Chapter 333 : Dawn (2)
Chapter 333: Dawn (2)
The day after Il-mok returned to the main headquarters.
"O’ Supreme One…"
The Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord stood over the bed with tears glistening at the corners of his eyes.
Even with his sharp senses, he could no longer detect even the faintest sound of the Heavenly Demon taking a breath.
Maybe it’s due to the fact that he had always stayed close to the Heavenly Demon's side, and had subconsciously already realized that this exact moment was rapidly approaching, the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord didn't break into bitter sobbing.
Strangely enough, a completely different thought was the very first thing to cross his mind.
He couldn't help but think that perhaps... his liege's natural lifespan had actually run out a very long time ago.
That perhaps he had been holding on, just so he could see his youngest disciple's face one last time before he left.
‘As expected of you, O’ Supreme One…’
He truly believed his liege had managed to defy his heaven-ordained lifespan entirely by relying solely on his peerless martial enlightenment.
After dwelling on those stray thoughts for a moment, the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and walked out of Heavenly Demon Palace.
The liege he had served his entire life was gone, but he couldn't afford to just stand there and grieve.
Because right now, he needed to quickly prepare for the future of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, the very future his liege had spent his whole life building.
***
The Heavenly Demon Ascension Ceremony was held with grandeur.
In strict accordance with Cult tradition, the massive ceremony was overseen by the Family Head of the An Family.
However, the atmosphere of the event was incredibly peculiar.
Surprisingly, the air didn't feel overwhelmingly gloomy or depressing at all.
More precisely, everyone there was actively trying to make sure it didn't become that.
"Hey. You, go collect yourself and come back."
When someone nearby wiped at their tears, the people around them told them to step away from the ceremony for a while.
There was a reason for it.
This was not a funeral. It was an Ascension Ceremony.
The Heavenly Demon was the god of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, and the very concept of a god dying was absolute blasphemous nonsense.
In other words, this was meant to be a joyous religious celebration. It marked the moment the Heavenly Demon, having perfectly completed his grand duties in the mortal realm, finally shed his mortal coil to return to the heavens.
Even so, there were plenty of people standing around half out of their minds, or quietly failing to hold back their tears.
It was a completely unavoidable reaction.
Hyeokryeon Il-hwi had led the Cult as its Heavenly Demon for well over fifty years.
For the younger members of the Demonic Cult, this was no different from watching the god they had known their entire lives disappear.
The ceremony continued for several days in that delicate atmosphere until finally the last rite was completed.
The ritual cremation of the Heavenly Demon was performed with the flames known as the Sacred Fire.
Dressed cleanly in a pristine black burial shroud, the Heavenly Demon's body was laid out atop the wooden pyre. As the Sacred Fire was applied, the flames caught and his body slowly began to burn.
Blankly staring up at the thick pillar of smoke rising into the sky as the Heavenly Demon's flesh burned away, Il-mok was suddenly struck by a profound thought.
'Ascension, huh....'
Vestige Liberation. Attaining Nirvana. Heavenly Ascension.
Across many different faiths, these were expressions meant to describe something that had transcended the limits of human beings and been reborn as something new.
But in reality, they were just ways of saying someone had died.
It was nothing more than a flowery way to sugarcoat the truth, claiming they had transcended the mortal realm and departed for a better world, rather than just bluntly admitting they had died.
That's what Il-mok had always thought.
He had thought this grand Ascension Ceremony was just a kind of collective self-consolation.
After all, refusing to acknowledge a dead person as truly dead felt incredibly creepy and cult-like to him.
However, his thoughts were entirely different right now.
Even in those final moments before the Heavenly Demon departed, despite the old and ailing state of his body, the energy dwelling within him had still seemed vast enough to encompass the world.
And right now, following the Heavenly Demon's physical vessel as it burned and transformed into ash, that impossibly massive Demonic Qi that remained within his body was physically uncoiling and spreading outwards into the boundless sky.
For some reason, Il-mok thought he could see the Heavenly Demon's tranquil smile somewhere within that smoke.
‘…Rest in peace, Master.’
***
After the Ascension Ceremony ended, the Hyeokryeon Family’s main hall received an unexpected guest that evening.
"Family Head, the Family Head of the Dokgo Family is here.”
"Show him in."
Following Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's instruction, the Head of the Dokgo Family was guided in by the steward.
