Chapter 108
The previous night, after sunset, they had set up camp halfway up the mountain on the way to the border.
While Cheon Soyeon took the guards to inspect the surroundings, Suhyeok sat by the campfire, feeding branches into the flames.
Then he asked Hyeon Doun,
Come to think of it, I don't remember ever hearing how you lived before you met me.
"Hah."
Hyeon Doun looked at him incredulously.
"You're only curious about that now?"
"You sure took your time asking."
He stared quietly into the crackling fire and smiled faintly.
"As you already know, Young Master, I was a war orphan."
"I wandered from village to village throughout the Demonic Cult's territory."
"Still..."
"I did have family once."
He reached beneath the clothes covering his neck and pulled out a necklace.
A silver ring hung from the chain.
"My younger sister gave me this before she died."
"It's the only thing I have left that lets me remember her."
"Even after becoming a beggar, I couldn't bring myself to sell this."
He didn't say how she had died.
But the look in his eyes was the same as when he'd seen the Supreme Elder.
Empty.
"...My sister died entirely because of my mistake."
"If I hadn't left, she wouldn't have died."
Suhyeok flinched.
At first, he'd assumed the emptiness in Hyeon Doun's gaze came from remembering a dead sibling.
Now he knew that wasn't all.
For the first time, Suhyeok felt something wrong about the one person who had never triggered even the slightest sense of unease.
Hyeon Doun smiled again as though nothing had happened.
"Well."
"That's why this ring is my own form of atonement."
"As long as I have it..."
"I'll never forget my ‘atonement.’"
Suhyeok sat alone inside the tent, thinking back on that conversation.
I still can't be certain he's the one controlling the Cult Leader.
There's no decisive evidence yet.
One thing was certain.
Hyeon Doun's body had never learned martial arts.
He was an ordinary person.
No.
If anything, he was physically weaker than average.
Even carrying a bundle that barely weighed a few kilograms was difficult for him.
And every Trait he possessed was related to domestic chores.
The Supreme Elder mistaking him for someone else could still be dismissed as nothing more than an incident caused by senility.
But that empty look in his eyes...
It had reminded Suhyeok of himself before the regression.
A rage so deep it seemed ready to explode at any moment.
[ Hmm. It's not strange to be suspicious, but no matter how I look at it, that idiot doesn't seem like the culprit, nya. ]
Leon lay curled up on the bed inside the tent.
[ You're saying all of that was acting? Does that even make sense, nya? ]
The Constellations seemed to agree.
No way. Absolutely not.
Was there even anything suspicious about him? He's only shown peak comedy moments lol
Just another beloved regular, Great Doun
(Nodding vigorously) I agree. He seems genuinely kind-hearted.
Well, you never know. He was a little strange earlier. Still hard to imagine though lol
fr lol
There wasn't much time left until the main negotiations.
Considering the return trip as well, there were roughly two weeks remaining.
If Hyeon Doun truly was the man controlling the Cult Leader and the person who caused the Great Orthodox-Demonic War before Suhyeok's regression...
Then he would almost certainly try something tonight.
Even if it isn't him, the situation is the same.
Suhyeok had become a new variable.
Whoever was behind everything would have adjusted their plan accordingly.
There was only one way to find out.
"Leon, start monitoring Hyeon Doun right n-"
At that moment...
A scream rang out.
And a burst of demonic energy so intense that it made every nerve in Suhyeok's body tense erupted nearby.
Close.
Suhyeok immediately rushed out of the tent.
A nearby tent had been sliced apart.
A Kunlun disciple lay collapsed on the ground.
And standing in front of him...
Was Cheon Soyeon.
"Keugh..."
"M-My leg...."
The disciple tried to move.
His thigh trembled violently.
Blood soaked through his dark robe.
The wound looked deep.
And he wasn't the only one.
Other Kunlun disciples had been attacked.
So had members of the Dragon-Tiger Unit.
Even Cheon Soyeon's own guards had been struck down.
Something was wrong.
She understood the importance of these negotiations better than anyone.
She wouldn't do something like this simply because she was in a bad mood.
More importantly...
The killing intent pouring from her body was far too intense.
And through her disheveled hair...
Her eyes were completely unfocused.
Yes.
She was being controlled.
"Keugh!"
"I knew we shouldn't have trusted the Demonic Cult!"
"How long has it been since the negotiations ended, and they've already betrayed us...!"
"Kunlun disciples, draw your swords and stop those demonic bastards!"
Someone staggered out from behind the Kunlun formation.
"Sect... Leader?"
He too had unfocused eyes.
He drew his sword.
Then attacked his own disciples.
BOOOOM!
Bong Taesu stepped forward and blocked the strike.
The deflected sword energy exploded to the side.
Smoke rose from his forearms.
"Hoo..."
"If I'd taken that badly, there wouldn't have been much of my body left."
He glanced behind him.
"Are you all right?"
"Y-Yes. Thank you."
Kim Hyuna and Lee Yumi appeared immediately afterward and focused on restraining the Sect Leader.
Then Lee Yumi shouted toward Suhyeok.
"We'll handle things here!"
"You take care of her!"
Meanwhile, the Kunlun disciples surrounded Cheon Soyeon with a formation, trying to restrict her movements.
It was useless.
With a single swing, she shattered the formation.
More people were injured.
They became powerless before her.
Fortunately, the control over her didn't seem complete yet.
No one had died.
"Everyone, fall back."
Suhyeok's voice turned cold.
"Unless you want to die."
[ ...Dad. ]
Seong-a sounded tense.
[ That woman is really strong. ]
Of course she was.
And Suhyeok couldn't kill her.
He had to subdue her.
Even for him, that made the fight far more difficult.
He quietly spread his qi through the surrounding area.
There was one presence that should've been here.
Hyeon Doun.
But he couldn't feel him anywhere.
That meant only one thing.
"...So it really was him."
He had done this knowing he would be exposed.
Most likely, he intended to make the Kunlun Sect Leader and Young Cult Leader kill each other and use their deaths as the spark for war.
Suhyeok tightened his grip on his sword.
Hyeon Doun had probably gone to Kunlun Mountain itself.
Even before arriving here, his gaze had always seemed drawn toward the mountain.
Suhyeok stepped forward to face Cheon Soyeon.
Then...
"Stop...!"
Whoosh!
An elderly man attacked from behind.
He was Kunlun's First Elder, the man who had been sitting beside the Sect Leader inside the tent earlier.
He was already injured.
His movements were sluggish.
