Chapter 764: Cry Louder

TL: FoodieMonster007

A vast space unfolded before Geom Mugeuk's eyes. This overwhelming scale was nothing like the fake tomb he had seen within the formations. This was where past Chairmen rested for eternity.

He stood on the boundary between the living and the dead and announced his presence loudly. "Hello! I'm Geom Mugeuk, the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult. Though our paths were different, I respect the great lives of the Seniors who protected what they held dear with a single sword. A bad group now seeks to disrupt the order of good and evil and take over the murim. I've come here to stop them, so please forgive this junior's unpermitted intrusion."

He bowed respectfully and stepped inside, then added a remark that was uniquely his.

"I like and respect the current Chairman of the Evil Alliance, and I'm friends with the next Chairman! So please, look upon me favorably!"

Geom Mugeuk stood at the entrance for a moment, overwhelmed by the weight of long years as he surveyed the interior. Incense permeated the dry, heavy air.

The interior was vast, but he figured he had enough time to look around. Even Dan Sojin likely couldn't come and go as he pleased and could probably only enter on designated days.

Time wasn't the important thing, however. If fate willed it, he would find the orb in just one hour. If not, he could search for ten years and still find nothing. He could only hope the final orb was fated to be with him.

The interior formed a massive circle. In the center of the back wall stood a stone statue of a martial artist sitting on a grand throne.

Despite being a statue, it radiated powerful authority. It seemed to be the Evil Alliance's founder. Its two eyes were inlaid with blood jade, making its gaze fearsome to meet. An altar for performing rites stood in front of it, surrounded by dozens of pillars.

Each pillar recorded the history of a past Chairman. One pillar for one person's life.

The texts recorded when and where they were born, what martial arts they learned, and how they became the Evil Alliance Chairman. They detailed what they accomplished after their inauguration and when and how they died. Each pillar was the Evil Alliance's history.

Geom Mugeuk slowly read the contents. Reading someone's life story, especially one left as a record, was an extremely tedious task.

However, he knew there was certainly something to learn from others' choices. Life wasn't long enough to make all those choices himself. Therefore, he read about the most important choices the Chairmen made throughout their lives and their consequences.

When he finished one person's story, he moved to the next pillar to read another Chairman's life.

He laughed at times and frowned at others. There were Chairmen he liked, and there were Chairmen who made him wonder how such a terrible person could have existed.

As he continued reading through the pillars, a particular name caught his eye—Ju Gasin.

Ju Gasin was the unorthodox's greatest master and the Evil Alliance Chairman three hundred years ago. The Grave of Swords beneath the lake, where Geom Mugeuk had previously fought the Twelve Zodiac Kings, was also known as Ju Gasin's tomb, and had attracted countless masters there in his past life.

The man's real body, however, was enshrined here.

Geom Mugeuk read about Ju Gasin's life. He learned how Ju Gasin mastered martial arts, became the unorthodox's greatest swordman, and then the Evil Alliance Chairman.

After becoming Chairman, he always had a wolf named Crimson Wolf with him.

An Evil Alliance Chairman who brings a wolf around?

For some reason, he thought that was really cool.

Suddenly, a passage among Ju Gasin's deeds caught his attention.

Vanquished the Heavenly Fate Palace alongside the Divine Sword Martial Emperor.

Ah, so Ju Gasin was there too!

Three hundred years ago, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult wasn't the only one to join the final bloody battle between the Murim Alliance and the Heavenly Fate Palace. The Evil Alliance had also intervened, led by Ju Gasin himself.

It was now certain the final orb was stored here not by coincidence, but as a continuation of fate from three hundred years ago. This was something he never would have known if he hadn't read the pillar's contents carefully.

Geom Mugeuk read all the remaining pillars. Baek Jagang's pillar wasn't yet there. After his death, his pillar would also be erected here.

Will my name also get a line in the Chairman's history?

Something like: Vanquished the remnants of the Heavenly Fate Palace alongside the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!

I hope so, Chairman.

Having read the history on all the pillars, Geom Mugeuk walked over to where the past Chairmen's legacies were kept.

Their unique secret manuals were displayed in cabinets. These were truly divine arts that would turn the murim upside down if a single volume leaked, but of course, he passed by without opening them. The same went for the weapons, protective armor, gauntlets, hidden weapons, and even the clothes and shoes the Chairmen favored.

