"Wow, the weather is wonderful today, isn't it, Ye-rim?" Seok said happily as he swam in a lake near their village.
Ye-rim replied, clinging to him for fear of drowning—she was only four years old, and swimming was difficult for her.
"Yes, it's truly beautiful, but please let go of me! I'm scared!"
A faint smile appeared on Seok's face, and he patted her head. She looked annoyed, placing her hand against his stomach.
"Stop that! It's so embarrassing!" Ye-rim said, feeling flustered as she looked up at him.
Seok laughed, watching her reaction.
"You're my cute little sister; pampering you is practically my birthright!"
He continued to stroke her hair as he spoke, making her even more embarrassed.
"Fine, but not in front of others—it's just too embarrassing! I love you, brother!"
"I love you too."
A few minutes later, Su-ho, Seok, and Ye-rim climbed out of the lake and began drying themselves off with sheets.
Seok was drying Ye-rim, whose body was completely hidden beneath the sheet.
Ye-rim emerged from the sheet, clearly annoyed, and threw a few punches at Seok's shoulder—to which he simply responded with laughter.
"You're so annoying! You overdid it with the drying, and now I'm just really irritated!"
Seok said nothing, letting her vent; she was only a child, after all, and children often have tantrums for all sorts of reasons—even the most trivial ones. "I surrender! Lady Ye-rim, you're the clear winner!" Seok exclaimed, feigning agony before collapsing to the ground.
Suho laughed hysterically as he watched the siblings' little performance. Then, feigning utter astonishment, he looked toward Ye-rim—who was standing triumphantly atop Seok's stomach, chest puffed out and cheeks inflated, declaring the defeat of her "enemy."
"I'm so strong! I beat my big brother! Hahahaha!"
Suho began to applaud enthusiastically, calling out:
"Well done, Lady Ye-rim! You've saved us all from a tyrant named Seok!"
Ye-rim shot him an indignant look.
"My brother isn't a tyrant! He's wonderful, and I love him! Did you hear me, Suho?"
Seok reached out to hug Ye-rim as he pulled himself up, leaning against a nearby tree trunk.
But Ye-rim slipped from his grasp and darted several meters away.
Seok looked on, somewhat puzzled by Ye-rim's behavior throughout this journey.
He had a strange sensation that they were being watched, but he brushed it off; after all, they were in a forest—it was only natural for animals to occasionally peek at them out of curiosity.
Seok called out to her:
"Wait! Where are you going...?"
Ignoring his question, Ye-rim kept running about, laughing as she went. Suho spoke in an anxious tone, his gaze fixed on the forest:
"Someone is watching us."
Seok nodded in agreement. Having grown up in forested regions, they had developed an innate, keen sense for danger—a necessary trait, given the constant threat of attacking beasts.
"Hahahahahaha!"
A loud laugh erupted from among the trees, followed by the appearance of several mercenaries.
The leader of the mercenaries continued to laugh as he and his followers set their sights on Ye-rim, who was moving about—playing one moment, then drifting closer to them the next.
A look of shock crossed Seok's face as he realized the mercenaries' true intent: they had come for Ye-rim.
He glanced at Suho, whose expression mirrored his own; he, too, had grasped the reason for their arrival.
Seok then looked toward Ye-rim, who remained oblivious to the looming danger as she busied herself chasing after some squirrels.
In a stern, urgent voice, Seok shouted:
"Ye-rim! Come here—quickly, right now!"
Ye-rim looked at Seok, puzzled, but the moment she caught sight of the mercenaries, fear took hold, and she scrambled toward him.
The mercenaries watched with smirks as Ye-rim ran toward Seok.
Upon reaching him, she clung to his leg, her face etched with terror. Meanwhile, both Seok and Suho wore expressions of deep concern—for, in the end, they were no match for the mercenaries. Their death at the hands of the mercenaries was all but certain; they were still at the SSS-rank, while the mercenaries were at the XX-rank. The disparity in power was immense—the two were still within the mortal tiers, whereas the leader of the mercenaries had reached the second stage of the Sovereign tiers.
The gap between the mortal tiers and the Sovereign tiers was vast in every conceivable aspect.
Mortals rarely lived beyond two hundred years at most, whereas those who attained the Sovereign tiers could live for a thousand years—or even several thousand, should they reach the rank of Sovereign Master.
Furthermore, upon reaching the rank of Expert Sovereign, one could shed nearly all inherent physical flaws, gain access to virtually infinite power, and so on. Both of them were well aware of these facts.
A malicious grin spread across the mercenary leader's face as he looked toward them. With blatant arrogance and conceit, he spoke:
"You'd best hand over that little girl—Ye-rim, is it? My master would be quite pleased to... play with her for a while."
