Chapter 20

The Venerable One of Dark Heavens…

Despite her years of cloistered existence, effectively a prisoner within the deepest recesses of the Luoyang Sword Clan under the watchful eye of her master and aunt, the Head of the Guard Pavilion, Yeon Seo-rin had heard that name whispered countless times.

“Did you hear? The Northern Flow of Hengshan was annihilated at the construction site for the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.”

“Even if they weren’t the sect of old, to be wiped out in a single night…”

“And they weren’t the only ones. Everyone connected to that place vanished.”

The rumors weren’t limited to the assembly grounds. They stretched as far as the Luoyang underworld, where the rapidly rising Black Bone Gang had been erased so thoroughly that not even a corpse remained. They were as close as the very battlefield she stood upon, where a bizarre tale circulated about the total destruction of one of the Dread King’s encampments during a night raid by the Sword Clan’s War Department.

I see it now…

As she connected the dots, Seo-rin realized that in every instance, the figure of Yeon So-hyeon was inextricably linked to the existence known as the Venerable One of Dark Heavens.

She maintained her silence, stealing a glance at her brother. So-hyeon stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring out at the distant horizon, his lips sealed. Wang Cheol-jin likewise kept his eyes shut, offering no words.

There was nothing inherently strange about So-hyeon’s posture, yet Seo-rin, reaching beyond even her preternatural senses, felt an instinctual pang of realization. She knew So-hyeon was aware of her gaze, yet he did not turn.

The title of the Venerable One of Dark Heavens isn’t the only burden he carries.

Within that slight, seemingly fragile frame, he harbored a legion of secrets he could share with no one. He bore a weight of responsibility so harrowing and heavy that no soul could help him shoulder it. Even now, he was enduring it all, completely and utterly alone.

So that’s how it was…

A sharp sting of shame pricked her heart. Just as she had finally cracked the shell of her guilt and stepped out into the world, she realized her brother was already at war with that very world.

He was fighting the internal entanglements of the Luoyang Sword Clan, the supposed “Greatest Clan under the Heavens.” He was battling the Sixteen Imperial Families who had usurped the throne’s authority and were currently tearing through the capital. He was managing the desperate struggle of the surviving Nine Sects, including Wudang and Mount Hua, as they clawed for their former glory.

And here, in the brutal North, he faced a pretender king who had exploited the empire’s weakness to ignite a war. Far to the fertile south, the outlaws of the Heavenly Wicked Hegemons lurked like starving wolves beyond the Yangtze, waiting for a single heartbeat of hesitation.

But even that was just the surface.

Sima, Namgung, Hwangbo, and Zhuge, the Great Clans, were hegemonic powers in their own right, each poised to dismantle the Luoyang Sword Clan and seize the apex for themselves. In the midst of this political chaos, countless rising families and ambitious coalitions were thrashing like maddened beasts to enter the ranks of the nobility.

Even overseas, empires armed with alien technologies and vast capital watched for any chance to feast on the interests of the Central Plains.

Then there are the hidden matters… the Demonic Cult, the Immortal Arts, and the shadow of the Venerable One of Dark Heavens.

The affairs of the world were complex beyond anything Seo-rin could have dared imagine. Even if So-hyeon emerged successful from this campaign and ascended to the position of Young Lord, the weight on his shoulders would only grow.

To bear all of that alone… what kind of war is he truly fighting?

“…So-hyeon.”

The name escaped her lips before she could check it. As So-hyeon turned to meet her eyes, she spoke with the full weight of her heart. “I am proud of you.”

A smile flickered across So-hyeon’s face for the briefest of moments, as ephemeral as a mirage in the wind of the great plains. Yet that fleeting expression, that momentary softening of his gaze, was so profoundly warm that Seo-rin found herself laughing.

Yes, you are that kind of man.

Unbending. Unbreakable. A man who could take the entire world onto his back and fight another world if he had to. That was her brother. That was Yeon So-hyeon.

“The tide of battle is shifting,” Wang Cheol-jin’s voice cut through her thoughts.

He had opened his eyes and stepped to the edge of the precipice, looking down at the carnage below. “Grand Strategist Sima is rearranging his formation.”

“Is he?”

From this height, the vastness of the battlefield made it difficult for Seo-rin to grasp the nuances, but the former Alliance Leader saw it all. “He is spreading his wings wide.”

Below them, the northern expeditionary forces of Mount Hua and Wudang were fanning out, absorbing the shock of a brutal collision as they extended the line.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

“I know little of the art of war,” Seo-rin said, her brow furrowing, “but it seems Sima is overextending himself.”

Until a moment ago, the forces of the First and Third Young Masters had been locked in a precarious stalemate without significant casualties. To drastically alter the formation now seemed reckless.

“Shouldn’t he be concentrating his strength rather than scattering it?” she asked.

Wang Cheol-jin nodded, his tone surprisingly gentler than before. It was unclear if he was influenced by the sibling bond he had just witnessed or by So-hyeon’s earlier candidness. “Under normal circumstances, yes. But look over there.”

