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Chapter: 108

My first encounter with Jincheon as an enemy was one winter. It remains vivid in my memory, as if it happened yesterday.

The battlefield was a vast expanse of snow, an endless white canvas untouched by human hands. The towering mountains seemed to slumber in silence, weighed down by the heavy snow.

Beneath the pristine blanket of snow, the earth lay frozen solid. The wind that swept across it carried the heat of battle intertwined with a biting chill.

Each breath I drew in that harsh cold felt sharp, piercing my lungs. Every exhale formed a white cloud of condensation that quickly dissipated. My face and hands, numb with cold, gradually lost all sensation.

Dark, heavy gray clouds hung low in the overcast sky. An air of tension gripped the battlefield beneath it, the threat of another snowfall obscuring our path hanging heavy in the air.

Against this bleak backdrop, a lone warrior approached on horseback. It was Jincheon.

"The Lord of Blood Cloud Fortress should open the gates, come forth, and pledge loyalty to His Majesty the Emperor. Do this, and the safety of your people and your bloodline shall be guaranteed."

He was barely out of his teens, far too young to be called a man, let alone a warrior. Yet here he was, spouting such arrogant pronouncements. I could only imagine how this must have appeared to our lord.

Indeed, our lord laughed.

"If you value your life, young man, then cast aside your weapons and turn back. I have witnessed countless youths like you, unable to distinguish between recklessness and courage, lose their lives. While I understand your ambition to achieve great deeds and elevate your lord\'s reputation, a vast array of opportunities awaits you in the future. Do not throw away all that potential with today\'s foolish choice. Would it not be wiser to cherish your precious life and seek a different path?"

But back then, we didn\'t know. We didn\'t know that he was Jincheon, through and through.

"I merely wish to avoid unnecessary bloodshed."

Hearing those words, I stepped forward. I was foolish then, driven by youthful impulsiveness. Had I known the kind of man he truly was...

Perhaps I would have stepped forward regardless.

"Is it a virtue for a warrior to refuse to fight? But if that is truly your desire, then face me in single combat. Let the victor decide the fate of this battle."

Looking back, it was undoubtedly a reckless proposition.

"Very well."

And so, I crossed swords with Jincheon for the first time.

His blade sliced through the air with a deafening roar, a fiery, ferocious momentum burning in its wake. Facing him, I believed that I, fighting under the name of Blood Cloud Fortress, was in no way inferior.

I was mistaken, caught in the illusion of my own strength.

He was overwhelming. Could I ever hope to match him with mere effort? Who would dare say such a thing?

It was as if he was born for this moment, born to spill the blood and tear the flesh of others.

His war prowess was absolute.

Jincheon brutally hammered home a lesson I had never known in my life: the bitter taste of defeat.

Lying on the ground after my crushing loss, gazing at the ash-gray sky, I thought I would never forget this moment until the day I died.

But the truth was, the shock was so profound that I couldn\'t even forget it in death.

That\'s why I remember it perfectly.

Thud-!

Left foot.

Clang-!

Shoulder back.

Clank-!

...Left foot again.

Crash-!

His sword slammed down, its path blocked by mine. My sword, its path obstructed, rattled violently. A sword denied its target is a sword that betrays its master.

"Gah..."

My sword slashed diagonally across his torso. A red line appeared, and blood welled up around it.

But even then, his focus remained unbroken. He swung his sword, driven by an unwavering determination to kill me.

The intensity of his hatred was palpable, sending shivers down my spine. Where did he draw such animosity from? It was a mystery to me.

Such determination, whether I like it or not, has a way of captivating its opponent.

His sword faltered, grazing my thigh.

But he was already fatally wounded. The cut wasn\'t deep.

I took a long breath, my chest heaving.

"I asked you where you are from."

I placed my foot on the fallen Guui Byeon\'s chest and pressed my sword against his throat. He wriggled like a worm, unable to escape, and I put more weight on my foot.

"Answer me."

"Kuh..."

The blade of my sword touched his throat, then pulled away, repeatedly. He must have felt the chilling touch of metal against his skin.

Yet, he didn\'t flinch. He had to be this resilient to be an assassin sent to kill a prince.

"Such a waste."

I admit it. It was a shame to kill someone with such skill. He didn\'t seem to fear death, which would have made him a valuable asset to his master.

He seemed like a useful pawn, but unfortunately, he would never follow me. I couldn\'t let him go.

"Are you not going to answer?"

"Hahahaha..."

He suddenly started to chuckle. Such behavior is usually a bad omen.

"You’re asking that even though you already know?" He asked with a twisted sneer.

I answered indifferently, "What do you mean, \'already know\'? How could I possibly know your origins? Are you asking that because you don\'t know who I am?"

"Hahahhaha..."

His laughter was suspicious. Had he gone mad? Already? Or was he always insane, pretending to be normal?

"No."

His laughter abruptly stopped.

"You already know who I am."

He said that and then shut his mouth.

"...Go on."

"One who doesn\'t know my origins cannot defeat me."

A seemingly complimentary tone followed.

