Hyuk Dojin looked at him and said quietly:

“At that time, you blabbered nonsense from that mouth of yours that I could only live if my sickly mother died. You spouted nonsense that if I protected my mother who was abandoned by my father, I would be in danger. Every day, you degraded my pitiful mother who couldn’t even get out of bed, as if she were a street whore.”

Hyuk Dojin’s eyes slowly widened.

“Yes, I haven’t forgotten. The day my mother fell victim to your schemes.”

Hyuk Dojin’s hand moved and instantly grabbed Do Seokhwi’s neck.

“Ck…!”

Do Seokhwi couldn’t even resist the sudden action, and Lee Seonghak couldn’t read his movement either. Cold sweat trickled down Lee Seonghak’s spine.

‘He’s become stronger…’

Hyuk Dojin’s gaze slanted downward. Looking at the reddening Do Seokhwi, his mouth opened.

“So, do you want to take away the woman by my side?”

“Young Cult Leader…”

“What nonsense will you spout this time? Will you degrade her like Do Seokhwi, who’s now dying by your side, as a wench of the Righteous Sect? Or will you say that someone who can’t use any martial arts cannot be recognized as the Young Cult Leader’s wife?”

Before long, the room was filled with killing intent. Although Lee Seonghak had already overcome many life-threatening situations to reach his current position, the killing intent pressing down on him now wasn’t easy to endure.

Hyuk Dojin’s eyes, emitting a sinister light, pierced through Lee Seonghak’s eyes.

“Blabber on.”

It was the moment when the killing intent turned into a death force. Lee Seonghak’s face drained of color as if he had witnessed death. And a deep smile formed on Hyuk Dojin’s lips.

“Use that silver tongue again that killed my mother.”

The smile disappeared. His hand left Do Seokhwi’s neck. His hand moved slowly and grabbed Lee Seonghak’s neck.

“I’ll tear out your tongue while you’re still alive.”

Lee Seonghak felt a chill run down his spine. He was a veteran who had gone through countless battles. He had trampled on those who tried to kill him and delivered death to those who raised their swords against him.

The path he had taken was strewn with spilled blood and scattered flesh. He was a ruthless man who destroyed everything with his cruel hands.

However, there were only two people in the Demon Cult who he had sincerely sworn allegiance to.

One was the Vice Cult Leader, Man Do, and the other was the Cult Leader.

Their achievements were out of reach for the other members of the Demon Cult. Their power was so formidable that they could easily crush one of the Demon Cult’s military forces single-handedly.

But the Young Cult Leader Hyuk Dojin was said to fall short of them.

After the death of his mother, Geum Soso, he was always seen with a gentle smile, using honorifics even with his subordinates, leading the elders to secretly believe that he had submitted to them.

Of course, his achievements at that age were indeed insignificant compared to the later cultivators. Lee Seonghak thought Hyuk Dojin hadn’t yet broken through the wall.

After all, breaking through to the Demonic Path at such a young age was near impossible.

But facing Hyuk Dojin, who was now emitting a sinister aura, Lee Seonghak realized with a chill that he had been mistaken all along.

Hyuk Dojin, who was toying with Do Seokhwi, grabbing his neck with one hand while the man groaned, and now grabbing Lee Seonghak’s neck, was beyond their level.

No matter how vicious Do Seokhwi’s character was, he was a man with outstanding power, standing out even among the elders. It wasn’t that he was weak just because Lee Seonghak could handle him. Yet, it was impossible for even Lee Seonghak to toy with him with one hand.

‘…Has he broken through the wall?’

The hand gripping his neck exuded an immense internal force that couldn’t be easily handled. It felt like his neck would be ripped off at any moment if that hand tightened its grip.

“Why are you keeping your mouth shut? Should I stick my fingers in your throat and make you speak up?”

Lee Seonghak swallowed a dry throat at the chilling voice.

One mistake, and he would die. Memories of the paths he had taken flashed through his mind.

He couldn’t die here.

He had done so much to keep this position.

“Young Cult Leader, please calm down. If you can’t control your emotions, you’ll be consumed by anger.”

“Don’t be hypocritical, Lee Seonghak. Did you think I wouldn’t know your sordid true nature?”

“I am an Elder of the Demon Cult. All I think about is the future of the Demon Cult, the Cult Leader, and the Young Cult Leader. So, please listen to me…”

“Disgusting.”

Hyuk Dojin cut off Lee Seonghak’s self-justification midway. Lee Seonghak’s mouth was left open, frozen. Hyuk Dojin stared at him and opened his mouth again.

“It’s the same words you used to mock me more than ten years ago. Do the me from ten years ago and the me now look the same to you? Did you think you could mock me again with the same words?”

“How could I ever…”

“Seems you have nothing else to say. Then let me ask him.”

