The Setting Sun
The sun sets. Leaving the burning city behind, the sun dips below the horizon. It was always thus. The rising and setting of the sun. Ever since the heavens and earth took form upon the corpse of Pangu, it had been an endless cycle of repetition.
But today, it carried one more meaning.
"A sunset."
Outside Seongdo. The main culprits who had sown chaos throughout the city gathered, those who had survived thus far. Men in masks adorned with dragon patterns, their identities unknown. The Demonic Cult's White Silver Corps.
However, even within the Demonic Cult, they were not an official organization.
Their middle-aged leader asked, "Has the Ma-je not come?"
"No word from him."
"......Heavenly Demon Reincarnation, All Demons Rise in Mourning."
"Heavenly Demon Reincarnation, All Demons Rise in Mourning."
The Blood Flame Ma-je was, to them, an object of worship akin to a god. Today, they had lost a tremendous force.
Yet the middle-aged man spoke in a resolute voice. "The fires of the city have not died. We can consider the ritual a success."
He drew a single candlestick from his bosom. A candlestick etched with strange patterns. The image of flames and a bird—it was nowhere in the Demonic Cult's doctrines.
It was wood from the ember tree, soaked in water for ten days, then treated with fire-quenching sand, the antithesis of flame. One could call it the most useless object under heaven.
A candlestick that would never catch fire.
Yet the middle-aged man gazed at it with utmost concentration.
The sun sinks.
The sun vanishes.
When the purple-tinged sunset of this day finally sank completely beyond the mountains...
———!
An indescribable aura swept across the mountainside where they stood. It did not come from the city.
From that patterned candlestick. A scorching heat emanated from it.
Then the middle-aged man's eyes widened in frenzy.
"It worked. It worked...!"
Before they knew it, the candlestick was aflame.
"The descent of the Flame Divine Bird is complete. We must inform the Three Elders!"
"So... it succeeded?"
Someone swallowed hard.
What this signified was far graver.
Their goal was not some trifling aid to the Sima family in burning Seongdo.
"Have we truly found the way to bring about the reincarnation of the First Heavenly Demon?"
"Yes."
The middle-aged man affirmed.
"No longer a mere legend. How long have we suffered? Vague hopes are gone. We end it in our generation! If we've successfully summoned that bird, the same method will work for the Heavenly Demon! Heavenly Demon Reincarnation, All Demons Rise in Mourning!"
"Heavenly Demon Reincarnation, All Demons Rise in Mourning!"
All present joined in a chorus of ecstatic fervor.
"Heavenly Demon Reincarnation, All Demons Rise in Mourning!"
To turn the earth into paradise. A world where no one suffers hatred or pain any longer.
Clutching their hopes, they all vanished into the darkness.
*
The sun had set.
Darkness had fallen before they knew it.
Cheon Sohyang ran hastily. Not by her own thoughts or will, but driven by raw instinct.
Drawn along, as if pulled—that was the right expression.
No pursuers from the Sima family. The screams of the city had ceased at some point.
The girl plunged into the ruins of the Seongdo branch.
"Cough!"
Ashes. Corpses. Horrific traces of unknown origin.
She ran amid severed bodies and debris, clutching a white jade to her chest.
She couldn't even remember when she'd taken it out.
Her mind was foggy...
And warm.
Floating.
Within that sensation, the girl thought.
Why did I come to Seongdo?
'To meet ajussi.'
Then a voice answered from within her.
『That's right. You wanted to see ajussi. I'm just helping with that. Soon, you'll meet your ajussi.』
She didn't notice the strangeness.
The girl continued her thoughts.
Why am I holding this jade? It's dangerous to have it out like this. The Sima family will be hunting for it...
『Don't worry.』
The voice grew clearer. A touch softer than her own, gentler. Like cumulus clouds.
Jet-black cumulus clouds...
『They're already useless now. No different from that foolish bird trying to possess your body. Come on, let's go meet ajussi.』
"......Huh?"
Cheon Sohyang realized she was underground.
Damp moisture. Stone walls. A hastily made secret chamber.
Her dazed eyes scanned the surroundings, landing on something profoundly eerie.
In the center of the empty chamber, seven people lay collapsed in a circle.
