This one... is the real thing.

The moment the Lord of the Sado Alliance released her energy, the Iron-Blood Gang Leader saw it.

Eyes burning red within pitch-black darkness.

There was no doubt—it was the messenger of death.

At that very moment, the Iron-Blood Gang Leader realized that not even the entirety of the Iron-Blood Gang could bring down this one woman.

Thud―!

His iron mace dropped to the floor.

Thud―!

His knees followed suit.

Thud―!

And then his head struck the ground.

The elders of the Iron-Blood Gang, who had been tense with drawn weapons, stared blankly at their Gang Leader.

The Gang Leader cried out,

"I have failed to recognize a person of such greatness! I beg you to forgive this rude wretch!"

At the Gang Leader’s sudden and total change in attitude, Seolhwa gazed at him with cold eyes.

‘He must really not want to die.’

This man had once joined the Blood Demon Cult in her previous life and had managed to establish quite the reputation.

Even then, he had been known for his quick wits and faster turnarounds—but this exceeded even the rumors.

"I have heard many tales of the Lord of the Sado Alliance! I had no idea you were so gallant and radiant! Hahaha!"

Even though she was wearing a mask?

"Though we may have been enemies...."

"Bring me my subordinate."

"What are you all waiting for?! Go and escort the elder of the Black Cloud Gang at once!"

The elders, who had been standing blankly through their Gang Leader’s sycophantic performance, rushed out in a panic.

Soon, Sambong was dragged in, his hands bound, his entire body battered.

His face was so swollen it was nearly unrecognizable.

The Gang Leader hastily rushed over to undo his restraints, yelling,

"You fools! I told you to treat our guest with the utmost care!"

Sambong blinked in confusion, glancing around.

Then, spotting Seolhwa, his swollen eyes opened slightly wider.

"Alliance Leader!"

Seolhwa crooked a finger at him.

After glancing around nervously, Sambong sprinted over to her.

"Alliance Leader! I missed you! Those bastards tormented me so much...! They laughed, saying I was a dead man, mocking that the Alliance Leader would never come!"

He burst into tears, and as Seolhwa patted his back, she turned her gaze back to the Gang Leader.

The Gang Leader flinched as he spoke.

"I-If I had met you just a bit earlier, none of this would have happened! It was all due to misleading rumors."

They had said the Lord of the Sado Alliance possessed remarkable martial prowess, but never that she was an untouchable master like this.

"I am no fool who cannot tell left from right. Am I wrong?"

Seolhwa looked toward the elders standing beside the Gang Leader.

From her sleeve, a pitch-black serpent dropped with a soft thud.

The Gang Leader and the elders flinched.

The snake slithered with a hiss toward one of the unconscious elders.

The very elder who had suggested provoking the Sado Alliance.

[This one is awake.]

—As if he were the only one. Typical dark faction scum. Their acting is impeccable.

It made no sense that elders of their caliber had been knocked out by mere falling rubble.

—So, that one’s the one who suggested kidnapping Sambong?

[Yes. I heard it clearly. He said the Sado Alliance had no roots.]

Strictly speaking, it had been the Gang Leader who used that phrase.

But often, the one who incites is worse than the one who strikes.

Seolhwa glanced at the bruised and beaten Sambong, then walked over and ground her heel into the elder’s hand.

A faint groan slipped out.

She ignored it and asked the Gang Leader,

"So. Whose idea was it to provoke the Sado Alliance?"

The Gang Leader panicked visibly.

His eyes flicked toward the subordinate groaning beneath Seolhwa’s foot.

"Th-That is..."

"You killed five of my subordinates and took the one I value most—and you thought I would let it go?"

The Gang Leader swallowed dryly.

"Surely, to even the scales, six heads from your side are in order. So speak. Who planned this?"

His pupils shook violently.

He knew the culprit, but if he so much as answered, that man’s head would be gone in an instant.

The Gang Leader clenched his eyes shut.

Thud―!

He dropped to his knees.

"I gave the order!"

Oh?

He struck his own chest with a heavy thump.

"Whatever plan was devised, it was I, the Gang Leader, who approved it! How could I possibly shift the blame to my subordinates? If someone must die, let it be me!"

Though his lips were trembling.

Though his eyes kept flicking toward the man beneath Seolhwa’s foot.

Unaware of this, the other elders looked upon their Gang Leader’s back with admiration.

[What an audacious bastard. No wonder he’s the Gang Leader.]

—You do not become the head of one of the three major factions without that kind of nerve.

While Seolhwa maintained her position through unmatched power and leadership, the Gang Leader of the Iron-Blood Gang seemed to thrive on shameless bravado.

Still, this should be enough.

