of the Western Ming Cult.
"If Martial Nephew defeats the Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad."
The entire Central Plains will know the fact that the Sword Dragon has chased them right up to their chins once again.
However,
"Can he do it?"
Even Un Wol-hyang, who saw Dam Jeok-san subdue the Red Cloud Sword right before her eyes, couldn't be one hundred percent sure of his victory.
Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad, Baek Ri-gwan. He was a master who had solidly built up his martial arts and finally began knocking on the wall of the Ultra-Peak.
Whatever it may be, everything remaining now is Dam Jeok-san's share.
Un Wol-hyang decided to believe in her Martial Nephew.
After writing replies to the Blood Death Lord and the Sword Addict, she was buried in documents again.
"Aaargh! It would be better to fight monsters……."
The wailing of the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable echoed throughout her office.
* * *
The sky settled in ash gray and the earth pitch-black as if all things had died.
Two men were in that extreme land where no one could survive except monsters, beings that go against the natural order.
"……The Demonic Realm is a harsh place."
Yeon Byeok-jin, the Young Alliance Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance, a handsome man with delicate features, said with a laborious look.
His originally pale face was turned completely pale like a corpse.
He was currently undergoing a test to be recognized as the successor of the Unorthodox Alliance.
Because he is the only disciple of the Alliance Leader, he is nominally called the Young Alliance Leader, but Yeon Byeok-jin had no power befitting a successor.
But if he passes all the tests, he will truly become the pinnacle of the Unorthodox factions under heaven, the successor of the Unorthodox Alliance.
Yeon Byeok-jin was enduring with a venomous heart, imagining that moment.
"Tsk tsk, is it bearable, Young Alliance Leader?"
The Senior Elder of the Unorthodox Alliance, Blood Death Lord, answered, pulling up the corners of his mouth in a grin.
"Yes, it is bearable, hap― cough……!"
As Yeon Byeok-jin tried to answer something, dark red blood poured out of his mouth by the bucketful.
The Demonic Realm was originally such a place.
A land of death where even Yeon Byeok-jin, a master who reached the edge of the Peak, finds it hard to survive with his bare body.
"Still, you endured for nearly a double hour. This is an excellent achievement for a Peak master."
The Blood Death Lord continued speaking with a relaxed smile.
Even most Peak masters die within half a double hour without his help.
But isn't Yeon Byeok-jin enduring in the Demonic Realm for over a double hour?
"No, that won't do."
Grind.
Yeon Byeok-jin clenched his back teeth tightly and said.
The test the Senior Elder presented to him was to endure two double hours in this Demonic Realm.
"Excellent achievement for a Peak master, I don't need such things."
He is the successor who will inherit the Unorthodox Alliance.
"I must become the best."
Words like moderately excellent are not praise to him but insults.
That compulsive sense became worse after being miserably defeated by Dam Jeok-san.
"Wrong."
The Blood Death Lord shook his head watching the Young Alliance Leader speak like that.
"Becoming the best is not important. In the end, the one who survives becomes the best."
It is the story of an old monster who survived for over 100 years in the heartless Gangho Murim.
Yeon Byeok-jin couldn't find words to retort and bowed his head deeply.
The toxic air of the Demonic Realm clawed wildly at his lungs. Blood filled his throat again.
Like this, it seemed he couldn't endure even a split second more, let alone two double hours.
"So the Young Alliance Leader must first know your place."
The ability to distinguish between what can be done and what cannot.
The ability to distinguish between when to step forward and when to retreat.
The ability to judge when to endure and when to kneel.
To survive in the Unorthodox Alliance, one must know that better than anyone else.
"……."
Realizing the true meaning contained in the Blood Death Lord's words, Yeon Byeok-jin remained silent for a moment and soon knelt on both knees.
"Please help me, Senior Elder."
If he doesn't help, he dies. The ferocious aura of the Demonic Realm has already completely penetrated his lungs.
Yeon Byeok-jin instinctively realized that his limit for enduring had come.
"Our Young Alliance Leader is not a complete fool."
The Blood Death Lord muttered with a grin, showing a creepy look.
Before long, turbid red genuine qi began to seep out from the Blood Death Lord's body.
The thick demonic energy encroaching on the Demonic Realm is pushed back by his momentum and scatters in all directions.
The presence of a mere human interferes with the providence of a world called the Demonic Realm.
It is truly absurd beyond measure.
Yeon Byeok-jin looked at the Blood Death Lord, feeling his breathing becoming a bit easier.
"Excellent, if you had endured longer, you would have surely died. But a test is a test. Young Alliance Leader, you receive a failing grade."
"……."
The Blood Death Lord spoke indifferently watching such Yeon Byeok-jin.
"Why is that?"
Wasn't acknowledging the impossible and surviving even by kneeling the real test?
His face showed such doubt.
"I will make a proposal instead."
The Blood Death Lord continued speaking, looking at the aggrieved Young Alliance Leader.
"I heard the story that the Sword Dragon will have a duel wagering the position of Squad Leader with the Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad under the Northern Wind Sword Corps of the Martial Sovereign Castle."
"What?"
Yeon Byeok-jin asked back with a very flustered look.
Sword Dragon Dam Jeok-san.
It is a name he also knows well.
If it weren't for that guy, he would have been naturally recognized as the successor without needing to pass such tests.
Because of his miserable defeat to Dam Jeok-san, voices doubting his qualities poured down within the Alliance.
