She practiced any martial form to the point of madness.

Until it moved like a part of her own body.

Until everything connected in a single instant.

Her steady training pursued only two things.

Accuracy, and speed.

If Ilhwa had grasped even one of those two, the result might have turned out a little differently.

Ilhwa's expression hardened. Namgung Wonyang's sword had begun moving again.

Azure String Shadowless Sword Art.

Second form.

Crossed Void and Reality.

This time, five sword trajectories.

False and true interwove, deceiving the eye and throwing mind and body into confusion.

Startled, Ilhwa unleashed a palm art.

Flying Swallow Falling Blossom Palm.

A light and swift palm art, like a swallow scattering flower petals.

RUMBLE—!!

With a thunderous roar, palm force spread in all directions.

But Namgung Wonyang's sword drove straight through it.

Accuracy and speed.

She shifted from the second form, Crossed Void and Reality, into the third form, Shadowless Moon-Slashing.

That transition flowed as naturally as water, the result of effort.

Naturally, it scattered all of Ilhwa's palm force.

Energy burst apart in every direction.

Wonyang's eyes flashed.

Dozens of openings were visible to her.

Toward two spaces among them, two that could neither be blocked nor even defended against, she thrust her sword.

Ilhwa's eyes flew wide.

Slash—!

Ilhwa's shoulder was cut.

And then.

Slash—!

Her right thigh was cut as well.

"Kgh..."

Ilhwa collapsed, then immediately thrust her other arm toward Wonyang's face.

Dozens of hidden weapons burst from it just like before.

But with a light tap, Namgung Wonyang's body vanished from that spot.

Thud-thud-thud-thud.

The hidden weapons lodged in the ceiling.

And Ilhwa's body froze where it was.

She felt the cold edge pressed against her throat.

She swallowed hard.

From behind her came Namgung Wonyang's voice.

"My lord taught me."

Namgung Wonyang spoke quietly.

"Never let yourself be devoured by mere tools."

"Th-that makes no sense..."

Ilhwa was an expert of the Five-Qi Convergence Realm.

As with every realm, there were lesser stages within it, and there was a clear difference between those who had only just reached the Five-Qi Convergence Realm and those who had stood in it for years.

Ilhwa was stronger than the two men who had died earlier.

But the Namgung Wonyang before her was different, even if their realms were similar.

No, the realm was not the issue.

It was a difference in class.

"...Fine... I understand... I will go see this lord of yours...!"

Saying that, Ilhwa deliberately pressed her throat toward Namgung Wonyang's sword.

Since the intent to commit suicide was obvious, Namgung Wonyang had no choice but to pull her sword back.

The moment she did, Ilhwa sprang to her feet, wiped the blood running down her neck, and immediately lunged toward the sword lying on the floor.

Wonyang let out a sigh.

Why was Ilhwa trying to grab that sword?

To counterattack? No.

That too was for the sake of killing herself.

As Wonyang kicked off the ground, she murmured softly,

"Lone Heavenswalk."

Her sword swung once.

And then.

Ssssh—

A single strand of sword energy split into dozens.

"Uh... uh...?"

Ilhwa's eyes widened as she snatched up the sword that had fallen to the floor.

Sword energy flooded in from every direction.

There was nowhere to evade.

It first knocked the sword in Ilhwa's hand off to the side.

Then it flew toward her entire body.

Arms, legs, shoulders, thighs.

Cuts opened all over her.

Slash, slash, slash.

Ilhwa collapsed to the floor.

She tried to stand, but her body would not move.

Namgung Wonyang slowly approached.

"I warned you."

"...Kgh..."

"I told you that if you took even one more step, I would shatter your leg."

Reversing her sword, Namgung Wonyang pointed it at Ilhwa's left thigh.

"W-wait...?"

The sword came down.

Crack—! Crunch—!

"Ah... AAAAGH—!!"

Ilhwa's scream echoed throughout Drunken Fragrance Pavilion.

A promise was a promise.

Like someone she knew.

Looking down at the writhing Ilhwa, Wonyang sealed her acupoints.

Ilhwa's body went limp.

***

She felt the chill of a cold floor.

Her whole body throbbed.

Especially her left leg.

The pain rising from the shattered limb snapped her awake.

"Ugh..."

Ilhwa slowly opened her eyes.

A ceiling came into view through blurred vision.

A low ceiling.

Somewhere, she could hear water dripping.

...Underground.

The moment she tried to turn her head—

"Awake?"

A voice.

Neither cold nor warm.

It was such a dry, businesslike voice that it sounded like nothing more than a confirmation of fact.

Ilhwa turned her head.

And saw him.

The man seated on the stairs.

He was young.

With his gray hair and black robe, he looked no more than twenty.

Resting his chin on one hand, he gazed at Ilhwa.

In this vast martial world, a man with such an appearance was rare, and a man who carried such a strange presence was rarer still.

That was why she knew exactly who he was.

...Seol Unhwi.

A man she had only heard of in rumors.

The one said to have turned the Heavenly Alliance into one of the three great powers.

The polar heir of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.

That man was now looking down at her.

"It must hurt."

Unhwi spoke.

"Your leg was shattered."

"..."

"But I did not kill you."

Unhwi rose from the stairs.

He slowly approached her.

"Are you curious why you were brought here?"

Ilhwa did not answer.

Unhwi crouched down in front of her.

"I place importance on resolve."

"..."

"I respect those who stake their lives on something."

Unhwi's eyes rested on Ilhwa.

"But your kind are a little different."

"...What... are you talking about?"

