No Generous Darkness (1)
A woman and the Dark Lord walked side by side.
Contrary to the ominous name “Black Land,” the place they found themselves in was breathtakingly beautiful. Flowers bloomed in every direction, and trees flourished. The path they walked was a charming trail lined with flowering trees.
“Did you overindulge again last night?”
“I didn’t drink yesterday.”
“Then why do you look so worn out?”
The Dark Lord’s face betrayed his fatigue and melancholy.
“I received news from the Central Plains. All the Dark Ten have perished.”
The woman paused, a flicker of concern crossing her eyes as she looked at him.
“Are you alright?”
“How could I be?”
The death of the Dark Supreme was a particularly harsh blow. The other eight of the Dark Ten could have lived or died for all he cared, but the Dark Supreme had been a cherished subordinate.
“If you had brought him with us, he might still be alive.”
The woman had only managed to escape with him. She claimed she could only save one, but he knew better.
She admitted it without hesitation.
“He was the one who took you from me. Did you really think I’d let him live?”
“Quite the opposite. I brought him into my life. It ended in disaster, but still.”
“Why didn’t you bring me into your life if you liked people so much?”
“We’re getting off track.”
“Hmph!”
The woman resumed walking, and the Dark Lord followed.
At the end of the trail, a new scene unfolded as an illusion dissipated before them. A long bridge stretched between two cliffs.
The woman crossed first, with the Dark Lord following closely behind.
On the other side, a stone wall awaited them. As she approached, a hidden door opened.
Inside the cave, murals adorned the walls, reminiscent of scenes from the Three Gods’ Era, but with the Dark God as the protagonist instead of the Demon God.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen these. I didn’t think much of them back then.”
After a long, contemplative gaze at the murals, the Dark Lord spoke.
“Sorry, but this isn’t the era of your god.”
“Don’t say such things.”
She moved on, her steps agitated.
The Dark Lord, about to follow, glanced up at the mural of the Dark God.
“Truth is always lazy, isn’t it?”
Because it is the truth, it doesn’t need to act.
“She seems to follow what she wants to believe rather than the truth. Can you save her, given how devoted she is to you?”
Naturally, the mural offered no response.
“You seem as lazy as the truth itself.”
The Dark Lord moved toward where the woman had disappeared.
In the vast plaza at the end of the stone wall, hundreds of warriors in black uniforms stood. Each exuded formidable energy, the elite of the Black Land she had nurtured to dominate the martial world.
“Are you asking me to give them up?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know how much effort it took to raise them?”
“I can imagine. But they can’t defeat him. If they could, I would have faced him myself.”
The woman was silent for a long time.
Then she made her decision.
“I… can’t give them up.”
The Dark Lord nodded slowly.
“I expected as much.”
“We can win!”
“We can’t. Even if you send them all, they won’t kill him. They’ll all be dead in half a day.”
“I can’t believe he’s that strong.”
“In the martial world, ignoring the truth only leads to death.”
The woman turned to the Dark Lord.
“Help me.”
He nodded.
“Alright.”
His easy agreement took her by surprise.
“Really?”
The Dark Lord had already decided to help her. If he was going to die anyway, he might as well die helping her.
“I still have half my resources left. I have some capable subordinates. With yours, we might stand a chance. But we’ll have to play dirty.”
“If we have to get dirty to win, then so be it. I can be the dirtiest in the world.”
The Dark Lord watched her, pleased by her determination.
As long as the world’s values remain unchanged, treachery cannot triumph over justice.
But even so, he would do his best for her.
‘We’ve spent our lives hating each other… but it seems we’re destined to face the end together.’
The Dark Lord asked the woman.
“What’s your trump card?”
“The Dark Soul Transformation Technique. It’s what we used on the Heavenly Army before. I’ve modified it to create someone even stronger.”
“Good.”
“But there’s a problem.”
“There always is.”
“We need a sacrifice. Someone with immense mental strength. Before, it was enough to withstand the technique, but now we need something more.”
“What is it?”
“Malice. The more evil they are, the stronger they’ll become.”
The Dark Lord immediately thought of someone.
“I know just the person.”
When I arrived at the village where the disappearances had occurred, martial artists from the Martial Alliance were already investigating.
The entire village had vanished. For days, the martial artists had been scouring the village and the surrounding forest.
“Where could these people have gone?”
“Could the Green Forest bandits have kidnapped them all?”
“Fool! Maybe the women, but why the old folks? Besides, I’ve been stationed here for thirty years. There are no bandits with such nerve around here.”
“Or maybe the Dark Sect took them for some dark ritual?”
“That’s more likely.”
“But with the new leader, the Dark Sect can’t even breathe loudly these days. Who would dare do such a thing?”
“Anyway, search every inch! We have to find these people!”
“Yes, sir!”
I listened to their conversation from the rooftop.
I had arrived before the messenger pigeon, so I hadn’t announced my presence. These were border martial artists who had never seen me, so they wouldn’t believe I was the leader of the Martial Alliance.
