At last, you shall see it. (1)
Heavenly Executioner, tightly shut his previously parted lips again. His eyes, so dark they evoked an abyss itself, seemed to strangle the onlooker’s breath.
Amid the tense atmosphere, where it felt as though something might erupt at any moment, Heavenly Executioner spoke again.
“Let go.”
Jang Ilso’s eyes curved gently. Their appearance bordered on mockery.
“My, my… You’re quite kind-hearted, more than you appear.”
“I won’t say it twice.”
A heavy murderous intent rose in Heavenly Executioner’s gaze. With a subtle tilt of his head, indicating his displeasure, Jang Ilso casually loosened the grip that had been strangling the Lord of the Blood Palace.
Thud.
“Huh…. ugh!”
The Blood Palace Lord, who immediately dropped, gasped for breath as he clutched his neck, his trembling eyes darting between Jang Ilso and Heavenly Executioner.
His whole body shook. Simply feeling the overwhelming presence emitted by these two men up close made him feel as if his soul were being crushed and shattered.
“Step back, worthless creature.”
Because of that, Heavenly Executioner’s icy rebuke felt more like salvation than insult. Without so much as glancing at the Blood Palace Lord as he withdrew, Heavenly Executioner kept his gaze firmly on Jang Ilso.
“How did you know?”
“Hmm, what do you mean?”
“I’m asking how you knew I was here. You shouldn’t have noticed.”
“Ha? Haha. Hahahaha!”
Jang Ilso burst into loud laughter, holding his stomach as if he could barely contain himself, tilting his head back.
“Is that all you have to ask? Is that it?”
Even as Jang Ilso continued laughing heartily for quite some time, Heavenly Executioner did not so much as flinch.
“Haa…”
Struggling to stiffen his laughter, Jang Ilso looked at Heavenly Executioner with tears glistening in his eyes.
“Well, well. It seems your precious pride has been hurt. How did someone as fiercely proud as you… how did you end up scurrying around like a little rat?”
Heavenly Executioner’s eyes twitched. At the same time, an overwhelming, vicious killing intent began to seep out.
“Kkeuuh….”
The blood cultists caught in its wake could not endure and collapsed to the ground one by one.
“Urgh, ugh!”
Among them, some even vomited blood as though suffering from internal injuries. The murderous aura was so fierce that even these blood cultists – who were more accustomed to demonic energy [마기(魔氣)] and killing intent than anyone else in the Central Plains – could not withstand it.
Yet Jang Ilso himself showed no sign of cowering, even amidst that storm of murderous intent. He merely looked at Heavenly Executioner with a sneer on his face. His thin eyes curved slyly, reminiscent of a crescent moon on a dark night, and an eerie gleam flashed from between his narrowed lids, momentarily overpowering even the Heavenly Executioner.
Twitch.
Heavenly Executioner, who had remained silent, slightly jerked his hand. He looked as though he could no longer hold back the surging urge to kill. Watching quietly, Jang Ilso’s sneer grew deeper.
“What’s the matter?”
Jang Ilso leisurely tilted his head to the side. His straight, porcelain-white neck was revealed in front of Heavenly Executioner’s eyes, as if provoking him.
“If you’re that angry, why not just break it? Clean and simple.”
He tapped his neck with his fingertip.
“Go ahead. I won’t resist.”
Heavenly Executioner’s face grew even more rigid.
“Come on, do it. Huh? Why are you hesitating? Hahahahah!”
Jang Ilso burst into another bout of wild laughter. The fingertips of the Blood Palace Lord, who was watching it all, trembled.
‘He… he’s insane…’
No matter how you looked at it, he was out of his mind.
The Lord of the Blood Palace did not deny that Jang Ilso was an extraordinary figure. Jang Ilso was certainly remarkable.
However, this assessment was based on considering Jang Ilso’s many attributes collectively. Judging purely by martial prowess alone, he clearly couldn’t be a match for Heavenly Executioner.
Even among the ruthless bishops of the Demonic Cult, Heavenly Executioner was an existence unmatched by any other. During the Great Demonic War, it had been difficult to find someone who could rival him, and how much stronger he had grown since then was beyond imagination.
Even Jang Ilso surely knows this. He must clearly sense his opponent’s strength, and yet he’s behaving as though he has no regard for his own life – he can’t possibly be in his right mind.
“It’s strange. Why can’t you do it?”
“Enough.”
Heaven Executioner cut him off in an emotionless voice.
