Dam-bi's chest, as she knelt,
was soaked with the dark crimson blood that had flowed from her mouth.
Her clothes stained with blood.
Her face, pale to the point of being white,
told of her limits approaching.
Opposite her—
Hyun-nyeo, transformed into an elderly figure,
wore an arrogant smile on her wrinkled face.
"With that body… did you think you could stop me to the end?"
Hyun-nyeo looked down at Dam-bi mockingly,
then quietly raised one hand.
At that moment—
"Dam-bi unnieee!"
"Dam-bi!!"
"Lady Dam-bi!!!"
Do-yoon shouted, holding the girl in his arms,
and the group, including Min-chan, rushed towards Dam-bi.
"Oh, oh, right… you guys were still here."
Hyun-nyeo turned her head,
scanning the group trying to protect Dam-bi,
and twisted her wrinkled hands back and forth as she looked at them.
"This medium's life force is also running out…
Perfect timing. Since you bastards are here—"
[Cling…]
She pulled out a bell from her bosom and shook it—
with a heavy sound,
a vibration that seemed to shake the body echoed through the air.
"Ugh…!"
"This sound, it's the same as that voice from before…!"
"My head… feels like it's splitting…!"
The gym members screamed,
clutching their chests and falling to their knees.
It was then.
[WHOOSH—!]
"Stop…!"
Dam-bi squeezed out her last remaining energy,
pulled out a blood-stained talisman with her fingertips, and threw it.
And then—
she collapsed.
The talisman, imbued with blue energy, cut through the air,
and 'stuck' to each of the group's backs.
[WHOOSH…]
For a brief moment,
blue flames enveloped their bodies.
[WHOOSH…!]
Their minds, which had been engulfed in confusion, cleared,
and their clutched hearts loosened.
The group slowly rose from their fallen positions.
"Dam-bi…"
Min-chan quickly ran over,
and gently lifted her, soaked in blood.
"…You've suffered enough.
Now rest. Coach, please take care of Dam-bi."
Min-chan, stroking her hair,
then carefully laid Dam-bi on a flat rock in front of the shrine
and entrusted her to Gab-su's care.
Beyond the burning flames—
Hyun-nyeo was still,
looking down at them.
[Cough, cough…]
The girl in Do-yoon's arms suddenly coughed.
Young-ho and Young-beom, their gazes fixed on Hyun-nyeo,
cautiously asked each other.
"But… isn't it quite hard to breathe?"
"Yeah. Does your head feel a bit dizzy too?"
The ridge of Baekdu Mountain.
The inferno caused by the clash of divine beasts
was engulfing Baekdu Mountain, centered around the shrine.
"It must be carbon monoxide.
And it seems like there's a lack of oxygen."
Thick drops of sweat
ran down Tae-geon's jaw.
"No time. The flames, Dam-bi…
It only ends when we defeat that old hag quickly."
Min-chan muttered lowly and stood up.
Behind his back, the talisman he received from Dam-bi
still flickered with a blue afterglow.
He loosened his shoulders,
and slowly—
walked step by step towards Hyun-nyeo.
"Her life force has dropped.
She won't be able to use spells now."
Young-ho clenched his fists and followed,
and beside him, Young-beom
loosened his body by cracking his neck left and right.
"Seriously… I'm so pissed off.
This is not something a human would do."
Do-yoon gently stroked the crying child's head once,
then clenched his lips and rolled up his sleeves.
"Anyway…
If we do nothing, we'll either burn to death,
or die by that woman's hand."
Tae-geon's voice was low but firm.
His eyes were much colder than usual.
Soon after—
Coach Kim Gab-su and Coach Park Sang-cheol
walked out, pushing through the flames.
"I can't be left out of this fight…"
"Power control? Don't do that.
That woman is no longer human."
Min-chan took a deep breath.
His throat stung, and the tip of his nose was raw.
But despite that—
Something was boiling
along his spine.
"I'll go first."
At that moment—
Hyun-nyeo raised her head.
"Hmph… Insolent fools."
With her wrinkled fingertips,
she pulled out the bell again.
[Cling…]
And—
[Crackle. Crackle.]
Scales began to erupt like snakes all over Hyun-nyeo's skin.
Every time she twisted her body, the scales reflected the firelight, and a fishy smell wafted through the air.
[Sizzle…!]
Her lips tore, blood seeped out, and even her pupils split vertically.
And from her parted mouth, fangs and a snake-like tongue were visible.
Her fingernails grew to a foot long, and their tips looked sharp as blades.
"Yes… I will tear each and every one of you to death."
She lunged at Min-chan in an instant.
Her speed was not that of an old woman.
[BANG!]
The sound of air bursting and a fist cutting through the air,
Min-chan twisted his head to dodge,
but even the passing wind made his neck tingle.
"Young-beom!"
With Min-chan's shout,
Young-beom bent his knees and lunged forward as if rebounding.
[THWACK!]
His swinging shin
hit Hyun-nyeo's side precisely, scattering blue sparks.
However—
[THUD!]
"What the…?"
She hadn't even blocked it with her hand,
but Hyun-nyeo's body didn't budge an inch.
