The Righteous-Demonic War, an event that had driven the entire Murim into a state of terror and remains a painful memory in the minds of its people to this day.

Jerry's explanation began there.

“About 100 years ago, a large-scale magical beast army suddenly appeared here on the Shandong Peninsula. Not only did they appear without any warning, but their scale was so immense that it was unprecedented in this land. In response, the various sects of Murim formed an alliance called the ‘Murim Alliance’ centered around the Imperial Family to confront them.”

“……”

“Of course, even back then, the War against Demons was ongoing in various places across the continent, so an attack by magical beasts wasn't particularly unusual. However, strangely enough, the magical beasts that appeared in the Murim region possessed a unique quality, different from the magical beast army of the Demon King's Alliance led by the Demon King.”

A unique quality, different from the magical beasts of the Demon King's Alliance.

Unable to immediately grasp his meaning, Loxy tilted her head and asked.

“A unique quality? What kind of unique quality?”

“It is said that the magical beast army in the Righteous-Demonic War lacked any particular order or battle formation. They simply displayed a blind aggression, rushing forward recklessly for the sole purpose of killing and devouring humans.”

“……!!!”

Unlike the ferocious, beast-like image one typically associated with magical beasts, the Demon King's Army was, in reality, quite orderly.

In fact, the free-spirited nature of humans seemed more chaotic in comparison. The defining characteristic of today's Demon King's Army was its strict top-down hierarchy and clear sense of purpose.

Therefore, in the common understanding of the Upper Plane, magical beasts did not have a particularly ferocious or beast-like image.

Rather, they were symbolized by a cold-heartedness so thorough it bordered on despicable.

However, the image of the Demon King's Army had only changed after the Demon King appeared, united the magical beasts, and reigned over them.

Although she had never seen them herself, Jerry's description of ‘a blind aggression, rushing forward recklessly for the sole purpose of killing and devouring humans’ brought a single word to Loxy’s mind.

“…Primordial Demonic Beast?”

A being of terror, said to have existed in ancient times so poorly recorded that it was now gone for some unknown reason.

Though it was a tale from a distant past, passed down orally like a fairytale, making it difficult to even determine the era, the Primordial Demonic Beast was said to have once settled throughout the vast Upper Plane, devouring everything in its path.

The characteristics Jerry described made Loxy recall that word.

However, at Loxy's quiet murmur, Jerry shook his head in denial.

“…To be precise, they weren't Primordial Demonic Beasts. According to the records, the magical beasts that appeared during the Righteous-Demonic War were originally beasts that existed in this region.”

“Then……”

“It was just that they exhibited the same traits as those in the legends. They weren't beings that wielded great power as single entities, like the Primordial Demonic Beasts of lore.”

“……”

“Of course, their ferocity and disarray alone must have been bewildering enough for the Murim Alliance of that time.”

Clatter—

Perhaps feeling hungry, Jerry opened his lunch box, muttered quietly, “…There’s no meat,” and continued.

“Another unique point was that the one leading the magical beast army during the Righteous-Demonic War was not a magical beast, but a human woman.”

“…What?”

“There were various speculations, such as it being a magical beast wearing a human-skin mask, or the Demon King having changed his form with magic… But for now, the fact that her appearance was clearly that of a human woman has been found consistently across various historical sources.”

The details about the ‘Righteous-Demonic War’ that followed from Jerry’s lips contained quite a few shocking revelations.

“In response, the Righteous Faction Murim Alliance named this unprecedented magical beast army, which appeared separately from the Demon King's Army, the . They called the leader of the cult, the woman at its head, the , and declared the Righteous-Demonic War.”

“……”

“Thus, a Great War broke out within the Empire, and its repercussions were considerable.”

“……”

“…Half of the Righteous Faction Murim Alliance's forces, what could be called their full strength, were annihilated in the process. The current system of ‘4 Factions and 1 Clan’ was formed because half of the ten great sects of its predecessor, the ‘9 Factions and 1 Clan’, were wiped out in the war against the Demonic Cult.”

“……!!!”

“That’s not all. The leaders of the two great powers, the previous Murim Emperor and the Heavenly Demon of that era, also perished together in the course of the Righteous-Demonic War.”

Though she had heard U-jin mention it in passing beneath the Kunlun gorge, the explanation was still astonishing.

Of course, for Loxy, who was from the Demon King's Territory, the history of Murim or the deaths of the previous Emperor and the Heavenly Demon were of little concern.

Still, the fact that the current, massive Murim Empire actually possessed only about half the power of its predecessor, and that a single group called the ‘Demonic Cult’ had wiped out that other half, was truly shocking.

After all, the Murim Empire was the hegemonic nation that occupied the eastern part of the Central Continent.

The massive front of the War against Demons in the south of Murim had been maintained for so long thanks to the power the Murim Empire possessed.

And yet, to think that the current, powerful Murim Empire was barely a quarter of the strength of the Murim forces from 100 years ago.

