So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?

Chapter 45: History is Made at Night (3)

A flicker of doubt passed through the eyes of those watching me.

Good thing I already had a decent excuse ready.

“You probably know that before becoming Master’s disciple, I worked as a waiter at an inn.”

“You learned this while working as a waiter?”

“Yes. The innkeeper who took me in and raised me was both owner and chef. He had a profound understanding of various drinks and dishes, and occasionally shared his culinary knowledge with me.”

Since my supposed teacher was deceased, how could they possibly verify the truth of my words?

Perhaps misinterpreting my explanation, Third Brother muttered in admiration, “My, he must have been a truly remarkable chef. To think he was a cook who considered not only the combination of ingredients but also a person’s constitution and temperament. Such a pity he died due to those Alliance bastards.

Third Brother suddenly expressed cold fury toward the Murim Alliance.

Caught off guard by this unexpected turn, I appeased him by saying,

“He was indeed a person of excellent character. I will never forgive those Murim Alliance bastards who assassinated such a person.”

While my vow of revenge was genuine, I sensed the conversation veering off course, so I swiftly steered it back on track.

“Anyway, the important point is that it might be possible to induce Qi Deviation through foods or drinks. Therefore, we need to investigate the late-night snack Third Brother ate that night and those who prepared it.”

“Then, we should capture those who prepared the snack and order them to remake what they gave me that night. I will leave it to you since you seem to know something about this matter.”

I flinched involuntarily.

‘I… don’t really know much?’

I just saw Lee Ji-yeon avoid certain foods; I didn’t know much about what foods are bad for depression.

Of course, out of curiosity I had searched the internet once, but it’s impossible for me to recall all of those details.

Besides, apart from feeling sorry for Lee Ji-yeon, I wasn’t depressed at that moment.

“They might covertly change the ingredients when making it, Senior Brother.”

“Hahaha. Don’t worry. Though I’m ignorant about food, my training against poisons has given me an excellent memory for tastes, smells, and textures.”

He boasts all of that as if it’s something to be proud of.

I could only nod in agreement lest any further excuses would trigger another bout of his paranoia.

“Then, I’ll leave it to you, Senior Brother.”

Meanwhile, I silently prayed that the culprits had used something I might recognize.

“As a precaution, I will temporarily seal this man’s acupoints.”

With those words, my Senior Brother vanished instantly into the darkness.

“You’ll be released soon if you are truly innocent, Warrior Kwan. Bear with it for a while.”

“Understood, Young Master.”

Concerned about the possibility of a suicide attempt, I discreetly moved closer to him.

While I was looking at him with a look of suspicion mixed with pity—

“Young Master!!”

Kwan Mu-yeol suddenly shouted in an alarmed voice. Puzzled, I turned my head following his gaze, and what met my eyes was—

Swoooosh!

The sight of a spear tip flying toward me at tremendous speed.

***

The moment Seo Wan-pyeong appeared while carrying Kwan Mu-yeol on his shoulder, Jang Hwi realized something was going wrong.

‘Damn. He was suspicious of us all along.’

He had clearly heard that the Third Young Master had left the headquarters due to a mission directly assigned by the Heavenly Demon.

Yet here he was, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

And the ensuing conversation between the Third Young Master and the Eight Young Master about Kwan Mu-yeol confirmed his fear to certainty.

That’s why Jang Hwi had subtly tried to stir the direction of the conversation.

“Given the circumstances, isn’t it beyond doubt? We should execute him immediately.”

If Kwan Mu-yeol took the blame here and died, the suspicion towards himself would lessen. Furthermore, it would make the Eighth Young Master lower his guard, believing he had caught the culprit.

However, the usually flippant and deceitful Eighth Young Master was surprisingly not easy to deal with.

“There’s no way this guy would target me on his own.”

The Eighth Young Master chose interrogation over execution, and Jang Hwi had no choice but to observe the situation quietly while trying his best to frame Kwan Mu-yeol.

“Young Master, he might be trying to commit suicide by poison.”

But, damn it, it didn’t work on Eighth Young Master.

