CFZ

Night had fallen, and the surroundings grew dim.

The darkness had settled, quietly awaiting the slowly approaching dawn.
There was no need to light a lantern. Since nothing had been tidied up, the thick and tangled undergrowth remained visible.
I hadn’t paid it any attention, but at some point, it seemed like I’d need to clean it up.

Of course, not with my own hands...
Woo Hyuk was sick right now, so Cheol Ji-seon could probably handle it instead.
Anyway.

Chirrup—! Chirrup—!
It was a time when only the sound of insects echoed in the quiet atmosphere.
I stepped lightly through the grass and came to a stop in one place.

Right next to where the moonlight shone.
I carefully paused beside it.
When had it started?

This feeling of reluctance to look at the moonlight—or to stand beneath it?
I already knew the cause.
It was so ridiculous that just thinking about it made me laugh in disbelief.

“What a fucking joke.”
I sneered at myself, finding it absurd.
Pathetic didn’t even begin to describe it.

I should be fine by now. Yet here I was, still acting like this.
Even after all these years, it felt like I was still stuck there.
“...”
That’s enough for now.

I tried stepping into the moonlight, but my foot hesitated.
This was truly ridiculous.
“Tsk.”

In the end, I withdrew my foot and stood still again.
It felt absurd to force myself to do something so pointless.
I didn’t come here for this anyway, so it was time to focus on the main reason.

“Hah…”
I let out a shallow sigh and closed my eyes.
Then, I completely released the restraints I had placed on my senses.

Whoooooooosh—!!!
The senses I had locked away burst forth in an instant.
The range expanded rapidly, and an overwhelming flood of information poured in.

Sounds grew sharper, and even the sensation of the wind brushing against my skin became painfully amplified.
It was better than the first time—but still unbearably uncomfortable.
I wanted to stop right away, but there was something I had to confirm.

Shhhhhhhh—!!!
Chirrup—! Chirrup—!
Countless sounds rushed into my ears.

It wasn’t that the volume increased—there were simply more of them.
I had to determine their range and distance, but—
I still wasn’t there yet.

Hmm.
A headache crept in.
Despite amplifying my perception and energy, my body wasn’t ready to handle the strain.

I took a deep breath, repeatedly steadying myself from the inside out.
It was reckless to go all out like this, but there was a reason.
Alright…

I figured I’d be able to tell at this level.
Where are you?
I spread my perception outward like a spider spinning its web—dense, thorough, leaving no gaps.

Sounds. Movements. Even the faintest details.
Pain surged as I absorbed it all, but I endured it, determined to find what I was looking for.
I needed to know.

Time dragged on—or at least it felt like it did.
Then—
Ah.

Amidst the endless flow, I finally found it.
Like finding a tiny pearl in a sea of gravel.
It was so faint that I almost doubted I’d actually noticed it.

To put it another way—
It takes this much just to find it?
I needed my senses pushed to this level to catch it.

Ridiculous.
I let out a dry laugh.
Zing.

“...”
Pain shot through me, and I winced.
The headache was reaching its limit.

I immediately withdrew my energy and shut my senses down.
Whoosh—!!
As the flood of information stopped, I finally exhaled the breath I’d been holding.

Damn, that was exhausting.
Any longer, and I might have broken into a cold sweat despite the weather.
Shaking my head to clear the lingering effects, I carefully opened my eyes and looked toward a specific spot.

All I could see was overgrown weeds and tangled grass.
There wasn’t even enough space to hide—nothing seemed out of place.
“You’re a little late.”

But my senses told me otherwise, so I decided to speak anyway.
And then—
Swish.

What the hell?
A figure emerged from what had appeared to be empty space.
Clad in black robes, with pale, almost white skin.

His near-silver hair shone faintly, contrasting starkly with his deep, jet-black eyes.
He looked to be around his late twenties.
His expression was unreadable, his thoughts impossible to guess.

This man was known throughout the central plains as the ruler of the night.
The King of Shadows.
The master of the greatest assassination force in Zhongyuan—feared even by the Three Sovereigns.

The Shadow King.
...I found him.
Swallowing dryly, I processed the situation.

Nahi had mentioned that the Shadow King was heading this way.
I’d tested my senses just in case—and succeeded in locating him.
The Shadow King, whose presence had once been completely undetectable, had been found by my perception.

Apparently, he noticed too.
He studied me silently before speaking.
“It seems you’ve gained some fortune.”

As expected, he caught on immediately.
“Picked up something useful recently.”
“Congratulations.”

“…You don’t sound very congratulatory, but thanks anyway.”
His face didn’t change at all.
Congratulating someone with that expression felt oddly off-putting.

