Chapter 718. Choosing (3)

Chapter 718. Choosing (3)

The demon cult believers, each with their own stories and circumstances, were silently weighing their options.

Kang Jin-Ho's declaration sent powerful shockwaves throughout the demon cult. At first, the believers felt betrayed. Anger was the next emotion. Some people despaired. Even then, as seconds and minutes ticked away, they began accepting the reality of their situation.

When they thought about it, Kang Jin-Ho had a point, didn't he?

How could everything suddenly become better just because the demon emperor had finally descended? The legends belonged in the realm of fantasy, but these believers had to live in reality. Those who crawled on the dirt to survive had little choice but to keep making sacrifices.

That was what life was like, after all.

A never-ending series of sacrifices disguised as choices was the story of their life. And the demon emperor's entrance didn't result in the end of this series of choices. No, he demanded them to make an even bigger decision.

Whether they were elders, enforcers or regular demonic cultivators... None of them was free from making this choice.

However, there was a certain individual here who stood out like a sore thumb. A man who was not going with the flow and looking all awkward and the like instead!

'Why are you doing this to me?!'

Zhang Dajing dazedly stared at the massive underground space.

Everyone around him was stuck in a pit of serious dilemma, but not Zhang Dajing. He didn't need to make any life-altering decisions nor did he have something to occupy himself with. Kang Jin-Ho and Vator were in the middle of a discussion to figure out the future agendas, but Zhang Dajing didn't have the qualifications to attend that meeting, and that was why he was in the underground space, waiting.

Zhang Dajing could have used this opening to get some much-needed rest, but the current environment was a bit...

'What is up with this place, anyway?'

Constructing such a space deep underground was worthy of all the praises existing in the world. Since an army of laborers must've worked their butts off to create this place, Zhang Dajing was tempted to vigorously applaud their dedication.

It must've been one hell of a feat to construct an underground space like this, so expecting these demonic cultivators to also create other amenities alongside it was maybe asking for too much. Zhang Dajing was fully prepared to overlook the wide-open nature of this place. In that case, what could be his problem, then?

His problem was simple enough: Zhang Dajing had no choice but to stay here and 'rest' as much as possible. Everyone else here was a demonic cultivator, meaning they all shared the same identity. Them weighing their options together like this was more or less understandable. UppTodated from nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)/m

However, Zhang Dajing wasn't a demonic cultivator. No, he didn't belong here like a blob of oil floating on a stream of pristine water. To be more precise... He was a martial artist from an orthodox faction among thousands of demonic cultivators!

Which shouldn't be an issue... As long as the person staying behind was Vator or Kang Jin-Ho! They could single-handedly overwhelm every demonic cultivator in this place, after all!

However, Zhang Dajing was...

'I'm scared out of my skull, you know!'

Zhang Dajing felt his heart repeatedly tumbling down to the pit of his stomach every time demonic cultivators glanced in his way. Didn't they know he was a gentle person and would never harm a fly? Regretfully, his gentleness was not of his choice, as it was a result of his lack of martial prowess.

Orthodox martial artists would find demonic cultivators pretty weak, but what about Zhang Dajing? He was pretty sure he'd not lose in the 'Who's Weaker?' competition when pitted against demonic cultivators. Didn't he get dumped in the wasteland of martial arts, South Korea, as an overseas intelligence operative because he was too weak to be used as a combatant?

Zhang Dajing used to work for the lower-tiered department in the Crimson King's faction. Even in that place, he was the weakest.

The run-of-the-mill orthodox martial artists had enough strength to look down on demonic cultivators. However, Zhang Dajing couldn't even guarantee his victory... No, more correctly, he had no confidence in winning against them. After all, he was only a half-martial artist, wasn't he?

Was this how a monkey would feel after finding itself trapped in a cage filled with thousands of starving wolves?

Zhang Dajing utilized all the skills he acquired during his intelligence operative days and minimized his presence as much as possible. Unfortunately, there was a limit to how much he could do inside an enclosed space like this.

“Who the f*ck is that guy?”

“I don't remember seeing his face before.”

Zhang Dajing's complexion paled when he heard those murmurings.

'Y-you stinking bastards...!'

Just how close-knit was the society of demonic cultivators that Zhang Dajing was the only unfamiliar face in the ocean of thousands of people?!

