Clink.

Something cold and heavy pressed against his hands.

What is this?

“Kuh...”

With a faint groan, Gubong opened his eyes.

Had he lost consciousness? For how long?

As his thoughts raced to piece together what had happened, his eyes widened in alarm.

It came rushing back.

Being dragged alongside Gu Yangcheon by the family’s people. And then... what happened after that?

The hazy memories spun in his head, a whirlwind of fragments he couldn’t make sense of.

Shaking off the dizziness, Gubong forced himself to survey his surroundings.

Where is this?

Clang.

“...!”

The moment he tried to move, a restrictive sensation swept through his body.

He quickly realized his state and his eyes grew even wider.

“What the...!”

What is going on? He struggled, confusion mounting—

“You’re awake.”

The voice came from ahead, freezing him in place.

Not because he wanted to stop—no, it felt as though his body was paralyzed against his will.

Hiss...

An inexplicable chill coiled around him, and the clear sight he once had began to darken.

Within moments, pitch-black darkness engulfed him.

It wasn’t truly dark—his mind just perceived it that way.

A nauseating, oppressive sensation that made him want to retch.

It was a feeling Gubong hoped never to experience again.

But it wasn’t just the sensation he hated.

There was only one person in his memory who could evoke such a visceral reaction.

Someone Gubong both despised and feared down to his very bones.

And that person was now standing before him.

“How have you been?”

A figure shrouded in darkness, their features obscured [N O V E L I G H T] entirely, save for the faint outline of a chin resting in a contemplative pose.

Gubong swallowed dryly.

Even without seeing, he knew who it was.

How could he not? This figure still haunted his nightmares.

Mustered courage barely brought words to his lips.

“...Dark Leader.”

The darkness shifted slightly at his words.

Though no expression was visible, the faint rise and fall of shoulders suggested the figure was laughing.

“Dark Night.”

“...”

“How have you been?”

At those words, Gubong’s face twisted into a scowl.

“I want to ask what this is about first.”

“What’s so strange about a father visiting his son?”

“...Father... Father, you say...”

The word felt unfamiliar, heavy, even laughable.

Gubong let out a dry chuckle.

“How absurd.”

“Dark Night.”

“Don’t call me that.”

Clink.

Gubong tensed, trying to break free from the cuffs binding his hands, but it was futile.

‘Is this... Yoseok stone?’

The material sapped his strength the more he struggled—a clear indication it was made of that cursed stone.

“A waste of effort. You’d be better off conserving your strength,” the darkness advised.

“...”

Grinding his teeth, Gubong relented.

He was right - there was no point in fighting.

Yoseok stone wasn’t something anyone could break by brute force.

Few in the world could destroy it, and Gubong was not one of them.

Resigned, Gubong asked,

“...Why have you brought me here?”

What purpose did this serve? He couldn’t understand.

“You’ve abandoned me for decades. Left me to scrape by in Mount Hua. So why now?”

For years, Gubong had lived his life clinging to survival, unnoticed and ignored.

What could have changed to make him important now?

“...Did something happen to my brother?”

The question slipped out, born of a faint hope that his capture might be for his brother’s sake.

“If you’ve brought me back because something happened to him, then—”

“You’re as delusional as ever.”

Gubong’s words were cut off as the darkness extended, forcing his mouth shut.

“Guh...!”

The overwhelming pressure bore down on him, leaving him unable to resist.

Still...

Even after all these years, the difference in power was this vast?

Enough to render him completely immobile, even now?

“Dark Night.”

“...Don’t... call me that...!”

Grinding his teeth, Gubong spat out the words, prompting the darkness to nod slightly.

“As you wish. Rest assured, your brother is fine. There’s no such reason for your return.”

Rumble.

The room trembled as objects inside shook violently.

“Your brother remains healthy, and our family would never stoop to retrieving a failure like you for such reasons.”

“...”

The harsh certainty in those words pierced Gubong deeply.

The thought of his brother falling had been a fleeting hope, and now even that was gone.

“Do you think our family is so weak as to call back a disgrace who fled like a coward?”

“Then why...”

Clang—!!

Gubong leaned forward, glaring at the darkness.

“Why drag me here after ignoring me for all these years? You could’ve just kept pretending I didn’t exist!”

His defiance was met with a slow rise of the shadowed figure.

Hwoooosh.

As the darkness approached, Gubong’s trembling eyes reflected his growing fear.

“You’re right. I didn’t care what you did or where you went.”

A faint burning smell reached him, though it might have been an illusion brought on by the pressure warping his senses.

“I let you run, ignored your desperate struggles out of what little pity I had. Did you enjoy it? Your pathetic life as a failure?”

“...I...”

“I even turned a blind eye to your childish antics. But now, something has come up.”

The voice, dry and rough, coiled around Gubong, suffocating him.

“The White Family’s leader was attacked. Have you heard?”

“...”

He had. How could he not? It was all anyone talked about yesterday.

The leader of the White Family, Baek Wol, had been gravely injured in an ambush.

“They say the culprit was a Moonlit Wolf with black fur.”

“...!”

Gubong’s breath hitched, and his eyes widened in shock.

At that moment, he understood why he had been dragged here.

“And I hear you’ve had dealings with that fool’s offspring.”

The darkness knelt slowly before him.

“So I wondered...”

Hiss...

An energy-formed hand reached for Gubong’s chin, lifting it effortlessly.

“...Was it you?”

“...You hoped... it was me?”

“‘Hoped’ isn’t the right word. I never expected much from you. I merely wondered.”

The energy hand released him.

“But now, it doesn’t matter.”

The faint intrigue in the voice vanished, replaced by cold indifference.

