It was a clear day.

As usual, Cheol Sunjik was killing time at a local gambling house.

Though the people around him did not look favorably upon the second son of the Jukhyeon Gang Leader wandering the back alleys, he didn't care.

He never had any intention of fighting his older brother over the Jukhyeon Gang in the first place, and his goal was simply to enjoy the wealth and privileges given to him and live while gambling.

However, that day was somehow different.

His kind but naive older brother came directly to the gambling house and took Cheol Sunjik home.

"What is it? You normally don't say anything even if I don't attend."

His mild-mannered older brother also sighed, seemingly frustrated.

"Have you forgotten what day it is today?"

Cheol Sunjik rolled his eyes.

What important event could possibly be...

"Ah! It's the day those Zhongnan bastards are coming, right?"

"You punk!"

His naive older brother hurriedly looked around, afraid someone might have heard.

So what if the back alley hooligans heard him.

Cheol Sunjik sneered inwardly but didn't let it show.

"Your words must not leak out under any circumstances!"

"Good grief."

He then threw an arm over his older brother's shoulders.

Still, this timid and naive side made it impossible to hate him.

"Got it! But in exchange, you pay for the drinks after the event is over."

"Hah! You rascal! Just how long are you going to do nothing but eat and play?"

How long, he asks? Hmm...

Cheol Sunjik looked at his older brother's face, which lacked even a hint of competitiveness, and chuckled.

"I want to eat and play for the rest of my life if possible. Leaving things like the Jukhyeon Gang entirely to you, that is."

"Honestly..."

To Cheol Sunjik, events like this, and the Zhongnan Sect, were all just boring matters.

An exchange event held once every five years due to the ties of their founder, who was a lay disciple of the Zhongnan Sect.

Considering that the history of the Jukhyeon Gang had reached three hundred years, he also wondered what meaning being a lay disciple even held at this point.

Furthermore, the Jukhyeon Gang was a sect serving as a pillar of the Twelve Peaks and Castles.

Considering that the goal of the Twelve Peaks and Castles was to eventually surpass the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans, he thought this reception parading as an exchange event was nothing more than a superficial formality meant for show.

Nevertheless.

He endured the gathering to exchange greetings.

And he also endured the event where they showed off each other's martial arts and shared martial discussions.

Though he had no interest in it, he felt he had fulfilled his minimum responsibility to enjoy his rights as the second son of the Jukhyeon Gang.

However.

"I heard you're the degenerate of the Jukhyeon Gang?"

The sparring match, the final event of the exchange.

The Zhongnan Sect disciple facing him as his opponent.

His sudden mockery made Cheol Sunjik tilt his head.

"Hmm... Was that your best attempt at mocking me?"

"What?"

"Words like idiot or cripple would hurt more than the word degenerate."

To think his attack would lack such impact.

"... Pretending to be composed."

"Still, seeing one thing reveals ten; I don't particularly appreciate it."

He wasn't hurt by the contemptuous words themselves, but the disciple's attitude made Cheol Sunjik frown.

He was ultimately a guest invited to the Jukhyeon Gang.

Yet, treating Cheol Sunjik—who was practically a master of the Jukhyeon Gang—so disrespectfully was essentially proof that he treated the other members even worse.

It was fine for him to be insulted by the people of the Jukhyeon Gang because they were family.

The thought of someone treating his family so disrespectfully made his chest run cold.

"Still, as a guest, shouldn't you show some manners?"

"Hmph, I'll see if your skills match your blabbering mouth."

Perhaps that was why.

He hadn't intended to take it seriously, but he suddenly felt the urge not to lose.

Since he couldn't win with martial arts skills, he used the 'shifting the center of gravity' and 'breaking the stance' techniques he had learned among the hooligans to defeat the Zhongnan Sect disciple.

"Is this enough to prove my mouth?"

"..."

The Zhongnan Sect disciple kept his mouth firmly shut.

It wasn't just him. The surroundings were so silent that not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

Cheol Sunjik slowly looked around.

Even if cheers didn't erupt, he thought there would at least be applause.

Because whenever a Zhongnan Sect disciple defeated a Jukhyeon Gang disciple, thunderous applause had broken out.

