Blood Blade Sect's First Royal Guard, Seo Gyeol, stood silently, sword drawn, eyes locked on the man across from him—his oldest friend, his brother-in-arms.
Kwon Han‑Seok, First Royal Guard of the Thousand Venoms Sect, met his gaze without fear.
They had known this day would come, but not this soon. Not like this.
"Seo Gyeol…"
"I never thought our time together would lead us here—blade to blade. But I see now… there's no turning back."
His voice carried a tired smile, but his grip on his sword was firm.
He turned and gently pushed Bae Haru, the doctor, behind him.
"Go. Find the strategist. He should be upstairs—it's safer there."
"But… he shoved me down!" Haru protested, eyes wide, voice trembling.
"Just go!" he barked, louder this time.
Startled, she nodded and bit her lip.
"Don't die," she whispered, on the verge of tears.
Kwon Han‑Seok forced a grin.
"Don't worry. I'm hard to kill."
As she disappeared up the staircase, the corridor fell silent again.
He exhaled.
"She's safe now."
He raised his sword—and with his off-hand, lifted his spear.
"Now it's your turn, old friend."
Seo Gyeol nodded.
"Don't blame me for this. We both knew the day would come when one of us had to fall. You joined the wrong side. You just never counted the days left."
His Qi flared—despite the hidden pain etched behind clenched teeth.
Kwon Han‑Seok smiled bitterly.
"Come on, brother. Don't look at me with pity."
Then they moved.
CLANG!
Steel collided with steel. Sparks lit the corridor. Han‑Seok's spear thrust low, but Seo Gyeol twisted his body just in time, then brought his blade down—slamming it onto Han‑Seok's shoulder, driving him to one knee.
THUD.
Han‑Seok responded with a vicious stab to Seo's leg—but the younger man leapt up, spun, and kicked him across the face. The impact sent Han‑Seok tumbling backward, sliding down the hallway toward the staircase he'd just sent Haru up.
He coughed blood, but rose, chuckling softly.
"You've improved…"
"You're not fighting seriously," Seo Gyeol said through gritted teeth.
Kwon Han‑Seok's eyes widened, then he let out a long sigh. So… Seo had noticed.
"I can't fight you seriously," he thought. "Not when I raised you like my own brother. We survived this cult together. I'm the one who dragged you into this hell… I should've never let it happen."
Across from him, Seo clenched his fists, jaw tight.
"What's done is done, brother. There's no going back now."
Kwon Han‑Seok smiled faintly, the kind that hurts more than it comforts.
"You never change, do you…"
The truth hung heavy between them.Two boys from a remote village—massacred by the Demonic Cult.
Taken as children.Trained to kill.Forged in pain.
They rose through blood and ash to become commanders—on opposite ends of two Pillars.
They had fought side by side for years But fate didn't care about brotherhood.
Suddenly—
"A-Ack!"
Han‑Seok turned toward the stairs—his heart dropped.
There she was.Doctor Bae Haru, bleeding, limp, impaled from behind.
And holding her like a broken doll… was a masked figure.
Beak.First Squad leader of the Assasines division of Blood Blade Sect.His white Asura mask gleamed like a death omen.
"You—!" Kwon Han‑Seok roared, lunging forward—
But Beak moved first.With a flick of his arm, he hurled her at Han‑Seok like garbage.
CRASH.
She slammed into him.They both crashed into the wall with a sickening thud.
Han‑Seok crumpled to the floor, blood leaking from his mouth.
"Shit…" he gasped, eyes wide with fury and helplessness.
Haru was bleeding out, her body trembling, her smile faint and fading.
Kwon Han‑Seok knelt beside her in shock, trying to press down on the wound.
"You can heal yourself! Damn it, I'll transfer my Qi—just hold on!" he shouted, voice shaking.
Haru weakly touched his arm, her smile still there.
"He… he crippled my meridians."
Han‑Seok's eyes widened in horror as her body went still.Her eyes closed.
"No…HAAAARUUUU!!"!" he roared, a scream that shattered through the corridor like a storm.
His scream cracked through the air like thunder, and with it—his Qi erupted. A storm of spiritual pressure exploded from his body, shaking the very bones of the building. The ground quaked. Cracks split the marble beneath him. His veins pulsed white-hot across his skin, and his eyes turned ghostly pale.
Qi Rage.
A volatile, rare, and self-destructive phenomenon.
Beak, still standing a distance away, narrowed his eyes and raised his arm to shield against the pressure.
"As old as you are… and you still haven't learned to master your emotions," Beak said, voice flat with disdain."How pathetic. Letting grief consume you like some nameless disciple in their first slaughter."
Seo Gyeol stood by silently, his expression unreadable.
"Leave him to me," he finally said. "I'll handle it."
Beak nodded once, casually adjusting his asura mask.
"If I were you, I wouldn't waste time. The Lord's orders are clear—this entire sect is to be wiped out. Don't turn into some bleeding-heart martyr like him.Finish your business."
"Tch," Seo Gyeol chuckled darkly. "Don't look down on me."
And like mist curling into shadow, Beak vanished.
Now only Seo Gyeol and Han‑Seok remained in the hall.
But Kwon Han‑Seok was no longer the same. His aura was twisted—powerful, but unstable. A grief-driven demon.
Seo Gyeol's chest tightened as he looked at the man he had once called brother.
"I wanted to fight you for real," he whispered. "Not like this…"
Han‑Seok said nothing. His eyes glowed with pure white Qi. Only rage lived in them now.
Then he lunged, his blade dragging across the stone and leaving behind a trail of cracked earth and fire.
Seo Gyeol dodged swiftly, pivoting on instinct, but the pressure from the blow shattered the corridor behind him.
Crack! Boom!
"Brother, this isn't how it was supposed to end…" Seo said under his breath.
He gritted his teeth and raised his own blade, the steel now blazing with red Qi. He condensed all his strength into it, the heat warping the air around him.
"Thank you… for the times we fought side by side."
He slashed.
A roaring arc of fire raced down the corridor like a burning crescent moon.
But Han‑Seok twisted aside—barely dodging.
Boom!
The flame erupted against the walls, and the entire structure began to collapse.
Stone and wood rained down as both men leapt through the rubble.
Through the cloud of dust, Han‑Seok's voice rang out.
"You think you can kill me with that?"
He emerged from the smoke—bloodied, bruised, but very much alive.
Seo Gyeol grimaced.
"Impossible… Already recovered? No. Of course. I Expected nothing less from the First Commander of the Thousand Venom Sect."
They rushed forward again.
Steel met steel.
The ground shattered under their feet with each clash.
Bits of roof came crashing down as they fought their way through the ruins. Swords flashed. Sparks flew. And still—neither of them held back.
At last, the building caved in completely.
And the two warriors burst into the open, amidst the chaos outside. The battlefield lay before them:
Fires smoldered in the courtyards.
Corpses littered the ground.
The banners of the Thousand Venom Sect lay torn in the dirt.
Seo Gyeol paused for a breath, his blade trembling.
Across from him, Han‑Seok stood tall—but his body was shaking, his grief a storm barely contained beneath the surface.
"What a shame…" Han‑Seok whispered, more to himself than anyone.What a fucking tragedy this has all become."