The sky, dyed red.
The burning shrine.
And Dam-bi, standing alone in its center.
Fresh blood dripped from her cracked fingertips.
With every step she took, a crimson line was drawn on the ground.
She slowly stepped over the broken roof tiles, approaching.
[Crunch… Crunch…]
Her footsteps, drawing closer to Hyun-nyeo,
rang with an eerie clarity even amidst the fierce flames.
And—
Her lips parted.
"Yes. It was like that then, too."
A low voice.
But within it, something seethed.
"Do you remember?
You imprisoned a child who had lost her father,
a child crying in her mother's arms—
for no other reason than 'different ethnicity.'
And… you set them on fire, killing them."
Beyond the dark crimson smoke,
the blue flame in Dam-bi's eyes flickered.
Hyun-nyeo's foot,
recoiled… slightly.
It was the first time.
For the emotion of 'fear' to settle on her face.
"The screams of the children,
their agonizing cries—
they must have been entertainment to you."
Dam-bi's voice was sharper than a blade,
her gaze colder than ice.
"On that day when those small bodies
were trapped in darkness and burned—
you,
you laughed watching it."
She didn't stop.
One step.
Another step.
With each of Dam-bi's steps,
the blue energy flowing from her eyes
drew a long ribbon in the air, undulating.
"Black Shamaness?"
She had, by now,
stopped twenty paces in front of Hyun-nyeo.
Her eyes were now completely—
a chilling, icy blue.
"Don't make me laugh.
Your true form isn't a shamaness."
Dam-bi's finger slowly pointed at her.
And her gaze sharply pierced Hyun-nyeo.
"You—
are just a black witch!"
At the same instant—
[WHOOSH!!]
Blue spiritual light exploded from Dam-bi's eyes.
At that moment,
her jet-black hair
as if white paint had been poured over it—
turned stark white strand by strand.
The sight was as if
memories from thousands of years ago
were reviving through her body,
a moment of 'awakening.'
Her hair, turned white.
The moment Hyun-nyeo saw that sight—
her eyes wavered.
Somewhere in her memories,
a familiar afterimage arose.
'White Shamaness… Hwansa.'
The spiritual pillar of the Jiuli tribe.
The shamaness who stood beside the God of War.
A woman always remembered before herself.
Always… the object of comparison.
That white hair.
That blue energy.
Hyun-nyeo recalled the day she could never erase.
Just like then—
she stood before her again.
"...I was always your shadow, wasn't I?"
[Hyaat!]
[Clatter! Clatter! Neigh!]
Raising dust, a mounted cavalryman burst into the camp.
His armor was stained with the blood and dust of the battlefield, and his horse snorted, exhausted.
He quickly dismounted and knelt before the woman in the black cloak.
"Reporting to the Black Shamaness!"
The general's voice was rough, his breath ragged.
"In Zhuolu… just now, the enemy general Chiyoo has fallen!"
His eyes trembled with excitement.
"Now, only Hwansa remains!"
The moment she heard those words—
Hyun-nyeo's lips slowly, very slowly, curled upwards.
But it wasn't a smile of joy.
What flickered deep in her eyes was
the one name that always crushed her.
A persistent inferiority complex,
like a thorn embedded since long ago.
"…Chase them."
She murmured lowly.
"Hah!"
The general bowed deeply and shouted,
then immediately remounted his horse.
The sound of hooves faded away as if bursting out of the camp.
[WHOOSH! — THUD!]
Soon after, flames erupted in various parts of the Jiuli village.
Eaves collapsed, roof tiles shattered,
and the flames swallowed the screams of the people.
"Drag the girls away—
kill all the men!"
"Aaah! Father!"
"Mother!!"
The soldiers' eyes gleamed with madness.
Blood-soaked armor, glinting blades.
And…
a tableau of hell, a mixture of wails and screams.
Through the heart of that pandemonium,
a single black figure passed indifferently.
The blazing flames, the cries of parents who had lost their children—
nothing stopped that woman's steps.
[Stomp. Stomp.]
"Hwansa… where are you?!"
Her cry
echoed clearly even in the heart of that hell.
[WHOOSH—]
A gust of wind, cutting through the flames,
caught her gaze.
On that hill,
with dozens of children behind her—
A woman stood.
Hair as dazzling white as snow,
eyes glowing blue.
Behind her,
children clutched her clothes
as if their whole world depended on it.
