She was the youngest of the siblings embroiled in vicious power struggles within Glory.

Kang Arin’s life had never been easy—not even from the start.

At just five years old, while other children were learning how to read and play with friends, the first thing she learned was political scheming and martial strength.

Because she was the second daughter of the Chairman’s legal wife—a daughter with true legitimacy.

The pressure from surrounding factions was relentless, and the burdens placed upon her were far too heavy for a child to bear.

Yet even in that cruel world, there was one person who always protected her.

Her older brother, Kang Yuseong.

He had always been her shield.

One of the few people she could trust and rely on.

And then one day—

“Wow!”

At a very young age, Kang Arin awakened Martial Energy Manipulation.

Black energy flowed smoothly from her fingertips—an achievement inconceivable for a six-year-old.

Her tutor, Anna, was overjoyed at the accomplishment—but also terrified.

Her talent... was overwhelming.

To show this kind of ability at such a young age was both a blessing and a curse.

It was more than enough to draw the jealousy of her siblings—and far too dangerous for someone like Kang Arin, who hadn’t yet secured her own power base.

“Young Lady... how about we keep this a secret between us?”

That was the only thing Anna could do for her as a tutor.

“Hm? Why?”

Kang Arin tilted her head in confusion.

“Well... think of it like a surprise party. Wouldn’t it be fun to show it to the Chairman later, once you’ve improved a little more? He’ll be shocked!”

“Oh, I see~”

Sweet and innocent, Kang Arin nodded without the slightest doubt.

But she added,

“Then... what if I tell just my brother? I’ll keep it hush-hush from everyone else~”

She raised her finger to her lips, going “shhh” with a playful smile.

If it’s Kang Yuseong, it should be fine.

Her own brother.

He was kind, and above all, it was clear how much he loved his younger sister.

“Alright.”

Anna nodded carefully.

Kang Arin lit up instantly and ran off, her joy bubbling over.

Pitiful.

That was what Anna thought, watching her go.

Even if such feelings were inappropriate for a hired tutor, she couldn’t help it.

Kang Arin ran to the person she always trusted most.

“Brother!”

As soon as she saw Kang Yuseong, she reached out her hand with all her strength.

A swirl of black energy flickered at her fingertips.

She was sure he’d be happy.

“Isn’t it cool?”

Just like always.

She expected him to ruffle her hair and praise her—Amazing.

But he didn’t say anything.

Kang Arin slowly looked up. She saw his face.

His expression was frozen. The gentle eyes she had always known were strangely sharp.

But not long after, he smiled again, his usual expression returning.

“Well done~”

He ruffled her hair just like always, with a warm smile.

She didn’t know it at the time—but looking back, that was probably when it began.

And time passed—

“You expect me to believe that?”

Kang Arin’s eyes trembled.

“Believe it.”

It was around graduation season, and up until now, she had always believed in Jeong Haein.

Whatever he said—somehow, it always turned out to be true.

So... she tried to believe him again, no matter what.

But her brother—was a demon cultist’s spy?

That, Kang Arin simply couldn’t accept.

She pretended to take it in, but she hesitated.

Still—his words, once again, turned out to be right.

Kang Yuseong had incinerated an entire city in an instant, becoming a sacrificial component for the Evil God’s resurrection.

The screams of fleeing civilians. Cries for help. Charred buildings and scorched roads.

It could all be considered Kang Arin’s doing.

And then, through the flames, her brother walked toward her.

“Ah...”

Kang Arin realized it—far too late.

Finally, she opened her eyes once more.

A transcendent space beyond time.

She recognized it at once.

“So we meet at last.”

A massive shadow moved slowly.

The Apostle standing before her.

The stone giant—Balak.

He had colluded with Kang Yuseong until the end.

He was the one ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) who had whispered ruin from the shadows.

Kang Arin’s gaze sank coldly.

“When you killed your brother so suddenly... I was honestly stunned.”

Balak muttered darkly.

“I’d been saving him as a card, you know.”

His lips twisted into a sneer.

He bowed his heavy stone head slightly.

Arrogant laughter. A composed and leisurely demeanor.

He looked at her like she was an insect beneath his feet.

But Kang Arin didn’t say a word.

“Hmph...”

She closed her eyes and took in a slow breath.

After what happened with Kang Yuseong, she had learned something.

Jeong Haein’s words are always right.

An undeniable truth.

Too late—but irrefutable.

Balak spoke again, like he’d been waiting for it.

“I’m the one behind it all.”

His voice echoed like a cavern.

“I’m the one who led your brother to betrayal. The one who amplified the pathetic fear he felt after witnessing his little sister’s talent.”

He deliberately paused after each phrase.

He seemed to savor the moment—waiting for a reaction.

“All of it... was me.”

But Kang Arin simply raised her hand.

—SHHK!

A slash of black aura carved through the air and grazed his cheek.

It wasn’t a strike imbued with her full power.

It was just a simple motion.

As if gently brushing a windowpane with her hand.

And yet his rocky skin split open like nothing.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Dark red blood dripped down, along with fragments of shattered stone.

“....”

Balak realized something was wrong.

His body had been forged of demonic alloy bestowed by the Great One.

An immortal body—made of mithril.

It shouldn’t break.

It couldn’t break.

And yet now, it was crumbling like common rock.

She spoke softly.

Her voice was endlessly gentle and drowsy.

“I miss him.”

But she hadn’t truly heard a single word Balak had said.

Was she angry at his provocation?

Not at all.

‘Anger’ was a negative emotion born when one’s desires were denied or forcibly manipulated.

