Lee Eul
Lee Eul drew her crescent blades without warning and swung them straight at me.
Demonic energy gathered at the tips of the blades and shot toward me in the form of condensed qi.
Boom! Crash!
Each swing of the crescent blades tore through the air, invisible blades ripping space itself apart.
Three massive trees screamed as they were sliced clean in half.
Deep trenches were carved into the ground.
Even a graze would be fatal.
A chill ran down my spine.
In that instant, Muyoung charged forward and began trading blows with Lee Eul.
Condensed qi?
I was genuinely surprised by the woman's martial prowess.
She wasn't one of the Twelve Demonic Emperors.
I knew the faces of all twelve. None of them matched her appearance.
But…
Could it be?
Was it him?
Cheonsu-maje, Wiji So-ryeong.
I had heard that one of his subordinates was nearly on par with the Twelve Demonic Emperors.
The name that flashed through my mind sounded similar to Lee Eul.
Clang! Clang!
Muyoung was being driven back relentlessly.
He was no match for her.
After only three exchanges, Muyoung was sent flying, bloodied and battered.
Yet he refused to yield. He gripped his sword again and forced himself upright.
Even as he was pushed back, he desperately deflected or dodged her strikes aimed at his vital points.
It was almost instinctive.
"Enough."
I pulled Muyoung back and fixed my gaze on Lee Eul.
"Why did you lure me here?"
Her knowing I would move wasn't particularly surprising.
Once we entered Gangseo territory, they must have anticipated that their movements would draw the Ju Family's attention.
In that case, they had likely deliberately exposed their route to me.
I had expected as much.
"Because what my lord desires happens to be in the Ju Family."
"Happens to be in the Ju Family?"
She had slipped up.
"So the Demonic Cult is after her as well?"
"Her…?"
Lee Eul tilted her head, confused.
They weren't after a woman.
"Then I suppose I'll just kill you and return."
Whoosh!
I charged straight at her.
Black King Advance Strike Body.
My entire body was a weapon, every movement a technique.
Clang!
When I threw a punch, Lee Eul met it with her crescent blades.
A tremendous force erupted.
For a moment, my body staggered.
Urgh.
My qi and blood surged violently.
The internal injuries I hadn't fully recovered from flared up again.
"Oh my. You seem to be in discomfort."
Lee Eul's lips curled into a mocking smile.
She immediately launched into a relentless assault, allowing no opening.
Troublesome.
Moreover, our styles were incompatible.
The Black King Advance Strike Body required closing the distance to deliver effective strikes.
Her technique, however, relied on keeping maximum distance with her crescent blades while maintaining constant pressure.
No choice, then.
Even if it meant overexerting myself, I had to suppress her.
Whoosh!
My sleeve was torn, and blood seeped out.
My dantian trembled, then a massive surge of inner energy erupted and began circulating through my meridians.
It tore through, ripped apart, and shattered the opponent's energy.
Black King Advance Strike Body, First Form.
Lord's Annihilating Ring Strike.
Clang!
Lee Eul kept trying to create distance.
Normally, when a technique was broken, one would flow seamlessly into the next.
But there were gaps between her forms.
That meant her martial art wasn't a single, unified style.
She had to maintain distance, so those openings existed.
Continuing her technique would risk being drawn into close combat.
In that case, I would exploit those gaps.
I would close in during the breaks in her forms, then stop advancing and deflect her attacks when she renewed her assault.
Repeating this, I gradually narrowed the distance between us.
Finally—
Thud!
My fist drove straight into her solar plexus.
Startled, Lee Eul tried to block, but the trajectory of my punch had already found its mark.
"Kuhak!"
Her body folded in half, and she collapsed.
I grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up.
Shing!
Muyoung extended his sword, pressing the blade to her throat.
Lee Eul, who had been about to resist, froze.
"Are you all idiots?"
I sneered at her.
"Do you even know who's currently in the family estate?"
Luring me out was one thing.
But they should have considered why I could leave so openly.
The Family Head and my youngest uncle are both there.
As long as those two were present, even the Twelve Demonic Emperors would struggle. The Four Great Calamities would need at least three of them together to even attempt a fight.
"Huhu. Does my lord seem so foolish to you?"
Lee Eul glared at me with venomous eyes.
"Our goal is not to confront the Sword Sovereign or the Blood Sovereign. We only need to retrieve our target."
Wait. Could it be…?
"Yakseon."
If they had a target, it could only be Yakseon.
Come to think of it, his granddaughter was also fighting for her life after being poisoned with gu.
Insujeon wasn't heavily guarded, after all.
Crack!
Strength surged into my hand.
Lee Eul gasped in pain.
"Did you think I'd just let you take Yakseon?"
Crunch!
Her neck began to twist.
One more push and it would snap.
I would never allow anyone to take what was mine again.
I was about to kill her when—
"That's enough."
Someone stepped forward.
Thud.
A single footstep made my heart stop.
All sound in the forest died.
Even the wind seemed to freeze in terror.
In that silence, a man walked out.
A killing intent that felt like it could flay flesh, and an overt, savage aura.
Demonic energy so potent it couldn't be hidden began to devour the surroundings.
My instincts screamed.
Run.
One of the Twelve Demonic Emperors, Cheonsu-maje, had appeared.
* * *
Lee Eul was Cheonsu-maje's personal subordinate.
She had accompanied him onto countless battlefields.
She had crushed numerous candidates for the title of Demonic Emperor, paving the way for him to claim his place among the Twelve.
That was enough for her.
What she desired was simply whatever Cheonsu-maje desired.
Her gaze was always fixed on her lord.
Even when given unreasonable orders, she carried them out in silence, again and again.
