Hubei, east of Wuchang.
East Lake, which boasted scenery beautiful enough to rival West Lake in Hangzhou, had lately been suffering under an influx of people.
It had never been quiet at any time of year. Then word spread that the Martial Alliance and Demon Alliance would hold the Grand Martial Conference there.
That was why more and more people kept arriving—some to prepare for the Grand Martial Conference, and others hoping to witness the historic event, if only from afar.
There were just two exceptions.
Two inns stood on opposite sides of the lake, facing each other across the water. They and their surroundings were exempt.
No one needed to be told to keep away from those areas. Even those who had business nearby kept their mouths shut and took care not to breathe too loudly.
Who else could have taken over the two splendid inns ranked first and second in all of East Lake at a time like this?
One inn was enough to make anyone's blood run cold merely from the tremendous number of elite warriors packed densely around it. As for the other inn.......
“It was even scarier! Would you believe I took one wrong turn and nearly pissed myself?”
“True. Crescent Moon Pavilion is supposed to be the finest inn on East Lake, but it gave me chills seeing it so silent, without even an ant around.”
“Exactly. Wasn't it... as if that place alone had been sealed behind invisible walls and cut off into another world?”
The name of the faction occupying Crescent Moon Pavilion rose in their minds as they clicked their tongues.
‘The Demon Alliance!’
Despite being known as a gathering place for terrifying demonic fiends, astonishingly little was known about the organization itself.
It did not suck the lifeblood from commoners like the Green Forest or the Yangtze River Water Forts.
Unlike the Martial Alliance, which had brought every righteous sect under its command, it was not a coalition. Even when small and medium factions of the demonic and unorthodox paths gained notoriety, no one linked them to the Demon Alliance.
As for what outrage against heaven and humankind those who ruled the demonic path might be committing from their lofty heights.......
Surely the great men of the Martial Alliance, who possessed equally lofty spirits and stood against evil, would know?
Though sinister rumors abounded, those who had never suffered any harm or witnessed the truth themselves regarded the Demon Alliance with wary distance and curiosity in equal measure.
And so, they all said the same thing.
“We will get to see that famed Demon Alliance Leader during the Grand Martial Conference, won't we?”
As anticipation and excitement mounted, the day finally arrived!
It was the morning of the Grand Martial Conference, an event that would be recorded in history for generations.
Wi So-baek stood on the highest floor of Crescent Moon Pavilion, the tallest building not only on East Lake but in all Wuchang, and gazed out the window.
“It is time for you to leave.”
Oh Chi-yeong, who had been waiting below, came upstairs and reported.
Wi So-baek slowly turned away from the window.
“Very well.”
After answering, he headed for the stairs.
As he descended, the subordinates waiting on each floor fell in behind him.
By the time he had passed all nine floors and set foot on the ground, their number had grown considerably.
When Wi So-baek stepped out of Crescent Moon Pavilion, An Ho-jin, the Captain of the Personal Guard, was waiting beside an ornate carriage.
Once Wi So-baek entered the carriage, Oh Chi-yeong and Ga Jeong-hak mounted the horses prepared to either side.
“Let us go.”
At Wi So-baek's voice from inside, the carriage began to move.
The assembled warriors slowly advanced as well, surrounding the carriage.
Those who had not dared approach Crescent Moon Pavilion and had tried to watch from afar were disappointed.
“How are we supposed to catch even a glimpse of the Demon Alliance Leader like this?”
Their disappointed voices carried into the carriage.
“If they wish to see me that badly.”
Muttering to himself, Wi So-baek opened the carriage window.
Though the carriage was moving and his folding fan covered half his face, making it impossible for anyone to see him properly, the response was fervent.
“Waaaaah!”
Watching his master receive the cheers and attention as if they were entirely familiar, Ga Jeong-hak spoke.
“You must be in a good mood, seeing as you are doing something you ordinarily would not.”
“Isn't it obvious? I am on my way to see my younger brother.”
“Will there not be other bastards there besides the Martial Alliance Leader? Bastards who make me sick just looking at them.”