But Kang Yuseong’s transformation into a demon no longer brought her any feelings.

Because Kang Arin’s desire had long since been reduced to a single thing.

Perfect composure.

A graceful bloodlust directed at only one goal.

Kang Arin raised her hand again.

Black aura rippled down her fingertips.

—Whshh.

From somewhere, a black fox appeared and moved slowly toward her.

It slithered up from the ground at her feet, curling around her leg in a smooth motion.

Her irises gradually turned red.

The light within flickered faintly, then deepened.

She slowly ran her tongue across her lips.

Balak’s massive frame trembled slightly.

It was a feeling he had never experienced in his life.

His primal instincts screamed at him—

That the human before him...

Was someone who could kill him.

Kang Arin raised her hand once more.

Somewhere, the sound of a fox’s laughter echoed in the air.

Black energy completely consumed the space.

***

Have you ever resented your own talent—so deeply, so endlessly—that it made you want to disappear?

“Ugh... sniff...”

Ha Sion was once again crying quietly in the corner of the training grounds.

Sung Siwoo had gone missing.

And once again, an unbearable weight had been placed on her shoulders.

Kang Arin, Cheon Yeoul, Yu Hana, and now... even Sung Siwoo.

All of them had accepted fragments of divine power—shards—to gain the strength needed to oppose the demons.

They were essential.

Their power was indispensable.

But with Sung Siwoo gone, that burden had only grown heavier.

Dear god...

Why?

Why wasn’t I even given the chance to receive a shard?

Collapsed forward, she clutched at the ground.

Blood seeped from beneath her fingernails.

Lamentation. Grief. Resentment.

Swallowing all of it down, the only thing she could do—

—Creak.

Was to pick up her bow again.

Practice.

Keep striking sparks, over and over, for a fire that might one day ignite.

And when she opened her eyes again—

Everything was silent.

No sound. No light. No presence.

An eerily quiet space, unsettling in its stillness.

Ha Sion knew instantly.

There was only one Apostle who relished this kind of eerie atmosphere.

Blarg.

The moment she turned her head, a pale white figure slowly began to take shape in the darkness.

A being without eyes, nose, or mouth.

And yet—it was clearly speaking.

“Pleased to meet you, lovely young lady.”

The voice buzzed like a static-ridden speaker. An ominous echo lingered behind each word.

“Let me formally introduce myself.”

The thing tilted its head slowly, as if offering a courteous bow.

“As for who I am...”

Its form grew clearer within the void.

“Apostle. Eighth Seat. Blarg.”

Its hollow voice rang out, deep and resonant.

“Welcome to my domain.”

Though faceless, it gave the distinct sense that it was smiling.

“I, too, have so many questions. But... the Great One has bestowed such a magnificent space upon us. It wouldn’t be right to waste time with idle chatter, would it?”

And with that—

—BOOM!

The unseen space quaked violently.

Sion felt nothing in particular.

She simply scanned her surroundings.

White mist shrouded the area in every direction.

Blarg slowly raised its hand.

And then—

—Sshhhhhrip.

Its forehead split open.

From within emerged an eye.

The third eye.

The entire space rippled like water disturbed by a stone.

“Miss Sion.”

The third eye opened slowly.

“Who... are you?”

As Blarg’s third eye rose and focused, the blurred space suddenly sharpened.

As if revealing the true nature of the world itself.

Everyone exposed to this eye had met the same end.

Their hidden weaknesses laid bare.

Their paths inevitably drawn toward defeat.

But the moment that eye began analyzing Ha Sion—

“......”

Blarg’s fingertips trembled slightly.

It couldn’t comprehend.

No—it shouldn’t have been possible.

Her age: barely twenty.

There shouldn’t have been any such record in someone so young.

The number of demons she had killed—

Thousands?

No.

Tens of thousands?

Still no.

Even more than that.

And then—

From her fingertips, black fire bloomed.

Flames as dark as the abyss—yet somehow radiant, like holy fire.

It almost seemed sacred.

The Flame of Demon-Breaking.

Ha Sion had never received a shard.

She had never been chosen for that divine power.

So she hunted demons alone.

Because to reach those who had been chosen—she had to do everything.

Whether she died during the hunt or was killed by an Apostle—it didn’t matter. She had no alternatives.

In the beginning, it was reckless hunting.

But over time, she learned.

She found the most efficient ways to kill them.

What once seemed incomprehensible slowly became familiar.

The way demons moved. The sensation of her fingers piercing their flesh. The flow of the black smoke rising from their corpses.

She read them. Studied them. Learned to understand them—one by one.

And after endless, relentless hunting—

Finally, at the edge of death—

She understood the very nature of demons. Their essence.

She was chosen by no god.

She relied on no one’s power.

And yet—

Blarg instinctively realized.

She was the worst possible predator a demon could face. Their natural enemy.

Ha Sion.

An Apostle stood before her.

Life and death hung in the balance.

Could she win?

She asked herself—but the question was meaningless.

Had she ever made a decision based on odds?

No.

She simply did.

—Fsssh.

Without a word, Ha Sion raised her bow.

—Tktktktktk...

The string drew taut to its limit.

No more give. Nothing left to pull.

The Apostle before her was still a demon in the end.

Big or small. Strong or weak.

No different from the hundreds of thousands she had slain already.

Kill.

—Woooooooooom.

The swirling flames coursed along the bow’s frame, and at the tip of the nocked arrow, a quiet stillness formed—so calm it silenced everything around it.

There was no need to think.

No need to aim.

Just shoot.

—Whap!

The bowstring snapped, and the arrow exploded forth like a thunderclap.