How the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult Lives Chapter 86 : At the Crossroads of Choice

Chapter 86: At the Crossroads of Choice

“Mount Dian’s na was glorious not because we were undefeated.”

“I don’t quite understand what you an.”

Looking at the stubborn light still burning in his disciple’s eyes, Gwiseon spoke.

“Mount Dian continued to be called the greatest of Yunnan because it never stopped. Even when lacking, even when clumsy, it constantly challenged itself and moved forward.”

“That is precisely it. That is also what I wish for. Even if the strength we possess cannot compare to that of the Vice Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, I still wish for us to move forward.”

“That forward movent is not obstinacy.”

“…Pardon?”

“It ans we do not move forward alone. If you look back, the battles through which we earned our na and built our honor were never fought alone. At our side were brothers of the Nine Sects, and comrades of the Hundred Paths. We always charged first among them and endured to the very end. That is how the na was earned.”

“But the ones with us now are…….”

“The Bright Cult. Until yesterday, they were our enemies. They were my senior brother’s killers, and the ones who severed my junior brother’s head.”

“That is exactly my point. How can you even consider standing together with such people?”

At Jaseong the Daoist’s question, Gwiseon replied with a calm expression.

“Because I must protect. I must protect you, protect your fellow disciples, protect Mount Dian—and further still, protect the common people of Yunnan who look to us.”

“Must all of that truly depend on their power?”

“How could it? We must fight alongside them. We will stake everything we have on that battle.”

“Even with such resolve, can it not be done with just us?”

Gwiseon gently looked at the disciple still struggling to stand alone and answered.

“Did you learn nothing from what happened at Qingcheng? We could do nothing. No—we were incapable of doing anything.”

It had been a formation pressure into which more than a thousand years of internal energy had poured. In that place, fifty Mount Dian disciples could do absolutely nothing.

Watching his disciple sink heavily as if reliving that sense of defeat, Gwiseon continued.

“But he moved. He entered a place we could not even touch. And he resolved it by offering his own body.”

There was no room for rebuttal.

Not only was it impossible to know everything that had occurred inside, but judging solely by the outco, Gwiseon’s words were correct.

That was why, seeing his disciple remain silent once more, Gwiseon said,

“I intend to purchase that ability of his. Past grudges? The honor of Mount Dian? There is sothing more important to —and to you—than all of that.”

“And what might that be?”

At Jaseong the Daoist’s question, Gwiseon looked one by one at the first-generation disciples surrounding him and replied.

“What we must protect are the comrades standing at your side, the senior and junior brothers waiting at our sect, and the common people of Yunnan who may yet fall into danger. If I can protect them, then I will gladly bury past grudges and take their hands.”

At Gwiseon’s answer, Jaseong the Daoist and the other first-generation disciples could not say a word.

The conversation taking place at one of the Mount Dian warriors’ campfires was, ironically, heard with striking clarity by the group of Bright Cult warriors.

Of course, it was not that sound itself had carried over.

The volu and distance were such that an ordinary person could never have heard it.

No—even squad leaders at the peak master level could not hear it.

But three of the Five Demons were in the Transformation Realm. From that distance, there was no way they could fail to hear such a conversation.

And Yul Han, who stood at an even higher realm, needed no ntion at all.

“They’re really losing their damn minds.”

At Iron Demon’s muttered words, Poison Demon let out a snort of laughter, while Profound Demon… still wore an expression that betrayed nothing of his thoughts.

Yul Han’s gaze lingered on that Profound Demon.

The words of the Qingcheng Sect Master echoed in his ears.

Had it been only that warning, he might not have given it another thought. But—

The face of Profound Demon, gazing down at him while steeped in madness, kept overlapping with those words.

On top of that ca the image of him trying to harm Yul Han by commanding ghosts.

That vision—neither clearly dream nor waking reality—made Yul Han uneasy. The fact that he felt unsettled by the Qingcheng Sect Master’s warning displeased him.

