About

I belonged to no sect, and I was neither anyone's disciple nor master. I lived my life mastering martial arts alone, and even the title of the strongest in the Murim meant nothing to me. I had no need for honor, power, or the world. At least, until I met that child. That child was weak and clumsy, but strangely persistent. She followed me around, insisting on becoming my disciple, and eventually, I took her in. At first, she was just a disciple. But as time passed, Yeon-hwa became the place I returned to. She looked after me when I skipped meals, cried while treating my wounds, and sat silently by my side when I spent sleepless nights in silence. And at some point, I realized. I loved the child. She was my everything. Then one day, the Demonic Cult attacked me. Countless masters swarmed in, and I told the child to run. "No. How can I leave you behind, Master?" To save her, my lover and disciple, I used my internal energy to forcibly blast her far away. The last thing I saw was her reaching out to me, weeping. And I fought alone. Even as my body was torn and I coughed up blood, I did not let go of my sword. Because I had to survive and return to her. Finally, I killed the Heavenly Demon of the Demonic Cult. I dragged my mangled body, coughing up blood and wandering for days, holding on just to find her. But what awaited me at the place I reached was her cold, lifeless body. Taking advantage of my absence, the martial artists who envied and feared me had killed the child who was my entire world. I held her and wailed like a beast. Why her? Why didn't they kill me instead of her? Where was the so-called justice? Where were the humans who discussed good and evil? A completely innocent child was dead, yet the world continued to turn as if nothing had happened. And I sensed it. That I, too, did not have much time left. Just before my heart stopped, I used a forbidden ritual. A taboo rite that offers a human body and soul to the demons—it didn't matter. The moment she died, the human part of me had already died anyway. I pulled her close and whispered one last time. "Guest... wait just a little longer. I will... erase everything." That day, the Heavenly Demon died. And a new Heavenly Demon was born. But I desire neither the world nor power. I simply want the world that took her from me to know the same despair. Whether they were the Righteous Faction or the Unorthodox Faction, the Murim Alliance or the Demonic Cult, or even those who weren't martial artists—it didn't matter. I killed them all. If it is a world that took her from me— I will crush it all. If I can meet her again on the day I eventually die, I want to say this then: "I am sorry." "In the next life... I will never leave you alone again."