Absolute Regression

Chapter 621: Demonic Cult Knew Neither Blood Nor Tears

The air was heavy and foul.

Though they called it an interrogation room, in truth, it was a torture chamber. Shackles and chains hung from the walls, and on one side, various torture tools were laid out on a long desk as if on display.

Just what kind of places were they meant to pierce, for the needles to come in such a variety of thicknesses?

There were sharp saws, daggers, and all manner of unsettling tools whose purpose was unclear.

And the brazier and branding iron set next to the desk—those certainly weren’t there to roast sweet potatoes.

The moment Gwak Yeong saw them, her whole body trembled on its own. It was not a fear she could suppress with willpower.

She forcibly turned her gaze away, only to catch sight of a red stain on the floor. Upon closer inspection, it was blood.

No matter how strong-willed she was, it was difficult to maintain composure in such an atmosphere. She could not shake off the fear that she might end up dying miserably under torture, buried somewhere in the backyard.

But soon enough, she slapped herself on the cheeks.

“Get a grip, Gwak Yeong! This is the path you chose.”

Back on the first day she had met that man, she had had the chance to escape through the White Dragon Branch Leader. She hadn't run. She hadn't told them anything.

Returning to the tea house to meet him again had been entirely her choice. It was a decision made after staying up through the entire night.

Why had she done it?

When she had looked back while walking away with the White Dragon Branch Leader, he had been watching her.

With an expressionless gaze that revealed no emotion.

Perhaps it had been that very expressionless face he showed, in a moment where annoyance or anger would have been understandable, that had drawn her in. In a situation where any response—anger, a smile—would have felt unpleasant, he had shown none.

Just then!

Creeeeak.

The screech of a metal door startled her. Her heart pounded as if it might burst.

The heavy iron door opened, and two people entered. A wave of disappointment passed through her heart. She had hoped it would be him—but the ones who entered were Branch Leader Ho Myeong and a subordinate.

“If you follow the instructions, it won’t take long.”

At Ho Myeong’s words, Gwak Yeong pleaded.

“Please bring that person from before.”

“He is an esteemed guest.”

“Then please bring that esteemed guest. I’ll tell him everything.”

Gwak Yeong instinctively sensed it. She must not speak to these people.

What would happen if she revealed everything?

They would extract the information and then kill her. Yes, they were demons—it was well within their nature to do so.

That was why she had to bet her fate not on these people, but on the man from earlier. She had to secure a promise from him.

But Ho Myeong did not grant her request.

Instead, he pulled a small vial from within his robes and placed it on the table before her.

“Drink it.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a truth serum.”

Although she hadn’t learned martial arts, she worked for the Martial Alliance. She had heard rumors about this truth serum before.

“I’ve heard that people who refuse to confess until the end might die from the side effects or become completely broken.”

Ho Myeong nodded. There were various types of side effects. Sometimes, a person with simply bad luck might confess everything and still die. And just as she said, those who resisted revealing the truth were more prone to severe effects.

“There aren’t many people with that kind of willpower.”

“You’re looking at one right now.”

Gwak Yeong wasn’t bluffing. She truly had no intention of speaking to these people, and she trusted in her own will. That was exactly why she was worried she might die from the side effects.

“You don’t want me to die either, do you?”

Gwak Yeong tried her best to suppress the fear in her expression and appear confident.

“So please, bring that person.”

Of course, it didn’t work on Ho Myeong. He could have suppressed her blood vessels and forced her to drink it, but he chose not to.

At his signal, the subordinate who had entered with him lit the brazier and placed the branding iron on top.

Chiiiiik.

Before long, the branding iron turned red-hot.

“Don’t bother trying to scare me with fire. I’ve helped out with ironworks since I was young, so I’m not afraid of fire. It’s practically a friend to me.”

“It’ll hurt more when a friend does it.”

At Ho Myeong’s silent command, the subordinate approached her, branding iron in hand.

He brought the iron close to her face. The most effective way to instill fear in a person was to target their face—especially for a woman, it was a natural point of terror.

But Gwak Yeong didn’t shut her eyes. She didn’t scream. She stared straight at the approaching branding iron with her eyes wide open, gritting her teeth.

Just before the iron touched her face—

A voice came from behind.

