By Zephyria It’s Not Intentional (3)
“Why the face? Don’t you like my gift?”
“…No, Brother.”
Seong Mu-yeon’s complexion darkened. It was all in the past. Before he recalled his past life, when he too wanted to be recognized as the Cult Leader’s son, when that was all his life was about.
If he consumed the Demon Soul Spirit Pill, his body and soul would be tainted by Demonic Energy. He had to master Demonic Art and control it before the Demonic Energy clouded his mind. That meant he had to live as a demonic cultist to the bone until he died.
Never being able to escape the Demonic Cult, never being able to shed that name, becoming the very embodiment of the Demonic Cult.
Clack.
A white hand reached out and closed the spirit pill box.
“Brother?”
“I said it was a gift, but I can’t just give it to you.”
A graceful hand snatched the box from Seong Mu-yeon’s grasp. Soon, it disappeared into Seong Mu-ryong’s sleeve.
“If I give you a gift, shouldn’t you give me one in return?”
“Yes?”
“The gift I want isn’t much. I just want you to make a vow.”
Seong Mu-ryong rose from his chair and walked around the round table.
“A vow that you will never betray me. Not just with words, but with sincerity, with your life on the line, something that can never be broken….”
Seong Mu-ryong leaned against the table and gently cupped Seong Mu-yeon’s chin.
“Let me cast the Soul Restraint Curse.”
“Brother!”
Seong Mu-yeon hurriedly broke free from his grasp. In the process, the chair fell over, and the objects on the table crashed and shattered.
The Soul Restraint Curse was a terrifying technique that controlled the mind by sacrificing the target’s soul. Trying to break it forcibly could lead to mental collapse.
Seong Mu-yeon was quite bewildered that he didn’t seem like the brother he knew. As far as he knew, Seong Mu-ryong was the only person in the Demonic Cult he could feel any affection for.
It was said that being backstabbed by someone you trusted hurt the most, and it was true. Seong Mu-yeon doubted if he was the brother he knew.
Seong Mu-ryong slowly rose from the chair with a face so serene that one could never imagine he had said such terrifying words.
“Don’t worry. I won’t harm you in any way. I promise to only use it enough to ensure you don’t leave me, or the Demonic Cult.”
Seong Mu-ryong stepped over the debris on the floor and slowly approached. Seong Mu-yeon backed away but soon his back hit the wall.
“I won’t hurt you. You trust me, don’t you? Huh? Mu-yeon.”
“….”
Seong Mu-ryong firmly braced his hands on either side of him against the wall. He was trapped between the wall and his arms.
Seong Mu-ryong drooped his eyebrows and trailed off.
“You’ve been away from the Demonic Cult, so you probably don’t know. While you were gone, the Cult Leader, no, Father, collapsed.”
“….”
Seong Mu-yeon swallowed hard. In the end, the Cult Leader had collapsed.
“It’s a tragic thing. Look at us brothers, who have lost our father after my mother and your mother. We don’t even have time to grieve, and we’re already pointing swords at each other.”
“…Brother, what happened?”
“The fourth one is dead, and the sixth one has disappeared.”
‘Already?’
Only then could Seong Mu-yeon understand the change of heart that had occurred in Seong Mu-ryong.
“How could this happen as soon as Father collapsed! The eldest brother has also been the target of several assassination attempts. In this situation, we must be able to trust each other.”
“…Brother.”
In the end, a fierce succession battle had begun among the seven Young masters of the Demonic Cult.
It was only natural to be anxious.
Seong Mu-ryong had been trying to maintain at least a minimal level of friendship with the other brothers besides Seong Mu-yeon. Of course, they were in different positions, but this incident seemed to be a shock in itself to him, who was the only one among the brothers with a sense of humanity.
‘Even so, is this something you can do to a beloved younger brother?’
Seong Mu-ryong wore his usual gentle smile.
“Yeon, this brother doesn’t want to suspect or harm you. That’s why. The Soul Restraint Curse itself is not a dangerous technique at all. It’s the side effects of misusing it that are scary. If you trust me, there won’t be any problems.”
Seong Mu-ryong whispered sweetly. His voice was as gentle as if he were coaxing a child.
“Huh? Yeon, you trust your brother, don’t you?”
“….”
Seong Mu-yeon clenched his fist.
That was not it.
“I think you’re mistaken about something, Brother.”
“Huh?”
“That’s not what it means to trust someone.”
Seong Mu-yeon’s face, which had been raised, was now coldly calm. There was not a trace of helplessness or fear left.
