Chapter 1940 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1940. There’s No Need to Understand. (5)

To say darkness had fallen would almost feel awkward, for the sky overflowed with stars bright enough to deny the night. And beneath them, a pitch-black river surged. A black current stained the earth as it flowed south, and farther south.

Heavenly Executioner silently watched the immense current, that black river formed not from water but from human beings, and his gaze sank heavily.

The demon soldiers advanced with their breaths held. As though they had been bewitched by something.

To some, it would have been a sight of utter terror. Yet what surfaced in Heavenly Executioner’s eyes was dissatisfaction he couldn’t quite conceal.

“......They’re slow.”

Ordinarily, he would’ve torn the heads from those unbearably sluggish demon soldiers himself if that was what it took to make them move faster. But now, he merely followed behind their slow march at an equally unhurried pace.

Of course, it wasn’t because he pitied them.

Heavenly Executioner bit down hard on his lip. As though steeling himself for some great resolve.

After hesitating several times, an emotional display utterly incompatible with the name Heavenly Executioner, he turned slowly to look behind him.

Normally, a powerful person’s slowness inevitably became a symbol of composure or overwhelming authority. But there was little trace of such intimidation in Heavenly Executioner’s ‘slowness’.

What could be felt instead was fear disguised as caution. An emotion wholly unsuited to Heavenly Executioner.

At last, when he had completely turned his head, an utterly alien scene unfolded before his eyes.

It was suffocatingly still.

Ahead of him, the pitch-black tide threatening to overturn the world was terrifying enough to chill anyone to the bone. But the world behind him, once he turned to look, was simply quiet. It was no different from the ordinary world in any respect.

And yet Heavenly Executioner knew it was different. The same as always, yet different. It couldn’t be otherwise.

Because ‘he’ was there.

Within that silent world, something moved slowly.

A world dyed only in black and ash-gray. Within it, a lone figure of pure white. That white figure was unmistakably detached from this world.

Slowly. With limitless leisure. The pure white silhouette took another step.

Someone in the past had apparently called that gait the Stride of Sovereign Dominion. But to Heavenly Executioner, there was neither intent nor meaning within those steps. They were simply....

[Stride of Sovereign Dominion. gunrimbo. 군림보(君臨步). “Gunrim” (君臨) means “to reign over” or “to stand in sovereign dominion”; “bo” (步) means “step” or “gait.” It is a descriptive title for the Heavenly Demon’s manner of walking, not the name of a martial art.]

“What is it that you seek to know?”

At the sudden question, Heavenly Executioner turned his head. The Archbishop was watching him with an enigmatic smile.

“Understanding is something required only between equals. You should already know this. That one cannot dare understand.”

“...Indeed.”

Human beings seek to understand gods. But a god that has been understood is no longer a god. It is precisely because they can never be fully understood or comprehended that they are revered. Such is the nature of a god.

Heavenly Executioner spoke quietly.

“But even knowing that, isn’t the desire to understand one’s god what faith is?”

“Hmm.”

The Archbishop gazed at Heavenly Executioner for a moment before silently nodding. As though acknowledging that those words, too, had merit.

“Then what is it that you wish to understand?”

Heavenly Executioner couldn’t answer at once. Now that the question had truly been asked, the words refused to leave his mouth.

What was he curious about? There were countless things.

Why had the Heavenly Demon’s appearance become different from the one he had known in the past? And why did that exalted being, who undoubtedly stood before his eyes, sometimes seem utterly empty?

Why was the Heavenly Demon of the past so utterly different from the Heavenly Demon of the present?

And more than anything...

“The Heavenly Demon hates the world.”

The Archbishop immediately shook his head and cut him off.

“That is nothing more than the presumptuous conjecture of a mere human, Heavenly Executioner.”

“...Then you’re saying it isn’t?”

A faint smile settled upon the Archbishop’s lips.

“The Heavenly Demon seeks to erase the world. That is an undeniable fact. However, to call that hatred is merely the arrogance of ignorant humans, who can interpret the world only through emotions of their own making. Didn’t I tell you? That one must accept that there are things beyond understanding.”

