What do people live for?
This age-old question, at its best, is a heated topic of endless debate, one that has driven countless scholars to spew forth their own varied answers.
At its worst, it could be seen as a shallow question one naturally encounters while pursuing learning…
But for martial artists who have no connection to the brush in the first place, no matter how it's phrased, it's a foreign question.
Instead, a slightly different question would feel more familiar.
What can people die for?
Some for their sect and family, some for a revenge that consumes even themselves, some for a love that wrings the heart, some for an insatiable desire, some for lofty ambition, some to see the end of martial arts…
And some willingly give their own lives to console the spirits of those they have sent ahead.
In that sense, it was rather simple to guess why the Lust Demon would walk toward death even while sensing his own end.
"Guilt. And an affection he could not erase."
"Are you suddenly changing the subject? Well, I suppose it's only natural to be a bit embarrassed about a misunderstanding. To think you'd interpret the energy I leaked while focusing on Marrow Cleansing in such a way. Lecherous."
"Just because I haven't drawn my sword yet doesn't mean I never will."
"…"
Finally, the Lust Demon fell quiet.
Naturally, he was still a Harmony Realm martial artist in his own right, and the head of a small organization at that.
Pride was not something he lacked, so the reason he was listening to me so well was simple.
If he fought me here, regardless of victory or defeat, Dan-yul would die—or at least suffer wounds severe enough to kill him.
If he had reached the Transcendent Peak like Tang So-wol or the Twin Ghost Sword, then even a clash between Harmony Realm martial artists would make it easy enough to escape the aftermath.
But at best, he was Second-Rate. For Dan-yul, who had only achieved a level barely above basic body-hardening and physical training, such a feat was impossible.
In other words, at this very moment, the Lust Demon was setting aside his pride for Dan-yul's sake.
Well, that made sense. Before the regression, he had been willing to walk into a place he knew would be his death, so this much was only natural.
How could I make the Lust Demon fight against the Demonic Cult? As I had initially guessed, I would have to take Dan-yul—the Soul-Devouring Demon—hostage.
The problem was what came next.
Whether the Lust Demon saw Dan-yul as his own child, or was projecting onto him the love he had once lost to death, I couldn't say.
What mattered was that Dan-yul himself viewed the Lust Demon as his mortal enemy, and would go so far as to feign a warm relationship just to bring about his death.
Now that Dan-yul knew the Lust Demon was aware he was a spy, and knew whose child he was, yet still kept him close, controlling him would only become harder.
After all, he no longer had any reason to be careful about being discovered.
And if he also realized that the Lust Demon valued his life above his own…
Dan-yul, too, prized revenge over his own survival, so it was plain as day which way his thinking would turn.
"This is getting troublesome."
When both sides have something they value more than their own lives, what is one to do?
After a moment's thought, he spoke.
"Lust Demon. You know this well, don't you? For a spy who's already been exposed to survive, there's only one path left — to take you to the Demonic Cult."
"That's right. That's why I've kept my mouth shut until now."
"But I won't let you go to the Demonic Cult. It's hard to explain in detail, but if that happened, a new master would be born in the Demonic Cult."
"No matter how you look at it, I don't think I'd fall for something like Seophonsul."
"That's not what I mean. I'm saying there's someone who grows stronger because of your death."
Now that I've reached the Harmony Realm, a Transcendent Peak martial artist is nothing to me, but in an ordinary battle, a Transcendent Peak martial artist is a core asset.
As long as I have only one body, it would take considerable time to stop Dan-yul, who awakened as the Soul-Devouring Demon, from running rampant somewhere and cutting down the martial artists of the Righteous-Unorthodox Alliance.
Moreover, the Soul-Devouring Demon is someone who has, in his own way, overcome the two greatest flaws of the Soul-Devouring Grand Art: Qi Deviation and the destruction of the Meridians.
