Absolute Regression

Chapter 605: What Awaits Us

“If you’re the one who will change the fate of the martial world?”

It would have been nice if he’d said that their relationship might change too, but the Sword King remained cold and resolute.

“Even so, our relationship won’t change.”

Geom Mugeuk looked at him with desperate eyes, but the answer remained unchanged.

In truth, Geom Mugeuk had expected him to respond this way. They had built a special bond up to this point, but it wasn’t to the extent that they would stand side by side.

After all, the other person wasn’t just anyone—he was the Sword King, who had once been the First King among the Twelve Zodiac Kings. How could one easily sway such a person’s heart?

No, more than that, it was still a relationship where death at his hands was possible. They had agreed to face off in the arena.

Geom Mugeuk walked up to the Secret Box and embraced it.

“I’ve been forsaken. Send me back three hundred years.”

The Sword King watched his theatrical display and let out a small laugh. Clearly, he had wanted to see that side of him again.

As he caressed the Secret Box, Geom Mugeuk suddenly asked,

“Is it because of the debt?”

They had talked about this before. When asked why he had joined hands with them, the Sword King had replied that he owed them a debt.

Turning to face him, Geom Mugeuk spoke earnestly.

“If it’s because of that debt, then take this and clear it all. This Divine Relic—I’ll give it to you!”

Then the Sword King leaned in close and asked,

“Why are you showing off with something that belongs to me?”

Geom Mugeuk shot back without backing down.

“How is this yours, instructorr? It’s mine.”

“Yours?”

“You promised to give me everything in this room!”

—Give me everything in this room.

That was what Geom Mugeuk had said right before entering this final chamber.

“I never said I agreed to that.”

Of course, it was Geom Mugeuk’s forced interpretation. He had gone through so much trouble dismantling the mechanism in the underground of the Golden Dragon Martial Hall just to get this Secret Box. There was no way he’d hand it over quietly.

“Didn’t you see just now? I came out of this Divine Relic. I’m telling you, I’m not an ordinary person.”

The Sword King couldn’t argue with that.

If this truly was something that could change the fate of the martial world—if this Divine Relic had chosen its owner—then wouldn’t the Young Cult Leader be the one to change the martial world’s fate, and at the same time, be the rightful owner of this Divine Relic?

Seeing him unable to say a word, Geom Mugeuk grew awkward instead.

“If you act like this, I won’t be able to keep pretending to the end, you know?”

The Sword King approached the Secret Box behind Geom Mugeuk. He reached out and touched it. As it had over the past few days, the only thing it permitted him was this coldness.

He withdrew his hand from the Secret Box and said,

“If you kill me, you can have it.”

Geom Mugeuk remained silent.

“Why are you silent?”

“I’m thinking. Thinking whether I want it badly enough to kill you, instructor.”

He looked as if he were truly considering it.

“But I don’t think I do.”

The Sword King stared at Geom Mugeuk. The problem was that such words sounded sincere.

“If you want to change the fate of the martial world, you might need this.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re more important to me than this Secret Box.”

The Sword King looked at Geom Mugeuk with suspicion.

“Don’t tell me…”

That deeper look in his eyes after returning, the more vibrant energy in him—

“You went in and gained something, didn’t you? So now you don’t need this anymore? It’s empty, isn’t it? That’s why you’re trying to give it to me?”

Geom Mugeuk didn’t lie to him.

“You’re really quick to catch on.”

In truth, it was only half true. Geom Mugeuk glanced at the Secret Box as he spoke.

“It’s true I gained something, but it’s also true this isn’t just an empty shell.”

Because the one connected to the small Secret Box was still out there. No one could know when or how it would present another surprise.

“Then why are you trying to give it up?”

Because if fate truly existed, it would reconnect him with it wherever it was.

And so, he could focus on this relationship.

“I already told you. You’re more important to me, instructor.”

“What do you even know about me!”

“Isn’t it better when you don’t know each other too well?”

At that moment, the Sword King flinched as Geom Mugeuk’s words continued.

“If we get to know each other more, we might be disappointed by things we didn’t know, maybe even grow tired of one another. But not right now. What’s inside this person? What is it that makes him so magnetic? What makes me try to convince someone who might kill me?”

“Enough!”

Along with the Sword King’s shout, a shoe flew through the air.

Geom Mugeuk caught the flying shoe in his hand.

“If you’d used this shoe as a surprise attack, I’d be dead now. You threw it like a joke before, so I was careless and caught it without thinking. But why didn’t you attack? Why didn’t you kill me and go back, saying, ‘I got the Divine Relic and avenged my fallen comrades!’ Why didn’t you take the credit?”

The Sword King looked down at the remaining shoe on his waist.

“There’s still one left. So stop talking nonsense. You really might die.”

What angered the Sword King was the growing realization that he didn’t want to kill the Young Cult Leader.

