“What’s the battle situation?”
“Still, still no word has come!”
“Why hasn’t the battle report arrived yet!”
Divine Strategist burst into anger. The reporter who received his fury head-on couldn’t dare meet his eyes and bowed his head deeply.
“We’re gathering information as quickly as possible right now. Please calm your anger.”
Divine Strategist rubbed his temples without responding.
‘What the hell am I doing.’
Getting angry wasn’t wrong. If it’s a situation that calls for anger, then one should be angry. But right now, it’s not like the reporter did anything wrong, yet taking out his frustration on someone else just because he felt anxious—wasn’t that a shitty thing to do?
“Sorry for yelling.”
“Not at all, Military Strategist.”
The reporter hastily bowed his head again.
“I’ll go find out immediately. I’ll report as soon as word comes.”
“Please do.”
“Yes! Then…”
As the reporter backed away, Divine Strategist reached out and picked up his teacup. The cold chill of the tea that had gone completely cold pressed against his hand.
‘I need to calm down.’
He closed his eyes.
His heart was pounding erratically. He couldn’t tell at all where this unease was coming from.
‘Should I have gone with the army?’
Just watching a war unfold from this distance was an uncommon experience even for Divine Strategist. He always preferred to observe the battle situation from close to the battlefield.
This was because he believed that the subtle atmosphere that pervades a battlefield cannot be read through numbers and others’ perspectives alone. If it weren’t for the situation where the Demonic Cult might target the opposite direction, Divine Strategist would have gone to Anhui following Righteous Alliance Leader Kwon-geuk without a second thought.
‘Battle cannot be avoided.’
Given Kwon-geuk’s personality, he would try to avoid battle as much as possible. If circumstances weren’t favorable, he would surely try to prevent the situation even by sacrificing himself.
Because that’s the kind of person Kwon-geuk is.
But it would be a meaningless attempt. If it were a war that could be stopped that way, it wouldn’t have started in the first place. Baek Sword Castle’s rampage didn’t happen just impulsively.
They had been plotting against the Central Plains for a long time. They’re moving now only because they’re confident. Would such people stop just because they heard some words?
‘It’s a war that can only end when someone dies and disappears.’
Knowing this made Divine Strategist’s heart all the heavier.
‘Alliance Leader.’
The only option is to quickly end the war that has begun. The longer it drags on, the greater the threat from the Demonic Cult will become.
“What about the Demonic Cult’s movements?”
“Word is they pushed all the way to Qinghai then stopped for now.”
“Stopped?”
“Yes. It seems the Guangdong Wei Family managed to shake off the Demonic Cult’s pursuit.”
“…Shook them off?”
Divine Strategist’s face hardened like stone.
This was tremendously good news. To think that Wei Jeong-han and Wei Yan-ho, who he thought would surely die, had survived—how could he not be happy?
Wei Yan-ho was irritating and infuriating to watch. But that didn’t mean Divine Strategist disliked Wei Yan-ho.
It was more like watching a troublemaking grandson?
So this should be cause for celebration. But Divine Strategist couldn’t enjoy that natural joy.
How on earth did they escape from that Demonic Cult?
‘What the hell is going on…’
The Demonic Cult isn’t called the Demonic Cult for nothing. Divine Strategist knew best just how terrifying a place the Demonic Cult was. He was someone who had fought a war with that Demonic Cult, each side aiming for the other’s throat.
How many people in this martial world could understand better than Divine Strategist just how persistent they were, how strong, how terrifying?
By Divine Strategist’s judgment, Wei Jeong-han and Wei Yan-ho should have had to bury their bones in that place. Burning the holy ground was something the Demonic Cult could never forgive.
Even the bishops who normally wouldn’t lift their heavy asses should have personally come out to capture them.
But they escaped?
Divine Strategist leaned his head back.
Even with his unmatched mind in the martial world, the current situation wasn’t clearly visible to him. It felt like looking at a lake shrouded in thick fog. He could tell there was a large lake beneath the fog, but he couldn’t see that lake.
‘Think.’
It’s impossible that they put in full effort but still let them slip away.
Then it’s one of two things.
Either they had no intention of capturing them from the start, or they lacked the power to capture them.
There’s no way they had no intention of capturing them. Even if they had something in mind and didn’t want to take their lives, they could still capture them alive. There’s no benefit the Demonic Cult could gain by sending Wei Yan-ho and his group back to the Central Plains.
Then it means they lacked the power to capture them.
‘Why?’
Because Wei Yan-ho was too strong?
No. That can’t be.
Of course, Wei Yan-ho is growing stronger at an exponential rate. When he sent him to the Tang Family, he couldn’t have imagined that Wei Yan-ho would be able to defeat Heavenly Flow Sword.
Wei Yan-ho’s growth rate completely exceeded Divine Strategist’s predictions. If asked to choose between being that strong at that age and maintaining that growth rate, Divine Strategist would choose the latter without hesitation.
But no matter how quickly one grows stronger, there are things that are possible and things that are impossible. Even if Wei Yan-ho had become twice as strong as when he defeated Heavenly Flow Sword, escaping the Demonic Cult’s pursuit would be impossible.
Yet that very thing had been accomplished.
“Are you certain?”
“That they pursued the Guangdong Wei Family is definite. And there were those who witnessed a small number escaping the pursuit from a distance.”
