So? Did Someone Force You to Become the Heavenly Demon?
Chapter 458 : Karma (3)Crunch.
Through eyes blinded by fury, the Supreme Eunuch caught sight of something bizarre.
A sword stained with black flame was buried deep in his own chest. It was such an unreal sight that he almost thought he was dreaming. But a moment later, a terrible pain shot through his chest, and blood spurted from his mouth before he even realized it.
"Kuhk..."
How did it come to this?
When he heard that the monster known as the Heavenly Demon was dead, he'd been so sure his grand design would soon come to fruition.
As that question replayed in his mind over and over, his eyes turned to search for something.
He looked past Wi Jin-hak who had driven a sword straight through his chest.
He looked into the distance.
Toward a young man he could see far off in the distance.
‘That bastard... because of him...’
He was the man who stood above a million and only below one. He was the man who had once held the entire Central Plains in the palm of his hand. Therefore, he assumed that his accursed nemesis would at least be watching him meet his end.
However, the sight that greeted him was entirely different.
The young man acted as if he were inconsequential and was casually chatting with Zhuge Mun who was beside him.
"Hah."
He even let out a sigh like the whole thing bored him.
‘Are you telling me... my death means nothing to you?’
Rage boiled up inside him.
He wanted nothing more than to drag that little bastard down to hell with him.
But the power that had always coursed through his body was nowhere to be felt.
Slick.
As the sword plugging his chest was abruptly withdrawn, his powerless body crumbled.
"Go to hell. I hope the hundreds of thousands of souls you slaughtered tear you to pieces so you can die all over again."
Wi Jin-hak’s heavy curse seemed to echo from miles away as the world faded around him.
Thud.
The Supreme Eunuch's body crumpled and hit the ground.
Wi Jin-hak looked down at the corpse for a moment.
This was a man who'd once ruled over the entire Central Plains with unchecked power, and all that remained of him now was the withered body of an old man.
For some reason, the sight reminded Wi Jin-hak of his Master.
It stood in such stark contrast to the way everyone had mourned his Master’s ascension.
As the head of an entire cult, he let himself be caught up in tangled thoughts for a moment.
‘In the end, it all comes down to what I do from here.’
Shaking off the stray thoughts quickly, Wi Jin-hak raised the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword that had pierced Supreme Eunuch's heart and roared. "Behold! Here and now, the head of the eunuch who stained the nation and reveled in corruption has fallen! The Heavenly Demon Divine Cult stands victorious!!"
As soon as the echoes of his roar settled, the cultists swarming the battlefield erupted into a frenzied chorus of chants and war cries.
Just moments later, the wet sound of flesh being cleaved rang out nearby.
The Commander and Vice Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been so focused on their battle that they realized the Supreme Eunuch’s demise a bit too late. That realization had shocked them and had become the catalyst of their own demise since neither Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang nor Ouyang Pae was the type to miss an opening like that
Slash!
Slash!
"Tsk." Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang clicked his tongue as he looked down at the headless body of the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. "And I was just starting to enjoy myself."
Meanwhile, Wi Jin-hak looked past the Supreme Eunuch’s corpse and fixed his sight on the man clutching the Imperial Seal.
"Tsk. What a sorry sight.”
Was this really the face of the Emperor? The supposed Son of Heaven himself?
"I daresay putting him out of his misery would be a mercy for him," the Hidden Guard Pavilion Lord remarked.
Wi Jin-hak nodded and swung the Heavenly Demon Sword down without hesitation.
***
Supreme Eunuch and the Emperor were dead, and the Imperial Seal had been seized. It was the moment the grueling war finally came to a close, and Wi Jin-hak ordered the remaining warehouses opened up so everyone could celebrate with a victory feast.
While everyone else was busy enjoying the victory—
"Left Guardian Il-mok greets the Cult Leader."
Il-mok didn't get a moment's rest.
‘Fuck. I really should have just coughed up some blood and played dead.’
Maybe it was because Il-mok's expression wasn't great, but Wi Jin-hak dismissed the rest of his ministers so he could talk with Il-mok alone.
"I'm sorry, youngest."
He even used the informal term.
"I know your body still hasn't fully recovered. But I needed to hear your thoughts first, so I called you here."
"I'm well enough to talk, Eldest Brother."
Feeling an unprompted prick of guilt, Il-mok quickly asked a question to change the subject. "Anyway, what's going on? Why dismiss everyone else just to talk to me?"
"We’ve won the war, which means it’s time to start governing. I brought you here to get your take on how we should handle internal affairs."
Il-mok was still confused. Was there really a need to call him in alone for something this massive?
Catching on to Il-mok’s bewilderment, Wi Jin-hak sighed and clarified. "This war taught me a lot as well. First of all, our Divine Cult members are all people I can trust, but most of them have no talent for governance."
"..."
Il-mok couldn't even pretend to disagree.
Just thinking about meatheads like Dokgo Ryong and Baek Un-hak was enough to prove his Eldest Brother right.
"On the other hand, scholastic men like Zhuge Mun and allied officials possess outstanding administrative abilities, but can’t be fully trusted until they’ve proved themselves.”
So, one side was intensely loyal but walking disasters when it came to governance, while the other was incredibly smart but untrustworthy.
Which meant Il-mok was the only person left who had both brains and loyalty. Realizing he was about to be trapped, Il-mok spoke very carefully. "I'm grateful you think so highly of me, but deciding every major and minor matter with just me alone could bring all sorts of risks."
He wasn't being humble.
‘Because if you do that, it means I’m the one doing all the damn paperwork!’
He could already see the jaws of administrative hell opening wide to swallow him whole.
All he wanted was a cushy life where he could work a little and relax a lot.
