Chapter 674

Things happened in this world that defied common sense.

The woman reflected in Baeksang’s bloodshot eyes at this very moment was one of them.

“…Southern Heaven Demon Empress.”

His voice rang softly through the room. They were alone.

The woman—the Southern Heaven Demon Empress—smiled broadly.

“It’s been a while, Great Chieftain Baeksang.”

Her smile was impossibly beautiful—and more bewitching still. Baeksang’s heart sank.

How?

Getting past the tight security was no great surprise. But he had reached the Supreme Peak realm, and he hadn’t sensed her approach at all.

He had first learned of the Southern Heaven Demon Empress more than thirty years ago. Much had changed since the days when grief over his child’s death had driven him half-mad. Yet the gulf between him and that demoness had not narrowed in the slightest. The realization weighed on him.

“…What brings you here?”

At his stiff question, she put on a sulky face.

“Why? Aren’t you happy to see me?”

There was plenty of mischief in her voice, but Baeksang could not afford to lower his guard around her for an instant. He forced himself to remain calm.

“I simply didn’t expect you to come in person. Normally, you would have sent a messenger or left me a secret message.”

The Southern Heaven Demon Empress—or rather, Dark Heaven—had always done things that way. Baeksang was used to meeting black-clad figures whose names and faces were concealed, or finding messages they had left in unexpected places.

And he had never been able to refuse them.

“We agreed to meet again in four days. I would have come to you then. There was no need for you to make the trip.”

He had followed that arrangement for decades. On the first day of every month, he exchanged missives with Dark Heaven between Insi¹ and the hour of the Rabbit.² Once every three months, he went to them alone, without telling anyone.

“Three days from now? Oh my, has it been that long already?”

She widened her eyes as if she had completely forgotten. Baeksang felt his fist clench.

“You…”

“I’m joking. You’re getting worked up? That’s not like you. Our Great Chieftain has a surprisingly cute side.”

“…!”

“I came for a few reasons. So much has happened lately, and now that you’re finally the ruler of Nanman, I wanted to congratulate you in person. But…”

She covered her mouth and laughed.

“Who would have thought I’d see the cold, calculating Great Chieftain Baeksang in tears? Or should I say, the new Palace Lord?”

The corners of her mouth were lifted, but her gaze had sunk deep. Baeksang felt a chill in his heart before he spoke.

“It was nothing. The mirror brought back an old memory, that’s all.”

“Oh, because you thought of the son who looked exactly like you in the mirror?”

“…I’d rather leave that subject alone. What matters now is the future, not the past.”

“Well, if that’s what our Palace Lord wants. A good attitude.”

She smiled and went on.

“Though I am a little disappointed. I thought my gift had moved you to tears.”

“I’m grateful for the mirror,” Baeksang said stiffly. “I’ve been putting it to good use.”

“Never mind. I went to some trouble to find it as a gift for your appointment as Palace Lord, and now you’re thanking me only because I brought it up.”

She shot him a sidelong glance, then walked slowly to the window. From the Palace Lord’s Hall atop the highest hill in the Inner Palace, she could see countless pavilions and houses below.

“Wow. What a view. I suppose the Palace Lord’s residence ought to be special. You’ll get to see this every day now, won’t you?”

“I’m only the temporary Palace Lord.”

“Temporary… You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“……”

“My dear Palace Lord. Why pretend when you know perfectly well?”

The Southern Heaven Demon Empress gave the silent Baeksang a smile with her eyes before turning her gaze toward the view outside.

Sunlight streamed down. A cool breeze blew in from somewhere, and not a cloud marred the blue sky. The first fine day she had seen in some time lifted her spirits.

How could it not? Soon she could stain that clear sky with a darkness that would leave not a single ray of light.

Whoooosh.

Wind poured through the open window, setting her silky hair rippling. She closed her eyes and smiled. Moments later, she spoke.

“You know the great undertaking is entering its final stage, don’t you?”

“……!”

Her quiet voice made Baeksang’s eyelids tremble. Decades of memories flashed before him, along with one person’s face.

“Of course… I do.”

“Everything is going smoothly. Apart from a few minor problems.”

Baeksang could guess what she meant. The two names she spoke next confirmed it.

“The Beast Miao King. And Jin Taekyung.”

Resting her chin on one hand, she watched the Nanman warriors filing in below.