“What if our relationship changes? Are you trying to use me to uncover all the secrets of our organization? Planning to use me to kill them all?”

“No.”

“Then what? Are you asking me to become your subordinate?”

“That’s not it either.”

“Then what!”

Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.

“I know that you’re not someone who will stay by my side, instructor. I also know you’re the kind of person who’ll suddenly slip on those shoes one day and disappear far away.”

“Then why? Why do you keep shaking me like this?”

To the Sword King’s furious shout, Geom Mugeuk shouted even louder.

“If that bothers you, then you shouldn’t have shown up in front of me dressed like that—wearing shabby martial robes, your hair tied back, carrying a rusty iron sword anyone could buy at the street market, barefoot! You shouldn’t have appeared before someone like me, who’s doing everything he can to survive, dressed in that way while carrying the Black Demon Sword, layered in protective garments, wrapped tightly in finest-grade Celestial Silkworm Silk!”

“!”

“I can’t kill someone like that. No—I won’t. For my own sake, I won’t do something I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”

The Sword King was at a loss for words—he hadn’t expected to hear something like this.

What he felt in this moment was joy. He felt good. He didn’t know why, but he genuinely felt happy. So happy, in fact, that he wondered if he had ever felt this good before.

Breaking the awkward silence, the Sword King muttered gruffly,

“All this just because of my aura?”

Geom Mugeuk replied just as bluntly.

“‘Just’? That’s exactly what I longed for. That’s the freedom I wanted.”

“You’re a fool. If I looked free to you.”

“Then come to me. Repay your debts, throw off whatever’s tying you down, and come to me.”

“And if I do?”

Then came the most surprising thing Geom Mugeuk had said in their entire conversation—more shocking even than his claim of having returned from three hundred years ago.

“Please be my friend.”

The Sword King wore the most dumbfounded expression since they’d met. Instead of saying, “You lunatic, give it a rest,” he asked,

“Are you serious?”

“I’m serious. In this world, there are friendships that go beyond age, aren’t there?”

“Why friendship, of all the many possible relationships?”

“My master is probably waiting up there. So I don’t need another master. And he has come here with the Sword Supreme, probably right? Since there’s already a Sword-wielding Demon Supreme, I can’t put you in that role either. I like wandering alone, so I don’t need a bodyguard. And I’m the Young Cult Leader, so I have more than enough subordinates. That’s why—please become my friend. People always say I seem like an old man, so I think we’d get along just fine.”

The Sword King could feel it—Geom Mugeuk meant every word.

“Let’s be friends who see each other when we want, help each other when needed. Friends who, sometimes, throw shoes at each other.”

With that, he extended the shoe.

As the Sword King stared at the shoe for a moment and reached out to accept it, a sudden thought froze his expression.

“You said the Demon Supreme is waiting up there?”

“Yes. I’m sure he’s waiting for me.”

The Sword King let out a deep sigh. It was like waking abruptly from a pleasant dream.

“Then we can’t be friends.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because there’s someone up there waiting for me too.”

In other words, he believed the Demon Supremes had died.

“When you go up, you’ll be overcome with deep sorrow. Grieving the loss of your master and the Sword Supreme, you’ll draw your sword and turn it toward me. Even so, I understand.”

He was well aware of the Fist Demon King’s strength. And other masters had gone up with them.

“My master and the Sword Supreme would never have lost to anyone.”

“We’ve assessed the Demon Supreme’s strength. Those two couldn’t have handled him.”

The Sword King couldn’t hide the sorrow in his eyes.

“All that awaits us is an empty dueling arena where you and I will have to fight.”

In contrast, Geom Mugeuk’s eyes were full of faith.

“What if they’re standing on that stage safe and sound?”

*         *         *

“Father, I’ll stand guard. Please go in and get some rest.”

To Lee Ahn’s words, the Fist Demon King shook his head.

“I’m fine.”

Several days had passed, and Geom Mugeuk had yet to return.

During that time, the Fist Demon King never left the dueling arena. He ate there, and replaced sleep with meditation and breathing techniques.

Only now did Lee Ahn begin to understand. She had vaguely assumed Geom Mugeuk and her father were just in a master-disciple relationship, but her father cared for Geom Mugeuk far more deeply than she had imagined.

“Don’t worry too much. The Young Cult Leader will come back up, joking around like always.”

The Fist Demon King quietly nodded in response to Lee Ahn.

The reason he stayed at the arena wasn’t only because he wanted to be the one waiting when Geom Mugeuk came back up.

It was also because if anything urgent happened related to Geom Mugeuk, he wanted to be able to respond as quickly as possible. He didn’t want a momentary absence to become an eternal regret.

In a corner of the dueling arena, Yeon Baekin was also there.

He had cleaned up the corpses and shattered remnants, but he still hadn’t left.

