Chapter 694
Even the moon was hidden in the deep night.
In a mountain valley drowned in darkness, faint flames began to rise.
One. Two. Three.
Soon, hundreds of torches set the night trembling.
Thud, thud, thud!
Vibrations rolled through the ground. Beneath the swaying torchlight, shadows surged and rough breaths spilled without end.
Krrr.
Hoo, hoo.
It was an army.
A force of countless humans and beasts mixed together.
Southern Barbarian warriors, armed with swords, spears, and bows, rode hard through the dark, constantly scanning what lay ahead. Fierce beasts, fangs bared and claws ready, charged forward without slowing.
No fewer than three thousand.
And following the command of one man, their destination—having left the Outer Palace around noon—had been decided from the start.
Mount Aino.
Those three words flashed through the Guard Captain’s mind as he rode at the front. At the same time, a shout burst from behind him.
“They’re visible!”
He was right. Not just the Guard Captain—everyone could see it.
A massive Fire Demon flickering in the distance, a blaze so intense it mocked the torches of the three-thousand-strong force.
Crackle—whoooosh!
Trees older than memory toppled in rows. Flames devoured everything they touched, swelling larger and larger.
A hushed groan escaped the warriors as they stared at a conflagration unseen for a hundred years—and perhaps never to be seen again.
“I-I can’t believe it.”
“So it… it was true…”
Hearing it and seeing it were different.
A mix of awe and fear flashed in the eyes of the warriors watching Mount Aino engulfed in fire.
‘Jin Taekyung.’
‘So the rumors were true.’
‘To shake off that many pursuers and make it all the way here… what kind of monster is he?’
Most of them had never faced Jin Taekyung directly.
No, it would be more accurate to say they had never seen what he truly was.
To them, Jin Taekyung had only been a stranger from the Central Plains—a young man with a strange look, a little different from the Southern Barbarians.
But now they had to fight him.
They would seal off Mount Aino without leaving a gap. Their mission was to assassinate Jin Taekyung, who might burst out at any moment.
Even so…
‘Can we stop him? That monster?’
The question rose in everyone’s mind.
This forbidden land had been woven into the beginning and history of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace for their entire lives. They had heard countless stories about Mount Aino.
And every time, there were three words that were never left out.
Blazing Fire Sect.
A mysterious sect said to exist somewhere in the far-off Central Plains.
Long ago, the Palace Lord of the Blazing Fire Sect set foot here and ended the great war with the Five Poisons Sect—a war that had raged for over a hundred years since the birth of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace.
The Extreme Poison of the Five Poisons Sect, which had claimed countless lives, and the venomous creatures they commanded, melted like candle wax before the flames he summoned.
They even said the Palace Lord of the Five Poisons Sect at the time—who had turned a hundred elite warriors of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace into a handful of poison—could not withstand that power and knelt.
‘No… they said he burned alive.’
And now, the old legend they’d loved as children was stepping into the present.
Right before their eyes.
Gulp.
Someone’s dry swallow rang out far too loudly.
Hands that had been loosely holding reins tightened. Unease spread through trembling eyes.
Then—at the very next moment—when the Guard Captain’s tightly pressed lips finally opened.
“What are you so afraid of?”
A voice packed with internal energy pierced their ears. The Guard Captain spoke with force.
“He is alone. We are three thousand.”
The warriors’ hunched shoulders slowly straightened. Shaking eyes regained focus, one by one.
‘Yes. No matter how strong he is, he’s still flesh and blood.’
‘Even if every rumor we’ve heard is true, he can’t withstand this force.’
Three thousand.
An absurd number, more than enough to assassinate a single man.
The Palace Lord of the Blazing Fire Sect who crushed the Five Poisons Sect with tremendous martial prowess?
The stories stirred fear, yes.
But legends were legends.
No— even if he returned from the dead, it would be impossible for him to face three thousand Southern Barbarian warriors and beasts alone.
It had to be impossible.
“Have you forgotten?” the Guard Captain barked. “Jin Taekyung is a traitor who endangered the Southern Barbarians—a beast-like Han people like him who has forgotten the grace of the Great War of Justice and Evil!”
As Mount Aino drew nearer and the Fire Demon loomed larger, his voice grew sharper.
Sreung.
Steel slid free.
The blade drawn from his waist carried a cold edge. Moonlight and torchlight struck the pure white steel and shattered into scattered gleams.
“Southern Barbarian warriors! My proud brothers!”
He raised the sword high.
“Pursue and kill him!”
“Waaaaaa!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Hundreds—thousands—of weapons were drawn. Torches flared brighter.
And the moment the three-thousand-strong force roared and spurred toward Mount Aino—
Whooooom!
Everyone there—Guard Captain, warriors, beasts—saw it.
A pillar of light piercing the crimson Fire Demon.
And a black mass rising before the raging flames, like a hill throwing its shadow across the fire.
No.
That wasn’t a hill.
Thud, thud, thud!
“What is that…!”
As the world shook and the black mass rapidly drew closer, the Guard Captain stared with eyes wide open—without realizing what else was happening.
That the wind was gone.
That the three thousand beasts, charging without rest, had stopped as if by agreement.
Krrr.
The tiger that had been with the Guard Captain his entire life lowered its head with a low growl.
And it wasn’t alone.
Leopards. Bears. Wolves.
All the beasts, large and small, did the same.
They tucked their tails. They dropped their massive bodies to the ground.
An instinct carved into them at birth.
Reverence for the king who had returned after a long absence.
And a command they could not resist.
-Kroaaaaang!
A roar swallowed the world, and blue-white light shone in the darkness.
—
Step, step.
