Yeowun became shocked at what Great Guardian Marakim just said to him. He couldn’t understand why Marakim was addressing him as Chun Ma. Chun Ma was the name of the founding father of the Demonic Cult.
“Great Guardian. What are you talking about?”
“It is as I said, my lord. I am paying proper respect to the current Chun Ma.”
Yeowun frowned as Marakim answered seriously. Yin Moha dragged herself over to them and turned to Great Guardian with a confused look.
“My prince. Is he Anonymous?”
“…He is the Great Guardian.”
“What? He’s Great Guardian Marakim?”
Yin Moha, who always had no expression, showed her surprise this time. The first surprise came from knowing that Anonymous was actually the Great Guardian, and the second surprise came from seeing Marakim’s true face for the first time. Marakim’s face did not look like he was from Jianghu.
‘So it was the Great Guardian who gathered three elders until now…’
And Marakim, who was bowing down on the ground, looked up and spoke to Yin Moha.
“Elder Yin. You must pay respect to the current Chun Ma.”
“What? …Current Chun Ma, you said?”
Yin Moha frowned. She then glanced over to the black sword that Yeowun was holding on. On the blade that shined in black under the bright moonlight, there was an engraving that said ‘Sky Demon Sword.’
“W-wait…”
“You have been to the Altar of Fathers, so you must know too.”
“Sky Demon Sword!!”
With Marakim’s serious words, Yin Moha quickly went down on the ground on her knees and put her heads down. Chun Yeowun became more confused when even Yin Moha did the same.
“Ugh… what are you people doing?”
“You are the true Chun Ma.”
“What do you mean?”
It was Yin Moha who answered instead.
“There is an altar that has monuments of former Lords and the last will of Founding Father at the north side of the Lord’s palace.”
Yeowun remembered he had heard of this. Once in every year, the Demonic Cult held a holy ceremony for deceased Lords. It was the day when Father Chun Ma had died in the past. And on the ceremony day, the entire castle went through the ritual of burning, where cultists spent half their day bowing down in remembrance. The members who took care of this ceremony was the Lord, Guardians, and Elders, so they were only ones who were allowed to enter the Altar of Fathers at that time of the year.
“Inside the altar, there is a monument that Father Chun Ma left with his own writing.”
Yin Moha saw the monument every time there was a ceremony. The writing was said to be written by Chun Ma himself, so Yin Moha looked very closely every time and remembered it very clearly.
“On that monument, it is said that one who acquires the true Sky Demon Sword will succeed the name of Chun Ma.”
Yin Moha found out that the Sky Demon Sword that the current Lord had was not the real Sky Demon Sword after seeing the monument herself.
“There is also a Sky Demon Order engraved in that monument.”
Sky Demon Order. It was the order left by Father Chun Ma. Everything about the Demonic Cult was determined by the Lord’s order and Elder’s meeting, but basic laws came from the Sky Demon Order. It was the direct order that no cultist can disobey, even if it was the Lord.
“But current Lord never succeeded Chun Ma’s title.”
To the Demonic Cult, Father Chun Ma was a god himself. Even if the Lord was above all in the cult, he couldn’t disobey the Sky Demon Order. This applied to the six clans also. It was because the Sky Demon Order was the fundamental that maintained the Demonic Cult as one.
“The sword that Lord carries right now is a replica. Every Elder know this.”
‘Ah…’
Yeowun looked down at his black sword. He was confused as to why the sword had an engraving that said Sky Demon Sword, but now the mystery was solved. Yeowun’s black sword was the true Sky Demon Sword after all.
“If the Lord knows his sword is fake or not, then he could have gone against the Sky Demon Order. And it’s also strange why elders are not raising objections.”
The Lord that Yeowun knew seemed like the person who was going to try to benefit from it. Even if the Sky Demon Order was true, the Lord wielding a fake Sky Demon Sword was enough to discredit his dignity. It wasn’t sure why this was kept on going even when Lord and all elders knew of this fact.
“As you said, we don’t know why the Lord is not trying to hide his sword being fake, but the reason why us Elders are not raising problems with this is because of what he heard from generations.”
“And what is that?”
It was rumored that the true Sky Demon Sword was robbed 500 years ago at the incident of the Blade God. This was shameful history so the Lord and Elders decided to deliberately hide this rumor. It was reasonable so Yeowun nodded. That’s when Marakim shook his head.
“Most of Elder Yin said is right, but there is something I need to correct.”
“?”
“The reason why the Lord does not mention the Sky Demon Sword is because of the Guardian of the Sky Demon Order.”
“Guardian of the Sky Demon Order?”
Yin Moha became confused. She wasn’t all that informed about the details of the cult like other elders, but still, she had never heard of such title. Marakim continued, “Guardian of the Sky Demon Order always stood by the Sky Demon Order and assisted Lords throughout history. The job is to watch over the Lord so that he would not disobey the Sky Demon Order.”
The person who made the Sky Demon Order was Father Chun Ma. So to protect the order, Chun Ma had taught his own martial arts to the Guardians of the Sky Demon Order so that they could always be stronger than the Lord.
“I didn’t expect such a powerful warrior was hidden within the cult…!”