Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 269

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 269. The Great Demon’s Necessary Death (9)
I hadn’t slept a wink.
It was a common remark to make to someone who looked exhausted.
‘But you’re saying this to me now, Yi Ja Gyun?’
And not just anyone—the Elder Council Chairman himself.
Moreover, I wasn’t tired at all, nor did I appear to be in any condition that would make me look fatigued. If anything, I was brimming with vitality.
So why mention sleep at all?
‘This is taking an interesting turn.’
I smiled.
“Yes, I did lose some sleep. A few insects were bothering me.”
“Well, the heat does bring out the insects. Still, you’re young enough that it shouldn’t be too much of a burden.”
“You said I looked tired just now, yet now you’re saying it shouldn’t be much of a burden?”
“It’s just something people say. Do you enjoy nitpicking every detail?”
“It depends on who I’m speaking with.”
The air around us suddenly grew cold.
An old man bearing a massive blade on his back shouted in a booming voice.
“Mind your tongue! Do you know who this person is!”
I glanced at the old man with the great blade and chuckled softly.
“I know he’s the Elder Council Chairman.”
“You brat!”
When Yi Ja Gyun raised his hand, the old man fell silent.
“Listen here, Tambi Ryeong-ju.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your skill is excellent, your talent abundant, and it’s only natural that your confidence overflows when you’ve become the commander of the Alliance Leader’s direct special forces at such a young age. Still, I advise you to choose your words more carefully.”
I smiled broadly.
“I believe I’m already being quite careful. How does it appear to you, Chairman?”
Yi Ja Gyun shook his head.
“Not careful at all. Arrogance is a sin. If you don’t want your life in the Martial Alliance to become suffocating, remember my words now.”
“I will take them to heart.”
It was a conversation sharp enough to be called a battle of wits.
“By the way, Chairman. Since we’ve happened to meet like this, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Do you wish to keep the Great Demon alive, or do you wish to annihilate it completely?”
Yi Ja Gyun’s eyes grew peculiar.
“The Great Demon… wouldn’t that depend on the situation and how powerful the Great Demon is?”
“Defense over offense?”
“You may not know this, but over the years, I’ve devoted myself greatly to defense. Having lived that way for so long, I’ve grown accustomed to protecting things. Yet sometimes I think: after all, life is lived but once. Perhaps it would be good to try something I haven’t done before.”
It was a dangerous statement.
Dangerous because it sounded alluring, and alluring because it sounded fierce.
“You desire the Great Demon’s necessary death.”
“Heh, if I were the Great Demon, I’d have to achieve immortality.”
“If you were the Great Demon, Elder, that would certainly be the case.”
The conversation had taken an unusual turn.
Yi Ja Gyun waved his hand as if to dismiss the matter.
“We’ll arrange a separate gathering another time. I have business to attend to today.”
“Of course.”
Yi Ja Gyun approached Young Ho Gyeong.
Young Ho Gyeong hastily bowed his head.
“I greet the Elder Council Leader.”
“Have you been well these days, Young Ho Gyeong?”
“Yes.”
“It seems you’ve had quite a lot troubling your mind these past few days. How are you managing? Are you sleeping well at night?”
Young Ho Gyeong answered with a trembling voice.
“To be honest, I’ve been so preoccupied that I haven’t been sleeping well.”
It was a genuinely honest answer.
Yi Ja Gyun burst into laughter.
“Well, it would be the greatest incident since you took office as Alliance Leader.”
“Yes.”
“I’d like to lighten the burden on your shoulders if I could, but would you show me inside?”
Young Ho Gyeong found himself glancing at Moyong Bi.
Moyong Bi paid them no attention whatsoever. He simply stood there, cradling the Sealed Demon Divine Spear, gazing up at the distant sky.
Young Ho Gyeong sighed.
“I apologize, but as of this morning, I’ve revoked all visitation rights for prisoners.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Yes.”
“But I didn’t come here to visit a prisoner.”
“…Pardon?”
Yi Ja Gyun smiled and gestured toward Young Ho Gyeong.
