Chapter 16
Just then, a stir came from one side, and the Cult Leader appeared.
The Cult Leader gestured to the people who spotted him first to keep them from announcing his presence, and quietly approached while first assessing the situation.
He arrived after Gwak Won had confessed and overheard the conversation between Cheon Ha-seong and Cho Seok-myeong.
The Cult Leader looked at Gwak Won, who was sprawled on the floor like a corpse.
“What happened here?”
As the Cult Leader approached and asked, Cho Seok-myeong explained to the best of his knowledge.
The Cult Leader looked at Cheon Ha-seong with eyes that showed he did not understand.
The Cult Leader had also suspected Gwak Won a little. That was why he had had certain expectations when Cheon Ha-seong said he was going to see Gwak Won.
However, what he had imagined was checking the wounds on Gwak Won's body to see if they were self-inflicted, inflicted by another, or fabricated.
But listening to Cho Seok-myeong's words, hadn't he instead beaten him so badly that the original wounds couldn't even be examined?
“I had thought you would do it differently.”
When Cheon Ha-seong looked at the Cult Leader, the Cult Leader told him what he had been thinking.
“Ah…”
As Cheon Ha-seong spoke, Seo Hyo-eun, who had appeared from behind the Cult Leader at some point, spoke in his stead.
“Head Instructor Cheon doesn't do things that way. He prefers to just drive someone to the brink of death rather than ask questions. I think it's because he finds questioning bothersome and dislikes thinking about the best way to ask.”
Cheon Ha-seong thought she was absolutely right.
“Then the Captain will have to handle this bastard's interrogation.”
“If you entrust it to me, I will be sure to find out who is behind this, Cult Leader!”
Cho Seok-myeong spoke in an emotional tone, as if he had committed an unforgivable mistake and had just found a way out. Considering the great sense of betrayal and anger those present felt towards Gwak Won, it certainly seemed like a good idea to entrust the task to Cho Seok-myeong.
“I wonder how many bastards like Gwak Won are in this very place.”
The Cult Leader spoke and swept his gaze over those who were there, and the startled men prostrated themselves.
“That is absolutely not the case, Cult Leader. You can trust these subordinates!”
The look of panic was evident on their faces.
The Cult Leader left the spot without another word, and Cheon Ha-seong and Seo Hyo-eun followed him. The Cult Leader, who had been striding ahead, suddenly turned back. His gaze was directed at his daughter.
“What is your level?”
“What… are you talking about?”
“You must be skilled to some extent too.”
“I believe I am at a level where I can protect my own body.”
“And you speak so confidently with only that much skill?”
The Cult Leader said, and clicked his tongue.
“Head Instructor Cheon, what do you say to becoming this girl's personal bodyguard? After what happened today, I've come to think that is what's truly important.”
This was the Cult Leader subtly trying to sound Cheon Ha-seong out. Seeing Cheon Ha-seong's skill, he was truly amazed. Although he hadn't seen Cheon Ha-seong handle Gwak Won himself, there was much he could tell just by seeing the results.
He was curious what a person with such incredible skill would say if asked to give up all ambition and become a single woman's personal bodyguard.
Cheon Ha-seong did not think for long and spoke immediately.
“Since I have practiced martial arts and have decided to take responsibility for Head Instructor Seo, I will naturally protect her. Even if I am not her personal bodyguard.”
“Then what will you do about the Martial Arts Academy?”
“The Martial Arts Academy is a very good place. Head Instructor Seo will now also want to train harder than before, so perhaps she will be able to achieve her goals quickly.”
A smile formed on the Cult Leader's face.
“Young Supreme One, what will you do now? It seems you've chosen a very difficult person.”
“If he stops at just that, I should be more than grateful. If he sets a goal to make me the best in the world, I might have to do isolated training until the day I die.”
The Cult Leader burst out laughing loudly. It was because he thought his daughter seemed to have suffered quite a bit at Cheon Ha-seong's hands.
“Head Instructor Cheon, from now on, come and stay here. There won't be a problem with that, will there?”
“As it happens, I was thinking I should probably do that.”
The expression on Cheon Ha-seong's face as he answered was completely indifferent. It meant that although there was no benefit in it for him, he would do so because the situation at the Cult Leader's Hall was unstable.
The Cult Leader, knowing that was Cheon Ha-seong's true intention, let out a chuckle.
The Cult Leader thought the two would need to talk privately and sent them on their way.
Cheon Ha-seong thought Seo Hyo-eun might also have been surprised and asked.
“Are you okay?”
“What about me?”
Cheon Ha-seong suddenly thought that Seo Hyo-eun might have experienced such things often since she was young.
“This isn't the first time something like this has happened, is it?”
Considering the usual Seo Hyo-eun, it seemed she might just gloss over it, disliking being serious. However, Seo Hyo-eun nodded and began to speak with a sigh.
“My mother was the First Marquis, and the other Marquises came after her. Father only gave his affection to my mother, and you can understand how much that must have angered the others. My mother was only a good person to me; she might not have been so to others. After all, she obtained what they wanted so badly with such ease.”
One could think of it that way.
Originally, the Cult Leader belonged to the First Marquis, and they had only become Marquises later, but there were people who couldn't think logically.
