Absolute Regression

Chapter 591: If Things Go Wrong Just Because They’re Overturned

When Yeon Baekin entered the office, his heart sank.

In the brief moment he had stepped out, someone had entered his office. This quiet intruder stood at the window as if he were the owner, looking out, his broad back completely covering the entire window.

Just by seeing that back, he knew who it was.

It was none other than the father of Lee Ahn, who had been pressing him about his daughter’s whereabouts.

The fact that he had entered despite a subordinate standing guard at the door showed just how skilled he truly was. It wasn’t as though he had come through the window either—his massive frame wouldn’t have fit through that opening.

Even before, he hadn’t seemed like an ordinary man. Now, seeing the massive fists clasped behind his back, Yeon Baekin felt as if he couldn’t breathe.

Even so, Yeon Baekin drew up his internal energy and spoke coldly.

“What are you doing?”

As always, fighting was a matter of spirit. If you yielded at the start, you would be pushed back to the end.

But he regretted it immediately.

The moment the Fist Demon King turned and looked at him, every hair on his body stood on end. Though he didn’t emit any killing intent, the opponent’s energy was not something one could stand against with mere courage or resolve. In fact, he looked even more terrifying than the day before.

“I came to ask you for a favor.”

The Fist Demon King was polite. That made it all the more frightening.

“What kind of favor?”

“Send out all the trainees right now.”

Yeon Baekin flinched in surprise.

“What do you mean by that?”

“For today, the Golden Dragon Martial Hall is closed.”

The Golden Dragon Martial Hall was far too large to disregard the trainees and engage in a fight. Surely, many trainees would get caught in the conflict and die.

Yeon Baekin could feel it in his gut. Something grave was going to happen at the Golden Dragon Martial Hall today.

“What exactly are you planning?”

The Fist Demon King looked at him with cold eyes and asked in return.

“And what about you?”

Yeon Baekin was terrified just from meeting his gaze, but he wouldn’t back down so easily. If he lacked the strength, there was still him underground.

“Who exactly are you?”

“Didn’t I say I’m Lee Ahn’s father?”

“Reveal your true identity.”

No ordinary trainee’s parent would dare to do something like this.

“I asked who you are!”

The Fist Demon King chose the fastest method. He revealed his demonic energy. Even without any aura, he had been terrifying, but now that the demonic energy emerged, Yeon Baekin’s legs began to tremble.

“I came from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”

“!”

At the moment he heard the words Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, Yeon Baekin’s stomach churned and dizziness swept over him.

That unshakable belief—he will take care of it, no matter who it is—suddenly shifted into doubt. Can he really handle this? Such was the presence of the Demonic Cult to the martial world.

This matter was taking place deep underground, so he had felt reassured that no one would know. But why—why was the Demonic Cult interfering at this final moment?

‘It’s them!’

The officials who had gone out from the underground! They had spread word to the Demonic Cult. That was how he misunderstood it.

In any case, he had to get through this moment.

“Why is the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult threatening us?”

“I believe you would know the reason better than I.”

He had intended to feign ignorance, but when his eyes met those of the Fist Demon King, he couldn’t bring himself to lie. The fear he felt now, with the demonic energy exposed, was a hundred times worse than when he was first interrogated about his daughter’s whereabouts.

As if to say there was no need for further conversation, the Fist Demon King turned back toward the window.

“Shut down the martial hall at once. A new door is about to open.”

Yeon Baekin could tell that the door he spoke of meant the Gate of Hell.

The instructors and teachers of the Golden Dragon Martial Hall stepped forward and began sending the trainees away.

“Everyone, go back for today.”

All the trainees were surprised. Never before had they been dismissed like this.

“Is something going on?”

“That’s none of your concern. Leave the martial hall immediately!”

Even the teachers, though they wanted to explain, could not. They didn’t know the reason themselves.

Just like that, the hundreds of trainees began to exit the martial hall. Even those who lived and slept inside were sent out, along with the cooks and all the workers handling miscellaneous chores.

As if some deadly toxin had spread within, the Golden Dragon Martial Hall was emptied in an instant.

At the end, the instructors and teachers stood in front of the main building and reported to Yeon Baekin, who had been watching the Grand Training Grounds.

“We have sent everyone out, as ordered.”

He thought now he would finally hear the reason.

“You all leave as well.”

“What?”

They were all taken aback. They never imagined that they would be dismissed. They had expected that with a formidable enemy approaching, he would ask them to stand and fight together.

If not that, then what in the world was he planning to do alone?

“What is going on?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

After sending out even the teachers and instructors, Yeon Baekin returned to his office.