In that instant, Gubong realized the truth: he was worthless to this person.

“You haven’t changed at all...”

His voice trembled as he spoke.

“Not since the day you tried to kill me.”

The darkness tilted its head, as if puzzled by Gubong’s words.

“You were the one who ran.”

“Yes, I did. I fled because I wanted to escape this wretched place.”

Raising his head, Gubong stared into the darkness.

“And now, I can say it was the right choice.”

But even as he said it, the words felt hollow.

“Hm.”

The darkness responded without care, its tone dismissive.

“You speak as though it was your decision to make.”

“And what? Are you saying you made it for me?”

“You’re still mistaken.”

The darkness chuckled lowly.

“Do you truly believe it was luck that let you escape? That Mount Hua took you in? That you’re still breathing?”

“That’s absurd—”

“Isn’t the fact that you’re alive proof enough?”

Crrrack—

Gubong ground his teeth.

The most infuriating part?

He couldn’t refute it.

Knowing this being’s power better than anyone, Gubong’s instincts told him the words weren’t lies.

“If I wished, I could erase it all at any moment. Even that so-called master you follow—I could eliminate them without effort.”

Gubong’s eyes burned as he heard those words.

“What did you just say?”

Clang.

Veins bulged on his shackled arms as he glared at the darkness.

“Hm.”

The darkness’s eyes narrowed.

“Your gaze is irritating.”

“What did you say you’d do to the master of my sect?!”

Clang! Clang!

Gubong strained with all his might, as though he intended to shatter the cuffs binding him.

They didn’t seem to so much as crack, yet he continued exerting himself, heedless of whether his arms might break in the process.

The darkness, observing this display, showed a fleeting interest.

“So, your so-called master is more important to you than your father standing before you?”

“I have never, not once, considered you my father,” Gubong growled, his face contorted with pain and fury.

“The moment I fled that place and met him in the forest, he became my father. Not you.”

“Hmm.”

The darkness nodded, not in acknowledgment but as if solidifying some internal thought.

“I spared you, yet you bare your fangs at your father,” it mused.

And then—

Crack—!

“Urk!!”

Energy wrapped around Gubong’s throat, hoisting him into the air.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve already confirmed what I needed to.”

“Kh...ghh...”

“I intended to show mercy and let you leave peacefully, but your attitude tells me otherwise.”

“Ghh...kgh...”

The cuffs remained intact, though faint cracks had begun to form. Still, it was clear that Gubong’s body might give out before the cuffs ever did.

“Son,” the darkness spoke, its tone mocking.

“You asked earlier if something had happened to your brother.”

“...Kgh...” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“Even if there were, no one would come looking for you. You’re simply not worth it.”

The words struck him like a blade to the chest.

Though he had always known, hearing it again stung.

And then—

“Your brother went to the one you brought to us.”

“...What...?”

Gubong’s body trembled at the words.

“...What... does that... mean...?”

“I suspect he’s already learned a great deal by now,” the darkness continued.

“Ghh—!!”

Hearing that something might have happened to Gu Yangcheon, Gubong thrashed violently.

He knew how strong Gu Yangcheon was, but this was their territory. If anything were to happen to him—

I’d never be able to face the leader.

Gu Yangcheon was someone the leader had awaited for a very long time. Regardless of how Gubong himself felt, he couldn’t let things end like this.

“Ghh—!!”

With every ounce of strength he had, Gubong struggled, his body trembling as though electrified. It was a desperate, almost feral act.

“I told you, it’s meaningless—”

And then—

Crack—!

“Hm?”

The cuffs binding Gubong’s hands shattered. The darkness’s eyes widened in surprise.

He broke Yoseok cuffs?

“Well now.”

The darkness’s gaze sharpened as it studied Gubong with newfound curiosity.

“This is unexpected.”

“Grrr...!”

Snarling, Gubong bared his teeth and lunged at the darkness with outstretched hands.

The darkness responded with a slight motion of its own hand. Energy coalesced into a physical form, mirroring its movements.

I’ll need to sever his limbs before he causes more trouble.

The energy shot toward Gubong’s shoulder, but—

“Is it here? Yeah, it’s here, isn’t it?”

A voice rang out from somewhere.

Crash—!

A hand pierced through the oppressive blackness.

“...What—?”

The darkness barely had time to react before the hand lunged forward, grabbing its face.

Smash—!

The intruder drove the darkness’s head into the wall with a deafening crash.

“Grr... What the...?”

Gubong, who had been growling moments ago, froze like a statue.

“There we go. Found it at last,” the newcomer muttered, dusting off his hands. “What’s with all the hiding? You trying to piss me off or something?”

The figure who had broken through the darkness was none other than Gu Yangcheon.

Blood was smeared all over his body, though oddly, he didn’t seem injured.

In one hand, he held someone by the hair.

“...”

The limp figure dangled lifelessly, with something dark dripping from it. The sight was grotesque and unmistakably wrong.

What... is that?

Squinting, Gubong tried to make sense of the familiar form.

Then, realization struck.

“...That’s...”

Black hair. Black ears. Black fur.

That familiar figure...

Wasn’t it his brother?

Though the face was hard to see, it seemed unmistakable.

“...”

What the hell was going on? Gubong could only stand there, frozen in shock.

At that moment—

“Hey. Yo.”

Gu Yangcheon waved at Gubong with a cheerful smile.

The problem was, both his hands were occupied.

“...”

As Gu Yangcheon waved, the bloodied, beaten form of his brother swayed along with him. Meanwhile, the figure of their father was embedded in the wall.

To sum it up—

“...What a goddamn mess.”

A complete disaster.

And a colossal one at that.