[Boom…]
A drumbeat echoed from deep within the earth. The sky grew increasingly red.
Beneath it, Min-chan's crimson aura surged as if exploding. The shattered longsword began to regain its form as if nothing had happened, and red smoke coalesced, solidifying into a blade.
[Hum… Hmmm…!]
The very air trembled.
Min-chan's eyes were now burning with a completely consuming red light. Cracks spread beneath his feet, and through the fissures, a blood-red mist began to rise.
[BOOM—!!]
As if the heart of the earth was pulsating, crimson figures rose one by one from the ground.
They had no faces. Yet, their mere presence—recalled the memories of blood that had echoed on the battlefield.
Min-chan's hand, gripping Xuanyuan's sword that had pierced his chest, slowly began to push the blade out.
[GRINDING—!!]
Red energy burst from his fingertips.
His skin tore, bones grated, and blood spurted.
But Min-chan—biting his lip, absolutely refused to back down.
"You're right… I am a forgotten god. You could even call me a minor deity."
Red smoke surged over his shoulders.
In Min-chan's eyes, as he heavily raised his head,
there was not the resonance of a human—
but something deeper, something older.
"But today— I will make you remember again.
That Chiyoo, has returned."
[WHOOSH—!!]
The golden sword, which had been cutting through his chest, was pushed back by the crimson energy and blasted out with a BANG!—
The recoil was strong enough to make Xuanyuan's hand involuntarily spring back.
Xuanyuan, pushed back, furrowed his brow.
It was then.
[Boom! Boom! Boom!]
The red drumbeat once again shook the earth.
Behind Min-chan, covered in blood-red smoke, formless figures lined up in formation.
Xuanyuan's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Hoh…"
He let out a low breath, looking alternately at Min-chan and the figures behind him, then raised his sword.
[THRUMMM!!]
With the drum's resonance—they all knelt on one knee in unison.
The vibrations of their kneeling, shaking the earth, shook the mountain ridge.
They were silent.
But within that silence—there was loyalty to Min-chan, and obedience to the 'Chiyoo' who had returned.
[WHOOSH—]
Red energy swirled over Min-chan's shoulders.
He, though still in a human body—at that moment, was Chiyoo himself, commanding the battlefield.
Xuanyuan's eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Those things… surely, are they the soldiers who vanished in that war?"
His voice was low, but for the first time, an emotion of 'caution' flickered in his eyes.
It was then.
Through the blood-red figures, two beings quietly walked to the front of the formation.
One cloaked in swirling sword winds,
and one with lightning flowing from his fingertips.
Fengbo.
Yusa.
They were Chiyoo's left and right wings in the past,
divine generals who had led blood and shouts in countless battles.
[Flint.]
At the familiar voices from behind him,
Min-chan's shoulders trembled for a very brief moment.
Those voices, that energy.
People who had run together on past battlefields, sharing death.
"…Fengbo… Yusa…"
Slowly turning his head, the outlines of the two figures became clear in his vision.
Fengbo spoke first.
"…You are using too much power, Lord."
His voice was low, but as deep as a wind that burrowed into one's soul.
Yusa looked at Min-chan and continued.
"Brother, if you continue to fight in this state—even if you win, annihilation cannot be avoided."
One was a tall warrior wrapped in black currents, Fengbo.
Beneath his sharp eyes, fierce whirlwinds spun around his feet.
Where he stood, there was always a gale.
The other was an armed warrior cloaked in the afterglow of lightning, Yusa.
His blue hair fluttered, his eyes gleamed.
Marks of battle were etched all over his body,
and within them, a calm killing intent quietly breathed.
Those two—stood behind Min-chan again.
They were smiling.
Faintly, yet resolutely.
As if recalling an ancient vow once more.
"Let's go!"
[CRASH—!!]
Min-chan lunged first.
The crimson longsword cut through the air,
and around him, wind and lightning exploded simultaneously.
Fengbo twisted his body from the left.
The swirling currents blocked Xuanyuan's vision,
and at that moment, Yusa's lightning spear immediately plunged into the opening.
[CLANG! CRACK!]
"Careless."
Xuanyuan swung his sword.
Golden spiritual power spread in a fan shape, pushing Fengbo and Yusa back.
But Min-chan did not stop.
[WHOOSH!!]
Red flames flickered from his longsword, beginning to crack the golden light.