The children tried their best to suppress their sobs,
but their faces, already streaked with tears and snot,
were stained like muddy water by the dust.
Gazing at the scene, Hwansa quietly opened her lips.
"Black Shamaness…
Obsessed with that mere name, you finally became a wicked woman.
What is so important…
about being talked about by people?"
Hwansa left those words,
and quietly turned away.
She led the children over the hill and disappeared.
At those words—
Hyun-nyeo's vision wavered.
The emotions that had remained like embers flared up again.
'When did it start?
Hwansa, with that knowing gaze.
Everyone sought only her.
Why not me, why are you so special…
Since when, just hearing Hwansa's name made my insides—
burn.'
Her expression twisted.
"Capture her! You can kill the children."
"Hah!"
As that command fell—
[Clatter! Clatter!]
The soldiers galloped towards the hill in unison.
Amidst the heavy thud of hooves, the clang of blades and armor mingled and spread.
Hyun-nyeo watched the scene, slowly smiling.
"Let's see if that bitch can still put on such a haughty expression,
even if I cut off her limbs and throw them among the soldiers."
Hyun-nyeo's lips slowly curled upwards.
Her smile was cruel, gleaming with madness.
A moment later—
[CRASH! THUMP!!]
Above the hill where the soldiers had disappeared,
blue lightning bolts struck down in streaks with explosive roars, tearing the clear sky.
Light and thunder,
and swirling dust and light.
Beyond that hill,
she could not tell what had happened.
For a moment,
Hyun-nyeo's eyes twitched.
"...I'll go myself."
[Hyaat—!]
Hyun-nyeo pulled on the horse's reins.
[Clatter! Clatter!]
Galloping towards the hill—
she narrowed her eyes with an ominous premonition.
And finally—
The top of the hill came into her view.
There—
The charred bodies of horses and soldiers.
Blackened armor, twisted fingers,
their open mouths holding only horror.
And—
In the center of it all, in front of the shrine.
Kneeling, with her hands neatly clasped.
A strange, satisfied smile on her lips.
Hwansa.
She—seemed to have already stopped breathing.
The tips of her severed fingers—
as if drawing her own blood,
left a large circular formation on the ground in front of the shrine.
Inside that blood formation.
The children were not visible,
only… scattered small, discarded shoes.
Hyun-nyeo's eyes trembled with rage.
"...Hwansa!!"
She gritted her teeth.
"With my own hands—
I should have torn you to pieces and killed you!"
Her voice cracked with fury,
and the corners of her lips trembled, twisting.
And at that moment—
[RUMBLE!]
The sound of the shrine collapsing in flames pulled her back to reality.
Back to the present.
Back, here.
The blue-eyed, white-haired girl—
was looking down at her.
Hyun-nyeo's eyes narrowed. The corners of her lips slowly curled up.
And her voice escaped.
Lowly, like a beast.
"This time… finally.
With my own hands, I can perfectly erase you."
Before those words had even finished—
[Click!]
[Click!]
Hyun-nyeo twisted the wooden box.
[WHOOSH!!]
Black smoke surged forth explosively.
The pillar of smoke rose as if tearing the sky,
instantly enveloping Dam-bi's head.
[SCREEECH!!]
An inhuman shriek, whether a scream or a beast's cry, erupted.
And—
From within the smoke, blade-like black feathers rained down.
"Defend."
Dam-bi pulled out a talisman, held it towards the sky, and spoke,
creating a spherical blue barrier centered on the talisman.
[Thud-thud-thud-thud!]
The feathers struck the blue barrier like a downpour,
and the ground instantly turned black.
The densely packed feathers made the area look like
a carpet woven from darkness.
If one were to look from above—
the shape would clearly resemble
a sharply open eye.
Dam-bi, standing in its center, quietly murmured.
"Will-o'-the-wisp."
The blood flowing from her fingertips—
traced the air like a brush.
[Pop. Pop-pop. Pop. Pop.]
Around her,
five chillingly blue flames appeared.
The flames, swaying to different rhythms,
writhed as if possessing a will.
"Disperse."
[WHOOSH!!]
As Dam-bi's single word fell—
the five flames, tracing different trajectories,
shot out explosively.
One to the left,
one into the sky,
another circling behind Hyun-nyeo—
spreading out as if to surround her from all sides.
"Mere will-o'-the-wisps."