As she applied pressure to the foot pinning the elder down, there was a crunch, followed by a stifled groan.

Whether the man still hoped to feign unconsciousness to the end or not, he trembled but did not move.

Seolhwa turned away.

"Three days."

The swollen Sambong rose into the air, wrapped in black smoke.

As the bewildered man floated up through the shattered ceiling, Seolhwa addressed the Gang Leader.

"In three days, kneel before me and acknowledge your defeat. If you do, I may allow the name Iron-Blood Gang to remain."

"I-If I... do that...."

You will spare me?

"Three days."

Tap―!

Seolhwa’s form soared upward, disappearing in an instant through the broken roof.

The Gang Leader and his elders stared blankly at the gaping sky until the dust finally settled.

Only when her presence had completely vanished—

Thump.

The Gang Leader collapsed with a gasp.

He clutched his own neck in disbelief.

"I—I’m alive...."

He had truly survived.

Survived an encounter with that monster.

The Gang Leader trembled uncontrollably.

The Lord of the Sado Alliance.

A force that had suddenly emerged in Changsha, Hunan Province four years prior.

She had resolved a dark power struggle even the major sects and families had avoided, and had then gone on to absorb three more factions, rapidly establishing hegemony over the dark world.

Even the Hao Clan—renowned for its intelligence network, second only to the Beggars’ Union—had submitted under her.

"She said... to come in three days...."

Which meant the southeastern dark world now belonged to the Sado Alliance as well.

"A monster has appeared...."

****

The Alliance Leader, who had said she would visit the Iron-Blood Gang, returned alive.

And not alone—she returned with Sambong, who had been captured.

The key figures and faction leaders of the Sado Alliance, gnawing their nails in anxiety, were left speechless upon seeing both of them safe.

It was one thing for Sambong to survive—but not even the slightest trace of battle remained on the Alliance Leader.

What shocked them even more, however, came three days later.

"The Iron-Blood Gang and its affiliated leaders wish to serve under the Lord of the Sado Alliance. Please, accept the southeastern brothers into the Alliance."

The Iron-Blood Gang /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Leader came personally, knelt before Seolhwa, and surrendered.

The officers and leaders of the Sado Alliance could only watch in stunned silence as southeastern dominance rolled in unbidden.

"How in the world did the Alliance Leader obtain the Iron-Blood Gang’s surrender?"

"How should I know? Damn it. It makes no sense."

"It is confirmed that no major battle took place within their territory. What could have happened?"

"If even you, the Hao Munju, do not know, how could I?"

"This is unbelievable. Not a single drop of blood spilled, and now the southeast is ours. All that remains is the northern Wanma Fort."

"From the looks of it, Wanma Fort will fall to the Sado Alliance soon enough as well. I knew it—our Alliance Leader really is that ageless hidden master from the rumors."

Whatever the means, the leaders celebrated what their Lord had achieved.

Not just the leaders—all members of the Sado Alliance praised her.

"Long live the Lord of the Sado Alliance!"

"Long live the Shadowless Demon God!"

The dense, dark energy and suffocating killing intent evoked the image of a demon, and they said she left no shadow behind.

"Long live the Lord of the Sado Alliance!"

"Long live the Shadowless Demon God!"

Her movements were unknowable, like a god.

Thus was born her epithet—

Shadowless Demon God.

The title of Seolhwa, the Lord of the Sado Alliance.

****

Knock knock.

A cautious knocking came at the door.

Seolhwa, locked in debate with the imugi over how many sugar candies a day was reasonable, called for the person to enter.

[Leave the one in your hand! Three a day is far too cruel!]

The door opened, and Hao Munju stepped inside in simple, modest clothing.

She had intended to bow in greeting to the Lord of the Sado Alliance—but she stopped when she saw the person before her.

“?”

The one waiting for her was not the Sado Alliance Lord as she had known her.

It was a young woman.

Hair long and shimmering with hints of blue, tied high.

Eyes slightly upturned, nose sharp, lips delicately pressed.

An expression both cool and confident, radiating clarity and wit—and with a faint smile that was beautiful and disarming.

Perhaps twenty years of age?

She did not appear particularly old, and yet the woman exuded an undeniable sense of command.

“May I ask who you are, young lady?”

At Hao Munju’s cautious question, the woman’s lips curved into a deeper arc.

Seolhwa pressed a point at her throat and spoke in the voice of the Sado Alliance Lord.

"Come in. I am the one who summoned you, Munju."

Hao Munju’s eyes rose—then widened to their absolute limit. Her mouth fell open.

She stared at Seolhwa for a long moment before asking in a trembling voice,

"A-Alliance Leader... is that you...?"

It could not be.