Chapter 221 : Chapter 221
Chapter 221 - Tower of Causalitas (9)
WHOOOSH!
The Leader of Evil Path Alliance’s sword flew toward me, cutting through space. As unpredictable as his endlessly shifting method of mana operation was, the swordsmanship based on it was just as impossible to foresee. The Leader’s style, twisting the orthodox path to create something new, was quite interesting.
Above all, what was impressive was that it was not easy to predict his next move. Of course, that did not mean there was no way to deal with it. I simply had to watch everything with my own eyes and respond afterward.
‘There it is.’
After all his dazzling variations, I swung the Holy Sword toward the place his sword point ultimately aimed for.
KABOOOOM!!
When I knocked away the Leader’s sword, he was pushed three steps back. He looked quite flustered, but I was the one who was even more surprised. I had expected him to be pushed back about five steps.
He steadied his breathing and spoke.
“Impressive.”
“I agree.”
Even including my previous life, I had almost never seen anyone as strong as the Leader of Evil Path Alliance. He was easily within the top three.
“What are you? That seems like an entirely new sword style.”
I answered with a smile instead. Then I immediately drove my sword toward the Leader’s chest. He hurriedly raised his sword to defend himself, but there was no way he could block it completely. After all, I had put quite a bit of strength into this one.
KABOOOM!
Two enormous forces collided, and space trembled. The Leader’s body swayed slightly as he regained his stance.
“So you are from the Demonic Cult after all?”
Faced with unfamiliar swordsmanship, the Leader also guessed that I came from the Demonic Cult. Among the people of Murim, the Demonic Cult was a mysterious organization. Even someone of the Leader’s status did not fully understand it, so I could not help but feel interested in the place.
At that moment, an unexpected shout came from outside the stage.
“That is right! That man is a warrior of the Demonic Cult!”
The voice belonged to Gal Un-hyeon. He had been watching for an opportunity ever since we arrived, and in the end, he shouted it out the moment he thought the chance had come. In an instant, everyone’s gaze focused on him. He rose from his seat and continued speaking.
“Allow me to introduce myself! I am Gal Un-hyeon of Black Moon House! Due to certain circumstances, I am also the one who brought that Demonic Cult warrior here to the Sahwang Banquet!”
He remained composed, showing more backbone than I had expected. At Gal Un-hyeon’s words, the crowd began to clamor. They demanded to know what relationship he had with me, and what circumstances could possibly justify bringing a demon from the Demonic Cult here.
Gal Un-hyeon answered calmly.
“If I were to tell the whole story, it would be rather long, so I will state only the main point! That man is unquestionably from the Demonic Cult, and astonishingly, this seems to be his first emergence into Murim! From what I heard, he was born in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and has never left that place until now!”
He had taken the story I told him as the skeleton and fleshed it out with his own baseless conjecture. Gal Un-hyeon wore a satisfied expression, evidently convinced that he had rendered a great service.
It was simply absurd.
The Leader of Evil Path Alliance immediately furrowed his brow and asked me.
“Are you truly a member of the Demonic Cult?”
“Does that matter?”
“It does. A Demonic Cultist dared to enter our territory without fear.”
“That is disappointing.”
“Disappointing?”
“Because it seems you do not grasp the situation. You are hardly in a position to use the word ‘dared.’”
WHOOOSH!
With those words, I resumed my swordplay. The Leader also drew out his full strength. His eyes had become utterly serious. Only now had he sensed the danger. He had realized, however vaguely, that even if he wrung out every bit of his strength, I was not an opponent he could handle.
KABOOOOM!
As he received my sword, blood burst from his mouth. Of course, I did not kill him. As an outsider, I did not want to leave a major variable in Murim.
[You have defeated an opponent unrelated to the quest.]
It was the Abyss’s official verdict that the Leader of Evil Path Alliance was not the strongest person in Murim. It had been an interesting enough experience, so that was sufficient.
***
As the saying went, rumors had no feet, yet they traveled a thousand li. The speed of the rumor was remarkable. Everywhere I went was filled with talk about me.
The problem was that much of the rumor had been distorted. It was inevitable, since Gal Un-hyeon had firmly declared that I came from the Demonic Cult. The posted notices depicted my appearance rather accurately, so I had no choice but to wear the Human Skin Mask.
Then an unexpected variable arose.
[Due to your intervention, a significant shift has occurred in the balance of power among Murim’s factions.]
[A sub-quest will be generated to restore balance between the factions.]
[Win the duel against the Murim Alliance Leader.]
Since I had crushed the Leader of Evil Path Alliance from the Evil Faction, it wanted me, in the name of fairness, to do the same to the head of the Righteous Faction.
However, this message held another hidden meaning.
‘So the Murim Alliance Leader is not the strongest person in Murim either.’
In the end, it meant that the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult, whose life or death was said to be uncertain, was alive.
Frankly, I thought that worked out well for me. According to public opinion, the Leader of Evil Path Alliance and the Murim Alliance Leader were nearly evenly matched. If the Murim Alliance Leader had been the final boss, it would have been a little anticlimactic.
I leisurely traveled through the martial world and finally arrived in Hubei Province, where the Murim Alliance was located. I had not spent a long time there, but Murim was an interesting place no matter how I looked at it.
Wherever I went, masters were so numerous that one could trip over them, and wherever I went, incidents and accidents never ceased. Life-or-death duels between Murim masters over utterly trivial matters were experiences I had never seen in any other world.
