Eurius accepted Gung jeok-yeong as his subordinate and gave him some instructions.
“For now, I’m traveling with the Righteous Alliance. It might raise unnecessary suspicions if I take you back with me.”
“That makes sense.”
Of course, he didn’t have to worry about being exposed by his appearance since he was disguised as a man, but there were many skilled warriors in the Righteous Alliance.
They might find him suspicious by sensing his aura.
“So, come back here after things are settled. Then we can think of ways to infiltrate the Dark Sect.”
“Master…”
Gung jeok-yeong looked at Eurius with an indescribable expression.
Wasn’t that the same as saying that he would help him with his revenge?
He bowed his head silently with a touched face.
On the other hand, Eurius waved his hand with a calm expression.
“It’s only natural that I do this. You don’t need to thank me.”
‘After all, I have to do it because of the quest.’
A little time passed and the two escaped from the cave through the lake where Black Tortoise had entered.
The method was simple.
Whoosh!
Just like they were sucked in by a powerful suction force when they entered, they were shot up to the surface by a fierce updraft when they left.
In an instant, they reached near the whirlpool that had swallowed them and started to swim across the water quickly. But there was someone who wouldn’t let them go easily.
[Prey!]
[I won’t miss this time!]
[Catch them!]
The three-headed dragon was still nearby, apparently regretting that it couldn’t eat Eurius.
‘What a nuisance.’
Eurius drew his sword as he saw it approaching at a furious speed. But as it got close to his nose, it suddenly hesitated.
“Krrr?”
“Huh?”
Eurius held his sword and slowly started to approach again.
As soon as he moved forward, it shrank back and retreated.
“Keeeng…”
“…!?”
Eurius looked at it with a puzzled expression and moved forward another meter.
Sssk!
[Scary.]
[Bigger than us.]
[Different from appearance.]
It quickly backed away a few meters again.
All three of its heads were trembling with faint fear as they looked at Eurius.
‘What’s going on?’
[Heh! It seems that it’s afraid of Black Tortoise’s aura inside you.]
Yellow Dragon explained.
Black Tortoise was originally a god-like being for all the spirit beasts that lived in the water.
There was no way that a mere spirit beast could touch Eurius, who had absorbed some of the aura of such a divine beast.
‘Ah!’
Hearing that, Eurius made eye contact with the three-headed dragon.
And then he snapped his fingers.
‘Come here.’
“Krrr?”
The three-headed dragon tried to run away instead of coming closer. But Eurius narrowed his eyes.
‘Not coming?’
“Keeeng?”
It flinched and hurriedly came to Eurius’s front.
Gung jeok-yeong, who didn’t know what was going on, quickly reached for his sword, but Eurius stopped him.
‘It’s fine.’
‘…!?’
‘It’s the power of miracles.’
“Ah!”
She also nodded at his gesture and watched this scene with a curious expression.
Eurius suddenly had a good idea.
‘I can get there much faster if I ride this thing.’
“Krrr?”
Eurius suddenly grabbed the three-headed dragon’s neck.
It was too surprised, but it was too scared to do anything but widen its eyes.
‘Let’s go!’
Eurius instructed it to go to the cliff where they had first come up.
“Keeeng!”
The three-headed dragon made a sound like a whimpering puppy and had no choice but to follow his order.
***
Eurius, who had landed on the ground, patted the three-headed dragon’s body with his palm as if to praise it for its hard work.
“You did well. I might need you later, so go back in there.”
“Krrr!”
Splash!
The three-headed dragon bowed its head and then jumped back into the sea in an instant.
The people of the Righteous Alliance who had witnessed this scene were speechless and pursed their lips.
Eurius smiled faintly at that sight.
“Grandmaster… what is this?”
“What on earth is that?”
“…”
Namgoong Ilcheon and Gucheon Girl asked at the same time, but Eurius didn’t answer their question.
“Didn’t I say that I know about Black Tortoise Cave? I’ll explain it to you when we go up. Let’s get out of here first!”
“…”
The way up was also a series of surprises for the experts of the Righteous Alliance.
“Krrk?”
“Krk!”Surprisingly, as soon as they encountered Eurius, who was leading them, the monsters and spirit beasts ran away with their tails between their legs.
This was also the effect of absorbing Black Tortoise’s aura.
The monsters of Black Tortoise Cave couldn’t resist the powerful presence that they felt from him.
Whisper whisper.
“What on earth is this…”
“What is his identity?”
The experts of the Righteous Alliance had endless questions, but they held back until they got out of Black Tortoise Cave.
Whoosh.
Finally, as they got out of Black Tortoise Cave, the intense sunlight hit their eyelids.
“The vice-master has returned.”
“I’ll go now.”