Without causing a fuss, I could investigate without being noticed.
Then someone shouted from the side.
“We found a body here!”
“What?”
The martial artists rushed to the source of the voice.
In that moment, I descended to the ground with a wave of my hand.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The martial artists fell asleep where they stood. Their pressure points had been struck so swiftly and precisely that they didn’t even realize it before succumbing to slumber.
I examined the body they had found. It was a desiccated corpse, drained of all fluids and blood.
No blood at all? A follower of the Blood God?
It was him!
I recalled the man from the dream of the Wall of Separation. It was possible he had taken Cheon So-seon.
According to Galsaryang, there had been recent disappearances.
If it was their doing, they were planning something dangerously ambitious.
I remembered the words from the dream of the Wall of Separation.
“A Blood God will be born to cover the world in blood.”
I had to find and eliminate them before that happened.
I began a thorough search of the area. I found traces of blood that the ordinary martial artists had missed. Someone had tried to clean up, but not perfectly.
They had killed everyone here. Then, they had disposed of the bodies separately.
After searching the area, I found where they had buried the bodies not far away. The corpses were all drained of blood like the first one, and they had been crushed underfoot.
Damn them!
I would never forgive those responsible for this atrocity. I would show them the heavy price of treating human lives as disposable for their own gain.
I found tracks of a departing carriage nearby.
A carriage? Why use a carriage? Ah! They must be transporting Cheon-ran!
It seemed more likely that the culprits were the man from the dream and Cheon So-seon.
I immediately set off in pursuit of the carriage. Though several days had passed since the incident, the carriage’s trail was my only lead.
Before leaving, I made sure to release the martial artists from the Martial Alliance from their pressure points. With a wave of my hand, the blocked points were freed.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The martial artists began to stir again.
“It’s a desiccated corpse.”
“It must be the work of the Dark Sect!”
“Send a messenger pigeon to headquarters and request reinforcements from the branch!”
“Yes, sir!”
Amidst the commotion, none of them realized what had just happened.
That evening, I stood before the carriage.
“I’m sorry. I thought it was abandoned and took it. Please forgive me!”
The middle-aged man bowed his head.
I had successfully tracked the carriage. Though I wasn’t trained in tracking, my martial skills made up for it.
The man had brought the carriage to his home, claiming he found it abandoned on the road.
“I was wrong to take it without finding the owner. Please forgive me, warrior.”
His home was so impoverished that I couldn’t bring myself to scold him.
The city was two days’ carriage ride from the village where the disappearances had occurred. If the carriage had continued on the outskirts, I might have caught up with them, but they had abandoned it in this city and vanished.
With such a transient population, I found no further traces.
I would not forgive those who had done this. I would show them the heavy price of treating human lives as disposable for their own gain.
No one witnessed the moment the carriage was abandoned. It was a deliberate move to avoid being tracked, making it impossible to find any witnesses. It was as if they anticipated I would pursue them.
“You can keep the carriage if you like.”
“Oh, thank you kindly.”
After leaving the man’s house, I paused at the door, unsure of where to head next. But giving up the chase wasn’t an option.
The man from my dream and Cheon So-seon were undoubtedly a dangerous combination.
I had to find them, no matter what.
“Damn it!”
Mareongin crumpled the letter in his hand with a furious grip.
It was a message from Galsaryang, and reading it made his blood boil.
“So, they’re refusing to restore my inner power?”
He raised his hand to slam it down on the table in front of him but stopped short. Without his inner power, he couldn’t even break the table if he wanted to.
Of course, he wasn’t the type to fight on the front lines himself. Even with his inner power, he rarely led the charge.
But still, he was the leader of the mighty Cheondo Clan. Being unable to use his inner power was a serious issue. If not now, over time, people would start to look down on him.
A subordinate came in with additional news.
“Also, the leader of the Ma Clan, who was imprisoned, has been released.”
Mareongin was taken aback.
“What? They released my brother? That can’t be!”
His reaction was even more intense than when his request to restore his inner power was denied.
“It’s confirmed news.”
Mareongin’s eyes narrowed. He knew, even if others didn’t, that Byeokridan wouldn’t just release Ma Cheolgun without a reason.
He walked over to the window.
“If they did release him, there must be some hidden agenda.”
Could Byeokridan and Ma Cheolgun have struck some sort of deal? If so, it would spell trouble for him.
“Send a skilled spy to keep an eye on my brother.”
But his subordinate didn’t respond.
Feeling a sense of foreboding, Mareongin turned around to find a masked man standing there. The man who had been reporting just moments ago was now subdued, blinking helplessly.
“Who are you?”
It was someone he’d never seen before, and the stranger offered no introduction.
Yet, the fact that he had entered the Cheondo Clan leader’s room without a sound was proof enough of his skill.
As the masked man grinned, Mareongin lost consciousness.
The alarm signaling the leader’s disappearance blared loudly, but only long after the fact.