Chapter 133

Chapter 133: Danger

A blue flame burned above the Sacred Flame Altar.

It was only about the size of a palm.

What the hell...? Why did the flame suddenly appear...?

I stared blankly at the blue fire.

The sudden turn of events had simply left me stunned.

And I wasn't the only one.

“H-How did the Sacred Flame...!”

Overlord Saber Ghost Demon Muk Jincheol approached the altar with disbelief written all over his face.

His eyes were visibly trembling.

Then Yeom Yuhwa shouted in a shaking voice,

“The Heavenly Demon's message has been fulfilled!”

Muk Jincheol turned toward her.

“The message?”

As if she'd been waiting for that question, Yeom Yuhwa pulled a letter from inside her clothes.

It was the very letter Dokgo Jinak had left behind.

Muk Jincheol almost snatched it from her hand and began reading.

“The Sacred Flame will burn again before the kindred spirit who inherits the Heavenly Demon's will...?”

As he read...

his head slowly turned toward me.

“...Then?”

At the same time, Yeom Yuhwa spoke.

“Yes.”

She looked at me.

“The person standing before you is the very kindred spirit mentioned in the Cult Leader's message.”

Muk Jincheol narrowed his eyes.

“That man is the Cult Leader's kindred spirit?”

His expression was filled with distrust.

Yeom Yuhwa turned toward Goeong.

“Cult Leader.”

“Please tell him yourself.”

“Who is Mujin?”

“M-Mujin? Uh... um....”

Goeong scratched his head and glanced at me.

He hesitated.

The instant I saw that expression...

I knew.

He's still sulking over what I said earlier.

Sure enough...

Goeong only stared at me without answering.

As his silence dragged on...

killing intent began rising from Muk Jincheol again.

At this rate...

he was going to put that saber against my neck.

I hurriedly shouted,

“G-Goeong! Look!”

I pointed toward the altar.

“It's the flame!”

Goeong's eyes widened.

“F-Flame?”

“Yeah! The flame!”

I nodded quickly.

“I kept the promise I made to you!”

The moment he heard that...

Goeong's face brightened.

“R-Right! You kept the promise!”

He clapped excitedly.

“Mujin kept his promise! Good Mujin is my friend!”

Yeom Yuhwa immediately turned toward Muk Jincheol.

“You see?”

“The Cult Leader himself has acknowledged him.”

“Hmm....”

Her words worked.

The killing intent radiating from Muk Jincheol faded considerably.

“Haa.”

Only then could I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Yeom Yuhwa clasped her hands together toward the Sacred Flame Altar.

“Ah... just as the Cult Leader's message foretold, the Sacred Flame has burned again.”

Her expression looked almost euphoric.

I turned toward the altar again.

A palm-sized blue flame burned above a brazier large enough for a person to fit inside.

A lone blue fire floating above the otherwise empty brazier.

It was strange just to look at.

How did this happen?

Why did the Sacred Flame suddenly ignite?

I couldn't understand it.

Wanting a closer look at the altar, I stepped back slightly.

Naturally...

my hand came away from the brazier.

At that instant—

Fssss.

"...Huh?"

The blue flame shrank in an instant...

then vanished completely.

As if it had never existed.

“The flame! The flame died!”

Goeong shouted in alarm.

“No! It can't! This can't happen!”

Yeom Yuhwa's face also turned pale.

What?

Why did it disappear?

I stepped toward the altar again.

Wondering if something was wrong with it...

I reached out and touched the brazier.

Then—

WHOOSH!

The extinguished blue flame sprang back to life.

Huh...?

Don't tell me....

As a test...

I took my hand away.

The flame vanished again.

I touched the Sacred Flame Altar once more.

The fire reappeared.

Remove my hand...

it died.

Touch it...

it burned.

I slowly looked down at my hands.

Seriously...?

Because of me?

When I lifted my head...

I saw the others staring at me.

