Cosmic Demon 3077 - Chapter 343



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Space Heavenly Horse 3077 Episode 343

50. Final Dance (4) – I will quit the party

It started with Zhuge Liang.

Jegal Hyeon had no intention of denying that fact.

If we trace back to where the tyranny of the Five Great Clans began, it all started with an elder of the Zhuge Clan.

A staunch proponent of autonomy, he often made some fairly extreme claims even within Sega.

– Honestly, isn’t the human government doing nothing?

– Within our sphere of influence, we manage public security and dispatch only nominal administrators for administration, but in reality, we are in charge.

– Rather, let’s just stick together and establish an autonomous territory, establish a business relationship with the human government, and commercialize the export of weapons and unmanned dispatch.

– Anyway, the sphere of influence of our Five Great Powers has grown to a point where it cannot be ignored, so how long do we have to just watch what the human government says?

– As the saying goes, our heyday will not last forever. That is why we must gain autonomy now that our power has reached its peak. If we miss this opportunity, we will never be able to escape the status of a martial arts school under the human government.

At first glance, it sounded plausible, but when viewed realistically, it was nothing more than reckless and absurd talk. Even though the Five Great Factions were at the height of their power, their limitations as a martial arts group that relied on individual force were clear.

Anyone who could think straight would know how absurd the elder’s words were.

Yes, that’s right.

If you’re in your right mind, that is.

“Everyone was crazy. Me, the other heads of the clans, and the elders of each clan.”

Jegal Hyun said in a bitter voice. It was an old mistake that was shameful but had nothing to say.

But the spirit’s gaze was cold.

“······In the end, it was you Zhuge Liang who took the lead.”

But what else is there to talk about there?

But Jegal Hyeon slowly shook his head at Seolyeong’s words.

“It is a misnomer to say that they led. It was clearly our Zhuge family that brought up the story, but all five families actively participated in it, being possessed by that absurd delusion.”

“Oh, is that so? ‘We were all wrong, so don’t blame me.’ Is that something like that? Isn’t that a bit too crude an excuse for someone from the famously smart Jegal Se-ga?”

Seolyeong was openly sarcastic. I don’t know what Jegalhyun’s intention was behind saying that, but he couldn’t give her a high score as an excuse for her words.

However, Jegal Hyeon was not shaken by her mocking words and continued speaking calmly.

“Dangga’s child. Don’t be alarmed. I don’t think my choice was wrong, so I have no intention of making excuses to you. I created this place just to tell you the facts you don’t know.”

“under······.”

Seolyeong’s eyes twitched. It was because Jegal Hyun’s shameless words that he didn’t think his choice was wrong irritated her.

However, Jegal Hyun just continued talking indifferently as if her reaction was none of his concern.

“The five of us got together, drew up a blueprint and detailed plan, and started moving along with it. But soon, we realized that something was wrong.”

As the madness passed and their lost sanity returned, they realized reality.

I realized how foolish it was to declare autonomy against the mighty human government that spanned the galaxy and fought against extraterrestrial races.

In such a rampage, the first to come to their senses were Jegal Hyun and Hwang Bo-ryong, and Namgung Su-ryeon also regained his senses soon after. Peng Sang-won was not able to realize it alone, but thanks to the persuasion of the other heads of households, he was able to escape from his delusions before it was too late.

However, he was not the head of the family at the time who led the Sacheondang family.

“Dang Wi-hyeon, the head of the Tang family at that time, was more skilled in politics than in military affairs. He also had great ambitions. And to him, the theory of self-government that our elder Zhuge Liang brought up must have sounded very attractive.”

Despite the persuasion of Jegal Hyeon and the other three heads of families, Dang Wi-hyeon was unable to shake off his dream of autonomy and independence.

“We desperately tried to persuade him. We had been friends for over two thousand years, so we could not even dare to think about abandoning one of us. Even though he pointed his finger at us as traitors, insulted us as cowards without any courage, and ridiculed us as incompetent heads who had destroyed the future of Sega, we did not abandon him or the Sacheondang family.”

Jegal Hyeon looked straight into Seolyeong’s eyes and said.

Those words somehow sounded like something I was saying to myself.

“······But we didn’t have enough time.”

Time was short.