Shock washed over Seok's face as he heard the mercenary leader's words. They intended to use a little child for sexual gratification! Had they truly sunk to such a depraved level?
These were the thoughts racing through Seok's mind. He glanced toward Suho, who was glaring at the mercenaries with palpable rage—yet he was powerless to act, as his opponents could crush him with absolute ease. Signs of distress appeared on their faces at the mercenaries' actions. Suddenly, two of the mercenaries vanished from their spots, reappearing right beside Seok and Suho.
Each of them delivered a kick to the boys' stomachs, sending them flying into the trunk of a tree.
Their eyes contracted as they spat blood from their mouths.
They looked at the mercenaries with fear, yet their desire to save their sister proved stronger than any terror.
Their only sister—a child of no more than four years—was to be turned into a sex slave! The very thought was beyond their ability to imagine. Even the lowest scum have their limits; how could such lecherous men lack any shred of self-restraint when faced with a child of that age?
Two of the henchmen serving the mercenary leader, Sherwin, approached Seok and Suho with malicious grins, raining down a series of brutal blows across their bodies.
Elsewhere, Ye-rim was held captive by the mercenary leader. Tears streamed down her face as she watched her two brothers being beaten.
"Let me go, you wretched scum!" Ye-rim screamed, struggling to break free from his grip.
All her efforts proved futile. Shrowin spoke with clear mockery and derision:
"Don't worry, they're going to die anyway. As for you, little girl—you'll live a 'lovely' life as a whore."
Shock washed over Seok's face upon hearing the mercenary leader's words—words intended specifically to elicit a look of brokenness and shame.
But the outcome was the exact opposite of what Shrowin had expected.
A dark aura, thick with murderous intent, began to emanate from Seok's body. His eyes glowed a stark white, and his hair rose into the air. The organization's henchmen were thrown into confusion; Seok's presence had become strange, overwhelming, and deeply ominous, while bizarre tattoos began to manifest across his face.
Shrowin stepped back, putting some distance between himself and both Seok and Su-ho—the latter of whom lay unconscious from the brutal beating. Su-ho was physically weaker than Seok, and his health had already been compromised by illness.
The entire reason for their journey had been to help Su-ho get some movement and find relief from his sickness—yet, in the end, he had only sustained grave injuries. Seok rose to his feet, having fully recovered from all his injuries thanks to the healing dome. He muttered something under his breath while staring at the ground, then looked up at the subordinates:
"
"
A dome materialized with such blinding speed that none of them could even sense its formation. Seok then gestured toward the two men.
Confusion flickered across their faces as they watched Seok's strange behavior—but within a fraction of a second, they were reduced to mere splatters of blood.
The expressions of the mercenaries, their leader Sherwin, and Yi-rim shifted into pure shock; their faces darkened, reflecting a harrowing mix of terror and disbelief.
"What just happened? How did he do that? He killed two Master-rank fighters with such absolute ease! Impossible! He's still only SSS-rank! You scum—how could someone still at the mortal level kill those who have reached the Sovereign tier?!"
Seok turned his gaze toward Yi-rim, who was left speechless by the shock, and said in a calm, steady tone:
"Yi-rim, come here."
Roused from his stupor by Seok's words, Sherwin shouted, glaring at him:
"Who do you think you are...?!"
But the arm Sherwin was using to hold Yi-rim suddenly exploded; reeling from the shock and the excruciating pain, he collapsed backward onto the ground. He let out a piercing scream as he stared at the spot where his hand had been—now, nothing remained:
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
His followers recoiled in sheer terror, but Ye-rim rushed toward Seok, tears streaming down her face.
She buried her face against his leg, sobbing, yet the cold, detached expression on Seok's face did not waver in the slightest as he fixed his gaze upon Sherwin.
Sherwin's eyes were wide with fear as he looked at Seok and the dark, ominous aura surrounding him.
"He's no human! He's more of a curse than a man! This dark aura... this terrifying regenerative ability... No, no! He doesn't even belong to this world! The curses of our realm possess no such power!"
Struggling to his feet, Sherwin attempted to flee along with his remaining followers; his instincts—honed through hundreds of battles—screamed that staying put would mean certain death.
But suddenly, his body began to shrink—as did the bodies of the thirteen others nearby.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Sherwin and his followers let out harrowing cries before—*pop*—they exploded, reduced to mere pools of blood.
The surviving mercenaries froze, paralyzed by the shock of witnessing the deaths of sixteen of their own—including their leader, a man on the verge of reaching the Saint rank. It had all unfolded in a matter of minutes, at the hands of a child not yet nine years old, who was still within the mortal realm of power. It was unbelievable, yet it was reality.
Seok turned his gaze toward Ye-rim, who was clutching his trousers tightly, trying to get his attention.
