CFZ

“Who’s the older one?”
Though it seemed like an absurd question, Seong Yul’s reaction confirmed my suspicion.
“You already knew, didn’t you?”

“…”
He knew. His reaction made it obvious.
“How did you figure it out…?”

Instead of denying it, Seong Yul asked me a question. I let out a quiet laugh at his response.
“With eyes that similar, wouldn’t it be strange not to know?”
“…”

“And as for appearances… no, wait. Hmm. I’m not so sure about that.”
Would the Divine Dragon look like him if he grew some hair? Or would Seong Yul resemble the Divine Dragon if he put on some weight? It was hard to say.
In any case.
There was a reason I had brought up this matter with Seong Yul.

“So, who’s the elder brother?”
The Divine Dragon and Seong Yul—these two were brothers. That was the key point.
“…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? By logic, wouldn’t it be you?”
“…”
There was no answer. Not because he didn’t want to say, but because he genuinely didn’t know.

How were the two of them brothers? And if they were indeed siblings, how had their lives ended up so separated?
‘Are they twins? No, that can’t be…’
There was an age gap.

As far as I knew, Seong Yul was older than me, while the Divine Dragon was the same age as I was. The time difference was too significant for them to be twins.
But still…
‘Could it really not be the case?’

Calling them merely brothers felt strange.
After all…
‘That aura… he has it too.’

The traces of that vicious, brutal energy—the aura of the Heavenly Killing Star—were faintly present in the Divine Dragon.
It was subtle, but it was there.
Which raised the question…
‘Does Shaolin know about this?’

Did the head of Shaolin realize this connection? And…
‘…What about Kunlun?’
Did Kunlun, where Seong Yul had resided, know about it? And if they did, why had the two of them stayed within the Daoist sect?

That puzzled me.
Furthermore…
‘Seong Yul seems to know, but the Divine Dragon doesn’t.’

There were too many unanswered questions.
‘Can there really be two Heavenly Killing Stars at the same time?’
I didn’t know much about the Heavenly Killing Star.

All I knew was that it was a unique constitution that had existed throughout Zhongyuan’s history.
And…
‘I heard only one appears per century.’

If the Divine Dragon was also a Heavenly Killing Star, like Seong Yul, then that principle was clearly wrong.
‘Hmm.’
Should I look into this further? It felt like a hassle.

As I stroked my chin and pondered, I nodded to myself.
‘Does it really matter?’
Whether there were one or two Heavenly Killing Stars wasn’t critically important.

I was already struggling with the problems in front of me—when would I ever have time to unravel all of this?
‘At least the Divine Dragon’s development as a Heavenly Killing Star is slow, so it’s fine.’
Unlike Seong Yul, his killing intent was faint, and he hadn’t even taken a life yet.

That hesitation was part of the reason I hadn’t assigned him the mission.
There was always the risk of his Heavenly Killing Star nature going berserk after his first kill.
That possibility had factored into my decision.

‘…In hindsight, maybe taking him in was a mistake.’
If I had known it would turn out like this, I might have refused when the Divine Dragon wanted to join.
Taking him in as a jab at Shaolin seemed to have been a miscalculation.

‘I’ll just stay moderately involved.’
Enough to prevent problems from escalating but without delving too deeply.
Seong Yul also seemed reluctant to address the matter for now, so this was probably the best course of action.

Still…
‘…If there’s one thing that bothers me…’
It was an incident from my past life involving the Sword Demon.

That incident kept tugging at my thoughts.
 
   *************
   
The place Seong Yul led me to was where the head of the Celestial Stream Sect had met his end.

I had already visited this site several times during the investigation.
As we arrived, members of the Alliance were stationed around the area.
“Attention! The Division Leader has arrived!”

“Ah, you’re working hard.”
I greeted the guards on duty and made my way inside.
Descending to the level where the pond was located, I noticed several people stationed within.

“Nothing unusual, I take it?”
“None at all.”
With the investigation long concluded, their current task was simply to maintain security around the area.

They would likely remain here for another two or three months until the main Alliance sent reinforcements.
I inspected the personnel as I approached the pond.
“Any changes?”

“There haven’t been any significant changes.”
“Hmm…”
I extended my hand and dipped it into the pond. The water wasn’t particularly cold or warm—just neutral.

Woom.
The moment my hand touched the water, a reaction coursed through my body.
As though my body were synchronizing with the water, my energy began to stir uncontrollably.

The movement was slow and faint, but it was unmistakable.
‘Hmm.’
I focused on the flow of energy.

The energy from my heart began to circulate wildly, gradually spreading throughout my entire body.
And then…
‘It seeps into my skin.’

The flowing energy started to permeate my skin.
‘…Such a peculiar feeling.’
I had checked this several times before, but the sensation was always the same.

It was reminiscent of the first time I had reached a pinnacle in my training.
And beyond that…
‘It’s similar to shedding.’

The sensation was remarkably akin to when I underwent shedding or rebirth.
In other words…
‘It artificially brings the body close to the state of shedding.’

The energy strengthened the skin and expanded the vessel.
Could something like this truly be done intentionally? Yet this water seemed to be doing exactly that.
‘…After strengthening the vessel like this.’

Finally…
‘You swallow something called the Yeouiju and force the shedding.’
Swallowing that mysterious bead transformed a person into a half-dragon.

That seemed to be its intended purpose.
‘It’s bizarre.’
The entire situation was incomprehensible.

