The Ruler of Darkness

Book 2: Chapter 4

“Are you the Sovereign of Dark Heavens, Grand young master?”

There was no change in Yeon So-Hyeon’s expression.

As always, he held a warm cup of tea in both hands, steam rising from it, his face calm.

“…What’s this Sovereign of Dark Heavens?”

Se-ah’s eyebrows twitched. She had suspected that Yeon So-Hyeon would not readily answer.

“According to the survivors who escaped from the Black Bone Faction’s human meat factory, the one who rescued them was wearing a white mask and white, commonplace clothes that the scholars wear.”

Dressed in the white, nameless garment, Yeon So-Hyeon nodded.

“I hear it’s someone doing good deeds.”

“You also had such a mask and clothing, Grand young master.”

“Are you about to search my belongings?”

Se-ah leaned close to the table. “Why won’t you tell me? What did you mean by what you said to me then?”

Yeon So-Hyeon slowly sipped his tea, placing the cup down on the table. “…Are you prepared?”

Se-ah gripped her cup tightly. “As I have told you before, I am ready for anything.”

Yeon So-Hyeon smiled. “Are you prepared to accept countless deaths of the innocent?”

It was a question he had asked her that night.

“…Since that day, I have thought and thought about those words.”

Enough blood to change the course of the enormous river of history.

If the sacrifice of the innocents that Yeon So-Hyeon spoke of meant that…

“Are you referring to the ‘Dynastic Revolution’?”

Upon hearing the term “Dynastic Revolution,” Se-ah’s escort, who was pretending not to listen, was startled and began to look outside.

That word alone could anger everyone around.

“Dynastic Revolution…”

Yeon So-Hyeon chuckled.

“Maeng-ja (Mencius) said, he who outrages the benevolence proper to his nature is called a robber; he who outrages righteousness is called a ruffian.”

Although it was rare for him to quote ancient texts, he was not unaware of them.

“A ruffian is but a common man, and while it is said that King Wu killed such a man, it is not heard that he assassinated the ruler.”

[TL/N: More explanation on this, at the end of this chapter]

The escort sweated profusely from behind, listening to the conversation. She concentrated her inner power to the fullest, guarding the surroundings.

Se-ah also felt cold sweat in her palm, asking:

“…Is the path you spoke of referring to that?”

My path is a demonic journey through the netherworld, where the mountain of corpses and sea of blood in the realm beyond human reach unfolds.

Yeon So-Hyeon looked out the window where the warm afternoon sun shone in.

“Does it seem possible in this age?”

“…….”

It was a very heavy question.

Not only because discussing the overturning of the imperial family and establishing a new dynasty was the heaviest sin.

“…I dare say that the question seems to exceed what I can even think about.”

Yeon So-Hyeon nodded slowly.

“Even if you gather the brightest-minded people in the present continent and have them debate, the same answer will come out.”

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The empire called the Central Kingdom was vast.

Even the number of people living within it had never been accurately tallied.

“Has there ever been a time since civilization began on this land when the gap between rich and poor was so deep? Yet it is also strange how stable the world’s political situation is.”

Yeon So-Hyeon ended his words.

“A revolution in such a time is beyond words.”

Se-ah felt the cold sweat on her forehead, asking:

“…Then what is Grand young master’s path?”

Yeon So-Hyeon got up and went to the window.

As always, his steps were leisurely.

But Se-ah’s escort, sensing danger, quickly stepped away from the window, pressing against the opposite wall.

“…….”

She did not even dare to glance inside the room, staring at the wall.

“I’ve thought,” Yeon So-Hyeon said, looking out the window. “If enough blood to change the course of history must be shed, should it only be the blood of simple-minded people who rise in rage to die under the banner of righteousness, who were unable to live normally?”

Se-ah swallowed hard.

There was a playfulness in Yeon So-Hyeon’s voice.

“Why not just kill as many bad guys as that?”

“……Yes?”

“What if, as much as the blood of all those innocent people, the blood of the wicked flows?”

