The Beast Beyond the Iron Bars
As the sun slowly tucked its tail beyond the western mountains, a heavy twilight descended over the steep slopes of Mount Cheonmok.
The already thick fog blended with darkness until it became nearly impossible to see even an inch ahead, but I had the perfect guide at my side.
"Over there. It's hidden behind the vines, but there's a narrow path cutting through the rocks."
Yeon So-ha, leading the way, pointed precisely at a spot in the gloom.
"Cross there, circle around the dead tree on the left, and we can reach the rear gate without the fortress guards spotting us."
His memory went beyond exceptional and into the realm of the eerie. He navigated the twisting mountain trails and confusing forks without the slightest hesitation.
Thanks to his confident guidance, as if he had a precise map of the entire mountain spread inside his head, we sliced through the notoriously treacherous Misty Forest in the blink of an eye and soon stood at the very foot of the bandit fortress.
"Huff… huff…! W-we're here, Sister! It's right there!"
At the edge of the darkness-shrouded forest, between the thick bushes Yeon So-ha indicated, a massive wooden palisade and watchtowers flickering with torchlight revealed their imposing forms.
"We arrived sooner than I expected?"
I patted the back of the boy who had squatted down, gasping for breath after guiding us with every ounce of strength in his small body, and offered him a smile.
"Good work, kid. Thanks to you, the trip was downright comfortable."
"Hehe, it was nothing."
Yeon So-ha scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed grin.
But the brief look of fatigue melting from his face at my praise didn't last. After checking the fortress's tight security, he looked up at me with anxious, trembling eyes.
"But Sister, what are you planning to do now?"
"Well."
I crossed my arms and leisurely scanned the torch-lit fortress before continuing.
"The original plan was to get caught on purpose and let them drag me into the prison."
"What?!"
Yeon So-ha leaped back in horror the instant the words left my mouth.
"N-no! Absolutely not!"
He turned deathly pale, fidgeting helplessly before grabbing my sleeve in a death grip.
"Those bastards are vicious, lowlife beasts! You're going to walk in there voluntarily?!"
His eyes swirled with fear and dread as he stared at me, then his face crumpled into a tearful plea.
"If someone as beautiful as you gets captured, it'll be a disaster! The moment those scum see you, they'll immediately try to… to… do awful things!"
His face burned crimson with embarrassment at even speaking the words, yet he still poured out his desperate warning. The sight of him so earnestly worried for me was so amusing that mischief stirred inside me.
"Awful things? Like what?"
I widened my eyes like an innocent maiden who understood nothing and asked again.
"Be specific. What exactly?"
"W-well, that is… um…!"
"What is it? Tell me. How else can I be careful?"
With a wicked smile, I leaned down until our faces were close enough to share breath. Yeon So-ha made a sound like air escaping a balloon and stumbled backward.
"Um, th-that, when a man and a woman… ugh…."
His gaze wandered helplessly through the air. His lips opened and closed like a beached fish, and his flushed face grew so red it looked ready to burst.
"Puhahaha!"
Seeing his ears glowing crimson as if steam might rise from them, I couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.
Back when I was Wi Yeon-seol—the man they called the Lustful Demon—I was always surrounded by women. Teasing an innocent boy like this turned out to be a surprisingly delightful pleasure. If I'd had a little brother, would it have felt like this?
"It was a joke. Why take it so seriously?"
Still chuckling, I roughly tousled the hair of the now-stiff boy.
"I sensed it too back in the forest. That plan is scrapped. This body is precious, after all."
"Ugh…! You knew the whole time and still teased me?"
Yeon So-ha looked momentarily angry at my words, but then let out a small sigh of relief.
"Let's wait until the night grows deeper. It's a new moon tonight, so we'll use the darkness to slip over the wall and head straight for the prison."
"Understood."
Yeon So-ha nodded, then suddenly asked with curious eyes.
"By the way, who exactly are we here to rescue?"
