Step.

Seop Mugwang looked at those who had appeared before him.

The ones rushing toward him in a group, dressed in black, wore expressions tense with unease.

When Seop Mugwang confirmed the face of the man at the front, his brow furrowed faintly.

Familiar.

Where had he seen him before? It had not been long since he had seen this face.

Where was it...?

“Are you the Thunder and Wind God?”

The moment he heard the man’s voice, the memory surfaced clearly in his mind.

“...Leader of the Black Cloud Gang...?”

“So you do know me.”

Of course he did.

That was the very place where he had first seen the brat.

The gang that the brat had singlehandedly turned upside down, even stealing away the Great Pill of Rebirth—without question, that had been the Black Cloud Gang.

He had not forgotten their name, not after seeing what kind of idiots had been helplessly dragged around by a mere child.

But what were they doing here...?

“That makes this simple.”

The Black Cloud Gang Leader pulled something out from his robes and held it out in front of Seop Mugwang.

Seop Mugwang’s pupils trembled minutely as he saw it.

Held in the Black Cloud Gang Leader’s hand was a red knotted ornament.

Identical to the one he had tied to the brat’s sword as a gift.

“She told us you would recognize this if we showed it. The young lady gave it to us herself. She told us to assist the Thunder and Wind God.”

“...”

Seop Mugwang could not respond right away.

So what they were saying was—these members of the Black Cloud Gang had come here to help him.

On Seolhwa’s orders, no less.

“...Ha.”

A stunned sigh escaped him.

Unbelievable.

How had she known he would come here and sent people in advance?

The same went for the poison pill.

As though she had foreseen the situation.

Even for a brat as clever as her, this went beyond reason. It was uncanny.

Still, thanks to that...

“...I must have incredible luck when it comes to disciples...”

A small, helpless laugh slipped from his lips.

The moment he realized he was safe, the strength drained from his body as if it had all been a lie.

“Whoa—!”

Darkness swallowed his vision.

Seop Mugwang lost consciousness just like that.

****

Seolhwa had sent the Black Cloud Gang to the place where Seop Mugwang had died in her previous life.

She had visited the Black Cloud Gang herself, before entering the Mount Hua Sect, while out gathering ingredients for the poison pill.

If they had refused to cooperate, she had been prepared to threaten them—but surprisingly, the Black Cloud Gang had complied without resistance.

In fact, the gaze the Gang Leader had directed toward her had even carried a hint of reverence, which was a little strange.

‘Did they meet safely?’

More importantly—had he taken the poison pill?

She had prepared for it, but the result depended on Seop Mugwang’s own decision.

Still, what reassured Seolhwa most was the appearance of Huiwol.

“Tower Master... have you finally gone mad? How could you possibly be happy to see me?”

In her past life, Huiwol had boasted about killing Seop Mugwang as if it were a badge of honor.

She had relentlessly chased him down after he barely escaped from his own subordinates, who had become Lost Souls, and personally ended his life.

The Blood Demon himself had not been pleased by that.

He had wanted all those belonging to the Namgoong Clan to die ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) by Seolhwa’s hand—and so he had been displeased that another of the Twelve Moons, the Seventh Moon, had moved on her own.

‘That was why he did nothing when Huiwol died at the hands of another Moon right in front of him.’

For killing Seop Mugwang, Huiwol had completely fallen out of the Blood Demon’s favor.

In any case, the fact that the very person who had once pursued Seop Mugwang was now standing in front of her was a fortunate turn.

“You were the one who handed Myeong that peony, were you not?”

“How did you figure that out?”

“Because Fifth Blood Lord is not the type to pull childish pranks.”

“As expected of you, Tower Master... You even know what kind of person Fifth Blood Lord is? I only just found out today that she used to be the strongest sword of Mount Hua. Oh, but that’s a secret, by the way. She has no idea I came here.”

Huiwol was still moving independently.

The difference from Seolhwa’s past life was that now, her interest was directed not at Seop Mugwang—but at Seolhwa herself.

“Do not worry. Even if Fifth Blood Lord finds out, it will not matter. You are going to die by my hand today anyway.”

“In that condition? Tower Master, you really have no fear, do you? But you know... maybe the one who dies today will be you, not me?”

Huiwol drew her sword.

Her eyes curved like a crescent moon.

Seolhwa lifted her gaze to the moon above.

Moonlight shone down on her brightly—but where Huiwol stood, the dense trees cast complete darkness, not a single ray of moonlight penetrating through.

Seolhwa grounded her feet.

She kicked off the ground and launched herself toward Huiwol, who stood in the shadows.

Huiwol smiled and leisurely raised her sword.

But that leisure vanished in an instant.

Shhhk—whoom—!

Seolhwa swung her sword.

Boom! Thoom—!

The trees around Huiwol collapsed beneath Seolhwa’s strike.

“Wh-What...!”

Huiwol, visibly flustered, stared at the fallen trees.

Seolhwa kept her eyes on her and continued to cut down the trees around her.