“My faith is unwavering. But in the end, I’m still a being that hasn’t shed its human shell, susceptible to temptation and weakness. There’s no need to remind me of that.”
“How terribly boring…”
Jang Ilso waved his hand as though all the excitement had vanished. To the Blood Palace Lord, every one of his gestures looked like the acts of a madman, but apparently Heavenly Executioner saw things differently.
“Answer me. How did you know?”
When Heavenly Executioner asked again, Jang Ilso’s eyes flashed sharply, and he laughed coldly.
“I didn’t need to notice anything. Of course you would be here.”
“…And why is that?”
“Because obviously you can’t take your eyes off it.”
“…”
“If there’s something you desperately desire but must never possess, what do you do? Turn your eyes away because merely looking pains you?”
Jang Ilso, having posed the question, shook his head.
“No, that’s impossible. Even if you force yourself to look away, once you happen to see it again, you won’t be able to tear your eyes away. And you…”
“…have already laid your eyes upon it again.”
“Exactly. You already know this very well.”
Jang Ilso continued with a brazen sneer.
“How stifling it must have been! To be someone who must have it, yet cannot. So you send your little rats scurrying around, acting all dignified while you beat around the bush – hiding the raging desire within, pretending it’s nothing.”
“…”
“Like a stupid pig.”
Gnash.
Heavenly Executioner gritted his teeth. A frost-laden murderous intent, like the chill of the Northern Sea, poured forth from his eyes.
He had indeed confronted this man once before. It was when he passed judgment on a young Bishop who had yet to mature.
However, at that time, he had not truly held any meaningful conversation with him. And yet, in such a short span of time, this man had already predicted Heavenly Executioner’s next move.
‘A brilliant genius [귀재(鬼才)*].’
There’s no other way to describe him. But even so, Heavenly Executioner could not tolerate such arrogance.
How long had it been since he last felt such genuine desire to kill an insolent unbeliever?
Perhaps it was the first time since ‘that man’ a hundred years ago.
Heavenly Executioner glared at Jang Ilso as if about to bore a hole through him with his gaze, and asked,
“…So, what’s the reason you called me out here?”
“I despise those who ask what they already know. No – perhaps I should say I loathe them to the point of getting sick.”
“…”
“Fine, I’ll be kind enough to answer. I’ll give you a chance to lend a hand.”
Heavenly Executioner’s eyes twitched.
“Are you suggesting that I help you?”
“Yes.”
Heavenly Executioner’s voice sank even deeper.
“Answer me, unbeliever. Why should I help you?”
“…”
“Simply conversing with you and breathing the same air as such a revolting unbeliever fills me with the disgust akin to chewing on insects. So why should I help you? Merely refraining from slitting open your stomach and strangling you with your own entrails is already boundless mercy on my part.”
“A reason? It’s simple.”
Jang Ilso’s face twisted strangely.
“Because it’s what you want. Right?”
Heavenly Executioner remained silent, offering no reaction. Jang Ilso spoke on, as though he had expected just that.
“Why did you come in person back then? It was just a single young Bishop. He might have been a serious threat to the Central Plains, but it wasn’t anything you particularly had to care about, was it? And yet you carried your heavy backside all the way there – why? Hmm? Were you just too bored?”
“You bastard…”
“No. You wanted to see it with your own eyes.”
“…”
“While you vermin were living like insects in dark caves, you wanted to see how much this world had changed.”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaah!
At last, a violent storm of murderous intent swirled around Heavenly Executioner. It was colossal, enough to make even Jang Ilso himself feel a momentary chill.
“Watch your tongue.”
However, Jang Ilso’s face still bore a mocking smile.
“As you said, your faith may be unwavering. But having faith is, after all, possible only because you are human. And humans can never be free from desire.”
“…”
“Tell me. What is it you want?”
Heavenly Executioner slowly closed his eyes.
He wanted to rip that snake-like mouth apart right then and there. Strip every shred of flesh and scatter it to the winds, make him pay for daring to question his faith.
But Heavenly Executioner could not. Doing so would become undeniable proof of his own wavering.
He had no choice but to acknowledge it.
If His descent requires a durable vessel… then this man might be one of the closest to Him. For both his body and soul are strong.
Thus, Heavenly Executioner was forced to reveal the true intentions he had kept hidden.
“I am filled with hatred.”
“…”
“For everything that still breathes upon this earth.”
Heavenly Executioner’s eyes gleamed with madness.
“Those who survived, those who forgot, those who know, and those who do not. Tearing them all to shreds and purifying the world – that shall be my sacred duty.”