He spoke in a mumbling voice, barely audible. It was a voice so small that even Seolyeong, a master of high martial arts, could barely hear it. That voice was engraved with a deep wound that had not healed even after seventeen years.

“The human government had already figured out all of our movements. However, the Sacheondang family led by Dang Wi-hyeon pushed ahead with their plan. The critical point had long since been passed, and they were just waiting for the ignition point. ······Originally, the extinction of our Five Great Clans was a foregone conclusion.”

The human government at the time was extremely wary of the seditious movements of the martial arts world, and was obsessed with preventing a recurrence of the Guanwu War at any cost.

– We can’t afford to cause another war of attrition and waste countless resources, manpower, and time… Even if the Five Great Clans burn everything down.

The Five Great Clans, who were actively moving along the path of self-government and independence, and the Great Clans, who were watching closely to see how the human government would respond to the uneasy atmosphere that was created by their influence. The human government was convinced that a firm decision was needed, not a half-assed conciliatory policy.

“We realized that no matter what we did, there was no turning back. We had to accept that all that was left was to struggle in vain and be lost to history along with the Sacheondangga.”

Jegal Hyeon said.

“······But the road remained.”

Serin knew what path he was talking about.

“The human government had one contradiction.”

Their goal was to suppress the sparks of the Guanwu War in advance by severely punishing the Five Great Sages, the instigators, to the point that the entire martial arts world would not even think of rebelling against the human government.

However, there was concern that the annihilation of the five great sects with traditions that had continued for over twenty centuries would, before anything else, heighten the resentment and hostility of the martial arts world toward the human government.

– If you’re going to interfere with the affairs of the martial arts world, you have to do it properly. The martial arts people are more sincere to their favors than anyone else, so if you show generosity and deal with them carelessly, you’ll end up in even greater danger later. You have to completely destroy their clan and completely burn down their base.

– But now, it is too risky for the Five Great Sects to destroy the whole thing. One axis of the political faction will be blown away, and aside from the connection with the Murim Alliance, the power structure of the Murim will shake uncontrollably. And in that chaos, some of the great sects will raise the flag of the anti-human government. They are starting the Guanwu War in order to prevent the Guanwu War.

– You can’t just wipe out one Sega family as an example. If you’re going to intervene, you have to wipe out all five Sega families. If you wipe out just one Sega family, the remaining four Sega families will hold a grudge. There’s no justification for doing that in the first place.

Jegal Hyun let out a long sigh and said.

“They were hesitating to make a choice. It would have been best for them to destroy only one or two of the five Sega, but there was no reason to do so.”

And I knew how to make that excuse.

Under the pretext of Sacheondangga.

Jegal Hyun’s eyes shone brightly.

“······Did you arrange a place like this to cover up your betrayal with such words? ‘I betrayed Sacheondangga in order to prevent the Gwanmu War from happening again.’”

That is truly a great cause.

Seolyeong sneered. There was contempt in her eyes.

Then, Jegal Hyun looked at her without avoiding her gaze.

“I’m not saying that there was no intention to save Sega. But that doesn’t mean the cause fades.”

“Ha. If the human government can’t do it, you should have taken care of it with your own hands and shared in the sins of the Sacheondang family.”

Although he spoke sarcastically, his words were sincere. They should have closed the doors of Sega on their own generation, if not perished together in the human government’s planetary bombardment.

“It’s just a sound soaked in ideals.”

Jegal Hyeon let out a hollow laugh.

“······Child of the Tang family. We are the head of the clan and the head of the household. Sometimes we have to make the wrong choices, and that is why we are here. Millions of lives are on our shoulders, so how can we so easily throw away their lives in pursuit of our ideals?”

“You sound like Pang Sang-won.”

I’ve already heard that excuse, Serin said coldly.

However, despite Seol-ryeong’s words, Jegal-hyeon smiled faintly and said.

“You won’t understand now. You’ve never sat in that seat before. ······But you’ll understand soon.”

Aren’t you thinking about rebuilding the Sacheondangga?

Seolyeong’s eyebrows furrowed at Jegal Hyeon’s casual remark.

“······How about that.”

“If we look at your actions so far, it’s not hard to guess.”