And then—
“What happened to your eye?”
“...”

For some reason, the Shadow King had a bandage covering one eye.
Judging by the look of it, something had definitely happened.
"You arrived later than you said. It seems something happened."

"That’s right."
The Shadow King spoke as he brushed his hand over his bandaged eye.
"It was for a transaction."

"A transaction?"
What could he have bought that cost him his eye?
And calling it a "transaction"—

So it wasn’t that he got beaten up somewhere.
Well, of course not.
The Shadow King wasn’t someone who would get beaten.

If anything, he would’ve been the one doing the killing.
But still, there was an issue with this situation.
"It doesn’t look like it’s going to regenerate?"

The Shadow King’s eye—
It wasn’t coming back.
He had once told me that even if he wanted to die, he couldn’t.

With that absurd level of regeneration, I figured even if he lost it, it would just grow back.
"No."
The Shadow King calmly admitted that it wouldn’t regenerate.

"It seems to work differently from a curse."
"…I see. Then, wouldn’t that mean you could’ve died for real?"
Giving up his eye and finding out it wouldn’t regenerate—

That meant the Shadow King might have finally been able to achieve his goal.
His goal—death.
For someone who longed for peace, this should’ve been the perfect chance.

So why was he standing here now?
To my question, the Shadow King replied—
"That is not peace."

"Not peace?"
"The eye wasn’t destroyed. I gave it to him. Seeking what you call peace from him is impossible."
"You’re not making any sense. Explain it more clearly."

"Just as I gave my eye, if I were to give him my life, it wouldn’t end. Instead, he would prolong my existence indefinitely."
"..."
I frowned at his words.

Giving away his life didn’t mean dying?
Instead, it sounded like he’d be consumed and trapped in some endless existence.
What the hell does that mean?

It felt like I was starting to understand, but then the pieces didn’t fit.
And—
That curse Yeon Ilcheon received came from the Blood Demon. What kind of being could bypass that curse and take his eye?

Following the thought, I pressed him further.
"You said you were heading somewhere. What exactly did you see?"
The Shadow King had abruptly said he needed to visit the Magyeong Gate.

And now he had come back looking like this.
I needed to know what had happened.
To that, he replied—

"I went to the Magyeong of Taechun and met its master."
And then—
"..."

"Shadow King?"
He suddenly trailed off, frowning as if lost in thought.
Seeing him like that caught my attention.

This was the first time I’d ever seen him make that kind of expression.
After a brief moment, he finally spoke.
"I see. This is as far as I can go."

"What?"
Without warning, the Shadow King said something strange—
Crunch—!

"...!?"
Then, he suddenly grabbed his left pinky and ring finger—and tore them off.
It happened so fast that I couldn’t even process it properly.

"Shadow King, what the hell—?"
Before I could finish, I looked down at the fingers he’d just ripped off.
Sizzle—!!

"What the—?"
Black smoke rose as the fingers disintegrated right before my eyes.
I looked back at him.

"Was that a restriction?"
"..."
He didn’t answer, but I already knew.

It was the cost of saying something he wasn’t supposed to.
Two fingers for a few words.
That was an absurd price—and it clearly wasn’t martial arts.

Magic.
Now that I could tell the difference, it was obvious.
This wasn’t martial arts—it was sorcery.

Ssshhh—!
The Shadow King’s hand sealed itself almost instantly, but—
It didn’t regenerate.

Even though he was supposed to be capable of regenerating.
"…Damn. Sorry about that."
He had lost two fingers just to answer my questions, and I actually felt a bit guilty.

"The Blood Demon’s goal is to break the laws of the world."
"What?"
And just like before, the Shadow King suddenly continued speaking.

"He does not yet have the qualifications to cross to the afterlife directly. However, that time is approaching, and the rulers of the afterlife are wary of him."
"Shadow King, what are you—?"
"To obtain those qualifications, he must first destroy the Apostles—"

And then—
Crack—!
Without even touching it, his entire left arm below the shoulder suddenly disintegrated.

Seeing this, I couldn’t hold back any longer.
"Are you insane…?"
First his fingers—and now his entire left arm?

It was so ridiculous that I couldn’t even find the words.
"That was worth the value of one arm."
The Shadow King remained completely calm.

Even after losing his arm, his expression didn’t waver.
"I’m sorry I can’t tell you more. But it won’t take long for you to find the rest."
"What is this? Homework? What the hell are you doing? Are you just throwing your body away because you plan to die anyway?"

"Yes."
"Ah-ha?"
What an incredibly simple answer.