"The old hag's surprisingly tough."
Sang-cheol gritted his teeth and intervened.
Lowering his upper body and rotating his body, he threw a punch—
[THWACK!]
A concise body hook aimed for Hyun-nyeo's ribs.
[CRACK!]
"Gah!"
Sang-cheol's fist, flashing blue, hit the spot Young-beom had struck once more.
Hyun-nyeo took a step back and gasped for breath.
"I'll skin you bastards and use your hides as talismans."
However, perhaps due to the effect of Dam-bi's talisman,
her life force further diminished, and age spots began to appear on her face.
[WHOOSH—!]
Suddenly, Hyun-nyeo's form flickered.
In the blink of an eye, her fingernails, which had appeared swiftly before Do-yoon,
cut through the air and plunged down vertically as if to split Do-yoon in half.
[SWISHH!!]
"Ugh!"
Do-yoon's eyes widened,
and with a scream, he instinctively rolled his body.
[SMACK!]
Where he had just been—
Hyun-nyeo's hand was deeply embedded up to her wrist, and the ground cracked.
"Now, Tae-geon hyung!"
Simultaneously with Min-chan's shout—
Tae-geon quickly charged from behind.
He gripped Hyun-nyeo's nape with a firm arm,
and instantly, with their backs pressed together, he snapped his waist.
[THUD!]
With a crisp impact sound,
Hyun-nyeo's body flew into the air.
Tae-geon's arm, holding her nape, slammed down towards the ground like a whip.
[CRASH!!]
Hyun-nyeo's body was slammed onto the ground, causing a vibration.
"Damn it!"
Hyun-nyeo slammed both hands on the ground,
and her entire body sprang up like a spring, instantly righting her posture.
"What, is she a zombie or something…?"
Do-yoon clicked his tongue.
It was then.
[RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE…!!]
Beyond the flames,
the dark crimson burning trees split apart to both sides.
"Khah-hah…"
Someone laughed.
"Well, well, to think I'd see Hyun-nyeo in such a state.
Truly… an interesting spectacle."
From between the burning trees, a man
walked out with large, leisurely strides, as if the intense heat meant nothing to him.
As his feet touched—
the flames uniformly bowed their heads, lying flat on the ground.
"Greetings to Emperor… Xuanyuan!"
Hyun-nyeo, without a moment's hesitation,
knelt and pressed her forehead to the ground.
Cold sweat ran down her spine.
He was once a hero of war who contended with Chiyoo for supremacy,
and later, the absolute being who subjugated all the gods of the East.
Intimidation.
It wasn't fear.
It was a pressure that choked one's breath by its very existence—
needing no reason or warning.
Gab-su's shoulders, watching Dam-bi's condition, stiffened and trembled,
and Tae-geon bit his lip, unable to even swallow his breath.
Do-yoon, without realizing it,
hugged the child even tighter.
At that moment—
"How… did you come all the way here yourself…"
Hyun-nyeo murmured, her forehead pressed to the ground.
Her voice was less of fear—
and more of a tremor close to yearning.
"I was curious, you see."
The man who walked through the flames.
His gaze swept over the burning shrine,
blood-soaked Dam-bi, and the gym members in turn.
"I was curious to see what state
that fellow who raged, trying to devour me even if he became a demon,
is in now."
His gaze stopped.
Min-chan.
He smiled.
But it was a sneer, only the corners of his lips turning up.
"It was you after all, Chiyoo."
Suddenly—
The air current behind Min-chan twisted.
Even the air brushing his skin settled heavily.
"Indeed… I personally erased everything about you.
There's no one left who remembers you, or calls your name, is there?"
Xuanyuan smiled.
"Still, to remain even as a minor deity in this small peninsula…
How commendable."
Min-chan's eyes wavered precariously.
But soon, they came alive again.
Somewhere, a name was calling,
a name of blood.
Chiyoo.
And—
Hyun-nyeo continued in a trembling voice.
"This humble servant… is unskilled, and will soon lose her life—"
"Enough."
Xuanyuan raised a hand to cut her off.
"Just recover your body."
At that moment—
the age spots on her face smoothed out.
Her hunched back straightened,
and energy bloomed again from her wrinkled fingertips.
By Xuanyuan's will alone,
Hyun-nyeo became young again.
"We're doomed…"
A single word burst from someone's lips,
and everyone sensed the end.
It was then.
[CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH—!!]
A roar like a storm engulfing the mountain ridge.
Even the flames swirling around the shrine were pushed back by the wind.
Everyone's gaze turned to one spot.
A crimson vortex surged from his feet,
rising towards the sky.
In its center—
Min-chan stood with his fists clenched so tightly that blood flowed,
his eyes closed.
'Now… finally…'
Blood boils.
Something, not my heart, awakens me from within.
"…Xuanyuan."
Min-chan slowly raised his head.
His face flushed with excitement,
his eyebrows fiercely raised,
his eyes bloodshot.
Behind his back—
Crimson energy began to surge.
"Finally… I meet you."
At those words, Xuanyuan's brow furrowed.
"…Do you think then and now are similar?"