“Wait.”

Thankfully, the iron stopped before it branded her.

The one standing at the now-open iron door was Geom Muyang.

As he stepped inside, the subordinate holding the branding iron exited, leaving only Ho Myeong behind.

Geom Muyang walked over and stood in front of her.

“Why did you ask them to bring me?”

Geom Muyang had heard her words from outside the door. He could feel it—no matter what form of torture they used, they would never get what they wanted from her.

With this level of resolve, just as she had said, she really might die from the truth serum’s side effects.

“In the carriage, I told you. I’ve staked my life and fate on you.”

Still, Geom Muyang’s expression remained cold.

“What do you know about me?”

“You said you believe in your feelings.”

Geom Muyang glanced at the truth serum placed in front of her.

“Drink it.”

With trembling eyes, Gwak Yeong looked down at the truth serum and picked it up.

Then, after removing the stopper, she looked directly into Geom Muyang’s eyes and drank it down in one go.

After a short while, her face turned slightly red as the effects of the drug began to manifest.

Now, the real questioning began.

“Why did you approach me?”

It was something that couldn't be ruled out—perhaps she had approached him on purpose.

“You were the one who approached me. You came to my seat, didn’t you?”

Her voice was languid, as though she had just woken from sleep.

“Were you ordered to approach me?”

“I wasn’t.”

“Then why did you come to the tea house again the next day?”

Gwak Yeong’s pupils were unfocused and hazy.

“I thought you might be able to help me.”

“The reason?”

“It was a feeling. I thought, ‘I’m glad it’s this person who came to capture me.’”

Gwak Yeong frowned slightly as she spoke.

“Is this how it feels to take a truth serum? I’m dizzy… and my stomach feels so nauseated.”

Normally, when someone consumed a truth serum, they answered in an unconscious state.

The fact that she was aware she had taken the truth serum meant her mental strength was extraordinary. And in this situation, that wasn’t necessarily a good sign.

Geom Muyang looked down at her without speaking for a moment.

Then, Gwak Yeong suddenly smiled faintly and said something entirely unexpected.

“You’re handsome.”

Geom Muyang let out a scoff of disbelief.

“Don’t just ask me things. I want to ask something too. This scar… is it really that ugly?”

She was no longer in her right mind. She was unconsciously speaking whatever thoughts came to her.

“Don’t laugh. This is my scar of honor. Do you know how scared I was back then? Do you?!”

Drip.

Blood began to flow from her nose.

“Oh? It’s bleeding. I didn’t lie, but I’m bleeding.”

Ho Myeong quickly spoke up.

“The side effects are starting to show.”

“Give her the antidote.”

“Yes.”

Ho Myeong gave Gwak Yeong the antidote. It was a medicine that neutralized the effects of the truth serum.

After a short while, Gwak Yeong regained her senses.

“What happened?”

“The side effects began, so we gave you the antidote.”

Relieved at the thought that she had narrowly escaped death, she sighed.

“Thank you.”

“It’s not over yet.”

“No, it’s already over. When I came looking for you the next day, it was already over. The only thing left now is whether or not you’ll make that promise to me.”

“What promise?”

Back in the carriage, she had asked for one promise in exchange for not firing her Blitz Blade.

“Please save me.”

Of course, he had assumed it was to herself.

“Please save my younger sibling.”

Only now did Geom Muyang begin to understand. Why she had forged the hidden weapon. Why she had come to find him and tried so hard to make an unreasonable request.

She had never been trying to save herself.

“My sibling is being held hostage by them.”

She clenched both her fists tightly.

“After our parents passed away, my younger sibling was the only family I had left. There couldn’t be a kinder child in the world than that one.”

One natural question arose.

“Why didn’t you inform the Martial Alliance?”

If she were an artisan of the Iron Workshop under the Martial Alliance, the Alliance would have mobilized to rescue her sibling.

“They told me... they had someone high up in the Martial Alliance on their side. That even if I tried to report them in secret, they’d know first.”

“You believed that?”

She didn’t seem like the type to believe such things easily.

Then she revealed something truly surprising.

“I had no choice but to believe them. I heard those words *inside* the Martial Alliance’s Inner Compound, in my own quarters.”