“I came to share a cup of tea with you.”
Young Ho Gyeong was greatly startled.
At the same time, he sensed danger. If it were a prisoner visitation, at least there would be some conversation between the two of them, allowing him to prepare in some way.
But if the target was himself, there was no way to prepare.
“Elder. I apologize, but…”
“Surely not.”
Yi Ja Gyun’s gaze sharpened.
“Do you think I came here to pressure you like someone else would?”
“No, that wasn’t what I meant.”
Young Ho Gyeong was genuinely flustered. He had indeed been thinking exactly that.
Yi Ja Gyun, who had been studying Young Ho Gyeong quietly, smiled again.
“Well, I suppose you could think that way. Just look at Jong Mu Seok—he tried to openly threaten you—so how could you have complete trust in the other Elders?”
“Ah, that’s not what I meant….”
“Don’t worry about it. I came simply for tea, nothing more. I know you’ve been through hardship these past days, and I merely wished to offer some comfort to your weary shoulders.”
No matter how important principles were, it would be extraordinarily difficult to refuse when the Elder Council Leader himself extended such an invitation.
Besides, there was no legitimate reason to decline. He wasn’t urgently needed elsewhere, and the Elder Council Leader had come merely for tea, after all.
“…Please, come inside.”
“Thank you. At my age, even standing still becomes taxing.”
Thus the three of them entered the Law Enforcement Hall.
Moyong Bi’s expression, as he gazed upward at the sky, grew increasingly grave.
‘This situation is developing in a rather peculiar manner, isn’t it?’
Too many incidents were erupting simultaneously.
Even he, who had grown accustomed to navigating complex problems, felt his mind beginning to spin.
‘Let me organize this.’
First, the Elder Council comprises the Blue Faction, the Black Faction, and the White Faction.
Among them, Jong Mu Seok of the Blue Faction exerted external pressure upon Young Ho Gyeong, the Law Enforcement Hall Leader, on behalf of O Gyeong Ha, the Ho Jeong Clan Leader. That incident had surfaced.
Then it fell into his hands, and Jong Mu Seok was transferred to the Law Enforcement Hall. Subsequently, Ha Sang Il, who belonged to the Blue Faction, came to the Alliance Leader’s Residence to request that Meng Ha Sung reduce Jong Mu Seok’s sentence.
‘Meng Ha Sung refused, and instead proposed that they join hands, using Jong Mu Seok as a sacrificial offering.’
Afterward, Jeon Chil Sung, the Blue Faction’s representative, arrived and joined hands with Meng Ha Sung. Now Meng Ha Sung intends to use Yi Ja Gyun, the White Faction’s leader and the Elder Council Leader himself, to launch a counterattack.
‘In the midst of all this, I’ve kidnapped one of the Death King’s assassins, and soon their representative will come to me.’
Yet that is not the end of it.
Merely hours ago, mysterious masters attacked me.
Furthermore, Yi Ja Gyun visited the Law Enforcement Hall this morning, and he openly cast suspicious remarks, asking whether I had lost sleep.
‘…!’
In that moment, Moyong Bi felt as though a tremendous firework had exploded within his mind.
‘So that’s it.’
A succession of tangled, interconnected incidents.
Even the attack he had thought completely unrelated might, in fact, be connected to all of this.
‘And the assassins working beneath Jeon Chil Sung as well.’
If his conjecture proved true, capturing that assassin would be nothing short of a divine move.
‘Then….’
It was at that moment.
Whoooosh.
A faint scent of musk mingled with the wind blowing from afar.
A smile spread across Moyong Bi’s face.
‘How perfectly timed.’
He turned his body.
‘Why not savor the appetizer before the main course arrives?’
* * *
A place quite distant from the Law Enforcement Hall, and naturally far from the Elder Council as well.
It was a forest that lay a considerable distance away from both the Alliance Leader’s Residence and the Military Affairs Department.
Shhhhhhh.
The wind flowing into the forest was refreshingly cool.
Moyong Bi spoke calmly.
