“Union Lord. The Black Cloud Hall Chief has arrived.”

Seolhwa, who had coolly taken over the Falling Moon Stockade Lord’s quarters, rose at the summons.

Ever since entering the stockade, the snake’s hissing had forbidden her from removing the mask except when washing, so she already wore it.

The snake slid up to perch on her shoulder as if by habit.

With the snake, Seolhwa headed to the main hall where the Black Cloud Hall Chief was waiting.

“The Union Lord enters!”

Those seated around the main hall, waiting for the Sado Union Lord, rose in unison.

Ilryong, Imoe, and Sambong also stood with tense faces.

Presently, the door opened and the Sado Union Lord entered the council room.

In that instant, all three drew a sharp breath.

From the Union Lord’s bearing as she entered flowed the very awe-inspiring presence they knew as the Shadowless Demon God.

And that black snake—

The snake on the Union Lord’s shoulder was unmistakably hers.

“U-Union Lord...!”

“Union Lord....”

“...”

The three found their throats tightening on their own.

She, said to have been seized by the Blood Cult, stood before them unharmed, and the hot surge that welled up broke the tension they had been holding in their hearts.

But they could not let their composure crumble in front of members of the Falling Moon Stockade.

These three were no longer who they used to be.

“We pay respects to the Union Lord...!”

“We pay respects to the Union Lord!”

“...!”

Ilryong dropped to one knee before Seolhwa and bowed his head.

When Imoe and Sambong followed their elder brother to their knees, the stockade men, startled, also sank to their knees in turn.

Silence held for a moment—

“So you are the ones who were at my side.”

The Sado Union Lord spoke.

“...?”

Already overcome at meeting the Union Lord, the three sensed something off.

A flat tone with no trace of warmth. A question whose meaning they could not read.

Yet even before, the Sado Union Lord—the Namgoong young lady—had been a woman whose depths no one could see, so they answered her calmly.

“Yes. We are the Black Cloud Hall, who attend at the Union Lord’s side and obey only the Union Lord’s commands. We have been awaiting your return.”

“...”

From behind the mask, Seolhwa looked down at the three kneeling before her.

It seemed true that these were those who had served close to the Sado Union Lord.

And—

‘So the Sado Union Lord vanished.’

She was someone who had appeared having lost her memories.

‘There is something here, after all.’

In truth, Seolhwa had hoped she was not the Sado Union Lord.

She had come here for one reason.

To sweep out the bandits and save the village.

And yet, to learn she herself was a bandit—

The king of bandits before whom all bandits bowed their heads.

If that wasn’t the thief crying “Stop, thief,” what was?

“...Follow me.”

Without taking a seat, Seolhwa turned on her heel at once.

It looked like she would need a close conversation with these three.

Step. Step.

The three followed Seolhwa toward the Falling Moon Stockade Lord’s quarters.

A peculiar silence stretched the whole way to the room without a word exchanged.

The three kept stealing glances at Seolhwa without realizing it.

Because of her earlier response, they could not be certain she was the woman they knew.

“Let no one enter.”

After sending everyone out, Seolhwa barred the door firmly.

At the same time, something black and thick wrapped around the room.

The snake’s power had encircled the chamber.

Eyeing that barrier of power, Seolhwa sat down.

The three were already seated around the table.

Haa.

A long sigh slipped from her lips.

“Now tell me everything you know.”

“?”

“...?”

The three traded baffled looks.

Ilryong, as if deciding himself, spoke with a tense face.

“Before that... might you remove the mask—just once?”

“The mask?”

Seolhwa glanced at the snake.

The snake nodded.

‘Why am I taking orders from a snake....’

An instant of distaste flickered through her, but Seolhwa obediently removed the mask.

And at once—

“Ah...!”

“...!”

“Union Lord....”

The unease vanished from the three faces, and an indescribable emotion surged again.

At their reaction, Seolhwa felt both regret and relief.

“You truly know me.”

“What happened to you? How did you get out of the Blood Cult?”

“Why are you here? Why have you not returned?”

“The Blood Cult?”

Seolhwa’s and the three men’s gazes crossed for a time.

They felt again the strangeness they had first sensed—

A confounding sensation.

“First, I should say this.”

Seolhwa lifted a hand and stilled their questions.

“I’ve lost my memories. I don’t know who I am, or how I lost them.”

“...Pardon?”

“!”

“Gasp...!”

“My coming here was by chance, and I sent for you because you said you knew me. Because I need to know... who I am.”

Ilryong, Imoe, and Sambong swallowed dryly.