“What does that matter? We can treat insignificant fools like them as though they do not exist and simply discuss what we came to discuss.”
Wi So-baek replied as he idly fluttered his folding fan, and Ga Jeong-hak agreed.
“That is true.”
“By the way, how long should the grace period we are to decide upon at the conference be? Three years is a little short, and five is too long.”
He spoke as naturally as if the decision were his alone to make.
Seeing his master sink into thought while murmuring to himself, Ga Jeong-hak shut his mouth and blocked out the surrounding noise so as not to disturb him.
Wi So-baek rested his head against the window frame and closed his eyes.
Before long, the carriage stopped where a broad clearing had once lain.
The clearing had been prepared in advance by personnel drawn from the Martial Alliance and Demon Alliance. Only the conference attendees and their escort forces were allowed inside, leaving the surroundings silent and the air heavy.
After alighting from the carriage, Wi So-baek was guided to the large tent erected at the center of the clearing.
He had arrived precisely on time, so when he entered the tent, nearly twenty members of the Martial Alliance's high command were already there.
Wi So-baek swept his gaze over the Martial Alliance figures seated along the left side of the long table in the center.
But that was all.
Not a single word left his lips.
“This......!”
The eyes of several Martial Alliance leaders who had been waiting for him to offer a greeting began to twitch.
Do Heo of Wudang quickly rose, evidently afraid that a pointless fight might break out.
“I am pleased to meet the Demon Alliance Leader on such an auspicious occasion.”
Once the renowned Do Heo took the lead, the other members of the Martial Alliance had no choice but to follow suit.
“I hope this will prove a meaningful occasion for the sake of the martial world.”
Even after Jaegal Chang-seong, the Jaegal Clan Head and the Martial Alliance's strategist, concluded the greetings, Wi So-baek showed no response.
“.......”
As the silence continued, the faces of the Martial Alliance leaders went pale.
Only when they began to wonder whether the Demon Alliance Leader was displeased with this conference did he finally speak.
“Some among you are familiar faces I am pleased to see, while others I meet for the first time. I am the Demon Alliance Leader, Wi So-baek.”
Wi So-baek spoke as he sat in the seat of honor at the innermost end of the tent.
His gaze had lingered on Sect Leader Ak of Mount Hua as he spoke of being pleased, while the languid ease of his tone and bearing made the other Martial Alliance figures flush red and blue with displeasure.
Wi So-baek paid them no mind and continued saying only what he wished to say.
“However, everyone else from the Martial Alliance seems to be here, yet only your leader's seat is empty. What happened?”
“Unlike the Demon Alliance, the Martial Alliance is a coalition, so there are a great many people who must attend the conference, are there not?”
Wi So-baek had already heard that even those at the various factions' headquarters were coming out to join those who had been staying at the Martial Alliance. When he brushed it aside with a vague acknowledgment, Jaegal Chang-seong put force into his voice.
“No matter how noble the purpose of the Grand Martial Conference, little time has passed since the Righteous-Demonic War ended. We could not ignore the authorities while moving so many people, so we divided into groups......!”
Apparently, one problem after another had delayed the group that included the Martial Alliance Leader.
Ha.
At the answer, delivered as neatly as though it had been prepared in advance, Wi So-baek scratched the end of his rising eyebrow with one forefinger.
Jaegal Chang-seong, strategist of the Martial Alliance, stroked his full white beard and bowed his head.
“The Alliance Leader has always found it difficult to refuse a request and often becomes entangled in minor obligations, but I never imagined he would make such a mistake even at an event as important as the Grand Martial Conference. I am truly sorry.”
Then he asked Wi So-baek not to judge their leader too harshly, since the man's nature was so benevolent and kind.
How could anyone take those words at face value?
Wi So-baek merely found it absurd that the Martial Alliance Strategist was an old bastard who had spent all those years only to screw over his own leader in such a roundabout way.
Whether Jaegal Chang-seong knew what Wi So-baek was thinking or not, he continued.
“This is entirely our Martial Alliance's fault. Therefore, we will take responsibility even if it costs us. If the Demon Alliance proposes proceeding with the Grand Martial Conference without the Alliance Leader, we will comply.”