Even when her body was torn apart or crushed, she never once complained.
She believed that was the only way she could show her loyalty and her affection.
It didn't matter if he never acknowledged it. As his subordinate, filling in his shortcomings was enough.
Still, a little disappointment was inevitable for any human.
One year passed, then ten.
Cheonsu-maje still regarded her only as a subordinate and lord, nothing more.
Not a single kind word.
She had thought it was fine.
But lately, her heart had grown restless.
Cheonsu-maje's greed knew no bounds, and he had begun forcing through increasingly dangerous missions without hesitation.
This time was no different.
They were to infiltrate the territory of the Sword Sovereign and Blood Sovereign to kidnap Yakseon.
In truth, Lee Eul's life had been staked as collateral for part of that plan.
She had actually intended to lure out the Sword Sovereign, not Ju Woo-jin.
If she could buy enough time by drawing him out, the kidnapping of Yakseon would succeed.
Of course, she had never considered her own death in the process.
Yet Lee Eul had set out on the mission with a joyful heart.
Even if I die, it's fine.
Dying for her lord was the greatest honor she could imagine.
But then…
"How…"
Her lord had returned.
And he had come to save her.
Tears streamed down Lee Eul's face.
"I was worried, that's all."
The usually indifferent lord who had never spoken a warm word approached her and wrapped her in his outer robe.
"You've lost a lot of blood."
His gentle voice melted away all her sorrow.
Now she understood.
She had no regrets, even if she died.
"How disgusting."
Watching them made me feel sick.
These people treated human lives as less than insects, yet showed such care for each other.
What greater contradiction could there be?
"It's been a while, Cheonsu-maje."
"…?"
At my words, Cheonsu-maje slowly rose to his feet.
He looked at me and tilted his head.
"Have we… met before?"
"We have."
I nodded with a smile.
"I cut off your arms, severed your ankles, and even put a hole through your heart. Don't you remember?"
"What kind of nonsense is this? Are you dreaming?"
Cheonsu-maje slapped his own cheek several times, looking bewildered.
It hurt.
It hurt a lot.
So this wasn't a dream.
"Ah, of course you wouldn't remember. Only I remember it."
"The Ju Family's idiot only knows how to say idiotic things. As expected."
Boom!
Cheonsu-maje charged straight at me.
His impatient, hot-tempered nature.
I had anticipated it, so I stepped back.
But…
"Kuhak."
A variable appeared.
My dantian lurched, and my inner energy began to flow backward.
Grab.
Cheonsu-maje seized me by the collar.
"You bastard!"
Muyoung desperately thrust his sword at Cheonsu-maje.
"Who the hell are you?"
Cheonsu-maje swatted Muyoung away like an insect.
BOOM!
With a massive explosion and a cloud of dust, Muyoung collapsed, bloodied and unconscious.
His power was overwhelming.
"How does it feel? I'm returning exactly what you did to me."
Cheonsu-maje grinned viciously as he lifted me up.
His strength was inhuman.
And the immense inner energy he couldn't hide devastated the surroundings.
As his grip tightened around my throat, my breath was cut off.
My qi and blood reversed, my vision distorted.
My heart beat irregularly, and the energy in my dantian scattered wildly.
No… If this continues…
Strength drained from my limbs, and my body went limp.
I tried to circulate my inner energy, but the reversed flow blocked my chest, preventing even a trace of energy from moving.
Had I been too arrogant?
This was the price of moving without properly tending to my body.
"What a pathetic sight, youngest of the Ju Family."
Cheonsu-maje slowly, mercilessly tightened his grip on my neck.
The pressure dug into my bones, as if my breath would be cut off.
In the distance, Muyoung lay collapsed, coughing up blood. The surroundings were already a mess of destroyed trees and cracked earth.
Then—
Whoosh!
A heavy resonance, as if the heavens themselves were drawing breath, enveloped the battlefield.
What followed was an invisible, massive barrier.
An overwhelming qi screen surged between me and Cheonsu-maje in an instant.
BOOM!
Cheonsu-maje instinctively pulled back, and the demonic energy flowing through his body collapsed instantly.
Even his fingertips were going numb and stiff.
"What… is this…"
His eyes narrowed with instinctive wariness.
At the edge of my blurred vision, a woman walked in.
Silver hair fluttered in the breeze, and her deep blue robes slowly billowed within the qi screen.
Each step she took was absolute, as if heaven and earth moved to match her stride.
"Yeo-rin?"
A weak voice escaped my lips.
Mong Yeo-rin's gaze brushed over me.
In that moment, the air around us seemed to stop.
With every step she took, the qi screen spreading from her feet swallowed all hostile energy in the vicinity.
Cheonsu-maje gritted his teeth at the sight.
"Who the hell are you, wench?"
He swung his arm, firing condensed qi.
But in that instant—
Whoosh!
The qi dissolved into the air and vanished.
Like ink dropped into water, Mong Yeo-rin's qi screen absorbed and neutralized all energy like a bottomless abyss.
"Remove your hand. Now, demon."
Her voice was calm, yet carried a pressure that rang in the ears.
Even Cheonsu-maje was forced two steps back.
Meanwhile, Mong Yeo-rin approached me, knelt down, and pressed her fingertips against my qi points.
A cool energy flowed through my dantian and meridians, calming the tangled inner energy.
My breath returned.
Damn. Thanks to her, I survived.
If this wasn't a fortuitous encounter, what was?
"Hmph."
After a brief moment of consideration, Cheonsu-maje picked up Lee Eul.
If he lingered any longer, the Sword Sovereign might intervene.
Regrettable, but this was as far as it went.
"We'll meet again. Definitely."
He issued a chilling warning before retreating into the darkness.