Chapter 24

Chapter 24

"So..."

"In the beginning there were the Heavenly God and Demon God."

"And then the world opened."

"That's the beginning."

"Let there be light..."

"Something like that?"

One small candle weakly illuminated the cave chamber.

Normally...

This was when I practiced martial arts.

Tonight...

The activity was painfully quiet.

Under the dim light...

I read the Sacred Moon Scripture.

The contents weren't difficult.

It felt like a religion intentionally written so ordinary people could understand it.

The beginning was familiar.

Like many religions...

It started with creation.

The Heavenly God and Demon God opposed each other.

So it follows a Zoroastrian-style dualistic system.

The Demonic Cult was said to have originated from Fire Worship...

As an atheist who had studied humanities...

I approached it as text rather than revelation.

The basic structure was dualistic.

Heavenly God versus Demon God.

But it also included polytheistic elements beneath them.

Then I found something interesting.

The interpretation of the word Demon.

Normally...

In a moral opposition between good and evil...

Demon should represent evil.

Here...

That wasn't the case.

The Heavenly God represented rules, morality...

And the hypocrisy created by those rules.

The Demon God represented freedom from those constraints.

[The Heavenly God created the sun and illuminated all things. The Demon God created the moon and permitted darkness. Darkness dwells in every heart beneath heaven. To deny that darkness is hypocrisy. The Sacred Moon of the Demon God embraces even that darkness.]

That's actually a pretty decent interpretation.

The Demon God wasn't exactly the one true god.

He was the highest primary god.

The Sacred Moon was presented as his earthly projection.

Given those teachings...

The religion had probably first grown among soldiers and commanders.

People who spilled blood.

Killed enemies.

Committed acts ordinary moral systems condemned.

The Sacred Moon and Demon God offered them something powerful.

Acceptance.

And justification.

That tradition eventually flowed into the martial world...

Creating the current Sacred Moon Divine Cult.

Martial arts became a method of fulfilling doctrine.

Then came the objective.

[The Sacred Moon recognized every desire and darkness beneath heaven and embraced them. For this, the Heavenly God and his followers condemned the Sacred Moon. Humans deceived by the hypocrisy of the Heavenly God also turned away. Thus the light of the Sacred Moon weakened until none knew where it shone.]

[Yet the Sacred Moon still shines for those who follow. When all beneath heaven reject hypocrisy and call the Sacred Moon's name, the Sacred Moon shall drive away the Heavenly God and alone rise across the sky.]

[Use any means necessary. Do not hide desire. Spread the name of the Sacred Moon. The Sacred Moon will warmly embrace all that you are.]

[When the Sacred Moon manifests in heaven, true radiance shall fill the entire sky.]

[Sacred Moon Manifests in Heaven, Radiance Fills the Sky.]

The religion's purpose was clearly written.

Once they called themselves a Divine Cult...

The direction became obvious.

Why did a religion want to enter the Central Plains?

Expansion.

Religious expansion.

And the people they targeted most...

Were martial artists.

People who valued strength.

People already familiar with violence and inner darkness.

From there...

The goal of conquering the Central Plains martial world naturally emerged.

Even the early parts of the scripture were surprisingly coherent.

After that...

Things became more vague and mythological.

Many passages praised the Sacred Moon endlessly.

Others told stories of prophets.

It was basically a huge epic.

Most of the stories felt familiar.

Taoist divine figures had been absorbed beneath the Demon God and Sacred Moon.

Buddhist figures too.

Some stories even resembled Christianity.

Religions did this often.

Absorb.

Reinterpret.

Claim older stories.

By this point...

I was getting sleepy.

Sitting still and reading never suited me.

At least...

Several sections caught my attention.

The first...

The First Cult Leader?

A story about the first Cult Leader.

The first Heavenly Demon.

[The Founder climbed the Great Mountain seeking the Way. The Heavenly God gave no answer. Only the cries of beasts and the moonlight descending from the sky became his companions.]

[The Founder loved the cries of beasts and respected the moonlight. A beast also desired enlightenment beside him. Seeing himself reflected in that beast's desire, the Founder loved it even more.]

[After one hundred years of seeking the Way, the Founder attained enlightenment. When he descended the mountain, only the beast and gentle moonlight remained beside him.]

[The Founder gave the beast a name.]

[Greed.]

[The beast named Greed became the Founder's disciple.]

[Six pitiful seekers also followed the Founder, but only Greed could learn and absorb all that the Founder possessed. Greed's desire was innate.]

[The Founder spread the teachings and greatness of the Sacred Moon across the world.]

[With Greed, moonlight, and six seekers beside him, the Founder punished those who blocked the path of the Sacred Moon and exposed the hypocrisy of the Heavenly God.]

[The world began calling the Founder Heavenly Demon.]

[Another hundred years passed. Near ascension, the Founder lamented that he would leave without witnessing the Sacred Moon manifest in heaven.]

[Thus he passed all of his insights and power to Greed, so that when the Sacred Moon's manifestation approached, Greed would help destroy the Heavenly God's hypocrisy.]

[As always, Greed desired it all and swallowed everything.]

[Only then could the Founder ascend peacefully.]

[Following the Founder's will, Greed disappeared from the world.]

[When Greed returns, the Sacred Moon will also manifest in heaven.]

[These were the Founder's final teachings.]

It sounded like mythology.

But probably...

Some part of it was based on real events.

That's how myths worked.

