A few years before that.

Night at Fire-Crow Pavilion, drenched in gaudy lights.

Laughter and chatter from the gathered crowd and the music of the band tangled together in noisy confusion when—

THWACK—THUD.

Something flew and struck Eunwol in the chest, then dropped away.

Eunwol looked down with an indifferent gaze at the token lying on the ground.

The carved token bore the character “Three” written in bright red strokes.

Eunwol lifted his gaze to the token’s owner.

The man looking at him with a self-satisfied, fishy grin was the owner of the Third Moon Token—Killing Moon.

As the name “Killing” implied, he was the Moon assassin whose hands were the most cruel and who enjoyed killing the most among Blood Demon’s killers.

“I’m demanding a Life-and-Death Duel from you.”

From the moment Killing Moon threw the token, a ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) strange hush fell over the rowdy pavilion.

The ones pouring drinks, the ones swaying their bodies, even the band—

Everyone stopped what they were doing, and every eye in the house focused on the two of them.

‘Life-and-Death Duel.’

They said there was no more entertaining spectacle than a good fight.

It was one of Fire-Crow Pavilion’s unique thrills.

In a place where everyone tacitly agreed to killing, it was a temptation one could not refuse.

All the more because the man who had received the Life-and-Death Duel was the pavilion’s deputy master, called the Pavilion Master’s right-hand man.

In practice, he was the one who handled the overall operation and management of Fire-Crow Pavilion, so it was only natural that even more attention gathered.

“I can’t accept that a weakling like you holds the Second Moon seat.”

Within that tense stillness, Killing Moon finally drew his weapon.

His weapons were twin axes.

For Killing Moon, who considered killing to be nothing but a game, the edges of his axes were especially sharp, the blades so pointed they looked almost triangular.

Eunwol looked blankly at that weapon made for one thing alone—killing people.

For a moment, a tension as if a fight would break out at any second stretched between them.

“...”

Eunwol gave no answer, showed no reaction, and simply turned to walk away.

At that blatant disregard anyone could see, Killing Moon’s expression froze in an instant.

“!”

A Life-and-Death Duel held at Fire-Crow Pavilion could not be avoided.

Until one of the two lay dead, it was an unwritten rule that it could not be escaped.

That was why Killing Moon had thrown a Life-and-Death Duel at Eunwol in such a crowded place.

So that this time, the man who had always ignored, mocked, and laughed off his provocations would not be able to slip away.

So that this time, he could kill him with his own hands and take the Second Moon Token.

And yet—

“What, he just left? Is that allowed?”

“I don’t know. Seems it is. Nobody’s stopping him.”

At this unprecedented situation, people began to murmur.

“KEK, looks like the Deputy Master won’t even bother to entertain him.”

“Yikes, that’s gotta be embarrassing.”

Mixed into the rising buzz, there was of course plenty of snickering aimed at Killing Moon, who had been so coldly ignored.

To throw down a Life-and-Death Duel meant you were so desperate to kill each other you couldn’t stand it.

But turning your back without even engaging meant you not only felt no hatred, you didn’t even see the other party as worth facing.

“Well, I mean, without the Deputy Master, who would run this place?”

“Ha ha ha! Just means he’s not interested in playing games with small fry!”

To Killing Moon, this situation was nothing short of utterly humiliating.

His whole body trembled with rage.

The laughter growing louder, the voices now raised as if for his ears alone, made the veins stand out in the hands gripping his axes.

“Shut up! Do you all want to die?!”

Killing Moon roared.

Fire-Crow Pavilion once more plunged into sudden silence.

Killing Moon glared viciously at Eunwol’s back as he calmly walked away as if none of this had anything to do with him.

To ignore him, and on top of that to subject him to humiliation like this—

“I’ll kill you....”

CRACK—

Killing Moon clenched his axes tight.

Sensing his mood, people slowly, slowly eased away from Eunwol.

Just as Killing Moon was about to hurl his axe at Eunwol’s calmly receding back—

“The mood’s been spoiled.”

“!”

A bored voice rang through the whole pavilion.

The tone was flat, as if muttering to himself, yet everyone in Fire-Crow Pavilion clearly heard the voice.

While everyone blinked in confusion, not knowing where the voice was coming from and glancing around—

“...”

The Great Blood Cult members, including Eunwol and Killing Moon, realized who the voice belonged to.

Eunwol stopped walking and looked up past the second-floor railing.

The voice came again.

“What is the band doing? He said the mood was spoiled.”

There was a power in that voice that could not be named.

Though the tone was calm and neither rose nor fell, those who heard it could not bring themselves to disobey.

One by one, the band took their places and soon resumed playing.

Music once more flowed through Fire-Crow Pavilion, and in no time people too began chatting as if nothing had happened.

In Fire-Crow Pavilion, which had returned to its previous rowdy atmosphere, only two remained where they stood.

