By Zephyria 
Baek Ryeo-il thoroughly searched the nearby forest. It seemed the enemies had already looted the village and left, but he wanted to completely eliminate any remaining threats.
Moreover, they had taken several villagers, so he had to find them.
‘…How dare they.’
Anger smoldered within him at the thought of those who had committed such an act right under his nose and fled.
Their trail led westward. Baek Ryeo-il stared intently at the densely wooded western ridge before clicking his tongue and turning away.
‘I should return for now.’
It hadn’t been long, so he could catch up if he pursued them immediately, but his disciple Gang Woong, whom he had left in the village, came to mind.
‘It would have been easier if that kid had just gone back with Master.’
Taking care of a young disciple was no easy task. In the early days after leaving Mount Hua, he couldn’t do anything properly, and it was incredibly demanding.
From the start, Baek Ryeo-il had no intention of being lenient, no matter how young his disciple was. If he had whined even a little, he would have immediately sent him back to Mount Hua.
However, Gang Woong had persevered with surprising tenacity.
Even after days of intense forced marches, he never gave up, even if it meant dragging his cramping legs. That tenacity was why he hadn’t sent him back, and it had continued until now.
I should send him back next time.
But on the day his disciple committed his first kill, he bit his lip until it bled with a pale face, yet he didn’t shed a single tear and endured again.
As the days passed, and after two years, he had grown into a competent Swordsmen whom he could confidently rely on. Baek Ryeo-il had very few such people, and Gang Woong proudly held one of those spots.
A faint smile appeared on his lips, but it vanished in an instant.
He heard rustling nearby.
Baek Ryeo-il slowly moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. His muscles, tensed to spring out at any moment, twitched.
Soon, Baek Ryeo-il frowned as he identified the person who emerged from the bushes.
“Hmm? Heartless Sword? What brings you here?”
The other man also released the sword hilt he had been gripping upon spotting him.
“Peng Do-hwan.”
The man with the massive Greatsword on his back was none other than Peng Do-hwan.
“Rumor has it that you’re the first to arrive wherever the Demonic Cult appears these days. Thanks to that, you’ve earned an amusing nickname, but it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue.”
Baek Ryeo-il raised an eyebrow as if demanding an explanation, and he shrugged.
“I came because the village needed help. But where is Yakseon Daein?”
Peng Do-hwan looked around.
“Yak Seon?”
“Some villagers, pale as ghosts, were grabbing anyone passing by and begging for help, mentioning something about Yak Seon.”
“……It’s true that the village was looted by the Demonic Cult.”
“It seems Yakseon Daein got caught up in the incident. You can find out the details by asking the villagers.”
‘Yak Seon, huh…… Hiding in a backwater like this.’
This was an unexpected gain. Three years ago, Yak Seon had treated people poisoned, left behind the antidote recipe, and disappeared without a word. Since then, Yak Seon’s whereabouts had been unknown.
Baek Ryeo-il had been planning to meet Yak Seon at least once. There was something he wanted to ask.
“You seemed to be searching the area. Did you find anything?”
Baek Ryeo-il shook his head at Peng Do-hwan’s question.
“I don’t think they killed Yak Seon. They must have taken him because he’s useful.”
“Then we have to find him. First, let’s check how much damage the village has suffered.”
They headed towards the village.
“I heard you were wandering the Martial world. What about Mount Hua?”
“What about you? What are you doing in a place like this, abandoning your family?”
“What else? It was doing fine without me anyway, so they’re probably managing on their own.”
A chill hung in the air between the two men.
“Are you still holding a grudge over what happened? You, the great hero, should let it go. It was a long time ago.”
After a long silence, Peng Do-hwan blurted out playfully.
Their past encounter had not ended well. Peng Do-hwan was convinced that Baek Ryeo-il had been hiding Seong Mu-yeon and had shouted like a madman. Baek Ryeo-il, also lacking the mental composure to indulge him after losing his family, had gradually escalated the argument. It had almost turned into a physical fight before the Peng family and Mount Hua intervened, and this was their reunion after three years.
Baek Ryeo-il scrutinized Peng Do-hwan’s smiling face with cold eyes. Beneath the seemingly friendly demeanor, a chilling hostility still lingered. He must still think that Baek Ryeo-il had been protecting Seong Mu-yeon.
“Narrow-minded.”
When no answer came, Peng Do-hwan narrowed his eyes.
Silence fell again. The two had never been particularly close, but every time they met, they were reminded of the person who was no longer there, who had always played the role of mediator.
A quick glance at Peng Do-hwan’s back revealed two massive Greatsword that most people couldn’t even wield properly. Baek Ryeo-il guessed that one of the two swords, which looked like twins, was the only memento left by the deceased Peng Yuan-jin.
“……I always think this, but what you do is disgustingly awful.”
Peng Do-hwan muttered out of the blue. There was no subject, but Baek Ryeo-il realized he was referring to the Demonic Cult.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
The faces of the two men as they thought of the Demonic Cult were almost identical.
“You’ll be chasing them too, right? Since things have turned out this way, how about we travel together? It would be more efficient that way.”
Baek Ryeo-il hesitated for a moment. Traveling with Peng Do-hwan, who still seemed to suspect him, would be annoying as he might do something unexpected. However, judging from the traces of the enemy, they seemed to be quite large in scale, so having one more person would be helpful. Baek Ryeo-il decided to accept a companion this time and nodded.
“Alright.”
The two men walked side by side, maintaining a subtle distance.
They hadn’t gone far through the ruined village when they spotted a group of people huddled in front of a dilapidated building.
The villagers ran over and surrounded the two young men.
“Master!”
Gang Woong’s face lit up like a puppy greeting its owner when he saw him. Next to his disciple was a short boy wearing a distinctive Owl mask.
‘So Yak Seon was really hiding near here.’
Baek Ryeo-il didn’t like these unusual people.
The eerie mask they always wore, as well as their faint presence that even he sometimes missed, made them feel inhuman and unsettling.
In particular, the one wearing the Owl mask exuded an especially strong sense of incongruity, making him even more unpleasant.
To Baek Ryeo-il, they felt like unknown entities in the pitch-black darkness. He could never rest easy until he confirmed what threat was hidden behind those masks.
But the Owl mask was not alone.
Another masked attendant stood with his back turned. It was not unusual for them to travel together, but this attendant was different.
A sense of disconnect.
He couldn’t see what animal it was since his back was turned, but it was definitely an attendant since he was wearing a mask. However, he didn’t feel the subtle atmosphere of the attendants that always put him on edge.
Suddenly, a premonition washed over him, and a single white petal flew in from somewhere. The moment the petal brushed past his eyes, time began to slow down. Even the figure of his disciple approaching him blurred.
Only that attendant held his gaze. Following his sight, his other senses turned to him in turn.
It was a strange experience.
All his senses vividly focused on one person.
“…….”
Baek Ryeo-il had felt this way before. No matter how many people were around, he could miraculously find one person in an instant. As if the earth was pulling him, his gaze was strongly drawn only to him.
Even from a great distance, he could tell just by the fluttering hair.
Even just by the outline falling from head to toe.
“…….”
The moment his heart pounded strongly, the petal touched the ground. The flow of time, which had been moving slowly, suddenly sped up, and sparks flew from Baek Ryeo-il’s eyes.
…Could it be.