“Does it gall you.”

That sneering question pricked the Fourth Blood Lord’s pride.

In the Southern Wilds he was the one called a king whom no one could defy.

A man in a position no one could dare look down on.

To have himself used like some worthless underling was unbearably humiliating.

[Voice Transmission] “I have not yet decided to whom I will hand over the Central Plains.”

“...!”

At the whispering Voice Transmission in his ear, the Fourth Blood Lord’s face, which had been staring at the Blood Demon, twisted faintly.

The Blood Demon’s mouth curled even more deeply.

[Voice Transmission] “Use that person as your nourishment and strike the Central Plains. Do that, and as I promised, I will give you this Central Plains.”

Do you want to seize the Central Plains? Then, let us make a deal.

Give me your strength. In return, everything I accomplish with my own hand, I will give to you.

One day, the Blood Demon had suddenly appeared before him and offered him strength.

A vast strength he could not have gained even if he devoted his entire life.

And he had made a promise.

If he cooperated, he would give him the Central Plains.

Was he not going to hand it over to North Sea Ice Palace instead?

He had been of no help at all to the Blood Demon.

He had thought, because of that, that his promise with the Blood Demon had already gone down the river.

“The battle starts now.”

The Blood Demon spoke toward the three remaining Blood Lords.

“If you want to see your desires fulfilled, then you too will fight, staking your lives.”

At the Blood Demon’s words, the faces of the three Blood Lords were painted with tension.

“Any who continue to stand by and watch from here on...”

The Blood Demon’s gaze swept down over the three Blood Lords like a sharp sword.

“I will personally kill with my own hand.”

****

Late at night. Heavenly Tiger Hall of Namgoong Clan.

These were the people gathered in Heavenly Tiger Hall.

Alliance Lord Namgoong Mucheon.

Clan Lord of Namgoong Clan, Namgoong Cheongun.

Deputy Strategist of Martial Alliance Namgoong Cheonghae, and Chief Steward Namgoong Mun.

And Alliance Strategist Zhuge and Ouyang Do.

Lastly, Seop Mugwang and Chor Yeon.

Before long, the doors of Heavenly Tiger Hall opened and two people entered a step late.

Namgoong Seolhwa, and the Demonic martial artist she had called.

TAP. TAP.

Namgoong Mucheon quietly watched the figure of his granddaughter as she stepped into Heavenly Tiger Hall.

All at once, the day when thirteen-year-old Seolhwa had first come to Namgoong and crossed that very threshold came to his mind.

A child who, with the shadow of death hanging over her, had nothing, no power, no possessions, and yet still walked forward proudly.

She had not been the bright, radiant figure he remembered, but Namgoong Mucheon had recognized at a glance that she was his granddaughter.

And even though she had no way to prove herself, her eyes had been filled with certainty.

I am a child of Namgoong.

The child had been saying that with her whole body.

CHUCK—

Stepping into Heavenly Tiger Hall, Seolhwa brought her fists together in a disciplined cupped-fist salute toward those gathered.

“Namgoong Seolhwa greets the elders. I thank you for so readily allowing this gathering despite this young girl’s discourteous request.”

It was none other than Seolhwa who had arranged for this meeting.

Having come back from checking Yu Gang’s condition, she had, as if something were decided within her, set this place.

“The reason I have gathered you here like this is to reveal to you all the truths I have kept hidden until now.”

Her eyes, lifted slightly, carried a sharp light.

Seolhwa intended to lay everything she knew bare to the people most precious and important around her.

Heaven-Defying Time-Reversal Great Law.

Where the Blood Demon’s power originated.

How she could know every situation and respond to it.

What she had been doing over the past seven-odd years to stop the Blood Demon.

The existence of the Great Law, the reason for the regression, and even the goal she suspected the Blood Demon was aiming for.

“First, this is what I must reveal.”

SSSSSSS—

Around Seolhwa, a black energy slowly began to coil.

The aura of the Lord of Sado Union, of the Shadowless Demon God.

The qi of the Imoogi.

“!”

“...!”

Those who already knew she was the Shadowless Demon God kept silent, but there were those here who were learning that fact for the first time.

Shock colored the faces of Namgoong Cheonghae and Namgoong Mun.

“I am.”

Seolhwa lifted her gaze slightly.

“The Shadowless Demon God.”

The black smoke gathered together, wound around her body, and then took its place upon her shoulders.

It gradually formed a shape and at last revealed itself as a black serpent.

SSSST—

The black serpent’s gaze slowly swept over those gathered in Heavenly Tiger Hall.

[It has been a while.]

The Imoogi traded glances with Ouyang Do and Namgoong Mucheon.

Ouyang Do replaced a greeting with a light smile, and Namgoong Mucheon inclined his head, accepting the greeting.

[Are these the ones you chose?]

The Imoogi hissed softly as it asked Seolhwa.

Seolhwa nodded.

