For Blindman Shim, who had passed away, we held a small funeral in front of the thatched-roof house.

A complete funeral was impossible, as we couldn't make this gloomy cave his final resting place.

But even if it was humble, I had often held simple funerals for those without remains during the War against Demons, so it wasn't difficult.

Thud-

“This guy will take responsibility for handling the burial.”

“……?”

I hadn’t asked his opinion yet, but I decided to entrust Blindman Shim’s body to Jerry.

I couldn’t quite remember if he had any related knowledge, but his appearance just seemed to fit the role perfectly.

“He looks trustworthy, doesn’t he?”

“……”

“He’s the only one among us wearing a funereal suit with a black tie. He says he’ll do his best to find a sunny spot.”

“…I never said any such thing-.”

Jerry, seemingly determined not to be pushed around so unreasonably anymore, was about to raise a hand in protest.

“Thank you.”

“……”

But Cheong-yi’s polite words of gratitude beat him to it.

Faced with the bereaved family member bowing ninety degrees in thanks, Jerry seemed too embarrassed to refuse and couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence.

Haaa-.

With a barely audible sigh, he closed his eyes in resignation.

Perhaps recognizing this reluctant acceptance, Cheong-yi straightened her back and expressed her gratitude once more.

“I will never forget this kindness and will surely repay you.”

However.

“Young Master Par.”

The title she used to address him was a bit strange.

“…Young Master Par? Who’s that?”

“…Did you not just correct me that your name was Partner?”

“……”

“Surname Par, given name Tner.”

“……”

“So, Par Tner… am I wrong?”

A moment of silence fell.

“Pfft-.”

Loxy couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

* * *

“Ah, my stomach.”

Her face flushed red from the prolonged laughter, Cheong-yi muttered in a voice full of complaint.

“…You could have just told me from the start. Is it right to make fun of someone like this just because they don't know Western culture and terms?”

“Hoo, what a shame. It would have been twice as funny if he were Young Master Ttol. Don’t you think?”

“…I fail to see what’s so amusing about such a low-level joke.”

Unfortunately, since Young Master Par (?) himself was nearly immune to humor, the banter didn't continue, but it seemed to have served its purpose.

“Well, anyway.”

“……”

“I think we’ve spent enough time on this.”

Her blunder had appropriately lightened the heavy atmosphere of the funeral.

Ssk-

“I’m counting on you. We’ll take care of business on our end.”

“……”

“Let’s meet outside.”

“…I’ll look for a burial site nearby.”

We had placed Blindman Shim’s body in a temporary coffin made from the floorboards of the thatched-roof house.

I gestured toward it as I spoke to Jerry, and he nodded in agreement.

Loxy, who had been watching, pointed to herself and asked.

“What about me? Where should I go?”

“Over there, of course.”

“Hmm… that side looks more interesting… Don’t you need this?”

Loxy held up the cracked medal.

It seemed she was talking about the ‘Devil’s Singularity.’

From her perspective, it made sense.

The Shandong Peninsula was officially part of the war front against demons, a space where the Constellations could interfere and watch us at any time, even if we weren't on a mission.

However.

Shake, shake-

“I don’t need it.”

That was only true if this place was an ‘ordinary space’ on the Shandong Peninsula.

Ssk-

When I took the medal from my pocket and showed it to her, Loxy’s eyes widened.

“…Why is that.”

“Because this is a rather special place.”

The reason was simple.

[Warning! An unknown error has occurred.]

[Satellite Magic, Starlink, has been temporarily deactivated.]

…Even though her hand hadn't touched it for a while, the ‘crack’ symbolizing the Devil's Singularity was already on my medal.

The only difference was that this crack was a much deeper color than the purple one she had created.

But its appearance and effect were the same as the one she had caused.

“And.”

“……?”

“Even if it weren't for the burial, it's too dangerous to go any further.”

…Especially for her, a former member of the Demon King's Army.

* * *

Thud, thud-

Jerry and Loxy headed outside first, while Cheong-yi and I ventured deeper into the cave.

At first glance, the wide cavern where the house stood seemed like a dead end, but on one side, there was a gloomy secret passage blocked by a large boulder.

As we walked along the passage, Cheong-yi suddenly asked a question.

“…I don’t know what your identity is.”

“My identity?”

“…Even I, who have lived here for twenty years, knew nothing of this secret passage.”

“……”

“Besides, just as my father said, you seem to know more about the Demonic Cult than I do… What is your true identity?”

“Hmm…”

I needed a suitable excuse.

Telling her I was a Hero candidate wouldn't immediately register with someone who lacked experience in the outside world, and even if it did, it wouldn't be a convincing answer.

Nor could I reveal that I had already saved her once in a past life.

After a moment of thought, unable to find a fitting reply, I answered with something that was neither truth nor lie.

“A person who shares the same blood as you.”

“……!”

At my short reply, she furrowed her brow, her expression serious as she cupped her chin. Then, she nodded and muttered to herself.

“…In that case, you and I must be some sort of ‘distant relatives’.”

“……”

“I have read about it in books. They call those who share the same blood but have different surnames relatives.”

That wasn't what I meant, so her inference was wrong, but since she seemed to have accepted it, I didn't bother to correct her.

What I wanted wasn't an accurate answer to her question, but one that would let us move on.

Having finished her speculation, she looked at me with wide, round eyes and held out her hand.

Cheok-

“I never knew I had a relative.”

“……?”

“I look forward to getting along with you.”

“……”

“Brother.”

Her eyes, filled with anticipation and joy at having a relative, pricked my conscience.

So, I took her hand and added.

“…There’s one more outside. Her name is Namgung Soso. She’s about ten years older than you. She’ll be your older sister.”

…That one was likely a ‘real’ distant relative from a branch family.