Why did she declare this act of revenge to the world of martial arts? And what did the other five great families give her? If you think about it even a little, you can see that she has in mind not just revenge, but also the reconstruction of the Sacheondang family.

“······Of course, to do that, I have to survive today’s life-or-death battle.”

Jegal Hyun added in a cool voice.

Seolyeong’s eyes twitched. This was because she realized that she had been swept away by Jegalhyun’s words without realizing it.

After closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she looked at Jegal Hyun again and spoke.

“Yes······Maybe one day I will understand what you mean.”

But at least not today.

Her eyes didn’t waver at all as she spoke.

“And no matter how you package it, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s not the right path.”

Justification.

It was an answer that silenced Pang Sang-won, who had been babbling like that.

How dare you say that your choice back then was a just one? Seolyeong glared at the old man in front of her with that meaning in mind.

“It’s a truce.”

Jegal Hyun hummed softly. The emotion in his voice was bitter.

“Yes. That is not the path of the righteous.”

So I quit the party.

He nodded calmly.

“······what?”

Seolyeong asked involuntarily at the unexpected answer that he had quit the party without even a single word of excuse.

But Jegal Hyeon’s expression did not change.

“It was not Zhuge Liang who abandoned the Sacheondang family, but Zhuge Xuan, a commoner who was the head of Zhuge Liang’s family at the time. It was I who made a choice that was not befitting of the political faction.”

“this······!”

It was not Zhuge’s fault, but his own. That’s what Zhuge Xuan was saying. Seolyeong clenched her fists in anger at his words, which were nothing more than a pun, that were intended to atone for Zhuge’s fault alone.

That is not a sin that someone like you can bear. It is everyone’s sin.

However, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words that were on the tip of her tongue, because what he said was the very basis that justified her revenge.

Jegal Hyun looked at her and smiled faintly.

“Do you understand? This is the use of a leader.”

Taking responsibility for the group.

By taking responsibility, Zhuge Liang would be free from the original sin of betrayal. That is why Zhuge Liang could even accept death with a smile.

He looked at Seryeong and slowly continued the story he had left off earlier.

“At that time, I requested a final meeting with Dang Wi-hyeon. If by any chance he changed his mind and stopped his rampage, we would gladly scrap the plan to expel the Sichuan Dang family and bow our heads to the human government together to share the responsibility.”

However, it was an extremely naive thought.

“He said, laughing, ‘No one can stop this train now. Not even you can get off the moving train.’ ······At those words, I realized that I could no longer save him.”

Jegal Hyun spoke in a calm, yet regretful voice.

“He was already crazy. He was in no condition to be talked to or persuaded. Immediately after my conversation with him, I secretly contacted the human government, and the Sacheondang family was expelled from the Five Great Clans.”

After that, it will be as you know. After finishing the long story, Jegal Hyun let out a long sigh. A complex emotion, whether relief or something else, dispersed from the tip of his breath.

“I was crazy. La······.”

Seolyeong muttered, her eyes narrowing.

“It’s as if the Tang family at the time was tainted by the Blood Cult.”

At her words, Jegal Hyun smiled faintly.

“Well, maybe so.”

He really didn’t know whether Dangwihyeon was tainted by the Blood Cult or not. However, unlike what he had said so far, he did not answer clearly and left the question open.

A strategy to shake up the opponent who will soon face a life-or-death battle. If the Sacheondang family leaders at the time, or perhaps the entire Sacheondang family, had been tainted by the Blood Cult, would her desire for revenge have wavered?

If it shakes, it’s good, if not, there’s nothing that can be done. Jegal Hyun quietly looked at Seolyeong, who had a complicated expression on her face at his words.

And the spirit’s answer to that is-.

“Nothing will change even if you do that.”

Serin said. There was not a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.

“You and I are going to fight for our lives today, and I will kill you. That is enough.”

Oh. Jegal Hyun sighed softly.

“······You’re unwavering. Have you already found your own answer?”

Well, Serin said, standing up from her seat.

“It’s not too late to think about such complicated thoughts after the life and death decision is made.”

Jegal Hyeon smiled bitterly.

“The Iron Man did something mean to me.”

He also rose from his seat following the order.

There is no more conversation to be had between the two.

Now it was time to decide who would be the master of life and death.