By Zephyria 
“It does not mean I am completely giving up on revenge. However, I feel that I must not miss this chance to meet my only remaining family one last time.”
Revenge… of course, it was important.
Peng Do-hwan’s hatred had not weakened in the slightest. Even now, as he turned away from the enemy, his feet felt heavy, reluctant to leave.
But if he went now, he could at least say the farewell to his father that he had been unable to say to his brother.
Since he had not returned home once during all this time, his father had essentially lost both sons at once. It was tragic to think of the dead, but he could not let the living die in a state of grief because of it.
“I am glad it is not too late.”
It was all thanks to the man before him.
“You have done what I needed most.”
Though it was for a short time, Badger had opened his closed heart, squeezed inside, and shone a thin ray of light. For Peng Do-hwan, that trivial stimulus—which to some might seem like nothing—was enough.
Facing the world with clear vision, he finally understood.
He thought he had been running hard, but looking back, he hadn’t taken a single step. He had merely been circling in place, unable to escape the moment his brother died three years ago.
When he came to his senses, everyone except him had already drifted far away. What would he do if, in the distant future, he finished his revenge and looked around only to find no one left? What if everyone had gone to a place beyond his reach?
His father had already drifted far enough to be out of sight.
He did not want his life, which might continue for decades to come, to be alienated in such a way, repeating the same steps in place. That is a dead life, not a living one. His brother would not want him to live like that either.
“Will we be able to meet again next time?”
“…….”
Badger did not answer. He neither nodded nor shook his head, merely looking at him as if he were in a difficult position.
Peng Do-hwan felt a lingering regret at having to part without a promised date.
However, Yak Seon had long since turned her back on the Martial world in disgust, washing her hands of it, so it was illogical to expect continuous interaction with a servant who followed her.
“Do not let it weigh on you. I understand your circumstances.”
Not wanting Badger to be troubled, Peng Do-hwan did not press further and stepped back gracefully.
“I am sorry I could not help you find Yak Seon until the end. I have no time to delay and must leave immediately.”
Badger waved his hand as if telling him not to say such things. Peng Do-hwan gave a faint smile and calmly bid him farewell.
“If the opportunity arises, a day will come when we meet again.”
When he offered a handshake, Badger hesitated for a moment. Just as Peng Do-hwan wondered if Yak Seon’s rules were so strict that she forbade even contact with martial artists, Badger grasped his hand.
For the hand of a martial artist who gripped a sword, the touch was soft, as if it were meant to hold a brush, yet it gripped his hand firmly as if in support.
But who could have known?
Just now, while Badger was checking the pulse of a fallen subordinate of Heukmajo to see if he had stopped breathing, he had been exchanging farewells with Peng Do-hwan.
The fact that the man Badger failed to confirm was pretending to be a corpse using the ghost breath concealment technique, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.
When one holds their breath and the heart slows to an extreme, their presence fades and their body temperature drops sharply, making it difficult to distinguish them from a real corpse even from a close distance.
It was the same even when checking the pulse. It took a considerable amount of time to catch a heart beating at such an extreme slowness, and occasionally, people survived in this manner.
Because of this, Peng Do-hwan and Badger did not realize that the enemy lying right beneath their feet was still alive.
Everything happened in a single instant.
Before the blink of an eye after their hands met, Peng Do-hwan heard the sound of a breath being drawn from beneath his feet.
Badger seemed to sense the presence almost simultaneously, but it was already too late.
The subordinate of Heukmajo unleashed a single, lethal strike, with claw energy imbued with all his remaining Jin-gi surging upward from below.
Since the two were holding hands in a handshake, their response was inevitably slow. The claw energy grazed the back of Peng Do-hwan’s hand as he hurriedly withdrew it.
Droplets of blood soared before Peng Do-hwan’s eyes along with the enemy’s fingernails.
The attack continued in a straight line toward Peng Do-hwan’s jaw.
At this rate, the fatal attack, containing the enemy’s last bit of life, would not only crush his jawbone but blow away his entire face.
Badger’s eyes widened.
In that split second, instead of letting go, Badger tightly gripped Peng Do-hwan’s hand as it began to slip. There was not enough time to push or pull.
