The Weight of the Future

“Don’t get cheeky and speak plainly. What information are you referring to?”

“It is difficult to speak where there are many listening ears. Please dismiss your subordinates.”

“Did you all hear that?”

Baek Geon-ha shouted, scanning the assembly.

“This bold little rat wants to perform one last trick before he dies. I intend to hear what he’s babbling about, so everyone—withdraw.”

“As you command!”

With a disciplined response, the demons left the scene all at once.

Seol Ah-heon was a bit dazed. He had requested it, but it was unexpected. To think Baek Geon-ha would actually give him a chance—and that the accompanying demons would leave their master alone with him.

‘Well, I suppose… who would even need to protect whom?’

Even if you combined the internal energy of all those demons, they wouldn’t equal Baek Geon-ha alone. They likely withdrew so readily because they knew that fact well—and because the Young Cult Leader’s orders were absolute.

“Il-young, you withdraw as well.”

“Yes.”

A man with a sharp, cold impression clasped his hands in salute. He was the one who, moments ago, had shortened Seol Ah-heon’s lifespan by suggesting that humans were also animals.

‘Il-young? Then that man is….’

The Phantom Mist Demon, Mu Il-young.

The man who would later establish himself as a key figure in the Demonic Cult following Baek Geon-ha. He was Baek Geon-ha’s closest confidant, yet a pragmatist who moved based on utility rather than loyalty. Looking at them, the master and servant were truly a pair of eccentrics.

“Now then.”

Baek Geon-ha withdrew his sword. He smiled radiantly, his murderous intent and irritation seemingly vanished. Of course, that smile was anything but genuine.

“You should speak now, shouldn’t you? The information that might be helpful to me.”

“I believe you are already aware that the First Young Master, Dokgo Cheol, and the Second Young Master, Tak Bo-myeong, have formed an alliance.”

If he dragged this out, Baek Geon-ha’s patience would snap. Seol Ah-heon went straight to the point.

“Then, do you know that the two of them have joined forces and obtained the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade?”

Baek Geon-ha’s expression didn’t change. However, for a split second, his eyes flashed, and a thicker, more sinister aura flowed from his smile.

“Are you saying my two senior brothers have discovered the location of the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade?”

“It is more than that. The Second Young Master has secured the blade and broken its seal, and the First Young Master has borrowed it.”

“Impossible.”

“It is the absolute truth. You may verify it yourself.”

Seol Ah-heon answered with confidence.

He might have been reincarnated as an extra who dies as soon as he appears, but he had one advantage.

He knew The Chronicles of Mount Hua by heart.

What greater advantage could there be than knowing the future? Seol Ah-heon intended to use this information to its fullest.

“Soon, the First Young Master will request a duel. Please be cautious. He intends to wield the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade.”

At this point, only the parties involved should know. But before long, the rumor would spread throughout the entire Central Plains.

‘Everyone will start to worry.’

The seal on the demonic blade, which had claimed countless lives seven hundred years ago, had been broken. It was natural to fear what a strengthened Demonic Cult might do with that power.

However, that worry was premature—at least for now. The blades of the Demonic Cult were currently pointed at each other.

A power struggle was in full swing within the Cult. There were five Young Cult Leaders competing for the position of the next Heavenly Demon. However, since alliances had formed among them, it was effectively a two-way race between the First Young Master, Dokgo Cheol, and Baek Geon-ha.

The other Young Cult Leaders were famous. Each came from one of the Six Great Demonic Families and were prized disciples who had studied martial arts under the Cult Leader since childhood. Their accumulated achievements were illustrious.

In contrast, almost nothing was known about Baek Geon-ha.

His age, his birth, even where he learned his basics. Baek Geon-ha was a man who seemed to have dropped out of the sky.

‘Maybe even the heavens couldn’t handle him and threw him down…?’

It was natural for the other Young Cult Leaders to see Baek Geon-ha as a thorn in their side.

They could accept that the Cult Leader had chosen to take this unknown wanderer as his fifth disciple. But they could not overlook the fact that he achieved terrifying results the moment he received the Heavenly Demon Divine Art—or that he won every annual martial arts competition by defeating them, or that he had seized control of the Cult’s internal affairs in the blink of an eye.

If Baek Geon-ha were to ascend to the position of Heavenly Demon, there would be no turning back. They had to eliminate him before then.

‘The winner is Baek Geon-ha anyway, though.’

Recalling the upheaval he would cause in the future made Seol Ah-heon shudder. He wasn’t in a position to pity anyone, but thinking of the gruesome rebellion of the subordinates, he almost felt sorry for the cultists….

‘Wait. Hold on.’

Something suddenly bothered him.

In the original work, Baek Geon-ha wins against Dokgo Cheol, who wields the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade. Afterward, Dokgo Cheol is punished for defying the Cult Leader’s orders by wielding the blade, but that wasn’t Seol Ah-heon’s concern….

