How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives Chapter 52 : Confession (自服 : Confessing One’s Own Sins)

Chapter 52: Confession (自服 : Confessing One’s Own Sins)

The Discipline Court Head, Pyeongchi, spotted Yul Han entering the interrogation chamber and hurriedly ran over, bending deeply at the waist.

“Have you arrived, Vice Cult Leader?”

Yul Han nodded silently. The first thing that caught his eye was the sight of the instructors, hanging upside down and covered in blood.

They had been beaten so severely that not a single one of them was left unscathed.

At the center of them all, the Guardian of the Faith was bound to a chair, his face gaunt and exhausted.

What was unexpected was that, unlike the instructors, he himself was unhard.

As Yul Han turned toward him with a questioning look, Pyeongchi stepped forward with an awkward expression.

“We intended to first receive confessions from the instructors……”

Perhaps knowing how flimsy an excuse that was, Pyeongchi let his words trail off. Yul Han said nothing.

He understood the weight carried by the Guardian of the Faith within the Bright Cult.

It was sowhat surprising that he wielded enough influence to the point where even the Discipline Court Head—derided as the Cult Leader’s hunting dog for biting and tearing at anything with a pretext—could not easily touch him.

In any case, having no intention of reprimanding Pyeongchi, Yul Han walked over to the Guardian of the Faith without comnt.

The Guardian of the Faith spoke in a cracked voice.

“Why… why on earth are you doing this?”

“Do you have no intention of confessing your sins?”

“These charges are absurd!”

Whether they were truly absurd or not, Yul Han knew well that, considering the Bright Cult’s conduct so far, this incident alone was sowhat insufficient to be called a cri.

Even so, the reason for employing such a convoluted thod was simple: neither the Cult Leader’s order nor the Vice Cult Leader’s order held authority over the Guardian Division.

They could not even enforce the cult laws that every Bright Cult martial artist was supposed to follow.

Moreover, the Guardian Division was the one organization to which the Bright Cult’s foremost law—Might Makes Right—did not apply.

The Guardian Division moved solely according to the Heavenly Demon Scriptures.

To treat the believers according to the Heavenly Demon’s teachings was to fulfill their duty.

This was precisely why the Vice Cult Leader could not accuse them of a cri for refusing to follow his order to return all the children to their parents.

Thus, to charge them with a cri, it was necessary to prove that they had not followed the Heavenly Demon Scriptures.

That was why Yul Han asked,

“Then, did the proselytization go well?”

“Th-that is…… um. Realistically, it is impossible to proselytize outside the Cheonghae Region……”

“Not impossible—rely difficult, wouldn’t you say?”

At Yul Han’s correction, the Guardian of the Faith shook his head.

“No. It truly is impossible—”

His words scattered as Yul Han pulled a familiar report from his robes.

“You recognize this, I see. That’s right. This is the report you personally submitted when petitioning the Cult Leader not long ago.”

Yul Han stopped speaking and turned toward Pyeongchi.

“Would you read the underlined portion for ?”

At Yul Han’s request, Pyeongchi hurried over, accepted the report, and read aloud.

“Thus, even in Gansu outside the Cheonghae Region, patients are gathering, and due to them, the perception of our Bright Cult is improving, transforming the situation into one where proselytization may beco possible.”

As Pyeongchi finished, Yul Han asked the Guardian of the Faith,

“Is it still impossible?”

“Th-that……”

The Guardian of the Faith could not answer readily. If he insisted it was impossible, it would an he had submitted a false report to the Cult Leader.

No matter how independent he was from the chain of command, he could not erge unscathed from that.

Yet if he changed his answer to “possible,” he would fall squarely into the Vice Cult Leader’s trap.

Unable to respond, he fell silent. Yul Han turned his gaze away from him and looked at Pyeongchi.

“He isn’t ready to confess. It seems the Discipline Court’s touch is lighter than I was told.”

Those words amounted to a judgnt from the Vice Cult Leader that the Discipline Court was lacking. Pyeongchi’s face stiffened.

“M-my apologies. If you grant my subordinates one more chance, we will extract a confession even if it costs his life.”

“A fine resolve. However, keep him alive. A dead man’s confession lacks credibility.”

“Y-yes, by your command!”

As Pyeongchi hurriedly replied, Yul Han turned to leave the interrogation chamber—only for the Guardian of the Faith’s desperate voice to stop him.

“Y-you cannot treat so lightly!”

Yul Han turned back and smiled faintly.

“In my view, those who treat the safety of others lightly must be prepared for their own safety to be treated just as lightly.”

