Absolute Regression

Chapter 699: Why Do You Think Father Sent the Demon Supreme?

Cha Iran stood by the window, watching Geom Mugeuk walk away.

As if sensing her gaze, Geom Mugeuk turned back from a distance and waved his hand.

Cha Iran did not wave back, but Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly and continued walking.

Her eyes lifted toward the dawn sky. In the brightening light, the stars that had shone all night were fading away.

“Don’t smile like that at someone you’re soon going to kill.”

At her words, someone revealed themselves from the rooftop of the building across the street.

Dressed in fine clothes, with every detail of his appearance refined and his face painted stark white, it was Hwa Do-myeong.

“Don’t come here. A spectator is supposed to watch from across the street.”

She spoke in response to Hwa Do-myeong’s remark that he had come as a spectator this time.

But Hwa Do-myeong leapt lightly and slipped inside through the very window she had been looking out of.

“How could I just stand by when you were crawling drunkenly on the ground?”

“If the Young Cult Leader notices this, your neck will roll.”

“And yet he’s the merciful one who let you live even after seeing that drinking habit?”

At Hwa Do-myeong’s joke, Cha Iran laughed. It must have truly been a remarkable night.

“Wouldn’t it be too much of a waste to just spectate?”

Cha Iran shot a look at Hwa Do-myeong, almost like a glare.

“You intended to interfere in this from the start, didn’t you?”

Hwa Do-myeong neither affirmed nor denied it.

“Don’t do it. If you die too, everything will only become more chaotic. You know that, don’t you? You know what would happen.”

“We just need to win.”

“They already know that the target is the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance. They didn’t even try to stop him from coming.”

“They’re keeping us alive because they want to know why the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance is being targeted?”

Cha Iran nodded.

“If we let our guard down, what will happen is—”

Cha Iran cut off Hwa Do-myeong’s words.

“I won’t let my guard down.”

After a pause, she emphasized it even more.

“The Young Cult Leader won’t let his guard down.”

Hwa Do-myeong could tell that she feared Geom Mugeuk.

“Now you’re afraid? Isn’t that quiet late after hearing about all the ones who have died so far?”

“I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”

Geom Mugeuk as the Young Cult Leader was entirely different from when he had only acted as a guard. Once his true identity had been revealed, the look in his eyes seemed to pierce into the deepest part of the heart.

“You’ve never failed until now, have you?”

“This face and this body always worked.”

At her self-mocking remark, Hwa Do-myeong said something that sounded both vague and meaningful.

“Isn’t it when they don’t work that you’re even scarier?”

His makeup was almost laughably heavy, yet Hwa Do-myeong’s gaze was nothing but serious.

Then Cha Iran took something out from her bosom. It was the very box Hwa Do-myeong had once handed over to her.

She opened the lid of the box.

Inside lay a red bead.

“Surely, he knew I had this.”

That was why, when she opened this box, the bead should have been gone. He could have placed an energy-drained stone inside and feigned ignorance. Yet Geom Mugeuk—

“He held back.”

Her gaze, fixed on the bead, deepened.

“He didn’t even think of opening it once.”

She thought that even if he could endure killing someone, he would find it difficult to resist the desire to claim this bead. At least, she herself would not have been able to.

“So don’t loiter close by. When I die at the hands of the Young Cult Leader, I might point out your hiding place just so I don’t die alone.”

Laughter drifted out from behind the fan.

“So at least pay for my drinks here. I should be compensated for the show.”

“Where are you going?”

“To wash up and buy new clothes.”

Cha Iran stepped out of the room.

“And get some hangover food.”

Watching her retreating back, Hwa Do-myeong lightly fanned himself. The painting of a beautiful woman on the fan swayed as though dancing.

*         *         *

When he returned to his quarters, Lee Ahn was awake, waiting for Geom Mugeuk.

There was always a sense of relief when Geom Mugeuk returned safely, but tonight that relief felt unusually strong.

“What about Lady Cha?”

“I saw her waking up just a moment ago.”

The implication was that he hadn’t killed her. When Geom Mugeuk had said he would stay with her, Lee Ahn had been worried—not so much about what kind of temptation a drunken Cha Iran might try, but rather—

“She was acting so drunk that it made me suspicious. I kept wondering if it was all some kind of trap.”

“It must have been a trap.”

Lee Ahn looked at Geom Mugeuk in shock.

“A trap?”

“She had set something up, but it didn’t go the way she wanted. Otherwise, she would never have shown us such a side. And even if she truly tried to kill us, it wouldn’t have been easy.”

Indeed, yesterday’s Cha Iran had been more frightening than any hidden weapon.

Lying down on his bed, Geom Mugeuk rested his arm beneath his head and stared silently up at the ceiling, his expression grave.

“Do you have something weighing on your mind?”

“Does it look that way?”

When Lee Ahn nodded, Geom Mugeuk suddenly sat upright on the bed.