The Fist Demon King was staring out at the Sparring Grounds through the window. It had been empty earlier, but once the trainees were gone, martial artists began gathering one after another. As if taking the place of the departed trainees, they streamed into the grounds—and there were many of them.

Among them, the Fist Demon King’s gaze was fixed on a man seated in the spectators’ area.

Just as the report from the Heavenly Communication Pavilion had stated, the man’s hands were wrapped in bandages. The man was also looking this way, and his presence was unmistakable.

More than that, though he was clearly aware of the Fist Demon King’s gaze, he did not move from his seat.

At that moment, Yeon Baekin’s voice came from behind.

“I did as you asked.”

The Fist Demon King turned to leave the office without a word. Just then, Yeon Baekin gathered his courage and spoke. He had to know what was about to happen.

“Are you really planning to turn my martial hall into a hell?”

“That’s why I sent everyone out. The ones who shouldn’t be in hell.”

With that final remark, the Fist Demon King left the room.

“And so, I’m the only one who stayed behind.”

*         *         *

Geom Mugeuk and the Sword King entered the room.

From the moment they stepped inside, they could tell. This was the final chamber.

No jewel, no elixir could compare to the mysterious energy flowing through this place.

The first thing that caught their eye was the pattern on the floor. It was the same as the one above the door earlier—a square with six small circles inscribed on the ground.

Not only the floor, but the surrounding walls were also covered in various patterns made up of squares and circles, in black and white, blue and red, yellow and purple.

Even without that, there was something else that confirmed this place was related to the Secret Box.

At the center of the room stood none other than the Secret Box itself.

The color and shape were identical. The only difference was that this version was as tall as a grown man—an enlarged version of the one Geom Mugeuk carried.

Upon getting closer to the large Secret Box, the mysterious energy within his body began to respond. The dormant energy stirred and began to awaken.

Geom Mugeuk looked at the Sword King. The Sword King was also staring at the Secret Box with trembling eyes. He was overwhelmed with emotion. At last, he had arrived at the place he had long sought.

“Is that it? The thing we’ve been searching for?”

Then came an unexpected answer.

“I don’t know.”

It seemed he, too, had entered without knowing what was inside this place.

“I was only told to bring back what’s stored here.”

At first, Geom Mugeuk thought someone like the Sword King wouldn’t accept a job without knowing exactly what he was seeking. But remembering what he had said inside the formation, it started to make sense.

“Once you bring that, your debt is repaid then.”

The Sword King nodded. Who was the one he owed? Was it Hwa Moogi? Or someone else entirely?

The Sword King slowly approached the Secret Box. He looked slightly flustered. He hadn’t expected the thing awaiting him to be such a large chunk of metal.

He carefully placed his hand on the Secret Box. But nothing happened. It was simply a cold mass of iron.

He examined the front, then stepped around to the side. Then he moved to the back, circled around, and returned to where he had started.

Geom Mugeuk silently observed his actions. Though he had asked to take everything in this space upon entering, the Sword King held the primary claim to whatever lay within. Geom Mugeuk acknowledged that.

Srrrk.

The Sword King's body floated into the air. He carefully landed atop the Secret Box and examined its upper surface. Then he descended again.

“There doesn’t seem to be any mechanism to open it.”

It appeared he had concluded that the box itself wasn’t the true objective.

“It's fine, go ahead and touch it.”

Only after those words did Geom Mugeuk step forward. The reason the Sword King felt favorable toward Geom Mugeuk wasn’t just because of his words—it was this very quality, the ability to restrain greed and wait.

Geom Mugeuk placed his hand on the Secret Box. Instantly, the energy within his body responded.

‘This Secret Box isn’t just a mimic of the outer form.’

The Sword King asked from behind.

“Could it be made of Millennial Cold Iron?”

It was a question born of doubt—had he failed to identify it properly? But could the Sword King have been mistaken?

“No, it’s just made of regular metal.”

A faint expression of disappointment passed over the Sword King's face.

Even if it were made of Millennial Cold Iron, he didn’t believe the box itself was the purpose. Millennial Cold Iron alone couldn't change the fate of the martial world.

One might argue that selling this massive slab of Millennial Cold Iron could shift the balance of the martial world, but if money had been the goal, they wouldn’t have sent him underground for this task.

“There has to be a way to open it.”

To the Sword King's comment, Geom Mugeuk nodded in agreement.

“I think so as well. There must be some kind of secret. Let’s try to uncover it together.”

The Sword King nodded. Somehow, he felt that if it were Geom Mugeuk, even the most difficult secret could be unraveled. Indeed, Geom Mugeuk was already thinking of things he had missed.

“Let’s flip it over and look at the bottom.”

