The quiet night was heavy with an oppressive atmosphere. Despite it still being winter, the cold was overshadowed by the sharp sense of impending death.

In Hanam, dark clouds were gradually closing in over the region.

"Kuh kuh..."

From within the thick, black fog, an elderly man with white hair chuckled softly. His voice was hoarse, and a large scar from a sword wound marred his neck.

The old man was known by the name Black Dragon Sword.

He was a legendary martial artist, the first to unify the Dark Faction, and had once aimed to conquer the entire Central Plains, starting from Sichuan.

“Hanam.”

In the distance, the bright lights of buildings came into view. This was the territory of the Alliance and Shaolin, the heart of the righteous factions—Hanam Province.

Black Dragon Sword gazed at Hanam and continued to laugh. How long had he waited for this moment? How much had he yearned for the day he would set foot on this land again?

"Taeju."

A man appeared behind him, kneeling with one knee on the ground, and presented a letter to Black Dragon Sword.

“A letter has arrived for you, Taeju.”
“Such haste. It seems they are eagerly awaiting me.”

The letter was likely from the one who had called him here. There was a sense of urgency in their actions, perhaps something had provoked their temper—or it could just be the impatience of youth.

Black Dragon Sword unfolded the letter, read its contents, and then tucked it back into his robe. Turning to the man behind him, he spoke.

“Set up the formation. It seems we will need to wait for a while.”
“Yes, sir!”

At Black Dragon Sword’s command, figures hidden in the fog began to move swiftly. Despite being right on the edge of the Alliance’s territory, there was little concern of being discovered.

“Why not stop spectating and lend a hand?”

The old man’s gaze shifted to where another man was watching him with cold, dark eyes.

“I am not one of your subordinates, Taeju.”

It was the Lord of Black Night Palace, one of the Five Great Demons. He stood in the shadows, staring at Black Dragon Sword.

Black Dragon Sword let out a chuckle at the sight of the Lord of Black Night Palace.

“I brought you along to pay your rent, but it seems you’re unnecessarily upset.”
“What are you planning by coming to Hanam? This is the Alliance’s territory. You’ve hidden in the shadows all this time, suppressing your presence, and now you decide to reveal yourself?”

The Lord of Black Night Palace couldn't comprehend Black Dragon Sword’s sudden actions. It seemed inefficient and risky.

“Because it is time,” Black Dragon Sword answered, smiling.

“Time?”
“If you’re so concerned, why did you follow me here, Palace Lord?”
“...”

Black Dragon Sword’s smile widened.

“You’re hoping, aren’t you? That there might be a way to break the restriction placed on you.”

The Lord of Black Night Palace frowned at his words. Black Dragon Sword had hit the mark.

As a member of the Five Great Demons, the Lord of Black Night Palace was forbidden from setting foot on righteous faction land. In fact, with one of the Five now dead, perhaps they should be called the Four Great Demons.

“And even with that mysterious power of yours, you still can’t break free of your restriction?”
“Watch your mouth.”

A dark aura began to rise from the Lord of Black Night Palace, swirling like a heat mirage around him. Despite the deadly energy, Black Dragon Sword merely smiled.

“Are you still struggling under the restriction placed by that Hero?”

As Black Dragon Sword spoke, a massive surge of dark energy shot toward him. However, before the energy could reach him, it dissipated like dust in the wind—swept away by a casual wave of Black Dragon Sword’s hand.

“If you’re going to struggle, you should at least choose your opponents wisely.”
“Taeju…!”

“I accepted you because your darkness intrigued me. Has your vision been clouded?”

The Lord of Black Night Palace clenched his fist, the dark energy slowly receding.

In the past, a master martial artist known as the Hero to the righteous factions, and the Flame Demon to the dark ones, had hunted down all five of the Great Demons. No one knew about this event, and the Great Demons themselves would have preferred it remain buried as a humiliating memory.

The Lord of Black Night Palace still remembered it clearly.

“Leave the Central Plains, and never show yourself again.”

The young warrior’s will was fiery and full of murderous intent, but in the end, he only placed a restriction on the Lord of Black Night Palace rather than take his life.

The Lord of Black Night Palace never understood why. Did the Hero merely want to see him struggle under the restriction, or was there some other reason?