He was more interested in the artifacts displayed in front of the manuals, wondering if an orb might be mixed among them. Still, no inscriptions indicated what they were or who they belonged to, so it was impossible to know who had left which artifact.

That was why Geom Mugeuk didn't touch the artifacts either. Though no one was watching, he maintained the utmost etiquette. He only observed them closely from a distance, just in case an orb was mixed in. However, even after looking over all the artifacts, the Secret Box didn't react.

Right, they wouldn't have hidden it so easily.

Considering how he had obtained the others, finding this one wouldn't be easy. He had gotten the Black Orb from Jo Baekta, the next Cult Leader of the Heavenly Wind Cult, by simply saying, 'Let's settle this with this'.

On the surface, it seemed easy, but the process leading to that moment had been anything but.

Geom Mugeuk now walked toward the surrounding wall. Stone statues of martial artists stood along it, leaning on their swords as if guarding something.

Murals covered the wall. They depicted various scenes of what appeared to be former Evil Alliance Chairmen. There were scenes of them in bloody battles, shouting while holding a flag on a battlefield piled with corpses, and splitting a cliff with a sword. There was also a scene of one running while holding a child, and even one of a brutal killing.

Countless diverse paintings covered a significant portion of the vast wall, creating a spectacular sight. Stone statues stood in a circle before the murals at regular intervals.

Their numbers were too great for them to be mere symbolic guardians. Moreover, the distance between each statue was precise, without a single millimeter of error.

Who are you all standing there to protect?

Geom Mugeuk placed his hand on the wall between two statues. The wall was so thick that even a great master couldn't know what was beyond it, but he, whose martial arts had reached the pinnacle, could feel what was on the other side.

There's a space behind the wall.

He looked at the statues standing in a circle along the round wall.

So this is where the Chairmen's coffins are kept, between each of these statues!

These statues were a kind of guardian, each protecting a Chairman's coffin.

Geom Mugeuk tried to find a way to open it, but there was no door on the wall. There wasn't even a trace of what could be a door. It must have been made to open and close, so there had to be some kind of unknown, elaborate mechanism.

What if the orb is inside someone's coffin?

That would be a truly difficult situation. Finding the last orb was paramount, but he couldn't just break down the wall and open a coffin. He couldn't do that, not because of Dan Sojin, but for Baek Jagang and Bi Sayin's sake.

Please don't let it be hidden in there.

He walked along the circle, examining the guardian statues first.

Please cry, Secret Box! Let the statue's eyes pop out with a purple glow, and let that ornament hanging from the sword's hilt fall off!

That, however, was just wishful thinking. The Secret Box didn't cry even after he had examined all the guardian statues. He examined the statue sitting on the grand throne and even flew into the air to check the ceiling, but he couldn't find the orb.

Could it be that it's not in this tomb?

No, that couldn't be.

"If the Evil Alliance Chairman doesn't die, the murim will be destroyed."

Those bastards had said that as if it was a prophecy, but they had clearly intended to kill the current Evil Alliance Chairman, find this place, and take the orb.

It's definitely in here.

Geom Mugeuk's gaze returned to the walls between the statues.

Now, those are the only places left. The mechanism to open the door must be somewhere. If not, I'll have to cut through the wall without leaving a trace…

As the thought crossed his mind, he realized he was being uncharacteristically impatient. He was clenching his fists without even realizing it. His heart raced because it was the last orb.

I didn't obtain any of the orbs so far by trying to force it.

Geom Mugeuk unclenched his fist. He had to quell his impatience to find the orb.

He plopped down on the spot.

"Aigoo, dear Chairmen. Please allow this humble junior to rest here for a moment. The bastards from the Demonic Cult are just naturally this impatient. Please understand."

His voice echoed through the hall. As he sat there, he suddenly thought of Baek Jagang. He missed the man who used to look at him with those small eyes.

Chairman, Chairman, please come and find it for me!

"When the years pass, you too will rest here, Chairman."

Baek Jagang's likeness would also be painted as a mural, and later still, Bi Sayin would be painted too.

Once I leave this place, I'll never be able to come back, so it's a painting I'll never get to see.

"If I really miss you that much, I might just sneak back in here."

