Chapter 480

Chapter 480 – Toying With The World Always Comes At A Price (2)

Jo Gwan-il was True Demon Envoy, one of Heavenly Evil Cult's Four Great Envoys. The fact that he was True Demon Envoy was a secret among secrets, to the extent that even his fellow Four Great Envoys didn't know he lived here under the name Jo Gwan-il.

Likewise, Jo Gwan-il didn't know what identities the other envoys lived by in the world either. The only ones who knew all those facts were the Cult Leader and his confidant Noble Envoy.

Heavenly Evil Cult was an organization that thoroughly hidden in secrecy. Actually, even Dam Ho could only find out that Jo Gwan-il was True Demon Envoy after mobilizing both Gi San-wol and all of Hao Sect.

Gi San-wol traced his memories to recall Jo Gwan-il's appearance and martial arts, and based on that, Hao Sect scoured the world to find someone matching the conditions.

Gi San-wol who had been part of Heavenly Evil Cult, Hao Sect which had built the most extensive information network under Heaven. Without even one of them, he absolutely couldn't have found out that Jo Gwan-il was True Demon Envoy. All of Heavenly Evil Cult's everything was hidden behind a veil of darkness.

Jo Gwan-il bit his lips hard.

Dam Ho looked at such a Jo Gwan-il indifferently.

"If you want to be respected by your child even after death, you'd better think carefully."

"Kuk!"

Eventually a groan close to a scream flowed from Jo Gwan-il's mouth.

Jo Cheong-woon didn't even know that he was Evil-Repelling Azure Lotus Sword Jo Mu-geuk, much less that he operated as Heavenly Evil Cult's True Demon Envoy. The Jo Gwan-il he knew was a prominent figure in the Taigu region and a great person who cared terribly for the people. So he greatly respected his father and tried hard to resemble him. Jo Gwan-il too wanted to forever be a proud existence to such a child.

'Ah, no! I absolutely can't let Cheong-woon learn that I'm True Demon Envoy.'

Though he himself had dipped his feet in the muddy water called Heavenly Evil Cult, a father's heart wanted his child to live unrelated to the world's storms in clean water.

"Will you really keep the secret if I tell you?"

"Yes!"

"Swearing on Fist Demon's name?"

Jo Gwan-il's gaze looking at Dam Ho was desperate.

For him, keeping the secret from his child was more important than death.

When Dam Ho silently nodded, a relieved look rose on his face. Though they were enemies, he too knew Dam Ho well. That once he made a promise, he would keep it no matter what.

"Good. I don't know all about the other envoys either. But I know just one person. He is…"

Jo Gwan-il gathered his last strength and whispered in Dam Ho's ear. Instantly, a strange light rose in Dam Ho's indifferent eyes.

Jo Gwan-il, who had barely finished what he had to say, looked at Dam Ho with desperate eyes.

"The promise… keep… it…"

Until the moment his breath stopped, Jo Gwan-il hoped his identity wouldn't be revealed to his child.

Dam Ho stood up. Then Jo Cheong-woon, who had been watching until now, hurriedly rushed over.

"Father! Snap out of it. Father! Kuk!"

After confirming that Jo Gwan-il's breath had stopped, he wailed loudly.

"Manor Lord!"

"Great Hero Jo! Hueng!"

The people of Jo Manor who had been holding their breath and watching the situation knelt and burst into tears.

After wailing for a while, Jo Cheong-woon convulsively raised his head and glared at Dam Ho.

"Why did you kill my father? What crime did my father commit?"

"…"

"I don't know why my father hid that he was Evil-Repelling Azure Lotus Sword Jo Mu-geuk, but I know that he was a hero during the First Orthodox-Demon War. Why did you kill such a father? Tell me the truth. I have the right to know the truth."

Though tears endlessly flowed from grief, Jo Cheong-woon's reason was still cold. He thought there was definitely some secret and asked Dam Ho for the truth. But Dam Ho only looked at him silently without giving any answer he wanted.

Jo Cheong-woon shouted once more.

"Speak! Fist Demon! Tell me why we must suffer like this. Tell me the reason. Otherwise, I will consider you an irreconcilable enemy and do my utmost to take revenge. If you're not afraid of that, then kill me."

"Come find me anytime."

"Fist Demon!"

"I'll be waiting."

With those words, Dam Ho turned around.

Bloodshot rose in Jo Cheong-woon's eyes. He glared at Dam Ho's retreating back as if to devour him. But right now he had no power. He had to endure because he had no power. It was the sorrow of the weak.

Finally Dam Ho disappeared beyond the broken gate. Still, Jo Cheong-woon didn't stop glaring.

"I will definitely take revenge, Fist Demon. Even if I sell my soul."

He vowed and vowed again.

Whatever the reason, he couldn't live under the same sky with the enemy who killed his father.

At that moment.

"Huuu! You'll never have that chance."

Suddenly a woman's low voice was heard from behind.

"Who are you?"