Of course, they were probably not talking about the unfamiliarity of Zhang Dajing's face. No, 'face' in this case should be a substitute for the lack of demonic qi emanating from Zhang Dajing's figure.

'If I knew this would happen, I should've pestered the Assembly Master and learned a demonic art or two!'

No matter how quickly regret arrived, it'd always be too late.

One of the demonic cultivators growled unhappily. “Why is a bastard like that in here?”

“You're right. What the f*ck? Who does he think he is, acting all so haughty and mighty like that?”

People's attention worked like this. No one would pay much attention or care about a boulder in the middle of a road. Even those who got inconvenienced by the rock would just frown and walk around it. The rock's presence wasn't significant enough to leave an impression in the people's minds.

However, what if someone pointed out the rock and began breaking it from the side? The same people would no longer just walk around it. They would take a second or two to ponder whether they should help out or ignore the commotion and move on.

Maybe, if it was possible... It might not be such a bad idea to stick it out with the Assembly?

“We're here,” said the man.

“O-oh, I see. Thank you!”

The man finished guiding Zhang Dajing to a large doorway and wordlessly walked away.

As for Zhang Dajing... He didn't hesitate and yanked the door open to step inside. “Sir Vator!”

Vator was alone in the room. He was sitting on a large chair with his back turned toward Zhang Dajing.

“Did you call for me, sir?”

“Mm, yes. Zhang Dajing...” Vator spoke without turning around. “I need you to run some errands for me.”

“I see. Please give me your order, sir!” Zhang Dajing replied without hesitation before noticing a bottle of water on a nearby table. That was when he realized his lips were about to crack apart in dryness from all the nervousness from earlier.

'...I hope I'm not stepping over the line here.'

Zhang Dajing cautiously reached out to the bottle of water, unscrewed its lid, then began gulping its content down his throat.

“Zhang Dajing. Go outside and buy some clothes that will fit me. And also... Mm...” Vator slowly turned around. “...And an eye patch, too.”

Fuuuuhooooooowth!

All the water in Zhang Dajing's mouth sprayed out like a fountain. Vator wordlessly raised his hand and blocked the water from reaching him.

Zhang Dajing freaked out and yelled, “W-what happened to your eye, Sir Vator?!”

“...”

Vator was sporting a black eye, which made him look almost like a panda. What could have caused such a big eye to become bruised like that, though?

'...Eh?'

When Zhang Dajing took a closer look, he realized that Vator's clothes were also ripped and shredded here and there.

“...Sir, were you in a fight with someone?”

“...”

“Is that why you now have a noticeable shiner?”

“...!” Vator began trembling a little.

Unfortunately, Zhang Dajing failed to read the signals and continued to speak. “B-but... You probably weren't fighting against the Assembly Master, so... Hang on, could it be that old man?”

“...Zhang Dajing.”

Zhang Dajing hurriedly covered his mouth. He was desperately holding it in, but it was getting progressively harder to do so. His shoulders flinched and spasmed as he desperately held on. “N-no, this isn't... Kek!”

Think about it for a second. Vator possessed the world's largest human physique. His head alone was as large as the torso of a small woman. But now, he had a huge black eye.

It was as if Zhang Dajing was staring at a giant panda appearing only in movies. He knew he must not laugh here, but his laughter still threatened to burst out of his mouth!

“T-the eye... patch, I will... I'll go and... buy it, sir. Kek-huph! Yes, the eye patch.”

Vator slowly rose up while staring grimly at Zhang Dajing, who was struggling to string along a proper sentence. “Forget about the eye patch.”

“Sir? But...”

“No, I don't need it. However, instead of an eye patch, I've realized something important just now...”

“Y-yes?” Zhang Dajing cautiously looked up. And that was when he saw it. He saw Vator's face! Even though the big man was forcing himself to smile, his cheeks were twitching ominously.

“I never was a fan of how my master ruled everything with an iron fist. But now, I understand why he's doing that. That is why I'm going to follow his example from this moment on.”

“...I'm sorry?”

While leisurely walking up to Zhang Dajing, Vator rolled up his torn sleeves to reveal his thick arms.

“E-eh? Sir Vator? W-what's the matter, sir?”

And then... Zhang Dajing received a valuable life lesson that day. A black eye was embarrassing, but having two black eyes was comparatively less embarrassing than one!

Too bad, Zhang Dajing had to learn that lesson the hard and painful way.