Eunwol and Killing Moon.

Eunwol, who had been looking up past the second-floor railing, turned his steps and walked on his way.

Killing Moon glared with a fierce gaze at Eunwol’s back as he strolled out of Fire-Crow Pavilion.

*****

“I just can’t understand it, you know? Why in the world does the Cult Master shield a piece of trash like you?”

Killing Moon tossed a throwing knife and caught it again and again, eyes fixed on Eunwol’s shadow swaying under the tree.

“We both grew up as Blood Demon’s brats, and we both live as the Cult Master’s dogs.”

WHIRL—TAP. WHIRL—TAP-!

“Why does the Cult Master only dote on you... why?!”

SWEEEE-EEK—

Killing Moon flung a throwing knife at the tree where Eunwol was hiding.

This time, the knife cut through the air with a speed and force unlike before.

Watching that the shadow beyond the tree still did not move, Killing Moon’s lips twisted.

In that moment—

PUU-THUD—THUD!

The throwing knife, wreathed in force aura, punched through the thick tree in an instant and buried itself in the tree beyond.

“For a mere...”

Killing Moon’s mouth curled into an even more vicious grin.

“For a mere weakling like you.”

The bastard was dead.

Because he hadn’t even managed to dodge a single throwing knife.

He acknowledged that the man was good at hiding, but in the end he had grown overconfident in his own skill and died.

‘Finally...!’

Unable to hide his smile at the thought that he had finally killed the thorn in his eye with his own hands—

SSSSSSSHHH—

“?”

Killing Moon belatedly felt that something was off.

The throwing knife had clearly punched through the tree he had been hiding behind, so—

Why.

‘Why isn’t there a sound of him falling?’

Not only that—

‘I don’t smell blood.’

No matter how far the distance, there was no way he would miss the scent of blood.

Which meant—

SWISH—

“!”

CLANG-!

Sensing a presence rapidly descending from above, Killing Moon reflexively swung the remaining throwing knife and sprang back.

What crashed down on him was Eunwol, whom he had thought he’d killed.

Somehow, at some point, he had come right up beside him, emerging from the tree behind where Killing Moon had been standing.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-CLANG-!

Barely managing to block the sword strikes with the short throwing knife, Killing Moon snatched his main weapons, his axes, out of his robe.

He drew out the two axes nested together in his chest and, using the edge of one—

WHIRL—

He flung the other axe into the air.

CLANG—CLANG-!

With the thrown knife and the remaining axe he was too busy blocking Eunwol’s sword to breathe.

Taking those heavy, powerful strikes on a small throwing knife made it feel as if his palms would split open.

WHOOSH—TATAT—

Seizing an opening just as Eunwol was about to swing his sword again, Killing Moon spun around and bolted.

TAP—

Eunwol immediately gave chase.

But how far had he run?

TAP—

All at once, Killing Moon kicked off the ground and leaped up, stepping off the trees to race back along the path he had fled.

TAP-!

Eunwol likewise followed after him.

TAP—TAPTAP—TAP-!

The two of them stepped on this tree and that, chasing after each other.

Just as Eunwol was about to draw a throwing knife from his robe to catch Killing Moon as he ran—

SWEEE-EEK-!

Killing Moon suddenly twisted his body and hurled the last throwing knife he had been holding straight at Eunwol.

CLANG-!

Eunwol swung his sword and casually knocked it aside.

But—

“!”

The moment he knocked the knife away and set his foot down, Eunwol realized the tree he was about to step on was tilted.

At the base of the tree, he saw Killing Moon’s axe buried deep.

Killing Moon had hurled the axe loaded with force aura; whirling through the air, it had slammed into the tree and tilted it over.

With no foothold where his foot reached out, Eunwol’s balance wavered.

For an instant his field of vision tipped, and, losing his center, his body began to fall from midair.

TAP—HUUUK-!

Killing Moon did not miss that opening.

With a chillingly bright smile, he kicked off a tree and surged toward Eunwol.

In his hand was a single-shaft axe with a razor edge.

Dark, blood-red energy flared around Killing Moon’s flying body.

‘Asura Remaining-Blood Axe!’

SWEEEEEE-EEK-!

That dark crimson blood-qi poured down toward Eunwol, who was defenseless.

It was a powerful strike that had to be met properly with a solid sword guard, but without a stable foothold he could not muster enough strength.

Eunwol snatched three throwing tags and a smoke bomb from his chest.

The instant he hurled them all at once into the onrushing force aura barreling toward him—

BOOM-!

Milky smoke exploded outward in an instant, filling the space between them. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“I won’t let you escape!!”

SWEEEK—SWEEEE-EEK!!

Killing Moon poured his force aura in all directions through the smoke.

SSSHHH-!

“Kh.”

The moment a short groan came from within the thick smoke, the corner of Killing Moon’s mouth curled in a chilling grin.