Moreover, they must have also been thinking of their families' interests.
“There have been endless attempts to kill me since I was young. Father had the strongest people protect me. Those people must have had many complaints too. They wouldn't have trained in martial arts and become strong just to protect a young and powerless girl like me. Still, because Father is so strong, they carried out his orders.”
Cheon Ha-seong hadn't thought there would be such difficulties and nodded his head.
“Still, I suppose I should say I've lived a good life. There are people who have lived much harder lives, and those who have died without a trace. But these days, it's definitely a problem. An atmosphere is being created where each of the Marquis Halls is taking in adopted sons, and those adopted sons should also be called Young Supreme Ones.”
This time too, Cheon Ha-seong nodded. At first, they'll say they should be called Young Supreme Ones, but later, talk will emerge of appointing a Young Cult Leader from among them. In that process, Seo Hyo-eun will no longer be a special existence.
Right now, Seo Hyo-eun is the only Young Supreme One, but if they too come to be called Young Supreme Ones, then Seo Hyo-eun will become nothing more than one among many.
Then, if others are endorsed as the Young Cult Leader, she could come under an incomparably greater number of attacks than before.
Cheon Ha-seong knew that Seo Hyo-eun's personal bodyguards were hiding in the surroundings. And he also knew that their skills were not particularly high.
However, the more important thing was a matter of will. It was questionable how actively they would try to protect Seo Hyo-eun at a critical moment.
Cheon Ha-seong, thinking this was not a matter to be postponed, sent a telepathic message to Seo Hyo-eun.
[Head Instructor Seo, is it alright if I test your personal bodyguards?]
Seo Hyo-eun also realized what Cheon Ha-seong was thinking when he said that.
[It's alright to do so.]
He had to get it over with quickly before the Cult Leader appeared. If the Cult Leader were to appear, what he was trying to do would come to nothing.
Cheon Ha-seong suddenly drew his sword with a flourish and aimed for Seo Hyo-eun's heart. Since it had already been discussed, Seo Hyo-eun also quickly drew her sword and blocked Cheon Ha-seong's attack.
If someone had been watching carefully from the start, they would have seen that as Cheon Ha-seong was drawing his sword, Seo Hyo-eun's hand was already on her sword hilt.
After a moment's hesitation, about ten people appeared and surrounded them.
Without saying anything, Cheon Ha-seong began to attack them. Cheon Ha-seong wanted to see how they would respond in a moment like this, and if they decided to stop him, whether they could.
To make them understand that this was a real situation, Cheon Ha-seong began to launch decisive attacks on a few of them.
Thinking that he wouldn't be able to find out what he wanted to know by just making a show of it, he displayed his true skills from the beginning.
Even those who hadn't properly grasped the situation at first must have now realized that they had no choice but to use their full strength.
The problem was, even if they decided to do so, could they really stop Cheon Ha-seong?
A few people swung their swords, but they posed no threat to Cheon Ha-seong. He thought that at this point, they should at least be trying to use a Sword Formation to protect the Young Supreme One, but even so, nothing much changed.
At that moment, one person spoke.
“We are the Young Supreme One's personal bodyguards. We have no reason to fight with you, Head Instructor Cheon, so why are you doing this? Why are you suddenly attacking the Young Supreme One?”
Cheon Ha-seong, as if there were no need to even listen to those words, kicked him in the chest.
He could understand a lack of skill. But these people had no will. They didn't even have the thought that they should not spare their own lives to save the Young Supreme One.
It wasn't as if Cheon Ha-seong had overwhelmingly pressured them either. He had given them enough leeway that they could have done something if they had tried. However, watching them only make a show of it, Cheon Ha-seong's unease turned into conviction.
It seemed these people also had connections to the Marquises or the Demonic Clans. The reason this problem hadn't been revealed until now was likely because no incident that actually threatened Seo Hyo-eun's life had occurred.
As Cheon Ha-seong filled his sword with internal energy and was about to unleash his Sword Qi, all the personal bodyguards retreated.
Seeing that there was not a single exception, Cheon Ha-seong was greatly shocked. He was dumbfounded, wondering if this was really the extent of it.
He had not imagined such a result, so now he had no idea how he should conclude this test.
Seo Hyo-eun also seemed to have understood the situation as she watched things unfold.
“Protect me! I'm telling you to stop this man, not run away!”
However, no one followed Seo Hyo-eun's words; on the contrary, a few people seemed to be trying to block Seo Hyo-eun's path of retreat to make it easier for Cheon Ha-seong to attack.
Cheon Ha-seong decided to finish what he had started and unleashed his Sword Qi. At that, a few people retreated, and Cheon Ha-seong chased them and stabbed them in the back. There wasn't even a proper sound of swords clashing. It was because each of them had dodged the attack, as if thinking there was no reason for them to step up.
However, things did not go as they wished. If these men were people of the Marquises or the Demonic Clans, wouldn't it be better for them to have a bone or two broken than to let them run rampant?
Cheon Ha-seong finished his simple thought and launched his body forward.
His figure vanished in an instant from where he stood and reappeared behind the fleeing men, slashing with his sword. One after another, men screamed, clutched their wounds, and fell.