"Ah!"
Wei Jeong-han roughly raised his body.
"Huuu."
Cold sweat that had flowed down his entire body left the bed damp and soaked.
Swoooosh.
Looking out the window, it was raining. Seeing the rain pouring down as if the sky had burst open made his heart feel even heavier.
'It's raining.'
That must be why. Why he keeps dreaming of such old events. Wei Jeong-han carefully got up from his seat so as not to wake Han Sang-ah. Then he quietly went and stood by the window.
The falling rain was relentless.
The day he met him was always like this.
A day when the rain poured down enough to make one feel the sky was angry.
They were not ones who preferred surprise attacks. The Demonic Cult were always those who proudly revealed themselves.
Perhaps because of that, the Demonic Cult did not attack on days when it rained heavily. At the time, his comrades mocked them, saying the Demonic Cult bastards were pretending to be manly.
So he always sought out a tavern on days like this, and shared drinks with Jeok Mok-woo.
'I'm craving alcohol.'
Though he hadn't properly touched alcohol for several years, perhaps because of the dream, the thought of alcohol came to him desperately. Wei Jeong-han quietly raised his head and looked up at the sky filled with dark clouds.
'I must forget.'
On days like this, he would think of him.
But now he must forget. Remembering him was certainly not good for him either. And not just that…
Wei Jeong-han shook his head vigorously.
Even having such thoughts was the problem. That wasn't something to be forgotten. It was simply something that never happened. Something that never existed in the world from the beginning. Everyone knew it that way. Then Wei Jeong-han just needed to think of it that way too.
"…Are you awake?"
At Han Sang-ah's voice coming from behind him, Wei Jeong-han let out a deep sigh.
Though she was a woman who knew nothing of martial arts, how could she read so well the signs of him getting up from bed?
"Sleep a little more."
At Wei Jeong-han's words, Han Sang-ah quietly shook her head.
"I can't sleep well."
"I see."
Han Sang-ah quietly looked at Wei Jeong-han and said,
"Is there something worrying you? You're doing things you don't usually do."
Wei Jeong-han smiled slightly.
"Both my sons are so outstanding, what would I have to worry about? I was just watching the rain fall since it's been a while."
"I see."
Han Sang-ah seemed about to say something more, moving her lips, then closed her eyes.
Wei Jeong-han also gazed endlessly out the window.
***
"So it has come to pass."
Divine Strategist Jo Hyeon slowly brought tea to his lips. Though it was nothing but cheap leaf tea, its fragrance was in no way inferior to expensive Dragon Well tea. Perhaps his good mood today was making the tea's fragrance even sweeter.
"Yes. The Demonic Cult has withdrawn."
"That's fortunate."
Behind Jo Hyeon, who was receiving the report, Gwon Geuk was looking on with amazed eyes.
'He's like a ghost.'
This was Jo Hyeon, who had detected the Demonic Cult's appearance at a place over a thousand li away, and even instructed how to minimize damage while repelling them.
Speaking of it afterward made it seem easy, but when Jo Hyeon first said the Demonic Cult would appear and they needed to dispatch a strike force immediately, he had thought the man had gone senile.
"Remarkable."
"You're too kind."
Jo Hyeon received Gwon Geuk's words with a gentle smile.
"They say one can see a thousand li while sitting in place, and I'm beginning to suspect the strategist truly has clairvoyance."
"You flatter me. If I had clairvoyance, I too would be a bit more comfortable, but people can't possibly have such things. I simply dug a little deeper into the information that was gathered. There were so many signs that anyone else in my position would have noticed."
Anyone else?
Gwon Geuk let out a hollow laugh.
Through the open office door, people were still carrying many scrolls. Each of those was data about developments collected from across the nation. An ordinary person would be sick of it just looking at the pile of documents, and someone with decent ability would open the documents only to give up at their density.
'Reading all the materials that come in here in a single day and analyzing them is not something an ordinary person can do.'
Though he had acknowledged it from before, what moved the Orthodox Alliance was not him but Jo Hyeon. All he did was swagger around in front using the power of his title Gwon Geuk, then move as Jo Hyeon instructed.
"Thanks to the strategist, we were able to minimize damage."
"How could it be my doing? The reason I can use my head is because of the Orthodox Alliance's power. The Orthodox Alliance's power was created by the Alliance Leader."
"Heh heh, needlessly gilding it. If it weren't for you, how could the Orthodox Alliance have dared to reach its current position?"
"It would have been impossible without the Alliance Leader. Would martial artists listen to the words of a scholar who only ate ink? It's possible because the Alliance Leader trusts me and makes them listen to my words. I am merely a card that the Alliance Leader possesses. All of this is the result of the Alliance Leader's art of employing people."
"My word."
Even knowing these were obviously words meant to make him feel good, he couldn't help but smile slightly.
'I'm dancing in the palm of the Divine Strategist's hand.'
But what of it?
If dancing in the Divine Strategist's palm could protect the peace of the martial world, Gwon Geuk would even dance.
"But may I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"I don't know if it's because my thinking is shallow, but listen. In my opinion, since the Demonic Cult bastards came all the way to Shaanxi, it wouldn't have been bad to take this opportunity to exterminate those bastards, would it?"