“As expected! There’s no one who knows me better than you.”

No, anyone could see you looked troubled!

The fact that he had revealed so much meant he wanted to talk about the matter with her.

And Geom Mugeuk’s concern was something she had never expected.

“She said the one she trusts most is none other than Instructor Ak.”

Lee Ahn was stunned. She knew Ak Gunhak as well. At the Golden Dragon Martial Hall, she had attended his lessons together with Seo Jin. And she also knew that later, Geom Mugeuk and he had grown closer.

“Cha Iran seemed to like him. In truth, that wasn’t the problem…”

A one-sided affection was not the issue. The real problem was—

“You’re worried Instructor Ak might like that woman.”

Geom Mugeuk nodded.

If Ak Gunhak did harbor feelings for her? Then he himself would not kill Cha Iran. Somehow, he would find a way to resolve this matter without taking her life.

“May I share my thoughts?”

“Of course.”

Cautiously, Lee Ahn posed a question.

“Is Instructor Ak the kind of man who would simply stand by while the woman he loves fought a life-or-death battle against his friend?”

If she were truly the woman he loved, he would seek her out no matter what. Such logic would not apply to most people, but Lee Ahn had witnessed it firsthand—just how extraordinary he was as a master.

“What if he doesn’t know about this situation?”

That was the heart of Geom Mugeuk’s concern.

“Then we have to find out through Lady Cha.”

“How?”

“Go to Lady Cha and tell her that the Young Cult Leader is friends with him. That they are truly close. If it’s only her one-sided affection, her reaction will be one thing. If the two actually like each other, it will be completely different.”

Lee Ahn spoke with conviction.

“I believe the Young Cult Leader will surely notice the difference.”

“Smart! Lee Ahn!”

“Didn’t you already think of it? You just wanted to hear it once out of my mouth, right?”

“No. I couldn’t. Because it concerned me personally, my head wouldn’t work.”

“So this is finally the moment when my hidden tail gets to do something useful?”

“Let’s go, don’t tuck that tail away just yet.”

“Where to?”

As Geom Mugeuk stepped out of the room, he said something incomprehensible.

“To become the Greatest Beauty Under the Heavens.”

*         *         *

An Hu-pyeong awoke.

‘Huh?’

When he opened his eyes, he was lying in the bed of his own quarters. Yet he clearly remembered drinking at the Bright Blossom Pavilion with the Young Leader.

‘Was it a dream?’

He couldn’t tell whether this was the dream, or the drinking had been the dream.

“Sa Chu! Sa Chu!”

An Hu-pyeong called out for Sa Chu. Normally, he would open the door at once and ask what was wrong. But this time, Sa Chu did not enter. Instead, another subordinate came in.

“Sir Sa is not here.”

“Where did he go?”

“After parting ways at the Bright Blossom Pavilion yesterday, we haven’t seen him either.”

“The Bright Blossom Pavilion?”

So it hadn’t been a dream. Now that he thought about it, his last memory was running into Sa Chu in the kitchen yesterday.

“He said you were drunk and told us to escort you back to your quarters.”

“That bastard!”

An Hu-pyeong gathered his subordinates and rushed to the Bright Blossom Pavilion. The people from yesterday were all gone, and the pavilion was busy preparing for business.

After pressing the cooks and attendants, he learned that Sa Chu had subdued his own guards and slipped away, while the remaining four had stayed behind drinking late into the night.

“Damn it! I should have been there myself!”

An Hu-pyeong regretted not being at the drinking table more than he regretted Sa Chu leaving. He had already forgotten just how alienated he had felt there.

“Find that bastard! Right now!”

He sent his subordinates out to search for Sa Chu, but the man had already gone far away.

An Hu-pyeong immediately went to Bih Sa-in’s quarters first. He had to explain himself for leaving without a word the previous night.

But Bih Sa-in was not there. And of course, he couldn’t possibly go to the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance and ask where the Young Leader was.

So An Hu-pyeong headed straight to the inn where Lee Ahn was staying. If Bih Sa-in was absent, then at least he could try to regain some favor with her.

But she too, along with that hateful bodyguard, was nowhere to be found.

“Sa Chu! Where the hell did they all go?”

Out of habit, he called for Sa Chu, turning back as he shouted.

“Why won’t you answer?”

In that instant, An Hu-pyeong flinched. Among the subordinates watching him, Sa Chu was not there.

Now that he thought about it, these subordinates only looked vaguely familiar—he didn’t even know their names. Their management had always been left to Sa Chu. Not a single one of these rough-looking men gave him any sense of reliability.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled what Sa Chu had said to him before leaving.

―Hide underground and only come out when the storm has passed. The only reason the Vice Gang Leader is safe right now is because he’s standing in the eye of the storm.

Among these men here now, was there really anyone who would give him such words?

“Find that bastard! Make sure you find him alive and bring him back!”

