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Chapter : 33
After Museong departed for the Hubei–Jiangxi front together with the Five Dragon Corps, Yang Uijun also left the Murim Alliance not long afterward.
It had always been Moyong Yunhwan’s role to remain at the Alliance and see them off.
So there was no way his current mood was simply because he had been influenced by that…
There had to be another reason his expression looked so bad.
“What’s wrong?”
When a direct subordinate—who had spent the night gathering intelligence reports from all over the world—asked cautiously, Sak Gisun’s expression changed instantly.
“Do not speak carelessly about the one you serve.”
Even something trivial, once spoken aloud, invited speculation; and if it leaked outside, it could be twisted into information that caused trouble.
Startled by the stern warning, the subordinate quickly shut his mouth and retreated.
After straightening his appearance, Sak Gisun went to see Moyong Yunhwan.
He placed the intelligence reports he had received on the table and waited with his hands behind his back.
Seeing that his lord’s complexion was still poor as he reviewed the reports, Sak Gisun resolved to be especially attentive today.
‘If he hates it that much, why does he insist on receiving reports about the young lady first thing every morning?’
Especially today—when he heard that she had overturned the Inspection Division the moment she arrived and stirred up chaos within the Murim Alliance—his lord had nearly smashed the table in anger.
Though his lord’s reaction was frightening, Sak Gisun did not resent the young lady, who caused even bigger incidents with each passing day.
Because—
“This.”
“Yes!”
Sak Gisun quickly answered and read through the sheet of paper his lord had pushed toward him.
Among reports concerning intelligence from across the land and various internal movements within the Alliance, this seemed almost trivial. But when he thought of the person connected to it, it suddenly felt natural.
“It seems that since they’re still young, now that their center is gone, they’ve been causing trouble here and there.”
It referred to the Black Tortoise Unit members who remained at the academy.
“Indeed. That girl acts like she’s grown, but she still lacks any real backbone. Museong only scares her—he spoils her endlessly and never teaches her properly.”
In the end, all the cleanup fell to him.
“Hmph.”
Moyong Yunhwan wrinkled his delicate nose and tapped the table with his fingertips.
The slow rhythm quickened—then suddenly stopped.
“What can be done? With that girl behaving as she does, I suppose I’ll have to clean up after her as usual.”
“Shall I take care of it?” Sak Gisun asked.
Moyong Yunhwan nodded.
Objects that had lost their purpose were nothing but trash—and if they spoiled the atmosphere, it was best to clear them away quickly.
Still, even trash could serve one last use.
“Send them south. Create the right situation and throw them to the enemy as bait.”
What would happen if academy students were brutally slaughtered on the front lines?
It would inflame the Murim Alliance warriors’ zeal and allow them to condemn the Demonic Cult for killing mere students rather than proper martial artists, applying political pressure.
‘Trash disgusts me—but it disgusts the enemy as well.’
And that was the final use of trash.
“I’ll handle it.”
Sak Gisun answered, though he was honestly afraid of his lord.
He was loyal to him down to his bones—but watching him calmly send young students to certain death without a hint of coldness made him seem inhuman.
Sometimes people saw how his lord interacted casually with the other two of the Three Commanders and thought Munryeong was not entirely ruthless or merciless… and became captivated by the stark contrast in his humanity.
They did not realize that his lord’s kindness was not born from a desire to be humane; it varied by person, limited to only a select few, and he would not spare even a speck of it for anyone else. Those who misunderstood met tragic ends.
That was why Sak Gisun did not dislike the young lady.
Just as his lord’s good feelings were given wholly only to the other two of the Three Commanders, his lord’s bad feelings were permitted solely toward her.
If emotions were proof of humanity, then whichever side they showed, at least his lord seemed human—and for Sak Gisun, that was enough.
While he drifted briefly into thought, the conversation had already moved far ahead.
Startled, he focused again.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His lord’s fingers moved decisively over maps and documents.
“Erase this side and cover here. And while everyone’s attention is fixed on the Hubei–Jiangxi front, we’ll move on the southern Hubei–Sichuan region.”
Moyong Yunhwan’s finger stopped over Sichuan—a region straddling both northern and southern martial territories.
A vast frontier far from the center, where internal defectors were more dangerous than the Demonic Cult itself!
Because of that, the Tang Clan—one of the Five Great Families—and the Emei and Qingcheng sects of the Nine Great Sects were often treated with wariness within the Alliance.
But that was another matter.
“Sichuan has been left far too lax. Otherwise, how could they complain about the lack of Alliance support and accuse the Alliance of stagnating and rotting?”
They couldn’t even discipline their own internal affairs!
Yet whenever the main Alliance tried to step in to help them clean house…
They protested that even if they belonged to the Alliance, it was only an expression of shared ideals and cooperation. Every faction had the right to independent governance, and the principle of non-interference in internal affairs must be upheld—how dare the main Alliance violate it!
“They want the benefits of belonging to the Alliance but none of the responsibilities. I don’t know who gave them permission to take only the good parts.”
It certainly wasn’t Munryeong himself—so who was it?
When Moyong Yunhwan lifted his gaze from the map and looked at Sak Gisun, Sak Gisun stiffened and straightened his posture.
Moyong Yunhwan spoke:
“The Alliance’s prestige must never be broken. Since the Murim Alliance is an ideal forged by countless forces, even if every faction falls and turns to ash, the name of the Alliance must remain high so that all can look up and continue dreaming.”
So that in the end, they could find the strength to rise again!
That was the Alliance’s greatest meaning.
“—!”
Sak Gisun gasped.
Rather than allow Sichuan’s great factions to disrespect the Alliance and bicker internally for dominance… his lord intended to burn everything down—use what remained useful and turn the rest into fertilizer.
How many people lived in Sichuan? How much of the Alliance’s power those great factions represented—none of it mattered to him.
‘He’s not human.’
How could any human be like that?
Yet on the other hand—how could someone remain fully human and still control such a massive organization and drive it forward?
Sak Gisun remembered the Murim Alliance before the rise of the Three Commanders, when Namgung Seonyu was still alive.
Four prodigies known as the Divine Stars had illuminated the Alliance’s future—but that was all.
The Alliance had been old and crumbling, on the verge of collapse; even such brilliance could not give it hope.
Then the four Divine Stars became three. After engraving the last words of the fallen star into their hearts, they declared that all would serve a single Command.
And the Murim Alliance changed.
It revived, breathed again, and began to move forward.
As blood flowed through it, even people like Sak Gisun—those not belonging to great factions—found space to breathe. Distinguished figures set aside their pride and turned their attention outward, sharpening their blades against the Demonic Cult.
His lord was both his benefactor and the savior of the Murim Alliance.
So while Sak Gisun did not worship his lord like a god the way Commander Jo Changhee of the Mugyeong Unit revered Muryung…
He wanted to repay the favor, do his best in his duties, and enjoy the power he had gained.
And if possible, he hoped his lord would not lose any more of his human emotions.
He didn’t wish him to become more human.
Just… that he remain at least as he was now—for Sak Gisun’s sake, for the Alliance, and for the world.
‘He wasn’t gentle to begin with. If he starts wavering because of sentiment or gets swept up in emotions, he’ll become nothing but a tyrant.’
A tyrant within the Murim Alliance.
If that wasn’t a disaster, what was?
Unaware that his thoughts closely mirrored the worries Moyong Yunhwan himself held about Tak Museong, Sak Gisun swallowed with a dry throat.
Tap, tap!
The sudden quickening of the tapping snapped him back to attention.
After Moyong Yunhwan asked several questions and Sak Gisun answered them all, his lord did not scold him—but his eyes grew even sharper.
