Volume 2 Chapter 4 – Resolve

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Translated by Rain

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Eldest Young Master, are you that Dark Venerable ?”

There was no change in Yeon So-hyeon’s expression.

Just like until now, he only wrapped his hands around the warm teacup from which steam rose, keeping a peaceful expression.

“……What is the Dark Venerable?”

Se-ah’s eyebrows twitched.

She had guessed that he would not answer obediently.

“According to the stories of the survivors who escaped from the Black Bone Gang’s human flesh factory, they heard that the person who rescued them was wearing a white mask and the white cotton clothes that scholars wear.”

Yeon So-hyeon, who was dressed in white cotton clothes, nodded.

“Hearing that, he seems to be someone who does good deeds.”

“Eldest Young Master, you also possess the same attire and mask, do you not?”

“Do you intend to search my belongings?”

Se-ah sat pulling herself close to the table.

“Why do you not tell me? What were all the words you said to me back then?”

Yeon So-hyeon slowly enjoyed a sip of tea and set the cup down on the table.

“……Are you resolved ?”

Se-ah clutched her cup tightly.

“As I told you before, I am more than resolved.”

Yeon So-hyeon smiled.

“A resolve to the extent of bearing the deaths of countless innocent ones?”

That was the question Yeon So-hyeon had thrown that night.

“……Since that day, I have been thinking about those words again and again.”

Blood enough to change the flow of the giant river called history.

If the sacrifice of the innocent ones Yeon So-hyeon asked about referred to that……

“Eldest Young Master, are you referring to a dynastic revolution ?”

At the mention of dynastic revolution, Se-ah’s guard, who had been pretending not to listen and looking out the window, was shocked and guarded the outside.

That was a word where just by someone uttering it, everyone around could face ruin.

“A dynastic revolution, you say……”

Yeon So-hyeon chuckled.

“Mencius said , he who harms benevolence is called a robber, and he who harms righteousness is called a tyrant.”

It was rare for him to cite historical affairs first, but there was no way he did not know them.

“A robber and tyrant is merely an ordinary man . Thus, I have heard of King Wu executing the ordinary man Zhou, but I have never heard of him committing regicide .”

The guard broke out in cold sweat at the conversation heard from behind.

She mobilized her internal energy to the maximum to guard the surroundings.

Se-ah also asked, feeling the cold sweat soaking her hands.

“……Is that the path the Eldest Young Master spoke of?”

The demonic path of the underworld where the mountain of corpses and sea of blood of the inhuman demonic realm unfold.

Yeon So-hyeon looked out the window where the warm afternoon sunlight streamed in.

“Do you think that is possible in this era?”

“……”

It was an incredibly heavy question.

It was not merely because discussing overthrowing the imperial family and establishing a new dynasty was the heaviest crime.

“……It seems to be a question that exceeds the realm I dare to contemplate.”

Yeon So-hyeon slowly nodded.

“Even if you gathered the smartest people on the continent and had them debate, the same answer would come out.”

This empire, which bore the name of the Central Plains Empire , was far too massive.

Even the number of people living in it had never been properly counted.

“Since civilization began on this land, has there ever been a time when the gap between the rich and the poor was this severe? Even so, it is also a bizarre thing that the situation of the world is this stable.”

Yeon So-hyeon continued.

“A revolution in such an era is an absurdity .”

Se-ah asked, feeling the cold sweat running down her forehead.

“……If so, what is the Eldest Young Master’s path?”

Yeon So-hyeon stood up and approached the window.

As always, it was a leisurely step.

However, as if fire was approaching, Se-ah’s guard hurriedly retreated from the window and stuck to the opposite wall.

“……”

She did not even dare to look inside the room and stood facing the wall.

“I thought.”

Yeon So-hyeon spoke, looking out the window.

“If blood enough to change the flow of history must flow, must it only be the blood of the simple ones who rise up and die under the banner of righteousness because it was impossible for them to live normally?”

Se-ah swallowed dry saliva.

Playfulness was mixed in Yeon So-hyeon’s voice.

“What if we just kill that many bad guys?”

“……Pardon?”

“What if, instead of the blood that all those innocent ones would have to shed, the blood of the wicked flows?”

It was a madman-like idea.

Furthermore, it was childish and even juvenile.

“……What kind of joke is this suddenly? The blood of the innocent ones flowing does not mean it in the literal sense, does it?”

Being flustered, Se-ah even forgot her polite tone.

It was a metaphorical way of saying that too many people had to be sacrificed in the process of revolution, not simply referring to the quantity of deaths.

“So it is simply a hypothesis. Let us just think about it.”

At Yeon So-hyeon’s light words, Se-ah sighed.

“To think of something only a child would……”

Se-ah shook her head.

“How can we easily divide the good from the bad?”

This incredibly complex world could absolutely not be divided simply into black and white.

“Even if we did, by what criteria would we divide them?”

Law? Morality? Such things were bound to change depending on the situation, and above all, the systems created by humans were always imperfect.

“Furthermore, to classify those so-called villains as you please and kill them all. There is no way there exists someone with the ability to kill all the villains enough to change history……”

As she spoke to that point, Se-ah’s words gradually decreased.

“Even if they existed, identifying and punishing sinners as one pleases is……”

A grim reaper wearing a white mask.

