Dragon's Wings
What kind of place was the Zhushan Archipelago?
The Ju family’s territory lay at the northeastern edge of Gangseo Province, in Zhejiang. If you traveled east from there toward the sea, you would find a cluster of islands forming an archipelago.
At first glance, the countless islands and reefs seemed like worthless land. But several hundred years ago, the Ju family’s seventh-generation ancestor purchased the entire region.
The Ju family had not been particularly wealthy at the time, yet from that moment their influence began to change.
The archipelago yielded luxury goods—pearls, salt, and more—but the true treasure lay at its center: a massive gold mine discovered on the largest island.
The ancestor must have known about the gold when he bought the land. The moment the mine was revealed, countless black-path factions descended upon it, forcing the Ju family to defend it with everything they had.
The Jeokryongdae’s primary duty was to guard this place, and battles erupted several times a day. Pirates swarmed the surrounding waters, making even mining a constant risk.
“Did we really need to come ourselves?” Muyoung asked from inside the carriage.
He seemed to wonder why the two of them had to move when guards had already been dispatched.
“There’s something I need to check,” I replied.
The future was unfolding differently from my expectations, yet the underlying currents remained the same. The Sword Dragon would lose his position as heir apparent because of what happened here.
I had already tried to steel my eldest brother’s resolve, but unease lingered.
“We’ll arrive shortly, Young Master.”
At the coachman’s words, we prepared to disembark. The carriage slowed to a stop.
“Is this the place?”
It was a small harbor at the eastern edge of Zhejiang. To reach the archipelago, we needed a boat. Since we had left in secret, we had to procure one ourselves.
Securing a vessel proved simple. Many fishermen sailed to the islands for their catch. We hired a small fishing boat and set out for the archipelago.
* * *
The fog was unnatural. The sea mist was far thicker than usual, yet the boatman navigated with practiced ease and brought us close to an island.
“Thank you.”
After paying the fare, we stepped onto the shore and walked inland. This was the central island—the largest in the archipelago—and home to the Ju family’s gold mine.
“A village,” Muyoung noted.
After walking for some time, a well-maintained road appeared. Following it led us to the first settlement visible upon arriving at the island.
“This must be it.”
I pulled out the map from my robes, studied it, and nodded. This was the last place the family head had contacted us from. I intended to begin my search here.
Contrary to my expectations, the village was quite small, and locating the family head and my brother proved easier than anticipated.
“You can’t go that way.”
A barricade blocked the path—clearly erected to cut off access. As I examined it, a middle-aged woman who looked like a villager stepped forward to stop me.
“Why not?”
I touched the barricade lightly.
“There’s chaos up in the upper village. If you value your life, turn back the way you came.”
“Chaos… I’d like to hear the details.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know much. Go ask the vigilante captain.”
“Vigilante captain? You have one here?”
“Of course. Pirates are everywhere. If we don’t protect ourselves, who will?”
Her words struck me as odd. Wasn’t this place under the Ju family’s protection?
I glanced at Muyoung. He looked equally puzzled.
We continued walking and headed for the vigilante post at the village outskirts, just as she had directed.
“Halt.”
The post was modest. Most of the men who stopped us had no martial arts training, though their builds suggested they were strong laborers.
“This is the Mueok Village vigilante outpost. What’s your business?”
The man leveled his spear at me. Muyoung grabbed the shaft and pushed it aside, stepping forward.
“Don’t point that spear so carelessly. It could cause serious trouble.”
The man retreated warily.
“We’re not here to intimidate you. This man is my guard—he was simply doing his duty.”
I looked around and stepped forward. “I’d like to speak with your captain.”
“Why do you want to see him?”
“Just tell him someone from the Ju family is here.”
“The Ju family? You mean that Ju family?”
His eyes lit up, but the spark faded when he realized only Muyoung and I stood before him. Something had clearly gone wrong.
“Follow me.”
At the mention of the Ju family, he led us straight to the captain’s quarters.
“Welcome. I’m Hwang Pil, captain of the Mueok Village vigilantes.”
Hwang Pil was a broad-shouldered, towering man who looked like he possessed immense strength.
“I’m Ju Woo-jin.”
I offered a light fist-palm salute and took a seat.
“What’s happened here?”
The office was noisy; there was no separate room, just a large space divided for use.
“We sent a request for support to the Ju family, but all contact was lost. We’ve been stuck ever since.”
“Contact was lost? That shouldn’t be possible…”
Uncle Ju Tae-hwi had said nothing about trouble here. He had been completely unaware.
Could it be that traitor from the Baekryongdae…?
The suspicion returned. If that man was deliberately suppressing information…
Or worse—perhaps this was the work of the Demonic Cult.
A chill ran down my spine at the thought.
“I heard the family head came here.”