Geom Mugeuk smiled, imagining Bi Sayin chiding him for only thinking of scenarios where he died first.

Regaining his composure, he looked around and gazed at the murals. Until a moment ago, he had been so focused on finding the orb that he had paid more attention to the Secret Box's vibrations than the paintings.

Ah, Ju Gasin must be in one of these paintings somewhere.

He didn't care about the others, but he wanted to find Ju Gasin, the only person he knew of here. If the orb was hidden here, it would have been according to Ju Gasin's will. However, since the Chairmen in the paintings were unidentifiable, finding Ju Gasin was impossible.

The artifacts, the secret manuals… not a single name was written down. The Evil Alliance was truly inconsiderate.

As he sat there appreciating the murals, a painting of a wolf with magnificent red fur caught his eye.

"Hey, you're really handsome!"

Just as he was about to look away, his gaze returned to the wolf. At the same time, a single phrase came to mind.

"Even after becoming the Chairman, he had a wolf named Crimson Wolf with him."

If he named it Crimson Wolf, then it must be a wolf with red fur!

Geom Mugeuk shot to his feet and approached the painting. His eyes widened as he looked closely at the wolf. The wolf wore magnificent armor on its neck and body. In the center of the armor around its neck, an orb was embedded.

It's a blue orb!

The orb he had previously obtained from the Evil Alliance's steel wolf statue was the Green Orb.

Geom Mugeuk looked at the Chairman standing next to the wolf. A middle-aged man was depicted gallantly, fully clad in treasured armor as if heading off to war. He was a martial artist who suited the wolf perfectly.

His eyes grew even wider. An orb was embedded in the belt he wore at his waist, and it was purple.

This man is Ju Gasin!

The orb on the wolf's armor being blue could have been a coincidence, but the orb on this belt ornament couldn't be.

So Ju Gasin obtained two orbs that day. He hid one in the steel wolf statue, and the other one? Where did he put the other one?

Geom Mugeuk shot off again, returning to the pile of artifacts. He searched for the belt Ju Gasin was wearing.

"There it is!"

The belt didn't have an orb embedded in it, but Geom Mugeuk felt an inexplicable energy radiating from it.

"Excuse me for a moment, Chairman."

He carefully picked up the belt.

"Perhaps we could've met that day."

Unfortunately, the Secret Box had returned him to reality before that fateful battle three hundred years ago. If he had been there, he might have really met Ju Gasin.

Geom Mugeuk looked down at the belt silently and then fastened it around his own waist. Nothing happened.

His gaze turned to the painting again.

Perhaps?

Geom Mugeuk slowly walked over and stood next to a steel wolf statue. He stood in the exact same way as Ju Gasin in the painting.

SWOOSH!

At that very moment, he felt the metal ornament on the belt being drawn to the steel wolf statue by a magnetic force. A clanking sound seemed to come from inside the wolf statue.

SRRRNG!

A section of wall between the guardian statues on the far side slid wide open, and a coffin emerged from the open doorway. Both the door and the advancing coffin moved with an incredibly elaborate mechanism.

Geom Mugeuk knew instinctively.

It's Ju Gasin's coffin!

CHRRRNG!

The lid covering the coffin slid sideways and down, opening completely.

Geom Mugeuk walked toward it with trembling eyes. The moment he saw inside the coffin, intense emotion overcame his heart.

Ju Gasin's skeleton lay within. Its hands were brought together over its chest, and between those two hands rested an orb. It was the final orb he had been searching for so desperately, the Purple Orb.

The orb revealed itself to the world for the first time in three hundred years, radiating brilliant purple light.

WUUUUNG!

The Secret Box in his robes began to vibrate. It was more powerful than any vibration he had ever felt before.

"Cry louder, Secret Box!"

At the same time, the five energies that had been dormant inside Geom Mugeuk's body awakened all at once.

"Yay! We've finally found our Youngest!"

Translator's Note: Dear Absolute Regression Readers, the author has gone off on Chuseok vacation. He'll be back either next Friday 10th Oct or the following Monday 13th Oct. Let us all suffer the cliffhanger of not knowing what collecting all the orbs do for at least a week together!

Meanwhile, you can distract yourself by reading another one of the author's works, Absolute Warrior!