By Zephyria 
“…I suppose so.”
Ho-yeon felt as though it would be happier to simply die as if falling asleep. He was cold, hungry, and so terribly lonely. With a soft slide, Ho-yeon collapsed forward. Perhaps it was a relief that his frozen body did not shatter into pieces like the other children. Ho-yeon opened his flickering eyes one last time.
The Ice Dragon, which had always looked like a fossil, raised its massive body. Then, a long veil appeared before the Ice Dragon. Soon, the space was torn asunder, and simultaneously, a red interior was revealed.
Surprisingly, within it was the fire that Ho-yeon so desperately longed for. Black and red lava flowed beneath the cracked earth, but Ho-yeon could not move. His entire body was already frozen solid.
Even if it was an illusion, to see fire right before death—perhaps he truly was lucky. Ho-yeon tried to smile faintly with lips that would not move. However, as the torn veil widened further, a black-haired man standing upon the lava-flowing land became visible.
Despite sweating all over his body from the crimson flames, the man was blocking the fire demon with his internal power. And before the man was a giant Fire Dragon, bleeding a liquid as thick as the red lava. It was a divine beast with a similar appearance to the Ice Dragon, but with the exact opposite nature.
As the Fire Dragon, breathing heavily, let out a monstrous shriek, ice spikes clinging to the cave ceiling fell like bamboo shoots after a rain. The Ice Dragon likewise let out a strange cry toward where Ho-yeon lay. Ice, dozens of times the size of a human body, shattered into pieces and covered Ho-yeon’s body like powder.
Soon, the frost of the eternal snow mountains flew toward the place where the red river flowed. Transparent ice crystals forming perfect hexagons became ice flowers containing extreme frost energy, falling like snow.
Snow falling on lava—was it a strange sight?
It was the moment the man, gripping his sword tightly beyond the veil, slowly turned his head. At the roar emitted by the Fire Dragon, flames leaped across the veil and surged into the cave where Ho-yeon was.
“……Warm.”
Grab. Ho-yeon’s white hand clung to Mu-gyeong’s arm, which was resting on his middle dantian. On the arm that looked down upon Ho-yeon as if to overwhelm him, the curse of the fire dragon was revealed. Any ordinary person would have been consumed by the fire energy, yet Ho-yeon rubbed his body against it with ease.
Past midnight, with a single fading lantern for company, Mu-gyeong poured his energy into the sleeping Ho-yeon without obstruction. Whenever he injected the fire demon to verify what on earth filled this freezing body, he was repeatedly blocked at the middle dantian.
This time, unlike before, he did not even suppress the curse of the fire dragon. Instead, the energy meant to prevent a rampage ran wild alongside it—scriptures that moved like living snakes. Intense fire energy filled every corner, enough to make one think there was no choice but to die.
Despite possessing martial prowess that had reached the peak, Ho-yeon could not utilize internal energy except when performing meditative breathing. Masters at the peak or beyond reach a stage where they can hide their internal power, but before Mu-gyeong, such things were useless tricks.
However, no trace of any ice art could be felt in Ho-yeon’s dantian right now. A low sound leaked from the lips of Ho-yeon, who was trembling like an aspen leaf despite the terrible heat.
“……Ma.”
The acorn-colored hair that had draped over Ho-yeon’s forehead was also gradually fading into white.
“Don’t go…, don’t leave me alone.”
As if thrown into a land of extreme cold, frost energy leaked incessantly from Ho-yeon’s lips. Meanwhile, Ho-yeon’s hair gradually stained white. A transparent white was engraved into Mu-gyeong’s red glint.
The fierce heat that traveled through every point of contact and circled Mu-gyeong’s entire body was being absorbed by Ho-yeon. Like holding ice in a mouth boiling with heat, heat and frost energy—which could not coexist—leaked simultaneously from Mu-gyeong’s lips.
When his hair finally turned completely white, Mu-gyeong poured his internal power into Ho-yeon with all his might. Ho-yeon’s body jerked once, but he seemed determined not to let go of Mu-gyeong even if he were to burn to death.
Ho-yeon pulled Mu-gyeong’s face toward him, drawing him to his chest. As frost energy flowed through Ho-yeon’s slightly parted lips, it felt as if eternal snow, heavy with moisture, was bursting.
Mu-gyeong consciously took a deep breath. Had breathing always been such a natural and comfortable thing? It wasn’t that he had become accustomed to the pain. He had simply endured it.