"Hmm?"
"I've been called to the prison area for chores before, so I roughly know the names of everyone locked up. Just give me the name and I can tell you the exact location."
Of course. A clever kid like him would know the fortress's inner workings inside and out. Smiling with satisfaction at his sparkling eyes, I recited the name of the woman I sought.
"Jeong So-yun."
"……Pardon? Who?"
The moment he heard the name, Yeon So-ha's eyes flew wide open. Seeing his disbelieving expression, I drove the point home with a low whisper.
"Jeong So-yun. You know her, right? The former leader of Cheonmok Heokpungchae."
"Whaaaaaat?!"
At that moment, Yeon So-ha's jaw dropped so far it looked like it might fall off.
A pitch-black new moon night where even the moon itself hid away.
The thick darkness that swallowed everything beyond a single step was the perfect veil for a secret infiltration.
"Hold on tight. Don't bite your tongue."
"Y-yes!"
With Yeon So-ha tucked securely under my arm like a sack of rice, I first closed every pore in my body to erase my presence completely.
Whoosh!
My feet kicked powerfully against the ground.
My body soared upward like a feather.
Swoosh—!
Leaving a black afterimage, I reached the midpoint of a massive ancient tree beside the fortress wall in an instant.
From there I kicked off again, stepping on the vertical trunk and leaping once more!
Thud!
This height is nothing.
A perfect, soundless flight that didn't even disturb the air. The wooden wall, easily thirty meters high, fell away beneath my feet in the blink of an eye.
"Uuuugh…?!"
Thump.
The moment Yeon So-ha swallowed a terrified scream, we had already vaulted over the high fortress wall as lightly as swallows.
"Huff… huff…!! This way…!"
Hiding deep in the fortress's darkest shadows, I moved carefully according to the breathless guidance of Yeon So-ha.
"If we circle behind the warehouse up ahead, we'll be outside the watchtower's line of sight."
He naturally took the lead again.
Swish.
Following the path he wove through the gaps between torchlight and the guards' shifting gazes, I found myself moving far more smoothly than I had imagined possible.
He could have slipped in alone without much trouble, but this kid is the real deal.
I stuck close behind his small back, inwardly impressed.
"Damn it, what the hell are those idiots doing in the forest that there's still no sign of them?"
While gliding through the deep shadows of the main building, I heard several bandits nearby arguing in agitated voices.
Avoiding the torch-bearing men approaching with heavy footsteps, we quickly ducked behind a large liquor jar.
"No kidding. Nearly thirty men went out on patrol, yet not a single one has shown up."
"Maybe they got lost in the fog? Or they're all hiding somewhere slacking off together."
One bandit spat on the ground and looked around.
"More importantly, where did that kid from the Cheon-un Merchant Group go? We've got work for him at the warehouse."
"Ah, the greenhorn? Didn't that bastard Chae-gon drag him off to use him again?"
The moment those words reached us, Yeon So-ha's shoulders trembled violently where he crouched beneath me.
"Tsk, again? The kid could still fetch a decent ransom even if things got messy. Does that idiot have a brain? We should report this to the deputy leader, shouldn't we?"
The other bandits waved their hands in panic.
"It's not the deputy leader right now, it's the acting fortress master! His mood is foul enough as it is—don't stir up more trouble. Just send more men to search the forest."
"Ugh, fine. Damn it."
A short while after the bandits left, the fortress began to stir. Seeing a large group of torch-bearing bandits rushing out through the gate, Yeon So-ha and I met each other's eyes in silence and shared identical satisfied smiles.
I didn't plan it, but luck is on our side.
The bloody slaughter I had unleashed in the forest earlier had drawn away their forces. With far fewer guards inside the fortress now, reaching the prison would be even easier than before.
"Let's move. This is our chance."
"Yes!"
The now-empty plaza was no longer an obstacle. Taking advantage of the thinned security, we cut through the darkness like shadows and arrived at the prison building in moments.