Quiet footsteps echoed through a silent corridor.
One by one, Palace Servants and servants prostrated themselves before the elite guard warriors—men who had reached the peak—and trembling voices followed.
“W-We greet the Palace Lord!”
Their fear was directed at a single person.
Baek Sang’s gaze, surrounded by an ironclad escort as he moved through the Inner Palace corridor, swept over them.
Those who worked in the Inner Palace were varied in tribe and age.
Young children whose baby fat had yet to fade. Middle-aged men and women.
And even a white-haired old woman—her hair entirely white.
The guards frowned as the old woman struggled alone in the center of the corridor, too old and slow to move quickly.
Baek Sang was the master of the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace, the king of this land.
No—he had to be.
Someone merely waiting to die should not dare block his path.
Step.
And as if on cue, the moment two or three guards moved toward the old woman—
“Stop.”
At Baek Sang’s quiet command, they froze.
Then, toward the old woman who had caught his eye, Baek Sang offered a silent greeting.
‘It’s been a while.’
Despite the years, it was a familiar face.
Baek Sang remembered a young woman who used to sigh deeply whenever he and Yal Chok caused trouble in the Inner Palace during his childhood.
‘You’ve aged a lot.’
Of course she had.
Unlike him—whose aging had slowed with martial prowess at the pinnacle—she had accepted time’s natural order as it was.
“I-I’m sorry, Palace Lord,” the old woman stammered, unable to lift her head as she bowed deeply. “I’m not feeling well, so…”
As he watched her, Baek Sang suddenly wondered.
Why had he stopped them?
Because she was one of the few who remembered what he used to be?
Or…
Was it because he wanted to delay that moment that drew closer with every breath?
‘I don’t know. I really don’t know.’
It tasted bitter.
Even now, after coming this far, regret remained lodged in a corner of his heart.
And that she—who once scolded him without hesitation—could no longer even meet his eyes, only tremble in fear.
‘And this is the path I’ve walked.’
Futile sentimentality.
The days when he fought back-to-back with his only Hyung on the battlefield, drank fruit wine atop enemy corpses, and secretly watched two lovers meeting under a dim moon were long gone.
“…My Lord?”
At the guard’s cautious call, Baek Sang’s eyes sank cold as ever.
“Clear the way.”
“Understood.”
As if they’d been waiting, the guards stepped forward and roughly shoved the old woman aside.
Looking down at the Palace Servants prostrating themselves even deeper with frightened eyes, Baek Sang continued.
“Also, from this moment on, I am banishing the Palace Servants residing in the Inner Palace.”
“S-Sorry, but… all the Palace Servants?”
“Yes. All of them.”
Palace Servants were, literally, those who lived in the palace and handled every odd job. Cooks who prepared each meal. Those who cleaned. Those who washed and mended.
Leaving aside how harsh banishment was, if all of them were removed, the Inner Palace would stop functioning properly at once.
Questions rose to throats, but none of the guards voiced them.
Because Baek Sang’s word was law.
He was the only great chieftain among the Southern Barbarians, and the only Palace Lord who had received absolute oaths of allegiance from every chieftain.
The five tribes that had rejected the new Palace Lord and left the Outer Palace had been stripped of all authority.
Even with the leaders of the Miao tribe imprisoned, Baek Sang’s authority remained absolute.
“…Understood.”
Though they questioned it, the guards obeyed.
And Baek Sang, watching the Palace Servants being dragged out in a pale-faced line—starting with the old woman—muttered inwardly.
‘Perhaps leaving this place is mercy for you.’
Now, everything would begin.
And everything would end.
Baek Sang did not know how much blood would flow before it was done.
‘No. I suspected it, but I didn’t want to believe it.’
Maybe that was why.
Even though he’d lived like iron for forty years toward a single goal, he had been shaken more in the past month than ever before.
‘Caprice. It was nothing but useless caprice.’
Yal Chok.
And Jin Taekyung.
With those two names flashing through his mind, Baek Sang resumed walking.
Step, step.
One step after another.
With every step, countless thoughts crossed his mind.
What had happened to Yal Chok and Jin Taekyung after they vanished? Where were they now, and what were they doing?
Did Southern Demon Empress know what he had done—his last caprice—without anyone else knowing?
‘But it’s too late. No one can turn back now.’
Baek Sang stopped, an empty murmur slipping out.
Only one door remained before him.
Once he opened it, the highest platform of the Inner Palace would be waiting.
And below it…
Ten thousand warriors, gathered in the Inner Palace in response to the general mobilization order.
‘Noon. Tomorrow at noon. Gather every warrior in the palace.’
It was certain.
The grand plan was already complete.
Recalling Southern Demon Empress’s message delivered last night, Baek Sang spoke.
“The sunlight is hot.”
“…My Lord?”
The door had not even opened, yet Baek Sang felt a heat that seemed to burn him.
What he was about to do was a terrible sin—one that could not be forgiven, and should not be forgiven.
But…
‘There’s nothing I can do now. Hwi.’
Thinking of his beloved son, the father forced the door open.
The view spread wide. The sky.
And beneath it, the countless warriors gathered below.
But Baek Sang’s gaze—his senses—locked onto a single place.
Beyond the wall surrounding the Inner Palace, beyond the ramparts defending the Outer Palace, on a green hill in the distance.
‘That is…’
It was far, but Baek Sang could see it.
A single giant White Tiger, standing tall atop the hill. Its silver mane gleamed under the noon sun.
And on its back sat someone else.
“…You’ve come. You finally came.”
At Baek Sang’s quiet words, thousands—tens of thousands—of beasts revealed themselves behind White Tiger.