Something happened.

Then generations added symbolism.

Mysticism.

Impossible numbers.

Jesus.

Buddha.

Muhammad.

All followed similar patterns.

The first Heavenly Demon was probably the same.

Still...

He is technically my ancestor.

Maybe thinking like this was slightly disrespectful.

Either way...

That was the last part I found interesting.

My eyelids became heavier.

I closed the Sacred Moon Scripture.

The moment I fell asleep...

I saw Heukrang resting his chin on his paws.

Sleep well too.

Sorry.

We'll skip today's training.

Maybe because I hadn't supplied the energy he normally received from my nightly cultivation...

His golden eyes looked strangely lonely.

Almost...

As though he missed something.

"No!"

"How does this make any sense?!"

"Why?!"

"Why did I fail?!"

A month passed after ideological education began.

Then came the scripture exam.

Every trainee received a score.

Mine?

Failure.

"...Did you not study?"

"I did!"

"I did!"

"Look!"

"I wrote all of this carefully!"

"How did I fail?!"

Ma Hapji took my paper.

"Let's see..."

"Oh dear."

"Third Young Master, you interpreted the scripture too freely."

"You cannot read only the Sacred Moon Scripture."

"You must also study the annotations written by scripture scholars."

"Here."

"This question about conflicts between human nature and the will of the Sacred Moon..."

"The official conclusion was already established during the Different-Nature Debate in the Mujin Year."

"If we interpret that..."

"Wait."

"Doesn't scripture interpretation depend on perspective, Brother Ma?"

"This is too much."

"If the Third Young Master says something like that..."

"You may cause a major doctrinal conflict later."

"The Cult Leader's Palace has an officially accepted position..."

"What does the official position know?!"

"Now, now."

"Calm down."

"Plan your doctrinal rebellion after you become more powerful."

"For now..."

"I'll help you study."

"Let's go through everything carefully."

Analyzing scripture from a modern perspective...

And answering an actual religious exam...

Were completely different things.

Especially because modern and historical religious perspectives were different.

Of course my answers didn't match.

My new life had finally found its first serious obstacle.

Not martial arts.

Not assassins.

Religious studies.

"Every day after training, half an hour."

"We'll study scripture together."

"If you fail again..."

"You'll lose A-grade."

"...Please help me."

"Thank you, Brother Ma."

"And if I ever rise high enough..."

"I'm changing this damn system."

"My interpretation will become the official one."

"...Blood will flow among the scripture scholars."

"Hahaha."

So...

Inside an armed fanatic religious organization...

I received daily scripture tutoring from an Arab-looking man.

It was a strange sentence.

Still...

Thanks to Ma Hapji...

My next exam paper was much better.

The scripture and commentary books kept stealing sleep from me.

Perhaps because of that...

Time passed quickly.

Three more months.

Half a year had passed since entering the Dark Demon Well.

A lot changed.

The biggest achievement?

After failing several scripture exams...

I finally stopped failing.

Honestly...

That might have been my greatest accomplishment since entering.

I was proud.

There were martial arts improvements too.

My Formless Heaven-Breaking Divine Art had reached complete mastery of the fourth stage.

Now I could control output naturally.

I could also change what type of internal energy I produced depending on the form I needed.

Internal energy now flowed into my Krav Maga-based knife fighting.

I could even produce sword energy.

My Black Lightning Divine Steps reached third mastery.

Not just tiny sparks anymore.

Visible flashes appeared.

The Black Lightning Divine Fist also reached the third level.

The martial arts taught inside the Dark Demon Well improved too.

Sword.

Spear.

Other weapons.

At least the basics no longer felt awkward.

Formation arts?

I'd learned those by getting beaten repeatedly.

I even served as a squad leader several times.

That forced me to study multiple positions.

Eventually...

I began combining modern combat formations with martial formations.

Several experiments actually worked.

Maybe the Dark Demon Well truly deserved its title.

A furnace that remade Demonic Warriors.

The growth I'd experienced here couldn't be ignored.

Still...

I had no idea when it would end.

Then...

Another change arrived.

Once again...

The clue came from the food.

"Today there is no training."

"Take the lunch boxes in front of you."

"Enjoy them freely in your own cave chambers."

"Alcohol has also been prepared."

"Remember."

"Do not leave the cave chambers."

"And tomorrow morning..."

"Do not be late."

The exact same kind of special lunch box we had received half a year ago.

Only worse.

This time...

They gave alcohol too.

My hands actually trembled.

What the hell are they planning to do to us?

Any veteran would recognize the omen.

Cold sweat formed on my back.

Sure enough...

The next morning...

"Everything you've done so far..."

"Was the basic course."

"You have completed that course and proven yourselves qualified to challenge the advanced course."

Jo Gyun began speaking magnificently as usual.

That was basic?

What could possibly be more practical than this?

Questions filled my mind.

But with the Dark Demon Well...

Questions were answered quickly.

The trainees formed ranks.

We followed the Dark Demon Corps.

Past a long cave corridor...

Multiple branching passages appeared.

The Dark Demon Corps divided the trainees randomly.

I followed my assigned group deeper.

Eventually...

We reached a huge gate.

Above it was a large sign.

[Dark Moon Demon Gate, Third Gate]

Beyond the door...

Something turned with a stiff mechanical grinding sound.

Creeeak.

Grinding.

Metal.

Eerie.

The instructor stopped.

"This is the final gate before the advanced course."