The patriarch of the Dokgo Family was an old man with a strange appearance. Despite possessing a head full of stark white hair, the old man boasted a burly physique and stood well over six feet tall.
He had a bottle of liquor in his right hand.
"Hah. I can't believe you actually brought that thing on a day like today.”
"It's exactly because it's a day like this that we need to drink, isn't it?"
Dokgo Ryong answered with a hearty laugh and dropped himself down onto the floor. He poured liquor into Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's teacup, then filled his own cup and knocked it back before opening his mouth.
"Besides, the ban on drinking is for the younger ones. It has nothing to do with the likes of us who've reached Transcendence."
Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang let out a quiet snort at Dokgo Ryong's words, but didn't bother refusing and drank the liquor in his teacup.
They went back and forth like that for a while, passing the bottle between them without a word.
"So, what brings you here on a day like this?"
"You ask even though you already know the answer perfectly well. Now that the Heavenly Demon has officially ascended, it is time for us to pick the next living god for our followers to serve."
"That is exactly why I'm asking. If you're genuinely interested in seizing the Cult Leader's throne, all you have to do is declare your entry into the succession war. I don't see why you'd need to come to me."
At Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's question, Dokgo Ryong knocked back another drink and broke into a grin.
Hearing Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's deflecting question, Dokgo Ryong slammed back another cup of liquor before flashing a fierce grin.
"As far as I can see, the only one in this world who can match me is you, Family Head Hyeokryeon. So I came to ask. Do you plan on entering the succession war?"
Faced with Dokgo Ryong's incredibly blunt question, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang smoothly replied.
"Still as arrogant as ever."
"Hehehe. It's not arrogance, it's confidence. So? Are you going to participate or not?"
At the repeated question, the corner of Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's mouth curved upward.
It was a subtle smile.
It looked somewhat like a mocking sneer, yet it also resembled a scoff of disbelief.
"I'm sorry to say, but going after a seat that already has someone else's name on it is nothing more than a foolish greed of an old man."
Dokgo Ryong's brow creased after hearing that answer. "Since when did you become such a coward?"
"A coward, you say. Believe me, if I had it my way, I would gladly satisfy your thirst for battle right here and now. But please, just leave for tonight. If you were to suffer a serious injury fighting me, wouldn't it completely ruin your chances in the upcoming succession war?"
The moment Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang finished speaking, both old men fell silent and stared at each other.
Killing intents and Qis settled into the room, making it suffocate under the sheer tension.
"Tch. You've killed the mood, so I'll be on my way."
Dokgo Ryong clicked his tongue lightly and got to his feet before leaving the Hyeokryeon estate.
"Hmph. To say that it is a seat that already has an owner."
Dokgo Ryong snorted to himself as he walked back toward the Dokgo estate, then tilted his head up and looked at the full moon hanging in the night sky.
"I'm curious, though. Just who is it that Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's acknowledged?"
But that thought didn't last long.
Before he knew it, a confident smile was already spreading across Dokgo Ryong's face.
"Hahaha. Of course. The old bastard must have been talking about me all along."
He took the final standoff back there as nothing more than Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang testing him.
"Hehehe."
With his mood restored, Dokgo Ryong happily chugged the rest of the contents within that bottle and happily hummed a joyful tune as he walked back to the Dokgo estate.
Even though he had successfully achieved Transcendence, it seemed the inherent arrogance of the Dokgo Family was simply baked into their blood.
***
Early the following morning, word spread through the main headquarters that Dokgo Ryong had entered the preliminary screening for the succession war.
It was the mandatory screening required to participate in the Cult Leader succession war, officially overseen by the Left and Right Guardians.
However, calling it a 'screening' was honestly a bit of a stretch.
Anyone who had reached the Realm of Truth would have no real trouble passing.
The problem was the fact that a death match would be held among those who passed the screening, and the final victor would become the Cult Leader.
Since Dokgo Ryong was virtually guaranteed to pass the screening, entering the succession battle meant you'd have to fight a life-and-death duel against him.
And roughly two hours later, news that Wi Jin-hak had also officially registered for the screening exploded.
"Hah."
In his quarters at Windrock Palace, Il-mok was sitting with a troubled expression.
'Do I really have to participate? Is it actually necessary?'
He had no desire for the title of Heavenly Demon or the seat of Cult Leader.
The issue weighing heavily on his mind was the fact that the debate he had back in Tibet was still vividly lingering in his head.