Reading the Vice Cult Leader’s true intent in those words, the Guardian of the Faith asked in a flustered voice,

“S-surely this isn’t just because of sending the children to the Training Hall!”

“Who said that? Did the Discipline Court Head say it?”

At the Vice Cult Leader’s question, Pyeongchi flinched and shook his head violently.

“N-no! I have never said such a thing!”

“I haven’t said anything of the sort, so what are you talking about? Are you making excuses to escape your cri—how undignified. The cri of the Guardian of the Faith and the Guardian Division, from beginning to end, is obstruction of proselytization.”

With those words, the Vice Cult Leader indifferently left the interrogation chamber, leaving the Guardian of the Faith staring blankly after him.

Only now had he fully grasped the Vice Cult Leader’s intentions.

Now that he understood the reason, he needed to devise a solution.

But before he could, Pyeongchi—his expression twisted into that of a baleful executioner—approached, gripping a club.

“W-wait, h-hold on! Just a mont—kghh!”

Leaving behind the screams echoing from the interrogation chamber, Yul Han exited the Discipline Court.

A cri had to be paid for.

The reason Yul Han had been so resolute was that, on his way back from the Martial Alliance, he had already heard from Cold Blade Blood that the final survival rate of the children sent to the Training Hall was ten percent—one out of ten.

In other words, the Guardian of the Faith and the Guardian Division had tried to shove hundreds of children into the abyss of death without the slightest hesitation.

And they had done so as religious figures.

That was why Yul Han could neither tolerate nor forgive it.

The Vice Cult Leader’s order was delivered to the Lord of the Training Hall.

He was to investigate where the children under protection originally lived and report back.

Accordingly, the Training Hall’s experts abruptly began investigating the origins of hundreds of terrified children.

So ti later, after receiving the investigation report, Yul Han summoned the Red Blade Unit Commander.

The Red Blade Unit.

A force composed of one thousand first-rate blade warriors. The “red” in their na ant blood.

Those who wielded blades drenched in blood.

It signified a ferocious and brutal combat unit.

Yet even the Red Blade Unit Commander could not readily answer the Vice Cult Leader’s question.

Yul Han asked him,

“Are you refusing?”

His voice was cold, and his eyes were filled with killing intent. Since the incident behind the curtain, relations between the Vice Cult Leader and the elders—including the Red Blade Unit Commander—had been at their worst.

Moreover, by rescuing Cheolma and the Profound Demon from the Cult Leader’s grasp, the Vice Cult Leader had left the council of elders indebted.

In such circumstances, refusal ant……

“N-no. I will do it, Vice Cult Leader.”

“Very well. Then the examination of the Red Blade Unit Commander, his subordinate Unit Commanders, and the Squad Leaders will be deed complete by successfully concluding this matter without incident.”

At Yul Han’s expression, clearly telling him he had said all he needed to say and should leave, the Red Blade Unit Commander clasped his fists in salute and withdrew.

“Haa…… this really is sothing.”

Letting out a deep sigh outside the Vice Cult Leader’s residence, the Red Blade Unit Commander forced his reluctant feet to move and returned to the Red Blade Unit.

To properly carry out the mission—no, the examination—preparations were required starting now.

The number of children the Red Blade Unit had taken over from the Training Hall was slightly over four hundred.

After sorting the children by their places of origin, the categories alone numbered twenty.

Excluding Cheonghae Region and Xinjiang, from which the children had already been returned to their parents, the rest were evenly spread across the entire Central Plains.

“Looks like those Dream Faction bastards worked damn hard preparing for the Bloodletting Ritual.”

Grumbling about how long and far they would have to move, the Red Blade Unit Commander spoke, and the Deputy Unit Commander replied.

“At least the number of children dragged in from the Three Northeastern Provinces was small, so we grouped them together. Otherwise, it would’ve been twenty-two, not twenty.”

“Is that supposed to be comforting? Anyway, how did you divide the kids?”

“We assigned ten Unit Commanders to handle two provinces each.”

“And the Squad Leaders?”

“They were placed under their original Unit Commanders.”

At that answer, the Red Blade Unit Commander asked,

“So that ans eleven people are responsible for two provinces each?”

“Yes.”

“And the distribution of children?”

“It’s all over the place. So provinces have well over fifty, while others don’t even reach twenty. It’s complicated.”

“I suppose assigning personnel based on that would just complicate things further. Fine—handle the escort assignnts that way. What about cooperation from the Institute of Reason?”