“Yes.”

The people gathered here were those Seolhwa could truly trust and entrust her back to.

Those to whom she could bare everything and who would still treat her as they had before.

[I see.]

With narrow eyes, the Imoogi looked around at the eight humans who had gathered.

For a moment it hissed softly, raking over them one by one.

[If you say so, then so it is.]

The Imoogi trusted Seolhwa more than anyone.

Therefore it trusted those she had chosen.

“Before I speak of why I chose the path of the Shadowless Demon God, there is one more thing I must reveal.”

This time, Seolhwa could not quite bring herself to raise her eyes.

Save for Sama Cheon, Namgoong Mucheon was the only one here who knew what she was about to say.

Depending on how they heard it, even the people present here might turn their backs on her.

“In my previous life, I died once and returned to the past to be born anew.”

She was afraid.

Afraid they might think she had used the memories of her previous life to approach them, and that she had used them.

Afraid they might think everything about Namgoong Seolhwa up to now had been a lie.

But—

“In my previous life, my epithet was Heaven-Slaying Sword.”

Seolhwa clenched her fist and lifted her gaze proudly.

Sitting directly before her, her grandfather Namgoong Mucheon was looking at her with an unwavering gaze.

“I was Namgoong Clan’s archenemy.”

Seolhwa went on with a long, long story.

How she had come to die, and what she had done in her previous life.

The pathetic mistake of only realizing she was a child of Namgoong after she had killed her father with her own hand and burned Namgoong Clan to the ground.

And then the path she had chosen once she returned.

The seven-odd years she had walked, looking only at that single goal.

As Seolhwa laid out her story, her voice sometimes trembled, sometimes grew small.

But she did not stop speaking.

The her of her previous life had stained her hands with the blood of too many innocent people, and she knew the burden of that sin was hers to bear.

Even if, when this story was over, arrows of blame came flying at her, she held nothing back and revealed everything.

While Seolhwa’s story continued, those gathered quietly listened.

Not one of them grew angry; not one cut off her words.

A person who died and then came back to life.

That unbelievable story—no one treated it lightly.

And at last, when her entire story was finished—

“And that is how I came to sit in this seat.”

Seolhwa slowly closed her eyes.

Her lowered lashes trembled faintly.

Had she added or omitted nothing?

Had she not, as if forcing them, spoken in a way that demanded their forgiveness?

Had it not sounded like an excuse?

By the time such countless worries were filling her head—

SNIFF.

“!”

From one side of Heavenly Tiger Hall came the sound of someone holding back tears.

Startled, Seolhwa turned to look at the person seated behind.

Seop Mugwang was soothing Chor Yeon, who was sniffling.

“Hey, why are you crying?”

“But... the young lady is just so pitiful....”

Chor Yeon’s heart ached for her, sincerely.

At that anxious voice and those tears, Seolhwa’s gaze wavered.

It was then.

SNIFF.

Again, from somewhere, came the sound of a sniffle.

When Seolhwa turned toward it, this time Chief Steward Namgoong Mun was wiping away tears.

He was not the only one.

Her father Cheongun, who was looking at her, also had damp eyes, and in her uncle Cheonghae’s gaze, too, there was nothing but deep pity.

Strategist Zhuge and Ouyang Do were no different.

Their gazes were heavy.

All she could feel from their reactions was sorrow on her behalf.

When Seolhwa turned wide eyes toward Namgoong Mucheon, Namgoong Mucheon smiled faintly and nodded.

“....”

Without realizing it, Seolhwa bowed her head.

It was not out of shame or fear.

It was simply because she could not believe it.

Because she could not believe this situation, in which not one of them pointed a finger at her or blamed her.

[You have kept good humans by your side.]

The Imoogi’s calm voice resonated in her chest.

Only then did a relieved smile spread across Seolhwa’s lips as well.

“Yes...”

People far too undeservingly kind stood at her side.

It was not because she herself was anything special.

They had already been such people even in her previous life, and she was...

[It seems you have finally found your place.]

“....”

Seolhwa’s smile softened a little more, curving into a gentle arc.

That is right.

The Imoogi’s words were true.

Now she had no intention of denying it, no intention of cutting down her own worth with self-reproach.

Now I know for certain.

That this, right here, was the place where she belonged.

****

When all of the stories had finished, shock still lingered on the faces of those gathered.

The story of Sama Cheon, the Demonic martial artist that followed Seolhwa’s, was even more unbelievable and shocking than hers.

“And so, for what reason are you telling us this story.”

Namgoong Mucheon swept a hard gaze over those gathered and then asked Seolhwa.

“There must be a reason you have brought up things you have kept from us until now. Does it have to do with the people gathered here?”

“Yes.”

As if her resolve were firm as well, Seolhwa met Namgoong Mucheon’s gaze and nodded.

“If every part of the plan fails and we have to go back to the past... I want to return together with the people gathered here.”