“What? The Sword Sovereign? The Sword Sovereign himself is here?”
Hwang Pil’s face brightened instantly.
What?
His reaction was strange. If the family head had come, he would have passed through this village. Why didn’t Hwang Pil know?
An ominous feeling crept over me.
“Thank the heavens. If the Sword Sovereign is here, we can finally end this chaos. Haha!”
The captain looked genuinely relieved.
“What exactly is going on?”
“Ah, well… it’s like this…”
Hwang Pil nodded and began explaining the events that had unfolded.
* * *
The central island was what the Ju family called the largest island in the archipelago. Besides the gold mine, several smaller iron mines existed here. The people who lived on the island were either miners or fishermen. The Ju family paid them wages and purchased their goods, which were then sold through allied merchant groups—including my maternal family, the Seo family of Shaanxi—to the Central Plains and the Western Regions.
Yet this lucrative operation constantly attracted those who coveted it. Mueok Village sat at the entrance to guard against such threats, with vigilantes inspecting all who passed. They could do so because several Jeokryongdae members had been stationed here—until a few months ago, when every last one of them vanished.
“Hmm.”
I listened quietly as the captain spoke.
The barricade in Mueok Village existed because of the upper village. The upper village had blocked the road and cut off all communication. Even the vigilantes sent there had never returned. With the upper village in such a state, contact with every other village had been severed. Mueok Village now stood isolated on the central island.
“Then why the barricade?”
“We don’t know what might happen. The upper village openly built their own barricade and severed ties with us. Who knows what they’ll do next?”
It was the best precaution Mueok Village could take.
“By the way… where is the Sword Sovereign?”
The captain asked cautiously.
“That’s what I’d like to know.”
“…Pardon?”
I stood up. The problem clearly began in the upper village, not here. They had sent messenger birds, yet no one in this village had seen my father. That meant he had moved without drawing attention.
I cleared the barricade and followed the road. After roughly half an hour of steady walking, another thick barricade came into view.
“They blocked it properly.”
Shrrring!
Muyoung drew his sword without a word. At my nod, he unleashed a sword strike at the barricade. The lower sections were severed, and the structure collapsed from above.
We pushed through the debris and entered the village path.
Then it happened.
“…”
Muyoung and I exchanged glances.
“Did you feel that?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The air had changed. An inexplicable tension radiated from the village.
“It’s a formation.”
Formations could be made from natural elements like rocks and trees, or from people arranged in specific patterns. Mechanisms could also be added to reinforce weaknesses.
The unnatural sensation against my skin was accompanied by the faint scent of blood.
Crack.
I loosened my tense body and stepped forward.
If it’s only this level of formation, the family head should have no trouble escaping it.
There were many ways to break a formation. A master of the Sword Sovereign’s level could simply obliterate the surroundings. Yet no such traces existed. The presence of the formation meant it had not been broken.
We entered the village fully.
People stood at the entrance—far more than in Mueok Village. Strangely, every person we passed stared at us with unblinking intensity. I tried to ask what had happened, but something felt wrong.
“Young Master, their condition seems abnormal.”
Muyoung had noticed it too.
“Hah. This feels familiar, doesn’t it?”
“…Yes. It does.”
We had experienced this before—at Heukgak. We had witnessed Sa-an Gwi-gun’s madness when he seized control of the slash-and-burn farmers’ minds.
Clang! Clatter!
The sound of metal striking metal echoed from all directions. The villagers who had been staring now radiated killing intent.
“Enemies. More enemies have come.”
“They’re after what’s ours! Kill them all!”
They charged. Their eyes turned blood-red, veins bulging like spiderwebs.
Ah.
Now I understood why the Sword Dragon had returned from the Zhushan Archipelago half-broken in my previous life. These people were nothing more than powerless commoners trying to survive. Yet the Sword Dragon had been forced to cut them down.
This was the place where the Sword Dragon began to crumble.
And now I stood in his place.
Everything was changing—and would continue to change.
I pushed aside the remaining barricade and drew a slow breath.
“You people truly have rotten luck.”
There was no Dark Sovereign here to handle them in my stead. And I was not generous enough to show mercy to those who attacked me. I had no interest in the so-called righteousness of the orthodox path.
Rip!
At that moment, something sharp sliced through the collar of Muyoung’s robe as he hesitated.
Crunch!
I grabbed the throat of the man leading the charge and twisted it until it broke.
“Pull yourself together.”
I glared coldly at the frozen Muyoung.
Was he planning to stand there and offer his neck? Whether these people were under some evil art or not, it didn’t matter.
“To live… we kill.”
That was the fundamental law of survival for anyone who walked the martial world—whether they followed the orthodox path or lived as a third-rate thug in the underworld.
To survive, we must kill those who are still alive.