“Nothing more than a lunatic who is a far greater evil……”

The Master of the Dark Heaven .

The agent of heavenly punishment .

The existence that would deliver black lightning on behalf of the heartless heaven and earth.

Without realizing it, the name of that existence leaked from her mouth.

“……Dark Venerable .”

Still keeping his back turned, the boy of unknown identity smiled.

“I do not know who named him, but it is a good name. The one called the Dark Venerable will also like it.”

He smiled brightly.

“I am just curious whether that childish hypothesis, and the actions of the one called the Dark Venerable, can succeed and if it is actually possible.”

Se-ah could understand now.

Inhuman Demonic Realm .

That meant departing from human understanding and laws,

Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood .

Making mountains and rivers with corpses and blood,

Demonic Path of the Underworld .

The path that only the demons of the underworld who abandoned humanity could walk.

Shedding the blood of all the good and innocent ones who would have originally shed it, and asking for the price of all the sins that the wicked would have originally paid instead.

“Such a……”

Se-ah could not connect any words.

Was she prepared to hear his story?

Did she really have the recklessness to step into a deeper place here?

Se-ah knew the reason why Yeon So-hyeon had not answered her question asking about his identity.

She remembered the words Yeon So-hyeon had said to her that night.

‘Your sisters’ destiny has not yet been decided.’

Holding onto her hazy mind, Se-ah stood up from her seat.

“……Thank you for the words. I have work to do now, so I must leave.”

Yeon So-hyeon nodded.

“You have worked hard.”

Se-ah was about to offer a bow toward his back, then opened her mouth.

“Now, practically, only the main base of the Black Bone Gang remains.”

“Is that so?”

She continued her words calmly.

“Today, I and a small number of elite combat personnel plan to head to that main base along with our collaborators.”

“Is that not dangerous? Golden Spider holds the Sword Family Bronze Plaque. No matter if you have the justification of they being the ones who attacked first, the Sword Family will not take it into account.”

Se-ah shook her head.

“We will not break into the inside. The one who will do that job is someone else anyway.”

Her gaze directed to Yeon So-hyeon’s back.

“But even so, we will not just sit back. Today, no remnant shall escape the main base.”

Se-ah quietly stated her resolve.

“If the Sword Family still finds fault over that much, we will just have to fight.”

Although Se-ah was not a martial artist, she had her own spirit that was reminiscent of a martial artist’s momentum.

“Anyway, it is not the entire Sword Family, but only the one who awarded the bronze plaque to Golden Spider we have to face, is it not?”

Yeon So-hyeon shrugged as if he had no objection.

“……We also have that level of resolve.”

Se-ah picked up the teacup that was her share and drank the cooled tea in one gulp.

Placing the empty cup on the table, she bowed deeply in greeting.

“……Then.”

“Yeah.”

Se-ah headed toward the door her guard opened.

“……”

Yeon So-hyeon was still looking out the window, with his back turned.

In Se-ah’s eyes, for some reason, that appeared as the struggle of one who thirsted for the bright light and warmth of the sun.

* * *

The sword wielded by the executive of the Black Bone Gang cut the nape of the neck of the one who was kneeling while bound.

They were those who had attempted to escape.

He spat at the corpse.

“Cowardly bastards……!”

And holding up his blood-dripping sword high, he shouted.

“It is Lady Golden Spider’s command! Everyone, prepare to fight to the death !”

* * *

Golden Spider asked the Chief Manager, who was at a loss for words.

“……As expected, Father also refused to help, right?”

“……Yes. That is correct.”

Even before seeking help, she had expected to be refused.

The realm of that monster-like white mask was not accurately identified.

To catch an opponent whose strength was not grasped, they could not just deploy that precious expert carelessly.

Furthermore, since it was a superficial relationship, even more so.

Because to Golden Leech, his adoptive ‘daughters’ were merely consumables.

Blood dripped from Golden Spider’s clenched fist.

“And that……”

The Chief Manager difficulty relayed the words Golden Leech had told him to deliver to his adoptive daughter.

Having heard all those words, Golden Spider’s face flushed as if about to explode.

Slamming the ebony table she cherished, she screamed.

A maid who was hit on the head by the flying inkstone collapsed without even being able to scream.

The other maids who were trembling in fear in the corner rushed over and examined the collapsed maid.

The collapsed maid convulsed intermittently, and blood and brain matter flowed from her burst head, spreading on the floor.

“……Useless things.”

Golden Spider asked the Chief Manager.

“How many slaves are left in the main base?”

The Chief Manager replied hurriedly.

“T-That, as you know, transactions are rarely conducted at the main base, so their numbers are not many.”

Looking at the maids dragging away their companion’s corpse with contemptuous eyes, Golden Spider said.

“Gather all the slaves and useless non-combat personnel in the basement.”

“W-What are you thinking……?”

The Chief Manager stammered.

“I will conduct the ritual I learned from Master.”

“The ritual, you say?”

A ritual, what did that mean in the middle of the night?

Was she saying she would hold a sacrificial ceremony to pray for victory?

Or a prayer to drive away specters?

Ignoring the Chief Manager, Golden Spider bit her fingernails.

‘……I wanted to avoid that bizarre secret technique that monster-like Master taught me until the very end.’

But she did not have any alternatives now.

‘Damn it.’

She had the resolve to survive even if she had to sacrifice everyone if necessary.