It was a madman’s idea.

Moreover, it was childish and even naive.

“……What kind of joke is this all of a sudden? The spilling of blood by innocent people isn’t to be taken literally, is it?” Se-ah, who forgot even her honorifics in surprise, said.

In the course of the revolution, it referred metaphorically to the fact that many people had to be sacrificed, not merely referring to the quantity of death.

“It’s just a hypothesis. Just think about it.”

At Yeon-So-Hyeon’s light words, Se-ah sighed. “Thinking like a child that would…” Se-ah shook her head.

“How can you easily divide the good from the evil?”

In this world, infinitely complicated, it was never as simple as black and white.

“Even if you do divide them, by what standard will you…?”

Law? Morality?

These things could change depending on the situation, and more than anything, the human-made system was always imperfect.

“Moreover, classifying those so-called wicked people and killing them all. There’s no way someone has the ability to kill all the wicked people enough to change history, and even if they did…” Se-ah’s speech dwindled at this point. “… judging and punishing the criminals as they see fit is…”

The Grim Reaper with a white mask

“…nothing more than a greater evil of madness…”

Sovereign of Dark Heavens.

Executor of Divine Punishment.

A being who brings down black lightning on behalf of the indolent heavens and earth.

Unknowingly, the name of that being slipped from her lips.

“……Sovereign of Dark Heavens.”

Still showing his back, the mysterious man laughed. “I don’t know who named it, but it’s a good name. That Sovereign of Dark Heavens will also like it.”

He smiled innocently.

“Whether that naive assumption, whether that Sovereign of Dark Heavens’s act can succeed, whether it’s really possible, I’m curious.”

Now Se-ah could finally understand.

Demonic realm beyond human’s reach. 

Making mountains and rivers with corpses and blood.

Path to the netherworld.

To shed the blood on behalf of all the good and innocent people who should have been spared, and to atone on behalf of all the wicked ones who should have faced their sins.

“Such……”

Se-ah couldn’t continue her words.

Was she ready to hear his story?

Did she have the recklessness to delve further into this depth?

Se-ah realized why Yeon-So-Hyeon had not answered her question about his identity.

She remembered what Yeon-So-Hyeon had said to her that night.

‘Your sisters’ fate has not yet been decided.’

Se-ah grasped her confused mind and stood up.

“……Thank you for the words. I must get up now, as I have something to do.”

Yeon-So-Hyeon nodded his head.

“You’ve been through a lot.”

Se-ah opened her mouth to salute his back.

“The Black Bone Faction is now virtually left with only its headquarters.”

“Is that so?”

She continued her words calmly, “Today, I and a handful of elite combat agents will be heading to their headquarters along with our allies.”

“Isn’t that dangerous? I’ve heard they’re armed with a sword this week. Even if you have the excuse of attacking them first, the Sword House will not take it lightly.”

Se-ah shook her head.

“We won’t be infiltrating directly. After all, we have someone else to do that job for us.”

Her gaze turned to Yeon So-hyeon’s back.

“But that doesn’t mean we’ll be off our guard. Today, no remnants or leftover forces will escape from the headquarters.”

Se-ah calmly announced her determination.

“If the Sword House objects to that, then we’ll just have to confront them.”

Though not a martial artist, Se-ah had a bearing reminiscent of one.

“After all, we’re not facing the entire Sword House, just the one who gave Geumju the token, right?”

Yeon So-hyeon shrugged to show he had no objections.

“…We are prepared for that much.”

Se-ah lifted her tea cup, downing the cooled tea in one gulp.

She placed the empty cup on the table, and bowed deeply.

“…Then.”

“Okay.”

Se-ah headed towards the door opened by her escort.

“…….”

Yeon So-Hyeon was still looking out the window, his back turned.

In Se-ah’s eyes, for some reason, it looked like the struggles of someone thirsting for the bright light and warmth of the sun.

* * *

A blade, brandished by a high-ranking member of Black Bone Faction, severed the neck of a kneeling individual who had been restrained.

Those people had hoped for an escape.