However, the boisterous atmosphere of the event had cooled chillingly, as if it had been rained upon.

"Gang Leader Cheol!"

With a strict, thunderous rebuke, the elders of the Zhongnan Sect halted the event.

"How can someone with roots in the Zhongnan Sect attack an opponent with such utterly vulgar tricks!"

Cheol Sunjik sneered.

On the boundary between life and death, where was the distinction between cowardice and the orthodox path?

He had never seen a person who closed their eyes to dust thrown by an enemy and died, only to denounce the unfairness afterward.

In the back alleys, experts who walked around with stiff necks often became wandering ghosts due to such tricks by hooligans.

Just as he was thinking, 'Does living in a utopia detached from reality make a person that dense?'

"...!"

Cheol Sunjik's eyes widened at the sight unfolding before him.

"I-I apologize."

"""We apologize."""

Cheol Sunjik's father, his uncle, and all the adults of the Jukhyeon Gang fell to their knees at the elder's single remark.

"Hmph."

The elder of the Zhongnan Sect accepted that sight as if it were entirely natural, and the people of the Jukhyeon Gang—who had flaunted their lofty pride as a pillar of the Twelve Peaks and Castles—also acted as if they were fulfilling their duty.

A dry voice flew over the head of Cheol Sunjik, who was staring blankly forward.

"Why are you not kneeling?"

As soon as the elder's words fell, Cheol Hyeonjik hastily ran over and forced his younger brother's body down.

"Hurry up and bow... I apologize! I apologize...!"

However, Cheol Sunjik stiffly withstood the pressure and muttered.

"Do the enemies of the Zhongnan Sect always attack while keeping etiquette and norms?"

"What did you say?"

His lips twisted as a sneer burst forth.

"I'm asking if the lunatics of the Underworld also snap to their senses and show their respects when they stand before the Zhongnan Sect."

"Hah! Tsk tsk, you still haven't come to your senses!"

A gaze full of contempt, as if looking down at an insignificant bug.

As if it were a bother to even deal with him, the elder turned his gaze to the Jukhyeon Gang Leader and pressed him.

"Gang Leader Cheol, what are you going to do?"

Cheol Sunjik also shifted his gaze to his father.

His father, who had always been the sturdy pillar of the Jukhyeon Gang.

But what entered his eyes was...

"I apologize."

"...!"

A wooden pillar limply snapped by an axe strike.

It was the sight of his father, deeply bowing his head to the ground in apology.

"F-Father..."

"I offer my deepest apologies to you, Elder."

His father's voice, always so confident in himself and towards others, was shrunken like never before.

"It is my fault for teaching my child poorly."

Looking down at the Gang Leader who had his head bowed, the elder of the Zhongnan Sect leisurely stroked his long beard.

"It is human nature to only reflect upon paying the price for one's faults."

"I will personally send him to the Golden Jade Prison..."

"How can someone who cannot even teach his own child properly lead a sect properly?"

"..."

Conversations that Cheol Sunjik could not possibly understand went back and forth.

"..."

His father, who had kept his head bowed in silence for a long time, eventually spat out shocking words.

"As of today, I will step down from my position as the Gang Leader of the Jukhyeon Gang."

The members of the Jukhyeon Gang barely managed to cover their mouths, but gasps leaked out from here and there.

His father bringing an absurd punishment upon himself for an absurd reason.

"I will convey that to the main mountain."

And the elder of the Zhongnan Sect taking it entirely for granted.

Only then did he realize.

"Hah...!"

The fact that even after three hundred years, the shackles of the Zhongnan Sect had not been broken.

That even the Twelve Peaks and Castles, which stood against the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Noble Clans, was only possible because it had the Zhongnan Sect's permission.

Even up until now, and even from now on.

["No matter how much the Jukhyeon Gang struggles, they will never escape their plight as the Zhongnan Sect's handmaidens."]

The elder of the Zhongnan Sect seemed to be saying exactly that with his contemptuous gaze.

The elder of the Zhongnan Sect helped the Gang Leader up as if bestowing mercy.

"We will select someone who will not smear the name of our Zhongnan Sect as the next Gang Leader."

"... T-Thank you."

Even spitting curses and pointing fingers wouldn't have been enough in this situation, yet he was expressing his gratitude instead.