Boom! Thoom! Boom!

A red aura, like shimmering heat, radiated from Seolhwa’s sword.

Every swing, infused with internal energy, sliced through the trees like soft tofu.

With each movement of her sword, another tree fell.

As Seolhwa moved in a circle around Huiwol, cutting through tree after tree, she suddenly looked up at the top of one tree.

“Found you.”

Tap, tap-tap—!

Seolhwa swiftly ran up the tree.

“No, stop!”

Huiwol belatedly followed behind her, and soon—

Clang—!

With a loud clash, someone was knocked out of the tree.

The person failed to land properly and fell right in front of Huiwol, who had been running.

Huiwol rushed toward him in a panic.

Rustle.

The leaves stirred.

The two looked up from where they stood beneath the tree.

Looking down at them from above was Seolhwa.

Tower Master of Hwaoru.

Young, but without blood or tears—Hwaoru’s foremost assassin.

Thwack!

Seolhwa landed on the ground before the two.

She looked at Huiwol—and the woman who had the exact same face as Huiwol.

“First time seeing you in person, is it? Yeongwol.”

Master of the Ninth Blood Token.

Twin sister of Huiwol, the Seventh Moon, and one who moved like her shadow—that was the Moon known as Yeongwol.

“How... did you know...?”

“That there are two of us?”

“That’s not all.”

“You also know how we fight.”

The two of them spoke in turn, as if a single person were talking.

Their appearances, voices, even their clothes were so similar it was as if one was a shadow of the other.

Shff—

When Huiwol moved her right hand, something incredibly thin slipped into her sleeve.

Yeongwol moved her left hand, and likewise, something was drawn into her sleeve.

“How on earth...”

“How did you know?”

Seolhwa looked at the two flustered women and let out a quiet laugh.

“What exactly are you asking I figured out? That there are two of you? That your weapons are silver thread? Or that I saw through the trap you set up by weaving that silver thread all through the trees?”

That was why Seolhwa had first cut down the trees around Huiwol.

These twins, who used silver thread as their primary weapon, loved to string their threads through the trees like a spider’s web and wait for prey to walk into it.

They enjoyed watching their prey get sliced to ribbons by the razor-sharp silver threads before they even knew what hit them.

Truly Blood Demon Cult to the core—mad for blood.

“I am still a Tower Master of Hwaoru. Would it not be shameful to fall for such a shallow trick?”

Tap—!

This time, Seolhwa charged straight toward the two of them.

The trees she had cleared now lay bathed in moonlight, and under that light, the silver thread would reflect clearly.

Fwoosh—! Clang—!

The two women split to either side and exchanged threads between them, pulling the silver taut against Seolhwa’s charge.

The twin strands of silver thread clashed against Seolhwa’s sword with a sharp metallic screech.

Shhhk—!

As the two of them stepped in unison, the silver thread began to wrap around Seolhwa’s blade like a living creature.

Spinning away in the opposite direction of the thread’s pull, Seolhwa slipped free of the entanglement and swung her sword at Huiwol.

Kang! Kakang!

Huiwol blocked Seolhwa’s sword with the silver thread she held taut, then sent the thread flying to strike at Seolhwa’s vital points.

But the speed of the silver thread could not keep up with Seolhwa’s movement.

Shrrk—!

Hearing the sound behind her, Seolhwa quickly distanced herself from Huiwol.

The silver thread that had been aimed at her wrist was deflected by her sword and knocked aside.

In that brief opening, Seolhwa once again attacked Huiwol.

Kang—! Kakak, Kaang!

As the strikes filled with sword energy poured in, the silver thread grew taut, biting into Huiwol’s hands, until blood began to drip.

The longer the battle continued, the more Huiwol’s expression faltered.

Whirl—!

Yeongwol’s silver thread came flying again, aiming at an opening in Seolhwa’s guard.

As Seolhwa retreated to dodge it, Huiwol also pulled back to increase the distance between them.

With a sharp clang, Yeongwol’s thread snapped back to her.

“Something like sword energy—”

“Can never cut our threads!”

The two of them moved their silver threads again, now targeting Seolhwa’s arms and legs.

Seolhwa kicked off the ground, leaping into the air as she batted aside the thread aimed at her arm.

“Got her!”

But this time, the two silver threads did not retreat. Instead, they met in midair and then rebounded toward Seolhwa using that momentum.

A finishing blow, targeting her ankles while she was suspended in midair with nowhere to evade.

“We got her!”

“We got her!”

The two shouted in unison, voices triumphant.

Clang—!

But Seolhwa struck one of the two silver threads with her sword—then used that same sword as a springboard and unleashed Seop Mugwang’s movement technique.

A step so small it could barely be seen—and yet, in an instant, she moved like a thunderclap.

The Thunder and Wind God’s secret martial art.

Thunder Shadow Step (Noyeongbo).

“No!!”

“...!”

Huiwol’s sharp scream pierced the air.

And at the very same moment—

Slice—

Seolhwa’s blade cut through Yeongwol’s neck.