*         *         *

The ones An Hu-pyeong was so desperately searching for were already gathered together in one place.

Geom Mugeuk had brought Lee Ahn and Bih Sa-in to the guest hall where the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion was staying.

“Welcome, Young Cult Leader.”

The Evil Smiling Demon immediately understood. With the final match only two days away, Lee Ahn and the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion were people who should not meet.

The very fact that they had come meant that the decisive moment had arrived. And with Bih Sa-in there as well.

After greeting the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion, Geom Mugeuk recounted what had happened the previous day.

“Cha Iran revealed her identity herself.”

The eyes of the Evil Smiling Demon sharpened instantly. The enemy had altered their original plan.

Originally, Cha Iran’s plan had been to become the Greatest Beauty Under the Heavens and assassinate the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance during the celebratory banquet.

But now, with Cha Iran voluntarily revealing her identity, the situation had become unpredictable.

“Have they changed the target to the Young Cult Leader?”

A flicker of worry crossed the Evil Smiling Demon’s eyes above his mask.

“Perhaps. Or rather, instead of changing, it would be more accurate to say they added to it.”

Meaning their true target was still the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance.

The fact that Cha Iran had asked Bih Sa-in what the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance liked was the decisive clue. It had been a question to test their reaction—to see if they knew the true target. If the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance had not been the target, she never would have asked.

“Revealing her identity means they’re ready to fight. So then…”

Geom Mugeuk had already made up his mind before coming here.

“We strike first.”

Bih Sa-in asked Geom Mugeuk,

“When will we strike?”

The timing was far sooner than anyone had expected.

“Today. Right now!”

Not only Bih Sa-in but also Lee Ahn and the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion were shocked.

Only the Evil Smiling Demon smiled faintly at the corners of his eyes, as if he had anticipated this.

Yes, this was how it should be. If they were going to move, they had to do it in a way that even their allies could not predict.

Cha Iran would never expect it. After drinking so heavily last night and parting ways, how could she possibly imagine they would act immediately today?

Lee Ahn finally understood what Geom Mugeuk had meant when he left the room earlier.

If an incident broke out during the final match, she would never be able to become the Greatest Beauty Under the Heavens.

So his words had meant: resolve this matter beforehand, then in two days step onto the stage of the finals and truly become the Greatest Beauty Under the Heavens.

Tasks were assigned to each of them.

“The Divine Transformation Gang will be left to the Unorthodox Alliance.”

Bih Sa-in nodded.

The Gang Leader of the Divine Transformation Gang, the masters he had recruited, and their martial artists—they were no easy opponents. But on this side stood the Leader of the Unorthodox Alliance.

Next, a task was entrusted to Lee Ahn.

“While the plan is carried out, Lee Ahn, you will protect the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion.”

In other words, separate orders were to be given to the Evil Smiling Demon and the Faceless Swordsmen.

“Yes, please leave it to me.”

Lee Ahn replied spiritedly, then exchanged a glance with the Mistress of the Sky Flower Pavilion.

Finally, Geom Mugeuk spoke to the Evil Smiling Demon.

“I will deal with Cha Iran. Soma-nim, you will handle the assassins she brought with her.”

“Leave it to me.”

When the Evil Smiling Demon accepted without resistance, Lee Ahn cautiously spoke up.

“But we don’t even know who they are, do we?”

They were Cha Iran’s subordinates, assassins of the highest caliber who knew how to conceal themselves perfectly.

They didn’t know how many had been mobilized, where they were hidden, or how they were positioned. Moreover, several of them were no doubt among the contestants in this very tournament.

“And you mean to find them all and take them out today? That’s impossible!”

It was a task far more difficult than crushing the Divine Transformation Gang. Even Geom Mugeuk admitted it without hesitation.

“Yes, it’s impossible.”

“Then why—?”

With a smile, Geom Mugeuk spoke.

“Why do you think Father has Demon Supremes? When the impossible arises, he must have left him to say these words.”

Turning toward the Evil Smiling Demon, Geom Mugeuk mimicked his father’s tone.

“Soma, take care of it and return.”

The Evil Smiling Demon clasped his fists formally, as if addressing the Cult Leader himself.

“I accept your command.”

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!

The Faceless Swordsmen standing behind him all simultaneously clasped their fists in salute.

From that little jest, Lee Ahn could sense just how deeply Geom Mugeuk trusted the Evil Smiling Demon.

Still, she felt she ought to offer some help.

“There are a few women I marked in the waiting room as possibly being assassins. If we trail them, I’m sure there will be a moment when they make contact with the others. Though, whether that will happen within today, I can’t say.”

Of course, with that method it would be impossible to eliminate them all today. But she had brought it up, hoping it might at least provide some help.

“I appreciate the thought, but there’s no need.”

The Evil Smiling Demon, as though he already had a plan in mind, gave a gentle smile before the line of Faceless Swordsmen.

“We will handle it in our own way.”