Because he lacked power, he couldn't even reveal his emotions honestly.

It was a cross-section showing just how much the Jukhyeon Gang had been dragged around like dogs by the Zhongnan Sect all this time.

The fact that another sect was deciding the major affairs of an independent sect meant that the sect was, ultimately, not an independent entity.

The illusion of his sect being dependable and a source of pride, which had always resided deep in Cheol Sunjik's heart, was shattered into pieces.

"Father..."

"... Be quiet, be quiet."

His father's back, which had been as broad and dependable as Mount Tai, looked so small while prostrated on the floor.

His thick, deep, and manly voice sounded incredibly servile that day.

Without tearing his gaze away from his father's lonely back, Cheol Sunjik clenched his fists tightly with both hands.

It was a clear day.

To the point that Cheol Sunjik, who didn't like walking, actually felt like taking a walk.

On that clear day, Cheol Sunjik resolved that he would absolutely tear down the heavens.

* * *

Why did this past memory suddenly come to mind?

No, it hadn't just come to mind.

Because he had never once forgotten it.

He was merely repeating it.

So that he wouldn't run away in front of the terrifying enemy before his eyes.

"Jin Sowoon!!!"

He had resolved himself that day.

No matter how much blood was shed, no matter what happened to the world, he would definitely tear down the heavens.

By grinding away his own life—which he considered the most important thing in the world—and if that wasn't enough, grinding away his child's life, and if even that wasn't enough, grinding away his descendants' lives.

He swore and swore again that, no matter the price, he would definitely tear down the heavens that had ruled the world for five hundred years.

Because he couldn't live as a slave like this.

Therefore, he couldn't afford to trip over a mere stone on the road.

Even if that stone was threatening enough to tear his heart and smash his head.

No, he thought he had to eliminate it precisely because it was threatening.

Because that stone must not become the heavens.

Cheol Sunjik gritted his teeth at the gradually approaching Red Army.

At this rate, his predictions would go awry once again.

Jin Sowoon would once again overcome the trials he thought he could never overcome.

"It's you again, Jin Sowoon! It's you again...!"

How could a human's speed of development be so fast?

It wasn't as if he was born with outstanding aptitude like Yong So-ah.

'Then why...!'

How could the gap between him and Jin Sowoon, who merely had the aptitude of an ordinary person just like him, be this large?

Was it truly a difference in effort?

He couldn't accept it.

That was why he moved directly.

To finalize the predestined events he had created.

"This is the end of the line for you too, Jin Sowoon!"

He shot forward faster than anyone else in the White Army.

The members of the Red Army blocked him, prepared for elimination, but Cheol Sunjik swung his sword even more violently in response.

SLASH!

THUD!

He pulled their collars to throw off their balance and smashed the pommel of his sword into their temples.

The members of the Red Army widened their eyes in surprise at the single move.

Cheol Sunjik lost his usual cool composure and shouted.

"Did you think you were the only ones who trained to fight without using internal energy?"

Even before he learned martial arts—no, even after learning martial arts—he had never used internal energy while fighting hooligans in the back alleys.

Because that was too boring.

Because it lacked fierceness and urgency.

The emotion of excitement erupts most strongly in the moment one feels their life is in danger.

And the thrill of overcoming that threat gives a massive sense of satisfaction unmatched by anything else.

Because of that, Cheol Sunjik was more skilled in close-quarters combat and brawling than anyone else in the White Army.

As if he perfectly knew the actions he needed to take, he grabbed dirt from the ground and threw it into his opponent's eyes without a shred of hesitation.

"Aargh!"

A technique most frequently used by hooligans.

While Jin Sowoon's squad members rubbed their eyes at the unexpected sneak attack, he struck their solar plexuses and chopped the backs of their necks to knock them out.

"Gah."

He stepped on the collapsing academy students and shot forward. As he did, other members lunged at him one after another like wild beasts.

The best method to subdue those who seemed to have lost their reason to excitement was to show an even more excited state.

A state of excitement so threatening that even reason consumed by anger would send out warnings.

Cheol Sunjik completely surrendered his body to that excitement.

The Red Army members also shouted, filled with spite.

"Stop him!"

Those who had trained in fist and kick arts simultaneously lunged at Cheol Sunjik.

