"He's not coming down."
O Junbeom said as he looked up at the central beacon.
It had already been three days since Seoha went up the beacon.
They had brought him food from time to time just to check if he was still alive, but for three whole days, that guy hadn't requested a shift even once.
As night deepened and the wind began to blow, there was no choice but to worry.
Lee Jihyeon read the squad leader's expression and spoke.
"He's the real deal, rare these days. Guess he didn't just say he'd join the patrol for show."
"He's suffering alone… maybe we should at least bring him a rice bowl or something—"
O Junbeom trailed off and stared into the darkness.
Between the faint moonlight, a barefoot man walked out.
White martial arts pants, no shirt on his upper body.
Silver hair, two horns with one broken.
Nergal grinned, showing his teeth.
"Well, damn. Got caught. Guess I should've learned some infiltration techniques."
"Rakshasa…."
O Junbeom immediately shouted.
"Lee Jihyeon! Beacon!"
"Beacon!"
Lee Jihyeon shouted back and started running, while O Junbeom charged straight at Nergal.
'A Rakshasa, all of a sudden…!'
Adult Rakshasa usually possessed power at least on the level of a Sage.
But that was something you only read about in books.
Very few people had actually encountered a Rakshasa in real life.
Why would such a being appear here?
What could possibly be in this remote border area?
'Still… I should be able to hold out for a bit.'
The code of conduct for warriors when encountering a Rakshasa was simple.
You're in the way, so run.
But O Junbeom believed he could hold out, at least a little.
That belief was arrogance.
Something flashed, and O Junbeom's vision shot up toward the sky.
'Ah…'
Pain like his brain was about to burst.
Just a single kick.
That was all it took for O Junbeom to drop to his knees, and Nergal looked down at him and said,
"Then goodbye."
Nergal's instep struck O Junbeom's temple.
His consciousness slipped away.
But he had to hold on.
O Junbeom clung to consciousness with superhuman willpower.
He had to save Jihyeon.
No matter what, he wanted at least Jihyeon to live.
Staggering like a drunk, O Junbeom headed toward the beacon, then stopped when he spotted a torch lying on the ground.
A corpse with its abdomen pierced, eyes wide open in death.
It was Lee Jihyeon, who had just run off to light the beacon.
"Jihyeon… I'm sorry. I was too weak…"
Grabbing the fallen torch, O Junbeom moved forward.
There was no time to grieve.
Before this body collapsed and died, he had to light the beacon.
Where he walked was a field of corpses.
People whose necks were snapped or heads crushed, killed in a single blow.
At last, reaching the beacon, O Junbeom immediately threw the torch.
After confirming the fire caught, he sat beside the beacon and muttered,
"If I'd known there was no tomorrow…"
I should've confessed today, at least.
His head spun.
Breathing in the acrid smoke, O Junbeom closed his eyes.
"…A single day feels precious."
He could only hope that someone would see this fire and avenge them.
Yu Arin was staring up at the sky.
Seoha hadn't returned for three days.
Had he left?
Or was he avoiding her on purpose?
'It's like this again. Again…'
Yu Arin shook her head to drive away the distracting thoughts.
'No. Let's start with the Shinro Heart Method.'
He told her to keep training, so he would come back.
That was the only thing she could believe.
At that moment, Yu Hyeonseong spoke from behind her.
"You don't seem very focused."
"Father. You're out?"
"Are you thinking about that Cheongsin boy?"
"N-no, I'm not."
"Forget him now."
"…What?"
"He's no longer someone related to you. I told you to forget him."
Yu Arin blinked and looked at Yu Hyeonseong.
He let out a small sigh.
He himself had said that if one couldn't take responsibility, they shouldn't even begin—but watching his daughter get hurt wasn't something he could feel good about.
But Seoha had made his choice.
To leave.
That was because Yu Hyeonseong didn't know that Seoha hadn't come down from the beacon.
"Shake off your distractions and focus on your training."
Yu Hyeonseong turned away.
His daughter had always followed his instructions without complaint, so he assumed this time would be the same.
But Yu Arin spoke in a trembling voice.
Because she thought this time would be okay, the disappointment was all the greater.
And for the first time, she questioned her father's words.
"…Why?"
Yu Hyeonseong turned his gaze back to his daughter.
Yu Arin hesitated for a moment, then spoke slowly but clearly.