No. Wi So-baek listened as Jaegal Chang-seong resolutely declared that this was only right.......
Wi So-baek planted his right elbow on the armrest and rested his chin on the back of his hand.
Meanwhile, the Demon Alliance martial artists lined up along the right side of the table watched the unfolding situation with great interest and whispered among themselves.
“Will he overturn the conference?”
“Will he get angry?”
“Will he kill them?”
Most of the Demon Alliance martial artists imagined similar scenes, but one did not.
“He will probably hold back, won't he?”
When Ga Jeong-hak abruptly cut in, everyone looked puzzled.
“Pardon?”
“He is in a good mood today.”
No sooner had Ga Jeong-hak finished answering than his master's voice drifted from the seat of honor at the far end.
“If something arose that warranted a delay, he would have departed once it was resolved. It is not as though he will not come at all, so I say we wait. After making such a commotion over this being a grand event for the martial world, would the Grand Martial Conference not lose far too much stature if your leader were absent?”
“Ahem, ahem!”
Several coughs burst from among the Martial Alliance figures. Jaegal Chang-seong frowned before speaking.
“If you are willing to be understanding, then naturally we shall do so. Thank you.”
Wi So-baek received the thanks and leaned deep into the back of his chair.
The silence from the beginning resumed inside the tent.
Wi So-baek could not take his eyes off the empty one of the two chairs set side by side on the raised platform, from which the entire long table could be surveyed at a glance.
“If his mood had been foul from the start, that would be one thing. But if it goes from good to bad, the repercussions will be dozens, hundreds of times worse. What are they going to do then?”
Ga Jeong-hak wrinkled the bridge of his nose as he muttered.
I hope they did not pull anything foolish.
He was now beginning to worry sincerely about those bastards from the Martial Alliance.
For the first hour, they remained intensely tense as they stared at one another. For the next two hours, they found themselves struggling to remain tense.
But as even more time passed, everyone grew exhausted.
Even if they had reached the summit of the martial world in martial prowess or status, they were still sitting close enough to hear the breathing of those who could be called their mortal enemies. The mental strain could only be severe.
In particular, Wi So-baek's solitary presence in the seat of honor, looking down on them all, was threatening not only to the Martial Alliance but to the Demon Alliance warriors as well.
“Alliance Leader, may I step outside for some air?”
“Me too, me too! I want to go outside too, sir!”
That did not apply to Ga Jeong-hak, who expressed his desires freely and without reserve, or Cheol Myeong-hwan, who tended to act first without caring what came after.
“Go on, then.”
Wi So-baek waved his hand dismissively, and the two quickly left the tent.
The tent flap fluttered up slightly, then settled again.
People swallowed dryly at the fresh air that swept in through the gap.
Wi So-baek had no interest in how much longer they could endure.
He might have been interested in what they would do once they could endure no more.
‘Those Martial Alliance bastards attached an enormous amount of meaning to the Grand Martial Conference. They probably obstructed their leader on the way because they could not bear to let a leader they refused to acknowledge attend such a historic event, bask in glory above their heads, and have his name shine for generations.’
However, if it was Se-jin, he might have been held back because he could not refuse a plea to save someone or stop dangerous people. Wi So-baek could not rule that out entirely.
“Just you wait until you get here.”
Whichever it was, Wi So-baek would not let it pass this time. He would give Jang Se-jin a proper scolding.
In truth, it was only because Wi So-baek himself was so powerful.
Se-jin's martial prowess was not lacking by any standard.
To be precise, Wi So-baek had not been the only one to cross the wall and behold a new world inside the formation.
“So if something has happened to you, it cannot possibly be because your skills were lacking.”
Unless your soft heart became your weakness.
Wi So-baek shook his head and furrowed his brow.
A sudden sense of foreboding had come over him.
“Alliance Leader!”
Ga Jeong-hak, who had gone outside, tore the tent entrance open and burst in with a shout.
“The Martial Alliance Leader has gone missing!”
BANG!
Wi So-baek shot to his feet.