Chapter Index

    A snow-white sky, filled with swirling snowflakes. A still whiter, dark grey sword, rose, obscuring that sky.

    Hundreds of Muyeong swords moved at Nari’s command, imbued with her will, cleaving her enemies. Even though the fallen Kingdom soldiers had become spirits, they remained Nari’s soldiers.

    A wave of pure white washed over the Empire’s black-clad army. But even the strongest wave eventually subsides. New shadow soldiers rose, crushing the fading Muyeong swords.

    A stalemate. The Empire’s soldiers poured forth like an inexhaustible spring. It was difficult to use her trump card to stop the breach; the Empire hadn’t played all its hands yet.

    Nari groaned. She still had plenty of stamina and ether, but a prolonged battle would favor the Empire.

    ‘In the end… is this the only way?’

    *Kwaang-*

    She gripped her Muyeong sword tightly. This wasn’t a situation she could avoid. She had to stand and fight.

    Savoring the ether scattered around her, Nari walked forward. Invisible footing appeared beneath her, her body slowly rising into the air.

    *Ssuup-* *Hwaaa—*

    The world trembled violently. A maelstrom of chaos. Rage overwhelmed fear, transforming into silent madness. Nari hated this chaos.

    Madness sometimes empowers human life. This world is hard to live in without some kind of obsession. But blind madness causes the loss of so much; small emotions, dreams, love.

    She knew this well, having once lived a life where she missed the flowers blooming by the roadside. What’s gone is gone. Nari hoped those gathered on the battlefield wouldn’t overlook such small hopes.

    “Hear me, lambs of the Empire.”

    *Teobok-*

    With each breath, a soldier froze.

    “I can no longer bear to watch you throw yourselves away so recklessly.”

    *Teobok-*

    With two breaths, a hundred soldiers solidified in place.

    “From now on… I shall dominate this battlefield.”

    *Cheolpeodeok-*

    With three breaths, ten thousand troops knelt. Before the fourth breath ended, the battlefield was under Nari’s control.

    The realm of souls. Nari’s very essence, having reached the peak of her ambition to conquer.

    The battlefield’s ether lost its freedom. Until Nari gave permission, it couldn’t move, feel, or even think.

    Normally, the inside of the ether curtain is the effective range. But now the battlefield sky was snow-filled and pure white.

    It was impossible to determine its boundaries. Nari’s feet might be the only area affected, or perhaps the entire world was her domain.

    It didn’t matter. All the Empire’s soldiers had stopped moving; the overflowing tide frozen solid.

    But Nari also stopped the Kingdom army. She wouldn’t allow them to move. Those with weaker senses wondered why she wasn’t giving the order to advance at this golden opportunity.

    But some understood. Yuri, Lulu, Aspi, Nyx. They quickly turned their heads toward the center of the Empire’s army.

    Black energy writhed. Despite Nari’s total dominance, a dark figure rose.

    “…Unpleasant.”

    ‘It’ spoke. But it didn’t seem to move its lips. That unsettling voice reached even the soldiers on the opposite side of the battlefield.

    ‘It’ yawned and rose. Black tentacles stretched out into the void, creating steps. With bare, pale feet, it slowly climbed the tentacle stairs, approaching Nari.

    “…I see. Ultimately, unless I stop you, that fellow’s goal won’t be achieved.”

    “You figured it out quickly. That’s why I wanted to settle this with a duel from the beginning… Aren’t you saddened by the fallen soldiers?”

    “Mmm… Are you asking if I’m sad? I’m not. I can just make more.”

    “…Fine.”

    Nari felt foolish and naive a few seconds after initiating the conversation. The fact that she still perceived ‘it’ as Eve… was unavoidable.

    Even though her hair and eyes had turned pitch black, and countless black tentacles sprouted from her body, at the center stood Eve.

    ‘Can I… save her?’

    *Jeoljelejeol-*

    Nari shook off her thoughts. It wasn’t whether she could save her—she would save her, unconditionally.

    Black tentacles poured forth from Eve. Nari raised her Muyeong sword, overlaying a spirit clone onto her physical body.

    She swung her sword widely. Seven clones followed, swinging their swords. With one movement, eight sword energies carved through the air.

    Muyeong Sword Style 5, *Jongheongmujin* (縱橫無盡—boundless/limitless), *gae* (開—open).

    *Ssuk-* *Seogeok-* *Sagak-*

    Pure white flashes erupted across the black sky. Dozens of black tentacles were sliced to pieces by Nari’s swordsmanship, turning to ash, scattering black blood.