No—corpses that had once been people.
They all wore red robes. Long robes emblazoned with flame patterns, ones she'd learned about in the Extermination Squad days.
The Demonic Cult. A facility they'd prepared beneath Seongdo.
The girl examined the corpses more closely. Horrific as they were, she needed clues. At least a way out.
What caught her eye first.
"Their heads."
All the corpses were headless. Lying on the floor, where their heads should have been, only pure white ash piled softly.
Some religious ritual, clearly. Soul possession techniques... If she'd fallen victim, she might be the sacrifice right now.
Next, she checked the walls. No sign of a door. She couldn't remember how she'd entered, no matter how she tried.
Instead, she found a suspicious book on the floor.
Fire God Ritual Scripture
"......"
When had the jade appeared in her hand? She'd never taken it out like this.
The ominous vibration persisted, feeling even stronger than before.
A foreboding premonition. Two premonitions clashing.
If she placed the jade on the altar like this, something dire would happen.
But fleeing with it would put her in grave danger.
She hesitated. Closed her eyes.
Then that strange voice answered.
『Complete the ritual, and you'll become the vessel for the Flame Divine Bird to descend upon this land.』
『But if you flee, poor you will bear the Flame God's wrath with your whole body. You'll burn to death.』
The girl felt no wrongness. Without knowing the causes, she naturally replied.
"Then I'll run. This place... it's close to where ajussi is. He might get caught up in something like this."
『Yes, I understand your view perfectly.』
The voice's reply was utterly gentle. The demeanor of an adult who comprehended everything.
And it concluded in an endlessly soothing tone.
『Then now, set down that jade and complete the ritual.』
Something's wrong. Her thoughts felt off.
They snapped.
Was I just answering myself? Who spoke, who replied?
Suddenly, Cheon Sohyang felt exhausted. Worn out.
The suffering had been so long. The flight was nightmarish, agonizing.
It wasn't without knowledge. She'd bid ajussi farewell knowing, stepped boldly into the jianghu, joined the Extermination Squad.
Times far longer and harder than she'd braced for.
『You regretted it. Wondered why you made such a foolish choice, didn't you?』
'Did I...?'
Betrayal, doubting people, rejecting those with good intentions, bearing it all alone.
Many times she'd wanted to let go.
But what had sustained her was that one teaching: 「The family arises from people.」
"No. I..."
I don't regret it. I saved two family retainers.
So no regrets.
More than that, who is this? Who am I talking to?
『I am the worm crawling on the ground, the black-shining goat. The great triangle that yearns for humanity, the dark light atop the mountain. The eternal prisoner of the heavenly prison.』
『......From one to ten, what a disagreeable wench. You just had to make me use my power directly.』
Laughter-tinged replies. Vague names.
Amid fleeting patterns and omens, the girl slowly closed her eyes and collapsed.
The white jade slipped from her bosom, rolling alone onto the altar.
As consciousness faded, she recalled ajussi.
Ajussi's voice rose clearly even now.
Not so warm and soft as this.
An endlessly longed-for sound.
I want to see him. Really, I want to see him.
What would ajussi say if he saw me now?
The unfortunate girl's consciousness sank fully into darkness.
The white jade floated lightly above the altar.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, and a clear, high laughter—not human—filled the chamber.
No person could hear it without going mad. A cackle from beyond this world.
In an instant, the room went dark—and brightened again.
Prismatic rays of rainbow light illuminated the space dazzlingly. Not a single shadow.
Impossible. Light cannot pierce matter, defying common sense and truth.
As if the entire room had become the light source.
As if receiving the birth of something within.
The jade grew. Vibrated. Vibrated upon the offering of noise.
The two elements of light: particle and wave.
The alien divine jade would soon become particles, its ominous vibration turning to waves.
It cracks. Shatters.
The first shell bursts off, and flames erupt.
Indescribable heat enveloped the space.
Kiririririr——!
The unfortunate host's eyes rolled back. She rose into the air of her own accord.
Behind her, the chained form of the Vermilion Bird manifested fully.
But at that very moment.
Crack!
Someone shattered the chamber's ceiling and burst in.
"......Sohyang-ah!"
A man in black martial robes, gripping a half-sword.