Hyun-nyeo snorted derisively,
and twisted the wooden box again.
[Click—]
This time—
black smoke slowly seeped out towards the ground.
She murmured lowly.
"Four Divine Beasts… Black Tortoise."
[Grrrrumble—]
The black smoke crawled over the ground, taking form.
A turtle's head,
a snake's tail,
a carapace of black radiance.
Two beings merged into one form.
And—
[WHOOSH!!]
The Black Tortoise raised its heads in all directions.
From the mouths of both the snake and the turtle, simultaneously,
black flames began to erupt.
[CRASH! BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!]
Black flames pouring from all directions
clashed with the will-o'-the-wisps.
At that moment—
Space twisted as if distorted,
and blue flames and black fire intertwined like a storm.
[WHOOSH! WOO-OO-OO-OO—!]
The flames exploded outwards,
burning the ground—and shaking the sky.
[Hiss—]
Within the black smoke,
the will-o'-the-wisps slowly faded.
And in that gap—
The Black Tortoise slowly turned its head.
Its red eyes,
pierced directly towards Dam-bi.
"Hwansa, is that all you have?"
Hyun-nyeo's voice was laced with mockery.
Dam-bi was pale white from forcibly drawing out power.
"That's not something a witch who doesn't even care about the mediums she possesses
should say, is it…?"
Beyond Dam-bi's vision,
a distorted form was visible.
Hyun-nyeo, who had been a young woman just moments ago—
Her hair, where Hyun-nyeo had possessed her, was patchy and thinning,
and deep wrinkles were clearly etched around her eyes.
Veins on the back of her hands bulged,
and the skin on her neck was rough and cracked.
That power was eating away at her.
"Haechi, come out!"
Dam-bi shouted.
With trembling fingertips, she drew the form of an animal in the air.
The form flickered like a flame—
Just before disappearing,
Dam-bi quickly sent out a talisman.
[WHOOSH—!]
The flame, imbued with blue energy,
spread like an explosion.
And in an instant—
[Grrrrrrrr…]
From within the blue flames,
a black shadow slowly raised its head.
[THUD—]
As its four feet touched, the ground lightly vibrated.
Its entire body was covered in scales
through which blue flames flowed,
and a single horn gleamed on its forehead.
Its eyes blazed orange,
and its mane, fluttering like flames,
resembled both a lion and a dragon.
It was Haechi,
the guardian of heaven's will and justice,
a forgotten ancient divine beast—
[ROOAARRRRRRRRR—!!!]
Haechi rose,
shooting a beam of light from its forehead,
piercing the Black Tortoise's snake tail.
The Black Tortoise twisted its body,
spewing black flames as if in retaliation.
In response,
Haechi's blue energy roar
collided with the Black Tortoise's black flames.
As the two divine beasts began their power struggle—
Space twisted, slowly beginning to compress.
[SQUUUUUUUUUUEEZE—]
The space, condensed to its limit, trembled.
[CRAAAAAASSSHHHH!!]
Sky and earth simultaneously heaved.
Blue flames and black fire intertwined,
tearing the sky and surging like a whirlwind.
The immense heat and shockwave generated at its center
swept through the area around the shrine,
overturning the very surface of the earth.
A moment later—
The heat spread like a wildfire.
Blazing flames crept up tree trunks,
then crossed the ridge,
swallowing the forests and rocks at the foot of Baekdu Mountain.
From the red-hot mountainside,
pillars of fire shot up,
and the sky was dyed with smoke.
The recoil of that collision immediately
returned to the summoners.
The divine beasts crumbled into dust with a roar in the wind.
Both Haechi and the Black Tortoise—
scattered into the air as if they had never existed.
"Gah…!"
Hyun-nyeo's body swayed.
Deep wrinkles etched her face,
and the skin around her eyes was roughly cracked.
Her hair fell out in clumps,
and the veins on her neck swelled like spiderwebs.
"...!"
Dam-bi, too, with lips tightly pressed,
knelt and held on.
[Cough!]
At that moment—
dark crimson blood poured from her mouth like a waterfall.
As if her insides were ripped out,
she quietly vomited blood.
[Cough…]
Her shoulders slumped,
and the energy that flowed to her fingertips died out.
The flame in her eyes, too,
flickered like the wind.
It was then—
Hyun-nyeo threw her head back and said.
"Let's end this game… now."