Huff... Huff...

The sound of heavy breathing filled my ears. A massive figure, far beyond human size, exhaled in labored bursts.

Violet-stained eyes glowed through the darkness, staring straight at me.

His bare, towering frame was a minor offense to the eye, but it didn’t bother me.

I met his gaze without flinching and waited for him to speak.

A fleeting moment passed.

“...What did you do to me?”

Him.

A being once called General, known for his body of a man and the head of a bull.

Du Ryeong spoke.

“What the hell... did you do to me...!!”

Kugung—!

His roar exploded with raw power, shaking the ground violently. The sheer force rattled everything around us.

But I only tilted my head slightly, acknowledging the shift I felt in his energy.

The reason was simple.

“You’ve weakened.”

I could feel it—his power had diminished significantly.

Compared to the strength he wielded moments ago during our battle, he had been reduced—by half, at least.

I glanced up at the sky. The moon was still high.

Confirming that, I moved without hesitation.

Chwak!

“Guh!?”

My blade carved through his chest.

Blood erupted from the wound—a deep, gashing cut.

His face twisted in agony. And then—

Shhhhhhh—

Heat surged from the wound as it began to close, flesh knitting together rapidly. His regeneration was swift—

But not swift enough.

“Tch.”

I clicked my tongue, a tinge of disappointment in the sound.

“Even your immortality’s weakened, huh?”

His regenerative ability was noticeably slower than before.

The thought crossed my mind—to sever a limb, perhaps even his head, to test further—

But I restrained myself.

“If you can’t regenerate—or worse, if you die—that would be a problem.”

I hadn’t gone through all this trouble to let him die so easily.

Swallowing the impulse, I continued observing him.

Despite the horns, he looked more human than ever.

His size, while still massive, had shrunk—far smaller than his previous monstrous form.

“Grrr...”

His face contorted with fury, his eyes, burning with violet light, flaring under his raised brows.

Watching closely, I assessed his condition.

A Demonic Human.

That’s what he had become.

Because I had made him so—by saturating his dying body with Magi.

“...It worked.”

At death’s door, I had poured my Magi into him—

And he became a Demonic Human.

It was only possible because he was on the brink of death.

Forcing the transformation had drained me—I had poured nearly every ounce of Magi I possessed to corrupt him.

But something was... strange.

“Why does he look like this?”

When the demonic transformation completed, I had quickly withdrawn my Magi, securing his life.

I saved him—resurrected him—

But then—

“Why did his body... change so suddenly?”

His towering form began to shrink—

And by the end of it, he stood as a man.

A human form.

That was the result.

“What the hell...?”

Why?

Why had Du Ryeong suddenly become human?

He wasn’t of the Moonlit Night Tribe or any other humanoid lineage.

He had never been human to begin with—

Yet the transformation had reshaped his very body.

“Hmmm.”

I pondered the cause of this phenomenon.

I had witnessed the shift but hadn’t had time to investigate.

I had rushed to Marryeong Cavern on urgent business—

And now that I returned—

“It’s complete.”

The transformation had settled.

There was no mistaking it—he looked human, unmistakably so.

And not only his form—his presence, once overwhelming, had dimmed.

The authority he once wielded remained—but his power had dwindled.

If I had to gauge—

“He’s at the brink of Hwagyeong.”

Or—

“Among the upper ranks of the Ten Great Masters.”

But compared to his former, near-transcendent might—

He had fallen far.

“Grrr...”

His expression, twisted in frustration, made it clear—

He knew how far he had fallen.

“How... dare you... wyrm...”

His voice seethed with hatred, dripping with venom.

And then—

Crackkk—!

“Crack!!”

A violent reaction erupted within him.

The Magi inside him—rebelled.

I felt it—

“You tried to resist me.”

And in response—the Magi moved.

In the Mangye, Demonic Humans corrupted by force rarely swore loyalty—

It was always a struggle to control them.

I had assumed he would be the same—

But—

“It seems... the Magi itself won’t let him rebel.”

This—

‘This is exactly how it was when Cheonma corrupted me.’

The moment Cheonma captured me and turned me into a Demonic Human—this was no different.

Those who willingly surrendered to Cheonma’s overwhelming power and became Demonic Humans never struggled with loyalty.

But there were also those, like me, who were forced into corruption.

Half of them ended up swearing loyalty, their wills crushed under the weight of the Magi.

‘I wasn’t one of them.’

I was different.

The Magi shattered my mind, and for years, I lived as a raging beast, lost to madness.

When my cultivation advanced, I finally reclaimed my sanity—

But even then, loyalty never took root within me.

If anything, I spent years plotting my escape, crafting plan after plan.

Every attempt ended in failure, but I never stopped trying.

And now, as I looked at him—

‘This one... is no different from me.’

The Magi suppressed his rebellion but did not grant him loyalty.

And yet—

“...Just kill me!”

Not even death was permitted to him.

“Hm.”

I flicked my fingers lightly.

Snap!

With that crisp sound, the shackles binding him dissolved.

“Graaahh!”

The moment he felt his restraints vanish, he lunged at me, his massive fist tightening as he swung—

But before his fist could reach my face, his body froze once more.

It wasn’t by his will.

The Magi coursing through him materialized, binding his limbs and locking his body in place.

I glanced briefly at his halted fist and then at his twisted expression.

“Grrraaahhh—!”