Just how powerful the former Murim Alliance and the Demonic Cult leading the magical beasts had been…

And how enormous the scale of the Righteous-Demonic War must have been… Loxy couldn't even begin to fathom it.

“…It seems the phrase ‘half of Murim’ wasn't an exaggeration after all. A war on that scale seems even bigger than most Wars against Demons…”

“…Anyway. That’s about all there is in the records about the Righteous-Demonic War. I didn’t need any more information than that.”

“……”

“The problem is the information regarding the traces of the Demonic Cult.”

Loxy’s ears perked up, and she leaned toward Jerry.

While the preceding story was interesting enough, she was naturally more invested in the direct information about the ‘traces of the Demonic Cult’ that U-jin was searching for.

“Compared to the Righteous-Demonic War, which left relatively more traces, there were almost no records of the Demonic Cult. I was able to find out that the Heavenly Demon existed and that she died at the end of the war, but that was the extent of it.”

“……”

“I spent most of the information-gathering fee on this, but even so, there was only one piece of information related to the Demonic Cult that could be considered meaningful.”

“So? What was it?”

“Remnants.”

At the short word that came from Jerry’s mouth, Loxy muttered.

“…If you mean remnants.”

At the same time, she recalled Jerry mentioning in the Kunlun gorge, ‘a single, insignificant old man living while hiding his past as a member of the Demonic Cult’.

“…The old man I mentioned before. That was the only trace of the Demonic Cult I found.”

“……”

“It was known that the only human among the members of the Demonic Cult was the Heavenly Demon, but apparently, there were a small number of followers. And among them, only one survived and still exists here on the Shandong Peninsula.”

“…Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Money doesn’t lie.”

“……”

Loxy tilted her head to the side.

“…Hmm.”

“……”

“Something’s strange.”

The reason was simple.

‘Only one remnant left.’

That sentence itself had a part that didn’t quite add up.

If the Empire had been extremely thorough in eliminating the remnants, it didn’t make sense for them to leave behind ‘a single, insignificant old man’ as Jerry had described.

If that wasn’t the case, then she couldn’t understand why there was only one remnant of the Demonic Cult left, and not dozens or even hundreds.

And that…

“…I didn’t understand it at first either. No, to be precise, there’s still a part I don’t understand even now.”

Jerry had felt the same.

When he first learned of this information, he had felt the same as Loxy.

He could understand a scenario where remnants were left behind.

He could also understand a scenario where all the remnants were wiped out.

But the story that exactly one remnant of the Demonic Cult remained had a part that just didn't make sense.

“But it’s an undeniable fact.”

“……”

“After thorough verification, I was even able to confirm the existence of that insignificant old man who could be called a remnant of the Demonic Cult.”

“…What was he like? Did he breathe fire or something?”

At Loxy’s question, Jerry rubbed his brow for a moment before shaking his head.

“…No. He was literally an insignificant old man. A blind man who couldn't see, who wandered around Shandong begging because he had no way to make a living.”

“……”

“…Blindman Shim. It seems that’s what he was called.”

“Hmm……”

“…Still, I could somehow accept it up to that point. The problem was what came next.”

Loxy, who had been nodding along, trying to accept it, froze at Jerry’s next words.

“…The Imperial Family also knew of the blind old man’s existence.”

“…What did you say?”

The story was becoming more and more incomprehensible.

“So you’re saying the Empire knows a remnant of the Demonic Cult is alive and is just leaving him be?”

Nod—

“But why?”

“…How should I know? That was something I couldn’t figure out. It was as if he had painstakingly erased all information about himself; I couldn't find anything about the old man other than the fact that he was once a member of the Demonic Cult.”

This was a part that Loxy simply could not understand.

If Jerry's explanation was true, from the Murim Empire's perspective, that blind old man should be a mortal enemy they'd want to tear to shreds. And yet, they knew he was alive and let him be.

“…Seriously. I don’t understand humans. I wouldn’t leave such a potential threat behind.”

“…I share that sentiment.”

“……”

Even after Jerry finished his explanation about the Demonic Cult, Loxy’s brow remained furrowed.

It was only natural.

She had asked because she was curious about the Demonic Cult, but instead of a clear answer, it felt like she had been handed another riddle.

And as if he knew this.

Poke—

Jerry stabbed a piece of spinach in his lunch box with his fork and quietly added.

“…One thing.”

“……?”

“A possible theory did occur to me once.”

“…And what’s that?”

After a brief pause.

“They couldn’t kill him.”

“……!”

“The exact reason is unknown, but even the Murim Alliance, who knew of the old man’s survival, couldn’t kill him. So it wasn’t that they let him live, but that they had no choice but to let him live.”

“……”

At Jerry’s words, Loxy’s eyes widened.

Meeting her gaze with a blank expression, Jerry put the spinach in his mouth.

“…If we go with that theory, the old man’s survival makes a certain amount of sense. But I ultimately concluded that it couldn’t be true.”

“……”

“It doesn’t make sense, does it? Over a mere blind old man—.”

Chew, chew—

Gulp.

“…this massive Murim Empire.”