Chapter 134: The Assassin
“The Cult Leader's... life is in danger.”
The moment Muk Jincheol's final words fell into the room, I couldn't answer right away.
The Cult Leader's life is in danger?
I glanced toward Yeom Yuhwa.
Her face had stiffened as well.
From that expression alone, I could tell Muk Jincheol wasn't simply making things up.
I looked back at him.
“What do you mean by that all of a sudden?”
“How is the Cult Leader's life in danger?”
Muk Jincheol pressed his lips together for a moment.
Then he spoke carefully.
“There is a faction within the Divine Cult plotting rebellion against the Cult Leader.”
I frowned.
“Rebellion?”
The Heavenly Demon was an absolute existence within the Demonic Cult.
At least, that was how I'd always understood it.
A place where a single word from the Cult Leader was treated like the will of heaven itself.
And someone dared plot rebellion there?
I couldn't understand it.
“With Ten Demons like you absolutely loyal to the Cult Leader, who would be insane enough to attempt something like that?”
Muk Jincheol's expression turned heavy.
“The rebels...”
He paused.
“are members of the Ten Demons.”
“The Ten Demons?”
The atmosphere in the room turned cold.
Muk Jincheol continued in a grave voice.
“Nearly a year has passed since the Sacred Flame went out and the Cult Leader confined himself inside the Heavenly Forbidden Prison.”
A year?
Had it really been that long since Dokgo Jinak extinguished the Sacred Flame, lost his mind, and entered the Heavenly Forbidden Prison?
A full year without an active Cult Leader.
Honestly, it was more surprising that the Demonic Cult had continued functioning for that long without collapsing into chaos.
“During that time, the seeds of rebellion remained hidden beneath the surface.”
Muk Jincheol's gaze hardened.
“But after the Cult Leader emerged from the Heavenly Forbidden Prison yesterday, they finally began moving in earnest.”
I frowned.
What?
They stayed quiet while the Cult Leader was locked away, but started rebelling after he returned?
Muk Jincheol seemed to read my confusion.
He nodded.
“I know what you're wondering.”
His eyes deepened.
“The rebels believed the Cult Leader's confinement would be permanent.”
“They thought a Heavenly Demon reduced to an idiot could never rise again.”
His voice turned colder.
“But then the Cult Leader suddenly walked out of the Heavenly Forbidden Prison.”
Now I understood.
They'd believed Dokgo Jinak was finished.
Then the man they had already written off suddenly returned.
From the rebels' perspective...
there was no longer any reason to keep hiding.
I immediately asked the important question.
“How many of the Ten Demons are involved?”
“Three.”
Muk Jincheol's expression darkened.
“And the one leading them is Phantom Demon Musician Sa Eumryeong.”
Phantom Demon Musician Sa Eumryeong.
A demonic master infamous for sound arts and illusion techniques.
I'd heard stories that hundreds had died by her hand.
Sa Eumryeong....
I kept my expression neutral.
But inwardly...
I didn't feel particularly good.
Even hearing her name gave me the unpleasant sensation of something slimy crawling beneath my skin.
“The other two are dangerous as well.”
Muk Jincheol continued.
“But Sa Eumryeong is the one using her head.”
“She's skilled in illusions and knows how to twist people's minds.”
I looked at him.
“If only three are involved, doesn't that mean the remaining seven oppose them?”
“Shouldn't that be enough to suppress the rebellion?”
Muk Jincheol slowly shook his head.
“The Divine Cult follows the principle that the strong survive and the weak perish.”
His voice was cold.
“A Heavenly Demon who has lost his strength is no longer worthy of being the Heavenly Demon.”
He continued,
“Most of the Ten Demons will not interfere even if rebellion breaks out.”
“If the Cult Leader cannot survive by his own strength, they will believe he naturally deserves to be removed from his position.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
As expected of the Demonic Cult.
If a ruler couldn't even crush his own subordinates' rebellion...
then he wasn't worthy of being the Heavenly Demon.
It was brutally simple.
Then another question occurred to me.
“But Muk Jincheol.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Why are you telling me something this important?”
“I'm an outsider you only met yesterday.”
Muk Jincheol didn't answer immediately.
After a brief silence...
he let out a low sigh.
“Under normal circumstances...”
He looked away for a moment.
“I might have remained silent about Sa Eumryeong's rebellion as well.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“But?”
His gaze returned to me.
“Yesterday, you showed us the miracle of the Sacred Flame.”
His eyes sharpened.
“That means the Cult Leader's message has been fulfilled.”
“And if the message has been fulfilled...”
He leaned forward slightly.
“then there is also a possibility that the Cult Leader can regain his mind.”
Muk Jincheol stared directly at me.
“Cult Leader Dokgo Jinak is the man most worthy of the title Heavenly Demon among anyone I have ever seen.”
His voice carried absolute conviction.
“He can read the workings of heaven.”
“He possesses enough power to overwhelm everything before him.”
His expression twisted with contempt.
“Someone like Sa Eumryeong, who relies on cowardly illusions to cloud people's minds, is not even worthy of comparison.”
There was certainty in his words.
This wasn't simple fanaticism.
It felt more like the trust of someone who had watched Dokgo Jinak for a very long time.
“I will no longer question who you truly are.”
Muk Jincheol continued.
“At the very least, I believe you have no intention of harming the Cult Leader.”
I crossed my arms.
“So?”
“I have one proposal.”
“A proposal?”
Muk Jincheol nodded.
“Until the Cult Leader regains his mind...”
“take him outside the cult and hide for a while.”
My eyebrows rose.
“Outside?”
“Yes.”
He spoke firmly.
“If you remain inside the Divine Cult, the Cult Leader may actually become even more vulnerable.”
Muk Jincheol went on to briefly explain the identities of the other two Ten Demons involved in the rebellion, who Sa Eumryeong had recently been contacting, and just how suspicious the internal atmosphere of the Demonic Cult had become.
Then he rose from his seat.
“That is all I came to tell you.”
He looked down at me.
“The only thing left is your decision.”
Then his expression hardened.
“But you will not have much time to make it.”
With those words...
Overlord Saber Ghost Demon Muk Jincheol left the room.
The door closed.
Only Yeom Yuhwa and I remained.
For a moment...