“.....”

“What matters is only one thing. That He seeks to erase the existing world.”

“And we, His faithful servants, merely follow that will?”

“Is there any reason not to?”

“There isn’t.”

Heavenly Executioner twisted the corner of his mouth. It was what he had always wished for. What he had longed for more desperately than anything. He was merely curious.

“Then why does He...”

...advance toward that purpose so slowly?

Even while possessing such immeasurable divine authority.

Rejecting the carriage made by human hands, rejecting even the bishops who willingly offered themselves as His own steeds, and rejecting even the Blood Road drawn with the blood of unbelievers.

Why does He insist on advancing alone?

“Then the Heavenly Demon...”

At that very moment.

Heavenly Executioner and the Archbishop instinctively sensed something. Simultaneously, they snapped their gazes toward a single point. Toward the Great Demon they couldn’t even bear to look at directly.

The snow-white figure. That being, pale enough to seem bloodless, had raised His eyes toward the black sky.

That was all. Nothing more than that. In truth, it was a movement that was practically nothing at all.

Yet within that very nothingness, something undeniably existed.

Thump.

If one had to describe it, it was a minute pulsation. As small as the faint beating of someone’s heart.

Yet the instant the aftershock of that tiny pulsation, so insignificant that calling it ‘nothing’ would almost be more fitting, swept over Heavenly Executioner... he felt as though his very soul had burst apart all at once.

“.......!”

The world was dyed white. He couldn’t stagger. He couldn’t even scream. His body split into hundreds of millions of fragments before surging back together, and before the shock that seemed to force those fragments into one again... Heavenly Executioner could do nothing but tremble.

And when, with great difficulty, he finally recovered his senses... the only thing he witnessed was the Heavenly Demon leisurely walking toward him. As though everything that had just happened had been a lie.

Nothing had changed. Yes. Nothing at all.

Yet Heavenly Executioner knew.

The fact that Heavenly Demon’s strides were clearly slightly faster than just a moment ago.

And something else had changed as well.

‘This is.....’

What was held within the eyes fixed upon somewhere far away, and the presence radiated by the essence contained within that great frame as well... compared to before, something... unmistakably something... was different.

[Essence. bonjil. 본질(本質). Literally “essential nature” or “true substance.” It refers not to outward appearance but to the fundamental existence or intrinsic reality of a being.]

Crunch.

His indifferent foot crushed the accumulated snow beneath it.

Crunch. Crunch.

Those footsteps continued. Simply forward. Perhaps toward the Central Plains. Perhaps toward Heavenly Executioner, who merely happened to be standing upon that road.

As the distance between himself and the Heavenly Demon gradually narrowed, a faint anticipation bloomed within Heavenly Executioner’s eyes.

Crunch.

When the Heavenly Demon came within two steps, Heavenly Executioner stopped breathing.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

But that being continued walking without interruption. Passing straight by Heavenly Executioner. As though absolutely nothing stood before Him.

“......”

Heavenly Executioner’s gaze fixed upon the back of the one who had passed him. What emotion had surged through those eyes for that brief instant?

Hollowness? Disappointment? Or perhaps sorrow? It couldn’t be defined by any single emotion. Nor was there any need to.

Because, at that very moment, an unbelievable voice reached Heavenly Executioner’s ears.

“To the Central Plains.”

Shocked, Heavenly Executioner’s eyes flew wide open.

It had been only a single sentence. Yet it couldn’t possibly be regarded as merely words. How could it be?

That holy voice itself had proven it. That they were not merely ants to be crushed beneath His feet.

[Holy voice. seong-eum. 성음(聖音). Literally “holy voice” or “sacred utterance.” It denotes speech imbued with transcendent, almost divine authority.]

It filled him with a joy beyond description.

Just then, the Archbishop spoke in a calm voice. Yet at the same time, it carried a chilling intensity.

“Do you understand now? That is the kind of being He is.”

Heavenly Executioner’s mouth shut tightly.