Muk Jincheol.

Yeom Yuhwa.

Goeong.

All three were looking at me in shock.

After the incident with the Sacred Flame Altar...

I was officially recognized as the Cult Leader's friend.

The Heavenly Demon's Kindred Spirit.

Thanks to that...

under Yeom Yuhwa's guidance, I was able to spend the night somewhere safe.

The place I was staying was the Heavenly Demon Palace.

The Heavenly Demon Palace.

The residence traditionally used by the leaders of the Demonic Cult.

Yeom Yuhwa gave me a separate guest annex within the palace.

Even though it was only an annex...

it was far larger than the quarters used by most Kunlun elders.

The bed, table, screens...

everything looked absurdly expensive.

But despite the luxurious surroundings...

I couldn't sleep properly.

More accurately...

sleep simply wouldn't come.

Because my head was still full of what had happened at the Sacred Flame Altar the day before.

Early the next morning...

I lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Haa....”

A sigh escaped me.

What the hell happened?

Why was the Sacred Flame Altar reacting to me?

It couldn't simply be because Goeong called me his friend.

There has to be another reason.

Just as my thoughts reached that point—

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

A moment later...

it opened.

Yeom Yuhwa entered.

“Mujin, were you uncomfortable at all during the night?”

She bowed politely.

Her attitude had changed noticeably since the incident with the Sacred Flame.

She had been respectful before...

but now she treated me almost like an honored guest of the entire cult.

I sat up.

“I'm fine.”

“Thanks to you, I rested well.”

“I'm glad to hear that.”

Suddenly...

I wondered about Goeong.

“What is Goeong doing?”

For just an instant...

Yeom Yuhwa's expression stiffened.

But it disappeared quickly.

“The Cult Leader is sleeping.”

I frowned.

“Sleeping?”

That was unexpected.

During the several days I'd spent with Goeong inside the Heavenly Forbidden Prison...

he had always been awake.

It almost seemed as though he'd forgotten how to sleep entirely.

And now he was still asleep?

Suspicious.

There was definitely something more going on.

I asked,

“Where is Goeong's room?”

Yeom Yuhwa looked at me.

“Why do you ask?”

“Since I'm already awake, I thought we could have breakfast together.”

But Yeom Yuhwa shook her head.

“The Cult Leader spent a very long time inside the Heavenly Forbidden Prison.”

“This is his first proper rest in quite some time.”

Her expression remained calm.

“Please do not disturb him.”

“Hmm.”

This was getting even more suspicious.

I was about to ask another question when—

“And...”

Yeom Yuhwa spoke first.

“There is another reason I came this early.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Another reason?”

“Someone has come to the Heavenly Demon Palace looking for you.”

Someone looking for me?

Here?

Inside the Demonic Cult?

Who the hell could that be?

No matter how much I thought about it...

no one came to mind.

Then—

“Ahem.”

A deliberate cough came from the doorway.

I turned.

My eyes widened before I could stop them.

What?

Why is he here...?

A massive man carrying an enormous saber on his back.

Overlord Saber Ghost Demon Muk Jincheol.

A short while later...

Muk Jincheol and I sat facing each other.

A table stood between us.

Muk Jincheol sat across from me.

Yeom Yuhwa sat beside him.

The atmosphere was vicious.

Anyone watching us would think this wasn't a meeting with a guest...

but an interrogation between a prisoner and his guards.

Muk Jincheol slowly looked over my face.

Then tossed out a single comment.

“Hmph.”

“You're much younger than I expected.”

I'd been wearing a mask in the Heavenly Demon Hall...

so this was the first time he'd properly seen my face.

He looked openly displeased.

“How could a brat like this possibly be the Cult Leader's close friend?”

His eyes narrowed.

“No matter how I look at it, it makes no sense.”

It was true that I was young.

But hearing him say it to my face like that still pissed me off.

And yesterday's me was different from today's me.