Jang Hwi decided to just observe the situation, knowing that pressing further might cast suspicion on himself.

If only that topic hadn’t come up.

“Even among non-poisonous foods or drinks, there are those that make people sensitive or depressed, Third Brother.”

The moment those words left the Eighth Young Master’s mouth, Jang Hwi had to use all his effort to maintain his composure.

‘How does he know about that!?’

What they used on Third Young Master this time, and what they had used to kill Fifth Young Master disguised as Qi Deviation, wasn’t poison. It was a specific type of food, practically unknown in the Central Plain, let alone within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

Because of this, Jang Hwi struggled to control his expression while his mind frantically thinking of solutions.

‘Should I just wait?’

While the Eighth Young Master had the correct hypothesis, there was no guarantee he knew about that food, let alone guess correctly what it was amongst the ingredients.

The problem was—

‘If the Eighth Young Master discovers it, there’s a risk that the truth of Fifth Young Master’s death will also be exposed.’

If that happened, not only lowly members like himself but even the Sacred Order might be wiped out.

After much deliberation, Jang Hwi made his decision.

‘It’s certain. That man is a hindrance to our plans. And now is the opportunity to kill him.’

The Third Young Master had left to capture others, and Kwan Mu-yeol’s pressure points were sealed.

All that remained was to kill the man, and then deal with Jin Hayeon.

Of course, the aftermath after such a blatant assassination would be disastrous.

‘But compared to the possibility of ‘that thing’ being exposed by the Eighth Young Master, it is safer for me to take the blame alone and die.’

He judged that the possibility of the upper echelons being swept away was much lower this way.

Though his deliberation was lengthy, his action was swift.

Pat!

As swift as a bolt of lightning, Jang Hwi instantly closed in on the Eighth Young Master and—

“Young Master!”

Swoooosh!

By the time Kwan Mu-yeol realized what was happening and shouted, Jang Hwi’s spear was already barreling toward Il-mok.

“!?”

Eyes filled with surprise and bewilderment looked at the spear.

Just as Jang Hwi’s spear was about to pierce Il-mok’s face—

Chang!!!

With a jarring screech of metal, the spear’s trajectory was subtly altered.

Thanks to that, the spear blade, which should have pierced Il-mok’s face, grazed the surface skin of Il-mok’s cheekbone, leaving a shallow cut.

“Damn it.”

Jang Hwi cursed and glared at the owner of the palm that had struck the shaft of his spear.

Jin Hayeon.

***

‘I almost died.’

My heart was pounding violently.

That instinctive reaction of stepping back in that final moment and Jin Hayeon’s timely strike to the spear’s shaft had narrowly saved me from a fatal blow.

‘How did she know?’

I couldn’t understand how Jin Hayeon had reacted so quickly to Jang Hwi’s sneak attack.

Perhaps, her speech about being constantly vigilant from that night is not an empty talk.

But now wasn’t the time for such reflections.

“Get out of the way!”

Bang!

Though Jin Hayeon had miraculously managed to save me, the difference in skill was evident.

Contrary to her emotionless façade, making it seem as if she is his equal, I could clearly see her being pushed back with each clash.

She was too young and inexperienced to fight someone like Jang Hwi.

‘Since his target is me, I should flee to draw his attention just like with the Eldest Brother last time.’

I was about to move and execute this plan when—

“Release my pressure points, Young Master!”

I hurriedly reached to him and shouted, “Where and how should I release them!?”

Kwan Mu-yeol rapidly explained the mechanism and how to undo it. Il-mok, without hesitation, channeled his Qi and jabbed his fingers at the designated points.

“Urgh…”

It seemed I had miscalculated my strength control, as Kwan Mu-yeol let out a painful groan. Nevertheless, now freed from his restrain, he sprang to his feet and drew his saber.

Bang!

On the other hand, Jin Hayeon, overwhelmed by the strength contained within the spear was pushed back ten steps.

“Jang Hwi, you bastard!!”

Kwan Mu-yeol rushed in to replace Jin Hayeon and swung his saber at Jang Hwi.

***

Clang! Clang!