The restriction was powerful, reducing the once-proud Lord to a pitiful state until he eventually found new strength.

Even now, despite that newfound power, the restriction still bound him.

And the Flame Demon who had placed the restriction on him had grown even stronger.

A top 100 martial artist in the Central Plains?

Ridiculous.

Such a monster couldn’t possibly be only in the top 100. Even the man standing before him, who should have died long ago, had been consumed by evil and transformed into something even darker.

“I suggest you stop dwelling on such thoughts.”
“Just keep your end of the deal.”
“Kuh kuh. Of course. When this is over, I will lift your restriction.”

It was hard to believe that this old man could undo what even his own powers couldn’t, but the Lord of Black Night Palace had seen enough to put his faith in him.

Turning his gaze back toward Hanam, Black Dragon Sword admired the bright lights of the city, still gleaming beautifully in the night.

So dazzlingly bright that it made him want to extinguish every single one.

“When will we proceed?”
“The plan… yes, in about a month.”
“A month? Why wait so long?”

The Lord of Black Night Palace was perplexed by the long delay.

“They asked us to wait,” Black Dragon Sword replied.

He recalled the letter he had received, which requested they hold off on their plans.

“The brat is arrogant, but…”

The message had been bold, ordering him to wait. Arrogant as it was, he decided to indulge them—because he knew the darkness within them would eventually grow.

“And more importantly…”

Clutching the orb in his hand, Black Dragon Sword continued.

“They said it would take time for reinforcements to arrive, so we’ll wait.”
“Reinforcements?”

Who else was coming?

“Even if it’s just the Blue Sea Sword, we could manage without waiting. But unfortunately, that girl, the Sword Queen, is also there.”
“So who did you call for backup?”

The Lord of Black Night Palace’s voice grew more impatient. He had come all the way here, and now they were saying it wasn’t enough.

Black Dragon Sword looked at him with a hint of pity.

“You still haven’t let go of your pride. That’s why you’ll never escape the shadow of that Hero.”

Enraged, the Lord of Black Night Palace summoned hundreds of dark blades. In the night, the blades vanished into the shadows, concealed by the darkness, before rushing at Black Dragon Sword.

But he was faster.

Crunch.

Before the blades could reach him, Black Dragon Sword’s hand was already around the Lord of Black Night Palace’s throat.

“You weren’t always like this. What went wrong?”

Was it the influence of the demonic curse, or was it the path the Lord had chosen? Black Dragon Sword didn’t know, and he didn’t care.

As long as the Lord of Black Night Palace remained useful, he didn’t mind.

“Curious about the reinforcements?”

A cold wind swept through, carrying the faint scent of blood. Black Dragon Sword’s voice was low.

“The Dark King.”
“...!”

The Lord of Black Night Palace’s eyes widened in shock at the name.

The Dark King, leader of the Seven Night Assassins, had never failed a single assassination.

“Which means, failure is not an option. Your target is singular—remember that.”

Releasing the Lord of Black Night Palace’s throat, Black Dragon Sword stood up. His form cast a long shadow in the moonlight, appearing to grow even larger.

“The potential of invulnerability, and the bloodline of the Tang clan.”

Tang So-yeol, the Poison Peak.

“Just bring that girl to me. It’s a simple task, isn’t it?”
“Poison Peak? Not the Swordmaster’s heir?”

The Lord of Black Night Palace had some idea of how Black Dragon Sword felt about the Swordmaster. That’s why he found this confusing.

Black Dragon Sword chuckled.

“Kuh kuh… unlike you, I don’t let revenge cloud my judgment.”

Leaving the bewildered Lord behind, Black Dragon Sword stepped into the forest. The formation had been set.

Now, all they had to do was wait. Wait for the moment to act.

This will be the perfect prelude to my return.

By wiping out the Divine Dragon Hall, where the future of the righteous factions gathered, he would show the world that the Black Dragon Sword was still alive.

If I wipe out all the young martial artists...

He couldn’t wait to see how Wi Hyo-gun would react—his old friend who had failed to finish the job last time.

Curious about his friend’s reaction, Black Dragon Sword sat beneath a large tree and closed his eyes.

The moonlight no longer reached him.

There isn’t much time left.

