Chapter 11
"Cowardly? Stop talking nonsense, you trash!"
"What? Did you think you were fighting a saint?!"
My voice thundered throughout the Dark Demon Well.
A thick silence fell over the Demonic Warriors.
The people who had shouted at me had expected me to shrink back.
Maybe they wanted me to become frightened.
Maybe they wanted me to feel humiliated.
Instead, I answered them without hesitation.
That left them speechless.
"You call yourselves Demonic Warriors, yet you're complaining about justification and methods?"
"If that's the kind of nonsense you want to preach, then get out right now and join the Orthodox Factions. I'll personally show you the way."
I swept my gaze across the crowd.
"But remember this clearly."
"If we ever meet on a battlefield, I'll use the exact same kind of trick to cut your throats."
"And next time, it won't end this gently."
Whoosh.
At times like this, backing down only made things worse.
You had to push harder.
So I kept my voice strong, threw out one final warning, and quickly stepped down from the platform.
The Demonic Warriors of the Dark Demon Well continued following me with stunned eyes.
But small ripples often became great waves.
All they needed was a little wind.
Even hidden currents could rise into waves once someone pushed them.
What I had just said was that wind.
"He's right! Why should methods matter?!"
"Tch! Look at these bastards pretending to be righteous! That was satisfying! The Third Young Master shut them up properly!"
"If the Sacred Moon points the way, a follower of the Divine Cult goes there no matter what!"
"Exactly! We're Demonic Warriors! Are you ashamed of that, you hypocrites?!"
"Those bastards must be from the Inner Sect! Damn discriminating bastards!"
"What would've happened if we'd been allowed weapons?! I use twin swords! Is that cowardly too?!"
Opinions that had previously remained hidden began surfacing one after another.
When one group shouted loudly, people who disagreed usually stayed quiet.
But once someone from the other side finally raised their voice...
They became a crowd too.
I quickly disappeared among the people while the arguments spread.
It was better to leave my final words hanging in the air.
Otherwise, people might assume I had simply shouted because I lost my temper.
Of course...
Nothing I had said was really improvised.
Nor had I spoken out of anger.
This was my first time trying to live as a Demonic Warrior.
It was also my first time being a martial artist.
But I had lived another life before this one.
I had been a soldier.
A mercenary.
Someone who carried weapons and used force to accomplish objectives.
I decided not to treat soldiers and martial artists as fundamentally different.
If that was the case...
Then my mindset didn't need to change either.
When people capable of killing each other with a single movement fought...
The principle deciding victory was simple.
The faster you acted...
And the more things you were willing to abandon...
The greater your advantage.
That was the belief I had formed after spending years in that world.
I had abandoned the so-called righteous path long ago.
Things like "proper methods" and "honorable means" had been left behind at basic training.
Honor didn't come from your method.
It came from your result.
Of course...
Some people believed otherwise.
I understood them too.
But those people often ended up receiving honors after death.
I had no intention of insulting their choice.
At the same time...
They had no right to insult mine.
That was why I won today.
And in my previous life...
It was why I survived.
Think faster than the other person.
Move faster.
Discard whatever needs to be discarded.
Only then does a path appear.
In my previous life, I called it my road to survival.
In this life...
Perhaps I would call it my Demonic Path.
Anyway...
The moment someone holding a weapon tried to wrap themselves in nobility, they became weaker.
If you chose to carry a weapon, you needed resolve.
The resolve to use any method necessary.
And the resolve to accept every accusation and disgrace that followed.
No matter how beautifully someone dressed it up...
One truth remained unchanged.
People like us took the lives of others.
There was no carpet of nobility laid across that road.
You needed to understand that yourself.
Especially if you proudly called yourself a Demonic Warrior.
And especially if everyone already called you trash.
Everything I believed had been packed into that short speech.
Thanks to it...
The debate among the people watching became even more heated.
It almost felt as though the temperature inside the Dark Demon Well had risen.
"Hahaha. Third Young Master, you certainly caused a scene."
"Ah. Brother Ma."
When I finally came down after gathering everyone's attention...
Ma Hapji was waiting for me.
His expression was friendly.
Apparently, he belonged to the group that had begun loudly agreeing with me.
He lightly patted my shoulder.
"That was an excellent rebuke. I strongly agree with what you said."
"Well... I was rather immature. I just shouted it out."
"Hahahaha. You mean you hadn't prepared that speech? I thought it was planned."
"I'm not that calculating."
"In any case, it was a good speech. The match was impressive too."
Ma Hapji burst into laughter.
"That Iron Mountain Giant probably suffered a terrible injury. I wouldn't be surprised if he can never function as a man again! Hahahaha!"
"...There wasn't much choice."
"Of course. Of course! Hahahaha!"
"What about you, Brother Ma? Haven't fought yet?"
"I just returned from putting one man away myself. It was a clean victory."
"Congratulations."
At some point...
Had we become companions?
Without thinking much about it, I sat beside him and rested while we talked.
The fact that my tension was slowly disappearing around him worried me slightly.
It almost felt as though I was losing the instincts I'd built in my previous life.
Ma Hapji folded his arms and watched several fighting platforms.
Then he spoke in a surprisingly serious voice.
"From now on, many things will change."
His words carried more weight than usual.
I understood what he meant.
And that change had begun with me.
Some people would glare at me.
Some might directly come after me.
Others would begin agreeing with me.
None of it mattered.
Those who attacked me would be dealt with.
Those who agreed with me could be brought to my side.
That was how I had lived as a soldier and mercenary.
And I intended to pass through the Dark Demon Well the same way.
At the same time...
I could begin building my position inside the Divine Cult.
Fortunately, just as I'd already realized, the Dark Demon Well was the perfect place for a new faction to form.
People with no organization.
People who had been treated unfairly.
People hungry for advancement.
This place gathered them all...
Then filtered out the best among them.
If someone had enough ability and intention...
They could create something here.
A new force capable of shaking the existing balance inside the Divine Cult.
I had no powerful maternal family.
No existing faction supported me.
So using the Dark Demon Well was probably the best way to prepare for my future.
The Dark Demon Well was already separating valuable jade from useless stone.
I simply had to choose the pieces of jade that would become mine.
Thanks to that accidental speech...
That process had begun much earlier than expected.