I could understand the usage of this water, but…
‘Why?’
What was the purpose? What were they trying to achieve by doing this?

That remained a mystery to me.
‘What was the goal?’
The Celestial Stream Sect’s leader had intended to use this to wipe out the Martial Alliance.

But I doubted that was the full story.
No, the sect leader might have had such an intention.
But…

‘Whoever created this place likely had a different goal.’
The person who created this well clearly had a different purpose in mind.
‘…Tsk.’

Clicking my tongue, I withdrew my hand from the water.
At the same time, I recalled the name mentioned as the root cause °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of this incident.
Yeon Ilcheon.

A previous regressor.
They claimed he had survived for centuries and orchestrated all of this.
‘Could that really be true?’

I found it hard to believe.
That he had lived for hundreds of years was questionable enough. And furthermore…
‘Why would he even do this?’

Why would someone who once opposed the Blood Demon to save the world—and bore the curse of blood for it—do something like this?
‘…Could the Celestial Stream Sect leader have been mistaken?’
That thought naturally came to mind.

But still…
‘It’s irritating.’
Even if I wanted to dismiss it as false, it continued to nag at me.

"You are a disaster."
The words spoken by that damned spirit echoed in my mind.
"Do not trust Yeon Ilcheon."

Even the warning, delivered through Woo Hyuk’s body, had been clear.
I stood up and wiped my hands. The towel I used belonged to Seong Yul, part of his uniform.
“...”

Seong Yul frowned at my actions but didn’t say anything.
‘This one and that one…’
They were all dying to find fault with me.

Tsk.
I clicked my tongue lightly and began to move. As I walked past one of the guards stationed nearby, I spoke.
“I’m going downstairs for a bit.”
“Understood, sir!”

Passing the guard, I descended one more level.

It was the area below the well, where the sapling had been located.
“Division Leader, I—”

Cutting off the subordinate who was about to greet me formally, I spoke.
“They’re calling for you upstairs. Go up. All of you.”
“Pardon? But sir, it’s not yet time for the shift change…”

“I’m here, aren’t I? Don’t worry about it. Just head up for a bit.”
“…Understood.”
The people inside obeyed my instructions and vacated the area.

Once they were gone, I stepped inside. Beyond the iron door, the sapling remained in its place.
The difference was…
‘It’s withered.’

Gone was the original vibrant form—it had shed all its leaves, and its branches were dry and brittle.
It was now worthless as a tree.
I observed it with a curious expression before walking past it to approach the wall.

“Division Leader?”
When I headed straight for a seemingly blank wall, Seong Yul looked at me with a puzzled expression.
Ignoring him, I reached out and ran my hand along the surface.

“Follow me.”
“Excuse me?”
Clank!

“...!”
Clatter—!
With a sudden noise, the wall began to move, revealing a hidden space beyond.

“This… this is…?”
“Hurry up and follow. We don’t have time.”
“…Ah, yes.”

There was no time for Seong Yul to dwell on his surprise. He followed me into the space.
Thud!
As soon as we entered, the entrance closed behind us.

After walking for a short distance, we arrived at the destination.
The space was noticeably smaller than the area we had just left.
The air was damp, and the temperature was significantly colder.

So much so that every exhale formed a visible mist.
“What is this…?”
As Seong Yul looked around in confusion, he suddenly narrowed his eyes.

In the middle of the room, there was a wooden coffin.
That coffin was the reason I had come here.
I approached it and looked inside.

“No issues so far, it seems.”
“…Division Leader?”
“Come here.”

“Pardon?”
“Come here, quickly.”
At my urging, Seong Yul approached, his eyes filled with unease.

Why did he have to look so anxious? Couldn’t a person just ask him over?
As he drew closer and his gaze fell on the coffin, his eyes widened in shock.
“What the…?”

He stood there, mouth agape.
“Apologies in advance.”
Shwick!

“Urk!?”
I grabbed one of the objects inside the coffin and shoved it into Seong Yul’s open mouth before he could react.
To keep him from spitting it out, I clamped my hand over his mouth.

“Swallow it.”
“Mmph… urgh.”
“Swallow it.”

When I grabbed his cheeks and growled, his throat convulsed after a moment of hesitation.
Gulp.
The sound of him swallowing reached my ears. Only then did I release my grip.

“Cough! Ugh…!”
Seong Yul coughed violently, tears welling up in his eyes from the strain.
“Division… cough! Division Leader, what was that…?”

“It’s nothing major. There’s just something I needed to confirm. I figured you’d be a good test subject.”
“W-What do you mean by… confirm…?”
His words trailed off as he suddenly dropped to his knees.

“Urgh…!”
Gripping his chest in agony, he curled up on the ground.
“Guh… guhh…”

It seemed there was a reaction.
Watching him, I tilted my head slightly and glanced back at the coffin.
Inside it were piles of pure white pills.

All of them had been retrieved from the pond earlier. Which meant…
The thing Seong Yul just swallowed was none other than a Dragon Pearl.
“Graaah…!!”

Seong Yul writhed on the ground, veins bulging as he screamed in pain.
Watching him, I said:
“Don’t worry. Even if something goes wrong, I’ll clean up the mess.”

I spoke calmly as flames ignited in my hand.
“So, just hang in there for now.”
It might’ve been a bit irresponsible to say.

“Graaahhh—!!!”
But it wasn’t like Seong Yul had any other choice.