The Divine Strategist quietly nodded.
Though the words were gentle, they contained stern criticism asking why the Demonic Cult members were let go so easily. Though Gwon Geuk always smiled good-naturedly with a heh heh, if he didn't have this side, he wouldn't have been able to maintain his current position.
"It was because something seemed strange."
"Strange?"
"There was no reason for the Demonic Cult to bother coming all the way here."
"Wasn't it to announce their reappearance?"
"There was no need to come all the way to Mount Hua for that. Just showing themselves around Xinjiang would have made the entire martial world tense about their appearance."
"Then did they intend to strike the center and cause damage?"
"If Mount Hua and they had mutually destroyed each other, who would benefit?"
"Hmm…"
Though it was absolutely something he couldn't say considering his position as Alliance Leader of the Orthodox Alliance, if they could exchange the forces that entered the Central Plains this time for just Mount Hua, it couldn't be considered a loss at all.
What was beneficial from their perspective meant great loss from the Demonic Cult's perspective. Then why did they bear that loss and reveal themselves in the heart of the Central Plains?
The Divine Strategist let out a low sigh.
"There are those who are moving them. I don't know who is behind it."
"Did you say there are those moving them now? You know what that means, don't you?"
"Of course, Alliance Leader."
The Divine Strategist nodded firmly.
The Demonic Cult was the enemy of the martial world. Joining hands with them was no different from saying one was hostile to the martial world. It meant the solid alliance that had continued since the time of the Demonic Cult's invasion, no, from even before that, was crumbling.
"Someone?"
"It's not certain yet."
"Does this old man just need to hear the results after everything becomes certain?"
The Divine Strategist let out a contemplative sound.
Even if it wasn't certain, Gwon Geuk had the right to know. If not him, who would have the right to know?
When the Divine Strategist turned his head and gave a signal, all those carrying documents and making reports silently left the room. After confirming that their presence had completely disappeared, the Divine Strategist opened his mouth in a small voice.
"I suspect Hundred Swords Castle."
"Hundred Swords Castle…"
Doubt appeared on Gwon Geuk's face.
"What do they lack that they would join hands with the Demonic Cult? How many places in the world have greater fame than Hundred Swords Castle?"
"Human greed has no end, doesn't it?"
"Hundred Swords Castle, Hundred Swords Castle…"
Gwon Geuk slumped into his chair.
"What would Hundred Swords Castle do by bringing in the Demonic Cult? Just looking at this incident, they don't seem to have gained anything in particular."
"They failed to obtain what they could have obtained. According to information, they declared the revival of Ten Thousand Swords at the martial arts tournament."
"Ten Thousand Swords? Did you say Ten Thousand Swords?"
"Yes."
"Then are you saying Hundred Swords Castle is the successor to the Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Family?"
"It seems so."
"Goodness, such a thing."
Gwon Geuk exclaimed in amazement.
Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Family.
That name was a legend of the martial world.
There was once a time when all sword families under heaven and all martial families under heaven had to bow their heads before them. That one family would occupy such a position in the martial world would probably never happen again.
Those who had disappeared from the martial world one by one from a certain point, eventually becoming myths that left only their names. But Hundred Swords Castle claimed to be their descendants.
"Are they saying they will inherit the name of Ten Thousand Swords, or are they truly descendants of Ten Thousand Swords?"
"That hasn't been confirmed. However, considering that Hundred Swords Castle's lord uses the surname Baek…"
"Hmm, I see."
Gwon Geuk strangely felt his heart growing heavy.
The reappearance of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Family and the revival of the Demonic Cult.
What did this mean?
"But what do you mean they failed to obtain the benefits they should have gained?"
The Divine Strategist smiled broadly.
"Wei Yan-ho sucked up all the benefits they should have obtained. Hundred Swords Castle won the martial arts tournament, and they probably planned to reveal themselves at Mount Hua Great War to firmly imprint their existence, but Wei Yan-ho ruined everything in the middle."
"Hmm…"
Gwon Geuk still looked puzzled.
"But there's one thing I don't understand. If they're truly descendants of Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Family, no, even if they're those who claim to be successors to Ten Thousand Swords Hundred Family rather than descendants, why would they join hands with the Demonic Cult? The Demonic Cult is not a place that can be controlled! Never!"
"Would they even think of controlling them? They probably think to use them."
"Using the Demonic Cult, don't they know how terrifying that is?"
Gwon Geuk shouted angrily.
What kind of place was the Demonic Cult? The very place that had nearly brought down half the martial world by itself. The thought that such a place could be used at will was beyond arrogance—it was inviting destruction.
They would be fortunate if they weren't used instead.
"How they joined hands with the Demonic Cult and why the Demonic Cult is listening to them is unknown. However, they clearly seem to have dealings with the Demonic Cult. There's just no evidence."
"Hmm…"
Gwon Geuk asked with a somewhat dark face,
"If all your thoughts are correct, what will happen now?"
The Divine Strategist couldn't answer for a long time. Only after a lengthy period did the Divine Strategist open his mouth with difficulty, great difficulty.
"Won't a new age of chaos arrive? A heavier and redder age of chaos than before."