"Brother, stop! I'm fine—you don't have to do all this!" Ye-rim said, her voice trembling with fear as she looked at Seok, who was in a state of utter disarray.
Seok remained silent, listening to her, then shifted his eyes toward the unconscious Su-ho, from whose forehead and head warm, crimson blood was flowing.
His condition was critical—he looked as if he were on the verge of death—so Seok raised his hand toward him.
Shock washed over Ye-rim's face; she assumed he intended to kill him, but the reality was quite the opposite.
Su-ho's injuries began to heal rapidly, his condition improving within mere seconds.
The mercenaries' expressions grew tense as they watched Seok, who had healed Su-ho with such effortless ease.
They exchanged glances, desperately trying to process the situation and devise a way to escape certain death.
Then, they unleashed a barrage of attacks against him with everything they had.
"
"
"
"
The attacks surged toward Seok, who watched them with complete indifference. With a simple flick of his hand, he sent every single attack rebounding back toward those who had launched them.
BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!
Several explosions rocked the spot where the mercenaries were standing, yet they managed to evade the brunt of the attacks, sustaining only minor injuries.
They turned their gazes toward Seok, who simply watched them in silence. To make matters worse, they were suddenly overcome by dizziness and exhaustion; they realized that the mana surrounding them had vanished, triggering a state of mana poisoning.
"What the hell is happening? How did the mana in the air just disappear?!"
"I feel completely drained! My *qi* is flooding into my mana core!"
The mercenaries' expressions were a mix of shock and disbelief. Everything seemed to be turning against them—even their own power.
"Who the hell is this guy? How is he doing this?!"
"I have no idea, but he's a total monster! He slaughtered our comrades in such a brutal way. We have to get out of here!"
"Yeah—for now, running is the best option!"
The five mercenaries took off, fleeing away from Seok.
Seok watched them in silence, certain that they wouldn't be able to escape his field of vision regardless.
As they fled, a sense of unease washed over them. The reflection of the sun in the sky above revealed the truth: they were trapped inside a dome.
One of them launched a fire-based attack toward the sky; the resulting powerful explosion confirmed their suspicions.
Yet, a glimmer of hope remained—surely, a youth not even eighteen years old couldn't possibly conjure a barrier capable of withstanding their combined might.
They unleashed a barrage of devastating attacks against the nearby wall of the dome:
"
"
"
"
As the violent explosions echoed, the men grinned, convinced the barrier had been destroyed, and surged toward it at full speed.
Instead, they slammed into the dome's wall with a thunderous crash. The impact was so intense that two of them were instantly reduced to mangled flesh, while the remaining three suffered grievous fractures and collapsed heavily to the ground.
Leaning against the wall of the dome, their faces twisted and blackened by agony, the mercenaries bled profusely from their wounds.
"What in the name of the Creator of Hell are we supposed to do?! There's a dome blocking our escape!" One of the mercenaries spoke, his voice heavy with exhaustion and fear, as he glanced at his companion—unlike their third comrade, who had perished after falling from a height of fifteen meters.
His companion replied with great difficulty:
"We have to escape! Our lives depend on it!"
In a final, desperate attempt, the two launched attacks against the invisible wall of the dome, but nothing changed; every effort proved futile.
Their expressions twisted into absolute terror as they heard the words of Seok, who had appeared behind them:
"The fate of anyone who angers Seok is death."
Seok's words were enough to strike deep fear into the heart of each of them.
They turned to look at him, their faces consumed by sheer dread, before collapsing backward, tears streaming uncontrollably from their eyes.
Seok reached out toward them, ignoring their futile pleas. A piercing scream erupted, echoing through the entire forest:
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Their bodies began to shrink until they were no smaller than the palm of a hand, at which point they instantly exploded.
"Mission accomplished. Those who attempt to harm Seok meet a gruesome end."
Seok vanished immediately, returning to the spot where they had been earlier, only to find his sister unconscious.
He, too, then lost consciousness, reverting to his original form. After a few minutes, Seok opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground, his sister Ye-rim embracing him. Both of them were covered in blood—it stained their clothes and smeared their faces.
Bewildered, Seok turned his gaze toward Su-ho, who lay unconscious against the trunk of a tree.
"What happened here? Why are there bodies and blood everywhere?" he asked, his voice filled with confusion as he took in his surroundings. Blood was splattered across the area, and the corpses of the mercenaries were so mangled that they were unrecognizable—it was impossible to tell who they had been, or even if they had been human at all.
Seok shook Ye-rim, only to realize she was unconscious—though he had no idea why.
He leaned back against the tree trunk, cradling his sister, who clung to him with an intense, desperate grip.
Then, he whispered in a low, soft voice:
"There's nothing to be afraid of. Everything is fine; I am..."
..............
In a small house in a village near the city of Makindi—Tuesday, May 23, 659, at 8:56 PM.