“We were young in the past. You, and I as well. We were merely foolish. That was why we never understood what He truly meant. But that is no longer the case. Only now... Only now are we finally able to dare assist Him.”

Heavenly Executioner couldn’t help but laugh.

Not because the man occupying the highest position in the faith called himself a mere servant. Rather... Because the very word ‘assist’ that the Archbishop had spoken with his own mouth felt unbearably presumptuous. And stranger still... He found it unfamiliar that he himself regarded that word as presumptuous.

“To be able to follow His will is joy enough. Then what of carrying out His will... And bringing it to fulfillment? Could something like that truly be expressed with nothing more than the word joy?”

“Don’t change the subject, Archbishop.”

Heavenly Executioner spat the words out as though chewing them to pieces.

“I am already truly loyal.”

At those words, the Archbishop let out a quiet chuckle.

“How delightful. Yes, truly delightful. You foolish one. Then I command you. Lead the followers of the Cult and enter the Central Plains.”

Heavenly Executioner looked at the Archbishop with faint surprise. Was this not the one thing the Archbishop had never once permitted him to do?

“We are those who receive and carry out the Heavenly Demon’s will. If we already know that His will truly lies in extermination, then merely waiting for Him to act can hardly be called loyalty.”

[Extermination. jeolmyeol. 절멸(絕滅). Literally “complete extinction” or “utter annihilation.” The Hanzi conveys absolute eradication, leaving nothing behind.]

“...Didn’t I say exactly that long ago?”

A faint smile touched the Archbishop’s lips.

“A man in my position has appearances he must maintain. But... It seems there is no longer any need for that.”

The face that had been nothing but gentle until now filled with icy contempt.

“I command you, Second Bishop. Go. Go and stain that land with the blood shed by the unbelievers of the detestable Central Plains. Make everyone under Heaven understand beyond any doubt. That the Master of all has returned. That their final destination awaiting them has now fully arrived. When they look upon Him, the only thing they should ever be permitted to feel is despair.”

Receiving the command, Heavenly Executioner bared his teeth.

“I’ll carry it out. Just as He wills.”

“Go.”

“How long I’ve waited to hear those words.”

A delighted smile spread across Heavenly Executioner’s face as a dense killing intent poured from him.

“You’d do well to hurry, Archbishop.”

“.....”

“If you’re too late... There won’t be a single human left in the world for you to pass judgment upon.”

Leaving behind words so arrogant they bordered on madness... Heavenly Executioner vanished from before the Archbishop as though a light had been snuffed out. The Archbishop silently watched the place where Heavenly Executioner had disappeared. Then he slowly turned his head. His gaze settled upon the back of the white figure that continued walking even now.

At last, the Archbishop quietly opened his mouth.

“How foolish. Nothing more.”

He still struggled to understand. Still tried to measure Him. Still endlessly sought confirmation that His will truly rested upon himself.

Without even knowing what lay at the end of that path.

But what did any of that matter?

In the end... The ending had already been decided. The Archbishop merely moved the world toward that predetermined end. He merely continued forward.

For that was the mission and the duty bestowed upon one who had attained enlightenment.

With boundless reverence, the Archbishop gazed upon the Heavenly Demon’s snow-white back. Without the slightest hesitation, he knelt where he stood. Then, in a posture that permitted not even an inch of irreverence, he lowered his head.

He is there. There existed the only salvation that had reached this world.

[Salvation. guwon. 구원(救援). Literally “salvation,” “deliverance,” or “rescue.” While 救援 commonly means “rescue,” within this religious context it functions as the cult’s concept of divine salvation.]

“The Second Coming of the Heavenly Demon. All Demons Kneel in Submission.”

The Archbishop recited the ancient mantra. Once. Then once again. And yet again.

“The Second Coming of the Heavenly Demon. All Demons Kneel in Submission.”

Now, there was likely only one being left who truly understood the meaning concealed within that ancient mantra.

[Mantra. jin-eon. 진언(眞言). Literally “true words”. The term corresponds to the Buddhist concept of a sacred mantra or dhāraṇī, words believed to embody spiritual truth and power rather than serving merely as speech.]

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