Things had moved so quickly that I hadn't been able to ask Blindman Shim directly, but my guess that the ‘Namgung’ clan was a branch bloodline of the Heavenly Demon was probably correct.

No matter how I thought about it, it made no sense for someone who didn't carry the Heavenly Demon's blood to be able to use the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art.

“An older sister!”

“……”

“I have an older sister, too. That is truly joyous news.”

…The problem was that calling her just an ‘older sister’ was a stretch; they were likely as distant as third cousins twice removed, practically strangers.

“First, let’s pull it out. I’ll introduce you when we get out of here. Though I have no idea if she’ll be happy about it…”

Ssk-

I ran my hand along the passage wall, checking its texture as I spoke. She replied with a questioning "Hmm?"

“…Pull what out? What are we suddenly pulling out?”

“Ah.”

Right. When we entered the secret passage, I had only told her to follow me, not what we were going to do.

“Did I not tell you? We’re on our way to pull out the ‘Demonic Sword’.”

“……!”

Cheong-yi’s eyes widened.

“The Demonic Sword? The Demonic Sword is here?”

“Yes.”

“How…”

“Your father didn’t live cooped up in this cave for no reason. He was guarding the path to the Demonic Sword's seal.”

“……”

“To prevent the tragedy of someone stumbling in here by chance and trying to pull out the Demonic Sword.”

The reason Blindman Shim had been so wary and questioned my identity the moment he saw me was along the same lines.

Perhaps he sensed something in my voice, for at death's door, he had strangely seemed to trust me.

But he had spent his entire life in this underground cave to prevent outsiders (外人) from approaching the Demonic Sword, a duty passed down from his ancestors.

Even while claiming to have abandoned his duty, he hadn't been able to completely let it go.

At my added words, Cheong-yi lowered her head for a moment, lost in thought.

“……”

Then, she posed another question.

“…There is something I don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“Putting your words together, brother, it seems the seal on the Primordial Demonic Beast is maintained by that Demonic Sword… In that case, if we pull the sword out for the succession, won't the seal break?”

“……”

“Isn't that why my father stopped those who approached the Demonic Sword? To prevent the seal on the Primordial Demonic Beast from being released.”

Pfft-

“You’re wrong.”

“……?”

“Blindman Shim didn't stop people from approaching the Demonic Sword to prevent the seal from breaking. It was to save their lives.”

As its name implied, the Demonic Sword was not an object that just anyone could hold and wield.

Among those who inherited the bloodline of the first Heavenly Demon, only those of the direct lineage who inherited the blood thickly—in short, the Sacred Bones —could withstand the immense energy radiating from the Demonic Sword and grasp it.

Only by being acknowledged by the Demonic Sword, which carried the will of the predecessors, could one also undo the seal.

If any ordinary person tried to grab the sword, forget the seal, their Mana Circuits would be instantly destroyed, and they would meet their end.

This was why the succession of the Demonic Sword was also a symbol of the ‘Heavenly Demon ’.

“Of course, it’s true that if you pull out the Demonic Sword, the seal suppressing the Primordial Demonic Beast’s power will be released. That will cause some problems later on.”

“……”

“But it’s going to be released soon anyway, even if you don’t pull it out.”

“……!!!”

“The seal.”

If a single sealing could last forever, there would have been no reason to re-seal it over and over again.

The past Heavenly Demons didn't pull out the Demonic Sword to inherit the title and then stab it back in to re-seal the beast just because they were bored.

The Primordial Demonic Beast's immense power struggled and resisted even the strongest sealing technique.

As time passed, the power of the seal was bound to weaken.

Therefore, before the seal on the Primordial Demonic Beast broke completely, one had to pull the sword out and go through the process of re-sealing. What Blindman Shim referred to as the ‘fate of the Demonic Cult’ was also because of this process.

The sealing technique left on the Demonic Sword by the first Heavenly Demon was powerful enough to bind the formidable Primordial Demonic Beast for decades, but it was a technique that required the caster's ‘Innate True Qi’ as collateral.

One who pulled the Demonic Sword, inherited the Demonic Cult, and rose to the position of Heavenly Demon was inevitably required to make a sacrifice again.

Moreover, unlike in the past when it was re-sealed every few decades, the cycle of re-sealing was broken at Blindman Shim’s generation and had been neglected for nearly a hundred years.

The seal's suppressive power was reaching its limit, and it was about time for the Primordial Demonic Beast’s power to stir.

The recent, unusual increase in Magical Beast sightings that Namgung Soso mentioned was likely proof of this.

‘…In fact.’

If my memory served me right, the Primordial Demonic Beast was resurrected in the lands of Murim less than three years from this very point in time.

Of course, the Demonic Sword was pulled out back then too, so one could argue, ‘It was released because the Demonic Sword was pulled out.’

But I didn't really think so.

The energy I felt when pulling out the Demonic Sword back then was so intense that even with my pathetic skills at the time, I could feel the resurrection of the Primordial Demonic Beast was imminent.

“Well, anyway.”

Squelch-

As I touched the wall again, a sticky fluid that hadn't been there before clung to my hand.

“Looks like we’ve arrived.”

“……!”

Thump-thump-

Thump-thump-

Looking ahead, I saw a dark, crimson mass pulsing faintly not far away.

“That is…”

“The heart of the Primordial Demonic Beast.”

“……!!!”

And.

The rugged, black sword hilt stuck right in the middle of that pulsating crimson mass was none other than…

“…Naturally, the thing stuck in the middle is what we need to pull out.”

The Demonic Sword.

■Alias: [The Most Sacred Demonic Sword]

■Grade: [Incalculable]

■Description: [A weapon imbued with the soul of the first Heavenly Demon, the founder of the Demonic Cult.]

■Special Ability: [???]

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