The strength in Hyuk Dojin’s hand around Lee Seonghak’s neck increased.

“Khh…!”

“Answer, Do Seokhwi.”

As his neck was being squeezed by Hyuk Dojin’s hand, Lee Seonghak let out a rough breath.

In the midst of his face turning red instantly, his eyes met Do Seokhwi, who was catching his breath on the floor.

“The one who wagged his long tongue to mock me. And the one who still looks down on me now. As the Young Cult Leader, answer how I should deal with such an impure cult member.”

More strength flowed into Hyuk Dojin’s grip.

“Kkk…ugh…!!”

“Your answer will determine whether Lee Seonghak’s head falls off here or not. Answer, Do Seokhwi.”

Do Seokhwi felt like he was naked, rolling on a sheet of cold ice.

Like the biting wind slashing at his body like sharp blades, with no way to block the chill, Do Seokhwi felt peril.

Do Seokhwi opened his eyes wide. He had to understand the situation. No matter how dull-witted and slow he was, he could see that it would do no good to provoke Hyuk Dojin’s nerves here.

He hurriedly adjusted his posture. Bending his knees to sit, he lowered his head toward Hyuk Dojin and quickly opened his mouth.

“P-Please forgive me. I… I was foolish to make such a mistake…”

“But that’s not an answer.”

“Kuck!!”

The sound of gasping for breath came out more violently from Lee Seonghak’s mouth. Reacting to the sound, Do Seokhwi slammed his head hard on the floor.

“Forgive me! I will never set foot in the Young Cult Leader’s palace again! Please, please have mercy…!”

“…”

Hyuk Dojin, who had been indifferently watching the giant man struggle to survive, slowly shifted his gaze. His mouth opened softly as he indifferently looked at Lee Seonghak, who was turning pale.

“You haven’t changed, even after all this time.”

The strength left Hyuk Dojin’s hand. Lee Seonghak’s body slid down to the ground.

He gasped for breath while still clutching his neck.

Hyuk Dojin looked down at Do Seokhwi and slowly opened his mouth.

“Do Seokhwi. You are sentenced to two weeks of house arrest for causing a disturbance in my palace. If such an incident occurs again, it will not be house arrest but a serious punishment.”

“I understand…”

“And Lee Seonghak.”

At his call, Lee Seonghak, who had been lying on the ground, struggled to get up. With trembling hands, he raised his upper body to meet Hyuk Dojin’s gaze.

“How ironic. The situation is the same as ten years ago, yet our positions have changed so drastically. How do you feel now?”

Behind him as he stood up, the moonlight streamed down, splitting apart. In the darkness, his sinister eyes narrowed menacingly.

“Feel free to act out as you wish. Just as you took my mother away from me, try taking Moyong Sowol away from me. Then you will bitterly realize.”

Realize who you have touched.

* * *

When Do Seokhwi and Lee Seonghak came out of Hyuk Dojin’s office, they both had red marks around their necks as if they had the same tattoo. With dazed expressions, they shuffled along, merely staring blankly at the ground with a sense of having narrowly escaped death.

Unbecoming of elders, they had bowed their heads and begged for their lives, for their self-respect was unimportant. The Hyuk Dojin they faced today wasn’t the gentle Young Cult Leader they knew.

He had already broken the wall and surpassed a level they could no longer approach.

“It’s been a long time… Elder Do.”

The silence in the darkness was broken by Lee Seonghak’s voice. Do Seokhwi’s head turned slowly.

“It’s been so long since I’ve felt the terror I used to feel from the Cult Leader.”

“…I couldn’t put up any resistance.”

The two of them were the type who would have fought back, even if just to survive, had anyone else tried to strangle them.

But there was a limit to how much they could do – the gap in skill was so vast that they couldn’t even get close, let alone struggle. All they could do was beg for their lives.

“We may have been mistaken.”

Lee Seonghak admitted his error. How could they have foreseen that Hyuk Dojin would see his late mother Geum Soso in Moyong Sowol’s appearance?

It was an aspect akin to his trauma. They never imagined Moyong Sowol would trigger Hyuk Dojin’s trauma.

Lee Seonghak frowned.

‘If the Young Cult Leader truly loves and tries to protect that woman, what should we do?’

He slowly turned to stare back at the distant palace. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, but it was just an illusion.

They had only respected the Young Cult Leader. They thought that even if he revealed his true self, being still young, they could easily subdue him.

But the situation had changed. Hyuk Dojin, whom they had thought was in their grasp, had already become a monster.

Lee Seonghak let out a long sigh.

“I should see the Cult Leader soon.”

Hyuk Dojin’s anger was directed at them first, but ultimately it would turn elsewhere.

What was once a light prick was no longer so insignificant.

“I can’t die like this…”