"You exceed expectations, prince of a small nation. A good-for-nothing wastrel, a tragic prince who lost his mother... That\'s what I heard, but you\'re quite different. At least, you\'re not the trash that the rumors say you are."

"Should I take that as a compliment? Should I be grateful?"

I scoffed.

"The swordsmen I acknowledge are among the best of His Majesty\'s. You should feel honored,” Guui Byeon said with a twisted smile.

The moment I saw that expression, a scene from the depths of my memory surfaced.

"...Aha."

The year after my first encounter with Jincheon.

Although I had been defeated, the siege continued in a stalemate, and just as everyone was growing weary...

I found myself facing the general of the Huawei Kingdom, who commanded Jincheon, at the negotiation table.

At that meeting were the governor of Seopyung, the lords of several fortresses under his command, and the generals from the Huawei Kingdom. I was merely an observer.

And among them, the chief general, missing his right eye, said this:

"If you do not cede the western half of Seopyung before the autumn harvest, even the last mercy bestowed upon you by His Majesty will be revoked. Everything has its time. Just as flowers that bloom under a gentle sky wither with the coming of frost, the Mokryeo Kingdom surely had its time of blossoming, but that era is over. Now is the time of Huawei. Only the wise can read the times and understand this, discerning the path that lies ahead. Therefore, if you wish to defy the inevitable, do not blame the Emperor when his mercy turns to ice."

It was a declaration of war.

"I will give you three days to consider your answer."

Jincheon interjected, "General, didn\'t His Majesty grant them a fortnight?"

But Jincheon\'s voice held no authority. As the general had declared, the governor of Seopyung was given three days.

And... the day after the negotiation, the general who had given the three-day ultimatum was found dead in a ditch.

It was much later that I learned it was Jincheon who had taken that general\'s right eye.

But on the day the body was discovered in the ditch, I already had a hunch that Jincheon was the culprit.

Jincheon\'s teacher and superior.

The reason being, he used the same swordsmanship as Jincheon.

"Ha."

With Guui Byeon still under my foot, I raised a hand to brush back my sweat-drenched hair.

"You seem to find my situation amusing," he remarked.

I chuckled lowly and shook my head.

"No, not really. I know I could easily end up in the same position, so I can\'t laugh at you."

"Then why? What\'s so funny?"

Thud-

I plunged my sword into the ground beside his head and leaned my weight on the hilt. His Adam\'s apple bobbed as the sharp blade embedded itself an inch away from his face.

He didn\'t seem to fear death at all.

"If you acknowledge me, then there must be few swordsmen in Huawei who surpass me."

Huawei Kingdom. At those words, the corner of his eye twitched.

"So?"

Among those few swordsmen, the strongest was Jincheon. The rest were all weaker than him.

"It\'s nothing. Just an observation."

I felt a sense of emptiness, like discovering that a mountain peak, once perceived as impossibly high, was actually not that tall after all.

"Even though you said anyone could die, you were certain that I would be the one to fall, weren\'t you?"

He didn\'t answer, but his silence was as good as an affirmation.

"Aren\'t you curious why you lost?"

Guui Byeon remained silent for a moment before answering.

"What\'s the reason?"

"...There\'s someone I don\'t think I could ever defeat, even if I died trying."

Let\'s be honest. I harbored an inferiority complex. The despair of knowing I could never surpass Jincheon. The envy of his unattainable strength.

"That first defeat was a tremendous shock. So... I obsessed over it. Every night, whenever I was alone, thoughts of him consumed me, blocking out everything else. Tens, hundreds, thousands... I must have replayed it tens of thousands of times. But I couldn\'t find the answer."

After that defeat, I thought I had lost my way. I gritted my teeth, reliving the loss over and over again.

If only I had been a step ahead, if only I had endured one more strike... I clung to the past, blaming the unchangeable.

But it seemed I hadn\'t lost my way after all. My desperate struggle to catch up to him had paved my own path.

Laughter escaped me. Because I realized there was still a path to follow.

And once again, I was struck by Jincheon\'s unparalleled strength. And now, that very same Jincheon was within my grasp.

"But even if it\'s \'that swordsmanship,\' I can decipher it if it\'s at your level. Of course, even the same sword can be wielded differently."

The secret swordsmanship passed down through the shadow warriors of the Huawei imperial family.

It was absurd for an abandoned prince from another nation to know this secret. Guui Byeon\'s eyes widened in disbelief.

His eyes, filled with shock and horror, seemed about to pop out of their sockets.

If my opponent had been Jincheon, the one who chased me in that torrential downpour, it would have been me looking up at him with that expression, not the other way around.

"Y-You... What, what do you know? How far...?"

"You don\'t need to know. And don\'t feel wronged. You weren\'t going to live long anyway. Well, neither of us has lived a particularly long life."

I pulled my sword from the ground and raised it. The cold shadow of the blade fell upon Guui Byeon\'s horrified face.

"Farewell."

"W-Wait, wait...! Have mercy...!"

Thud-

Dark blood bloomed amidst the thick layer of dry leaves.