If an evil or incompetent bastard somehow managed to become the Cult Leader or the Heavenly Demon, Il-mok would have absolutely no right to refuse their direct orders.
On the other hand, forcing himself onto the throne purely to keep the title out of someone else's hands felt like an incredibly exhausting, unappealing chore. Especially since there wasn't even any guarantee that the situation would actually end up that disastrous anyway.
After going back and forth in his head for a while, Il-mok felt a vague sense of restlessness and stood up.
"I'm going to take a short walk."
"I'll come with you."
"I'll go, Senior Jin."
Jin Hayeon and Hyeokryeon Seon-ah both stepped forward at the same time, but Il-mok shook his head.
"I just want to clear my head, so I'll go alone. We're in the main headquarters, so there's no reason to worry."
Having shaken off both of them, Il-mok wandered aimlessly through the main headquarters.
He'd let a stray thought creep in, then shake his head and push it out, over and over again.
As he drifted without any particular direction in mind, a familiar face caught his eye.
"Greetings to the Missionary Hall Master."
It was Baek Un-hak, the Head of the Baek Family and the Hall Master of the Missionary Hall.
Il-mok recalled the rumors that had been circulating since that morning and asked him, "Are you on your way to the screening, Hall Master?"
At the question, Baek Un-hak burst out laughing.
"Hahaha. Honestly, I don't have the slightest bit of interest in taking the Cult Leader or Heavenly Demon's throne. Perhaps I might have been ambitious in the past, but nowadays, I simply enjoy my job as the Missionary Hall Master far too much."
"Is that so?"
"It is. I'd rather focus on spreading beautiful plays and songs across the world. If I suddenly became the Cult Leader, I would be forced to waste my time worrying about annoying political matters, wouldn't I?"
He was an attention seeker, but it seemed he wasn't entirely without sense.
Il-mok nodded with an expression of understanding, and then a question came to mind.
"But what do you plan to do if the Family Head of the Dokgo Family actually becomes the Cult Leader? Forgive my presumptuous question, but I am well aware that you and he have a rather terrible relationship…"
Hearing Il-mok's incredibly valid concern, Baek Un-hak just burst into laughter all over again.
"Hahaha. You're asking something obvious. If that old man becomes Cult Leader, I'll just immediately drag his ass right back off the throne."
"!?"
Il-mok stared at him for a moment, wondering if the man had lost his mind, when he suddenly remembered something important.
'Ah. Come to think of it, the Cult Leader's seat can literally change hands at any time, can't it?'
The Living God of the Heavenly Demon Divin Cult is the Heavenly Demon, not the Cult Leader.
Even after securing the Cult Leader position, one could only exercise godlike power over the Cult after fully mastering the Heavenly Demon Divine Arts and being officially crowned the Heavenly Demon.
In accordance with the doctrine of "the strongest ascends to the position of Cult Leader," any Cult Leader who had not yet been recognized as the Heavenly Demon was required to accept challenges at any time.
‘I was so focused on Master that I'd completely forgotten.’
A wide smile slowly spread across Il-mok's face as a brilliant plan came to mind.
‘Right. So that's an option, too.’
He now had a clearer picture of how he needed to move forward.
***
That night, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang came to Windrock Palace.
"What brings you here, Family Head Hyeokryeon?"
Even though he already knew full well what Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang was here about, Il-mok asked anyway.
And what Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang said was exactly what Il-mok had expected.
"I hear three people have already gone for the screening. Are you really not going to put yourself forward?"
"That's right."
Hearing Il-mok's frustratingly placid answer, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang deeply furrowed his brow.
"And if whoever becomes Cult Leader turns out to be a tyrant, what then?"
As he asked, Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang was thinking to himself.
If Il-mok refused to step forward in the end, perhaps he would have to enter the succession battle himself.
But the answer Il-mok gave was not what he was expecting.
"Then I'll step forward at that point."
"…So, if the man who takes the Cult Leader throne turns out to be a massive problem, you will step in and challenge him then?"
"Yes. In our Cult, don't we have the right to challenge the Cult Leader at any time, so long as they haven't been recognized as the Heavenly Demon?"
Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang seemed to mull it over for a moment, then nodded with a look of understanding.
"If that's how you see it, then I'll wait."
Hearing Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang's incredibly ominous parting words, Il-mok immediately scowled.
‘Why does he keep talking like it's already a given that I'll have to step in?’
It felt like the man was casually wishing misfortune on him right to his face.