The sky of the Demon Realm, as always, had dark crimson clouds coiling within it.
Piercing through those chaotic clouds and soaring like a blade was a massive rocky mountain, the Five Elements Prison.
At its distant summit, unreachable by the noise of the world, a man sat cross-legged.
He wore monk's robes, but instead of thick prayer beads, a necklace of skulls hung around his neck, and a bizarre aura, a mix of golden divine power and black demonic energy, shimmered around his entire body.
The Demon Buddha, Samjang.
He looked down at the worn scroll resting on his knees, the
"...Form is emptiness, emptiness is form."
The skull necklace rattled in the wind. Deep underground beneath his feet, the screams of the monkey that had been crushed for 500 years were silent today.
"Only I control this chaos. I am the sole order of the Demon Realm and..."
Before his arrogant monologue could finish.
Zzzzt―.
Suddenly, a sharp rupture sound, like glass breaking, came from above his head.
Just as Samjang frowned and looked up, the sky split open with a crack, and a blinding pillar of white light slammed vertically down from the gap.
Plummeting like a meteor within the light was a woman. It was Lucifella, a fallen angel with wings burning wretchedly on her back.
The impact point was exactly the crown of Samjang's head.
"...Hm? That vulgar light tearing the sky."
Samjang did not panic. He merely lifted the scripture with a gesture as if shooing away an annoying fly, looking displeased.
"A fallen angel? How dare... you invade my sanctuary. Be gone! Before my order!!"
Kwa-aaaaang―!!!
Celestial divine power and demonic Buddhist power collided, creating a massive dome of light that swallowed the summit of the Five Elements Prison.
In that white light of destruction that erased even the sounds of the world, Samjang calmly closed his eyes.
'...Is my body breaking? However, this futile extinction is also... the end of the enlightenment I must reach.'
In a fleeting moment, the absolute being's body scattered like dust.
Along with him, the
Hududuk, tuk.
Rain began to fall through the thick smoke.
It was not water. It was 'red rain,' the sticky blood of Samjang's exploded body soaking the earth.
Piercing through that veil of blood, the fragments of the shattered scripture flew like a greedy meteor shower, trailing tails behind them.
Some to the frozen north, some to the boiling south.
And in the empty space where the scripture had disappeared, the wound in the sky gaped open, revealing a dark purple maw.
'Void Storm'.
A massive vortex that would swallow all light in the Demon Realm was opening its eyes.
* * *
The western frontier of the Demon Realm, where the shadow of disaster had not yet reached.
The Peach Garden, hidden between strange rock cliffs, was a paradise where peach blossoms, true to its name, bloomed in full, harboring the color of blood.
On a hill where fully bloomed petals were blown by the wind, scattering like red snow.
Three men sat facing each other with a rough stone liquor table between them.
"Kuh-haa! Grea~t! Indeed, liquor brewed from Demon Realm peaches is the best!"
The owner of the booming voice was a man of massive build, Zhang Fei. He was lightly lifting a steel liquor barrel as big as his torso with one hand and pouring it into his mouth.
Drops of liquor dripped through his rough beard.
Beside him, a giant weapon with a blade winding like a coiled snake, the Serpent Spear (Jangpalsamo), was deeply embedded in the ground.
"Yide, do not act frivolously. Today is a grave matter that binds our souls."
The one scolding him while stroking his long beard was the red-faced god of war, Guan Yu. His gaze was unshakably calm, but his hand gripping the cup in front of him was also tense.
"My brothers are both right. Good liquor, good people... it couldn't be better than this."
Liu Bei, sitting at the head, looked at the two with a gentle smile.
Though he had the appearance of a lower-class demon without horns, a soft dignity flowed from him that no one could treat lightly.
As Liu Bei lifted his worn earthenware cup to eye level, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu also adjusted their postures.
"Though the days we were born are different... I swear here in this Peach Garden today."
Strength filled Liu Bei's voice.
"May the day we die be the same day, the same hour."
Zhang Fei sniffled and his eyes turned red.
"Ah, Brother. That kind of line is foul play. This Zhang Yide is tearing up so much the liquor tastes bad!"
"Haha, act your size."
"Gods of heaven and earth, please look over this oath."
Guan Yu nodded heavily and raised his cup high.
The three men's cups gathered as one in the air. Their gazes crossed, and just as the oath cups binding their souls were about to clink.
Kugugung―!
A bizarre vibration shaking the earth's axis rocked the liquor table violently.
Liu Bei's relaxed smile stiffened instantly. Sensing an ominous energy, he hurriedly looked up.
The sky he looked up at was already turning a horrific dark purple.
"W-what! Why is the ground suddenly like this!"
Kwa-aaaaang!
With a roar, the Void Storm hit the Peach Garden.
The peaceful landscape instantly turned into a hellscape.
The liquor table flipped, and peach trees that had endured for hundreds of years lost gravity, were uprooted, and soared into the air.
"Ugh-uck?!"
Zhang Fei's massive frame floated up. It wasn't simple wind. Space itself was rejecting and pushing him away.
Zhang Fei instinctively tried to hold on by slamming his Serpent Spear into the ground with a thud.
The muscles of his forearm, expanded to the bursting point, screamed.
"Kugh...! Do you think this Zhang Yide... will be pushed back by mere wind!!"
But when the ground he was holding onto was torn away entirely, Zhang Fei's eyes widened as if they would pop out.
"Uh? Hey, wait! It's foul play if the ground tears! Aaaaaaaack!!"
With a scream, Zhang Fei was sucked into the purple rift that opened in the western sky.
Even in that chaos, seeing the liquor scattering in the air as he lost his cherished barrel, he screamed.
"Brother!! My liquor!! No, Brotheeer----!!"
"Yide!! No!!"
Liu Bei reached out with a pale face. But his fingertips didn't reach.
Instead, space tore behind his back as well, pulling at Liu Bei's clothes. It was a chaotic dimensional gate where light and darkness mixed.
"Ugh...! It can't be like this... Our oath is just..."
Without even a moment to resist, Liu Bei was dragged backward. Until the last moment when his vision blurred, he turned his head toward his disappearing brothers and shouted as if vomiting blood.
"Yunchang! Yide! Don't die!! Wherever you fall... you must survive and we will meet again!!"
As Liu Bei disappeared, Guan Yu was left alone in the Peach Garden.
His red face burned as if it would burst with anger and grief.
Guan Yu swung his Green Dragon Crescent Blade like a windmill, cutting away the massive rocks flying at him, enduring on two feet.
Chang! Kwajik!
"Listen, Heavens!!"
Guan Yu roared, glaring at the eye of the storm.
"This Guan Yunchang's oath is heavier than any disaster!!"
But a massive maw harboring the chill of death, opened in the northern sky, tried to swallow even Guan Yu.
Freezing air covered his armor in white.
Guan Yu did not let go of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade until the moment he was sucked in.
"Even if I have to chase you to the ends of hell... I will surely rebuild the Peach Garden!"
His shout was buried in the roar of the storm.
"We... will surely meet again! Sure... ly!!"
*
In the place where the storm that swallowed everything had passed, only the desolate sound of wind remained.
A ruined hill.
In the mud, three broken liquor cups without owners were rolling around.
Torn blood-colored peach petals fluttered lonely in the remnants of the whirlwind.
The day the sky of the Demon Realm tore and red rain fell.
Thus the oath was broken, and the heroes were scattered.
This was... the prelude to a long separation and a desperate war.