At the Unit Commander’s question, the Deputy Unit Commander answered.

“They tried to stonewall, saying it wasn’t an intelligence-related matter. When I told them we’d report that directly to the Vice Cult Leader, they agreed.”

“Bastards with no sense of the situation. When are they sending them?”

“As soon as the letters are ready, they’ll release ssage hawks to those called overlords in each province, as well as to the Martial Alliance.”

“Tell them to hurry. By the ti we leave Cheonghae Region, those Hundred Paths bastards need to have received them. That way, the risk of a fight breaking out is reduced. Otherwise, we’ll have to carve a path with blood. And then it’ll be hard to et the Vice Cult Leader’s condition of zero casualties.”

“That mustn’t happen. I’ll press them again.”

“Good. And you and I—where are we headed?”

“You’ll take Henan, which carries the highest risk. Hubei is slightly less dangerous than Henan, but with Wudang there, it’s still risky, so I’ll reinforce that side.”

“Good. Move without delay.”

“Yes, Unit Commander.”

Turning his gaze away from the Deputy Unit Commander as he ran off after acknowledging the order, the Red Blade Unit Commander looked at the Red Blade Unit mbers busily sorting the children and preparing the necessary supplies.

“To end up playing nanny at a ti like this……”

He still couldn’t bring himself to like the idea that those who were always deployed to the fiercest battles now had to escort a bunch of brats.

Dozens of ssage hawks took flight, and at the sa ti, the Red Blade Unit’s Unit Commanders and Squad Leaders departed the Bright Cult with more than four hundred children.

Among them were the Red Blade Unit Commander and his Deputy, both wearing deeply furrowed expressions.

On the very day the Red Blade Unit’s senior experts left the Bright Cult to take their examination, word arrived from the Discipline Court summoning Yul Han.

They had obtained the Guardian of the Faith’s confession.

Yul Han imdiately headed for the Discipline Court.

The interrogation chamber of the Discipline Court reeked of blood more strongly than before. The instructors hanging upside down were a sight too grueso to behold, and the Guardian of the Faith was torn and bloodied all over.

“He confessed?”

“Yes, Vice Cult Leader.”

As Yul Han approached at Pyeongchi’s reply, the Guardian of the Faith hurriedly spoke.

“I-I will confess, Vice Cult Leader. The Guardian Division made a mistake and committed acts that obstructed proselytization. So please, please forgive just this once, Vice Cult Leader.”

As Yul Han turned his gaze away at those words, Pyeongchi spoke.

“Not only the Guardian of the Faith, but all eight instructors who were implicated in this matter have confessed. We have also obtained their signatures on written confessions.”

“Prepare the report and bring it to . I will deliver it to the Cult Leader personally.”

“Yes, Vice Cult Leader.”

Turning away from Pyeongchi as he acknowledged the order, Yul Han spoke to the Guardian of the Faith.

“The final judgnt will be handed down by the Cult Leader.”

At the implication that the Cult Leader—who harbored ill feelings toward the Guardian Division—would pass judgnt, the Guardian of the Faith’s face turned ashen.

“V-Vice Cult Leader!”

In a situation like this, where even justification existed, if judgnt were left entirely to the Cult Leader, there was a high chance that not only the Guardian of the Faith, but the entire Guardian Division, would not survive.

The Guardian of the Faith knew this, and so did the Vice Cult Leader. That was why Yul Han said,

“I will try to secure leniency.”

“Please……”

Yul Han looked down at the Guardian of the Faith, who was pleading desperately, for a brief mont before asking,

“Then in the future…?”

“There will absolutely never be such an incident again.”

“Do you promise?”

“I swear to the Heavenly Demon. There will never be such a thing again.”

At the Guardian of the Faith, who was making a great show of swearing even by the Heavenly Demon’s na, Yul Han’s ntal voice reached him.

I would also like you to voice opposition to what happens every thirty years.

The Guardian of the Faith imdiately realized that “what happens every thirty years” referred to the period of Unsealing Training, and his head nodded fiercely.

He had hesitated for only a mont, yet it already looked as though the Vice Cult Leader was about to turn away without another word.

Then Yul Han’s ntal voice reached him again.

Do you swear that as well, to the Heavenly Demon?

He could not hesitate. He could see all too clearly what kind of situation that would bring about.

In the end, the Guardian of the Faith nodded without delay.

Only then did Yul Han turn away.

I will secure your leniency.

At the Vice Cult Leader’s ntal voice as he left the interrogation chamber, relief finally spread across the Guardian of the Faith’s face.