The fact that outsiders could freely come and go inside the Inner Compound of the Martial Alliance meant, just as they claimed, someone high-ranking was indeed involved.

“They said if I made it just once, they’d release my sibling and never come looking for me again.”

She let out a sigh of regret.

“They broke that promise. Stupid me! It was a promise never meant to be kept in the first place.”

The fact that they didn’t release the sibling likely meant they intended to coerce her into making more hidden weapons.

“Why did I stake my fate on you? Because I couldn’t keep letting myself be dragged around by them. Even if I did get dragged back, in the end, they’d kill my sibling. I was sure of it after they broke their promise this time.”

At those words, Geom Muyang nodded faintly, as if acknowledging she had judged the situation correctly.

“You can use me, or even kill me. You can burn me with that branding iron, or make me drink ten bottles of truth serum. I’ll tell you everything I know. But please—save my sibling.”

She didn’t hide her emotions. She felt being honest with this man would be more effective than any shallow trick.

“I need to negotiate with you using the information I know, but I’m too scared of your people to even try.”

Geom Muyang gave no response.

Gwak Yeong pleaded again.

“Even if the Demonic Cult truly knows neither blood nor tears... you must have siblings too, right? If you do, then you can understand how I feel, can’t you?”

Then, after a long silence, Geom Muyang finally spoke.

“I’m someone who once wished my sibling would die.”

For a moment, Gwak Yeong flinched.

“Please pretend you didn’t hear that just now.”

She tried pleading in another way.

“Then let me spend the rest of my life doing whatever you ask. I’ll make anything you want. I don’t know how high your rank is, but if you take me in, I’m sure you’ll be promoted.”

From the side, Ho Myeong quietly chuckled.

“My career is already over anyway. I’ve tarnished the honor of the Iron Workshop of the Martial Alliance. How could I live on as an artisan now? I’ll make things for you instead. You saw it, didn’t you? That little Blitz Blade? I made it myself. I’ll create anything you want.”

Still, Geom Muyang said nothing.

In the end, Gwak Yeong burst out.

“You heartless man! When someone pleads like this, anyone else would at least offer a fake promise!”

Geom Muyang spoke bluntly.

“I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”

Yes, that was exactly the kind of person she had sensed he was—and that was why she had made her desperate gamble.

“If you don’t help me, I’ll die, become a ghost, and haunt your dreams every night!”

She tried everything—from threats to appeals for compassion. Appealing to a demon’s compassion, of all things.

“If helping others isn’t your nature, then just this once in your entire life—help someone. Who knows? Maybe when you fall into hell, the King of the Underworld will forgive you for that one good deed.”

But Geom Muyang remained unmoved. She realized then that this impregnable fortress would not fall to begging or persuasion.

‘Right... I must be crazy. A demon is still a demon. What intuition, what gut feeling?’

She stared silently down at the back of her hand for a moment.

“You know what really makes me angry? That all of this happened because of *my own* effort. The effort I put in—coming out alone at night, hammering away without sleep—ended up being what killed my sibling. I’m furious. And it’s so unfair.”

Even though she had endured the branding iron almost touching her face, now, for the first time, a single tear fell from her eyes. It rolled down her burned hand, hot as the sorrow in her heart.

‘I’m sorry. Your sister is sorry. But even if we’re reborn, please be born as my sibling again. I won’t be an artisan next time. Never again. I’m so sorry… truly.’

It had been a misfortune that struck her life like a natural disaster.

And yet, as if to show that not all things in this world were only calamities, a soft voice reached her ears.

“I’ll save your sibling.”

Gwak Yeong’s head snapped up. Geom Muyang had spoken only that one sentence, nothing more. And because of that, she knew—it was real. This man was someone who kept his promises.

Geom Muyang gave Ho Myeong an order.

“Get the full details of her testimony about those people. Leave nothing out.”

“Yes, understood.”

And then, Geom Muyang turned and walked toward the iron door.

Just before he stepped out, Gwak Yeong shouted after him.

“Why?”

It probably wasn’t the best choice to question the one who just promised to save her sibling, but she had to know.

Without turning back, Geom Muyang left behind an answer she never expected.

“Let’s just say it’s because today… some good iron came in.”