Screeeeeeeeech—!!!!

A piercing scream rang out. It felt as though my ears were being torn apart. How could a cry be so desperate, so raw, so filled with agony?

“Kuaaaaaaah—!!!”

“Krrrrrghhh—!!!!”

I wasn’t the only one affected. Soldiers who had failed to escape clutched their ears and collapsed to the ground.

At first glance, it seemed absurd that they would react so violently to mere sound.

But this wasn’t just sound.

In fact, calling it sound at all felt inaccurate.

This was the manifestation of energy.

A sound given form through energy.

And because of that, it was more terrifying, more horrifying than any ordinary scream.

And it wasn’t just the sound.

Kwaaaaaaah—!!!

Even though the energy had already been released, the unleashed force lingered in place, spiraling wildly.

Watching that, I found myself frozen, dazed behind my mask.

I had created this spectacle, and yet—

‘Can I even call that energy?’

The way it stormed and twisted, it resembled a tempest. Energy taking the form of a storm wasn’t unusual.

After all, the First Stance of Tua Pacheonmu—Tua Heaven-Piercing Fist—unleashed energy in a similar spiraling motion.

A storm of energy, blades of force shredding through the air. A shape born from the violent currents within my body.

‘...No.’

But what I was seeing now—

‘That’s not the same.’

This wasn’t a storm.

This was—

Chaos.

A mass of energies colliding, unable to merge.

The Cheonma Divine Art worked by creating friction between different energies. That friction was what gave it form.

And so, this swirling maelstrom before me had a simple reason for existing.

‘All the energies have been gathered—yet they refuse to merge.’

They were repelling each other with such intensity that they formed what appeared to be a storm.

‘...Rejection. Friction.’

The pressure born from that conflict.

The destruction that followed.

Something I had only ever imagined in theory was now unfolding before my very eyes.

I couldn't look away.

It was nothing close to beautiful.

Not like the Plum Blossom Swordsmanship of Mount Hua.

Not like the Moonlit Sword Dance of the Sword Sage.

No martial art could be more brutal than this.

Of course. This was energy laid bare, stripped of all refinement, containing only pure hostility.

If it had a name, it would be rage.

How could something born of such raw fury ever be beautiful?

It was wild, unrestrained, overwhelming.

And yet—

I found myself staring at it as if I were gazing upon the most exquisite jewel.

As if I had been enchanted.

My body felt as if it had turned to stone.

My gaze refused to move.

Thump—! Thump—!

And within me, the heart that now served as my energy core pounded madly.

My blood burned.

The energy coursing through my body resonated with the phenomenon before me.

Thump—!

A strange heat surged through my flesh.

Yet, my energy itself remained still. Was it because I had activated Nine Flames Firewheel to use the Cheonma Divine Art?

No. That wasn’t it.

This heat wasn’t from my energy.

Then what was it?

I hadn’t activated any techniques—so why was I feeling this heat?

Ah.

I understood.

The Nine Flames Firewheel was moving on its own.

Even though I hadn’t activated it, it had started spinning of its own accord, generating this heat within me.

Why?

I didn’t know.

Crack—!

The sound of something breaking reached my ears.

And yet, my gaze remained locked onto the swirling chaos.

Screeeeeech—!!!

The sound began to fade.

If the sound was fading, that meant the energy was dissipating.

Crack—! Crack—!

More breaking sounds.

Where were they coming from? Not outside.

Which meant—from within me.

Why?

What was breaking? Where?

Crack—!

Shatter—!

Cracks spread, until finally, something shattered.

At that moment—

Giiiiiiiiing—!!!

The Nine Flames Firewheel spun wildly.

Whooosh—!!!!

Flames erupted across my entire body.

Blue Azure Flames coiled around me.

Whoosh—! Whooosh—!!!

They spiraled, using me as their axis. The Nine Flames Firewheel had always moved like this.

Always rotating, maintaining the form of a wheel, ever expanding.

Each time I used it, I had witnessed the same phenomenon.

And yet—

Whoooosh... Whoooosh—!!!!

This time, something was different.

The flames, which had appeared without my will, began to shrink.

Smaller and smaller—until they barely encircled my body.

And then—

Clank.

Something was released.

The ring of flames detached from my body.

It rose behind me.

A perfect circular wheel, floating in the air, spinning slowly.

Whoosh.

Tiny embers scattered into the wind.

I flipped my palm upward and stared at it.

An empty hand.

Yet—

Whooosh.

My hand transformed into flames. Not in the sense of being covered in fire.

But as if it had become fire itself.

It wasn’t strange.

I had felt this sensation before, when I had first mastered the technique.

But now—

‘...I understand.’

