Yusa’s corpse lay cold and lifeless. I grimaced as I touched it.

"This bastard really died?"

He was dead.

Just moments ago, he had been speaking just fine, and then suddenly, his heart burst, and he died.

To confirm it, I could feel the energy rapidly draining from Yusa’s body.

"What the hell...?"

Why did he suddenly die?

And more importantly—

"Why did his heart have to explode?"

His heart had ruptured.

What did that mean? Others might not know, but I did.

This was—

"...The same effect as Cheonma’s Restriction."

The absolute restriction Cheonma had placed upon all demons.

It could not be undone, and any attempt to break it resulted in instant death.

Even under torture, those bound by it could never speak.

Because the moment they tried to reveal anything, they would die immediately.

The greatest formation masters of the Orthodox Sect had tried countless times to analyze the restriction.

The results were disastrous.

No one had ever been able to lift Cheonma’s restriction.

Not even until the moment of my death.

And now, Yusa had died in exactly the same manner.

"...I don’t know if it’s a restriction or not."

But nothing else made sense.

The moment he revealed the location of the Sacred Tree, he died.

If that wasn’t a restriction, then what was?

"Tsk."

I stroked my chin. This was a problem.

The sudden death of Yusa? That was an issue, but not the real problem here.

"I lost a valuable piece."

The fact that Yusa had died before I could even use him properly—

That was the real issue for me.

Losing Heuk Saek had been my mistake, but this...

This was different.

"Tsk."

I clicked my tongue and rubbed my jaw as I looked at Yusa’s corpse.

What now?

"I wasn’t planning to kill the general."

No, to be honest, I had considered it.

But once I successfully turned him into a demon, I had planned to put him to good use.

Yet now he was dead, and that complicated things.

"Sigh."

I swept my hair back, exhaling in frustration, and moved my hand.

A small ember flickered at my fingertips and landed on Yusa’s body.

Fwoooosh—!!!

Azure flames surged, consuming Yusa’s corpse.

Before long, even his bones were gone.

Watching the flames devour his body, a thought crossed my mind.

"Was this truly the same as Cheonma’s Restriction?"

That thing inside him—if it really was a restriction, then was it the same one Cheonma had placed upon the demons?

If so—

"That means the restriction wasn’t erased even after he became a demon."

How was that possible?

Every time I had corrupted someone before, whatever restriction they had was purged, replaced by demonic energy.

Demonic energy always took precedence over any restriction.

There had even been a few cases where I used this to remove restrictions entirely.

"And yet..."

Yusa had become a demon, and still, he died to a restriction.

"This means the restriction overrode the demonic energy."

And if there was someone capable of placing such a restriction...

"...Could it be Mother?"

The current ruler of Mangye.

Could she have placed this restriction on Yusa?

Logically, she was the most likely culprit.

And yet, for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it.

Or rather—

I didn’t want to believe it.

I didn’t want to believe that Mother would place such a terrifying restriction.

I clicked my tongue at my own foolish thoughts.

"Pointless wishful thinking."

Hadn’t I already sorted this out?

She was my mother, yet not my mother.

She had fallen into oblivion and forgotten me entirely.

Hell, if we met face to face, she might regard me as an enemy and try to kill me.

She was no longer my mother.

I couldn’t consider her as such.

So I had no reason to concern myself with this restriction.

"Trying to understand how it works is meaningless."

After all, I didn’t know enough to determine whether it was even possible or not.

I still knew too little about this place.

"For now, I should focus on what I do know."

Demonic energy worked on generals.

They could be corrupted, but the process was slower, and even if they turned—

"They wouldn’t become loyal."

Compared to humans, the process was much less efficient.

And on top of that—

"Restrictions aren’t erased."

Even after corruption, the restriction remained intact.

That meant there existed a force greater than demonification.

What was it?

What had been placed upon Yusa?

It kept nagging at me, but—

"For now."

I put aside Yusa’s death and the restriction.

"I should finish my original objective."

I looked up at the sky.

The fully risen moon shone brightly over the world.

Even after erasing my Hwarunseong, my body still bore the mark of the Moonlit Night Tribe.

"Where did he say again?"

I recalled the location Yusa had spoken of.

"Underground beneath the banquet hall."

The place he mentioned before he died.

Luckily, I knew exactly where that was.

I gathered strength in my legs.

A spark ignited beneath my feet as I soared into the air.

Looking down from above, the ground was an absolute mess.

What had once been a lush forest had been completely wiped out.

The aftermath of battle.

I scanned the damage, then moved my body.

I had internal injuries, and my energy was considerably depleted, but it didn’t matter.

Night had fallen.