“But that duty may not be granted to you. Right?”
At the sound of Jang Ilso’s calm voice, Heavenly Executioner’s expression twisted for the first time. Jang Ilso looked upon him with what appeared to be genuine compassion.
“Yes. So leave it to me.”
“…”
“I will bring about everything you desire.”
Heavenly Executioner felt a fierce revulsion. For a mere unbeliever to dare speak such words before him was outrageous. It churned his insides, as if beholding a devil [마귀] preaching heresy. And yet, more than that…
“Unbeliever.”
Heavenly Executioner asked, as though he truly could not comprehend it.
“I ask you – what is it you hope to gain?”
“…”
“When everything is finished, there will be nothing left but emptiness [무(無)**]. Is your wish to become the ruler [주(主)] of an empty land?”
No one owns the desert. No one bothers to claim ownership because there is nothing there.
Yet this man now seeks to become the ruler of a wasteland. He is burning his life in pursuit of a meaningless throne that no one will ever worship.
What could possibly drive such incomprehensible actions?
Even so, Jang Ilso simply scoffed.
“Hahahah! You’re spouting nonsense. Whether anyone acknowledges it or not doesn’t matter in the slightest. The only thing that matters is that I want it. What else is needed?”
The madness flickering in Jang Ilso’s eyes was so absolute that even Heavenly Executioner felt a momentary chill.
“Value is something one determines for oneself. Only I can speak of its worth.”
Heavenly Executioner suddenly lifted his gaze towards the sky.
“Longing [갈망(渴望)***]…”
Suddenly, a hollow laugh escaped him. Though he hadn’t expected that answer, in another sense, it seemed he had been waiting for it all along.
It’s meaningless. And yet it has meaning – because it’s something one desires.
Heavenly Executioner eyes fell upon the vast lands of the Central Plains. A filthy place, tainted by countless hateful colors – yet unbearably brilliant. The land of pure faith was only ever monochrome.
Whether he loathes the brazenly radiant Central Plains or yearns for it… as long as that light exists, he had no choice but to yearn for it.
“…Then take it.”
With a light snap of his fingers, Heavenly Executioner summoned forth a group from the long stretch of shadows.
“I grant it to you, unbeliever.”
“Hmm.”
Jang Ilso nodded as though satisfied.
“But remember this. In the end, all you can grasp is a fleeting throne. Until the true master returns, it will be nothing but a hollow satisfaction you enjoy for a moment. At last, you shall see it. The sight of everything you have falling apart.”
“There’s no need for such talk. I already know.”
After glaring at Jang Ilso for quite some time, Heavenly Executioner was the first to turn away sharply.
His only desire is the Descent. And for that Descent to occur, purification [정화(淨化)] was necessary.
There is no one more fitting than him to be the blade for that purification.
“Burn it all.”
Whether it’s himself or the world.
With those brief words, Heavenly Executioner’s figure vanished as though swallowed by shadows.
“Ah…”
Only then did the Blood Palace Lord finally exhale the breath he had been holding. It felt as though the crushing weight of thousands of geun had been lifted from his body. Unbearable exhaustion washed over him.
“Hmm.”
But before he could even catch his breath, Jang Ilso’s languid voice reached his ears.
After casting a sidelong glance at those Heavenly Executioner had left behind, Jang Ilso shifted his gaze and finally looked at the Lord of the Blood Palace. Just as he reflexively began to lower his head…
“Well then… shall we go?”
Jang Ilso lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled brightly.
“Let’s burn it all. After all, I’ve got nothing left now anyway.”
The gentle arcs formed by his eyes were truly soft. Yet there was something eerie and sorrowful hidden in that expression.
________
*귀재(鬼才) – literally means “ghostly talent” or “a talent like a spirit”, implying someone with a rare, almost supernatural level of genius. Used to describe someone brilliant, eccentric, and extraordinarily gifted, often beyond normal human limits.
**무(無) – “nothing/none/without/emptiness.” used in philosophical, spiritual, and martial arts contexts – especially in Taoism, Zen Buddhism, and wuxia/xianxia fiction.
***갈망(渴望) – expresses a deep, earnest, and often aching desire for something – more intense than simple “wanting.”
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So… Cheonumaeng couldn’t receive any reinforcements (aka Kunlun, Shaolin with Hye Bang and whoever else might have come – as I have hoped)… But Ilso can have demonic cult and Heavenly Executioner’s approval? I can’t even call it plot armor anymore. What is it.
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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