‘Can the current Baek Geon-ha face Dokgo Cheol?’

The Baek Geon-ha of the original work had consumed the Soul-Snow Divine Pill. But now, hadn’t the pill been stolen? By himself, no less.

His head began to throb. For Seol Ah-heon, it was a problem if Baek Geon-ha won, and an even bigger problem if he lost.

The future he knew was based on the premise that Baek Geon-ha’s position was secure. If Baek Geon-ha were to exit the stage so futilely, the future would be completely rewritten. If that happened, his advantage of knowing the future would vanish.

“Young Cult Leader, you must not fall for Dokgo Cheol’s provocation.”

Becoming suddenly anxious, Seol Ah-heon added his advice. However, Baek Geon-ha only sneered.

“Are you telling me to avoid a fight that is brought to me? To tuck my tail like a mangy dog and run?”

“I… I didn’t mean it quite that far….”

“Do you think I will lose to my Eldest Senior Brother?”

Baek Geon-ha said arrogantly.

“Victory or defeat is not decided simply because one switches their sword.”

‘No, it’s not just “any” sword…!’

Unable to say it out loud, Seol Ah-heon only burned with inner frustration.

What kind of weapon was the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade?

It was a divine weapon imbued with an eerie power. According to legend, even a third-rate martial artist could face a peak master if they held it.

However, the blade had a fatal side effect: it drove the wielder mad, turning them into a blood-thirsty monster.

‘There’s a reason it’s called the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade….’

It was so potent that even the Third Heavenly Demon, its first owner, had gone on a rampage. Had the Fourth Heavenly Demon not suppressed him, the history of the Demonic Cult might have ended right then and there.

The cautious Fourth Heavenly Demon had tried to destroy the blade. But having absorbed the blood of countless people, it had become so powerful that even the Heavenly Demon could not easily destroy it.

In the end, the Fourth Heavenly Demon sealed the blade in a place known only to him. He then passed that location down in absolute secrecy only to the succeeding Heavenly Demons… or so it was written in The Chronicles of Mount Hua.

‘There might be more backstories I don’t know, but….’

In any case, it was a fact that the Blood-Mad Demonic Blade was an incredibly dangerous divine weapon. Even someone as strong as Baek Geon-ha should have raised his guard, yet he remained maddeningly composed.

“Hmm.”

With a light sound from his throat, Baek Geon-ha returned to his chair. His posture—leaning on the armrest with his legs crossed—was the height of arrogance. Looking at him, Seol Ah-heon felt his energy drain.

Right, was Baek Geon-ha’s victory or defeat the issue? The immediate priority was escaping the crisis at hand.

“Please spare me, Young Cult Leader.”

Seol Ah-heon begged earnestly.

“In exchange for losing my common sense, I possess information that others do not. I will even give you the full recipe for the Soul-Snow Divine Pill. It will surely be of great help to you. So please….”

“Your audacity is excessive.”

Baek Geon-ha said indifferently.

“How can I trust that information? How do I know you haven’t been sent by someone to leak false information?”

“P-please wait. As time passes, you will naturally be able to discern the truth.”

“Well, perhaps your words are true. But you see… there isn’t just one person who can use the Soul-Binding Art.”

Baek Geon-ha’s eyes gleamed sinisterly. Had he seen him up close, his heart might have stopped. That was how dangerous and beautiful his face was.

“I can simply use the Soul-Binding Art to find out that ‘brilliant information’ you claim to have. In fact, I don’t even need the Soul-Binding Art. I know many ways to make you spill your secrets. If you don’t believe me, shall we test one?”

Hieee.

Seol Ah-heon caught his breath.

Come to think of it, that was true. Torture was far simpler than a complex technique like the Soul-Binding Art.

He felt like he might faint from the sheer terror. He had been holding on with the thought that one could survive even a tiger’s den if they kept their wits about them, but he had reached his limit.

Seol Ah-heon pleaded, trembling.

“I was wrong. Please save me, Young Cult Leader. If you only spare my life…!”

“Don’t bother with oaths of loyalty. I don’t trust mere oaths, and I don’t need your loyalty anyway.”

The world turned dark.

He had provided the recipe for the Soul-Snow Divine Pill and information to help in the succession struggle, yet none of it had worked. Two of his hidden cards had been blocked in succession.

Just as Seol Ah-heon was beginning to resign himself to being murdered after cruel torture—

“Fine… I will spare you for now.”

A soft voice reached him. But it was too early to celebrate.

“However, if what you told me turns out to be a lie.”

“…….”

“I will make you unable to even regret today’s events.”

Baek Geon-ha smiled with his eyes, as if imagining something pleasant.

Only then did the thought occur that he might have made a huge mistake, but there was no way to turn back now. Seol Ah-heon nodded frantically.