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Chapter 1

A torrential downpour, yet I hear nothing. Am I deaf? But the pounding of my heart resonates clearly. Nausea rises within me.

My hearing returns abruptly.

An armored man emerges from the dense undergrowth, and simultaneously, the voices of his subordinates erupt behind me.

The rain continues to pour, relentlessly.

I am utterly dumbfounded. My breath hitches in my throat, and I cannot utter a single word.

Only raindrops, not words, flow from my lips.

"...I expected you from the east," my opponent murmurs.

Despite being drenched in blood, he shows no sign of fatigue. I recognize him. A name I cannot forget.

Jincheon.

The one who has relentlessly hunted down the survivors of the Blood Cloud Fortress, including myself, for months.

My adoptive father, the Fortress Lord of Blood Cloud, called him a calamity. An otherworldly being.

But I always thought that was an overstatement. If he truly were a calamity, he wouldn't have taken this long to find me.

My body trembles, perhaps from the prolonged exposure to the rain. Yes, I am exhausted.

Survival is impossible.

I am too weary to stand any longer. My knees buckle, but not in surrender.

If I intended to beg for mercy, I would first wash away the venom in my eyes with the rain. But I do not.

The rain-soaked earth and the battlefield's corpses share a resemblance.

Crushed organs and flesh have decayed and mingled with this soil, so this is not merely an observation.

Despite my strong stomach, nausea overwhelms me today.

I swallow dryly and squeeze my eyes shut. The raindrops streaming down my face feel strangely warm.

"Take my head. But spare my soldiers. Take them as prisoners, if you must."

A gust of wind sweeps past, brushing against my shoulders like an embrace before fading away.

It was cold. I remove my helmet and place it on the ground. My hand trembles as I hold it. I am truly exhausted.

"As long as they live, that is enough."

I pray that the Blood Cloud Fortress's legacy will not be extinguished.

I want to preserve its existence, even if it's just a flicker. It might be an unattainable dream. A foolish hope for someone like me.

But not everyone has to die.

"There's no need to kill them all, is there?"

"Why not?" he asks, and I raise my head. His gaze is dry as he stares at me.

The downpour continues as if the heavens have opened, but even this rain cannot dampen his gaze.

"The Fortress Lord of Mountain Peak switched horses with one of his men and fled. I ended up killing them both."

What nonsense is this?

Mountain Peak Fortress lay on his path, and it fell to him long ago. Then, I understand his meaning.

"...I would not do such a thing."

Anger flares within me, and I clench my jaw. He doesn't even flinch at my reaction. He looks almost bored.

Damn him.

He's implying that I am insignificant. Not even worthy of being his adversary. Is the gap between me, Baek Yeon, and him truly that vast?

If he intends to humiliate me, this is an excellent method.

So, it seems he wants to have a real conversation with me. He could kill me at any moment, but instead, he's just standing there spouting nonsense.

I let my shoulders slump in defeat.

"My name is Baek Yeon."

I responded seriously to his mocking question, simply because, well, that's my name.

He retorted, "You're just an adopted son, aren't you?"

The insult aside, how does he even know that?

It's true, I'm the adopted son of the Blood Cloud Fortress Lord. It hasn't been long since I became one.

But that's no reason to run away. Even before receiving the Baek surname, I had already pledged my loyalty to the Fortress Lord.

I was thrown into this world as a lone orphan. I would have likely died begging on the streets. There's no need to mention that my life would have been short.

The Fortress Lord took in this beggar, fed me, clothed me, and even gave me a sword.

I may be uneducated, but I know that is a debt I need to repay.

Anyway, I would have died long ago if not for him, so even if I die here, I can't call it a short life.

"I heard you saved the Fortress Lord's life and became his adopted son," he sneered.

Is this it? Is he about to draw his sword and end me? But the conversation isn't over yet.

"...Will you grant my request?"

He laughs at my words. His laughter is strange. It's definitely not out of amusement.

He's provoking me even in this situation. It's a futile dedication to something pointless.

Since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well say something.

"You bastard."

One word isn't enough.

"Your master will meet his end at your hands."

Then he started laughing. He was already laughing, but this was different.

This time, it's genuine laughter. I don't know which words tickled his fancy, as I didn't say anything particularly funny.

He laughed silently for a long time. Just when I was getting annoyed staring at him, he finally drew his sword from his waist.

His subordinates behind him also raised their spears, ready for battle.

My job was to stop them. Fighting would be a futile resistance. Coming from a beggar's background, I've always been good at knowing my place.

I'm the only one who needs to die. This is the price for my kneeling. I need to at least secure their lives.

Damn it. Even if these are the knees of the Fortress Lord's adopted son, did I sell them too cheap?

He stared at me for a long time through the pouring rain. I had no reason to avoid his gaze.

He was the one who broke the standoff.

"...I will keep my promise."

Was it my imagination, or did the apathy in his dark eyes disappear for a moment?

But I definitely saw it. His true feelings, hidden behind a mask of deep boredom, were dark and rotten.

Why would the greatest general of this era, who seemingly has everything, have such unsettling eyes?

A silver flash passes before my eyes. Red petals flutter amidst the late autumn downpour. The next moment, I see my helmet lying neatly on the muddy ground.

Gradually, everything becomes quiet.

* * *

Between heaven and earth, there were no boundaries, only a vast expanse of white light. Everywhere I looked, there was nothing but white.

"Baek Yeon."

Suddenly, someone called my name.

It was a hazy sound.

"Baek Yeon."

An unfamiliar voice. As the voice drew closer, it became clearer.

I was definitely dead, so what was happening?

I instinctively turned around and was surprised. The one who called my name was standing there. It was an old man with graying hair.

Despite his advanced age, he possessed a dignified aura. He must have been quite something in his younger days.

If I had met this old man back then, I couldn't have been sure of victory. He was an extraordinary old fellow.

Anyway, meeting an old man after dying, there could only be one guess as to his identity.

"Are you the Grim Reaper? There's no need to call me three times. If you're taking me, let's go quickly."

The old man smiled. It was a benevolent smile, but I had never seen an old man smile benevolently after talking to me. He was likely a strange old man.

But encountering a strange old ghost was less plausible than meeting the Grim Reaper.

The old man shook his head.

"No."

I was momentarily confused.

"If not, then who are you?"

I examined the old man closely. He was wearing silk clothes that looked very expensive, but they were in an old-fashioned style that I wouldn't wear even if they were given to me.

"If you're a ghost and not the Grim Reaper, you must have passed away quite a long time ago."

"Sharp. What made you think that?"

"I have a discerning eye."

The old man stroked his white beard and said,

"Is there no other reason?"

I scanned him once more, looking for other clues.

"I don't know."

"...Nevertheless, this descendant is quite a character. To think you'd dare to raise your head before me."

At the mention of a descendant, my eyes widened.

"Are you saying you're my ancestor?"