With the reinforcements he had summoned and the plans he had made to avoid detection, this time, there would be no failure.

As long as someone like Wi Hyo-gun wasn’t at the Divine Dragon Hall, success was certain.

   
   ******************
   

A month had passed since I had entered the Divine Dragon Hall.

This meant that I had endured this unbearably tedious routine nearly thirty times. If there was one issue, it was this: every morning when I woke up, the thought of having to continue this life for a whole year was infuriating.

“What the hell is with these practical exercises?”

In about seven days, there was supposed to be a practical exam based on the theoretical lessons we’d been having.

If I didn’t perform well enough during the exercises or training, I could be expelled from the Hall, so I had no choice but to try.

“I’m fine with the theory part.”

As I had mentioned before, there was no one here who knew more about monsters than I did. Even if there was someone, it would probably be one of the instructors. As for the exams, there was no way I would fall behind.

Because of that...

“The rumor is that Jinryong is not only vicious but also brilliant.”

Rumors like that had begun to spread again. Sure, it’s fine if they think I’m brilliant, but why attach the label of being vicious? It was ridiculous.

“Whoever's spreading these rumors, I’ll catch them and make sure they regret it.”

Some bastard was stirring up trouble, and I was determined to find out who it was.

Sigh.

A sigh escaped me.

The rumors, the stares, the fact that I had to stay here for a whole year—it was all annoying. But what annoyed me the most right now wasn’t any of that.

“Damn it, how am I supposed to do this?”

I was sitting in the bushes near the office building, the same spot where I had once spoken with Wi Seol-ah. My goal remained the same: finding the hidden treasure beneath the Divine Dragon Hall.

For that, I needed to find a way to break through the protective formation.

But…

“I can’t sense anything…!”

The unique sensation I had felt before—the anomaly in the formation—was completely absent now. Back then, I had seen the flow of energy clearly when Wi Seol-ah had guided my hand.

Now, I had been aimlessly fumbling with the air for quite some time.

“Could it be…?”

A thought crossed my mind, and I furrowed my brows.

“…I can’t do this alone?”

Just as Wi Seol-ah had held my hand back then, was it possible that I couldn’t sense the formation without her help?

“That’s a problem.”

I had assumed that since I knew the location, I’d be able to find it easily. But if that wasn’t the case, it was a big problem.

“Do I need to bring Wi Seol-ah here?”

It would be awkward for her, but I didn’t have much time to hesitate. I glanced over my shoulder at the main office building in the distance.

“I need to finish before he comes back.”

The Blue Sea Sword had left the office for the time being, thanks to a ‘request’ I had made to the Sword Queen.

“But where is Wi Seol-ah?”

If I had known it would come to this, I would have brought her with me from the start. I had thought I could manage on my own once I understood the flow of energy.

“What should I do?”

Running off to fetch Wi Seol-ah now didn’t seem like a good option. I wasn’t sure how much time I had left before the Blue Sea Sword returned.

And I couldn’t just blow up the formation either. That kind of explosive force, on the level of Flame Jade, would be impossible to control discreetly. If I detonated it, there was no way the Blue Sea Sword wouldn’t notice.

Click.

I was stuck in a situation where neither option seemed viable.

Of course, I couldn’t just sit around swinging my arms at nothing. Time was running out, and I couldn’t afford to hesitate.

Just as I was about to give up and go find Wi Seol-ah, a voice came from behind me.

“What have you been doing this whole time?”

“…Are you just watching ants or something?”

I hadn’t even sensed the presence behind me.

Damn it.

I suddenly remembered. This area was shrouded in some kind of force—perhaps a remnant of the protective formation—that made it hard to detect presences.

I quickly turned my head to see who had spoken. The owner of the voice was watching me with a curious expression.

“…Who are you?” I asked, feeling somewhat baffled.

The young man in front of me wore a similar expression.

“That’s what I’d like to ask you.”

Standing there was a tall young man, so tall that I had to crane my neck to look up at him. He had a handsome face, though he looked somewhat tired.

He wore the robes of a Wudang disciple, bearing the Wudang insignia. I recognized him immediately.

I asked in disbelief, “Why are you here?”

It was none other than Jamryong Woo-hyeok. He was staring at me.