Back then, I had simply become fire.

Now, I understood why.

‘It’s not about the flames.’

Not the fire itself.

But why the flames had taken the form of a wheel.

‘The optimal shape for rotation. Faster and hotter.’

It was the wheel’s choice.

Because it was fire, it could burn brighter and move faster.

That was why it took this form.

‘The Nine Flames Firewheel isn’t about fire—it’s about rotation.’

A memory surfaced.

Something my father had once told me.

At the time, I had thought he simply meant to spin faster, to focus on compression.

But now...

‘He already told me everything.’

So this was what he meant.

As that realization settled in—

Whoooosh—!!!

The blazing ring behind my back began to spin.

Savoring the sensation, I took a step forward.

Ssssshhhhh—

With each step, the ground sizzled beneath me. The heat melted the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) surface, leaving behind scorched footprints.

I walked forward—toward the place most devastated by the impact of my strike.

A collapsed building. Blood splattered across the ruins.

And at the very center of it—

“Khh... krrhh... ugh...”

The mutilated, twisted body of the leader of the White Faction.

“Krrhh... khhh...”

A painful, guttural groan.

Even in such a state, it had not died.

It was regenerating.

“Hm.”

I wasn’t surprised. I had expected as much. I had held back on purpose.

After exchanging blows with it, I had gauged its resilience. A wound like this—it could survive it.

Even if it hadn’t, it wouldn’t have mattered to me.

I stood over the wreckage and spoke.

“How pitiful.”

“Krrhh... krrrhh...”

The leader of the White Faction tried to speak, but I had no reason to listen.

“Did you think that just because the night had fallen, you could reach me?”

I laughed.

Genuinely laughed.

Because it was amusing.

Because the thought itself was absurd.

A strange exhilaration surged within me, rising endlessly.

“For something so proud of its fangs, they were disappointingly soft.”

Repeating the words it had once spoken, I stepped closer.

I recalled the reason I had spared it.

Demonification.

I had intended to use it to test something.

Would demonic energy affect it the same way it had affected the leader of the Black Faction?

Could the Moonlit Night Tribe resist demonification as a whole?

I had kept it alive to find out.

“Hm.”

Just before my demon-infused fingers could touch its body—

Something about it displeased me.

For no particular reason.

Flick.

I flicked my fingers.

A tiny ember detached from my fingertip.

It drifted through the air—

And landed on its body.

WHOOOOOSH—!!!

“GRAAAAAAAHHHHH—!!!”

A massive blaze engulfed its flesh.

Not a groan. Not a gasp.

A scream.

A piercing wail tore through the air.

It lasted only for a moment.

The flames enveloped it for the briefest of instants.

And when they faded—

Not even ashes remained.

“Leader—!!”

“The leader is...!!”

The ones who had stood by, watching, let out gasps of horror.

But when my gaze shifted toward them, silence swallowed them whole.

Fear.

I could feel it.

I reached out toward them.

Just as I had with the White Faction leader—I prepared to ignite another ember at my fingertips.

And then—

“......”

I looked at them.

And a thought surfaced.

What expression am I making right now?

And—

What exactly am I trying to do?

At that moment—

The world around me shifted.

I was standing on the surface of a vast lake.

A lake?

No.

I recognized it immediately.

It was exhilaration.

The exhilaration surging within me had manifested as a lake.

The water was calm, eerily still.

And unfathomably deep.

I understood instinctively.

‘If I fall in, I won’t come back.’

If I let myself sink into this stillness, I would plunge to the depths, never to resurface.

So I walked.

Ssssshhhhh.

Leaving the heat behind, I stepped forward.

Desire.

‘Why am I hesitating?’

So what if I fell?

This lake—it was mine.

Why should I fear stepping into something that belonged to me?

Why fight it?

Why not just give in?

That thought crossed my mind.

I moved to step into the water.

Plop.

“......”

Something formed beneath my foot. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

A lotus flower.

A radiant, deep violet lotus had risen to stop me from sinking.

As if telling me—Not yet.

I stared at it.

And then—

The lake vanished.

And once again, I saw them.

The people before me.

Terrified. Trembling.

My breath caught.

I withdrew my hand.

Then—

WHOOSH—!!!

My body became flame.

And I shot into the sky.

If I wanted to remain myself—

I had to leave this place.

*********

The night deepened.

A woman sat in the distance, gazing at the sky.

Something rose toward the heavens in the moonlit night.

A blue streak of light.

Watching it, she bit her lip.

The violet aurora that filled the night sky reflected in her eyes.

She kept watching, as if she didn’t want to lose sight of the blue light.

And in her gaze—

Along with that light—

Was worry.