Chapter 96
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Chapter 96
In an instant, one of Baek Ga Ya's eyebrows shot up sharply.
"Impertinent?"
Even in stillness, Gaya's aura was cold and cutting, and as his eyes hardened like ice, the air around him seemed to freeze and settle with a bitter chill.
Yet the more it happened, the deeper and warmer Jeok San Yu's smile became.
Those watching felt their expressions darken.
'Here we go again.'
Baek Ga Ya and Jeok San Yu were as opposite in appearance and temperament as they were terrible with each other.
In moments like this, retreat was the wisest course—to avoid being caught in their clash and wounded.
Everyone silently slipped away from the area.
"How fortunate, Lord Gaya. Truth be told, my mood has been quite poor."
Jeok San Yu picked up the longbow he had been working on moments before and aimed it toward him.
"Would you care to spar with me after all this time?"
"What?"
The very instant Baek Ga Ya stared at the grinning Jeok San Yu with exasperation.
Whoosh—
An arrow from Jeok San Yu came flying immediately.
"That crazy bird-brain."
Gaya quickly secured the handkerchief Soya had given him and dodged out of the way.
Boom—!
The arrow struck where he had been standing moments before, then exploded, creating a massive crater.
Had it grazed him even slightly, he would have suffered grave wounds.
Others would have shrieked and fled in panic, but Baek Ga Ya simply tapped his feet lightly and changed direction.
Then he drew the sword at his waist and rushed at Jeok San Yu.
Unlike when facing demons, when fighting humans he preferred to use weapons rather than bare hands.
Fighting barehanded risked the steel-like claws of a White Tiger humanoid tearing his opponent apart.
Baek Ga Ya swung his blade, cleaving every incoming arrow in two as he charged forward.
Just as he raised his sword to bring it down, Jeok San Yu lifted his bow to block the strike.
Clang—!
The moment their sword and bow collided with a dull sound.
Boom—!
A tremendous roar erupted, and dust billowed up in a haze.
It was a battlefield of such destructive combat that even demons fled in alarm.
* * *
Meanwhile, across from the Imperial Army unit where dust was rising.
Beyond the seething Demon Army, the black earth stretched endlessly—the cold and desolate Northern Lands.
A demon clad in black helmet and armor gazed down upon the frigid battlefield.
His name was Dool.
One of the Four Calamities resurrected by Hyun Rabaek, and the commander leading the Demon Army attacking the Empire.
He and the demons under his command carried out their master's orders, attacking the Empire.
Already, more than ten years had slipped away.
The protracted war showed no signs of ending.
Demons crossed borders and slaughtered humans driven by nothing but instinctive bloodlust—devoid of purpose or meaning.
In truth, more demons fell to the Imperial Army's blades, yet such details held no significance.
For Dool, the commander leading tens of thousands of the Demon Army, only one thing mattered.
To obey his lord Hyun Rabaek's command and strike down humanity.
"Dool."
A man approached him at that moment.
The figure cloaked entirely in black cloth from head to toe was Dochul, the final of the Four Calamities.
"Following Hondon, even Gunggi has fallen."
"...."
Yet Dool did not turn to face him, his gaze fixed only upon the distant battlefield.
Seeing Dool's apparent indifference to the news he brought, Dochul continued.
"The human flesh housing our lord is far too fragile. At this rate, we shall all perish."
"What are you trying to say?"
Only then did Dool turn, his brow furrowed.
"I mean we should serve our true lord instead of the leader of the Hyunmu Clan. The 'Evil' of this world!"
"Speak no such nonsense, Dochul."
In an instant, Dool leveled his blade toward Dochul.
"It was our current lord who resurrected us. I follow only his command."
"...."
At that chilling blade's edge, Dochul swallowed hard and sealed his lips shut.
"Should you act against our lord's interests, I shall show you no mercy."
With that brief threat, Dool turned his back and departed.
"That one too will die soon. Like the two before him."
Dochul clicked his tongue as he watched Dool's retreating figure.
But I did not wish to meet such a wretched end.
'After waiting through such an eternity, to be resurrected only to perish thus.'