“How can you gain trust by suppressing freedom? How can I trust you when you don’t trust me?”
The smile on Seong Mu-ryong’s face cracked.
“Do you really want to trust me? If so, why don’t you give me a chance?”
Baek Ryeo-il gave him another chance because he wanted to trust him even though he couldn’t trust himself.
That was trust.
“…You.”
A terrifying aura began to emanate from Seong Mu-ryong. He was no longer smiling.
It was at that moment.
Bang-!
With an ear-splitting roar, the wall burst open. Shattered debris and hazy dust filled the room.
After a while, as the dust settled, the identity of what had broken the wall was revealed.
“…I thought you weren’t going to run away.”
Baek Ryeo-il had a terrifying face like a demon. He should have been scared, but Seong Mu-yeon was so glad to see him that tears welled up in his eyes.
“Heartless Sword Baek Ryeo-il.”
Seong Mu-ryong recognized him at once. He turned his body to block the space between Seong Mu-yeon and Baek Ryeo-il. His broad back naturally blocked the view.
“Who are you?”
“I heard you were bullying my brother.”
“Ha, Seong Mu-yeon. Did you run to your brother to tattle?”
“I did not!”
Seong Mu-yeon tried to stand on tiptoe and stretch out as much as possible, but it was no use.
“A Demonic Cult hick should just stay quietly in his hick town. What brings you crawling in here?”
Swish.
With a chilling warning, Baek Ryeo-il drew his sword.
Seong Mu-yeon saw the scabbard that had been thrown to the floor.
His heart sank. For a swordsman to discard his scabbard meant that he would surely take the opponent’s life.
Seong Mu-ryong sneered.
“There is no land in this Central Plains that I cannot tread.”
Seong Mu-ryong also took out a sword from his sleeve and drew it.
As the two masters began to confront each other, their auras swirled and collided. Even the surrounding air sharpened its teeth.
The vibrations of their inner force caused the floor and the objects on the side table to roll around.
The one who was dying there was Seong Mu-yeon.
“Ugh….”
When Seong Mu-yeon couldn’t bear it and let out a small groan, the two men turned their heads at the same time. In an instant, the momentum subsided.
Baek Ryeo-il and Seong Mu-ryong both leaped through the hole in the wall, as if they had agreed to it.
The next moment, a tremendous explosion erupted in the air. The dark night sky briefly brightened and then darkened again. Below, the screams of the common people could be heard. Baek Ryeo-il and Seong Mu-ryong were entangled in a fight.
Seong Mu-yeon suddenly came to his senses. He leaned out through the hole in the wall, but the two men were hidden from view by the roof and walls.
He hurriedly ran down the stairs. His feet kept tangling, and he almost rolled down. He forced his weakening legs to move and went downstairs.
‘There’s no one in the world you can trust. What? Soul Restraint Curse?’
That was the same as saying he would play with him as he pleased. From the moment the curse was cast, Seong Mu-yeon would live a life that moved according to his gestures. He thought Seong Mu-ryong was a good guy because he had been good to him all along, but it was all a misunderstanding.
‘There’s a limit to how much you can look down on someone.’
The weak were guilty. That was the truth of the martial world.
“Huff, huff!”
Finally, Seong Mu-yeon came down to the first floor and, seeing that no one was there, ran out into the street.
“Huff, huff, huff!”
The moment he looked up, something flew violently and crashed right to Seong Mu-yeon’s left.
Thwack-!
The person who crashed not only dug deeply into the ground but also broke through the wall and was pushed back. Seong Mu-ryong staggered to his feet from the debris that had been a wall until just now.
He roughly wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve and twisted his lips.
“…Not bad.”
Soon, he leaped again and disappeared.
“…….”
Seong Mu-yeon stood there like a stone statue next to him.
“…Hic.”
The figures of the two men could be faintly seen a little distance away. They stepped on the roof, kicked off the wall, and swung their swords at each other.
At first glance, it seemed like they were evenly matched, but Baek Ryeo-il was clearly superior. To fight him on equal terms, it would take the First Young master or an Elder.
Bang-! Thwack-!
It was fortunate that Baek Ryeo-il was very angry right now; if he had been even a little calmer, he would have mercilessly cut off Seong Mu-ryong’s head long ago.
“Don’t interfere! This is my fight!”
Seong Mu-ryong shouted in anger at the Black Shadow Unit who were twitching around, looking for a chance to intervene.