He strained with everything he had, trying to strike me down—

But the Magi controlled him completely, suppressing his every move.

“Good.”

Even in his weakened state, he was far from weak. Yet the Magi restrained him without effort.

‘Is it because my cultivation has advanced?’

My ascension, having reached beyond mortal limits and gaining greater power—

It had to be a factor.

‘Though... I still don’t understand what happened to his body.’

He had become human.

If there was a reason—

‘It’s probably because of my mental construct.’

When I turned him into a Demonic Human, I superimposed the nature of a Demonic being over his original race.

But the fact that he ended up this different from a typical Demonic Human—

‘It’s because, to me, a Demonic Human is closer to a human than anything else.’

The shift likely came from my own perception.

I no longer considered myself human. I had accepted that I was a dragon.

But—

‘To me, a Demonic Human is still just... another human.’

And because my perception defined his transformation—this was the result.

‘It’s just a guess.’

But ultimately, it didn’t matter.

“Kill me!” he roared again.

What mattered was how I intended to use Du Ryeong.

“Kill me now—”

“Shut up. I’m thinking.”

His mouth snapped shut instantly.

“Kneel.”

Thud!

His body crashed to the ground, knees digging into the earth.

I hadn’t even issued a command aloud—simply wielded the Magi. How convenient.

“To be honest, killing you would be easier.”

“...”

“It’d save me a lot of trouble, really. But the problem is... that wouldn’t be very useful, now would it?”

Was it because of my mother that I hesitated? Sure—that was where it started.

“But since things turned out this way... shouldn’t I see how useful you can be?”

The thought firmly took root in my mind.

A warrior of this caliber—if properly controlled—

Could become invaluable.

“Besides...”

It wasn’t just his strength that interested me.

There was something I wanted to ask him.

“You. Why do you hate dragons so much?”

His shoulders tensed the moment I spoke the word—

Dragon.

And it wasn’t just him.

‘In the Mangye, they all react the same to the word dragon.’

What were dragons to these creatures?

What had they done to be so deeply loathed?

Du Ryeong’s hatred was the most intense I’d seen, even among his kind.

‘With the dwarves, it made sense—they were used and exploited by dragons.’

But him—

What made him hate dragons this much?

That—

Was what I wanted to know.

"Grhh..."

He reacted to my question. His expression made it clear that he had no desire to answer—

"Speak."

I stirred the Magi, forcing the words from his lips.

And then—

“...Dragons must die.”

His trembling lips parted, and his voice was laced with venom.

“Arrogant, detestable creatures...”

His words began with curses—

“They are creatures consumed by their own endless greed. In the end, they are always buried beneath their own desires.”

The core of his speech was hatred—

“And so, when they failed to control their instincts, they were sealed by the master.”

But his final words—those were unexpected.

A seal?

Dragons—

No—The Blood Demon—sealed by Mother?

**********

Kugugugung—!!! 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The empty sky tore apart.

A rift split the air, spreading a wave of discord, and from within—

A figure was hurled out, crashing into the ground.

“Kuugh—!!”

It was a man—one with enormous, jet-black wings.

Blood splattered across the ground as he tumbled, his body broken and wounded.

“Huff... Huff...”

His breath came in ragged gasps, pained and shallow. His injuries were severe—

“Damn it...”

A snarl of frustration escaped his lips, his face twisted in anger.

“That... wretched woman...”

The man’s thoughts returned to the opponent he had faced just moments ago.

A relentless pursuer.

A woman who had chased him with tenacity, trapping him at every turn. Her power was overwhelming—so much so that escaping her grip had been a desperate struggle.

“Damn it all... I even had to use one of my Beaks...”

He had managed to flee only by sacrificing one of his precious Beaks—of which fewer than five remained.

But the cost—

Was far too great.

“What the hell... was she?”

Who were those people?

And—what had become of Du Ryeong?

From what he could sense, Du Ryeong was still alive—

But barely.

“This isn’t good...”

The entire situation reeked of disaster.

“I still had time...”

His plans were far from complete. The moment he was waiting for had not yet arrived—

But now—

“...I have to move the plan forward.”

It was a gamble—

But he would force the pieces into place.

“...And perhaps... this might be an opportunity.”

With a sudden thud, he slammed his palm into the ground.

The Mangye was in chaos.

The Abyssal Pit had vanished—

And with it, the Master’s true body was absent from its seat.

If there was ever a time—

It was now.

But—

“Damn it...”

The unexpected interference—the woman—

It had thrown everything into disarray.

Grinding his teeth, he reached into his robes and pulled something free.

A black orb—

Without hesitation—

Crack—!

He crushed it in his hand.

The orb shattered instantly, shards scattering into the air—

And then—

Wuuuuuuung—!!!

The space above him warped, distorting and twisting—

Until—

Chhhhhrk—!

A new rift opened—

But this one shifted in shape—

Forming into a single, enormous eye—

An eye that stared down at him, cold and unblinking.

Under the weight of that gaze, he immediately dropped to his knees, his head bowed low.

The air thickened—

Tension crushed his lungs.

“...Taechon (Grand Heaven).”

His voice trembled with reverence.

“Forgive me... There has been a complication in the plan.”

Kuuuuurung—!!!

The eye responded—its form rippling with unseen power—

And then—

It curved slightly—

Forming the shape of a crescent.

Like a smile.