By Zephyria 
HF 40
===
Still, they could have left one empty chair. Ho-yeon felt that the people of the Demonic Shadow Martial House, who seemed so close among themselves, were truly heartless. Even if Mu-gyeong had a tendency to speak unkindly, he wasn’t a bad person. Ho-yeon reflected on how he, too, had acted awkwardly toward him for a while.
Moreover, looking back at the events of two days ago, there seemed to be a definite problem with Mu-gyeong’s body. Foolishly, Ho-yeon had been intoxicated by the heat Mu-gyeong gave off and had fallen fast asleep. Since then, Mu-gyeong had not been seen.
I should be kinder to him from now on. Ho-yeon made this resolution once more as he waited for the martial arts duel.
He hadn’t brought his Jiusan today, but since Abok had brought some ewowawa(1), his hands felt less empty. Inside the white, round ewowawa, which looked like a snowball, were sesame seeds preserved in honey, making them very sweet. Fearing that eating too many might upset his stomach, Ho-yeon ate them as slowly as possible.
Below the dueling stage, the demonic practitioners preparing for the match were visible. There seemed to be at least thirty of them, with ages ranging from their teens to their fifties. As if to gain the upper hand in a battle of wills, every one of them emanated a thick demonic energy.
Since he mostly stayed in the Eumbyeol Hall, Ho-yeon had rarely witnessed the duels of martial artists. He thought he might have seen one during the Palace Lord’s birthday celebration when he was very young and holding his parents’ hands, but it was now so distant that he could hardly remember.
Ho-yeon diverted his attention elsewhere, careful not to uncover the past he had kept hidden deep within the mist.
“But aren’t you punished if you don’t participate in the Cult Leader’s birthday?”
Ho-yeon offered some ewowawa to Abok, but Abok politely declined.
“I have never failed to participate, so I do not know.”
Ho-yeon chewed the white ewowawa, worrying that Mu-gyeong might be punished. Fortunately, the rabbit mask only covered up to his nose, so there was no discomfort in eating.
After a short wait, the tournament to determine the fifteenth rank began. The first match was between the Mad Wind Blade Demon, Kang Cheol-gang, and the Thunder Fire Demonic Palm, Cheon-gwon. The duel between Kang Cheol-gang, who wielded a massive blade, and Cheon-gwon, who used palm techniques, ended in a lackluster victory for Kang Cheol-gang.
“Brother Kang! Can you hear the roar of my palm power!”
Cheon-gwon reached out toward Kang Cheol-gang, even making “shoo-shoo-shook” sounds with his mouth to mimic the sound of a palm blast. Cheon-gwon, who launched a palm technique imbued with demonic energy while avoiding the blade swung by Kang Cheol-gang, was pushed out of the dueling stage and suffered a disqualification loss. Absurdly, he had been bounced back by the recoil of his own palm technique.
Because the first duel was so ridiculous, the atmosphere in the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons plaza reached a peak of amusement. Ho-yeon briefly forgot about Mu-gyeong and watched the subsequent duels. From the second match onward, proper duels unfolded, and the ewowawa in Ho-yeon’s hand quickly vanished as he watched with excitement.
However, seeing that the Cult Leader’s throne remained empty, it seemed he had no intention of emerging from his closed-door cultivation despite it being his birthday. For Ho-yeon, this was still a relief. Of course, it was a bit funny that they were celebrating a masterless birthday among themselves. He wondered if that was how fanatically loyal they were to the Cult Leader.
It was then, while the atmosphere was heating up. Someone intruded upon the dueling stage. It was a man wearing a ridiculous Haetae mask. The spectators, including Ho-yeon, all looked on with puzzled eyes, assuming it was some unusual entertainment to liven up the banquet.
“Get down this instant!”
Ho-yeon whipped his head around at the harsh voice. The one shouting was the head of the Discipline Hall, who enforced the laws and rules of the demon sect. Since the person managing the tournament was shouting so loudly, Ho-yeon finally guessed that this was no simple spectacle.
Suddenly, the man in the Haetae mask screamed with a desperate intensity, as if coughing up blood.
“The Blood God descends! Eternal immortality!”(2)
At the same time, he ripped off his blood-red cloak, revealing something hanging in clusters from his side.
“Thunderclap bombs! Get away!”
“It’s the Blood Cult!”
Boom! The shouts of the demonic practitioners were followed by a thunderous roar from the dueling stage. The thunderclap bombs attached to the man’s body erupted in flashes of light. As the Blood Cultist met his death along with the thunderclap bombs, the center of the dueling stage exploded.
Blood and flesh scattered, and cultists screamed and fell over from the shockwave spreading like a storm. The roar did not stop with one blast but erupted in succession. It seemed thunderclap bombs had been hidden beneath the stage as well, as the stone slabs were shattered and broken beyond recognition.