A trial named test was given to him. That he, the Young Alliance Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance, came to the North in strict secrecy was all because of that test.
"Didn't that guy lose his dantian?"
Yeon Byeok-jin asked in a puzzled voice.
Dam Jeok-san was a terrifyingly powerful guy. But that was all, the guy lost his dantian and fell.
So Yeon Byeok-jin could not understand at all how he could fight a Squad Leader level martial artist of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
"That is so, this old man also cannot know the detailed story. But since I requested observation from the Sword Venerable, let's go together, Young Alliance Leader."
Then I will consider you having passed the first test.
The Blood Death Lord continued speaking like that.
Yeon Byeok-jin was flustered by the unexpectedly too easy condition.
And soon rejoiced.
He doesn't know what Dam Jeok-san is thinking, but there is no way he can beat a Squad Leader level martial artist of the Martial Sovereign Castle while having lost his dantian.
'Finally, I will be able to see that damn guy falling.'
Quite base satisfaction filled his eyes.
However, the Blood Death Lord looked at such Yeon Byeok-jin with coolly cooled eyes.
The days he has lived have already passed 100 years.
Sometimes, just hearing about someone's actions gave a premonition of that person's fate.
Dam Jeok-san was also one of such people.
A move with irresistible force that can only be shown by a person whose self-assurance has reached the extreme.
Such people never give up just because they are broken once.
'The Unorthodox Alliance Leader was also like that.'
In the Blood Death Lord's view, Dam Jeok-san's moves resembled the Unorthodox Alliance Leader very much.
If so, there is no way he came out to the world again without any plan.
"A wind will blow in the North."
Normally, he wouldn't be able to just rejoice. Because Dam Jeok-san is a talent of the Martial Sovereign Castle, not the Unorthodox Alliance.
But now is different.
Cracks are forming again in the Northern front that had been peaceful for the past dozen years.
The era needs a hero.
Dam Jeok-san will probably perform that role better than anyone.
That was the intuition of an old man who missed even the time to enter his coffin.
And the still immature Young Alliance Leader will also feel something when seeing such Dam Jeok-san.
Profound light shimmered in the Blood Death Lord's eyes.
* * *
Time passed before long.
The day scheduled for the duel between Dam Jeok-san and Baek Ri-gwan approached quickly.
Early dawn on the day of the decisive battle.
Around the Grand Training Hall equipped with a dueling stage, the Black Panther Spear, Gyeong-won, and even Namgung Yeon. The three people stood side by side.
"I spread rumors diligently, but I don't know how many will come."
Namgung Yeon said rubbing her chin with one hand while crossing her arms.
The young experts of the Five Great Families. Those stupid guys will surely come. Because they were excited at the thought of seeing Dam Jeok-san's fall.
But she felt that they were a bit insufficient.
At least it would be good if the executives of the Fake Heaven Sword Corps came.
"Indeed, since it is almost certain the Young Master will win. But why are you here instead of at the Righteous Heaven Alliance, Young Family Head……."
Gyeong-won asked looking at Namgung Yeon.
Because she went to the Northern Branch of the Righteous Heaven Alliance and stayed for a few days, then returned to the Martial Sovereign Castle again.
"Well, because here, or accurately by Lord Dam's side, is interesting?"
"But aren't you the successor of the Namgung Clan, Young Family Head?"
The Black Panther Spear asked in a slightly heavier voice. There was no sign of particular tension on his face either.
Because they were not assuming Dam Jeok-san's defeat at all.
"If Lord Dam becomes the Squad Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad, I am thinking of formally receiving permission from the family and the Martial Sovereign Castle and coming as a guest member."
Namgung Yeon spoke in a casual voice. Like when saying noodles would be good for tomorrow's lunch.
"Pardon?"
At that, the Black Panther Spear asked back with a flustered look, but Namgung Yeon's eyes looked very firm.
Was there ever a time when a successor of the Five Great Families participated as a guest member of the Martial Sovereign Castle's armed force? Even for the Black Panther Spear, a case didn't come to mind sharply.
However, certainty lingered in Namgung Yeon's eyes. Certainty that she would be with Dam Jeok-san.
Sensing that, the Black Panther Spear shut his mouth tight without raising any more theories.
When some time passed like that.
A procession entered the area.
An old man wearing the pure white uniform of the Mount Hua Sect. And behind him, a procession full of swordsmen wearing the black robes of the Fake Heaven Sword Corps lined up.
"Sword Addict……!"
Fake Heaven Sword Corps Commander. At the appearance of a big shot counted among the best in the North, a short exclamation burst out from Gyeong-won's mouth.
But that was merely the beginning.
* * *
"Not much time left now."
Dam Jeok-san was quietly catching his breath in the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable's training room.
Two double hours left until the duel.
'Simply winning isn't what's important.'
It is a stage set to announce to the world under heaven that the Sword Dragon has returned.
He must show overwhelming martial prowess. So that no one doubts him.
And one more thing.
'In this duel, I must refine myself.'
Two moves of the Heaven-Breaking Star-Destroying Style, Monkey-Destroying One Flash and Meteor Sword Fall.
Both are swords refined with inspiration obtained from others, not Dam Jeok-san himself.
He intuitively knew that the time had come to draw out the mental image he drew with his sword.
'Baek Ri-gwan, you will have to be my stepping stone.'
Dam Jeok-san thought so and slowly raised his body.
The time for the decisive battle had approached before he knew it.