Right now...

I wasn't merely an outsider anymore.

At least from their point of view...

I was the Cult Leader's friend.

The one person capable of reviving the Sacred Flame.

There was no reason for me to lower my head first.

So I deliberately raised my chin.

“Overlord Saber Ghost Demon.”

I looked at him coolly.

“Watch your mouth.”

His face twisted instantly.

“What?”

“You little brat! How dare—”

I cut him off.

“Aren't you also a follower of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?”

Muk Jincheol froze.

I continued.

“I heard the doctrine of your cult is that the Heavenly Demon's will itself is law.”

I leaned back slightly.

“Then how can you speak that way to someone the Heavenly Demon himself has accepted as a friend?”

My eyes narrowed.

“Do you also look down on the Cult Leader's friend?”

“You...!”

BANG!

Muk Jincheol slammed his fist down on the table.

His face turned red.

Killing intent flashed in his eyes as though blades might shoot out of them at any moment.

He looked like he wanted nothing more than to pull the saber from his back and send my head flying.

But before he could...

Yeom Yuhwa spoke.

“Overlord Saber Ghost Demon.”

“Show Mujin proper respect.”

Muk Jincheol whipped his head toward her.

“What did you say?”

The veins on his forehead bulged.

Yeom Yuhwa didn't even blink.

“Mujin is the Heavenly Demon's Kindred Spirit acknowledged by the Cult Leader himself.”

Her voice remained firm.

“He is also the only person capable of restoring the Sacred Flame.”

She looked directly at Muk Jincheol.

“Please behave as a proper follower of the Divine Cult.”

“Grrr....”

Veins stood out on the back of Muk Jincheol's hand.

He looked ready to explode.

But in the end...

he endured it.

After grinding his teeth for a long time...

he sat back down.

He has more self-control than I expected.

Even for someone as vicious as the Overlord Saber Ghost Demon...

his faith in the cult's doctrine was apparently genuine.

Perhaps wanting to change the mood...

Yeom Yuhwa brought up another subject.

“Then perhaps you should tell us now.”

She looked toward Muk Jincheol.

“Why did you come looking for Mujin?”

Honestly...

that was what I wanted to know most as well.

Why had Muk Jincheol specifically come looking for me?

There was no real connection between us.

I couldn't understand why he wanted me...

instead of Goeong, the Cult Leader himself.

But Muk Jincheol didn't answer immediately.

His lips remained tightly shut as he stared into empty space.

He looked like a man with far too much on his mind.

Yeom Yuhwa and I waited.

Eventually...

Muk Jincheol finally spoke.

“The truth is...”

He paused.

“I am still not convinced.”

Then, with clear reluctance, he continued.

“I don't know whether I should really speak of this before an outsider like you...”

He caught himself.

“No.”

His expression soured.

“Before you.”

Apparently bringing up the cult's doctrine had worked.

At least he wasn't openly insulting me anymore.

I asked calmly,

“Why hesitate so much?”

“You came here to tell me something, didn't you?”

“Hmm....”

Muk Jincheol let out a short sigh.

Then finally got to the point.

“Our Divine Cult is currently facing a grave danger.”

I frowned.

“Danger?”

“Is someone preparing to attack the Demonic Cult?”

“No!”

Muk Jincheol snorted.

“Who in this world would dare invade our Divine Cult?”

I thought for a moment.

“Then has word gotten out that the Sacred Flame was extinguished?”

Muk Jincheol's eyes flickered slightly.

Apparently...

I wasn't entirely off the mark.

“It is not unrelated.”

His voice grew heavier.

“But the danger facing our cult is far more serious than that.”

I stared at him.

“Then what is it?”

“What danger are you talking about?”

"..."

Muk Jincheol remained silent for a moment.

Then...

as though finally making up his mind...

he spoke heavily.

“The Cult Leader's...”

He looked straight into my eyes.

“...life is in danger.”