Silence descended.

Strangely, the air held not a shred of killing intent.

It was clearly a thrust, yet it was so devoid of malice that one wouldn’t even realize they were being stabbed. But make no mistake—it was a sword. It was a blade imbued with the pinnacle of highly advanced martial learning.

It was the Mindless Sword Path, quiet as moonlight brushing across a snowfield on a deep winter night.

The sword approached the heart, gently parting flesh and piercing the organ.

Shhhhk.

In that moment, no one perceived what had happened. By the time reality caught up to their senses, the Ice Clarity Sword had already cleaved the heart in two. What had bloomed from Jin Cheon-hee’s hand was a truly bizarre, supreme technique of his Realm of Martial Mind.

“Keu-euk!”

Khahurai Khan’s body trembled violently.

Having exhausted every ounce of his internal energy, Jin Cheon-hee released his grip on the hilt and staggered back a few steps before collapsing to the earth. He had nothing left—not even the strength to lift a finger.

“You… You cannot… do this!”

Trembling, Khahurai Khan gripped the blade stuck in his chest and thrust it deeper into his own heart like a madman. Instantly, the area around his chest froze solid. Yet, miraculously, he moved without dying.

“It must be me… Only I… Only I…”

In that grotesque state, he ripped the sword out. The wound was frozen shut; no blood sprayed, for his heart itself had likely turned to ice. How, then, was he still moving?

“I will kill you and drink your blood. Then I will not die…”

“What are you doing without my permission?”

At that moment, a voice that shouldn’t have been there cut through the din.

Khahurai Khan turned his head. There, a tall man in white robes stood watching. Beside him, a woman’s voice grumbled, breathless.

“This is why I hate organizational life… Haa. I’m old… my bones are going to rot… What is this at my age, educating a granddaughter… Ha…”

The woman, appearing to be around thirty, was bent over at the waist beside the handsome man in white, panting heavily. The man ignored her, his gaze fixed on the fallen disciple.

“Hee. You finally managed to reach this point. Let’s talk about what comes after later.”

And then, there was light.

Just light—straight, true, and absolute.

When the brilliance vanished, Khahurai Khan’s head had been separated from his body, rolling onto the dirt. A smear of blood lingered on the Master’s fan before he shook it off with a sharp snap.

It was as if such filth had never stained it from the start.

“Khahurai Khan is dead! Surrender!”

Zhuge Rin’s shout shook the battlefield.

***

The enemy commander is dead?

In an instant, the Suksin forces fell into confusion.

Meanwhile, the formation the Master had created began to push back the battle lines like a rising tide. Amidst that chaos, strangely, only the area around Khahurai Khan’s corpse remained quiet, like the eye of a typhoon.

“Though it is dirty, we must take the enemy’s head. It can’t be helped,” Master mused. “Hee, will you use the body as a specimen?”

Jin Cheon-hee, barely conscious, answered weakly. “Uh… He’s not just a simple enemy… He’s the Khan of the Suksin tribe, so I think it’s better to let His Majesty decide?”

“That is true. From there on, it is the realm of politics.” Master looked disappointed, as if a toy he had found for his disciple had been taken away.

No, still… His Highness Eun seems more like the type to recover the body properly and send it to the enemy camp rather than sticking the head on a spear to insult them.

Of course, there might be some political utility in between, but accomplishing that with grace was also the virtue of a ruler.

It was then.

Cr-crack—

Khahurai Khan’s severed head—did its jawbone just move on its own?

Vooooooom—

The head lifted itself into the air, defying gravity. A voice resonated from it, sounding like a chorus of multiple people speaking simultaneously.

[I. / This Seat. / I. / This Body.]

The chaotic, overlapping voices were incredibly bizarre.

[Am the Blood Immortal. Ah. The scent of the lower world… it has been a long time.]

Rumble—

Fine hairs stood on end. Muscles locked up tight. Jin Cheon-hee’s heart beat like crazy, and though every instinct screamed at him to look away, he found himself unable to move an inch. This wasn’t a normal reaction.

What on earth is this?

Just from its presence, a terror akin to being dragged alive into hell washed over him. With trembling hands, Jin Cheon-hee grasped the Ice Clarity Sword again.

Blood Immortal! How did it descend!?

Jin Cheon-hee stared at the floating head in astonishment. Still, through the fear, he felt he vaguely understood the entity’s intention. Seeing that only the voice had descended, it didn’t seem like it had come to fight. It was certain it was trying to leave a message; otherwise, the head wouldn’t be hovering there.

[Covetous. Child of defying heavens. I am the beast of the End of Law…]

Splat!

In that moment, the Blood Immortal’s head exploded.

A small Aura Sphere flew from Master’s hand like a bullet, shattering the head possessed by the Blood Immortal like a ripe watermelon.

Plop-plop-plop—

Brain matter spilled onto the ground, and the head vanished without a trace.

“…”

Just as everyone failed to process the situation and teetered on the brink of panic, Master spoke calmly.

“Right… I should deal with the Blood Immortal Cult seriously from now on.”

“Master, wasn’t it trying to leave some important message? The Blood Immortal… It’s still the Blood Immortal…?”

“Hahahaha, Hee. Do you think the Blood Immortal would tell us the location of the Cult’s headquarters? In my experience of the Murim, ninety-nine percent of that is bullshit.”

Master had no mercy.

I see. As expected.

So that was why the Blood Immortal Cult never sent messages to Master. Usually, wouldn’t one listen to what a deity has to say out of curiosity? No one could have predicted he would burst the head possessed by the Blood Immortal the moment it opened its mouth.

And wasn’t that the Khan’s head?! The head of an enemy commander with high diplomatic value!

Master spoke, cutting through his thoughts.