And with the body of the Moonlit Night Tribe, I would recover soon enough.

I trusted in that.

Like a gust of wind, I flew through the air, glancing down at the last remnants of flame flickering on the ground.

Soon, everything burned away, scattering like embers in the wind.

I cast a brief look at the last traces of what had once been Yusa.

By that point—

Any lingering interest or emotion I had toward him had long faded.

If there was anything left at all—

"What a shame."

Not Yusa’s death.

But the fact that, in the end, I had to use my life force to win.

That frustrated me more than Yusa’s death itself.

Just that much.

That was all the sentiment I had left for Yusa as he burned away.

**********

Riding the embers, I arrived at Yahwol.

As expected, even in the brief moment I flew here, my body had significantly recovered.

I landed on the fortress wall and brushed off the lingering embers from my body.

And then—

“What the—?!”

A soldier on the wall reacted, so I flicked my finger.

Thunk!

“Guh!”

The soldier collapsed as my energy struck his chin. I tilted my head slightly as I observed.

"The number of troops has increased."

The military presence had expanded significantly.

Previously, there weren’t many soldiers stationed on the walls, even if the ground was well-guarded.

But now, I could see soldiers positioned everywhere.

"Hm..."

I could have hidden my presence, but there was no need.

I simply soared forward.

Fwoosh—!!!

Leaving a fiery trail, I ascended to the highest building within Yahwol’s interior.

This wasn’t the right location. It was somewhere slightly lower.

"I found it."

I scanned the area, pinpointing my target.

Not the tallest building in Yahwol, but the largest one.

That was the meeting hall Yusa had spoken of.

I lightly floated down, landing on its ceiling, then smoothly descended to the ground.

Naturally, I knocked out the soldier standing below.

I reached for the meeting hall’s door handle and pulled.

Creak.

It was locked.

So I exhaled heat into my palm and pressed it against the door.

Sizzle.

The metal melted.

Reaching inside, I grabbed the inner latch and pulled.

The locked door swung open.

I stepped inside.

It was a vast, dark space.

Closing the door behind me, I fused the melted metal to keep it sealed.

If I was discovered, I wouldn’t be able to hold out for long, but at the very least, this would buy me some time.

And—

"Not that it really matters if I get caught."

At this point, it hardly mattered whether I was discovered or not.

I simply accepted it as inevitable.

Fwoosh.

I conjured a small flame in the air, illuminating my surroundings like a lantern.

Step.

The space was large enough that my footsteps echoed.

"No guards inside, it seems."

No patrols, no sign of movement.

It was just an empty space.

I expanded my senses, but I detected nothing.

I rolled my eyes around. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Where could it be?

"He said it was underground, so there must be a way down."

There wouldn’t be an obvious entrance.

Most likely, there was a hidden mechanism.

So, just in case, I activated my Divine Sight and scanned my surroundings.

If there were any spells or formations, Divine Sight would pick them up.

I searched for quite a while—

"...I don’t see anything."

There was no trace, nothing I could sense.

Was there really an underground level here?

Or...

"Could he have meant a different meeting hall?"

There was a chance Yusa had been referring to a different location.

He hadn’t explicitly stated that this was the place.

But the problem was—

"There’s no reason for that."

Why would he refer to another location as the meeting hall?

It made no sense.

Everything pointed to this being the right place.

"Where the hell is it?"

Where was the path leading underground?

I had checked every room.

"This is strange."

Something was off.

What was it?

Unable to grasp the answer, I stood still for a moment.

I remained in place, simply observing my surroundings.

I had no particular reason for doing so.

I just stood there.

Doing nothing, just silently looking around.

And then—

"Ah."

A thought surfaced in my mind.

The event at Mount Hua.

The changes that occurred in my body after consuming the Divine Fruit.

I recalled it.

"The energy of the Sacred Tree."

The Sacred Tree carried its own energy.

I remembered the overwhelming presence of the Sacred Tree back at Mount Hua.

So I slowly closed my eyes.

Would I be able to sense it this way?

A brief moment passed—

Hummm.

"Ah."

A faint sensation brushed against me.

"I found it."

I had sensed it.

It was # Nоvеlight # directly beneath my feet.

"It really is underground."

Just as Yusa had said.

But now what?

"This doesn’t change anything, does it?"

If I couldn’t find a way down, it was meaningless.

I still needed to locate the entrance.

What should I do?

"...Hmph."

I folded my arms and pondered.

"Guess there’s no choice."

Nodding, I came to a decision.

"I’ll just break through."

I clenched my fist and drove it straight into the ground.

Boom—!

Kraaaaaaaash—!!!

With the impact, the floor crumbled beneath me.