It was a voluntary choice. Neither the Fist Demon King nor the One-Slash Sword Supreme paid him any attention, whether he stayed or left.

Yeon Baekin hadn’t given up hope yet. He waited only for the Sword King to rise from the underground. Where else could he go after abandoning the Golden Dragon Martial Hall? Mistaking his desperation for resolve, he endured to the bitter end.

Unlike the Fist Demon King, the One-Slash Sword Supreme moved about freely. She continued training her martial arts and rested comfortably.

She had only said one thing to Lee Ahn about Geom Mugeuk.

“Who’s worried about whom, really?”

Though she spoke like that, even she had begun to worry as the days passed without Geom Mugeuk reappearing.

‘Young Cult Leader, I know you love jokes, but this isn’t the kind of prank you should be playing.’

If he didn’t return by the end of today, she had resolved to suggest to the Fist Demon King that they descend together to check.

It was at that moment.

Srrrrrk.

The chair equipped with the mechanism began to lower.

Everyone present was taken by surprise. The One-Slash Sword Supreme leapt down and landed lightly behind the Fist Demon King. Lee Ahn also moved to stand behind her father, eyes fixed on where the chair had been.

Srrrrrk.

A short while later, the chair began to rise again.

The expressions of the three watchers hardened simultaneously.

Seated in the chair was not Geom Mugeuk—but the Sword King.

The Fist Demon King’s eyes turned icy as he assessed the man before him.

Hair tied back, barefoot, a plain iron sword at his waist.

Though he emitted no clear qi, it was immediately apparent that he was no ordinary master. If his presence was this heavy even while suppressing his qi?

The Fist Demon King clenched his fist more tightly than ever before.

Meanwhile, the Sword King, having ascended to the surface, was taken aback by the unexpected scene. Instead of the person who should have been there, it was the Demon Supremes who stood before him.

Around them were only traces of fierce battle. There was no sign of the Fist King.

From the look of things, it appeared that he, his disciple, and the other masters who came with him had all been killed.

The Fist Demon King asked in a low voice,

“Where is the Young Cult Leader?”

The Sword King could feel it. The man before him was stronger than he had anticipated. The One-Slash Sword Supreme behind him was no different. Their presence alone explained why the Fist King was not here.

The One-Slash Sword Supreme’s gaze also turned grave as she looked at the Sword King. He had a presence unlike any enemy she had faced until now.

Revealing her qi, she spoke in a cold tone.

“We asked where the Young Cult Leader is.”

Ssssshhhhhh!

In an instant, their qi clashed.

The spot where the Fist Demon King, One-Slash Sword Supreme, and Lee Ahn stood—along with the surrounding area—was filled with blades. It felt as though even a single step would slice flesh.

Among all those countless blades, one blade pointed directly at the Sword King.

Wind passed between those blades. It wasn’t strong, but it chilled the heart and soul.

As the qi of the three collided, a scene on the brink of violence unfolded.

The tension was drawn so taut that a single deep breath might snap it.

And just then—

Srrrrrk.

The chair began to lower once again.

And when it rose back up, it carried someone they were overjoyed to see.

“I knew it would be like this.”

Feeling the overwhelming qi that filled the air, Geom Mugeuk smiled as he spoke.

“That’s why I said I’d go up first, didn’t I?”

At that sight, the Fist King, the One-Slash Sword Supreme, and Lee Ahn finally let out a breath of relief. Geom Mugeuk had returned, exactly the same as ever.

His eyes met the Fist Demon King’s. Though his face was stern and expressionless as always, Geom Mugeuk could tell just by his gaze how earnestly he had waited for him.

The One-Slash Sword Supreme smiled with a face that said, ‘You’ve finally returned,’ and Lee Ahn, her legs giving out as her tension faded, sat down on the floor and beamed at him brightly.

Geom Mugeuk looked around.

The area was completely laid to waste from the fierce battle. Only the chair that led underground remained, and seeing that brought a wave of emotion within him. In that moment, he felt the heart of the Fist Demon King—who had left it there just for him.

The Fist Demon King stood in the center, with the One-Slash Sword Supreme and Lee Ahn to either side.

The three of them offered a formal fist-and-palm salute and bowed to Geom Mugeuk.

“We greet the Young Cult Leader.”

The Fist Demon King had taken down the Fist King and held this place for the sole purpose of saying that one line. For this very moment.

Geom Mugeuk also returned the salute, respectfully bowing.

“I believed you would wait for me.”

For the Fist Demon King, that was enough. To answer that belief—that was both the duty and joy of a man who had served since the days of the Cult Leader.

Geom Mugeuk turned toward the Sword King. The Sword King looked at him, his face filled with a swirl of emotions.

And Geom Mugeuk hoped that somewhere within those complex feelings, there was also relief.

“Now then, let’s continue where we left off.”