“Listen well, Hee. Conversation is established through mutual respect. An ignorant bastard who spills strange laughter from the start has no intention of respecting me through conversation, so just burst their brains like this.”

“Hoh?!”

Sama Hyeon’s eyes shone with dangerous admiration.

Jin Cheon-hee quickly intervened. “Hyeon, that doesn’t mean you should tear off faces recklessly! Don’t learn this kind of thing from the Unorthodox!”

Whether Sama Hyeon absorbed the lesson or not, Master continued, tapping his fan against his chin.

“Anyway, the start of a conversation is a self-introduction. The Blood Immortal introducing itself as soon as it came out was mildly commendable.”

Still, the fact that you blew its head off didn’t change.

Master pondered for a moment.

“Can’t be helped. Let’s take the body instead of the head. Escort Head.”

“Ah… Fuck…”

“Please take care of it.”

“You want me to move this huge thing at my age?”

“I could move the head with my own hands somehow, but for the body, freshness is important, so.”

The Escort Head—the Thieving Phantom—grumbled, muttering, “If you don’t assign my granddaughter a proper instructor, I’ll turn the White Qilin Medical Pavilion into a beggar’s den.”

Master laughed hollowly, covered his mouth with his fan, and whispered something to her.

“Really? Keuheum… Then it can’t be helped. In my prime, I stole many things bigger than this, you know? It’s my specialty. Specialty.”

Seeing her start to grin, the irritation vanishing from her face, it seemed he had promised a reward that piqued her interest.

“Now, then, Hee. Let’s go.”

“…”

“Hee-ya?”

“Brother?”

“Big Brother?”

“…”

Was it because the tension finally released? Was it because he had looked the Blood Immortal in the eye? Or was it because he had squeezed out his last drop of energy in the battle with the Khan?

Jin Cheon-hee lost consciousness and collapsed.

Thud—

When Zhuge Rin turned around, the other brothers had also collapsed. Extreme exhaustion had finally claimed the consciousness of the three young men.

The Thieving Phantom shouted. “I’m moving only one! I’m moving only one!”

The exhausted disciple and two unconscious bastards. Zhuge Rin looked up at the sky.

“…”

His cool eyes reflected the heavens. His posture remained as sharp and composed as a blade, but the Thieving Phantom knew the truth of his mind.

He was definitely cursing while looking at that sky. He was absolutely cursing.

***

At the same time.

Yeo Ha-ryoon held Heavenly Lord Won by the throat.

“Keuheok, keuheheuheok! …As expected of the Star of Heavenly Slaughter… Vicious… Viciously strong.”

“…”

The sight of Heavenly Lord Won, his limbs torn off, was horrific enough to make even Yeo Ha-ryoon’s subordinates frown. But Yeo Ha-ryoon stared at him without a flicker of emotion.

“Bastard! Why—why do you maintain your reason so intact! Surely the Star of Heavenly Slaughter…”

“Is there no more information to gain?”

The person beside him spoke up.

“Hyung, getting information from the Blood Immortal Cult directly is almost impossible. There is more to be gained through their clothes or tracks.”

Ilkana.

The Princess of the Selim Theocratic State, who had received education under Jin Cheon-hee, had entered as Yeo Ha-ryoon’s subordinate. She hadn’t gained enough trust to be called his right arm yet, but her ability had become peerless compared to the original history.

Moreover, because she was the one who had polished her basics as a strategist while enduring the foul temper of the White Qilin Divine Physician, her mental agility was superior to any talent Yeo Ha-ryoon currently possessed.

“It seems there’s no need for torture. Do you have any last words?”

Yeo Ha-ryoon showed mercy to the enemy with a relaxed expression—a spirit that was the very embodiment of a protagonist.

Heavenly Lord Won mocked his own situation.

“Keueuk… You bastard… Your sworn brother will eventually be offered to the Blood Immortal.”

“I received your last words well.”

Crack.

Yeo Ha-ryoon broke his neck, ending his life. However, it didn’t end there. His hand, sharp as a blade, severed Heavenly Lord Won’s head.

Ilkana spoke quietly. “Even though he received the Blood Immortal’s blessing, he was no match for you, Hyung. It seemed like you deliberately induced him to receive the blessing.”

“Hm. I needed a chance to test the achievement of my martial arts.”

Yeo Ha-ryoon closed his eyes as he spoke. Eventually, seeming to have settled his thoughts, he opened them again.

“There will be many to kill.”

The moment those words ended, the Star of Heavenly Slaughter began to rampage joyfully inside Yeo Ha-ryoon’s head. The Star of Heavenly Slaughter was pure like a child, as always.

It was pure Killing.

Suddenly, Yeo Ha-ryoon felt Ilkana looking toward the direction where Jin Cheon-hee was.

“Do you not need to say hello?”

At those words, Ilkana looked serious.

“Oh my. Hyung. I am always grateful to Brother Jin Cheon-hee, but I really don’t want to see his Master, you know?”

“…The strategist has suffered much.”

Only those who have experienced it know how dirty Zhuge Rin’s temper is.

Thus, at the turning point of history, behind the scenes revealed to no one, a journey unique to the Demonic Cult was forged.

Eventually, the cry of a crow was heard from afar. To ordinary people, it was just a normal bird call, but to them, it was the signal of the Demonic Cult.

“It seems those from the Cult sent to handle the heads of the Blood Immortal Cult have finally arrived. You all return.”

At Yeo Ha-ryoon’s order, the subordinates disappeared as if seeping into the shadows.

Step.

Eventually, Yeo Ha-ryoon’s figure also gradually faded and vanished. The Heavenly Demon Divine Art was beginning to reach its extreme; he disappeared as if scattering from that spot, as if he had never been there from the start.

Only corpses and the altar remained. Yeo Ha-ryoon and his subordinates had erased themselves perfectly.