Every time sword met sword,
the memories of Chiyoo and Xuanyuan overlapped.
"Chiyoo…"
A slightly chilling light flickered in Xuanyuan's eyes.
"Why… are you still not vanishing?"
[BOOM!!]
The earth twisted once more.
The blood-red figures, as if responding to Min-chan's momentum, shouted.
"Follow Chiyoo!!"
With that cry—Min-chan swung his longsword again.
[SWISH—!!]
As Min-chan's longsword cut through the air, drawing a red flash, Xuanyuan's sword twisted for the first time.
[Slide…]
Suddenly, Xuanyuan's right arm, from below the shoulder, slowly was severed.
[Sizzz—]
Golden vapor, instead of blood, rose, and the severed arm vanished like smoke before hitting the ground.
"...!"
Xuanyuan's brow furrowed.
A crack appeared on the absolute being's face.
They could not miss that opening.
"Now!!"
Fengbo spun his body.
His staff swirled and flew in.
[CRACK!!]
Blue lightning coiled around Yusa's entire body, and the tip of his spear pierced directly into Xuanyuan's chest.
[BANG!!]
The golden barrier ripped, and Xuanyuan was pushed back.
However—
The red energy that had blossomed with them flickered rapidly.
[CRUMBLE…]
Fengbo's shoulder crumbled like sand.
"…Our energy… is draining too fast."
Cold sweat ran down Yusa's forehead.
His hand, too, was slowly disintegrating.
"If we keep fighting like this… neither Lord nor us will remain."
Fengbo turned his head.
His gaze went past the shrine, towards someone.
"…Dam-bi."
* On the burning rock.
Dam-bi, soaked in blood,
clung to her fading consciousness, drawing the final lines.
[Swoosh…]
Before her, a nearly complete formation.
A 'gate' to another realm,
a bloody transfer formation.
"Just a little… more…!"
Dam-bi's fingertips trembled violently.
Dark crimson blood flowed from her mouth again.
* "How dare you… His Imperial Majesty's arm…"
[GRAAAAHHH—!!]
Hyun-nyeo shrieked, tearing her skirt.
Black eyes blossomed on her body,
and black energy surged like snakes.
"All of you… I will annihilate you!!"
As she raised both arms,
red flames and black energy intertwined around the shrine—
[WHOOSH!!]
The sky split.
Through that裂,
a 'gate' opened.
[ROOOOOOAARRRR—!!]
The sky swirled in a deep gray,
and hideous monsters began to burst forth from within.
What appeared from that 'gate' was—
the sound of hundreds of legs,
scraping the ground.
[Hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss-hiss—]
What emerged were elongated,
human-sized giant centipede demons.
Their backs were covered in scales,
scythe-like teeth whipped around their mouths,
and they dripped black, viscous slime as they flapped.
"What… is that…"
Young-beom swallowed, crouching low.
But that was just the beginning.
[RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE—!!]
The gate opened wider,
and dozens of centipede demon hordes poured out in all directions.
[WHOOSH—!!]
One leaped into the air,
charging towards Heo Do-yoon.
"Do-yoon, watch out—!!"
Tae-geon shouted,
and Min-chan instinctively blocked its path.
[THWACK!!]
The centipede demon's sharp front leg pierced through Min-chan's side.
[SLASH!]
Min-chan gritted his teeth and swung his sword,
and the centipede demon's head was severed.
"Ugh…! Xuanyuan, I'll take your head…"
[Cough!]
Min-chan, who had planted his longsword into the ground to steady himself,
collapsed to one knee, dark crimson blood pouring from his mouth, staining the ground.
"Min-chan!!"
Gab-su rushed over to support Min-chan.
The crimson figures rapidly approached,
eliminating the centipede monsters one by one.
But—
[CRUNCH!!]
The number of monsters was vast.
Over the burning trees, beneath the sky-gate—
dozens more continuously burst forth.
[Protect Chiyoo!]
A thick wall of crimson figures blocked Min-chan's front…
But they too were being torn apart by golden flashes and black energy, thinning out.
"Ugh!"
Do-yoon, to protect the child in his arms,
rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging an attack,
and Tae-geon, unarmed, broke the monsters' leg joints with his bare hands,
gritting his teeth and holding on.
"Damn it… there's no end to them!"
It was then—
[CLANG!]
Min-chan's longsword fell to the ground.