Murim was truly a place where only the strong survived.
The first place I sought out after arriving in Hubei Province was an information broker. The information I had gathered about the Demonic Cult so far was too inconsistent, and most of it was wrong. I needed to obtain proper information.
Gokwolmun.
This information guild was one of the most famous organizations in Hubei Province. It did not even handle information worth less than ten gold coins, and it was the finest intelligence organization of the Righteous Faction, said to possess every piece of high-value information in the world.
Because information was traded at high prices, its verification was rigorous, and it was also famous for protecting its clients’ identities completely.
“What brings you here?”
“I came because I have information I want to sell.”
My plan was to sell what I had for a high price, then use that money to purchase information about the Demonic Cult. The man who greeted me held out a sheet of paper with an expressionless face.
“If you write down what the information concerns, we will review it and assign someone to handle it.”
I took the paper and wrote a short, blunt line.
『Demonic Cult Warrior at the Sahwang Banquet』
The man who took the paper back from me widened his eyes and stared intently at me.
“What? Is there a problem?”
“Ah, no. Please wait here for a moment.”
His tone had somehow become polite. He could not trust me yet, but he could not rule out the possibility that I was someone important. They would not reject the information I was offering to sell.
After all, the hottest topic in Murim at the moment was the unknown warrior who had recently defeated the Leader of Evil Path Alliance.
A short while later, another man appeared to receive me. He was a middle-aged man with a dignified appearance.
“I heard you came to sell information.”
I nodded.
“You wrote Demonic Cult Warrior at the Sahwang Banquet. Is it truly information about that?”
“Of course.”
“If you could tell us a little more specifically what the information is about, it would be easier for us to make a judgment.”
“I heard the man from the Sahwang Banquet is going to assassinate the Murim Alliance Leader.”
“Pardon?”
The middle-aged man finally broke his poker face. The agitation in his voice was obvious.
“You seem to find it hard to believe, but it is true. I came to sell information about the date of the assassination.”
In an ordinary situation, the usual reaction would have been to tell me to stop joking and leave at once, but the middle-aged man soon regained his composure and continued.
“If your words are true, then this is high-grade information that can only be classified at the highest level. Though its shelf life would be brief.”
“I suppose so.”
“Do you have any means of proving whether the information is true?”
I had heard that the Gokwol Unit’s verification of information was extremely strict. No matter how high-grade the information might be, if there was even the slightest point of doubt, no transaction would be made.
“I do not know whether this will be enough proof.”
I removed the Human Skin Mask in front of the middle-aged man. As Seo Ji-han’s face was gradually revealed, his gaze wavered violently.
Unlike Earth, Murim was a world where photographs did not exist. It was true that the composite sketches of me resembled the real person quite closely, but even I could not be certain whether revealing my face like this would be enough.
“So you were... the man himself?”
I nodded.
“Remarkable. To be honest, I still cannot believe it completely.”
I understood that.
“Whether you believe me or not is for your Gokwol Unit to decide. If you have no intention of trading for the information, I will look elsewhere.”
I immediately put pressure on him. At that, the middle-aged man let out a deep breath.
“Do you truly intend to assassinate the Murim Alliance Leader?”
“I do.”
To be precise, I intended to fail at the assassination. Just as I had not killed the Leader of Evil Path Alliance, I had to keep it to merely defeating the Murim Alliance Leader as well, so I would not upset Murim’s balance.
“That fact alone is already valuable information.”
“The transaction has not been concluded yet, so you will not circulate this information. Am I wrong?”
“Of course. The Gokwol Unit’s foremost value is trust with its clients.”
“Then I would like your answer now. Will you buy my information or not?”
“It is not a matter I can decide at my level.”
“I suppose that is true.”
“This matter requires the authorization of the Gokwol Unit Leader. Would you please wait for a moment?”
When I indicated my agreement, the middle-aged man disappeared somewhere again. The waiting time stretched far longer than I had expected. From time to time, women came to serve refreshments and tea, but all they said was to wait a little longer.
Perhaps the uncertain authenticity of the information I had offered, and the fact that it did not have a long shelf life, had become issues in the review process.
But a short while later, I learned that my guess had been quite wrong. The very reason I had been forced to wait so long appeared before me.
“I apologize for making you wait so long. I am the Gokwol Unit Leader.”
He was an old man who looked at least seventy. I had not expected the Unit Leader to come to me in person. I looked at him and slightly raised the corner of my mouth.
“Since the Unit Leader came here in person, may I take that to mean you intend to purchase my information?”
“Not necessarily. The truth of the information has not yet been established.”
“Then, Unit Leader, do you perhaps have a plan to verify its truth?”
At my question, he shook his head.
“That seems to be up to you.”
As he said this, the Gokwol Unit Leader gazed steadily at me. His gaze was both blatant and sly as an old fox, and it made my eyes itch.
I drew the Holy Sword and aimed it at the Gokwol Unit Leader.
“Then shall I prove it with this?”
Even as I said it myself, the situation was truly absurd. The mana I felt from the Gokwol Unit Leader was on par with the Leader of Evil Path Alliance.
If so, there was only one conclusion.
The Gokwol Unit Leader was the Murim Alliance Leader.
“So that information was true.”
The Murim Alliance Leader answered as he peeled the Human Skin Mask from his face.