He already wielded substantial power, so he saw no reason to toil away chasing an even higher position.
But completely blind to Il-mok’s lazy motives, Wi Jin-hak took it as pure humility.
"Hahaha. Don't worry. I only called you in for this because it's a fire that needs putting out right away. Everything after this will probably be discussed together with the others."
After laughing it off, Wi Jin-hak’s face quickly grew serious. "You saw how the Supreme Eunuch ended up too, didn't you? I know all too well that if I surround myself with yes-men who only stroke my ego, it will only result in the collapse of our goals.”
Having said that, Wi Jin-hak gave a fond smile. "That said, I know full well you're not some flattering sycophant either, so don't take that the wrong way. Hahaha."
"H-Haha, of course not..."
Il-mok, who'd wanted nothing more than to flatter his way through a comfortable life, had to swallow his tears on the inside.
"So then, what's this urgent matter?"
"It's about what to do with the allies who joined hands with our Divine Cult. They may have been our allies while the former Imperial Family was a common enemy, but let's not forget that plenty of them were also our former sworn enemies.”
The moment the words left Wi Jin-hak's mouth, Il-mok immediately thought of Liu Bang executing Han Xin and of King Taejong’s bloody purges in Korean history.
Purging the very heroes who helped found a new empire was basically a time-honored tradition in human history. After all, the second objective after founding the new empire is to consolidate the new Imperial Family's authority. To do that, you couldn't just leave massive amounts of power lying around in the hands of your generals.
‘So that's why he called only me.’
He obviously could not invite the major figures of the Orthodox Faction into a meeting and then discuss whether to kill them or let them live right in front of them. On the other hand, if he called only people from the Heavenly Demon Cult's side, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they'd all come out saying to just kill everyone.
They were allies today, but they'd spent the last hundred years slaughtering each other.
Il-mok mulled it over for a moment before cautiously voicing his thoughts. "In my opinion, I think leaving things be for now would be best."
"Leaving things be, huh. Can you explain that in more detail?"
"First, we’ve already lost too many lives in this war. Second, our Divine Cult’s influence is still insufficient to encompass the entirety of the Central Plains. If we start purging people right now, it could easily trigger a civil war. And if that happens, the entire noble cause we used to justify fighting the former Imperial Family goes right out the window."
Root out the corruption of the eunuchs and crooked officials and save the people.
That had been the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult’s rallying cry.
And it was thanks to that cause that even martial artists who'd once been at odds with the Demonic Cult eventually joined forces to help them.
Wi Jin-hak frowned at Il-mok's explanation. "Your concern for our cause and for the people is admirable, but I can't easily accept the idea that our Divine Cult's influence is so lacking that this could turn into civil war."
"The Beggars’ Gang, the Wudang Sect, the Qingcheng Sect, the Zhuge Family, Hwangbo Family, and so on. Taken one by one, none of them can hold a candle to our Divine Cult. But if they band together and pull in the small and mid-sized sects along with talented people from official backgrounds, the ensuing conflict will be very chaotic.”
"What if we dealt with them one at a time?"
"That's exactly why I said to leave it be for now and look toward later. The moment we try to purge even one of them, the rest will notice and will very likely band together. Especially with someone as sharp as Zhuge Mun in the mix, that's practically guaranteed to happen. Besides, the war in the south and north hasn't even wrapped up yet."
Wi Jin-hak mulled it over for a moment before nodding in agreement. "You're right, trying to purge them right now would be a bad move. In that case, when do you believe it would be best to eliminate them?"
"Rather than committing to a purge right off the bat, why don't we sit back and see how they play their hand?"
"See how they play their hand... Elaborate."
"Now that we've won the war, we'll need to hand out rewards for their merits. We use that process to gauge what they’re really after, and watch how they behave once we grant it."
"You are suggesting we share at least a portion of the power with them for now?"
"That's right."
"And if they use that power to get corrupt, or band together to stand against us?"
"If they resort to corruption, it just hands us the perfect excuse to purge them. And even if we share power with them now, as long as we don't give up the future, a day will eventually come when our Divine Cult's strength overwhelms them completely."
Wi Jin-hak pondered for a moment what Il-mok meant by the future before realizing what he meant and chuckled.
"You are speaking of our education to the youngsters."
Before rising to the position of Cult Leader, he'd spent several years as Grand Teacher, so it wasn't hard for him to catch the meaning.
"Exactly. If we build schools all across the Central Plains and teach every child how to read using our Divine Cult’s scriptures, won’t those future generations grow up as loyal members of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?"
After giving his grand pitch, Il-mok offered up a moment of silent prayer for Hyeokryeon Cheon-gang.
‘Well, at least I managed to dump one big job onto someone else.’
Whether it was managing schools or the curriculum, it all fell under the Grand Teacher's duties.
***
That night, Wi Jin-hak gathered together the major figures from the Orthodox Faction, former high-ranking government officials, and the senior leadership of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult into a single place.
"Today is a monumental day for our Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. But we can't stay drunk on past glory forever. It is time we start preparing for the future."
"Indeed, quite so!"
"The Central Plains are still in turmoil, Cult Leader. We must act quickly."
As murmurs of agreement rippled through the room, Wi Jin-hak simply raised a hand to silence the room. "To prepare for the future, we first have to settle the rights and wrongs of the past. The guilty have already been dealt with, which means it’s time to distribute the rewards."
Wi Jin-hak slowly swept his gaze across the room, letting the silence hang before his eyes finally settled on the leaders of the Orthodox Faction.
"To all of you who stood with our cult, I'll give you the first choice. Will you stay with our Divine Cult and help govern the people? Or will you return to your hometowns and help the people there instead?"
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