Wielding the longer-reaching spear, Jang Hwi parried Kwan Mu-yeol’s advances with a series of concise movements. While Kwan Mu-yeol, in turn, blocked and evaded while using minimal movements as he closed the distance.

However—

“Kuk.”

As he tried to get closer, wounds gradually accumulated on Kwan Mu-yeol’s body.

“You bastard. You were hiding your skills all along!”

Kwan Mu-yeol shouted with a vexed expression and Jang Hwi’s face wasn’t particularly bright either.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to kill Il-mok.

What’s more—

“I’ll join you.”

Jin Hayeon, blood smearing her lips from her internal injuries, stepped forward to aid Kwan Mu-yeol.

Faced with their combined assault from both sides, Jang Hwi’s spear became increasingly unstable.

Chang!

Kwan Mu-yeol, who had been calmly deflecting or blocking Jang Hwi’s spear until now, seized an opportunity and struck Jang-hoe’s spear with force.

This was a characteristic of the Breaking Heaven Spiritless Saber Art that Kwan Mu-yeol had mastered. A martial art centered around using minimal movements before unleashing a decisive blow.

His powerful strike paid off and Jang Hwi’s spear, struck by the immense force, bounced high upward.

Pat!

Not missing the opportunity, Jin Hayeon rushed in and thrust her left palm toward the area near Jang Hwi’s heart.

However, in that brief moment, Jang Hwi twisted his upper body violently and narrowly dodged that strike.

But, the crisis wasn’t over.

Pat!

With Jang Hwi’s attention diverted, Kwan Mu-yeol managed to close the distance and swung his sword with the intent to bisect Jang Hwi’s body. Simultaneously, Jin Ha-yeon followed up with a right palm strike targeting Jang Hwi’s leg.

Slash.

Thwack!

Kwan Mu-yeol’s saber cleanly sliced Jang Hwi’s side and Jin Hayeon’s palm froze his thigh.

However, instead of a victorious face, the one that was etched in Kwan Mu-yeol’s face right now is that of defeat.

Even as his body was torn to pieces, Jang Hwi managed to throw his spear at Il-mok.

It wasn’t a desperate improvisation.

From the moment the fight had dragged on, Jang Hwi had been planning to die together with Il-mok. He hadn’t twisted his body to avoid Jin Hayeon’s attack; he had done so to position himself for this final throw.

The spear Jang Hwi threw tore through the air at incredible speed toward Il-mok, imbued with sharp spear qi.

Jin Hayeon, who always looked so calm, now stared at Il-mok with despair in her eyes.

“!?”

But then, a rare surprise crept onto her face.

For some reason, despite the spear ripping through the air toward him, Il-mok’s face was inexplicably serene.

It wasn’t that Il-mok had anticipated this.

He had simply been immersed in martial arts since a certain moment—specifically, from the instant of Jang Hwi’s first sneak attack.

The body that had faced a life-threatening crisis triggered explosive concentration for survival.

Even as his heart pounded violently, the world seemed to flow in slow motion.

The fight between Jang Hwi, Kwan Mu-yeol, and Jin Hayeon—all far superior to himself—appeared crystal clear to Il-mok.

He saw the flow of their moves, the subtleties of their techniques, and the true intention of their martial arts, sparking a cascade of insights within his mind.

And at this very moment—

The ferocious spear flying to take his life became the catalyst that burst open the understanding that had accumulated to saturation.

His internal energy, bolstered by the consumption of the Explosive Demonic Pill, instantly surged from his dantian all at once.

It was a massive flow of energy that Il-mok had never felt nor handled before. But the meridians widened and cleansed by the Bone Marrow Cleansing withstood the tremendous energy flow.

The energy raced and circulated inside Il-mok’s body following the cultivation principle of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword. It kept circulating, amplifying, before finally converging on the palm that gripped his sword.

Flash!!

The first form of the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword that he had practiced countless times was unfolded perfectly. The sword departed from its sheath, wreathed in grey aura.

It’s been half a year since Il-mok started learning the Soul-Departing Emotionless Sword.

That was the time it took for Il-mok to manifest sword qi.