“Don’t be so embarrassed about summoning someone.”
A soft rustling sound.
A man appeared before him, and remarkably, he hadn’t even covered his face with a mask or cloth.
Moyong Bi’s eyes gleamed.
‘Who is this man?’
His face seemed strangely familiar.
Was he already in his forties? Yet his eyes and the bridge of his nose felt like someone I’d seen before somewhere.
‘Could he be one of the Death King’s men?’
Then the man opened his mouth.
“You’re Tambi Ryeong-ju, Buk Mu Ryong Moyong Bi, correct?”
“If you know, why ask?”
The man’s expression was rigid.
“I’m grateful that you spared Ya Baek.”
He got straight to the point.
Moyong Bi actually preferred this approach.
“I had my reasons.”
“So, did you achieve what you wanted?”
“I won’t know until this conversation with you is over.”
“In other words, you weren’t targeting our lives.”
He seemed to have interpreted the summons of the Captain as a sign that I would start by cutting off his head.
Moyong Bi shook his head.
“If I’d been targeting you, I would have already destroyed the man I captured.”
“I don’t particularly enjoy displaying pride in front of others, but that man would never have spoken of us no matter what torture he endured.”
“Do you think I need to torture someone or extract information just to dispose of assassins like you?”
“….”
“Don’t view the world so carelessly. Even without torturing anyone or obtaining information, burying assassins like you isn’t particularly difficult.”
“Is that so?”
“You said you wouldn’t display pride, so accept what I’m saying. If you’re really curious, should I show you that my words might become reality?”
Speaking with a smile made it all the more convincing.
The man, who had been quietly observing Moyong Bi, shook his head.
“I spoke carelessly. Let’s not waste time.”
“Jeon Chil Sung seems quite busy. Why? Did he order you to do something before trouble breaks out?”
The man’s eyebrows twitched.
“You say not to waste time, yet you immediately change the subject.”
“I never agreed to that. And this isn’t changing the subject. My purpose was simply to understand more deeply about you and about Jeon Chil Sung.”
“….”
“Some order was given. But the fact that you came searching for me in haste means you’re confident you can extract something from me in a short time….”
In that instant, Moyong Bi’s eyes changed.
“Oh? So if things go awry, you’ll kill me and leave without hesitation?”
“That’s correct.”
The man did not bother with false words.
“If necessary, we will expend all our forces to kill you.”
“You’re not afraid of the backlash?”
“That is our burden to bear.”
Moyong Bi’s lips curved upward.
“You could never bear it.”
“Don’t underestimate the world. We are not as weak as you believe.”
“I know your Formation Techniques, which is why the abduction succeeded. You know I’m from the Four Kings School, yes? I don’t underestimate you—I’m a man who understands fear. But I also know what I’m capable of.”
“Your words are quite impressive.”
“Let me tell you what happens when you kill me. First, the Martial Alliance Leader will issue an emergency directive across the entire Martial Alliance. Not because I’m from the Moyong Clan, but because I’m the first Tambi Ryeong-ju. Moreover, I answer directly to the Alliance Leader.”
“….”
“I’ve already informed the Martial Alliance Leader of your existence. The Martial World is complicated right now. But the Martial Alliance Leader is no fool. Whether for authority or revenge, he’ll find a way to destroy the Underworld from the ground up.”
He remained perfectly composed.
Calm and measured.
“Of course, the retired Death King will emerge as well. After all, he’s always protected his own. But even he alone cannot stop the Martial Alliance.”
“There are many ways.”
“There are many ways. But if it comes to that, even if you’re not annihilated, you’ve already lost.”
“How could you possibly….”
“Why else would you be taking orders from Jeon Chil Sung?”
“…!!”
The man’s expression shifted for the first time.
Moyong Bi gestured with his hand.
“I won’t eat you, so come forward. Let’s talk this through calmly. In a situation as precarious as this, antagonizing the other side will only spill more blood.”
“….”
“Or you can keep living under Jeon Chil Sung, cursing and swearing every day.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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