A woman named Shin-hae was giving birth, assisted by the village midwife.
An ominous aura emanated toward the midwife, but she paid it no mind, assuming the child was simply born with traits linked to the shadows—a phenomenon she had encountered many times over the past 243 years, so she thought nothing of it.
As she delivered the baby, a faint smile crossed her face; however, she caught a glimpse of strange, varied tattoos appearing on the infant's body—only for them to vanish in a fraction of a second. She shook her head, assuming she was simply exhausted; she had overseen more than thirteen births in a single day. The town of Makindi was quite large, with a population of forty-five thousand, plus another thirty-four thousand people of various origins and ethnicities—making childbirth an almost daily occurrence.
"Congratulations, Lady Shinhai! You have a baby!" the village midwife exclaimed joyfully, cradling the infant in her arms.
Shinhai gazed at Seok—still just a newborn—with eyes full of love and warmth, then took him from the midwife and held him close.
"From this day forward, I shall call you Seok."
Shinhai leaned down to kiss her son gently, stroking his black hair. A beautiful smile spread across Seok's face as he looked up at his mother.
Shinhai glanced toward the door, where Kyung stood with an inscrutable expression, before turning her gaze back to her child with a warm smile.
Yet, a growing shadow of sadness crossed her face, leaving her bewildered; her husband was sorrowful on what should have been the happiest moment of his life.
"I am sorry, my dear Shinhai—and I am sorry, my son. Please, forgive me; it was beyond my control." Kyung's voice was heavy with grief and despair. Kyung was hurled against the inner wall of the room before Shinhye even had a chance to process the situation. Suddenly, six individuals appeared, their attire bearing the name of one of the lords of Makindi City.
The leader of the group ordered one of his subordinates to take Seok away from his mother, Shinhye.
The subordinate moved with such speed that the mother could not even react. He snatched Seok—whose gaze remained vacant, shifting back and forth between the subordinate and his mother.
A strange sensation washed over the subordinate; it did not feel like holding a human being—it felt as though he were cradling a curse in his arms. Choosing to ignore the feeling, he reminded himself that his only task was to retrieve the child, not to question his true nature.
He then handed the infant over to Tao, the leader of the group, with an arrogant smirk.
"Here you go—just as you requested."
A malicious grin spread across Tao's face as he looked down at the infant in his arms, and he spoke with an air of ease and delight:"I have completed my mission."
"What do you want? Give me back my son!" Shinhai cried out in anguish, staring at the henchmen of one of the lords of Makindi City.
Tao and his followers turned their gaze toward the source of the cry, finding Shinhai looking at them with bloodshot eyes.
Smiles spread across the faces of Tao and his men. Meanwhile, Kyung and the midwife watched the scene, as did Seok—who was still just an infant.
Tao spoke with arrogance:
"Lady Zinhai Ri desires a child born on the very same day as herself—to serve as her plaything. He was born on Tuesday, May 23rd, at 20:56—the exact same day, month, hour, and minute that Lady Zinhai Ri was born."
"So, you had best accept that your newborn son will become a plaything for my lady, allowing her to experience the feeling of motherhood and find some amusement."
"Not that it matters—you're going to die regardless, whether you agree or not! Hahahaha... Soldiers!"
Tao's men moved toward Kyung, the midwife, and Shinhai, seizing them and forcing them down at their feet.
Kyung had a head injury and several fractures, while blood was still streaming from Shinhai—it had been only fifteen minutes since she had given birth.
The midwife, who was holding Seok, was gripped by sheer terror. She did not want to die—the desire to live is an instinct ingrained in every being, and she was no exception—yet she could not utter a word.
The pressure exerted by the presence of several fighters at the "Novice Sovereign" level, alongside Tao—who held the rank of "Expert Sovereign"—was far too intense for anyone at the "Legendary" rank to endure, let alone two individuals who were still within the "Mortal" levels.
"Waaaaah!"
Seok began to wail loudly, his gaze fixed on his mother, Shinhai, and his father, Kyung.
Tao felt a surge of irritation—he even contemplated killing the child—but he managed to restrain himself. This child, born at that precise hour, meant a great deal to Lady Zinhai Ri; any foolish move would surely result in his own head being severed from his body.
Nevertheless, Seok's crying did not cease; instead, it grew even more boisterous. An overwhelming black aura erupted, and strange, varied tattoos manifested across his body, while his black eyes shifted to a deep, crimson red.
Suddenly, both of Tao's arms were completely crushed. Shock etched across his face, he collapsed to the ground as blood gushed profusely from his shoulders.
He let out a piercing scream:
"Aaaaaah!"
Everyone present was struck with utter shock. Tao's subordinates, Seok's parents, and the midwife—none could find the words to speak; what had just unfolded was beyond their capacity to comprehend.