Seo-rin followed his finger, squinting to sharpen her vision. Her eyebrows twitched as she realized what she was seeing near the Dread King’s command center. “…Experts are pouring out of his headquarters.”

Just as she said, a tide of warriors erupted from the King’s camp, their war cries saturated with a newfound, desperate killing intent.

WURRRRRRRR!

“Hmph,” Wang Cheol-jin muttered, narrowing his eyes as he identified them. “The Dread King’s Great Warriors.”

“The Great Warriors…?” Seo-rin stared in shock. “You mean the King was hiding his main force until now?!”

“No, that’s not it,” Wang Cheol-jin corrected her with a wry smile. “Rather, your brother had them pinned to the command post until this very moment.”

“So-hyeon did?”

“The Grand Young Master possesses a talent for transcending the constraints of distance,” Wang Cheol-jin explained succinctly. “Fearing assassination, the King felt compelled to keep his elite guards by his side.”

Listening nearby, So-hyeon nodded inwardly. As expected. Wang Cheol-jin’s brilliance wasn’t limited to his martial prowess. Despite arriving late, he had grasped the tactical flow with a clarity befitting a legendary leader who had once conquered the Demonic Cult.

“Sima must have realized this,” Wang Cheol-jin continued. “He finally convinced the King to deploy the Great Warriors.”

“How do you convince someone paralyzed by the fear of death?” Seo-rin asked, but her question was answered before it was finished. Wang Cheol-jin simply gestured between himself and So-hyeon.

“Ah…”

“Exactly,” Wang Cheol-jin said. “Because both I and the Grand Young Master are occupied here.”

Sima had planted seeds of doubt to ensure Wang Cheol-jin would keep So-hyeon tied down. It was a masterstroke that had ultimately provided the leverage needed to move the Dread King’s final pieces.

Seo-rin’s gaze drifted back to the Third Young Master’s allied camp, which was continuing its broad expansion. “So, Sima is spreading his wings to…”

Wang Cheol-jin finished her sentence. “…To join forces with the Great Warriors and crush the Grand Young Master’s army in a massive, simultaneous pincer attack.”

“This is…”

Even the usually bold Seo-rin turned pale. At that very second, Great Warriors were streaming out of the command center in numbers that seemed impossible to have been contained in such a space.

“Advance, sons of the plains!”

“Warriors of the Great Plateau! Sacrifice everything for your honor!”

As the elite warriors roared their encouragement, the Dread King’s direct legion, which had been more than half-broken, erupted in a fresh, terrifying wave of cheers.

WUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOH!

“…Insane,” Seo-rin whispered, a chill running down her spine. The sheer volume of casualties they had suffered and the fact that their formation had been shattered long ago should have ended them. Any other army would have been annihilated or routed by now, yet these men were rising again.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

“For the glory of the tribes!”

“So this is the strength of the Northern tribes who once forged a great empire,” Wang Cheol-jin mused, unable to hide his admiration for their resilience.

Yet he also understood why So-hyeon had moved to subjugate them now. If these people were allowed to gain momentum without the Grand Young Master’s intervention, the resurgence of the Demonic Cult would be the least of the Empire’s worries.

“…Grand Young Master,” Wang Cheol-jin said, finally addressing So-hyeon. “The situation is turning dire.”

So-hyeon nodded simply. “Indeed, it is.”

That was all. He remained calm, observing the tactical shifts with a detached, steady expression.

“Hmph.” Wang Cheol-jin hesitated, then spoke again. “Grand Young Master… shouldn’t you be moving yourself?”

“…”

Seo-rin blinked in surprise. “Are you saying you’ll let him go that easily, Alliance Leader?”

Her question was valid. Despite their brief exchange, all Wang Cheol-jin knew about the “Venerable One of Dark Heavens” came from So-hyeon’s own lips. He had verified nothing for himself.

Wang Cheol-jin let out a long, heavy sigh, his breath carrying the weight of a thousand conflicting emotions. “…I will.”

It was the word of a man before it was the word of a holy successor.

“Go, Grand Young Master. For this moment, at least, I will not bar your path.”

The hidden matters can wait, Wang Cheol-jin thought. Once this war is over, I will settle things with him once and for all.

He didn’t fully trust the boy, but he had decided that So-hyeon was a man of his word. He had credit, if not trust.

“I appreciate the gesture, Alliance Leader,” So-hyeon said with a smile. Seo-rin’s face brightened instantly. “However…”

However?

Seo-rin’s smile faltered.

“My allies do not require my presence just yet,” So-hyeon stated.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Look.” So-hyeon pointed toward the distant horizon.

Through the blinding glare of the setting sun and the roiling clouds of dust, a new force appeared on the edge of the world.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

It was Seo-rin, not Wang Cheol-jin, who recognized them first. Her face lit up with a brilliant, triumphant radiance.

“The War Department…!” she shouted. “The War Department is finally here!”

The division that had been left to deal with the Third Young Master’s personal guards had arrived. The War Department of the Luoyang Sword Clan was officially entering the fray.