Yuri flinched at those words and took a step back.
Frances had Laurent.
“Don’t touch Laurent.”
“That kid’s going to die soon. You want to save him?”
“Yes.”
“Then drop your sword.”
Without hesitation, Yuri released Guilty. Cedric smiled.
“See? You care about people. That might be the biggest difference between you and me.”
Cedric smiled softly.
“Yuri, humans are so terribly flawed, aren’t they?”
Yuri clenched her teeth.
She had never once shown Cedric any negative feelings.
Maybe that’s why, even now, with Cedric revealed as the enemy, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him.
She forced a grimace.
“Don’t state the obvious.”
“Why is it obvious?”
Cedric spoke to her with the same gentle expression as before.
“Yuri, did you know? Humanity produces enough food to feed everyone—and then some. Yet somewhere, people starve to death, children rummage through trash bins.”
“So?”
“And what about war? Is there anything more foolish and irrational than killing each other? Yet war never disappears. You know better than anyone what a battlefield is like.”
“Wasn’t it my brother who started the war?”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Cedric brushed his hand across Yuri’s cheek.
She realized then.
It wasn’t just her hesitation that kept her frozen in place.
A strange, unexplainable energy was wrapping around her, emanating from Cedric.
“Humans were made wrong. Overflowing with foolish instincts. Even though they were given the gift of reason, they succumb to laziness and greed. If left unchecked, they’ll only turn the world into a bigger mess.”
“Why are you saying that?”
“Because someone has to stop it.”
“Is that someone your brother?”
Yuri glared at Cedric.
“What, you think that just because you got that dark magic, you’re some kind of god now? That you can do whatever you want?”
“No.”
Cedric shook his head.
“I just want you to understand, Yuri. I’m not drunk on the power of dark magic. If I hadn’t gotten it, I would have found another way. It’s just a difference in method. I happened to get this efficient tool in my hands, so I’m using it.”
He leaned toward her with a serious expression.
“I’ve hated this world and the human race from the start. It needs to be fixed.”
“But your brother is human too.”
“That’s true. But Yuri, someday you’ll feel it too.”
Cedric shook his head slowly.
“This world isn’t filled with humans. It’s filled with monkeys wearing human faces.”
Yuri could feel the deep loathing burning in his eyes.
“Pretending to be human among monkeys who think they are human—that’s truly disgusting.”
“So, does that make me a monkey too?”
“Not all of you. Especially you, Yuri. You’re different.”
Cedric slowly removed his glasses, revealing his bare face. His usually gentle features now felt strangely cold.
“Of course, you’re different from me too. Yuri, you’re the only exception I’ve ever met.”
“Don’t talk nonsense.”
“Of course, you’ll try to stop me.”
“Obviously.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Cedric grabbed Yuri’s cheeks with both hands and whispered close to her face.
“Please, break my prediction this time as well.”
Their eyes locked.
Cedric smiled faintly and turned away.
Yuri stood frozen, shouting after him.
“Stop! Where are you going?”
She kept yelling, but Cedric didn’t stop. He opened the office door and stepped outside.
The door closed behind him.
At that moment, the energy that had bound Yuri vanished.
And the world changed.
“Huh?”
Yuri found herself standing alone in a black void. Endless darkness stretched in every direction.
“Here.”
A strange voice called out, and she turned around.
A man appeared like a hallucination.
He wore black clothes and a mask that covered his face, revealing only his eyes.
“And who are you?”
Yuri snapped irritably.
“Who are you?”
No answer came.
Yuri brushed her hair back and sighed.
“Seriously…”
Without thinking, she swung Guilty at him.
She summoned a great surge of mana, infusing the strike with chaotic sword energy, expecting to cut him down immediately.
But the attack was blocked.
Yuri’s eyes widened in shock at the opponent’s level.
He was strong.
The man in black suddenly seemed enormous, as if the entire space was filled by his presence.
“Who are you?”
Yuri clenched Guilty tightly.
Few within the Ten Strong possessed such overwhelming energy.
Yes, it felt like Fiore.
That level of pressure.
Several names flashed through Yuri’s mind and vanished, until she finally realized who stood before her.