He spat on the corpse.

“Cowardly bastards…!”

Raising his blood-soaked blade, he shouted,

“It’s by Lady Geumju’s orders! Prepare to fight to the death!”

* * *

Geumju hesitating, asked the general, who was lost for words.

“…Father refused to help, didn’t he?”

“…Yes. He did.”

She had expected her old man’s refusal before even asking for help.

After all, that monstrous white-masked man’s prowess was not precisely known.

It was not feasible to indiscriminately deploy such a valuable master against an unassessed opponent.

Especially in a hollow relationship, all the more.

For Geumjil, his adopted daughters were mere expendables¹.

Blood dripped from Geumju’s clenched fist.

“And that is…”

The general reluctantly relayed what Geumjil had said for his adopted daughter.

Geumju’s face turned crimson as she heard the whole message.

She picked up the ebony table she had cherished and threw it, screaming.

A maidservant who was hit in the head by the flying inkstone fell without even screaming.

Other maidservants, trembling in fear in the corner, rushed to help the fallen maidservant.

The fallen maidservant convulsed intermittently, and blood and cerebral fluid spread on the floor from her cracked head.

“…Useless things.”

Geumju asked the general, “How many slaves are left in the headquarters?”

The general quickly answered, “As you know, since there are hardly any transactions in the headquarters, the number is not large.”

Geumju, looking at the maids dragging away the body with contempt, said, “Gather all the slaves and the non-combat personnel underground.”

“Wh, what are you thinking…?” The general stammered.

“I will conduct the ritual taught by my master.”

“A ritual, you say?”

A ritual, in the dead of night? What is she talking about?

Is it a ritual to wish for victory?

Or to exorcise evil spirits?

Geumju ignored the general, biting her nail.

‘…I’ve always wanted to avoid the strange mystic arts taught by that monstrous master.’

But she had no alternative now.

‘At all costs.’

She was prepared to sacrifice everyone if necessary to survive.

Mencius believed that a ruler’s primary duty was to ensure the welfare of his subjects. If a ruler failed to do this and instead brought harm, he lost the “Mandate of Heaven”, a concept that explained the legitimacy of rulers in ancient China. If a ruler lost this mandate, it was not only the right but also the duty of the people (or their representatives) to remove him, even if that meant killing him.

The excerpt above is from:-

King Seuen once asked, “Was it so that T‘ang banished Këeh, and that king Woo smote Chow?”

Mencius replied, “It is so in the records.”

The king asked, “May a minister then put his sovereign to death?”

Mencius’s replied, “He who outrages the benevolence proper to his nature is called a robber; he who outrages righteousness is called a ruffian. The robber and ruffian we call a mere fellow. I have heard of the cutting off of the fellow Chow, but I have not heard in his case of the putting a ruler to death.”

From above, King Seuen refers to two historical events to question Mencius:

– T’ang banishing Këeh (Jie): T’ang, the founder of the Shang dynasty, overthrew the last ruler of the Xia dynasty, Jie, due to his tyranny and misrule.

– King Woo smiting Chow (Zhou): King Wu of Zhou led a revolt against the last Shang king, Zhou, who was known for his cruelty and mismanagement.

Is Killing a Tyrant Murder?: King Seuen’s question, “May a minister then put his sovereign to death?”, is a critical and somewhat provocative one. Mencius’s response is nuanced. He reframes the question by categorizing a tyrant not as a ruler but as a “fellow” who violates the principles of benevolence and righteousness. In doing so, Mencius suggests that such a person has lost their status as a ruler and therefore, killing them is not the same as killing a sovereign.

By using terms like “robber” and “ruffian” to describe a tyrant, Mencius equates tyranny with common criminality. He underscores that such a ruler has lost his noble standing and is just a “fellow.” Thus, removing him is not regicide (killing a king) but rather a justifiable act to protect the greater good.

1. I guess, Geumjil has other adoptive children below him[↩]

Wdy think people? I'd love to hear any kinds of insights you received after reading this chapter :)