If he was to waver like this, then he would rather—

“Profound Demon.”

At Yul Han’s call, Profound Demon lifted his head, and a flicker of unease passed through his eyes.

Yul Han did not miss it.

“Let us walk for a mont.”

Having said that, Yul Han left the campfire, and Profound Demon followed after him with anxiety weighing on his heart.

They did not walk long—only far enough into the wooded hills that the campfire was no longer visible.

And the mont Yul Han turned around, all outside sound was cut off.

When the chirping of insects vanished entirely, Profound Demon realized what had happened, tension settling into his expression.

“So you are tense… That ans what I saw was not rely a dream.”

“I-I don’t know what you claim to have seen, but you must have been mistaken.”

“Is that so? Perhaps. Then let us set aside the uncertain and speak of sothing certain. Profound Demon.”

“Yes, Vice Cult Leader.”

“Can you give your loyalty in its entirety?”

“Of course—”

“I am not asking for words. I am asking for your true heart.”

“Even if you say that, I of course—”

As he spoke while looking at Yul Han, Profound Demon’s voice scattered and faded.

Yul Han’s eyes were burning red.

They were Ghost Eyes.

Eyes that saw ghosts, expelled ghosts, commanded ghosts—and discerned lies from truth.

Without even realizing he was using them, Yul Han stared straight at Profound Demon, inwardly startled as the world once again turned crimson.

And also by the countless vengeful spirits clinging to the shadows throughout the forest.

‘So they’ve been following him.’

Shaking off the unnecessary thought, Yul Han fixed his gaze on Profound Demon.

“Answer.”

At Yul Han’s urging, Profound Demon, who had frozen in place, straightened his posture and relaxed his expression.

Gone was the inscrutable face he had worn until now. In its place erged his true visage, steeped in rage and madness.

“Loyalty? I have no true heart to offer to a Bright Cult bastard who is my sworn mortal enemy!”

“A sworn mortal enemy? Were you a man of the Hundred Paths?”

“Hah! I have nothing to do with those Hundred Paths trash.”

“Then…?”

“I am the last inheritor of the glorious Blood Cult!”

The fact that he used the word last himself ant he had already resolved himself to death.

Indeed, his identity had been exposed, the Night Soul Ghost Slaughter soul art had failed, and the gap in ability between him and Yul Han was not even worth comparing.

Yet despite Profound Demon’s provocative attitude, Yul Han rely nodded calmly.

“I see. The Blood Cult—I have heard of it. They say it was annihilated by the Bright Cult.”

“That’s right. You hunted and slaughtered my entire clan like animals! To leave without avenging that hatred is unbearable—!”

“Where are you going?”

“…What?”

“You said you were leaving like this. Are you thinking of departing from the Bright Cult?”

Yul Han’s question left Profound Demon’s face covered in confusion.

“What… You already know, so there’s no way I’ll be allowed to live—.”

“I never said I would kill you.”

“What?”

“Why would I kill you? Because you tried to kill ? Or because you deceived ? You said you had a grudge. You said you were trying to avenge your dead ancestors, didn’t you?”

“T-that’s….”

“Unfortunately, now that I know, I would prefer that you not direct that revenge at .”

“W-what in the world are you talking about?”

“Revenge is always taken against the person directly responsible. If soone killed, then against the killer. If sothing was taken, then against the one who took it. If you kill a murderer’s son, does that count as revenge?”

“S-sophistry! Revenge is sothing that gets passed down! A son avenges his father, and it is only natural that a son bears the sins of his father!”

At Profound Demon’s blood-spitting cry, Yul Han replied calmly.

“A son inheriting his father’s revenge is, well, an unfortunate thing—but if the son desires it, it is sothing that must be acknowledged. However, the target is wrong. If that son seeks out the one who killed his father and sheds blood, that is just. But if the son seeks out the killer’s son to take revenge, that is injustice.”