“The Shadowless Sword.”
One of the Ten Strong who had yet to reveal himself.
The sharpest blade moving under the Emperor’s command.
Now that Cedric had been exposed as the dark magic beast controlling the palace, it was no surprise that he wielded the Shadowless Sword.
“Is that right?”
The Shadowless Sword answered briefly.
“Yes.”
“Are you here to stop me?”
“According to his will, I will not kill you.”
An insulting remark.
Yuri clenched Guilty and summoned the energy of the Soul Piercer.
The blade began to vibrate.
A storm of Soul Piercer’s energy swirled around Yuri.
Though she hadn’t shown it, she was already a powerful warrior among the Ten Strong.
“You won’t be able to stop me without killing me!”
Yuri charged forward, swinging her sword. But the Shadowless Sword’s counterattack pushed her back.
She didn’t stop and thrust her blade again.
The clash of steel echoed through the dark space.
“Damn it!”
Despite her best efforts, nothing went her way.
Yuri gritted her teeth. She couldn’t afford to stop helplessly now.
She thought of Cedric.
The anger buried deep inside her, suppressed since facing him, began to boil over.
She had been deceived.
She had trusted him, relied on him through this life and the last, only to be betrayed.
Everything about his life’s path was denied.
Yuri’s eyes reddened.
Her core overheated as the Soul Piercer’s mana surged wildly. Within it, chaotic energy spread like ink.
Infinite possibilities, capable of becoming anything.
That power manifested through Guilty.
Yuri swung her sword.
Like a whirlwind swirling through the air, darkness wrapped around Guilty. Through the vortex’s pattern, the boundary between inside and outside blurred.
Yuri’s attack tore through the Shadowless Sword’s domain and cut his body.
For a moment, the fabric over his chest split, blood splattering.
But it wasn’t a fatal wound.
The Shadowless Sword stepped back, and the black space that Guilty had squeezed returned to normal.
Yuri gasped for breath.
She forced a smile and returned his words.
“Hey, I’m not going to kill you.”
She wasn’t in great shape to be so cocky, but she tried anyway.
“That attack just now…”
But the Shadowless Sword was unsettled.
“How did you do that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“How are you controlling that power?”
“Speak clearly.”
Suddenly, the Shadowless Sword attacked.
“Talking and attacking at the same time?”
His momentum intensified, stronger than before. Each clash sent a bone-deep ache through Yuri, forcing her to retreat.
To survive, she increased the density of chaos.
Her body and mind distorted from the overload, but Yuri didn’t care about her own safety.
Shaking off the invading dark spirit at the edge of her vision, she swung her sword toward the Shadowless Sword’s neck.
Clang.
The two blades collided.
Yuri spat blood.
The Shadowless Sword’s mask cracked.
Yuri bit her lip and looked up. As the cloth fell away, the face beneath was revealed—marked with scratches.
“You are…”
Yuri said.
“From the East?”
Indeed.
Like Moyongchan, the Shadowless Sword’s features were subtly different from those of the continent’s people.
Looking down at Yuri, the Shadowless Sword spoke.
“My name is Dan Sochun.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“And I lead the Demonic Sect.”
A sudden statement. Yuri stared at him, bewildered.
Dan Sochun, the Shadowless Sword, relaxed his stance and lowered his blade.
Yuri frowned.
“Nice pronunciation. Did you study at a language school or something?”
“I am Sochun. This is easy for me.”
“A man like you came west just to be a hunting dog?”
“Even I cannot escape the Demonic Sect’s laws.”
“What laws?”
“Followers of the Demonic Sect must obey those who possess the Divine Artifact. Even Sochun.”
“Did the Emperor have that artifact?”
“The Emperor was just an ally. I promised to help him find the artifact. But…”
Dan Sochun spoke with an expressionless face.
“Your brother holds the Demonic Sect’s Divine Artifact.”
“My brother? Cedric?”
“Yes.”
“What artifact?”
“The Dark Angel’s Secret Scripture.”
“Uh…”
A name hard to grasp, but somehow Yuri understood.
“Could it be… the Devil’s Grimoire?”
“Some call it that.”
