“Grieving, are we.”

The Blood Demon’s expression was stained with deep sorrow.

“Mo-wol was one I cherished. She shouldered many of our cult’s affairs alone, and to have her depart so abruptly—my heart aches.”

For all the Blood Demon’s heartfelt lament, the faces of those gathered only remained set.

He looked as if he might shed tears any moment, then, in an instant, his expression hardened as though none of it had been.

“Third Blood Lord.”

“Yes.”

“Bring me the Shadowless Demon God’s head.”

Only then did the Blood Lords look to the Blood Demon.

Until now, he had shown quite a friendly posture toward the Shadowless Demon God.

That Mo-wol had, even briefly, tried to seat the Shadowless Demon God as the Sixth Blood Lord had been possible because of the Blood Demon’s interest in her.

Yet now, the Blood Demon had changed his stance.

“...Is that a command to wage war against the Sado Union?”

“Flesh Curtain and the Sado Union... Ho. How amusing. Very amusing.”

As if intrigued, the Blood Demon rubbed his chin, the corner of his mouth quirking.

In those flashing crimson pupils, the master of the Flesh Curtain—the Third Blood Lord—furrowed his brow, uneasy.

“You can win, can’t you?”

“...”

Is he serious?

Suddenly, bring back the Shadowless Demon God’s head?

What sort of force was the Sado Union?

Not merely the Black Path factions; they had even absorbed Surochae and the Green Forest—a massive power.

To the orthodox world’s Martial Alliance, there were whispers that the Sado Union was the counterpart in the unorthodox world.

‘When we crossed paths in Shanxi last time, there was a chance—but...’

Now, even counting only those publicly known, there were at least two experts of the realm of Flowering within the Sado Union.

Refuse.

If the Flesh Curtain collides head-on with the Sado Union like this, it will become unmanageable.

“Would it not be better to assign that task to the Fourth Blood Lord?”

Was it not the Fourth Blood Lord who botched the matter?

Had the Fourth Blood Lord killed the Shadowless Demon God then and there, Mo-wol would be alive as well.

“The Fourth Blood Lord lost scores of subordinates over that affair and is exhausted in body and mind—he’s recovering, is he not.”

With a gaze curved low in sorrow, the Blood Demon looked to the Fourth Blood Lord.

From the side, where he had been quietly watching matters unfold, the Fourth Blood Lord nodded with composure.

“Your words are most just.”

At that brazen attitude, the Third Blood Lord’s face crumpled in an instant.

“Even so, there is no need for the Flesh Curtain to step forth...”

“I asked if you can win.”

“...!”

Thick Blood Qi began to seep and coil around the Blood Demon.

Accept it—or there is only death.

“...”

The Third Blood Lord clenched his fist.

By the situation alone, this was the Blood Demon, sunk in grief over Mo-wol’s death, issuing an order to bring the Shadowless Demon God’s head.

But the holders of the Moon Medallions, by nature, died and killed and changed hands at all times.

No matter how adept at stratagems Mo-wol had been, there was no way the Blood Demon—who had neither blood nor tears over anyone’s death—would truly grieve.

In the end, all of this was the Blood Demon’s sport.

Yet the Third Blood Lord could not go against the Blood Demon’s will.

“...Of course.”

Above the gaze he let drop a fraction, the Blood Demon’s snickering laugh drifted.

The First Blood Lord, whose interest had briefly stirred, quietly turned his head away; the Second Blood Lord, too, let out a thin laugh and turned aside as though it were none of his concern.

The Fifth Blood Lord, sitting with no strength and merely keeping his seat, averted his eyes with a complicated expression.

“The time is about upon us.”

The Blood Demon’s voice grew a shade more buoyant.

“When the time comes, even a slumbering dragon must wake and roam the world. The time has come to deliver the common folk, writhing in the torments of life.”

****

The day the Dragon & Phoenix Gathering would be held was set for a fortnight hence.

It was somewhat sudden, but since the date had been fixed at a convocation of fifteen forces, there was no great issue.

‘A fortnight from now.’

Yu Gang heard the news in the training grounds where he was leading the Mounted Pursuit Corps’ practice.

It had been seven days since he had been unable to meet Seolhwa after the Mount Wudang affair.

‘Was Seolhwa’s reflection a fortnight?’

The Dragon & Phoenix Gathering would be held a fortnight from now—seven days after her reflection ended.

As the granddaughter of the Martial Alliance Lord, Namgoong Mucheon, and for the skill she had shown at the tournament, interest in Seolhwa among the latter-blooming youths burned hot.

Added to that, when Seolhwa’s exploits in finding the dungeon sites on Mount {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Wudang became known, praise for her swelled throughout the Martial Alliance.

She had received reflection for excessive conduct, and there were no small number of voices criticizing her—but even those critical voices were, in truth, attention directed at her.

“...”

Yu Gang clenched his fist.

Everyone was interested—but not everyone could meet.

Finding himself included in that ordinary state of affairs made his heart, somehow, uncomfortable.

He wanted to be a bit more special.

A relationship in which, even when others could not see and could not know, he could still know...