Cheol Sunjik's gaze fixated on the one with the largest build among them.

"Nam Hwaseong!"

The moment Nam Hwaseong's hands faltered at the name called out as if being chewed up.

The scabbard flew out of Cheol Sunjik's hand, obscuring Nam Hwaseong's vision.

Soon after, a chilling voice flew in.

"If you're going to betray, you should do it properly. If you consider someone an enemy, there must be no mercy."

"...!"

THUD-THUD-THUD!

Nam Hwaseong could not easily react to Cheol Sunjik's sword techniques that thrust out aiming for his vital acupoints.

To retreat and deal with Cheol Sunjik, he had already exhausted his stamina in the previous battle and while climbing Mount Baek.

Cheol Sunjik, who knew Nam Hwaseong better than anyone else.

He drove a dagger into Nam Hwaseong's heart once more with his words.

"With such shallow resolve, the future of the Samwon Sect is obvious."

"Fuck... Cut the bullshit!!!"

The moment a provoked Nam Hwaseong lowered his guard and tried to counter.

A kick shooting out like lightning struck Nam Hwaseong's Adam's apple.

"Ghk, kuhk, cough!"

A weakness among weaknesses that could not be toughened no matter how much one trained.

Every sense in his body felt a sense of crisis, and Nam Hwaseong instinctively brought both hands together to protect his Adam's apple.

Seeing that, Cheol Sunjik lightly kicked off the ground and rose up.

"Look, even the Samwon Sect's main martial art, the fist and kick arts, is no match for the Jukhyeon Gang."

Spinning his body around, Cheol Sunjik struck Nam Hwaseong's temple with his elbow.

CRACK!

That massive body collapsed backward, his eyes rolling back from a single strike.

As Nam Hwaseong fell, the assault squad faltered for a moment.

In that gap, Cheol Sunjik's company dug in with a hundredfold courage and began to strike down the Red Army.

"Push! Push them back!"

"Those bastards intentionally sharpened their blades! Counter them!"

"They're exhausted from climbing up here anyway! Don't miss this chance!"

The momentum of the Red Army, which had been surging forward unstoppably like a fire cart, was completely broken.

The best strategy the Red Army could take right now would be to maintain a temporary lull and wait for reinforcements.

However, Cheol Sunjik erased that thought.

Jin Sowoon wouldn't wait quietly.

He would once again surpass common sense and make the impossible possible.

Sure enough.

"Let's goooo!"

"Let's goooo!"

During the brief lull, Jin Sowoon rallied the personnel, arranged them into a spearhead formation once more, and began to pierce into the White Army camp.

"Jin Sowoon..."

A mere stone on the road?

No.

He was an even more massive Mount Tai than Yong So-ah.

A Mount Tai blocking the way, daring anyone to try and ascend to the heavens.

However, if he couldn't overcome this Mount Tai, he couldn't tear down the heavens.

How could someone who couldn't even strike down Mount Tai tear down the heavens?

His father's puny back, which had prostrated flat before the heavens that day, vividly rose before his eyes.

"Jin Sowoon... I hate you."

It was a small voice that should have been drowned out by the shouts and screams in all directions, but Jin Sowoon stared at him as if he had heard those words.

He moved his lips as if to answer.

There was no sound, but for some reason, Cheol Sunjik felt like he knew what he was saying.

["The same goes for me."]

He spewed out the emotions he had never once been honest about since the day of his humiliation.

"Jin Sowoon, I resent you. Because I cannot take my eyes off you."

The pent-up resentment and anger that had accumulated in layers poured out all at once, as if the floodgates had been unbarred.

["Cheol Sunjik, I am hostile toward you. Because I cannot take my eyes off you."]

He tried desperately to keep his resolve from breaking.

"I curse you. Because we cannot look at the same place."

He struggled so as not to be devoured by Mount Tai.

["I despise you. Because we are wishing for the same thing."]

Even knowing that he couldn't face Mount Tai with a single sword, he charged forward.

Because this sword must tear down the heavens in the future.

"Jin Sowoon!!!"

"Cheol Sunjik!!!"

Piercing through the massive crowd, Cheol Sunjik ran straight toward Jin Sowoon.