“You still haven’t escaped the lava of that day!”
Just as the Sword Demon had said, Mu-gyeong had never once escaped the lava. No matter what land he stepped upon, everywhere was a boiling blaze. However, as the incompatible ice and fire mingled, the curse of the fire dragon, which had been pulsing violently as if he had hundreds of hearts, began to quiet down.
Until now, no method had existed. There was only the path of suppressing the curse with his own internal power until he exploded and died.
But here was the eternal snow mountain. Right now, Ho-yeon carried the energy of the eternal snow mountains not as mere ice, but as his very existence.
Once, he had trampled the North Sea Ice Palace and seized the eternal snow mountains. At other times, he had tried to cut open his own stomach to remove the already absorbed inner core of the fire dragon, and at other times, he had sought out an extreme yin constitution to devour all the yin energy.
Nothing changed. He always ended his life by turning the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains into a hell of blazing fire.
Ninety-nine regressions.
And the variable that appeared on the hundredth.
“Wi Ho-yeon.”
Muttering, he drove his hand toward Ho-yeon’s heart. He would pull it out and chew it up. If he took this for himself, he would be able to escape this wretched fire energy.
With his right arm imbued with the curse, Mu-gyeong gripped the nape of Ho-yeon’s neck. Unaware that his life lay within a palm, Ho-yeon reached out with both hands, trying to embrace Mu-gyeong.
Mu-gyeong’s hand, sliding slowly down from the nape, reached Ho-yeon’s chest. The impulse to shatter the dantian and devour it whole was engraved in his red eyes.
“Mm…. Mu-gyeong….”
At that moment, Ho-yeon lifted his face and opened his vacant eyes. The way he responded so slowly was filled only with serenity. Blue eyes, clearer than usual, resided within them.
His hand, which had been pressing down as if to crush the breastbone, suffered a brief tremor. The person who didn’t even know they had almost died by his hand snuggled affectionately, as if asking why he had called, burrowing deeper into his embrace.
Come here, Ho-yeon calmly reached out and cupped Mu-gyeong’s cheeks with his hands. Then, he pressed his body close, as if refusing to be separated. It wasn’t the first time this had happened today anyway. Ho-yeon frequently showed symptoms like sleepwalking.
“…Warm.”
Ho-yeon, talking in his sleep with a blurred voice, calmly curled the corners of his mouth. The mole on his lip, which became more prominent whenever he smiled, caught the eye.
“Amazing…. You’re the first child I’ve met who is as warm as you.”
A child. Since his eyes were hazy and out of focus, Mu-gyeong knew he didn’t recognize him now. Since he sought warmth and snuggled and smiled at anyone during the night, he wondered how the Palace Master could have felt so secure in sending him to the Demon Sect. Of course, he had been sent tightly wrapped with the Snow Shadow Guard before and after, but his level of martial prowess was pathetic.
Ho-yeon, resting his cheek against Mu-gyeong’s forearm, blinked slowly. As Ho-yeon lightly rubbed his cheek against the forearm, it felt as if silk were tickling his hand.
Mu-gyeong once again manifested the suppressed curse of the fire dragon. As Ho-yeon’s white hair absorbed the fire energy, Mu-gyeong took an even deeper breath.
Ho-yeon seeped further into Mu-gyeong’s embrace. With the forearm engraved with the sulgub spell manifested by the curse, Mu-gyeong roughly pulled Ho-yeon’s body toward him. Burying his face in Ho-yeon’s body with only his eyes visible, he let out a low laugh. His red glint, which had always been sunken, was now full of vividness.
……Warm.
Ho-yeon muttered, stretching his body further into the flames. Ho-yeon rubbed his entire frozen body against the fire. He thought he would burn to death, but what he felt was not heat, but human warmth.
Only then did Ho-yeon realize it was a dream, and he blinked slowly, trying to wake from the dreamscape. But when he did, his vision was filled with skin-colored flesh. Blinking once more, his consciousness returned in an instant.
What he was hugging was not the flames coming from the veil opened by the Ice Dragon, but Mu-gyeong’s body. But why was he naked?
Ho-yeon unconsciously pulled his waist back and glanced down, and fortunately, he was wearing pants. However, that heavily swollen area filled his vision. The lower body, fitting for Mu-gyeong’s large frame, was fully aroused.