"You said it was okay for us to get close."
"When did I say that?"
"You said you'd take good care of him. Seoha is stronger than me, smarter than me, and—"
"The situation has changed. He's gone, so forget him."
"You made him leave."
"..."
Yu Arin bit her lower lip and lowered her gaze.
"I… just want to live normally."
For the first time, she spoke honestly to her father.
Her voice trembling, Arin continued.
"I just want to eat with friends, hang out, and live like that. Is that not allowed? Is that really such a hard thing?"
Yu Hyeonseong looked at his daughter, who was desperately holding back tears.
He had heard those words before, long ago.
'Yeonu… so this is how it ends.'
Recalling his wife's name, Yu Hyeonseong lowered his head.
Ordinariness.
A word boring to some, but a happiness absolutely forbidden to others.
"No."
"Why?"
A single tear fell from Yu Arin's large eyes.
"Why can't I?"
"That's because…"
Yu Hyeonseong couldn't bring himself to answer.
Because you're a monster.
Because you're a Rakshasa who doesn't belong in human society.
How could he say such things to his daughter?
She had never once questioned him before, so Yu Hyeonseong hadn't even prepared a decent excuse.
No words came to mind.
"That's because…"
"That's because you're a Rakshasa."
Someone else answered in his place.
Sensing a sinister presence, Yu Hyeonseong startled and turned his head.
'I didn't even sense his presence.'
An intruder.
Cold sweat ran down Yu Hyeonseong's back.
It was the tension of a battlefield, something he hadn't felt in a long time.
"Sorry for interrupting a father-daughter conversation."
Silver hair, horns.
Nergal entered, waving his bloodstained hand.
"I came to take my kin."
"…Kin?"
The moment Yu Arin voiced her confusion—
"Arin! Get back!"
Why now?
Why would an uninvited guest appear at the very moment he had to deliver such a tragic fate?
But there was no time to dwell on that.
An enemy that needed no explanation.
To protect his daughter, Yu Hyeonseong charged at Nergal.
Hwagang Body Technique.
The Hwagang family had long been famous for barehanded combat.
A martial art as elegant as flowers, yet as hard as steel.
Watching Yu Hyeonseong move like falling petals, Nergal sneered.
"So fluttery. That kind of attack won't—"
Nergal threw a punch, but Yu Hyeonseong slipped past it by a hair's breadth, turned behind him, and drove in an elbow.
In an instant, Nergal's head snapped back.
A heavy blow that didn't match its elegance.
"Ghk!"
The impact landed.
Beautiful like flowers, solid like steel.
That was the essence of the Hwagang Body Technique.
Yu Hyeonseong didn't stop.
'A Rakshasa won't die from just this.'
An ordinary warrior's brain would've burst from that strike.
But Rakshasa were different.
Yu Hyeonseong knew their power from long experience.
'I have to finish it when I have the chance.'
Seizing the opportunity, Yu Hyeonseong unleashed a barrage.
The Hwagang Body Technique weaponized every part of the body.
Even the arm alone could attack with shoulder, elbow, wrist, back of the hand, and fingers—countless variations.
If these dazzling changes were flowers, their power was steel.
Each strike infused with inner energy was like smashing the enemy with an iron club.
The Hwagang Body Technique excelled at consecutive strikes, and as a Sage, Yu Hyeonseong used it masterfully.
"Die, monster."
Hwagang Body Technique.
Falling Blossoms.
From the head down to the lower abdomen.
Dozens of strikes hammered Nergal's entire body.
The final blow landed on the solar plexus.
Yu Hyeonseong poured all his strength into that last strike.
With a sound like air exploding, Nergal was pushed back, and Yu Hyeonseong let out a deep breath.
It hit properly.
Yet Nergal still looked relaxed.
"You've got some skill. But didn't you forget something?"
Forget something?
As Yu Hyeonseong frowned, Nergal's body began to glow silver.
"My target isn't you. It's your daughter."
Nergal's silver energy turned into small blades that flew through the air.
His target was Yu Arin.
Yu Hyeonseong confirmed his daughter's position and sprinted without hesitation.
Blades rained down like a storm, and Yu Hyeonseong wrapped his arms around his daughter to shield her.
Thud.
A dull sound repeated again and again.
Unable to even react, Yu Arin touched her father's back as he held her.