Qi Deviation was to be expected, since he was already half-mad to begin with… but as for those abnormally sturdy Meridians, I think I finally understand the reason now.
It must be because he received the Marrow Cleansing from the Lust Demon.
The Marrow Cleansing itself is nothing special—any child of a noble house receives it—but the problem is that Dan-yul underwent the Marrow Cleansing at a fairly advanced age.
The waste accumulated in his Meridians would be incomparable to that of a young child. Simply flushing it out puts tremendous strain on the Meridians.
That is why, unless one encounters a special Fortuitous Encounter, one cannot expect dramatic results from the Marrow Cleansing after reaching adulthood.
However, the story changes if there is a way to strengthen the Meridians first.
The Lust Demon is a master of the Erotic Arts, one who seizes others' internal energy and claims it as his own.
While not quite on the level of the Life-Draining Art, he was surely a Martial Artist second to none when it came to purifying turbid internal energy and strengthening the Meridians.
If one had steadily received the Lust Demon's Marrow Cleansing over a long period, that peculiar Constitution of the Life-Draining Demon would also be understandable.
…In other words, if it came down to it, it would be better to kill him right here.
Even if that happened, the Lust Demon, dead, would never fight on the side of the Righteous-Unorthodox Alliance.
"What a troublesome situation, isn't it? If only everyone valued their own lives above all else."
"Then we could settle everything with force, couldn't we? How did someone like this ever become a Martial Artist of the Orthodox Sects…"
The Lust Demon's barbed tone. But I had no intention of rebuking him for it. And for good reason.
"What of it. What people hold dearer than life itself, the world calls conviction. And those who seek to uphold their conviction, they call Martial Artists of the Orthodox Sects. I am clearly Orthodox. …And you could become the same."
"Wait. What do you mean by that? Surely you're not telling me to defect to the Orthodox Sects?"
"No. That wouldn't be bad either, but what I mean is that you must not waver in your current resolve until the very end."
"What is that…"
"I intend to poison Dan-yul."
"You're insane! It'd be better to just fight it out right here and give Yul-i even the smallest chance to escape."
"And I'll give the antidote to you, Lust Demon."
"…What?"
"Feed it to him once a month. Ah, of course, it won't be for free."
"What's the condition?"
"None. But there is a deadline. Until the war with the Demonic Cult ends."
"What on earth does that mean… Ah, you mean you won't give me the antidote unless I follow your orders?"
"No. Didn't I say I'd give you the antidote with no strings attached? If anything, I'm thinking of poisoning you with a toxin that naturally breaks down after a few years. Well, if you go somewhere beyond my reach, there'd be no way to deliver the antidote. The Demonic Cult, for instance."
As he said this and glanced toward Tang So-wol, she seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding.
"Yes. That much isn't difficult at all."
"There you have it. Well, whether you believe it is another matter entirely."
When he tilted his chin as if to say there was nothing to be done about it, the Lust Demon continued with a flustered expression.
"…What are you plotting?"
"Still don't get it? It's quite simple."
The Lust Demon would save Dan-yul even at the risk of his own life.
If that's the case, he can't flee to some remote place like the Outer Murim, and he'll desperately try to stop Dan-yul from leaving for the Demonic Cult.
In the end, whether it's the Orthodox Sects or the Unorthodox Sects, he has no choice but to remain somewhere in the Central Plains' martial world.
And for Dan-yul, revenge against the Lust Demon takes precedence over her own life.
But now that drawing the Lust Demon into the Demonic Cult has become impossible, and he can't flee to the Demonic Cult either… there's only one path left for her to take.
"If you're from the Demonic Cult, you know better than anyone. You know what a monster the Heavenly Demon truly is."
"So that's the extent of it…?"
"That's the extent of it."
Unable to trap him in the vast snare of the Demonic Cult, and powerless to deal with the Lust Demon through her own strength alone, Dan-yul's path was already set.