Jo Cheong-woon looked back in surprise. Then he saw a mysterious-atmosphere woman wearing a veil and a group of men standing there.

The moment he saw them, he suddenly thought that today's disaster wasn't over yet.

The woman was precisely Hao Sect's Vice Sect Leader Gi Ye-hwa. While everyone's attention was drawn to Dam Ho, she had secretly infiltrated Jo Manor leading Hao Sect's elites.

When Gi Ye-hwa raised her hand, Hao Sect's elites began mercilessly killing Jo Manor's people.

"Aaaak! Spare me!"

"No! I don't want to die."

Jo Manor's people screamed and fled. But Hao Sect's elites pursued them to the end and killed them all.

Jo Cheong-woon no longer had the strength to scream. He looked at Gi Ye-hwa with empty eyes.

"What did we do wrong? Fist Demon definitely promised my father he would spare us."

"That's a promise Great Hero Dam made, not a promise I made."

"That's…"

Gi Ye-hwa's cold voice stabbed Jo Cheong-woon's chest like a dagger. Though Jo Cheong-woon's eyes that seemed to have lost everything in the world weighed on her heart, Gi Ye-hwa had no intention of leaving any future troubles.

The evil that the evil cult organization called Heavenly Evil Cult inflicted on the world was tremendous beyond words. The damage Hao Sect suffered because of them wasn't small either. If even one person related to them was left behind, there would be endless future troubles.

Jo Cheong-woon looked at Gi Ye-hwa with a face that had given up everything.

"At least let me know the reason. Why we must die like this."

"Ask your father that in the afterlife."

"Haha! Will you be this cruel to the end?"

"The people who died because of your father all died in such doubt. Not knowing why they had to die. Not knowing what storm they were swept up in, just like that…"

"Was my father… that bad a person? So harmful to the world… that we don't even deserve to live in the world?"

Jo Cheong-woon only hoped Gi Ye-hwa would say no. But Gi Ye-hwa answered with a cold expression.

"Yes."

"Haha! Hahaha!"

"That's the reason you must die."

Thud!

Gi Ye-hwa's sword mercilessly pierced Jo Cheong-woon's heart. Jo Cheong-woon accepted death without any resistance. The mental blow he suffered today was too great to struggle to save his life.

Gi Ye-hwa looked at Jo Cheong-woon's corpse with cold eyes for a moment, then walked outside.

Outside Jo Manor, Dam Ho was standing.

Instantly Gi Ye-hwa's eyes shook. Because killing all of Jo Manor's people to eliminate future troubles was her unilateral decision. But Gi Ye-hwa didn't apologize to Dam Ho. Dam Ho didn't blame her either.

Dam Ho had thought this might happen.

The cause and effect of the martial world was truly tightly woven with almost no holes to escape through. That was the principle of the world called the martial world that Dam Ho had experienced and learned.

Dam Ho silently mounted Black Ghost. Then Gi Ye-hwa asked.

"Where are you going?"

"Zhushan."

"Zhushan is near Xunyang, isn't it? Is there a core martial artist of Heavenly Evil Cult there?"

"That's right!"

When Dam Ho nodded, Gi Ye-hwa's eyes lit up.

Over the past year, she had focused on helping Dam Ho's subordinate Gi San-wol find Heavenly Evil Cult's martial artists. Finding them was never easy. Without Gi San-wol's help, even finding their trail would have been impossible. The identities of Heavenly Evil Cult's martial artists found that way were truly unexpected.

Most were living well disguised as ordinary people like Jo Gwan-il. While the Demon Cult and Martial Alliance clashed because of them and the world plunged into chaos. So Gi Ye-hwa was enraged and even more persistently devoted all her efforts to rooting out those related to Heavenly Evil Cult.

However, Jo Gwan-il was the limit of what Hao Sect could find. There was no way at all to find those in higher positions beyond that. But unexpectedly, Dam Ho seemed to have found a leader in a position similar to Jo Gwan-il.

She asked.

"You're going alone again, right?"

Dam Ho silently nodded. But Gi Ye-hwa wasn't disappointed. Because she had already expected that.

"Great Hero Dam, catch him. We'll root out and eliminate the remaining Heavenly Evil Cult members."

Heavenly Evil Cult was scary when they hid in darkness. They were scary when scheming plots in darkness, but Heavenly Evil Cult exposed in broad daylight wasn't scary.

'I can't forgive them. If they believed they could drive the world into such hell and live peacefully by themselves, they're mistaken.'

Venom was present in Gi Ye-hwa's eyes.

The world thought Hao Sect only dealt with information. Actually, most of Hao Sect's members were lower-class people with little martial power. But there were exceptions.

Hao Sect too secretly created a military group to survive. Courtesans sold smiles to martial artists to learn secrets, thieves risked their lives to steal martial arts manuals. They bought martial arts with money earned by operating gambling houses, and desperately collected martial arts to raise martial artists.

Some of them were precisely the martial artists Gi Ye-hwa had brought. Hao Sect's leader gave them the name Life-Taking Squad and granted them authority to hunt down all of Hao Sect's enemies. And this was Life-Taking Squad's first test stage.