The Sword King flinched in surprise. That thought hadn’t occurred to him.

It was definitely a good idea, but the Sword King hesitated for a moment. He worried that something might go wrong if they flipped it, but Geom Mugeuk immediately saw through his concern.

“If something could go wrong just from flipping it over, do you really think there’s anything that great inside?”

That made the Sword King laugh. He was right. Had he been alone, he would’ve spent hours agonizing over that one decision—but now, a simple answer had been given so easily.

Of course, Geom Mugeuk treated this massive Secret Box the same way he did the one he kept on him. Not only did he flip it without hesitation, but even if someone had drawn a smiling face on it, he wouldn’t have minded.

“All right, let’s flip it.”

The two of them turned the Secret Box over. There was no hidden passage beneath as they had hoped; the bottom surface was exactly the same as the other sides.

"I made you waste your time for nothing."

"No, it was a good idea."

From the start, Geom Mugeuk's thinking had always been different from his own.

Geom Mugeuk walked toward one of the walls. There stood a small cabinet, and inside were several books. There weren’t many—about ten volumes.

“In a place like this, important things could be hidden in plain sight, masked as trivialities.”

The Sword King joined him to look through them. Even if they didn’t lead to opening the iron box, there might be a clue somewhere. However, all the books were martial arts manuals.

“There are a few manuals here that the Hall Master would be pleased to see.”

Seeing martial arts manuals here confirmed that Yeon Baekin hadn't received an empty promise. Not that this meant they were truly thinking of him with sincerity.

“These manuals... I’ll give him half.”

That meant he would give Yeon Baekin a portion of what was left over.

And Geom Mugeuk sensed something more important. The phrase “I’ll give him half” implicitly meant nothing else could be given away.

For now, Geom Mugeuk took what was being offered.

“I don’t need half. I’ll just take one.”

Geom Mugeuk selected a single manual. It was a demonic art titled Heavenly Star Body—a technique that protected the body using internal energy.

“This was believed to be a lost demonic art from long ago… and it’s been here all this time.”

Heavenly Star Body was a protective demonic technique that generated a defensive energy field. What made this art valuable was that it could be used in conjunction with other defensive techniques.

Meaning it could be used simultaneously with techniques like Heavenly Demon Body Protection Technique or Thunderous Asura Fist’s Diamond Asura.

Ordinarily, it was most efficient to channel one’s internal energy into the strongest defense technique available. However, Geom Mugeuk possessed such an enormous amount of internal energy that he could allocate it across multiple defensive arts. Because of that, Heavenly Star Body could very well serve as another life-saving ability.

“How much stronger are you trying to become?”

“I must really have some kind of death anxiety. When I see techniques like this, I just can’t resist.”

After securing the manual, Geom Mugeuk began carefully inspecting the patterns on the wall. The Sword King checked the opposite wall.

They weren’t inside a formation, so if it came to it, they were ready to bring in supplies and endure while researching.

How long had they been examining the space?

Geom Mugeuk suddenly turned around, eyes squeezed shut.

“Ah! I’ve stared so hard my eyeballs are about to pop out. Let’s take a break. Just a short one.”

At those words, the Sword King responded bluntly without turning to look.

“Even if I find it, I can’t give it to you.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you so determined?”

“First, I’ll find it. Then, I’ll convince you, instructor.”

The Sword King wanted to understand the root of this greed.

“Why are you suddenly acting greedy?”

“It’s not sudden. I’ve always been a greedy person. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have come all the way down here.”

Geom Mugeuk leaned back against the Secret Box.

As the Sword King continued examining the wall’s patterns, Geom Mugeuk asked him a question.

“You said something that could change the fate of the martial world lies here.”

He added calmly,

“Then why did you bring me along?”

The Sword King gave no reply. He just kept staring at the wall, his gaze growing deeper.

“Huh? Huh?”

Thinking it was just another one of Geom Mugeuk’s antics, the Sword King didn’t turn around.

“Instructor!”

Only at the urgent cry did the Sword King finally look back at Geom Mugeuk.

In that instant, the Sword King’s eyes widened.

Geom Mugeuk was being pulled into the Secret Box. Most of his body had already been drawn in.

‘Secret Box, your father is devouring us.’

Was it absorption, not anything else? Even in this critical moment, Geom Mugeuk felt no fear. In fact, he felt a strange sense of peace. That’s why he didn’t resist the force pulling him in.

Suuuuuk.

The Sword King rushed forward to grab him. But by the time he reached out, Geom Mugeuk had already disappeared completely into the Secret Box.

The Sword King struck the spot where Geom Mugeuk had vanished. But the surface, as if it had never absorbed anyone, was simply a cold, solid chunk of iron.