"Min-chan collapsed!!"
When Dam-bi stopped drawing the formation and turned her head,
what met her eyes was—
Min-chan, collapsed and covered in blood.
His breathing was faint,
and his eyes were half-glazed.
"No…!"
At that moment—
Through the red mist,
two shadows walked out.
One shadow cloaked in wind.
One shadow cloaked in blue energy.
Fengbo.
Yusa.
"…Hwansa, you've suffered greatly alone."
A warm, large hand rested on Dam-bi's shoulder.
As she raised her blood-stained face, before her eyes—
In the red smoke,
the two figures slowly dissipated like sandcastles.
"Fengbo… Yusa…"
Her lips trembled.
"Brother, this is as far as we go."
Fengbo said quietly.
"Take Chiyoo and leave before it's too late."
Yusa added.
"Chiyoo still needs you.
We'll hold them here… so quickly, into the formation."
"This time… we will be the sacrifice."
Dam-bi desperately shook her head.
"No! If you do that… not even your souls will remain!"
At those words,
Fengbo and Yusa looked at the gym members and smiled.
"Please take good care of our stubborn Lord."
"If you are Chiyoo's brothers, you are our brothers too.
—New brothers, please take care of Chiyoo."
"Carry Min-chan!!"
The group lifted Min-chan and entered the formation with Dam-bi.
At that moment—
Fengbo and Yusa looked at each other.
They… nodded.
"As we burn our bodies and souls,
please hear the earnest pleas of our descendants."
"We pray to Hwanin, the God of Heaven!
Protect the last of Guryeo, your descendants!"
As they knelt and stretched their hands towards the sky—
a crimson pillar began to rise from the center of the formation.
[WOOOOOOSH—!!]
"Brother."
"Lord."
They looked at Min-chan one last time.
"…It was a pleasure.
To be with you until the very end."
[WHOOSH… FADE…]
Their forms,
began to dissipate into red smoke and blue lightning.
[ROOOOOOOOAARRRR—!!]
The formation completed, and the sky roared.
The mountain trembled, and cracks began to appear in the sky.
At that moment—
"No!!"
[CRACK!!]
Towards the splitting rift in the sky—
a golden flash extended.
[BANG! BANG!]
Xuanyuan, whose severed arm had regenerated,
swung his sword towards the formation.
His eyes were completely wild.
The humiliation of losing an arm,
and the turning point created by Fengbo and Yusa's sacrifice—
he could not accept it.
"Do you think such a sacrifice can overcome me?!"
A golden pillar erupted from his sword
and struck the outer edge of the formation.
[BANG!!!]
The rocks on the formation shattered,
and the gym members flinched.
"Not a chance!"
Faster than that,
Yusa's afterimage threw his last spear.
The lightning-imbued spearhead intercepted the golden slash and exploded.
[CRASH—!!]
"Gah…!"
Fengbo's remnant completely crumbled on the spot.
Through that gap—
[SCREEECHHHH!!!]
Black scales writhed.
Hyun-nyeo, dragging her snake-like body,
flew towards the formation.
"Die!! Hwansa!! DIIIEEEEE—!!"
Black energy extended from her fingertips,
all flying towards Dam-bi—
"Follow Chiyoo!!"
Fengbo's cry.
He threw his body one last time
to block Hyun-nyeo and Xuanyuan's attacks.
[BURST!!]
Blue lightning and red smoke, black energy and golden light
collided in one place—
[CRAAAAAASSSHHHHHH!!!!]
The world, twisted.
At that moment.
The rift in the sky opened wide.
Min-chan, Dam-bi, and the gym members within the formation
were caught in a powerful suction.
"Do-yoon—!! Hold on tight to the kid, don't let go!!"
"Where exactly… is this going—!!"
"Brother!!! He's not opening his eyes!!! Min-chan hyung—!!"
"Everyone… hold on!! We're being pulled in!!"
[WHOOOOOOOOSH…]
The forms of Fengbo and Yusa
had already vanished like smoke,
and only the 'formation' that they had protected until the very end,
flickering with red light—
swallowed everyone upwards towards the sky.
Shrine Collapse.
The pillars collapsed,
the roof collapsed,
slowly… everything collapsed.
And,
beneath an unfamiliar sky
where two moons hung.
Min-chan's eyes, which had been unconscious,
slowly… opened.