𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟑𝟑
「𝙉𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚.」
At the disconcerting words spewed out by Han Kang-yoon, Cheong Do-yool reflexively denied it. That was how nonsensical it was.
「𝘼𝙯𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧? 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚.」
The Azure Dragon, who had never given Cheong Do-yool any leeway to make a contract despite his humble requests and enticements.
It was hard to believe that the same Azure Dragon had suddenly found a true contractor.
「𝘽𝙪𝙩. . .」
If that was true, the situation would become incredibly difficult.
Cheong Do-yool reacted so violently to a mere nonsense because he was well aware of it.
Cheong Do-yool looked meaningfully in the direction of Han Kang-yoon.
Judging from his casual tone, it seemed that the contractor of the Azure Dragon was present there, but in fact, that meant something else.
Because other than the five elders, including Cheong Do-yool, there were only two candidates present there.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙖-𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙣.」
Since the Azure Dragon could not have made a contract with Han Kang-yoon, who was not even a member of the family, the candidate was naturally narrowed down to Cheong Juhwa. There was no other way to think about it.
「𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚.」
If Cheong Juhwa was the new contractor of the Azure Dragon, things would not go well. Cheong Do-yool had initially started to bother Cheong So-ha because of Cheong Juhwa.
「. . .𝙄𝙛 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙥𝙨𝙚.」
At the very least, Cheong Do-yool would lose all his legitimacy and become a laughingstock to the forces that had supported him.
As a result, it was obvious that his influence would naturally decline.
Cheong Do-yool did not show it and rebuked Han Kang-yoon.
“That’s nonsense. How can that defective product, mixed with the blood of an outsider, be recognized by the Azure Dragon?”
“I don’t know about that. In fact, her father, Cheong Sa-woon, also had a good relationship with the Azure Dragon.”
“That was before Cheong Sa-woon broke the taboo. You may not know this, but that was no ordinary mistake.”
“I certainly don’t know much about that. However, Azure Dragon was originally a being that roamed the world freely. Perhaps such rules don’t really mean anything to him?”
He hated to admit it, but it was true. Cheong Do-yool knew his personality well, unlike the other elders who had never met the Azure Dragon.
Therefore, that was exactly what Cheong Do-yool was most concerned about.
「𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤, 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚. 𝙄𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡. . .」
For some reason, he couldn’t conclude that it was impossible.
What shook Cheong Do-yool even more was Han Kang-yoon’s eyes, which had not even a hint of hesitation.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙪𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨.」
Anyone could see it. Han Kang-yoon’s expression was unwavering and relaxed.
As Cheong Do-yool could not bring himself to open his mouth, Han Kang-yoon, who had been chuckling, continued.
“I have heard of the circumstances that led to this in many ways. However, most of them will be resolved if it turns out that Cheong Juhwa here is the true contractor of the Azure Dragon.”
In fact, it was not. It was just an excuse to establish legitimacy.
However, Han Kang-yoon was blatantly saying that despite knowing the fact.
Cheong Do-yool felt his stomach churn for some reason.
“Judging from the arguments Cheong Do-yool-nim has made, it makes no sense to target Cheong Juhwa anymore if she is the contractor of Azure Dragon. You must be aware of that yourself.”
At those words, Cheong Gil-yeong, who shared his thoughts, and. . . Cheong Jong-hu also began to watch cautiously, pretending not to.
If Han Kang-yoon’s words were true, they would certainly no longer have any legitimacy. It meant that there was nothing to gain by taking Cheong Do-yool’s side there.
“. . .You’re being presumptuous. That’s only if you’re not lying.”
“Yes. So I’ll prove it now.”
Han Kang-yoon, who spoke confidently, glanced at the elders one by one and looked at Cheong Juhwa next to him.
Then, Cheong Juhwa began to calmly draw out spiritual power from within her body.
Whoooong.
Swoosh.
Cheong Do-yool denied the sight repeatedly. There was no way it could be true.
His judgment was perfect.
By placing an enemy outside, he had strengthened the unity within the faction that had been shaken, and by creating a suitable pretext, he had newly attracted some of the neutral forces.
There was definitely no mistake up to that point. Everything had proceeded as planned and as Cheong Do-yool had thought.
However, it was unacceptable that it would go awry in such a place.
Ignoring his intuition that had warned him countless times, Cheong Do-yool glared at Cheong Juhwa.
「𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙖-𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙣.」
But the wreckage was still there, tormenting him. It was intolerable.
Cheong Do-yool’s intense desire continued to be directed at Cheong Juhwa, and as if it had been accepted, nothing happened around him.
Cheong Do-yool, who confirmed it, burst into laughter.
“Oh, I see. Were you just trying to buy time? What a petty plan.”
“. . . . . . . . .”
However, Han Kang-yoon’s expression showed no change or agitation.
He just glanced up at the sky.
That was when the change began to happen.
Rumble-!
Cuckoo!