The source of that subtle sense that things were misaligned was more serious than they had thought.

“D-do you truly remember nothing?”

Sambong pressed.

Seolhwa dipped her head in a low nod.

“Then—where did you get that mask?”

At Ilryong’s question, Seolhwa looked to the snake.

“This snake brought it. It hovered around me while I lived without my memories.”

“Then—you don’t remember what the Sado Union is, either?”

Seolhwa nodded.

“So you will have to help me.”

Again, the three worked their throats in a hard gulp.

‘This is dire.’

What was the Sado Union’s situation now?

The Sado Union was in the thick of war with the Flesh Curtain.

The standoff that had begun when Seolhwa was abducted by the Blood Cult had seemed to pause with the Martial Alliance’s warning, but in the end, war broke out.

The Flesh Curtain sent killers to slaughter Sado Union warriors indiscriminately, and the Sado Union struck back by locating and raiding the Flesh Curtain’s bases.

That war, once begun, had already stretched a month and a half and then some.

‘We thought everything would be solved now that the Union Lord has returned.’

What in the world was this?

To have lost... her memories.

Once more the three traded uneasy looks.

Telling her everything they knew was one thing—but her condition would be a great shock to the Martial Alliance as well.

‘This is not something we can patch over ourselves.’

Ilryong spoke, as if having steeled himself.

“First, it would be best to return to the Sado Union.”

“The Sado Union?”

“There will be those there who can aid you, Union Lord.”

****

Tat— Tadak—!

“We pay respects to the Sect Lord!”

Having received word and arrived at the base, the Hao Sect Lord and Jegal Myeong hurried to the Union Lord’s office.

Wherever she passed, the Sado Union’s warriors they met lowered their heads to her—while also casting curious looks at the masked person following her.

Ordinarily, Jegal Myeong, publicly the Martial Alliance’s Strategist, would not come to the Sado Union, but this time was different; he accompanied the Hao Sect Lord wearing a mask.

Tadak—

The two, panting, reached the office.

They exchanged a look tight with nerves for a beat.

The Hao Sect Lord knocked.

“Guardian Patrols Chief, it is the Hao Sect Lord.”

Presently, the door opened from within.

Ryeong stood there. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

“Please come in, Sect Lord.”

She tipped her chin as well toward Jegal Myeong.

The door closed, and Jegal Myeong removed his mask as he followed the Hao Sect Lord inside.

Within were the Black Cloud Hall trio and Ryeong, and before the Sado Union Lord’s desk—truly—she sat.

“...We... pay respects to the Union Lord....”

The Hao Sect Lord offered her greeting with hands trembling finely.

Then, around the room, Ryeong cast a Qi Screen.

As if they had been waiting for it, the two stepped up to Seolhwa.

“Union Lord...!”

“My lord...!”

“How—how has this come to pass. How... could this...”

At a loss, the Hao Sect Lord seized Seolhwa’s hands.

Her hands were still shaking.

“My lord, we have heard. That you have lost your memories.”

Jegal Myeong studied Seolhwa’s complexion as he asked.

Seolhwa nodded.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember either of you.”

“Ah....”

Jegal Myeong drew a deep breath in and let it out slowly.

He had steeled himself when he first heard, but facing his lord, unfamiliar to him, made it hard to remain composed.

With someone who remembered nothing, he didn’t even know what to ask first.

Still holding Seolhwa’s hands, the Hao Sect Lord asked Ryeong,

“How many know the Union Lord is here?”

“Everyone present in this place. Because the Black Cloud Hall Chief brought her without revealing her identity, no others know.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Times were chaotic within and without the Sado Union.

There was no good in news spreading that the Sado Union Lord had lost her memories.

“Inform the Alliance Lord.”

Jegal Myeong spoke.

“It is dangerous for my lord to remain in the Sado Union. The Sado Union is in open conflict with the Flesh Curtain. I judge it safer for you to be under the protection of the Martial Alliance and the Namgoong Clan than here.”

“I agree.”

“Namgoong?”

The Hao Sect Lord and Jegal Myeong turned to Seolhwa.

Seolhwa knit ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ her brows.

“Namgoong... you said...?”

At that moment, a piercing tinnitus split her ear and hammered her skull.

With a clatter, Seolhwa lurched to her feet.

“Union Lord!”

“My lord!”

“Ha....”

Seolhwa pressed hard at her temples.

The violent pain felt like it would shatter her head.

Everyone around her cried something—

But the words were swallowed in a droning hum, and she could not hear a thing.

Presently, a far-off darkness swept over Seolhwa.