"She'll choose to fight the Demonic Cult alongside the martial artists of the Central Plains instead. Perhaps she'll even head to the battlefield herself, first. Either way, what matters is making sure the Lust Demon and the Heavenly Demon end up fighting each other."
"Ah."
The Lust Demon is a Harmony Realm martial artist. That means only another Harmony Realm martial artist can bring him down.
But in my hands, all those who would either break away from the Righteous-Unorthodox Alliance or defect to the Demonic Cult at the first opportunity will be dealt with.
In the end, no one capable of killing the Lust Demon will remain in the Central Plains' martial world.
Except for the Heavenly Demon, who would one day come marching in.
"You'll have no choice but to live close to each other, whether it's to keep each other alive or to kill each other. Just like you have been until now."
"…"
At my words, the Lust Demon stared at Dan-yul, who was lying behind him, with a blank expression for a moment.
After a long while, the Lust Demon turned his head toward me, then bowed it.
"Thank you."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Ours was a relationship whose ending was decided from the very beginning. I was going to die one day, and Yul—this child—would have died fighting the Central Plains' martial world eventually, whether she was in her right mind or half-mad."
"It could be, or it could not be."
That was what I said, but it was the truth.
Until the moment I died, the Blood-Sucking Demon was alive, but… well. That wasn't proof it could survive to the very end, was it?
Above all, it was a body that had already fallen into Qi Deviation, endlessly absorbing others' internal energy and releasing it as if it were its own, over and over again.
Even if it somehow managed to survive to the end, all that would remain would be a mind so shattered it could no longer tell what was its own and what belonged to others.
"White Moon Sword Lord. You had a far easier, faster, and more certain method. As you said from the start—take Yul and keep her confined. If you let me see her from time to time… that alone would have been enough to make me move as you wished."
"Ha! That's inefficient. Not only would I have to spend time, money, and men to keep Dan-yul in custody, but even if I sent you to the battlefield like that, there's no way you, the Lust Demon, would fight with any real effort."
"True enough. I would have just gone through the motions while focusing on survival. …But things are a bit different now."
The Lust Demon lifted his head after saying that much.
"By your logic, you'd make Yul fight with real effort. You'd dangle a bait I couldn't resist."
"For example?"
"The things I couldn't give her. And wouldn't you wager the time Yul never got to enjoy? The first thing that comes to mind… that's right. Choosing clothes together."
As if imagining something, a faint smile hung at the corners of the Lust Demon's lips as he gazed into the air.
The Lust Demon wanted Dan-yul to live, even if it meant his own life was in danger. And Dan-yul wanted to kill the Lust Demon, caring nothing for her own life.
Until now, they had both pretended not to know this fact. By covering it up, they had been sliding gently toward their end.
But now, everything was known. And even knowing, just as they had until now, they had to spend the same time in the same space.
I don't know what this small difference will lead to, but… personally, I hope things have changed from before the regression.
Rather than both of them being stained with guilt and vengeance, with neither able to find happiness, wouldn't it be better for them to cling to life together, even if it's only through a grudging affection?
As long as the past holds them back, neither can be happy—but neither has to die either.
It's obvious without even looking that both will end up unhappy, but at least they'll be a little less unhappy.
"He's preventing the Demonic Cult from gaining a new master while also getting a Harmony Realm martial artist to step forward voluntarily. A profitable deal all around."
"Young hero Cheon, honestly, you could have just said you were worried about how they were doing."
"…That's not it."
Well, sometimes it's not so bad to resolve things peacefully.
It wasn't that I was reluctant to clash directly with the Lust Demon's Erotic Arts upon hearing that he was absolutely a sodomite.
Really.
***
A few days later.
I split the mansion of the Golden Wolf King Do Geum-jin, which gleamed in gold, clean in half.
Beneath the slanted sky, I spoke in a low voice.
"So? How much is your life worth?"
I truly wanted to resolve this peacefully.
Truly.