At the same time, the experts of the Righteous Alliance who were leisurely guarding outside gathered in groups.
At the front of them was Jegal Unhyeon.
“I’m glad that you don’t seem to have any big injuries.”
“…”
But even at Jegal Unhyeon’s words, Namgoong Ilcheon remained expressionless.
He silently gestured with his eyes toward Eurius.
‘Ah!’
He didn’t know what happened, but it seemed that his master had caused some trouble(?).
Jegal Unhyeon chuckled and politely greeted Eurius.
“I’m glad that you came back safely.”
“You did well too. And now I think it’s time to explain.”
He had gained a lot of trust from the experts of the Righteous Alliance in this Black Tortoise Cave incident. But he also left a lot of mysterious points, so he needed solid evidence that he wasn’t a suspicious person.
“…!?”
Jegal Unhyeon glanced at Eurius for a moment and tilted his head.
Then he suddenly drew his spear.
Swoosh.
“Hmm?”
Shiiik!
Jegal Unhyeon’s spear flew at a terrifying speed towards Eurius’s chest.
“Ugh!”
“Unhyeon! You?”
It was such a sudden attack that anyone would think that Eurius’s chest would be pierced by a hole.
However.
Ting!
With a clear sound, Jegal Unhyeon’s spear was lightly bounced off.
His spear could not penetrate the invisible armor either.
But he did not show any regretful expression and calmly opened his mouth towards the people of the Alliance of Justice.
“Don’t you know who he is by this?”
“Couldn’t you have done it in another way? Why did you have to do it like this?”
Eurius grumbled and turned his head. Near his body, transparent circles were spreading out from the spot where Jegal Unhyeon’s spear had hit.
It was a colorless and transparent invisible armor, but it showed some shape to the experts with excellent eyesight when it received sunlight.
And the experts of the Alliance of Justice widened their eyes when they saw it.
“A transparent armor made of water? Could it be…”
“Namu Amitabul. Jegal Lord… Is this what I think it is?”
“It is as you suspect, Master.”
As Jegal Unhyeon finished his words, Master Jiu groaned.
“Ugh… Then?”
“He is a descendant of ‘our’ founder.”
Founder meant the founder of the Martial Arts.
“…!?”
Swirl swirl.
The Alliance of Justice suddenly fell into chaos.
There was only one person that the Jegal Clan called founder. But it was hard to believe because his name was too huge.
“Lee Cheongmun, the Master of Martial Arts!”
A word burst out of someone’s mouth like a moan.
“The first master of ancient medicine?”
“Is that even possible?”
Jegal Unhyeon looked at them in confusion and spoke again with more certainty.
“The lord here is indeed a descendant of Lee Cheongmun, the founder. The Jegal Clan guarantees it.”
“Hmm…”
Namgoong Ilcheon was lost in thought.
He was carefully examining whether his words were true.
‘First, he knew the internal structure of the secret chamber, right?’
It would have been suspicious under normal circumstances, but if that secret chamber was where Lee Cheongmun’s legacy was sealed, then it could be understood.
It could be a preparation for his descendant.
‘And what Eurius is wearing on his body now is definitely the invisible armor that was only considered legendary.’
An armor made of transparent water!
And an unbelievable protection that easily bounced off the spear of an early fourth-stage expert!
There was no way that such a device existed twice in the world.
And above all, there was the guarantee of the Jegal Clan.
‘Unhyeon is not a person who would lie about this kind of thing.’
The people of the Alliance of Justice were not fools.
They could not miss it with this much clue.
If Eurius was a descendant who inherited Lee Cheongmun’s martial arts, then everything was explained: his actions after entering the secret chamber, his mysterious device, and the guarantee of the Jegal Clan.
‘There are some suspicious points, but…’
That was Eurius’s intention, but it was not a big problem either.
After entering the secret chamber, Eurius did his best to protect the Alliance of Justice no matter what happened.
In the end, Namgoong Ilcheon had no choice but to come to a conclusion.
He walked up to Eurius and politely hugged him.
“I greet you, descendant of Cure-All!”
“Namu Amitabul. I greet you, descendant of founder! It is a great blessing for the martial world that you appear at this time. Heheh.”
As the two most influential people in the Alliance of Justice bowed their heads, the others also began to lower their heads one by one.“We greet you, descendant of Cure-All!”
“Please forgive our rudeness until now!”
“…!?”
Eurius looked at them with a bewildered expression.
He then turned his gaze towards Jegal Unhyeon as if asking for an explanation.
‘Why are they acting like this?’
From what he had felt while traveling with the martial artists, they respected the strong, but they did not show such excessive courtesy.
Even if he revealed that he was the crown prince, they would not treat him with such reverence.
Jegal Unhyeon answered his question.