“H-how is that injustice?”

“Because the murderer’s son did nothing. It is unreasonable to bear responsibility for sothing one did not do.”

“T-that may be… h-however, the sin of growing up under that father’s protection can hardly be called light!”

“A child cannot choose their parents. Simply being soone’s son must not beco grounds for condemnation or a target of revenge. Just as I left you alone when you tried but did not act, an act not committed cannot be punished.”

Profound Demon glared at Yul Han in silence for a long while before asking,

“Then are you telling to bury a thousand years of hatred?”

“A son cannot bear his father’s sins, but the head of a sect must bear responsibility for that sect’s past. Ask the Cult Leader. That revenge.”

“Are you telling to kill the Cult Leader—your senior brother?”

“If you can kill him, then do so. However, do not lay a hand on anyone else. They see you as a comrade, as a brother.”

The others—Iron Demon, Poison Demon, the rest of the Five Demons who had trained alongside him. And the countless Bright Cult warriors who looked up to him and followed him.

Even if they were enemies, Profound Demon had never intended to make them sacrifices.

That was why he had waited until now.

So even without the Vice Cult Leader’s words, he had no intention of targeting them.

Then what remained was the direct assassination of the Cult Leader himself.

Could Profound Demon kill the Cult Leader?

Even if he died and rose again, it would be impossible.

Not only was there the concrete difference between the Transformation Realm and the Manifestation Realm, but the Cult Leader was—

A god of battle.

Profound Demon still rembered it.

The divine might the Cult Leader had displayed while raging through the Maekbaek War thirty years ago.

Had the previous Cult Leader not fallen back then, perhaps the war might have ended in the Bright Cult’s victory.

That was how absolute the current Cult Leader was when it ca to battle.

And so Profound Demon had endured long years of humiliation, waiting for an opportunity.

Soone who could approach the Cult Leader without any suspicion. Soone who could pierce through the Cult Leader’s power and deliver death.

He had hoped to reach the Vice Cult Leader’s side.

And now, that Vice Cult Leader had seen through him.

Yet he still spoke of sparing his life. Of leaving him alone if he did not touch others and held only the Cult Leader accountable.

Why?

After long deliberation, Profound Demon asked Yul Han,

“You know it cannot be accomplished.”

At Profound Demon’s words, heavy with despair, Yul Han wore a disappointed expression.

“Were you planning to stop where you are standing now?”

“What?”

“Do you have no intention of going further—of cultivating the ability to face the Cult Leader?”

“T-that’s impossible—.”

“Then did you believe, when you first began learning martial arts, that you would reach the Transformation Realm?”

“T-that is….”

“You must have trained relentlessly. You must have made more blood-soaked effort than anyone else. That is how you reached where you are.”

“That’s right. I shed tears of blood, shaved down my bones, and offered up my flesh in training!”

“That is it. After reaching the Transformation Realm, have you ever trained like that again?”

“…….”

Looking at Profound Demon, who could not answer, Yul Han said,

“To speak of revenge without effort is no different from a thief.”

“Hm….”

As Profound Demon only murmured in contemplation, Yul Han slowly approached him.

As the Vice Cult Leader drew near, Profound Demon flinched and shrank back without realizing it.

Yet the Vice Cult Leader simply passed by him, exposing his back without any guard.

At that, Profound Demon asked,

“Y-you’re just leaving like that?”

“I have heard your story. And I have made my wishes clear as well. All that remains is your choice.”

“And if I target you again? If I harm the others?”

“Then…”

Yul Han paused, turned his head, and looked at Profound Demon.

With eyes red as blood.

“I would not be speaking with words like this.”

Leaving those words behind, Yul Han turned and walked back toward the campfire.

Only then did the loud chirping of insects return around them.

The Vice Cult Leader had truly left Profound Demon behind just like that.

Now, just as he had said, only Profound Demon’s choice—his own—remained.