    However, it was only for a moment. New tentacles sprouted from the severed parts, swelling to hundreds again. The sky had become another battlefield, where pure white swordsmanship clashed with pitch-black tentacles.

    Nari continued to cut down the ever-growing tentacles. She had no time to breathe or blink. She swung her Muyeong sword with her entire being.

    She would cut a tentacle, create an opening, but before she could strike again, new tentacles would burst from the gap.

    The black tentacles’ domain gradually encroached upon Nari’s. She felt a strange dissonance. When she looked at Eve to find the source, she was already smiling bitterly with arms outstretched.

    “Eve, you…”

    “Welcome. To my world—”

    Darkness erupted from before her eyes. Eve’s magic completely consumed Nari. It was incredibly fast, yet slow enough that her thoughts didn’t stop.

    When she realized it, she could no longer see anything. She felt nothing, and nothing existed.

    * * *

    I opened my eyes in the darkness.

    ‘Damn it… I lost.’

    I never imagined I would lose the second clash. Though it was a short month, I experienced more than just that physical time, growing significantly. That’s what I thought.

    But I wasn’t the only one who had grown. Eve had abandoned everything and completely transformed into a demon. The amount of magic she possessed was comparable to a black star.

    Thus, there was nothing I could do in my current state.

    ‘That said… I can’t give up now.’

    I can’t leave Eve alone. I doubt she can fully utilize her power while bound, but even a fraction is an immense threat to the Kingdom army.

    I have to quickly escape this realm and rejoin them.

    The realm of nothingness. Empty, void of everything; literally like space.

    Eve’s world, Eve’s mind, was like this. Endless darkness stretched out. It seemed to crave and yearn for light, yet upon embracing it, shattered it again, returning it to nothingness.

    That was the black star, that was the demon.

    Now, the darkness digs into my flesh and soul, attempting to shatter the ‘light’ within. The feeling of being crushed, my very existence, was agonizing and suffocating.

    But because everything was darkness, my soul shone brightly. If nothingness tried to deny my existence, I would deny its denial. The more it suppressed me, the stronger I resisted.

    「I am here.」

    I exhaled a snow-white breath, overcoming the darkness that erased even my voice. Bright light flickered and flowed into my hand. The light became a sword.

    I grasped my existence, the Muyeong sword shining brilliantly white. I raised it high, guided by instinct, and brought it down.

    Muyeong Sword Style 0, *Jahwasang* (自畫像—self-portrait).

    I left my white mark upon the darkness. If one wasn’t enough, I would leave countless more.

    「I look at myself.」

    I stared at the light. The flickering swordsmanship was myself. In the darkness, I became two. Two of me wielding the Muyeong Sword.

    *Shwaak—!*

    A handful of light continuously twinkled in the nothingness. Leaving a trail of light, it became new light, etching its existence.

    Muyeong Sword Style 0, *Jahwasang* (自畫像—self-portrait), *gae* (開—open).

    Countless me carved through Eve’s realm.

    *Tik-* *Tsuchuchut-*

    As I continued to paint the darkness with my light, Eve’s domain began to crumble. I burst out, tearing through the pitch black.

    I was still in darkness. Not a single ray of sunlight. Because my sight was obscured, my other senses sharpened.

    *Kulleong-*

    The feel of the footing was unusual. I raised my hand, scattering a burst of light. Soon, my surroundings were illuminated, revealing its form.

    “…Ugh.”

    Writhing black tentacles formed a wall. A prison of tentacles. I raised my Muyeong sword and thrust.

    Muyeong Sword Style 1, *Changgongapni* (蒼空앞니—front tooth of the blue sky).

    *Pushuuk—*

    A grotesque sound as the black tentacle was pierced. But it didn’t reach the outside. The tentacles were layered, surrounding me. The holes in the tentacles were quickly filled by new ones.

    I pierced the wall again. The light left by the sword energy illuminated the surrounding area revealing the space beyond. I leaped over the wall before the tentacles could regenerate.

    Beyond was a new space. Except for being made of tentacles, it was like a prison; the place I had been was a solitary confinement cell, and this was a corridor.

    “An infinitely regenerating tentacle labyrinth…”

    I needed to move to the furthest edge, until I could pierce it with *Changgongapni*. I ran down the corridor with my Muyeong sword.

    The wriggling sensation kept sending shivers down my spine, so I used ether to create temporary footholds and leaped on top of them.

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