“Then where are those bastards now?”
“At their speed, wouldn’t they have entered Shaanxi by now?”
“What about Mount Hua? Is there no contact from Mount Hua?”
“Not yet…”
“Huuu.”
Divine Strategist let out a deep sigh without realizing it.
‘I need to think.’
There’s something. Something I’ve missed.
That something that no matter how much I think and think, I could never catch…
‘Insufficient power?’
Divine Strategist’s eyes trembled. The brush in his hand snapped in two and fell to the floor.
“Military Strategist?”
Divine Strategist trembled as if struck by lightning. It seemed no words would reach his ears.
And finally his mouth opened.
“The defenses.”
“Pardon?”
“How are the defenses at the places leading from Shaanxi to here?”
“Defense forces have been concentrated at Qinghai. And the other half has gone to Anhui.”
“The, the forces at Qinghai?”
“The intelligence agents who were guarding against the Demonic Cult are currently spread widely across Qinghai and Sichuan. We need to find out their advance route…”
“This…”
Divine Strategist shot up from his seat.
Everyone stared at him blankly, not understanding what was happening.
“These fucking idiots!”
“Mi, Military Strategist!”
“We’ve been had.”
Everything began to become crystal clear.
They failed to capture the Guangdong Wei Family. If just a few bishops had stepped forward, it would have been entirely possible. Yet their failure to capture them means one thing.
“There were no bishops.”
If bishops had been there, there would have been no reason to just watch them escape. There weren’t any.
Then where are they?
Where would bishops who weren’t with the main force be?
“Anhui…”
“Pardon?”
“Send word to Anhui! Right now! Immediately! Send an emergency message! The Demonic Cult’s bishops are heading there!”
“Mi, Military Strategist!”
“Right now!”
“Yes!”
Divine Strategist’s face contorted like a demon’s.
‘Damn it.’
It was a trap from the very beginning, showing the movement of a large army. That’s why they didn’t bother eliminating those who were watching. It wasn’t an expression of confidence. It was a show of force telling them to watch and react.
The bishops never intended to move together with the main force from the start. They must have moved separately from the beginning, leaving behind only the minimum number needed to control the main force.
It would be impossible for that many to avoid the eyes of the Righteous Alliance’s intelligence agents.
But if it’s a small number led by bishops?
Even if they had already infiltrated deep into the Central Plains, the intelligence agents probably wouldn’t have caught even a whiff of them. Because the gap in their capabilities is so extreme. Even if the bishops passed right over the heads of intelligence agents who had their eyes wide open, they wouldn’t notice even a hint of it.
Then where would they have gone?
Anhui.
And…
“Strengthen the defenses! Call back all the martial units!”
“Wh, where to?”
“Here, of course!”
“Pardon? To headquarters?”
“Hurry!”
Their faces showed they didn’t understand, but Divine Strategist’s momentum was so fierce that no follow-up questions came.
“This… stupid mistake.”
The Demonic Cult is moving.
The Demonic Cult is moving together.
Bishops are the most core fighting force of the Demonic Cult. So no matter what happens, they would move together with the main force.
He had been caught off guard by that assumption.
‘But how?’
Bishops are beings who are hostile to each other. There’s no way they could move in such perfect unison. This is only possible when someone at the very top gives orders.
But that’s something even Great Demon Emperor couldn’t do. Who could be doing it?
‘Blood Demon? War Demon?’
No. Not enough.
Even if one of the bishops seized full authority, they could never obtain the same level of authority as the past Great Demon Emperor. To command bishops like limbs in such perfect unison would require absolute power that surpasses even that Great Demon Emperor.
Then has one appeared?
That absolute authority figure?
An authority figure capable of making those terrifying bishops of the Demonic Cult infiltrate the Central Plains without complaint?
‘Has even the Heavenly Demon appeared?’
Otherwise it’s impossible.
It doesn’t make sense logically. But isn’t that very thing happening right now?
‘Maybe I’m getting too far ahead of myself. Maybe…’
Perhaps it’s nothing at all. Perhaps Wei Yan-ho and his group managed to escape by luck, and perhaps the bishops failed to pursue them because they were fighting among themselves.
Certainly it could be that, certainly!
But…
‘Bad premonitions always come true.’
His heart, not his head, was speaking. That something was going terribly wrong right now.
“Send emergency messages to Qingcheng and Gongdong. We need support.”
“Even them?”
“Yes! Right now! Tell them to abandon their home bases and come to headquarters. This isn’t a request. It’s an order. Say it’s commanded in the Alliance Leader’s name… No! I’ll write it! I will!”
Something must be done.
If he just sits idle like this, disaster will strike.
Divine Strategist’s mind began spinning at maximum capacity.
But…
It was already too late.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
Divine Strategist’s eyes widened at the sudden tremendous explosion.
“What’s happening!”
“What is this explosion!”
The officials rushed to the windows. Those who quickly looked outside slowly turned their heads back inside.
Even without looking outside, he could tell.
What had happened.
Just seeing that the faces of those who turned their heads back had lost all color, just seeing that their fingertips were trembling…
There was no way not to know.
Divine Strategist quietly closed his eyes.
The sound he least wanted to hear at this moment reached his ears.
“The Demonic Cult… has come.”
Mockery.
It was a perfect defeat.