The strength slipped, shhrrk, from his clenched hand.

His gaze lifted to the sky, which of late had grown lofty beyond measure.

Don’t be impatient.

He had promised not to be.

‘A fortnight...’

Even so, in a fortnight, he would see her.

****

“Here. A letter from the Hao Sect Lord.”

Seolhwa, in simple dress enjoying tea and sweets, looked up at the sudden arrival of Namgoong Cheongun.

Cheongun set the Hao Sect Lord’s letter before Seolhwa and, naturally, took the seat opposite.

On the first day of her reflection, Seolhwa had revealed to Cheongun that she was the Sado Union Lord.

Since she had told Namgoong Mucheon, she had meant to tell Cheongun as well at the right time.

Cheongun had shown signs of being startled at first, but soon grasped Seolhwa’s intention and readily said he would aid her.

Because of that, the letters from the Hao Sect Lord that Ryeong had occasionally delivered now came by Cheongun, who could freely come and go from Seolhwa’s room.

“I hear the Dragon & Phoenix Gathering opens a fortnight from now.”

Seolhwa poured tea with a soft rush and handed it to Cheongun.

“Does it.”

Cheongun set another cup in front of Seolhwa.

“By then your reflection will be over; you can take part as well.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Your grandfather must have had you in mind.”

No doubt.

To have imposed only a fortnight’s reflection was surely arranged with this in view.

Grandfather left no gaps.

“Are the Nine Sects and the Five Great Clans all attending?”

“Yes. In addition, those who reached the main rounds of the tournament have been allowed to participate.”

Most of the unaffiliated warriors who reached the tournament’s main bracket had entered the Mounted Pursuit Corps under Yu Gang.

There was no special reason.

When granted the qualification to serve as fighters of the Martial Alliance, they wished to serve under Yu Gang, whose skill they had seen with their own eyes.

It seemed they found it special that, compared to the other four combat corps, it had fewer sect and clan warriors and was the Chief Strategist’s direct unit.

“I think it’s good. The Martial Alliance is not only for sects and clans.”

The forces that made up the Martial Alliance clearly existed, but the Alliance had to be able to embrace the whole martial world.

So that even small provincial sects could easily approach, and ask for aid.

So it would not become a force for ‘them’ alone.

‘I really am glad Grandfather became Alliance Lord.’

Seolhwa’s lips curved in a bashful smile.

“Once the Dragon & Phoenix Gathering ends, we intend to raise you as Little Clan Lord, formally.”

At Cheongun’s words as he set down his cup, Seolhwa’s smile faded.

“...Pardon?”

“The elders of the clan say the same, and expectations for you outside the clan are great. Though you are under reflection, now seems the opportune time.”

His voice held a faint flush.

The daughter they had lost had returned, and had grown splendidly, to ascend to the seat of Little Clan Lord—the fact seemed to overfill him.

However—

“I have no intention of becoming clan lord.”

The expectancy on Cheongun’s face cooled quickly.

Where he had thought she would be glad, Seolhwa looked instead rather at a loss.

“Of course... I have no intention of sitting as Little Clan Lord, either...”

“...”

“Woong suits that seat better than I do. He thinks of the clan more than anyone.”

Her voice, continuing while she averted her gaze, came with difficulty—but with sincerity.

Cheongun looked at Seolhwa for a moment, then asked in a calm voice,

“What is the reason? Is it because you are a woman?”

In general, a clan lord’s seat was taken by a man.

Because, upon marriage, children usually took the father’s surname.

“That’s of no consequence. It’s not as if there has never been a lady clan lord; and as for your children, why should they not take the Namgoong surname.”

“...It’s not because of that.”

“If not that, is it because of the Sado Union?”

“That is part of it, I suppose. But not the whole reason.”

Seolhwa clasped her hands tight.

How could the one who had annihilated the clan be the one to lead it?

Even if, in this life, much had changed because of her, that at least was something Seolhwa could not permit herself.

Even if no one knew she had destroyed the clan, she remembered it vividly still.

The Namgoong main house in flames, the countless Namgoong who died by her hand. And—

‘Father.’

“...Please set Woong as Little Clan Lord. I truly do not want it.”

“...”

Cheongun gazed at Seolhwa in silence.

That she would refuse to ascend as Little Clan Lord—how was she so like him, even to this.

Had his father, seeing this side of him, felt his chest tear with such pain, too?

‘However, Seolhwa’s reason for refusing the Little Clan Lord’s seat is not the same as mine.’

There was her position as Sado Union Lord; she was a child who thought deeply—there would be circumstances he did not know.

Of course it was regrettable that the plan to seat her had fallen apart, but it had been a matter they should have asked the child about from the start.

Cheongun pressed a throbbing brow and rose.

“For now, I understand your wishes. We’ll speak more in due time.”

“...Yes.”

Leaving Seolhwa behind, Cheongun departed the room.

Following his departing presence as he left the pavilion, Seolhwa looked to the blue sky beyond the open window.

A sky without a single cloud had lifted far, far out of reach.

So time flowed swiftly by, and the day of the Dragon & Phoenix Gathering approached.