As Xuanyuan took a step,
the ground 'thudded' and caved in, cracking.
"Thousands of years have passed.
During that time, you disappeared—
and your people were pushed back and back…
huddling in this tiny land."
Xuanyuan sneered and continued.
"And a half-land at that.
Forgetting your own roots…
among descendants who don't even remember your name."
Xuanyuan spread his hand.
The flames and smoke that had been burning trees and grass
stopped as if in a freeze-frame.
"Whereas I—
in the past, now,
and in the future, will be remembered."
"Jesus, Buddha, Allah…
There are countless beings called gods.
But in the end, in a thousand years, no, a hundred years—"
He looked down at Min-chan,
and let out a shallow laugh.
"The seat of heaven will be mine.
Heavenly Emperor, Heavenly Sovereign, Heavenly God, Heavenly Lord, Great Heavenly Ancestor…
Whatever the name, in the end, all—will become 'Xuanyuan'."
At that moment—
[CRACK—!!]
With an explosion,
the ground beneath Min-chan's feet erupted.
"Xuanyuan!!"
Min-chan roared and lunged forward.
Crimson energy surged behind him, flickering.
In his hand—
a crimson longsword, formed from condensed blood-red smoke,
was held.
The remnants of Chiyoo,
forged from living blood and rage.
"This time, I will erase you!"
Min-chan shouted,
and slashed the longsword diagonally downwards.
"Foolish Chiyoo. You still don't know the difference in our stature."
Within Xuanyuan's grasp, golden energy condensed,
instantly transforming into a sword, meeting Min-chan's blade.
[CLANG!! CLANG! CLANG!]
Blood-red energy and dazzling golden energy burst like fireworks.
It was then.
"N-no, Min-chan…!"
From the clash of powerful energies that shook her soul,
Dam-bi, lying blood-soaked on the rock,
clung to the edge of consciousness,
barely opening her eyes.
"If you use that power… now…!"
With foamy blood at her lips,
Dam-bi pushed herself off the ground with her elbows.
Towards the burning shrine—
she began to crawl with her blood-soaked body.
[WHOOSH!!]
Min-chan rapidly plunged to the side.
Crimson energy surged, cutting through the ground along his footsteps.
The longsword twisted its blade and shot towards Xuanyuan's neck.
[SWISH—!]
[CLANG!!]
The golden sword was slowly, yet precisely, held vertically.
Xuanyuan didn't even turn his head.
He merely moved his wrist once.
One step, then another.
Min-chan's advance continued.
Like embers rising on a battlefield.
However—
[CLINK! BANG! CLINK!]
Only the sound of swords clashing remained.
All attacks failed to connect.
Xuanyuan's body did not waver once.
His eyes narrowed to slits.
Mockery, cynicism, boredom.
Only one thing was contained within them—
the 'leisure' of an absolute being.
"Did you believe you could defeat me with just rage?"
"Shut up!"
Min-chan snarled and raised his longsword again.
Crimson energy surged explosively,
and descended towards Xuanyuan's crown, cutting through the black sky.
[CRASH!!]
At that moment—
Xuanyuan moved his arm for the first time.
The golden sword lightly swung,
parrying the red longsword with a glancing blow.
[CRACK—!]
The longsword shattered.
The blade, condensed from red smoke,
broke into pieces and scattered in the air.
From Min-chan's fingertips,
the sword disappeared.
"…!"
"It's pathetic now, stop."
Xuanyuan spoke lowly, yet clearly.
His sword tip was already aimed at Min-chan—
and he had moved only once.
[THUD!]
[Wince]
Min-chan clutched the blade piercing his chest.
A burning sensation as if his palm was on fire.
An alien sensation of scraping against bone.
"Gah…"
As the blade slowly pushed deeper,
blood rose to his throat.
Red foam stained his lips.
But—
His eyes were still glaring at Xuanyuan.
Xuanyuan's brow twitched slightly.
Then he let out a low, mocking laugh.
"You still have those eyes."
He pushed the sword a little deeper into Min-chan and continued.
"In case you're lonely after you die…
I'll cut off your comrades' wrists and put them by your side.
Just like Fengbo and Yusa."
Xuanyuan's lips stretched up to his ears.
At those words—
Min-chan tightened his grip on the sword piercing his chest.
Blood flowed.
But his eyes,
were burning again.
"…Even if I become a demon…"
Min-chan, with foamy blood staining his lips,
revealed his bloodshot teeth and articulated each word clearly.
"The words I said, that I would chew and swallow you."
[THUMP…]
"It seems that time is now…"
Somewhere deep inside.
Not his heart, but deeper.
Something imprinted in his blood stirred.
[THUMP…]
Red smoke surged from Min-chan's entire body.
Chiyoo's memories,
blooming with red energy, covered the sky.
[BOOM!]
[BOOM!]
[BOOM!]
[BOOM!]
The sky turned red.
Drumbeats… shook the ground like an ancient battlefield.
[Follow Chiyoo!!!]
A mighty roar echoed through the air, reverberating.
Figures made of blood-red smoke
one by one…
began to raise their heads from the ground.