“It’s because of the ‘rank’.”
“Rank?”
“Yes. It’s a very important part of the martial world.”
Rank was a kind of hierarchy that was followed in the martial world.
For example, if person A and person B had the same rank, then A and B’s disciples would also have the same rank.
This was not determined by the age difference, but by the rank of the master.
“Aha!”
Eurius realized why they were showing him more respect than necessary after hearing that explanation.
Wasn’t he practically a disciple of Lee Cheongmun, who lived two hundred years ago?
“Usually, it is ignored if too much time passes, but Lee Cheongmun is too famous to be ignored.”
In other words, Eurius’s rank was right below that of a person from two hundred years ago.
If he compared his rank to others, there would be no one higher than him.
And there was also his appearance after passing through the secret chamber, so the experts of the Alliance of Justice looked at Eurius with admiration as if they finally understood.
“No wonder… How could he have such martial arts at that young age without having such a secret identity?”
“There have been many bad things happening lately because of the Dark Sect’s uprising, but this secret chamber and Lee Cheongmun’s arrangement were there. And at this time, his descendant appears.”
“…”
Eurius silently accepted their greetings and Jegal Unhyeon gave him a bitter smile and explained.
“Please forgive me for not mentioning the rank beforehand. They only believed it after seeing your true value. Who would believe that you are a descendant of a person from two hundred years ago?”
“Well…”
Looking at their admiring eyes, he felt that they would follow him without question even if he gave them an order.
Jegal Unhyeon whispered to him one last time.
“As I told you before, the fastest way to deal with the Dark Sect here is to get the power of the Alliance of Justice.”
“Hmm… You mean to get a faction?”
“Yes. Now that your identity is known! The Alliance of Justice will eventually roll into your arms.”
Jegal Unhyeon showed a satisfied smile as if his plan had succeeded.
***
A few hours later.
After all the commotion died down and the day gradually darkened.
“Why don’t you rest here today? You must be tired from everything that happened.”
Namgoong Ilcheon suggested to Eurius in a cautious tone.
“I don’t mind.”
He was about to say that anyway.
Eurius nodded readily and the Alliance of Justice prepared to camp in front of the secret chamber.
“You must have gone through a lot today. Why don’t you rest for now?”
Jegal Unhyeon also suggested that he rest, worrying about his condition, but Eurius shook his head.
“Can you follow me for a moment?”
“Of course.”
He was quick-witted and realized that Eurius had something to show him and nodded his head.
Eurius walked briskly towards the sea. Jegal Unhyeon followed him.
Swish swish!
Finally reaching the shore where the waves were crashing, Eurius turned his head sharply and frowned.
“Why did you do that when you knew it wouldn’t work?”
Swoosh!
At the same time, a short shadow that was hiding its presence jumped out.
“Aw… I got caught again.”
It was Gu Cheongeol, who seemed regretful as he licked his lips.
He was surprisingly unfazed by Eurius’s identity being revealed, and his attitude towards him did not change either.
“How old do you think I am to be surprised by this? Tsk…”
He shrugged it off casually, but Eurius noticed that he was hiding something.
[Gu Cheongeol]
Current state: Doubtful, conflicted
“So? You seem to have something to say to me since earlier. Why don’t you say it here?”
He was the first servant he had taken in since he came to this continent.
He was useful in many ways, with his quick wit and keen sense.
He was willing to grant him some requests.
“Uh…”
Gu Cheongeol noticed that Eurius had seen through his thoughts and stuck out his tongue.
“You have a ghost-like intuition. Sometimes I feel like you are at least several decades older than you look.”
Of course, Eurius was actually a middle-aged man who had easily passed forty if he counted his previous life.
He also admired Gu Cheongeol’s insight and nodded his head.
“So what do you want to say to me?”
“Suddenly, I’m in a position where I have to ask for a favor, so I’ll be polite.”
“…!?”
Gu Cheongeol suddenly changed into a solemn expression.
His quirky appearance was gone, and he even exuded a dignified aura of a famous martial artist.
And the words that came out of his mouth were surprising.
He bowed deeply.
“I greet you, crown prince of the Western Continent.”
“Senior Gu…!?”
Jegal Unhyeon also looked at Gu Cheongeol with astonishment.
“Uh… Did you notice?”
Eurius was quite shocked and looked at Gu Cheongeol.
He had thought that the people of this continent had little knowledge of the Western Continent, but he had guessed that he was of high status before and even figured out Eurius’s identity.
‘But how?’
“I know you must be curious, but I’ll explain later.”
Gu Cheongeol still looked serious as he met Eurius’s eyes and prostrated himself.
“My lord! Please, I beg you. Please save the Alliance of Justice.”
“Huh?”