Cheong Do-yool’s grand spell must have already had its effect, but suddenly thunder roared and a storm began to rage.
And Cheong Do-yool, as an elder of the family who had access to various knowledge, was able to immediately realize what this phenomenon meant.
“. . . . . . . . .”
It was the Azure Dragon.
The Azure Dragon was descending from the sky with a storm in tow.
Roar!
Rumble!
『──!』
In an instant, an intense cry that made the whole body tingle rang out from above the clouds.
Everyone present there focused their gaze involuntarily and could find the Azure Dragon gradually revealing its form at the end of it.
Cheong Gil-yeong, the 5th elder with a hardened expression, muttered softly.
“. . .It’s true. The Azure Dragon cannot exert that much power unless it finds a contractor according to the oath.”
He was right. Of course, it was not in perfect condition even now, but even so, a contractor was definitely necessary to display such majesty.
And who that contractor was was now all too clear.
Azure Dragon, who had been floating in the air for a while, wielding its huge body, had been circling around Cheong Juhwa.
「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚.」
Cheong Do-yool was speechless.
Even if calculated simply by probability, it was a figure that was less than 1 percent.
It had actually happened right before his eyes.
His body was stiff in shock, but Cheong Do-yool’s mind continued to reflexively search for answers and deduce a way out.
「𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙮?」
None.
With the appearance of the Azure Dragon, all the words he had uttered so far were naturally negated. It was difficult to find something here that would convince the other forces.
「𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙅𝙪𝙝𝙬𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙯𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣?」
That was a forced breakthrough. It was certainly a method that could be used as a last resort. Anyway, if he could only become the winner, the aftermath would be manageable.
However.
「. . .𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙.」
He had already used up too much power to do that. Now, there was no guarantee that he would win even if he had a head-on fight.
If he had known that Cheong Juhwa had made a contract with the Azure Dragon in advance, the situation would have been completely different.
However, the timing was too perfect. It was already a point where Cheong Do-yool could not do anything, no matter what trick he came up with.
In that case, there was actually only one way left.
「𝙒𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬.」
He knew it, but it was something he couldn’t accept.
The things that Cheong Do-yool himself would lose with this judgment began to flash through his mind.
The unity within the faction that he had barely managed to establish, the support of other forces, and on a larger scale, even his influence within the family.
In addition, if the situation turned out like this, more damage could be added here.
Perhaps, in the future competition, he would have to completely yield to Cheong So-ha’s faction for a while.
「𝘿𝙖𝙢𝙣 𝙞𝙩.」
To other influential figures, he would become an idiot who couldn’t even figure out the whereabouts of the Azure Dragon and failed to identify the contractor, and his reputation would obviously decline.
All of that had happened because of that one Cheong Juhwa.
「. . .𝙉𝙤, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙙.」
Cheong Do-yool finally took in Han Kang-yoon’s figure with both eyes.
Come to think of it, it had been strange from the beginning. A mere student who had appeared out of nowhere was involved in everything.
He had known that he had some connection to Cheong So-ha, but now Cheong Do-yool could grasp the facts that had been hidden more clearly.
「𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚. 𝙃𝙚 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝.」
It was Han Kang-yoon who had connected Cheong Juhwa to Cheong So-ha, and he had heard that he was also involved in luring Cheong Gi-beom through the Blue-White Soul Mirror.
Cheong Do-yool thought. Maybe Han Kang-yoon was the source of the information about the location of the Blue-White Soul Mirror.
「𝘼𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤-𝙝𝙖 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩’𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚. 𝙄𝙣 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙙’𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨.」
Having thought of that, Cheong Do-yool was able to come up with another hypothesis.
「𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙯𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙖-𝙬𝙤𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙪𝙮. . .」
To begin with, the Azure Dragon had been holed up in his own abode within the territory of the Cheong family.
Naturally, if he did not make contact with him, there was no way he could make a contract.
It was impossible without someone’s intervention.
「𝙁𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙯𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝘿𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩.」
As if he had been waiting for this situation all along.
There could be coincidences in the world, but when they continued to happen, it was not a coincidence. At least, that’s what Cheong Do-yool thought.
This situation could not have occurred unless he had planned to have the Azure Dragon as his pawn from the beginning.
「. . .𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙚𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙.」
He didn’t know what Cheong So-ha was trying to do by joining hands with him, but he had completely given up the lead.
This gap was large. It was not easy to narrow it down.
「. . .」
If he stepped down from this place now, he might not get another chance.
It was impossible to bring up Cheong Juhwa again and find fault, and Cheong So-ha’s forces would be more firmly organized.
However, despite that, Cheong Do-yool had no choice left.
In the end, Cheong Do-yool had no choice but to bite his lip until it bled and speak.
“. . .I’ll step down.”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t ask useless questions. From now on, you guys can do whatever you want.”
It was the moment when Cheong Do-yool, the 1st elder of the current family and considered one of the two major factions along with Cheong So-ha, finally admitted his defeat.