Hyun Rabaek, the leader of the Hyunmu Clan.
Long ago, he had awakened the 'Ancient Evil' and accepted it into his own body, seeking to become the 'Evil' of this world himself—yet....
'That man's body cannot fully accept our lord's power.'
I, a calamity who once threw the entire continent into chaos, have grown so weak—proof enough of this.
Should our true lord, dwelling within that man's flesh, find a stronger body befitting his might.
Should that evil grow ever more formidable.
Then I too would become stronger than I am now.
'Before that human's body crumbles, I must find a new vessel to contain our lord.'
Dochul ground his teeth inwardly with that resolve.
* * *
The frigid Northern Region.
Beneath the black swamp, submerged in rippling darkness—the Hyun To Underground Palace, the Swamp of the Dead.
A man sat upon a black throne, cold sweat dripping down his face as anguished moans escaped his lips.
Hyun Rabaek, the Lord of the Northern Lands.
His body was originally that of an ordinary beast-man, and there were limits to how much "ancient evil" it could contain.
Thus, his perpetually fragile form suffered grievous damage three years ago when he sent a puppet to Baek Ho Palace, only to be attacked in return.
Though he could recover over those three years, the once-fractured vessel continued to crack further, allowing the evil to seep out gradually, destroying his body from within and without.
"Ugh...."
Hyun Rabaek writhed in agony as the evil within him constantly sought to shatter his core and burst forth.
His flesh continued to fracture and crumble, unable to withstand the strain.
Yet this was something he had resolved to accept from the moment he first embraced the evil.
Offering his own body as a sacrifice—there was only one thing he desired.
To bring down the continent.
The Lord of the Northern Lands was a foolish man, consumed entirely by that singular obsession.
"Haaah...."
Having barely suppressed the agony, he exhaled a long, deep breath.
He remembered it well.
Twelve years ago, on that night when the crimson moon hung in the sky. What the Imperial Family had done to his former beloved.
It all began with an oracle.
The prophecy that the bride of the Golden Dragon would awaken the Four Sacred Beasts.
"Hehehehe. Hehehehehehe."
Suddenly, he covered his face with one hand and burst into laughter.
But then.
"...Yeon-ah."
With a pained murmur, thick tears streamed down from beneath his heavy palm.
"Siyeon. How I long for you...."
The black water that had risen to his ankles rippled and swayed.
A shimmer blooming upon the surface coalesced into the phantom of a woman.
The phantom woman drew near to him.
Hyun Rabaek lowered the hand shielding his eyes and slowly lifted his gaze to behold her.
Once his beloved, to whom he had promised eternity—yet torn apart by that cursed bride of the Golden Dragon or whatever she was.
She had become the Empress, severing all ties with him, his former love.
It pained him to watch her from afar as a subject bound by duty, now that she had become the Empress, yet he endured.
He could bear it.
Until he learned of her death and the ugly truth of the Imperial Family hidden beneath it.
―Do not weep, Rabaek.
The phantom woman's hand caressed his cheek, offering solace.
Hyun Rabaek's throat trembled painfully as he suddenly pulled her into his embrace.
"Siyeon...."
He slowly opened his tightly shut eyes and looked up at her.
A woman with deep blue-black hair and beautiful teal eyes smiled tenderly at him.
The woman bent her waist toward him.
Gradually, their faces drew closer.
Hyun Rabaek reached out with the ease of an old habit, loosening the ribbon from her hair.
The dark blue strands cascaded down, tickling his cheek.
In that moment, as he gazed at her with a faint smile, the vision shattered.
It dissolved without form or substance.
She vanished—along with the sensation of the ribbon that had lingered in his palm.
Hyun Rabaek stared at his empty hand and let out a hollow laugh.
Hyun Rabaek let out a hollow laugh as he looked at his empty hands.
* * *
A teal-colored ribbon dangled from Jeok Soya's hair.
Each time she bounded forward, the ribbon swayed and fluttered in rhythm with her steps.
The Dragon God Festival of the Eastern Lands had concluded, and Jeok Soya had returned to Baek Ho Palace.
"I'm home!"
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