"Good. Stay back now. Not a sound."
Two shadows flickered beneath the faint lantern at the prison entrance. The two gatekeepers, dozing while clutching their pitchforks, seemed completely lost in their dreams.
Slide.
With footsteps perfectly erased and movements that betrayed no killing intent, I slipped behind them more silently than a falling leaf.
Swish.
I shot both hands out like lightning, simultaneously seizing the men's jaws and the backs of their heads. Just as they sensed something wrong and tried to open their eyes—
Crack—!
A gruesome snapping sound shattered the silence.
"……Hup!"
"……Kuh!"
Their necks twisted at unnatural angles.
Their final screams died in their throats before they could escape.
I caught the two corpses whose cervical vertebrae had been cleanly severed and gently laid their limp, doll-like bodies on the ground.
"H-hiiik…!!"
Yeon So-ha covered his mouth and collapsed after witnessing the murder right before his eyes. No matter how mature and clever he was, seeing a person die instantly in front of him had clearly been a severe shock.
"Shh. Stay quiet and come here."
I skillfully searched the still-warm bodies and snatched the heavy keyring, carefully inserting one into the rusted lock.
Creeeeak.
With the latch releasing and rusted hinges scraping, the iron door swung open.
"Let's go in."
"Y-yes…!"
The prison interior was thick with damp, musty mold.
Step. Step.
We descended the stairs leading underground.
The cells lining both sides were filled with corpses that had already rotted down to white bones.
Kuk. It's been a while. Never thought I'd return here.
The familiar stench and damp air brought back memories of the time I had been locked up here as Wi Yeon-seol, treated worse than an animal. A bitter smile rose to my lips without me realizing it.
Without looking back, I walked toward the deepest darkness where not even a sliver of light reached.
"Th-there!"
The iron cell at the very bottom of the prison.
Bars as thick as a man's forearm were densely packed together. The crude structure looked less like a cage for a person and more like one built to contain a wild beast.
Whoosh.
I thrust the torch between the bars, slowly illuminating the pitch-black interior.
"……."
In the darkness, a woman hung suspended against the cold wall, her limbs bound by thick iron chains.
Her hair was disheveled, her body covered in bloodstains. She had endured brutal whipping; across the white skin revealed through her torn clothing were countless dark red wounds.
Yet despite the horrific sight that would make any viewer frown, the woman hanging from the chains did not let out even the faintest groan.
A sharp, heavy aura rose from her body. Even covered in blood, limbs bound and bones possibly broken, an unapproachable pressure surrounded her—as if her pride had never once been broken.
....
The moment the flickering torchlight pierced the darkness beyond the bars, two golden eyes that had been hidden in the shadows locked directly onto me.
Eyes of a beast blazing with venom, murderous intent, and rage. Facing that piercing gaze, memories from my previous life flashed through my mind like a lantern show.
Jeong So-yun.
In the future, the people of the murim would call her one of the Twelve Yo-hwa of Cheon-yeo Geom-gak—the Vajra Flower.
A woman like tempered steel who could crush house-sized boulders with her bare fists and turn the bones and flesh of attacking orthodox experts into pulp. The comrade who had stayed by my side until the final moment when Cheon-yeo Geom-gak fell.
One of the twelve flowers who, even as her head was severed by the Murim Alliance's blade and rolled across the ground, refused to close her eyes and looked at me with a gaze that said she had no regrets.
She's alive.
A heavy weight throbbed in my chest.
Even this tragic, blood-soaked figure was, to me, a tearfully welcome proof of life.
This time will be different.
I won't let you die so miserably.
In this life, until the very end, I will be your shield and your sword…!
Something hot surged up my throat. I forced it down and directed a calm gaze toward her beyond the iron bars.
"It's been a while, So-yun."
A smile mixed with bitterness and joy—somehow resembling a sob—curved my lips.