"You have resolve, but no cause and effect. You have will, but no righteous cause. You carry blades, yet do not know where to point them."

"...You really do speak in difficult ways, just like the rumors said."

"Did you fail to understand?"

"I understood. I just do not agree."

"Do not agree... There is no reason for me to make you understand, but shall we consider the case of Yeom Chuseop?"

Ilhwa's gaze wavered.

"He killed an old man named Song Hak. Of course, he did not merely kill him. He tortured Song Hak, who was already at death's door."

"..."

"He tortured him even though there was nothing to extract from him. Whether it was pleasure, or the expression of will aimed at the wrong target, I do not know. Nor do I care to know."

"..."

"And the Soul-Extinguishing Needle Method is certainly among the upper ranks of the torture techniques I know."

That was not wrong.

At one point, Unhwi had gathered together every torture technique he knew and created a secret manual called the Record of Ancient and Modern Body-Torments, and among the torture arts within it, about six had been made with reference to the Soul-Extinguishing Needle Method.

"Of course, that would not have been an order from the Return-of-Life Society."

"..."

"The Return-of-Life Society seeks to start wars. It is not a place for personal revenge."

Unhwi's voice sank coldly.

"Yeom Chuseop acted on his own. To satisfy his own desire for revenge."

"..."

"He will be handed over to the court. And the other four, excluding you, will likely be sent there as well."

Ilhwa's eyes widened.

"They will not die cleanly. Even if they reveal every secret they know, they will die miserably."

"...I do not know those people."

Unhwi let out a faint laugh.

"Even in a situation like this, do you still mean to make excuses?"

Unhwi stood up.

"I do not particularly care whether you make excuses or not, but are you not curious?"

"...Curious about what?"

"Why I brought only you here."

"..."

"Why you, out of Ha Mubaek, Cheong Rin, Jang Jin, Shin Cheolsan, and yourself."

Ilhwa swallowed hard.

"The one who moved directly was Yeom Chuseop, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) and the five of you would have spread rumors and muddled information. Of course, there were likely others acting under your personal direction as well."

"..."

"There is no need to speak at length about that part. They are people who may as well not exist. To state only the conclusion, you are different from the other four."

"...How am I different?"

"Similar incidents took place over the past two years. Namyang Prefecture, Seoju Fortress, the Moonbright Kingdom, and now here today. Of all those places, only you were present at all four."

Ilhwa ground her teeth.

"I did see Hyeolmu, but he was not the sort one could reason with."

"...I do not know what you are talking about."

Unhwi laughed softly.

"As I said repeatedly, you were present at all three earlier incidents. And you were here today as well. That much means you are not an ordinary member, but either a direct subordinate of a Return-of-Life Envoy, or at the very least someone in a position to come into frequent contact with one."

Ilhwa clenched her teeth.

"...I said I do not know."

Unhwi nodded.

"If you do not know, then nothing can be done. I will have to kill you."

"...What?"

"I intend to hand you over to Mak Sohong, the squad leader of the Heaven-and-Earth Sword Unit."

"Uh... wh-what...?"

"At the moment, he is a man who knows how Song Hak died, who hates the Return-of-Life Society, and who has become a true fiend who wants only to torture and torture again and kill every one of them he sees."

"..."

"If you fall into his hands, it will be very difficult for you."

"...You will not do it yourself?"

"Whether I kill one more person like you or not, my hands are already soaked dark with blood, and my relationship with the Return-of-Life Society is already poor. So why would I bother?"

"..."

"No matter whether another Return-of-Life Envoy moves or not, the Return-of-Life Society as an organization will be pursued by both the Yang Empire and the Enemy State and eventually exterminated. Whatever a Return-of-Life Envoy does, the fact that you will all be identified and die will not change. And whether you know it or not, I am also a busy man. That means I do not have much time to play with vermin like you. So it would not be a bad thing to settle matters around here."

With those words, Unhwi crooked his finger.

Namgung Wonyang, who had been waiting in the corner, immediately came forward as if she had been waiting for that very moment.

"Take this woman to Mak Sohong."

"By your command."

Wonyang immediately stepped forward to seize Ilhwa by the hair, and Ilhwa shrank back from her, dragging her shattered leg behind her.

"W-wait. Wait a moment...!"

When Unhwi raised his hand, Wonyang stopped.

What filled Ilhwa's eyes was despair.

In a trembling voice, Ilhwa spoke.

"What I know... is not much."

"What I want to know is how many Return-of-Life Envoys of the Return-of-Life Society you know."

"...One... there is one."

"The name?"

"...I do not know."

"How could you not know?"

"I really do not know. In the first place, we do not seek out the Return-of-Life Envoys. They are the ones who come to find us."

"Continue."

"And there is no fixed meeting place either. We meet in a different place every time."

Ilhwa spoke with a trembling voice.

"And... every time we meet, the face is different."

"They use face-shifting arts, then."

"...I think so."

Unhwi fell into thought for a moment.

"Then how do you contact them?"

"...Supreme Epistolary Channel."

"Supreme Epistolary Channel?"

"There is one used only by the Return-of-Life Society. One with red feathers..."

Ilhwa stopped speaking.

"If we send word through that Supreme Epistolary Channel, the Return-of-Life Envoy sends a reply."

"Where is that Supreme Epistolary Channel?"

"...In an abandoned house a little over a kilometer from here..."

Unhwi nodded.

"Good."

He stepped closer to Ilhwa again and said,

"Send a message to the Return-of-Life Envoy."

"...What?"

"I want to take a look, so tell them to come."

Ilhwa's eyes widened.