Boom! Strong explosions also echoed from behind the pillars of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons. Red flames and black smoke instantly covered the plaza, and Ho-yeon was swept away by the crowd in the midst of the chaos.
“Young Master Wi!”
Abok reached out, but Ho-yeon was helplessly pushed into the crowd of people trying to escape. The ewowawa in his hand fell to the ground and was ruthlessly trampled. Ho-yeon’s rabbit mask was ripped off, exposing his white hair and face, but he was quickly hidden again in the turmoil.
“Everyone, evacuate!”
As soon as someone’s shout, reinforced with internal energy, ended, explosions continued to erupt. It was toward the main gate of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons where Ho-yeon was being swept.
Amidst the tangled crowd, Ho-yeon looked toward where the five Great Demonic Elders had been, and that place was also completely destroyed. With people bleeding and others screaming as parts of their bodies were blown away, the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons resembled a painting of hell.
Boom! The moment a roar erupted right beside him, Ho-yeon instinctively felt he had to release his sealed internal energy. However, someone gripped his arm tightly. He was spun around violently, and his blue robe fluttered from the recoil. Looking up hurriedly, he saw someone wearing a black wolf mask holding him.
Thunderclap bombs exploded again behind the man’s back. The large dragon-patterned wooden statues decorating the area around the dueling stage exploded in a chain reaction, scattering the hidden weapons contained within them in all directions.
A dark red aura surged from the man’s entire body. The internal power that had been suppressed in his dantian rose explosively, and a thunderous roar, as if the earth itself were screaming, soared from the floor of the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.
The man’s energy extending in all directions was not merely a storm. It was closer to a massive repulsive force that distorted space. From that impact, the wolf mask cracked and fell to the ground, and long hair cascaded down with it.
…Mu-gyeong.
Ho-yeon had known it was him from the moment he was held in his arms, but he could not call out his name. Just then, people wearing beast masks on the stone walls surrounding the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons threw lit thunderclap bombs. Even throughout the plaza, those presumed to be Blood Cultists detonated themselves with thunderclap bombs attached to their bodies.
Mu-gyeong, holding Ho-yeon in his arms, raised and extended one arm. Ho-yeon’s vision was filled with a dark red aura. The powerful energy, more than enough to fill the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons, caused the dust and sparks scattering in the air to crumble and vanish as if hitting a giant wall.
The internal power, extending with unstoppable momentum, carried an overwhelming pressure and slammed the Blood Cultists on the stone walls down to the ground. Every one of them had their heads crushed and limbs twisted.
Behind Mu-gyeong, demonic energy wavered like a giant shadow, covering the sky. His eyes, turning red, were so intensely crimson they could be called suppressed madness, and his demonic energy was as deep as an abyss yet purer than the great void.
The thunderclap bombs pouring from the walls exploded in mid-air before they could even touch the ground.
The bodies of the Blood Cultists who intended to self-detonate in the plaza were frozen motionless. Their forms were pressed down by Mu-gyeong’s internal power, bending grotesquely to the point where they slammed their own heads into the ground.
As Mu-gyeong lifted his gaze, the debris and flames scattering from the aftermath of the explosions instantly converged and lost their movement, as if trapped in a giant curtain. Soon, they became bolts of lightning striking the earth, and an unbelievable, silent stillness dominated the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons.
As if nothing had happened, not a single flame or speck of dust moved. Ho-yeon forgot that he was even holding his breath.
“Invincible Divine Cult…!”
Then, a voice imbued with deep internal power broke the silence. Ho-yeon slowly turned his head like a dazed person to look at the one who spoke.
It was none other than Mu-gyeong’s father, Mu Seong-pyeong.
“Invincible Divine Cult! Ten thousand demons submit!”
Mu Seong-pyeong of the Demonic Shadow Martial House shouted at the top of his lungs once more and knelt. Following his lead, everyone soon bowed their bodies. The massive shout shaking the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons spread like wildfire.
“Advent of the Heavenly Demon! Ten thousand demons submit!”
As the voices of thousands merged into one, it felt as if an earthquake was shaking the Hall of Ten Thousand Demons. A powerful wind swept past Ho-yeon’s body. Ho-yeon very slowly lifted his head and looked up at Mu-gyeong in bewilderment.
Amidst the madness of worshipping a god, he simply stood silently, like the unwavering Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.
The person before Ho-yeon’s eyes now was the being at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The Heavenly Demon, Cheon Mu-gyeong.
Footnotes:
Ewowawa: A white rice cake made from glutinous rice.
Blood God descends, Eternal immortality: As the Blood God returns, we shall live forever and never die.