“Honestly, they’re more than minor problems. One is a Supreme Peak master powerful enough to stand among the Ten Kings. And the other is—yes—that Jin Taekyung.”

Baeksang watched her back. What he had dreaded was finally here. It was probably why she had shown herself after staying out of sight for so long.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? For what?”

“How could I not be? It was clearly my mistake.”

“Hmm.”

She hummed softly, then said, “Yes. But it was our mistake too. I never expected the Beast Miao King to make a move like that. And…”

She glanced over her shoulder at Baeksang’s left arm. Beneath his robe of snow-white fox fur, the sleeve was empty now. It had not been the night before.

“I know our new Palace Lord did make an effort.”

The bleeding had stopped, but the pain from where Force had severed his arm would not fade so quickly. Baeksang bore a fresh throb of it as he answered.

“I couldn’t defeat him. I brought in every soldier waiting nearby, but he broke through the encirclement.”

“He may be the least of the Ten Kings, but he’s still one of them. Then again, perhaps what saved him was… that last bit of affection you still feel for your sworn brother.”

“That…”

“Wasn’t it? Can you deny it outright?”

Baeksang was silent for a moment.

“Perhaps. Yes, perhaps it was. At the very least, I might have been able to buy enough time to pursue him.”

“Do you understand what you’re admitting?”

“Of course. But I can say one thing with certainty: it will never happen again.”

She studied his dark eyes, then let out a light sigh.

“Phew. What a relief.”

“What is?”

“That you told me the truth. If you’d refused to admit it, I was going to tear you limb from limb and kill you before long.”

“……!”

“I truly am relieved. We haven’t seen each other often, but I’ve grown rather fond of you, Palace Lord.”

She gave him a shy smile, like a young girl.

“You know how, when you see a little ant fall into the water and struggle to stay alive, you find yourself rooting for it? Oh, I don’t mean that you’re an ant. I’m just not very good with words.”

Baeksang felt the blood in his body turn cold. The fear pressing down on him swallowed even his shame and humiliation.

It reminded him how dangerous this woman truly was. To Dark Heaven, he was an easily controlled puppet, an animal on a leash—or something less.

But…

This is the path I chose.

That was the cold truth. Long ago, he had taken the hand the Southern Heaven Demon Empress—Dark Heaven—offered him. In return, he had received hope.

That hope had lifted him from the grief of losing his child and given him a reason to go on living. He could not bring this path to an end himself.

He had climbed onto a tiger’s back. All he could do was ride it onward with all his strength.

Thud.

No one in Nanman would have believed the sight, but it was happening in the Palace Lord’s Hall. The new Palace Lord of the Nanman Beast Palace, ruler of all that vast land, had dropped to one knee before a woman who seemed more beautiful than anything in the world.

“Please give me your orders, Demon Empress.”

She looked down at him and smiled languidly in the sunlight from the window.

“This is why I like you.”

She reached toward the open window, as though she meant to seize the Nanman warriors still pouring in under the new Palace Lord’s general mobilization order—and the blue sky above them.

“Three days. Find the Beast Miao King and eliminate him within three days. As for Jin Taekyung…”

Or perhaps she meant to turn it all to darkness at a stroke.

“We’ll deal with him.”

With the great undertaking already nearing its end, she had no doubt: the path opened through Nanman would become a bridgehead into the Central Plains. And at the end of that path awaited the return of the omnipotent Lord of Heaven, ruler of all creation.

I’ll stake Hyuk Mujin’s balls on it.

That was probably a signal fire unlike any in Nanman’s history. Maybe even Murim’s.

Fwoosh. WHOOOM!

Two days had passed since I left the others in Taishan’s care and headed south. I was setting my seventh mountain on fire.

Oh, the pasture too, of course.

“Wait. Is this the seventh or the eighth?”

Grrrr.

“Right. That’s not important.”

I ignored the White Tiger’s annoyed look. Blood and soot had dirtied its once-white fur.

The blood wasn’t its own. After we’d driven off pursuit squads half a dozen times, a little mess was unavoidable.

Soon, though, I wouldn’t hear Muyaho complaining anymore. No—neither of us would have the attention to spare for anything like that.

Step.

The White Tiger planted a huge forepaw in the mud. It had been running like the wind until now, so when it stared into the black forest and let out a low cry, that could mean only one thing.

Yes.

“It’s here.”

I muttered while gazing at the mountain shrouded in darkness.