If the force were too strong or too weak, it would be meaningless; Peng Do-hwan would either take the hit directly, or Badger himself might be hit instead.
Instead, Badger twisted his hand. The naturally extended hand was twisted by a strong force, the palm facing the sky before turning back the other way.
Consequently, the lower arm, upper arm, and then the shoulder blade naturally changed direction following the hand. Before he knew it, Peng Do-hwan was forced into a strangely twisted posture, opening his chest wide toward the sky.
The enemy’s black demonic energy narrowly grazed Peng Do-hwan’s cheek and soared into the air. His life was saved, but the fierce demonic energy left a long scratch on his cheek, causing a large amount of blood to spurt.
After confirming that while he was wounded, his life was not in danger, Badger spun his body in a full circle and released his hand.
Then, using the momentum of the rotation, he struck down at the enemy’s torso, which had been left wide open in the attempt to launch the surprise attack.
Thump!
The moment the enemy’s head hit the ground, his neck snapped grotesquely, and he died instantly. Thus, the final attack, launched with all his strength, ended in failure.
“Urgh!”
Peng Do-hwan, twisting his body back to correct his posture, clutched his cheek as intense pain surged in. Perhaps because blood had splattered, he could not see through his left eye.
Meanwhile, Badger stopped only after scanning all the other corpses to eliminate any remaining threats.
Though Peng Do-hwan groaned, unable to bear the extreme pain, his gaze remained fixed on Badger.
He had saved his life once again.
And what of that instantaneous judgment? If it had been off by even a fraction, both would have been in danger, yet Badger remained calm until the end.
‘Just what does Yak Seon teach her servants?’
If a mere servant was this capable, just how strong was Yak Seon herself? He almost let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it.
Only after confirming that the last corpse was definitely dead did Badger notice that Peng Do-hwan’s wound was quite severe, and his body stiffened.
“It was my mistake for letting my guard down…”
Peng Do-hwan opened his mouth to reassure him, but stopped mid-sentence and listened. He felt as if he had heard something.
Crack.
It was not an illusion.
A faint sound of something splitting pierced his ears, louder this time. It was a sound coming from Badger’s mask.
There was no time to react.
As Badger hurriedly raised his hand to the mask, the dark wooden mask split in two.
For a moment, Peng Do-hwan forgot to breathe.
All the sounds of the world faded away, and only the other person’s face was etched into his eyes.
The person who had tormented him day and night for the past three years was right there.
The enemy who killed his brother, who was like his own other half.
“Seventh Prince Seong Muyeon…”
Seong Muyeon, clearly flustered, belatedly felt his face, but he felt only his bare skin. He was not unaware that the mask had fallen. It was merely a gesture of disbelief, trying to re-confirm a fact he could not accept.
Peng Do-hwan slowly stood up. He no longer cared about the fresh blood flowing down the left side of his face.
“…I am sorry. I did not intend to deceive you on purpose.”
The low apology seemed quite sincere. But he was not naive enough to be fooled by such a petty trick. Had he not been fooled enough three years ago? Seventh Prince Seong Muyeon was a sinister individual capable of fabricating his appearance to gain the sympathy of others.
He was a man who could gain trust by pretending to be a friend or a comrade, making others let their guard down, and then cut them down indiscriminately to achieve his goals. In terms of sinister nature, Seong Muyeon was worse than Sagal.
“Young Master Peng.”
As Peng Do-hwan stood up in silence, Seong Muyeon called his name anxiously.
The world, which had seemed brilliantly colorful just a moment ago, was now being stained by blood-red water.
“Haha… and I didn’t even know you were this close…”
He had trusted him.
He had given him his back and fought alongside him.
He had revealed the inner parts of his heart that he had never shown to anyone.
What had he trusted about a man who didn’t even show his face? Unless he had been completely possessed by something, it was incomprehensible how quickly all of that had happened.
“How funny it must have been.”
Peng Do-hwan laughed lowly.
“How pathetic I must have looked, not only failing to recognize the enemy wandering right before my eyes but even giving him my heart.”
“That is not true,” Seong Muyeon lamented.
His expression was one of genuine distress and regret.
How dare he.