Yuri opened her mouth, then closed it.
So that monstrosity originally came from the East. The scattered pieces were finally coming together.
Yuri clenched her fists tightly around the guilt she was trying to suppress and spoke.
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because of the power you wield. It was created by your ancestor, Seon Woo-kyung—the legendary Celestial Demon who fought against the Heaven-Splitting Swordsman.”
Yuri summoned the Soul Slash and then infused it with the chaotic energy of guilt.
Within that murky aura, infinite possibilities shimmered.
“You mean this power?”
“Yes.”
Dansocheon replied.
“Seon Woo-kyung was the greatest Celestial Demon of his time.”
“But he lost to our ancestor, didn’t he?”
“Greatness isn’t measured by strength alone.”
Yuri felt a bit embarrassed—she had been trying to provoke him, but he was making sense.
“So?”
“He sought to overcome the Dark Celestial Spirit Scripture.”
“That’s supposed to be a divine artifact, right?”
“It’s also a demonic relic.”
“You actually know about this.”
“The Demon Sect both revered and feared the Scripture.”
According to Dansocheon’s explanation, the Demon Sect understood that the Dark Celestial Spirit Scripture was a demonic force beyond human comprehension.
So, for generations, the Celestial Demons absorbed the demonic energy seeping from the sealed cave where the Scripture was locked away, using it to elevate their martial arts.
It was like harnessing residual power.
Seon Woo-kyung aimed to break free from those limits.
He developed a new martial art—the Celestial Demon Divine Skill—to cut through the immeasurable demonic energy within the Scripture and truly grasp its essence.
“But he delved too deeply into chaos and lost himself to madness. That’s why the Martial Alliance was convened, and the Demon Sect fell. Your ancestor, the Heaven-Splitting Swordsman, was there. He had a long conversation with the dying Seon Woo-kyung and took the Dark Celestial Spirit Scripture away. I came to the Western Continent to retrieve it.”
A tangled fate.
Erich Briole didn’t just kill a Celestial Demon—he took the chaotic principles of the Celestial Demon Divine Skill and even the demonic grimoire itself.
“Perhaps this is all part of fate’s design.”
Dansocheon closed his eyes.
“Now that a demon has been born who can decipher the Scripture, maybe you—who inherited the Celestial Demon Divine Skill—have appeared to oppose him.”
“It’s not the Celestial Demon Divine Skill. It’s the Soul Slash. A more refined technique.”
Dansocheon ignored her correction.
“I don’t know what will happen next, but your brothers seem to have a unique bond with you. Struggle as much as you can.”
“You sound skeptical. Why do you follow this then?”
“Because it’s the law.”
Dansocheon stepped closer.
Yuri tried to gather her energy again, but it wouldn’t come. The longer the conversation dragged on, the deeper her internal wounds grew.
“When you wake up, the real fight will begin. For now, just accept the difference in power.”
“Wait.”
Yuri spread her hand. Dansocheon asked,
“Do you have something to say?”
“Aren’t you worried about the Soul Slash? That guy, Mo Yong-chan, seemed really concerned. Isn’t there any way to prevent it?”
Dansocheon chuckled.
“Did you really think you could gain something without losing anything?”
At that moment, Yuri felt the difference between a martial artist like Mo Yong-chan and a Demon Sect member like Dansocheon.
The Demon Sect didn’t fear downfall.
They were willing to sacrifice everything to grow stronger.
Even if their future was shattered by demonic power, they wouldn’t stop.
Yuri smiled bitterly.
“Of course not.”
Dansocheon reached out, grabbing her by the throat before she could resist.
Her breath hitched.
Her consciousness began to fade.
Just before she lost awareness, Dansocheon asked,
“Your brothers want to know—do you really want to save your friend?”
“Of course I do. What kind of nonsense is that…?”
“But it seems like she wants to die.”
“Shut up…”
“Sometimes, death can be sweeter than life.”
“I don’t care about that…”
Yuri forced a faint smile.
“Tell her to live…”
And then, she slipped into unconsciousness.
Watching her slump, Dansocheon muttered,
“You’re a man who belongs to the Demon Sect.”