Life-Taking Squad would be scattered throughout the world to eliminate Heavenly Evil Cult's martial artists they'd identified until now. And the one commanding all of that was precisely Gi Ye-hwa.

Because of that, Gi Ye-hwa was burning with fighting spirit more than ever.

Gi Ye-hwa said to Dam Ho.

"Please be careful."

"…"

"And I hope we can meet again."

Dam Ho looked at her for a moment then nodded. But in the end he said nothing and drove Black Ghost to disappear from her view.

Gi Ye-hwa watched Dam Ho until the end.

She thought Dam Ho was indifferent for not looking back, but on the other hand, that appearance was like Dam Ho. So she wasn't disappointed.

Finally when Dam Ho completely disappeared, she turned around and said to Life-Taking Squad.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!"

Life-Taking Squad followed her with vigorous answers.

***

Not long after Blue Sky Alliance entered Xunyang's fortress, the Demon Cult's forces finally arrived at close range.

The Demon Cult didn't immediately attack Blue Sky Alliance but formed military camps. The Demon Cult's forces were truly terrifying. They built a huge earthen fortress where Blue Sky Alliance could be seen far away and erected temporary barracks.

The sight of the earthen fortress with countless flags fluttering felt overwhelmingly intimidating just from seeing it from afar.

A martial artist with overwhelming presence that dominated all directions stood proudly atop the temporarily built earthen fortress's walls. It was precisely the Demon Cult's Cult Leader, Cheok Gwan-hyeol.

Behind Cheok Gwan-hyeol, the Demon Cult's leadership including Sang Han-cheon stood bowing with their backs bent. They didn't even breathe loudly and only looked at Cheok Gwan-hyeol's back.

Cheok Gwan-hyeol looked at Blue Sky Alliance's walls visible far away with his hands behind his back. It was so distantly far that it would only look like a tiny dot to ordinary people's eyes, but to his eyes it was visible as clearly as if right before him.

"They've gathered quite a lot."

The faces of martial artists arrayed on the walls were vividly visible.

Their tense expressions, passion, and even fighting spirit, Cheok Gwan-hyeol was vividly sensing.

If it were up to him, he wanted to leap into Blue Sky Alliance alone. But he exercised caution. Because of the unusual energies felt from Blue Sky Alliance.

Though he didn't know whose they were, several quite formidable energies were felt. They couldn't dare compare to himself, but their presence was quite large to just ignore.

Cheok Gwan-hyeol muttered.

"Who is it? It doesn't seem to be Fist Demon."

"I heard that Blue Sky Alliance's young Alliance Leader's martial prowess has increased dramatically recently."

The one who answered was Military Strategist Sang Han-cheon.

Only then did Cheok Gwan-hyeol look back.

"Who's that?"

"His name is Cho Yeon-woon. He used to be called Drunken Cloud Dragon, but now he's called Azure Dragon Divine Hero."

"Azure Dragon Divine Hero? Quite an arrogant alias."

"Yes! But he's shown quite a lot to just dismiss. Most of all, failing to completely wipe out the Martial Alliance's remnants was because of him."

"Hmm! Is that so?"

Cheok Gwan-hyeol made an indifferent expression. No matter how highly Sang Han-cheon evaluated Cho Yeon-woon, he didn't catch his eye. His only interest was in one person, Dam Ho.

"You've planned how to conquer them, right?"

"Of course, Cult Leader."

"Good! I entrust all of Blue Sky Alliance's conquest to the Military Strategist. Everyone follow the Military Strategist's orders."

"We obey!"

Instantly the leaders behind Sang Han-cheon answered in unison.

Cheok Gwan-hyeol turned and descended the earthen fortress without further thought. The place he headed after descending the earthen fortress was the most splendid barracks. That was precisely Cheok Gwan-hyeol's quarters.

Inside the quarters was a large armchair.

Cheok Gwan-hyeol sat in the armchair and opened his mouth.

"Annihilation King!"

"Yes! Cult Leader."

With the answer, a man wearing a pure white cloak appeared from the empty air. It was precisely his confidant, White-Winged Annihilation King No Gun-sang.

"You still haven't found that old man's whereabouts?"

"I apologize, my lord."

"The old man is near here."

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's certain! I can feel that old man's gaze. Surely that old man is somewhere not far from here. So narrow the search radius to around here."

"Understood. I'll do so."

No Gun-sang withdrew with his answer.

Left alone, Cheok Gwan-hyeol buried himself deeper in the armchair.

"Old man."

Others might not know, but Cheok Gwan-hyeol could clearly feel it. His gaze.

The reason Cheok Gwan-hyeol entrusted all attacks on Blue Sky Alliance to Sang Han-cheon was because of him who was watching from somewhere.

"Old man, I don't know what you're aiming for, but it won't go as you wish."

Tsssss!

Fierce demonic energy flowed from his body and filled the barracks.