Hot blood clung to her hand.
Feeling her father's warmth, Yu Arin spoke.
"Dad…"
Yu Hyeonseong calmly assessed the situation.
This was a fatal wound.
'So this is how I die?'
This might be his last conversation with his daughter.
With that thought, his mouth moved on its own.
"I'm sorry."
There was something he wanted to tell her.
Something he had wanted to say when she eventually learned the truth.
"I just wanted you to live longer than me. I didn't want to kill you with my own hands, my daughter."
Yu Hyeonseong recalled the moment his wife died.
It had been a bright moonlit night, just like today.
When he arrived after hearing screams like wails, his wife was desperately suppressing her yin energy.
Realizing it was no longer enough, he brought up the promise he had tried so long to forget.
As silver energy consumed her, she spoke with difficulty.
"Honey… I'm sorry. I can't hold on anymore."
Facing his suffering wife, Yu Hyeonseong stepped back.
He prayed and prayed that moment would never come, but reality was cruel.
Time flowed mercilessly, inevitably toward tragedy.
"Please… kill me now."
She handed him a dagger.
When Yu Hyeonseong hesitated, she forced a smile and said,
"…I don't want to kill you."
At those words, his arm moved on its own.
Because he knew that if someone had to bear the guilt, it had to be him.
With tears streaming down, Yu Hyeonseong stabbed her heart.
The sensation still lingered in his hand.
That moment was still vivid.
Every night, nightmares came, and he couldn't sleep peacefully even for a single day.
And now, at this moment, his wife's last words—words he had bitterly chewed on every day—came back to him.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be normal."
As she collapsed, she whispered into his ear,
"I'm sorry for ruining your life."
He wanted to say it wasn't true, but no words came out.
And so she died.
He couldn't say anything.
He couldn't even tell her that marrying her had made him happy.
That regret haunted him for the rest of his life, becoming an unending resentment.
So this time, he didn't want to leave such regrets behind.
"I'm sorry, my daughter. You were all I had. You were the only happiness in my life."
Gently stroking Arin's cheek, Yu Hyeonseong said,
"I'm sorry I couldn't give birth to you as someone ordinary."
Yu Arin looked at her father with trembling eyes.
But Nergal didn't allow them much time.
"I figured as much. I knew you'd protect her with your whole body."
Yu Arin's lips trembled as she looked up at Nergal.
Seeing her anger, Nergal mocked her.
"What are you waiting for? If you want your dad to live, come at me for real."
"…No. Don't, my daughter."
If she lost control now, there might be no going back.
But contrary to Yu Hyeonseong's wishes, Yu Arin's body began to glow silver.
Driven by rage, her reason had already vanished.
"Fine. Then I'll kill you."
A complete release she had never once attempted since birth.
The radiant silver light was bright enough to be seen from far away.
After moving her father to a safe place, Yu Arin walked toward Nergal.
Sensing the chilling aura, Nergal smiled.
"Wow, so you really are kin. This feels just like true kin—"
Before he could finish, Nergal's side burst open.
'Huh?'
What just…?
There was no time to think.
Yu Arin rushed right up to Nergal's face with a chilling smile.
"Die."
As Nergal raised his arm to block, Yu Arin grabbed his left arm and chopped down at the joint.
His arm tore off as if sliced.
No—"ripped off" was more accurate.
With his left arm severed, Nergal lifted the corner of his mouth.
Her combat power exceeded his expectations.
'This isn't an ordinary kin…'
Nergal thought with eyes blazing in excitement.
'…I've awakened a real demon.'
At first, he couldn't understand why he had to awaken a child whose Rakshasa blood had already thinned.
It was simply an order, something to be carried out.
But now he understood why the teacher had targeted Yu Arin.
Rakshasa power came from bloodline.
The number and types of magical beasts they could command, their own strength and abilities—
All inherited solely through blood.
Even mixed with human blood, if she possessed this level of power, just what kind of bloodline had she inherited?
'If this goes wrong, I might die. Should I retreat now?'
If so, Yu Arin would kill every living being in this city on her own.
Nergal would only need to capture her alive after she was exhausted from slaughtering everyone.
But at that moment—
"Yu Arin!"
A man leapt over the wall and rushed in.
A man shining with golden light like the sun.
Lee Seoha had arrived.