"It was the lowest value information I could offer."
"...You’re serious, aren’t you."
The Blood Demon’s goal.

It was far too extreme to be tossed out casually after such a long absence.
‘The Blood Demon’s goal, huh.’
A monster who had once caused bloodshed and catastrophe—

And even now, someone still scheming in the shadows.
And the information the Shadow King had brought back was that his goal was to shatter the world’s laws?
‘…Laws.’

What laws?
And why would the Blood Demon want to destroy them?
Questions sprouted in my mind.

Years ago, I had also heard about the Blood Demon’s goal.
From the man himself, no less.
Well, maybe not him exactly—it was in another place, after all.

But regardless, it was still the Blood Demon.
He had told me, clear as day—
Paradise.

He dreamed of paradise.
That was his goal.
But if the Shadow King’s information was true—

‘What does paradise have to do with laws?’
What connection was there between the two?
And what exactly did the paradise the Blood Demon spoke of mean?

And more importantly—
‘Who is this paradise meant for?’
The paradise the Blood Demon envisioned—

Who was it really for?
"..."
I turned these thoughts over in my mind before finally looking up at the Shadow King.

"Shadow King."
"Yes."
"You said something before."

"What are you referring to?"
"About making Tang So-yeol stronger—and then killing you. That."
"Yes."

"Can we put that off for a little longer?"
"..."
"It won’t take too long."

No answer came.
But I wasn’t expecting one anyway.
This was just a reminder.

A reminder of the things I had been putting off—excuses piled up about too many other tasks in front of me.
The most important things I needed to do.
I had to focus and keep those priorities straight.

"There’s something I need to ask of you."
 
******************

Time passed.
To be precise, two more days had passed since I humiliated the Twin Swords of Destruction, and another day had passed since I finished assembling the members of the Celestial Dragon Unit.
Even after causing a scene, I had to head to the alliance to recruit more members.

As I mentioned before, I needed ten, but we had been short.
So I added three more. That made ten.
Then the alliance gave me ten more.

Twenty in total.
The remaining five had other assignments, so I took them along.
And just like that, the Celestial Dragon Unit was formed.

"Greetings, Commander of the Celestial Dragon Unit."
"…Commander."
"Yeah, yeah."

Today was my first day officially showing up as the commander.
Commander.
Even the word itself felt ridiculous.

I walked through the alliance headquarters under the weight of countless stares.
Word about the incident with the Twin Swords of /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Destruction had already spread like wildfire.
That guy was still unconscious and bedridden, apparently.

Meanwhile, the one who beat him up was casually walking around—no wonder people were giving me weird looks.
Even I thought it was strange.
Honestly, I expected to be locked out or dragged to the interrogation room.

But as Muk Yeon mentioned, someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
Thanks to that, I was still allowed to roam freely.
And now—

"Greetings, Commander."
"Sure. Nice to meet you."
"This is…"

Before the man could finish speaking, I took the robe he handed me and threw it over my shoulders.
Flutter—!
The robe felt a bit big, but it fit snugly over my shoulders.

It was the uniform given only to commanders in the Martial Alliance.
Apparently, it was woven from the silk of a rare beast.
It was resistant to fire and water, and it could even be used as a shield if reinforced with Qi.

A luxury item I never thought I’d wear in my life.
‘I saw Moyong Hee-ah wearing one of these.’
But Moyong Hee-ah came from a wealthy family, so it made sense for her to flaunt things like this.

‘Commander’s robe, huh.’
The weight on my shoulders felt strange.
I never thought I’d live to wear something like this.

In my past life, I played the role of a commander in the Demonic Cult.
And now, I was doing it for the righteous sects.
Did this mean I’d finally "made it"?

‘Not sure about that, but I really did become a dragon.’
I muttered nonsense to myself and continued walking.
After putting on the robe, I was escorted to a building.

From what I’d heard, this used to be the base for the First Dragon Unit.
Creak.
I opened the door and saw people already gathered inside.

They were split evenly into two groups in the large courtyard.
Judging by the looks of them, one group was external recruits, and the other had been sent by the alliance.
The tension between them was palpable, almost as if they were about to fight.

Step.
I slowly walked forward.
All eyes were already on me the moment I entered.

I let their gazes wash over me as I stood at the center, hands behind my back, and looked at the two groups.
First impressions matter.
‘It’s been a while, so maybe I should try to be nice?’

With that thought, I smiled and spoke.
"Hello."
I put as much friendliness into my voice as I could manage.

And yet—
Flinch—!!
For some reason, they all tensed up the moment they saw my smile.

…What the hell.
It had been a while since I felt this offended.